General Chat

two books as usual. I am putting this up now as with a holiday looming I might not have time later. Shall have to push for all suggestions to be in by pm Saturday please and vote will be by Sunday.

Review date will be Saturday 7th a slightly short reading time of 5 weeks as I am away again. :-)

from PERSE

Mr Briggs' Hat by Kate Colquhoun.

In July 1864, Thomas Briggs was travelling home after visiting his niece and her husband for dinner. He entered a First Class carriage on the 9.45pm Hackney service of the North London railway. At Hackney, two bank clerks entered the carriage and discovered blood in the seat cushions; also on the floor, windows and sides of the carriage. A bloodstained hat was found on the seat along with a broken link from a watch chain. The race to identify the killer and catch him as he flees on a boat to America was eagerly followed by citizens both sides of the Atlantic. Kate Colquhoun tells a gripping tale of a crime that shocked the nation.

Mr Briggs' Hat is a true story: A sensational account of Britain's first railway murder.

The Murderer's Daughters by R S Meyers

Lulu and Merry's childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu's tenth birthday their father propels them into a nightmare. He's always hungered for the love of the girls' self-obsessed mother; after she throws him out, their troubles turn deadly. Lulu had been warned not let her father in, but when he shows up drunk, he's impossible to ignore. He bullies his way past Lulu, who then listens in horror as her parents struggle. She runs for help, but discovers upon her return that he's murdered her mother, stabbed her five-year-old sister, Merry, and tried, unsuccessfully, to kill himself. Lulu and Merry are effectively orphaned by their mother's death and father's imprisonment. The girls' relatives refuse to care for them and abandon them to a terrifying group home. Even as they plot to be taken in by a well-to-do family, they come to learn they'll never really belong anywhere or to anyone - that all they have to hold onto is each other. For thirty years, the sisters try to make sense of what happened. Their imprisoned father is a specter in both their lives, shadowing every choice they make. One spends her life pretending he's dead, while the other feels compelled - by fear, by duty - to keep him close. Both dread the day his attempts to win parole may meet with success. A beautifully written, compulsively readable debut, The Murderer's Daughters is a testament to the power of family and the ties that bind us together and tear us apart.

Persie

Hi Ann mine are on their way :-)

OK Mersey

All Done :-)

From: Mersey

2:26 PM

Hi Ann.....

These are my suggestions:-

Sisters, Secrets and Sacrifice - Susan Ottoway

A true story of WWII Special Agents

Two sisters. Two special agents. One War.

Sisters, Secrets and Sacrifice is the incredible true story of British special agents Eileen and Jacqueline Nearne, two sisters who risked everything to fight for our freedom during the Second World War.

The death of an eccentric recluse is rarely an event to be given more than a few lines in a local newspaper. But when, in September 2010, police were called to a tiny, cluttered flat in Torquay and discovered the body of local ‘cat lady’ Eileen Nearne, they also found a small bundle of possessions that told an amazing story.

For Eileen Nearne had been an agent for the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War, going undercover in Nazi-occupied France to send wireless messages of crucial importance to the Allies. Astonishingly, Eileen was not the only special agent in the family – her sister Jacqueline had also been an SOE. Rarely had two members of the same family sacrificed so much to such dangerous work.

Sisters, Secrets and Sacrifice pays tribute to these fiercely patriotic women with hearts of courage, who fought for freedom at much personal cost. While Jacqueline narrowly avoided capture several times, tirelessly couriering secret documents for the resistance, Eileen was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo before being incarcerated at Ravensbrück concentration camp. She was only 23.

This is a true story of triumph and tragedy, of two sisters who sacrificed themselves to defend our freedom, who stood shoulder to shoulder during the darkest of days

******************************************************************************

The Book Of Deacon - Joseph Lailo


Myranda is a young woman more interested in staying alive than being a hero. Orphaned by a continent-spanning war that has gone on for decades too long and shunned for failing to support it, she has been on the move since she was only a child. One can hardly blame her when she thinks that the chance discovery of a fallen soldier's priceless cargo is the moment that will change her life. No one could predict just how great that change would be. It will lead her through an adventure of rebels and generals, of wizards and warriors, and of beasts both noble and monstrous. Each step of the way will take her closer to the truth of her potential, of the war, and of the fate of her world

My suggestions are.

Wife to Charles 11 by Hilda Lewis.

A gripping story of Catherine of Braganza, Charles 11's Portuguese queen set against the background of injustice and tragedy.

Catherine, the loving little Portugese Princess, entered into a Royal marriage to Charles 11 at a precipitious time in England's history. This is the remarkable tale of how a small gentle woman withstood every conceivable insult both from her king and her adopted country, and yet emerged victorious.

Charles lived a life intent upon pleasure, squnadering immense sums upon his misstresses and often abandoning Catherine to the cold comforts of forbidding royal palaces and unfeeling courtiers.

Hilda Lewis traces the temppestuous relationship between Catherine and Charles, the infidelities, the neglect, but also the passionate love and deep affection.

- - - - - - - - -- - - -

Things to Make and Mend by Ruth Thomas

As teenagers, Sally Tuttle and \Rowena Cresswell were inseparable - united in teenage angst and scorn for needlework lessons - until a devasting incident destroys their friendship.

Now both single mothers in their early forties, they are haunted by memories of their lost intimacy.

When Sally, a faithful employee of IN Stitches repair shop, unexpectedly wins an embroidert prize and is invited to speak at a conference in Edinburgh, it seems that she has a chance to recapture something of her old, lost self .......

nudge for the night birds.

I really need the suggestions in by today or I won't be able to complete it this month. Shall have to send out to people if I haven't heard by lunch time.

First suggestion

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone else's life.

And

A Streetcat Named Bob by James Bowen

When James Bowen found an injured, ginger street cat curled up in the hallway of his sheltered accommodation, he had no idea just how much his life was about to change. James was living hand to mouth on the streets of London and the last thing he needed was a pet.

Yet James couldn't resist helping the strikingly intelligent tom cat, whom he quickly christened Bob. He slowly nursed Bob back to health and then sent the cat on his way, imagining he would never see him again. But Bob had other ideas.

Soon the two were inseparable and their diverse, comic and occasionally dangerous adventures would transform both their lives, slowly healing the scars of each other's troubled pasts.

A Street Cat Named Bob is a moving and uplifting story that will touch the heart of anyone who reads it.

Thanks for suggestions so far, will send out reminders now.

OK I have sent out a few PMs and also see that I said suggestions to be in by Saturday so I can wait now until they are all in and get on with sorting packing etc. :-)

You mean you haven't packed already, Ann?
By now i've usually packed and unpacked at least twice :-D

The Daisy Picker. Roisin Meaney

Lizzie seems to have it all: loving parents, a nice creative sideline in mouth-watering cakes, and the most eligble man in Kilmorris waiting to marry her. But one day she stumbles across something that will change her life, and soon she's chucked a backpack into her car and set off into the Wild West - of Ireland, that is - in search of adventure.

She's in for a few surprises - there's sexy Pete for a start, a charming new home, true friendship and an offer that will make her sweet dreams a reality. She begins to think that things could hardly be more perfect. And then she meets Joe, who's about to turn her life upside down…

==========================
The 100year old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared......Jonas Jonasson

After a long and eventful life Allan Karlsson is moved to a nursing home to await the inevitable. But his health refuses to fail and as his 100th birthday looms a huge party is planned. Allan wants no part of it and decides to climb out the window... Charming and funny; a European publishing phenomenon.

Sitting quietly in his room in an old people's home, Allan Karlsson is waiting for a party he doesn't want to begin. His one-hundredth birthday party to be precise. The Mayor will be there. The press will be there. But, as it turns out, Allan will not . . .

Escaping (in his slippers) through his bedroom window, into the flowerbed, Allan makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving a suitcase full of cash, a few thugs, a very friendly hot-dog stand operator, a few deaths, an elephant and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, Allan's earlier life is revealed. A life in which - remarkably - he played a key role behind the scenes in some of the momentous events of the twentieth century.

The Safe house by Chris Ewan

When Rob wakes up in hospital after a motorbike accident, he enquires after the woman who was with him, and is told what woman ? Enlisting the help of a female PI who has been employed by his parents to find his sister, he investigates , all set on the Isle of Man....yes the Isle of Man, the mystery deepens.

Be back with another later but before 3 pm Ann

Titanic Love stores by Gill Paul

Did you know that there were 13 honeymooners on the ship ? Some just on a trip of a lifetime, others crossing to America with dreams of a new life. These are stories of love, tragedy,heroism and hope , and include multi millionaire John Astor with his much younger wife to Edward and Ethel Beane who had saved for 6 long years, before marrying and embarking on a new job in America, only to lose everything when the ship went down...rivetting tales

Sorry to be late but had wrong date (26th)up as reminder oops
Will sort out and post in a few mins xx

The Kingmakers Daughter by phillipa gregory
Anne Neville and her sister Isabel are daughters of the most powerful magnate in 15th century England. Ever ruthless, always plotting, in the absence of a son and heir, Warwick sets about using his daughters as pawns in his political games. Anne grows from a delightful child brought up at the court of Edward IV and his queen, Elizabeth Woodville, intimacy and friendship with the family of Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Her life is overturned when her father turns on his former allies, escapes England and invades with an enemy army. Widowed at 14, fatherless, with her mother locked in sanctuary, and her sister a vengeful enemy, Anne faces the world alone. But fortune's wheel turns once again. Anne plots her escape from her sister's house, finds herself a husband in the handsome young Duke of Gloucester, and marries without permission, in secret. But danger still follows her. She finds that she has a mortal enemy in the most beautiful queen in England. Anne has to protect herself and her precious only son from the treacherous royal court, the deadly royal rival, and even from the driving ambition of her husband - Richard III.

Russka by Edward Rutherford
Through the life of a little town east of Moscow in the Russian heartland, Edward Rutherfurd creates a sweeping culture and her peoples--bleak yet exotic, brutal but romantic, land of ritual yet riddled with superstitious fears. From Russia's dawn and the cruel Tatar invasion to Ivan the Terrible and the wild Cossacks, from Peter, Catherine and the days of War and Peace to the drama of the Revolution and the extraordinary events of today--here is Russia's story in a spellbinding novel; history recreated with breathtaking detail and passion.