My Life In Books ~ talking to author Pam Jenoff

My Life in Books is an occasional feature on Random Things Through My Letterbox

I've asked authors to share with us a list of the books that are special to them and have made a lasting impression on their life.

I'm so pleased to welcome author Pam Jenoff to Random Things today. Pam is an internationally bestselling author of eight novels.

I took part in the Blog Tour for her last book, The Last Embrace (published in the US as The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach), in August of last year.

Here's a taster from my review:

" The Last Embrace is a compelling, expertly written story of love during World War II. A really engrossing story with excellently drawn characters."

My Life In Books ~ Pam Jenoff

"Are books your entire frame of reference?" a colleague chidingly asked me a few months back. Pretty much, yes. And I've done this before: of favourite World War II novels, favourite authors, etc. But My Life In Books? Well, that's hard. Here are just a few:

Mary Poppins by PL Travers  I'm going to try and resist the urge to comprise this entire list of children's books, which I could easily do. But Mary Poppins was my first view of England, all sooty rooftops and winding lanes. I dreamt of feeding the pigeons beneath the dome of St. Paul's and jumping into the chalk drawings that line the pathways of the parks. These visions, while farm from accurate (I can hear my English friends laughing) made getting to Britain a goal and a dream of mine. This propelled me to Cambridge and my years abroad. It also led me to graduate studies in history, which nurtured my lifelong love of the subject. Which brings me to ...

The Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk  My own books are predominantly set around World War II. Wouk's works were among my first exposure to novels set in this era and had a profound influence on me as a writer.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien  When I was in college, a boy in my dormitory realised I had never read the Tolkien. He set about reading the entire trilogy aloud to me, a chapter or two per night, over the course of the year and I fell madly in love with the books (and him). The boy is gone but my love of Tolkein remains.

A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helperin  Lost in a book? Yes, literally. I remember being stranded in Lille, France during a train strike, alone and unable to reunite with my Eurorail companions. And I didn't care because I was so lost in this wonderful story.

Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg  I discovered this book nearly twenty years ago when I was living in Poland and dreaming of being a writer. I didn't know quite how to get started. Goldberg's Zen approach to writing, where you keep your hand moving without stopping to allow your inner editor to criticise, really broke me open as a writer.

Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss  Cliche? Perhaps. But ever since I started reading it to my three small children, I find myself thinking back to the words of wisdom in this book whenever I am down or lost or confused. The message is timeless.

P.S.  Did I mention I could make this whole list about children's books??

Pam Jenoff ~ May 2016 

Pam Jenoff is the internationally bestseller author of several novels, including The Kommandant's Girl and The Last Embrace (The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach).
She is a graduate of Cambridge Penn Law and The George Washington University and previously worked as a diplomat for the State Department, a political appointee at the Pentagon and an attorney at a large firm and in-house.
She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and three children where, in addition to writing, she teaches law school.
Her next novel, The Orphan's Tale, will be out in February 2017.

Find out more about Pam and her writing at www.pamjenoff.com 
Check out her Author page on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter @PamJenoff

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My Life In Books ~ talking to author Angela Clarke

My Life In Books is an occasional feature on Random Things Through My Letterbox
I've asked authors to share with us a list of the books that are special to them and have made a lasting impression on their life

I'm pleased to give a very warm welcome to Angela Clarke today. Angela's debut novel, Follow Me,was published by Avon in December 2015. 

Follow Me is a social-media based crime thriller, and I loved every page of it, so much so that it made its way on to my Top Books of 2015 list.

Do check out my review of Follow Me on Random Things, here's a little taster;

"There are moments when my heart beat so fast that I actually felt quite sick, the author hooks you and reels you in and it is almost impossible to get this story out of your head."

My Life In Books ~ Angela Clarke

Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole   Cole's spunky motorcycle riding Princess Smartypants, who defies her parents' attempts at marrying her off by setting her suitors impossible tasks, grabbed my imagination and my heart as a kid. My mum rolls her eyes if I mention this book: I repeatedly took it out the library. I think she and dad must have read it almost every night for at least a year. Prince Vertigo and Prince Grovel don't make the grade, but Prince Swashbuckle manages to pass our heroine's tasks, so Princess Smartypants turns him into a frog so she can live happily ever after. The force was strong in proto-feminist mini me. I don't think I had a great grasp on the politics of feminism at that age, it was probably a good ten or fifteen years before I heard the f-word, but this book spoke to me.
I loved climbing trees, running with my coat on like a superhero cape, pretending to be one of the A Team, building forts and setting fire to things (don't ask), I recognised something appealing in Princess Smartypants' independent spirit which I wholeheartedly associated with. Nice one, Babette. 

