#WomanoftheHour #JaneLythell #Review

Meet Liz Lyon: respected TV producer, stressed out executive, guilty single mother.

Liz works at StoryWorld, the nation's favourite morning show. The opening section of the book concentrates on how Liz struggles to juggle that holy grail of the work and life balance. She lives with her teenage daughter; a fraught and strained relationship which means home is not always that much of a sanctuary after a long challenging day managing egos and office politics!

At work Liz is responsible for turning real life stories into thrilling TV while at the same time making sure that none of the scandal, gossip, competition and unpleasantness that is going on back stage finds it way in front of the camera. At times it feels as if the life Liz is leading is more sensational than the stories she researches which has got to reflect something ironic about the nature of our vicarious obsession with other people's dramas!

Liz is a likeable character. She is competent, successful, intelligent, focused but also flawed and the relationship with her daughter allows us to see another layer of her character. Making her a mother means we get to see her in a totally contrasting situation and a more emotional and softer light. Lythell's writing is so authentic and convincing that I could feel myself flopping on the sofa next to Liz and feeling her frustration, anxiety, concerns and exhaustion at the end of a long working day, topped off with the challenge of managing a loaded conversation with an angst ridden teen! Therefore I think by the time I got to the last page I was delighted to see the recipe for Liz's flapjacks and macaroni cheese! Liz loves comfort food and is particularly fond of cheese so it was a nice touch to see this added in the back pages.

Half way through the novel something happens which changes everything and irrevocably complicates Liz's life at work. It introduces a darker, more sinister theme into the novel, adds more tension and also raises questions about things that happen at work and the misuse or abuse of positions of responsibility. It also raises questions about women in the workplace. It adds a much more serious edge to Lythell's novel which again pushes Liz to become the person she has always had the potential to become.

On the surface this book seemed to be about career women and women in the office. Lythell's evocation of the TV studio and Liz's colleagues is very well established. The characters all feel three dimensional and are engaging. There are lots of novels that write about TV shows, office politics and working women but perhaps with a more comedic voice or with characters who are a little bit more caricatured. Woman of the Hour doesn't do this. It feels much more realistic and honest. Lythell captures the pace, stress, business, endlessness of that to-do list, the strain of having to please people, appease people and constantly find the strength to fight the feuds and disagreements over how the stories should be presented to the audience very well. The reader cannot help but feel empathy for Liz when she finally crashes on the sofa at the end of the day, utterly depleted!

But it is also a book about parenting and specifically motherhood. Liz is a single mother and so her relationship with her daughter Flo is one that is incredibly important to her but also means she has to deal with it on her own, as well as juggling her job. This book is about the worries of a mother, the want to guide, support, help and protect your child and the helplessness sometimes felt when you can't save them from their predicaments or know that only experience will let them understand why you are setting the boundaries you do. Motherhood and being a teenager are incredibly tricky roads to travel and Lythell has picked an interesting point in her characters lives. Events at work have a huge impact on Liz and ultimately affect the journey herself and Flo are travelling together.

This is a book about work, family and life. It is about things that affect us all or that we can all relate to. Lythell takes this as her premise and then develops it so not only is it about characters finding that strength and direction that they need but also testing and challenging them in order to force them to see more objectively who and what they are.

This is a well paced novel. It is well structured between the sessions at work and home. It has several threads to follow but they are all part of the main story arc. It feels contemporary, relevant and it is compelling. It captures the pressures woman are under in today's society.

Lythell comes from the world of television and it seems she has put this experience to good use in her novel. Her next book follows on from this and will be released in July 2017. I am looking forward to see what Lythell has in store for Liz and Flo next!

Woman of the Hour was published by Head of Zeus in Dec 2016.

JANE LYTHELL



I worked as a TV producer for 15 years and my third novel WOMAN OF THE HOUR takes the lid off the TV industry. Behind the glossy exterior of the on-air programme there lurks backstage intrigues, scandal and huge egos in conflict; an insider's account of the private life of a TV station.

My second novel AFTER THE STORM follows an English couple who get on a small boat with two American strangers to sail to an island after knowing them less then 24 hours. It has been described as Marine Noir.

My debut novel THE LIE OF YOU is a portrait of obsession to the point of madness in which a woman tries to destroy her colleague.

