#DaphneDuMaurier #AnnaMazzola

Daphne Du Maurier was born on the 13th May 1907 and to mark what would have been her 109th birthday, I have decided to dedicate this week to celebrating her fantastic books. 

Du Maurier is one of my favourite authors and Rebecca is my most favourite book ever. I can still vividly remember being about 15 years old, crawling half out of the tent on a holiday in Italy to catch the last of the light as evening fell, desperate to finish the last few pages of Rebecca. It was the first novel that truly gripped me, truly haunted me and the first novel with which I discovered the true meaning of "page turner".  

With Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier did more than write an atmospheric love story; it has never been out of print in the 64 years since it was published in 1938 proving that it still resonates with readers today. Rebecca has a 'haunting power and a vice like narrative grip' (Sally Beauman). With this, her fifth novel, Du Maurier showed the world that she could write a book that combined all the conventions of a best seller with something more significant and powerful. 

Daphne Du Maurier's novels are a celebration of the gothic genre; they are dark, they are psychologically thrilling and they are full of mystery, suspense and captivating characters. Her novels have had a huge impact on modern fiction.

Join me as I spend a week talking to authors who have been influenced by her writing, entranced by her stories and gone on to create their own books which also continue in the tradition of what we now refer to as 'grip lit'.

I am absolutely thrilled to welcome author Anna Mazzola as my first guest. 

Anna's debut novel "The Unseeing" is set in 1837 and follows the story of Sarah Gale, a seamstress and mother, sentenced to hang for her role in the murder of Hannah Brown on the eve of her wedding. I adored it and rated it 5*. You can read my full review here.

Thank you so much Anna for joining me in this celebration of Daphne Du Maurier's novels! 

Do you have a favourite book by Daphne Du Maurier and what is it you love about that book so much?

I really can’t decide between Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel. They are both so deliciously dark. Both use the house itself as a malignant character. Both are masterclasses in the art of storytelling. And both have some of the best opening sentences of any novels I’ve ever read: ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again’ and, ‘They used to hang men at Four Turnings in the old days. Not any more, though.’

When did you discover her novels? Were you recommended them? Discover them independently? Which one did you read first?

I first read Jamaica Inn when I was about 19, while I was staying in a house by the sea in Cornwall, and probably because I was staying in a house by the sea in Cornwall. Storm-lashed windows, high seas. Perfect Du Maurier territory.

Why do you think her novels still resonant with readers today and what makes them so unforgettable?

Part of it is simply that she is a magnificent storyteller. She does all of the things a creative writing tutor will tell you to do: create characters we care about, put them in a distinct setting, and send them on a journey that will change both them and us. She also writes in a way that is both literary and accessible, and which hasn’t really dated. But I think it’s more than that. I think she intended for her novels to leave readers with a sense of uncertainty and of things not being entirely resolved, and so, like Rebecca herself, they continue to haunt us after their ending.

How has she influenced your own writing? Or what impact do you think she has had on the psychological thriller genre as we know it today?

She has influenced the writing of my second novel, which is set on the Isle of Skye in the 19^th century. I went back to her books because I wanted to capture that sense of foreboding and that idea of the house itself as a significant presence. My novel also involves malevolent bird-like creatures, so of course I had to re-read The Birds, which remains as chilling as ever.

        

Which recent psychological thriller do you think Daphne Du Maurier would have wanted to have written if she were alive today?

I’m not sure she would have wanted to have written any of them. I reckon she’s way ahead of the rest of us. If she was alive today, she would be writing in a genre that the rest of us hadn’t discovered yet.

Have you seen any of the screen adaptations of her books? Will you be going to see My Cousin Rachel? Are you able to enjoy film adaptations or do you find yourself flicking through your paperback and checking for accuracy ?!

I will indeed be going to see My Cousin Rachel, although Du Maurier would probably have hated it. Of the many film adaptations of her stories, apparently the only ones she liked were Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca and Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now. I’m still recovering from seeing Don’t Look Now about fifteen years ago.

If you were able to host a ‘fantasy book group’ and Du Maurier came along, what question might you ask her about her own novels? What question do you think she might set your book group about her novels?

Well, she was pretty reclusive, so I’m not sure how keen on this she’d be, but as this is a fantasy book group, perhaps we can host it at Menabilly. I’d love to know what she really thought of Rebecca. Did she just see her as Maxim portrays her, or did Rebecca have her own, entirely different story? And was it true that the seed of the story lay in du Maurier’s jealousy of Jan Ricardo, the first fiancée of her husband?

Can you recommend any other authors or books for fans of Du Maurier’s novels?

I confess I haven’t found anyone who’s quite like her and would love to know if there is anyone similar. However, in terms of sinister gothic, I would recommend everything by Shirley Jackson, The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley and of course much earlier works like The Woman in White (which Du Maurier herself loved) and Wuthering Heights.  

And to end her guest post, Anna has an extra Obscure Du Maurier-Related Fact to share!

In 1997 the singer songwriter Enya bought Ayesha Castle in Killiney, County Dublin, and renamed it Manderley Castle because of her love of Rebecca!

