The Familiars - which witch is which?

The Familiars, by Stacy Halls is set in and around Pendle, Lancashire in the early 17th Century and is based on real people, some of whom were caught up in the infamous Pendle Witch Trial of 1612. Our main protagonist is Fleetwood Shuttleworth, the mistress of Gawthorpe Hall, who is 17 years old, happily married and pregnant ... for the fourth time! Despite suffering terrible morning sickness, she hopes that it will be fourth time lucky and that she'll finally produce an heir for her husband, Richard. But when she finds a letter addressed to him from their doctor saying that his wife will not survive another pregnancy, she is crushed - not only by the news, but also as to why Richard hasn't said anything to her about it. But when she has a chance meeting with Alice Gray, a young midwife who promises to help Fleetwood give birth to a healthy baby, she takes her on. At first, Alice prescribes various herbs and tonics, and Fleetwood's health improves, but then Alice is accused of witchcraft (like a lot of "wise" women at that time) and Fleetwood sets out to try to help her, no matter the cost to herself and her baby. I really liked Fleetwood, what a great character - full of determination and heart, and willing to challenge the status quo at a time where women had very little say in what happened to them during their whole lives. Full of vivid characters and imagery, plus a good dose of historical details, this is a well rounded story where you can learn something about the past without really trying. Engaging plot and dialogue, this is an excellent read. I can highly recommend it, despite some of the more grisly and disturbing aspects - welcome to the 17th Century folks! This is definitely an author I will be seeking out again.

My STAR rating: FIVE

Length: 448 print pages.

Price I paid: £3.99.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, audio CD, ebook.

Bitter Orange - lies upon lies

Bitter Orange, by Clare Fuller, follows the musings and reminiscences of Frances Jellico who is near death. Visited by a man who calls himself the vicar, she harks back to the summer of 1969 when Frances, then aged 39, gets a job surveying the garden architecture of a large country house (Lyntons). Up to that point, she had been looking after her recently deceased mother, and Frances takes the job on a whim,  ready to experience the world. Upon arrival, she discovers that there are two others also working at the house - Cara and Peter, an exotic couple with a tortuous past. Frances soon becomes infatuated with them both, and cannot resist spying on them through a hole in the floor in her bedroom. They seem to become firm friends, but all is not as it seems and tall tales are told over long, lavish dinners drinking wine from the long abandoned cellars of Lyntons. When they also discover a stash of furniture and household items, they take to borrowing them ... or even selling them. The jobs they should be doing take second place to what has become a bohemian lifestyle and Frances falls deeply in love with Peter ... but where might that leave Cara? And as time goes on, she cannot be sure that anything they have told her is actually true. Told in a series of flashbacks, this is a story with many ebbs and flows and one that heads deeper and deeper into tragedy. Whilst I had sympathy for the naive Frances, I found it difficult to like Cara and Peter and I just wanted Frances to get out of the situation before it was too late. The volatility of the couple was just too much drama for me and I would have left them to it. I certainly didn't fall for them, but found them rather self absorbed and irritating most of the time. I did like the descriptions of the house and gardens and would have liked more of that, as well as the relationship between Frances and the local vicar ... if only she'd listened to him! There were also hints of a ghostly presence at times, which felt a bit out of place and totally unnecessary. So, a bit of a mixed bag, and I mostly enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I don't think it's a book that will stay with me for very long.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 268 print pages.

Price I paid: £2.98

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, MP3CD, ebook.

Headlong - art history mixed with farce

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Headlong, by Michael Frayn is an art history farce. Martin Clay is asked to assess a few paintings owned by Tony Churt, his buffoonish neighbour, during which, he catches a glimpse of another painting that he believes could be a lost masterpiece by Peter Breugel the Elder. Martin is convinced that if he could "discover" this painting and bring it to the attention of the art world, it would make his reputation (as well as a lot of money!). But in order to do that, he needs to get the painting away from Tony. And so he begins to plot ... first to find out whether the painting is what he believes it to be, and if it is, how to extricate it from the current owner without them twigging. Tony sets out to purchase it in a very convoluted and not exactly moral manner which, potentially, could bankrupt him - something his wife is not exactly keen to do considering they have only just had their first child. We follow Martin on his exploits, going down many a rabbit hole of research about the painting, and getting sucked into the unhappy marriage of Mr and Mrs Churt. It's not long before everything starts to spiral out of control and there seems to be no way back. This is an entertaining book - partly because of the humour and partly because of the history lesson - I learned a lot about Peter Breugel and how paintings can disappear and reappear through the centuries because of politics, war and luck. Martin Clay is a likeable, yet irritating character, and I wanted to give him a good shake and shout WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Especially when the relationship between himself and the wife of his "target" became something other than professional! I felt most strongly for Martin's long suffering wife who had to put up with the wanton recklessness of her husband, although, to be fair, it may well have been the symptoms of a breakdown. She managed to support him and maintain a calmness that I'm not sure many in real life could have managed. If you like a bit of silliness mixed with art, then this is the book for you.

