#TheRoanokeGirls by #AmyEngel #Review

I received an electronic ARC in return for a fair and honest review, of this but the cover is so beautiful I will be buying a physical copy too. I love the cover. And I love every single page inside.

This is a engrossing novel with which I became entranced by from the first page. The characters are compelling, beautiful, mysterious and disturbing. It is a mesmerising tale of a family who are bound by love, by hatred, by desperation, by secrets, by obsession. It is a story that haunts you while you are reading and then haunts you for days after. I want to read it again. And again.

The novel opens with 15 year old Lane being sent to her grandparents, from who she has been estranged, following her mother's suicide. Her first description of her new home - a rambling rural estate in Kansas- is that it was "like a handful of giant houses all smashed together with no regard for aesthetics or conformity. It was equal parts horrifying and mesmerising." When she meets her new family, they seem to also fit this description; they have their own rules, they have little care for anyone outside their family, all Roanoke girls are beautiful and hypnotic..... yet there is something terrifying and dark lurking in the shadows......

Lane's cousin Allegra is also living there and wastes no time introducing Lane to her family history. She shows her the photos of the Roanoke girls and Lane comments:

"It was eerie how much they all looked alike, how much they looked like me. As if the Roanoke genes were so strong they bulldozed right over anyone else's DNA." 

But the girls have not had happy lives. Tragedy surrounds them - or follows them, or catches them.....somehow it seems inevitable which perhaps makes them more untouchable and more mesmerising.

"Sophia drowned in the North Fork during the spring floods..... Penelope fell down the main stairs and broke her neck..... Emmeline was a crib death......"

"That's a lot of dead girls." 

"In the end we either run or we die."

And so that is what happens. They run.

The story is split between Lane's first summer with her grandparents and then 11 years later when she returns because Allegra has gone missing. The sections are simply headed with "Now"and "Then", divided further with interludes from each of the previous Roanoke's lives. I really enjoyed these sections headed with the name of the girl whose story we were then told snippets from. They added intrigue, drama and mystery, often leaving me in a cold chill. Each section forms another piece of the jigsaw as the reader tries to establish what happened to Lane that summer 11 years ago and what impact the stories of Lane and Allegra's predecessors might have on what has now happened to Allegra.

I particularly enjoyed the extract about Camilla as the description of her really captures the twisted, dysfunctional, eerie and emotional complexity of these women.

"a dark twisting horror show of love. Love that spread through her like poison, coiled like inky tentacles that slowly squeezed out all the light." 

With each heading for the different stories of Roanoke girl, Engel adds the date of birth and date of death in brackets. Such a simple addition but such an effective method for creating a sense of foreboding. These small details, like the scattered crumbs fed to us throughout the prose, create an accumulation of something more sinister. Is this family under a curse? Is there some sort of mental illness amongst the family? What is it that haunts these girls and why is it their lives have all been so tragic?

Lane is our protagonist and our narrator. She has never lived with her grandparents before, she knows nothing of the Roanoke's but as soon as she gets there she feels part of the family. It's like she can recognise that she too shares something of them and that here, in Kansas, on their estate, the rules, expectations and judgements are different.

"[there was] something dark inside me........maybe here it was like a different country, someplace where it was all right to be a little wicked."

Engel links the dual timeline together with a deft and polished hand. The teenage voices of Lane and Allegra are captured with insight and with conviction. Their behaviour, antics, relationships and emotional journeys are well written. Their interaction is full of vitality and energy and both are strangely likeable characters who I really enjoyed reading about despite their sharp edges. In a way this is a kind of coming of age story, particularly for Lane who begins to understand why her mother was so desperately unhappy and depressed.

I don't want to say much more for fear of spoilers. Or perhaps because I am actually a little tongue tied. To be honest, all I can really think to say is that this is a special book. It is a fantastically eerie, compelling, disturbing and unnerving tale of families, love, trauma and buried secrets. I thought it had some of the gothic terror from "Little Strangers" by Sarah Waters, some of the relationship issues and dysfunctional families from Helen Dunmore's early novels and it also reminded me of "We Were Liars" by E Lockhart.

This book deserves recognition and deserves to do well. It will definitely be in my top ten for 2017 and it will definitely stay with me beyond 2017. I cannot believe this is Engel's first novel for adults and I am really looking forward to whatever rich tale she spins for us in the future. 

The Roanoke Girls will be published on 9th March 2017 by Hodder & Stoughton 

Amy Engel

Amy Engel is the author of THE BOOK OF IVY young adult series. A former criminal defense attorney, she lives in Missouri with her family. THE ROANOKE GIRLS (March 7, 2017), is her first novel for adults.

www.amyengel.net

@aengelwrites

For more recommendations and reviews from me please follow on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk) 

#IFoundYou by #LisaJewell #Review

'How long have you been sitting out here?'

