Category Archives: Books

JANE CABLE REVIEWS…

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Three books read for pleasure and another for research… My book of the month for January is the brand new family drama from Judith Barrow, Sisters, which was published by Honno last week.

Sisters by Judith Barrow

This novel about how childhood lies spiral into adulthood had me gripped from the very first chapter. One sister causes a dreadful accident and the other is blamed. The set up sounds simple enough – one moment changes both their lives. But it is the complex and realistic emotions involved that made this book as we follow Angie and Lisa from the estrangement of their teenage years into their twenties and beyond.

Judith Barrow is such a skilled storyteller I was completely immersed in the narrative, living alongside the characters as the plot played seamlessly out. It is hard to say too much about the story itself without including spoilers, but take it from me, Sisters is a first class read.

 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

I’m not sure why I didn’t expect to enjoy this book; perhaps it was the style of the prologue and first few pages that put me off, but once I got into the story I forgot all about it.

I have to say that happened very quickly. Such brilliant characters, I think I could have forgiven them anything, and there were plenty of things to giggle at too, which I didn’t really expect. As for the mystery I enjoyed the ride and the red herrings very much, but I wasn’t completely convinced by the final outcome. It just didn’t seem as well embedded as the rest of the plot, which was a bit of a shame.

 

A Christmas Miracle for the Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas

I can hardly believe that this is the sixth Railway Girls saga; I have enjoyed them all so much and the stories still feel fresh. Of course the characters are familiar and this book focuses on Cordelia, Mabel and the return of Colette. I had a hunch that would happen, but how it came about, and how this important strand of the story was hold surprised me.

The tension attached to this storyline had such emotional power I was so invested at one point I had to put the book down. I couldn’t bear to carry on reading, and yet I had to know what happened. Always an excellent writer, think is Maisie Thomas hitting a new high. Challenging, uncomfortable, and it made me angry.

But the book ends at Christmas and of course miracles do happen. And the gentler counterpoint of Cordelia’s story was perfect foil to Colette’s making it a brilliantly rounded read.

 

The Four Swans by Winston Graham

I love a Poldark novel; they are fast becoming a go-to comfort read, although in this case I read the next in the series to immerse myself in the era in Cornwall. Although I am writing some fifteen years later I was delighted to discover that the family inspiring me, the Bassets of Tehidy, had more than walk on parts in The Four Swans.

The swans are the four women in Ross’s life and although I loved the full richness of the tapestry drawn, the thread that drew me most was Demelza’s and Hugh Armitage’s pursuit of her. As ever the whole novel was superbly written and brilliantly researched. These are not modern classics for nothing.

 

 

WRITERS ON THE ROAD: SUZANNE FORTIN

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When I first started out writing, my novels were all contemporary, so I didn’t need to do a great deal of research as most of the things I wrote about were within my own experience. However, when I moved into writing historical fiction and, in particular, the Second World War, research became one of the key elements. With so much information out there, it was important that I got my facts right.

Prior to this point in my writing, I had never been much of a historian. I moved into historical fiction by accident really, when my editor wanted me to expand on the backstory of one of my characters. I wasn’t sure if I could do it at first. Researching the Second World War seemed a huge task but the internet, friends, family, colleagues and the local library/bookstore have all been my assistants in helping me in this area.

Most of my novels have been partly set in France – a country that has been close to my heart for many years. Me and my husband first started visiting France in the early 90s and fell in love with the country and culture, so much so, that in 2003 we bought a cottage of our own to renovate in the Morbihan department of Brittany.

Little did I know back then how the area would influence and inspire my writing. Since then, I have found a wealth of information, a lot of which is widely known and many things that are smaller more personal stories of events during the occupation and the efforts of the local French Resistance who fought to disrupt the German war effort as much as possible, proving invaluable in the lead up to D-Day and beyond.

One of my research trips in Brittany took me to the Musée de la Résistance Bretonne in Saint-Marcel. It is, in fact, built of the very site that was once woodland where the local resistance group lived, trained, organised their attacks from and saw actual fighting as Brittany was liberated after the D-Day Landings.

