new arrivals

MyWeekinBooks

The Promise by Michelle Vernal (ebook, review copy courtesy of Rachel’s Random Resources)

Two women from different generations brought together by another’s wrongdoing.

When British backpacker, Isabel Stark happens across a car accident on a lonely stretch of road in the South Island of New Zealand her life changes forever. The sole passenger, Ginny Havelock asks her to make a promise before she passes away – to find Constance and to say she’s sorry. Isabel’s a lost soul who’s been drifting through life unsure of where she fits, and the promise she made in New Zealand haunts her upon her return to the United Kingdom. Her only clue as to finding Constance lies within a conversation held at Ginny’s funeral. It takes her to the Isle of Wight.

In the 1940’s sixteen-year-old Constance’s life on her island is sheltered until the death of her brother; Ted brings the reality of war crashing down around her. He leaves behind his pregnant young widow Ginny. When Constance meets a handsome Canadian airforce man, she’s eager to escape her grief and be swept up by first love. It’s a love which has ramifications she could never envisage.

When Isabel and Constance’s paths finally cross will Ginny’s last words be enough for Constance to make peace with her past? And in fulfilling her promise will Isabel find a place she can call home?

The Experimentalist by Nick Salaman (paperback, review copy courtesy of The Dome Press)

Marie is a child with a dark past – a secret family history that her guardian protects her from. She’s not sure what the dark secret is: was her father a criminal, a Nazi, both?

Unpleasant lawyer Brickville seems to hold all the cards, until she meets a kindly American, Felix Middleburg. When her life takes a turn for the worse, he steps in to look after her. But he knows more about her her than he should and exercises a control she finds oppressive.

Where does his wealth come from? What has happened to her family? Who, in fact, is Marie? And can she ever escape her protectors?

Island on Fire by Sophie Schiller (ebook, review copy courtesy of the author)

In the lush, tropical world of Martinique where slavery is a distant memory and voodoo holds sway, Emilie Dujon discovers that her fiancé, a rich sugar planter, has been unfaithful. Desperate to leave him, she elicits the aid of a voodoo witch doctor and is lured into a shadowy world of black magic and extortion. When the volcano known as Mount Pelée begins to rumble and spew ash, she joins a scientific committee sent to investigate the crater. During the journey she meets Lt. Denis Rémy, an army officer with a mysterious past.

At the summit, the explorers discover that a second crater has formed and the volcano appears to be on the verge of eruption. But when they try to warn the governor, he orders them to bury the evidence for fear of upsetting the upcoming election. As the pressure builds, a deadly mudslide inundates Emilie’s plantation and she disappears. With ash and cinders raining down, chaos ensues. Left with no choice, Lt. Rémy deserts his post and sets off on a desperate quest to rescue Emilie. But with all roads blocked, can they escape the doomed city of St. Pierre before it’s too late?

The Girl From Venice by Martin Cruz Smith (ebook)

A World War II love story set against the romance and danger of occupied Venice.

Cenzo is a world-weary fisherman, determined to sit out the rest of the war. He’s happy to stay out of the way of the SS, quietly going about his business of fishing in the lagoons of northern Italy. Then one night, instead of pulling in his usual haul, Cenzo fishes a young woman out of the canal. Guilia is an Italian Jew who has managed to escape capture and is determined to find her family. This meeting results in them both taking an entirely unexpected journey, and Cenzo suddenly finds himself thrown headlong into the world of international wartime politics, where everyone has their own agenda and nowhere is safe…

The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor (ebook)

A CITY IN FLAMES

London, 1666. As the Great Fire consumes everything in its path, the body of a man is found in the ruins of St Paul’s Cathedral – stabbed in the neck, thumbs tied behind his back.

A WOMAN ON THE RUN

The son of a traitor, James Marwood is forced to hunt the killer through the city’s devastated streets. There he encounters a determined young woman, who will stop at nothing to secure her freedom.

