Trespass

Trespass by Rose Tremain

Published by Vintage

6th January 2011

Paperback Edition

 

In a silent valley in southern France stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Its owner is Aramon Lunel, an alcoholic haunted by his violent past. His sister, Audrun, alone in her bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting retribution for the unspoken betrayals that have blighted her life.

Into this closed world comes Anthony Verey, a wealthy but disillusioned antiques dealer from London seeking to remake his life in France. From the moment he arrives at the Mas Lunel, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion...

 

Blimey, I downloaded this onto my kindle pretty much as soon as it came out, and until last week, hadn't read a page of it!  My kindle is a lot like that though.  I see a book I fancy, press the button, and then there it sits, waiting, and sometimes waiting, and waiting a bit more.  However thanks to Simon over at Savidge Reads, I finally decided that Trespass should have it's moment of glory and I would finally start reading it.

I've not read any of Rose Tremain's work before, though I don't know why, but I romped through Trespass and really enjoyed it.  It's broken up into a number of parts, it begins with a school picnic, a new pupil running off into the words, followed by an earth-shattering scream.  We then move to England, to the world of Anthony Verey who is an antiques dealer in London who has finally realised that the world around him is not the same anymore, and feeling disillusioned by it, decides to move to France to be nearer to his sister.  Meanwhile, over in France, we meet another pair of siblings, Aramon and his sister Audrun who have an awkward relationship.  However, when Aramon decides to sell the family house, things take a turn that no one was expecting.

I did enjoy this book.  I loved the variety in the characters that Tremain has created.  They seem whole and real, especially in that they all have flaws which writers don't always focus on, here it is their flaws that are the key to the story I think.  I can't wait to read more of her work, and I have a copy of The Road Home on it's way to me as I type.  Anyone else read Rose Tremain?  What would you recommend?

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x

daughter

Daughter by Jane Shemilt

Published by Penguin

28th August 2014

Paperback Edition

 

When a teenage girl goes missing her mother discovers she doesn't know her daughter as well as she thought in Jane Shemilt's haunting debut novel, Daughter.

THE NIGHT OF THE DISAPPEARANCE

She used to tell me everything.

They have a picture. It'll help.

But it doesn't show the way her hair shines so brightly it looks like sheets of gold.

She has a tiny mole, just beneath her left eyebrow.

She smells very faintly of lemons.

She bites her nails.

She never cries.

She loves autumn, I wanted to tell them. She collects leaves, like a child does. She is just a child.

FIND HER.

ONE YEAR LATER

Naomi is still missing. Jenny is a mother on the brink of obsession. The Malcolm family is in pieces.

Is finding the truth about Naomi the only way to put them back together?

Or is the truth the thing that will finally tear them apart?

 

This is one of the Richard & Judy titles for their autumn book group and as I usually love what they choose, I was looking forward to reading this!  One night, Jenny's daugher Naomi doesn't come home.  This is only discovered the next morning by Jenny, after she falls asleep waiting to hear Naomi turn the key in the lock of the door.  But where can she be?  It is then discovered that Naomi hasn't quite been honest with her parents about what she was doing the previous night, the meal out with the cast of the school play she is staring in never happened.  So where did she go, who with, and why?

This is basically every parent's nightmare.  Child doesn't return home, but then you start to discover that what you thought you knew about them doesn't ring true either.  Jane Shemilt tellls a good tale here.  Interspersed with Naomi's disappearance, she examines the effect that this has on the family, of the relationship between Jenny and her husband Ted, and that of their other children, twin boys, Ed and Theo.

You can definitely tell that the author has a medical background, as Jenny too is a gp, but this works well, as her seemingly normal day job suddenly gets tied in to Naomi's disappearance, and you don't quite know who to trust.  The book moves backwards and forwards from the day of Naomi's disappearance, to the present day, one year on, still with no clue as to where Naomi is.  I did worry that I was going to be left with an unsatisfactory closure but I think that the way this is delivered is perfectly apt for the book and I was happy with the conclusion.  It's a great read, a real page-turner and I can see why it's been picked as one of the book club choices. 