Some of the displays within the museum have recreated scenes of the fighting as well as what every-day life was like under the occupation. All the displays are very detailed. There are some personal accounts, and these helped greatly to the authenticity of what I was writing, rather than just relying on well-documented war facts.

As with so many villages and towns within the area, memories of the war are never far away. On the edges of a village near to our cottage, is a small stone cross on the side of the road with the names of three local men engraved who were captured and executed by the Germans for being part of the Resistance. I have always felt a great sadness when I pass this memorial and initially it was hard to find out any information about the local men but over time this has become recorded online. Their personal stories have stayed with me and although not directly recounted in my writing, I hope I have managed to include the sentiment and acknowledge the sacrifice made by so many men and women in Brittany during the occupation.

 

 

Book link: https://bit.ly/3Z0ECxk

 

Body by James Davies: The Book Your Body Needs

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There are no words for how much I love this book. I think it should be on every single book shelf. I injured myself ten years ago and I have already learned a lot on how to heal and fix my body. The information in this book is gold. It covers every part of the body and tells you how to heal it. James Davies covers what’s normal and what’s not when it comes to pain. I refuse to be without this comprehensive book, which is the equivalent of having your own personal osteopath. Buy it now.

 

The ultimate guide to preventing pain and fuelling your body to its fullest health potential. He is world renowned and the osteopath to stars, including David Beckham and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Ultimate strategies to prevent pain and fuel your body to its fullest health potential.

Simple techniques and strategies to:

Heal

From stress and anxiety, to everyday wear and tear and injury, life takes its toll on our bodies. Now, internationally renowned osteopath James Davies can help you heal your body.

Reset

With tips and tricks to help recognise, manage, and treat everyday aches and pains, this book will reset your approach to understanding your body. James presents a revolutionary blueprint for holistic body wellbeing.

Restore

Improve your wellbeing with exercises expertly designed to optimise your body. Enhance your health and mobility by understanding common conditions from arthritis and muscle strains, to IBS and stress, and empower yourself with the knowledge you need to achieve full-body health.

Body is available here.

DIANE HARDING ON HER HARROWING MEMOIR, ALWAYS IN THE DARK

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My memoir ‘Always in the Dark’ tells of secrets, scandal and survival.  It is an extraordinary account of my bizarre homelife and is my search for answers from a family shrouded in secrets.  A mysterious tale of growing up, unbeknown to me, with my mother trapped in a menage a trois on a continent from which there was no escape, it tells of her selflessness, sacrifice and of putting others first.

After my parents emigrated post war, my idyllic and cosy childhood was ruined at the age of three after the arrival of a mysterious and glamorous visitor with my roller coaster existence and mother’s mental breakdown adding to my confusion during my formative years.

Although the first half of the mystery unfolded in the leafy suburbs of Cape Town, after moving to England at the age of fourteen the scandal continued to follow us around.  It was obvious my home life was a weird one and it was only after my mother’s death decades later that I rummaged through her secret box and discovered a wealth of staggering information I did not know about, the unimaginable circumstances cleverly hidden from me during my early years.  But I was a young child when it all began and the fact that I had lived my life to the point of naivety was beyond baffling.  But it was my mother’s life-long confidante, her sister Linda, who supplied me with many missing pieces of the puzzle and whose revelations helped clarify many of my childhood mysteries including the reason why I was to be an only child.

Making my heinous discovery was difficult to grasp and the realisation that I had lived through the trauma as the child of the victim equally upsetting; rage, bitterness, anger and a disbelief that my childhood had been dismantled by greed and my mother treated with such humiliation consuming me.  And because of the hurt and embarrassment my shocking revelation was not something I felt willing to talk about, least of all with my husband, a secret I kept from him for two long years.

The search for the truth sent me on numerous missions to talk with close friends and family only to discover that I was the last to know, hence the title ‘Always in the Dark’.

For too long domestic abuse has been a hidden issue and in order to raise aware of the horrors of coercive control I am now on a mission to encourage people to open up and tell their story which for me has been life changing.  It is a known fact that it is particularly hard for older people to open up and will experience abuse for twice as long before seeking help compared to those who are younger.  Writing my memoir has not been an easy ride but out of it has come great solace which has allowed me to come to terms with my past and move on.  I did not want to be someone with a massive grudge, determined never to allow my past to spoil my future.

