#WWWWednesday – 20th July 2022

whatcathyreadnext7 Comments

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

The Cleaner of ChartresThe Cleaner of Chartres by Salley Vickers (Penguin)

There is something special about the ancient cathedral of Chartres, with its mismatched spires, astonishing stained glass and strange labyrinth. And there is something special too about Agnès Morel, the mysterious woman who is to be found cleaning it each morning.

No one quite knows where she came from – not the diffident Abbé Paul, who discovered her one morning twenty years ago, sleeping in the north porch; nor lonely Professor Jones, whose chaotic existence she helps to organise; nor Philippe Nevers, whose neurotic sister and newborn child she cares for; nor even the irreverent young restorer, Alain Fleury, who works alongside her each day and whose attention she catches with her tawny eyes, her colourful clothes and elusive manner. And yet everyone she encounters would surely agree that she is subtly transforming their lives, even if they couldn’t quite say how.

But with a chance meeting in the cathedral one day, the spectre of Agnès’ past returns, provoking malicious rumours from the prejudiced Madame Beck and her gossipy companion Madame Picot. As the hearsay grows uglier, Agnès is forced to confront her history, and the mystery of her origins finally unfolds. #20BooksofSummer22

That Bonesetter WomanThat Bonesetter Woman by Frances Quinn (eARC, Simon & Schuster)

Meet Endurance Proudfoot – England’s strongest woman, boldest adventurer and first female bonesetter.

Endurance (Durie) Proudfoot only wants one thing in life – to follow her father and grandfather into the family business of bonesetting. It’s a physically demanding job, requiring strength, nerves of steel and discretion – and not the job for a woman.

But Durie isn’t like other women. She’s strong and stubborn and determined to get her own way. And she finds that she has a talent at bonesetting – her big hands and lack of grace have finally found their natural calling.

LearwifeLearwife by J. R. Thorp (Canongate)

“I am the queen of two crowns, banished fifteen years, the famed and gilded woman, bad-luck baleful girl, mother of three small animals, now gone. I am fifty-five years old. I am Lear’s wife. I am here.”

Word has come. Care-bent King Lear is dead, driven mad and betrayed. His three daughters too, broken in battle. But someone has survived: Lear’s queen. Exiled to a nunnery years ago, written out of history, her name forgotten. Now she can tell her story.

Though her grief and rage may threaten to crack the earth open, she knows she must seek answers. Why was she sent away in shame and disgrace? What has happened to Kent, her oldest friend and ally? And what will become of her now, in this place of women? To find peace she must reckon with her past and make a terrible choice – one upon which her destiny, and that of the entire abbey, rests.

Recently finished

Lucky Jack by S. Bavey (josephtailor)

What Cathy (will) Read Next

TheBoyWhoSawThe Boy Who Saw (Solomon Creed #2) by Simon Toyne (Harper Collins)

Who is Solomon Creed? A dangerous psychiatric patient, who has escaped from a high-security facility in America, or an innocent amnesiac trying to establish his true identity?

His search for the truth about himself takes Solomon to the beautiful southern French town of Cordes. But his arrival coincides with the brutal murder of an elderly French tailor, the words ‘Finishing what was begun’ daubed in blood on the walls.

Instinctively, Solomon knows he must help the tailor’s granddaughter and great grandson escape, and together they go on the run. Their flight, though, will set in motion a terrible sequence of events, leading to the exposure of a far-reaching conspiracy with its origins in the Holocaust but with terrible consequences for modern-day Europe. And what will it mean for Solomon himself?  #20BooksofSummer2022

#BlogTour #BookReview Lucky Jack by S. Bavey

whatcathyreadnext2 Comments

Lucky JackWelcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Lucky Jack by S. Bavey. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Els at B for Bookreview and Gina at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

WinThere’s also a (US only) giveaway with a chance to win a signed copy of Lucky Jack. Enter via Rafflecopter here.

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Lucky JackAbout the Book

“One of the perils of being a sniper during the First World War was the likelihood of a grenade going off right next to you and burying you alive.”

Meet Jack Rogers. Born in 1894, he once locked eyes with Queen Victoria and was one of the first travellers on London’s ‘Tube’. An early car owner, he had many escapades on his days out to Brighton, including a time when his brakes failed and he had to drive through central London without them!

His skills as an entertainer earned him popularity throughout his life, and kept him out of the deadly mines while a prisoner during the First World War. At the tender age of 103 Jack earned the title of ‘The World’s Oldest Columnist’ as he began dictating his life’s exploits to a reporter from the local newspaper.

Format: Paperback (225 pages)              Publisher: josephtailor
Publication date: 19th November 2021 Genre: Memoir

Find Lucky Jack on Goodreads

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

My Review

In Lucky Jack, the author has used family memories and published anecdotes from her grandfather’s time as ‘The World’s Oldest Columnist’ for his local newspaper to construct a first person account of his life.

In the first section of the book Jack recalls childhood scrapes, mischievous pranks, family holidays and days out, as well as occasions when he was the witness to significant events such as the opening of the London underground. Later he reflects on events such as acquiring his first car, his marriage and the birth of his son. The threads that run through Jack’s life are family, hard work and a sense of fun.

However I’m sure I won’t be alone in finding the sections of the book in which he recalls his experiences during the First World War to be the most powerful. (I believe an expanded version could have made a book in itself.) Like many of the other young men who signed up, he had no idea what was awaiting him in France. ‘Waiting to go over the top was a terrible, gut-wrenching feeling.’ Somehow he survives being buried by debris from an explosion and endures unimaginably harsh treatment during his time as a prisoner-of-war. ‘The hunger and weakness we experienced as prisoners is like nothing else I have ever had to endure in all of my long life.’ He describes some terrible experiences but with a remarkable degree of equanimity, perhaps due to the passage of time or because of his positive approach to life.  Nevertheless it’s clear the memories of those events, and of the comrades who didn’t make it back, stayed with him forever.

Lucky Jack is a remarkable account of a long life well-lived. Although Jack describes himself as having been ‘blessed with good luck’, I’d say that it’s his fortitude, determination and cheeky sense of humour that shines through. You can view many photographs of Jack and his family, including those in the book, on the author’s website.

In three words: Fascinating, honest, uplifting

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Author_pic Sue BaveyAbout the Author

Sue Bavey is an English mum of two living in Massachussetts since 2003 with her husband, kids, a cat named Midnight, a bunny named Nutmeg, a leopard gecko named Ziggy Stardust and occasional frogs and salamanders. Lucky Jack is her grandfather, Henry John Rogers’ biography.

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