Friday 8 March 2024

Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood #StoneYardDevotional #CharlotteWood @SceptreBooks @MrFeditor #BookReview

 


Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of the Australian outback. She doesn't believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident.

But disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signalling a new battle against the rising infestation. Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before, presumed murdered. And finally, a troubling visitor plunges the narrator further back into her past.




Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood was published on 7 March 2024 by Sceptre. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I was totally entranced by this novel. At around three hundred pages, it's not a long read, but it's one that lingered in my head, even after I'd put it down. 

Made up of diary-like thoughts of an unnamed woman, this is a quiet book that slowly introduces the reader to the narrator's innermost thoughts. It could be difficult to related to a character when you don't even know her name, but not here, her name is not needed, for we totally understand her and her actions throughout. 

The woman needs to get away from life. The pain of a broken relationship, the anguish of a close friend's terminal illness and the remnants of grief about her dead parents all combine to make her want to escape. She finds sanctuary at a religious retreat in the Australian outback, far away from her home in Sydney and close to where she spent her childhood years. Whilst she is not religious herself, she respects the nuns, attending their services and working alongside them in the kitchen and the garden. 

There are sisters who the woman favours, some who annoy her, yet she is welcomed and soon, this place becomes home. Her stark cabin, the chickens in the yard, and the few other visitors become her way of life. 

Whilst not religious, the woman's narrative becomes something of a confession, she is able to explore her feelings openly, she accepts her flaws and that her friends and her work colleagues feel let down that she has left them. Her memories of her mother are poignant and telling, very different to how she feels about her late father. We do not know why her marriage broke down, we know that Alex, her husband, left, maybe her leaving her ordinary life is her response?

There are certain things that happen to to woman on retreat, that really shape her story.  There is a terrible infestation of mice; a plague almost. The women and the others at the retreat spend hours fighting against the damage done by these small creatures, there are some horrific things witnessed, and the impact of thousands of these small creatures is shocking. 

When the nuns receive news that the skeleton of one of their sisters, murdered overseas, has been found, it is a huge task to bring her remains home. The world has been grounded by the pandemic, just getting officials to answer legal questions is almost impossible, and the actual act of getting the remains from one side of the world to another is very trying. The remains do return, and with them is a woman who is familiar to the woman. Now a member of the order, the woman remembers this woman as a girl who was constantly bullied in school, who never fought back, who was the victim of her own mother's failings. At first, the woman is wary, but as time moves on, she and this visitor begin to engage, resulting in a different feeling about the past. 

Wood's writing is sparse and abrupt at times, yet it is so powerful and moving. There is something so forceful about this novel, from the desolation of the landscape, to the destruction created by the mice and the woman's slow realisation of herself. It is a novel about grief and escape, about finding one's place in the world and dealing with the things that stop life from moving on freely. 

Beautiful, quiet and contemplative. Highly recommended. 



Charlotte Wood is the author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. 

Her novel The Natural Way of Things won the 2016 Stella Prize, the Indie Book of the Year and Novel of the Year Awards, and was joint winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction. 

Her next novel, The Weekend, was an international bestseller and was shortlisted for the 2020 Stella Prize, the Prime Minister's Literary Award and the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. 

In 2019 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and named one of the Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence. 

Her features and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Guardian, Literary Hub and Sydney Morning Herald, among others. 

Charlotte lives in Sydney with her husband.

www.charlottewood.com.au

IG @charlottewoodwriter

Facebook CharlotteWoodWriter



Thursday 7 March 2024

All Us Sinners by Katy Massey #AllUsSinners @TangledRoots1 @BooksSphere @edwoodeditior @Gabriellamay24 #BookReview

 


Leeds, 1977. A chill lies over the city: sex workers are being murdered by a serial killer they are calling the 'Ripper', the streets creeping with fear.

Tough, sharp, but tender, Maureen runs Rio's, a clean, discreet brothel in the city. She's a good boss who takes great care of her workers - especially her best girls, Bev and Anette. The Ripper may be terrifying girls who work the street, but at Rio's the girls seem safer.

But when Bev's sweet-natured son is found beaten to death, a figure from Maureen's past, DS Mick Hunniford, shows up at her door. Does his arrival herald danger or salvation? And who can Maureen really trust?

