Reader, I Married Him edited by Tracy Chevalier *** BLOG TOUR ***

A collection of short stories celebrating Charlotte Bronte, published in the year of her bicentenary and stemming from the now immortal words from her great work Jane Eyre.

" Charlotte Bronte emerged from the most unlikely of places - a small parsonage in an isolated Yorkshire village - to become a celebrated author in an era when women were not encouraged to express themselves publicly or to be ambitious. 
Women writes owe her and her sisters a lot for kicking open that door."    ~ Tracy Chevalier












Reader, I Married Him is a collection of short stories, edited by Tracy Chevalier and was published by The Borough Press in hardback on 7 April 2016.

So many authors who have taken part in my occasional blog feature, My Life In Books have named Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte as one of the books that has inspired them. It's been the most popular book by far, and is proof that Tracy Chevalier's quote (above) is true - Charlotte Bronte did kick down the door for so many women writers, and she certainly did a lot for readers too!

Reader, I Married Him is one of the most enjoyable collections of short stories that I've read for many years. Tracy Chevalier has brought together a wonderful collection of stories. They all stem from Charlotte Bronte's beloved classic Jane Eyre from which the beautiful and powerful line. "Reader, I married him." is taken.

Edited by Tracy Chevalier, and commissioned specially for Charlotte Bronte's bicentenary year in 2016 this collection features some of the most talented fiction authors writing today who jointly celebrate the Bronte sisters and the bicentenary of Charlotte Bronte's birth in a beautifully presented small hardback book. Just look at that amazing cover, it's so vibrant and so stunning.

The collection is made up of twenty-one stories and they are all so very different. As with most short story collections, there were some that I enjoyed more than others. In some, the Jane Eyre connection is very clear, in others, not so much. Some have contemporary settings, some take place at the same time as the original story, but all of them complement the Brontes and Jane Eyre.

Authors include: Helen Dunmore, Lionel Shriver, Salley Vickers, Sarah Hall, Tessa Hadley and Roxanne Guy.

A bohemian wedding party takes an unexpected turn for the bride and her daughter; a family trip to a Texan waterpark prompts a life-changing decision; Grace Poole defends Bertha Mason and calls the general opinion of Jane Eyre into question. Mr Rochester reveals a long-kept secret in "Reader, She Married Me" by Salley Vickers, and "The Mirror" by Francine Prose boldy imagines Jane's married life after the novel ends. A new mother encounters an old lover after her daily swim and inexplicably lies to him, and a fitness instructor teaches teenage boys how to handle a pit bull terrier by telling them Jane Eyre's story.

The Bronte Parsonage

The Bronte Parsonage sits on the edge of the moors in the small Yorkshire village of Haworth.
Charlotte Bronte's father was the parson for Haworth's Anglican church, and Charlotte and her siblings lived in the house most of their lives.

The Parsonage is now a museum dedicated to the Brontes, filled with many of their original possessions. Going around it you get a strong sense of the close, heady atmosphere that made this family so unusual and creative.

The Museum also celebrates the Brontes' influence on the creative arts today, with a contemporary arts programme that commissions new work from writers and artists.


For more information about the Bronte Parsonage Museum, visit the website www.bronte.org.uk
Find the Bronte Parsonage Museum on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter @BronteParsonage

Tracy Chevalier is the author of seven novels, including Burning Bright, Remarkable Creatures,  The Last Runaway and
The Lady and the Unicorn 
Girl With A Pearl Earring is an international bestseller and was longlisted for the Orange Prize in 2000.
Born in Washington DC, in 1984 she moved to London, where she lives with her husband and son.

I reviewed Tracy Chevalier's latest novel At The Edge of the Orchard here on Random Things in February. At The Edge of the Orchard was published by The Borough Press in March 2016 and it is the rich cross-generational story of the brutal struggle of a family of pioneer apple pickers spanning across the American Midwest to Gold rush California.

To read more about Tracy Chevalier and her titles, please visit her website www.tchevalier.com
Find her Author Page on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter @Tracy_Chevalier

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My Life In Books ~ talking to author Sarah Hilary

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

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

I'm delighted to welcome Sarah Hilary to join me for My Life in Books on Random Things today. Someone Else's Skin (August 2014); No Other Darkness (July 2015) and Tastes Like Fear which is published today, 7 April 2016.

Sarah is the author of the DI Marnie Rome series;

I'm a huge fan of Sarah Hilary's writing and DI Rome is a real favourite of mine. I reviewed Tastes Like Fear at the end of March, here's a snippet from my review:

"Tastes Like Fear buzzes with tension, it is the sort of book that makes your jaw ache as you grind your teeth in nervous anticipation."

My Life in Books - Sarah Hilary

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer   A gift from my mother when I was ten, I've re-read this more than any other book. 

It's sharp and funny, and was my first experience of a story with a terrific twist.

Oh, and it has cross-dressing. You can't go wrong with cross-dressing.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov   Lolita changed my life. I fell in love with its conceit and slyness.

So many people have a bad opinion of it - most particularly those who've never read it - that defending its brilliance made me realise how powerful books can be.

The Collector by John Fowles  Creepy, creepy, creepy. A masterclass in writing about the destructive power of mediocrity.

Its monster is so human; the kind of man you might every day.

It taught me that nothing beats the horror of mundanity.

Talking To The Dead by Helen Dunmore  Lyrical, disturbing, evocative - everything I want my own writing to be.

An unbeatable psychological thriller about sisters and secrets and loss.

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris  Clarice Starling is one of my favourite characters of all time.

She exemplifies the heroic - flawed and vulnerable, and so brave she makes my teeth ache.

Marnie Rome owes a big debt to my early reading of Clarice.

The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas  Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is unlike any other fictional detective. A true original, possibly the best since Sherlock Holmes.

And it's wonderful how Vargas weaves history and legend into her stories.

She reminds me how much I loved the Greek myths as a girl.

Sarah Hilary ~ April 2016

Sarah Hilary lives in Bath with her daughter, where she writes quirky copy for a well-known travel publisher. 

She's also worked as a bookseller, and with the Royal Navy. An award-winning short story writer, Sarah won the Cheshire Prize for Literature in 2012.

Find out more about Sarah Hilary by visiting her website www.sarahhilary.com

Find her Author page on Facebook

Follow her on Twitter @sarah_hilary

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Relativity by Antonia Hayes

"Help," he said. "He's not breathing."

A tiny baby is rushed to hospital. Doctors suspect he was shaken by his father, who is later charged and convicted. The baby grows up in the care of his mother. Life goes on.

Twelve years later, Ethan is a singular young boy. Gifted with an innate affinity for physics and astronomy, Ethan sees the world in ways others simply can't - through a prism of light, time, stars and space.

Ethan is the centre of his mother's universe. Claire has tried to protect him from finding out what happened when he was a baby. But the older Ethan gets, the more questions he asks about his father.

A single, handwritten letter is all it takes to set off a dramatic chain of events, pulling both parents back together again into Ethan's orbit. As the years seem to warp and bend, the past is both relived and revealed anew for each of them.

Heart-wrenching, absorbing and magical, Relativity is an irresistible novel about science, love, unbreakable bonds and irreversible acts.

Relativity by Antonia Hayes is published By Corsair, an imprint of Little Brown, in hardback on 7 April 2016 and is the author's debut novel.

Every now and again a book comes along that takes me totally by surprise; Relativity is one of those books. The pure beauty and assurance of Antonia Hayes' writing feels like a smack in the face, it really is hauntingly, bewilderingly clever.

The first chapter, entitled 'Motion' is just ten sentences long, yet those opening words are gripping and vivid and set the scene for the excellent story that follows.

