SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Ailish Sinclair @AilishSinclair #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

5 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: Ancient Scottish drama: 'a story of chosen sisters, fierce warriors, divided loyalties and, ultimately, love'

What a marvellous book this is.  I read it quickly, trying not to whizz through it once I got to the last twenty percent!  The title refers to the relationship between Morragh and her sister, Onnagh; they are not birth sisters.  Morragh was treated in the most brutal way as a young child, and Onnagh saved her.

The notes at the back of the book tell of the historical facts and theories on which Ms Sinclair has based this story.  It takes place in a time before Christianity, when the ancient Scottish Taezali tribe believed in pagain spiritual presences.  Morragh, in whose voice the tale is told, is mute - until the events of one spring and summer change her life and that of her community; the men from Rome have travelled north to conquer their villages and challenge every aspect of their existence.

Morragh is blessed with second sight and acute intuition; she is also able to see what might take place in the future.  I love this aspect of the book - I am not usually a fan of the fantastical or supernatural, but her gift felt oddly real.  Possible.

It's a fabulous story, a real page-turner and so well written.  It made me think about the passage and circle of time, of the constancy of the land on which we live and the transient nature of human life.  Loved it. 

THE WAY THE LIGHT BENDS by Lorraine Wilson #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

 4 out of 5 stars

Publishing on Amazon on August 2nd
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: Love, loss and the supernatural

An interesting and unusual book that centres around two sisters: the unconvential, wildhearted Tamsin who cannot come to terms with the death of her twin brother, Rob, and perfect Freya, the older sibling with the perfect husand and perfect job.  Then, a year after Rob's death, Tamsin disappears without trace, as does her boyfriend, a curious and shadowy figure about whom nobody knows anything much at all.

The book is written in two time frames, and from two points of view - Tamsin tells her story in the first person, gradually letting the reader into the turmoil in her mind, and showing what led up to her disappearance.  Freya's sections are told in the third person - these are good choices, just right for the story.  Freya's account shows her own, deepening turmoil as she grieves for Rob and becomes obsessed with finding Tamsin; she feels increasingly isolated, and begins to question everything about the way her family lives.  

The setting is Scotland; Perth, St Andrews and a couple of other locations. Tamsin and her friends worked in the grounds of old country house, and ran 'forest schools' for children; I loved all the detail about this.  The novel is beautifully written and flows so well.

Any negatives?  Sometimes I felt the descriptive passages were a little long-winded, when I wanted to get on with the story and find out what Tamsin's mysterious boyfriend was all about, and I was underwhelmed by the ending, which I thought a little wishy-washy after the build-up, but I did enjoy reading this book; much of the prose has an almost poetic, ethereal quality to it, reflecting the subject matter, and certainly the author should be proud of it.

RIZZIO by Denise Mina #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

5 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: Novella about Mary, Queen of Scots

The first word that came to mind when I was thinking how to describe this book was 'enchanting', though the story itself is the very opposite.  The way in which it is written, however, is a delight indeed, even down to the off-the-wall chapter headings.  The shocking story of the murder of David Rizzio, servant, advisor and friend to Mary, Queen of Scots, bounces along in page-turning fashion, with a whisper of almost humorous cynicism as the author narrates the appalling events of the few days in question.

It is a chilling irony that the hornéd demons who stormed the Queen's apartments in Holyrood Palace claimed to be motivated partly by divisions in the Christian church - this grisly moment in history could have come straight from an anthology entitled 'The Devil and his Work'.  Also that the unborn child the demonic lords were so keen to write off actually became James VI of Scotland and James I of England - named by Elizabeth I as her successor.

Spoiled wastrel Lord Darnley - Mary's husband who threw his toys out of his pram when he didn't receive his 'Crown Matrimonial' (the sharing of the reign and the authority to rule in his own right if he outlived her) - was beautifully portrayed, while background information about the activities of his father and some of the other lords who took part in the brutality sent a chill up my spine that remains with me.  This novella brings home what a wild, dark and dangerous place 16th Century Scotland was - every scene is atmospherically perfect, and one is given the feeling that in aristocratic and 'noble' circles, one's life was hanging by a thread pretty much all the time.  

I loved what Denise Mina did with the insane Henry Yair, and the 'afterwards' section, when we read what happened to Mary in the years to follow and, most interesting of all, what happened to the Queen's apartments at Holyrood Palace.  Fascinating.  I have to look up more about this!

Excellent.  Loved it.

FIREFLIES & CHOCOLATE by Ailish Sinclair #RBRT

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

On BookBub

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

In A Nutshell: historical and romantic fiction set in mid-18th century Scotland and Pennsylvania.

I very much liked Ailish Sinclair's debut novel, The Mermaid and the Bear, so was looking forward to this, and I was pleased to see it's about the same family, a couple of generations on - this time the main character is Elizabeth Manteith, whose family is going through difficult times.  Her father is caught up with the Jacobite rebellion, and Beth spends most of her time with the servants.

A ghastly accident of circumstance leads to her being imprisoned on an Aberdeen slave ship, taking children and young people to the tobacco plantations of North America.  A round of applause to Ms Sinclair for using fiction to highlight little-known history - I knew nothing about this.  Once in America Beth's life remains hard, though not as hard as one might have feared for her.  She longs for word from home, and strives to find out the location of Peter, a boy she became close to on the ship.

Beth is an engaging character, as is Michael, in whose house she works.  I'm not a romance reader (not least of all because I always know exactly who is going to end up with whom, as soon as they meet!), but in this book the romance aspect is subtly threaded through the main story, an undercurrent rather than centre stage.  I loved reading about life in the mid 18th century; it's a very 'easy read', just flows along, while being quite a page-turner.  I enjoyed the whole book; the pace is just right and there were no boring bits!

Ms Sinclair has chosen to write Beth's first-person narrative in Scottish dialect.  Normally this would drive me nuts, but the way she has executed this is perfect for the book, absolutely right.  She concentrates on the Scottish words Beth would use ('dinna' rather than 'didn't', 'fit' rather than 'what', for instance) rather than trying to write dialogue in a Scottish accent, which would have been tedious in extreme - from the beginning, I found myself reading it in Beth's voice. 

I was most interested to read, in the Author's Notes at the back, that not only was it based on a true occurrence, but some of the characters are based on real people.  This always adds a pleasing dimension to a story. 

It's a well-researched and delightful book, as was the last one.  The only reason I've given it 4.5 rather than 5* is that I tend to like books that are a bit darker than this, but that's only personal preference, not a criticism.  It's a story to curl up and escape with.  A definite recommendation, and I look forward to the next.

HIGHLAND COVE by Dylan J Morgan @dylanjmorgan #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
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:  Five twenty-somethings investigate a supposedly haunted abandoned asylum on a Scottish island.

A highly atmospheric story that gathers momentum like skeletal fingers walking slowly up your back, Highland Cove is a book that will delight lovers of dark, horrifying ghost stories that do not necessarily end well... 

The party of five who set out on this foolish mission—to make a documentary in a haunted asylum on a lonely Scottish island—each have their own story, and the characters are well-defined, particularly Liam, for whom this project is something of a passion, and Alex, the sceptical rich boy who has been invited purely because he is willing to fund it.  Dylan Morgan's descriptive powers are first class, and I particularly liked the meeting in the pub, early on, with the old sailor who was to take them across from the mainland.

I was pleased to find that the horror certainly ramps up during the second half, with many surprises, and I thought the last twenty per cent was actually the best part, with a twist in the tale or two that I didn't expect, at all.  I felt that some of the detail in the first half could have been chopped down a little, but on the whole I'd say that this is a fine, well-written book with good plot, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes to become immersed in a novel on the gory horror end of the supernatural genre.

THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR by Ailish Sinclair @AilishSinclair #RBRT

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads
On BookBub

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

In a Nutshell: 16th Century Scottish Historical (Romance)

I chose this book from the review team list because I've loved looking at the author's marvellous photos of Scotland on her website for some years now; I hoped that anyone so artistic and with such a love for the area in which this story is set would be a fine writer too, though this doesn't necessarily follow, of course—but I'm pleased to say that I was not disappointed.

The Mermaid and The Bear is listed as a historical romance, but it's much more than that.  At first, after protagonist Isobell escaped her London betrothal to 'Wicked Richard' and headed for a Scottish castle to work as a kitchen maid, I wondered if the book would be too 'twee' for me; beautifully written and a good example of its type, but I thought it would follow the well-trodden romance novel path of misunderstandings and awkward situations before the lovers come together, and that would be that.  I was so wrong! Although the relationship is an important part of the story arc, it is not the sole focus.

Ailish Sinclair's portrayal of 16th century, wild rural Scotland is quite magical.  On one recent evening I was curled up in bed, head on cushions and lights dimmed, and I found that I was revelling in every description of the countryside, the day-to-day life at the castle (particularly the Christmas revellry; this made me long to be in the book myself!), the suggestion of ancient spirituality, and the hopes and dreams of the characters.  Suddenly I realised that I'd gone from thinking 'yes, this is a pleasant enough, easy-read' to 'I'm loving this'.  

From about half-way through, the book becomes very dark indeed, as the witch-hunts of the time rear their gruesome head; there is a strong sense of good versus evil.  This is where, for me, it became even more interesting.

Much of the locals' dialogue is written in the Scottish dialect, but this is not overdone, so it didn't become irritating to read at all—it just added authenticity.  I liked how Isobell's inner thoughts and conversation took on the Scottish words and phraseology gradually, over time, as would be the case.  Her development over the course of the story is so realistic, and the Laird of the castle is the sort of character you can't help falling a little bit in love with.  The notes at the back add interest to the whole novel, too.

If you adore historical fiction, especially set in the 16th century, I'd recommend this book without hesitation.  If you're a bit 'hmm' about historical romance, I would still recommend it, without a doubt—and this is coming from someone who usually runs a mile from any variation on the romance genre.  Go buy it.  Now.

DEATH WISH by Linda Huber @LindaHuber19

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book:  I've been mutually retweeting with Linda Huber on Twitter for some time and had seen that her books looked popular, so thought I'd try one!

Genre: dark family drama.

A great start to this book: a man is burying a body in a garden.  But who is it?

Death Wish concentrates on two families.  Leo Mackie has just set up home with his unstable girlfriend, Ashley, while her wicked witch mother, Eleanor, looms in the background.  Leo will do anything to keep Ashley's love, and doesn't realise a) quite how unhinged she really is, b) why, and c) what a bad move it is to accept her mother's offer of buying into his business ~ and into their lives....  

The other family consists of sweet eight-year-old Joya, her father, Stu, and her it's-all-about-me, neurotic mother, Martine, who feeds her child an almost constant diet of chips, ice cream and Coke, and leaves her to her own devices much of the time; I was with Stu all the way and wanted to tell her to get a grip, too!  Also in the house is Martine's invalid mother, Vee.

Linda Huber writes in such a readable way, and I read the first 40% of the book in one sitting; it was only later that I realised that almost all of it takes place in the two houses.  That the families lead rather dreary, insular lives did not matter; the writing itself was of a quality that kept me turning the pages.  I liked Ms Huber's decision to show much of the story from Joya's point of view; it gave a refreshing variation to the narrative, and made me remember how I used to think when I was eight years old!  This story is a fine example of what goes on behind respectable closed doors. Leo was by far my favourite character, despite the decisions he makes later; he seemed the most 'real' to me.

There are no great surprises but the end comes together neatly, with a nice little twist or two in the tale that becomes almost darkly comic in places, which I liked.  Within the plot are the deeper issues of Huntington's Disease, assisted suicide, teen pregnancy and adoption, and these are dealt with realistically and with sensitivity.  It's a moderately-paced story, very well put together, and I think it would appeal to anyone who likes intricate family dramas ... with a dark side.

THE UNRIVALLED TRANSCENDENCE OF WILLEM J GYLE by J D Dixon @James_D_Dixon

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. 

Genre: Literary, psychological, contemporary drama. 

What a find.  This book is seriously good.  I mean, seriously.  I'd recommend it to anyone, whatever your usual genres of choice. 

Willem J Gyle is a bit slow.  But he gets by.  He lives with his mother, who takes care of all his needs, including finding him a job on a construction site which suits his size and strength, and where he makes friends.  He loves his mam, his dog, and the football on the telly.  Then, in just a few days, his world comes crashing down, and Willem finds himself homeless.  Having neither verbal skill nor knowledge of how 'the system' works, he is unable to find anyone to help him, and drifts into a life on the streets and, inevitably, crime.  Much to my surprise, his darker side comes to the fore, but is this innate psychopathy, anger at the world, an expression of pain for all he has lost, or just a primal instinct for survival?  I thought it was a combination of all those elements.

Winding up in a community of other homeless people, which he considers, at first, to be 'no more perfect place ... outside the law, above the law', he soon finds out that it's a reflection of the 'real' world, corrupt, with the weaker members suffering.  And on he walks....

Although the blurb appealed to me, I was dubious at first; the book starts off well-written but whimsical, which, coupled with the too-long and pretentious title, made me wonder if it would be slow-going.  But four pages in I was completely hooked, and stayed that way until the end.  J D Dixon has a real gift, the innate sort that cannot be learned from classes, 'how to write' books, blog posts, or anything else.  To me, writing talent is all about being able to create characters and worlds that absorb the reader completely, needing no wordy description, and JDD has this in spades.  He writes in a spare fashion, which I like.  He doesn't explain, or over-emphasise.  

The book is raw, rough in places, and sometimes shocking.  It's also immensely sad.  It's just - great.  One of the best debut novels I've ever read.

DONKEY BOY and other stories by Mary Smith @marysmithwriter

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads
 

How I discovered this book: It was submitted to Rosie Amber's Review Team, of which I am a member.  Two years ago I read No More Mulberries by this author, which I liked a lot.

This is an interesting and diverse collection of stories, set in several locations, from Scotland to Pakistan, where the author lived for a while.  Some of them were written as monologues, which have been performed.

I liked those set in Pakistan best, my very favourite being Accidents Happen, about a girl whose mother marries a man she hates.  I liked it so much I read it again, straight away.  I also liked Donkey Boy itself, about a little boy who has to work for his father instead of going to school, and Trouble with Socks, about the sort of ghastly, patronising auxiliary in a care home who thinks that physically disabled means mentally deficient.  The last one, a longer story called The Thing In Your Eye, was interesting.  A woman believes she sees evil in people in their eyes; this left me a little unsure, as I didn't know if we were meant to think it was all in her mind (as everyone else does), or if she really could 'read' people.  

They're all unusual, with a theme of private sadness.  I liked a very short one called My Name is Anya, too, about an Afghani girl adopted by Scottish parents.  They're ideal for a nice bit of lying on the sofa, afternoon reading when you're not in the mood for complicated plots.

TURN OF THE TIDE by Margaret Skea

3.5 out of 5 stars

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

Reviewed by me as a member of Rosie Amber's Review Team

Set in Scotland in the late sixteenth century, Turn of the Tide's central character is Munro, who is caught between his allegiance to the Cunninghame clan and his friendships with the rival Montgomeries, and also between his active part in this ancient feud and the demands of his family; his desire to protect them is at the root of all he does, but his dedication to those in power mean that he spends much time away from wife Kate and his twins.

Reading this story I felt transported back to the time, a necessity for me when reading historical fiction.  All aspects of day to day life of the era have been researched in detail, and written in such a way that adds so much to the novel.  Margaret Skea clearly has a great love for the history and the country, and this shines through in the writing.  

There is no doubt that this is well written in many ways, with Munro and young William Glencairn, in particular, becoming three dimensional very quickly.  The dialogue is written formally, in the style of the time (as far as I could see) and sometimes this adds authenticity, but at other times it halts the flow.  Also, there are so very many characters and I had trouble remembering who was who and whose allegiance was to whom, which made it flow even less well, because I kept having to refer back to previous chapters.  The other slight problem I had with it was a few instances of incorrect punctuation: missing commas and a few semicolons that should have been commas, but there are only a few and would probably only bother someone who is particularly picky about such things.

I liked the intrigue at court and the subtle humour in some of the dialogue, but I found this novel a little too slow and confusing for me to say that I really enjoyed it; I wanted to like it more than I did.  Margaret Skea is an accomplished writer who has won much acclaim and many awards, so if you like intelligent, detailed, literary historical fiction you may well enjoy this.  It just didn't quite tick the boxes for me.