Tag: books

#TopTenTuesday Ten Debut Novels I Enjoyed #TuesdayBookBlog

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Top Ten TuesdayTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

  • Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
  • Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
  • Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
  • Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Debut Novels I Enjoyed, a topic suggested by Angela at Reading Frenzy. The publication of a debut novel must be a special thing for an author and, for a reader, it’s the chance to be in at the beginning of what might be a long term relationship with a writer’s work. Here are ten debut novels that I awarded at least 4 out of 5 stars. (Some of the authors have written nonfiction, poetry or short stories before publishing their novels.) Links from each title will take you to my full review.

  1. In the Garden of Sorrows by Karen Jewell – Passionate, moving and powerful story of love and loss in the aftermath of WW1
  2. Alvesdon by James Holland – Brilliant combination of emotional family saga and fascinating wartime story
  3. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley – Mindbending blend of science fiction and romance with a dash of historical fiction and an element of mystery 
  4. Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson – Lovely coming-of-age story that is just as delightful as its vibrant cover
  5. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan – Powerful and immersive story set in Malaysia that reveals a lesser known aspect of the events of WW2
  6. The Unheard by Anne Worthington – A moving story with unforgettable characters which, although short, packs a real punch
  7. In Defence of the Act by Effie Black – A thought-provoking, poignant and powerful story that explores whether it can ever be right for a person to take their own life 
  8. Banyan Moon by Thao Thai – An absorbing multi-generational story about love, loss, motherhood and the healing of fractured family relationships
  9. The New Life by Tom Crewe – An intricate, detailed and thought-provoking exploration of the search for sexual freedom and equality in Victorian Britain
  10. The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph – A thoroughly entertaining historical novel that reveals events in the life of a remarkable man

Have you read any of my picks? Do you actively seek out debut authors?

Book cover of The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Book cover of Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson

Book Review – In the Garden of Sorrows by Karen Jewell @KarenJewellBook #20booksofsummer24

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About the Book

Book cover of In the Garden of Sorrows by Karen Jewell

Isabel Fuller, a strong, once passionate woman, is deadened with grief by the death of her oldest son in the First World War, haunted by visions of him dying alone, and bitter at her husband for encouraging him to enlist.

When a young, charismatic preacher arrives for a revival one summer, he awakens in Isabel an intense attraction and feelings long forgotten. When she finally succumbs to his seduction, their affair pushes Isabel’s marriage to the breaking point.

Format: eBook (279 pages) Publisher: MindStir Media
Publication date: 26th April 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find In the Garden of Sorrows on Goodreads

Purchase In the Garden of Sorrows from Amazon UK [Link provided for conveninence not as part of an affiliate programme]

My Review

Officially I’m closed to review requests except from authors I’ve worked with before. However, occasionally a book comes along that makes me break my rule. If you read my Q&A with author Karen Jewell, you’ll get a sense of why I did just that in the case of In the Garden of Sorrows.

Isabel is a woman consumed by grief at the loss of her eldest son, Carl. Although she carries on with the daily routine of household chores, her sorrow – that she describes as ‘her familiar companion’ – has given rise to an emotional distance which sees his bedroom become a sanctuary but also a place of retreat. However Isabel has not been completely hollowed out emotionally or become blind to the plight of others, in particular a young girl living in a nearby shanty town.

Gripped by a kind of madness and ignoring the voices that tell her she’s on the road to self-destruction, Isabel allows herself to be led into a passionate affair with the Reverend Micah Kane. It risks destroying both her marriage and her relationship with her three remaining sons. I’m sure I’m not the only reader to wonder if Kane’s affair with Isabel is the result of genuine attraction on his part or mere opportunism? Whichever, for a time, the affair fulfils Isabel’s needs – both physical and emotional – in a way her husband Edward can’t. That’s because she blames him for Carl’s death, angry that he did nothing to stop him enlisting or may even have encouraged him. Her grief is so overwhelming that she fails to consider the possibility that he is experiencing the same intense sorrow and regret as her. She can’t see – or chooses not to see – the small attempts he makes to reach out to her in the effort to repair things between them. Although not everything he does is laudable, I actually found Edward a very sympathetic character.

In the Garden of Sorrows is described as an ‘erotically charged story’ and there are scenes of intense sexual intimacy but these are depicted in a way that is sensual rather than, shall we say, anatomical. I found myself completely absorbed in Isabel’s story and the book’s conclusion both intensely moving and uplifting. This is an author who has a gift for storytelling.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of the author. In the Garden of Sorrows is book 5 of my 20 Books of Summer 2024.

In three words: Passionate, moving, immersive
Try something similar: Blasted Things by Lesley Glaister

About the Author

Author Karen Jewell

Karen Jewell is a former trial attorney and author of numerous pieces of nonfiction. She has an undergraduate degree in English, a Master’s in Business Administration, and earned her Juris Doctorate degree at the University of Michigan. Karen lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband. In the Garden of Sorrows is her first novel.

Connect with Karen
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