The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde  Technically a play, I discovered this book when my brother (who isn't prone to speaking much at all) said I might like it. I did. I thought it was hilarious, and for the first time I fully understood  just how funny words could be. I must have been about fourteen or fifteen, because I went on to select The Importance of Being Ernest for my free choice text for my GCSE English Lit exam. Obviously books had made me laugh before, but there is something about the catty cutting observational humour of Wilde that particularly tickles me. I'm a keen people watcher, and I love the way Wilde's observations are timeless. I recognise the snobbery, social manoeuvring, and backbiting in the play. Everything I've written myself, whether it's columns, plays, my memoir of working in the fashion industry, or my crime thrillers, feature observational humour. I will never, ever be even one shaped finger nail shaving as good as Wilde, but in my own way this is my gesture of continued respect to him. Plus, it's surprising just how many times life throws up an opportunity to pronounce in an exaggerated haughty manner: A handbag! Totally worth reading it or seeing it for that alone.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie  The unparalleled imagination of Christie, and the glamour of vintage travel combine in this ridiculously fabulous classic. This is the first murder mystery I read where I didn't work out who did it. (I've read plenty since: I'm not that smart!) That feeling of shock and surprise has stayed with me. It's a masterpiece. A few years ago I was lucky enough to travel on one of the Orient Express trains from Bangkok to Singapore. On the first night the train made an emergency stop (to avoid an animal) and the engine blew. As a result, we were stationary for a number of hours. I was so excited I told everyone in the bar there was going to be a murder! Unfortunately, it turned out there weren't many Christie fans on board, so I had to explain myself pretty fast. It's this book, and Christie generally, who made me want to write mysteries. The best thing ever is someone saying they didn't work out who the murderer was!

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice  At a low point in my life, my good friend Fleur sent me this book, describing it a as a hug in book form. She was right. It's a beautifully paced and written coming of age tale set in the 1950s, against the backdrop of post-war England and a vast and crumbling ancestral home. It's one of those books that when you discover others who've read it, you jump and squeal with delight with them. Even total strangers. Chicken soup in a book form: it picked me up when I really needed it. A perfect example of the power of books. 

Angela Clarke ~ May 2016

Angela's debut crime thriller Follow Me (Avon) reached number 42 on the paperback fiction chart and number 16 on the Kindle chart, and was Amazon's Rising Star Debut of the Month January 2016.

The second instalment in the Social Media Murder Series, Are You Awake? (Avon), is out November 2016. Her memoir Confessions of a Fashionista (Ebury) is an Amazon Fashion Chart bestseller. Her play, The Legacy, enjoyed it's first run at The Hope Theatre in June 2015.

In 2015 Angela was awarded the Young Stationer's Prize for achievement and promise in writing and publishing

Find out more about Angela and her writing at www.angelaclarke.co.uk

Find her Author page on Facebook

Follow her on Twitter @TheAngelaClarke

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Annual Blogger's Bash Award - Nomination!

I'm really thrilled and honoured to find myself alongside some fabulous book bloggers in the 'Most Inspirational Blogger' category at the Annual Blogger's Bash Awards.

The criteria is:   Who consistently inspires you? Is there a blogger that’s thought provoking and inquisitive? Or perhaps they have become a muse to you with constant provision of inspirational content or imagery? Who’s the one blogger that’s touched your heart? This is the nomination for them.

 If you'd like to vote for me, I'd be delighted, you'll get to the voting page by clicking here

The Bloggers Bash Awards are now open for voting.

Voting Closes June 9th at 12pm. The winners will be announced on June 11th at the Bash. If you can’t make it then a winners post will go live at 5:15pm on June 11th.

Choose carefully, you can only vote ONCE per category. There are 10 awards, (so it’s a long post) make sure you vote in them all.

Disclaimer: The committee has done their best to coordinate the nominations and to ensure, where possible, we gave nominees a choice of which category they wanted to be in. Due to time constraints and limited resources this may not have always been possible.