Thank you so much Anna, I thoroughly enjoyed your answers and hearing all about the influence Du Maurier has had on your writing. Thank you so much for coming along today! 

The Unseeing was published in January 2017 by Tinder Press and available to buy on ebook and paperback. Mazzola is currently working on her second novel for which I am first in the queue to buy a copy when it hits the bookshops! 

Anna Mazzola, Writer 

Anna Mazzola is a writer of historical crime fiction. Her debut novel, The Unseeing, is published in the UK and US. The Times calls it 'sizzling'. The Mirror describes it as, 'a brilliant debut.’ In 2016, Amazon named Anna as one of their Rising Stars.

Her second novel, about a collector of folklore on the Isle of Skye, will be published by Headline in Spring 2018.

Anna studied English at Pembroke College, Oxford, before becoming a criminal justice solicitor. She lives in Camberwell, London, with two small children, two cats and one husband. 

You can find out more about Anna by clicking on the following links: 

http://annamazzola.com

https://twitter.com/Anna_Mazz

https://www.facebook.com/AnnaMazzolaWriter/

https://www.instagram.com/annamazzolawriter/

Follow the rest of the Blog Tour all week!!

Real Life: Real Books #AuthorEvent #July5th

BIBLIOMANIAC PRESENTS:

REAL LIFE: REAL BOOKS

FEATURING AUTHORS 

JENNIE ENSOR, KERENSA JENNINGS & JESSICA DUCHEN 

                                     

WEDNESDAY JULY 5TH

8-10pm 

Harpenden Arms AL5 2TR

TICKETS: £10*

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/real-life-real-books-tickets-34393602190

What happens when an author writes a psychological thriller based on real stories from the news or real events from history? 

What happens when an author writes a psychological thriller that also explores ethical and moral issues? 

How does a writer tread the line between creating a story that might be taboo, controversial, challenging but yet still unputdownable? 

Come along and hear three novelists talk about their books which do just this. Bring yourself, your friends or your whole book group to discover three books that are set to spark exciting discussions amongst any readers......

“Jennie Ensor’s writing is graceful, poetic, intelligent and captivating. She builds suspense brilliantly, and is a master at dialogue that communicates the accents and personalities of the characters. BLIND SIDE is a wonderful debut, an exciting story about three flawed and fascinating people living in dangerous times.” 

"this complex tale was an immensely satisfying read.” 

“If you enjoy a thriller with a number of themes running through the story, then Blind Side is one not to be missed.” 

It’s a powerful and engaging novel, thought-provoking and difficult to forget once you’ve reached the end.” 

Can you ever truly know someone? And what if you suspect the unthinkable? 

London, five months before 7/7. Georgie, a young woman wary of relationships after previous heartbreak, gives in and agrees to sleep with close friend Julian. She’s shocked when Julian reveals he’s loved her for a long time. 

But Georgie can’t resist her attraction to Nikolai, a Russian former soldier she meets in a pub. While Julian struggles to deal with her rejection, Georgie realises how deeply war-time incidents in Chechnya have affected Nikolai. She begins to suspect that the Russian is hiding something terrible from her. 

Then London is attacked... 

Blind Side explores love and friendship, guilt and betrayal, secrets and obsession. An explosive, debate-provoking thriller that confronts urgent issues of our times and contemplates some of our deepest fears. 


"A haunting tale of suspense and broken trust with a powerful and unexpected twist."

"The stunning execution of a story that is not for the faint-hearted really is quite something to behold. It is totally unique. ....the unpredictable nature of the denouement is the sort of thing that has the reader literally gasping out loud."

"Totally enthralling. Difficult, unpleasant, beautiful and kind."

"Oh, dear reader, you are for a shock, for this debut work will have you avidly turning page after page."

"Kerensa Jennings creates a world of promise, light and kindness juxtaposed with the darkness of villainy in a “Cannot put it down” style."

In 1950s England, six-year-old Gracie Scott lives with her Mam and next door to her best friend Billy; she has never known her Da. When her Uncle Joe moves in, his physical abuse of Gracie’s mother starts almost immediately. But when his attentions wander to Gracie, an even more sinister pattern of behavior begins. 

As Gracie grows older she finds solace and liberation in books, poetry, and her enduring friendship with Billy, with whom she escapes into the poetic fantasy worlds they create. But will fantasy be enough to save Gracie? Just how far will Uncle Joe’s psychopathic behavior go? 

The story weaves between these events and the visits Billy pays many years later to an old friend, confused and dying in a hospice. It is here that he is forced to revisit the events of the past. Seas of Snow is a haunting and psychological domestic drama with an unexpected twist and considerable emotional punch.



"Absolutley enthralling true story! I loved it and found it such a marvelously strange story. The mood is beautifully set with historical information woven in as the story unfolded. The narrative was a pleasure to read, Highly recommend it."

"Above all, it's a mystery and a love story and a vivid depiction of a woman who doesn't give up. Cracking story. Highly recommended."

