Little Beach Street Bakery – Jenny Colgan

 

Following on by the slight disappointment of Sophie Kinsella’s ‘Wedding Night’ I had another of my favourite ‘chic lit’ authors in my hands. I was dubious, if Kinsella’s was so simple and predictable would this then follow suit?

The answer is no, not because its not simple or predictable but because the simplicity of such a sweet story was enjoyable.

Polly Waterford has her life turned upside down when she is made bankrupt, during her search for a new flat she finds a dilapidated house in Polbearne and her life starts to rebuild slowly but surely.

Polly bakes bread, really good bread and it is from there that she starts to build herself relationships with most of the Polbearne inhabitants except one, her landlord Gillian Manse. A name that might sound like another familiar author? 😉

Manse is a hardcore Polbearne woman but behind her is a soft lady that has had her life ruined by loss, she is not necessarily fighting for the little village to stay the same but fighting because she herself cannot leave until Polly gives her a lifeline.

Polly’s love life is focused on a fair bit in this book, there are affairs, dramas and most of all the knight in shining armour at the end.

I really enjoyed this novel so I hope you will too, oh and watch out for Neil.

The Missing One – Lucy Atkins

WOW.

This is a must read.

I haven’t said that one in a while. Lucy Atkins has provided a twisty novel with a gripping journey, try to predict the ending and you will no doubt get it wrong – my mum and I both did!

The novel focuses on the disjointed family life of Kali McKenzie (Halstrom) and the secrets slowly revealed by the death of her mother. Having had a tempestuous relationship with her mother throughout her life Kali craves further knowledge to get closure on her mother’s unknown and distant personality.

Prior to her mother’s death Kali finds texts on her husbands phone that leads her to believe he has been cheating on her – but all is not what it seems – with her world turned upside down she makes the impulsive decision to take herself and her little boy Finn halfway around the world in search of answers.

Kali soon finds out that what she believed is in fact true – she knew very little about her mother. Whilst we, the reader, know slightly more with the intertextuality provided by her mothers diary extracts  it is intriguing to learn further about her mothers Orca studies and why she abandoned them.

Whilst in Vancouver Kali meets her mothers long lost friend Susannah and suddenly her whole family history unravels in front of her. Not knowing Susannah is incredibly sick Kali pushes her for more and more information before she snaps and does the unthinkable – but I won’t divulge what happens, you will just have to read it yourself!

 

Pages: 569

To Buy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Missing-One-Lucy-Atkins/dp/184866320X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398198173&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=the+missing+onee £2 what a bargain!!

Author: http://www.lucyatkins.com/

The Shock of the Fall – Nathan Filer

WEIRD.

That was how I described this novel the entire way through reading it. Peculiar.

I felt similarly about this book as I did when I read Heart of Darkness, i’ve read the entire story but I am still unsure of what I have read.

The novel is the journey of schizophrenic protagonist Matt Homes (he isn’t named for quite some time!) whom introduces us to his brother first and foremost saying that whilst we will like little Simon Homes he will be dead in a few pages.

Filer focuses on the journey Matt goes through after losing his brother, a death he blames himself for, whilst it has an interesting element in terms of looking at a schizophrenic’s life it is a bizarre read. Sure a schizophrenic’s head is going to be all over the place and thus the novel follows this structure but I have to say I struggled to follow this story – thus I struggled to read it.

Saying that it won last years Costa Coffee Book Award so it cannot be all bad! Just my opinion it seems.

On to the next novel!!

Forgive Me – Lesley Pearse

It’s been a while.

I’ve still been reading but I forget to update this every now and then, so i’ll have two updates to come.

 

The first is the wonderful Forgive Me which was, you guessed it, written by my current favourite author Lesley Pearse!

My mum has been buying the novels again and when she handed me this one deemed it the most predictable of those read. I have to say she has a point, and it isn’t a bad thing that a small (ok kind of rather large in this narrative) element can be seen ahead of time, but it’s there where it isn’t normally.

The story is set around a young girl who has her world turned upside down when her mother unexpectedly kills herself, and her stepfather commits one heinous crime after another – both emotionally and physically.

We follow Eva on her journey as she tries to discover her true family and the life that made her mother the woman she was. A secret apartment, jobs, boyfriends and family friends make the story all the more interesting.

Pearse sends you on another emotional rollarcoaster as revelations break the once solid family into numerous pieces, and of course you have the typical love story along the way!

Despite being predictable in it’s main element the novel was amazing and has been passed from mum to me to my sister… it will be interesting to see who it ends up with next.

A Lesser Evil – Lesley Pearse

Another one from my new favourite author Lesley Pearse.

It still amazes me that I can pick up any of her novels and they are completely unrelated to the last. They don’t even seem like they’re written by the same person.

‘A Lesser Evil’ focuses on a young married couple who move to a dysfunctional and criminal inflicted street in London. Whilst there Fifi accidentally stumbles across dangerous territory in regards to her neighbours the infamous Muckles.

The book is a harrowing story of how crime can affect the youngest of people as the Muckles young daughter Angela is found dead with no sign of the murderer.

Is it as simple as the vile parents finally abusing their daughter to death?

You’ll have to read it and see. A twisted love story that finds its happy ending eventually.

Charles Dickens: A Life – Claire Tomalin

It’s been a month since I read a book.

A month to read one book.

That’s both horrendous and ridiculous for me even when busy.

Unfortunately I think this one could be destined for the charity shop. I’ll admit that i’m not much of a biography/autobiography reader but this was like wading through mud.

Tomalin has done a fantastic job of getting every, little, tiny detail into this narrative. Which is fine if you like that sort of writing, this is of course my own opinion, but I personally think it’s horrendously hard to read.

Of course you get to learn that Dickens is not the upstanding citizen and amazing man that his heritage would lead you to believe, but then again everyone has flaws. His era sounds painful, in every which way. It’s also abundantly clear that contraception didn’t exist in any shape or form.

This ‘great’ man couldn’t help himself, he tried to help others, those lower than him, but then left his wife for another, much younger, woman.

Another element of the story I don’t like is Tomalin’s penchant for dissecting his books, i’ve only read a few so she’s gone some way to spoiling the narrative. Slightly irritating.

All in all I didn’t enjoy it but I have a weird determination that once I start a book I have to finish it. So consider it finished, never to be read again.

I for one can’t wait to start my next Lesley Pearce novel tomorrow… back to those I know and trust.