28.1.13

Book Review: The Last Summer by Judith Kinghorn

A PERFECT LIFE
Clarissa is almost seventeen when the spell of her childhood is broken. It is 1914, the beginning of a blissful golden summer- and the end of an era.
A CHANGING WORLD
Deyning Park is in it's heyday, the gardens filled with the scents of roses and lavender, the colours of the earth rich and vibrant, the large country house filled with the laughter and excitement of privileged youth preparing for a weekend party. When Clarissa meets Tom Cuthbert, home from university and staying with his mother, the housekeeper, she is dazzled. Tom is handsome and enigmatic; he is also an outsider. Ambitious, clever, his sights set on a career in law, Tom is an acute observer, and a man who knows what he wants. For now, that is Clarissa.
AN UNDENIABLE LOVE
As Tom and Clarissa's friendship deepens, the wider landscape of political life around them is changing and another story unfolds: they are not the only people in love. Soon the world- and all that they know- is rocked irrevocably by a war that changes their lives forever.

I know that I am extremely late to the party for this book but I completely fell in love with it. Clarissa and Tom's story will stay with me forever.
I don't want to ruin the plot for anyone else so I shall be careful what I say but I really want to emphasise just how wonderful the story is that Judith Kinghorn has written.
Clarissa and Tom's story begins in the summer of 1914. They come from very different worlds; Clarissa has grown up at Deyning Park surrounded by wealth and luxury whereas Tom is the son of the housekeeper. Although their lives are very different, their connection is instant, a connections they will never lose.
Judith Kinghorn brilliantly captures the change taking place at the time. The world is at war, men are fighting alongside each other; it doesn't matter where you came from, just which side you're on. Clarissa and Tom are caught up in these changes. Clarissa's mother forbids her relationship with Tom; however much she can see a future, Clarissa will not disobey her mother and this leads to devastating consequences. Clarissa is very young and this leads her to make so many mistakes. She comes from a world where you behave in a certain way and you marry certain people. There were so many times when I could see her going down the wrong path out of her sense of duty and I just wanted to drag her back!
The Last Summer explores the aftermath of war, the way it changed society, the way men were damaged both physically and mentally. Women gained a lot of independence during the war, many worked for the first time and this caused problems during peace time.
I did fall in love with Tom Cuthbert. He is besotted with Clarissa and is determined to make something of himself. However, whatever he does always comes back to Clarissa, it's all for her, whether she is his or not.
Judith Kinghorn has an excellent writing style. I really liked the way she used concise sentences and repetition to get her point across. The dialogue between Clarissa and Tom was particularly realistic, it often felt like you were eaves dropping on a personal conversation.
I know many of you have already read this beautiful book  but for those who haven't then please, please do. The Last Summer is a superbly written, poignant read, I simply loved it.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 5/5

Many thanks to Headline for sending me a copy to review.


23.1.13

Book Review: Evil Water by Inger Wolf

Two women disappear without a trace, and the same autumn a farmer on the outskirts of Arhus finds them murdered in suitcases under a heap of stones.
The skin of one woman is filled with the letter 'Y' and the other has a rare flower in her hair. Inspector Daniel Trokic is leading the case which goes in several different directions: to a tribal population in Africa, religious insanity and a horrifying meeting with leeches. When a third woman disappears, Trokic is under pressure to find out what the killer wants to say with his macabre scenery and rituals. 
I really didn't know what to expect when I was sent this book to review. However, I was pleasantly surprised as this story completely gripped me.
Evil Water is set in Sweden; two bodies turn up in suitcases, they are the bodies of two women who have been missing for some time. Inspector Daniel Trokic is called in to investigate, all he knows is that these women suffered a terrible ordeal; they were bled to death in a bath full of leeches.
The search for the killer intensifies when another woman goes missing, Daniel knows he only has limited time to save another innocent woman's life.
Inger Wolf creates a terrifying atmosphere. The deaths of the women are described in detail, you get a real sense of their desperation to escape. The leeches were a particularly sinister element of the book; they literally suck the life out of their victim. The victim is aware of what is happening but they quickly become powerless to stop it.
As Daniel leads the team, many different avenues are explored. They have to get into the mind of the killer, they need to understand why the leeches are used; why women with a particular hair colour and what would make him stop?
It was very interesting to see how Daniel's team worked, they don't have much to go on so every possible lead has to be explored.
I had a couple of problems with Evil Water, I didn't feel as though I got to know Daniel Trokic very well which is a shame as I think he has the potential to be a very interesting character. My only other issue is that Inger Wolf makes several references to what song is playing in the background and who is singing it. I know it sounds petty but I found it a little annoying and I felt that it had no relevance.
Criticisms aside, I would very much recommend this book. Inger Wolf has written a gripping thriller, the plot has just the right pace and I would definitely read more by this author.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Many thanks to Melanie from Black Cat for sending me a copy of the book to review, Evil Water is out now.

