Review - We Must Be Brave by Frances Liardet

We Must Be Brave by Frances Liardet

Publisher: 4th Estate (Harper Collins UK)

Release date: 7 February 2019
Back cover blurb: A woman; a war; a child that changed everything. Spanning the sweep of the twentieth century, We Must Be Brave is a luminous and profoundly moving novel about the people we rescue and the ways in which they rescue us back. She was fast asleep on the back seat of the bus. Curled up, thumb in mouth. Four, maybe five years old. I turned around. The last few passengers were shuffling away from me down the aisle to the doors. ‘Whose is this child?’ I called. Nobody looked back. December, 1940. As German bombs fall on Southampton, the city’s residents flee to the surrounding villages. In Upton village, amid the chaos, newly-married Ellen Parr finds a girl sleeping, unclaimed at the back of an empty bus. Little Pamela, it seems, is entirely alone. Ellen has always believed she does not want children, but when she takes Pamela into her home the child cracks open the past Ellen thought she had escaped and the future she and her husband Selwyn had dreamed for themselves. As the war rages on, love grows where it was least expected, surprising them all. But with the end of the fighting comes the realization that Pamela was never theirs to keep… A story of courage and kindness, hardship and friendship, We Must be Brave explores the fierce love we feel for our children and the astonishing power of that love to endure.

We Must Be Brave, is a sentiment that the reader should probably keep in mind whilst reading this beautifully written novel, for its subject matter is at times difficult to endure.

We Must Be Brave is a novel that focuses on the trials and tribulations that must have affected many families during the second world war, but this perspective is rarely written about.

Ellen Parr is a newly-married, childless young woman who finds a girl sleeping, unclaimed on the back of an empty bus. The bus has recently arrived from Southampton whose residents have been made homeless by relentless German bombers.

Little Pamela it transpires is entirely alone in the world. Abandoned in the chaos at Southampton, her Mother now dead in a bombing raid, Pamela (on her part somewhat reluctantly) is taken in by the Parr family. 

After an attempt to place her elsewhere, the Parr's come to accept Pamela as their own, despite her poor behaviour, which was no doubt common of a child in her situation. After desperate attempts to contact any remaining family are exhausted, the Parr's form an unbreakable bond with the child and don't expect that she will ever see her real family again.

Ellen's world is turned upside down when a relative stranger appears on her doorstep, her face familiar, but Ellen cannot understand why. As she explains her reason for her visit, Ellen realises that she could be about to lose everything she never knew she wanted.

We Must Be Brave is a very moving novel, but also uplifting novel, and I was bereft when I go to the end! This deserves to be one of the books of 2019, and I cannot recommend it enough.

We Must Be Brave is available from 7 February 2019.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - The Last by Hanna Jameson

The Last by Hanna Jameson

Publisher: Viking

Release date: 31 January 2019

Back cover blurb:

BREAKING: Nuclear weapon detonates over Washington BREAKING: London hit, thousands feared dead. BREAKING: Munich and Scotland hit. World leaders call for calm. Jon Keller was on a trip to Switzerland when the world ended. More than anything he wishes he hadn't ignored his wife Nadia's last message. Twenty people remain in Jon's hotel. Far from the nearest city, they wait, they survive. Then one day, the body of a girl is found. It's clear she has been murdered. Which means that someone in the hotel is a killer... As paranoia descends, Jon decides to investigate. But how far is he willing to go in pursuit of justice? And what happens if the killer doesn't want to be found?

The Last begins with the end of the world as we know it (yes the R.E.M lyrics are intentional). Nuclear attacks have taken place, affecting San Francisco,  Munich and Scotland. Little information about these is given, which I think adds to the authenticity of this story, as we the reader are in the same situation as the people involved, cut off from the outside world by devastation and disaster.

Jon Keller is staying at a remote hotel in Switzerland as part of a conference when disaster hits. Some of his fellow conference attendees panic and flee the hotel in the hope of escape. Most are terrified at the prospect of the end of the world as they know it and are paralysed by fear into staying at the hotel.

This seems like the sensible option at first. The hotel is safe, away from the major towns and cities and their chaotic evacuations as people anticipate further attacks. However the hotel is not the place that it first appears to be.

When the body of a young girl is found, her identity a mystery, we realise that the hotel itself is a very mysterious thing. Historically famous for it's slightly creepy, remote location and thirteen floors, amongst other more secretive details that Jon is yet to uncover.

The only thing we know for certain is that her death was not accidental, and she was not killed by the blast, fallout or radiation sickness. In short, she was murdered. Jon, as he begins to document each day since the nuclear attacks, is determined to find out who committed this crime, and whether the hotel residents are in further danger of more than 'just' another nuclear attack.

