Happy birthday Grandad!

Today is a pretty amazing day in my family.

My grandfather, Alfred Taylor, turns 100 today. I can't even begin to think about the changes that he has seen during his life time. Just living through WWI and WWII and huge social and cultural changes is hard to contemplate, before we talk about things like television. During WWII my grandparents lived very close to the local air base and so was prepared to do what had to done if the Japanese had landed anywhere nearby.  He is the father of four children, the eldest of which is my dad, grandfather to 12 grandchildren of which I am the eldest granddaughter, and great grandfather to 16 children (as far as I can remember).

He was the third child out of 10 children, and now there are only a couple of the Taylor kids left.

He was the kind of grandfather who would encourage you to drink your milk out of the bottom of the cereal bowl, because he knew it would wind my grandmother up, the kind of grandfather who never left the house without his hat, unless it happened to be on the head of one of his grandchildren. When he was inside there was always a cup of tea nearby with a tin containing lots of licorice and other lollies, and there was always a supply of Kool Mints in his car and in his shed. The fact that part of the reason for the mints was to hide his secret smoking from my grandmother is something we won't talk about!

He spent a lot of his working life as a shearer, a tough job. Recently when I visited Perth, we were talking about those days and he talked a bit about being a bit of a gun shearer. From what I can gather he was a fairly tough father when he wasn't away. When he was home he was a small time farmer. When he retired, my grandparents moved to the place where they still live now, and he spent his time wheeling and dealing in second hand goods, fixing mechanical items like lawn mowers, and renovating sulkies (open carriages). For a long time he drove around in his ute, with his dog always along for the ride.

These days he is pretty good mentally, but the body is struggling. Not really all that surprising given that he had his first stroke nearly 25 years ago, and has had two hip replacements in that time. He is nearly blind, and nearly deaf, but other than that he is very, very healthy, and he is determined that he is not going to leave his house.

My mum moved states with my sister and I when I was 10, so we have lived away from them for nearly 29 years. When I was visiting them earlier this year, he asked if I remembered the day we moved. The short answer is I really don't, probably for a couple of reasons. The first is that I really don't remember a lot of my childhood. It's like I have supressed most of my memories due to some things that happened later. The second reason is that I don't believe that at 10 and 7 my sister and I understood the significance of moving to a different state. We were going to Adelaide on a plane. I don't know that we got that we weren't ever moving back. He said that he remembered it like it was yesterday. I don't think he ever really forgave my mother, or got over it. Funny thing is, the next day he asked me the same question again!

For the last twenty years at least, the hardest thing about going to visit both my grandfather and my grandmother (who at 89 is no spring chicken herself) has been saying goodbye, because each time there was a fair chance that it was the last time, and yet, everyone is travelling back to Perth to celebrate this milestone!

This photo of our grandfather was taken by my brother in law a few years ago now. It is a picture which shows so much of how we remember him. Always dressed in his flannelette shirts, no matter how hot it was, hat in hand, sitting in his favourite chair just resting his eyes, phone in hand with lots of lawnmowers in the background. I am sure that the dog isn't too far away either!

Happy birthday Granddad! We love you.

Sunday Salon: My unscheduled blogging break

Given that the last time I went fishing was probably 25 years ago and I don't really have any intention of doing so in the next 25 years, I should probably come clean and say that I didn't really go fishing in the last week.

Instead, my longest break from blogging in six years (I think anyway) was caused by the need to make an emergency dash to Perth to say goodbye to my grandfather who died on Wednesday morning at the age of 102.

A couple of years ago, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, I wrote a post that talked a little about his life, and this photo was taken at the 100th birthday celebration. It is one of the few that I have with him as an adult.

Photo by Chad Taylor Photography. If you are in Perth and need a photographer check him out  (my cousin)

It's been an interesting week really.

We knew that it was getting close to time, so we originally were thinking about heading over to Perth on the Friday night, but we held off booking, and then we talking about going on Wednesday morning, but then in the end we flew out in a massive rush on Tuesday night. At 4.50pm on that night we decided we were going, and at 7.30pm we were at the airport and in the intervening time, I had trained my boss how to do something that had to happen the next day, spent an hour getting home, packed and driven to the airport which is about 40 minutes away. Fastest pack ever....and I didn't forget anything other than hair ties! It was a good job that we did go on Tuesday night as we got to spend a couple of hours with my grandparents. We were just about to go back to the nursing home on the Wednesday morning when we got the call to say he had passed.

In some ways it was kind of an odd feeling that came over me at his passing. My mum moved us away from our family when I was 10 years old and so we only got to see my father and my grandparents for short times during holidays. Really, at the end of every visit for the last twenty years, I have walked out thinking that this will be the last time, trying to hold it together so that they couldn't see how upsetting it was each time, and I know that my grandfather, in particular, was doing the same. To know that this time was really the last time was hard, but also a relief as he had been in pain for a long time. His mind was quite active up until the last few months, but his movement was extremely limited and painful.

What also made this time quite emotional was that my cousin's eldest son was involved in a terrible accident the day after my grandfather died so there was lots of concern relating to that. He will be alright eventually, physically at least, but his best mate died and so there will definitely be a long road to recovery.

Overall, there was only a hint of family drama but it was pretty low key which was fantastic. In fact, one good thing that came out was that all of my cousins were in the same place at the same time, something that my grandfather would have loved. I don't think that has happened before, but I could be wrong. The oldest cousin has been estranged from the family for a long time and with us living interstate we weren't always at family events and my two youngest cousins weren't born before we left. I don't necessarily think that this will fix the estrangement but it was great to see him take his place at the grave and to have everyone together however briefly.

What I can't begin to imagine is how my grandmother is feeling. They have been married for 69 years and I just don't know how I would face the idea of going back home to know  that your husband is not going to be there. There is a chance that maybe she will decide to go to a care facility. She was also in the same hospice as my grandfather as she currently has a broken leg so they were able to share a room right up until a room.

I was a little bit cheeky while we were away. My grandmother and a couple of my cousins are real readers, and so my grandmother often has a pile of library books that my cousin gets for her. I walked into the hospice room and noticed the books there immediately - especially an old, out-of-print novel by Susan Carroll which is one of the few books by her that I haven't read! While we were sitting up with my grandmother on the first couple of nights I started it, and ended up finishing it while we were away. Other than that, I really didn't do a lot of reading while I was away - I just wasn't in the right space mentally.

I have started to make up for it since I have been back, but my library queues and Netgalley queue were all in a bit of a mess! Oh well!

Currently Reading

All the Flowers in Shanghai by Duncan Jepson - I was supposed to post a review of this last week but completely forgot about it in the rush to get to Perth. My review will now be posted in the next week.

Trouble at the Wedding by Laura Lee Guhrke

Reading Next

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald - my next book club choice.

Bookish quotes: The Lending Room in the Little Bookshop on the Seine

Back in the blogging days I used to randomly do a feature called Bookish Quotes whenever I came across a quote that capture my attention about writing, books or bookshops in a book. I thought I would start doing them again now as well.

This quote comes from The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin which I recently read. There were so many quotes about books and food in this book it was hard to limit the choice to just one. So, this is a longish one, but hopefully you will enjoy reading the passage as much as I did.