 

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x

Horrid Henry's Guide to Perfect Parents

This review is a little different from normal, in that it's written by my daughter!  She asked me yesterday if she could review a book for the blog, and of course, I had to say yes, so here it is:

Horrid Henry's Guide to perfect parents

By Francesca Simon

Illustrated by Tony Ross

Published by Orion Children's Books

Ever wondered how to get more pocket money? Or how to stay up later? Or watch more TV?

Discover all the answers in Henry's top secret and hilariously horrid guide to parents.

 

I thought this book was great because Henry always gets into mischief. He never gets away with his harmful plans to Peter (his brother). Henry hates getting told off by Perfect Peter (well Henry doesn't think Peter is Perfect)! What matters to Henry? Nothing at all!

This book is suitable for 5-7 because it is a little bit to hard for little children.

Buy this book now for only £1.00 for your children and hope they enjoy it.

Thank you

 

Shopgirls

Shopgirls - the true story of life behind the counter by Pamela Cox and Annabel Hobley

Published by Hutchinson

24th June 2014

Hardback Edition

 

From the Victorian age through to the present day, an unsung army of shopgirls has been at the hart of Britain's retail revolution.

For the first time, Shopgirls tells the story of the women who have served behind our counters, playing a vital and often ground-breaking part in our shared social history.  We meet Selfridges' 'businesswomen', fighting for their good name, and arsonist suffragette Gladys Evans, jailed for standing up for her beliefs; join Margaret Bondfield as she goes undercover, fiercely championing the rights of early shopgirls; and stand alongside the impoverished interwar chain store assistants who stole stockings to supplement their meagre wages.  We encounter young apprentices, the first generation of female graduate trainees and 1940s working mums.  We follow Chilli Bouchier's journey from the small ladies' department at Harrods to star of the silver screen; uncover the raw courage of John Lewis's Miss Austin during the Blitz in the West End; and celebrate the art school entrepreneurs who kick-started the boutique movement of the swinging '60s.

As this lively book reveals, the story of British shopgirls is one woven deep into the fabric of our history, and changes the way we understand our society.  You will never shop in the same way again.

There isn't much I can add to the blurb of this book, without telling every story that is contained within it's 300 pages, except to say, that it is a fascinating history of shops, shopping, and of the rise of the shopgirl from backstage lackey to front of house champion.  I worked in retail for a number of years, starting as a Saturday girl in BHS, right through to management at Accessorize, working in River Island, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, and Monsoon in between.  I've been there, and done it, but my stories are nothing like those that are contained within this book.  The determination of women to leave domestic service and work in retail is astounding, and the challenges they faced were second to none.

I don't think it mattes whether you saw the television series that accompanies the book or not, because the telling is rich in detail, and there are photographs aplenty to be found within it's cover.  As a history buff, I adored it, and couldn't believe the stories of the girls that are contained in here, we certainly don't have struggles that equate to some of these anymore.  If you are interested in history, retail, shopping, or the changing role of women, then this is the perfect addition to any bookshelf.

 

Happy Reading

Miss Chapter x

The Kill

The Kill by Jane Casey

Published by Ebury Press

5th June 2014

Hardback Edition

 

Their job is to investigate crime - not become the victims...

A killer is terrorising London but this time the police are the targets. Urgently re-assigned to investigate a series of brutal attacks on fellow officers, Maeve Kerrigan and her boss Josh Derwent have little idea what motivates the killer's fury against the force.

But they know it will only be a matter of time before the killer strikes again.

This is the fifth book in the Maeve Kerrigan series by Jane Casey, and it lacks none of the tension and drama that are contained in the previous four.  As with your usual crime novels, there are your good guys and your bad guys, your bent cops and your straight cops, but with Jane Casey you get DI Josh Derwent!  Believe me, he's a real marmite character if ever there was one.  I've had twitter debates about him, as if he was a real person!  He's tough on the outside, and rude with it.  In fact, the only person who tolerates him is Maeve, and that's a challenge in itself!  I have to admit though, but the end of this book, I did warm to him slightly, but only a touch, anymore and he'd be getting ideas!

This book focuses on a killer who is targeting the police, and as we know, when one of their own is threatened, it becomes personal.  Kerrigan and Casey are sent to investigate the murder of an officer in a wood in London.  What seems to be a singular death later becomes one in a series linked to the force across the city.  The question is, who hates the police this much, and why? 

The book comes to an end with a gripping, nail-biting finish that leaves you wanting more.  If you haven't discovered this series yet, I recommend that you do.  My review of book four in the series The Stranger you Know can be found here.  Book six, here I come!

