General Chat

I did so like Sarah Challis so am putting up this one.

Sarah Challis - That Summer Affair

When a schoolgirl Jodie Foot goes missing in a sleepy Dorset village, the shock waves that reverberate through the small community are as far-reaching as they are
devastating. For Rachael Turner Jodie's disappearance causes her to question her marriage after routine police enquiries reveal that her husband, Dave, lied about his
whereabouts that evening.All Rachael has ever wanted is a happy home and a loving family and now it's about to be torn apart.
For Henry Steerer, Rachel's neighbour, Jodie's disappearance is equally traumatic. His old feelings of misery and loneliness return as he struggles to stifle painful
memories of his own childhood. And Juliet Fairweather, arriving in the village the evening of the disappearance, finds herself involved in an unexpected personal drama
while her elderly mother Bobbie, for most of her life a bystander, is drawn inexorably into other people's lives.
For everyone involved, one ordinary summer's day will bring extraordinary consequences and the need to examine their own sense of loss and longing.

Is that a new J Piccoult Berona

Water for Elephants. By Sara Gruen.
Set in a travelling circus touring the backblocks of America during the Great Depression of the early 1930s this is a story of love and hate, trains and circuses, dwarves and fat ladies, horses and elephants - or to be more specific, one elephant, Rosie, star of Benzini Bros Most Spectacular Show on Earth.

Sing You Home. By Jodi Picoult.
Zoe Baxter has spent ten years trying to get pregnant, and after multiple miscarriages and infertility issues, it looks as though her dream is about to come true - she is seven months pregnant. But a terrible turn of events leads to a nightmare - one that takes away her baby and breaks apart her marriage to Max. In the aftermath she throws herself into her career as a music therapist, using music to soothe burn victims in hospital, to help Alzheimer's patients connect with the present, to provide solace for hospice patients. When Vanessa, a guidance counsellor, asks Zoe to work with a suicidal teen, their relationship moves from business to friendship and then, to Zoe's surprise, blossoms into love.

I'll be back tomorrow.

The Queen’s Fool by Philippa Gregory
Into the treacherous Tudor court comes Hannah. Becoming entangled in the schemes of a handsome traitor Robert Dudley, she is sent as a Holy Fool to spy on Princess Mary. She finds a woman driven by a fatal desire to turn her people back to the true faith – while her sister Elizabeth waits to take advantage of any mistake she makes.
Caught in the savage rivalry between the daughters of Henry V111, torn by her own infatuation with Dudley and duty to her family, thrilled by her own strange gifts but scared of the unknown, Hannah must find a safe way through tumultuous times – when the wrong religion is a death sentence, science and magic are one, and true love can destroy you.
A wonderful account of the Tudor Court.

The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson
As teenagers, Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amis heated public debate, the two seemingly glamorous teens were dubbed ‘The Ice Cream Girlds’ by the press and were dealt with by the courts.
Years later, having led very different lives, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened, while Serena wants no one in her present to find out about her past. But some secrets will not stay buried – and if theirs is revealed, everything will become a living hell all over again.

2 books each as usual please.