New arrivals
The Storyteller by Pierre Jarawan (paperback, advance review copy courtesy of World Edition Books)
The enthralling search for a missing father
Samir leaves the safety and comfort of his family’s adopted home in Germany for volatile Beirut in an attempt to find his missing father. His only clues are an old photo and the bedtime stories his father used to tell him. The Storyteller follows Samir’s search for Brahim, the father whose heart was always yearning for his homeland, Lebanon.
In this moving and gripping novel about family secrets, love, and friendship, Pierre Jarawan does for Lebanon what Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan. He pulls away the curtain of grim facts and figures to reveal the intimate story of an exiled family torn apart by civil war and guilt. In this rich and skillful account, Jarawan proves that he too is a masterful storyteller.
Pre-order The Storyteller from Amazon UK (link provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme)
House of Beauty by Melba Escobar (paperback, Reading in Heels subscription box)
House of Beauty is a high-end salon in Bogotá’s exclusive Zona Rosa area, and Karen is one of its best beauticians. But there is more to her role than the best way to apply wax, or how to give the perfect massage. Her clients share their most intimate secrets with her. She knows all about their breast implants, their weekends in Miami, their divorces and affairs.
One rainy afternoon a teenage girl turns up for a treatment with Karen, dressed in her school uniform and smelling of alcohol. The very next day, the girl is found dead.
Karen was the last person to see the girl alive, and the girl’s mother is desperate to find out what she knows. Most important of all: who was her daughter going to meet that night?
On What Cathy Read Next last week
Blog posts
Monday – I shared some vital (and not so vital) statistics about my blog.
Tuesday – I published my introduction to my Buchan of the Month for March: The Path of the King by John Buchan.
Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next…and have a good nose around to see what other bloggers are reading. I also took part in the cover reveal for Shari Low’s forthcoming book, This Is Me.
Thursday – I shared my thoughts about the longlist for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2019 and published my review of a book I thought might have been a contender, All Among the Barley by Melissa Harrison.
Saturday – I took part in the blog tour for The Olive Garden Choir by Leah Fleming publishing my review of this heart-warming tale of a community coming together on a Greek island.
As always, thanks to everyone who has liked, commented on or shared my blog posts on social media this week.
On What Cathy Read Next this week
Currently reading
Planned posts
- Book Review: Josephine’s Daughter (The Golden City #5) by A.B. Michaels
- Blog Tour/Book Review: The Cornish Lady by Nicola Pryce
- Book Review: Louis & Louise by Julie Cohen
- Blog Tour/Book Review: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
- Top Ten Tuesday: Standalone Books That Need a Sequel
- Waiting on Wednesday
- Throwback Thursday: Sugar in the Blood by Andrea Stuart
- Book Review: So Much Life Left Over by Louis de Bernieres