'I got here yesterday.'

'Where did you come from?'

'I have no idea.'

East Yorkshire: Single mum Alice Lake finds a man on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, no idea what he is doing there. Against her better judgement she invites him in to her home.

Surrey: Twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.

There is one word which really captures my feelings about this book: satisfying. I know that doesn't sound effusive enough, doesn't sound as knock-your-socks-off or blow-me-away as some other adjectives but it should!

This book is deliciously satisfying. It is a curl-up-in-bed-and-read-it-until-midnight-satisfying; it is read-it-on-a-rainy-Sunday-and-lose-yourself-in-it-satisfying. It is like meeting-an-old-friend-and-listening-to-them-talk-for-hours-satisfying. It is picking up a book by an author you've dipped in and out of for years and still find their books completely hit the spot satisfying. Lisa Jewell is an author that you can completely depend on to deliver a story with characters, plot lines, issues, ideas and excitement in a way which is extremely satisfying.

Although sometimes labelled as a 'light, chick-lit" read, Jewell actually delivers more than that in "I Found You". Her recent titles are more psychological thriller in style; they retain all the best features of her previous novels, particularly their readability and accessibility, but now add in a satisfying dose of darkness, intrigue, suspense and tension.

Meet Alice:

"Alice sits in her tiny room at the top of her tiny house. From here she runs her business. She makes art from old maps, which she sells on the Internet for silly money. Silly money for a piece of art made from old maps, perhaps, but not silly money for a single mother."

Jewell's description is simple yet conveys much more and sets up the scene effectively with a character we immediately have sympathy for but who also carries an air of vulnerability.

I liked the use of maps. People buy the artwork made with maps to show loved ones how they belong to each other, where they found each other and rooting them firmly in specific places. Alice spends her days collecting old maps, searching out locations and journeys in a way that masks her emotional journey and what she is unwittingly seeking. And then we meet "Frank",  a man who is completely lost. "Frank" has no memory, no home, no roots, nowhere to ground himself and no idea where and how he belongs. It's an intriguing premise and one which Jewell develops in to a fascinating story full of twists, turns, revelations and developments which will keep you gripped and turning the pages until the very last satisfying line.

Alice is an extremely likeable character. She is open, trusting, giving and kind. I did worry for her when she let "Frank" into her house so readily, but Jewell manages to make this convincing by allowing Alice to doubt herself and there are several moments where she questions her decision.

There is a dual narrative in the story and once we are embedded in Alice and Frank's story we meet Lily whose husband doesn't come home from work one night. Lily is newly married and it is clear her husband is completely head over heels in love with her so there is no reason why he wouldn't come home. The police arrive to help investigate his disappearance but this only confuses things further when they announce that actually, he never existed:

"There is no Carl John Robert Monroe."

Lily is now lost. In a strange country, with no family, few friends and no sense of who her husband was and where he might be. She needs to find him. She needs to find the truth.

Throughout the novel I was wondering how the threads would become woven together and how Jewell would link up the characters, the revelations, the events. This is masterful story telling and the resolution is rewarding, believable and very pleasing - yes, satisfying too!

There is a good range of characters - not too many to keep track off (particularly when there are characters who have lost their identity or created new ones!) but plenty enough to make it a more complex tale with some layers and depth to it. The pace is great and with the dual narratives and the mix of overlapping story lines the reader can not help but read on and watch how Jewell brings everything together in a dramatic conclusion.

This is simply a very good novel. It is what we have come to expect from Lisa Jewell and why we trust her as a storyteller. This is a page turner. This is a good drama. It is a story about families, relationships, revenge, justice and love. It will no doubt fly off the shelves and do very well. I enjoyed it. I found it incredibly satisfying (have I mentioned that?) and was delighted that I chose to read it rather than watch telly this weekend as to me, it read as well as any recent TV drama and had all the same ingredients.

Go on, indulge yourself. Find time for it.

I Found You is released on 9th March 2017.

Lisa Jewell

Lisa was born in London in 1968. Her mother was a secretary and her father was a textile agent and she was brought up in the northernmost reaches of London with her two younger sisters. She was educated at a Catholic girls’ Grammar school in Finchley. After leaving school at sixteen she spent two years at Barnet College doing an arts foundation course and then two years at Epsom School of Art & Design studying Fashion Illustration and Communication.

She worked for the fashion chain Warehouse for three years as a PR assistant and then for Thomas Pink, the Jermyn Street shirt company for four years as a receptionist and PA. She started her first novel, Ralph’s Party, for a bet in 1996. She finished it in 1997 and it was published by Penguin books in May 1998. It went on to become the best-selling debut novel of that year.

