The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker - Joanna Nell

Description

A poignant ode to love and the memories that make a well-lived life, from the author of THE SINGLE LADIES OF JACARANDA RETIREMENT VILLAGE

As the wife of retired ship's doctor Dr Henry Parker, Evelyn is living out her twilight years aboard the Golden Sunset. Every night she dresses for dinner - gown, tiara, runners - and regales her fellow passengers with stories of a glamorous life travelling the world in luxury, as well as showing off her superior knowledge of everything from ships' customs to biographical details of her heroine, Florence Nightingale. The crew treat her with deference. And forbearance.

But when Henry goes missing, Evelyn sets off to search every part of the grand ocean liner to find him, casino, nightclub and off-limits areas included.

Misadventures are had, new friends are made, scandalous behaviour noted - all news to Evelyn. If only she could remember the events of the night before as clearly as she can recall the first time she met Henry on a passage from England to Australia in 1953 and fell in love, abandoning her dreams to become a midwife to be a wife instead - and the long-ago painful events that left Evelyn all at sea.

Why is it so hard to forget some things and so hard to remember others? And where is Henry?

Review

I really enjoyed the first book by this author, so I was looking forward to reading this one and it didn't disappoint. The only thing I would say is that at times I did find it incredibly sad.

Mrs Henry Parker as she likes to be known hails from the days when women always used their husbands name and not their own. She lives on a cruise ship with her husband who is Doctor for the ship, except she just can't seem to find him anywhere on board, no matter where she looks. 

Very early on we realise that Evelyn has dementia and it was so realistic that I wasn't sure I wanted to carry on reading. Having met all too many real life Evelyn's, her words and actions were very familiar to me and it was just sad. Yet again as with her previous book, the author's GP background makes the narrative spot on and true to life.

I did stick with the book, and I was rewarded with Evelyn's tales of her life, beginning with when she was just 21 years old. These parts of the book I absolutely loved, only to be brought back to the present day and Evelyn's confused mind. All through the book Evelyn continues to look for her husband, crossing off on the map of the ship everywhere she has looked for him.

Why I wondered did they continue to let her stay on the ship? When she is obviously becoming more and more confused. I really thought at this point that I knew what was going to happen. The ending when it came was surprising with a hint melancholy yet also so satisfying. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

XYZ - William Knight #LoveBooksTours

I'm so pleased to be on the #LoveBooksTours for this book today.

Blurb

From a former Guardian and BBC writer, and author of The Donated, comes a hilarious story of mid-life crisis, family, technology, and coping with the modern workplace.

Jack Cooper is a depressed, analogue throwback; a cynical, alcoholic Gen-Xer whose glory days are behind him. He's unemployed, his marriage has broken down, he's addicted to internet hook-ups, and is deeply ashamed of his son Geronimo, who lives life dressed as a bear.

When Jack's daughter engineers a job for him at totally-lit tech firm Sweet, he's confronted by a Millennial and Zoomer culture he can't relate to. He loathes every detail - every IM, gif and emoji - apart from Freya, twenty years his junior and addicted to broadcasting her life on social media.

Can Jack evolve to fit in at Sweet, or will he remain a dinosaur stuck in the 1980s? And will he halt his slide into loneliness and repair his family relationships?

Review  

Move over Victor Meldrew there's a new guy in town called Jack Cooper. If you don't know who VM is then maybe this isn't the book for you. Probably best enjoyed by those over 40, but everyone could learn something from this book.

Jack Cooper is a Gen-Xer born 1964 and this book is his take on the modern world, particularly Milennials and Zoomers. He's in IT but really anyone of a similar age who has worked in an office can certainly relate to the world he's found himself in. A world where no one gets up and talks to the person across the room. Instead they IM (instant message) and he's a Manager who doesn't manage, instead he's a Squad Master. Upsetting his staff by daring to ask them what they are working on - doesn't he trust them.

I found this laugh out loud funny and so true to life. Jack himself is a bit of a sad character at times. Bringing some of his misfortunes upon himself, especially with his inability to stay sober and get out of bed in a morning. Yet, he does seem to recover a few of them without effort, and maybe some of his dinosaur thinking is still relevant.....

His hook up with a Millennial sees him in a "relationship" on social media after only one night! He's a little bewildered as he doesn't really know her yet, he might not even like her! While he seems able to form a relationship with a Millennial and go along with their ideals in the office his own son is more of a trial for him. Why should that be though?