I love to hear from readers and you can contact me here:
Twitter: @janelythell
Facebook: Jane Lythell Author
Instagram: jane_lythell_writer
My blog:chroniclesofchloegreene.blogspot.co.uk

For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#AfterIveGone #LindaGreen #Review #BlogTour

Today I am delighted to be part of the Blog Tour for After I'm Gone by Linda Green! Here's my review! 

This is the first Linda Green book I have read (despite having a few on my kindle patiently waiting their turn) and unlike the reviewer Green refers to in her acknowledgements, it will not be my last! I can't understand why you wouldn't want to read more of her novels? After I've Gone takes a very contemporary character and places them in a confusing situation, then adds a few more layers of tension and drama that results in a very readable story raising enough issues and concerns to resonate with the reader without overwhelming them. I would describe it as a domestic thriller and also perfect for readers who enjoy commercial fiction.

So what is it about? The protagonist is Jess Mount. Jess is a very likeable, endearing, unpretentious character who is constantly putting herself down through sarcastic humour and derisory comments. Her voice is strong, funny, honest and believable. I smiled at her observations about other people as much as the ones about herself:

"The woman in front of me has her right arm turned out and a bulging tote bag hanging from it. I resist the temptation to tell her she looks like a Barbie doll that has had its arm twisted the wrong way by a little boy." 

I also liked how contemporary the novel is - obviously using Facebook immediately puts it in the here and now, but also the references to the celebrity deaths puts it in the very recent present. It was also an interesting decision to include these time sensitive details by the author as it reflects more about the characters and the social context.

So, back to the story! One day Jess opens up her Facebook page to find a chilling and unnerving thread. Her timeline has skipped forward 18 months and all the posts are about her death....... What on earth has happened? Is it a joke? Is is a very malicious online prank? Or is it a glimpse into the future?

And when you realise it may well be a glimpse into the future, what affect does that have on you and the decisions you make? Particularly when you have just met the man of your dreams and life seems to be better than ever. How can it possibly end up with her death?

I thought this was the most interesting aspect of the novel. As Jess continues through each day, she finds herself questioning every interaction she has with her friends and family. It's really interesting to see how this extra insight she has - and the extra knowledge about what her father and best friend are saying about her - affects how she handles them in the present. And what I liked the most is the dilemma she faces when she realises that actually by changing the course of her apparent destiny, could unwittingly mean she ends up without the one thing she as found herself in love with.

This is a quirky angle regarding social media and a slightly different way of incorporating Facebook posts, threads, private messaging and photos in a thriller. It works. I wasn't sure about the use of actual photos of the people leaving the posts - but only because I like to build a picture of the character in my head but again, it was effective in the context of this novel. It was also a good contrast to have these small sections written by the other characters as they comment on events in the future written in a very different style to the rest of the book which is in the more traditional narrative form.

Despite it's light and breezy style and Jess's wry and down to earth voice, the novel is full of more serious issues. There is an incredible amount about friendship, about the relationship between parents and their children. There is also something much darker that I can't reveal here without spoiling it for other readers. This is all well handled by Green and makes for a dramatic climax and escalation of tension in the final section of the book.

This is a good read. It didn't take me long. I liked the characters and I liked the premise. For anyone looking for something to pack in their suitcase this summer, this will fit well!

After I've Gone is published by Quercus on June 15th 2017 and out in paperback from 27th July.

Don't forget to follow the rest of the tour!

For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#GreatestHits #LauraBarnett #Review

One day. Sixteen songs. The soundtrack of a lifetime...

Alone in her studio, Cass Wheeler is taking a journey back into her past. After a silence of ten years, the singer-songwriter is picking the sixteen tracks that have defined her - sixteen key moments in her life - for a uniquely personal Greatest Hits album.

In the course of this one day, both ordinary and extraordinary, the story of Cass's life emerges - a story of highs and lows, of music, friendship and ambition, of great love and great loss. But what prompted her to retreat all those years ago, and is there a way for her to make peace with her past?

Daughter. Mother. Singer. Lover. What are the memories that mean the most?

There will be so many people looking forward to reading this book after the success of Barnett's first book, The Versions of Us.  I really enjoyed her debut novel and was delighted to be approved for an advanced copy of Greatest Hits by the publishers. 

