Hobbies and Crafts

I have just finished Ancestors by Paul Crooks.

Some years ago Paul Crooks started researching his family and found his 3 x great-grandfather had been captured as a child in Africa and taken on a slave ship to work on the plantations in Jamaica. There is a short Forword and a slightly longer Afterword that deal with his research, but the book itself is a fiction story based on his research Into the life of his 3 x great grandfather and takes place over 40 years from 1798 when the boy was captured to 1838 when slaves in the West Indies were emancipated.

It was a bit confusing sometimes as there were so many different names but the basic story came through well and I felt I had learnt quite a lot about the everyday lives of the slaves. An interesting book.

Wishing all of our lovely Bookworms a Very Happy New Year <3 <3 <3

Has everybody given up reading :-0 :-0 :-D ;-)

Have read a few since I last posted ....

I have read Her Sisters GiWhile her mother is at home giving birth, eleven-year-old Isa must look after her younger siblings, but when her little sister is killed in an accident on a trainline she carries the guilt through the rest of her life.

As Isa grows up, more tragedy strikes: her mother dies of a broken heart after giving birth to a stillborn son, and her father finds solace in heavy drinking. Though Isa finds satisfaction in domestic service for an aristocratic family in London, when her father returns home from the First World War paralysed and suffering memory loss, she must return home to take care of her family once more.

Yet there is only so much Isa can endure over the years, and discovering her husband’s affair is the final straw. Believing she has failed as a sister, a daughter, a wife and a mother, she makes an irrevocable decision… but will she realise in time that her troubled past can also give her the strength to carry on?
ft - Isabel Jackson

The Liberations - Kate Furnivall

The Liberation is set in Italy in 1945 as British and American troops attempt to bring order to the devastated country and Italy’s population fights to survive. Caterina Lombardi is desperate – her father is dead, her mother has disappeared and her brother is being drawn towards danger. One morning, among the ruins of the bombed Naples streets, Caterina is forced to go to extreme lengths to protect her own life and in doing so forges a future in which she must clear her father's name. An Allied Army officer accuses him of treason and Caterina discovers a plot against her family. Who can she trust and who is the real enemy now? And will the secrets of the past be her downfall?

At the moment I am reading

The Secret Wife - Gill Paul

Russian grand duchess and an English journalist. Linked by one of the world’s greatest mysteries . . .
Love. Guilt. Heartbreak.
1914
Russia is on the brink of collapse, and the Romanov family faces a terrifyingly uncertain future. Grand Duchess Tatiana has fallen in love with cavalry officer Dmitri, but events take a catastrophic turn, placing their romance – and their lives – in danger . . .
2016
Kitty Fisher escapes to her great-grandfather’s remote cabin in America, after a devastating revelation makes her flee London. There, on the shores of Lake Akanabee, she discovers the spectacular jewelled pendant that will lead her to a long-buried family secret . . .
Haunting, moving and beautifully written, The Secret Wife effortlessly crosses centuries, as past merges with present in an unforgettable story of love, loss and resilience.
Perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Dinah Jefferies Paul

Still reading, Mersey, too many to mention ;-)

A couple of pressies were

Rather Be the Devil (Inspector Rebus 21) by Ian Rankin
Despite being officially retired, Rebus can't help but get involved in an old case.

"Some cases never leave you.

For John Rebus, forty years may have passed, but the death of beautiful, promiscuous Maria Turquand still preys on his mind. Murdered in her hotel room on the night a famous rock star and his entourage were staying there, Maria's killer has never been found.

Meanwhile, the dark heart of Edinburgh remains up for grabs. A young pretender, Darryl Christie, may have staked his claim, but a vicious attack leaves him weakened and vulnerable, and an inquiry into a major money laundering scheme threatens his position. Has old-time crime boss Big Ger Cafferty really given up the ghost, or is he biding his time until Edinburgh is once more ripe for the picking?"
........................


The Westminster Poisoner: 4 (Adventures of Thomas Chaloner) by Susanna Gregory

Its a 'historical murder mystery' surrounding the deaths of Clerks to the Court of King Charles II. Thomas Chaloner is an Investigator employed by The Lord Chancellor.

"His search for the real murderer plunges him into a stinking seam of corruption that leads towards the Royal apartments and to people determined to make Christmas 1663 Chaloner's last . . ."

It was interesting to compare how the culprit(s) were 'detected' compared to our hi-tech modern methods. It also reminds us that post-mortems were limitied to an external examination of the body.

I've been reading Mersey :-D. Just haven't read anything very earth shattering.

I have recently read the first 3 of the Jefferson Tayte genealogical mysteries by Steve Robinson. They are "In The Blood", "To The Grave" and "The Last Queen of England". I first saw this author mentioned on this thread.

Steve Robinson is British and these stories all take place in Britain but his main character, Jefferson Tayte, is an American genealogist. He gets commissioned to research a family background or find a descendant or something similar and has to solve all sorts of mysteries along the way. There are always people out to stop him unveiling secrets and he is forever being knocked on the head or shot at.

Easy reading and not to be taken too seriously but I enjoyed them and will probably read the other couple of books in the series.

Saw a small paperback in the library, so decided to read it while I was waiting for a couple of greasers books ( that I had requested) to come on.

A new author for me. Kay Langdale. The book is called. Choose Me. On the front cover it says. "My name is Billy I need a new family".

Billy is the child of a single mother who is a drug addict. His mother dies when Billy is nine years old......,.
He has learned that when your mum dies , you get your own social worker. He has also learned that once you are ten, the odds of finding a family to adopt you don't look so good. That' s the past he wasn' t supposed to overhear.

His social worker, Miriam is up against a deadline to give Billy the " forever family" that every child deserves. Determined to cut through red tape she finds three very different couples who might fit the bill, though prospective parents come with issues of their own.

We meet Billy, his school friend Joey, his social worker, his prospective forever families and Billy himself, as well as other people who all have a part in his story.
Many of them tell of their own part in his story. Most poignantly, we find out what Billy is thinking and feeling throughout, as well as his memories of his interaction, or lack of it, with his mother.

A sad story, filled with hope and disappointment. I found it very moving. Billy starts his story in 2006 on his fifth birthday. and I was grabbed by his story from the first page.

At times I wondered if this book had been written with teenagers in mind. I couldn't find any sign of this bring do on the book cover. This book would be really suitable for senior school children. However this did not spoil it for me as an adult reader.

Well worth reading, I recommend it and will be looking out for more books by the same author.

I have been reading a few books lately.

Someone on here (Emma?) mentioned Lady Katherine Knollys: the Unacknowledged Daughter of Henry V111 and as it was going cheap on Amazon kindle books recently I downloaded it.

Lady Katherine was the daughter of Mary Boleyn and, it is believed, Henry V111. While the basic facts of her life were covered I would have liked more detail about her. The bulk of the book was about the royal and political events of the time. These of course affected her life and what happened to her but I didn't feel I got to grips with her as a person. An interesting book but vaguely unsatisfying.

Another book I came across on this thread was The Other Son by Nick Alexander. The story centres around Alice who is married with two adult sons, what happens to her, how she feels and reacts. It's a story of relationships and what I found interesting was that you see so many different sides to each character. For instance, the person that Alice thinks she is, is different to the character her son or her best friend sees.

I've also read The Autumn Throne by Elizabeth Chadwick. This is the story of the last thirty years of the life of Eleanor of Acquitaine, written as a novel. I was part way through before I realised that it was the third book in a trilogy but it worked as a stand alone book as well. I really enjoyed this book. Eleanor was such a strong, feisty, influential woman. The book is well researched and well written. If you like Philippa Gregory type books, you would probably enjoy this.

In the library today I found the second book in the trilogy so I'm reading them backwards. My mother always said I did everything "a...e uppards"
:-D

I like Elizabeth Chadwick and a few years back had a phase of reading her books, but I have to be in the mood. Got a couple of hers on the bookshelf to read. I also like Nick Alexander and have read and enjoyed that one.

I have just finished 61 days bt Lee Childs which was gripping and very good, a Jack Reacher story.

I've just finished "The Words in My Hand" by Guinevere Glasfurd. It's a first novel by this author and I thought it was well written and an absorbing story.

The blurb describes it as "the reimagined true story of Helena Jans, a Dutch maid in 17th century Amsterdam working for an English bookseller. A mysterious and reclusive lodger arrives - the Monsieur - who turns out to be Rene Descartes."

The story revolves around the relationship between Helena and Descartes. Apparently there is documentary evidence for the bare bones of the story but the "fleshing out" is fictional.

A good first novel and I would be happy to read other work by the same author.

Prompted by a Kindle offer, I've been re-reading the Shardlake series by C J Sansom.
http://www.cjsansom.com/Shardlake

They are seven books featuring the lawyer Matthew Shardlake in Tudor London in the reign of Henry VIII.
The first one is set in 1537 just after Henry broke with Rome and the last ends with Henrys death in Jan 1547.

Although the main plot lines are of Shardlake solving a mystery, the undercurrent is the Religious turmoil of the time.

Despite references to events featured in earlier books in the series, each one can be read as a 'stand alone'.

Have read some Elizabeth Chadwick books, but don't remember the titles. Know that I enjoyed them.

Have also read one or two Matthew Shardlake stories. I enjoyed both the historical setting and the detective elements to the books.

Have just finished another small paperback from the library, only 227 pages.

"Mouse and the Cossacks" by Paul Wilson.

'Mouse' is an eleven year old girl who has not spoken for many years.
She is the one who is telling the whole painful story. Mouse ( not her real name), communicates by writing everything down in the note section of her filofax, or by texting.
After a traumatic event, Mouse and her mother move to an old 'farm house' in the country. They become rater reclusive, mouse not going to school and her mother not going to work.
Mouse looks through some old papers and books she finds in the rented property. She finds things written by the previous owner, another recluse called William.

Gradually Mouse learns details about William's life and the trauma that ruled his life.

In the beginning it is a slow moving story,,as Mouse is a very private person, never quite telling the whole story.
It is well worth sticking around though, as she gradually opens up about her own story as she finds out more about William's.

A moving tale, William's story is based on truth, and as such it saddened and angered me.

T.

Have read loads since I last posted on here.
My son has sent me a paperback which he feels I would
be interested in as its a true story about Peter Williamson
known as Indian Peter by Douglas Skelton.

Indian Peter is the remarkable story of Peter Williamson who,
in 1743 at the age of 13, was snatched from Aberdeen quayside
and transported to the burgeoning American colonies to be sold
into indentured servitude. Unlike many others who found themselves
in similar circumstances, Peter was fortunate to be bought by a humane
man who left him money when he died, enabling him to buy his own
farm after marrying.

Many misfortunes ahead of Peter to face.

Hiya all still catching up but getting there...hoping to be reading much more
especially when I can sit in the garden with a cheeky wee Vimto on ice
and plenty of sunshine....... <3 <3

Emma that sounds like a great read and will go and check it out on Amazon...
I do like to read something out of my comfort zone and that's sounds like the
one for me to give a go....



Happy Reading Peeps its always lovely to see the thread still going and such
a different variety of books that are chosen


<3 <3

'In My Own Words' (Still Running) by Mickey Finn.

In 1964, Mickey was a twelve-year old child who was summonsed to appear at Dublin's Magistrates Court. The offence for which he was charged related to an amateurish break-in when coerced and accompanied by older children.

In terms of gravity, the misbehaviour was hardly more than a prank. In the severe surroundings of that oak panelled court, deep in the bowels of Dublin Castle, Mickey was sentenced to serve three years hard labour in what was then known as an 'Industrial School'.

Letterfrack Industrial School to which he was sent is situated in Connemara, Co Galway, one of Ireland's most isolated westerly regions. For a child from Dublin, some 130 distant, its remoteness found its equal only in a Siberian gulag; the likelihood of escape less than that from San Francisco's notorious Alcatraz Prison. Its seclusion in this malevolent place of correction was a major factor in the institutionalised abuse of children by the Christian Brothers with whom these unfortunate waifs were placed.

Many of these ill-fated youngsters had not been convicted of any offence; their crime was that they were orphaned; most if not all were victims of dysfunctional family life.

During his sentence Mickey, and the hundreds of other children who passed through this den of depravity, were methodically physically and mentally tortured and abused.

The Irish State at the time was instrumental in providing this depraved band of brothers with a steady supply of victims. With Taliban-like zeal, the Christian Brothers methodically administered random life threatening beatings merely on a whim; the more injurious were witnessed by fellow brothers and many witnessed by other terrified children.

Certainly not a cosy read.

I have recently got round to reading a book I bought in a charity shop ages ago. -

"What Lies Beneath". by Sarah Rayne. ( not to be confused with a film of the same name).

The blurb on the back of the book says ...." THE TRUTH WILL ALWAYS COME TO THE SURFACE.....IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME...
When twhe village of Priors Bramley was closed off for chemicals weapons testing during the Cold War, a long history of dark secrets was also shut away. Now, more than fifty years later, the village has been declared safe again, but there are those living nearby who who much prefer that the past remain buried......"

This psychological thriller is set in different time frames, I.e. the present day, when the village is about to be reopened to the public, the 1950's. around the time that the chemicals were dropped on the village, and further back in the early 20th Century, when we learn more about the Cadence family.

The village setting reminds me of Midsomer Murders. (sans the Barnabys"), and the psychological thriller aspect has a touch of Ruth Rendal.

I found the historical aspect of the story interesting and informative. The more modern part of the story I thought was scary escapism. To me it was a good read. I can' t remember reading a Sarah Rayne novel before, but will be on the look out for them in the future.

Will be handing the book on to a friend in the next day or so. Hope that she likes it too.

I've been reading my way through a few books lately.

I started with a couple of the Matthew Shardlake Tudor detective stories by C J Sansom that DetEcTive mentioned in an earlier post. I do enjoy these detection mysteries with a historical background.

Another book in the same genre that I have recently read is Frost Fair by Edward Marston

1669 Frost Fair on the Thames - a body discovered in the ice by the sons of Constable Jonathan Bale. With Bale is his friend the architect Christopher Redmayne whose brother is then accused of the murder and facing execution. Redmayne, helped by Bale, risks his professional life and personal happiness to uncover the truth and save his brother.

Hadn't come across this author before but he seems to have written quite a number of books, including the Railway Detective series. This is a typical historical whodunit but well written and an enjoyable read.

I then read The World According to Bob by James Bowen (?)

A follow on book to A Street Cat Named Bob continuing the story of the author and the cat that "adopted" him and helped him in his recovery from drug dependence.

I'm now reading The Secret Wife by Gill Paul which a friend lent me. Mersey put the gist of the story in an earlier post so I won't repeat it. I am about half way through and am unsure about it. It's not the sort of book I would normally choose and I am finding it quite far fetched in places with too many "coincidences", but I will finish it.

'The Uses of Literacy' (Aspects of working-class life) -
by Richard Hoggart (1918-2014).