Category: HF Reading Challenge

Blog Tour/Book Review: Night Flight to Paris by David Gilman

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My grateful thanks to Florence at Head of Zeus for inviting me to join the blog tour for David Gilman’s latest book, Night Flight to Paris.  You can read my review below.  Do check out the tour banner at the bottom of this post to see details of the other great book bloggers who have taken part in the tour and shared extracts from the books or guest posts by David Gilman.

NIGHT FLIGHT TO PARISAbout the Book

PARIS, 1943. The swastika flies from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Soldiers clad in field grey patrol the streets. Buildings have been renamed, books banned, art stolen and people disappeared. Amongst the missing is an Allied intelligence cell.

Gone to ground? Betrayed? Dead? Britain’s Special Operations Executive need to find out. They recruit ex-Parisian and Bletchley Park codebreaker Harry Mitchell to return to the city he fled two years ago.

Mitchell knows Occupied Paris – a city at war with itself. Informers, gangsters, collaborators and Resistance factions are as ready to slit each other’s throats as they are the Germans’. The occupiers themselves are no better: the Gestapo and the Abwehr – military intelligence – are locked in their own lethal battle for dominance. Mitchell knows the risks: a return to Paris not a mission – it’s a death sentence.

But he has good reason to put his life on the line: the wife and daughter he was forced to leave behind have fallen into the hands of the Gestapo and Michell will do whatever it takes to save them. But with disaster afflicting his mission from the outset, it will take all his ingenuity, all his courage, to even get into Paris… unaware that every step he takes towards the capital is a step closer to a trap well set and baited.

Format: Hardcover, ebook (496 pp.)    Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 9th August 2018            Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller

Purchase Links*
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 Night Flight to Paris on Goodreads

My Review

An author writing a book set in World War 2 featuring the French Resistance is entering pretty crowded – or should I say occupied (sorry) – territory.  There’s Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Kate Mosse’s Citadel, to name but two.  Thankfully, in David Gilman’s skilful hands, the reader will find plenty that is original and compelling in Night Flight to Paris.

What I particularly admired was the way the author convincingly portrayed the constant state of jeopardy in which those working undercover in occupied France or as part of the Resistance lived on a daily basis and its emotional and psychological impact on them.   Imagine a situation where a word or gesture out of place – even something as simple as the way you order your coffee – can mark you out as a stranger or enemy agent, bringing you to the attention of the authorities.  In addition, a situation where informers are everywhere and it can be difficult  – actually, almost impossible – to know who to trust.  I  loved the detail of the tradecraft necessary to operate undercover, introducing me to concepts such as duress codes.

The cruelty and ruthlessness of the German authorities towards enemy agents and members of the Resistance they capture is graphically displayed.  But, in time of war, as the author shows, there is a degree of ruthlessness required from everyone involved.  Uncomfortable, potentially life-changing decisions and actions need to be taken in which personal feelings may come into conflict with mission objectives.  Mitchell, in particular,  faces this dilemma on numerous occasions.  ‘What if his feelings threatened to get in the way of everything that still needed to be done? He could not afford to lose focus.  Lives depended on him seeing the operation through and being sufficiently detached to make quick decision.’  But how can you remain detached when it’s family members, people you care about or who have come to depend on you who will be affected by the decisions you make?

The author describes the complex, and at times, baffling hierarchies and different political and military groupings that exist within the Resistance and within the French and German authorities in the occupied territories.   As one character explains: ‘There were a lot of people operating in Paris.  Different groups, different political persuasions.  Mix that in with the criminal element and you couldn’t tell who was betraying whom.’ The distrust and rivalry between the different groups, and in some cases the personal rivalry, will play an increasingly important part as the story unfolds.

Night Flight to Paris immerses the reader in a world where danger, suspicion and fear is a constant companion.  It’s populated with characters whose lives the reader comes to care about deeply – and others that one is pleased to see meet a sticky end!   With its rich mixture of atmospheric period detail, dramatic action scenes and compelling story line, Night Flight to Paris is a must-read for fans of historical fiction.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Head of Zeus, in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Compelling, dramatic, immersive

Try something similar…Flight Before Dawn by Megan Easley-Walsh (read my review here)

David GilmanAbout the Author

David Gilman enjoyed many careers – including fire-fighter, paratrooper and photographer – before turning to writing full time.

He is an award-winning author and screenwriter, and was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Writing Prize 2017.

Connect with David

Website  ǀ  Facebook ǀ  Twitter  ǀ  Goodreads

Night Flight to Paris Blog Tour

 

Blog Tour/Book Review/Giveaway: The Mistress of Pennington’s by Rachel Brimble

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I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for The Mistress of Pennington’s by Rachel Brimble.  Set in 1910, it’s described as a compelling tale of female empowerment in Bath’s leading department store and perfect for fans of the TV series Mr Selfridge and The Paradise.

Plus, there’s a giveaway (open internationally) with a chance for one lucky person to win a £20/$20 Amazon Gift Card.  Enter using the Rafflecopter link here.

Giveaway Terms and Conditions – The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then the giveaway organiser reserves the right to select an alternative winner.  Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winner’s information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time the data will be deleted.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

The Mistress of PenningtonsAbout the Book

Elizabeth Pennington should be the rightful heir of Bath’s premier department store through her enterprising schemes and dogged hard work. Her father, Edward Pennington believes his daughter lacks the business acumen to run his empire and is resolute a man will succeed him.

Determined to break from her father’s iron-clad hold and prove she is worthy of inheriting the store, Elizabeth forms an unlikely alliance with ambitious and charismatic master glove-maker Joseph Carter. United they forge forward to bring Pennington’s into a new decade, embracing woman’s equality and progression whilst trying not to mix business and pleasure.

Can this dream team thwart Edward Pennington’s plans for the store? Or will Edward prove himself an unshakeable force who will ultimately ruin both Elizabeth and Joseph?

Format: Paperback, ebook (454 pp.)    Publisher: Aria Fiction
Published: 1st July 2018      Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Kobo
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Mistress of Pennington’s on Goodreads

My Review

Elizabeth Pennington seeks to be ‘Mistress’ of Pennington’s, the department store owned and run (with a very firm hand) by her father, Edward, but she’s not there yet.  Recalling the words of her mother, ‘Go forth and conquer the world, Elizabeth’, Elizabeth hopes things are about to change, with the help of talented glove-maker, Joseph Carter.

One can perhaps forgive the instant attraction – from their very first glimpse of each other – between the beautiful Elizabeth and the handsome Joseph, since it soon becomes apparent they share a history of tragedy in their personal lives and recognise in each other a similar social outlook and driving ambition.  For Joseph, the attraction is heightened by the fact that Elizabeth seems to possess the same qualities as a woman who played a big part in his life and whose influence still drives him.  For Elizabeth, the attraction is heightened by the difference she sees between Joseph and the sort of men her father favours as potential suitors – men who’ve achieved their wealth and position in society through inheritance rather than their own endeavours.    However, both Elizabeth and Joseph have reservations about entering into a relationship that might become more than merely professional.  When it becomes apparent there is previous history between the two families, things become even more complicated.

The book is set in an interesting period when the campaign for women’s suffrage was reaching its peak.  The prejudice those courageous and doughty campaigners faced is encapsulated in the character of Edward Pennington, who clearly believes women are good for nothing more than child rearing or providing pleasure in the bedroom.    Edward finds it difficult to see beyond Elizabeth’s gender and recognise her obvious business acumen, seeing her new ideas for Pennington’s as a threat rather than as a valuable contribution to the success of the business (as you suspect he would if they had come from a man).  For example, her suggestion of a trial of Joseph’s designs elicits the dismissive response: ‘Will you be able to control your feminine desires long enough to wrangle a profitable deal for the store?’

It’s also a time when the opportunities for mass production and mass marketing are being explored by those with vision in the commercial world.  Edward Pennington definitely does not fall into this category.  You get the feeling that, even if the story line was moved to the modern day, Pennington’s would be the only department store without an online presence.

I haven’t watched either of the TV series with which the book has been compared – Mr. Selfridge and The Paradise – so can’t comment on the accuracy of the comparison.  However, I can envision The Mistress of Pennington’s making ideal Sunday night viewing.  I can also see the book, with its engaging leading characters, period setting and romantic story line, appealing to Rachel Brimble’s many fans and to those looking for a new historical fiction saga in which to become engrossed.   There are some loose ends – including one quite large one – left unresolved, no doubt deliberately so they can be picked up in future books in the series.

I received a review copy courtesy of Rachel’s Random Resources in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Engaging, light, romance

Try something similar…The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd (read my review here)

Rachel BrimbleAbout the Author

Rachel lives with her husband and two teenage daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK. Since 2007, she has had several novels published by small US presses, eight books published by Harlequin Superromance (Templeton Cove Stories) and four Victorian romances with eKensington/Lyrical.

In January 2018, she signed a four-book deal with Aria Fiction for a brand new Edwardian series set in Bath’s finest department store. The first book, The Mistress of Pennington’s was released in July 2018.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America, and was selected to mentor the Superromance finalist of So You Think You Can Write 2014 contest. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England.

Connect with Rachel

Website ǀ  Blog | Facebook  ǀ  Twitter  ǀ  Instagram ǀ Goodreads

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