The Playgroup by Leah Mercer

                                     

 Ebook:  283 pages      

Genre: Contemporary Psychological Thriller, Fiction                                           

Publisher:   21 March 2024 by Bookouture

Source:  NetGalley - My Kindle

First Sentence: The fire started slowly, shy tendrils of light lapping at the dark. 

Review Quote: ‘GRIPPING… Quickly DEVOURED… So many DELICIOUS secrets… My mind was OFFICIALLY BLOWN!’ @stamperlady50⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Setting: England

My Opinion: 

Leah Mercer, who also publishes as Talli Roland is an author I have been following since 2010 when she published her first novel.  In my opinion over the years her writing has gone from strength to strength. It took me less than two days to read this latest addictive psychological thriller. I just had to finish before going to sleep last night!

Four women that are connected by their workplace and the secrets they keep are the basis of the suspenseful storyline.  The protagonists, Lenore, Alice, Georgie and Beth alternately narrate this twisted web of secrets, that unravels at quite a pace. Depression, addiction, chronic illness and controlling partners all feature. Quite concerning when you consider that all theses women are working with young children!

Certainly kept me guessing, as every time I thought I had worked it all out there was another revelation. If you enjoy psychological thrillers this one is worth reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Breath catches in my throat and terror grips me as my daughter’s favourite jumper slides into focus. Time slows. Helpless, I watch my precious little girl run into the road. Screeching tyres slice through the quiet afternoon. Days from now, my friends will say the worst day of my life was all my fault…

A bright and welcoming haven, the playgroup sits at the heart of the town, tucked away inside a red-brick building. The Nest should have been the safest place for my rosy-cheeked, pink-obsessed daughter, Florence. Run by mothers like me, I trusted my newfound friends – Alice, Beth and Georgie – to take care of my child. But now my choice has left Florence fighting for her life.

My heart pounds thinking about what I will tell my husband, James. He stayed with me through the darkest times, and I thought some space would bring us closer. But as I watch our little girl sleeping in a hospital bed, I know our relationship may never recover from this.

How can I tell James what really happened if I don’t know myself? I can’t shake the feeling the other mothers are lying to me; they know I’d never let Florence leave the nursery by herself. We’ve all got dangerous secrets we want to protect, but if they expose mine, will anyone, including my husband, believe me when I say I didn’t harm my daughter?

A completely gripping psychological suspense about the dark price of protecting your family, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Adele Parks and Sally Hepworth.

Author Profile:                

                                                                                                                                    

                                           Courtesy of Goodreads

Leah, who was born in Halifax, Canada, can't remember a time when she didn't love writing. From creating fake newspapers to writing letters to the editor, scribbling something was always on the agenda. Even the rejections she received after completing her first novel at age 13 didn't dent her enthusiasm.

So it makes sense, then, that she pursued a career in anything but writing. Public relations, teaching, recruitment, editing medical journals -- even a stint painting houses -- until she finally succumbed once more to the lure of the blank page. 

When she's not being jumped on by her young son or burning supper while thinking of plot-lines, Leah can be found furiously tapping away on her laptop, trying not to check Twitter or Facebook. 

Leah also writes romantic comedies under the name Talli Roland. 

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Author -Official Website  Facebook Profile   Leah Mercer - Twitter Profile

Instagram Profile

The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore

                                 

Ebook:  336 pages                                                                                                

Genre:  Contemporary Fiction

Publisher: February 2023 HQ

Source:  My Kindle

First Sentence: Margo slammed the heavy door shut behind her, letting her hand linger on the cold brass of the doorknob.

Review Quote: ‘Moore finds wry humour in her protagonists’ dilemmas, conjures a beguiling sense of place, and wrings emotional depth out of the women’s fractious relationships with each other’ The Times

My Opinion:  

As a debut novel that I had heard a lot about I was looking forward to reading.  ‘The Garnett Girls’. It certainly met my expectations.

The Garnett Girls are Rachel, Imogen and Sasha three very different sisters whose early years were overshadowed by their free spirited mother and an alcoholic father who deserted them. The girls and their mother Margo are all weighed down by secrets, which they need to share with each other.  An intriguing family drama that centres around the family home on the Isle of Wight.

