My Review of "The Girl Who Stayed" by Tanya Anne Crosby

I felt slight trepidation before beginning this book as it is another thriller with "Girl" in the title which immediately- and I'm sure deliberately - creates a certain expectation about style, content and genre. However after reading the opening line where it says that Zoe, the main character, sometimes gets a feeling as though something were about to happen and it had come again,  "clinging to this day like cold sweat," I was hooked. What a great use simile to evoke fear, uncertainty and suspense! It continues to build tension with the description of her finding her sister's bike lying in the sand in "twisted death throes " like it needed its "body outlined in white chalk except they didn't do that for bikes." Intriguing!

The reader is thrown straight into the action and confronted with a character and a family trying to deal with the impact of losing a sibling when children. Zoe was ten when Hannah, then eight, disappeared. Her younger brother Nicky was only six. After Hannah's disappearance - which has never been solved nor any body ever found - the family "unraveled like a tapestry." The story flits between modern day where Zoe has eventually returned to the family house on the Sullivan's Island following the death of her parents. She needs to sort out the home in order to sell it after it's been rented out for years. Neither Zoe or Nick wanted to live there following the devastating sadness and bad memories of their childhood. The house is beautifully described and it is used by Crosby to imply heartache, trouble, hurt and anger. It incites suspicion, mystery and drama. To complicate things, Zoe has also run away from an unhappy relationship and her fear of being discovered and the clues about the type of relationship it was exaggerate the sense of grief and pain which will permeate this tale. She also has a rather broken relationship with her brother who is now her only living relative. Zoe finds these bad feelings "cling to her nerves like the yellow film on the curtains."

The second thread of the narrative takes us back to 1986, the year of Hannah's disappearance where we see events from ten year old Zoe's point of view. Zoe was blamed for Hannah's disappearance and held responsible for it. The whole town blamed her and most devastatingly, her own father blamed her and subjected her to much cruelty as a result of his inability to deal with the loss of his second daughter. Thirty years after the event, Zoe remains deeply traumatised by the whole experience, unable to move on and deeply buried beneath the burden of this accusation. The lack of closure and explanations are "like splinters buried in her skin festering every day of her life" and she needed to "root out the septic truths that were poisoning her day by day." Zoe is an unhappy person, in an unhappy relationship with an unhappy past. Worse still, she has no memory of what actually happened during Hannah's disappearance.

Zoe's tormented character isn't easily likeable. She's prickly, bitter, reclusive and difficult. She is disturbed. She is jealous. She is hurt. She is uneasy, overly obsessed with Hannah's disappearance -in fact she's haunted by her, puzzled by her feelings towards her. Did she love her or did she hate her? Zoe has no sense of self worth and she loathes herself. As one of the other character's observes, "Ain't nothing worse than an unloved child." But as the story from 1986 develops and the reader learns more about the family it is easy to understand why she is this way and it does encourage empathy and sympathy towards her.

She is a trapped women. Trapped by the past, trapped by the town's gossip and also trapped by her boyfriend. There is a foreboding sense of violence created from the shadowy threat of her boyfriend Chris, which is then heightened by the malevolent presence of Hannah's ghost.

There is also a question of Zoe's reliability as a narrator which adds depth to the plot and is such an effective way of complicating the reader's ability to figure out the mystery and the truth about what actually happened. Zoe is so confused and troubled that it is difficult to believe that any of her memories, recounts of events or observations about people, are accurate.

The ending was brilliant. The dramatic tension soared in the last section, building to a completely unguessable and unforeseen twist which grips the reader and completely holds your attention until the very very last page.

This story does deserve to be compared with the contemporary psychological thrillers currently in the best seller list and will certainly join them there. It is a good "grip lit" read. Crosby successfully examines how childhood trauma affects decisions we make as an adult through one person's emotional journey of discovery, acceptance and desperate attempts to move on.

Thank you very much to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this novel and the opportunity to read it before publication in return for a fair and honest review.

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat please follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacUK) or sign up on the right for email notifications.

My Review of "Not Working" by Lisa Owens

I like the cover of this novel- it's very stylistic and attractive and it's the main reason I wanted to review it! The critics reviews printed on the cover are also full of praise. The blurb describes Owens' debut as the next "Bridget Jones"- a mix of "Sex and the City" and "I Don't Know How She Does It."