Willow Walk by SJI Holliday

When the past catches up, do you run and hide or stand and fight?

When a woman is brutally attacked by an escaped inmate from a nearby psychiatric hospital, Sergeant Davie Gray must track him down before he strikes again. But Gray is already facing a series of deaths connected to legal highs and a local fairground, as well as dealing with his girlfriend Marie's increasingly bizarre behaviour.

As Gray investigates the crimes, he comes to realise that there has to be a link between Marie and the man on the run. It's the only thing that makes any sense. But he also knows that if he confronts her with the truth, he risks losing everything.

As a terrified Marie is pulled back into a violent past she though she'd escaped, she makes a life-changing decision. And when events come to a head at a house party on Willow Walk, can Gray piece together the puzzle in time to stop the sleepy town of Banktoun being rocked by tragedy once again? 

Willow Walk by SJI Holliday was published by Black & White Publishing as an ebook on 5 May 2016, the paperback is released on 10 June 2016. Willow Walk is the second in the Banktoun trilogy, the first, Black Wood was published in March 2015, and I reviewed it here on Random Things in August last year.

Susi Holliday takes her readers back to the small Scottish town of Banktoun, the setting for her first novel Black Wood which I thought was incredibly clever and very well written, I've been looking forward to my return visit for some time.

Don't expect a gentle entrance to this story, the prologue is shocking, hard hitting and so so dark. It leaves you gasping for breath and desperate to know what has led to these shocking events - an inventive and clever way of hooking in the reader from the very first paragraph.

Marie has lived in Banktoun for many years, she arrived as a young girl with a background that she's never told anyone about. She's been fairly happy over the years, she has friends and is in the very
early stages of a relationship with local policeman Sergeant Davie Gray. Something is bothering Marie though, she's been feeling uneasy lately, as though someone is watching her. Is someone watching her?

Davie has been called out to view the body of a young woman found murdered. He is dreading what he may see when he arrives. Thankfully, it's not Marie, but some other unfortunate woman. Now, Davie has a murder to deal with, as well as trying to get to the bottom of a spate of recent deaths caused by legal highs ... and a psychiatric patient has escaped from a nearby hospital.

Susi Holliday's writing is so so dark, there is an air of unease and foreboding that almost seeps through the pages and into the air around as you read. She has very cleverly interwoven all the threads to create a sinister, but incredibly compelling story that is truly gripping.

Characters with problems and flaws star alongside characters who are downright evil and warped and together they play out an absolute cracker of a thriller. The tension is almost painful at times, the themes and issues are serious and relevant and the small town setting perfectly hosts the excellent plot.

Prepared to be creeped out by some fantastic writing and some surprising twists. Willow Walk is a fabulous follow up to Black Wood, I'm really looking forward to finding out what is in store for Banktoun and its residents in the next book.

My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.

SJI Holliday grew up in Haddington, East Lothian. She spent many years working in her family's newsagent and pub before going off to study microbiology and statistics at university. She has worked as a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry for over sixteen years, but it was on a six-month round-the-world trip that she took with her husband ten years ago that she rediscovered her passion for writing.
Her first novel, Black Wood, was published in 2015.

You can find out more at www.sjiholliday.com
Find her Author page on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter @SJIHolliday

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My Life In Books ~ talking to author Essie Fox

My Life in Books is an occasional feature on Random Things Through My Letterbox

I've asked authors to share with us a list of the books that are special to them and have made a lasting impression on their life

I'm thrilled to welcome Essie Fox to Random Things today.  Essie writes historical fiction and has published three novels with Orion, her fourth is due to be published later this year.

I reviewed her third novel, The Goddess and the Thief here on Random Things in December 2013, her earlier books are The Somnambulist and Elijah's Mermaid

My Life In Books ~ Essie Fox

I read so much, and always have, and now - well, I'm not so very young and there have been a lot of books. But whenever I think of my first love I always come back to the same one ...

The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley  I was six years old, and the sun always shone. Every day during the summer months my mother took me down to swim in the river with the pebbled 'beach' that ran through the fields behind our house. So, when I went to the local library and pulled this book down from the shelves, it really seemed the perfect thing.