Happy Reading

Miss Chapter x

After the Silence

After the Silence by Jake Woodhouse

Published by Penguin

24th April 2014

Paperback Edition

 

A body is found hanging on a hook above the canals of Amsterdam's old town, a mobile phone forced into the victim's mouth.

In a remote coastal village, a doll lies in the ashes of a burnt-down house. But the couple who died in the fire had no children of their own. Did a little girl escape the blaze? And, if so, who is she and where is she now?

Inspector Jaap Rykel knows that he's hunting a clever and brutal murderer. Still grieving from the violent death of his last partner, Rykel must work alongside a junior out-of-town detective with her own demons to face, if he has any hope of stopping the killer from striking again.

Their investigation reveals two dark truths: everybody in this city harbours secrets - and hearing those secrets comes at a terrible price ...

 

After the Silence is the debut novel by Jake Woodhouse, and is the first in the Inspector Rykel series.  Firstly a body is found hanging above the streets in Amsterdam, and then a couple are found burnt to death in their house.  Are these crimes related?  And what about the doll that is found lying inside the house - does that indicate that a child was there, and if so, where are they now? 

Jake Woodhouse has written a page-turning crime novel in After the Silence.  True, it's nothing that I haven't read a hundred times or more with any other crime book, but those occasions when something amazingly new crop up are rare now.  What I will say is that this is the first crime series I've read that is set in Amsterdam and he does bring the city to life within the book.

Set over five days, the books follows Rykel and his colleagues Tanya van der Mark and Kees Terpstra as they try to solve these crimes.  As with other police novels, each has their own agenda, and each has a past and a secret they don't want others to know about - except we, the reader, do know.  I thought the characters were well created and the story was tight and believable.  I want to know what happens to them next. Yes, I read a lot of crime fiction, but I happily think that I'll be reading the second book in the series when it is published.  If you love crime novels too, and are looking for a new series to get your teeth into, this is as good a place as any to start!

 

Thanks also to everyone who entered my giveaway to win a copy of Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary.  I was overwhelmed by all who entered via here, my facebook page and over on twitter.  The winner was Alyson Shipley (@houdsmum) and I'll be getting in touch with her in a minute to let her know!  There will be more giveaways so, so if you didn't win, please keep trying!

 

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x

The Monogram Murders

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

Published by HarperCollins

9th September 2014

Hardback Edition

 

Hercule Poirot's quiet supper in a London coffee house in interrupted when a young woman confides to him that she is about to be murdered.  She is terrified, but begs Poirot not to find and punish her killer.  Once she is dead, she insists, justice will have been done.

Later that night, Poirot learns that three guests at the fashionable Bloxham Hotel have been murdered, and a cufflink has been placed in each one's mouth.  Could there be a connection with the frightened woman?  While Poirot struggles to put together the bizarre pieces of the puzzle, the murderer prepares another hotel bedroom for a fourth victim...

 

Blimey, there's been some controversy about this book.  Die-hard Christie fans have sworn that they won't buy it, and are horrified it's been allowed to be published at all!  Well, I'm a die-hard Christie fan!  I have every book she's written, in more than one format, including a first edition, and a signed edition!  Did I say in a horrified voice, that I would never read this book?  Absolutely not, in fact, when I heard that Sophie Hannah was writing this, I was straight onto Twitter to beg for a copy!

Now it's been published, reviews have been mixed by the general public.  I don't usually read reviews of something I'm reviewing myself, but I took exception for this book.  Again, it seems to be the 'die-hards' that are putting out the negative reviews - Poirot wouldn't do this, or that, or the other.  Let's step back a moment though, and remember that Sophie Hannah never set out to copy Agatha Christie, she is merely writing a book that features one of her characters.  It was never meant to be a Christie book.

 

So, having read it, what's my opinion?  I loved it.  There are no characters other than Poirot from Christie's writing, and I think actually that that is what makes it work.  If Hastings, or Miss Lemon, or even Inspector Japp had made an appearance, then yes, we would be treading onto Christie territory and that's not what this is about. 