This is a book about final freedom, my openness which I hope will help others to come forward and speak out and to understand that however traumatic a situation there is hope and a way through to happiness.  I am a firm believer that to experience the tough times gives us backbone in order to cope with what life throws our way.

 

 

 

 

 

Great Books To Read Now

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The Hiking Trip by Jenny Blackhurst

I loved this pacy thriller. I honestly didn’t see the ending coming. One of my fav books I have read recently. Superb.

Don’t trust everyone you meet here…

A young British backpacker goes missing on the West Coast Trail.

No one is sure whether she died or simply disappeared.

Apart from Laura.

Twenty years later, a body has been found.

And there’s only one person who could reveal the secret that Laura’s been hiding all this time.

But she knows that two can keep a secret.

IF ONE OF THEM IS DEAD.

The Hiking Trip is available here.

Looking Out For Love by Sophia Money-Coutts

I have read all of Sophia Money-Coutts’s books and they just get better. The characters, the plot, everything about this book is pitch perfect. It’s like the perfect caper rom-com. 

Stella Shakespeare isn’t having a good day, or month come to think of it. She’s been unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend, cut off from the bank of dad and at 32 years old, she doesn’t know what she’s doing with her life.

What Stella really wants is to find love. She wants all-consuming, can’t-think-about-anything-else, can’t-even-manage-to-eat kind of love. What she found beside her in bed that morning wasn’t love. But when a tall, handsome man in a well-fitting suit walks into her life, she thinks she’s finally found The One.

Everything seems to be falling into place now Stella has met the man of her dreams and has an actual job working with a private investigator nicknamed The Affair Hunter. Although seeing relationships in trouble shakes Stella’s own trust and makes her question if she’s been looking for love in the wrong places all along…

Looking Out For Love is available here.

The Coming Darkness by Greg Mosse

A superb dystopian thriller. This ambitious debut really draws you into this futuristic world and doesn’t let go. Intelligent and entertaining. 

A massive new talent in British fiction, Greg Mosse’s storytelling is complex and finely crafted, combining twisting plotlines, intelligent dialogue and ambiguous characters, all skilfully brought together in an epic climax. Never before has dystopian fiction been so chillingly real.

Set in an alternate near future in which global warming and pathogenic viruses have torn through the fabric of society, The Coming Darkness follows French secret operative Alexandre Lamarque on the trail of global eco-terrorists. Lamarque’s target is set on destabilising the controls placed on global governments that protect human life from climate change. One wrong move and the world could be plunged into darkness.

From Paris to North Africa, Lamarque is drawn into an ominous sequence of events: a theft from a Norwegian genetics lab; a string of violent child murders; his mother’s desperate illness; a chaotic coup in North Africa, and the extraction under fire of its charismatic leader.

Experience has taught Alex there is no one he can trust – not his secretive lover Mariam, not even his mentor, Professor Fayard – the man at the centre of a deadly web of government control. Lamarque rapidly finds himself in a heart-thumping race against time, the one man with the ability to prevent chaos and destruction taking over.

The Coming Darkness is available here.

One Last Secret by Adele Parks

I’m a huge fan of Adele Parks. Her writing is so sharp and entertaining that she makes it look easy. I love Dora, the escort who’s had such a tough life and triumphed. Will one last secret bring her down? This is a glamorous thriller that is sometimes sad, but keeps you entertained until the last page. A must read.  

Another incredible domestic thriller from the Sunday Times number one bestselling author of sensational books like Both of You….

One last client….

A week at a beautiful chateau in the south of France—it should be a straightforward final job for Dora. She’s a smart, stunning and discreet escort and Daniel has paid for her services before. This time, all she has to do is convince the assembled guests that she is his girlfriend. Dora is used to playing roles and being whatever men want her to be. It’s all about putting on a front.

One last chance….

It will be a last, luxurious look at how the other half lives, before Dora turns her back on the escort world and all its dangers. She has found someone she loves and trusts. With him, she can escape the life she’s trapped in. But when Dora arrives at the chateau, it quickly becomes obvious that nothing is what it seems….

