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ClareR (5955 KP) rated The Bookbinder of Jericho in Books
Nov 5, 2023
The Bookbinder of Jericho follows the lives of Peggy, Maude and their friends during the years of the First World War. Peggy and Maude work in the bindery of the Oxford university press. Peggy has promised their now dead mother to always care for the vulnerable Maude (she has a learning disability) and isn’t capable of taking care of herself. She does work in the bindery with Peggy though, and is able to do repetitive tasks. Peggy, on the other hand, is ambitious. She has always loved reading and learning from what she reads, and she is desperate to do more with her life.
As the First World War begins, and refugees from a stricken Belgium start to arrive in Oxford, life begins to change for Peggy, and possibilities start to open up for her. She meets two people in particular: she falls in love with a wounded Belgian soldier, and she meets Gwen, a woman studying at Oxford, whilst they’re both volunteering. Life seems to be on the up for Peggy, but at the same time it becomes more complicated.
This book has a lot to say about the women’s suffrage movement, and how the war opened up more possibilities to women generally - although it certainly helped if you were in the upper classes. Maude and Peggy live on a canal boat (the Calliope), and whilst this may seem idyllic, its far from easy. It does give insight into the different ways that people lived and how people helped one another (Peggy’s boat neighbours often help out with Maude, as she can’t be left on her own).
I really liked how Peggy wasn’t prepared to give up on her dream of being accepted in the women’s college. Somerville, at Oxford. She perseveres, even if she does lose her way and has to decide what is most important to her.
This was such an enjoyable book, and I’d recommend it.
As the First World War begins, and refugees from a stricken Belgium start to arrive in Oxford, life begins to change for Peggy, and possibilities start to open up for her. She meets two people in particular: she falls in love with a wounded Belgian soldier, and she meets Gwen, a woman studying at Oxford, whilst they’re both volunteering. Life seems to be on the up for Peggy, but at the same time it becomes more complicated.
This book has a lot to say about the women’s suffrage movement, and how the war opened up more possibilities to women generally - although it certainly helped if you were in the upper classes. Maude and Peggy live on a canal boat (the Calliope), and whilst this may seem idyllic, its far from easy. It does give insight into the different ways that people lived and how people helped one another (Peggy’s boat neighbours often help out with Maude, as she can’t be left on her own).
I really liked how Peggy wasn’t prepared to give up on her dream of being accepted in the women’s college. Somerville, at Oxford. She perseveres, even if she does lose her way and has to decide what is most important to her.
This was such an enjoyable book, and I’d recommend it.
ClareR (5955 KP) rated Appointment in Paris in Books
Sep 17, 2025 - 1:44 PM
I was on the edge of my seat from the first page of Appointment in Paris - Jane Thynne certainly knows how to set the tone!
This is the second book in The Harry Fox/ Stella Fry series (well, I hope it’s going to be a series!), and set a year after the first book, Midnight in Vienna. War looms ever closer: Poland has fallen, Amsterdam, Belgium and France are next on Hitler’s occupation list.
When a German officer is found dead at a top secret POW camp in a former stately home, and one of the German Listeners goes missing, the worry is that vital information will fall into the wrong hands. Enter Maxwell Knight, Harry’s former MI5 handler. He wants Harry to find the missing listener, and hands the job of the murder investigation over to Stella.
Stella goes undercover as a listener at Trent Park - her fluent German once again proving its worth. She’s a determined, astute, intelligent woman.
I was a little puzzled as I read, as to why the title is “Appointment in Paris”, because most of this book takes place between London and Trent Park. You just need to be patient, though. And then you’ll be back on the edge of your seat.
The attention to detail is what really makes this book: the preparations for war, the blackout, the fear of the refugees, the jazz clubs. Every now and again, a real person form that time is mentioned (Agatha Christie and Noël Coward).
