Search

Search only in certain items:

Sightless (2020)
Sightless (2020)
2020 | Thriller
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The movie instantly shows a blind woman making her way to the balcony of an apartment, climbing over and jumping to her death........ Rewind to a month earlier and she's waking up in hospital after an attack which has left her blind.

She is soon able to move into a blind friendly apartment organised by her brother, she also has someone to come in every day to help her adjust to her new life.

She starts to hear concerning voices and cries for help coming from her neighbour, she invites her over to speak but the woman behaves weirdly, she's shaken, scarred and tells Ellen not to trust anyone. Ellen phones the police about this but they brush it off saying the woman is well known for lying, and when Ellen is attacked by an intruder, the police once again shrug it off. Ellen soon realises something is off and she sets out trying to find out the truth.

Whilst this movie started off good, the more it went on the more it confused me. Though I did quickly realise that we see the movie from Ellen's perception. The movie doesn't have a huge cast, but they do do a very good job, especially the woman playing Ellen. However, with half an hour to go I lost interest as the movie started to get silly and more confusing. Such a shame really.
  
Called to Justice (Quaker Midwife Mystery #2)
Called to Justice (Quaker Midwife Mystery #2)
Edith Maxwell | 2017 | Crime, History & Politics, Mystery
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Called to Justice is as much historical fiction as it is cozy mystery, and I found both aspects of the story to be riveting. A young, unmarried woman confides in Rose that she is expecting a child, and then ends up being murdered during the Independence Day fireworks celebration. Determined to find justice for the girl and her unborn child, Rose manages to squeeze in a little investigating, between birthing babies and checking on the well-being of her clientele of local women waiting to deliver.

There was a lot of attention to detail and historical accuracy where the births in the story were concerned. See what author Edith Maxwell has to say about midwives and the birthing process on <a href="https://booksthething.com/2017/04/06/called-to-justice-by-edith-maxwell-guest-post-and-giveaway/">my blog</a>.
  
40x40

ClareR (6037 KP) rated A Single Thread in Books

Sep 12, 2019  
A Single Thread
A Single Thread
Tracy Chevalier | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A wonderful book!
A Single Thread is set in the period after World War 1, just before Hitler takes power in Germany. Violet Speedwell is a ‘surplus woman’, and so she is expected to live out her life caring for her ageing, cantankerous mother, and throwing herself on the mercy of her brother as she ages. However, Violet isn’t prepared to live her life like this. She manages to get a transfer from her job in Southampton to their Winchester offices. Life isn’t easy for Violet, and she lives off sandwiches and tea in her rented room. By chance, she finds herself in Winchester Cathedral on the day of the Society of Broderers service, where the embroidered kneelers and cushions are blessed and placed in the cathedral for the public to use. Violet finds herself drawn to the embroidery, and even though she has no experience, she becomes involved in the group.

I loved the descriptions of the embroidery: the different stitches, the colours, the camaraderie and friendships that Violet makes with Gilda and Miss Pesel (who incidentally, really existed - and what a life SHE had!). Who knew that embroidery and campanology (bell-ringing) could be so interesting?! Violet becomes very interested in bell-ringing - whether that’s because of the actual bell-ringing, or the fatherly Arthur who she falls in love with, I’m not quite sure.

I thought the social attitudes of the time were really well portrayed. ‘Spare women’ weren’t regarded very favourably, but this was something completely out of their control: so many young men had been killed during the war, that there just weren’t enough men to go round. And when some women found love with one another, they were ostracised and ridiculed. It’s good to see that we have moved on in some ways.

Anyway, I loved this book. It’s not just about embroidery and campanology, and I think that any reader will be pleasantly surprised at how interesting Tracy Chevalier makes these things! It’s a social commentary, a love story, a story about friendship and passion: of the man/ woman, woman/ woman and hobbies varieties. And I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.