A KILLER SEEKING REVENGE

When a second murder victim is discovered in the Fleet Ditch, Marwood is drawn into the political and religious intrigue of Westminster – and across the path of a killer with nothing to lose…

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Monday – I published my reviews of The Road to Newgate by Kate Braithwaite, a historical novel set in 17^th century London, and Song by Michelle Jana Chan, the story of a Chinese boy who travels to Guiana to make his fortune.

Tuesday – I joined the blog tour for The Emperor of Shoes by Spencer Wise sharing my review of this thought-provoking novel set in a shoe factory in China. For Top Ten Tuesday I shared a list of ten recommended novellas and short story collections.

Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just finished reading, what I’m reading now and what I’ll be reading next. I also hosted a stop on the blog tour for Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire, the first in a new series of historical mysteries by M. R. C. Kasasian.

Thursday – For Throwback Thursday I revisited my review of literary thriller, The Good Father by S. R. Wilsher. I also shared the list of books I hope to read as part of the ARC August Reading Challenge 2018.

Friday – My Fact in Fiction Friday post brought together five of the fascinating facts I’ve learned from the novels I’ve read this week.

Sunday – I published my review of Hold by Michael Donkor, a character-driven story that transports the reader from Ghana to London and back again.

Challenge updates

Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge – 107 out of 156 books read, 5 more than last week
Classics Club Challenge – 16 out of 50 books read, same as last week
NetGalley/Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2018 (Gold) – 38 ARCs read and reviewed out of 50, 2 more than last week
From Page to Screen– 11 book/film comparisons out of 15 completed, same as last week
2018 TBR Pile Challenge – 5 out of 12 books read, same as last week
When Are You Reading? Challenge 2018 – 7 out of 12 books read, same as last week
What’s In A Name Reading Challenge – 1 out of 6 books read, same as last week
Buchan of the Month – 6 out of 12 books read, same as last week
20 Books of Summer Challenge – 8 out of 20 books read, 1 more than last week

Completed challenges

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2018 – 50 books out of 50 read

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

Blog Tour/Book Review: The Vanished Child by M. J. Lee
Book Review: Old Baggage by Lissa Evans
Blog Tour/Q&A: Blood and Ink by D. K. Marley
Book Review: The Secrets of Primrose Square by Claudia Carroll
Book Review: The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola
Book Review: The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth
Blog Tour/Book Review: The Pagoda Tree by Claire Scobie
Blog Tour/Book Review: Smile of the Wolf by Tim Leach

New arrivals

The Magick of Mister Lilly by Tobsha Learner (eARC, NetGalley)

In 1641, the country of England stands divided. London has become a wasps’ nest of spies, and under the eyes of the Roundheads those who practice magic are routinely sent to hang. Living in exile in the Surrey countryside is the Master Astrologer and learned magician William Lilly. Since rumours of occult practice lost him the favour of Parliament, he has not returned to the city. But his talents are well-known, and soon he is called up to London once more, to read the fate of His Majesty the King.

What he sees in the stars will change the course of history. Only Lilly and a circle of learned astrologers – Cunning Folk – know that London is destined to suffer plague and fire before the decade is through, and must summon angel and demon to sway the political powers from the war the country is heading toward. In doing so, Lilly will influence far greater destinies than his own and encounter great danger. But there will be worse to come . . .

An epic telling of the role of magic in the English Civil War, The Magick of Master Lilly is the story of the most influential astrologer in English history.

The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason (eARC, NetGalley)

Vienna, 1914. Lucius is a twenty-two-year-old medical student when World War I explodes across Europe. Enraptured by romantic tales of battlefield surgery, he enlists, expecting a position at a well-organized field hospital. But when he arrives, at a commandeered church tucked away high in a remote valley of the Carpathian Mountains, he finds a freezing outpost ravaged by typhus. The other doctors have fled, and only a single, mysterious nurse named Sister Margarete remains.

But Lucius has never lifted a surgeon’s scalpel. And as the war rages across the winter landscape, he finds himself falling in love with the woman from whom he must learn a brutal, makeshift medicine. Then one day, an unconscious soldier is brought in from the snow, his uniform stuffed with strange drawings. He seems beyond rescue, until Lucius makes a fateful decision that will change the lives of doctor, patient, and nurse forever.

