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World Tides 2017

Navigation and Travel

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

World Tides uses the Simply Harmonic Formula and harmonic constants provided by the UKHO to give 7...

At The Races - Horse Racing

Sports

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

App

The ultimate app for horse racing fans from the market-leading website for UK & Irish racing. Voted...

Soul Sisters

Lesley Lokko

7.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Soul Sisters by Lesley Lokko is a rich, intergenerational tale of love, race, power and secrets...

Historical fiction South Africa Edinburgh London

ClareR (5874 KP) rated Think of Me in Books

May 8, 2022

Think of Me

Frances Liardet | 2022 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Romance

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I got very excited when I saw that this book was coming up. I’d read and loved We Must Be Brave, and I knew that I’d enjoy this too - I wasn’t disappointed.

It’s the story of James Acton and Yvette Haddad who meet during WW2 in Alexandria where Yvette lives. James is the best man for Yvette’s sisters husband-to-be, and they both fly Hurricanes in North Africa.

James is captured by the Germans when he is shot down, and spends the latter part of the war in a prison camp, and keeps in touch with Yvette throughout. After the war they marry, return to England, and James returns to his ministry as an Anglican priest.

They have a wonderful marriage, it seems to me, whilst James struggles with his memories of war, they both experience a personal loss - and their marriage changes.

This has a dual timeline, set during the war in Alexandria and in 1974. James lives as a widower whilst their son goes to University. It’s a big change for James, and so he decides to go one step further as he puts in for a transfer of parish. But this transfer brings a lot of memories back.

Frances Liardet writes a slow burning novel really well. She makes the ordinary extraordinary, and has written a novel that I became totally immersed in. I really didn’t want to put it down.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2340 KP) rated The Lies We Live in Books

Apr 9, 2025

Betty Must Uncover the Truth for Her New Client

Business is booming for PI Betty Ahern, and September 1943 finds her opening her own office. She’s also taken on a new case. Her client is worried that her younger brother, a teenager, is up to something shady if not illegal. And when a dead body turns up, Betty realizes the stakes have been raised. Meanwhile, the stakes are also raised in her personal life when her fiancé, Tom, returns from the front in Africa. He’s been injured, and his return to civilian life is anything but easy. Can Betty solve the case and figure out how to navigate Tom being back?

As a fan of the series, I’ve been waiting to meet Tom, and I was happy to see that happen here. His return really forced Betty to mature, and I enjoyed seeing that character growth. Meanwhile, the mystery was also compelling. Between the two, I was engrossed in the book. The story does touch on race relations of the era, but without taking over the book. I also enjoyed that aspect of things. As usual, Betty narrates with some slang from the time, but I enjoyed it. There’s a smattering of foul language, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine. To best appreciate this book, you’ll want to back up to the start of the series. Fans will be very satisfied with what we get here.