She has since written a further nine novels, as is currently at work on her eleventh.

She now lives in an innermost part of north London with her husband Jascha, an IT consultant, her daughters, Amelie and Evie and her silver tabbies, Jack and Milly.

You can follow her on Twitter or find out more via her website: 

@lisajewelluk
www.lisa-jewell.co.uk

You can follow me for more reviews and recommendations on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

#LetTheDeadSpeak #JaneCasey #Review

Confession - no, not for stalking this time, in fact the opposite..... I know, it's much worse.  I heard Jane Casey speak at the Killer Women Crime Festival (October 2016 killerwomen.org) and knew I had to read one of her books but I've only just got around to it.........and I haven't read any previous Detective Maeve Kerrigan books and this in number 7 in the series.......

I know, I told you it was bad!

 However, I am a convert and will be seeking penance by reading the other 6 titles as soon as my TBR pile will allow! But for any others in the same position as me (I won't make you announce it on social media, don't worry!) I have to say that coming to this novel without any prior knowledge of the detective series didn't seem to matter and certainly didn't affect my enjoyment or understanding of the story. And it's always a treat to discover a 'new' author with a satisfyingly large back catalogue to indulge in!

I was totally gripped by the opening of this book. It was so horrifically unnerving, so gruesome, so visual and so confusing. It is graphic and would make any hardened horror fan hide behind their kindle cover.

Chloe Emery arrives home - Chloe a girl who "wasn't supposed to be at home," a girl who doesn't know things "other people took for granted," a girl who gets into a car with a neighbour but seems distinctly uncomfortable......to find her mother missing and the house completely covered in blood. It looks like a terrible murder has taken place except that there is no body. The first chapter is utterly compelling and quite simply, fantastic. I was hooked. This was a murder story I could not afford to ignore!

Leaving us falling off the edge of our seats, Casey begins Chapter 2 by introducing us to our protagonist who narrates the story. Detective Maeve Kerrigan. I took to her straight away. I liked her directness, her frank and plain speaking.

"We are murder detectives. By the time we turn up at a crime scene, by definition, nothing can be done to save anyone. So what's the rush?"

This voice is a great contrast to the opening chapter. Chloe's story had left me feeling a little unsure as there was something I couldn't fathom about her voice (a deliberate ploy by Casey we find out later) but as soon as I was in the hands of Kerrigan I felt confident and reassured.

"I didn't look like a murder detective, I'd been told. Too pretty, they said. Not tough enough. Too tall. Such nonsense."

Yes. This detective is going to get the job done. I believe in her and I like her.

"Fear hung in the air like smoke. Don't think about it now. The facts came first. The emotions would come later."

As the narrative unfolded Casey reveals more about Chloe and we see that this unease about her behaviour and actions at the beginning of the story are very intentional. Chloe has some learning and behavioural difficulties which create a further layer on tension as the detectives try to solve the mystery of her missing mother and the blood bath to which she returned home.

"'Speech delay. Developmental delay. Attention deficit disorder. Anxiety. Oppositional defiant disorder.' Derwent snorted. 'That just means you don't like doing what you're told.'"

There are a lot of wry comments in the novel and as with all compelling police procedurals there is an entertaining dynamic between the detectives. These are intelligent, three dimensional characters who are experienced and who will be able to uncover the truth however confusing and however many unsavoury characters they come across.

Kerrigan and her colleagues investigate the neighbours who all seem to have motives against the missing Kate Emery. The Norrises behave suspiciously and their daughter definitely seems to have something to hide. And what about William Turner, already with a history of violence and a reputation of criminal behaviour? As the investigation to solve an apparent murder without a body continues, more and more pieces of a jigsaw fall on to the table and it's only by working out who is lying and who is telling the truth that Kerrigan and her team have any hope of solving the crime and preventing any more deaths.

I found Let the Dead Speak much more character driven than I expected. Each character has depth and each makes starling revelations which show just how complex and clever Casey's crime thriller is. The beginning and the ending are amazingly jaw dropping but the bulk of the novel is given over to characters and looking at what drives people to behave in certain ways. Rather than a constant bombardment of sensationalist shocks and surprises, this book is full  of 'ooohhhh' moments when you rub you hands together with glee and watch with baited breath as the story ties itself up in knots and Kerrigan tries to untangle it.

"You spent a few hours judging someone else for how they lived and it gave you perspective on your own life, whether you wanted it or not."

I found it fascinating watching how the each of the revelations lead to peeling back more and more layers. There is depth to this novel and it is an  excellent, dramatic thriller. As I have said already, I loved the opening and yet the ending is also as fantastic - it is as hard hitting, unnerving and chilling and as much of a cliffhanger as the first chapter.