This is a light, entertaining and quirky novel. It is about twenty-something Claire who leaves her job in order to do a bit of soul searching and have some time to think about what she should really do with her life. She spends the next few months largely procrastinating, easily distracted by anything on the internet and social media, and quickly finding it impossible to achieve much in a day. She lives with Luke, her boyfriend of seven years who is a surgeon - completely career focused, dedicated and secure within his choice for a respectable, worthy and stable career.

The novel is written in short, breezy segments with headings like "Tube", "Phone", "Wake" and vary in length from the odd sentence, one off paragraph or a longer extract. This reflects the world of today; we absorb so much information about people through the 160 characters of their Twitter post or Facebook status. We communicate our thoughts and activities with concise efficiency and constantly flick from one opened window to another on our laptops, iPads and phones. It's a really effective technique and shows how much can be revealed about a character from such well crafted snippets. Claire's personality quickly becomes alive and vivid. We engage her with straight away due to rapid fire delivery of her comments and observations. Owens' use of these "soundbites" is clever as it allows her to disclose a lot more information than a traditional narrative and also shows a more interesting range of detail as she can juggle a range of locations and times over which to sprinkle nuggets of Claire's thoughts. It is an informal, contemporary voice and I found I was reading quickly, flying through the pages - totally unaware of how much I had got through as the short pieces help spur you effortlessly further into the novel.

The writing is sharp and humorous. It feels very authentic. Many readers will relate to Claire's comments like "I take the bus to the gym that I can't really afford," and the more humiliating situation of being placed on "the children's table" despite the fact that all these guests are over 25 years old. Claire uses cliches like "exploring my options" when people enquire about her job hunting, but again, this is authentic and indeed this need for some time out is a little bit of a cliche in itself. Owens proves that she is "a writer on whom nothing is lost" as one reviewer commented, by her more subtle observations and use of language. For example, later in the novel Claire explains to her boyfriend that in terms of her job search she is "mentally no clearer but still technically closer". These hilarious statements truly sum up Claire's character. She becomes obsessed with mini projects that allow her to produce "dossiers pulled together from an afternoon's research". They go shopping with the decision to "expand our culinary horizons and cook more at home" but end up with a takeaway. She is a little crazy, a little bit chaotic, a little bit naive, a little bit cringe worthy and a little bit frustrating! All in all she is likeable despite her directionless mooch through life. She often misreads situations and can't really see the truth in her own. She's insecure and in conflict with the different pressures on young women like marriage, career, babies and the unattainable desire to "have it all". She has enough spirit for you to find the time and heart to relate to her and is haphazard and self deluded enough for you not to pity her. Claire is also an unreliable narrator which is effective in exposing more of her vulnerability and induces more comic moments, even if the laugh is sometimes at her expense.

The second half of the novel has a more serious edge to it and explores her relationship with her mother in more depth, as well as her relationship with Luke. Claire does seem to become more depressed and at times it's a little difficult to fully sympathise as some of her problems are her own making. However, I'm not sure she's totally to blame. I think Owens might actually be making a point about the pressure of modern society. Young people have been lead to believe they can "have it all" and are constantly bombarded with information, they can search and access anything at all in a matter of minutes and they are constantly in virtual communication with notifications constantly pinging like rapid gun fire. It is a pressurised world. And I think every one of us has experienced a moment in time when we've questioned our choice of career and whether it is what we really want. Answering that question is hugely difficult and sometimes takes us the best part of twenty years to fathom! I think many readers of Claire's age and generation will relate massively to this coming of age novel for the twenty-somethings.

The Guardian wrote that this was a "deadpan comic debut for the procrastination generation" and Glamour also heralded it as' "voice-of-a-generation observations". These reviews sum up the book well. I'm not sure I'm quite the right target audience for this book but think ten years ago I would have related to Claire more. Owens' is a writer with spark and this is a light read which you will fly through amidst smiles and knowing shakes of your head!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel in return for a fair review.

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat, follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacUK) or sign up for email notifications on the right hand side.

