Tag: Read

My Week in Books – 17th February ‘19

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MyWeekinBooks

New arrivals

Josephine’s Daughter by A. B. Michaels (eARC, courtesy of the author)

In the Golden City, the only thing worse than having a mother
like Josephine Firestone… is being just like her.

In the late nineteenth century, wealthy and headstrong Kit Firestone chafes under the strictures of the Golden City’s high society, especially the interference of her charming but overbearing mother, Josephine. Kit’s secret rebellion leads to potentially catastrophic results and keeps her from finding true happiness.

When her brother nearly dies from a dangerous infection, Kit defies convention and becomes a working nurse. Through her troubled romance with a young doctor and a series of dramatic events, including a natural disaster and her mother’s own critical illness, Kit begins to understand who her mother truly is and what their relationship is all about. She may not get the chance to appreciate their bond, however, because, through no fault of her own, a madman has Kit in his crosshairs.

Set amidst the backdrop of the Gilded Age and beyond, Josephine’s Daughter explores many of the social and medical issues facing women of that era -issues that resonate today. Independence, reproductive rights, birth control, childbirth, and parenting are all put to the test in Josephine’s Daughter.

The Serpent’s Mark by S. W. Perry (eARC courtesy of Corvus and NetGalley)

Treason sleeps for no man…

London, 1591. Nicholas Shelby, physician and reluctant spy, returns to his old haunts on London’s lawless Bankside. But, when the queen’s spymaster Robert Cecil asks him to investigate the dubious practices of a mysterious doctor from Switzerland, Nicholas is soon embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not just the life of an innocent young patient, but the overthrow of Queen Elizabeth herself.

With fellow healer and mistress of the Jackdaw tavern, Bianca Merton, again at his side, Nicholas is drawn into a dangerous world of zealots, charlatans and fanatics. As their own lives become increasingly at risk, they find themselves confronting the greatest treason of all: the spectre of a bloody war between the faiths…

The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey (ebook courtesy of Vintage and NetGalley)

15th century Oakham, in Somerset; a tiny village cut off by a big river with no bridge. When a man is swept away by the river in the early hours of Shrove Saturday, an explanation has to be found: accident, suicide or murder? The village priest, John Reve, is privy to many secrets in his role as confessor. But will he be able to unravel what happened to the victim, Thomas Newman, the wealthiest, most capable and industrious man in the village? And what will happen if he can’t?

Moving back in time towards the moment of Thomas Newman’s death, the story is related by Reve – an extraordinary creation, a patient shepherd to his wayward flock, and a man with secrets of his own to keep. Through his eyes, and his indelible voice, Harvey creates a medieval world entirely tangible in its immediacy.

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Monday – I joined the blog tour for Summer on the Italian Lakes by Lucy Coleman and shared my Q&A with Lucy.

Tuesday – I published my review of The Phoenix of Florence by Philip Kazan,  a wonderful historical novel set in 15th century Tuscany.

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 – For my Throwback Thursday post I revisited my review of The Last Day by Claire Dyer.

Friday –  I published an introduction to February’s Buchan of the Month, Salute to Adventurers by John Buchan.

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

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

 

Planned posts

  • Top Ten Tuesday
  • Waiting on Wednesday
  • Throwback Thursday: Sugar in the Blood by Andrea Stuart
  • Book Review: The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea
  • Book Review: 99 Nights in Logar by Jamil Jan Kochai
  • Book Review: Louis & Louise by Julie Cohen
  • Blog Tour/Book Review: The Horseman’s Song by Ben Pastor

Throwback Thursday: The Last Day by Claire Dyer

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ThrowbackThursday

Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme originally created by Renee at It’s Book Talk.  It’s designed as an opportunity to share old favourites as well as books that we’ve finally got around to reading that were published over a year ago.