I picked this book because I was intrigued by the title and had read a sample opening. The premise is captivating. Kerrigan is a likeable, relatable, intelligent character. But most of all this book surprised me in that it wasn't quite what I was expecting. It surprised me, it intrigued me, it baffled me and it completely impressed me. It was better than anything I was expecting. It is a clever, multilayered plot which packs a good punch and leaves you gasping. As one of the characters says themselves:

"Nothing works out the way you think it will does it?"

I'm off. I've got 6 books to go back and binge read as I can't wait to see Maeve Kerrigan in action again and read more of Casey's thrilling crime novels.

Let the Dead Speak is published on 9th March 2017 by Harper Collins

To read my blog posts on Jane Casey from the Killer Women Crime Fest please click on the links below:

Killer Women Crime Festival: inside the killer's head

killer women crime festival 2016: my review

Jane Casey 

“All my criminal elements have some basis in reality, no matter how awful they may be. Nothing is completely farfetched.” 

Crime is a family affair for Jane Casey. Married to a criminal barrister, she has a unique insight into the brutal underbelly of urban life, from the smell of a police cell to the darkest motives of a serial killer.

This gritty realism has made her books international bestsellers and critical successes; while D.C. Maeve Kerrigan has quickly become one of the most popular characters in crime fiction.

Her novel The Stranger You Know won the Mary Higgins Clark Award and she has also been shortlisted for the Irish Crime Novel of the Year Award four times as well as the CWA Dagger in the Library Award.

maevekerrigan.co.uk/#
@JaneCaseyAuthor

You can follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

#EverythingButTheTruth #Review #GillianMcAllister

Just how much can you trust the person you love?

I judged this book by its cover. I saw it on twitter and knew I had to get hold of it and read it. The dark, brooding scene on the front , the two people stranded in the water, the title, the strap line - oh yes, this just had to be my kind of psychological thriller. And it is.

Set in Newcastle and Oban, McAllister has chosen the perfect setting for a domestic noir novel. She carefully weaves a tale of love, trust, secrets, revenge and consequence against a back drop of a cold, isolated and hugely atmospheric location which emphasises the suspense and intensity of the character's emotions. The premise of taking a couple who have fallen head over heels in love, then find themselves pregnant and embarking on a life together after such a whirlwind romance is engaging and one bursting with possibilities and potential.

"It felt as if Jack and I were stretched thin, like cheap cling film, pocked and wrinkled; trying to get to know each other, our families, all our friends, all at once, all before the baby came. We were in a relationship moving at speed, as if we had jumped on to a freight train."

What do this couple really know about each other? Does the fact you love someone mean that you can trust them?

"So then I knew his favourite book. Not the one he'd talk about at dinner parties, but his real, uncool favourite. I thought it mattered, that we had climbed a rung on the ladder of fully knowing each other. But we hadn't of course. Up against everything, knowing his favourite book didn't matter at all."

I really liked the way that Everything But The Truth is split in to different parts: Who? What? Why? It's a great way to structure the book as essentially it asks the questions we want to find out at that point in the story. It also adds tension as we wonder just what is going to be revealed and what the questions refer to.

The story is also split in the past and present. In the present day, we watch what happens to Rachel's life once she clicks on an email of Jack's without him knowing. It's a mysterious, uncomfortable sounding email and one that she can't forget about even though she wishes she had never read it. Who it is from, what does it mean and why he has received it? When Rachel gently tries to probe Jack about the email she looked at, he denies getting it and Rachel states "That was the moment that everything sprang from." This is where the little white lie begins and Rachel is forced to look deeper at their relationship, beyond the physical attraction she feels for this man and try to find what it is that he is trying to hide from her.

Then, returning to the past, we meet Rachel before she is with Jack, while she is a medic working in the hospital in Newcastle. The relevance of this storyline is unclear at first but as the novel progresses it is used to reveal more about Rachel's character and then finally becomes deliciously intwined with Jack's hidden past and Rachel's desperate search for the truth. After all, aren't we all hiding something? And while Rachel becomes so fixated on the truth behind Jack's lies she has to confront the atonement she seeks for her own.

McAllister spends time building up a detailed picture of Rachel and Jack's relationship. The contrast between Jack and Rachel's previous boyfriend Ben are effective in revealing more about her character as well as dropping a few clues, hints and warnings about what might be coming. I found myself quite caught up in the excitement, passion and energy in this new relationship. McAllister explores an interesting dilemma of being completely in love with someone, pregnant and desperate to believe in them but also torn between knowing there might be something lurking in their past. What becomes of you both when you start reading more and more into each sign, conversation, friendship, action? What happens once you start to lose trust in someone? And once you've asked, "You can never take this question back."