My Review of "Hey Yeah Right Get A Life" by Helen Simpson

I have been boring anyone who will listen with quotes from this book all week. Some very lucky people have even had a photocopy of the odd story thrust upon them with fierce instructions to read  immediately. Others are going to find it turning up as a birthday present, house warming present, thanks-for-having-me-for-coffee present or any other lame excuse I can think of to spread the joy of this excellent collection of short stories!

This set of tales focusing on mums in various different scenarios was actually published in 2000, but I've only just discovered it. However, even reading it 16 years later, it is still very resonant and perceptive about the lives of mothers. My youngest has just started school so I am beginning to emerge from the world of nappies, toddlers and weaning- although still rooted firmly enough in the world of sleepless nights and tantrums to not have totally forgotten about the more relentless side of parenting. If I had read this collection even a year ago it might have made me weep with despair but, with a little distance from some of the situations depicted, it had me smiling, snorting, highlighting, rereading and nodding vigorously in vehement recognition and empathy. Don't get me wrong, motherhood is a wonderful gift, an amazing experience, I love my children and count my blessings but....it has been hard, gruelling, challenging and a completely life changing experience which has sometimes been lonely and a little bleak. Simpson acknowledges this continuous conflict felt by every parent and writes about it with perception and wit.

I had four favourite stories. "Lentils and Lilies" shows eighteen year old Jade's perceived view of motherhood. She vows never to "be dead inside" or end up "making rotas and lists and endless arrangements" like her mother who is admired by everyone for achieving such micro management of her family when, in Jade's judgmental eyes, she is merely harassed, nagging and frequently unable to get them to school on time. When Jade accidentally gets involved with helping another stressed mother, she has nothing but contempt and disgust for the woman whose house is "like a propaganda campaign for family values.....a fluttery white suffocation of cliches." Yet I have every confidence Jade will become one such woman  - after all, I said the same and look at me now......!

I loved "Cafe Society" and if this book hadn't had been published so long ago I would have suspected Helen Simpson of stalking me, especially as the child even has the same name as mine and mentions the "collective intake of breath as everyone turns to stare" which seems to haunt me everywhere I go! This story described the last nine years of my life. It was so entertaining, so sharp and so true. Two shattered women meet for a coffee but the presence of the toddler "precludes anything much in the way of communication beyond blinking in morse." His behaviour was described with such wit and accuracy - the tiny details sprinkled over the narrative like the cocoa power on your latte -creating a brilliant, vivid image of the scene and conveying character and atmosphere with scant, concise remarks. The internal voices of the two women show a more complex and serious reflection on motherhood which is more thought provoking and sad. They leave in a sudden hurry as you so often have to with small children resolving "never again," having exchanged "less than 200 words inside this hour."

In "Hey Yeah Right Get A Life" and "Hurrah for the Holidays" we meet Dorrie whose initial enthusiasm for motherhood is wearing thin as her youngest child begins to leave the toddler years behind and Dorrie is forced to confront what is left of her and her life: "She had broken herself into pieces like a biscuit and was now scattered all over the place." She does nothing for herself, through her "constant usefulness to others she has herself become a big fat zero". Dorrie doesn't know how to put herself first as she feels nothing but guilt if she is not busy with tasks for the family all the time. But at the same time she exhausted and consumed with a sense of inferiority and failure after years of dealing with "tempestuous egomaniacal little people." These stories are perhaps the saddest and most poignant in the collection. Her apathy and listlessness generates huge empathy from the reader as she is a caring, loving, indulgent mother who is bullied by her husband. Simpson writes with sensitivity about Dorrie's depressing plight yet the writing remains full of humour and dry, sardonic comments which will bring a broad smile to your face.

I liked the recurrent theme of Doctors and their apathy for female patients; their sense of disinterest in another neurotic mother. They have the skill to silence a woman before she makes them feel obliged to put her on prozac. Another example of Simpson's skilled observation and shrewd insight.

This collection of stories was so enjoyable - I did not find it caustic or cliched but realistic, authentic and reflective. Simpson's writing is intelligent and accomplished. She is highly skilled at creating characters quickly and adeptly, placing the reader firmly in the centre of a scene quickly and effortlessly. These stories and each of the women will stay with me. I have filled pages of a notebook with quotes that I loved and that meant something more personal to me.

