#WWWWednesday – 30th August 2023

WWWWednesdays

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!


Currently reading

AdamaAdama by Lavie Tidhar (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

There is no land without blood – no adama without dam.

In 1946, a young Ruth begins building a new life in Palestine, haunted by the death of her family in Europe and driven by youthful ideals in a land hostile to her presence. Her sister, Shoshana, survives in the Displaced Persons camps of Germany and joins her in Palestine, but dreams of escaping to distant America.

Her lovers, Dov and Israel, die in war, and her children try to serve the land Ruth bled for, only to find their own tragic ends or means of escape. As one generation begets another, their lives become entwined into a dark tapestry of secrets and lies, of revenge, forbidden love and murder.

A sweeping historical epic following four generations of a single family as they struggle to hold on to their land and each other.

WreckerWrecker by Noel O’Reilly (HQ)

Shipwrecks are part of life in the remote village of Porthmorvoren, Cornwall. And as the sea washes the bodies of the drowned onto the beach, it also brings treasures: barrels of liquor, exotic fruit, the chance to lift a fine pair of boots from a corpse, maybe even a jewel or two.

When, after a fierce storm, Mary Blight rescues a man half-dead from the sea, she ignores the whispers of her neighbours and carries him home to nurse better. Gideon Stone is a Methodist minister from Newlyn, a married man. Touched by Mary’s sacrifice and horrified by the superstitions and pagan beliefs the villagers cling to, Gideon sets out to bring light and salvation to Porthmorvoren by building a chapel on the hill.

But the village has many secrets and not everyone wants to be saved. As Mary and Gideon find themselves increasingly drawn together, jealousy, rumour and suspicion is rife. Gideon has demons of his own to face, and soon Mary’s enemies are plotting against her…


Recently finished

China Blue (Dudley Sisters #3) by Madalyn Morgan

Chasing Ghosts (Dudley Sisters #6) by Madalyn Morgan

The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse (Mantle)


What Cathy (will) Read Next

The Mystery of Yew Tree HouseThe Mystery of Yew Tree House by Lesley Thomson (ARC, Head of Zeus)

In the pleasant countryside of Bishopstone lies a house with a pill box in the backyard. Here, Rupert and Adelaide Stride raise their two daughters, Clare and Rosa, alongside a young evacuee, Henry. But when war calls, Rupert dies on the beaches of Dunkirk, leaving his family to fend for themselves as bombs drop and food is rationed.

2023. Decades later, held afloat by state pensions and unable to heat the large house – nor able to afford to leave – Clare and Rosa have retreated to the annex, where they remain single and trapped in the place they were Yew Tree House.

When the sisters put their rooms up for rent, Jack Harmon sees the perfect spot for a month away with his twins and cleaner-turned-detective Stella Darnell. Their first family holiday. But one day, as the twins run free through the garden, they discover a skeleton with a hole in its skull hidden in the brambles of a decommissioned WWII pill box.

This home has always been a complicated one, but Stella and Jack will have to dig deep into a history of revenge, desperation, and wartime tragedy to uncover the truth of what happened at Yew Tree House…

#BookReview China Blue by Madalyn Morgan #20BooksofSummer23

About the Book

At the beginning of World War II Claire Dudley joins the WAAF. She excels in languages and is recruited by the Special Operations Executive to work in German occupied France with Captain Alain Mitchell, of the RCAF, and the French Resistance.

Against SOE rules Claire falls in love. The affair has to be kept secret. Even after her lover falls into the hands of the Gestapo, Claire cannot tell anyone they are more than comrades.

As the war reaches its climax, Claire fears she will never again see the man she loves.

Format: Paperback (356 pages) Publisher:
Publication date: 21st May 2015 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find China Blue on Goodreads

Purchase link 
Amazon UK 
Link provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme


My Review

China Blue is the third book in the Dudley Sisters series but can be read as a standalone. (It has since been republished by Storm Publishing with the title Betrayal.)

In the first part of the book the reader gets an insight, through Claire’s eyes, into the meticulous process for assessing suitability to join the Special Operations Executive and the training to prepare agents for active service: physical tests, parachute training, interrogation techniques and agent tradecraft. Claire is also given her code name – China Blue. Being close to her sisters and her friend, Eddie, Claire finds it difficult not being able to confide in them the role she is about to undertake, or the risks it involves.

It’s during Claire’s training that she first encounters Captain Alain ‘Mitch’ Mitchell. In shades of Pride & Prejudice, they don’t hit it off to begin with but it’s not long before that changes.

I found Claire’s transformation from assured, competent, fearless young woman to lovelorn girl a little sudden. She throws caution to the wind (with, I’m afraid, rather predictable consequences) and disregards everything she’s been told about what to do if a fellow agent is captured. The fact personal considerations seemed to take precedence over her role I thought risked her becoming more of a liability than an asset.

The author creates a believable sense of jeopardy with Resistance members ever mindful of the possibility of discovery or betrayal and the population at risk of being on the receiving end of random acts of violence by German soldiers. Personally I would have loved more detail about Claire’s work with the Resistance and less of the romantic storyline but I know other readers may think differently.

China Blue is an engaging wartime love story with moments of real drama.

In three words: Romantic, dramatic, emotional

Try something similarDaughters of War by Dinah Jefferies


About the Author

Madalyn Morgan was an actress for more than thirty years working in Repertory theatre, the West End, film and television. She is a radio presenter and journalist, writing articles for newspapers and magazines.

Madalyn was brought up in Lutterworth, at the Fox Inn. The pub was a great place for an aspiring actress and writer to live, as there were so many different characters to study and accents to learn. At twenty-four, Madalyn gave up a successful hairdressing salon and wig-hire business for a place at East 15 Drama College, and a career as an actress.

In 2000, with fewer parts available for older actresses, Madalyn taught herself to touch type, completed a two-year correspondence course with The Writer’s Bureau and started writing. After living in London for thirty-six years, she has returned to her home town of Lutterworth, swapping two window boxes and a mortgage, for a garden and the freedom to write. (Photo: Twitter profile)

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