About the Book: It's not just secrets buried at Wild Meadows. For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. Rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother on an idyllic farming estate, they were given an elusive second chance of a happy … Continue reading Book Review: Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
Month: Sep 2023
The Month That Was…
September Life: I've been spending time of late cultivating my indoor water plant garden which lives on top of one of my bookcases. I've been *procuring* cuttings from all sorts of avenues, some taking off with success, others being discarded to make way for a swift replacement. My commitment to this garden extends to consuming … Continue reading The Month That Was…
Book Review: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
About the Book: In 15th century China two women are born under the same sign, the Metal Snake. But life will take the friends on very different paths. According to Confucius, ‘an educated woman is a worthless woman’, but Tan Yunxian – born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separation and loneliness – … Continue reading Book Review: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
Book Review: The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard by Natasha Lester
About the Book: In November 1973, a fashion legend vanished, leaving behind only a white silk dress and the question: what really happened to Astrid Bricard?Paris, 1917: Parentless sixteen-year-old Mizza Bricard makes a vow: to be remembered on her own terms. This promise drives her and her designs through the most exclusive couture houses in France … Continue reading Book Review: The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard by Natasha Lester
Book Review: Trouble the Living by Francesca McDonnell Capossela
About the Book: It’s the final years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and Bríd and her sister, Ina, try to maintain a stable life in a divided country. Pushed by her mother’s fanaticism and a family tragedy, Bríd joins the IRA and makes a devastating choice. Frightened and guilt ridden, she flees, leaving behind … Continue reading Book Review: Trouble the Living by Francesca McDonnell Capossela
Book Review: The Fraud by Zadie Smith
About the Book: It is 1873. Mrs Eliza Touchet is the Scottish housekeeper - and cousin by marriage - of a once famous novelist, now in decline, William Ainsworth, with whom she has lived for thirty years. Mrs Touchet is a woman of many interests: literature, justice, abolitionism, class, her cousin, his wives, this life … Continue reading Book Review: The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Book Review: The Sitter by Angela O’Keeffe
About the Book: Paris, 2020. A writer is confined to her hotel room during the early days of the pandemic, struggling to finish a novel about Hortense Cezanne, wife and sometime muse of the famous painter. Dead for more than a century, Hortense has been reawakened by this creative endeavour, and now shadows the writer … Continue reading Book Review: The Sitter by Angela O’Keeffe
Book Review: The Revels by Stacey Thomas
About the Book: The stage is set and the witch-hunt is about to begin… England, 1645. After his half-brother dies, aspiring playwright Nicholas Pearce is apprenticed to Judge William Percival, an infamous former witch-hunter who is under pressure to resume his old profession. In a country torn apart by civil war, with escalating tensions between … Continue reading Book Review: The Revels by Stacey Thomas
The Month That Was…
August Life: And just like that, winter left with the arrival of our first summer storm! Zeus is not a fan of storms... He prefers to spend them curled up beside my bed, pretending they're not happening. I've been doing a bit of baking this month, using up over ripe bananas and creating my first … Continue reading The Month That Was…
Theresa Smith Writes 