Reading again more recently (when I featured many of the themes in my novel Elijah's Mermaid) I realised just how 'sermonising' and pompous much of the story is. But, I think my copy had been abridged, and it had the most beautiful illustrations that transported me into another world. I'll never forget how entranced I was when reading the early chapters about a little chimney sweep who falls asleep in a river while trying to wash himself clean again. I'm sure that transformation scene led to my lifelong obsession with water, and magic, and fairy tales.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis  I've just realised that my first and second choices are both books about Christianity. But perhaps that's not so very strange. Although I don't go to church any more I was raised in a very religious home.

I first read the Narnia books when I was ten or eleven years old. Again, I remember a summer, but this one spent lying on my bed reading through every book in the series and never wanting to come back out and live in the real world again. (I had the same feeling in my late teens when reading Peake's Gormenghast trilogy, and then as an adult when I read Pullman's Dark Materials - and again with the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles. It seems that once I fall in love with an author's writing I tend to go off on a binge and devour every single word in one enormous lovely glut).

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh  I'm about sixteen or seventeen now .... and studying for my A levels, and this novel was one of the set texts. I've never forgotten it. Reading Waugh's other novels too took me to worlds I'd never known - in a particular time, and class, and also in social behaviour. The characterisation is wonderful, and as to the final scene in this book ... I have never forgotten the horror I felt at the plight of its central character.

It's not my favourite Waugh novel. That would be Brideshead Revisited. I still remember seeing the wonderful TV dramatisation with Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews and the beguiling Diana Quick. Well worth watching - and reading - again today.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte  People often fall into two camps - either loving Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights. I enjoy both now, but when I was in my teens the passion and utter rebellion found out there on the wild and windblown moors were the only things that mattered. My tears and rage when Cathy dies. My horror when Heathcliff digs up her grave. What a dark and gothic world it  is. So many levels to be exposed in this unfolding box of tricks.

A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving  John Irving is another author who I just can't get enough of. There is something about that American 'voice' which draws me more and more these days. From the orphans in The Cider House Rules, to the bear in Hotel New Hampshire,with Garp, and A Son of the Circus too - Irving rarely puts a foot wrong. You simply can't help but fall in love with the people who inhabit his stories. He has such a gift to draw you in, creating unique voices that will make you laugh amd make you cry.

But as with so many favourite books Owen Meaney is the one when I still remember how I felt all the way through reading it. And there is one scene in particular when Owen Meaney is still a boy, when he's up in an attic with his friends and the way the sun slants through the roof, lighting his head up from behind  - and he has these enormous, sticky out ears which are suddenly glowing, turned bright red. I see it so clearly to this day. It still makes me giggle. Must read again!

Behind The Scenes At The Museum by Kate Atkinson  My first Kate Atkinson was not the last. The past few years I've been enthralled and awed by the writing to be found in Life After Life, and A God in Ruins. But this one really hooked me, with the childhood descriptions in the novel somehow echoing my own. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, and then to come to one dreadful scene ... when I actually gasped so loudly that my husband asked if I was all right. To this very day, it's still a shock.

Affinity by Sarah Waters   I love all of Sarah Waters' books. But the darkly claustrophobic themes found within Affinity harmonise so perfectly with the novels that I like to write. It also has a brilliant end, with a twist I never could have guessed.

Wise Children by Angela Carter  Where to start with Angela Carter?  Another enormous influence and inspiration on both my reading and my writing life. I adore her magical realism, with allusions to fairy tales and myth - not to mention Shakespeare's plays. For ages Nights at the Circus would have been my natural choice here. But I recently read Wise Children again, and I think I love it even more now than I did the very first time around.

It's the story of two septuagenarian twins who were born on the 'wrong side of the tracks' and who once had a career in the music halls, while their natural father played a part in the more aristocratic acting scene. It is without doubt a sheer delight from the opening scenes to the very end. And I have to mention the Audible version, narrated by Eileen Atkins too. Bravo! A treat for everyone.

Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf  These days - as I grow older - I definitely relate much more to books concerned with aging, and also to the passing of time. By their very nature such stories can be depressing, but in Our Souls at Night I found such a beautiful and bittersweet celebration of what it means to live.

Haruf takes two elderly neighbours (who have both lost their spouses), who then find love and solace in each other's company - until other family members unexpectedly intervene; one to the good, one to the bad.

Kent Haruf's 'voice' is remarkable. So authentic and beguiling. Another American author with an every day story of normal folk that transcends into something so much more.