The impressive and moving debut crime novel from huge new talent Katy Massey opens up a world we have rarely seen, at a time of great danger and drama.




All Us Sinners by Katy Massey is published today; 7 March by Sphere Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 


Despite the themes in this novel, and the grimy, dingy and sometimes squalid setting, there's a powerful, almost poetic feel to the writing. As a reader, I felt somewhat voyeuristic, as though I were standing on the sidelines, privy to the characters's thoughts and emotions. That's not to say that these characters are distant or inaccessible - they are beautifully created and I was totally invested in all of them.

Leeds in 1977 wasn't the most jolly of places to be. The city is overshadowed by the on-going search for the man they are calling the 'Ripper'. A fiend who targets sex workers, murdering and mutilating their bodies, and leaving them for others to find. Despite the horrors of women being murdered, there's certainly an element of disdain shown toward the victims. These are women who walk the streets and sell their bodies. Some of the police officers on the case, and many of the public, led by the press have their own opinions about what the Ripper is doing, and some of the comments make for very hard reading. 

However, the Ripper is not the only murderer on the streets, and women have not been the only victims. When young David is found beaten to death outside a backstreet pub, his mother Bev, and her colleagues are heartbroken, and angry. 

Bev and Annette work for Maureen at Rio's; a sauna and massage parlour. Maureen takes the lead in this novel, it is her story and whilst the killings are centre stage, it is Maureen's own life story that is the most compelling.  A woman with a tortured background, whose mother left when she was just a girl, Maureen appears hard and at times, very cold. Yet there's a vulnerability in her that shines through every now and again; she cares deeply about her 'girls', and is determined that David's killer will be brought to justice. 

There's one man who knows a great deal about Maureen. DS Mick Hunniford, from Liverpool originally, but has been in Leeds for many years. Mick knew Maureen when she was that young, abandoned girl, he has watched her enter the sex trade, and knows more about her than he has ever said. I'd love to learn more about Mick, he's not a regular copper, there's so much more to him; from his fastidiously tidy car, to this reaction to comments made by his peers. He has depth and is an intriguing character for sure. 

This is an intelligent, complex and beautifully written story, led completely by the colourful characters who populate it. As the story progresses, the reader becomes more aware of just how strong Maureen is, the lengths that she will go to to ensure that justice is found.  Leeds in the 1970s was a very different place to the city now, and the author's descriptions are magical, along with her clever characterisation and the inclusion of the unexpected along the way. 

Written from the heart, with the odd touch of humour to shine a little light into the darkness, All Us Sinners is an accomplished and skilled debut from an author who is certainly one to watch. 




Katy Massey was a journalist for many years before studying for an MA and PhD in
Creative Writing. 

Her memoir, Are We Home Yet? was published in 2020 and praised by Bernardine Evaristo as 'a gem'. It was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Portico Prize. 

In addition, her fiction and nonfiction work has been widely anthologised, including Common People edited by Kit de Waal, The Place for Me, and speculative collection Glimpse. 

All Us Sinners is her first novel, an unusual take on the crime genre featuring Maureen, a tough but tender-hearted brothel-keeper in 1970s Leeds. She is unexpectedly drawn into investigating the killing of a friend's son, events which take place against the disturbing backdrop of the Yorkshire Ripper's murder spree.

X @TangledRoots1

Facebook KatyMasseyAuthor



Wednesday 6 March 2024

Dark Clouds Bring Waters by I R Ridley BLOG TOUR #DarkCloudsBringWaters @IanRidley1 @RandomTTours #BookReview

 


We all have questions for the dead...

Comedy writer Luke Jessop's life is in stasis. 

He hasn't written a word since his wife, Billie, died almost three years ago and on finding a pile of old letters from her ex, Adam, he has begun to wonder how well he really knew her. 

Embarking on a pilgrimage to Italy, Luke determines to piece together the full story about his wild and sometimes secretive love. 

But with Adam refusing to answer his questions and a flame-haired hotel guest threatening his fragile calm, can Luke finally face the truths of the past and learn to live again?