The Last is a difficult novel to summarise, is it a post apocalyptic thriller? A murder mystery? or something in between? Whatever it is, it is a great novel, with an interesting conclusion!

The Last is available from 31 January 2018.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - When All Is Said by Anne Griffin

When All Is Said by Anne Griffin

Publisher: Sceptre (Hodder & Stoughton)

Release date: 24 January 2019

Back cover blurb: A tale of a single night. The story of a lifetime. If you had to pick five people to sum up your life, who would they be? If you were to raise a glass to each of them, what would you say? And what would you learn about yourself, when all is said and done? This is the story of Maurice Hannigan, who, over the course of a Saturday night in June, orders five different drinks at the Rainford House Hotel. With each he toasts a person vital to him: his doomed older brother, his troubled sister-in-law, his daughter of fifteen minutes, his son far off in America, and his late, lamented wife. And through these people, the ones who left him behind, he tells the story of his own life, with all its regrets and feuds, loves and triumphs. Beautifully written, powerfully felt, When All Is Said promises to be the next great Irish novel.

Eighty Four year old Maurice Hannigan has a toast to make, well five in fact, for all those who’ve had a major influence in his life.

At the bar in Rainford House hotel he raises a glass to his late brother, his beloved sister-in-law, his late wife and daughter, and lastly his son.

There is a different drink for each individual, and a different period of time and Maurice's life explored. Over the course of the novel we really get to know this character and come to love him.

For the reader, the atmosphere is almost as if you are sitting in that bar there with him, listening to him tell his tale, winding up the staff behind the bar mischievously.

I don't usually say this, but I think this book would make a beautiful TV series or film with the right actors treating the novel sympathetically. 

When All Is Said is a beautiful and unique novel and I can't wait for the author's next.

When All Is Said is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You for to the publishers who sent me an advanced proof copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review - the Alphabet of Heart's Desire by Brian Kearney

The Alphabet of Heart's Desire by Brian Kearney

Publisher: Holland House Books

Release date: 16 November 2017

Back cover blurb: A VISITOR CALLS WITH A GIFT AND A MESSAGE FROM THE PAST… In 1802 Thomas de Quincey, a young man from a comfortable middle-class background who would go on to become one of the most celebrated writers of his day, collapsed on Oxford Street and was discovered by a teenage prostitute who brought him back to her room and nursed him to health. It was the beginning of a relationship that would introduce Thomas to a world just below the surface of London’s polite society, where pleasure was a tradeable commodity and opium could seem the only relief from poverty. Yet it is also a world where love might blossom, and goodness survive. The lives of a street girl, an aspiring writer, and a freed slave cross and re-cross the slums of London in this novel about the birth of passion, the burden of addiction, and the consolations of literature.






The Alphabet of Heart’s Desire is a beautifully written historical fiction novel loosely based on Thomas De Quincy’s early life.

English essayist Thomas de Quincy (most famous for “Confessions of an English Opium-Eater”) is the first protagonist that we meet, some years after most of the novel’s narrative takes place.

The story is told to us in alternating chapters told by Thomas, Anne and Tuah.

Thomas we are familiar with; Anne, is a young girl when we meet her. Forced by life, bad luck and circumstance into a life of prostitution.

Tuah, is a young orphaned boy when we meet him. Taken from his home by Dutch slave traders and bought onto a ship bound for the UK. Tuah is sold to the ships captain who takes him under his wing and teaches him English until they arrive in the U.K.

Thomas after a troubled early life finds himself on the streets of a London as a young man. He has no idea of how the real world operates having been bought up relatively comfortably.

You might ask what connects these characters. Well it’s not at all clear at first, but as the narrative progresses we begin to see how they are unquestionably linked.

Thomas falls upon hard times when he arrives in London, abandoned by his family, he is discovered by Anne on the street following an altercation with some men of less than desirable character. They are strangers to each other, of different worlds but drawn together by a need for companionship and laudanum … and that’s where the real story begins.

The Alphabet of Heart’s Desire is highly recommended for any historical fiction fan.

Thank You to lovereading.co.uk who sent me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review - The Flower Girls by Alice Clark-Platts

The Flower Girls - Alice Clark-Platts

Publisher: Raven Books

Release date: 24 January 2019

Back cover blurb: YOU'LL NEVER FORGET THE FLOWER GIRLS. The Flower Girls. Laurel and Primrose. One convicted of murder, the other given a new identity. Now, nineteen years later, another child has gone missing. And The Flower Girls are about to hit the headlines all over again...

