Tag: new arrivals

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I shared my review of historical novel The Lace Weaver by Lauren Chater. 

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Bookish Goals for 2023.

Wednesday – As always WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading. 

Thursday – I shared my review of The New Life by Tom Crewe. 

Saturday – I published my review of Becoming Ted by Matt Cain as part of the blog tour.

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New arrivals

In the Shadows of Castles by G.K. Holloway (Silverwood Books)

It’s the 1060s and William of Normandy is establishing a new and brutal regime in England, but there are those who would defy him. As Norman soldiers spread like a plague across the land, resistance builds, but will it be enough to topple William and restore the rightful king to his throne? The English have the courage to fight, but the Normans, already victorious at Hastings, now build castles seeking to secure their tenuous foothold in these lands.

And what of the people caught up in these catastrophic events? Dispossessed but not defeated, their lives ripped apart, the English struggle for freedom from tyranny; amongst them, caught up in the turmoil, are a soldier, a thane and two sisters. As events unfold, their destinies become intertwined, bringing drastic changes that alter their lives forever.

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (eARC, Mantle via NetGalley)

‘My father had spelt it out to me. Choice was a luxury I couldn’t afford. This is your story, Red. You must tell it well . . .’

A girl known only as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar.

Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling is a delight to high society, but she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him?

The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholemew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red’s quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads into her grave danger . . .

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press)

In the winter of 1561. Lucrezia, Duchess of Ferrara, is taken on an unexpected visit to a country villa by her husband, Alfonso. As they sit down to dinner in the icy hall it occurs to Lucrezia that Alfonso has a sinister purpose in bringing her here: he intends to kill her.

Lucrezia is sixteen years old and has led a sheltered life, locked away inside Florence’s grandest palazzo, guarded by her father’s soldiers and her mother’s ladies-in-waiting.  Here, in this remote villa, however, she is entirely at the mercy of her increasingly erratic husband.

What is Lucrezia to do with this sudden knowledge? What chance does she have against Alfonso, the ruler of a province, and a trained soldier? How can she ensure her survival.

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On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

• Blog Tour/Book Review: A Winter Grave by Peter May
• Book Review: The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
• Book Review: The Echo Chamber by John Boyne

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I shared my review of historical novel, Bellatrix by Simon Turney as part of the blog tour.  

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Most Anticipated Books Publishing in the First Half of 2023.

Wednesday – As always WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading. 

Thursday – I shared my review of literary thriller, My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor, which will be published on 26th January. 

Saturday – I published my review of historical thriller, The English Führer by Rory Clements, which will be published on 19th January.

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New arrivals

Other Worlds Were Possible by Joss Sheldon (eARC, Rebel Books)

Sunny and his kinfolk were content with their way of life. During the dry season, their clan lived alone. They hunted whenever they chose, gathered an array of plants, told stories, and took part in debates. In the rainy season, they united with the rest of their tribe. They formed a temporary city, feasted, held dances and played games. They could have lived like this forever. But a strange and foreign people had ideas of their own…

Appearing out of nowhere, these aliens looked completely different. They smelled different. They even dressed differently. And they had the most peculiar set of habits. These people did not live with the earth. They exploited the earth; imposing monocultures and intensive farming. They were not content with their lot. They were possessed by an insatiable desire to consume. And they had no sense of freedom. They were beholden to a never-ending list of outlandish concepts; things such as “Hierarchy”, “Patriarchy”, “Monarchy”, “Monogamy”, “God”, “Punishments”, “Ownership”, “Inequality”, “Money”, “Work” and “Tax”.

Sunny and his kinfolk faced the toughest decision in their history… They could wage war on these imposters. But their enemies were strong. They had already killed hundreds-of-thousands of indigenous people. They could flee. But these imperialists would surely follow. They would push them into the sea, the mountains or the desert.

Their clan needed another solution. But what could it be? Could they negotiate with this violent foe? Could they form a pact? Could they create a kind of alliance?

Sunny had no idea. But he was compelled by a duty to find out. This was his time. And he was willing to risk his life, to save the people he loved…

Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery (eARC, Bloomsbury via NetGalley)

New York City, 1966. Seventeen-year-old Mae lives in a run-down apartment with her alcoholic mother and her mother’s sometimes-boyfriend, Mikey. She is turned off by the petty girls at her high school, and the sleazy men she typically meets. When she drops out, she is presented with a job offer that will remake her world entirely: she is hired as a typist for the artist Andy Warhol.

Warhol is composing an unconventional novel by recording the conversations and experiences of his many famous and alluring friends. Tasked with transcribing these tapes alongside several other girls, Mae quickly befriends Shelley and the two of them embark on a surreal adventure at the fringes of the countercultural movement. Going to parties together, exploring their womanhood and sexuality, this should be the most enlivening experience of Mae’s life. But as she grows increasingly obsessed with the tapes and numb to her own reality, Mae must grapple with the thin line between art and voyeurism and determine how she can remain her own person as the tide of the sixties sweeps over her.

Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow (eARC, Headline via NetGalley)

Berlin. January 1940. After Germany’s invasion of Poland, the world is holding its breath and hoping for peace. At home, the Nazi Party’s hold on power is absolute.

One freezing night, an SS doctor and his wife return from an evening mingling with their fellow Nazis at the concert hall. By the time the sun rises, the doctor will be lying lifeless in a pool of blood.

Was it murder or suicide? Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is told that under no circumstances should he investigate. The doctor’s widow, however, is convinced her husband was the target of a hit. But why would anyone murder an apparently obscure doctor? Compelled to dig deeper, Schenke learns of the mysterious death of a child. The cases seem unconnected, but soon chilling links begin to emerge that point to a terrifying secret.

Even in times of war, under a ruthless regime, there are places in hell no man should ever enter. And Schenke fears he may not return alive . . .

Rivers of Treason by K. J. Maitland (eARC, Headline via NetGalley)

From the stark Yorkshire landscape to the dark underbelly of Jacobean London, Daniel Pursglove’s new mission sees him fall prey to a ruthless copycat killer…

London, 1607. As dawn breaks, Daniel Pursglove rides north, away from the watchful eye of the King and his spies. He returns, disguised, to his childhood home in Yorkshire – with his own score to settle. The locals have little reason to trust a prying stranger, and those who remember Daniel do so with contempt.

When a body is found with rope burns about the neck, Daniel falls under suspicion. On the run, across the country, he is pursued by a ruthless killer whose victims all share the same gallows mark. Are these the crimes of someone with a cruel personal vendetta – or has Daniel become embroiled in a bigger, and far more sinister, conspiracy?

A new river of treason is rising, flowing from the fields of Yorkshire right to the heart of the King’s court . . .

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On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

• Book Review: The Lace Weaver by Lauren Chater 
• Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2023
• Book Review: The New Life by Tom Crewe
• Book Review: Becoming Ted by Matt Cain