One last secret….

Dora finds herself face to face with a man she has never forgotten, the one man who really knows her. And as old secrets surface, it becomes terrifyingly apparent that one last secret could cost Dora her life….

From the Sunday Times number one bestseller Adele Parks comes a blisteringly provocative novel about power, sex, money and revenge.

One Last Secret is available here.

Islands by Mark Easton

I really loved Islands. Well-researched with lyrical prose; it’s enchanting and endlessly fascinating. 

No man is an island, wrote John Donne. BBC Home Editor Mark Easton argues the opposite: that we are all islands, and it is upon the contradictory shoreline where isolation meets connectedness, where ‘us’ meets ‘them’, that we find out who we truly are.

Suggesting that a continental bias has blinded us, Easton chronicles a sweep of 250 million years of island history: from Pangaea (the supercontinent mother of all islands) to the first intrepid islanders pointing their canoes over the horizon, from exploration to occupation, exploitation to liberation, a hopeful journey to paradise and a chastening reminder of our planet’s fragility.

But that is only half of this mesmerising book: aided by the muse he names Pangaea, Easton also interweaves reflections on what he calls ‘the psychological islands that form the great archipelago of humankind’. Taking readers on an enchanting adventure, he illustrates how understanding islands and island syndrome might help humanity get closer to the truth about itself.

Brave, intelligent and haunting, Islands is a deep dive into geography, myth, literature, politics and philosophy that reveals nothing less than a map of the human heart.

The Island is available here.

Busy Betty by Reese Witherspoon

Not only did I love this book, but my daughter did too. A fantastic story with an important message. The illustration is also wonderful. 

From Academy Award-winning actress, founder, and bestselling author, Reese Witherspoon, comes Busy Betty, a story about a creative, curious, and exuberant young girl who has big plans and an even bigger heart.

Busy Betty has always been busy . . . even when she was just a baby!

When Betty gives Frank a big hug, she realizes he needs a bath, PRONTO! Her best friend, Mae, is coming over, and Betty can’t have the smelliest dog in the whole world! But giving Frank a bath is harder than she thought and just when everything seems impossible, with Mae’s help, Betty learns she can accomplish anything with perseverance, teamwork, and one great idea.

From Reese Witherspoon comes a smart and larger-than-life character who encourages young listeners to celebrate what makes them unique and realize that anything is possible!

Busy Betty is available here.

Love My Reads Box.

If you are looking for a gift idea I can recommend Love My Reads. A subscription box which comes with a book and lots of treats every month. Mine came with Dear Dollly by Dolly Alderton. A great book with lots of good advice.

 

Have I Got News For You: The Quiz of 2022.

I’m a huge fan of Have I Got News For You. This book is hours of fun. Funny as ever. Great for yourself or others. Grab a copy now. 

Whatever word you’d care to apply to 2022, no one can deny it’s been eventful. Russia invaded Ukraine, Boris Johnson resigned, the Queen passed the baton to Charles after a 70-year reign, heat records were broken, food and energy bills went through the roof, fading celebrities discovered that libel laws are a great way to generate publicity, Liz Truss spent more money in her first week as PM than anyone since the war, and – as usual – most of the biggest stories broke while HIGNFY was off the air.

What better way, then, to commemorate a year most of us probably want to forget than with over 1,000 quiz questions about it? There’s the Missing Words Round, the Odd One Out Round, loads of rounds that we’ve nicked from other puzzle books, and for any insomniacs out there, there’s even one on the Labour Party.

With questions on everything from politics to pop culture, and Paul Merton and Ian Hislop’s predictions for 2023, Have I Got News For You: The Quiz of 2022 promises hours of entertainment (albeit probably by candlelight) and will serve as the ultimate souvenir of a rollercoaster year.

Available here.

With This Kiss by Carrie Hope Fletcher.

This is a quirky and original story from a fresh voice. Kept me hooked until the last page. A heartwarming and beautiful romance.

If you knew how your love story ends, would you dare to begin?

From the outside, Lorelai is an ordinary young woman with a normal life. She loves reading, she works at the local cinema and she adores living with her best friend. But she carries a painful burden, something she’s kept hidden for years: whenever she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they are going to die. But she’s never known if she’s seeing what was always meant to be, or if her kiss is the thing that decides their destiny. And so, she hasn’t kissed anyone since she was 18.

Then she meets Grayson. Sweet, clever, funny Grayson. And for the first time in years, she yearns for a man’s kiss. But she can’t…or can she? And if she does, should she try to intervene and change what she sees?

Spellbinding, magical and utterly original, With This Kiss is one love story you will never forget.

With This Kiss is available here.

Small Acts of Kindness by Jennifer Antill.

This is a brilliant historical novel from a writer who really knows their stuff. Outstanding. 

St Petersburg, 1825. Imperial Russia still basks in the glory of victory over Napoleon, but in the army and elsewhere resentment is growing against serfdom and autocracy. Vasily, a pleasure loving, privileged young man, returns home from abroad expecting to embark on a glittering career. Having become entangled in an impossible love affair, he joins a conspiracy to overthrow the government. Threatened by exile to Siberia or death, he is forced to flee the Tsar’s vengeance. Vasily hopes to rebuild his life in a distant provincial town. But he cannot forget his lost love, and now finds himself pursued by a rival who aims to destroy him. Can he escape the past, mend his broken relationships and find a better way to change the world?

Small Acts of Kindness is available here.

 

 

WRITERS ON THE ROAD: GILL THOMPSON

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Back in spring 2018, I visited Prague to research my second novel, The Child on Platform One. Known as ‘The City of a Hundred Spires,’ the capital of the Czech Republic is characterised by gothic splendour and quaint medieval charm. It’s dynamic and vibrant, a brilliant collision of past and present.

But I wasn’t just there to admire the scenery, stunning though it was. If my story was to come to life, I wanted to see for myself the locations I’d placed my characters in. First the conservatoire, a large sand-coloured building situated close to the river between two of its central bridges. My novel starts with a young girl and piano-playing prodigy, Eva, having a music lesson at this famous musical venue. But she is late – we don’t initially know why – so has to hurry home to her parents who will be anxiously awaiting her. For this reason, she takes a short cut through the old Jewish cemetery, a decision with fateful consequences. I was shown round the cemetery by a wonderful Czech guide, herself called Eva, who stood amused whilst I checked my Eva’s route through the graveyard. She agreed with me that Eva would have been able to enter and exit at different points, essential to my plan.

My next destination was even more sobering: Terezin, the old eighteenth century fortress 60 km northwest of the capital which was converted to a Jewish ghetto for the duration of the war. When I first read about this ‘holding camp,’ the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Although they were prisoners, fed a meagre diet, and worked until they dropped, the Jewish inmates were allowed to paint, sing, dance and act in their ‘free time,’ most notably performing Verdi’s Requiem to an audience of Germans, who were unaware that the choir were singing of God’s judgement on their captors. As I was shown round the camp with its poignant gallery of portraits, reconstructions of dormitories and the terrifying crematorium, I was moved, appalled and inspired in equal measure. What came across to me most strongly was people’s capacity to use their creative talents to make meaning in the darkest of times. I hope I have brought this quality to life in my novel. It was certainly a tour I will never forget.

My final destination was the Wilson station. It was here, on platform one, that I discovered the statue of Sir Nicholas Winton, the British man who rescued 669 children from Nazi-occupied Prague before the start of World War Two. Later in my novel Eva, terrified for the safety of her child, sees her daughter Miriam safely onto one of Winton’s trains before Eva herself is sent to Terezin. It was this episode that finally provided the title for my novel: The Child on Platform One.

The novel has been published now, and I am delighted that it was also translated into Czech and sold in bookshops throughout the republic. Eva’s story will finally be shared with the people who inspired it.

The beautiful city of Prague won my heart. This is an amazing place to visit but its history is sometimes dark and terrible. I hope I have done these events justice in my novel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

EVA GLYN’S HIDDEN CROATIA: KOMIZA

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I knew, when I started to write the book that would become An Island of Secrets, that I needed to visit Komiza, but as it was during the lockdowns of 2021 it seemed like an impossible dream. Then, in the summer, everything opened up and we booked a small apartment, took our covid tests, and headed off.

