My Week in Books – 12th December 2021

MyWeekinBooks

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I published my review of historical crime mystery The Room of the Dead (Betty Church Mystery #2) by M. R. C. Kasasian.

Tuesday I took part in the publication day push for Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair by M. K. Wiseman.

Wednesday – I shared my review of historical novel, The Visitors by Caroline Scott as part of the blog tour. WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to have a good nose around what others are reading. 

Thursday – I shared my publication day review of historical thriller Where God Does Not Walk (Gregor Reinhardt #4) by Luke McCallin

Friday – I shared my review of The Golden Girls’ Getaway by Judy Leigh as part of the  blog tour, 

Saturday – I published my review of The Lost Girl in Paris by Jina Bacarr.

As always, thanks to everyone who has liked, commented on or shared my blog posts on social media.


New arrivals

Love in a Time of WarLove in a Time of War by Adrienne Chinn (eARC, One More Chapter)

Three sisters
The Great War
The end of innocence…

In 1913, in a quiet corner of London, the three Fry sisters are coming of age, dreaming of all the possibilities the bright future offers. But when war erupts their innocence is shattered and a new era of uncertainty begins.

Cecelia loves Max but his soldier’s uniform is German, not British, and suddenly the one man she loves is the one man she can’t have. Jessie enlists in the army as a nurse and finally finds the adventure she’s craved when she’s sent to Gallipoli and Egypt, but it comes with an unimaginable cost. Etta elopes to Capri with her Italian love, Carlo, but though her growing bump is real, her marriage certificate is a lie.

As the three sisters embark on journeys they never could have imagined, their mother Christina worries about the harsh new realities they face, and what their exposure to the wider world means for the secrets she’s been keeping…

Being Edith PinsentFinding Edith Pinsent (Netta Wilde #2) by Hazel Ward (eARC, Hope St Press)

Netta Wilde has a task to complete.

She’s agreed to go through the late Edith Pinsent’s diaries and possessions personally. The problem is, she’s been busy sorting out her own life.  But she’s in a better place now. She’s free of her manipulative ex, has a new love in neighbour, Frank and has reunited with her kids. What better time to begin Edie’s story?

But the path to discovery is not easy. There are missing diaries to contend with, boxes of memories to uncover and revelations that turn everything on its head. Revelations that make Netta question if her own life really is sorted.

Delving deeper into Edith’s history, Netta is overtaken by a need to revisit her own past and put things right, but to do that she has to find the two people who once meant everything to her. As her two challenges intertwine, Netta realises that Edith had a purpose for her. One that she must fulfil. Bit by bit, the house yields a lifetime of secrets and the real Edith Pinsent begins to emerge.

But will it be the Edith everyone thought they knew?

The City of TearsThe City of Tears by Kate Mosse  (eARC, Pan MacMillan)

May 1572: for ten violent years the Wars of Religion have raged across France. Neighbours have become enemies, countless lives have been lost, and the country has been torn apart over matters of religion, citizenship and sovereignty. But now a precarious peace is in the balance and a royal wedding has been negotiated. It is a marriage that could see France reunited at last.

An invitation has arrived for Minou Joubert and her family to attend this historic wedding in Paris in August. But what Minou does not know is that the Joubert family’s oldest enemy, Vidal, will also be there. Nor that, within days of the marriage, on the eve of the Feast Day of St Bartholomew, her family will be scattered to the four winds and one of her beloved children will have disappeared without trace . . .

Sweeping from Paris and Chartres to the City of Tears itself – the great refugee city of Amsterdam – this is a story of one family’s fight to stay together and survive against the devastating tides of history . . .


On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • Book Review: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
  • Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Winter 2021 To-Read List
  • Book Review: The Alphabet of Heart’s Desire by Brian Keaney

#WWWWednesday – 8th December 2021

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

Small Things Like TheseSmall Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber)

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season.

As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him – and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

The Lost Girl in ParisThe Lost Girl in Paris by Jina Bacarr (eARC, Boldwood)

‘I will never forget what the Nazi did to me. Never’

1940, Paris. As Nazis patrol the streets of the French capital, Tiena is alone, desperate and on the run. After defending herself against the force of an officer, she must find a new identity in order to survive. An accidental meeting with members of the Resistance gives her a lifeline, as she is offered the chance to reinvent herself as perfumer Angéline De Cadieux.

However Angéline will never forget what happened to her, and will do everything she can to seek revenge. But vengeance can be a dangerous game, and Angeline can only hide her true identity for so long before her past catches up with her, with some devastating consequences…

Paris, 2003. When the opportunity arises for aspiring journalist Emma Keane to interview world renowned perfumer Madame De Cadieux about her life during World War Two, she is determined to take it. There are secrets from her own family history that she hopes Angéline may be able to help unlock.

But nothing can prepare Emma for Angéline’s story, and one thing is for certain – it will change her own life forever…


Recently finished

Links from titles will take you to my review

Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair by M. K. Wiseman 

The Visitors by Caroline Scott (Simon & Schuster) 

The Golden Girls’ Getaway by Judy Leigh (Boldwood Books)

Where God Does Not Walk (Gregor Reinhardt #4) by Luke McCallin (Oldcastle Books)


What Cathy (will) Read Next

The Cornish CaptiveThe Cornish Captive by Nicola Pryce (ARC, Corvus via Readers First)

Cornwall, 1800. Imprisoned on false pretences, Madeleine Pelligrew, former mistress of Pendenning Hall, has spent the last 14 years shuttled between increasingly destitute and decrepit mad houses. When a strange man appears out of the blue to release her, she can’t quite believe that her freedom comes without a price. Hiding her identity, Madeleine determines to discover the truth about what happened all those years ago.

Unsure who to trust and alone in the world, Madeleine strikes a tentative friendship with a French prisoner on parole, Captain Pierre de la Croix. But as she learns more about the reasons behind her imprisonment, and about those who schemed to hide her away for so long, she starts to wonder if Pierre is in fact the man he says he is. As Madeleine’s past collides with her present, can she find the strength to follow her heart, no matter the personal cost?