Today I’m shining a spotlight on ten books I loved but which still have fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads. It’s probably significant that a lot of them were published by small publishers or self-published by their authors, demonstrating how difficult it is to grab readers’ attention in a crowded marketplace. Of course, that’s where book bloggers like us come in! Click on the titles to read my full review.
Shadows on the Grass by Misha Herwin (8 ratings, 3 reviews)
Set in Bristol in 1965, the book focuses on three generations of women who are each in their own way struggling to come to terms with their past, their Polish heritage and the modern day.
Mimi is dying and, as she moves in and out of consciousness, events in the past prey on her mind: memories of bereavement, exile, love, loss and betrayal. Hannah, Mimi’s daughter, is weighed down by the mental and physical strain of caring for her ailing mother. Moody and rebellious, Hannah’s daughter Kate is conflicted between the strict Catholic faith she has been brought up in and her desire to explore sexually and venture beyond the expectations of her family.
A Countess in Limbo: Diaries in War and Revolution by Olga Hendrikoff & Sue Carscallen (16 ratings, 6 reviews)
Countess Olga “Lala” Hendrikoff was born into the Russian aristocracy, serving as lady-in-waiting to the empresses and enjoying a life of great privilege. But on the eve of her wedding in 1914 came the first rumors of an impending war – a war that would change her life forever and force her to flee her country as a stateless person with no country to call home. Her diaries reveal the highs and lows of her remarkable life.
Catherine Dickens: Outside the Magic Circle by Heera Datta (83 ratings, 34 reviews)
The author seeks to give a voice to Catherine, Charles Dickens’ wife and mother of his ten children from whom he separated after twenty-two years of marriage. The Charles Dickens who emerges from the book is a master storyteller but one who couldn’t tell fact from fiction in real life and, enamored of a young actress, invented a story in his mind in which he, not Catherine, was the victim.
Ares Road (Jake Caldwell #2) by James L. Weaver (52 ratings, 21 reviews)
A fast-paced and action-packed crime thriller featuring mob enforcer turned private investigator, Jake Caldwell. The story is a thrilling mix of seedy clubs, hired heavies, retribution, mobsters, treachery, shoot-outs, corruption, fist-fights, conspiracy, fast-food and too much coffee.
And the Birds Kept on Singing by Simon Bourke (8 ratings, 2 reviews)
A powerful coming-of-age saga following the same boy through two different possible lives. In one, his teenage mother, Sinead, returns to Northern Ireland with her young son, Seán, to live back in the family home. In the other, she gives him up for adoption and Jonathan becomes the longed-for child of Margaret and Malcolm, unable to have children of their own.
A Reluctant Warrior by Kelly Brooke Nicholls (23 ratings, 13 reviews)
Set in Colombia, the book tells the gripping story of Luzma and her family forced to flee the paramilitaries but who are then faced with confronting the corruption rife in the country’s society.
The Good Father by S.R. Wilsher (27 ratings, 5 reviews)
In 1994, nine year old Effie and her twelve year old brother Ajan, endure the horrors of life in the besieged city of Sarajevo after the loss of their parents. What follows is an intelligent, gripping thriller that builds to an action-packed conclusion.
Home Is Nearby by Magdalena McGuire (69 ratings, 36 reviews)
Poland, 1980. Brought up in a small village, country-girl Ania arrives in the university city of Wroclaw to pursue her career as a sculptor. Here she falls in love with Dominik, an enigmatic writer. When martial law is declared, their lives change overnight as the government attempt to stifle the rise of the Solidarity movement through censorship, internment, surveillance, informers and control of the press.
Beautiful Star & Other Stories by Andrew Swanston (38 ratings, 12 reviews)
‘History is brought alive by the people it affects, rather than those who created it.’
In this collection what might have been considered footnotes in history – the defence of Corfe Castle by its chatelaine during the English Civil War or a button seller’s experience of the Battle of Waterloo – are fashioned into compelling, character-driven stories.
The Last Thread by Ray Britain (19 ratings,10 reviews)
Accused of pushing a boy to his death in a failed suicide intervention, DCI Doug Stirling is suspended from duty. Attacked in the media, Stirling must look on helplessly as the incompetent Chief Inspector Ballard, who is intent on destroying him, investigates the boy’s death. A gripping police procedural.
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