It's a very contemporary novel. IPhones, emails, Facebook pages are all perfect places for secrets to be unearthed, a bed of mysterious communications and can make tracking someone and finding out about someone easier than ever. There are ways of accessing information about people more anonymously and McAllister's invention of the Wayback Machine is perfectly sinister.

I also enjoyed how Rachel handles her fears, how she carefully treads around Jack trying to see if her concerns are valid or paranoia and how he repeatedly reassures her and appears to be confident, dismissive and so calm and attentive that the reader begins to wonder whether it is Rachel whom we can trust; is she a reliable narrator? Is she looking for something that just isn't there? What issues has she brought with her or displaced upon this seemingly flourishing, successful, happy relationship?

I really enjoyed how many layers McAllister introduces to her domestic noir novel. There is more to this story than secrets and lies. There are moral questions and ethical dilemmas. McAllister takes the "What if?" question and plays with it. What if you make that small decision? What if you keep asking questions? What if you can't accept the consequences for your actions? What if that small niggle just won't go away? And then, once she has added the many layers to the plot, the reader is hooked, enthralled as they watch the characters unravel in front of them.

Everything But The Truth is very well written. McAllister strikes a perfect balance of plot driven, spine-chiling, page turning sentences peppered with imaginative prose and great description.

"That laid back tone didn't fit with his facial expression, like a curdled cake mixture beginning to separate."

McAllister uses Rachel's medical background to create some clever analogies, for example, when she decides to ask Jack again about the email she sees it as a "tidying up exercise".

"I just wanted to know it was nothing. Like doing a repeat blood test to clarify the problem had gone away when I knew that it had."

I think her use of metaphor, imagery and turn of phrase often caught me out with their creativity and effect. When Rachel is on a phone call to a friend McAllister writes:

"Audrey hesitated. I could hear it, like seeing a typing sign on my iPhone that disappeared and reappeared as its sender drafted and redrafted."

Best line in the book?

"It's a spectrum isn't it? Trust."

McAllister is a writer to watch. And I shall be watching.

Everything But The Truth is published on the 9th March 2017 by Penguin.

Confession #147

I have been stalking Gillian on social media and discovered these fantastic podcasts that she has produced with Holly Seddon (Try Not To Breathe). The interviews and conversations are interesting, honest and full of tips, advice, support and anecdotes. If you feel like having Gillian and Holly round for a cuppa then whack on their podcasts and treat yourself to an hour of their company. I can't get enough. Check them out at @HonestAuthors

Gillian McAllister 



I am an author. Everything But The Truth, my debut novel, is coming out with Penguin in March 2017 and I am absolutely terrified. I like my very orange cat, reading books in bed while it rains, taking baths so hot they turn my skin pink and that moment where you think ‘what if . . . ‘ and a novel idea is born.

gillianmcallister.com
facebook.com/gillymcallisterauthor/
@gillianmauthor

Follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk) 

#TheLittleBretonBistro by @Nina_George

THE LITTLE BRETON BISTRO

NINA GEORGE 

Published by Abacus on 2^nd  March 2017 in trade paperback, £12.99

An heart-warming story of romance and adventure - and a return to France - from the internationally bestselling author of The Little Paris Bookshop.

Marianne Messman longs to escape her loveless marriage to an uncaring husband - an artillery sergeant major named Lothar. On a day trip to Paris, Marianne decides to leap off the Pont Neuf into the Seine, but she is saved from drowning by a homeless man. While recovering in hospital, Marianne comes across a painting of the tiny port town of Kerdruc in Brittany and decides to try her luck on the coast.

In Kerdruc, Marianne meets a host of colourful characters who all gravitate around the restaurant of Ar Mor (The Sea). It is this cast of true Bretons who become Marianne's new family, and among whom she will find love once again. But with her husband looking to pull her back to her old life, Marianne is left with a choice: to step back into the known, or to take a huge jump into an exciting and unpredictable future.

MY REVIEW:

I absolutely adored "The Little Paris Bookshop" as I found within it my true vocation as a 'literary apothecary'! I have been eagerly anticipating Nina George's new book; holding my breath for another read which will transport me to a world full of delightful characters all created through warm and gentle prose.

The Little Breton Bistro fulfilled all my expectations. It was a real treat to turn over the first page and sink back into George's writing which like the course of the river Seine itself, steers its way along through the ebbs and flows of life; picking up characters, moments, decisions and swirling them around in a little eddy and undercurrent before delivering them to the awaiting ocean of possibility and hope.

I was delighted to be back in France for this second novel and once again enjoy the description of France. We start off in Paris:

"...the Eiffel Tower was but a dim silhouette in the hazy smog. Paris emitted a roar, with a constant rumble of scooters and cars and the murmur of Metro trains moving deep in the guts of the city."