Today I’m revisiting a book I reviewed last May but that was published almost exactly a year ago – The Last Day by Claire Dyer.  It was a book I loved when I read it which seems a suitable sentiment to mark Valentine’s Day.  In fact, as you will see, I found at least ten reasons to love it….

The Last DayAbout the Book

They say three’s a crowd but when Boyd moves back into the family home with his now amicably estranged wife, Vita, accompanied by his impossibly beautiful twenty-seven-year-old girlfriend, Honey, it seems the perfect solution: Boyd can get his finances back on track while he deals with his difficult, ailing mother; Honey can keep herself safe from her secret, troubled past; and Vita can carry on painting portraits of the pets she dislikes and telling herself she no longer minds her marriage is over.

But the house in Albert Terrace is small and full of memories, and living together is unsettling.

For Vita, Boyd and Honey love proves to be a surprising, dangerous thing and, one year on, their lives are changed forever.

Format: Paperback, ebook (370 pp.)    Publisher: The Dome Press
Published: 15th February 2018     Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Purchase Links*
Publisher (buy direct for 30% off) | Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Last Day on Goodreads

10 Things I Loved About The Last Day by Claire Dyer

  • The structure of the book – Told from alternating points of view of the main characters, at random intervals the reader gets a chapter about a seemingly unrelated character whose role in the story will only be revealed at the end of the book.
  • The atmosphere in the house – The book creates a powerful sense of claustrophobia.  The house in Albert Terrace is small, smaller than the reader might have imagined, meaning Vita, Boyd and Honey are in close proximity all the time.  The three of them share one bathroom and the rooms are described as ‘crowded with furniture’.  At one point Vita says, ‘I feel cramped by their presence in the house.’
  • The apt names – The character names give an insight into their personalities.  There’s Vita whose name matches her feisty nature, someone who’s full of life and not a little pent-up anger.  There’s Boyd, whose names speaks of solidity and honesty.  There’s Honey who embodies the sweet nature her name suggests.  And there’s Trixie – but I’m going to let you read the book and work that one out.
  • Colin – Oh, poor Colin, Vita’s convenient companion for outings, suppers and – occasionally – something more.   His comment to Vita, “If you’re happy, I’m happy” sums him up.
  • Honey’s superstitions – Bringing bread and salt to a new home (and sprinkling the salt on the doorstep), going in and out by the same entrance, flinging open all the door at midnight on New Year’s Eve to let the old year escape unimpeded.  And I can’t finish without mentioning the precaution against bad luck Honey takes on p.47.  Sorry, you’re going to have to read the book to find out!
  • Vita’s pet portraits – In fact, not so much the pet portraits as Vita’s sheer contempt at what she’s been reduced to – painting pictures of pampered pooches.
  • Shared pleasures – Boyd’s and Vita’s early morning chats over tea or coffee and the crossword.  What could be more civilised?
  • Tension – The presence of secrets and hidden frustration contribute to an air of mounting pressure that the reader feels must eventually find some release.  As Vita observes, ‘…how can this house survive seeing it’s full to bursting with the three of us, our belongings, and so many unsaid things?’
  • That ending – The tension mentioned above builds to a dramatic and heart-breaking conclusion that represents both a last day in one respect and a first day in another.

Elements of the story, for me, were definitely in the realm of fiction but what really stood out about The Last Day was the depth of the characterisation, the intense atmosphere the author created within the house and the compelling nature of the relationship between Vita, Boyd and Honey.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, The Dome Press.

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In three words: Intense, compelling, intimate

Try something similar…That Summer in Puglia by Valeria Vescina (read my review here)

Claire DyerAbout the Author

Claire Dyer’s novels The Moment and The Perfect Affair, and her short story, Falling For Gatsby, are published by Quercus. Her poetry collections, Interference Effects and Eleven Rooms are published by Two Rivers Press. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London and teaches creative writing for Bracknell & Wokingham College.  She also runs Fresh Eyes, an editorial and critiquing service. (Photo credit: Goodreads author page)

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