Again, Barnett plays imaginatively with her storyline. Although there are not the three "versions" to follow as in her first book, here she still plays with a multilayered narrative. Posing as a memoir, this is a fictional account of a singer-songwriter looking back on their life. Barnett has taken the form of something akin to "Desert Island Discs" and created her own mash up with Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. It's incredibly effective. 

Once again, Barnett's gently, undulating novel that reads like a symphony of Cass's life would sound, shows her skill as a writer, the versatility of her writing. It also shows her tight control of story structure and how well she can manage plot lines and dual narratives.  

Each chapter starts with a song title, the lyrics, the release date and other relevant details which any music fan will recognise as the established format for archiving music tracks. I really liked this -it's a clear focus, a defined beginning for each new chapter and an effective way to shape the story of someone's life in an imaginative and fresh way. It also gave the book a sense of authenticity and invited the reader to form a closer bond with Cass. 

The chapters then allow Cass to talk about various different points in her life. Music is as evocative as smell - perhaps even more so, and has the ability to drag us back to a particular moment in time. Many of us will be able to quote the lyrics from songs we have not sung aloud to for twenty years. Barnett uses each chapter to move fluidly between the past and the present, helping Cass to make sense of her life so far and consider what it is that really defines her - or why particular memories are significant. 

The writing is as lyrical as you would expect for a protagonist posing as a song writer - and there is no doubt of Barnett's beautiful use of imagery and description. I loved her use of a "coven of girls" in the playground and how where her mother left, is was like "an article torn from the pages of a magazine". 

This is a reflective book, an absorbing read, a novel that uses the ups and downs of a musical crescendo to explore the highs and lows of a life. Although this is a very personal journey for Cass, it is one that the reader finds themselves drawn into. A great framework around which to build a novel about one person's life. It is sure to be as successful as her debut. 

Greatest Hits is published by Orion on 15th June 2017. 

For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#BibliomaniacBookEvent #AuthorEvent #SummerScorchers

SUMMER SCORCHERS 

Last night I held an author panel event at the lovely Harpenden Arms to talk about Summer Holidays reading. I was so lucky to host a panel of fabulous authors. Huge thanks to

T A Cotterell (Archie)
Jane Lythell
Helen Cox
Eva Jordan
Sue Moorcroft

It was really interesting to have a range of books to chat about and to hear from all the authors about their inspiration, writing process and why their books make such a perfect summer read!

It was a full house again and thanks so much to all who came along on such a sunny evening to get some ideas about what to pack in their suitcase to read this summer. The bright weather had us all in the right mood for holiday reading and there was a relaxed, friendly atmosphere as everyone sipped their free drink and tucked into a few of the treats inside their goodie bag!

We heard all about what the characters in the author's books might pack in their suitcase, how travelling is essential if you set your book in a foreign location - yes, Helen really did need to eat cheesecake in a New York diner to capture authenticity!! And which fictional character would these authors would love to take on holiday with them! Watch this space for a more detailed write up coming soon......

Thanks so much to the wonderful Harpenden Books for all their support and for coming along and selling the author's books last night.  They have several events on this weekend for adult and children's books so don't forget to pop in if you are passing on Saturday. Or if you weren't able to buy a book last night, pop along today to buy a copy! 

Harpenden Bookshop Event 

Harpenden Bookshop Event

A huge thanks also to the Harpenden Arms who are always so helpful and set the upstairs room up so well. I can't recommend them highly enough if you are looking for somewhere to host and event or a space to hire for a private function. The food is very tasty too! 

http://www.harpenden-arms.co.uk/functions
kharpendenarms@fullers.co.uk


So all in all it was a very entertaining, relaxing evening taking about books and thinking ahead to our summer holiday reading list! I will post more about what we chatted about but do look out for my future events  - see below for details!

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

AND PLEASE SAVE THE DATE 

20TH SEPTEMBER 

FOR MY EVENT FEATURING

ANGELA CLARKE, ROWAN COLEMAN, ANNA MAZZOLA & TAMMY COHEN!!!!! 

Details to be released very soon!!! 

For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#BibliomaniacBookClub #FierceKingdom #GinPhillips

FIERCE KINGDOM by GIN PHILLIPS

Published by Penguin 15th June 2017

An electrifying novel about the primal and unyielding bond between a mother and her son, and the lengths she'll go to protect him.

