Today I’m delighted to be sharing a snippet from Marcia Clayton’s recently released novel, Millie’s Escape, as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Millie’s Escape is the fifth book in The Hartford Manor Series, a heart-warming family saga stretching from the Regency period to Victorian times. Blurb 1885 North … Continue reading Millie’s Escape by Marcia Clayton
My Reading – November 2023
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan On Friday, July 29th, Dublin got the weather that was forecast. Teatime Trouble by Tonya Penrose Page hung up the phone and turned to her cousin. “You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Betsy Ross.” In the Shadow of Gallipoli by Robert Bollard Every April, the shores of … Continue reading My Reading – November 2023
Book Review: Ancestry by Simon Mawer
‘A past that only consists of the artefacts is like a skeleton unearthed in an archaeological dig. Where is the flesh and blood? Who were the people? What did they feel? Where have they gone?‘ (Ancestry p.1) In Ancestry, Simon Mawer imagines the flesh and blood of two sets of his great-great-grandparents, ordinary people from … Continue reading Book Review: Ancestry by Simon Mawer
A Burst of Sunlight
The sun is shining brightly here in Melbourne today - too nice not to share. Here, as a break from my usual history- and book-heavy posts, is a collection of photos of the sky in some of its many moods that I have taken over the years. Blues skies Midwinter sky - July 2021 Cat … Continue reading A Burst of Sunlight
My Reading – October 2023
Ancestry by Simon Mawer What is the past? These Days by Lucy Caldwell It's Emma who wakes first. The Broken Years: Australian Soldiers in the Great War by Bill Gammage Before 1914 most Australians wanted a paradise for the majority in Australia.
Who She Left Behind by Victoria Atamian Waterman
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Victoria Atamian Waterman’s newly released novel, Who She Left Behind, as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Blurb Who She Left Behind is a captivating historical fiction novel that spans generations and delves into the emotional lives of its characters. … Continue reading Who She Left Behind by Victoria Atamian Waterman
The Merchant’s Dilemma by Carolyn Hughes
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Carolyn Hughes’s newly released novel The Merchant's Dilemma as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. The Merchant's Dilemma is a companion novel to The Meonbridge Chronicles and is a little more romantic and lighthearted than the other Chronicles. Blurb 1362. … Continue reading The Merchant’s Dilemma by Carolyn Hughes
If It’s the Last Thing I Do by David Fitz-Gerald
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from ’s newly released novel as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Blurb It’s 1975, and Misty Menard unexpectedly inherits her father’s business in Lake Placid, New York. It never occurred to her that she could wind up as the CEO … Continue reading If It’s the Last Thing I Do by David Fitz-Gerald
Burning Secret by R J Lloyd
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from R J Lloyd’s latest novel, Burning Secret, as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Blurb Inspired by actual events, Burning Secret is a dramatic and compelling tale of ambition, lies and betrayal. Born in the slums of Bristol in 1844, … Continue reading Burning Secret by R J Lloyd
Faces in the Street – ‘A beautiful head of hair’
Unidentified young woman c1870-1900Photographer: George & George's Federal Studio The use of the term crowning glory to describe a woman’s hair has been around since the middle of the nineteenth century. As the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express put it, ’Whether the locks be golden-hued or ebony, one of the greatest gifts of the Creator … Continue reading Faces in the Street – ‘A beautiful head of hair’
Catherine Meyrick 