Twelve-year-old Ethan lives with his mother Claire in a Sydney suburb. Ethan doesn't know anything about his father, he doesn't know his name, or that he spent time in jail after he was convicted of harming four-month-old Ethan by shaking him violently and causing damage to his brain. Ethan and Claire live quietly together, Claire gave up her dreams of becoming a ballerina and Ethan loves physics and astronomy. The other kids at school think he is a freak, and even his best friend Will seems to hate him now.

Ethan is different, he can see sound waves and light, he can see time moving, he just doesn't realise that most people don't see things in the way that he does.

One explosive day, things come to a head. Ethan wants to know about his father, and the discovery of a letter causes an accident, and this is when the adults around him realise .... realise that he is more special that they realised.

Relativity is narrated in three separate voices. Ethan, his mother Claire, and his father Mark. Antonia Hayes shows incredible talent, empathy and understanding of each one of these characters with her ability to create three independent, yet intricately linked characters who the reader can relate to, and love. It is extraordinary that she has been able to portray Mark, the guy who damaged his tiny son, as a caring, intelligent and truly warm person.  Mark could so easily have been portrayed as a monster, yet this author has concentrated on the whole being, and whilst what he has done is not excused, it is explained.

Ethan's love of physics and all things science play a huge part of this story, and I was expecting to be a little 'blinded by science', but no, Antonia Hayes makes even the most difficult formula and theory very simple to understand, by using the voice and reasoning of a twelve-year-old boy.

Relativity really is a magical book. I was transfixed by it, pulled in immediately and held in its thrall until the final page. The complexity of the emotion is beautifully done, but light enough that the heartbreak doesn't become consuming.

This is story of family relationships, with guilt, blame and redemption the central theme. Relativity is intelligent, charming and really quite marvellous. I am so impressed by Relativity and can't wait to see what Antonia Hayes writes next.

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

From www.antoniahayes.com

Antonia Hayes, who grew up in Sydney and spent her twenties in Paris, lives in San Francisco with her husband and son.

Relativity is her first novel.

For more information about the author, and her writing, visit her website www.antoniahayes.com

Follow her on Twitter @antoniahayes

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BLOG TOUR ~ Somewhere Inside of Happy by Anna McPartlin ~ My Life In Books

'And just like that my boy was gone.'

Maisie Bean is a fighter. A survivor. Seventeen years ago, she went on a first date that went so badly it was enough to put the girl off chips. The marriage that followed was hell, but it gave her two children: funny, caring Jeremy and bullish but brilliant Valerie.

Just as it seems everything might finally start going right, sixteen-year-old Jeremy goes missing. The police descend and a media storm swirls, over five days of searching that hurtle towards an inevitable, terrible conclusion.

Maisie is facing another fight, and this time it's the fight of her life. But she's a survivor. Whatever the odds, she'll never give in. 

Welcome to the BLOG TOUR for Somewhere Inside of Happy by Anna McPartlin, published by Transworld on 7 April 2016.

I'm so thrilled to welcome Anna McPartlin to Random Things today.

Every year I do a round up of my top reads of the previous twelve months.

In 2015 Anna McPartlin's books featured twice on that list. I read and reviewed The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes at the beginning of the year, and her latest book, Somewhere Inside of Happy at the very end of 2015.

I adored both of those books, here's a link to my review of Somewhere Inside of Happy

"Somewhere Inside of Happy is warm, often funny, emotionally draining and quite heartbreaking.