The zoo is nearly empty as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the last few moments of playtime. They are happy, and the day has been close to perfect. But what Joan sees as she hustles her son toward the exit gate minutes before closing time sends her sprinting back into the zoo, her child in her arms. And for the next three hours--the entire scope of the novel--she keeps on running.

Suddenly, mother and son are as trapped as the animals. Joan's intimate knowledge of this place that filled early motherhood with happy diversions--the hidden pathways and under-renovation exhibits, the best spots on the carousel and overstocked snack machines--is all that keeps them a step ahead of danger.

A masterful thrill ride and an exploration of motherhood itself--from its tender moments of grace to its savage power--Fierce Kingdom asks where the boundary is between our animal instinct to survive and our human duty to protect one another. For whom should a mother risk her life?

Read my review here.

Bibliomaniac's Book Club Questions - Fierce Kingdom:

What do you think of the title? Why do you think the author chose this title? Can you think of another title that might be as effective? 

What did you think about the location of this novel?

Phillips says "No other subject [apart from motherhood] is so compelling or complex". What do you think about Joan as a mother? How did you respond to her relationship with Lincoln?

"This novel the way we are bound together whether we are strangers or family." (Phillips) Look at the different relationships between the other characters - Mrs Powell, and Robby, Kailynn and Joan, Joan and Mrs Powell. What might the author be trying to say about these relationships and the bonds formed between these people? How is the relationship between Lincoln and Joan used to highlight differences between the other relationships in the novel? 

The novel starts at 4.55pm and finishes at 8.05. It lasts 273 pages. This could almost represent 'real time'. Did you think this was effective? 

This novel is about dilemmas and choices. Think about some of the choices Joan makes. Could she have done anything differently? How do her choices affect her as the novel continues? 

What did you think about Lincoln's character? Did he feel an authentic four year old? 

Kailynn and Joan are very contrasting characters. In what ways do they contrast and why is this? Is Kailynn "heroic" or simply "mindless"?

Margaret says that when the children come to her she "sees which direction they are headed, usually, and there is nothing she can do about it......" page 206. What do you think about this statement? What is the novel saying about nature / nurture and the role of education and teachers? 

What do you think the author was hoping to achieve by including the viewpoint of Robby? How did you feel towards him as a character?

Fierce Kingdom is about how you behave under pressure and how perhaps you don't behave in a way you thought you might. Can you find some examples of this in Joan's behaviour? And in the other characters?

Do you think you would make the same choices as Joan? What might you do if you were in this situation?

Would you read another book by this author?

Quotes to start a discussion about Fierce Kingdom:

"She looks down at his [text] message and the oblivious black font of it is intolerable." 

"There are a million of these threads between them, brain to brain, and the threads tell her when he is getting hungry and when he is about to cry, and they tell her that he will like the idea of using marshmallows for a tiny astronaut's boots.........The thread leads her to him." 

"Her father was the sort of boy who should have turned into a psychopath - that's what people say isn't it? That when you torture animals, it means you will be a serial killer? But he turned into her father and there is no meanness in him." 

"He hopes what comes next is nothing. That is the most beautiful thing." [Robby]

"That is one problem with being around other people: someone is always talking. Someone is always complicating things." [Joan]

"That is what you do when you have a child, isn't it, open yourself up to unimaginable pain and then try to pretend away the possibilities." 

"She would be selfless if she were alone."

What props could you use to start a conversation about this novel?

• zoo animals 
• a map of the zoo / leaflet about a zoo
• newspaper articles about gun crime  / teenagers and guns
• a mobile phone 
• a sippy cup

Where could you hold your book club meeting for this novel?

• a zoo
• behind the counter at a cafe
• a carpark 

What drinks and snacks could you serve?

• A collection of drinks and snacks from a vending machine 

For more recommendations, reviews and book club questions please follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or check out the Bibliomaniac's Book Club page on my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#HereandGone #HaylenBeck #Review

Audra is fleeing through Arizona with her two small children, desperately trying to escape an abusive marriage. She is pulled over by a sheriff and taken into custody - her children placed under the care of a police woman who was called to the scene when the Sheriff's questioning took a more sinister turn. He finds a bag of drugs in Audra's boot though she claims to know nothing about it.