"Ghost Variations is created from real people and true events which occurred during their lives; history dramatised into a rich and enchanting narrative."

"I loved this book. It's full of 1930s atmosphere, with detail and settings that reminded me of Sarah Waters' writing."

"Schumann's wonderful violin concerto has a tragic history unlike any other piece of music. In this splendid new novel Jessica Duchen manages to find the fine balance between facts and fiction. Her book reads like a thriller, yet it's also a tribute to great music and musicians." 

The strangest detective story in music, inspired by a true incident.

London, 1933. Dabbling in the once-fashionable "glass game" - a Ouija board - the famous Hungarian violinist Jelly d'Arányi is amazed to receive a message supposedly from the spirit of the great composer Robert Schumann, asking her to find and play his long-suppressed violin concerto. Jelly, formerly muse to many composers, hesitates to pursue this strange summons, eager to devote herself to charity concerts for the unemployed of the Depression. But soon her sister Adila and her friend Erik Palmstierna, both avid spiritualists, hear of the incident and the die is cast. Having lost the love of her life in World War I and now facing the death of another close friend, Jelly sets out to find not only a missing concerto, but also a form of redemption.

But news of the concerto's existence spreads to Berlin, where the manuscript is held, and the higher echelons of the Third Reich quickly conceive of a propaganda use for the work. Jelly, trapped in a race to the first performance, must confront forces that threaten her own state of mind.

Facing a world slipping into the insanity of fascism and war, a composer who suffered a terrible breakdown just after he wrote the concerto, and her own life and career sliding out of control, for Jelly saving the concerto comes to mean saving herself.

For further information about this event, reviews and blog posts by these authors please follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or check out my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk. If you would like to buy a ticket then please follow the link here

*Ticket price includes one free drink and entry to a raffle to win copies of the author's novels and other bookish treats

** all review quotes are taken from Amazon and Goodreads 

#Interview #EloiseBooks #BookSubscription #LiteraryGifts

Recently I met Eloise Stokhuyzen who runs EloiseBooks, a gift subscription service perfect for any book lover! Each month, Eloise will pick a novel for her client and send it beautifully wrapped with a note explaining a bit about the book and why she's has chosen it. Dream gift? Yes. Dream job? Yes.

I had to buy a subscription for myself - obvs. And if you are in anyway connected to me, you may well find you have also been gifted a subscription for your Birthday, Christmas, Anniversary, or any excuse I have found to force spread a bit more of book love around the world!

So I was thrilled when I was able to arrange to meet with the well-read woman behind such a bespoke subscription service and find out a little more about how it all works.

First things first though, what did Eloise pick for my first EloiseBooks read?

THE EXPATRIATES by Janice Y K Lee. You can read my full review of The Expatriates here



Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, something she believes could save her foundering marriage. Meanwhile, Margaret, once a happily married mother of three, questions her maternal identity in the wake of a shattering loss. As each woman struggles with her own demons, their lives collide in ways that have irreversible consequences for them all. (Blurb from Goodreads) 

I had not come across this author before but the blurb definitely appealed as did the quote from Liane Moriarty on the front. It was published in 2016 and is the author's second book. I rated The Expatriates 5 stars and am keen to read Lee's first book, The Piano Teacher.

Eloise had barely taken her coat off, let alone had a sip of her coffee and I was off, gushing about the book and how much I had enjoyed it! People are very wary about buying me books - and I am very wary about people buying me books too - so I was extremely impressed with the fact that Eloise had discovered something I hadn't read - even more so, something I had genuinely enjoyed-  considering we hadn't even had a chance to have the usual preliminary consultation required when you start your subscription. Bibliomaniac might have met her match!

We had a great chat about the book first; what we'd liked, what issues we thought it raised, bits we'd found hard to read, passages that we'd loved, the characters, the setting, the style. We also chatted about Liane Moriarty and her recent success with Big Little Lies on television and a few other authors and titles making the headlines at the moment. It was biblioheaven.

But you don't want to hear about my biblio-ravings, I have a blog site full of them. Let's hear more about Eloise!

At the end of 2015, Eloise struck on the idea turning her passion for reading and recommending books into a business. She has always read profusely and always loved buying books for people so she decided to combine the two and has never looked back since.

Her customer base is expanding with many people signing up initially for one or three months, then renewing the subscription again and again. One customer has been with her since the very beginning and several customers are daughters who have bought for their mothers, then the mothers have bought a subscription for their daughters! Some customers are people Eloise knows as in the early days she focused on advertising herself very locally, but with a new Facebook page and word of mouth recommendations, her custom is becoming much more nationwide. Some clients keep in touch with Eloise more than others - there is no expectation that they need to, but Eloise says it's very rewarding to receive such positive feedback about the books she's chosen. Recently she's even received a few book reviews for the novels she sent!

Eloise now enjoys feeling fully justified in spending most of her days browsing the shelves of bookshops and reading as much as she can to ensure that the perfect book is chosen for each of her clients. Sounds like a pretty good day job to me!



