Tag: Reading Challenges

My Week in Books – 13th May ’18

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MyWeekinBooks

New arrivals  

The Hidden BonesThe Hidden Bones by Nicola Ford (ARC courtesy of Allison and Busby)

The dead rarely leave matters tidy, widow Clare Hills knows that all too well. In search of a new start, Clare reconnects with university friend Dr David Barbrook and is pleased when he asks for her help sifting through the effects of recently deceased archaeologist Gerald Hart. Together they stumble the lost finds from Gerald’s most glittering dig. Hidden from view for decades, and supposedly destroyed in an arson attack, the discovery of the Hungerbourne Barrows archive is every archaeologist’s dream. However, the dream soon turns to a nightmare which puts Clare at the centre of a murder inquiry.

After the PartyAfter the Party by Cressida Connolly (eARC, NetGalley)

‘Had it not been for my weakness, someone who is now dead could still be alive. That is what I believed and consequently lived with every day in prison.’

It is the summer of 1938 and Phyllis Forrester has returned to England after years abroad. Moving into her sister’s grand country house, she soon finds herself entangled in a new world of idealistic beliefs and seemingly innocent friendships. Fevered talk of another war infiltrates their small, privileged circle, giving way to a thrilling solution: a great and charismatic leader, who will restore England to its former glory.

At a party hosted by her new friends, Phyllis lets down her guard for a single moment, with devastating consequences. Years later, Phyllis, alone and embittered, recounts the dramatic events which led to her imprisonment and changed the course of her life forever.

Summer of LoveSummer of Love by Caro Fraser (eARC, courtesy of Head of Zeus)

The dark days of the war are over, but the family secrets they held are only just dawning.

In the hot summer of 1949, a group of family and friends gather at Harry Denholm’s country house in Kent. Meg and Dan Ranscombe, emerging from a scandal of their own making; Dan’s godmother, Sonia; and her two young girls, Laura and Avril, only one of whom is Sonia’s biological daughter. Amongst the heat, memories, and infatuations, a secret is revealed to Meg’s son, Max, and soon a terrible tragedy unfolds that will have consequences for them all.

Afterward, Avril, Laura, and Max must come of age in a society still reeling from the war, haunted by the choices of that fateful summer. Cold, entitled Avril will go to any lengths to take what is hers. Beautiful, naive Laura finds refuge and love in the London jazz clubs, but Max, with wealth and unrequited love, has the capacity to undo it all.

The Mountain Man's BadgeThe Mountain Man’s Badge by Gary Corbin (eARC, courtesy of the author)

Lehigh Carter never wanted to be sheriff. And he sure never wanted to arrest his new father-in-law for murder.

Mountain Man Lehigh Carter got talked into serving the unexpired term of disgraced long-time Mt. Hood County sheriff Buck Winters, hoping for a quiet nine months in office before the voters selected a new, permanent office-holder. But a few months into the job, poachers discover the body of Everett Downey, a sleazy local businessman, and the evidence points to Lehigh’s brand-new father-in-law, the once-powerful senator George McBride. To his chagrin and his new bride’s fury, Lehigh is forced to arrest George for the murder, and suddenly his happy marriage is on the rocks. Soon he’s living in a tent with only his two dogs for companionship.

While most people in Mt. Hood County appreciate Lehigh’s honesty and his willingness to fight the cronyism and corruption that have plagued Mt. Hood County law enforcement for decades, his desire for reform ruffles some important feathers. Lehigh finds himself fighting unseen enemies, determined to portray him as inept and even more corrupt than his predecessor – even at the cost of protecting the integrity of the murder investigation. Even his own deputies seem intent on bringing back the old guard, and a series of evidence leaks put Lehigh’s reputation and ability to serve as sheriff in jeopardy.

Lehigh’s not a quitter, though, and with dogged persistence, begins to chip away at the investigation, discovering facts that don’t add up…and leads him to suspect why some of those most intent on removing him from office have reasons far more sinister than Lehigh’s reform agenda.  Can Lehigh uncover the truth behind Everett Downey’s murder without becoming the killer’s next victim?

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Monday – I took part in the blog tour for Ecstasy by Mary Sharratt, sharing my review of this fascinating fictionalised account of the life of Alma Schindler who came the wife of Gustav Mahler.   I also posted the first in a new series called Fact in Fiction, revealing five things I learned from the fiction titles I read the previous week.

Tuesday – Another blog tour, this time with an extract from historical novel Her Hidden Life by V. S. Alexander, which is based on a true story.   I also shared my Top Ten Tuesday list of books with my favourite colour in the title, although I diverged a bit by featuring the colours of the rainbow.

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 shared my review of The Burning Chambers, the first in a new trilogy from Queen of historical fiction, Kate Mosse.  Quite a few people commented on my Mary Berry analogy!

Thursday –My Throwback Thursday book was Fortune’s Wheel by Carolyn Hughes which I chose to complement the cover reveal on the same day for the next book in Carolyn’s Meonbridge Chronicles series, A Woman’s Lot.

Saturday –I took a tour of my TBR pile in order to participate in the My Blog’s Name in Books meme.  I also published my review of a book by another Queen of historical fiction, Alison Weir.  It’s the third book in her Six Tudor Queens series, Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen.