There's a lot to be said for the fact that every book has a totally different impact on each individual. Certain books definitely affect you differently depending on whether you are on holiday, over-worked, emotional, ecstatic or at a particular life stage. I think this is one of these books and I appreciate that it won't appeal to every parent or reader however hard I insist, but I would encourage you to give it a go. It's intelligent, pertinent and funny. Simpson is a gifted observer of people and life. I am off to discover more of her books.

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat, follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacUK) or sign up for email notifications on the right hand side.

My Review of "The English Girl" by Katherine Webb

This book took me a while to get into but once I got stuck in, I became fully immersed in the landscape of the desert which Webb so adeptly describes and the complex emotional journeys of the two female protagonists. I made over four pages of notes while reading this which just goes to prove how taken I became with the writing and development of the novel - I promise that this review will significantly condense those notes into a more "bitesize" portion of a review!

The story begins with Joan in 1958 Muscat. Joan, an archaeologist, has fulfilled her lifetime dream to visit the Oman and the Arabian desert. Her brother Dan is stationed in the army there and this is from where they base their visit. Webb subtly implies a slight mystery here as Dan has fallen out with their mother and Joan has no idea why but cannot get him to talk about it. Joan travels with her fiancé Rory although from the outset there are also hints that this relationship is not quite as happy as it appears. They have had a very prolonged engagement and although frequently confessing and showing his love, Rory seems reluctant to set a date for the actual ceremony. Their relationship is also described as one of companionship, of best friends; they are comfortable together in a way established middle aged couples might behave and appear more like siblings.  Already the stage is set for a story of revelation and intrigue.

While in Muscat, Joan is thrilled to visit Maude Vickery, a famous explorer, travel writer and the first western woman to ever cross the desert. She idolises Maude who is now in her eighties; she was her childhood heroine and a constant inspiration. Joan craves the excitement Maude has had in her life. She wishes her life to be "other than she now knew it".

The novel then splits into a dual time frame, stepping back to Hampshire 1890 and picking up Maude's story. It then alternates between 1890 and 1958 as events begin to unfurl. Maude is eccentric and bad tempered and not always very likeable! She holds a bitter resentment towards Nathaniel Elliot, the first man to cross the desert. She questions Joan intensely about his son Charlie, who Joan has met at the Army Base. Maude's comments imply a fierce jealousy, rivalry and a sense of unsettled scores. This is further complicated by the revelation that they grew up together and Nathaniel was sponsored by Maude's father throughout his childhood.

Maude has a huge sense of injustice and sense of failing despite Joan's assurances that to be the first woman to cross the desert at the turn of the century is an incredible achievement. "The desert changed me. it changed everyone." This concept that the desert holds this enlightenment and elucidation is very powerful and is repeated throughout the novel. The sheer magnitude and solace of the desert is described with effortless beauty and vivid imagery. Webb's writing during these passages was so alluring and bewitching that it completely illustrated the spell it was capable of casting and why Maude and Joan had become so obsessed with it. The "brutal mountains rid notions of walls closing in" and Joan's "heartbeat slowed to keep time with some invisible rhythm of the world around her." I jotted down numerous phrases that I found stunning or seductive but will restrain from sharing all of them for fear of ending up with an A Level essay analysing style and language - it would surely be a brilliant book to use for this!

Joan's time in Muscat becomes more of the adventure she so craves when Maude asks her to visit her servant's son Salim who is imprisoned for his political thinking. This reminds us that this is a dangerous country, one of political unrest and violence. Joan has to travel in disguise as an Arab woman and she finds the experience exhilarating. She makes several visits and the conversations that take place are spiritual and enriching, adding to Joan's journey of self discovery. I particularly liked the story of the "Gareen" who is a companion who walks through life on our shoulder. "We are not supposed to know the way....it does us no good to know the way of our life.... we must only live as we may." Salim advises Joan that "we are none of us helpless unless we choose to be" and this is another important theme in the book. Both women are thwarted by convention, society and men. Both women are ambitious, driven and desperate not to be second place or left behind "which made Maude so desperate," but come up against not only the barriers of their time and also the exploitation of their hearts and emotions. "You don't need to play the cards you've been dealt," Maude tells Joan, "Marriage is not your adventure."

