What an interesting book this is. It has a great premise but delivers more, mainly through incredibly evocative writing of place and characters. Instructions is the story of Neil, whose father has died and has left him a village in the former East Germany, built on marshes and left to deteriorate badly. Neil’s relationship with… Continue reading Review: Instructions for the Working Day by Joanna Campbell
Tag: fiction
Review: The Hollow Sea by Annie Kirby
What a beautiful looking book this is. Here is the cover. Isn’t it gorgeous? Luckily, the inside is an intriguing debut that lives up to the cover loveliness. The Hollow Sea is a story about motherhood but not as you expect. Rather it covers non-motherhood, the yearning to have a child that is never fulfilled,… Continue reading Review: The Hollow Sea by Annie Kirby
Review: Small Miracles by Anne Booth
There are usually two types of stories about nuns: cheerful tales of wimpled women, slightly clueless and out of touch, trying to deal with the modern world; or harsh Magdalene laundry types, burying babies in the back garden and berating terrified teenage mothers. Small Miracles is the former of these. And thank goodness for that.… Continue reading Review: Small Miracles by Anne Booth
July reading round up
Late posting this month due to actually going places! I was away this weekend so am catching up. So, to July! *insert inane comment about the weather* It’s got to the point where the sheer number of books sitting about the house has become an annoyance. There a fine line for me where the book… Continue reading July reading round up
Review: No Country for Girls by Emma Styles
This has TV adaptation written all over it. A road trip featuring gold bars, murder, chases, dodgy cops and two young girls – it’s ripe for adaptation. The blurb calls this a modern day Thelma and Louise and you can see why but it’s not quite the same. It does have a cracking start. Charlie… Continue reading Review: No Country for Girls by Emma Styles
Review: The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton
I’m always glad when I read a book that has had a lot of hype and it’s actually worth all the bother. There’s such a lot of hype out there. Anyway, The Miniaturist was such a book – an atmospheric tale of secrets that seeped through the house and family like damp from the Amsterdam… Continue reading Review: The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton
Review: The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis
My Twitter pal Lia Louis has a new book out and it’s another deftly written rom com. The Key to My Heart opens with Natalie, a young widow, being forced to chat up a bloke in a bar by her friends who all consider her ready to move on from her heartbreak and find a… Continue reading Review: The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis
June reading round up
June is a surprising month. You get through May hoping for some warm weather and trying not to get annoyed at people wittering on about not casting your clouts and all that, and all of a sudden it’s baking hot, the summer solstice appears and people start talking about the nights drawing in. I would… Continue reading June reading round up
Review: Meredith Alone by Claire Alexander
Meredith hasn’t left her house for 1,214 days. Why? Well, that’s what the book is about. The thing is, although we might think Meredith is trapped, she’s been trapped before, and she got out. Meredith is a great protagonist. I really liked that, although she has retreated from the world, she still invites people to… Continue reading Review: Meredith Alone by Claire Alexander
Review: His Other Woman by Sarah Edghill
Lucy is at the supermarket buying dinner when she gets a mysterious text from her husband Tom. “I need to go away. Please don’t try to get in touch. I can’t explain right now.” Lucy, predictably, dumps the shopping, rushes home to find Tom is not there (and he didn’t even clear the table before… Continue reading Review: His Other Woman by Sarah Edghill
Susan E Barsby 