If I thought that I could find this place in Paris I would totally try to find it! I do intend to at least take a peak in Shakespeare and Sons whilst we are there soon.

Oceane smiled. "And next, we have the lending library." She led me through an archway, where someone had scrawled in thick, black permanent marker 'This way to paradise'.
The lending library was ripe with the thick stench of old tomes and the lemony scent of new novels. Their fragrances mingled together in the space, almost like a perfume, a heady combination of past and present.
Sophie's bookshop was so alive it hummed, dust motes danced, and I had to fight the urge to flop on a chair, and snatch up the nearest book.
An antique grandfather clock stood to one side of the room, its chimes long since stopped, the golden hands paused on the witching hour. "Who runs the lending library?" I asked.
Oceane leant against the wall. "Bertie, Francois, and Philippe. They organize their shifts between them, and keep track of the loans. You don't need to do anything for it. Sophie's pretty lax about the whole process. There's index cards, and stamps, it's very old school. The lending library is hallowed - it's been available for locals since the doors opened here back in the twenties. During the Great Depression, no one could afford much of anything, especially books, so strangers found their way here, and knew they could take whatever they wished. They became members, friends and weren't faceless or nameless any more."
"This history practically seeps through the walls." I was in awe of the shop, it had presence, almost like it was a character unto itself. "Do you ever wonder who sat here a century ago, and rummaged through these boxes of books?"
Her eyes grew bright. "Of course. I imagine people back then stopped past with rumbling bellies, their lives grim because of the depression, until they found their way here, and they could forget their troubles, escaping into the pages of a good book, a warm drink in hand. What could be better than that? Sophie's grandfather opened the store. When he first started, he only used the front parlor, but as time went by his reputation spread, he grew more successful and expanded into other rooms, eventually buying the apartments above. He never changed his principles....everyone was welcome here whether they had money or not. It was popular among American writers back then, a meeting place for literary itinerants."
"I get goosebumps, thinking about the stories they could've told. Do you think when they finally settled, back on home soil, they remembered their time here fondly?"
"Oui," she said, crossing her arms against the chill in the room. "A lot of them were young. Travelling after the war or just because they were free, who knows? And when it was time to move,or go back to reality, they always had this place in their heart. Sophie has a thick folder of correspondence, letters sent over decades, people thanking them for their hospitality, some dedicating the books they wrote here to Sophie's grandfather. Others saying they searched their whole lives for  the simple happiness Paris provided, but never found it again. Over a bottle of two of vin rouge, I read each and every one of them. I've told her she should publish them...an epic love story of people and place."
"That would be an amazing book..." Taking in the room, I thought of the people who once inhabited this space; I pictured the scene in black and white, like an old photograph. "The room has a sense of timelessness to it." As if time truly stopped, just like the grandfather clock. And those people long since gone from this world had found the place just as it was now, a sanctuary for word lovers.
"The store has a rich and famous history. It's why people come here and don't want to leave." Oceane spoke in reverent tones, gazing wistfully around. The rooms were weathered, the furniture battered, the store's once former glory dimmed, faded like late afternoon sunlight through a dusty window, which made it one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen.
"Why would you want to leave?" I said. It was like a grand old dame, this shop. Once haughty, now a reflection of it's past, and all that happened here..
She laughed and surveyed me. "Your face is flushed like you've fallen in love too."
I promptly closed my mouth,and scraped back my hair. "How could you not? It's like nothing I've ever seen before...almost like their ghosts are still here, those readers. Maybe that's why the sign says 'this way to paradise'?
Her gaze softened once more. "Like heaven? Well why not?" Soft laughter burbled out of her. "If I died and had to choose a place to spend eternity, it would be here."

Weekend Cooking: Food from home - Part 1

This is the first post in a series of posts where I thought I would talk about the food and drinks that I think about when I think about some of the places I have lived over the years. Most of the posts are already pretty much written but at this stage I am not sure when I will post the rest of them. Depends on whether I am have lots of other posts for Weekend Cooking or not.

Last weekend I went to Perth for a family gathering to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday. Last year I went for my grandfather's 100th birthday, so you could say that we have some longevity in our family.

When I do go back to Perth, which is where I lived until I was 10 years old, there are a couple of things that I need to do! One is that I have to drink some spearmint flavoured milk. I don't know why, but you can't get it in other places where I have lived in Australia, but for me it is a real taste that I associate particularly with Perth.

The other thing I do like to do is go to a shop in London Court which specialises in importing foods from Britain, and while I am there I buy a couple of cans of Homepride Chilli. This is a brand that I really enjoyed when I lived in the UK, and I haven't really found a brand of chilli here that I like as much as I liked that one.  We used to buy jars, but as far as I know you can only get it in cans here. I will probably talk more about this when I talk about the food that I have strong memories from the UK.

As an aside, London Court is probably my favourite place to go when I do visit Perth. It is an alleyway between two major roads in the centre of Perth that was built during 1930s but it was built to replicate a Tudor laneway.  I loved going there as a kid, and I still love going there now. It is filled with tourist shops or overpriced boutiques but I do still love wandering through it whenever I head to Perth. Unfortunately because it was such a quick trip last weekend I didn't get to go there this time.

I always get worried if they are checking my hand luggage at the airport as it must look a bit strange when my only souvenirs from visiting Perth are a couple of litres of  Spearmint Milk and a couple of cans of chilli.

A couple of other food memories: One day I was visiting Perth with a friend, and we were wandering around Freo (or Fremantle if you aren't a local) when we picked a random restaurant, and I ordered Garlic Prawns with Rice. Every now and again if I go out for dinner I will order this, but it has NEVER lived up to my memories of that meal so long ago.

I can't remember the last time I actually ate it, but if I see Steak and Kidney Pie on a menu I will always and forever think about my grandparents. The story goes that my grandmother had been serving it up to my grandfather as a meal for 20 or 30 years, so it was something of a surprise when one day he turned around and told her not only did he not like it now, but that he had never, ever liked it.

We moved away from my family when I was about 10, so we have lived away from them for a very long time now. I was very surprised when I went back to Perth when my grandfather was in his 70s because he suddenly had developed a liking for cappuccinos, so the both my grandparents used to trot down to the local Kmart, and have a cappuccino. He used to to eat the froth off of the top before drinking the coffee, and we would pretend to be horrified that he did that! Neither of them get out of the house because they both have restricted mobility now, but the simple pleasure of my grandparents drinking cappuccinos and making that same joke every time will be one of my enduring memories of them.

Ever since I can remember my grandfather had a lolly tin that sat by the side of his chair, and all the children who visited them knew that was there they would find them! It would be filled with lots of different types of lollies, but most particularly with liquorice allsorts. He also always had Kool Mints, and so this is something else that I associate with him too.

So often it is the small things that we remember. My auntie will be horrified that I mention this if she happens to see that I have written about it, but we were staying with her a few years ago, and we were having chicken parmigiana for dinner (which is chicken schnitzel covered in tomato sauce and then with melted cheese). When we were sitting down for dinner the boy whispered to me that there was no cheese, and I shushed him and said maybe they just have it that way. When we got up in the morning, she said she had woken up at 5am suddenly realising that she had forgotten the cheese. When I said that we were going to stay with her again this time, he said to me that maybe we could have parmigiana with cheese this time. Because we see them so rarely I am pleased that he has a specific memory that he associates with her! When we were over there this time he even asked her about having chicken parmigiana with cheese.

Well, this turned out to be a longer post than I thought it would!

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Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs

Blog Tour: The House by the Lake by Ella Carey

A few weeks ago I read my first Ella Carey book, and today, I bring you my review of the second book in the Paris Time Capsule series as part of the blog tour celebrating the book's rerelease through Bookouture.

Anna Young runs a successful cafe in San Francisco. Her life is busy enough. When she isn't working she is spending time with her beloved grandfather, Max. She certainly doesn't have time for a relationship, despite his insistence that she should try. Part of the reason why she isn't all that fussed about the idea of marriage is having observed her grandparents cold and distant relationship over the years.

Whilst Anna is close to Max, she knows very little of his life before he came to America. He has always been a closed book when it comes to that time. It is therefore very surprising when he reveals to Anna that he left something behind in his childhood home, and that he wants her to go back to Germany to fetch it.

Finding out that she is descended from an aristocratic German family is the first of many surprises in store for Anna when she returns to the family schloss. Not all the surprises are good though. The people in the small town near the schloss have no interest in talking to her at all once she mentions Max to the point of being resentful. As for the family estate, that is locked tight, and no one is saying who the current owner is.

Anna join forces with a lawyer named Wil to and gain access to the schloss and retrieve the item, all the while not knowing why it is so important to her grandfather right now. And she can't ask him because he has fallen ill back in San Francisco.

Like Anna, the reader finds out more about Max's life as a member of a well to do family in the mid-1930s. When he is on vacation at Lake Geneva Max meets a young French woman, Isabelle, and the couple fall in love. Isabelle is the granddaughter of a former courtesan. Back in Paris, Isabelle is frowned upon by the upper echelon of society, but this doesn't matter to Max. 

Whilst he leads a seemingly carefree existence, things are changing in Germany. The Nazi party has come to power and Max's family is pressuring him to join the party in order to protect the family's interests. How does he choose between his family's wishes and the woman he loves. And what would make him walk away from everything he knows to choose a new life in America.

I have read at least three books this year that are set in WWII Germany and telling the story of German characters. While we have had all sorts of other perspectives over the years, it hasn't been as common to read from the perspective of ordinary Germans. As much as I love reading about Paris and France, it was also nice to read about Germany. I found myself googling pictures of schlosses, which of course then leads to dreams of holidays taking in lots of German countryside. One day!

I mentioned in my review for Paris Time Capsule that the structure for that book was all set in the present but looking back to the past. This book has the more common structure of telling both stories alternating between the past and present. As Anna follows the clues to unveil her family's past, maybe she can also unlock a different future for herself. 

When I first started reading this, I did find myself wondering how it was going to link in with the first book in the series, but it all became clear pretty quickly, and in the end, I really enjoyed how this book filled in the gaps in the story from Paris Time Capsule. And now, I am reallly looking forward to reading the third book in the trilogy, From a Paris Balcony.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this book

Book Description:


The cobbled streets were dark as Isabelle hurried through the shadows, dodging in and out of doorways, constantly looking back. She worried the sound of her loudly thumping heart would give her away, as she peered around a corner. Suddenly, Isabelle was surrounded by Nazi soldiers, their black boots pounding on the pavement, barring her way…

1939, Berlin. Max Albrecht is the young and handsome heir to a beautiful house on a lake where he spent his happy childhood. As war approaches, his parents tell him he must join the Nazi party or the whole family will be killed. But when his beloved French fiancé Isabelle shows him the horrifying truth, Max faces an impossible choice: protect his family or save the girl he loves?

2010, San Francisco. Anna Young is content with her life, running a bustling deli and taking care of her adored grandfather Max, who raised her. Max has never spoken of his past until he hands over an old map, the plans to a grand house just north of Berlin. With a shaking finger, he points to it and says, “I left something behind under the floorboards. Please bring it home before I die.”

When Anna arrives at the crumbling manor in Germany, she discovers a hidden engagement ring in a velvet box. She is desperate to find the woman her grandfather hoped to marry, but the local villagers look away when she mentions Max’s name, and back in San Francisco he is now in hospital, too unwell to speak to her. What did Max do so many years ago? Is Anna ready for the terrible secret that her family’s past may hold?

From bestselling author Ella Carey comes an unforgettable novel, weaving together past and present. Gripping and heartbreaking, The House by the Lake uncovers the secrets and devastating choices that people were forced to make during history’s darkest time.

Author Bio:

Ella Carey is the international bestselling author of The Things We Don’t Say, Secret Shores, From a Paris Balcony, The House by the Lake, and Paris Time Capsule. Her books have been published in over fourteen languages, in twelve countries, and have been shortlisted for ARRA awards. A Francophile who has long been fascinated by secret histories set in Europe’s entrancing past, Ella has degrees in music, nineteenth-century women’s fiction, and modern European history. She lives in Melbourne with her two children and two Italian greyhounds who are constantly mistaken for whippets.

Ella loves to connect with her readers regularly through her facebook page and on her website.

http://www.ellacarey.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ellacareyauthor/
https://twitter.com/Ella_Carey


Buy Links:

Amazon: https://bit.ly/37bGU42
Apple: https://apple.co/3npJA46
Kobo: https://bit.ly/36C5meI
Google: https://bit.ly/3lm0pLn

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen - a joint review by Kelly and I

In her latest enchanting novel, New York Times bestelling author Sarah Addison Allen invites you to a quirky little Southern town with more magic than a full Carolina moon. Here two very different women discover how to find their place in the world...no matter how out of place they feel.

Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother's life. For instance, why did Dulcie Shelby leave her hometown so suddenly? Why did she vow never to return? But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew—a reclusive, real-life gentle giant—she realizes that mysteries aren't solved in Mullaby, they're a way of life.

Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes.

Everyone in Mullaby adores Julia Winterson's cakes - which is a good thing, because Julia can't seem to stop baking them. She offers them to satisfy the town's sweet tooth but also in the hope of rekindling the love she fears might be lost forever. Flour, eggs, milk and sugar... Baking is the only language the proud but vulnerable Julia has to communicate what is truly in her heart. But is it enough to call back to her those she's hurt in the past?

Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? Is there really a ghost dancing in Emily's backyard? The answers are never what you expect. But in this town of lovable misfits, the unexpected fits right in.

Kelly's thoughts are in blue and mine are in black

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It seems right to start a joint review of a fantasy book with the words once upon a time, so here we go...

Once upon a time, Kelly and Marg used to chat a lot about the books that they were reading and even wrote buddy reviews quite regularly. Whilst the former still happens, it seems something of a surprise that we haven't written a joint review for nearly 3 years. How did that happen Kelly?

Uh, probably because we both are really bad at reviewing? Or maybe it is because we were reviewing a series that I haven't read a book in for 3 years, while you are still carrying on? lol The important thing is that we are reviewing a book together now! So, we both have read all three books by Sarah Addison Allen. Which of the three do you consider your favourite?

