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The Garden Of Memories by Amanda James

May21

Stepping Out Of Your Box

The Garden Of Memories by Amanda James is the most beautiful contemporary novel that I adored and never wanted to end.

The novel is about life and how to bloom just where you are planted. You are never too old to have a fresh beginning as you are transplanted from one stage of life to another.

As the title suggests, taking centre stage is the garden of memories. It starts as an ordinary garden but soon becomes the lifeline for so many in the village.

The smell of certain flowers and plants evokes special memories – memories that will not pass this way again but can be forever preserved in the garden of memories and enjoyed again and again.

We see that for some, the look and smell of flowers really is a lifeline, opening the door to the past. This is true of a grandmother, Lily, who has dementia. The smell of the flowers, and sweetpeas in particular, unlocks her mind, enabling her family to get a glimpse of the woman they all knew.

All the characters are well drawn and believable. They are an eclectic mix, many seeking their own identity.

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Not My Valentine by Tony Bassett

May20

Gripping

Not My Valentine by Tony Bassett is a fabulous contemporary crime suspense that I just could not put down. It is the seventh book in the Detectives Roy & Roscoe series but can be read as a stand-alone.

I enjoyed meeting up with familiar faces. Easy banter flowed between the regular police officers. We see the tenacity of the law to solve the case as we drop in on the detectives.

Present day murder is investigated alongside a cold case. The law enforcement officers are relentless in their pursuit of justice and the reader applauds their commitment.

The action is set in the Midlands with a murder in Worcester, and chasing criminals around Birmingham and the Black Country. As a Black Country wench living in Worcestershire, the locations were incredibly familiar to me. This helped me to really bed down into the book.

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This Ruined Place by Michael Lawrence

May19

A Timeless Appeal

This Ruined Place by Michael Lawrence is a hauntingly beautiful novel that consumed me from the start.

It is a book where the past and present collide. Memories make the veil between very thin.

We witness that not everyone remembers the past in the same way. For some, the past was a rosy place, a place they long to return to. Rose tinted glasses paint a very favourable picture. For others, the past is a more hostile, unforgiving place. It was not always a good place to be. How the characters view the past gives us an insight into their individual natures.

A relationship between a sixteen-year-old granddaughter, her grandparents and a boyhood friend of the couple is complex. Her interactions between the three characters are very different. She actually relates more closely to the childhood friend than her grandparents.

We see that characters live in the old ruins. Memories produce some supernatural characteristics. Those who are more sensitive glimpse the past in the present.

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The Dressmaker’s War by Michelle Vernal

May17

The Links From The Past

The Dressmaker’s War by Michelle Vernal is a timeslip novel that entertained me from the start. It is the third book in the Brides Of Bold Street but can be read as a stand-alone.

The action is set in 1982 and during World War II, particularly pivotal is 1945. We learn that for certain characters, Bold Street is a time portal, over which they have no control. For one young mother and her small daughter in 1963, there were life-changing consequences, resulting in a search that has never left hearts.

We see the value of good parents. Sometimes we are not brought up by our biological parents, but by others who love us and treat us with love. There are varying reasons as to why our biological parents have not brought us up, including social stigma on unmarried mothers in the past.

Young children are evacuated at the start of the phony war in September 1939. The young of Liverpool were sent to the countryside. Some were well treated but not all. Bonds were formed in adversity.

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