Tag: historical fiction

#BlogBlitz #Giveaway #BookReview Christmas at Ladywell by Nicola Slade @nicolasladeUK @rararesources

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Christmas at Ladywell

I’m delighted to be joining a host of other book bloggers in celebrating the publication today of Christmas at Ladywell by Nicola Slade. Thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part and to Crooked Cat Books for my review copy.

Giveaway Prize - corpsecover3plusshoutTo complete the celebrations there’s a giveaway (open internationally) with a chance for one lucky person to win a .mobi or .PDF copy of Nicola’s book, The Convalescent Corpse. Enter via Rafflecopter here.

Giveaway Terms and Conditions:

  • Worldwide entries welcome.
  • The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email.
  • If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner.
  • Open to entrants aged 18 or over.
  • Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.
  • I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Christmas at LadywellAbout the Book

A time for spilling secrets…

Having refurbished her inherited house and upcycled her whole life in the process, Freya – now happily married to Patrick, and with a small child –  has to transform her tiny stone barn into a romantic hideaway for a mystery guest who is also looking for change. With Christmas only a week away, things don’t go according to plan…

In the past old uncertainties are resolved when an elderly woman seeks the truth of a legend on Christmas Eve and confesses to a deception; a Tudor wife listens to a story that must never be repeated and is given a precious relic that must never be displayed; and in the early nineteenth century an old woman tells a younger one the story of the hares at Ladywell.

Past and present are only a whisper apart when Freya learns of an astonishing discovery that will make Ladywell famous, but meanwhile her house is full of unexpected visitors, she has a turkey to cook – and a very special secret of her own that must be told.

Format: ebook (97 pages)                         Publisher: Crooked Cat Books
Publication date: 4th November 2019  Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Christmas at Ladywell on Goodreads

My Review

Christmas at Ladywell features some of the characters from the author’s book, The House at Ladywell, but has been perfectly crafted as a standalone novella so if, like me, you haven’t read the earlier book you won’t be at a disadvantage. However, like me, it may well make you decide to add The House at Ladywell to your wishlist.

Christmas at Ladywell sees Freya in the midst of preparations for the festive season, including catering for some unexpected and rather special guests. Interlaced with Freya’s present day activities are scenes from Ladywell’s past, starting in the 14th century with stops along the way in the 16th and 19th centuries. As the reader will learn, some of Ladywell’s past inhabitants have been witnesses to historic events.

There’s a real sense of history with stories, folklore and even objects handed down through the generations, especially by women. And of course, at Ladywell history is evident in the very building itself.

Christmas at Ladywell is the ideal read for a dark winter evening. It’s like a delightful Christmas potpourri with its mixture of present day festive preparations, surprise discoveries and fragrant echoes of the past.

In three words: Atmospheric, festive, engaging

Try something similar: Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase

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Christmas at Ladywell - AuthorAbout the Author

Nicola Slade is an award-winning, bestselling author of historical and contemporary mysteries and romantic fiction, all set in and around Winchester and Romsey in Hampshire – which is where she lives. The House at Ladywell – a contemporary romantic novel with historical echoes – won the Chatelaine Grand Prize for Romantic Fiction at the CIBA awards in April 2019.

She is the author of the mid-Victorian ‘Charlotte Richmond’ mysteries and the contemporary ‘Harriet Quigley’ mysteries. The Convalescent Corpse, published in November 2018, is the first in a new series, ‘The Fyttleton Mysteries’, set in 1918.

Connect with Nicola
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#BlogTour #BookReview The Photographer of the Lost by Caroline Scott @CScottBooks @simonschusterUK

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Photographer of the Lost 2 BT Poster

I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for The Photographer of the Lost by Caroline Scott alongside my tour buddy, Amanda at My Bookish Blogspot. Thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part and to Simon & Schuster for my review copy.

The Photographer of the LostAbout the Book

‘Beautiful, unflinching, elegiac: The Photographer of the Lost is going to be on an awful lot of Best Books of the Year lists, mine included . . . it’s unforgettable’ Iona Grey, bestselling author of The Glittering Hour

1921. Families are desperately trying to piece together the fragments of their broken lives. While many survivors of the Great War have been reunited with their loved ones, Edie’s husband Francis has not come home. He is considered ‘missing in action’, but when Edie receives a mysterious photograph taken by Francis in the post, hope flares. And so she begins to search.

Harry, Francis’s brother, fought alongside him. He too longs for Francis to be alive, so they can forgive each other for the last things they ever said. Both brothers shared a love of photography and it is that which brings Harry back to the Western Front. Hired by grieving families to photograph grave sites, as he travels through battle-scarred France gathering news for British wives and mothers, Harry also searches for evidence of his brother.

And as Harry and Edie’s paths converge, they get closer to a startling truth.

Format: Hardcover, ebook (512 pages)  Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: 31st October 2019.     Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Hive (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Photographer of the Lost on Goodreads 

My Review

The legacy of war, in this case the First World War, is a theme vividly and movingly explored in The Photographer of the Lost. There are the traumatic memories of conflict and survivor’s guilt of those who came back, like Harry, the lingering absence of those who didn’t, and the unfinished business of those reported missing in action, like Harry’s brother, Francis. Francis’ wife, Edie, joins many thousands of others hoping desperately for some miracle or, at the very least, finding some resolution even if only a grave at which to mourn.

Edie’s search is cleverly connected with the art of photography through Harry’s current occupation, photographing the graves of young men lost in the war as keepsakes for their grieving families and for fiancées who will now never become the wives of their sweethearts. Photographs – what they can and can’t say, the capturing of a likeness or of a moment in time – play an important part in the book. Harry and Edie both attempt to piece together clues from the photographs taken by Francis in order to uncover his story, revealing along the way a tangled web of relationships.

However, alongside the grief of relatives and the wounds – physical and mental – suffered by those who survived, there are signs of hope. For example, as Harry returns to France in 1921 he sees evidence of the rebuilding of villages destroyed in the war and of their inhabitants slowly trying to return to something like normal life. I loved the way this is also reflected in the natural world. ‘There are lines of young, flimsy-looking trees planted around the edges of the cemetery. Beyond them are other trees, bent and blasted, with metal splinters embedded in some of their trunks. They are both ugly and beautiful, these stubborn trees; they are both candid witnesses and resurgent life. New growth breaks from scarred trunks.’

Harry also witnesses those attempting to respect the memories of the fallen through the careful tending of cemeteries or the maintenance of records that might reunite families or at least bring them closure. It’s a timely reminder as we approach Remembrance Day of the horror of war, its lasting impact on nations and individuals, and the efforts of many dedicated individuals to honour the fallen (continued to this day through the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.)

The Photographer of the Lost will immerse you in the stories of its characters as they search for answers, for the strength to carry on and for forgiveness. Tissues at the ready, people.

In three words: Powerful, moving, intense

Try something similar: The Glorious Dead by Tim Atkinson (read my review here)

thumbnail_Caroline Scott author photo - credit Johnny RingAbout the Author

Caroline completed a PhD in History at the University of Durham. She developed a particular interest in the impact of the First World War on the landscape of Belgium and France, and in the experience of women during the conflict – fascinations that she was able to pursue while she spent several years working as a researcher for a Belgian company.

Caroline is originally from Lancashire, but now lives in southwest France.

Connect with Caroline
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