I found this book hilarious and yet thought provoking at the same time. I loved the ending - just brilliant. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to #LoveBooksTours for the ARC to review.

Author Info

William Knight has written for the Guardian, the Financial Times and the BBC, among many other publishers. He is a journalist and technologist currently living and working in Wellington, New Zealand.


A graduate engineer, he's chased a varying career starting in acting, progressing to music, enjoyed a brief flirtation with handbag design, and was eventually wired into technology in 1989.


By 2003 his non-fiction was being regularly published in Computing newspaper in the UK, and he has since written about the many successes and failings of high-technology


The Donated (formerly, Generation), his first novel, was conceived from a New Scientist article in 2001 and was ten years in development. Subsequent novels, XYZ, Foretold, The Fractured, will be available, he says, "Sometime in the future. Hopefully not as long as ten years."



Buy Link
https://amzn.to/2ZWuO7O


Twitter
@_William_Knight

Meet me in Monaco - Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Description

Set in the 1950s against the backdrop of Grace Kelly’s whirlwind romance and glamourous wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco, New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb take the reader on an evocative sun-drenched journey along the Côte d’Azur in this page-turning novel of passion, fate, and second-chances.

Movie stars and paparazzi flock to Cannes for the glamorous film festival, but Grace Kelly, the biggest star of all, wants only to escape from the flash-bulbs. When struggling perfumer Sophie Duval shelters Miss Kelly in her boutique, fending off a persistent British press photographer, James Henderson, a bond is forged between the two women and sets in motion a chain of events that stretches across thirty years of friendship, love, and tragedy.

James Henderson cannot forget his brief encounter with Sophie Duval. Despite his guilt at being away from his daughter, he takes an assignment to cover the wedding of the century, sailing with Grace Kelly’s wedding party on the SS Constitution from New York. In Monaco, as wedding fever soars and passions and tempers escalate, James and Sophie—like Princess Grace—must ultimately decide what they are prepared to give up for love.

Review

I chose the audio version of this book. Unfortunately a few things irritated me about the book, the first was the narrators voices. When the male voice is narrating he gives James a middle English accent with almost a cockney twang at times, but when the female voice is narrating the voice of James becomes that of some sort of a cad with a demeaning tinge to it. I felt it all very odd and naturally it affected my vision of James. who one minute was this kind hearted soul. and the next some leering man. The voice of the child Sophie had a very spooky and unchildlike voice!

The book is written by two authors and a few times inconsistencies arose which glaringly highlighted this fact. One instance is when James takes a business card from Sophie and gives it later to Grace Kelly. Yet when he returns to London he takes the business card out of his jacket.

Many references appear to have been written with the 21st century in mind rather than the 1950s. There is a is a reference to someone in a newspaper office in his jeans - I'm not sure that this would have been a dress standard in the 1950s even for a newspaper office. A final point on this is that Grace Kelly married in 1956 and died in 1982, so how the two women could have a friendship that stretches across 30 years is beyond me. I doubt younger readers would notice many of these things, but for me it ditracted from the story.

Putting aside all of that - although it took some doing, I did enjoy the book. I couldn't resist checking some "facts" such as the name of Grace Kelly's dog and breed and they were indeed correct. If you are looking for a gentle romantic read then this is a great book.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars.

coming soon........

So pleased to be on the blog tour for this one on 19 October - check back then for my review.

The Perfect Dress - Louisa Leaman

Description

Fran’s wedding dress shop isn’t like any other. A treasure trove of history, filled with gowns from every decade for every type of bride. But not as you’d expect.

Something bold for the shy and retiring.
Something simple for the woman who is unafraid to stand out.
And something dazzling for the bride who wouldn’t normally dare to be different.

No matter your expectations, you’d never guess your own perfect dress. But Fran knows… she feels the wisdom woven into every gown, a gift from the previous owner waiting to be handed down to the next bride.

When Fran finds a dress that seems to be perfect for her she can’t wait to know its complex history which starts with her getting to know the son of the previous owner…

Review

What an absolutely lovely book this is, especially for someone like me who loves fashion, fabric and arts and crafts. The author's sumptuous details of all of these themes made the book an absolute haven for me. She even had a reference to William Morris and his home in Walthamstow. 

Fran runs a vintage wedding dress shop but there is so much more to it than that as she traces the history of the original owners of the dresses. She also has a kind of second sight and can sense things by holding dresses. Early on in the book there were some things Fran did that I thought a little strange, but I just went with it whilst wondering if she was trying to self destruct at times.

I loved the part where the Instagrammer wanted a wedding dress, so on trend and believable too. All of the fashion details were spot. I also liked the veiled reference to the Liz Hurley dress, easily missed and not important to the story,  but for someone who knows fashion it was the icing on the cake.

Mixed in with all of this is a little romance (and a little saucier at one point) at times it felt almost Austen like with a modern day twist in it's plot. I just loved the ending.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and look forward to more from this author.

My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC to review.

Entanglement - Andrew J Thomas

Description

Five friends, four mysteries, three deaths, two road trips and a secret that will change the world ...

Entanglement is a quirky mystery with a sci-fi twist that’s influenced by the humour of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman.

David Marston drops out of contact, and his fiancé is worried. A secret research base vanishes, and MI5 is nervous. Then a colony of moles goes missing, an ordinary house brick appears out of thin air, and intertwined with it all is the story of a woman continually shifting between parallel worlds. But how can all this possibly be connected? And why are cakes so important?

Entanglement is a warm, funny and original tale about friendship, loss and coping when you’re out of your depth. It also invites the reader to ask, “What if?” What if that person at university had said yes? What if you hadn’t answered that voicemail?

Review

I love time travel books and whilst this isn't strictly time travel, it's time displacement! As the travel is from one parallel world to another.  Now, apparently something has to exist in all parallel worlds in exactly the same form and it's CAKE! Which I was very pleased about!

The book is written very much in the style of Douglas Adams and at times I almost felt the lines had been lifted and reworded from THHGTTG. It also reminded me of the Jasper Fforde novels, so needless to say if you've enjoyed either of those writers, you will enjoy this book. If you are more serious minded and don't like frivolity, or seemingly senseless ideas then this is not the book for you. For instance in the library Three Little Pigs is filed under Construction and Project planning not nursery rhymes, as it's seen as construction best practices!

I have a slight criticism regarding the dialogue, as at times it read more like it was written by Enid Blyton for The Famous Five, slighty too formal and staged for the 21st century to my liking. Also the footnotes. On a kindle it is a little annoying to try to keep going backwards and forwards, not like a paperback where you can just flip to the end.

What kept the book afloat was the fabulous mystery and the documentation of travel between the parallel worlds. I was certainly kept entertained and when the little twist came ( I hadn't seen it coming) it was certainly an "ah ha" moment the author can be proud of.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC to review.

Eat Yourself Healthy - Megan Rossi

Description

'Learn to love your gut with this jam-packed book from Dr Megan' - Jamie Oliver

'I've learnt so much from Megan, looking after my gut is now a priority and I feel so good for it. She's a huge inspiration to us' - Ella Mills, author and founder of Deliciously Ella

The go-to lifestyle guide for a happy gut that will transform your health and wellbeing.

Drawing from the latest research and a decade of experience as a dietitian and consultant at The Gut Health Clinic, Dr Megan Rossi explains how to feed your gut for a happier, healthier you using simple, delicious and gut-boosting recipes.

Eat Yourself Healthy is packed with over 50 delicious, easy-to-make meal ideas from delicious breakfast options such as banana, fig and courgette breakfast loaf and chickpea crepes, to crowd-pleasing dinner recipes including creamy pistachio and spinach pesto pasta and mouth-watering satay tofu skewers.

Alongside Dr Rossi's gut-friendly recipes, Eat Yourself Healthy also includes expert advice on how to deal with common complaints such as IBS and bloating, diagnose food intolerances, and manage good gut health with sleep and exercise routines.

Supercharge your digestive health and transform your overall wellbeing with this ultimate guide that promises to make you happier and healthier from the inside out.

Review

I was given an ARC of a sample of this book to review. I can only base my thoughts on the part of the book I was able to read.

I have an interest in maintaining a healthy gut as I have some issues from time to time. Most of what I read in this book was new to me.

My take aways from this book are:- the advice to ask yourself these questions "How will I feel if I continue versus if I stop?" and What will my life look like in one year if I continue versus if I stop". I felt these two pieces of advice could be applicable to any change in your life and worth remembering. The other one is to eat misshapen fruit as apparently it contains more polyphenols.

There are also some good recipes in the book including one for Prebiotic chocolate bark and my favourite Banana, fig and courgette breakfast loaf which I hope to make.

There is a website which when you have a full copy of the book you can access certain things such as a stress assessment. As I haven't seen these extras I can only comment that it seems a useful addition to the book, however, how detailed they are I am unsure of.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars and my thanks to netgalley for the sample to review.