Archive | July 2022

A Young Girl’s War by Sheila Nelson

Jul6

A Snapshot In Time

A Young Girl’s War by Sheila Nelson is a powerful account of the author’s experience of living in London during World War II.

Sheila Nelson was born in 1931 and has a vivid snapshot of memories of the war as it impacted her childhood.

Evacuated early on to Brighton proved to be a traumatic event. Although safe from any bombs falling, being isolated from her family was awful and Sheila Nelson soon returned home. Incidentally my Dad was also evacuated early on to Llandudno and he hated it, wrote letters home daily and was popped back on a train to Birmingham after just two weeks!

Whilst the author’s family house did not have any direct hits, her road did and therefore her house continually suffered damage such as the glass being blown out and doors being blown off hinges (coincidentally this happened to my Dad’s house too). At one time the family house was uninhabitable and Sheila Nelson’s family sofa surfed between relatives.

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My Father’s Uniform by Jaitsche Wassenaar

Jul6

The Impact Of Choices

My Father’s Uniform by Jaitsche Wassenaar is a powerful account of the daughter of an NSB member living in Holland during World War II.

The young girl is only eight years old in 1944 and is traumatically impacted by the cruelty she receives from her peers as her father is an NSBer. She is tarred by association.

We hear of life on a farm and see the war through the eyes of a child. We witness the cruelty inflicted by her teacher as the choices of adults disrupt young lives.

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The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson

Jul6

Totally Superb

The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson is an absolutely superb contemporary crime thriller. It is the second book in the Inspector Anjelica Henley series and can be read as a stand-alone. I would recommend reading book one The Jigsaw Man first so that you can see the character progression.

The Binding Room is totally gripping as the rather gruesome murders mount up. I tried to guess the perpetrator and was totally wrong – again!

Nadine Matheson draws the reader in with her plotline as it throws up more questions than answers. Along with the murder squad, I was totally flummoxed – who was committing the crimes?

Inspector Anjelica Henley is a wonderful, realistic leading lady. She is not perfect but she is believable as she is tenacious and hard working. She will not rest until justice is served. Following on from events in book one, we witness her PTSD as the past events haunt her.

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One Last Secret by Adele Parks

Jul4

Oh! Wow!

One Last Secret by Adele Parks is a marvellous contemporary psychological thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. It is a compulsive read that I could not put down.

The reader enters a world that is shady and secretive. All sorts of people are hiding who they really are. It is a world of secrets and lies, play acting and imagination.

The reader joins a character in this world as we wonder what is real? What is imagined? Can what our eyes see and our ears hear be trusted? A character finds herself unable to trust her senses.

As the action heats up, the reader is completely glued as one jaw dropping moment follows another, and another! As I finished the book, my mouth was open in an ‘Oh! Wow!’

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