Wartime at Liberty's

by

Fiona Ford

PAPERBACK PUBLICATION DAY

Congratulations to author Fiona Ford on the paperback publication day for the third instalment in the Liberty series, Wartime at Liberty's. I have my copy on order and as soon as it arrives, I am going to read how the girls are getting on! Look out for my review soon...

In the meantime, you can read a snippet below and if this has wet your appetite, then you can start by reading Christmas at Liberty's and then The Liberty Girls. If you are a saga lover you will be hooked I can guarantee it!

Blerb

London, 1942

Flo Canning’s heart is beyond repair following the news that she has been dreading since the outbreak of war. As Flo throws herself into the role of fabric manager at Liberty’s, old and new friends alike help pull her from a whirl of despair.

Between work and home life there’s plenty to keep Flo occupied. Not least new deputy store manager, Henry Masters, whose arrival has consequences that Flo and her workmates could never have foreseen.

But there is more tragedy still to come, and Flo and her friends will need each other more than ever if they are to survive the uncertainty ahead.

To order a copy of Wartime at Liberty's click here

The Poor Relation

by

Susanna Bavin

BLOG TOUR

I jumped at the chance to be a part of this blog tour as I love this authors writing. You can read my review below of yet another great historical fiction saga by the wonderful Susanna Bavin.


Blerb

1908, Manchester. Mary Maitland is an attractive and intelligent young woman determined to strike out on her own and earn a living. Finding work at a women’s employment agency, her creative talent is soon noticed and Mary begins writing articles for newspapers and magazines.

But being of independent and progressive mind are troublesome traits when those you hold dear must constantly live up to the expectations of the well-to-do family to which they are linked. With increasing pressures from the powers that be, can Mary find the fine line between honouring her family and honouring herself?

Review
Mary Maitland was born on the wrong side of the family tree, to parents known as the "poor relations".  Determined she doesn't want to end up the typical female of the Edwardian era and become a dutiful wife and mother, she leaves the job her father found for her at the Town Hall to begin a career in an employment agency, much to the horror of her parents.


It's not long before she starts writing newspaper articles, but as a woman even this comes with it's problems, especially when she mentions her writing to her father who will do anything not to bring anymore shame onto the family as he feels he has a lot to prove to the richer members of his family.


Mary has to overcome many hardships, but with her spirit, it wouldn't keep her down for long!


Too many characters in this one for me, but the attention to detail with the characters was very good because some you loved and some you loved to hate!


Thank you to the lovely author for her constant support and for writing such wonderful family sagas and to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for allowing me to be a part of the blog tour.

The Cotton Spinner

by

Libby Ashworth

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

When Jennet and Titus Eastwood are forced to move from their idyllic cottage into the centre of Blackburn to find work in the cotton mills, their lives are changed in ways they could never have imagined and their new home on Paradise Lane is anything but . . . Then Titus is arrested and sent to prison for attending a Reform meeting. Jennet is left to fend for herself and soon things go from bad to worse as Jennet finds herself pregnant and alone – with another man’s child . . .

I am delighted to be able to share with you some Q&As that the author has very kindly sent over to Boon's Bookcase on publication day. So put your feet up with a nice cuppa and read what inspired the author to write the book and about her career as an author.

Q&A's with the author

Where is The Cotton Spinner set?
The Mill Town Lasses is set in my home town, Blackburn in Lancashire. During the Industrial Revolution it grew from a small market town to a place that employed thousands of people in the mills.


Who are the main characters?
The main characters are Jennet and Titus Eastwood, and in the later books we meet Jennet’s sister Hannah and her friend Mary. Then book three focusses on Jennet’s daughters Peggy and Bessie. 



Do you have a link to the subject matter or the characters in The Mill Town Lasses series?
This is my family history! Jennet and Titus were my great, great, great, great grandparents. My ancestors moved from the small villages that surround Blackburn to work in the mills and it must have been a huge change for them. It would have been a tremendous change of lifestyle I wanted to tell the story of the hardships and the rewards that it brought.



How did you become a writer?
I don’t think I became a writer. I always was one. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making up stories in my head. I had my first professional publication at the age of eleven when I sent an article about the Spanish Riding School in Vienna to Diana magazine for girls. They printed it and paid me £1. I thought it would be easy to become a ‘real’ writer after that!


What’s the best thing about the writer’s life?
For me, now that I have a publishing deal, the best thing is being able to go to my desk and write without feeling guilty – without feeling that I should be doing something more important. I’ve always had to fit my writing in around other commitments, so it’s nice to be able to do what I enjoy doing and know that it’s earning me some money as well. Plus, I don’t have to go outside and can work in scruffy, comfortable clothes.
 

What else do you like to read for pleasure?

I’m a member of the Tuesday morning reading group at Blackburn library and I enjoy it because it challenges my reading choices. Since I joined a few years ago I’ve read books that I would never have picked up from the shelf. Some I haven’t been too keen on, but there have been some treasures. Our most recent read has been The Death’s Head Chess Club by John Donoghue. That’s something I would never have chosen for myself, but I enjoyed it. My next read is going to be the third book in Hilary Mantel’s Tudor trilogy – The Mirror and the Light. I’ve been waiting impatiently for this one! I’ve also recently read Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments – her follow up to A Handmaid’s Tail. I find I do tend to choose historical fiction to read and I spent my teens working my way through Catherine Cookson. I enjoy the
classics too with Elizabeth Gaskell being a favourite author, particularly North and South, which brings us back to the mills!



Where do you like to read or write?

My favourite place to read is in bed. My favourite place to write is probably at my desk in the small upstairs room, but writing involves a lot of thinking and I can do that anywhere and often do, even if it does look like staring into vacant space rather than working.




If you could trade places with anyone in history who would be?

That’s a tricky question. The past is so full of squalid housing and horrible diseases I’m not sure I would want to go there at all. Although I like reading and writing about the past I rather like living in the present, besides when I describe my childhood and my grandmother’s tin bath and outside toilet it sounds like ancient history anyway. So I think if I went back in time it would have to be to change places with someone who had a fairly privileged lifestyle. Maybe I would have to choose Elizabeth I. She had more power than any other woman in history that I can think of – and power is always a useful thing.




The Cotton Spinner, the first in the Mill Town Lasses series by Libby Ashworth, is published by Arrow in physical and e-book on 16th April


To order a copy of the paperback on Amazon click here

The Forbidden Promise

by

Lorna Cook

BLOG TOUR

I'm delighted to be a part of the blog tour for The Forbidden Promise. I have to admit, this is the first book I have read by this author, but I will definitely be reading her previous book, The Forgotten Village.

You can read my review below of this fabulous dual time novel which stars in 1920 in Scotland and then back to the present day.

Review

I love a book where you are hooked from the very first page and this was one of them.

The story starts in Scotland in 1940 and Constance's parents are hosting a 21st birthday party for her at their lavish home, Invermoray House. As she is trying to avoid the advances of her brothers' friend Henry, she fakes a headache and tells her parents she is retiring to bed. She decides to go for a walk to clear her head by the loch near the house and hears an aeroplane which sounds like it is in trouble and approaching her in the darkness! 

On hearing an almighty crash in the water, Constance dives into the cold, dark water and pulls the pilot (Matthew) out of the plane and miraculously, he survives.

Constance takes him to a nearby folly to recover and when he is strong enough to talk, he tells her he doesn't want to be found and cannot fight any longer.

Will Constance go against all her believes and shield Matthew from the RAF, who will undoubtedly court marshal him for deserting, or will she tell her parents of her finding and hand him over to the authorities? and is Matthew telling Constance everything?

Scotland 2020

Kate decides to start afresh and takes on a PR job in Invermoray house to get it up and running as a successful tourist attraction. She meets James, the owner's son, sooner than she anticipated when she nearly runs him over in her car!

James is very distant towards Kate to say the least and tells her in not so uncertain terms that he doesn't want her help in setting up the tourist business. It doesn't take long for Kate to think she has made a terrible mistake going to Scotland, but on seeing Invermoray and looking at the pictures on the wall of generations past, she is more determined than ever to find out what happened all those years ago and to put any ghosts to rest...

When I read a book, I often play the scenes and characters out in my head as if it were a film or drama (I don't know whether everyone does that!), but with this book I can really see it as a film. The storyline was fabulous and yes, there is a twist, which I didn't see coming and a light bulb went off in my head and the story all starts to piece together!

Thank you so much Harper Collins for sending me a copy of this book and for allowing me to be a part of the blog tour. I can fully recommend this fabulous read and am definitely going to read the author's first novel, The Forgotten Village. Can't wait for the next one!...

If Only I Could Tell You

by

Hannah Beckerman

I took this book away with me on a city break to Barcelona and what a fabulous choice it was! It has taken me over a year to be in the "right frame of mind" to  read this book as I heartbreakingly lost my beautiful Mum a year ago and just couldn't bring myself to read what I know would be a very powerful, moving book.

Review

Audrey is seriously ill, but if it's the last thing she does, she wants to bring her two daughters, Lily and Jess, back together. They have been estranged for many years since a family tragedy tore all of their lives apart.

Lily, on the outside has it all. The handsome husband, daughter Phoebe and lovely home, but things are not as they appear and Lily will need her family to fall back on, only she doesn't know it yet.

Jess is Audrey's youngest daughter and has a daughter herself called Mia. She is a single parent since Mia's dad walked out when she was a mere baby and is forever trying to make ends meet, but one thing Jess knows is that she never forgive her sister Lily for the truly awful thing she did on that fateful day.

This is a wonderful book full of raw emotion and drama and I loved it. It just goes to prove that you really should talk to each other, even if it's to get things out in the open. Do not fester things up. Family relationships can be so fragile and broken, but if you can, kiss and make up, because life is too short. That is exactly what Audrey wanted for her girls, but did she achieve it? There's only one way to find out!

I received this book as a Christmas present when I asked for it as part of a "Secret Santa" parcel and I loved it. The author knows only too well how much I loved her first novel, The Dead Wife's Handbook, so I was itching to read this, but as I said earlier, I just couldn't bring myself to read it any earlier. Yes it made me cry, but it also made me smile, something I haven't done enough of lately.

I will thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who will listen! Please don't leave it as long to write your next one!

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird

by

Josie Silver

BLOG TOUR

Guest Review

by

Julie Williams

I am delighted to be a part of the Blog Tour for The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver. My dear friend and fellow reviewer, Julie Williams has very kindly agreed to review this one for me.

Review

I was looking forward to this new novel by Josie Silver as I really enjoyed One Day in December so much and I am delighted to say that it did not disappoint.


I liked all the characters and the storyline of this weepy love story.




Lydia Bird’s life collapses when her fiancé and love of her life Freddie Hunter dies tragically in a car accident while on his way to celebrate her birthday. Lydia has the support of her Mum and sister but her grief is so deep that she resorts to sleeping pills which she discovers enable her to transgress into a life where Freddie is alive.


At first she looks forward to these magical nights discovering what might have been but they take their toll on her and Lydia knows that living two lives is not only exhausting but unsustainable.


Her journey is inspiring as Lydia seeks ways to control her life again and although this is a tough read, it is a beautiful written love story.
This book has it all, birth, death, marriage and funerals, but most of all love that is shown from family and friends.




A fabulous sentimental read, which I found captivating to the very last page.


My thanks to Net Galley for the ARC, this is my own review.

The Bermondsey Bookshop

by

Mary Gibson

BLOG TOUR

I am thrilled to be a part of the Blog Tour for Mary Gibson's latest book, The Bermondsey Bookshop. I love this authors books and feel they are getting better and better and as a South East London girl myself, I can relate to the area where her stories are set and none more so than Bermondsey. Please read my review below on this fabulous story of love, strength and struggle.

Review

When Kate Goss is left with her Aunt Sylvie to bring her up after her mother dies tragically  and her father disappears to "make his fortune", little did Kate know that the path to happiness and true love will take lots of twists and turns in the overcrowded house she has to share with her scheming cousins.

Kate's mother was a Romany and died in mysterious circumstances and her father, Archie Goss, has left the country to make his fortune, always insisting that he will come back for his daughter when he has made enough money to care for her.

Meanwhile, Kate dreams of a better life once her dad returns, but finds herself having to work all the hours God sends in a tin factory, a public house and also cleaning in a bookshop, just to make ends meet and to pay the rent on a room that she has to find when her Aunt throws her out on to the street.

Kate loves working in the bookshop and soon bonds a close friendship with the owner, Ether Gutman. She also strikes up a friendship with Ethel's nephew, Martin North, who soon holds a torch for Kate, but with so many barriers keeping them apart, non more so than their different classes, Kate is determined to keep things strictly professional. Anyway, her heart belongs to another, Johnny, who has problems of his own looking after his alcoholic mother.

This book has a handful of wonderful characters, who I loved, but especially Kate, who is strong and stubborn and won't stop fighting until she gets what she wants!

As I have mentioned before, I come from South East London and my beautiful Mum, who I lost a year ago, was born in Bermondsey and I loved listening to her stories of the factories she worked in and the people she met, so this story really got to me and I loved every single page.

It was obviously thoroughly researched as the author and her family come from the area as well.

I really loved this book and it's my favourite so far of Mary's and with the author's permission, I would like to dedicate my review to my beautiful Mum, my original Bermondsey Girl.

Ethel Elizabeth Locke

28.12.30 - 11.02.19

Rest in Peace

Thank you to the author for putting my name forward for reviewing this book and to Head of Zeus for letting me be a part of the Blog Tour.

Well done Mary on a gritty, heart wrenching book that kept me turning page after page when I really should have been asleep! I loved it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Gibson was born and brought up in Bermondsey, South East London. In 2009, after a thirty year career in publishing, she took the opportunity of early retirement to write a book of her own! Her debut novel, Custard Tarts and Broken Hearts, was inspired by the lives and times of her grandparents in World War One Bermondsey and was a top ten Kindle best seller and selected for World Book Night 2015. Further Bermondsey novels: Jam and Roses, about three sisters living in Dockhead during the 1920s; Gunner Girls and Fighter Boys, set during World War Two; Bourbon Creams and Tattered Dreams set during the 1930s, and Hattie's Home, following three women's struggles to rebuild their lives in post-war Bermondsey, A Sister's Struggle, set during the 'hungry thirties' are all available in e book, hardback, paperback and audio. Her latest novel, The Bermondsey Bookshop will be published on 6th February 2020. www.marygibsonauthor.co.uk

To order a copy of this book click here