Well, it looks like you can never get a cup of tea large enough to last the length of time Eloise and I wanted to chat about books. We could easily have whiled the day away recommending books, chatting about literary events we'd been too, our favourite authors and what we were reading at the moment. It was possibly the loveliest morning I have had in a long long time! I can absolutely assure you that Eloise is one of the most well read people I have met! From what she told me about her business, and from my own experience, it is clear that any books chosen by Eloise for her clients are genuinely hand picked. Any books selected by Eloise will have been carefully considered with that one person in mind and no one else. And I'm certain that Eloise enjoys the moment when she finds that perfect read as much as her customers do when their lovely mystery package arrives on their doormat.

If you would like to find out more about Eloise Books then you can visit her Facebook page here, or on Twitter @Eloisebooks1

You can also email her directly on eloisebooksforyou@gmail.com

If you would like to sign up for a subscription or buy as a gift for someone you know, here are the details of how things work. Please contact Eloise for any further information or if you have any other questions.

Each month, after a phone or email consultation, the gift recipient will receive a beautifully wrapped book specially chosen for them together with a note about the book. It means that your friend or relative receives a book not just for their birthday or Christmas but every month for as long as you choose to subscribe for them.

3 months subscription costs £35.00
6 months subscription costs £65.00
12 months subscription costs £120.00

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat you can follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or catch up with everything via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#TheExpatriates #JaniceYKLee #Review

Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, something she believes could save her foundering marriage. Meanwhile, Margaret, once a happily married mother of three, questions her maternal identity in the wake of a shattering loss. As each woman struggles with her own demons, their lives collide in ways that have irreversible consequences for them all. 

Atmospheric, moving, and utterly compelling Lee explores with devastating poignancy the emotions, identities, and relationships of three very different American women living in the same small expat community in Hong Kong. 

The Expatriates was published by Little Brown in 2016.

I received my copy of The Expatriates as part of my gift subscription from EloiseBooks. You can find out more about Eloise by reading my blogpost about her here.

This is a very good read. It's one of those books which is a very easy, enjoyable read yet explores issues and themes that touch on something deeper and provokes an emotional response from the reader. This is a book which explores what it means to be a woman, a wife, a lover and a mother.

The novel is told from three different perspectives. We follow Mercy, Margaret and Hilary as they adapt, adjust and acclimatise to life in the expat community. Lee creates a kind of microcosm with this quite separate and isolated community and her presentation of the people and their attitudes and actions is fascinating. As well as being a compelling insight into an ex-pat community, Lee's observations are also very relatable as Lee explores themes which are probably prevalent and universal within many groups of people.

I really enjoyed the comments about the relationships between the expats. In a community which is always changing because of its transient nature, relationships are formed on "tenuous links" or "a few electronic exchanges". Therefore the characters always feel under scrutiny, forever being "sized up" and aware of the "signifiers" they reveal and how important this will be in the formation of the "rite of tribe forming". As one of the characters observes, "everyone here is temporary" and Lee's exploration of the ramifications of this emotionally as well as physically are really interesting and intriguing.

And the problem with a friendship based on such a "loose" or "tenuous" links, or purely circumstantial, means it can be fragile and easily tested. Or it can eventually create a bond that is unshakable. Being so far away from one's extended family and "home" means that actually, "everyone here is in the same boat, so the women become one another's family".

Mercy, the youngest of the three women that the novel follows, is a very tragic figure with a terrible self esteem issue. Mercy only expects to "screw things up". She is single, she is lonely, she wonders whether she is a good person and she punishes herself mentally. She tells herself the story of "girl meets boy, boy likes girl, boy pulls girl out of her awful life" desperate for the same to happen to her but simultaneously acknowledging this is merely a thing of fairy tales and those can never be believed in. She's on the periphery of the expat community as she does not have children and her observations of this are shrewd and candid:

"...this is what parents did. They told you stories about children and were outraged or delighted by some odd detail and were perplexed if you were not appropriately outraged or delighted as well. ..."

Mercy is Korean and this adds another dimension and further insight into the novel. I enjoyed Lee's wry comments via Mercy's musing such as she "has watched enough Korean dramas to know that Koreans are used to tragedy and melodrama.....it's a distinctly Korean way of being, and so she fits right in." Mercy's sense of inevitable sadness and failure could appear to be overwhelming and depressing but actually Lee manages it in such a way that it never becomes depressing. This is aided by the fact that we alternate between three voices and also that the plot quickly forces the women into new situations which in turn force Mercy to change and confront her disbelief in herself.

Margaret can be pragmatic, kind, sympathetic and also more dismissive of some of the mothers she encounters. But when her son goes missing, her world collapses and her grief is so palpable and so painful it soars off the page. Margaret can never recover, never move on and as the months wear on  she becomes more and more crippled by her heartache. Although this is a harrowing and devastating plot line, again Lee is able to control and manage the chapters from Margaret's point of view in such a way that it is not too traumatic for the reader. It is reflective and the reader has plenty of empathy for Margaret but it is as much about her character and how she operates within this community as the ongoing search for her child. Keeping the narratives in third person probably also helps keep the reader at a slight distance too.