But the opening of the book starts at an end; Marianne, our protagonist, wants to end her life. Today.

"Marianne decided to die. Here and now, down below in the waters of the Seine, late on this grey day. "

George spends several pages with Marianne and her careful, considered and diligent attempt to end her life. Marianne is sixty and feels life has passed her by as a succession of "unlived moments". I thought that was a hugely poignant phrase and very effective in capturing the character's feelings.

Obviously I loved the metaphor of books also used to illustrate her perception of her life:

"......A book waiting to be written: as a girl that was how she had seen her future life. Now she was sixty, and the pages were blank. Infinity had passed like one continuous day."

Beginning with Marianne's desire to end her life, and her contemplation of a life that feels wasted, allows the reader to form a bond with Marianne. We develop empathy for her as more is revealed about her life, home life and marriage. It is a slow start to the novel, like a pool of water gathering, filling with regret before gathering pace, overspilling and surging off on a current which pulls it along on a new journey.

Marianne is not the only character to be disillusioned with her life. Later on we meet Paul who says "the tragic thing about life expectancy" is that "you have more time to be unhappy", and then artist Yann who feels his life is "an empty canvas." But this story is not depressing; there is a sense of sadness but also a sense of inevitably from the characters- an acceptance that this is their lot. Then  George challenges this by throwing the characters together and allowing them to help each other. This novel shows us that it is never too late to find purpose, fulfilment, happiness and love.

But before we rush off toward the middle section of the book, I just wanted to acknowledge how George conveys things through a few carefully chosen descriptions. I liked the way Marianne tried to "ease off her wedding ring but didn't succeed" as if warning us that she would not end her life and could not escape her marriage. I liked the way she laid everything out beside her before jumping and what she hoped it might provide for someone:

"Someone was bound to find it and live for a few days fro the proceeds of pawning it. They could buy a baguette, a bottle of pastis, some salami; something fresh, not food from the bin for once."


There is something very unassuming and humble about Marianne. And then when she does jump, I loved the description as she tried to pull down her hem so that no one could see her bare legs. There was something quite emotional about this image and something which made me want to leap in after Marianne and drag her out. I do really like George's choice of imagery and the small details which say so much about the characters. 

Marianne also has a large birthmark; "a rare pigment disorder, shaped like fiery flames". The reference to this birthmark reminded me of Joanne Harris' writing and that hint or suggestion about magic. Something which seems so ugly and shameful to one person, but insignificant or even intriguing to another.  

Marianne escapes to Breton. A place where the people are "proud of their superstitions" and a place where the "land meets the sea; ...the end of the world." There really is something special about the sea and this is a recurring theme in the novel. Breton feels very separate from France and creates this unique place where the rules are slightly different, the attitudes refreshing and the perfect place for Marianne to reinvent herself and work out what it is she wants from life.

Now we are in the new town of Kerdruc, we meet Paul and Simon - whether there's a deliberate religious connotation or some kind of subtle spiritual reference to emphasise the theme of water, I'm not sure, but I did enjoy the introduction of new characters. I like the way the novel expands to include a wider cast of colourful characters and play out a broader range of emotional story lines.

So I'll leave you there and let you find out what happens to Marianne and her new found friends in Kerdruc. I'll let you watch and see whether the characters are brave enough to recognise the risks they need to take and to challenge themselves to change the way their life seems to have been written. I'll let you dwell on the pertinent observations, insights and relationships that grow between the characters. I'll leave you to enjoy it as much as I did!

This is a really satisfying read. It is as heartwarming as "The Little Paris Bookshop". It is a story that has just the right balance of sadness, adventure, drama and happiness. It's an easy read and if you like Claire King, Joanne Harris and Eleanor Brown, you will enjoy this.

"The Little Breton Bistro" is published on 2nd March by Abacus. 

THE LITTLE PARIS BOOKSHOP by NINA GEORGE



“There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books.”

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

For my review of "The Little Paris Bookshop" - which I LOVED and gave 5*s! - please click here:

The Little Paris Bookshop

NINA GEORGE

www.ninageorge.de
@nina_george

Born in 1973, Nina George is a journalist and the author of numerous bestselling novels, which have been translated into several languages. The Little Paris Bookshop was a phenomenal top five bestseller in Germany and is set to be published around the world. She is married to the writer Jens J. Kramer and lives in Hamburg.

Nina is available for interview and to write features.  For more information please contact Hayley Camis on 0203 122 6082 | Hayley.Camis@littlebrown.co.uk

For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

#RapidFireBookTag

Thanks so much to Mairead at swirlandthread who nominated me for the Rapid Fire Book Tag! You can follow the fabulous Mairead on Twitter @swirlandthread and on Facebook at swirlandthread.

