Tag Archive | Troubador Publishing

Notebook Number Nine by Jackie Carreira

Aug27

One Smile At A Time

Notebook Number Nine by Jackie Carreira is the most beautiful contemporary novel that sank into my heart and soul. I never wanted it to end.

The tale is one of self-discovery. It begins in the year 2000 and ends in 2024. Bekki wants to discover the meaning of life, and the meaning of her life, in particular. She makes drastic changes. Notebooks are bought and written in over the years. “A journey of self-development doesn’t take you to a place on a map. It takes you to a place inside yourself.”

We learn that changes don’t happen overnight. For change to be consistent, we need to implement small changes regularly over time. We will always have the choice to do the right thing.

Along the way, Bekki meets people who will change her life with their care, kindness and compassion. There are those who look out for others – Ruth and Alf run a café and they have a heart to feed and help the homeless. There are some huge hearts within the book.

We ‘hear’ Bekki’s thoughts on religion, politics and war – the latter is particularly poignant, as we read:

“The only people that ever benefit from war are arms dealers and undertakers.”

We learn the value of a smile. To change someone’s world, all it may take is a smile. Practice kindness. “If you can make one person’s life a little better every day, then you’ve changed the world.”

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Dark Is The Night by Rachel Evans

Jan24

The War Of The Dutch

Dark Is The Night by Rachel Evans is a powerful historical novel that consumed me from the start.

This is a story of Dutch resistance during World War II. The novel alternates between a mother on a small island, and her son who is training to be a doctor in Amsterdam. They have similar but different wars. Both are spurred on by a tragedy that occurred.

The mother helps young men and downed airmen to escape across the sea. She provides a safe haven. She is a beacon of light shining and bringing hope at a dark time.

Her son uses his doctoring skills and also works on type-setting documents and leaflets for the resistance. “Words are a way to fight back.” As the war progresses, he needs to do more. He then helps Jewish people to move into hiding places either within the city or just outside it.

Both mother and son put their personal safety on the line. They find it more important to help others than to just sit idly by. Bonds formed in war will remain.

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