The Amber Fury by Natalie Haynes

When you open up, who will you let in? 

When Alex Morris loses her fiance in dreadful circumstances, she moves from London to Edinburgh to make a break with the past. Alex takes a job at a Pupil Referral Unit, which accepts the students excluded from other schools in the city. 

These are troubled, difficult kids and Alex is terrified of what she's taken on. There is one class - a group of five teenagers - who intimidate Alex and every other teacher on The Unit. 

But with the help of the Greek tragedies she teaches, Alex gradually develops a rapport with them. Finding them enthralled by tales of cruel fate and bloody revenge, Alex even begins to worry that they are taking her lessons to heart, and that a whole new tragedy is being performed, right in front of her. 

The Amber Fury is a beautifully constructed psychological page-turner. It is a dark mystery of a novel about loss, obsession, and the deep, abiding human need to connect.

The Amber Fury was published by Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books on 6 March 2014.

Everyone has to live the life they have, don’t they? 

For Alex Morris, the life that she is having to lead is hard. A qualified but inexperienced teacher, she's landed a job in a Pupil Referral Unit in Edinburgh. Miles away from the life that she had back in London, where she enjoyed working as a theatre director and was happy with her boyfriend Luke. After Luke's death, Alex couldn't bear to stay in London, surrounded by reminders of happier times, smothered by her Mother's love and concern. She arrives in Edinburgh with a small bag and a new job, knowing that she has no choice but to 'live the life that she has', but she can choose to live it differently.

Natalie Haynes' very clever layering of this quite sinister and psychologically chilling novel is its beauty. The reader knows from the opening paragraph that something huge has happened, something that yet again, has changed Alex's life and how she will live it.  

Alex is a solitary figure, she is closed and isolated, her character is consumed with grief and with loss and although it is not her intention to transfer her feelings to her small class of damaged and challenging teenagers, this does happen. For these kids, Alex is different. She is prepared to let them think for themselves and as she gently introduces the Greek tragedies to them, they begin to open up - not just to Alex, but to each other, and more importantly, they begin to understand their own thoughts and feelings much more clearly.

However, it is this opening up and understanding that ultimately leads to the defining moment of this story, and makes the reader question whether the damaged can in fact, help the damaged?

The cold and damp setting of Edinburgh and the old school building adds another layer to this clever and quite gripping story, and whilst the novel takes place over a fairly short period of time, the teenage characters grow in both size and in character, revealing so much inner fury that is alluded to in the title.

Yes, this is a thriller, it is also a very sad and realistic look at relationships, grief and longing. Natalie Haynes' debut novel is clever and convincing.

From www.nataliehaynes.com

Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster. She appears on BBC Radio 4 as a presenter of documentaries and she is a reviewer of books, films, plays, television and art on Saturday Review and Front Row. She has judged the 2012 Orange Prize (now the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction) and is judging the 2013 Man Booker Prize. She judged Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel in 2010.

Her first non-fiction book, The Ancient Guide to Modern Life, was serialised by The Times in 2010. It has also been sold in the US, and translated into Greek, Spanish and Portuguese. Among many other favourable reviews, The Financial Times suggested ‘you shouldn't read AC Grayling's The Good Book without reading The Ancient Guide first.’

Natalie was also a stand-up comedian for 12 years, and was the first woman ever to be nominated for the prestigious Perrier Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She retired in 2009 to spend more time writing. She delivered the Voltaire Lecture at Conway Hall in March 2011, and is a judge on this year’s Booker prize panel.

For more information about Natalie Haynes, visit her website www.nataliehaynes.com

Red Room : New Short Stories Inspired by the Brontes - edited by A J Ashworth

Red Room: New Short Stories Inspired by the Brontës continues Unthank Books' commitment to celebrating the short story. The collection includes twelve new stories by some of Britain's most accomplished writers, many of whom have won prizes such as the Macmillan/PEN Prize, the BBC National Short Story Award, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the V. S. Pritchett Prize. The collection also includes a poem by Simon Armitage.