However Maude has old scores to settle. Unwittingly, Joan mistakes Maude for a friend and is drawn into something darker and more dangerous in her own search for self discovery and adventure. She is pulled into something beyond her control. The last third of the book is a dramatic and page turning read, heightened by the brutality of the desert, its "precipitously steep banks," it's vast, undulating mass which has such a profound physical and emotional impact on the characters. It shows you should never underestimate a woman, particularly not a woman in a man's world.

This book is about changing your destiny, confronting the past, self discovery and atonement. It is about retribution and reprisals. It is about siblings, lovers, marriage and women. It is about potential and happiness, distortion and clarity. All set within the extreme, exotic location of Arabia and the desert which changes everyone and everything. As Joan observes, she was moved by its "hugeness..the multitude of it was dizzying" which is an appropriate summing up of how the scenery mirrors her own awakening.

Webb has clearly researched both time frames thoroughly. This historical and political detail is extensive. It does not take over the plot - which remains very people centred - but enhances the tension, suspense and plight of the characters.

This is a saga of a novel for you to become lost in and transported to a different world and a different time. It is well worth a read. I will be looking for Webb's other books now! Enjoy and relish it!

Thanks for reading to the end of this not so "bitesize" after all review! My thanks also to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat please follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacUK) or sign up for email notifications on the right hand side.

My Review of "Flawed" by Cecelia Ahern

Cecelia Ahern is very well known for her highly successful and popular adult fiction. I have only read "PS I Love You", "The Gift" and "One Hundred Names" and found them easy, romantic, gently humorous reads about contemporary relationships and women. Perfect for a holiday or when you need a bit of a break from the demands of life! I was interested to read her first novel for Young Adults and even more interested when I saw the genre was Dystopian Fiction - I'm a bit of a sucker for a bit of dystopia and spent my teenage years engrossed in it. But with the recent explosion in this genre, particularly for young people, how will she fair against the giant success of titles like "The Hunger Games", "Divergent" and "Delirium"?

"Flawed" opens with its definition: "Faulty, defective, imperfect, deficient......and of a person, having a weakness in character". Celestine, the protagonist, then follows with the statement that she is a "girl of definitions, of logic, of black and white." And she is. Life is straight forward and clear for Celestine. The right choices are obvious and she frequently repeats statements that remind the reader of her perfection. She is the perfect student, perfect daughter, perfect girlfriend and living a perfect life where she mixes within the privileged society of the  "Judge" and feels protected and immune from the threat of the "Whistleblowers" who seek out and punish the "Flawed". Then one day, after the "last perfect moment of my life" Celestine makes an impulsive decision - an emotional reaction to a situation - and everything changes. She is suddenly one of the "Flawed", a regular citizen who has made a moral or ethical mistake in a society that will not tolerate bad decisions. Its mantra is "think before you act"; there is no room for hindsight as the controlling Judges seek to breed a society of forward thinkers, their motive to ensure that the public are never again punished with the financial ruin brought about by bad decisions. The Flawed are branded with the letter "F" either on the temple, tongue, hand or chest depending on their crime and weakness. They wear a red armband also with the letter "F" on it and are shunned by society, their civil rights relinquished and treated as an underclass.

Initially Celestine fights the accusations. She is offered a way out and her mother, whose mask of perfection gradually begins to slip in a world where image is everything, convinces her to lie in order to save herself. But can Celestine do it? Can she let an innocent old man take her punishment? Yet on the other hand, can she lose everything she has, including her family, friends and future, in order to do the right thing? And to add further complication to the decision, it seems the Judge wants to use Celestine to feed the fire of fear for the Flawed; to manipulate her in order to secure his own power and position. Does she become a hero for trying to rid the world of the Flawed or a hero for standing up for them?

This novel is about standing out rather than fitting in. It is about giving a voice to the silenced. It is about a girl who only wanted to fit in making a change through her own self sacrifice and finding an inner strength she did not know she had. It is the start of an adventure; a life changing journey.

It is a novel that raises questions like what is a bad decision? Can you breed forword thinking and eradicate bad decision making? "If you never make a mistake, how do you learn what is right and wrong?"

Teenagers will love this book because it is about making decisions and choosing what sort of person you want to be. It is about the power to make a change. It has all the necessary ingredients for a successful dystopian novel including a reluctant heroine who finds herself under the limelight by accident and  circumstance- a perfect, law abiding girl, who suddenly finds herself cast out on the wrong side of everything. Celestine is a strong female role model.