Our third character is Hilary and I think she was my favourite. Hilary is married but childless and desperate to become a mother. Her marriage collapses and her response is bitter and resentful.

"When does she get to have her own midlife crisis?"

Hilary's chapters are also full of emotion, full of a desire to fill the gap she believes a child will fill in her life. Her kindness, big heart and desperation are once again conveyed so beautifully and so authentically that Lee really proves her skill at expressing women's emotions and feelings with so much conviction and honesty.

I really enjoyed the point where all three lives began to converge and the threads of the story line began to knit together. I was totally absorbed by each of the women's lives and totally compelled to read on. I found Lee's prose engaging and the perfect balance of plot and character, emotion and action. There were many lines that resonated with me, many messages contained within the pages and many quite profound observations that lay subtly between the words which gives the book a greater depth. I would recommend this book if you were looking for a great story and an easy read. I would also recommend this book if you were looking for a more thought provoking book that raises interesting questions about friendships, closed communities and motherhood. It would make a perfect book group read.

All the women change drastically throughout the story, each of them undergoes a huge journey. Their journeys are different yet interlinked, individual yet similar. What they have to confront is profound and poignant, heartbreaking yet heartwarming. This is a story about women and what women mean to each other. It is a story about mothers and motherhood. It is about the different guises motherhood can take, the heartache of a journey to becoming a mother, what happens to you on that journey and how you are transformed once you become a mother. It doesn't matter how you got there, what happened along the way, the mistakes you make as a mother or however you have interpreted your role as a parent. The Expatriates is about this bond - one that cannot be fully realised or explained but is overwhelming, powerful and life changing.

If you would like a copy of my Book Club Questions for The Expatriates please leave a comment or message me on Twitter.

JANICE Y K LEE



Janice Lee was born in Hong Kong to Korean parents and lived there until she was fifteen, attending the international school. She then left for boarding school in New Hampshire, where she learned the true meaning of winter. 

From there, she moved south to Cambridge, MA, where she spent four years at Harvard, developing a taste for excellent coffee, Au Bon Pain pastries, and staying up all night, sometimes indulging in all three at the same time. She also pleased her parents by meeting, on the very first day of school, the man who would become her husband. 

After graduating with a degree in English and American Literature and Language, she relocated down to New York where she got her first post-college job fetching coffee as an assistant to the beauty editor at Elle magazine. After a few months booking massages learning about the cosmetics industry, she heard about a job in the features section and was able to switch departments and return to her true roots, being happily inundated with books on a daily basis.

She then moved to Mirabella magazine where she did more of the same. As much as she enjoyed her job, she eventually came to realize that if she stayed on this career track, she would have no time to write her own book, something that had been a goal of hers since elementary school. Taking a deep breath, she quit to freelance, think about writing, and eventually ended up at the Hunter College MFA Program, which at the time was headed up by the wonderful Chang-Rae Lee. She spent most of her time in grad school writing short stories, some of which got published, but most of which are still languishing in various states of completion on her computer.

She was about to graduate with no definite plans when she received a letter from Yaddo, the artists’ colony, saying that her application for a summer residency had been approved. She also found out she was pregnant with her first child. 

At Yaddo, she started to organize her thoughts into what would become THE PIANO TEACHER. After she had her first child, she put away the book for a year, adjusting to her new life as a mother. Then she had another child and picked it up again. Then she moved to Hong Kong. When she found out she was pregnant with her third and fourth (twins!) she had all the incentive she needed to finish the book, seeing as how she might not have any time to do anything ever again. Five years after she started it, she had a good first draft and sold THE PIANO TEACHER two months before she gave birth to the twins. When she told her mother she had sold her first novel, her mother asked whether Janice's husband had been the buyer. Really.

www.janiceyklee.com/

For more recommendations and reviews you can follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3

#TheFutures #AnnaPitoniak #Review

I requested this book absolutely months ago and I am kicking myself for having left it so long until I read it. When I finished the last page I let out a really long sigh - you know the way you do when a book has come to an end and you're not really ready to leave it behind. This is a good book.

Well, it's better than good. This is story of Julia and Evan. Just graduated and in love, they move to New York to start their life together and follow the shared future they have dreamed about. But the course of true love never did run smooth; the expectations and aspirations we have often don't match those of our partner or opportunities don't present themselves in the way we thought. This is a love story but it's not always a happy story.

There were some passages I found really hard to read; some that resonated, some that were uncomfortable, some which challenged my opinions of the characters, some which made me want to shout at Julia and shake Evan and other parts that made me melt. It is honest, reflective, insightful and intelligent. I can honestly say I enjoyed every word.

From the outset there is an atmosphere of lethargy lingering underneath the sentences. There is a sense that the relationship between Julia and Evan is not equal - financially and emotionally. For Julia  money came like "a spring whose source was bountiful and deep" yet for Evan "money came like water from a pump, flowing only as long as I kept working".