So as the title suggests, lets get on with the Rapid Fire Book Tag straight away!

eBooks or physical books?

Oh, floored at the first question…..ebooks as we have storage issues at home and suitcase space problems when travelling!

Paperback or hardback?

Paperback – hardbacks are too heavy and awkward to hold….!

Online or in-store shopping?

Honestly, it’s online, but I cannot walk past a bookshop without going in and will always spend a lot of time and money in them!

Trilogies or series?

Series….. I tend to forget the details needed to keep track with a trilogy and a series generally keeps the central characters but with a new story each time

Heroes or villains?

Heroes – strong female leads especially!

A book you want everyone to read?

The Night Rainbow by Claire King 

Recommend an underrated book?

Let Me Tell You About A Man I Knew by Susan Fletcher

The last book you finished?

Everything But the Truth by Gillian McAllister

Weirdest thing you used as a book mark?

A plastic ‘book sprout’ book mark thing that someone bought me – it was just weird. And I couldn’t figure out how to use it.

Used books, Yes or no?

Always a yes! I walk past Oxfam Bookshop everyday (dangerous).

Top three favourite genres?

Psychological Thrillers

Contemporary Fiction

Classics

Borrow or Buy?

All of the above

Characters or plot?

Characters. I've got to feel something for the people involved or it means nothing.

Short or long book?

On a kindle I have no idea how long the book is going to be and I quite like that…..! 

Long or short chapters?

Short. Always creates great tension in a plot and more importantly means I can easily read a few chapters while cooking / waiting in traffic / watching children’s sports matches

Book to movie or book to TV adaptation?

Book to TV adaptation. 

Name the first three books you think of?

What Alice Knew by TA Cotterill

A Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier

Books that make you laugh or cry?

Oohhhh tricky….. I guess cry - I do like a bit of trauma, turmoil and angst!

Our world or fictional worlds?

As in real or fantastical? Real -Not good with fantasy genre

Do you ever judge a book by its cover?

Of course. And too quickly! 

Series or standalone?

Standalone.

I now am passing the Rapid Fire Book Tag gauntlet to:

Linda Hill at lindasbookbag

Kaisha at thewritinggarnet

Joanne at portobellobookblog

Follow me for recommendations and reviews on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk) 

The Bird Tribunal by Agnes Ravatn

TV presenter Allis Hagtorn leaves her partner and her job to take voluntary exile in a remote house on an isolated fjord. But her new job as housekeeper and gardener is not all that it seems, and her silent, surly employer, 44-year-old Sigurd Bagge, is not the old man she expected. As they await the return of his wife from her travels, their silent, uneasy encounters develop into a chilling, obsessive relationship, and it becomes clear that atonement for past sins may not be enough… 

Haunting, consuming and powerful, The Bird Tribunal is a taut, exquisitely written psychological thriller that builds to a shocking, dramatic crescendo that will leave you breathless.

I have wanted to read this relatively short novel since October when I heard Ravatn speak at the Killer Women Crime Festival in London. Ravatn was part of the "Fresh Blood" panel and she was intriguing and quite spellbinding. She hinted of her own obsessions with social media, of retreating to a log cabin deep in the forest for a few weeks to complete her first draft and her crisp, clear voice held the audience captive. It was obvious to me then that this woman was special! And copies of The Bird Tribunal had sold out before I had even made it to the pop up bookshop at the back of the hall - it had clearly made an impression on everyone that day! I bought it as soon as I got home!

I think what struck me the most about The Bird Tribunal is how distinctive and unusual it is. There are definitely some echoes of "The Collector", or perhaps even "The Woman in Black" or "Misery", lurking deep, deep within the shadows of this story, but Ravatn has produced a novel that feels unique and extraordinary. The voice is original and the premise is unnerving and chilling in a way that hadn't unnerved or chilled me for a while.

The prose is sparse, the writing stripped back so that every single word carries weight, atmosphere, tension and intrigue. It is beautifully understated. The entire novel takes place at the remote location of Bagge's house, on an isolated fjord which immediately creates a sense of vulnerability. Even though Allis is desperate to escape her 'real life' and hide away in the depths of the countryside, there is something too isolating, too remote and too cut off about this house to make it feel safe. There is something unbearably intense about the setting and this is also shown through the fact that the whole novel is centred around Bagge and Allis only. Ravatn has achieved something remarkable in that she is able to sustain the tension, plot and characters for the entire 220 pages with only two people on stage and such little external interaction. This book takes place in the present - although there are a few references to the past, there are no flashbacks or subsequent narrative voices to supplement the prose; this is just Allis, Bagge and the fjord.

