Category: Blog Tour

Blog Tour/Book Review: The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby

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I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby, alongside my tour buddy, Rowena at Murder Mayhem & More.   Thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in the tour and to No Exit Press for my advance review copy.

You can read my review below but do also check out the tour banner at the bottom of this post to see the other fabulous book bloggers taking part in the tour.

Praise for The Conviction of Cora Burns

  • ‘Downton Abbey meets Elizabeth Gaskell’ – GJ Minett, author of Lie In Wait and Anything For Her
  • ‘The Conviction of Cora Burns is a striking debut. Rich in gothic darkness and period detail, the brutality of Victorian Britain is exquisitely drawn. A beautifully-written story which enveloped me from first page to last’ – Amanda Jennings, author of The Cliff House and In Her Wake
  • ‘Kirby’s talent shines through her deft prose… I think this is a fantastic novel from an incredibly exciting new voice. I think fans of Sarah Waters would love this bold debut’ – Emily Elgar, author of If You Knew Her
  • ‘A gripping historical thriller with a compelling protagonist. I loved the period detail and can’t wait to read more from Carolyn Kirby’ – Sarah Ward, author of the DC Childs novels

The Conviction of Cora BurnsAbout the Book

Cora was born in a prison. But is this where she belongs?

Birmingham, 1885. Born in a gaol and raised in a workhouse, Cora Burns has always struggled to control the violence inside her.

Haunted by memories of a terrible crime, she seeks a new life working as a servant in the house of scientist Thomas Jerwood.  Here, Cora befriends a young girl, Violet, who seems to be the subject of a living experiment. But is Jerwood also secretly studying Cora…?

Format: Paperback (336 pp.)         Publisher: No Exit Press
Published: 21st March 2019           Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

Purchase Links*
Publisher | Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Conviction of Cora Burns on Goodreads

My Review

In her debut novel, Carolyn Kirby has set herself the ambitious task of handling multiple timelines and introducing the reader to a central character, Cora Burns, who at times exhibits both the best and worst aspects of human nature.   However, to my mind, the author meets this challenge ably.  True, the narrative, frequently shifting back and forth in time over the space of twenty years or so, requires some concentration from the reader but this effort will be amply repaid in my opinion.

The mystery surrounding Cora’s early life and the nature of her crime also demands a willingness on the part of the reader to allow themselves, as it were, to collect all the disparate pieces of the jigsaw and exercise patience for the final picture to be revealed.  To continue my analogy a little further, expect to find you have some of the pieces in entirely the wrong place or to discover they belong in a completely different jigsaw altogether!

I mentioned earlier that Cora’s character involves both light and dark – at times, very dark.  There are examples of tenderness, such as her patient creation of a doll’s gown, or her attempts at friendship with Violet, the young girl growing up in the Jerwood household.   But there is also very dark, such as Cora’s frequent imaginings of violence against others (and sometimes not just imaginings) and her guilt about the terrible crime she fears she may have committed, an act so horrific she has purged it from her memory.  Despite this, the reader (well, this one at least) can’t help rooting for the clever, feisty and spirited Cora, hoping she might be able to move on from her troubled past and make a happier life for herself.  I think the author’s skill is always to make us believe this is a possibility without making us completely sure.

The exploration of the debate between nature versus nurture is a key theme of the book.  There are those, like Thomas Jerwood, who hold fixed views on the matter and whose certainty in the rightness of their position and the ends to which they are prepared to go to prove it are positively frightening and seemingly have no regard for the wellbeing – mental or physical – of others.  The power of social position, financial clout and primitive views about the treatment of prisoners and those suffering with mental illness mean they can get away with just about anything.  On the other hand, there are those, thankfully, who hold more enlightened views.

So we have light and dark again and I was struck by how much duality plays a part in the book.  For example, key to the plot is the use of photography in which negatives are transformed into positives.  And, in a neat touch by the author, the taking of a photograph bookends the novel.

I could go on talking about the themes explored in the book because, aside from the intriguing mystery concerning Cora’s past, The Conviction of Cora Burns has so many other layers. Oh, and you can throw in a few Gothic elements as well.  (Did Mrs. Dix make anyone else think of Grace Poole in Jane Eyre?) It all adds up to an impressive debut and an intensely satisfying read that I can  wholeheartedly recommend to readers who like their historical fiction to have real depth.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, No Exit Press.

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In three words: Clever, compelling, absorbing

Try something similar…The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (read my review here)

Carolyn Kirby Author PicAbout the Author

Originally from Sunderland, Carolyn Kirby studied history at St Hilda’s College, Oxford before working for social housing and then as a teacher of English as a foreign language.

Her novel The Conviction of Cora Burns was begun in 2013 on a writing course at Faber Academy in London. The novel has achieved success in several competitions including as finalist in the 2017 Mslexia Novel Competition and as winner of the inaugural Bluepencilagency Award.

Carolyn has two grown-up daughters and lives with her husband in rural Oxfordshire.