Essie Fox ~ May 2016

Essie Fox was born and grew up in Herefordshire. She now divides her time between Bow in East London, and Windsor. After studying English Literature at Sheffield University she first worked for The Telegraph Sunday Magazine, then for the book publishers George Allen & Unwin - until moving on to art and design; a career that lasted twenty years.

Essie became a published author in 2011. She has appeared at various festivals, contributed articles for the national press, and lectured at the V&A. She also created the popular blog The Virtual Victorian, and much of the research she does for that website goes on to feature in her books, which are dark Victorian novels, published by Orion Books.

The Somnambulist was featured on the Channel 4 TV Book Club, was shortlisted for the Best Debut Novel at the 2012 National Book Awards, and has been optioned for TV/film by Hat Trick Productions. Her second novel, Elijah's Mermaid has received many excellent reviews in national newspapers and magazines.  Her third novel, The Goddess and the Thief was published in December 2013.

In November 2016 Orion will also be publishing The Last Days of Leda Grey, an eerily mysterious novel in which an old woman remembers the time when she once starred in a silent film.

For more information about Essie Fox and her writing, visit www.essiefox.com

For news about tours and events, visit www.essiefoxnews.blogspot.com

To read Essie's popular Victorian blog, visit www.virtualvictorian.blogspot.com

Follow Essie on Twitter @essiefox

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The Outside Lands by Hannah Kohler

Jeannie is nineteen when the world changes, Kip only fourteen. The sudden accident that robs them of their mother leaves them adrift, with only their father to guide them. Jeannie seeks escape in work and later marriage to a man whose social connections propel her into an unfamiliar world of wealth and politics. Ill-equipped and unprepared, Jeannie finds comfort where she can. Meanwhile Kip's descent into a life of petty crime is halted only when he volunteers for the Marines.

By 1968, the conflice in Vietnam is at its height, and with the anti-war movement raging at home, Jeannie and Kip are swept along by events larger than themselves, driven by disillusionment to commit unforgiveable acts of betrayal that will leave permanent scars.

The Outside Lands is the story of people caught up in the slipstream of history, how we struggle in the face of loss to build our world, and how easily and with sudden violence it can be swept away. With extraordinary skill and accuracy, Hannah Kohler takes us from 1960s California to Vietnam, capturing what it means to live through historic times. This powerful debut novel announces Kohler as a remarkable new literary talent. 

The Outside Lands was published in hardback on 5 May 2016 by Picador and is Hannah Kohler's debut novel.


This is such an impressive novel, it is difficult to believe that The Outside Lands is a debut, and also that it is written by a young English woman who was born and brought up here and was born after the Vietnam war ended. This author catapults the reader bang into the heart of 60s California, her writing is powerful and authentic and her portrayal of both the conflict in Vietnam and those left behind is quite glorious.

The day that John F Kennedy was assassinated changed the world for most Americans, but for Jeannie and Kip it was also the day that their mother died when she absently-mindedly stepped into the road and knocked down.

Despite her father's assumption that she would take over the role of mother in the house, Jeannie takes a job as a waitress, and soon finds an admirer in Billy the student doctor. Even though they are from different social circles, this is the 60s and when Jeannie becomes pregnant, they marry. Meanwhile, Jeannie's younger brother Kip has gone off the rails, getting himself deeper and deeper into trouble until the day that the local judge gives him an ultimatum and her finds himself signed up to the Marines.

Kip is immature, he's rash and insensitive and his actions in Vietnam land him in deep trouble. Meanwhile, back in California, Jeannie has become infatuated with a young hippy anti-war protester called Lee and even though she now has a small child as well as a new husband, she too makes decisions that change her world once again.

Almost fifty years later, we all know that the conflict in Vietnam was pointless, a tragedy, a sham and Hannah Kohler has managed to express this into her words. Her writing is sensitive, but provocative and she masterfully conjures up images from that ravaged country that are quite haunting.

Relationships, betrayals, families; The Outside Lands captures all of these and more. I was hooked by the end of the very first chapter. Highly recommended, Hannah Kohler is an author to watch.

My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.

Hannah Kohler grew up on the south coast of England. After studying English and American Literature at Cambridge University, Hannah completed the City University MA in Creative Writing. 
She has worked in television for several years and lives in London.
The Outside Lands is her first novel.

You can find Hannah on Twitter at @hannahkohler

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