Poirot comes across a distressed young woman who believes her life is in danger, but then she flees the coffee shop where they have met, and Poirot is at a loss about what to do.  However, he doesn't have long to worry because across the streets of London, three people have been murdered at the Bloxham Hotel, and the young Edward Catchpool, of Scotland Yard, needs his assistance.  Catchpool is also our narrator, and I loved his character, he is both equally in admiration and frustrated by Poirot and is not afraid of speaking his mind.  Poirot is desperate to 'help' Catchpool use his 'little grey cells' by refusing to help him work out clues and solutions to these 'Monogram Murders' and too frequently Catchpool is the last to know what is going on.  Alongside him, is Fee Spring, a waitress at the coffee shop where out story begins.  She is a bright young woman, who is very observant, and wastes no time in trying to be a part of the investigation.

There are twists, turns and a red herring or two, before Poirot ultimately reveals 'whodunnit'.  I loved it, it kept flowing, and I really think that Sophie Hannah has captured Poirot's voice perfectly.  As I read, I could hear him, in his distinct Belgium accent, talking along beside me.  Will there be a sequel to The Monogram Murders?  It's not been revealed yet, but if there were, I'd be first in the queue to get one.  I think Mrs Christie would be thrilled by this book, and as a fan, I am too!

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x

A Brighter Fear

A Brighter Fear by Kerry Drewery

Published by HarperCollins Childrens

7th June 2012

Paperback Edition

 

 

"What do I want for my future?  Is it survival? No.  I don't want to survive.  I want to live..."

A Brighter Fear is the story of Lina, a teenage girl from Baghdad.  It starts in 2003, as bombs begin to fall on the city.

It is many things: It is a love story, for a country and for a person.  It is the coming-of-age story of an amazing girl, growing up in the worst circumstances imaginable.  It contains a necklace that was lost but might still be found.  And it will break your heart, only to put it back together again...

 

We can all remember the regime of Saddam Hussein and of when the US troops entered Baghdad intent on ending this and bringing him down.  What we don't necessarily know or remember, is what it was like for those who lived there at the time, in 2003.  Kerry Drewery's novel A Brighter Fear is about those people.  It is about 17 year old Lina, who is dreaming of going to university, of her best friend, of her father and her aunt and uncle.  It is about a community who wake up to find their houses and cars being bombed.  Of feeling unsafe.  Of no longer knowing who the enemy is.

I really enjoyed this book.  It's billed as YA with a 13+ rating, but it didn't read as YA.  I was drawn in to Lina's life, of her struggle as a Christian among Muslim families, of her father's continual search for his missing wife, still holding out hope that she will return after 4 years, of their fear as the bombs start to fall upon their town, and friends and neighbours who will never return.

Lina has to give up her dreams of going to university upon her aunt's insistance.  Instead she has to get money for the family by serving tea to the American soliders who guard the area.  There she meets Steve, but is it even safe to be seen talking to a foreign man? 

A Brighter Fear is an emotional roller-coaster of a book that draws you in to a war-torn city that is still full of hope for the future.

 

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x

In conversation with Sarah Hilary and a GIVEAWAY!

Today I am in conversation with Sarah Hilary, author of the gripping novel Someone Else's Skin which I reviewed here.

Someone Else’s Skin is your first novel. What prompted the move from short stories to a full-blown book?

I was always working on a novel of one kind or another while I was writing short stories. I’ve had some success with short stories, but never felt I had the talent to write the really dazzling kind that I love to read. I’m better suited to writing long fiction, I think, and I finally cracked it with Someone Else’s Skin.

Any advice to anyone dreaming of becoming an author?

Read — widely, curiously and critically. And write. Every day if you can.

Where do you get your writing inspiration from?

Everywhere. The radio, newspapers, magazines, books. When I’m writing I seem to develop an extra sense that draws stories in my direction. That sounds a bit strange, I know, but many writers say the same thing.

What are you working on next?

I’m writing the third book in the Marnie Rome series. I’m right at the beginning of the process, which is my favourite part. Lots of note-making, and daydreaming, and hoping the cast will come and whisper in my ear while I’m going about my day.

 

If, heaven forbid, there was a fire, what possession would you grab first to save?

Assuming my loved ones were all safe, my Macbook Air. I’ve only had it a few months, but I’d be lost without it; all my words are on there.

What five people, living or dead, would you choose to invite to a dinner party?

Oscar Wilde, Katherine Hepburn, Benedict Cumberbatch, Oliver Sacks and Patricia Highsmith.

