Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Brook Allen’s novel West of Santillane as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. West of Santillane follows Julia Hancock from late childhood through her courtship and marriage to the American explorer William Clark and the challenges she faced, not only … Continue reading Excerpt ~ West of Santillane by Brook Allen
My Reading – February 2026
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell A boy is coming down a flight of stairs. Too Far Standing Still by Lisette Brodey It’s been a long day. I’m weary. Things that appear normal on the outside feel as though they’re rotting on the inside. Departure(s) by Julian Barnes The other day, I discovered an alarming possibility. No, … Continue reading My Reading – February 2026
Book Review – Too Far Standing Still by Lisette Brodey
Blurb Tilly Henley was raised in a life of privilege. The daughter of prominent, wealthy New Yorkers, she wants for little. In her late twenties, she marries attorney Jim McNaughton, and the two of them happily plan to start a family. But, for the first time in her life, Tilly learns that being born into … Continue reading Book Review – Too Far Standing Still by Lisette Brodey
Excerpt ~ The Deserter – a Tale of the Foreign Legion by Wayne Turmel
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from The Deserter – a Tale of the Foreign Legion by Wayne Turmel as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Blurb Algeria 1908. Gil Vincente is a Boer War veteran, broken and adrift on the rough streets of Marseille. Desperate, he … Continue reading Excerpt ~ The Deserter – a Tale of the Foreign Legion by Wayne Turmel
My Reading – January 2026
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks The Boulevard du Cange was a broad, quiet street that marked the eastern flank of the city of Amiens. Girl at the Lion d’Or by Sebastian Faulks In those days the station in Janvilliers had an arched glass roof over the southbound platform as if in imitation of the big domes … Continue reading My Reading – January 2026
Spotlight ~ Dance of the Earth by Anna M Holmes
Today I’m delighted to be shining a spotlight on Anna M Holmes’s recently released novel Dance of the Earth as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Blurb From world stages to theatres of war, Dance of the Earth is a sweeping family saga. Set against the backdrops of London’s … Continue reading Spotlight ~ Dance of the Earth by Anna M Holmes
People mentioned in And The Women Watch and Wait
This is a list of the lesser known but real people who are mentioned in my novel And the Women Watch and Wait. It is a work in progress and I will be adding to it, slowly, over the next few months. So far, I have been unable to identify Private J Hopkins for whom … Continue reading People mentioned in And The Women Watch and Wait
Two Years of Reading – 2024 & 2025
For a variety of reasons that I can no longer remember, I failed to post my 2024 list of books read over that year. So, I am including those books here, along with my 2025 reading. My total for 2025 is only twenty-two books read, a third less than previous years because a large part … Continue reading Two Years of Reading – 2024 & 2025
My Reading – December 2025
Eileen: The Making of George Orwell by Sylvia Topp ‘Now that is the kind of girl I would like to marry!’ George Orwell told a friend excitedly, the night he met Eileen O’Shaughnessy. The Land in Winter by Andrew MillerHe was lying on a varnished wooden board, the top of a boxed in radiator.
Australia Will Be There
On 22 December 1914, just three days before Christmas, eight transports carrying soldiers from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania sailed from Melbourne to join up with the rest of the second convoy of the Australian Imperial Force at Albany. For these men Christmas 1914 would be spent in the Great Australian Bight. The convoy, including … Continue reading Australia Will Be There
