Sunday 12 July 2015
Thursday 12 February 2015
London 1960's The Cold Light of Day
“Pauline
Barclay weaves original, compelling stories and this one is no exception.
Bertie
is not a run-of-the-mill character. Mature in age and with a gambling habit,
the plot centres around the gradual destruction of his marriage to Kitty, and
the intricate web of deceit which eventually destroys him. Or does it?
Set
in London during the sixties, the novel has an authentic feel for those times
and Barclay digs deep into her characters; their motivations and emotions are
always clear, and understood.”
Available
in Kindle from ALL Amazon stores including
Saturday 31 January 2015
Reviewed: Torn by Gilli Allan
This is ‘Bookworm’s’ review.
At last, a romance with some meat on
its bones, and a set of teeth.
It's a love story for grown-ups and
it's slightly unconventional themes and considerations bring it right into the
here and now.
This story of divided love and
commitment with its gorgeous rural setting, was right up my street/field!
Jessica the ex-city trader has
escaped a violent relationship and takes her small son to a country village,
hoping to find some peace and stability. She meets two men; both at opposite
ends of the social scale as well as in every other way. As she becomes involved
in the lives of Daniel and James, she questions everything she stands for,
hopes for and believes in. Rich in character and visual enjoyment, it is very
much a feast of contemporary county life with a good dose of reality.
Gilli Allan does not hold back in
the sex department either; she delivers the goods with the same clarity and
understanding as the rest of the narrative, but then it just wouldn't work any
other way. She writes with honesty and insight.
The plot was clever, with all it's
emotional twists and turns, and the conclusion was just perfect, albeit a
little bitter sweet...and yet all perfectly plausible.
Monday 19 January 2015
Monday 12 January 2015
Torn Reviewed by Susan Russo Anderson
TORN pulled me into the story of Jess
from the very first paragraph. The book is a wonderful piece of prose from a
gifted author with a unique voice. It is a romance with a twist, a slice from
the life of Jessica Avery. On the one hand, TORN is about a thirty-something
single mom who escapes a violently abusive relationship and the hassles of a
stressful job in London, yearning for peace and stability in the country.
But on a deeper level,
TORN is about the effects of abuse, the lurching starts and stops, the choices
of an abused woman who in many ways is broken as she searches for a new life
and a proper home for her child, stumbling along the way.
Listen to the rhythm of
Ms. Allan’s prose as Jess speaks:
‘Tonight
marks a fresh start. A new life. And I’m determined to get it right this time.’
With the words–and all the underlying unspoken implications–she felt the
up-swell of elation, the utter conviction that re-making her life would be
easy.
Jess’s quest is more than
she bargained for, however, and she falls into the arms of one man, only to
fall into the arms of another. TORN chronicles Jess’s coming of age, if you
will, her growth as a person, and the novel’s scenes—those with her friends and
with her child, Rory, who during the course of the narrative, has milestones of
his own—include her romantic relationships with men in quite detailed and
beautifully written prose. In fact, the sex scenes are masterfully written. A
tightly-written novel, all the scenes, including those in the bedroom, have a
purpose: they move the story along and illuminate the characters, especially
Jess.
Ms. Allan has created a
very complex character in Jess, totally believable, one who surprised and, at
times, angered this reader, and the novel centers around her growth. And the
minor characters, Danny, James, Rory, Sean have their own special voice. For
those who want a compelling romance a finely written story told with rich
prose, TORN by British author, Gilli Allan, is a must read.
To connect with Gilli: http://twitter.com/gilliallan (@gilliallan)
Thursday 8 January 2015
Torn By Gilli Allan
For those who enjoy unconventional, contemporary fiction,
with an edgy love story at its heart .
Jess has made a series of bad life choices and all have let
her down.
Escaping London, she sets out to recreate herself in the
idyllic countryside, and this time she wants to get it right!
She wants to lead a responsible, tranquil life with her
young son Rory, but soon discovers stresses which pull her in opposing
directions – conflict over a new bypass, between friends, and worst of all,
between lovers.
Educated, experienced, and pragmatic, James is a widowed
farmer whose opinions differ from, and enrage, Jess. His young shepherd, Danny,
is an uneducated and inexperienced idealist. Jess is attracted to them both,
and realizes if she wants her idyllic countryside life to survive, she must
choose her Mr Right.
Reviewed: In The Cold Light Of Day by Pauline Barclay
When Kitty met and married a much younger man Bertie Costain
after a whirlwind romance, some would judge their union as rather convenient,
after all Kitty was wealthy and independent in her own right, and what else
could possibly attract a younger man to an older woman?
When Bertie begins to behave odd and different and distance
towards Kitty after he had always displayed only kindness and affection. Bertie
also seemed to be happy with the life they were making together. Kitty starts
to feel their life unravelling and spiralling out of control.
What is going on? Is their luck about to run out? Is Bertie prepared to put the love of his
life at risk by taking a huge chance and not laying all his cards on the table
and let Kitty know what is deepest darkest secret is?
This story had me gripped and intrigued from the very start.
I was hanging on every word due to the excellent way the story is written it
really pulls you in emotionally, and you feel like the story is so real that
you are actually in the room with the characters, a silent and invisible
observer of a compelling drama, watching all the event of the story unravel
before your eyes, and powerless to reach out and stop what you know Bertie is
heading for, as both the leading characters in this book are extremely likeable
and I so willed on for this story to have a happy- ever after.
This is my first read of 2015 and it is going straight to
the top of my top ten reads. This is a
remarkable book well worth reading. If your New Year resolution is to read,
then this is a great book to get you back into books.
Available in Kindle from ALL amazon sites including
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