Tag: Read

My Week in Books – 18th August ‘19

whatcathyreadnext6 Comments

MyWeekinBooks

New arrivals

The Girl at the WindowThe Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman (ebook)

She grew up in a house full of history. It was bound to have secrets…

Ponden Hall is a centuries-old house on the Yorkshire moors, a magical place full of stories. It’s also where Trudy Heaton grew up. And where she ran away from…

Now, after the devastating loss of her husband, she is returning to Ponden, a widow with a young son, Will, who refuses to believe his father is dead.  But going home isn’t always easy. Trudy must attempt to build bridges with her eccentric mother while coming to terms with the loss of the love her life and trying to do her best for her grieving son.

And then there is the Hall itself: fallen into disrepair but still rich in history and legend, a familiar haunt of the Brontë sisters, and the location for the most famous scene from Wuthering Heights… Generations of lives and loves still echo in its shadows, sometimes even reaching out to the present…

Eight Hours From EnglandEight Hours From England by Anthony Quayle (paperback, advance review copy)

Autumn 1943. Realising that his feelings for his sweetheart are not reciprocated, Major John Overton accepts a posting behind enemy lines in Nazi-Occupied Albania. Arriving to find the situation in disarray, he attempts to overcome geographical challenges and political intrigues to set up a new camp in the mountains overlooking the Adriatic.

As he struggles to complete his mission amidst a chaotic backdrop, Overton is left to ruminate on loyalty, comradeship and his own future.

Based on Anthony Quayle’s own wartime experience with the Special Operations Executive (SOE), this new edition of a 1945 classic includes a contextual introduction from the Imperial War Museum which sheds new light on the fascinating true events that inspired its author.

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Tuesday –  I shared my review of Untitled: The Real Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anna Pasternak.

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 joined the blog tour for The Beach at Doonshean by Penny Feeny.

Friday – I shared some Tales From My TBR Pile.

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

  • Book Review: The Tides Between by Elizabeth Jane Corbett
  • Waiting on Wednesday
  • Blog Tour/Book Review: Ike and Kay by James MacManus
  • Blog Tour/Book Review: The Outrageous Fortune of Abel Morgan by Cynthia Jefferies

BookReview – The Beach at Doonshean by Penny Feeny @Aria_Fiction

whatcathyreadnext

About the Book

In Ireland, the past never dies…

Long ago, on a windswept Irish beach, a young father died saving the life of another man’s child.

Thirty years later, his widow, Julia, decides to return to this wild corner of Ireland to lay the past to rest. Her journey sparks others: her daughter Bel, an artist, joins her mother in Ireland, while son Matt and daughter-in-law Rachael, at home in Liverpool, embark on some soul-searching of their own.

As the threads of past and present intertwine, Julia’s family confront long-buried feelings of guilt, anger, fear and desire. Only then can they allow the crashing waves of the beach at Doonshean to bond them together once again.

Format: e-book (416 pages) Publisher: Aria
Publication date: 15th August 2019  Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Find The Beach at Doonshean on Goodreads

Purchase The Beach at Doonshean from Amazon.co.uk [link provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme]

My Review

If you’re looking for a book that explores the dynamics and challenges of family life and relationships as well as the lasting impact that past events can have on the lives of those involved, then you need look no further than The Beach at Doonshean. Furthermore if, like Julia, you believe that coincidence is much more common than you imagine, you certainly won’t be disappointed. And for good measure, there are lovely descriptions of the landscape and coastline of western Ireland.

‘At its lowest ebb, the full wild beauty of the strand was exposed: the glistening of seaweed at the shoreline, the grill of lacy foam, the scattering of shells. And all around her, the rocks rose like exotic hanging gardens, rich with jeweller clumps of sea thrift and mallow.’

The sections of the book focussing on Matt and Rachael as they settle into their new home in Liverpool could seem like a separate story, perhaps even a separate book. However, the author skilfully brings together the two storylines when events take a dramatic turn bringing echoes of the past.

What unites all the characters in the book is the fact they are adjusting to changes in their lives: Julia, facing retirement and looking for new purpose; Bel, returning from adventures abroad and needing to rebuild her health; Matt and Rachael, making a new home for their son, Danny, and pondering their future; brothers Kieran and Tom, returning home to Ireland, the latter with unexpected new responsibilities and unsure of the welcome he’ll receive.

The book ends on a positive note with the possibility of new beginnings, second chances as well as the prospect of fresh goals and challenges making The Beach at Doonshean an absorbing, acutely-observed family drama.

In three words: Heart-warming, emotional, absorbing
Try something similar: Tell Me Where You Are by Moira Forsyth

About the Author

Penny Feeny
Penny Feeny has lived and worked in Cambridge, London and Rome. Since settling in Liverpool many years ago she has been an arts administrator, editor, radio presenter, advice worker, and has brought up five children. Her short fiction has been widely published and broadcast and won several awards. Her first novel, That Summer in Ischia, was one of the summer of 2011’s bestselling titles.

Connect with Penny
Goodreads