Tracy Baines will be familiar to many of you who have loved her short stories in women’s magazines such as The People’s Friend and Woman’s Weekly, so what better news than to hear that she decided  – roll of drums – to try her hand at sagas.

So what about The Variety Girls – her debut novel, published by Ebury Press? Is it a good move? Will we be impatient to turn the pages?

I should darned well think so, the woman has smashed it.

Another roll of drums –  an excellent saga series has begun, and what better subject than one with which Tracy Baines is familiar.

As a teenager Tracy  worked summer seasons at an end of pier theatre: shows, pantomimes – oh yes she did – and in time became Assistant Stage Manager, even meeting her husband there when he was appearing with the Nolan Sisters – he’s behind you …

All right, enough of the panto stuff.

But I have to share with you that I have had a tour around that theatre, and eaten battered plaice and chips at the restaurant. It was so lovely, I long to go again. The theatre, the stage,  the footlights… I could feel a song coming on, but was dragged out before I could humiliate myself. Oh, what a glorious world in which to set a novel. One of endeavour, doubt, and always, ‘the show must go on’.

So bring on The Variety Girls.

This heart warming saga is set on the brink of the 2nd World War, and circumstances have dictated that Jessie Delaney, her mum, Grace, and young brother Eddie, up sticks and move in with Jessie’s aunt and uncle. To call these relatives the sober-sides, the  ‘sucked a lemon’ brigade is to understate the case. Life is toxic, and miserable, but our Jessie is aspirational, she determines to escape onto the stage in her father’s footsteps.

Can she pull it off, especially as it means leaving her mum and brother, and what about Harry the boyfriend?

If she does leave, how can she rescue her mother and brother? Will she be the successful singer she craves to be? Will she still see Harry? Where will she live? Will she make friends?

So many questions, and to find the answers, and enter this razzmatazz world, you will have to read this well-researched song and dance of a novel in great gulps as I did, all the while so wanting Jessie to pull it off, just as the author most certainly has: an evocative, busy, entertaining read, which has well balanced touches of humour, vying with angst, and of course, more than a dollop of tension. Bravo, bravo.

But be warned, you’ll end up buying sparkly knickers, and dancing to the big band sound around the kitchen – oh yes you will.

The Variety Girls by Tracy Baines. pb, ebook and audio. Available from Amazon.co.uk WH Smith, and ASDA

image courtesy of In Charley’s Memory

In Charley’s Memory is a local charity based in Highbridge, Somerset which works to support young people.

So who is Charley?

ICM gave permission for this statement to be used in this Frost Magazine article:  Charley struggled with his mental health throughout his adolescence and in 2014 it all became too much and Charley took his own life. After Charley’s death his mum wanted to do something to raise awareness and reduce the stigma that is attached to mental health. So she founded In Charley’s Memory, known locally as ICM. Charley’s friends and family began raising money and supporting young people. In Charley’s Memory received official charity status in March 2015 (registration number 1160805) and since then has moved into premises in Burnham-on-Sea, with a team of volunteers and staff. In the 4 years ICM has been established the charity has grown considerably. 

Natalie Jayne Peake talked to a representative of ICM  and learned more about the crucial help the charity provides for those in need.

Tell me about Charley, what was he like?

Charley was a loveable rogue with a really cheeky sense of humour. He was very popular at school, had a large group of friends and was mad on sports. Charley adored his family and was very protective of his mum Jo.

ICM received charity status in March 2015, what services do you offer and who can use them?

Predominantly we offer 1:1 counselling to young people 11-25, aside from this we run drop ins at schools across Somerset, this enables young people at school to come and speak to us about anything that is troubling them. If they need further support we can arrange this or signpost them. We work a lot with other organisations such as Hinkley C, (we work with their apprentices) YMCA Dulverton and Sanctuary Housing, raising awareness around mental health and mental wellbeing. We do not have specific criteria to access support at ICM. If a young person can get to our office we will offer them counselling irrespective of where in Somerset they have come from.

What does 2020 have in store for ICM?

This year we have launched our over 26’s affordable counselling programme after becoming aware that there was a lack of affordable counselling in the area. We are working with The Space in Cheddar to develop a high standard training programme that we can deliver to in schools to help parents/carers/family members who need more support or understanding of young people’s struggles.

