Archive | February 2021

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge

Feb22

Charming

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge is the most charming historical YA novel. It was written in the 1870’s but has withstood the test of time. It is the first book in the Carr Family series.

I had heard of What Katy Did but never actually read it in my childhood – I have been missing out. It is delightful. We hear about the everyday life of twelve year old Katy and her younger siblings. The book is set in a far simpler time where a child’s imagination was fertile. There was much love and fun to be had.

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Hidden Pearl by J.E. Laufer

Feb20

Such Bravery

Hidden Pearl by J.E. Laufer is a YA inspiring true account of the author’s Mother-in-law Pearl’s experiences as a child during World War II.

Pearl was ten years old at the outbreak of war. Her family of eleven were Jewish and lived in Poland which the Nazis over-ran. Her story is one of incredible bravery and tenacity.

As a child Pearl’s best hope of survival was to hide her faith and live with strangers, doing chores. She was separated from her family, surviving on hope.

Hidden Pearl is a remarkable story of courage in one so young, at a time of great evil. Pearl never forgot her faith but hung on silently and secretly.

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The Key To Flambards by Linda Newbery

Feb20

The Story Continues…

The Key To Flambards by Linda Newbery is a wonderful contemporary tale following on from K.M. Peyton’s fabulous Flambards series.

This book brings us bang up to date as it is set one hundred years after the original books. In this tale we meet the direct descendants of Christina Russell and we return to the original setting. “Decisions made by Christina nearly a hundred years ago had led to them all sitting here now.” Little has changed in the surrounding area.

Flambards is once more a place of scars and healing. Previously there were scars from hunting accidents and World War I. Today there are scars from a car accident and serving in Afghanistan. There are visible scars and there are those hidden deep within.

Discovering old artefacts enables the modern characters to get to know those who lived and loved in the past at Flambards.

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Safe And Sound by Philippa East

Feb18

Truth Or Lies?

Safe And Sound by Philippa East is an absolutely gripping contemporary psychological novel that had me captivated from the start.

The narrative is split into two different time periods – present day in the first person through the lead characters voice and ‘then’ in the third person narrative. The reader is guessing who is the voice in the past? I failed to guess correctly – again.

Within the tale there are truth and lies, reality and imagination, those who can be trusted and those who cannot. It is up to the reader to work out where the truth and reality lie.

How much do we really know people? We imagine that others have better lives than we do – but do they?

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