A sixteen-year-old girl, Olivia, who feels guilty about her younger brother’s death. Her mother, Evelyn, a glamorous artist. Travis, the charismatic owner of the Pink Fancy Hotel. A mysterious Czechoslovakian widow, Sofiya. A sojourn on St. Croix, a tropical island. Two love affairs. Secrets. Nazis. Concentration camp. Conflict, jealousy, kindness, tenderness. A rescue and a resurrection. All woven together in a haunting work of literary … Continue reading Once, Upon an Island by Laury A. Egan #BookReview #HeliotropeBooks #5*

Your ability to change everything – including yourself – starts here Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize … Continue reading Lessons in Chemistry ~ Bonnie Garmus #BookReview #RandomHouseUK, TransworldDigital #NetGalley #5*

From the author of Sunday Times Bestseller, Dear Mrs Bird, comes a much hoped-for follow up. Charming, hilarious and inspiring, Yours Cheerfully is just the tonic we’ve all been waiting for. London, September, 1941. Following the departure of the formidable Editor, Henrietta Bird, from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles … Continue reading Yours Cheerfully by A. J. Pearce #BookReview #EmmyLakeChronicles2 #Picador #NetGalley #5*

In the dying days of the old asylums, three paths intersect. Henry was only a boy when he waved goodbye to his glamorous grown-up sister; approaching sixty, his life is still on hold as he awaits her return. As a high-society hostess renowned for her recitals, Matty’s burden weighs heavily upon her, but she bears it with fortitude and grace. Janice, a young social worker, … Continue reading Matilda Windsor is Coming Home by Anne Goodwin #BookReview #InspiredQuill #4.5*

“a very quick read” Continue reading Here is the Beehive by Sarah Crossan #BookReview #BloomsburyCircus #NetGalley #4*

“a fine tale with wonderful characters and plenty of revelations” Continue reading This Lovely City by Louise Hare #BookReview #HQ #NetGalley #4.5*

“Not a book I’m going to forget for a long time, if ever, and I cannot recommend it highly enough” Continue reading Grandmothers #BookReview #Viking-PenguinUK #NetGalley