I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t read the first in this series - YET!! But I WILL be! I really like the characters of Harry and Stella, and I’d love to experience their war with them. So I’ll be watching out for the next instalment!
Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
This is the second book in The Harry Fox/ Stella Fry series (well, I hope it’s going to be a series!), and set a year after the first book, Midnight in Vienna. War looms ever closer: Poland has fallen, Amsterdam, Belgium and France are next on Hitler’s occupation list.
When a German officer is found dead at a top secret POW camp in a former stately home, and one of the German Listeners goes missing, the worry is that vital information will fall into the wrong hands. Enter Maxwell Knight, Harry’s former MI5 handler. He wants Harry to find the missing listener, and hands the job of the murder investigation over to Stella.
Stella goes undercover as a listener at Trent Park - her fluent German once again proving its worth. She’s a determined, astute, intelligent woman.
I was a little puzzled as I read, as to why the title is “Appointment in Paris”, because most of this book takes place between London and Trent Park. You just need to be patient, though. And then you’ll be back on the edge of your seat.
The attention to detail is what really makes this book: the preparations for war, the blackout, the fear of the refugees, the jazz clubs. Every now and again, a real person form that time is mentioned (Agatha Christie and Noël Coward).
I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t read the first in this series - YET!! But I WILL be! I really like the characters of Harry and Stella, and I’d love to experience their war with them. So I’ll be watching out for the next instalment!
Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
ClareR (5955 KP) rated Happy Family in Books
Oct 29, 2019
One to look out for next year!
Happy Family is set in the near future, where people game via glasses and one augmented reality game in particular is very popular: Happy Family. This game was invented by Tom Hannah, also an artist, who has hidden himself away with his suicidal thoughts in Spain in the middle of nowhere, after the death of his mother. Germaine Kiecke, an art academic, is a huge fan of Tom’s and wants to interview him for her new book. But Tom is guarded by a strange girl and three huge dogs who are named after the Marx brothers. Germaine has had a traumatic upbringing as an orphan in Belgium in a notorious orphanage called ‘Motherhood’. Thus she finds it impossible to express her feelings except through Tom’s game Happy Family. So when she finds out that something threatens this game for her and millions of others, she’s forced to take a look at how she lives her life.
Germaine was a difficult character to get an understanding of, but I think in view of her childhood that was reasonable. The other characters who also relied on Tom Hannah in some way were actually very amusing - whether they were supposed to be or not, I don’t know, but towards the end of the novel, their antics descended (or ascended!) into slapstick. For various reasons that I won’t go into (I don’t want to spoil it!), this was both sad and funny - there was a healthy dose of black humour throughout really.
I read this on The Pigeonhole, and the other readers had a real mix of opinions: it seems to have been a real ‘marmite’ book. Personally, I loved it. It ticked a lot of boxes for me, first and foremost being it’s quirkiness. There was some gaming talk, but it was relevant to the story and the characters, and I don’t actually think there was that much considering that it was set against the backdrop of the game (and lets face it, I have two teenage sons who are obsessed with the Xbox 🙄).
I really enjoyed this book, and thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising it.
Germaine was a difficult character to get an understanding of, but I think in view of her childhood that was reasonable. The other characters who also relied on Tom Hannah in some way were actually very amusing - whether they were supposed to be or not, I don’t know, but towards the end of the novel, their antics descended (or ascended!) into slapstick. For various reasons that I won’t go into (I don’t want to spoil it!), this was both sad and funny - there was a healthy dose of black humour throughout really.
I read this on The Pigeonhole, and the other readers had a real mix of opinions: it seems to have been a real ‘marmite’ book. Personally, I loved it. It ticked a lot of boxes for me, first and foremost being it’s quirkiness. There was some gaming talk, but it was relevant to the story and the characters, and I don’t actually think there was that much considering that it was set against the backdrop of the game (and lets face it, I have two teenage sons who are obsessed with the Xbox 🙄).
I really enjoyed this book, and thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising it.
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