Tag Archive | Rachels Random Resources

The Matchmaker’s Mare by Hywela Lyn

May12

Of Myths & Legends

The Matchmaker’s Mare by Hywela Lyn is a contemporary fantasy that I read in just one sitting.

It is set in West Wales, a wild and rugged landscape, a place of myths and legends. A matchmaker and her husband forever roam the landscape, still making matches in death as in life.

We see the weather mirroring the turmoil when a character has a dilemma and a disappointment.

There is the importance of family. Family is about love and care, not about money and possessions.

The characters were well drawn. Most were warm and welcoming; one was cold and calculating.

Animals make a house into a home. Horses were central to the novel.

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The Girls Who Dared To Love by Diney Costeloe

May12

Engaging

The Girls Who Dared To Love by Diney Costeloe is a powerful historical novel that I loved. It is the second book in the Girls Who Dared series but can be read as a stand-alone. I, however, recommend reading book one first as this book continues where the first book finished.

Now the first World War is beginning. There is a focus on the women folk as some of the men have gone to war.

We see that the leading ladies are very much modern misses as they take control of their lives. They know what they want and who they want, and are not afraid to pursue their desires. They grab life with both hands.

Love arrows fall where they will. Parents do not always agree with their off-spring’s choice of marriage partner. They can either accept it or reject their children. The heart wants what the heart wants.

As the years are passing, old traditions are breaking down. The hierarchy of the classes is breaking down. Women too, are stepping out of traditional roles in order to make their own paths in life.

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The Dolce Vita Divas by Maddie Please

May3

The Ghosts Of The Past

The Dolce Vita Divas by Maddie Please is a most delightful contemporary novel that I read in just one sitting.

Maddie Please has created a wonderful, light-hearted read about second chances and really living life whatever your age.

All the characters are over sixty. They prove that age is no barrier to having fun. “I used to think life had passed me by and then I realized it hadn’t… Take every chance you get.” We need to grab life with both hands. We are never too old to re-write our story and to have a good ending – even an eighty-five-year-old knows how to live life. After all age is just a number.

The action is in the first person from the lead characters point of view. We get to know her intimately. Her life has been full, raising children but her first love has never left her heart. After her husband of many years left her (before the book opened), she realizes that now is the time to make some life changes.

A holiday in Capri with a friend, and in memory of another friend, offers new possibilities.

The landscape is in glorious technicolour compared with grey England. The reader can ‘feel’ the warmth and ‘see’ the vibrant colours.

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The House At River’s Edge by Rachel Burton

May3

One Last Beautiful Summer

The House At River’s Edge by Rachel Burton is a powerful dual timeline that I just could not put down. I read it in just two sittings, pausing only to sleep!

The two time periods are 1914-1919, and 1997. The chapters alternate as we follow a family through the first World War years, and again after a long-lost photograph is found. Along with the characters, we have questions about the ancestors of a family. All is not as we first thought.

The summer of 1919 was the final summer of freedom. “I hold on to the memories of that summer.” With the advent of war, lives would be changed forever. A generation of young men left enthusiastically for war. Many never returned. Those who did, had often left their minds on the battlefields. “When I sleep, I’m back there, in the trenches.” We see the devastating effects of shell shock. “They can talk about peace and armistice as much as they like; he knows he will never find peace again.” People often suffered from shell shock for the rest of their lives.

We witness the heartbreaking results when a loved one dies. “Death doesn’t care about those who are left behind.” Characters know they will never love again like they did, making decisions to support each other.

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