Where on earth do I start with the Flower Girls. I guess the beginning is as good a place as any...?

It is Summer 1997, the day is hot and Primrose (Rosie) and Laurel and playing in the park near their house when two year old Kirstie Swann is murdered. 

Nineteen years later and Hazel is about to celebrate the New Year with her partner and Step Daughter, when the hotel where they are staying raises the alarm. A five year old girl is missing... and Hazel worries that as soon as her identity is discovered she will be a prime suspect.

Nineteen years earlier under her former identity, Six year old Rosie looked on whilst her Ten year old sister was convicted of Kirstie Swann’s murder. Both were implicated by the press and were quickly dubbed the Flower Girls.

When Hazel’s true identity is discovered, the Flower Girls hit the headlines all over again. 

Alternating between the present day (of the novel) and 1997, we learn of Rosie and Laurel’s childhood, the time before, during and after Kirsties murder and Lauren’s conviction. We are constantly forced to query what we think we know and there is a deep sense of unease throughout the novel.

But Hazel/Rosie and Laurel aren’t the only interesting characters in this novel, an ex journalist, determined policewoman, Lauren’s solicitor and Kirstie’s aunt are all fascinating in their own way. And are all asking the questions that we the readers are asking in our heads; should Laurel be released now she has done her time? Does Rosie remember more than she let’s on? Is justice ever really done for a child murder? What kind of child wants to kill or harm another child? Should family members linked to convicted criminals be allowed new identities?

I can’t guarantee that all of these questions will be answered, but I can guarantee that you won’t put this book down until you’ve finished it. And then you’ll probably pick it up again, because you’ll probably need to read that ending twice. Just to be sure.

The Flower Girls is available from 24 Janaury 2018.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield

The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield

Publisher: Michael Joseph
Release date: 24 January 2019

Back cover blurb: Where there is family, there is hope ... Vienna, 1939. Nazi police seize Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholsterer and his son, Fritz, and send the pair to Buchenwald in Germany. There began an unimaginable ordeal that saw the pair beaten, starved and forced to build the very concentration camp they were held in. When Gustav was set to be transferred to Auschwitz, a certain death sentence, his son refused to leave his side. Throughout the horrors they witnessed and the suffering they endured, there was one constant that kept them alive: the love between father and son. Based on Gustav's secret diary and meticulous archive research, this book tells their incredible story for the first time - a story of courage and survival unparalleled in the history of the Holocaust. The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is a reminder of both the best and the worst of humanity, the strength of family ties, and the power of the human spirit.

I have ready many many accounts of the horrors of WWII, both fictional and non. The boy who followed his Father into Auschwitz is up there with the best.

Gustav and Fritz Kleinmann are Father and Son living in Vienna prior to WWII with their other family members, Gustav's wife and Fritz's Mother; Tini and Gustav's other children and Fritz's siblings; Edith, Herta and Kurt.

The book opens with the Anschuluss; the annexation of Austria in to Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938 and the horrors that followed for so many.

The Kleinmann family are torn apart as a result, and Gustav and Fritz find themselves mercifully together in Buchenwald as the rest of the family struggle on under Nazi occupation.

Much has been written of those who have survived the Buchenwald, Mauthasen and Auschwitz concentration camps, but I believe this is the only account that I have read to date which covers two remarkable survival stories of the whole period of WWII.

The courage and determination that both Gustav and Fritz show is nothing short of amazing. I believe that this book should be on every school's reading list, to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

This book as an account of that horrific period in history is really powerful, and will stay with me for a long time.

The boy who followed his Father into Auschwitz is available from 24 January 2019.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - My Name is Anna by Lizzy Barber

My Name is Anna - Lizzy Barber

Publisher: Century 

Release date: 10 January 2019

Back cover blurb: Two women – desperate to unlock the truth. How far will they go to lay the past to rest? ANNA has been taught that virtue is the path to God. But on her eighteenth birthday she defies her Mamma’s rules and visits Florida’s biggest theme park. She has never been allowed to go – so why, when she arrives, does everything seem so familiar? And is there a connection to the mysterious letter she receives on the same day? ROSIE has grown up in the shadow of the missing sister she barely remembers, her family fractured by years of searching without leads. Now, on the fifteenth anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, the media circus resumes in full flow, and Rosie vows to uncover the truth. But will she find the answer before it tears her family apart?

My Name is Anna is a novel that will grip you from its first pages; where you meet Anna, quietly frightened of her own Mother, known as Mamma, a fanatically clean, overly religious and quietly controlling woman.