Dark Clouds Bring Waters by I R Ridley was published on 7 February 2024 by V Books. My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour


Dark Clouds Bring Waters is short novel at just 136 pages in the paperback edition. Despite the short length it is a novel that is so affecting, so emotional and at times very raw. I am positive that the author has drawn from his own emotions and feelings whilst writing this which adds a poignancy to the story. It is breathtaking in its beauty at times, startling in imagery and beautifully developed. 

Luke Jessop is a comedy writer, he is also a widow, and the death of his wife Billie three years ago has left him bereft, unable to write and struggling with life overall.  Luke recently discovered a box of letters and some diaries in Billie's office, he only read the most recently dated letter which was sent to Billie in May 1993; many years before she and Luke met. 

Luke always knew that Billie had had relationships in the past, she was a beautiful, vibrant, intelligent woman, and they didn't meet and fall in love until they were both older. Reading the words written in the letter sparks a thirst for more knowledge in Luke, and the reader meets him as he lands at a small airport in Genoa, Italy.

Luke and Billie had spent happy times together in a beautiful small hotel in the region. Far away from the well known tourist traps. However, Luke's memories are marred by the fact that Billie had been seriously ill on their final visit, and now he has returned alone. This is not just a pilgrimage though. Luke is determined to find the author of the letters, to speak to Adam, the man who Billie once loved. 

This is wonderfully told novel of searching for the truth and exposing one's inner thoughts and feelings. As Luke learns more about Billie's past, and considers their own relationship, he grows in himself. Both Luke and Billie are flawed characters, and although most certainly desperately in love, their arguments could be as passionate as their love making. At times Luke finds it so hard, walking the paths that he walked with Billie, seeing the sights, taking the same boat trips and eating in the same places. It becomes a healing process for him, although his pain, at times is clearly laid out. 

This is a novel to savour, with characters to discover and get to know, in a beautiful setting filled with sunshine and colours. Luke learns so much and also understands more about his late wife. It is a story of love, grief and of hope. Highly recommended. 




IAN RIDLEY is a writer and journalist who spent 35 years on national newspapers,
including 18 on The Guardian and The Observer. 

DARK CLOUDS BRING WATERS is his third novel, and a move into literary fiction after his two crime thrillers, OUTER CIRCLE and DON’T TALK, in the ‘Jan Mason investigative journalist’ series.

Ian has also written 14 non-fiction books, including two shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. Addicted, written with the former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams, was a Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller while The Breath of Sadness: On love, grief and cricket is a poignant account of coping with the death of his wife Vikki Orvice, a trailblazing sports journalist, in February of 2019 at the age of 56. 

www.v-books.co.uk

X @IanRidley1





The Colossus by Simon Wright BLOG TOUR #TheColossus @ScarfBooks @RandomTTours #BookExtract

 


1630, Constantinople

A brilliant young thief, Emir, stows away on the Colossus, a ship with a murderous, mutinous crew, who covet a powerful relic on board. Sucked into a treasonous plot, Emir must foil the mutiny and save the precious cargo, before a fellow crewman seals his fate.

2012, London

Professor Daniel Fairlight isn’t alone in his search for a lost legendary artefact. An elite Ottoman military unit is tracking him. In too deep to turn back now, Daniel rushes to retrieve the relic and escape with his life.

Duman Osman, a brutal and ruthless zealot, will stop at nothing to control the secret and fulfil his destiny.

Separated by nearly four hundred years, Daniel and Emir are both running out of time to save the relic from falling into the wrong hands.

A fateful voyage of friendship and sacrifice, treachery and redemption, aboard a ship full of secrets ... The Colossus.



The Colossus by Simon Wright was published on 29 February 2024 and is Book One in the Red Scarf series.
As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I am delighted to share an extract from the book with you today. 



Extract from The Colossus by Simon Wright 

Prologue

September 7, 1566

Hungary

It had been a long, brutal month. The longest of his forty-six-year reign. And it would also be his last.

Suleiman the Magnificent knew he was now close to death. Illness had ravaged him in recent years, but this hadn’t kept him from the field. Now, lying on a grand bed in his battle tent, he reflected on his reign. He had much to be proud of. He had conquered lands from Hungary to Persia, from Portugal to Somalia. He counted over twenty-five million people under his rule. And here he was, back in Hungary once again. Had it all been worth it, or was it just a never-ending cycle of lands gained and souls lost?

He listened to raindrops tapping on the tent canvas. A cool breeze blew through the opening, briefly teasing his long white beard, even as life crept from his body. His tall, muscular stature had been eroded by his slow sickness. His gentle hazel eyes had lost their light. All that he had been was leaving him now.

‘Where is my grand vizier?’ Suleiman wheezed to his servant kneeling nearby.

‘He is still at the front, Your Imperial Majesty.’

Sokollu Mehmed Pasha had taken much of the burden of leadership off the shoulders of his sultan in recent weeks. They were camped at Szigetvár, no more than ten miles from the southern Hungarian border. In the last days of this siege against the stronghold, the vizier had taken to sleeping in the trenches with his men. Such was his drive to conclude this battle and get his sultan back into the recuperating arms of Constantinople.

This was an unusual approach for any officer, let alone a grand vizier, but Mehmed was a warrior at heart. His had not been the political upbringing of so many of his predecessors. He had been pressed into military service as a young boy called Sokollu, through the devşirme system of child slavery. There he became a Janissary, part of a small elite force who moulded their conscripts into ruthless fighting machines. He was renamed Mehmed, and it wasn’t long before he started moving through the ranks. In many ways, he was still at his most comfortable leading men into battle.

That very night he had put an audacious new plan in place. If it worked, it would bring this bloody battle to a rapid and timely conclusion. Both sides had seen many men fall. Far too many. It was time to finish this.




Simon Wright was born, raised and continues to live in and around the Home Counties of
London, England. 

He has forged a career as a leadership and brand consultant, advising and coaching business leaders internationally. 

When challenged on his credentials as a writer he cites a school commendation for creative writing and winning the Jane Austen award for achievements in English at his sixth form college. 

He acknowledges that other writers have more prestigious credentials. 

Simon’s first book, The Colossus, is volume one of a series and was inspired by a Guardian article concerning a real life shipwreck salvage operation. 

As a middle aged, middle class, white male living in southern England Simon feels uniquely qualified to take us on a century spanning Ottoman high seas adventure. 

He suggests that, through meticulous collaboration, he has managed to create a highly readable book, but also admits that the Oxford comma continues to keep him awake at night.

www.simonwrightbooks.com

X @ScarfBooks




Tuesday 5 March 2024

In Our Crime by Jude O'Reilly #InOurCrime #ShortStories #Anthology @judithoreilly #BookReview

 


In Our Crime: An anthology of crime short stories for 2023 from thriller writer Jude O’Reilly

An entertaining collection of award-winning crime and mystery short stories from bestselling writer Jude O’Reilly.

Nine engaging short stories from cosy crime to mystery to outright horror.

MURDER MOST FOUL

 PACT WITH THE DEVIL

and THE 'TRUE CRIME' DISCOVERY OF A YOUNG GIRL’S BONES

A magic trick that ends in murder and mayhem. A drowned scoundrel found floating in a spa. A serial killer’s widow who just wants to be left alone and a grumpy vigilante with no one to love. Mixed with arson, revenge, and a brave mother's battle against catastrophic grief.

IN OUR CRIME – it's got something for everyone.




In Our Crime: An Anthology of Crime Short Stories by Jude O'Reilly was published on 15 November 2023. My thanks to the author who supplied my copy for review. 

I have enjoyed Jude O'Reilly's writing for many years. Her Michael North thriller series published by Head of Zeus is excellent.  I was delighted when Jude gave me a copy of this anthology whilst at Newcastle Noir last year, and look at that cover!  It's a stunner. 

In Our Crime is a collection of ten short stories in the crime genre, and whilst they may all be crime, they are all incredibly different. Set in different eras, with many themes, this is a wonderful collection that I've been dipping in and out of for the past few weeks. 

Some of the stories in this collection have won prizes; The Silent Mrs B was joint winner of the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize, 2023. How To Catch A Bullet won the Crime Writer's Association Margery Allingham prize, 2023. Others have been shortlisted for numerous awards. 

I cannot pick a favourite story because I enjoyed every single one them. They range from cosy crime, set in 1920s Harrogate, to some darker themes in And So It Begins, and all of them are perfectly produced. I'm sure that writing short stories is very difficult; creating characters that you feel as if you know, with a intricate and gripping plot in so few words is a fine art and O'Reilly has made it her own. Each and every one of these stories are entertaining and extremely satisfying, there's no rushed endings, or vapid characters. I was invested in all of them.

If you are looking for a book filled with intriguing and unexpected stories, look no further. Highly recommended. 



Jude O’Reilly is the author of three action thrillers. Her latest book Sleep When You’re
Dead was an FT Best Book of the Year. Lee Child has described her writing as ‘terrific’and David Baldacci as ‘a sheer delight’. Her thrillers, which also include Killing State and Curse the Day, track the adventures of all action hero Michael North, a young, sexy, reckless British government agent who has been dubbed the modern Bond. 

Using the pen name Judith O'Reilly (see what she did there), Jude has also written two memoirs, Wife in the North and A Year of Doing Good. Wife in the North reached number three in the UK bestsellers’ chart and was a top ten bestseller in Germany. It was serialised by The Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph, was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, and was based on Jude’s eponymous blog which, at the time, was named as one of the top 100 blogs in the world by The Sunday Times.

Jude is an award winning short story writer whose latest book is an anthology of crime short stories called In Our Crime.

She is also a former political producer with BBC 2’s Newsnight and ITN’s Channel 4 News. She’s a former education correspondent with The Sunday Times where she also covered politics, undercover reporting and general news. She lives in Durham with her family and a miniature poodle called Joey.

www.judithoreilly.com




Monday 4 March 2024

The Girl From Donegal by Carmel Harrington #TheGirlFromDonegal @HappyMrsH @HarperCollinsUK @fictionpubteam #BookReview

 


Donegal, Ireland, 1939

As the world teeters on the brink of WWII, Eliza Lavery is alone in the world after her fiancé, Davey, was lost following the Irish War of Independence. But a fateful meeting on the wild beauty of Ballymastocker Bay could change everything.

Hamilton, Bermuda, 2022

Eight decades later, troubled by her future, Saoirse O’Donnell walks on the pink sands of Bermuda’s Horseshoe Bay. When she uncovers a connection to Eliza, all those years before, she hears a story that promises to influence her own heart – but that also reveals a long-buried secret.

Two women must each make a choice between their past and their present in this sweeping, epic love story spanning two continents, three generations, and joy and tragedy over nearly a century.




The Girl From Donegal by Carmel Harrington was published by HarperCollins on 29 February 2024. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

As soon as I heard about this latest book from Carmel Harrington, I was intrigued and knew that I had to read it. My late Mum was from Donegal and I spent every summer of my childhood there. It feels like home.

I love a dual timeline story and in this novel the author has created a perfect narrative, sweeping over eighty years, it is a story of loss, grief and most importantly of love. From the wildness of County Donegal, to the beautiful pink sands of Bermuda, the reader is transported through the years alongside a cast of characters who are beautifully drawn, with spectacular stories. 

The prologue and opening of the story belongs to Saoirse; a young woman arriving on Bermuda to visit her Aunts Kate and Esme. Saoirse has packed much into her short life, spending time in Canada before returning to Donegal to open her own stables. Bermuda is her safe place. Her Aunt's house on Horseshoe Bay is the place that she ran to when her short-lived marriage ended, and she is back again. Newly engaged to Irish farmer Finn, but struggling to put her past behind her. 


The reader is then introduced to Eliza in 1939, she works for the Rathmullan Gazette in Donegal. Eliza is beautiful and intelligent, but she carries a sadness with her at all times. Her fiancé Davey was killed on a prison boat during the Irish War of Independence and shortly afterwards her parents and younger brothers all died in a house fire. When she meets Matthew on Ballymastocker Bay, she is charmed by his looks and his manners, she is also surprised by herself when she agrees to meet him for dinner. 

And so begins this beautifully interwoven story of two independent but vulnerable women, but the story is not all theirs. One of the most important characters is ninety-year-old Kate, who has spent the last fifty years living on Bermuda with her partner Esme. However, she has kept a lot of her early life very private and as the story progresses, the reader realises just how Kate and Eliza's story connect. 