The style of writing is deliberately very plain and full of statements which helps emphasise the debate about "black and white" and decisions only being "right or wrong." There is a lot of repetition which also re-emphasises the key messages of the book. The chapters are short and action packed. The opening pages establish the key characters and their relationships quickly, throwing the reader straight into the drama.

It's only natural that "Flawed" will be compared to other trilogies but it doesn't mean it's not worthy of a place amongst them. It is not as violent or as harrowing as some of the other dystopian representations but is capable of provoking just as much discussion from the issues it raises. With it's love triangle, sibling rivalry, injustice and drama it has everything that most readers will want from a story and it is a satisfying and appealing read. The ending is really only the beginning and Ahern has enticed the reader enough to make them desperate for the next instalment as soon as they finish the last page. I think Ahern's first foray into Young Adult Fiction is a successful one. This would also make a good film!

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication in return for an honest review.

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat please follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacUK) or sign up on the right hand side for email notifications.

My Review of "The Rejected Writers' Book Club"

Well it was the book cover that did it for me this time! I love the picture, font and colours! And of course, it's hard to resist anything with "Book Club" in the title!

This is about a group of women in the small town of Southlea Bay who form their own club. At first it's purpose is to share and support each other with the writing of their manuscripts and then it becomes a place to commiserate together over their rejection letters from the publishers - of which they have 475! Letters which all point out the publishers are looking for manuscripts with "plot, interesting characters, dialogue, a main character and a point" and none the ladies work actually meets this criteria and so yet again, they are rejected! They begin their meetings with an opening chant of "Selected for rejection, we reach for true connection, choosing a path of celebration as we bond with true affection." And that's exactly what this charming story is. A group of women who bond together over their adversities and develop a deeper affiliation with each other.

Janet, a librarian in her late forties, has recently moved to Southlea from Washington with her husband of 25 years after their only daughter has left home and they fancy living in a rural idyll. Janet is an immediately likeable narrator whose candid observations about life in the countryside and marriage will have you smiling with recognition and sympathy. Her marriage is a happy and typical one; I liked her honest and frank talking. For example she comments that "men have an unwavering conviction to lull you into believing they always know exactly what they're talking about ....takes about 6 months of marriage to figure out you've been fooled." Her remarks are authentic rather than the usual cliche of acidic judgements; the couple tease each other in a very relaxed manner enjoying their game of "verbal tennis" which is "the only exercise we get."

However, Janet is "completely stumped" as she "tries to navigate her way" through the "curious intrigues of a small town life". She wants to make friends and feel fully part of the community -well, most of the time anyway!  One day she finds herself in a position where she is unable to refuse the formidable Doris who insists on her attendance to a secret meeting with the members of the very select "Rejected Writers' Book Club" . Before she knows what has happened, Janet is fully ensconced in a road trip to San Francisco to take a publisher to task over the latest letter the group have received - Doris's manuscript has been accepted!

Janet imagines a kind of "Thelma and Louise" scenario, but with "Doris the Rottweiller, Ethel dressed as an alien, a bejangled hippie ready to chain herself to a corporate toilet and a shrinking violet dressed as a femme fatale" it's clear this is not going to be quite the journey she had in mind! That and the fact that the car is overladen with tupperware dishes of frozen meals and it takes them four hours to cross the town as they depart due to various "comfort stops." But Doris is absolutely on a mission to stop her manuscript being published for reasons she is particularly guarded about, so off the women go and so beginnings the humorous, often slapstick adventure of "the brave ladies from an island who brought pie." Their journey includes entertaining entanglements with handsome strangers, first love, false labour and haunted houses. Every encounter adds another story to their eclectic collection and encourages further revelations in their quest to unearth Doris's deep secret about her manuscript. By the end of the book the women indeed have "bonded with true affection" and Janet finds herself deeply fond of these madcap women.