It was a bit of a journey, and that’s one of the reasons the place remains low on the tourist radar, despite being the main filming location for Mamma Mia II. We flew into Split and after an overnight stay on the mainland took a ferry to Vis (the island and the town), where a taxi met us and dropped us on Komiza’s harbourfront.

This was our first lesson about the town (not a village, a town, and the inhabitants are intensely proud of that fact) – there is no vehicle access to much of it, certainly not to the narrow streets and alleys heading up the hill from and surrounding the harbour. But as we strolled along the waterfront in the late afternoon sun, past restaurants, coffee shops and an ice cream parlour, I sank into the sort of peaceful joy that only the Mediterranean gives me.

There are plenty of places to eat and drink around the waterfront, and a small supermarket if you prefer to actually self cater. A surprising amount of stock is squeezed into its narrow aisles, but it’s worth fighting to the back to the deli counter. The staff were delighted we wanted to try different local cooked meats and cheeses.

There are several tiny beaches near the central harbour, but the main one, Gusarica, is to the right as you face the sea, perhaps a five minute walk down Ribarska Ulica, the street through the old fishermen’s quarter. On either side are beautiful old stone houses, a few of them little more than tumbledown ruins just crying out to be repaired.

I swam from Gusarica’s pebbles every morning (don’t expect sand in Dalmatia); the sea warm and the backdrop stunning. Komiza is wrapped in the arms of a wide bay – thus its long and rich tradition as a fishing port – and watching the sun creep along the peninsular, making it glow golden, was incredible. Behind the beach is one of the pretty churches I feature in An Island of Secrets, with a beautiful incense-filled interior that’s well worth peeping into.

Along the harbour there are many boats offering trips to the famous blue cave on the nearby island of Bisevo and other gorgeous destinations. Alternatively, if you want something different, chat to the ladies selling them; although they’re in competition they do work together. I just wanted a trip along the coast to spec out some locations for my book and was able to negotiate a late afternoon bespoke trip for quite a reasonable price.

There are a plethora of restaurants to choose from, but we started with Konoba Koluna on the harbour – look for the red table clothes – and didn’t feel the need to go anywhere else. The staff were super-friendly and the food fresh and homely; just the way we like it. I suppose we were rather lazy, there were other places we would have liked to have tried, including Konoba BAK that specialises in peka (it was just too hot!) and Konoba Jastozera near Gusarica, which has fabulous views back across the harbour.

Admittedly Komiza is special to me because it is so central to one of my books, but if you want a quiet, traditional Mediterranean break in a warm and welcoming place then look no further.

 

 

 

The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent

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I had the pleasure of reading The Things We Do To Our Friends last year and it has proudly sat on my shelf ever since. No word is wasted in this fabulous debut. The idea is original and the plot dazzles along at pace. It’s hard to say what my favourite thing is about this outstanding novel, but the foundation of female friendship is always something I love reading about.

I’m also Scottish and I loved reading a book set in Edinburgh. This dark novel is impossible to put down and will no doubt be the most talked about novel of 2023. Get your hands on your copy now or miss out on a dazzling new voice in fiction. With this novel Heather Darwent has cemented her place as one of the best writers of her generation.

the things we do to our friends, heather darwent

 What is the cost of an extraordinary life if others have to pay?

 

Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh with a secret. This is her chance for a blank slate – to finally become who she was meant to be.

 

And then she meets Tabitha.

 

Tabitha is charismatic, beautiful and intimidatingly rich. Soon Clare is sucked into her enigmatic circle of friends and their dizzying world of champagne on rooftops and summers in France.

 

Her new life has begun.

 

Then Tabitha reveals the little project they’re working on, a project they need Clare’s help with. And Clare can’t say no.

 

Because they know what she did . . .

 

Heather Darwent is based just outside of Edinburgh. Originally from Yorkshire, she came to Scotland to study History of Art at the University of Edinburgh, like her character Clare, and ended up never quite leaving. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her reading chaotic non-fiction about Silicon Valley and swimming in the sea . . . or being unbearably boring in conversation about swimming in the sea. The Things We Do To Our Friends is her debut novel.

The Things We Do To Our Friends is available here.