The collection features a demon sheep, strange curates, acts of rebellion and acts of violence. There is love made and love ruined, parents lost and children found. A girl's controlling step-father gets more than he bargained for while out on a picnic. A troubled man finds comfort in the poetry of Emily Brontë during his wife's illness. A woman stumbles across a French officer while out walking and returns home with a secret.

A percentage of the profits from sales of the book will be donated to The Brontë Birthplace Trust to help with their plans for Thornton, Bradford - the village where all three sisters were born.

'Ranging from haunting to humorous, from formally inventive to jubilantly fantastical, and from 19th to 21st centuries, there is a story here for every taste, and for every Brontë lover.' Jane Rogers, author of Hitting Trees with Sticks.

Red Room ~ New Short Stories Inspired by the Brontes was published by Unthank Books in November 2013.

A J Ashworth's introduction to this book of short stories inspired by the Bronte sisters begins:

"The Brontes. Our nation's most famous sisters - Charlotte, Emily and Anne."

and continues ...

"The Brontes fascinate us. We love their books, we love the films and television dramas made of their books and we love them"

I have to agree with this so much. I've been fascinated by all things Bronte since my parents took me to the parsonage at Haworth almost 40 years ago.  I still have all of the books that I collected about their lives, and the postcards and bookmarks that I bought during that trip. The sisters were so far ahead of their times, their lives seemed so dark and lonely, yet they wrote with such passion.  Funnily enough, I loved the actual sisters and reading about them more than I actually loved their stories. I think I was a little obsessed - the original fan-girl?

The collection of stories entitled Red Room is diverse and eclectic, and include authors such as Alison Moore, Tania Hershman and David Constatine.  Some are funny, some are dark. Some are historical and some are modern. All of them celebrate the Bronte sisters, and their works in different ways.

Inspiration ranges from Catherine from Wuthering Heights to Jane Eyre, some are inspired by the lives of the sisters rather than their works. 

Red Room is a fine tribute to the Brontes, and most readers will find stories within the collection that will suit their taste. As with most short story collections, I did like some more than others, but on the whole I think this is a book that will be enjoyed by many.

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

 

That Part Was True by Deborah McKinlay

When Eve Petworth writes to Jackson Cooper to praise a scene in one of his books, they discover a mutual love of cookery and food. As their letters criss-cross the ocean that lies between them, friendship and then romance blossom despite Jackson's colourful love life and Eve's tense relationship with her soon-to-be-married daughter.

 Little by little, Eve and Jack begin to believe that they may have a chance to change their lives and possibly get a second chance at happiness. They just need to actually meet...

 BBC FILMS, the makers of Philomena, Saving Mr Banks and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen have just bought film rights.

That Part Was True by Deborah McKinlay is published in hardback by Orion Fiction on 13 March 2014.

Eve Petworth is a divorced, middle-aged British woman. Eve doesn't really like herself, she feels as though she is worthless. Her ex-husband thought so, her late mother thought so and her newly-engaged daughter appears to think so too. Eve doesn't feel comfortable leaving the house. Eve is very lonely.

Jackson Cooper is also very lonely. He's a successful American author and has written many novels. He is also mourning the breakdown of his marriage, avoiding the advances of his neighbour and struggling a little with his latest book.

Eve and Jackson both love food, and it is this love that introduces them. Eve writes to Jackson and praises a passage in one of his books. Jackson is touched by something in Eve's correspondence and responds. And so begins a relationship between two lonely people, thousands of miles apart, yet closer to each other than many of the people that they see every day.

Deborah McKinlay is a skilled author who has a special talent for creating characters who come alive for the reader. Her characters are not without their faults, but this only adds to the authenticity of the writing. Both Eve and Jackson live quite privileged lives in terms of comfort and money, but it is their inner thoughts and passions that they share with each other through their letters that really touch the reader. There is a supporting cast of characters who again are fully rounded and some of them are just plain awful, not awfully written, but awfully human!

That Part Was True is an easy, gentle story that can be quite easily finished in a couple of sittings. It is first and foremost a love story and the foodie element, complete with some delicious sounding recipes makes this an inspirational and pleasurable read.  The cover art is absolutely beautiful too, eye-catching and inviting.

My thanks to Sophie from Orion who sent my copy for review.

BBC Films has optioned Deborah McKinlay’s novel That Part Was True. The story follows the relationships between a UK divorcée and a U.S. author through their shared love of food and cooking. The book is due to be published in the UK by Orion. There are no details on timing for a feature transfer, but BBC Films chief Christine Langan says, “That Part Was True is a stunning novel: Deborah is a wonderful storyteller whose characters leap off the page, their dilemmas subtly touching modern nerves.”


Deborah McKinlay has published half a dozen non-fiction titles in the UK.  Her first novel The View From Here was published in 2011 and her books have been translated into numerous languages. Her work has appeared in British Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. She lives in South West England.

Find out more about Deborah McKinlay at her website www.deborahmckinlay.com.  Follow her on Twitter @YourAuntLola

Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent

Oliver Ryan is a success story. 

He lives in the leafy suburbs with his wife, Alice, and their life is one of enviable privilege and ease - enviable until, one evening after supper, Oliver attacks Alice and puts her into a coma. 

Afterwards, as everyone tries to make sense of his astonishing act of savagery, Oliver tells his story. So do those whose paths he has crossed over five decades. 

Only Oliver knows what he has done to get the life to which he felt entitled. But even he is in for a shock when his past catches up with him.

Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent was published by Penguin Ireland on 6 March 2014.

"I expected more of a reaction the first time I hit her."

The first sentence of Unravelling Oliver is the shocking introduction to Oliver Ryan, one of the most disturbing, dangerous and manipulative characters that I've ever read about.  

From that very first sentence, the reader knows just what Oliver is capable of,  but we don't really know why he has attacked his faithful and loyal wife Alice.  Why would successful author Oliver (writing as Vincent Dax) brutally attack the woman who has been a perfect wife to him? The woman who has lovingly illustrated his books for children, only adding to their success?  Why?

Liz Nugent has expertly crafted this short, but stunning novel by weaving together the first-hand stories of the people who know Oliver best. Told in separate chapters, these characters are as fully formed as Oliver himself and each one of them has a story to tell.   Each one of them appears shocked by what Oliver has done, but it soon becomes clear as they recount their memories that Oliver was never quite the person he wanted to appear to be.

Unravelling Oliver could be renamed 'The Sins of the Fathers', for ultimately Oliver's character has been formed by his dysfunctional relationship with his father.  In fact, there was no relationship. Sent off to boarding school at a very early age and then ignored for the rest of his life, Oliver was a sad and lonely child who struggled to interact with anyone.  Being able to see his father's home from the school window was torture for him, especially as he witnessed his father's loving relationship with his new wife and new son.

Oliver as a man was enigmatic and charismatic, and successful.  He had many admirers, people who loved him, who wanted to be like him. Only Oliver knows why he chose to publish his hugely popular series of children's books under a different name.  Was he ashamed of his illegitimate status?  Did he want to forget where he came from?  Eventually, the reader will learn the full truth of Oliver's life, and it is truly shocking.

Each voice in Unravelling Oliver is a complete character in their own right.   Fully formed and with a strong voice that adds yet another perspective to this dark and complex story that is so elegantly written.

Unravelling Oliver is an excellent debut from Liz Nugent, I'm really looking forward to reading more from this very talented and gifted author.

My thanks to Catherine from Penguin Ireland who sent my copy for review.

Liz Nugent has written extensively for broadcast over the last ten years including live tv drama, soap opera, radio drama and a children’s animation series. 
Unravelling Oliver is her first novel. It is to be published by Penguin Ireland in March 2014 and is currently available in German under the title Die Sunden Meiner Vater published by Lubbe. 
She is currently working on her second novel, provisionally called Liars.

For more information check out her website www.liznugent.ie, on Twitter @lizzienugent

Once Upon a Timepiece by Starr Wood

When Conrad Sands returns a wristwatch to an old flame after 20 years apart, a remarkable chain of events begins. 

The watch passes through the hands of a gold-digger, a journalist, an enchantress and a professor. It touches the lives of a rogue art collector, a domestic helper, and an environmental campaigner. It influences a reverend's apprentice, a kept wife, and a self-made man. All of them are strangers, yet all are intricately linked in ways that none of them see. 

A deeply thought-provoking debut novel from Starr Wood, "Once Upon a Timepiece" is a gripping portrayal of humanity's relationship with time and the unseen threads of history that bind us together. Told through a series of twelve inter-connected short stories, it explores memory and regret, ambition and weakness, and the texture of time that lies behind all our lives.

Once Upon a Timepiece by Starr Wood was published by Bo Tree Books on 29 November 2013.

The timepiece of the title is a Breitling Chronomat watch, made in 1946 and beautifully crafted from rose gold - elegant and expensive, and is the connecting link between each of the twelve short stories that make up this clever and thought-provoking book.

I certainly didn't expect to love this book as much as I did.  Short stories can often be a big disappointment, I often think that they are either rushed or just have something missing.  But not these, this is a collection of twelve very cleverly written, entertaining tales that deliver a massive punch with every end sentence.

The twelve stories are named after the months of the year.  In January we meet Conrad Sands who has been the owner of the watch for twenty years.  He's decided that it is time to return the watch to an old flame whose memory has haunted him, and this is the beginning of the watch's journey.  The watch comes into the possession of people from all walks of life, all nationalities and each of them come by it in a different way.

Tricksters, thieves, rich, poor - the watch has a selection of owners, and each of them have their own story to tell.

Human nature is foremost in these stories that explore feelings and memories, regret and weakness and triumph and pride - almost every human trait is explored with writing that is almost perfect, and characters that are so well developed using so few words.

Once Upon a Timepiece is a real triumph for this young author, it is so difficult to believe that this is his debut, and I can't wait to read whatever he is dreaming up next.

My thanks to Ginny from Bo Tree Books who sent my copy for review.

Starr Wood is a British journalist, writer and economist. He was born in England in 1970, but grew up in Nigeria, Ras Al Khaimah, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan. In 1992, Starr graduated from the London School of Economics and began his career as a journalist working for a variety of news media in London and the Middle East. Since 1999, he has worked at The Economist Group, first in London, and then in Asia. Today, he lives in Singapore with his wife and three children.

  

For more about Starr Wood, visit: www.onceuponatimepiece.com

Letters To The Midwife: Correspondence with Jennifer Worth, the author of Call The Midwife

When the CALL THE MIDWIFE books became bestsellers, Jennifer Worth was inundated with correspondence. People felt moved to write to her because the books had touched them, and because they wanted to share memories of the world her books described, the East End of London in the late 1940s and early 1950s. 

LETTERS TO THE MIDWIFE is a collection of the correspondence she received offering a fascinating glimpse into a long-lost world. 

Along with readers' responses and personal histories, it is filled with heartwarming gems such as letters and drawings sent by one of the nuns featured in Call the Midwife and a curious list of the things Jennifer would need to become a missionary. There are stories from other midwives, lorry drivers, even a seamstress, all with tales to tell. 

Containing previously unpublished material describing her time spent in Paris, and some journal entries, this is also a portrait of Jennifer herself, complete with a moving introduction by her family about the Jennifer Worth they knew and loved.

Letters to the Midwife - Correspondence with Jennifer Worth, the author of Call The Midwife was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on 13 February 2014 in hardback.

I really don't watch a great deal of television drama. I work strange hours in my job as a Community Development Worker, often having evening meetings that finish quite late and I never seem to be at home on the same evening each week. However, I watched the first episode of Call The Midwife and was hooked. I have no idea why, I'm not a mother, I've never been interested in nursing, or in being a nun! There's just something about the programme that entrances me for the full hour that it is on.

When Letters to the Midwife popped through the letterbox, I was intrigued by it, and started to read straight away, and could hardly put it down.  The book is introduced by Jennifer Worth's family; her husband Philip and her two daughters and Miranda Hart has written the foreward.