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

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

My Life in Books ~ Anna McPartlin

The Famous Five by Enid Blyton   All 21 of them!  Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy The Dog felt like extended family. I started reading the books when I was seven. Every Saturday my mom would take me to McDonalds for my lunch and buy me a book. I'd disappear into my room and emerge bleary-eyed on Monday morning. I'd spend my time willing the week to pass quickly so that I could get my furry little paws on the next one.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend   It was probably the first comedic fiction I'd read and I just fell in love with it. Adrian's great love of Pandora and his agonizing over his age, spots and the demise of his parent's marriage all ring so incredibly real and true. The poems he submitted to the BBC and his descriptions of puberty made me laugh out loud but it also gave me an insight into my own psyche and that of all the stroppy teens around me. I was hooked.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson  I was 17 when I read it and it blew my mind. My mood and emotion would change from moment to moment and chapter to chapter. Fear turned into laughter turned to disgust turned to abject horror and around and around it went until I was exhausted and a little terrified of life. When I'd finished I felt grown up, like I'd been given a glimpse behind the curtain separating kids from adults. I cherish it for that reason but I've never read it again and I've never watched the film. I think that book was the right book at the right time and that is where I'll leave it.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte  I fell for Jane's strength and admired her courage and convictions. She was a woman before her time and someone to be reckoned with. I will admit I am possibly one of the few that really lamented her marrying that Rochester man. I never liked him. I thought she deserved better. I really was hoping she'd run off to India under the guise of St. John's sister. I wanted adventure for her and not some ordinary marriage but it didn't stop me from loving her.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens  Was the first book I read for school that I just couldn't put down. We were supposed to read two chapters a night for a number of weeks. I read it in two days. Pip's relationships with Miss Haversham, Stella and the convict were so raw, complicated and brilliant.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker  I can honestly say I loved and hated it in equal parts. I cried with temper for Celie and was absolutely heartbroken for Sofia. The sexism and racism haunted me. I had nightmares reading this book and it took a long time to complete it. The injustice burned a hole in me. It still does. I can still feel my temper flare when I think of what those cherished characters endured. I can honestly say it fundamentally changed how I viewed the world. It made me an unapologetic feminist and torch-bearer for equal rights.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes  My mother was wheelchair bound. Jojo's description of Will's frustration, his pain and suffering hit me hard and yet I laughed my ass off. It's unforgettable and the last book I read before I wrote The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes so it has a special little place in my heart.

The Barrytown Trilogy by Roddy Doyle  I read it whilst in hospital following a car accident. I laughed so hard the nurses used to come in to ask me what was going on. I'd read passages out to them and we'd enjoy it together. These were the characters and stories that made me think for the first time that maybe I could write. They felt so familiar, like I could pick up a pen and keep writing them long after he was done with them.

The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes  I read this on holiday last December and three months later I'm still laughing. Marian's the kind of writer you can quote. She's just has the best one-liners. She's so witty and her characters are warm and relatable. I want to be Stella Sweeney's friend. If I could pick five top characters of all time to have dinner with Stella would be one of them. I'm grinning now as I remember it.

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron  I'm a Nora Ephron fan. She was a trailblazer and so dry and so funny. She had me at When Harry Met Sally it was such a brilliant movie and so iconic. In her book she writes about women aging and nothing is off limits. She's so candid, engaging and hilarious. She makes me laugh, she moves me but she also makes me feel more confident and leaves me with the feeling that no matter what, us ladies will be OK.

Anna McPartlin - April 2016

Anna McPartlin is a novelist and scriptwriter. Her previous incarnation as a stand up comedian left an indelible mark. She describes herself as a slave to the joke and finds humour and humanity in even the darkest situations.

Anna lives in Wicklow with her husband and animals.

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes was a Richard and Judy selected title and a top ten bestseller in the UK and Ireland.

Her novels are: Pack Up The Moon (2006); Apart From The Crowd (2006); The Truth Will Out (2008); So What If I'm Broken (2009); The Space Between Us (2011); The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes (2014) and Somewhere Inside of Happy (2015)

More information about Anna McPartlin can be found at her website www.annamcpartlin.com

Follow her on Twitter @annamcpartlin

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Who's That Girl by Mhairi McFarlane

When Edie is caught in a compromising position at her colleague's wedding, all the blame falls on her - turns out that personal popularity in the office is not that different from your schooldays. 

Shamed online and ostracised by everyone she knows, her boss suggests an extended sabbatical - ghostwriting an autobiography for hot new acting talent, Eliot Owen. Easy, right?

Wrong. Banished back to her home town of Nottingham, Edie is not only dealing with a man who probably hasn't hear the word 'no' in a decade, but also suffering an excruciating regression to her teenage years as she moves back in with her widowed father and judgey, layabout sister.

When the world is asking who are you, it's hard not to question yourself.

Who's that girl? Edie is ready to find out. 

Who's That Girl by Mhairi McFarlane is published by Harper Collins on 7 April 2016 and is the author's fourth novel. I reviewed her first book You Had Me At Hello here on Random Things in January 2013, my review of Here's Looking At You was on Random Things in December 2013 and It's Not Me It's You was published in 2014.


Who's That Girl is a big fat book, my proof copy runs to over 500 pages, but it's such an engaging, well written story that the pages fly by in an instant. I was totally caught up in this story of Edie, her family, her friends and her enemies.

Edie is thirty-five. A Nottingham girl living in London, working as a copy writer and just about to attend the wedding of two of her colleagues. It's fair to say that Edie is fonder of Jack, the groom, than she is of Charlotte, the bride; they have a flirty relationship and once again Edie finds herself in the position of being 'the girl who everyone wanted, and nobody chose.' Until Jack chooses to kiss her, on his wedding day, and Charlotte spots them.

Who's That Girl is the story of Edie's life from that very moment onwards. Mhairi McFarlane creates amazing characters, her lead females are always likeable, realistic, a little bit quirky and fabulous fun. Edie is no exception, not since Bridget Jones, have I come across a female lead who I have liked so much. Yes, she makes huge mistakes, and yes there are times when she refuses to see what is in front of her, but she's a kind and loyal friend, good at heart, just sadly let down by people that she loves.

As in her previous novels, Mhairi McFarlane deals with some sombre and quite dark issues, but she deals with them so very well, working them into the plot line very cleverly which adds a depth to the story. Edie is forced to move back to her home town of Nottingham for a while, she's been away for a long time and whilst her widowed, still grieving and struggling Father welcomes her with open arms, her younger sister Meg really doesn't. Meg and Edie, whilst both in their thirties, revert to teenage, brattish behaviour when they find themselves in the same room together, and it is only the sanctuary offered by eccentric next door neighbour Margot that saves Edie from becoming a sister-batterer!

Oh, and Eliot. Eliot Owen, local boy turned celebrity actor, everyone wants a piece of him, and it's Edie's job to get to the real Eliot so that she can ghost write his biography, and publish it before the gutter press find out his secrets.

Secrets are the theme of Who's That Girl. Every character has some. Edie and her family have long-buried issues that slowly emerge. Eliot has his own demons to deal with, even Edie's closest friends have things that they've been hiding for some time.

Mhairi McFarlane's writing is so observant and modern, she's funny and sharp and her characters are amazing. She is able to capture some of life's most disturbing issues, including cyber-bullying, mental health and depression whilst keeping her story upbeat and at times, quite hilarious.

Who's That Girl is another excellent novel from an author who I really admire. She's writes modern, contemporary fiction that will appeal to all ages. She's very relevant, her characters are incredible. I'd really highly recommend this one.

Huge thanks to Jaime at Harper Collins who sent my copy for review.

Sunday Times bestselling author Mhairi McFarlane was born in Scotland in 1976 and her unnecessarily confusing name is pronounced Vah-Ree.

After some efforts at journalism, she started writing novels, and her first book You Had Me At Hello, was an instant success. She's now written four books and she lives in Nottingham with a man, and a cat.

Find her Author page on Facebook
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My Life In Books ~ talking to author Carole Matthews

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

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

From www.carolematthews.com

I'm really happy to welcome Carole Matthews to Random Things today. 

I've been reading Carole's books for almost twenty years now. 

Her first novel, Let's Meet on Platform 8 was published in 1997, her latest ~ her twenty-eighth,  The Chocolate Lover's Wedding will be released in paperback on 7 April 2016.

Carole's published novels: Let's Meet on Platform 8 (1997); A Whiff of Scandal (1998); More To Life Than This (1999); For Better, For Worse (2000); A Minor Indescretion (2001); A Compromising Position (2002); The Sweetest Taboo (2003); With Or Without You (2004); You Drive Me Crazy (2005); Welcome To The Real World (2006); The Chocolate Lover's Club (2007); The Chocolate Lover's Diet (2007); It's A Kind of Magic (2008); All You Need is Love (2008); The Difference A Day Makes (2009); That Loving Feeling (2009); It's Now Or Never (2010); The Only Way Is Up (2010); Wrapped Up In You (2011); Summer Daydreams (2012); With Love At Christmas (2012); A Cottage by the Sea (2013); Calling Mrs Christmas (2013); A Place To Call Home (2014); The Christmas Party (2014); The Cake Shop in the Garden (2015); The Chocolate Lover's Christmas (2015); The Chocolate Lover's Wedding (2016)

My Life in Books ~ Carole Matthews

The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger  As an only child, I'd been an avid reader all of my childhood, but I read this book when I was about thirteen and it was the first book that really blew me away. 

Perhaps I identified with the cynical teenager, Holden Caulfield as most teenagers would!

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding   I hated pretty much every book that I read as a set text in English lessons at school. Doing my English A Level nearly put me off reading for life. 

No one should be forced to read Chaucer!  The exception was The Lord of the Flies which I found totally gripping.

Lucky by Jackie Collins   I've said 'Lucky' but it could really be any of her books.

It gave me a love of reading commercial fiction and bad boys!

Riders by Jilly Cooper  For the same reason as above, really. 

Her books defined a generation and were fabulous fun. I haven't read them for a long time and not sure I'd find them so appealing now. 

Maybe I should give them another look.

Living It Up, Living It Down by Norma Curtis   This was probably the first book I read that featured ordinary people living in places that I'd been to. Before reading about movie stars, yachts and country estates - things that as a working class, northern lass, I'd never experienced. 

It gave me the idea that I might be able to write something too.

Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding  The book that launched a whole new genre of novels. 

I hope one day to meet Helen Fielding and buy her a big, sparkly drink. Due to the popularity of Bridget and books in that style, I've had lovely success in the UK and the USA and a career that's allowed me to write twenty-eight novels.

Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes   No one writes books quite like Marian Keyes, though I'm always very pleased to be compared to her!  Her first book, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, is still my favourite of hers.

A stand out book in the chicklit/romantic comedy genre.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory  I think if I had the sort of brain that could retain historical facts and dates, I'd love to write historical fiction. As it is, I leave it to the fabulous Philippa Gregory, Elizabeth Chadwick and Alison Weir.  

This is probably my favourite historical book of Philippa Gregory's and a good place to start if you haven't read her work. Though I'm a big fan of them all.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver   I do love a good ghost story and this is one of the best I've read. Set around an Arctic expedition, it's truly dark, atmospheric and, literally and emotionally, chilling. 

It will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. 

You won't want to turn the light off!

One Day by David Nicholls   A perfect piece of writing, in my humble opinion. I really identified with the subject matter. 

His last novel, Us, is also a cracker. I love his writing.

Thanks for having me, Anne. What a hard task to pick just ten books!   

Carole Matthews ~ April 2016 

Carole Matthews is the Sunday Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels.

In 2013, Summer Daydreams was shortlisted for the Melissa Nathan Award for Fiction about Life and Love. Carole was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists's Association Romantic Comedy RoNA in 2012 and inducted into the Reader Hall of Fame by the inaugural Festival of Romance.

Her novels dazzle and delight readers all over the world. She was given an Award for Outstanding Achievement by the Romantic Novelists's Association in 2015.

She is published in more than thirty countries and her books have sold to Hollywood.

For all the latest news from Carole, visit www.carolematthews.com

Find Carole on Facebook     Follow her on Twitter @carolematthews

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