When Audra and the Sheriff arrive at the station, her children are not there. And the Sheriff claims that they never were and that he never saw any children with her..........

I just loved the premise for this novel - I mean, how utterly unsettling and spine tingling! Firstly, you are fleeing from all you ever knew - your home, husband, life....paranoid that you're being chased and the only things you care about protecting are your children. Then, after a horrible intervention from a over zealous sheriff, you find your children are not where the police officer said they would be and now the sheriff is insinuating you are mad - or a monster - who killed her own children while travelling alone on the road.

This has surely got to be one of the most deeply troubling blurbs I had seen in a while. And the opening of the book does not disappoint. It is so well written. Audra's emotional turmoil, anxiety, fear and frustration are so well captured and evoked that it is a really gripping read from the outset.

".....the pain between her shoulder blades, like the muscles back there coming unstitched. Like she was coming apart, and the stuffing would soon billow out of her seams...."

There was no hiding from the outset that this was going to be a disturbing dark read.

And disturbing and dark it is - more so than I anticipated.

Audra's relationship with her husband is harrowing. He has abused her in so many different ways - emotionally and physically.

"....his tongue always the gentle blade with which to stab at her, so gentle she wouldn't know she had been cut until long after, when she would lie awake with his words still rolling in her mind...."

It has taken all her strength to escape him and now, now she is captured by another man who claims to be there to help her yet Audra can not trust him or believe him. Before she can fully try to make sense or even guess at what might be going on, she finds herself being framed for murder and every person in the whole country gunning for her trial and imprisonment.

I enjoyed the ambiguity and the confusion about who to believe, what might be happening and then the frightening revelation about the horrific crimes taking part in a criminal underworld. Audra has found herself launched from one life threatening situation into another - and this time there seems no way out. The reader feels compelled to believe her but then why does her friend Mel say she's "sorry she ever met her" and refuse to bail her out when she is at the Sheriff's office? Is there more to Audra than she's telling us? Who can we trust? A sheriff and his female colleague who nurses a sick child at home? Or a woman who has just had a bag of drugs found in her boot?

I loved the use of repetition of "safe place" at the beginning and how it was deliberately overused by each character. Each time it was said, it meant something slightly different and each time it implied a hidden motive or a chance to trick someone or disguise the situation. There's a very subtle debate going on here about how we use the word safe and how the characters try to pretend things are, when actually there is no such place and everyone knows it.

I thought there were also some interesting discussions about "monsters" and what makes a person a monster. This allowed the writer to open up a wider debate about the portrayal of women in the press and the sexism that exists for women who suffer in abusive relationships. There are a few statements by characters that are slotted in almost unnoticed, yet speak volumes. This creates a story that can on the one hand be enjoyed as a page turning thriller, and on the other, as a more thought provoking, challenging novel about contemporary social problems.

"too many women apologise for the behaviour of men"

This is a dark novel. It starts off like a psychological thriller but quickly it becomes a much more of a police procedural / crime novel. There is a police investigation and there are several crimes to solve and a criminal gang to catch. The themes in this novel include child trafficking, domestic abuse, alcoholism, police corruption and the invasion of the media. There are also more emotional themes like power and manipulation, self esteem and damaging relationships. It really is quite bleak.

But, if you can say this about such a storyline, it is a good read. It is gritty. It is about an immoral, corrupt world. It is sinister and unpleasant but it is a page turner. And there are two heroes - well, possibly three or four actually, who we are rooting for all the way and their perseverance, determination, courage and selflessness ensures the book does not become too grim or overwhelming.

I really enjoyed the writing. Although the subject and issues explored in the novel are dark, violent and unnerving, the prose is full of powerful imagery and creates characters that are believable, terrifying and able to provoke strong feelings from the reader. Audra is a well crafted woman. She is complex, she is flawed, she is vulnerable but she never gives up. This novel lets her prove to herself just what she is capable of and just how far a mother's love can save lives and families.

Here and Gone is a story of motherhood, of strength, survival and what happens when people are put under pressure. I'm glad I read it and I would recommend it. I enjoyed Beck's writing style and it is lyrical and poetic at times which is very effective and makes the descriptions and emotional turmoil of the characters more effective.

