My Week in Books – 27th May ’18

New arrivals  

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker (eARC, NetGalley)

From the Booker Prize-winning author of Regeneration and one of our greatest contemporary writers on war comes a reimagining of the most famous conflict in literature – the legendary Trojan War.

When her city falls to the Greeks, Briseis’s old life is shattered. She is transformed from queen to captive, from free woman to slave, awarded to the god-like warrior Achilles as a prize of war. And she’s not alone. On the same day, and on many others in the course of a long and bitter war, innumerable women have been wrested from their homes and flung to the fighters. The Trojan War is known as a man’s story: a quarrel between men over a woman, stolen from her home and spirited across the sea. But what of the other women in this story, silenced by history? What words did they speak when alone with each other, in the laundry, at the loom, when laying out the dead? In this magnificent historical novel, Pat Barker charts one woman’s journey through the chaos of the most famous war in history, as she struggles to free herself and to become the author of her own story.

A Long Island Story by Rick Geloski (eARC, NetGalley)

It is 1953, a heat wave is sweeping across America and the Grossmans – Ben, Addie and their two children – are moving their lives from the political heart of Washington DC to suburban Long Island. Benny was a successful lawyer in the Department of Justice, but all that has come tumbling down. With the McCarthy era of paranoia, persecution, and propaganda at its height, his past has come back to haunt him, forcing him to pack up his family and leave the capital behind.

With their future uncertain, life in Long Island starts to open old wounds for Ben and Addie, both start to wonder if they were meant for more, whether their future might look different than they planned, and whether their marriage – their family – is worth fighting for . . .

A Long Island Story is a portrait of a marriage in crisis, of a unique and fascinating period in US history and of a seemingly perfect family fighting their demons behind closed doors.

Song by Michelle Jana Chan (hardcover, review copy courtesy of Unbound and Random Things Tours)

Opening in the mid-nineteenth-century, this dazzling debut novel traces the voyage of Song, a boy who leaves his impoverished family in rural China to seek his fortune. Song may have survived the perilous journey to the colony of British Guiana in the Caribbean, but once there he discovers riches are hard to come by, as he finds himself working as an indentured plantation worker.

Between places, between peoples, and increasingly aware that circumstances of birth carry more weight than accomplishments or good deeds, Song fears he may live as an outsider forever. This is a far-reaching and atmospheric story spanning nearly half a century and half the globe, and though it is set in the past, Song’s story of emigration and the quest for opportunity is, in many ways, a very contemporary tale.

The Teacher (DS Imogen Grey #1) by Katerina Diamond (ebook, NetGalley)

You think you know who to trust? You think you know the difference between good and evil? You’re wrong…

The body of the head teacher of an exclusive Devon school is found hanging from the rafters in the assembly hall.  Hours earlier he’d received a package, and only he could understand the silent message it conveyed. It meant the end.

As Exeter suffers a rising count of gruesome deaths, troubled DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles must solve the case and make their city safe again.  But as they’re drawn into a network of corruption, lies and exploitation, every step brings them closer to grim secrets hidden at the heart of their community.

And once they learn what’s motivating this killer, will they truly want to stop him?

The Artist and the Soldier by Angelle Petta (ebook, review copy courtesy of the author)

Two young men come of age and fall in love, set against the backdrop of true events during World War II.

It’s 1938. Bastian Fisher and Max Amsel meet at an American-Nazi camp, Siegfried. Neither have any idea what to do with their blooming, confusing feelings for one another. Before they can begin to understand, the pair is yanked apart and forced in opposite directions.

Five years later, during the heart of World War II, Bastian’s American army platoon lands in Salerno, Italy. Max is in Nazi-occupied Rome where he has negotiated a plan to hire Jews on as ‘extras’ in a movie—an elaborate ruse to escape the Nazis. Brought together by circumstance and war, Bastian and Max find one another again in Rome.

Exploring the true stories of Camp Siegfried and the making of the film, La Porta del Cielo, The Artist and the Soldier sheds light on largely untouched stories in American and Italian history.

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On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Monday – I took part in the blog tour for I Will Find You by Daniela Sacerdoti sharing my review of this emotional dual time romance set in Scotland.  I also published my reviews of The Magpie Tree by Katherine Stansfield and Mr Peacock’s Possessions by Lydia Syson, both great historical fiction novels.

Tuesday – I was pleased to mark publication day by publishing my review of The Biographies of Ordinary People, Vol. 2 by Nicole Dieker, described as a ‘millennial Little Women’.   This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Best Character Names and I decided to give my list a John Buchan theme.

Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just finished reading, what I’m reading now and what I’ll be reading next.   I also participated in the blog tour for That Summer in Puglia by Valeria Vescina, sharing my review of this compelling story of love, loss and regret.

Thursday –My Throwback Thursday book was The Scribe’s Daughter by Stephanie Churchill.  The follow-up book, The King’s Daughter, is in my review pile and I was pleased to learn the author is working on a third book in the series.  I also shared a fabulous guest post by Jim Kelly about his research for historical crime mystery, The Great Darkness, which I read recently and loved.

Friday – It was time for another of my Fact in Fiction features where I pick out interesting things I’ve learned through reading novels.  This week my list included training cormorants to catch fish, Cornish dialect and an Italian liqueur.

Saturday – I published a write-up of an evening spent listening to local authors, Claire Dyer and Amanda Jennings, talk about their current books, The Last Day and The Cliff House.

Challenge updates

• Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge – 79 out of 156 books read, 3 more than last week
• Classics Club Challenge – 14 out of 50 books read, same as last week
• NetGalley/Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2018 (Gold) – 29 ARCs read and reviewed out of 50, 4 more than last week
• From Page to Screen– 10 book/film comparisons out of 15 completed, same as last week
• 2018 TBR Pile Challenge – 5 out of 12 books read, same as last week
• Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2018 – 37 books out of 50 read, same as last week
• When Are You Reading? Challenge 2018 – 7 out of 12 books read, same as last week
• What’s In A Name Reading Challenge – 1 out of 6 books read, same as last week
• Buchan of the Month – 4 out of 12 books read, same as last week

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On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

• Book Review: The Last Day by Claire Dyer
• Book Review: War Girl Ursula (War Girl #1) by Marion Kummerow
• Book Review: A Lost Lady of Old Years by John Buchan
• Book Review: The Concubine’s Child by Carol Jones