Recommended as an absorbing read for any reader that enjoys a well written character driven family story.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:


Forbidden, passionate and all-encompassing, Margo and Richard's love affair was the stuff of legend--but, ultimately, doomed. When Richard walked out, Margo locked herself away, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen, and Sasha, to run wild.

Years later, charismatic Margo entertains lovers and friends in her cottage on the Isle of Wight, refusing to ever speak of Richard and her painful past. But her silence is keeping each of the Garnett girls from finding true happiness.

Rachel is desperate to return to London but is held hostage by responsibility for Sandcove, their beloved but crumbling family home. Dreamy Imogen feels the pressure to marry her kind, considerate fiancé, even when life is taking an unexpected turn. Wild, passionate Sasha, trapped between her fractured family and controlling husband, is weighed down by a secret that could shake the family to its core.

The Garnett Girls, the captivating debut novel from Georgina Moore, asks whether children can ever be free of the mistakes of their parents.




Author Profile

                                            
                                                     

                                             Courtesy of Goodreads                                       

Georgina Moore grew up in London and lives on a houseboat on the River Thames with her partner, two children and Bomber, the Border Terrier. The Garnett Girls is her first novel and is set on the Isle of Wight, where Georgina and her family have a holiday houseboat called Sturdy.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Goodreads Profile.    Amazon Profile.    Georgina Moore - Twitter

Facebook Profile

A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo

 

                                                

Hardback:  332 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Contemporary Fiction 

Publisher: Canongate 2023

Source: Tywyn Public Library

First Sentences: Caro was angry. After one of her apprentices read the notice of meeting out loud to her, she there it across the room into a dustbin.

Review Quote: "Adebayo is carving a real name for herself as a chronicler of moving Nigeria-set stories with sociopolitical subtexts and a Dickensian flavour . . . Profound" ― Observer

Literary awards

Booker Prize Nominee for Longlist (2023), Dylan Thomas Prize Nominee for Longlist (2024)

My Opinion:  

This is a novel that brings to the attention of the reader the class tensions, poverty and political corruption that are all rife in Nigeria.

Two families are the centre of the story, firstly we meet  sixteen year old Eniola whose working class family life style was fine, until his father lost his job though redundancy. Unable to find other work the family has lost everything including their car and home. Eniola is even getting beaten at school because his parents have not paid his fees.

The second protagonist is Wuraola, a young woman in her late twenties, from a wealthy family. She is a doctor and currently doing a residency in a local public hospital that brings its problems for her.  Wuraola is feeling pressured to marry before she is thirty and finds herself engaged to a man she is unsure about.

These two are leading very different lives but they become entangled because of tragedy and violence.

My one gripe was the lack of glossary as being unfamiliar with some of the words I would have liked to have easily looked them up, rather than refer to external sources.  I would recommend A Spell of Good Things to anyone that wants to learn about life in modern day Nigeria.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

After a government edict cut his father's job, Eniola's family has been struggling to survive. His secondary school teachers beat him because of his unpaid fees, and his parents are behind on the rent and cannot pay for his apprenticeship at a tailoring shop. Nevertheless, he strives to make himself useful, folding wrappers and trying to forget about how he's taunted by schoolmates.

Wuraola, the daughter of the tailoring shop's most valued customer, is an exhausted young doctor who can barely catch any sleep as she works long hours in a public hospital. After her boyfriend proposes, their relationship accelerates towards marriage even as his darker side is exposed, risking her family's spell of good things.

Meanwhile, Eniola becomes caught in a tangle of decisions that will bring him into collision with political forces in the city, and harm his family and Wuraola's in the process. Following the lives of Eniola, Wuraola and their relatives, the novel traces the entwined fates of two families in a Nigerian city, one with all the fortune in the world and one that cannot catch a break.



Author Profile:

                                                           
                                                     

                                                            Courtesy of Goodreads                                       

Ayobami Adebayo was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her  stories have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, and one was highly commended in the 2009 Commonwealth short story competition. She holds BA and MA degrees in Literature in English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. She also has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia where she was awarded an international bursary for Creative Writing. Ayobami has been the recipient of fellowships and residencies from Ledig House, Hedgebrook, Threads, Ebedi Hills and Ox-Bow.
STAY WITH ME- UK (Canongate, March 2017), Nigeria (Ouida Books, April 2017), US (Knopf, August 2017), KENYA (Kwani?, August 2017) was her debut novel.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Amazon Author Page   Author Official Website.   Goodreads Profile Page

Twitter Profile

Escape to the Rome Apartment by Kerry Fisher

                                                  

Ebook:  271 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Fiction 

Publisher: April 11th 2024 Bookouture

Source: Net Galley - On My Kindle

First Sentence: Lainey's last letter was a gift and a guilt trip rolled into one.

Review Quote: ‘It has very positive messages about living your best life, but you have to work hard to find yourself and change it… The descriptions of Rome are amazing… I loved all the characters. A wonderful read.’ Goodreads Reviewer

My Opinion:  

Although Kerry Fisher has published a long list of novels since 2012 I have only just come across her writing and this is the first one I have read. ‘Escape to the Rome Apartment’ came to my attention being an Italophile. It is Book 3 of a series The Italian Escape, however that made no difference to my enjoyment of this story, as it stood alone perfectly.

Sara the middle aged protagonist embarks on a journey of self-discovery whilst carrying out her deceased best friends last wishes. The descriptions of her time in Italy transported me back to Milano, Firenze and Roma once again. I felt I was there with her, every step of the way as the story developed.

My love of Italy was definitely satisfied by this uplifting feel good read. Would recommend to lovers of romance and or Italy. Thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Sara’s eyes fill with tears as she reads the letter, her last words from her dearest ‘I’m buying you your freedom. You don’t need to ask your husband’s permission and you have to put yourself first for once. Have an incredible adventure before it’s too late for both of us…’Sara has lost her zest for life. Trapped sharing a house with her soon-to-be-ex-husband, with grown-up children who still need her but take her for granted, working in a job where her boss bullies her, the final straw is the heartbreak of losing her beloved best friend Lainey. But Lainey’s death could be the beginning of Sara’s new life… as the last gift Lainey gives to her friend is a sum of money and Sara travels to Italy, the scene of the pair’s youthful adventures, and scatters Lainey’s ashes on the beach at Portofino. For once, Sara decides to be brave. She quits her job, tells her family they can manage without her, and sets off on the trip of a lifetime. Swept up by new friends and relishing the freedom of being away from home in beautiful Florence, Sara finds herself drawn to Carlo. Handsome and charming, he is everything Sara finds it so hard to be carefree, impulsive, living in the moment without worrying about the future. And then Sara sees something she shouldn’t… and discovers a secret about Carlo that makes her question everything she thought she knew. Stuck at a crossroads in her life and her travels, she can’t face returning home yet, but nor is she brave enough to continue the challenge that Lainey set her. And then she meets an English woman who tells her about an apartment in Rome, that could just be the answer to everything…Return to the sunny streets of beautiful Rome with this heart-warming and romantic story about discovering your true path in life.



Author Profile

                                                                
                                                     

                                                            Courtesy of Goodreads                                       

For Biographical Information please visit the Kerry Fisher Website

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads Author Page.   Kerry Fisher Website.   Facebook Profile - Kerry Fisher

Twitter - Kerry Fisher Author

The Library by Bella Osborne.

                                               

Ebook:  384 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Contemporary Fiction 

Publisher: Aria and Aries, Sept 2021

Source: My Kindle

First Sentence: My name is Tom Harris and I am invisible.

Review Quote: 'It's hard to convey what a charming, affecting, uplifting and entertaining read it is' My Weekly

Favourite Quote:   An embrace can be on many different levels but the basic sensation of emotional and physical warmth given freely by another is most noticeable when it is no longer there.

Main Characters: Tom, a youngster about to take his exams and Maggie a pensioner

My Opinion:  

A delightful story about a friendship between a lively but only pensioner and a shy, grieving teenage boy.  A chance meeting in the local village library leads gradually to a close bond between the two of them.

The reader travels on an emotional journey with the protagonists Tom and Maggie as they both navigate, with each others help some personal issues.

Throughly recommend this heart warming read, as it tackles recognisable themes that give it a wide appeal.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Two different generations. Two unusual people. Thrown together to save their local library.
Tom is a teenager and blends into the background of life. After a row with his dad, and facing an unhappy future at the dog food factory, he escapes to the library. Tom unwittingly ends up with a bagful of romance novels and comes under the suspicion of Maggie.

Maggie is a pensioner and has been happily alone for ten years, at least that's what she tells herself. When Tom comes to her rescue, a friendship develops that could change her life. As Maggie helps Tom to stand up for himself, Tom helps Maggie realise the mistakes of her past don't have to define her future.

They each set out to prove that the library isn't just about books – it's the heart of their community.

Together they discover some things are worth fighting for.



Author Profile

                                                     

                                                            Courtesy of Goodreads                                       

Bella has been jotting down stories as far back as she can remember but decided that 2013 would be the year that she finished a full length novel. Since then she’s written a number of best-selling romantic comedies and book club reads and won the RNA Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year Award 2022.

Bella's stories are about friendship, love and coping with what life throws at you. She likes to find the humour in the darker moments of life and weaves these into her stories. Her novels are often serialised in four parts ahead of the full book publication.

Bella lives in The Midlands, UK with her husband, daughter and a cat who thinks she’s a dog. When not writing Bella is usually eating custard creams and planning holidays.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads Author Page.    Amazon Author Profile.    Twitter Profile

Bella Osborne - Author Website.    Instagram Profile.    Facebook Author Page

Broken Light by Joanne Harris

 

                                              

Hardback:  420 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Publisher: Orion 2023

Source: Tywyn Public Library

First Sentences: The first seven years of my life are a blank. I don't remember a thing before that. Most children remember something of their early years, but not me.

Review Quote:   'Blazes with anger and sorrow' MARIAN KEYES

My Opinion: Having been a fan of this author for many years I was looking forward to reading ‘Broken Light’. Joanna has I think a very individual style of writing that in my opinion doesn’t compare to anyone else, that I have read anyway.

‘Broken Light’ is a cruel story about the invisibility of middle aged women. The menopausal protagonist has paranormal tendencies which makes for an intriguing and at times terrifying read.

Strong and emotionally driven characters built around some important current issues in modern society discern this recommended read. A great choice for some lively Book Club discussion.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Bernie Moon is feeling invisible. She's given her life to other people - her husband, her son, her mother, her friends (not that she has any of them left). At 16, she was full of promise and power. Now, facing 50, she's a fading light.

But when a young woman is killed in her local area, it sparks childhood memories of a talent she used to have, one long since hidden.

She said she'd never use it again.

She knows it could destroy not only her, but everyone around her.

Bernie Moon is no longer invisible, but is everyone else ready for what she's about to become?

 

Author Profile:

Goodreads  Author photo.

About Joanne Harris (courtesy of her official website)

Joanne Harris (OBE, FRSL) was born in Barnsley in 1964, of a French mother and an English father. She studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at Cambridge and was a teacher for fifteen years, during which time she published three novels, including Chocolat (1999), which was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche .

Since then, she has written 19 more novels, plus novellas, short stories, game scripts, the libretti for two short operas, several screenplays, a stage musical (with Howard Goodall) and three cookbooks. Her books are now published in over 50 countries and have won a number of British and international awards. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, has honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of Sheffield and Huddersfield, and has been a judge for the Whitbread Prize, the Orange Prize, the Desmond Elliott Prize, the Betty Trask Award, the Prima Donna Prize  and the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science, as well as for the Fragrance Foundation awards for perfume and perfume journalism (for which she also received an award in 2017). She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2022.

She is a passionate advocate for authors’ rights, and was the Chair of the Society of Authors (SOA) for four years. She is currently a member of the Board of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).

Her hobbies are listed in Who’s Who as: “mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quiet subversion of the system”, although she also enjoys obfuscation, sleaze, rebellion, witchcraft, armed robbery, tea and biscuits. She is not above bribery and would not necessarily refuse an offer involving perfume, diamonds,  foreign travel or pink champagne. She works from a shed in her garden, plays in the band she first joined when she was 16, and lives with her husband in a little wood in Yorkshire.

The biographical information and photo used in this post are with thanks to the following websites, where you can also find more information about the author and her writing. 

Amazon Author Profile - Joanne Harris    Official Website - Joanne Harris  

 Goodreads Author Profile