This book is a real piece of social history, with stories from people who would probably never have been able to tell them so widely if it were not for Jennifer Worth.  So many people wrote to her after she wrote her books; people who recognised the places that she described and the people that she worked with. Some people even recognised Jennifer herself.  It is clear from the amount of correspondence she received, and the fact that she took the time to answer the letters, and that she kept them all, that Jennifer Worth was a lady of compassion and depth, and was much loved by all who came into contact with her.

This is a fascinating look at Jennifer Worth's 'other' side too - the time she spent in Paris in the 1950s is especially interesting.

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

Foreward   For those of you who have read Call The Midwife you will know that Jennifer Worth creates the most wonderful imagery with her writing. She portrayed such vivid pictures of an extraordinary time in British history and of truly extraordinary women in the midwives who devoted years to their vocation and saved many women's lives. Midwifery and women's health truly mattered to them and they were, in my view, heroines... Sadly I never got to meet Jennifer. I wish I had. To have been able to thank her. But here we are lucky enough to have further insight in to her life through her correspondence and a chance to wallow happily in her beautiful writing. Thank you Jennifer.   Miranda Hart

Jennifer Worth trained as a nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, and was later ward sister at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in London, then the Marie Curie Hospital, also in London. Music had always been her passion, and in 1973 she left nursing in order to study music intensively, teaching piano and singing for about 25 years. Jennifer died in May 2011 after a short illness, leaving her husband Philip, two daughters and three grandchildren. Her books have all been bestsellers.

The Key To It All by Joanna Rees

When five random people simultaneously receive ‘the key’, they don’t realize that their lives are about to change forever. 

Shrouded in secrecy, the mysterious silver key is delivered to each of them along with a code, a web address and a promise that – if used wisely – it can unlock a door to luxury and privilege beyond their wildest dreams. 

However, as each of them begins to use the key, they are propelled into a world of hazy moral choices, and soon start to question their enigmatic gift. 

Who is funding the key’s lavish promises? And why have they been chosen to receive it? 

Only the bravest will use it to seek the truth . . .

The Key To It All by Joanna Rees was published by Pan Macmillan on 27 February 2014.

Five very different people, located all across the world are the recipients of a key.  This key can be the answer to their prayers, or could be the start of a nightmare.
Each of them receive exactly the same key, each of them have exactly the same instructions, and none of them have a clue who sent the key, or why.
It soon becomes clear to these five people that the key will allow them access to riches beyond their belief, it will allow them to become powerful, and famous and noticed by others.

Being the owner of the key will also thrust them into situations where their morals and beliefs are tested, and they will all deal with these challenges in different ways.

The Key To It All is an action-packed story that is intriguing from the start. Each of the five characters are developed excellently, and each of their stories are tightly woven into a plot that is filled with glitz, glamour, violence, terror and the ultimate pay-back.

The reader is transported right across the globe, taking in Rio, London and Cannes amongst others. The descriptions are lush, the characters are real and well-developed. As the individual character stories begin to start to link together, the pace really becomes frantic but more and more compellling.

As well as being a fantastic read, The Key To It All will make readers stop and consider. What would you do if you were offered access to everything you ever wanted?  Would you question? Would you accept, not knowing if it would end, or if you would ever have to pay for it?

The Key To It All is racy, it's well-paced and it's a great concept and excellently written.  I enjoyed every page - highly recommended.

Joanna Rees, aka Josie Lloyd and Jo Rees, is a bestselling writer of twelve novels that range from rom-coms to blockbusters and big hearted romances and include Come Together, Platinum and A Twist of Fate. 
With nearly twenty years writing experience, Joanna also teaches creative writing in schools and libraries and runs a successful novel editing business, noveleditors.com. 
Based in Brighton, Joanna is married to the author Emlyn Rees with whom she has three daughters. They have co-written seven novels, including the Sunday Times number one bestseller Come Together which was translated into 27 languages and made into a film. 
Their latest collaboration, also a bestseller, is We’re Going on a Bar Hunt, a humorous adult parody of the children’s classic We’re Going On A Bear Hunt. 
For more information on Joanna and her books check out her blog Mum Writes Books
She's on twitter @joannareesbooks.