Emotionally, or perhaps psychologically, they are also different. Julia is nearer her family and closer to her parents where as Evan comes from a small town that "isn't easy to get to and isn't easy to leave". I found his comment that "people [from his town] aren't allowed to change much" interesting as it captures something of his personality. Evan is cautious  -  he is obedient, follows the rules and does what is expected of him. Yet conversely, he has moved a long way from home and moved in with a girl who some of his friends have reservations about. He's got a good, high pressured job with a Hedge Fund Firm which trades on risks and chances, and he is living in New York. But how much can he change?  His underlying need for assurance, security and routine are perhaps what lead to Julia's frustrations with him. He is flawed and Julia's comments about him are fair if a little cruel:

....he upheld his end of the bargain. He checked the boxes required of him. And if there were no further boxes to check, he probably assumed he'd done everything he needed to do.

Because the novel is written in alternating chapters between both Julia and Evan we see the relationship from each characters point of view. Both narratives are in first person and both voices are distinctive and individual which makes it a really fascinating read as Pitoniak is really able to explore every aspect of the couple's life together.

Initially I think we are encouraged to side with Julia, although her acceptance of the inevitability of their situation rather than perhaps the excitement of 'first flush' of love once again sets the tone for this relationship and indicates the tension that is set to develop over time.

What else was I going to do? He had a job and a place to be. I didn't, but I had him. I could feel the tremors of change even before we graduated, growing more pronounced as the date approached: time to get serious. We'd been dating for more that three years and we loved each other.........maybe taking the plunge would repair whatever hairline crack had already appeared between us, in the late months of senior year. Double or nothing.

I felt for Julia as she started her new life with Evan only to find she is left at home alone more often than taken out with him. She is slower to find a job and then it is practically given to her through family friends. It's not a great job and she is not nurtured or inspired there. As Evan becomes totally dominated by his high pressured, stressful job, Julia finds herself spending long evenings at home and their lives becoming more and more separate. Her sense of boredom, disappointment and almost apathy are very well evoked and it is very easy to judge Evan for neglecting his girlfriend.

But then, there is still a strong sense that Julia and Evan are in love. They illustrate how a relationship can so easily settle into a pattern or a routine - or how it can be taken for granted "like the subways running regularly or the water coming out of the faucet". They do fit together well, they do have their separate lives but they "ended every day the way it began: together." They do need each other and every now and again something happens - something small, ordinary and every day, but enough to remind them that they are good together or that they are dependent on each other for something that only they can provide each other. There is hope.

For Evan though, things at work begin to become complicated. Just at the point where I was beginning to wonder about where the book was heading, the storyline concerning his job becomes more pressing and more dramatic. I welcomed this increased tension and shift away from the couple's relationship. The novel is such a realistic portrayal a young couple finding themselves in the 'real' world together that sometimes the unflinching prose is a little too unsettling. The dilemmas and ethical choices Evan has to make at work cleverly add a new layer and change the dynamics again. It also forces the reader to see him differently. I found myself feeling intensely worried for him.

At about this point we also begin to hear more of Evan's point of view. Suddenly another angle on Julia is revealed and I thoroughly enjoyed this. I was intrigued by Evan's interpretation of events and his recounting of things Julia had told us about. Whether this reflected their unsuitability, the distance growing between them or the deep bond that was still tugging and always pulling them back together, it is effectively told. I really admired Pitoniak's handling of this.

I found The Futures compelling. It is gentle - although the content and scenes do not lack drama, depression and difficulty - there is something poetic, mesmerising and hypnotic about their story and Pitoniak's writing. I was totally absorbed in the character's emotional journeys. I was completely engaged in their dilemmas, choices, anxieties and disappointments. Evan and Julia are both flawed, they are both human, they make mistakes, they forget about prioritising each other, they are caught up in the daydreams and trapped in the reality of growing up. This is no soap opera, this is a very real and honest exploration of that transition into a new life, a new world and how you shape yourself and each other to fit that future.

The writing is gorgeous. There are so many phrases that capture so eloquently, and with such perception, the thin line between love versus familiarity, comfort versus discomfort or as Evan acknowledges, how quickly "confidence can become arrogance....humour only a few rungs away from cruelty". The fine tread between freedom and oppression. Pitoniak has huge empathy for her characters and ensures her readers too feel this empathy alongside her.

There is tenderness in the novel as well as poignancy. I found Julia's reflection on her father's reaction towards her very moving:

.....his lawyerly gravity made you so painfully aware of your shortcomings: your irrational emotions, your unthinking reactions, you're taking things personally when nothing was personal. ......part of me hoped from some rare tenderness from my father, and I felt a doubling of heaviness. A deflating of that hope and an awareness that I should have known better than to harbour it....

I highly recommend this book. It was so much more than I expected and I felt it spoke to me on many levels. If you enjoy coming of age, character driven books that have some twists and moments of high tension then you will enjoy this a lot. Pitoniak is clearly able to craft characters and plot as well as being a skilled writer. An impressive debut.

