DEATH OF A CLOWN by Catherine McCarthy @serialsemantic

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon - available for pre-order. Publishes 27 May.
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Saw the author talking about it on X, requested an ARC.

In a Nutshell: 'a metaphorical tale of dark fantasy, a story of hope, courage and self acceptance.'

Chester was born into the circus, into the life of a clown, but his public persona of tragi-comedy is not one that sits well with him.  What he really wants to do is change his entire life.  See the world, concentrate on his main passion - his writing.  As we join him in this unusual tale, circumstances have given him the impetus to begin his adventure.

This is such a beautiful book, in so many ways.  I always read on Kindle, preferring it, but I wanted to hold this in my hands.  The writing itself is so emotive and atmospheric, bringing the cities and theatres to life; it's the best I've seen from this author.  Chester himself is a total darling, someone you badly want to find happiness.

Interspersed with the events of his own life are the stories he writes under his pen-name of Runo Quill.  These are often metaphors for his own life, though one, The City of Silence, was more like a warning from fiction about the threats to free speech we experience in our own world.  I love clever deviations from the main theme of a novel, especially when, like these, they give you the feeling of delving down intriguing side alleys before resuming your journey.

Death of a Clown will be released on May 27th - I highly recommend!

LAKE OF WIDOWS by Liza Perrat #RBRT

 4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Emotional family drama.

Lake of Widows is set in France in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when not all attitudes had caught up with the Swinging Sixties and Women's Lib movement elsewhere in the West.  The main character is Adrienne, a timid woman lacking in confidence, who doesn't realise how much her whole personality has been subtly eroded by her manipulative husband, until an event when out shopping sends her head into rebellious overdrive, and she doesn't go home.

Then there is Blanche, who lives by a lake dear to Adrienne's heart; she is struggling with the reality that her husband is a treacherous conman.  Most of all I was interested in the story of Suzanne, a First World War wife whose life takes a turn for the worst when her husband returns from the Front.  All three women's lives intertwine in this beautiful setting, as they discover their own expectations for themselves, finding courage they did not know they possessed.

I found the part set in an insane asylum most interesting - I've read and watched a few books and documentaries that show how the treatment of the emotionally sick was, even in the 1970s, positively Dickensian.  I also loved Suzanne's story - I would have liked to read more about her and her husband.  As for the writing itself, it will make you want to visit L'Auberge de Léa, and stay there!

SIDESTEPS TO THE SOMME by Valerie Poore @vallypee

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I've read lots of this author's books, so, with my own interest in WW1, this was an obvious choice!

In a Nutshell: Travels by barge along the Western Front, with Val and her other half, Koos.

Sometimes I wish Val Poore's books had photos, though more than anyone else, the way in which she writes makes one able to 'see' the places, and certainly feel the atmosphere.  As ever, this book made me long to travel down those little side canals (I'm sure I'd be 'sidestepping' all the time, too!), off the beaten track, as it were.  A perfect way to live.

There were so many lovely tales in this book, one of my favourites being Koos and Val's impromptu musical session in a disused factory.  Koos is fascinated by derelict industrial sites and is a fine photographer - I too have a strange attraction to the derelict and abandoned, so I looked up some of his photos on YouTube via his unused TwitteX profile; they're HERE, if you would like to see.

Best of all, though, when browsing his YouTube profile I happened across this gem - I thought, hang on, I just read about this!  It's a lovely piece of music - oddly mournful, made me think of peasants dancing in a Polish village, decades ago (for some reason).  

Back to the book ... another passage that stood out for me was Val's visiting of some of the WWI graves.  She remarked on how the German dead were commemorated there too - because, of course, those poor boys and men weren't the enemy at all.  That label belongs to the generals, bankers and industry moguls whose own greed and megalomania caused the deaths of so many, for ... nothing much at all, really.  Talking of which, I loved Val's comment about Napoleon's aptitude and foresight when it came to building the canals of France - that he should have been an engineer, not a megalomaniac.

At the end of this piece in the book, Val was joined by a grey mare, who stood there and silently contemplated the graves, with her.

It's a beautiful book about a beautiful two months.  Informative, wistful, entertaining - a delight.

 

FARING FORTH AGAIN ON THE SHOE by Valerie Poore @vallypee

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book:  I love Val Poore's travelogues, so always buy them when a new one comes out.

In a Nutshell:  Non-fiction, though Belgium to France on the author's barge

I read a big chunk of this book yesterday, in the bath and then whilst drying my hair (it's a long task).  When I'd finished, I stood up and realised that I had been completely immersed in Val Poore's world for the past couple of hours. To the extent that I just wanted to get back there.

This is a lovely book, detailing a trip from the Netherlands, where Val and her partner Koos live, through Flemish Belgium and then Val's beloved Wallonia, into France and back again.  As ever, I adored reading the snippets of historical interest, hearing about the people she meets, the simplicity of their life on board, her outlook about life in general (which I totally relate to), and her contentment just from being on her boat and enjoying the beauty of her surroundings.  Though it's not all bliss and country idylls; Val is a self-confessed worrier, especially when faced with the possibility of having to moor up too near a rough town.  There are many moments of humour, like when she went into a shop to buy sheets, not realising that, in her less-than-fluent French, she had asked the shopkeeper for flags.  😄

At the end of sections of the book there are links to Val's photos on Flickr; they took to long to load on my tablet, so I looked them up afterwards instead.  The link is HERE (yes, Val, he does look like a young Gerard Depardieu!).  I was most interested to see the enormous Strépy-Thieu Boat Lift - on the cover - as I couldn't imagine it, and also the enormous white scifi guillotine thing (you need to read the book!).

The only downside was that (again, as ever), reading this made me long to be on the Hennie Ha, too, faring through rural Belgium, on a sunny afternoon that lasts forever.  Thank you again, Val, for allowing us to enter your world for a while.

LIPSTICK by Peter Davey @PedroYevad

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Twitter

In a Nutshell: Infidelity and mystery in glorious French locations

This is a book to download for a beach read, for anyone who hasn't gone on holiday yet!

Antoine Cassernet has it all; a prestigious banking career, good looks, a beautiful wife, three children, homes in Paris and the Normandy countryside, and a string of lovers.  Then he becomes entangled with unstable film producer Madeleine de la Cruz, and his perfect life is thrown into disarray. 

I loved the settings of this book, and am sure that the author must be familiar with several of them, as the exotic French feel of the story seemed so real, not one borne of research.  A novel based around multiple marital infidelities, there is a slightly tongue-in-cheek essence to to the whole story that I enjoyed.  As far as the mystery is concerned, I had suspicions about the outcome early on, having read a couple of books years ago along similar lines, but then my thoughts were led down several different alleys and I changed my mind - many times.  Suffice to say that the characters are keeping many secrets, and they come out gradually, one after another, to reveal complicated layers of motivation.

I will tempt you further by saying that the cover doesn't do the book justice; the author's skillful pen conjures up such an appealing picture of Parisian jet set glamour and French country houses in the summer, and I would love to see some of that reflected on the cover.  It's an easy, fun read - recommended!

CHERGUI'S CHILD by Jane Riddell

3 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Genre: Family/relationship drama, with themes of extramarial affairs, pregnancy, death, eating disorder.

Chergui's Child is the story of Olivia, whose aunt has just died; to her surprise, she is left a large amount of money in the will.  Olivia is a troubled woman; her relationship with her mother is difficult, to put it mildly, and she has an eating disorder.  Early in the book, she receives a letter that reveals a startling revelation; this sends her on a life-changing journey.

The novel alternates between her present dilemmas, which include her mother contesting the money left by the aunt, and the past, when she was a medical student having an affair with her tutor, Richie, whose wife had her own problems.  I'm a fan of this structure, and in this case the slow building up of the past-that-led-to-the-present made it much more interesting than just a straight story.

Olivia travels to France and to Gibraltar as more revelations provide missing pieces in her life's jigsaw.  Generally, the family dynamics of all characters involved are well drawn.  I did think that, generally, there was too much domestic/conversational minutiae that was not needed for the plot, and slowed it down.  Some of the characters came alive to me (Martin, Richie, Dorothy and Roz), some didn't; alas, for me, Olivia fell in the latter group.  The only emotion I felt towards her was slight irritation at her naïveté; she didn't understand that age-old cliché and truth of the mistress of a married man: that once you become problematic or needy you no longer supply the romantic fantasy, and are, thus, dispensible.  Mostly, I felt no connection with her.

I was a little unsure about the feasibility of some elements: Olivia is told about her inheritance by her own solicitor two days later after her aunt dies, and the funeral is the next day.  In my experience, it takes a couple of days even for the death certificate to come through, funerals take far longer than that to arrange, and I would have thought that Olivia's solicitor would have had to wait for instruction from executors, etc.  Also, in the flashback chapters, a tragic death takes place in Morocco that is central to the plot, but, again, I was unconvinced by some practicalities, and also the subsequent reactions of the character involved.

I liked many parts of this novel, but on the whole, for me, it lacked a spark that would have made it memorable.  But the writing flows well, and I am sure readers who like easy-read, emotional family dramas would enjoy it.

WOLFSANGEL by Liza Perrat @LizaPerrat #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: It was submitted to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member, but I had downloaded it anyway because I love Liza Perrat's books.

This is the second of the Liza Perrat's Bone Angel trilogy to be written, but the latest in historical period; it takes place during the Nazi occupation of the village of Lucie-sur-Vionne in World War Two.  I think it's the best of the three.

The trilogy's theme of medicine woman and herbalist continues in the form of the mother of twenty-year-old Celeste, the main character.  At the outset of the book, Celeste is dealing with the occupation of Lucie with the same quiet fear and anger as the other villagers and her friends.  As time goes on, the demands of the Germans increase in their severity, and no one is sure who is collaborating.  Celeste goes to work with the Resistance in Lyons, but she has has her own dark secrets with which to contend, as she falls in love with someone she shouldn't.

The book is a real page-turner, and the sense of growing fear is so well done.  I was pleased that it was realistic; Celeste loses people she loves, and there are some truly gripping scenes, such as when she and other Resistance workers rescue two prisoners from a hospital.  The last twenty pages, when a truly shocking event takes place, took me by complete surprise; I was engrossed.  The 'afterwards' bit is written with great sensitivity, too, with a couple of surprising reuinions, but it avoids becoming schmaltzy; it's too respectful of those who really suffered such tragedy for any such cheap shot.

I found the hot-headed Celeste irritating at times, but that was fine, because she was meant to be like that; she worked.  The book is so well researched, and there is a section after the novel has finished that tells of the real life events that inspired some of this fascinating story.  Well done, Liza Perrat!

FARING TO FRANCE ON A SHOE by Val Poore @vallypee

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

How I discovered this book: I got to know Val Poore on Twitter some years ago, and have read all her travel books; African Ways is my very favourite.  Links to Watery Ways and Harbour Ways on the above review.

In this memoir, Val and her partner Koos travel to France via their home of the Netherlands and Belgium, on their barge the Hennie-Ha - which really is shaped like a Dutch clog; see cover!

The beauty of this book is, I think, that it's so very real and unpretentious.  Nothing particularly breath-taking happens, but every time I picked it up I smiled at the way that Val Poore can even make a trip to the supermarket good to read about.  It's so genuine; there are no flowery descriptions for the sake of it, just Val's impressions.  And it's funny, too - not split-your-sides laughing, deliberately 'hilarious anecdotes' like some books of this type; her writing doesn't need that, because it hits the right spot so effortlessly.  Especially the nerve-wracking cycle ride to buy food:  juggernauts flying past, a flat tyre and the bed of stinging nettles....

As someone who believes that the simpler your life is, the happier you are, I sighed as I read about Val and Koos' memories of a happy evening that could not be captured in words or by camera, the liberation from the 'must do' stuff of the world left behind, and her appreciation of the occasional makeshift 'shower', after days and days of stand up strip washes.  The more I read, the more I liked it, until about half way through, when I wished I was IN it.

There are links to Val's photos of the trip on Flickr, which were great to look at.  A lovely book.

SPIRIT OF LOST ANGELS by Liza Perrat @LizaPerrat

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

How I discovered this book:  It was a submission to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.  I've read two of the author's other books, Blood Rose Angel and my very favourite, The Silent Kookaburra.

Spirit of Lost Angels is Liza Perrat's debut novel, and revolves around Victoire Charpentier, a peasant living in the village of Lucie-sur-Vionne.  It is linked to the later book, Blood Rose Angel, by the bone angel talisman passed down through generations.  This first novel in the trilogy takes place in the years leading up to the French Revolution.

Victoire's life is one of tragic events indeed, as she loses those she loves to accident, illness, the danger and politics of the times, and at the careless hands of the nobility.  Cast into a brutal Parisian prison, she meets the notorious Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Remy who inspires within her the fire of revolution; I liked the inclusion of a real-life character in this work of fiction.  All the way through the book I appreciated the amount of research that has gone into writing this novel ~ such an entertaining way to fill in the gaps in my education.  I enjoyed reading about the lives of the rural peasants in the beginning of the book, and comparing this with the medieval life in Lucie, four hundred years earlier, in Blood Rose Angel. 

Throughout the book, the gaping chasm between the lives of the poor and those of the ludicrously self-indulgent aristocracy is always evident; it was most interesting to read the thoughts of the time about the general lot of women, and, as in the medieval story, the restrictions due to social mores and religious belief/superstition.  Victoire lives many lives in her short one, and I was pleased to see her return to Lucie, and reunite with the family she had longed for, for so many years, and to see wrongs overturned.  

Showing the history of a country via the changes in one village over a period of six hundred years is such a great idea, and I now look forward to reading the third book in the trilogy, Wolfsangel, which is set during World War Two.

BLOOD ROSE ANGEL by Liza Perrat @LizaPerrat

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

How I discovered this book: I read another title by this author, The Silent Kookaburra, when it was submitted to Rosie Amber's Review Team, and liked it so much I downloaded another of her books.

The story is set in the 14th century, in the village of Lucie-sur-Vionne, and centres round midwife and herbal practitioner, Héloïse.  Her husband, Raoul Stonemason, has been working in Florence on the cathedral for two years, but when the plague hits Italy, work halts and he knows he must flee.  On the way home he accepts a lift from a merchant, who is to stay a while in Lucie.  Alas, he brings with him the plague, and dies of it the next day.  From then, it spreads rapidly.  As a midwife and herbalist, Héloïse feels duty bound to aid not only those about to give birth, but also the ill of the village, and this causes great friction between her and Raoul, who is terrified that she will bring the pestilence into their own house.

I was pleased to discover that Liza Perrat can write historical fiction as convincingly as the dark (yet humorous) contemporary drama I'd read before.  The research that must have gone in to this book is some feat; there is so much intricate detail about the herb lore of the period, the every-day lives of the peasants, and most interesting of all, the superstitions and religion.  The villagers' lives are ruled by their fear of a wrath-like god, and have faith in all manner of charms, talismans, portents of doom, etc; a minority dared to voice their derision of these far-fetched beliefs, but it was so sad that, of course, they had no idea of the cause of the pestilence; as I read with frustration, it made me wonder what generations far into the future will think of the beliefs that still exist today, that our lives are watched over by invisible, judgemental, parental style entities.  The parallels with our 21st century life are many, and it gave me much food for thought.

The story itself, of how Héloïse deals with the prejudice towards her, and how she climbed from her darkest hours back into the light, is well thought out and so well written, but aside from this, the novel is a fascinating exploration of the rural life of the time, of the societal structure and the way in which the pestilence affected the people and changed the way they thought and lived.  I hope to read another book in this trilogy soon; this is the third book, and a complete stand alone.