Kelman writes in the acknowledgements that she hopes every reader finds a "community of loving, caring souls with just enough small town mentality to be wonderful and infuriating all at the same time." I think this is an excellent summary of the novel itself. Kelman has created exactly this through the pages of her effortless writing. It is a book of warmth and affection. It is a book about friendship and communities. It is not judgemental, and although the characters are exaggerated, they are not made fun of or written about in a derisory manner in any way. This would make a very watchable Sunday evening TV series and it's no surprise to find out that the author is in fact a screen writer too. That is evident from the fluency, description and dialogue. I could imagine Celia Imrie and Julie Walters lapping up this script and playing the vivid characters with flair and conviction.

This is a good read for people who want something light and entertaining. If you are fans of Adriana Trigiani's "Big Stone Gap" or Graeme Simsion's "Rosie Project" novels, or the TV series "Home Fires" and "Jam and Jerusalem" then I think this book will appeal to you.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacUK) or sign up for email notifications on the right hand side.

My Review of "Fever at Dawn" by Peter Gardos

This book is a pure example of a love story. It illustrates the redemptive and healing power of love and how through love, people can overcome deep suffering and pain, allowing new hope and new life to grow. It is a tender, warm, affecting tale, written with as much love as the events on which it is based. Gardos has adapted the true story of the way his parents met; his respect and admiration for all they endured is evident from his characterisation and fictionalisation of them in this, his first novel.

Twenty-five year old Hungarian Miklos is shipped to Sweden from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the end of the Second World War to receive treatment for his TB infection and several other conditions resulting from his internment. He then hears the tragic news that the TB is chronic and he has only just 6 months to live. But Miklos does not want to die. He decides he will not die. Instead he will find love and marry. He writes to 117 convalescing Hungarian women who have also all been shipped to Sweden. Eighteen year old Lili receives one of these letters and confined to her bed, bored, listless and lonely, she replies. And so begins a touching exchange of letters which quickly become honest, reflective and full of love.

The story alternates between Miklos and Lili. It reveals their harrowing experiences from the war and the scars they are unable to bury. We also learn more of their characters through their daily interactions with the Doctors, nurses and their friends. These narratives are broken up with lines from the letters. I liked the way we were only given one or two lines from a letter at a time but so much more was revealed, expressed and implied from behind the words. At one point they are able to have a telephone call and I loved the way they "pressed the receivers tightly to their ears" so desperate to physically heighten the connection between them. The telephone call is a real "lifeline". The letters are also becoming more symbolic and offering so much more than just correspondence to both Lili and Miklos. It is giving them purpose, hope and dreams. It is restoring their future.

Miklos writes a poem for Lili which captures the transformative effect of their correspondence: "So come to me gently / with the smiles we lost / seek out the places / where the pain has chilled to frost / so the warmth of your caress / melts to dew within my chest."

The power of language and words is an important theme in the novel. Gardos shows how people can express thoughts and feelings through writing in a way they can't in speech. There are also numerous references to things that cannot be spoken of and things that will never be said. This is a constant reminded to the reader of the appalling things these ordinary, innocent, young people have endured. Of their mental and emotional scars as well as the physical aliments for which they are being treated.

There is a slightly oppressive atmosphere at times from the glimpses of memories, thoughts of lost or destroyed families, war, illness and even to some extent the regime and control of the Swedish Doctors and nurses. There is a deep sense of tragedy and Lili's fragility is particularly well expressed through descriptions like "fluttering dove wings" and "trembling leaves in the wind." Her dilemma over religion is sensitively explored as she argues with the Rabbi about how "God abandoned her" and she now struggles not to abandon God as she can't reconcile how He could let the extermination of the Jews happen. However, despite this, the novel does manage to generally remain much more optimistic and full of hope. It focuses on overcoming adversity and although it does not gloss over anything, it does not dwell too heavily on it either. The main message of this book is love and the profound affect it can have on people. This couple want to escape their past and change their fate. Their letter writing has a life changing effect on each other. Lili pleads to the Doctor - "let us dream!" and Miklos pleads to Lili for her to "make him better."

In the afterword, Gardos writes that his parents' love was "wonderfully uninhabited" and "so splendidly gauche it still shines" and this is an eloquent description for Miklos and Lili. The book is a compassionate tale of a random meeting of soul mates who show how the power of love, hope, dreams and promises can shape a new future. It is actually a reasonably light and easy read which ends with a sense of optimism. I enjoyed this touching and tender, gentle love story. The fact that it is based on a true story gives it more resonance and power.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.

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