'Pitoniak's assured debut explores the cost of realizing - and misinterpreting - one's dreams . . . Navigating terrain - love and youth, college and city life - that's often oversimplified, Pitoniak eschews cliche for nuanced characterization and sharply observed detail. Evan and Julia ring true as 20-somethings, but Pitoniak's novel also speaks to anyone who has searched among possible futures for the way back to what Julia calls 'the person I had been all along'
Publishers Weekly

The Futures publishes on 1st June by Michael Joseph.

For more recommendations from me you can find me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3

#TheHidingPlaces #KatherineWebb #Review

Wiltshire, 1922. Fifteen-year old Pudding Cartwright has begun the career she always wanted, as girl groom to the Hadleigh family's horses at Manor Farm. Irene Hadleigh is struggling to adjust to her new life in sleepy Slaughterford, having married Alistair to escape a scandal in London. At a loss to occupy herself, Irene sets about restyling Manor Farm, and during the work the chance finding of a strange object, hidden away in the house for years, will change everything. 

When somebody close to both of them is murdered, Pudding and Irene are thrown together to seek out the identity of the killer in their midst, unaware of just how deep the roots of the crime lie.

The Hiding Places is a delicious 400 page read which truly immerses you in a bygone world full of vivid characters and tangles you up into a gripping story of a violent death and a dark past. Essentially it has all the ingredients for a perfect read with which to treat and indulge yourself. I do like a story with appealing characters and a family full of secrets where the ramifications of all the lies have much more far reaching consequences than anyone can imagine.

From the opening I knew I was going to be rewarded with a very satisfying tale.

"Death was common enough, in Slaughterford. But not this kind of death."

What a name - Slaughterford. Isn't that alone enough to wet your appetite?!

I loved The English Girl Webb's previous novel and was happy to find myself back amongst her words, her description and her characterisation. Webb has a great ability to capture people through small details which reveal more about their personality, effortlessly breathing life into them until they are clearly pictured in your mind.

Pudding is endearing and immediately likeable. She is a strong character and she is bright. She has a lovely relationship with her family, particularly her brother who has been ill since his return from the war. The sub plot of Donny, her brother, and his role as the novel continues is very well handled and once more reinforces the historical and social setting of the novel. Webb has chosen a moment in history which is rich and interesting and a perfect backdrop for the her story. It allows her to add several layers to a plot that she weaves expertly across the whole of the 400 pages.

Despite the restrictions of the time and society, Pudding felt like a woman ahead of her time and a character that would resonate and appeal to a contemporary audience. I liked the relationship between Pudding and Irene - it's an unlikely but very satisfying friendship. But I think my favourite character was Irene. I loved the description that Webb used to introduce her and convey the sadness or apathy for the situation in which she finds herself - newly married yet not in love, privileged yet not happy.

"...the long day yawned ahead of her, a void to be filled..."

Irene is detached and caught in limbo as she finds herself in a new home, new marriage and with a new role but she's unable to fully embrace this new life as she is still taunted and haunted by the recent past she is trying to escape. A sense of grief delicately lingers over her.

"...her courtship with Alistair had been far more a case of him picking her up and setting her back on her feet, rather than sweeping her off them..."

I really enjoyed Pudding's description of Irene when she first meet her. There is a lot of resentment or prejudging towards Irene before anyone at the Manor meets her which reflects the social attitudes of the time as well as introducing the tensions that will unfold as Irene tries to integrate herself into the house. Having heard a little from Irene's point of view it is exciting to see her through the eyes of another character and this description not only creates a fantastic image of Irene but is also a great example of Webb's delightful writing.

"....[Irene had] the kind of elfin delicacy that Pudding longed for. Her dark hair was cut into a glossy bob across her ears; her eyes were similarly dark, with smudges underneath them, stark in her pale face. And there was something so immobile about her face, something so frozen that Pudding couldn't imagine her laughing. She was like a china doll, and quite unreadable....."

There was something of Irene and her husband's aunt, Nancy, that reminded me of the relationship between Du Maurier's Rebecca and Mrs Danvers - or perhaps Maggie Smith's character in Downton Abbey. The aunt is fierce, controlling, domineering and quick to point out Irene's failings or her new responsibilities.

"You're a Hadleigh now, young lady. And Hadleighs set the standard around here."

I found Irene very easy to relate to and very easy to empathise with. The sense of her restlessness and an underlying sadness is well captured and then contrasts very well when the drama of the novel begins to build towards it's gripping and exciting climax.

I loved the moment that triggers the 'change' and sets the story off on a course of discovery - the revelation of a doll found up a chimney.

"blackened, dishevelled, incongruous amidst the dreck, was a doll"

For me, this was truly chilling. Apparently signifying "witchery in these parts", the appearance of the doll is frightening and I thought it was a really inspired moment in the story. It is highly memorable and is haunting me from beyond the page! This discovery does indeed mark a "change" and from here on in, the reader can settle back for a story of friendship, heartache, jealousy and revenge. Absolutely great stuff.

I do enjoy Webb's writing and I do enjoy her stories. If you are a fan, this will not disappoint. There are some fabulous characters to watch and this is a great historical drama to relish. Enjoy!