Carmel Harrington has taken real life events and woven them into this fictional story. The horror of the sinking of SS Athenia on the first day of World War Two is sensitively handled and plays such a central part of this sweeping story. 

As both Eliza, and Saoirse battle their emotions, trying to make the right decision about their future, the author creates shocking and unexpected events that leave the reader reeling, and that add such depth and emotion to the story. 

This is a beautiful story set over many years and two continents, it deals with grief and loss so very well, yet there is always hope for the characters, and love .... it's the love that gets them through. 

A stunning story, told with care and compassion. Highly recommended. 



Carmel Harrington is from Co. Wexford, where she lives with her husband, her children
and their rescue dog, George Bailey. 

A bestseller and regular panellist on radio and TV, her warm and emotional storytelling has captured the hearts of readers worldwide.

Carmel’s novels have been shortlisted for Irish Book Awards, and her debut, Beyond Grace’s Rainbow, won Kindle Book of the Year. 


Instagram @happymrsh




Friday 1 March 2024

The Secret Beach by Veronica Henry BLOG TOUR #TheSecretBeach @veronica_henry @orionbooks @RandomTTours #BookReview


Twenty years.
One secret.
A promise never to tell...

Nikki finally owns the little coastguard cottage of her dreams - and it's a few steps away from the hidden beach that means so much to her.

But when a handwritten note lands on her doorstep, she realises it's only a matter of time before the heartbreaking truth of her past is uncovered.

Twenty years ago, her whole world was turned upside-down when a terrible storm rolled into the small seaside town of Speedwell.

Ever since that night, Nikki has been keeping a secret. One she knows has the potential to destroy the lives of those she loves most.

Because as sure as the tide turns, there are no secrets in a small town...



The Secret Beach by Veronica Henry was published on 29 February 2024 by Orion. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour 




The Secret Beach is Veronica Henry's twenty-third book (including a collection of short stories and a Quick Reads book), and I am almost certain that I've read them all (I must check, to see if there is one that I've missed!).

This author never ever lets me down, her stories are jam packed with glorious characters, lots of food and exquisitely described locations. This one is set in Cornwall; a place that I've not visited yet, but I can assure you that my search history now contains lots of Cornish links! 

The North family have lived in the small coastal Cornish town of Speedwell for generations. Helen is the head of the family, an older woman who bakes wedding cakes for a living. Helen is stylish and wise, she's heavily involved in the community, especially with the local lifeboat service. Graham, her son runs the family building maintenance firm, his wife is an interior decorator. Jess is the eldest daughter, a nurse who likes a wild time and often causes chaos within the family, and there's Nikki - the main protagonist of the story. Nikki runs a wedding planning service and has just moved into her dream cottage on the cliffs, looking out over her 'secret' beach, she has one son Bill, with her ex Woody. Bill is currently living in Bali

It's twenty years since Helen's husband William, and Jess's husband Rik were drowned whilst manning the Speedwell lifeboat and a memorial event is planned. 

Whilst Nikki is successful and popular, she is anxious and worried. She's been receiving anonymous postcards ... someone knows her secret and she is terrified that her world will crumble if her family, and the community find out what she did all those years ago. 

This is a beautiful story that transports the reader right to the heart of this bustling town where everyone knows everybody. Henry's characterisation is perfect, from exuberant and slightly wild Jess, to her serious, artistic daughter Juno, every one of them are rounded and so realistic. 

As with all of this author's books, there's a love story at it's heart, more than one in this case and cleverly told in the present day, with flashbacks to twenty years ago. The reader is unsure of Nikki's secret at first, but as we hear her voice from years ago it soon becomes clear. Its intriguing and compelling and very moving. 

This is a gorgeous story, based around two summers and featuring a cast of characters to fall in love with. Utterly escapist and totally uplifting. I loved The Secret Beach. Highly recommended.



Veronica Henry has always been involved in storytelling, from her first job typing scripts
for The Archers to being writer-in-residence on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. 

She was a scriptwriter for many years, working on some of our best-loved dramas including Heartbeat and Holby City. 

She has written over twenty novels, all published by Orion. 

She lives on the North Devon coast where she loves walking on the beach, swimming in the sea or watching the sun set with a killer negroni. 


Find out more at www.veronicahenry.co.uk or follow her on social media @veronica_henry