|
2 books as usual please.
Review date will be 30 September 2014
|
|
Bread Jam and a borrowed pram by Dot May Dunn
It’s the end of the 1950s and Britain is changing. As a young health visitor, Dot embarks on an adventure of her own when she takes a job working from an inner city clinic. Whether at the clinic, out visiting cases or retrieving errant parents from pawnshops and pubs, Dot is thrown in at the deep end. As a health visitor, she is responsible, not just for the babies brought into this world, but an army of toddlers, tykes and tota who all need a helping hand.
For Dot it will be a heart rending journey – trying to help families with next to nothing, sharing the struggles of young mothers and discovering how the spirit of the community can overcome the toughest of circumstances.
|
|
Testimony by Anita Shreve
At a New England Boarding school a sex scandal breaks. Even more shocking than the acts themselves is the fact they were caught on camera. A Pandora’s box of revelations, the graphic images trigger a chorus of voices- those of the men, women, teenagers and parents involved in the scandal – testimonies that detail the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.
A gripping emotional drama with the pace of a thriller, Anita Shreve’s Testimony explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, and how our best intentions can all too easily lead to our worst transgressions.
A perfectly pitched account of human fallibility and the snares of temptation.
|
|
My first suggestion
Acid Row Minette Walters
Acid Row. The name of the beleaguered inhabitants give to the place they live.
A no-man's -land of singlemothers and fatherless children where angry, alienated teenagers control the streets.
Into this battleground comes Sophie Morroson, a young Doctor visiting a patient in Acid Row. Little does she know that she is entering the home of a known paedophile. And with reports circulating that a tormented child named Amy has disappeared, the vigilantes are out in force ......
Soon Sophie is trapped at the centre of a terrifying siege, with a man she has come to despise.
Whipped to a frenzy by unsubstantiated rumour, the mob unleashes its hatred. Against aithority, the law, and the "pervert". "Protecting Amy" becomes the catch-all defence for the terrible events. And if murder is part of it, then so be it .....
------------------------------------------
Second suggestion.
Company of Liars Karen Maitland
1348
Plague has come to England. And the lies you tell will be the death of you.
A scarred trader in holy relics ~ A conjuror ~ A musician and his apprentice ~ A one-armes storyteller ~ A young couple on the run ~ A midwife ~ And a rune-reading girl.
A group of misfits bands together to escape the plague. But in their midst lurks a curse darker and more malign that the pestilence they flee....
|
|
The Post Card - Leah Fleming (Kindle £3.32)
2002, Australia. When Melissa discovers a postcard addressed to 'Desmond' among her recently deceased father's effects, she is determined to discover this person's identity and his relationship to her father. She soon embarks on a journey that will take her across oceans and into the past…
1930's, London. Caroline grew on a secluded Scottish estate with her 'Aunt' Phoebe. Now, the shocking realisation that Phoebe is actually her mother fuels a rebellious streak in Caroline, who elopes to Cairo to get married. But her marriage quickly turns sour and leads to an affair with an old lover, and to a baby boy, Desmond. With her personal life in tatters and WWII approaching, she volunteers as a secret agent, smuggling valuable information into Europe for the British government.
When Caroline finally returns from the war, Desmond is gone; he was secretly taken to Australia by his nanny years before. Will Caroline be able to track him down? And how will her journey to find her son lead to Melissa's mission to uncover her father's past?
Aphrodite's Island - Hilary Green (Kindle 99p)
In 1955, Cyprus is torn apart by EOKA and Ariadne's family is deeply involved, but her heart skips the divide on seeing the young officer, Stephen Allenby, when her house is searched by the British military. They have an affair, but when it becomes known, he is sent home. In 1974 Stephen exists in a strained marriage and miserable job, but resurgence of EOKA activity affords him the opportunity to return to the island, but with his wife and young daughter in tow, where he searches for remembrances of his youth. In 1998, his daughter, Cressida, is now thirty-six and at a crossroads: her mother has died and her relationship has failed. She travels to Northern Cyprus to seek answers to the pain-filled memories of her father's disappearance. Two islands, two generations, and the duality of lovers. Aphrodite's Island gives us the eternal cycle of birth, procreation, death and regeneration through blood sacrifice.
|
|
Wicked Ambition ... by Victoria Fox
For Robin, Turquoise and Kristin, the spotlight shines brightly. They've reached the glittering heights of stardom, and are adored the world over. But in the shadows lies the truth...
An exposé could be their end...because not everyone is happy about their success. Not everyone wants the best for them. Some people want to reveal the real stories behind the luxury parties and gorgeous men, and bring their dazzling worlds crashing to the ground.
The Room Beyond by Stephanie Elmas
When Serena begins a new life working for the Hartreve family at 36 Marguerite Avenue she falls in love, not just with its eccentric and alluring inhabitants and their world, but with the house itself. Number 36 is a beautiful Victorian London mansion that has remained in the family for generations. Serena feels that by being here she has escaped the ghosts of her own sad childhood and found a true home, but she soon discovers that behind its gleaming surfaces Marguerite Avenue is plagued by secrets and mystery. Why does such a beautiful tranquil street seem sometimes to shimmer with menace? Is everyone in the family quite who they appear to be? And just what is it that the family is trying to hide from her?
|
|
It is difficult this time as I suspect that Jill may not be able to suggest a book as she has family problems, hopefully she may be able to read the suggested book. so, if Pammy is still with us there are only four of us this time. I am hoping that others soon rejoin us or else the group is not going to continue to work. It does seem strange when so many people read according to the Kindle thread but I will have a re-think about continuing after the next review date. :-)
|
|
Sorry Ann, I'm here now. No excuses - just life!
Peter Robinson -Wednesday's Child
When two social workers, investigating reports of child abuse, appear at Brenda Scupham's door, her fear of authority leads her to comply meekly with their requests. Even when they say that they must take her seven-year old daughter Gemma away for tests.... It is only when they fail to return Gemma the following day that Brenda realizes something has gone terribly wrong. At the same time, Banks is investigating a particularly unpleasant murder at the site of an abandoned mine. Gradually, the leads in the two cases converge, guiding Banks to one of the most truly terrifying criminals he will ever meet....
Natalie Meg Evans – The Dress Thief
Alix Gower has a dream: to join the ranks of Coco Chanel to become a designer in the high-stakes world of Parisian haute couture. But Alix also has a secret: she supports her family by stealing designs to create bootlegs for the foreign market. A hidden sketchbook and two minutes inside Hermès is all she needs to create a perfect replica, to be whisked off to production in New York.
Then Alix is given her big break - a chance to finally realize her dream in one of the most prominent Parisian fashion houses - but at the price of copying the breakthrough Spring Collection.
Knowing this could be her only opportunity, Alix accepts the arrangement. But when a mystery from her past resurfaces and a chance meeting has her falling into the arms of a handsome English war reporter, Alix learns that the slightest misstep - or misplaced trust - could be all it takes for her life to begin falling apart at the seams.
|
