What's it about? In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor in rural Berkshire. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been... Continue Reading →
Book Review: Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simison and Anne Buist
What's it about? Zoe, a sometime artist, is from California. Martin, an engineer, is from Yorkshire. Both have ended up in picturesque Cluny, in central France. Both are struggling to come to terms with their recent past - for Zoe, the death of her husband; for Martin, a messy divorce. Looking to make a new... Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh
What's it about? Imagine a world very close to our own: where women are not safe in their bodies, where desperate measures are required to raise a daughter. This is the story of Grace, Lia and Sky, kept apart from the world for their own good and taught the terrible things that every woman must... Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah
What's it about? Returning home after lunch one day, Hercule Poirot finds an angry woman waiting outside his front door. She demands to know why Poirot has sent her a letter accusing her of the murder of Barnabas Pandy, a man she has neither heard of nor ever met. Poirot has also never heard of... Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Hunters by Kat Gordon
What's it about? Theo Miller is fourteen years old when he first sets foot on the dusty Kenyan plains. Neither he nor his sister Maud are ready for the heat and dazzle of 1920s Nairobi and they quickly get swept up in the drama of the ex-pat community. Theo meets Sylvie de Croÿ and Freddie,... Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Chosen Ones by Howard Linskey
What's it about? Eva Dunbar wakes in a metal box. She has no idea who put her there and she has no way out. Leading the search for her, DCI Ian Bradshaw has no leads and time to find Eva is running out. Then he realises she isn't the first girl to disappear in these... Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware
What's it about? Harriet Westaway is struggling to make ends meet, eking out an existence as a fortune teller on Brighton pier. So when she receives a letter telling her that her Cornish grandmother has died, she senses a way out of her troubles. There's just one problem: her grandmother died twenty years ago. However,... Continue Reading →
Book Review: Letters to Iris by Elizabeth Noble
What's it about? Tess has a secret, a baby-shaped secret that will be making its entrance in nine short months. But that isn't the only thing keeping her awake at night; her beloved grandmother Iris is slipping away just when Tess needs her most. Unexpectedly alone, Tess strikes up a friendship with Gigi, a friendly... Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green
What's it about? A princess, a traitor, a soldier, a hunter and a thief. In Brigant, Princess Catherine prepares for a political marriage arranged by her brutal and ambitious father, while her true love, Ambrose, faces the executioner's block. In Calidor, downtrodden servant March seeks revenge on the prince who betrayed his people. In Pitoria,... Continue Reading →