Tag: contemporary fiction

#BookReview The Forgotten Life of Arthur Pettinger by Suzanne Fortin @Aria_Fiction

whatcathyreadnext3 Comments

Arthur Pettinger Blog Tour

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Forgotten Life of Arthur Pettinger by Suzanne Fortin. My thanks to Vicky Joss at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my limited edition proof copy. The Forgotten Life of Arthur Pettinger was published as an ebook on 4th March and will be available in paperback on 10th June 2021.

The Forgotten Life of Arthur PettingerAbout the Book

Sometimes the past won’t stay hidden, it demands to be uncovered…

Arthur Pettinger’s memory isn’t what it used to be. He can’t always remember the names of his grandchildren, where he lives or which way round his slippers go. He does remember Maryse though, a woman he hasn’t seen for decades, but whose face he will never forget.

When Arthur’s granddaughter, Maddy moves in along with her daughter Esther, it’s her first step towards pulling her life back together. But when Esther makes a video with Arthur, the hunt for the mysterious Maryse goes viral.

There’s only one person who can help Maddy track down this woman – the one that got away, Joe. Their quest takes them to France, and into the heart of the French Resistance.

When the only way to move forwards is to look back, will this family finally be able to?

Format: ebook (379 pages)           Publisher: Aria
Publication date: 4th March 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Romance

Find The Forgotten Life of Arthur Pettinger on Goodreads

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

My Review

The Forgotten Life of Arthur Pettinger is one of those books that offers something for just about every reader:  there are elements of domestic drama, such as the family tensions caused by caring responsibilities; scenes of wartime adventure and romance; and a search for a long lost love.

I loved the touching and very natural relationship that develops between Maddy’s daughter, Esther, and her great-grandfather, even if Arthur does occasionally struggle to recall Esther’s name (although he never seems to forget that his favourite biscuits are digestives).  It’s a neat echo of the close relationship Maddy remembers having with Arthur herself when she was younger.  As it turns out, affection for Arthur is not the only thing Esther has inherited.  She also has the same inquisitive nature and independent instincts as her mother.

The book eloquently conveys the challenges of caring for someone with dementia, although Maddy’s sympathetic response and greater understanding of Arthur’s need for routine proves much more successful than that of her half-sister, Hazel, who previously cared for him.  (Arthur privately christened Hazel ‘Moaning Minnie’). Although Maddy recognises the role photographs and music can play in provoking what memories are left, she knows it’s only a matter of time before Alzheimer’s claims Arthur completely. I’m sure many readers can empathize with Maddy when she thinks, “It was so cruel, so painful this long goodbye, watching her grandfather slowly disappear in front of her…”.

The author finds imaginative ways to allow the reader inside the mind of Arthur and witness his own frustration at his declining memory. “It was all muddled up in his mind like a heap of spaghetti and he didn’t know where the strands of thought started.  They were a jumbled mess of words and images, fragments of memory and snatches of thought – all knotted up together.”

The details of Maddy’s search for Maryse, assisted by investigator and ex-boyfriend, Joe, and the difficult moral dilemmas thrown up along the way, will be familiar to fans of TV programmes such as Heir Hunters or Long Lost Family. Trust me, as the book nears its conclusion, you’ll find yourself in complete agreement with Arthur as he thinks, “He wished he knew how his story ended and what happened to those he loved”.

For me, the ending, although bittersweet, was the perfect conclusion to the story. After all, there’s more than one way to be reunited.

In three words: Touching, emotional, poignant

Try something similar: Endless Skies by Jane Cable

Follow this blog via Bloglovin

Sue Fortin July 20 a - Sue FortinAbout the Author

Suzanne Fortin is a USA Today and Amazon UK & USA best selling author, with The Girl Who Lied and Sister Sister both reaching #1 in the Amazon UK Kindle chart in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Her books have sold over a million copies and translation rights for her novels have been sold worldwide. She was born in Hertfordshire but had a nomadic childhood, moving often with her family, before eventually settling in West Sussex where she now lives with her husband and family.

Connect with Suzanne
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

#BookReview Saving Missy by Beth Morrey @RandomTTours @HarperCollinsUK

whatcathyreadnext4 Comments

Saving Missy BT Poster

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Saving Missy by Beth Morrey which was published in paperback on 4th March 2021. It’s also available in hardback, ebook and audiobook format. My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in the tour and to Harper Collins for my digital review copy via NetGalley.

Saving MissyAbout the Book

Prickly. Stubborn. Terribly lonely. But everyone deserves a second chance…

Missy Carmichael’s life has become small. Grieving for a family she has lost or lost touch with, she’s haunted by the echoes of her footsteps in her empty home; the sound of the radio in the dark; the tick-tick-tick of the watching clock. Spiky and defensive, Missy knows that her loneliness is all her own fault. She deserves no more than this; not after what she’s done. But a chance encounter in the park with two very different women opens the door to something different. A new life beckons for Missy, if only she can be brave enough to grasp the opportunity.

But seventy-nine is too late for a second chance. Isn’t it?

Format: Paperback (400 pages)     Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: 4th March 2021 Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Find Saving Missy on Goodreads

Purchase links
Bookshop.org
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The story of Missy’s current, rather empty daily life is interspersed with memories of her first meeting with her husband, Leo, at Cambridge in 1956, their subsequent marriage and their life together bringing up their son, Alistair and daughter, Melanie.  For various reasons, Missy now finds herself living alone in her ‘barren old house’. As she recalls, ‘It seemed like my whole life had been a cacophony, a constant buzzing and background chatter, and then Leo went and there was suddenly total and absolute stillness. Stillness, and silence and space.’  That silence and stillness is ended thanks to a chance encounter in her local park with the irrepressible Sylvie which sees Bob the dog come into Missy’s life, opening up a whole new world of connections, including a new friend, Angela, and Angela’s son Otis.

The book is full of lovely touches of humour, such as Missy’s thoughts on the reading of poetry aloud (the occasion of her first meeting with Leo), ‘Like religion and Bongo Boards, best practised in private’. Or Bob’s habit of barking when anyone approaches the house, making her (yes, Bob is a she) ‘less of a guard dog and more of a very loud doorbell’.  I also loved the description of the numerous objects in Missy’s attic as ‘the leftovers of lost lives’.

The book has some wonderful set pieces, such as Missy’s participation in a pub quiz team at which the prize, much to Angela’s delight, includes a signed Jeremy Corbyn colouring book (this is 2016 after all), and a dash across London in the quest for the perfect birthday cake, facilitated by Sylvie’s seemingly inexhaustible list of contacts.  Perhaps my favourite was the Christmas Day party at Sylvie’s house, to which Missy reluctantly accepts an invitation, reminding me a little of when Scrooge finally accepts his nephew’s invitation to join their festivities in A Christmas Carol.  Looking around at Sylvie interacting with her guests, Missy realises that, although filled with happiness for much of the time, her life with Leo was rather insular.  ‘We existed in our own bubble, floating along without ever really being bothered enough to probe deeper or – heaven forbid – pierce our protective film.’ Missy comes to recognise that it’s people who truly like themselves who have the greatest capacity for friendship and that this involves letting others in and accepting help when it’s offered.

I’m sure I won’t be the only reader to fall in love with Missy.  Not that she’s perfect or hasn’t made mistakes in her life.  However, I felt she had a tendency to undersell herself.  For example, she’s thoughtful and generous when it comes to choosing gifts for others and has a natural rapport with children.  For me, the discovery of the true extent of Missy’s courage and devotion created the perfect ending to the book.

In three words: Tender, heart-warming, uplifting

Try something similar: The Widow’s Mite by Allie Cresswell

Follow this blog via Bloglovin

Beth MorreyAbout the Author

Beth Morrey is currently Creative Director at RDF Television where she has been involved in numerous productions. She helped create The Secret Life of Four Year Olds series for Channel 4 and devised 100 Year Old Drivers for ITV. She was shortlisted for the Grazia-Orange First Chapter competition back in 2011, had her work published in the Cambridge and Oxford May Anthologies, and was Vice-President of the Cambridge Footlights. Beth lives in London with her husband, two sons and dog.

Connect with Beth
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram