Hobbies and Crafts

As usual two books please. vote when all in but the review date was given as the 6th so it may be that the vote will have to wait until then if people made a note of that date. I am early as I have family for the weekend. :-)

The Rossetti Letter by Christi Phillips
In 1618 courtesan Alessandra Rossetti wrote a letter to the Venetian council warning of a Spanish plot to overthrow Venice. But how she learnt of it, and what happened to her afterwards, is still a mystery. Centuries later graduate student Claire Donovan travels to Venice in the hope of uncovering the courtesan’s secrets within Venice’s ancient libraries.
But on arrival in Venice, Claire learns that a Cambridge professor is to present a paper asserting that Alessandra was a c0-conspiritor of the Spanish – a move that could destroy her career. As Claire races to discover the truth, Alessandra’s story comes to life with all the sensuality, political treachery and violence of late renaissance Venice.
Evoking the beauty and intrigue of Venice both past and present, The Rossetti Letter is a love story, a mystery and an historical drama set in one of the world’s most magical cities.



The Woman He loved before by Dorothy Koomson
Libby has a good life with a gorgeous husband and a home by the sea. But over time she is becoming more unsure if Jack has ever loved her – and if he is over the death of Eve, his first wife.
When fate intervenes in their relationship, Libby decides to find out all she can about the man she hastily married and the seemingly perfect ~Eve. But in doing so she unearths some devastating secrets. Frightened by what she finds and the damage it could cause, Libby starts to worry that she too will end up like the first woman Jack loved....

I will be back later, maybe tomorrow, family probs.

Now is The Hour - Hilary Green

Glorious and moving World War II saga following the battles, loves and struggles of four performers who put aside their careers to do their bit in the war against Germany.

In an empty theatre at the end of the pier the cast of the Fairbourne Follies gathers round the radio to hear Neville Chamberlain declare war on Germany. Four firm friends are forced to part. Rose, the beautiful dancer, must return to her family in London and the blitz, leaving singer Richard to enlist in the army with their relationship still unresolved. Gay, asthmatic Merry, the musical director, is destined for the army too, while the object of his unrequited love, charismatic magician, Felix, chooses the RAF.

Before long, Rose joins a group entertaining the troops in France. The Nazi war machine however is fast and merciless on the land and in the air and soon all of them find themselves in terrible danger. And as they are struck by the brutality of war they realise exactly who is most important to them and despite the odds, and in terrible circumstances, they determine to find each other again.

With the threat of capture, injury and death ever present, the four of them will have to find reserves of courage, love and endurance that they did not know they possessed.

The Villa - Rosanna Ley

When Tess Angel receives a solicitor's letter inviting her to claim her inheritance - the Villa Sirena, perched on a clifftop in Sicily - she is stunned. Her only link to the island is through her mother, Flavia, who left Sicily during World War II and cut all contact with her family. Initially resistant to Tess going back to her roots, Flavia realises the secrets from her past are about to be revealed and decides to try to explain her actions. Meanwhile, Tess' teenage daughter Ginny is stressed by college, by her blooming sexuality and filled with questions that she longs to ask her father, if only she knew where he was.

Three women, all seeking answers. Will Villa Sirena bring them together - or drive them apart?

The Moment by Douglas Kennedy

Berlin, during the period of perestroika in the 1980s. The male protagonist is a travel writer who falls desperately in love with a beautiful East Berlin woman, Petra. Their passionate relationship is destroyed when he finds out that Petra is a Stasi agent and, worse, that she has been using their relationship to gain information from him. He is devastated at such betrayal, believing that every element of their relationship had been false. It is only years later, once Petra is dead, that the narrator discovers the truth. Petra was being forced to give information to the Stasi, who were holding her son captive under threats of death. Too late he learns that the relationship was a sincere one -- the feelings were real -- and it was only Petra's fear for her son's life that led to her betrayal of her lover. But the crucial moment, when he had the choice to commit fully to her and find the truth or to walk away, has gone for ever.

The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett

Peter Byerly isn't sure what drew him into this particular bookshop in the Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye. Nine months earlier, the death of his beloved wife, Amanda, had left him shattered. The young antiquarian bookseller relocated from North Carolina to the English countryside, hoping to outrun his grief and rediscover the joy he once took in collecting and restoring rare books. But upon opening an eighteenth-century study of Shakespeare forgeries, Peter is shocked when a portrait of Amanda tumbles out of its pages. Of course, it can't be her. The watercolour is clearly Victorian. Yet the resenblance is uncanny, and Peter becomes obsessed with learning the picture's origins.

Evening Class by Maeve Binchy

The Italian evening class at Mountainview School is like hundreds of others starting up all over the city. But this class has its own special quality - as the focus for the varied hopes and dreams of teacher and pupils alike.

Aidan Dunne needs his new evening class project to succeed almost as much as his pupils do. They too are looking for something more: Bill to find a way to keep spendthrift Lizzie at his side and Fran to make sure that young Kathy finds her way out from behind the kitchen sink.

The key to their success lies with the Signora. Her passion has drawn her from Ireland to Italy and back home again with a burning desire to share her love of all things Italian - and a secret hidden in her heart ...

The English Assassin by Daniel Silva

Art restorer and sometime spy Gabriel Allon is asked to visit Zurich, to clean the work of an Old Master for a millionaire banker. But when he gets there he finds the corpse of his client in a pool of blood beneath the masterpiece, and discovers that a secret collection of priceless paintings – stolen by Nazis in the war – is missing.

With the Swiss authorities trying to pin the murder on Allon and a powerful cabal determined to make sure this wartime secret remains buried, the art restorer must use all his former spy skills to find out the truth. And with an assassin that he helped to train also on the loose, Allon will need all his wits just to stay alive …
x Jill

Ann, your book choice must be doubly good :-)

xx Jill

I thought Ann just wanted us to read that book twice Jill..

:-) :-)

Letters from Home by Kristina McMorris

Set in Chicago, its 1944, America has just entered the war. liz Stephens is engaged to a budding US Senator when she meets a GI with whom she has immediate rapport. He dances with her friend Beth, who begs Liz to write letters for her when he goes overseas..so begins a correspondence will alter their lives for ever.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo ...Dubbed the new Steig Larrson..Jo Nesbo is Norwegian

The story is a boy wakes to find his mother one, their home is empty but in the garden there is a snowman, with his mothers scarf on. Harry Hole and his team investigate and discover an alarming no of wives and mothers had gone missing over the years, then another woman goes missing now he knows he is dealing with a serial killer.

Sorry I have edited.

Sorry - suggestions delayed by Strictly

Can't remember if this has been suggested before but I hope not

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

In the summer of 1964 the year of the Civil Rights Act, a 14-year-old white girl, Lily, escapes her abusive father and finds refuge with an eccentric African-American beekeeper and her two sisters who help her solve a mystery related to her late mother.

Take a Look at me Now by Miranda Dickinson

What a difference a day makes…
Nell Sullivan has always been known as ‘Miss Five-Year Plan’. But when she finds herself jobless and newly single on the same day, Nell decides it is time to stop planning and start taking chances.
Nell blows her redundancy cheque on a trip of lifetime to a place where anything is possible – San Francisco. There she meets a host of colourful characters, including the intriguing and gorgeous Max. Very soon the city begins to feel like Nell’s second home.
But when it’s time to return to London, will she leave the ‘new Nell’ behind? And can the magic of San Francisco continue to sparkle thousands of miles away?
Heart-warming and romantic, Take a Look at Me Now will make you laugh, cry and cheer Nell on from start to finish.

The Promise of Happiness – by Erin Kaye
Join the McNeill family as they attempt to come together to provide the love and support that they all need – whether they know it or not. Perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy and Cathy Kelly. It's a family affair…
Louise McNeill arrives home to the idyllic Irish town of Ballyfergus, hoping that it will provide the sanctuary she desperately craves. Starting again with her three-year-old son Oli, Louise's heart is full of apprehension. To make matters worse, Louise's sister Joanne seems far from happy as she watches Louise's little family blossom. But as Joanne grapples with her 'perfect' marriage, is everything as idyllic as it seems?

The Accidental Husband – by Jane Green
Jane Green's The Accidental Husband is a powerful story about two women connected by an earth-shattering secret.
Maggie and Sylvie are perfect strangers: two very different women, living very different lives on opposite coasts. But they share more in common than they could ever imagine.
Both women have beautiful children on the verge of flying the nest, the home they worked hard to build and always longed for, and a handsome and devoted husband they can't believe belongs to them. Both women think their lives are seamlessly secure, but they couldn't be more wrong . .

Just waiting for Tess and not heard back from Helen either. I will be back later, I have visitors here this weekend.

I'm here!
Just bear with my while I type up my suggestions.

(I'm rather slow).
T.

First suggestion.

Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy.


Newly named head of an elite multinational task force, John Clark faces the world's greatest fear: international terrorism. And following each terrifying new outbreak - the ghosts from his own past.

The challenge of a new mission is just what Clark needs, but the opportunities come faster than he expected.
Hostage-taking at a Swiss bank.
The kidnapping of an international trader.
Carnage at a theme park in Spain
Each incident seems separate, yet the timing disturbs Clark.

Is there a connection? Is he being tested? Or is there a bigger threat out there, from terrorists so extreme that no government is ready to admit their existence?

Second suggestion.

The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp by Eva Rice

2962 Cornwall. Tara Jupp - vicar's daughter, occasional thief, expert rider and second fiddle to her sister 'the beauty' Lucy - sings at a wedding and is spotted by a record producer.
With the spotlight suddenly, thrillingly, shining on her alone, the roots of Tara's country existence are shaken free and she is propelled to Swinging Sixties London.

Plunged into a dazzling new world of fashion, music and heartache, in a city where the skirts are being hitched up as fast as the past is being pulled down, can Tara hold the limelight and hold on to who she really is?