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Blog Tour/Book Review: The American Agent (Maisie Dobbs #15) by Jacqueline Winspear

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I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear, alongside my tour buddy Karen at My Reading Corner.  Thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Allison & Busby for my review copy.

The American Agent is the fifteenth book in the bestselling Maisie Dobbs series, a series which has  sold over 200,000 copies in the UK to date.  You can read my review below.  Check out the tour poster at the bottom of this post to see the other fabulous book bloggers participating in the tour.

Praise for The Maisie Dobbs series

‘An outstanding historical series’ New York Times
‘Maisie Dobbs is a revelation.’ Alexander McCall Smith
‘I’m a huge Maisie Dobbs fan’ Lee Child
‘Wry and immensely readable’ Daily Mail
‘A series that seems to get better with every entry’ Wall Street Journal
‘Excellent…In Winspear’s capable hands, Maisie has evolved into a deeply sympathetic character. Readers will eagerly await her next outing.’ Publishers Weekly

the american agentAbout the Book

When an American war correspondent’s murder is concealed by British authorities, Maisie Dobbs agrees to work with an agent of the US Department of Justice to help an old friend discover the truth. With German bombs raining down on London, Maisie is torn between the demands of solving this dangerous case and the need to protect a young evacuee.

And what will happen when she faces losing her dearest friend and the possibility that she might be falling in love again?

A&B LogoFormat: Hardcover (350 pp.)    Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 26th March 2019      Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime, Mystery

Purchase Links*
Publisher | Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The American Agent on Goodreads

My Review

The American Agent has made me a very happy reader.  Firstly, because I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  Secondly, because it’s introduced me to a new historical crime series (a genre I love) to follow in future. Thirdly because, being the fifteenth in the series, it means I’ve got fourteen previous instalments to look forward to reading.  At this point, I’ll assure readers like myself coming new to the series that The American Agent works perfectly well as a standalone read.  Naturally, there are a few brief references to events and characters from previous books in the series so there are things that won’t come as so much of a surprise as if I’d read the series from the beginning.  However, thanks to the skill of the author, I didn’t feel these references gave me the full story.  In fact, they left me wanting to find out more about the context in which they had occurred.

What we now refer to as the “Blitz”, the intense bombing of London and other British cities between Autumn 1940 and Spring 1941 (which Jacqueline Winspear talks more  about in her fascinating Author’s Note) is the backdrop to Maisie’s investigation into the death of American journalist, Catherine Saxon.   The atmosphere of a bomb-ravaged London and the nightly peril facing Londoners is brilliantly conveyed.  I really loved the inclusion of excerpts from actual radio broadcasts and newspaper articles from the time, including those by war correspondent and broadcaster, Ed Murrow.   (Incidentally, he makes a cameo appearance in one of my favourite films set in World War 2, Sink the Bismarck! (1960), starring Kenneth More and based on the book, The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck by C.S Forester.)

The fact the victim is an American journalist broadcasting about the brutal realities of war which British civilians – not just its armed forces – are facing turns out to be significant at a time when politicians in the United States are divided over to what extent their nation should get involved and come to the aid of Britain and her allies.  For both interventionists and isolationists, propaganda plays an important role.  So some contemporary echoes there…

The nationality of the victim also involves Maisie teaming up with American agent, Mark Scott, (with whom she has history, we learn) to work on the investigation. However, she starts to wonder what has brought him so conveniently to London and just what exactly is the nature of his role especially as Maisie finds herself doing the majority of the investigative legwork (with the assistance of the trusty Billy) despite at the same time doing nightly shifts driving an ambulance through the blitzed streets of London.  Furthermore, she has matters of a personal nature concerning her as well.

I have to say I can now understand completely why so many readers have fallen in love with Maisie Dobbs as a character.  She’s perceptive, independent-minded, thoughtful, observant and compassionate.  For various reasons, Maisie feels a personal responsibility to find out who killed Catherine Saxon and this empathy characterises her dealings with other people drawn into the investigation.   I particularly liked the way Maisie recognises the impact of sudden death on those touched by it and the investigation that follows, even if this is necessary to find out the truth.  ‘She knew that death unsettled any family, but a murder was akin to a bomb dropping – the living were cast this way and that as debris from the investigation fell around them.’    In an especially neat touch, once the case has been resolved, Maisie makes a point of revisiting the key people she’s come into contact with during her investigation, giving them the equivalent of a literary curtain call.

Maisie Dobbs now has a new fan and I can wholeheartedly recommend The American Agent to readers looking for a historical crime series that combines an intriguing, well-constructed mystery, an engaging leading character and convincing period detail.

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In three words: Atmospheric, compelling, suspenseful

Try something similar…Nemesis (Tom Wilde #3) by Rory Clements (read my review here)

jacqueline-winspear-pressAbout the Author

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in Kent and emigrated to the USA in 1990. She has written extensively for journals, newspapers and magazines, and has worked in book publishing on both sides of the Atlantic. The Maisie Dobbs series of crime novels is beloved by readers worldwide – always going into the New York Times top 10 on publication.

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