The Hill in the Dark Grove by Liam Higginson

I loved the slow, beautiful writing in this book, and Carwyn's life on the Welsh sheep farm immediately drew me in. The story takes some time, but I was in no hurry for it, because I loved the farm life. The gentle pace of the love story between Carwyn and Rhian was perfect. And the loveliness of their story only means you dread even more the horror that you sense is coming. The darkness starts small, but grows and intensifies, and whilst you never really understand the truth of what is actually happening, you care enough about both Carwyn & Rhian that the darkness feels overwhelming and utterly unfair.
And dark it is. This, ultimately, is no happy love story or cute farm tale...Life on the farm is very, very hard, and the descriptions of what Carwyn and Rhian go through are vivid, so buckle in for a pretty traumatic ride.
I was ever so slightly disappointed at the end, but I couldn't quite tell if that was because I was hoping against hope for a better resolution, or if I just had wanted a different resolution, but the writing was brilliant, and I would definitely read more from this author.

With thanks to the publishers and Net Galley for my copy.

Paradise by Julie Cohen

 I loved this story so much.  I was caught up in Katie's drama immediately, and the more I read, the more involved I felt in Katie and Nic's worlds, wondering what would happen, if Katie would get her memory back, and what might happen if she did.  Whilst it's set post-lockdown, as the world is starting to edge towards normal, it isn't a pandemic novel.  It's a story about friendship, and love, and what happen when you are lying to yourself, as well as to everyone else.  

I was another little girl growing up reading Harriet the Spy, and so it felt easy to imagine myself friends with these two girls, feeling envious of their detective investigations!  You get to know both of them very well, and their summer lives are so colourful and engaging.  The lake, and the pond, felt very real, as did the families of both girls, and I was swept up in their stories, reading the last third of the novel all in one go because I couldn't bear to put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers for my copy.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

Although it feels a bit mean to give this 2 stars I feel I have to because of how angry I was when I finished it!  I really wanted to read this book because of the title and the description.  I heard a history talk earlier this year, and she mentioned the women who encoded information into knitted items and I found it fascinating, so this book sounded like it would be really interesting.  I enjoy wartime stories, I enjoy knitting and crochet...what could possibly go wrong?

The book starts fairly well - I was interested in Lenny, and her adventure into War Office work.  I was sometimes unsettled by her attitude, but I enjoyed her secret spy training and her idea of putting morse code into the knitting with the different stitches.  So far, so good.  But when she is dropped in France, with a new secret identity, things started to go wrong for me.  Instead of sneaking around and coding things into scarves and socks and jumpers and smuggling them to the British, she manages 1 scarf, and then that doesn't even end up getting to the right people!  The story turns into more of a romance, but then even that became disappointing as, without giving away spoilers, Lenny seems very changeable and I did shout 'what?!' a few times.  I persevered to the end, in the hopes that things might get better, but instead we lurch back into the present day (and I had completely forgotten that we'd started there to be honest) but we never actually see Lenny relate her spy history to her family.  It felt like a rushed ending to me, and I was still feeling grumpy about the lack of knitting and the dodgy romance plot.

If you don't mind a slightly random wartime story then do go ahead because there were parts I really enjoyed reading, and had the book had a different title and blurb I wouldn't have felt half as cheated!  But if, like me, you're hoping for yarn-based subterfuge then I'm afraid I would recommend you look elsewhere...

With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy in return for an honest review.

A Chapter of Accidents: Twenty-seven Rediscovered Stories L.M. Montgomery Edited by Carolyn Strom Collins

Being a total Anne of Green Gables nerd, I was overjoyed to get to read this volume of short stories by Lucy Maud Montgomery.  LMM's books have been such a huge part of my life, and who I am, for so many years now that it's delightful and surprising to read something 'new' from LMM.  I felt that same buzz of excitement that I had years ago when I discovered that it wasn't just the Anne & Emily novels she had written, but that there was lots more besides!

This is a good collection of stories that haven't been in print since they were published in the various newspapers and periodicals that originally paid for them.  Most were written before Anne was published in 1908, with five of them written shortly after that, and one from 1932.  They are a mixture of those very moralistic tales she penned for younger children, and then other (more interesting, to me) grown-up stories.  I always love LMM best when she is funny, and there were some really good moments in this collection.  You can see flashes of parts or ideas that she used later in her novels, and it's interesting to see her writing develop.  I enjoyed thinking to myself as I read 'oh, well that's the start of idea of the disappointed house' or 'that feels like a very Anne-ish disaster!'  

There were one or two stories that sat a little uncomfortably - with rather young women being 'seduced' by much older men.  But on the whole I was caught up in these little flashes of characters that she brings to life so beautifully.  There isn't quite the same sense of place as you find in the novels - I fell in love with Prince Edward Island long before I actually managed to go there - but there are flashes of description that I could see were the start of how she writes to create a sense of place.

It's a lovely collection, with a good range of stories, and just perfect for all the many LMM fans out there who are always eager to read a little more.  Thank you so much to the publishers and to NetGalley for my review copy.

Frogs for Watchdogs by Sean Farrell

I fell into this book, charmed by the small boy narrator, my head making his Irish accent.  I loved the countryside life, the single mum struggles, the wise older sister, and the elderly neighbour friend of the boy.  And the boy felt real, which is always difficult to capture I think, but I totally believed in his character.  I also enjoyed the darker side to the story (and felt very anxious for many chapters), and that added mystery/suspense side added a lot to the story, making the final, gentle slow approaching finale hit home with a bigger impact.  It does meander, as a tale, and it doesn't get anywhere quickly, but if you're in the right mood for that then it's just perfect.

With thanks to the publishers, and to Net Galley, for my copy.

October books catch-up

 

When the world is a hot mess, I find safety and comfort in Alexander McCall Smith's stories, so 'In a time of pumpkins' was a nice start to the month.
'How to get away with murder' by Rebecca Philipson was great all the way until the disappointing end, though looking at Goodreads I am in the minority on this so maybe focus on the fact that I raced through the rest of it happily enough!
I thoroughly enjoyed 'The impossible fortune' by Richard Osman, which was much less tragic than the last one. (I have bought into the idea of Celia Imrie as Joyce, but the whole Pierce Brosnan is Ron business is nonsense. But anyway, just read the books!)
'Alea Aquarius, The water's call' by Tanya Stewner was VERY exciting to read because Tanya is my friend! We lived together in London many years ago, and she always said she was going to be a writer, and now she is a hugely popular children's author in Germany. This is the first book to be translated, thank goodness, because my GCSE German was never going to manage a novel. It's an exciting adventure story with interesting characters, and I loved it!
'A body at the Christmas Book Fair' by Helen Cox sounded hugely promising because it is a librarian-turned-private investigator! This is quite some way into the series, though, so I felt a little left out not knowing the characters or the origin story. It was a spooky start, so intriguing and an easy read.
'Love Lane' by Patrick Gale is just gorgeous. I loved the characters, I was completely caught up in their stories. Wonderful.
'The ending writes itself' by Evelyn Clarke. I hadn't realised, as I read it, there was a lot of buzz about this or that it was co-authored. It explains why I sometimes felt like I was reading two stories. It was another where I really enjoyed it until the end. I thought it was going to do something much cleverer than it did. But still, lots of it was good, and maybe my ending expectations are too high!

How to Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson

Well now, this is tricky.  I raced through most of this book, really enjoying it.  I liked detective Sam, back at work after several months leave following a sexual assault at work that's been covered up.  I liked the jovial 'how to' murder book, and I was intrigued by the crime and what had happened.  I felt the pacing was good, and I could feel that we were building towards *something*...I did have an inkling of what that something might be, but I was hoping I was wrong.

Without giving spoilers, I was not wrong.

I just really didn't like the ending, and I think that reading other reviews, I might be in the minority with this!  But I was disappointed.  I get why it went for the twist, but I would have preferred a slightly different denouement.

But still, for the most part, this was an excellent read so I haven't allowed the end to sway me too much!

With thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for my copy.