Beginning in 1926, The Convent Girl follows Maisie O’Sullivan from age four to her early forties. Brought up in a Catholic convent in Cobh, Ireland from two years old, Maisie has been told that both her parents are dead. Remembering no other life, she has adapted to the regulated life of the convent and, like … Continue reading Book Review – The Convent Girl by Tania Crosse
Book reviews
Book Review – The Sum of our Sorrows by Lisette Brodey
The Sum of our Sorrows by Lisette Brodey is a story of grief and its aftermath. When Abby Sheppard is killed in a car accident her husband and three daughters are bereft. The novel focuses on Lily, the eldest of the three daughters. At seventeen, she is in her final year at school with plans … Continue reading Book Review – The Sum of our Sorrows by Lisette Brodey
2022 – A Year of Reading
This year I came nowhere near my long term goal of reading a book a week with this year’s tally of 34 books read for the whole year. I do have a genuine excuse as the first four months was spent preparing my latest novel for publication. Despite the best of intentions my reviewing was … Continue reading 2022 – A Year of Reading
Book Review – Father by Allan Hudson
Father, by Canadian writer Allan Hudson, is set during World War 2 and follows the experiences of Tanner Hill from 1942 through to his return home after the war. This novella starts with a prologue detailing the arrival of two Hill brothers in Canada in the 1840s and the lives they build for themselves in … Continue reading Book Review – Father by Allan Hudson
Book Review – The Kings Inquisitor by Tonya Ulynn Brown
The Kings Inquisitor by Tonya Ulynn Brown opens in December 1590 with James VI and his childhood friend William Broune making their way at dusk through the noisesome streets of Edinburgh in the company of a witch-pricker. In a dank room reeking of evil and cruelty at the Edinburgh’s gaol, the Tollbooth, David Seaton, Deputy … Continue reading Book Review – The Kings Inquisitor by Tonya Ulynn Brown
Book Review – The Angel of Goliad by Jean M Roberts
The Angel of Goliad begins in Houston, Texas in the present day when Magda O’Toole, an investigative journalist, wakes from a four month coma following a fall from a ladder and is stunned to discover that she can now speak Spanish. On her return home, she finds a package from Matamoros, Mexico waiting for her. … Continue reading Book Review – The Angel of Goliad by Jean M Roberts
My Reading – November 2020
A Plague on Mr Pepys by Deborah Swift Bess Bagwell clung to the seat as a wash of freezing river water sluiced over the side of the wherry. She had to shift fast, to avoid a drenching. Expectation by Anna Hope It is Saturday, which is market day. It is late spring, or early summer. … Continue reading My Reading – November 2020
My Reading – October 2020
Singapore Sapphire by A M Stuart 'Hello,' she called, her voice vanishing into the dark bowels of the house. Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson Early one morning in Moominvalley Snufkin woke up in his tent with the feeling that autumn had come and that it was time to break camp. Moominpappa at Sea by … Continue reading My Reading – October 2020
My Reading – September 2020
The Devil's Dye by Jeni Neill 'The hog can be smelt from the street for Lord's sake!' The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue Still hours of dark to go when I left the house that morning. A Murder By Any Name by Suzanne M Wolfe 'God's bollocks, girl! I'm freezing my tits off!' … Continue reading My Reading – September 2020
Book Review – This is Happiness by Niall Williams
This is Happiness begins with the sky clearing and the rain stopping just after 3 o’clock on the Wednesday afternoon of Holy Week in 1958 while the people of Faha in county Clare are at Church. This is a rare occurrence in Faha as rain 'was a condition of living'. Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe, known as … Continue reading Book Review – This is Happiness by Niall Williams
Catherine Meyrick 