Challenge updates

  • Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge – 72 out of 156 books read, 6 more than last week
  • Classics Club Challenge – 14 out of 50 books read, same as last week
  • NetGalley/Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2018 (Silver) – 23 ARCs read and reviewed out of 25, 3 more than last week
  • From Page to Screen– 10 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
  • Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2018 – 36 books out of 50 read, 4 more than 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 – 0 out of 6 books read, same as last week
  • Buchan of the Month – 4 out of 12 books read, same as last week

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • Book Review: Mr Peacock’s Possessions by Lydia Syson
  • Blog Tour/Review: The Boy at the Door by Alex Dahl
  • Book Review/Guest Post: The Magpie Tree by Katherine Stansfield
  • Blog Tour/Review/Q&A: The Things We Learn When We’re Dead by Charlie Laidlaw
  • Blog Tour/Review: Juliet & Romeo by David Hewson
  • Book Review: The Cliff House by Amanda Jennings
  • Book Review: Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall

Blog Tour/Review: Ecstasy by Mary Sharratt

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Ecstasy Blog Tour Banner FINAL

I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for Ecstasy by Mary Sharratt which tells the fascinating story of the life and loves of Alma Mahler, wife of the famous composer, Gustav Mahler.  You can read my review below.

WinFor US residents only, there’s a chance to win a paperback copy of Ecstasy.

To enter, visit the tour page here (scroll right down to the bottom for entry form).

EcstasyAbout the Book

In the glittering hotbed of turn-of-the-twentieth century Vienna, one woman’s life would define and defy an era.

Gustav Klimt gave Alma her first kiss. Gustav Mahler fell in love with her at first sight and proposed only a few weeks later. Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius abandoned all reason to pursue her. Poet and novelist Franz Werfel described her as “one of the very few magical women that exist.” But who was this woman who brought these most eminent of men to their knees? In Ecstasy, Mary Sharratt finally gives one of the most controversial and complex women of her time centre stage.

Coming of age in the midst of a creative and cultural whirlwind, young, beautiful Alma Schindler yearns to make her mark as a composer. A brand new era of possibility for women is dawning and she is determined to make the most of it. But Alma loses her heart to the great composer Gustav Mahler, nearly twenty years her senior. He demands that she give up her music as a condition for their marriage. Torn by her love and in awe of his genius, how will she remain true to herself and her artistic passion?

Part cautionary tale, part triumph of the feminist spirit, Ecstasy reveals the true Alma Mahler: composer, daughter, sister, mother, wife, lover, and muse.

Format: Hardcover, eBook (400 pp.)    Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 10th April 2018                      Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
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 Ecstasy on Goodreads

My Review

Alma is beautiful, passionate and independent-minded.  She is fond of poetry, drama and literature, and a talented pianist.  She also shows a talent for composition and harbours an ambition to be recognised as a composer of her own music.  However, she is prevented from following her dreams by the constraints of society and the expectations placed on her of marriage and motherhood.  It’s a time when women’s talents and achievements are downplayed or, worse, characterised as ‘unfeminine’.

Alma’s admiration for composers and artists of the day is reciprocated by, amongst others, Klimt and Zemlinsky.  They are attracted by her beauty and her lively conversation.   Neither of these are suitable marriage prospects, however, and by the time she is twenty-one, Alma feels in ‘stasis’, unfulfilled and overwhelmed by an awakening sexuality that she is unable to express.   Her only solace is in music.

Enter Gustav Mahler, the renowned conductor and composer who is as entranced by Alma as she is with his musical talent.  However, when his offer of marriage comes it is accompanied by a condition that will mean Alma sacrificing her own ambitions for her husband’s work and career.  Despite the age difference, warnings from those close to her and her own misgivings about the bargain she is making, Alma accepts his offer of marriage.   Heartbreaking tragedy, illness and separation from friends and family will make Alma’s and Gustav’s marriage at times a tempestuous affair.  As Alma’s mother notes: “Love and marriage.  It’s so much more complicated than people realize.”

I really enjoyed Ecstasy, not least because, in one of those moments of serendipity, I attended a concert of Mahler’s Second Symphony a few nights before starting the book.  Described in the programme as ‘monumental’, it’s certainly epic.  With the biggest orchestra I’ve ever seen (including some offstage), a symphony chorus and two soloists, the composer throws in pretty much everything but the kitchen sink.  However, we didn’t have the five minute pause between the first and second movements that Mahler insisted on for its first performance and which Alma witnesses in the book.

There’s something I find fascinating about reading  – albeit fictionalised accounts – of the lives of women who married famous men because, in almost all cases, it strikes me they were often just as accomplished, if not more, than the men they married.  Yet, like, Alma, they were expected to channel their talents into supporting their husbands, being the perfect hostess and doting mother.   Reading Ecstasy made we wonder if great talent, like that of Gustav Mahler, can ever excuse selfishness and the often casual disregard for those around them.

This is a book rich in historical detail and I loved the way the author evoked the sights and atmosphere of turn of the century Vienna (a city I have visited and really loved) and its musicians, artists and poets.   I also found engaging Alma’s wonder at the sophistication of New York when she and Gustav travel there to pursue his career.   As the author notes in her afterword, Alma led a full life even after the events covered in the novel.  I can only agree with Mary Sharratt when she writes: ‘The deeper I delved into Alma’s story, the more complex and compelling her character revealed itself to be.’ 

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Fascinating, detailed, emotional

Try something similar…The Illumination of Ursula Flight by Anna-Marie Crowhurst (click here for my review)

Mary SharrattAbout the Author

MARY SHARRATT is an American writer who has lived in the Pendle region of Lancashire, England, for the past seven years. The author of the critically acclaimed novels Summit Avenue, The Real Minerva, and The Vanishing Point, Sharratt is also the co-editor of the subversive fiction anthology Bitch Lit, a celebration of female antiheroes, strong women who break all the rules.

Her novels include Summit Avenue, The Real Minera, The Vanishing Point, The Daughters of Witching Hill, Illuminations, and The Dark Lady’s Mask.

Connect with Mary

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Ecstasy Release Promo