If someone is struggling with their mental health, how can they contact you?

They can call the office, 01278557490 or if they feel uncomfortable talking to someone on the phone they can email us at enquiries@incharleysmemory.co.uk

How can people get involved with fundraising?

We run events during the year and we are always looking for volunteers to come along and help us. We are so lucky that our community supports and understands what it is we are doing, it is their fundraising efforts that have helped us keep the doors open and enabled us to grow as quickly as we have. Any one wishing to raise funds for us just needs to give us a call or email.

Tell me more about your Ambassador scheme?

It is so important to us that young people are involved in the charity, because you cannot successfully run a young persons charity without listening to the opinions of young people. So each year we have a team of ambassadors (ages 14-18) that come on board, they receive some training from us on mental health awareness and then spend 12 months helping us at events, raising awareness of the charity, and importantly giving us input on what we do and how we do it 

How can others help spread the word about ICM ?

Like our facebook page, follow us on twitter. But importantly talk about mental health, ask your friend, neighbour family member, if they are ok, we always say to people you do not need to be qualified to care about someone’s mental health, and if you find out they are not ok then please signpost them to us.

We aim to get to the kids before the kids get to crisis, so if you know a person who is just struggling or going through a difficult time at the moment they may benefit from having someone to talk to, you do not need a diagnosis to come and see a member of the team.

A link to more information: In Charley’s Memory

I don’t usually do tear-jerkers. Life can be heartbreaking enough as it is, and whilst I don’t want my fiction sugar-coated as such, I do object to being strung up by my heartstrings for kicks. More often than not, I find, it’s just not worth the emotional payout.

And yet. Sairish Hussain’s epic debut The Family Tree had me crying on four or five separate occasions – I can’t actually remember the last novel that had me cry once – and I didn’t resent the emotional bleed one bit. What’s more, I felt sort of gratified by it.

Let me back track a bit. When I first heard of this book, at a debut author showcase at HQ publishing, it wasn’t sold as an emotional rollercoaster. Hussain gave an impassioned 60 second introduction of her novel, lamenting the stereotyped and stigmatised representation of Muslims in fiction – terrorism, forced marriage and every other trope – which ultimately informed her tale of a regular British Muslim family, facing the kind of hardships that could befall anyone, anywhere. Well, she sure succeeded. And then some.

There are no shortage of hardships that befall the Sharif family.

The Family Tree traverses 20 years, beginning in 1993, when Amjad loses his wife during childbirth, leaving him with the care of his young son Saahil and newborn daughter Zahra. Understandably, Neelam’s untimely death remains a defining marker in their lives. An emblem remains in the form of a Pakistani shawl – a gift from her own mother – worn by Neelam as she died. Interwoven in its fibres is a tree, decorated with a bird montage. A grieving Amjad comforts his baby with the fabric, anointing each bird with a name from their family. At the top, watching, her mother. Literally, a family tree.

Enough spoilers.

Hussain has crafted a tale that is alive with culture. Amjad and his family are of Pakistani extraction, speaking both Punjabi and Urdu, as well as English. I can relate. As much as I adore cultural markers in any story, as a way of bringing them to life, I’ve taken a particular pleasure in enjoying the Pakistani or desi offerings in the books I’ve been reading of late. Hussain does this particularly well, from the trials of roti training, chilling with chai and flying chicken botis. I revelled in it all.

Diversity matters, people. For children, but for adults too, a bit of positive representation goes a long way. Especially for the generations who grew up without it.

Truly, this is a great book. I am in awe that Hussain – particularly as a debut author – never once shies away from the big issues, all of which we are all guilty of sweeping under the carpet. The Family Tree grapples with bereavement, homelessness, addiction, identity, race and all manner of cultural and political issues with a directness and sensitivity that is quite masterful for one so young to the craft. And yet, at heart, it remains a personal and a familial novel. This, I think, is Hussain’s unique brand of magic in bringing about The Family Tree.

I don’t, after all, cry easily. Perhaps I have learned to harden my heart over the years. Yet Sairish Hussain carries her characters with such intelligent empathy that you cannot help but open your heart to them. Feel for them. Weep for them.

Thank you for leaving my heart a little softer and a little warmer. And my mind just that little bit more aware.

Reviewed by Nadia Tariq

The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain will be realesed on Feb 20th, by HQ