From the gilded ballrooms of Imperial Vienna to the frozen forests of the Eastern Front; from hardscrabble operating rooms to battlefields thundering with Cossack cavalry, The Winter Soldier is the story of war and medicine, of family, of finding love in the sweeping tides of history, and finally, of the mistakes we make, and the precious opportunities to atone.

Sleeping Through War by Jackie Carreira (ebook, review copy courtesy of Rachel’s Random Resources)

Set against the backdrop of real, world-changing events, these are the stories that are forgotten in the history books.

The year is 1968 and the world is changing forever. During the month of May, students are rioting and workers are striking across the globe, civil rights are being fought and died for, nuclear bombs are being tested, there are major conflicts on every continent, and war is raging in Vietnam. Against this volatile background, three women strive to keep everything together.

Rose must keep her dignity and compassion as a West Indian nurse in East London. Amalia must keep hoping that her son can escape their seedy life in Lisbon. And Mrs Johnson in Washington DC must keep writing to her son in Vietnam. She has no-one else to talk to. Three different women, three different countries, but all striving to survive – a courageous attitude that everybody can relate to.

Although Sleeping Through War is a work of fiction, this somewhat hidden history attempts to humanise a few weeks in time that were so stuffed with monumental events that it’s easy to forget the people involved. The author was a child in 1968 and lived in London and Lisbon during the 1960s. She met women like these and didn’t want their voices to go unheard into the future. Readers of both history and literary fiction will enjoy this emotionally-vivid work that weaves fiction into fact

In the Blood by Ruth Mancini (hardcover, review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus)

In southeast London, a young mother has been accused of an unthinkable crime: poisoning her own child – and then leaving him to die. The mother, Ellie, is secretive and challenging – she’s had a troubled upbringing – but does that mean she’s capable of murder?

Balancing the case with raising her disabled five-year-old son, criminal defence lawyer Sarah Kellerman sets out in desperate pursuit of the truth. But when her own child becomes unwell, Sarah realises she’s been drawn into a dangerous game.

Unsettling and compulsive, In the Blood is a chilling study of class, motherhood and power from a new star in crime fiction.

Happiness is a Collage by Gita V. Reddy (eARC, courtesy of the author)

This collection of fifteen stories leads the reader into a world that is at once Indian and universal. The stories explore love, life, loss, and relationships.

A painter derives inspiration from a long lost love. Every night after going to bed, a woman scours a vast desert for her missing husband. A young woman strides through two worlds. A son experiences the miracle of his father’s immense love. An actor’s wife struggles to keep her husband from slipping into his reel life. And a busy professional tries to factor in pregnancy and motherhood into her hectic life. Among those traversing this space are a henpecked billionaire, a homeless boy, a middle-aged wife dealing with infidelity, and a seeker finding solace with a lion and a deer.

Happiness is a Collage follows the author’s well-received collection, A Tapestry of Tears. Published on 4^th August 2018, to pre-order from Amazon click here.

Individutopia by Joss Sheldon (eARC, courtesy of the author)

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SOCIETY

‘Beloved friend,

The year is 2084, and that famous Margaret Thatcher quote has become a reality: There really is no such thing as society. No one speaks to anyone else. No one looks at anyone else. People don’t collaborate, they only compete.

I hate to admit it, but this has had tragic consequences. Unable to satisfy their social urges, the population has fallen into a pit of depression and anxiety. Suicide has become the norm.

It all sounds rather morbid, does it not? But please don’t despair, there is hope, and it comes in the form of our hero: Renee Ann Blanca. Wishing to fill the society-shaped hole in her life, our Renee does the unthinkable: She goes in search of human company! It’s a radical act and an enormous challenge. But that, I suppose, is why her tale’s worth recounting. It’s as gripping as it is touching, and I think you’re going to love it…

Your trusty narrator,

PP
Published on 23^rd August 2018, to pre-order from Amazon click here