The book is so absorbing that it is impossible to extract yourself from the pages, the characters or from the place it takes you to. What I found most engaging about this novel, and what I think proves Ravatn to be a unique and exceptionally talented writer, is that it wasn't that this book was a page turner; it wasn't that it was an action packed plot driven thriller, it wasn't that the characters were always likeable, sympathetic or emitting a sense of peril and pity, but there was something incredibly fascinating about the story. There was something about it that completely bewitched me. I wasn't always sure whether it was black magic or white magic that had cast such a spell on me, but this book is without doubt, unputdownable.

Perhaps you have to buy in to the set up of the novel a little. Allis - a TV presenter-  has accepted a job to be a housekeeper and gardner to a man in the middle of nowhere. When she arrives her employer is distinctly distant and mysterious.

"He didn't seem particularly bothered about making eye contact with me as he spoke. I was the help; it was important to establish a certain distance from the outset."

He doesn't want to be interrupted. She mustn't enter his workspace. He disappears for hours at a time. He wanders around the house at night. He takes his meals at specific times of the day with specific requests about the quantity and type of meal it should be. He doesn't want her to eat with him. He will give her money as and when she needs it or the job requires it. And he does not make eye contact.

And where is his wife?

After a while, even Allis wonders about what she has got herself in to.

"Something wasn't right about this place; it was home to a married couple, yet the garden was a neglected mess.....he locked himself in his workroom all day long. His wife away like this."

But by then it is as if there is something more magnetic and powerful keeping Allis at the house. There is something that a stops her from wanting to give up this job. The shopkeeper - at the only shop 2 km away, someone who perhaps we expect to be an ally and perhaps offer Allis an escape route - watches Allis with a "critical air". "She knew who I was" claims Allis mysteriously.

Who is she? And is this why she stays? Does Allis have a secret too? What has she run away from? What is she hiding from? And why does she want to stay here, hidden away rather than returning to her life, job, partner and home? As they say, nothing is ever as straight forward as it first seems....

As the novel continues, Allis becomes a more complex character. There is something unsettling and disconcerting about her behaviour. Amongst the sparse, taut prose, Ravatn drops clues and hints that Allis might not be the person we think.

"It was clear that the person staring back at me had just done something that she knew was irrational; it was a look that I had seen a hundred times before. That's quite enough of that, I thought; be pure."

We only see events from Allis's point of view. We only get her version of what is happening. Ravatn weaves a bewildering tale where Allis is caught between feeling terrified of her employer and being enraptured by him. She fears him in the shadows, she runs from him, she tries to escape him, she spies on him, she's attracted to him and she fantasises about him. It is testament to Ravatn that she creates this complex dynamic with such authenticity and conviction.

Darkness and the night time is important in this novel. It is a time when confessions are made, revelations shared, things are hidden and things are seen. Allis dreams; vivid, violent, brutal nightmares. Allis wakes, observes and listens. I did wonder whether the revelations were easier to hear in the dark, while half asleep. Somehow it makes them less brutal, less terrifying, less real maybe. I did wonder whether to trust Allis - whether in fact she was awake or asleep, dreaming or in the real moment.......Are we in the present or her subconscious?  But then this ambiguity and multi layering of the characters is what creates the tension and the dramatic finale of the novel.

I enjoyed the incorporation of nature, animals, birds and norse mythology into the novel. Allis's constant reference to Bagge as a wolf is very effective, both with the obvious connotations of danger, power and violence but also with the allusions to fairy tales and legends. Birds are central to the plot and some of the scenes with the birds are just nothing less than harrowing. I liked the reference to the 'nithing' - "the most contemptible of life forms". Seriously spine tingling stuff!

Bird imagery appears so often it is sometimes very subtle. There is a fantastic scene towards the end of the novel when Allis describes some of the material of a dress to "the colour of a mallard's head." Ravatn's prose is exceptional.

The execution of the finale is very well managed. There are secret revelations leading to further confessions and a succession of half truths which let the reader jump to their own conclusions which then have to be reconsidered as more events unravel in front of us. The pace suddenly picks up as the book draws to its conclusion.

Orenda Books seem to have an eye for picking out debut authors who bring something quite special to the market. This is a book for those who love noir fiction, love a story that confuses, challenges and grips them and for those that love a writer who uses language to such effect.

There is no doubt about it. This is a 5* read from me!

The Bird Tribunal was published in July 2016 by Orenda Books.

For more information about the novel you can follow Orenda Books on Twitter at @OrendaBooks or via their website orendabooks.co.uk

AGNES RAVATN 



To find out more about Agnes Ravatn you can check out her profile here:
orendabooks.co.uk/agnes-ravatn/

For more recommendations and reviews you can follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)