On her Eighteenth birthday, Anna defies her Mother and visits Florida’s biggest and most popular theme park, Astroland with her boyfriend William. She knows that she has never been there before, for her Mother has forbidden it.

But Anna feels like everything there is familiar to her. Like she has somehow been there before ...

In the U.K., Rosie has grown up in the shadow of her missing older sister, Emily. The sister she can barely remember, but is forced to celebrate every anniversary in the media spotlight with her family in the hope that it will unearth a new piece of evidence that will bring her missing sister home.

Her sister, Emily has now been missing for fifteen years. And the money in the Emily Archer trust, funding the investigation into her disappearance is about to run out...

Rosie more than ever wishes that she could help to find her sister, as she knows that it is the only thing that will keep her fragile family from falling apart at the seams.

My Name is Anna deals with some difficult subjects brilliantly, and really makes you care about its characters. I know it's only January, but I truly think that this will be one of my favourites for 2019!

My Name is Anna is available from 10 January.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - The Rumour by Lesley Kara

The Rumour by Lesley Kara

Publisher: Bantam Press
Release date: 27 December 2018

Back cover blurb: When single mum Joanna hears a rumour at the school gates, she never intends to pass it on. But one casual comment leads to another and now there’s no going back . . . Rumour has it that a notorious child killer is living under a new identity, in their sleepy little town of Flinstead-on-Sea. Sally McGowan was just ten years old when she stabbed little Robbie Harris to death forty-eight years ago – no photos of her exist since her release as a young woman. So who is the supposedly reformed killer who now lives among them? How dangerous can one rumour become? And how far will Joanna go to protect her loved ones from harm, when she realises what it is she’s unleashed?

When Joanna Critchley hears a rumour at the school gates, she dismisses it as idle gossip. The sort that she wouldn’t usually associate herself with.

But Joanna has only recently returned to Flinstead after moving back from London, and her son Alfie is struggling to make friends at school.

If Joanna can get in with 'in crowd' of Mum's at school, then Alfie will have invitations to parties galore, and instantly become more popular.

Joanna should hate herself for what she is about to do, but she is desperate, and desperate people do desperate things ... particularly for the ones that they love.

Sally McGowan, was ten years old when she stabbed five year old Robbie Harris to death. She claimed it was an accident, but the jury didn’t believe her, and she has faced public judgement and persecution ever since.

Speculation has always been rife about where Sally might be residing in the present day, and what kind of person she is now. The latest rumour is that she is living in Flinstead, and it’s a rumour that doesn’t sit well with the locals.

Particularly not Joanna and her new friends ...

I can’t say too much more as I don’t want to give anything away. But this book will definitely make you think the next time you hear a bit of ‘juicy’ gossip.

The Rumour is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - A Woman of War by Mandy Robotham

A Woman of War by Mandy Robotham

Publisher: Avon Books

Release date: 7 December 2018

Back cover blurb: For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Kate Furnivall comes a gritty tale of courage, betrayal and love in the most unlikely of places. Germany, 1944. Taken from the camps to serve the Fuhrer himself, Anke Hoff has been assigned as midwife to one of Hitler’s inner circle. If she refuses, her family will die. Torn between her duty as a caregiver and her hatred for the regime she’s now a part of, Anke is quickly swept into a life unlike anything she’s ever known – and she discovers that many of those at the Berghof are just as trapped as she is. Soon, she’s falling for a man who will make her world more complicated still. Before long, the couple is faced with an impossible choice – for which the consequences could be deadly. Can their forbidden love survive the horrors of war – and, more importantly, will they?

What would you do given the choice of life or death?

If you were forced to live in hell like freezing conditions full of pain and suffering and had a choice to get out back out into the real world, but that world is being run by a murderous mad man.

What would you do?

Anke Hoff is a respected and experienced midwife, when she is forced to make a choice for the sake of her family. She has been summoned by the fuhrer for her experience to attend to one of his inner circle, as their midwife.

If she refuses then her life in camp will surely become worse, she may be killed, her family certainly will die.

Anke puts her family first and soon finds herself amongst unimaginable luxury at the Berghof.

The pregnant member of Hitlers inner circle is not who Anke was expecting it to be, and she almost instantly wishes that she could leave. Being in the house itself is bad enough. But being that close to someone she despises is almost too much.

But Anke is a good woman, and despite her reservations she begins to form a reluctant friendship with the expectant Mother. A friendship she never expected. But there are a lot of things that Anke doesn't expect to experience at the Berghof,  particularly love.

But Anke’s love comes at a high price. It is dangerous, forbidden, and could be deadly. A Woman of War is a beautifully written historical novel, that is set to become a firm favourite.

A Woman of War is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the Publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.