Tag: books

#WWWWednesday – 17th May 2023

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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 Scarlet PapersThe Scarlet Papers by Matthew Richardson (eARC, Michael Joseph via NetGalley) 

VIENNA, 1946: A brilliant German scientist snatched from the ruins of Nazi Europe.
MOSCOW, 1964: A US diplomat caught in a clandestine love affair as the Cold War rages.
RIGA, 1992: A Russian archivist selling secrets that will change the twentieth century forever.
LONDON, THE PRESENT DAY: A British academic on the run with the chance to solve one of history’s greatest mysteries.

Their stories, their lives, and the fate of the world are bound by a single manuscript. A document feared and whispered about in capitals across the globe. In its pages, history will be rewritten. It is only ever known as . . . THE SCARLET PAPERS

The devastating secrets contained within teased by a brief invitation: Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one.

AncestryAncestry : A Novel by Simon Mawer (Little, Brown) Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2023

The past is another country and we are all its exiles. Banished forever, we look back in fascination and wonder at this mysterious land. Who were the people who populated it?

Almost two hundred years ago, Abraham, an illiterate urchin, scavenges on a Suffolk beach and dreams of running away to sea… Naomi, a seventeen-year-old seamstress, sits primly in a second class carriage on the train from Sussex to London and imagines a new life in the big city… George, a private soldier of the 50th Regiment of Foot, marries his Irish bride, Annie, in the cathedral in Manchester and together they face married life under arms. Now these people exist only in the bare bones of registers and census lists but they were once real enough. They lived, loved, felt joy and fear, and ultimately died. But who were they? And what indissoluble thread binds them together?

Simon Mawer’s compelling and original novel puts flesh on our ancestors’ bones to bring them to life and give them voice. He has created stories that are gripping and heart-breaking, from the squalor and vitality of Dickensian London to the excitement of seafaring in the last days of sail and the horror of the trenches of the Crimea. There is birth and death; there is love, both open and legal but also hidden and illicit. Yet the thread that connects these disparate figures is something that they cannot have known – the unbreakable bond of family.

Recently finished

The Warlow Experiment by Alix Nathan (Serpent’s Tail)

The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng (Canongate)

What Cathy (will) Read Next

Sister of MineSister of Mine by Laurie Petrou (eARC, Verve Books) 

Two sisters. One fire. A secret that won’t burn out.

The Grayson sisters are trouble. Everyone in their small town knows it. But no-one can know of the secret that binds them together.

Hattie is the light. Penny is the darkness. Together, they have balance.

But one night the balance is toppled. A match is struck. A fire is started. A cruel husband is killed. The potential for a new life flickers in the fire’s embers, but resentment, guilt, and jealousy suffocate like smoke.

Their lives have been engulfed in flames – will they ever be able to put them out?

#BookReview #Ad Tiny Pieces of Enid by Tim Ewins

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Tiny Pieces of EnidAbout the Book

Enid isn’t clear about much these days. But she does feel a strong affinity with Olivia, a regular visitor to her dementia home in a small coastal town. If only she could put her finger on why.

Their silent partnership intensifies when Enid, hoping to reconnect with her husband Roy, escapes from the home. With help from an imaginary macaw, she uncovers some uncomfortable truths about Olivia’s marriage and delves into her own forgotten past.

Format: Paperback (336 pages)  Publisher: Lightning Books
Publication date: 9th May 2023 Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Find Tiny Pieces of Enid on Goodreads

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My Review

The author takes us inside Enid’s head, moving between her struggle to understand her current reality and her memories of happier – and unhappier – times. Enid’s moments of lucidity when she recalls her early years with Roy and her daughter’s childhood are all the more heartbreaking for their fleeting nature.  However, despite her declining mental state, Enid still demonstrates a sense of mischief, exemplified by a memorable scene involving a carrot.

One of the most heartbreaking elements of the book for me was Enid’s continuing belief that she would be reunited with Roy when that seems as if it will be impossible. Her realisation that if it’s going to happen it has to be down to her demonstrates not only the depth of her love for Roy but also her determination.  Cue, the great escape by means of the number 47.

In fact, the book is full of heartbreaking moments. For example, Roy’s lonely, empty days following Enid’s move to the care home. Watching the birds visiting the feeder in the garden, he muses that at least restocking it will give him something to do. ‘There was life in the garden. When Roy turned, he would be back in the house, alone and in the silence.’  I loved Roy and my wish for everyone would be that they find someone who loves them the way Roy loves Enid. He is the perfect contrast to some of the other male characters in the book. Recalling one particularly troubling episode, Enid observes, ‘Her husband had turned his anger into something productive. That is what made Roy the man he was’.  

I also loved the bond that formed between Enid and Olivia, born out of a shared experience of unhappy relationships.

The author captures the guilt that family members feel when forced to make the decision that a loved one must move to a care home especially, as in Barb’s case, when this involves splitting up a couple.  Barb comes across as an immensely sympathetic figure, someone who demonstrates her unconditional love for Enid even during her mother’s most difficult mood swings. I also think the way the author depicts the care workers who look after Enid illustrates just what a remarkable job such people do.

Frances Quinn’s quote on the back cover of the book says, ‘If it doesn’t make you cry more than once, I don’t know what’s wrong with you’. If that’s the test then I can definitely say there is nothing wrong with me.

I received an advanced review copy courtesy of Lightning Books.

In three words: Tender, emotional, touching

Try something similar: Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon

Tim EwinsAbout the Author

Alongside his accidental career in finance, Tim Ewins performed in stand-up comedy for eight years. He also had a very brief acting stint (he’s in the film Bronson, somewhere in the background) before turning to writing fiction.

His first novel, We Are Animals, was published by Lightning Books in 2020. He lives with his wife, son and dog near Bristol.

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