My STAR rating: 4 STARS.

Length: 395 print pages.

Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.

Formats available: print, audio CD, ebook.

The Signature of All Things - Botany Rules!

In The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert, our main protagonist is Alma Whittaker, the daughter of Henry, a botanical explorer who came from incredibly humble beginnings in London in the shadow of his own father, who worked at Kew Gardens. With guile, sheer determination and little light theft, Henry became rich and married a Dutch lady, Beatrix, whom he lived with in Philadelphia. Then we see Alma, their precocious child, growing up and becoming a botanist in her own right, despite it being the nineteenth century and not really "the done thing" for a woman. After being the centre of her parents' attention for so long, life changes when they adopt a local girl who is beautiful beyond words. This causes tension throughout the rest of her life. Foiled in love at a young age, Alma throws herself into her botanical research and discovers the joys of moss (yes, moss) and becomes a published author. Many years later, she persuades her father to employ a botanical illustrator to help document the plants he has collected, at which point she falls for this much younger man. They marry, but each party's idea of what a marriage should consist of differ hugely (Alma is desperate for passion and sexual gratification, but her husband is only interested in her mind). Her new husband is sent away to Tahiti to locate some particular plants for Henry, but dies shortly after, and all that is returned is a trunk containing a few illustrations of plants, but mostly, sketches of "The Boy" (which helped to explain a few things). After her own trip to Tahiti, Alma continues her work and starts to delve into the mysteries of evolution. This book is a bit of an epic journey and an insight into all things botanical during the nineteenth century. I found those elements the most interesting and satisfying. I liked Alma for the most part and it was heartbreaking when she thought that she had found love, but was disappointed yet again. There were good supporting characters, with the possible exception of a childhood friend who attached herself to Alma and her sister, then married Alma's first love out of the blue and finally ended up in an asylum. To me this felt bolted on and unrealistic, as did Alma's obsession with her own body and what she got up to with it in the privacy of the "bindery room". Again, this almost appeared out of nowhere and the scene was repeated, and repeated many times. Unnecessary, in my opinion and detracted from the story. I loved the narration by Juliet Stephenson (one of the main reasons for me picking this book in the first place), and, on the whole, an interesting read.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 592 print pages.

Price I paid: £2.98.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Goldfinger - AGAIN!

In search of a quick and light holiday read, I reached for Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming. But it wasn't long before I started to think that the story was incredibly familiar. Initially, I put it down to my having seen the film, but then suddenly realised that I'd actually read it as an ebook back in 2017! However, this time I was indulging in the audio edition, superbly narrated by Hugh Bonneville, and decided I was too far down the road to stop. I thought it would be interesting to look at the blogpost I did at the time and see if I felt the same way about it as I did then ... and I have to tell you, dear reader, not quite! In this, the seventh outing for the spy with incredible longevity, the action starts with James Bond being a little disgruntled. He is finding it increasingly difficult to live up to his 007 billing and is wondering about his future - does he really want to continue killing people? While on an enforced stopover in the USA, he is asked to help someone who is convinced that the man he has been playing cards with is cheating. Bond takes on the challenge and proves this to be the case, running off with the beautiful girl who had been an unwilling accomplice to the fraud. Back in London, Bond is called in to investigate the smuggling of gold out of the country by none other than Auric Goldfinger - the card cheat himself! This sets Bond on a collision course with one of the richest men in the world, with death and destruction coming along for the ride. The action sweeps across Europe and then to the USA, where Bond is forced to help plan, and execute, the biggest heist in history - with the gold reserves at Fort Knox being the target. Goldfinger and his henchman, Oddjob, are completely despicable, and for once, Bond's attempts at romance are, for the most part, thwarted by the inclusion of lesbian characters ... although, sadly, the author didn't seem to have the balls (no pun intended) to carry this through to the end. And this is where I felt distinctly uncomfortable with the language used regarding the female characters in this book, the attitudes expressed towards women and the ridiculous ending where Pussy Galore (oh my, what can I say about this name!) succumbs to Bond's charms. This grated on me somewhat and definitely dates this book. Despite this, there are some superb passages, where the author demonstrates his usual eye for detail with the joyful descriptions of food, cars and people. And like last time, my favourite scenes feature the tense and thrilling round of golf between Bond and Goldfinger ... in fact, I would go as far as saying that it's worth reading the book just for this! (Indeed, maybe, just read that bit!!!)

My STAR rating: THREE (one less than last time).

Length: 320 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.98.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, unabridged audio CD, ebook.

Home Fires Burning - nostalgic but totally relevant

Home Fires Burning, by Robert Inman is the story of a small southern town in America whose tight knit community is in danger of being unravelled by the impact of World War II. The narrative centres on Jake Tibbetts, who, like his grandfather and father before him, is the editor of the local newspaper. Jake is a forthright man, who takes it upon himself to be the conscience of his community - he believes in honour, duty and responsibility, and always seems to be angry about something. He takes his wife for granted and is disappointed by his alcoholic son, Henry, whose child he is now raising as Henry is no longer on the scene. With the young men of the community fighting overseas, there is a feeling that things are changing, and Jake isn't ready for it. When Henry is reported dead, and his heavily pregnant wife turns up on the doorstep - a wife nobody knew anything about - Jake starts spinning out of control and sinks into a bottle. As his behaviour becomes more erratic, he is in danger of turning all his friends and family against him as he tries to comes to terms with the ever increasing upheavals in this once quiet town. Let me put it out there ... this is a great book. Full of trauma, confusion and angst, but told with heart and humour. Jake is a difficult man to like, but you can't help it. The supporting cast of characters are believable, and the way the story is woven together, with snippets about Jake's forefathers and Henry's escapades, is incredibly smart. This type of small town community may have already vanished, so this may be more of a nostalgic look at how things used to be ... but the sentiments featured, the difficult relationships exposed and the need to adapt to a scary future are very current. Home Fires Burning is a fairly old book so you may have trouble finding it ... but if you spot it in a second hand shop, then snap it up!

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 392 print pages.

Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.

Formats available: print; ebook.

Dead Beat - Derring Do ... Wizard Style!

Dead Beat, by Jim Butcher, is the seventh in his Dresden Files series, which follows the escapades of Harry Dresden, Chicago's first and only Wizard Private Investigator. Usually, Harry works closely with his friend, Karrin Murphy, who heads up the Special Investigations Department of the Chicago PD, but in this outing, Karrin goes away on holiday. Despite her being away, however, Karrin is always on his mind as Marva, a vampire he thought they'd vanquished 12 months previously, catches up with him in a cemetery (where else!) and threatens to destroy Karrin's career unless Harry procures The Word of Kemmler for her. Harry agrees, but is determined to find out what The Word actually is ... and is horrified to discover that it is the ultimate "How to ..." book for necromancers ... basically, with this book, you could become a minor god and wreak whatever kind of havoc floats your boat over the world. Determined to find out who is after this kind of power and how to stop them, Harry rescues Butters, a medical examiner under attack by a necromancer, who then goes on to assist Harry. He also meets the mysterious Sheila, who is not what she seems, but appears to be exceptionally helpful as well as beautiful. Harry must focus on the task at hand and not be a) seduced by Sheila which would lead him down a demonic path; b) work out how to stop the six battling necromancers from wielding the power of The Book; and c) save his fellow wizards from complete destruction. Oh, and it's Halloween! I don't know if it is because I hadn't read one of these books in a while, but I found this to be such an enjoyable ride - thrills, spills, spells, and total fantasy with a bucket load of humour. The new characters were great, the dialogue sparky and the action non-stop. I also felt that there were some seeds sown in the plot (like the presence of Sheila) that will be seen again in future works. If nothing else, having the image of a zombie dinosaur roaming the streets of Chicago planted forever in my mind makes this book worth every single penny. Fantastically narrated by James Marsters once again, this is a great read for those who love a bit of fantasy/crime/humour. Roll on book number eight!

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 464 print pages.

Price I paid: £5.96

Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; audio CD; ebook.