Sarah Hilary lives in Bath with her husband and daughter, where she writes quirky copy for a well-loved travel publisher. She's also worked as a bookseller, and with the Royal Navy. An award-winning short story writer, Sarah won the Cheshire Prize for Literature in 2012.

SOMEONE ELSE'S SKIN is her first novel, published by Headline in the UK, Penguin in the US, and in six other countries worldwide. A second book in the series will be published in 2015. Set in London, the books feature Detective Inspector Marnie Rome, a woman with a tragic past and a unique insight into domestic violence.

The Observer chose SOMEONE ELSE’S SKIN as its Thriller of the Month in March 2014, describing the book as ‘Superbly disturbing… an extraordinarily good debut.’

The Independent said, ‘A tense, deep and dramatic tale of domestic violence,’ while The  Times praised the ‘appealing creation’ of Marnie Rome and the way in which Sarah ‘handles unflinchingly with force and passion’ the central themes of the book.

SOMEONE ELSE’S SKIN was chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club in autumn 2014.

Follow Sarah on Twitter at @Sarah_Hilary

Now for the extra special part! I have one copy of Someone Else's Skin to giveaway to one lucky follower of my blog! You can enter here, over on my facebook page or on twitter @georginatranter. Competition closes at midnight on Sunday 14th September 2014.  Good Luck!

Happy Reading


Miss Chapter x

Strange Girls and Ordinary Women

Strange Girls and Ordinary Women by Morgan McCarthy

Published by Tinder Press

3rd July 2014

Paperback Edition

 

They say you know instinctively who to trust.

Alice is normal; she'd never do anything rash. But when she sees her husband one day with a younger girl, she knows at once that he's having an affair. And it must be stopped.

Vic loves her friend Michael, more than he knows. He wants happiness, and thinks he's found it with the magnetic Estella. But Vic feels sure she can't be trusted - and she needs to make Michael see that too.

They don't know Kaya; her life is tougher than they can imagine. But Kaya's a survivor, and she's determined to find a way out of her miserable world.

Three women, three lives that come crashing together in this dark, lyrical and utterly enthralling story of warped perceptions, female intuition and 'the other woman'.

 

This is Morgan McCarthy's third novel and I think, from reading this, there will be more to come.  Initially I was drawn to the cover - I love that dress, so have to say that's what initially prompted me to read this book. They say 'never judge a book by it's cover' - not in this case!

The book is about three women, Alice, Vic and Kaya, each very different, each with their own lives, each entwined in ways they cannot imagine.  Alice thinks she is a happily married woman, until she suspects her husband is having an affair.  Vic is in love with her best friend Michael, but he isn't in love with her - he loves Estella.  And Kaya, well, she's an outsider who is trying very hard to fit in.

The book is written in distinct chapters, one for each of the women, so it is only towards the end of the book that you link them all together and see how their tales weave into one.  I thought it was very well written and well-paced, and I really enjoyed it.  The women are fighters, the men are wimps, in particular Alice's husband Jasper, he isn't particularly likeable at all.  

It's not chick-lit (ghastly term) but a solid read about women, for women.  I'll be reading more of Morgan McCarthy now.

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x

Someone Else's Skin

Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary

Published by Headline

28th August 2014

Paperback Edition

 

Detective Inspector Marnie Rome.  Dependable; fierce; brilliant at her job; a rising star in the ranks.

Everyone knows how Marnie fought to come back from the murder of her parents, but very few know what goes on below the surface.  Because Marnie has secrets she won't share with anyone.

But then so do most people  Certainly those in the women's shelter Marnie and Detective Sergeant Noah Jake visit on that fateful day.  The day when they arrive to interview a resident, only to find one of the women's husbands lying stabbed on the floor.

As Marnie and Noah investigate the crime further, events begin to spiral and the violence escalates.  Everyone is keeping secrets, some for survival and some to disguise who they really are beneath their skin.

If Marnie is going to find the truth, she will have to face hr own demons head on.  It's time for secrets to be revealed...

 

This cracking debut novel by Sarah Hilary really paces along.  As the blurb says, Detectives Rome and Jake go to visit a women's refuge shelter on an interview basis, only to witness one of the residents stab her estranged husband.  But how did he even get in, and where did the knife come from?  What made this terrified woman attack her husband.  The other women don't want to talk, and it's going to take more than detective work to figure this out.

Then a resident disappears from the shelter and no one knows what is going on.  Who is sitting in the car outside the shelter at all hours of the day and night watching?  Rome and Noah are going to have to pull together as a team to work this one out, despite the fact that Rome's mind isn't totally on the job as it's the five year anniversary of her parents' murder - by her foster brother!

This is a really good crime novel, with a fabulous twist at the end of part one that I didn't see coming, and it ends with a dramatic climax!   If you love crime novels, then I recommend the Marnie Rome series - I'm waiting for book two already! 

Sarah Hilary will be 'in conversation with' Miss Chapter very soon - and with a giveaway of this very book!

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x

Murder Most Unladylike: A Wells & Wong Mystery

Murder Most Unladylike: A Wells & Wong Mystery by Robin Stevens

Published by Corgi Children's

5th June 2014

Paperback Edition

 

 

When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their very own deadly secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls, they struggle to find any truly exciting mysteries to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't, really.)

But then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. She thinks it must all have been a terrible accident - but when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now the girls know a murder must have taken place . . . and there's more than one person at Deepdean with a motive.

Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove a murder happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again (and before the police can get there first, naturally), Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and use all the cunning, scheming and intuition they can muster. But will they succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?

This book is a cross between an Agatha Christie novel, and a Nancy Drew book - what's not to love?  Set in the 1930s, Deepdean is a private boarding school for girls - complete with midnight feasts, prank playing and, of course, a case of murder!

Bored pupils Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up the Detective Society but the only problem is, there doesn't seem to be any mystery to solve - about from a missing tie, but that's not a real mystery, is it?

Then, by accident, Hazel discovers that Miss Bell has been killed in the gym, only when she tells everyone, the body has disappeared and no one, except for Daisy, believes her.  They know a murderer is on the loose at Deepdean, but are they safe?

Now the Detective Society has it's first case but do Daisy and Hazel have the cunning and ingenuity to be able to solve it, or will the killer strike again, and will Hazel be the next victim?

I raced through this book, it has a convincing setting, and the characters are just as you expect boarding school girls of the 1930s to be.  I can't wait for the second book Arsenic for Tea to come out!

 

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x

Wake

Wake by Anna Hope

Published by Doubleday

16th January 2014

Hardback Edition

 

Five Days in November, 1920

As the body of the Unknown Soldier makes its way home from the fields of Northern France, three women are dealing with loss in their own way: Hettie, who dances for sixpence a waltz at the Hammersmith Palais; Evelyn, who toils at a job in the pensions office, and Ada, a housewife who is beset by visions of her dead son. One day a young man comes to her door. He carries with him a wartime mystery that will bind these women together and will both mend and tear their hearts.

A portrait of three intertwining lives caught at the faultline between empire and modernity, Wake captures the beginnings of a new era, and the day the mood of the nation changed for ever

 

Wake is the debut novel by Anna Hope, and I do hope that it's not her last.  This is a beautiful novel, and all the more poignant by being published this year, the centenary of the First World War breaking out.  The war to end all wars, the war that was to be 'over by Christmas', the war that saw millions of people killed and injured, the war that changed the way many lived their lives forevermore.

The three main characters are all women, all from different walks of life, destined, one would imagine, never to meet.  Hettie is young and is a dancer - for sixpence, you can pluck her out of her cage, where she sits with other dancers, and spin her around the hall of the Hammersmith Palais. Evelyn is in an office job - she deals with injured soldiers in the pensions office, daily she hears of their struggles and turmoil.  Then there is Ada, her son went to war, and never returned.  She sees him everywhere she goes, and yet it is not him.

The book follows each of the characters on their daily path, trying to live as normal a life as possible now the war has ended.  There is a real sense of setting in this book, you can see the Palais as Hettie is whirled around the floor by a strange man, hear the emotion and desparation as yet another solider approaches Evelyn asking why his pension has been stopped, and feel Ada's pain as she realises that yet another man she is following is not her son.

As a former History teacher, I think I should have known about how the tomb of the Unknown Solider came about.  Can I admit, I did not.  Beginning on my birthday, Wake is the tale of five days in November, and their lasting effects.  I think everyone should read it.

 

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x