Picking favourites is a hard thing for me because I really, really like them all. If I had to choose I would probably say Garden Spells simply because I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed both the story and the style of Sarah Addison Allen's writing. These days I have a fair idea of what to expect, so the question is more whether or not the latest book lives up to those expectations. In the end, I have rated them all as 4.5/5, so she is consistently good for me! How about you? Which is your favourite of her novels.

I didn't think I was going to look any of her books. I had seen Garden Spells reviewed in several places, but it seemed like a romance and I am not big on romances. I am not even sure what happened, but somewhere I read a review and it made me curious about her first book. The library actually had it in, so I grabbed it one day on a whim to see what the fuss was about. I wound up loving the book and surprising myself. So, I think because it was my first book and because it caught me so off guard by liking it that it will remain my favourite. Although, in The Sugar Queen I really liked the character who had the books appear to her. I think she is my favourite character. Speaking of characters, what did you think of the characters in this book?

As always I found the characters eminently likable. From Emily who has just come to the town to live with the grandfather she never knew she had, to Julia who bakes cakes from her heart, but who was in her younger days the high school outcast, to the dapper young man Emily meets whose family secrets are somehow connected to the departure of her mother from the town and the fact that she never, ever mentioned her family or her past, to Julia's past flame who has a very sweet tooth. Whilst at superficial glance, each of these characters are nothing more than likable, each of them has their secrets waiting to be discovered by the reader. What did you make of Emily's mother who in a way was a character without actually appearing in the book?

I was actually rather impressed with Emily's mom. It must have been hard to grow up with a mother who appeared so perfect to everyone. I think moving to her mother's town and getting to know a different side of her was actually a really good thing for Emily. It's hard to deal with perfection, even if the person isn't actually perfect. It just seems like they are and that is who you are competing with. Even if she is not actual in the book, Allen still managed to make her come alive so that the readers got to know her better. I was even surprised by her once in a while. I guess I got a picture in my head of who she was and she wasn't entirely who I thought. I can just imagine what it would be like being her daughter and having that happen. What did you think of the people in the towns strange abilities? Was it too much, or did they work within the story?

For the most part I think that the strangeness of the people in the town, and their abilities fit the type of books that Sarah Addison Allen's Allen writes. I love the whimsical natures of her characters. You mentioned before about Chloe from The Sugar Queen who has books appear near her all the time that help her in her life. Julia was very much like that with all the different cakes that she cooked, knowing which flavour cake each person that she was making for needed! If there was one thing I didn't quite appreciate as part of the book it was the changing wallpaper in the grandfather's house. It is a very whimsical and fun idea but itdidn 't really make a difference to the story. Thinking about the wallpaper brings me to Emily's grandfather, who was over 8 feet tall. I really enjoyed him as a character. He wasn't whimsical or magical, just very large, but I loved that we see him progress from someone who was very rigid and set in his ways, and very distant, and we got to see him as he slowly allowed himself to get to know Emily and to want to protect her from the kind of things that affected his daughter during her formative years.

Did all the magical elements work for you? If you could have some kind of magical or whimsical talent, do you have any ideas what you would like it to be?

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Head on over to Kelly's blog, The Written World to read her answer to my question, and more!

This book counts for the 2010 Pub Challenge and the Once Upon a Time IV challenge.

Rating 4.5/5

Blog Tour - Match Me If You Can by Sandy Barker

The last time I read a Sandy Barker book it was book 5 in the Holiday Romance series. I really don't like reading series out of order so as soon as I heard about the author's new series I was determined to get in right at the beginning. Sandy Barker was also one of the authors at the readers retreat that I went to earlier this year which was another reason why I was super keen to read this book!

This is the first book in the Ever After Agency series. The Ever After Agency is a match making agency which exists to find matches for the uber rich, all subject to the highest levels of secrecy. Poppy is an Australian working in London and loves her job at the agency. However, with someone threatening to reveal the agency, she is feeling a little anxious about things.

In the midst of the turmoil in the office. Poppy meets a new client. Tristan Fellows is handsome, successful and comfortably wealthy. What he isn't is married, and the terms of his recently deceased grandfather's will are that he must be married by his 35th birthday, which is very, very soon in order to inherit an absolute fortune. Tristan has been encouraged by his friend Ravi to use the agency as he successfully found love via the agency.

Soon Poppy has got three beautiful women lined up as possible matches, who are willing to meet the conditions that Tristan has put in place, the most important of which is that this is not going to be a love match. Obviously these women have their own reasons for saying yes to this arrangement, some of which are somewhat surprising to both Poppy and Tristan.

Poppy accompanies Tristan as he goes to meet the first woman but as she spends time with him, she begins to feel the first fluttering of attraction, which of course is completely forbidden given he is a client. 

For Tristan, he can't quite believe that his beloved grandfather has imposed such a condition on the inheritance, to the exclusion of his female cousins, which obviously caused a lot of family drama. To be honest, I struggled to believe that there would be such a condition in a will in this day and age, but sometimes you just have to suspend belief in a story. With the deadline looming, numerous family dramas, there's no surprise that Tristan is a bit grumpy. It is only with his close friends, Ravi and Jacinta where he can let himself relax.

Where Tristan is apparently all surliness, on the outside Poppy is all sunshine and rainbows, so if you love a grumpy and sunshine romance, with plenty of repartee, then give this one a go. 

I would really love to read Ravi and Jacinta's story and I kept on seeing if maybe this is a story that the author has already told, but apparently not. Ravi and Jacinta were really supportive of Tristan despite the craziness of the whole scenario, and they provided some reality checks as Tristan introduced some of the women to them, and they seem to have a great romance of their own.

I enjoyed this first book in the series, and I am looking forward to reading more!

Sandy Barker loves to travel and this always shines through in her books, and this is no exception with the locations varying from a mega yacht in the Mediterranean to Scotland as well as London. 

Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to read this book.

About the book

Match Me If You Can

Welcome to the Ever After Agency – a clandestine organisation offering bespoke solutions to romantic problems.

Whether you're looking for the love of your life, a fresh romantic start, or just want to keep up appearances, the agency can tailor a solution to meet your needs.

When Tristan Fellows walks into the agency, Poppy Dean knows she's in for a challenge. A typical bachelor, Tristan has no intention of falling in love, but in order to receive his 30-million-pound inheritance, he must find himself a wife before his 35th birthday.

This may be Poppy’s hardest case yet, but even the most arrogant of men can sometimes warm a woman’s heart…

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/matchmeifyoucansocial

About the author

Sandy Barker is a bestselling author of destination romance. She’s lived in the UK, the US and Australia, and has travelled extensively across six continents, with many of her travel adventures finding homes in her books.

 

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandybarkerauthor

Twitter https://twitter.com/sandybarker

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandybarkerauthor/

This Week....

I'm reading

Last week I shared that I was feeling a little unsettled reading wise, mainly because I couldn't decide what I wanted to read. This week I fixed that by finishing all the books that I had started recently, plus getting ahead on my review reading! It's been a busy reading week

I finished both Daughters of Tuscany by Siobhan Daiko and Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum. My review for Daughters of Tuscany will be up in the next couple of days. I also finished The Readers Room by Antoine Laurain

I also started and finished A Love Letter to Paris by Rebecca Raisin, which I will also have a review of in the next few days.

Amazon Prime Reads included The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman this month, so I picked that up and read it very quickly. It really is a short story, coming in at around 30-40 pages. There was a lot in that short story though!

Finally, I decided to start read The Stolen Hours, which is the second book in the Wild Isle Trilogy by Karen Swan. I have decided that this is going to be my Scottish book for my read on a theme book club.

That feels like a lot this week!

I'm watching


We are now into the second week of Tour de France, and we tend to watch around an hour or so each night! Every night there is a 5 minute cooking show which features the food of the region that the bike race is visiting, called Plat du Tour which I really enjoy!

It's hard to believe that before I met my husband I had only ever seen one Star Wars movie, and that that was on a date. Now I end up watching everything as it comes out. This week we started watching The Acolyte which is the latest series.

This was the last weekend of the Spanish Film Festival, so I convince hubby to come and see a movie called The Teacher Who Promised the Sea, which was a really movie film. It's the story of a woman who is looking for her great-grandfather who went missing in the 1930s. Along the way she learns about her grandfather's childhood, and the role a teacher played in it. This teacher really existed which makes the story even more moving. I definitely recommend both this movie, and the one that I talked about last week as well.

Here's the trailer:

I have had another Spanish film called Lemon and Poppyseed Cake on my to be watched list for a couple of years but I hadn't been able too find where I could stream it. I was looking for something else when I stumbled across it so I had  to watch it. This was very different to the other movie, feels a bit more soapie, but I liked the story and now I need to make someting lemony and poppyseedy!


Life

Other than what I mentioned above not a lot to tell life wise. We are counting down to our holidays which will be here before we know it. I think all the main things are booked

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Purple!

Paris in July: Since Last Paris in July

Paris in July: An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain

Weekend Cooking: What I Baked in my Kitchen in June

Six Degrees of Separation: Kairos to A Nurses Life


I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

The Secrets of Saffron Hall by Clare Marchant

You would think that as a seasoned reader I would be impervious to a great cover but this book is proof that I am not. I think I took one look at the cover and I had to have it. I did realise that in addition to a gorgeous cover (check), it was dual timeline (check) and also that it featured an old house with secrets (check check).

When Amber returns to her grandfather's home, Saffron Hall, it is in theory to catalogue his massive book collection. It actuality, it is a place that she is retreating to because of the grief she feels at losing her stillborn daughter, hiding away from friends and also her husband.

Saffron Hall has a tower that has always been locked and that no one has entered for generations. No one even knows where the key is. When they discover that the tower needs urgent work done to make it safe, one of the builders gives Amber a book that he finds. It is a book of hours that has been locked in the tower for centuries.

The beautiful illustrated book belonged to Eleanor, a young woman who was married off to the owner of what became Saffron Hall after the death of her father. She takes with her crocus bulbs which were given to her by the brothers at the local abbey as her only dowry. In addition to taking on the responsibilities as lady of the house, Eleanor becomes mother figure to her new step daughter. She also plants her bulbs and soon is producing quality saffron. Her merchant husband, Greville, is a man who is determined to make his mark at court. He has attached himself to local nobility and his cause and wealth is certainly aided by the quality of the saffron that Eleanor is growing. As an aside, I always associate saffron with Middle Eastern food so it really surprised me that it would thrive in England, but even today it is grown there.

There are two problems though. Eleanor and her family are staunchly Catholic in a period when that is a dangerous thing to be, especially seeing the court in question is that of Henry VIII. There is also the question of who Greville is associated with and what happens when you align yourself to the wrong person at court.

As readers we get to see Eleanor as she lives her increasingly fragile life, but Amber is looking back through the centuries as she reads the book, trying to solve the mystery of what happened to Eleanor, and to unravel what it is the common link between the two women, despite the differences between the 1500s and 2000s. I do think there could have been an epilogue to help the reader find out what happened after the end of the book, but having said that Amber would never have known so maybe it was fitting that we also didn't. The historical timeline was the stronger of the two for me, although that is true most of the time when I read dual timeline books.

When I requested this, I don't recall noticing that the book was set in the Tudor period. Whilst I used to read a lot of books set in this period, I got all Tudored out years ago so now it is quite rare for me to choose to read one now. Luckily I enjoyed this debut novel, especially because while the events that were happening in the court of Henry VIII shaped the lives of the characters, the story was not centred there. I will be keen to read whatever comes next from this author!

Rating 4/5

Goodreads summary:

Two women. Five centuries apart.
One life-changing secret about to be unearthed…

1538
New bride Eleanor impresses her husband by growing saffron, a spice more valuable than gold. His reputation in Henry VIII’s court soars – but fame and fortune come at a price, for the king’s favour will not last forever…

2019
When Amber discovers an ancient book in her grandfather’s home at Saffron Hall, the contents reveal a dark secret from the past. As she investigates, so unravels a forgotten tragic story and a truth that lies much closer to home than she could have imagined…

An enchanting historical novel about love and hope in dangerous times, perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley and Kathryn Hughes.

Sex, Gossip and Rock'n'roll by Nicola Marsh

In all her time as premier tour manager to Australia's stars, Charli Chambers has never had someone as infuriating—or delectable!—as successful businessman Luca Petrelli along for the ride. He might always be in the gossip columns, but there's no way she's letting him claim VIP status!

But Luca's wicked eyes are just too tempting. In spite of herself, Charli's soon attending after-parties—just for two. She wants to believe this is one duet that's about to go platinum, but in spite of Luca being unprintably good in bed, can she ever get close enough to the real Luca for their fling to be more than just a one-hit wonder?

One of the great things about hanging out on Twitter is that you get the chance to interact with other readers and sometimes authors too. And sometimes that interaction leads you to think that maybe you might try one of the author's books! Of course, the danger is that you won't actually like their book which might be a bit awkward. Nicola Marsh is one of those authors for me. She is a local Melbourne author. We have never met, but occasionally we chat.

This is the first book I have read by Nicola Marsh. I will say that it won't be my last but there are some reservations.

The two main characters are Charli Chambers and Luca Petrelli. Charli is a publicist/tour manager who works for one of the biggest men in the Australian music business - the same man who is Luca Petrelli's estranged grandfather. When Charli is given the job of chaperoning a somewhat faded star through country Victoria she is also told that one of the conditions of the job is that Luca Petrelli comes along as the money man. He is basically in the country for a few weeks and then he will head back to his fabulous lifestyle overseas. Charli is distrusting of Luca - worried that he is going to hurt his grandfather emotionally, and also worried that she might lose control of herself due to the instant attraction that she feels for him.

I liked the idea that the author is trying to come up with new and unusual scenarios around which to build her romance, but I did find myself wondering about the logistics of the kind of tour that was portrayed in the book. Would there be someone along to take care of the financial side? I am not sure. Would there be a huge tour bus? Again I don't know. I guess it was something that you just have to go along with for the sake of the story.