If you want something dark, deeply sinister and something that might stop you sleeping at night then this is the book for you! Go on, you know you love this type of thing really!!!

Here and Gone is published on Kindle on 13th June 2017 and in hardback on 13th July 2017.

For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#TheMarshKingsDaughter #KarenDionne #Review

When notorious child abductor - known as the Marsh King - escapes from a maximum security prison, Helena immediately suspects that she and her two young daughters are in danger.

No one, not even her husband, knows the truth about Helena's past: they don't know that she was born into captivity, that she had no contact with the outside world before the age of twelve - or that her father raised her to be a killer.

And they don't know that the Marsh King can survive and hunt in the wilderness better than anyone... except, perhaps his own daughter.

Yes this book is as compelling, chilling and brutal as it sounds!

I was immediately hooked by the voice of the protagonist Helena, born two years into her mother's captivity when her mother was only 17. Now, after having built a new, anonymous life for herself, now a mother herself, she watches the news that her father has escaped. With an eerie calmness and rationality, she prepares herself to track him down and confront him.

I was immediately hooked by Helena's voice because it was candid, honest, caustic at times, and never sensationalised or gratuitous. I love books that have intriguing and original voices that fascinate me, engage me, sometime horrify me and surprise me. Helena did this. She spoke so directly that it was impossible to turn away from her story.

"I could tell you that I was twelve and my mother twenty eight when we were recovered fro her captor, that I spent those years living in what the papers describe as a run down farmhouse surrounded by swamp in the middle of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.....I can tell you what the papers did not: she never got over the years of captivity; she wasn't a pretty, articulate, outspoken champion of the cause; there were no book deals for my timid, self-effacing wreck of a mother."

The beginning of the novel focuses on Helena's present day situation. The author's imagining of how an adult that spent such formative years in captivity, isolated, living in the wild, by their own rules and only using what the land provided, is impressive and convincing. Helena's observations about society and the "rules" and behaviours we follow are forthright and upfront but not far fetched and not cliched. Dionne has clearly considered the role of her characters in colossal detail. Helena's behaviour and comments are thought provoking and raise lots of questions about what she has been through and how the experience has affected her.

".....the most amazing discovery I made after my mother and I were recovered is electricity...." 

I think what was truly captivating and fascinating about this novel was Helena's relationship with her father - her captor. I thought it was a really bold, exciting and curious approach to take. It sets the book apart in a way as it challenges the reader's relationship with Helena, her father and her mother. It reveals a lot about Helena as a mother and wife, and prepares us - or terrifies us - about what she might do in the novel as events unfold and she starts to track down her father.

"....everyone expected me to hate my father for what he did to my mother, and I did, I do. But I also feel sorry for him. ......He was mentally ill, supremely flawed.....he couldn't have resisted taking my mother if he'd wanted to...."

"I loved my father. The Jacob Holbrook I knew was smart, funny, patient and kind. He took care of me, fed and clothed me, taught me everything I needed to know not only to survive in the marsh, but to thrive."

We have to remember Helena grew up in captivity so her entire world was limited to the one her father showed her. Her mother is obviously - and understandably -broken by her experience and I think this is a clever and gripping angle to take. The dynamics between the trio are very interesting and also Helena is now an adult who knows the truth and, further highlighted by now needing to protect her own children, she has hindsight and a broader context in which to reflect on what her father did and what she went through. For me, this was compelling.

"[I was] devastated when life in the marsh was over."

The stakes are raised by the fact that not even Helena's husband knows about her past. Which means he doesn't know about his daughter's grandfather and the DNA they have inside them. Helena's sarcasm and wry words help capture the magnitude of this in a way that is very in keeping with understated and almost factual nature of Helena's recount. And she doesn't want our sympathy, or pity, or to be patronised.

"Bad things happen. Planes crash, trains derail, people die in floods and earthquakes and tornadoes. Snowmobiles get lost. Dogs get shot. And young girls get kidnapped."

Helena is a one off. You can not fail to want to hear about her past, about her present and where her journey to find her father will take her physically, emotionally and metaphorically. This is a character who will stay with me. For a long time.

Great idea, great writing, great character and great story. Recommend!

The Marsh King's Daughter is published on 13th June by Sphere.

For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk