Tag: new arrivals

New arrivals

Chanel’s Riveria: The Cote d’Azur in Peace and War, 1930 – 1944 by Anne de Courcy (audiobook)

Far from worrying about the onset of war, the burning question on the French Riviera in 1938 was whether one should curtsey to the duchess of Windsor. Featuring a sparkling cast of historical figures, writers and artists including Winston Churchill, Daisy Fellowes, Salvador Dalí, the Windsors, Aldous Huxley and Edith Wharton – and the enigmatic Coco Chanel at its heart – Chanel’s Riveria is a sparkling account of a period where such deep extremes of luxury and terror had never before been experienced.

From the glamour of the pre-war parties and casinos, to Robert Streitz’s secret wireless transmitter in the basement of La Pausa – Chanel’s villa that he created – while Chanel had her German lover to stay during the war, Chanel’s Riveria explores the fascinating world of the Cote d’Azur elite in the 1930s and 1940s, enriched with original research that brings the lives of both rich and poor, protected and persecuted, to vivid life.

Anne de Courcy is appearing at Henley Literary Festival 2019

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On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Tuesday –  This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Settings I’d Like to See More Of.

Wednesday – 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 have a good nose around to see what other bloggers are reading.

Friday – I joined the blog tour for A Cornish Affair by Jo Lambert, sharing my review.

During the week, I also shared some previous reviews of books by authors appearing at this year’s Henley Literary Festival which starts on 28^th September – Where The Hornbeam Grows by Beth Lynch and The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins.

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

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On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

• Top Ten Tuesday: Book Titles That Demand Answers
• Buchan of the Month/Book Review: The Runagates Club by John Buchan
• Waiting on Wednesday
• Blog Tour/Book Review: Motive X by Stefan Ahnhem
• Blog Tour/Book Review: Manipulated Lives by H. A Leuschel
• Six Degrees of Separation

New arrivals

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier (eARC, courtesy of The Borough Press and NetGalley)

It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiancé and her brother and regarded by society as a ‘surplus woman’ unlikely to marry, resolves to escape her suffocating mother and strike out alone.

A new life awaits her in Winchester. Yes, it is one of draughty boarding-houses and sidelong glances at her naked ring finger from younger colleagues; but it is also a life gleaming with independence and opportunity. Violet falls in with the broderers, a disparate group of women charged with embroidering kneelers for the Cathedral, and is soon entwined in their lives and their secrets. As the almost unthinkable threat of a second Great War appears on the horizon Violet collects a few secrets of her own that could just change everything…

This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman (advance review copy courtesy of Gallic Books)

‘The offender is not one of ours. It is unfortunate that we got this undesirable from his homeland.’

Auckland, October 1955. If young Paddy Black sings to himself he can almost see himself back home in Belfast. Yet, less than two years after sailing across the globe in search of a better life, here he stands in a prison cell awaiting trial for murder. He pulled a knife at the jukebox that night, but should his actions lead him to the gallows? As his desperate mother waits on, Paddy must face a judge and jury unlikely to favour an outsider, as a wave of moral panic sweeps the island nation.

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On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Monday – I published my review of The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle.

Tuesday –  This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Auto-Buy Authors.

Wednesday – 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 have a good nose around to see what other bloggers are reading.

Thursday – I shared my review of Razia by Abda Khan as part of the blog tour.

Saturday – I published my review of The Secret Life of Alfred Nightingale by Rebecca Stonehill.

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

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On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

• Top Ten Tuesday: Settings I’d Like to See More Of
• Waiting on Wednesday
• Blog Tour/Book Review: A Cornish Affair by Jo Lambert