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ClareR (5879 KP) rated A Woman Made of Snow in Books
Nov 9, 2021
A Woman Made Of Snow is a book steeped in the history of the Gillan family, which automatically ticks a lot of boxes for me. This is a dual timeline story: Scotland in 1949, and the Arctic at some time in the mid 1800s.
Caro and Alasdair marry after the War and move back to his family home - Kelly Castle in Scotland. Caro has high hopes of continuing to work in a university, but motherhood puts pay to that, and instead decides to look into the Gillan family genealogy, and specifically the mysterious disappearance of Alasdair’s great grandmother. When Caro finds the remains of a diary, there are some startling findings.
We flash back and forth between 1949 and the 1800s, where the information missing from the diary is more clearly explained. When a body is unearthed after flooding, this poses more questions about he person’s identity. Is this the missing relative?
I absolutely loved this. The descriptions of the sea, the Arctic tundra and the Inuit who lived there, fascinated me. Less pleasant were the attitudes of the British towards other cultures, but this was interesting, all the same. The changing roles of women was portrayed well. Whilst not the same as our lives today, Caro’s life in the 1940’s/ 50’s was markedly better than that of the women in the 1800s.
This was such an enjoyable read - highly recommended.
Thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this wonderful book.
Caro and Alasdair marry after the War and move back to his family home - Kelly Castle in Scotland. Caro has high hopes of continuing to work in a university, but motherhood puts pay to that, and instead decides to look into the Gillan family genealogy, and specifically the mysterious disappearance of Alasdair’s great grandmother. When Caro finds the remains of a diary, there are some startling findings.
We flash back and forth between 1949 and the 1800s, where the information missing from the diary is more clearly explained. When a body is unearthed after flooding, this poses more questions about he person’s identity. Is this the missing relative?
I absolutely loved this. The descriptions of the sea, the Arctic tundra and the Inuit who lived there, fascinated me. Less pleasant were the attitudes of the British towards other cultures, but this was interesting, all the same. The changing roles of women was portrayed well. Whilst not the same as our lives today, Caro’s life in the 1940’s/ 50’s was markedly better than that of the women in the 1800s.
This was such an enjoyable read - highly recommended.
Thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this wonderful book.
ClareR (5879 KP) rated Think of Me in Books
May 8, 2022
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.
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.
ClareR (5879 KP) rated The Silence In Between in Books
Dec 2, 2024
The Silence In Between is a dual timeline story. In 1961, Lisette takes her sick baby to a West Berlin hospital for treatment. She returns to her home in the East of the city to wash, change clothes and have some sleep, and the next morning she wakes to find the Wall has been erected overnight. She can’t go back for her baby. This traumatic event causes her to lose her voice - which takes her back to the war and the last time she lost her voice.
Lisette lived in Berlin with her mother, and during the last days of WW2, she experienced what many women did at the hands of the Russians. This is brutal, and explains a lot about why Lisette is the mother she is to her daughter Elly.
Elly knows that the only way to make her mother happy is to get the baby back - no matter the cost. She’s a brave, resourceful young woman, who takes death defying risks for her mother.
There’s a lot of hope in this book of survival and loss. Elly is a symbol of determination - she never gives up, and her family is at the heart of all her actions.
The two female characters, mother and daughter, are exceptional women. The history behind their lives has been well researched and is believable, and their story has stayed with me well after finishing this book.
Highly recommended.
Lisette lived in Berlin with her mother, and during the last days of WW2, she experienced what many women did at the hands of the Russians. This is brutal, and explains a lot about why Lisette is the mother she is to her daughter Elly.
Elly knows that the only way to make her mother happy is to get the baby back - no matter the cost. She’s a brave, resourceful young woman, who takes death defying risks for her mother.
There’s a lot of hope in this book of survival and loss. Elly is a symbol of determination - she never gives up, and her family is at the heart of all her actions.
The two female characters, mother and daughter, are exceptional women. The history behind their lives has been well researched and is believable, and their story has stayed with me well after finishing this book.
Highly recommended.
Brushstrokes from the Past (Soli Hansen Mysteries #4)
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WWII and the mid-seventeenth century are entwined in this fourth dual timeline novel about Nazi art...
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The Dutch Muse (A Fabiola Bennett Mystery #4)
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A ruthless thief leaves a private Dutch gallery with a coveted seventeenth-century painting. The...
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BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Shadow Friend in Books
Jan 26, 2021
The protagonist of this story is Paul. He has to come back to a miserable town where he grew up after he found out that his mother is about to die. Paul hates that town for so many reasons, but mainly because of what happened when he was young. This book is told from a dual perspective. Another character sharing details is Amanda, she is a detective, investigating a murder, that looks exactly like the one that happened many many years ago. Amanda has her own issues, and she is kind of a background character in this book. I liked Paul as a character, he was a good kid, he is awkward, but a nice guy. All the characters chosen in this novel are quite mysterious, and the whole book has a very depressing and gloomy atmosphere, that works very well in Alex North’s books.
The narrative of this novel is exceptionally well written. The author used a dual timeline, we have the events happening now, and the events that happened when Paul was young. My favourite was the ones from the past, of course. It absolutely absorbed me, I was so eager to find out what happened all those years ago. The parts from the present were quieter and more self-reflecting, sharing the inner struggles, but creepy nevertheless. This book is very twisty, and some of the turns really left me gobsmacked and surprised. The topics discussed in this novel were lucid dreaming, bullying, wish to belong, abusive parents, mental abuse, dementia and its effects, parent-child relationships, the influence of the internet and many, many more.
I really love Alex North’s writing style. He is amazing in creating suspense, and all the mind manipulation of the reader was truly amazing. 🙂 The chapters are quite short, I was engrossed in this novel, so the pages just flew by, for me. The ending was shocking and very unexpected, but I did like the way this novel ended. I hope someone will adopt this novel to a film, I am pretty sure it would be wickedly good. 🙂
So, to conclude, I really liked this horror psychological thriller. The characters are very mysterious and the plot is absorbing, layered and complex. This book left me emotionally shaken in the best possible way, and I really recommend to those, who would like something creepy.
The narrative of this novel is exceptionally well written. The author used a dual timeline, we have the events happening now, and the events that happened when Paul was young. My favourite was the ones from the past, of course. It absolutely absorbed me, I was so eager to find out what happened all those years ago. The parts from the present were quieter and more self-reflecting, sharing the inner struggles, but creepy nevertheless. This book is very twisty, and some of the turns really left me gobsmacked and surprised. The topics discussed in this novel were lucid dreaming, bullying, wish to belong, abusive parents, mental abuse, dementia and its effects, parent-child relationships, the influence of the internet and many, many more.
I really love Alex North’s writing style. He is amazing in creating suspense, and all the mind manipulation of the reader was truly amazing. 🙂 The chapters are quite short, I was engrossed in this novel, so the pages just flew by, for me. The ending was shocking and very unexpected, but I did like the way this novel ended. I hope someone will adopt this novel to a film, I am pretty sure it would be wickedly good. 🙂
So, to conclude, I really liked this horror psychological thriller. The characters are very mysterious and the plot is absorbing, layered and complex. This book left me emotionally shaken in the best possible way, and I really recommend to those, who would like something creepy.
The Catherine Howard Conspiracy (The Marquess House Trilogy #1)
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Hidden Masterpiece (Soli Hansen Mysteries #3)
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Micky Barnard (542 KP) rated The Boy and His Ribbon in Books
Jan 26, 2019
Often discomforting but gripping
I don't know how to categorise the genre of this book because the story is a metamorphosis of character growth in age and maturity. THE BOY AND HIS RIBBON is a story of becoming family, escaping abuse but never really being free. This is a tale told over a number of years, everything in this book has a tangible and realistic timeline.
The two characters in this book are Ren Wild the boy on the run and his little fellow escapee Della Ribbon. These two were enchanting characters to read; beautiful souls. Ren knocked my socks off as a care giver, his love for Della evolved and bloomed as he fathered-her, brothered-her, best-friended-her. He was utterly selfless in carving out life and survival for his Ribbon and himself. The bond between these two was seemingly unbreakable. Della evolved the most in this book, growing from babe to teen and she was a complex, fiercely-loving and possessive girl.
"He treated me as capable and brave and bright, and that's what I became because I never wanted to let him down because he would never let me down. Simple as that.“
The story is narrated from a dual POV with an emphasis on Ren's perspective but Della then reflecting back on her experiences. I felt there were two distinct phases in this book, both difficult but certainly the latter years, more complex and challenging. There is a discomfort to the story direction that challenged my allegiances, my personal morality and it's a bit of noodled-mess of thinking right now. However, I could not look away, it was an addictive story, compelling in the best way.
I have thoughts about where I think the next book's story line is going and I'm full of trepidation over it but longing to read it nevertheless. I enjoyed Pepper Winter's writing in this immensely, especially the childhood era of Della and Ren.
I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.
Reviewed for Jo&IsaLoveBooks Blog.
The two characters in this book are Ren Wild the boy on the run and his little fellow escapee Della Ribbon. These two were enchanting characters to read; beautiful souls. Ren knocked my socks off as a care giver, his love for Della evolved and bloomed as he fathered-her, brothered-her, best-friended-her. He was utterly selfless in carving out life and survival for his Ribbon and himself. The bond between these two was seemingly unbreakable. Della evolved the most in this book, growing from babe to teen and she was a complex, fiercely-loving and possessive girl.
"He treated me as capable and brave and bright, and that's what I became because I never wanted to let him down because he would never let me down. Simple as that.“
The story is narrated from a dual POV with an emphasis on Ren's perspective but Della then reflecting back on her experiences. I felt there were two distinct phases in this book, both difficult but certainly the latter years, more complex and challenging. There is a discomfort to the story direction that challenged my allegiances, my personal morality and it's a bit of noodled-mess of thinking right now. However, I could not look away, it was an addictive story, compelling in the best way.
I have thoughts about where I think the next book's story line is going and I'm full of trepidation over it but longing to read it nevertheless. I enjoyed Pepper Winter's writing in this immensely, especially the childhood era of Della and Ren.
I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.
Reviewed for Jo&IsaLoveBooks Blog.