Both Luca and Charli have had difficult backgrounds and therefore have issues that they need to resolve both for themselves and with each other before they can truly commit, but you know that it is going to happen. At times I found the emotional baggage a bit overwhelming - or perhaps overplayed is a better description.

One thing that I did really enjoy about this book was the use of Victorian towns and tourist destinations within the narrative! Towns like Bendigo, Ballarat and Echuca are all places I have visited before for one reason or another, but I was reminded of how fun it can be to be a tourist in your own town so to speaks. After reading this book I was inspired to start looking at maybe going on a day trip which I ended up doing yesterday. I took the train to Bendigo and visited the Chinese Dragon Museum which is mentioned in the book and a couple of other tourist destinations as well.

I also really appreciated that the text still sounded quite Australian. There was only one occasion where I was thrown out of the story because there was a word used that we just wouldn't normally use. There may have been others, but that was the only one that was really jarring for me.

Whilst I get quite annoyed at people who judge readers for reading genre fiction, whichever genre it might be, I must admit that at times I find myself being a bit of snob when it comes to Harlequins/Mills and Boon type category romances. I am not really sure why that is because I have read some really good category romances over the last year or so, and all of them have been by Australian authors like Sarah Mayberry and Marion Lennox. Having said that, over the years I have found that these types of books can be very hit or miss for me. This book was somewhere in the middle. I am intrigued by the sound of Nicola Marsh's next book, Busted in Bollywood, and so will hopefully get to read that one soon after it comes out.

Weekend Cooking: Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan

Recently I have been listening to the audiobook of Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan. If I am to believe Goodreads I actually started reading this book four years ago. I remember getting it out of the library and then returning it, but I don't remember actually starting it. The timing must be right now though because I have found myself sitting in the driveway listening to the book (just to get to the end of the chapter) and I very much enjoyed the experience.

Rosie Hopkins lives in London and loves it. She loves the city, the noise, her boyfriend Gerard who she has been with for years and is still waiting for him to ask the big question, she loves her work as a nurse, even if it is only as an agency nurse working on a casual basis. So she isn't really that thrilled when her mum asks her to temporarily move to the Derbyshire country side to look after her elderly aunt Lilian. Lilian is elderly and needs to be moved into an aged care facility and for her lolly shop to be sold off as a going concern.

Rosie is ill-equipped to live in the country. Her clothes and shoes are all wrong, she can't get a telephone signal and she knows nothing about running a sweet shop.

I have no idea if it is still a thing or not, but once upon a time there was a whole genre that was classified as chick-lit, and to my mind, a lot of good chick-lit was British, and this book has all the hallmarks of one of these books. There are improbable situations and a whole village full of handsome, single men just for starters, but it also has a secondary storyline featuring Aunt Lilian.

Whilst we see the here and now realities of aging from both Rosie and Lilian's perspectives, we also get to know a much younger Lilian, about her war time experience, why she never married and, as a consequence, lived her life running her father's sweet shop in a small village.

Throughout the novel, we are also treated to excerpts of the self published book that Lilian had written all about sweets, small glimpses telling us about the history of certain chocolates (did you know that Mars Bars were first made in the 1930's), about the evils of chewing gum (Lilian can get quite opinionated on some subjects), recipes for marshmallows and many more. One was a recipe for Coconut Ice which had an instruction that said it would keep for weeks if stored correctly, but if it lasted for weeks you hadn't made it correctly in the first place. Made me laugh!

I listened to the audio version, narrated by Jane Collingwood, and I did enjoy the reading. At times, I thought that Rosie sounded a little young, but for the most part I did enjoy it, especially the portrayal of Lilian. At times she was brittle, at other times sarcastic,  sometimes scared amongst other emotions.

One of things that I did find myself thinking about at several points in this book was the role of food in memories about meals, about places, about people. I have posted several times in the past about memorable meals, but on this occasion, I found myself thinking about my grandfather.

One of the excerpts from Lilian's book was about the joys of licorice. My grandfather enjoyed sweet things, and there was always a tin filled with lollies by the side of his chair. One of his favourites was licorice allsorts, but he also always had a tin of Kool Mints within easy reach in the car.  Just that small passage had me feeling like he was still there, probably as he was when I was growing up. Lolly tin there waiting to be raided, telephone nearby, and more likely than not, him asleep in his chair as he "watched" TV. And no, he most definitely was not snoring.

As a result of this book I found myself craving licorice allsorts and so I ended up buying a bag, but I must confess that when I ate them, I didn't pull them apart layer by layer as I once would have done! I also ended up buying Crunchies for a couple of days and would have quite happily gone an bought other things that were mentioned as well, but I thought I should probably leave it at that.

 There are now 2 other books in the Rosie Hopkins series, and I think I will most likely try to listen to them at some point too, although my audiobook wishlist is a bit out of control at the moment. Who knows when that will happen!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Weekend Cooking: Coffee Cream Cake

When I posted What I Baked in July post a couple of weeks ago There were lots of comments about the coffee cream cake that I made.

As I mentioned in that post, we were watching one of the Bake Offs and the bakers were asked to make something that was coffee flavoured, and Robert started reminiscing about a coffee cream cake that his grandmother used to always have and so I went and found a recipe that sounded similar and made it for him. He was very happy with it and said it came very close to what he remembered. I even heard him talking to his parents about it and how it bought back memories of his grandmother. 

It's a pretty retro cake, but it did taste delicious, even for me who is more of an occasional coffee drinker rather than a coffee addict. I did reduce the coffee a fraction in the cake recipe.

That has made me think about the things I remember about my grandparents, and the foods I associate with my memories of them. I have posted a few times about things I remember about my cheeky grandfather. He always had licorice allsorts in a bowl next to his chair, and a packet of Kool Mints in the car. He was definitely a meat and three veg kind of guy, to the point that he didn't particularly like chicken, so would only ever eat the chicken wings. I do, however, have a memory of having a lot of family in their dining room having a big feast of KFC which at the time was the height of luxury for me.

I do also remember a story that I heard about him and my grandmother. The story goes that she used to regularly make steak and kidney pie. After 20 years apparently he finally gathered the courage to tell her that he didn't really like it. 

I also think of them on the odd occasion when I have a cappuccino. When my grandfather was in his 70s or 80s he developed a taste for cappuccino that I don't remember before that, and so they used to head off to the Kmart cafe and he would eat the froth off the top and we would all pretend to be horrified!  And that would happen every time! It makes me feel emotional thinking about this today.

As for my grandmother, she was apparently a very good cook (which is impressive given that most of her life she had to cook on a wood stove), but unfortunately my strongest memory of her cooking related to cooking dog food.  She also used to breed Australian Silky Terriers quite successfully, and we used to have to help her clean out the dog kennels at the end of each day. It was a horrible job but we all used to do it. She used to cook up big batches of dog meat so it was either cooking away on the stove or was sitting there waiting to be used. It had a certain kind of smell and occasionally my mother cooks savoury mince that smells just like it, and I struggle to eat it!

Anyway, before I got distracted by those memories, I thought I would share the recipe for the Coffee Cream Cake, seeing as so many people were interested in it. The recipe said to make it in a tube tin but I didn't have one of those at the time (I do now!)  so I just made a round cake.

I found this recipe at RecipeLand. I made it pretty much as stated although we don't have any coffee flavoured liqueur or whole coffee beans so I didn't use either of those. I was also quite surprised to see chocolate at the end of the recipe. I didn't use that either!

The other thing that I just realised when I am posting this is that this recipe is a variation on the chiffon/angel food cake that I made last weekend, given that it does call for the tube tin and for the cake to be cooled in the tin but inverted. This is me connecting the dots! 

Coffee Cream Cake

Cake

5 large eggs room temperature
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon instant coffee powder 
3 tablespoons water, boiling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting

2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup coffee very strong
2 tablespoons liqueur coffee flavor, such as kahlua 
walnuts chopped, toasted 
coffee beans, whole
chocolate


Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃).

Separate eggs.

Combine egg yolks and 1 cup sugar in large bowl and beat until thick and lemon colored, about 5 minutes.

Dissolve coffee powder in boiling water. Blend in vanilla and dissolved coffee powder.

Combine flour and baking powder and blend into batter. 

Beat egg whites until stiff. 

Fold into batter. Turn into ungreased 10-inch tube pan.

Bake 30 minutes. Invert onto rack and let stand until completely cool.

For the frosting, whip cream with 2 tablespoons sugar until soft peaks form. Add cold coffee and liqueur and beat until stiff.

Slice cake crosswise into thirds. (I only did halves!)

Use about ⅓ of cream frosting to fill layers and remainder to frost entire cake (save some frosting and pipe rosettes over top for garnish, if desired).

Chill until whipped cream is slightly firm. Press nuts onto sides of cake and arrange coffee beans atop rosettes, if desired.

Chill 4 hours before serving.

Weekly Meals

Saturday - 

Sunday - Pork and cabbages steaks

Monday - steak baked potatoes

Tuesday - Sausages mash gravy

Wednesday - Spag bol

Thursday - Honey Chicken

Friday - takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Blog Tour: The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn (includes giveaway)

If you were to ask me what my husband's retirement dream would be, it would be to buy a boat and sail around Australia for as long as it takes. I am not sure how long I would last on such a trip, but if you could combine it with doing something with books, I could make the distance.

I said yes to this simply based on the fact that I have really enjoyed the book I have previously read from her, and that will also be my practice going forward. This is the first time I have read one of her books set wholly in Croatia but I do have The Dubrovnik Book Club on my Kindle to read at some point.

When Ana Meštrović recieves an inheritance from her grandfather, she uses it to buy a catamaran which she has been using to run a charter business. She needs to diversify if she is going to keep her business running successfully enough to not need to take her boat and return to be part of the family business. She loves the sea and her independence.

When an opportunity comes up to run a pilot for a library project, Ana is determined to make it work. The idea is that she will sail through the Croatian islands. At each stop, there will be a library set up where hopefully the local population will come and borrow all the books and then return them the following week. If this pilot program is a success then Ana might be able to secure the contract, and her livelihood and independence, for the next few years.

In order to run the operation effectively, Ana employs a young woman named Natali as a general deckhand/boat mechanic/Girl Friday and former teacher Lloyd as the librarian. Also along for the ride is Natali's dog Obi. Ana isn't sure that she is equipped to be the leader of these people, and it can get complicated when you not only work with these people but you also share a very confined living space.

Natali is pretty quiet, only talking to her dog most of the time. She loves working on boats but she is self taught with no qualifications and limited schooling. She works low pay jobs to make ends meet and usually it is hard to get a job on a boat because of Obi. She is therefore super keen to please, going above and beyond. However, she does find it difficult to engage with her co-workers, always believing that she isn't as clever as them, a message that has been reinforced over and over again over the years by her mother. 

 Lloyd is a widower who is trying to get on with life following the death of his wife. He has been encouraged by his daughter to make a new start and go on and adventure. He has had to leave his job as a teacher but he is loving feeling useful again. 

Things start off slowly, but they are slowly beginning to build when one of the crew's past catches up with him.  Lloyd hadn't told Ana that he had even been to the country before. When he was a young man he had worked for a time on an island where he had met and fallen madly in love with a young woman. But it was 1991, and the Croatian war was on the verge of beginning and so Lloyd had to leave in a hurry, leaving behind his love. 

I said yes to this simply based on the fact that I really enjoyed the book I have previously read from her, and that will also be my practice going forward, which was The Santorini Writing Retreat (my review). This is the first time I have read one of her books set wholly in Croatia but I do have The Dubrovnik Book Club on my Kindle to read at some point.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the way that the three crew members gradually opened up to each other, becoming almost like family. I really enjoyed how each of them were able to take control of their own lives, making decisions about what their future would look like, regardless of what people around them might think. And I loved seeing Natali fall in love with books and also realise that she could do more with her life and have more security if she was happy to take some chances. 

I haven't even mentioned the islands yet. I read this book in the plane on the way to Perth over the weekend and I was transported from inside a very crowded plane to the waters of the islands in Croatia with their history, culture, food, and yes, with the added bonus of books! There were some interesting characters who impacted our main characters in sometimes very touching ways.

If you are looking for a bookish books that takes you to new parts of the world through the pages, then consider reading this one!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and with the Bookish Books Challenge hosted at Bloggin' Bout Books. Thanks to the publisher, Rachel's Random Resources and Netgalley for the review copy. Check out the other stops on the blog tour as well!

Rating 4/5

About the book

The Croatian Island Library

Where books are borrowed, and friendships are forged…

When her beloved grandfather dies, Ana Meštrović buys a catamaran in his memory, which she names Dida Krila – Grandad’s Wings.

For the summer months, it will be transformed into a travelling library, delivering books to children living across the Croatian islands.

Joined by crew members Natali, a young mechanic afraid of her own shadow, and Lloyd, an older widower who needs a fresh start, the newly-formed trio all have their own reasons for needing the floating library to be a success.

Embarking on an adventure that will change them for good, they each discover that a new chapter is only a boat ride away…

Purchase - https://mybook.to/CroatianIslandLibrary

About the Author

Eva Glyn writes escapist relationship-driven fiction with a kernel of truth at its heart. She loves to travel and finds inspiration in beautiful places and the stories they hide.

Set mainly in Croatia, her contemporary stories are more about friendship than romance, the coming together of people through shared interests, and the opportunity to make fresh starts in their lives. A love of books is a common theme too, so her publisher, One More Chapter, has christened them the Bookish Escapes collection which currently includes The Dubrovnik Book Club, and The Santorini Writing Retreat, with The Croatian Island Library to be published in January 2026.

In addition Eva has written two Second World War dual timeline romances, An Island of Secrets and The Collaborator’s Daughter, and a new beginnings novel entitled The Olive Grove. All are set in Croatian, a country she loves.

Although she considers herself Welsh, Eva lives in Cornwall with the man she met and fell in love with more than thirty years ago. She also writes as Jane Cable.



Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvaGlynAuthor

Twitter: @JaneCable

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evaglynauthor/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/eva-glyn



Giveaway To Win a paperback copy of The Croatian Island Library (Open to UK & Ireland Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK & Ireland entries welcome. Please enter using the Gleam box below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Win a paperback copy of The Croatian Island Library (Open to UK & Ireland Only)

The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber

I

When Rachel, hired help in a Chicago boardinghouse, falls in love with Isaac, the boardinghouse owner's son, he makes her a bargain: he'll marry her, but only if she gives up her 160 acres from the Homestead Act so he can double his share. She agrees, and together they stake their claim in the forebodingly beautiful South Dakota Badlands.

Fourteen years later, in the summer of 1917, the cattle are bellowing with thirst. It hasn't rained in months, and supplies have dwindled. Pregnant, and struggling to feed her family, Rachel is isolated by more than just geography. She is determined to give her surviving children the life they deserve, but she knows that her husband, a fiercely proud former Buffalo Soldier, will never leave his ranch: black families are rare in the West, and land means a measure of equality with the white man. Somehow Rachel must find the strength to do what is right-for herself, and for her children.

Reminiscent of The Color Purple as well as the frontier novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Willa Cather, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree opens a window on the little-known history of African American homesteaders and gives voice to an extraordinary heroine who embodies the spirit that built America.

Recently, I was asked the question 'Why do you read historical fiction?' I think my answer was something along the lines of being able to eavesdrop on history. Really, the answer could have been to read books like this to find out about little known facts from history. My knowledge of homesteaders in America is very limited and I certainly hadn't given any thought to the fact that there were African-American homesteaders,or to the life that they and their families would have lived.

Rachel and Isaac DuPree are living in the Badlands of South Dakota,  a land that is beautiful but also harsh at the best of times but is especially harsh during a long drought. The novel opens with a disturbing episode as one of the smaller children, Liz, is sent down the well to scoop out what little water remains at the bottom because the bucket can't be used in such a small amount of water as the well is practically dry.

Rachel tells us of her life in the Badlands but also flashes back to episodes from her past, especially back to when she was working in the Chicago boarding house owned by Mrs DuPree. When Mrs DuPree's son Isaac returns on leave from his duties as a buffalo soldier, she has grand ideas of marrying him off to a nice young lady from an acceptable section of society. She certainly doesn't want him marrying the help, but that is exactly what happens when Rachel agrees to join the parcel of land that she is entitled to under the Homestead Act to that which Isaac has already claimed, thus doubling his land size. They initially agreed to a limited time marriage, but they are still together, working hard to maintain their constantly expanding land holdings and their expanding family.

Rachel is in the latter stages of pregnancy when we meet her, and already has several young children, but this life that she has chosen with Isaac was not an easy one and she has also lost two children. She is however proud of the life that she has built with Isaac, having started with nothing, then living in a sod dugout until finally she is living in a wood house that they built themselves. That begins to change however when she begins to questions Isaac's priorities.

I loved reading about Rachel. She was strong enough to make the decisions that need to be made, both for herself and her children. It took her a while, but she got there in the end.

The character that has me thinking the most though is Isaac. I can't quite decide if he is such a driven man that he can think of nothing but acquiring and holding on to land, or if he is just a guy who doesn't easily show or communicate his emotions. He is hard on all of his family but I don't think he is blind to them and just making them do things that they won't like just for his own selfish ends. For example, with sending a terrified Liz down the well, the fact of the matter was that without doing this there would be absolutely no water for his family and they would all die of thirst.

In his mind, he thinks he is doing the right thing by contemplating going off to work in the mines to bring in a steady income and leaving Rachel to cope despite the fact she is telling him quite plainly that she won't be able too. It is obvious though that he is capable of physical affection with Rachel which he shows just by the touch of his hand on her back when she needs it. He does have feelings about his children, evidenced by the tears he sheds at one of the key moments in the book.

Isaac is particularly rigid when it comes to the rules in his own house. He seems to me to be very much of a generation where the father in the house must be obeyed by everyone, including his wife. Some of his rules make sense, but we did get to see more emphasis on the idea of persecution of a minority group with his own refusal to allow agency Indians into his home, or even to meet his own responsibilities in relation to certain Indians who make their way to him. He is discriminated against by certain towns people but he in turn is intolerant of others who he sees as beneath him for whatever reason.

I didn't actually realise for a few chapters that the characters in the book were African-American, and for me, that can be seen as quite a good thing. Whilst a big part of the subject matter of the book is both the isolation that Rachel felt not only living in the middle nowhere with few neighbours, but even more isolating is the fact that there are no other African-American people living anywhere near her. At it's heart though The Personal History of Rachel DuPree is a human story - a woman who is struggling to get by in a difficult situation and making the difficult but necessary choices to get the best outcome for both herself and her children. A story of endurance, of courage and of knowing when it is time to make changes.

A couple of years ago I was visiting Perth and I spent some time listening to the stories that my grandfather told about some of the jobs he has done over the years. One of his earliest jobs was clearing areas of land in some of the hilly areas nearby. He had a horse and cart, and himself, and that was it. In another example is having to walk from one town to the next in the country areas of Western Australia in order to get to the next job, and these towns were not close together. All of his work as a farmer and a shearer was hard and it was physical, and is really pretty foreign to the kind of work that his grandchildren get to do. I found myself thinking of his stories as I read this book, mainly because of the sheer physicality of their day to day lives! I suspect that I would be a bit too soft from modern city living to live this kind of life.

When I think of pioneers and homesteaders in Australian terms I think that we are talking more than 150 years ago, and yet this book is very much talking about life in the wilderness, about making a life for yourself in the isolated rural region of the Badlands of South Dakota in America. 100 years ago was a long time ago, but by that time in the cities there was electricity, there was running water, there were cars on the street. It was therefore something of a shock to me to realise that timewise, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree was in my grandfather's lifetime! In 1917, he would have been 8 or 9 years old. Giving it some kind of context makes it feel as though it happened very recently indeed.

This is a book that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves to read about times gone by. I am sure that you will cheer for Rachel, just as I did.

Rating 4.5

I am reviewing this book today as part of the TLC Book tours blog tour, although I obtained the book from my local library. To see other stops on the tour click on the following links.

Tuesday, November 1st:  nomadreader
Wednesday, November 2nd:  Peeking Between the Pages  
Thursday, November 3rd:  Linus’s Blanket - author Q&A
Monday, November 7th:  A Bookish Libraria
Tuesday, November 8th:  Man of La Book
Thursday, November 10th:  Unabridged Chick
Monday, November 14th:  Book Dilettante
Tuesday, November 15th:  Book Chatter
Wednesday, November 16th:  She is Too Fond of Books- Spotlight on Bookstores guest post
Thursday, November 17th:  Book Club Classics
Monday, November 21st:  Raging Bibliomania
Tuesday, November 22nd:  The Brain Lair
Wednesday, November 23rd:  Historical Tapestry – author guest post, “Why I Love Book Groups”
Wednesday, November 23rd:  Broken Teepee
Friday, November 25th:  Historical Tapestry
Monday, November 28th:  A Bookworm’s World
Tuesday, November 29th:  My Bookshelf
Wednesday, November 30th:  Elle Lit.
Thursday, December 1st:  Melody & Words
Monday, December 5th:  Book Snob
Wednesday, December 7th:  Life in Review
Thursday, December 8th:  The 3 R’s Blog