Archives

A Year Of Chasing Love by Rosie Chambers

Jan9

Worth Waiting For

A Year Of Chasing Love by Rosie Chambers is a light hearted contemporary read that looks at love and the qualities needed to make relationships last. It is a novel that makes you smile and leaves you smiling.

The reader has a cosmopolitan ride through the novel as we ‘travel’ from the UK to Malta to Singapore to Hawaii to Denmark and to Paris, the city of love. The welcome we receive is as warm as the sun beating down as a light air wafts throughout.

We learn lessons in love, discovering what love is and what it is not. We see marriages that last and those that shipwreck on the rocks.

It is important to have a healthy work-life balance. We must not neglect our family and friends in favour of hours spent in the office. We need balanced lives. We want to not just survive but thrive.

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The Oceans Between Us by Gill Thompson

Jan8

Love Never Dies

The Oceans Between Us by Gill Thompson is a heart breaking historical novel inspired by true events. The story surrounds a lost generation of children who were shipped from England to Australia at the end of World War II. “The kids they thought no one wanted.” Some were orphans, others were told they were orphans. The emotional impact on individuals and families was huge.

Families were quite literally torn apart in Australia too as Aboriginal children were taken from their families in the hope that the indigenous people would die out.

Racism was rife in England and Australia. Those who were invited over on the Windrush to help rebuild England after the war met hostility, prejudice and discrimination. Gill Thompson has portrayed a realistic account of the hatred faced by mixed race couples and their children from all quarters of society.

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The Boy Who Made The World Disappear by Ben Miller

Jan8

Imaginative And Gripping

The Boy Who Made The World Disappear by Ben Miller is an exciting contemporary children’s tale, just perfect for ages eight to adult.

The tale has its grounding in science but don’t be put off. It’s nothing technical, being easy to understand and interesting too.

At first glance it may seem as if the book is aimed at boys as a boy is the main character but its appeal is to both sexes.

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The Dilemma by B.A. Paris

Jan6

Absolutely Superb

The Dilemma by B.A. Paris is a powerful contemporary novel that will tear your emotions to pieces. It is a departure from B.A. Paris’ usual genre of psychological thrillers but the tension still grips the reader. I think it is her best novel to date, and I have loved all her books.

The novel begins near the end of the action before stepping backwards in time by twenty four hours and then moving forwards hour by hour. This device means the reader is immediately questioning from the start. We want to know what has happened, why and how?

The focus of the novel is a family. The action is told from two alternating points of view of the parents and in the first person. We become intimately acquainted with them both. Surprisingly, as I am female, I resonated more with the father in the story as I ‘shared’ his dilemma.

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