Hobbies and Crafts

As usual 2 books


Review date will be Thursday 22 December to clear before Christmas. :-D :-D

Times Legacy by Barbara Erskine
Ancient secrets buried deep in Glastonbury’s past.
And one woman’s quest to finally set them free.
Cambridge, present day: Following the death of her mother, Abi Rutherford receives a mysterious bequest – a misshapen crystal sphere known as the Serpent’s Stone, which gives her glimpses into mysteries long concealed by the church.
Western England, 25 AD: A stranger has come to the chilly Somerset wetlands, with a story of hope and reconciliation. But he is being followed by powerful forces, determined that he will not undermine Roman rule in Britain.
Abi questions what connects these ancient events and her gift. Why do so many people seem desperate to hide the truth?
A dark shadow has fallen across the centuries, and a woman is in fear for her life. But is it danger that awaits her, or the final truth so long whispered across the echoes of time?

I had here suggested another book but, although it had not been chosen it had been reviewed by 2 people so I have changed my choice (In case anyone saw it and is puzzled). And I was wrong it actually got 2 votes, brain must be going sorry!.

Last one home by Debbie Macomber

12 years ago Cassie Carter chose the wrong man and one fateful event drove 3 sisters apart.
Now, hoping to leave her past behind, Cassie has returned to Washington with her daughter. Though her sisters don’t live too far away, she doesn’t expect to see them. Karen, the oldest, is a busy wife and mother, balancing her career with raising two children. And Nichole, the youngest, is a stay at home mum whose husband indulges her every whim. But one day, Cassie receives a letter from Karen offering the hope of reconciliation.

As Cassie opens herself up to new possibilities – making amends with her sisters, finding love once more – she realises the power of compassion, and the promise of a fresh start.

From Perse

Killing Helen by Sarah Challis

Starting an affair with Robert is easy. Bored with the awkward, boorish single men of her own age and flattered by the confident attentions of a handsome stranger, Harriet is excited by the idea of a lustful friendship, as Robert chooses to describe it. A commitment-free fling is ideal, and the existence of a wife is a minor inconvenience. But then Harriet finds out about his other mistress...
So, escaping the head and hubbub of a musician's life in London, for the sleepy seclusion of a cottageon a farm in Somerset, Harriet begins to plan exactly how she is going to eliminate her enemy. A bit of a different type of book from Sarah Challis.

Keep Quiet By Lisa Scottoline

Jake Buckman's relationship with his sixteen-year-old son Ryan is not an easy one, so at the urging of his loving wife, Pam, Jake goes alone to pick up Ryan at their suburban movie theater. On the way home, Ryan asks to drive on a deserted road, and Jake sees it as a chance to make a connection. However, what starts as a father-son bonding opportunity instantly turns into a nightmare. Tragedy strikes, and with Ryan's entire future hanging in the balance, Jake is forced to make a split-second decision that plunges them both into a world of guilt and lies. Without ever meaning to, Jake and Ryan find themselves living under the crushing weight of their secret, which threatens to tear their family to shreds and ruin them all.

Hello,

My two books are

A Christmas angel at the ragdoll orphanage
Lambert, Suzanne, author
When Suzanne was left, two weeks old, at the door of an orphanage, it was Nancy the nanny who fought for the right to adopt her. Now, 60 years later, Suzanne is sharing the untold story of all the many orphans that her mother Nancy saved throughout the 1940s and 50s. As a teenager, Nancy accompanied the orphans to the other side of the country when they were evacuated during the war years. When they finally returned, 6 long years later, she vowed to dedicate her life to the children. 'A Christmas Angel at the Ragdoll Orphanage' tells the story of a remarkable woman, who worked tirelessly to give society's most vulnerable children a chance of home and happiness.

book 2
The mirror sisters
Andrews, V. C. (Virginia C.), author
As identical twins, their mother insists that everything about them be identical: their clothes, their toys, their friends, the number of letters in their names: Haylee Blossom Fitzgerald and Kaylee Blossom Fitzgerald. If one gets a hug, the other must, too. If one gets punished, the other must be, too. Homeschooled at an early age, when the girls finally attend a real high school they find little ways to highlight the differences between them. But when Haylee runs headfirst into the dating scene, both sisters are thrust into a world their mother never prepared them for - causing one twin to pursue the ultimate independence. The one difference between the two girls may spell the difference between life and a fate worse than death

Ann I've been reading your other thread about your daughter, hope you get a update soon regarding her medication and food.

Anne

Thanks Anne. I did get an update they were able to retrieve their belongings and the electric was back on and they were hoping to move on the next day if the roads were ok, but about 3 hours after she sent that there was another Quake I believe and I have heard nothing since. It is the middle of the night there so we haven't a clue what is happening now.

Just clocked the significance of the date!.

Will be back shortly with my suggestions.

Here they are -

First a Classic, which I read when in my teens, probably an abridged version.

Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore

First published in 1869, Lorna Doone is the story of John (Jan) Ridd, a young farmer who finds love amid the religious and social turmoil of seventeen the century England and The Monmouth Rebellion,

He is just a big when his father is slain by the Doones, a lawless clan inhabiting wild Exmoor, on the boarders of Somerset and Devon.

As Jan Ridd grows to manhood he is determined to right the wrongs of his land and to won the heart and hand of the beautiful Lorna Doone.



My second suggestion is a nonfiction book ........

There's something I've Been Dying to Tell You. by Lynda. Bellingham.

(Note - I have a 2015 paperback edition, which includes a chapter by her husband, Michael, about his love for the, her love of life, and her glorious final send-off).

Lynda Bellingham was a tremendously gifted storyteller with a rich collection of tales of love, loss and laughter, and this memoir brings her kind heart, courage and emotion to the page in vivid detail.

This is a brave and brutally honest memoir about Lynda's own battle with cancer, written in what turned out to be her final months. Her story us an affecting and at times heartbreaking one, but it is so often laugh-out-loud too, and ultimately the way Lynda told her life story serves as a great inspiration to us all.

The Wardrobe Mistress - Natalie Meg Evans

War has been over more than a year but rationing and shortages persist. The worst winter in two-hundred years is just around the corner. London desperately needs an injection of cheer and colour, and the glamorous Farren Theatre Company intends to provide it.

Young war widow, Vanessa Kingcourt, has just been hired as wardrobe mistress at the notorious old theatre the Farren in London. Working backstage at the Farren is a lifelong ambition, and she's looking to re-find the sense of purpose that war work gave her. But when Vanessa becomes romantically entangled with the Farren's married owner - the enigmatic Alistair Redenhall - Vanessa's career, and her very happiness, are put on the line.


The House on Bellevue Gardens - Rachel Hore

Rosa has arrived in London from Poland to look for her younger brother Michael. But he has disappeared, and now she’s alone, with nowhere to stay and no one to help her.

Stef is running away from her boyfriend Oliver and the claustrophobic life she’s been living in his opulent flat. Frightened, friendless and far from her family, she needs somewhere to hide.

Rick is living in a limbo; a shy young man sheltering from the world to write and draw and dream. He needs a place to nourish his creativity.

All three find refuge at 11 Bellevue Gardens, the shabbiest house of a smart white-painted Georgian terrace in North London. Here, its owner Leonie herself once found sanctuary following a brief career as a model in the sixties and a destructive marriage. Now, out of gratitude, she opens her house to others in need.

However, the house which has provided sanctuary for so many is now itself under threat. Can Leonie rescue the place that saved her all those years ago…?

I have messaged Pammy, I hope she is ok but I had no notification of her being on holiday. I will leave it until this evening and then hold the vote anyway. Maybe she is at work and not on the pc.