The Hiding Places publishes on the 4th May with Orion.

KATHERINE WEBB


I was born in Kent in 1977 and grew up in rural Hampshire before reading History at Durham University. History remains a passion, and I write character-led mystery dramas, often with historical settings. I love to explore the way past events can reverberate in the present, and I'm fascinated by the vast grey areas in human morality and behaviour.

My debut novel 'The Legacy' was voted viewers' choice for Best Summer Read on the Channel 4 TV Book Club in 2010, and was nominated for Best New Writer at the National Book Awards in the same year. Subsequently, 'The Unseen','A Half Forgotten Song' and 'The Misbegotten' were all Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers, and my books have been translated into 24 languages around the world.

KWebbAuthor

And don't forget to look me up on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or at bibliomaniacuk.co.uk for more reviews and recommendations!

#SeeWhatIHaveDone #SarahSchmidt

This is a fantastic historical thriller and I am staggered that it is Schmidt's debut novel as her use of language and clever reimagining of such a haunting crime is nothing less than stunning.

Based on a true event from August 1892, Massachusetts, See What I Have Done is based on the story of Lizzie Borden, a thirty two year old woman who discovered the mutilated body of her father and then the body of her step mother who had been hacked to death.

"I wiped my hand across my mouth, tasted blood. My heart beat nightmares, gallop, gallop, as I looked at Father again, watched blood river down his neck and disappear into suit cloth. The clock on the mantlepiece ticked ticked."

It's a shocking opening. The language is rich yet economical, the dialogue disjointed yet flowing, the descriptions brief yet vivid and the images conjured up by Schmidt's precise detail are unforgettable.

"I cracked my heel into the floorboards, made the house moan then howl...........I heard my voice fold around doors and corners. The house; brittle bone under foot. Everything sounded louder than it should, hurt the ear." 

I was unsure how to respond to Lizzie at the beginning which left me feeling unnerved and decidedly ill at ease as I watched the scene unfold before me. Her cool, detached way of explaining what has happened was disturbing. I was total fascinated by her character and by what was happening in this house.

"'Mrs Churchill, do come in. Someone's killed Father.'" 













Very quickly it is clear that something in this house- and in this family -is not right; there is more hidden in the shadows and more to be revealed. Who is the main suspect? Lizzie? Her sister? Bridget the maid or the 'thug' Benjamin? Each of them appears to have a motive, a strangeness about them, a tendency not to be trusted or a side which hints at a violent nature. The narrative moves between them as events running up to the day are recounted and then events on the day told from their varying perspectives. What they saw, what they knew, what they thought all creating a complicated and gripping picture of a truly terrible crime.

This is an intense read. The weather is described so effectively that the reader feels beaten by the oppressive heat and is constantly made to feel physically uncomfortable from the descriptions of sweaty atmosphere. The setting too is intensely claustrophobic. The action is all held within the house - a house in which there are two brutally murdered bodies. We are constantly reminded of their presence and the gory circumstances of their bodies. Schmidt does not hold back with her descriptions which are even more vivid because of the blunt, stripped back way in which they are described. I loved her brutal style and found it captivating.

I thought the use of repetition was also effective in creating some further intensity and suspense. The clock that "ticked ticked" adds an authenticity to the scene and immediately triggers the reader's sense of sound to also exaggerate the deeply evocative setting of this story. There are also some images that are repeated and referred to several times which is also effective and claustrophobic. Schmidt uses all the senses to increase the tension, suspense and oppressive atmosphere. Her constant reference to blood also makes the crime inescapable.

The language is gripping and the dysfunctional relationships within the family are convincing. This book will definitely appeal to a contemporary audience because of its use of history. This is a murder that took place well over a hundred years ago and although Schmidt's writing coveys the sense of time and place effortlessly and realistically, it's appeal is the characters and what actually happened within those four walls.

Lizzie is a thrilling character. She is complex and deliberately ambiguous in a way which plays havoc with the reader! She is naive yet knowing and callous yet pitiful. She is character that everyone will remember. But I also liked Bridget the maid a lot. She sees perhaps the details others miss. She knows other sides to the characters and what lies under their beds or stuffed into their pockets.

The story is narrated by four characters and all in first person but there is never any confusion as to who we are listening too. This is real testament to Schmidt's skill. Each character remains distinctive and clear. It's a multilayered story that explores several characters but it is accessible and gripping.

Lizzie is arrested and tried for the crime but later released and no one was ever convicted for the murder of Andrew and Abby Borden. I think this real truth makes the story even more chilling.

I enjoyed this book. I was very impressed with the writing style. The narrative style is fresh, original, unsettling and often makes for uncomfortable reading - the prose won't be to everyone's taste but ultimately this is captivating and very clever. It is intense and it is a sensory overload but I recommend it. Haunting, chilling, gory and fascinating.

See What I Have Done is published by Tinder Press on 2nd May 2017.

You can find out more about the novel and the author using these links:
@TinderPress

sarahschmidt.org

@ikillnovel

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For more from me, you can follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 and via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk