Novelicious - The Female Fiction and Chick Lit Blog

Review - The Unseen by Katherine Webb

REVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

 

It is 2011 an unknown soldier from the First World War is unearthed in Northern France.  Found with a sealed tin containing two letters from one ‘H.Canning’ the quest to discover the identity of this mystery soldier is taken on by Leah – a writer searching for a new story.  As she delves into the past, chasing ghosts, she uncovers all sorts of other secrets buried with him.  The rest of the book is set in the hot summer of 1911.  The newly-wed Hester Canning has employed a feisty maid, Cat Morley, fresh out of Holloway, to help her run her household.  Her husband, Reverend Albert Canning, invites Robin Durrant, a theosophist, to stay and together they try to witness sightings of elementals, fairies, in the meadows around Thatcham.  Years later Leah tries to discover just what went on that summer in 1911 and what happened to all involved.  

 

Review - Smoked Meat by Rowena Macdonald

REVIEWED BY AMANDA KEATS 

In a cold wintery Montreal, people are going about their lives. There is the life-model coming between two best friends, the gay man living in denial with a woman and the former waitress looking to make it big in New York.

Rowena Macdonald takes an honest look at the everyday lives of Montreal's inhabitants as they strive to find work, love, acceptance, fulfilment and happiness and beautifully weaves their tales together in one clever book. Though the stories could easily stand alone as a series of short stories, there are links to connect them to each other. A person who is in the background of the first story suddenly becomes centre stage in the next.

There is no real beginning - middle - end to this book, rather a glimpse into the people's lives over the course of a year. It is a snapshot, nothing more, but in looking at how each life connects to others around it, Macdonald manages to build a bigger picture of what makes people move from one city to another, what makes them accept their lives and what makes them finally say that they've had enough and want better. The connections are great if you remember them but it doesn't detract anything from each person's story if you don't remember exactly where you read about them earlier. It is an adult book, as it deals with adult stories - apart from one - and the sex and complications that go along with it. But it does not use sex as a selling point or make it the raunchy focus of the book. It simply glides along and is relevant when it is relevant.

Review - There's Always Tomorrow by Pam Weaver

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

It doesn’t seem to matter what Dottie does, or how devoted she is to her husband, Reg, she never manages to please him. Reg isn’t the same man she married. He’s changed by his terrible experiences during World War II and far from being the kind, loving husband she remembers, he’s now violent and spiteful. Dottie has been brought up by an aunt who taught her that you have to find a way to live with your choices and marriages are supposed to be worked at and not given up on.

Desperate for a baby, Dottie knows that she is never going to experience motherhood with her relationship the way it is with Reg. One day Reg receives a letter and Dottie learns that he has fathered a child during the war. Reg decides to take on his newly orphaned daughter and whether Dottie likes it or not, she is forced to accept his eight-year-old child into her home. Things don’t turn out how Reg expects them to and it soon dawns on Dottie that the care of this child is going to be down to her. There are many aspects to Reg’s nature that she is oblivious to and as time goes on Dottie realizes that the man she thought she married is capable of cruelty she could never have imagined.

Review - The Apothecary's Daughter by Charlotte Betts

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR        

It’s 1665 and Susannah Leyton quietly works behind the scenes in her father’s apothecary shop in Fleet Street. She would love to be a recognized apothecary like her father, but the idea of a woman doing something so outrageous makes this dream an impossibility. Susannah likes nothing better than trying out new concoctions from the vast array of ingredients her father stores in his shop. Her mother died tragically years before giving birth to Susannah’s brother and since witnessing that horror, she’s always insisted that she doesn’t wish to marry, but is happy spending the rest of her life working with her father.

One day, Dr William Ambrose, a serious, unsmiling man, comes into the shop and asks to speak to her father. Susannah explains that he’s out and when Dr Ambrose tells her he urgently requires a potion for one of his patients, she offers to make it. He is not impressed with the notion and Susannah can’t help feeling insulted by his abrupt reaction. 

 Susannah’s orderly life is changes beyond recognition when her father falls in love with a young widow and marries her. Abigail and Susannah soon fall out when Abigail starts ordering Susannah around and expecting her to look after her three young stepsiblings. The two women become increasingly antagonistic towards each other, upsetting Susannah’s father, who, much to her distress, takes the side of his spoilt, lazy, bride.

Review - The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

The Paris Wife is the story of Hadley Richardson, the first of Ernest Hemingway’s four wives. Hadley meets her future husband in 1920 when she’s twenty-eight. Up until that time she’s lived a quiet, secluded life and is only too thrilled to marry him and relocate with him to Paris where the couple soon become part of the enigmatic group of modernist writers and artists living in the capital. Their new friends include Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound, and eventually they also meet up with F Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda.

As a foreign correspondent, Ernest takes trips away from his wife. She hates being without him and finds it difficult to cope in his absence. When she falls pregnant Hadley is overjoyed. Ernest, on the other hand, isn’t ready for children and although he can’t help loving the baby who they nickname, Bumby, having him in their life causes their differences to intensify. Hadley loves it when Ernest takes time away from focusing on his writing so that they can spend time together. Most of the time though, he’s either writing, or drinking with his friends. Occasionally, they travel and rent rooms for weeks at a time.

Review - The Fall by Claire McGowan

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR   

Charlotte arrives home to the minimalist, tastefully decorated Belsize apartment she shares with her handsome, banker fiancé, Dan. She might look immaculate with her shiny, blonde hair and perfectly manicured nails, but she’s stressed out from phone calls about her wedding the following week. The last thing she needs to do is go out that night, but when Dan tells her there’s problems at the bank and suggests going out to a Jamaican club in Kingston Town for some fun, she reluctantly agrees.

Dan offers Charlotte cocaine and for the first time in her life she accepts it. Their evening doesn't go well and Dan angrily confronts the owner, Anthony, when he laughs at him and tells him that Dan’s business card has been cancelled and he has to pay for his drinks. 

Keisha Collins has a very different life to the one Charlotte enjoys. She lives in a run-down, rented flat with her temperamental boyfriend, Chris Deans. Chris is her daughter, Ruby’s, father and also the reason the little girl has been taken from Keisha. She wants her daughter back, but has loved Chris since she first saw him at school when she was twelve and can't imagine her life without him in it. Thankfully, Ruby is being looked after by her mum, Mercy, so Keisha can visit her and knows she’s well loved and properly cared for.

Review - To Love and To Cherish by Lyn Andrews

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR   

Gloria and Betty Jenkins have a simple, but ordered life at the home they share with their mother, Sal, and father, Harry, in 1920s Liverpool. Harry is away at sea for months at a time as Chief Steward on the SS Amazonia. Whenever he arrives back in Liverpool the family host an extravagant party for their neighbours and Harry’s sister and her husband. Harry has a good job and is proud to show those around him that his family want for nothing.

When the next-door neighbour dies leaving a young daughter, Rose, alone with no family, Sal takes her in. Rose's old home is soon rented by a new family and when their eldest son, Alfie, notices Gloria, it’s not long before the two begin courting.

However, Harry listens when his pretentious sister insists that Gloria can do far better than end up with Alfie. She asks Gloria to join her on a transatlantic trip to New York and it’s during the voyage that Gloria meets and falls in love with Grant, a wealthy New Yorker. On the last day of her trip, Grant asks Gloria to marry him and much to her aunt's delight, she accepts.

Harry is thrilled that his daughter will be mixing with high society and enjoying wealth his own wife could never imagine. As Gloria and Grant bid farewell to her family, no one can imagine the future she has to look forward to. Artie is left heart-broken, but knows he can't compete with someone as sophisticated and wealthy as Grant. Betty decides that she wants to follow her father's example and go to sea, but she has to wait until she's eighteen before she can follow her dream. Gloria loves her new life and her husband ensures she has everything she could wish for, that is until 1929 when the stock market crashes and everything changes for them all.

Lyn Andrews has written many wonderful books and this story was everything I’d hoped it would be. From the difficulties of living in 1920s Liverpool to the excitement of New York high society, it brings the characters and places to life beautifully.

8/10

You can find out more about Lyn Andrews here and buy a copy of her book here and here.

Review - The Courtesan's Lover by Gabrielle Kimm

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

It’s 1564 and Francesca Felizzi, a beautiful and talented courtesan, entertains her patrons in one of the two homes she owns in Naples. Her loyal servant, Modesto, a castrato, sits outside her bedroom door ready to defend her should it be necessary. He is determined that a repetition of the violence that Francesca endured from a previous patron that left her scarred both physically and emotionally, will never happen again.

Francesca writes about her encounters and any information she gleans from the men who visit her into a journal she calls, The Book of Encounters. Modesto insists that this is her insurance for the future should she ever need it. Her patrons are not allowed to visit her at the home she shares with her beautiful twin daughters and Modesto, and it’s here that she is able to enjoy precious time alone with them.

Francesca is popular and expensive, her clothes are exquisite and her lifestyle lavish, but it’s only when, Gianni, a shy, virgin, is sent to her by his brother and friend and treats her with a sensitivity she hasn’t seen before that she realizes she’s never truly been loved. Gianni changes the way Francesca sees herself and her career and she begins to question what she wants out of life. Then, when her young daughters’ lives are threatened, Francesca knows she has to start making changes.

Review - The First Wife by Emily Barr

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Lily Button has had a strange upbringing. She’s spent her teenage years looking after her grandparents and having been happy cosseted away in their cottage since they took her in when she was eight, she’s seen no reason to make any friends. Now they’re both dead, within months of each other, and she’s discovered that the cottage she assumed she’d always live in has to be sold to cover huge debts. Lily can’t imagine what her grand parents could ever have spent their money on. They always took care to live as frugally as possible, without televisions, holidays and even growing and eating their own vegetables, but despite their unextravagant way of life, she still ends up without any money, or home, and no one to turn to for help. 

She moves into the garden shed, but is eventually forced to move out and try to plan some sort of future. Lily is befriended by Al, who it turns out knows better than most what it’s like to hit rock bottom. He saves her from drastic action and through his advice she ends up taking a room in a house with a friendly family. She initially finds it strange, but gradually becomes used to the way the couple and their children live. Lily wants to go to university, but first she needs to make some money. She takes on cleaning work and her favourite job is cleaning the beautiful home of ex-soap star, Harry Summer and his beautiful wife, Sarah.

Review - Watching Willow Watts by Talli Roland

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR  

Willow Watts was happy with her life in London working as a florist at Liberty's and spending time with her handsome boyfriend, Alex. Then her mother died. Her father, Dickie becomes ill and she immediately leaves behind her dream life to return to her ugly, dull hometown of Belcherton. Discovering her father has business debts, she decides to stay and try to find a way to recoup funds to get his everything back in order.

She jokingly agrees to dress up as Marilyn for Simpson Dyer, head of the town's tourist board, who is determined to put his town on the map and generate some much needed funding for the area. He films her and superimposing a picture of Marilyn above Willow's head, he uploads the film to YouTube where it soon goes viral and she becomes a worldwide sensation. Willow/Marilyn is suddenly famous and fans start arriving in Belcherton from all over the world to see their idol's reincarnation. Jay Bellamy, a down-on-his-luck agent, immediately sees an opportunity to make money and rushes to Belcherton to persuade Willow to sign up with him. Willow falls for Jay's charm, falling out with her best friend in the process, and believes him when he insists he can make her rich. 

Review - The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR 

Lizzie Pharamond spends her time trying out new recipes, taking care of her son and putting up with her increasingly distant husband, Tom. She's also a member of the Christmas Pudding Circle, who meet from August until Christmas in their small village of Middlemoss.

When Jasper is rushed to hospital with meningitis, Tom takes his time going to visit his son. Nick, on the other hand, races across Europe to get to the hospital as soon as possible. When Tom does eventually arrive, he finds Lizzie being comforted by Nick and instead of asking how his son is, demands to know what his cousin is doing there. It's then that Lizzie realises it's time to put her miserable marriage behind her. 

Tom spends as little time with her and Jasper as possible. He insinuates that Jasper is Nick's son rather than his own and when Tom loses his temper and Lizzie ends up with bruising to her face, she turns to her best-friend Annie. She tells Annie that as soon as Jasper leaves for university she's going to have to move out of her cottage and away from Tom to go and find somewhere new to start again. So far, Tom hasn't told Jasper of his suspicions about his parentage, but she knows it's only a matter of time and can't bear the thought of Jasper having to deal with such an accusation.

Review - Watch Over Me by Daniela Sacerdoti

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Another fabulous book delivered to my door. Eilidh Lawson is distraught, she's just suffered a miscarriage and is finally beginning to accept that despite years of fertility treatments, she's never going to be able to have the baby she longs for. She can't feel too badly towards her cheating husband and knows that however much she's suffered over the years, he can't have found it easy living with someone so desperate for something she seems unable to attain. She returns to the Highlands where she spent several happy years as a child to try and find a way to start healing from her loss.

Jamie is Eilidh's childhood friend. He's doing his best to look after his beloved daughter, Maisie and make up for his wife abandoning them and returning to London where her career as an artist is her first priority. He's a handsome target for the single women who live in his home town and when they see Eilidh spending time with his daughter, it doesn't occur to any of them that she might simply be helping him and not seeing him as someone to fall in love with.

Elizabeth, Jamie's mother has been dead for a couple of years, but that's not going to stop her from trying to mend both Eilidh and Jamie's hearts by pushing them together. However, it's easy to plan these things, but each of them soon discover that not much works out in the way any of them expect.

Watch Over Me is a poignant and beautifully crafted story. It's written from several points of view, not only Eilidh's and Jamie's but also his Elizabeth's and others. The chapters are short and it's pretty impossible to put it down.

9/10

Watch Over Me was published on 15th November and you can find out more about it here.

Novelicious Chats To...Daniela Sacerdoti

Daniela, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for the Novelicious readers.

1. Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

I have two young children and I’m a stay-at home mum. My eldest is in school but my youngest is in nursery two hours a day only, so I don’t have much time to write during the day. I do most of my writing before they wake up, setting my alarm between four or five, depending on how tired I am! Also I write at the weekend, when my lovely husband looks after the children. I couldn’t do it without him.

2. When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

People I know, definitely. I’m a good listener and I tend to be very empathic, so I gather stories everywhere I turn, from friends, acquaintances and a few strangers as well!

3. What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

It must be The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy, because it’s beautifully written, with a kind eye to people’s weaknesses and mistakes. Also it shows how far we’ve come in terms of the choices women can make nowadays and the amount of freedom we have in shaping our lives the way we want, compared to our grandmothers.

4. What is your writing process? Do you plan first of dive in? How many drafts do you do?

Watch Over Me was brewed over a long period of time. A nugget of it started when my first son was born...I was so overwhelmed by the whole experience of motherhood, both the joy and the terror of it, and my love for him was so intense, that I didn’t know what to do with it. I bought a laptop and started writing, but I was teaching at the time and it took two years before I sat down to it again. Then I just dived in, and it happened. It was published nearly the way it was written, one draft only. I had it in me for so long that when it came out, it was ready.

5.  What was journey to being a published author?

I genuinely never thought of the possibility of getting published until Watch Over Me was finished. I’ve always dreamt of publishing a book, but I didn’t really think I could make it. I think my father’s death had a lot to do with my sudden bust of determination: he was a man with so much talent, and still so insecure and frustrated. I inherited this chronic insecurity from him, but all of a sudden I decided I wanted things to change, I wanted to believe in myself, or at least act like I did. So I sent Watch Over Me around to a few agents and publishers; I got a few rejections, seven or eight I think, until the lovely Rachel Reid read it, and decided to give me a chance. A few months later I was shortlisted for the Kelpie’s prize from Floris Books, with my children’s book The Really Weird Removal Company (out next Autumn). With two books accepted for publication, it dawned on me that maybe, actually, I could do it...and it all started from there. I was then contracted for the Sarah Midnight trilogy. I also found a lovely agent, Lindsey Fraser at Fraser Ross, which made me so happy. It’s brilliant to feel that people believe in you.

 

Novelicious Chats To...Miranda Dickinson

INTERVIEW BY CESCA MARTIN

Could you briefly tell us about your book 'It Started with a Kiss'?

 It Started With a Kiss is all about following your heart. It’s the story of Romily Parker, a jingle writer for a local radio station, who sings with her friends in a wedding band at weekends. On the last Saturday before Christmas, she has a brief encounter with a handsome stranger (shortly after disastrously declaring her love to her best friend Charlie). He kisses her and then disappears – so Romily pledges to spend the next twelve months searching for him…

Where did the inspiration for 'It Started with a Kiss' come from?

I wanted to write about ‘what-if’ moments and see what could happen if someone decided to pursue them rather than letting them pass. My favourite quote is from Emily Dickinson (no relation!): ‘I dwell in possibility’ – which I’ve actually included at the start of the novel – and I wanted to write about chasing possibilities in life. Romily is a sane individual, but the magical encounter with the handsome stranger at a time when she least expected it is enough to make her embark on a crazy quest to try to find him again. At the same time, Charlie, the guy she has been secretly in love with for three years, then begins to see her in a different light because she’s looking in a different direction (typical men!).

You have been vlogging your journey to publication, what has been the best moment so far?

There have been so many! What I’ve loved about vlogging this year is how involved everyone has been with it – asking brilliant questions and really deciding where I go and what I talk about for each episode. I think the big highlight for me was when I was asked to give an author talk at Kingswinford Library. If you know my books, you’ll know that my writing dream began at the age of five to write a story that would be good enough to grace my small local library’s shelves. It was probably my most emotional vlog – not least because the last thing they asked me to do that night was sign the library’s copies of Fairytale of New York and Welcome to My World. It was amazing to finally fulfill a lifelong ambition! 

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? 

Just write. Don’t worry about whether you’re allowed to, or whether anybody will want to read it, or sabotage your efforts with self-doubt. Write because you love it and write stories that entertain you. I wrote Fairytale of New York completely for me and never thought anyone else would ever read it – but when I uploaded the manuscript to Authonomy.com it was noticed by my publisher and now it’s my career. I honestly believe that if I’d tried to write to a formula, or write what I thought a publisher wanted to read, my book wouldn’t have been picked up. Listen to advice from other writers about how they do it, then find your own way that works for you. And whenever those pesky doubts creep in (which they will), repeat this mantra: I am good enough, I can write and my stories are worth reading!

What is your typical writing day? 

I don’t have one! I would love to be the kind of writer who gets up early, works a nine-to-five writing day and then reclines with a glass of wine. But my brain doesn’t work like that, unfortunately! I work three days a week for a food research company, so for two days a week, plus evenings and weekends, I write. Frustratingly, I always seem to hit my stride after 9pm, so even on my two writing days I’ll invariably not be productive until then and end up writing late at night (or sometimes right through, if there’s a deadline looming). But then some of the scenes I’m most proud of (like Harri’s Kefalonia scenes with Blanche and the big final scene in Welcome to My World) have been written at some ungodly hour in the morning, so it obviously works for me! 

Do you read when you write and, if so, who? 

It’s always a tricky one about whether to read when I’m writing. I’m always scared that, (a) the great idea I have for my book has already been written by someone else; or, (b) I’ll unwittingly end up assimilating someone else’s great ideas into my novel because I’ve just read them! For that reason I never read chick-lit or romantic comedies when I’m writing, but I might read something by Jasper Fforde (whose wonderful, artfully constructed books I’m completely in love with) or Sir Terry Pratchett (who is the master of comedic timing, so great inspiration). I’ve also just discovered Ben Aaronovitch, who is fast becoming a favourite author. And I watch Gilmore Girls – a lot – because the pace of its script is brilliant and great inspiration for when I’m writing dialogue (that’s my excuse, anyway!)

What are you expecting later at your launch party? 

You know, I have no idea! I’ve only ever had one launch party before, which I organised myself for Welcome to My World’s launch last year. It was brilliant but a lot of hard work because I was signing books, checking that all the guests were having a good time and keeping an eye on the catering all at once! The best thing about the launch party this year is that I’ve been able to invite thirty people who watch my vlogs, follow me on twitter and facebook and receive my newsletter, so it will be a fantastic way for me to thank them in person for all their support which means so much to me through the year. 

What can you tell us about your next novel? 

My fourth novel will be called When I Fall in Love and features a motley crew of characters in a choir, rivalry, romance and the last item on a very important list. There may also be the odd jazz hand thrown in for good measure, too… I’m going to be vlogging about it (after my vlog viewers demanded I continue next year), so I’ll be sharing exclusive excerpts along the way.

Thanks for speaking to Novelicious Miranda! 

My pleasure, thank you so much for having me! x

It Started With A Kiss is published TODAY and you can find out more about Miranda from her  Coffee & Roses blog, website and follow her on Twitter @wurdsmyth  

To celebrate the publication of this fabulous novel, we have not one, but two giveaways! To be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of It Started With A Kiss & a signed copy of Miranda's album, please leave a comment telling us about your most memorable kiss.

If that wasn't enough, we're giving you a second chance to win a signed copy of both Miranda's book and album and all you have to do for this is re-tweet this interview. (Winners to both will be announced next Thursday).

You can buy, It Started With a Kiss at Amazon UK, Waterstones, The Book Depository (shipped worldwide), Play.com.

Miranda's other novels: Welcome to My World: The Book Depository & Fairytale of New York Amazon