20.1.13

Book Review: The Girl Below by Bianca Zander

After ten years in New Zealand, Suki returns to London, to a city that won't let her in. However, a chance visit with Peggy, an old family friend who still lives in the building where she grew up, convinces Suki that there is a way to reconnect with the life she left behind a decade earlier.
But the more she becomes involved with Peggy's dysfunctional family , including Peggy's wayward sixteen-year-old grandson, the more Suki finds herself mysteriously slipping back in time- to the night of a party her parents threw in their garden more than twenty years ago, when something happened in an old, long-unused air raid shelter...
If I had to sum up this book in one word then I would choose dysfunctional. Everything about it is dysfunctional, the characters, events, settings and emotions. Suki has returned to London after living in New Zealand for ten years. She has no family in the UK but she soon becomes embroiled in Peggy's family. Peggy used to live in the apartment above her when she was growing up. Suki has very vivid memories of her childhood and one night in particular. Her parents threw a party and then something happened in the old air raid shelter in their garden. Something that is still haunting Suki in the present.
I don't want to give the plot away but Suki spends a lot of time with Peggy's family and she comes to realise that she must exorcise the past as her memories are preventing her from having a future.
Bianca Znder writes quite a haunting tale. As a reader, I wasn't sure at times what was real and what was imagined by Suki. The book just oozes mystery, I was intrigued by Suki's past and seriously concerned for her future.
I would recommend this book, it gave me a lot to think about and the story really draws you in.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Many thanks to Alma Books for sending me a copy to review, The Girl Below is published on February 24th.

17.1.13

New to Dot Scribbles Shelves

I haven't done one of these for ages so I thought that I would share some of the books that I have been fortunate enough to receive for review recently. These are the ones that I am planning to read in the next few weeks so do please tell me if you have read any already or are looking forward to any in particular.

Grace Grows  by Shelle Sumners (Allen and Unwin, 1st March 2013) Meet Grace Barnum. A very loveable but fallible, textbook editor from New York City who runs her life like a...well...a text book. A scarred child of divorce, Grace only meets her father sporadically to stop a proper paternal relationship developing and she prefers her mother slightly drunk because she is 'easier to handle' that way. Her lawyer boyfriend constantly travels for work, yet she relishes the alone time. 'Big Green' is the name of her enormous satchel, catering for her every possible want or need. are you getting the picture? Then in a split second, Tyler Wilkie ruins her life. An aspiring singer-song-writer from county Pennsylvania, Tyler meets Grace on his third day in the city. He also happens to be cute, sentimental, gorgeous and about a hundred other synonyms that describe a sexy musician. The two of them become friends, Ty's career takes off and Grace's perfect textbook existence comes crashing down. Eventually, but after a lot of tears, Grace begins to grow...

Don't Want to Miss A Thing by Jill Mansell (Headline Review, 7th February 2013) Dexter Yates loves his fun care-free London life, but everything changes overnight when his sister dies, leaving him in charge of her eight-month-old daughter Delphi. How is he going to cope leaving his hedonistic life behind for a new start in the Cotswolds?
Comic strip artist Molly Hayes lives in Briarwood, the village that Dexter moves to. She's not had a great history with men and even though there's a connection between them, it looks like this isn't going to change. But lots of the village residents have secrets to discover and it soon becomes clear that Dexter isn't the only one who is going to have to adapt once these are revealed.

Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd (Bloomsbury, 24th January 2013) Vienna. 1913. It is a fine day in August when Lysander Rief, a young English actor, walks through the city to his first appointment with the eminent psychiatrist Dr Bensimon. Sitting in the waiting room, he is anxiously pondering the nature of his problem when an extraordinary woman enters. She is clearly in distress, but Lysander is immediately drawn to her strange, hazel eyes and her unusual, intense beauty. Later the same day they meet again, and a more composed Hettie Bull introduces herself as an artist and sculptor, and invites Lysander to a party hosted by her lover, the famous painter Udo Hoff. Compelled to attend and unable to resist her electric charm, they begin a passionate love affair. Life in Vienna becomes tinged with a frisson of excitement for Lysander. He meets Sigmund Freud in a cafe, begins to write a journal, enjoys secret trysts with Hettie and appears to have been cured.
London, 1914. War is stirring and events in Vienna have caught up with Lysander. Unable to live an ordinary life, he is plunged into the dangerous theatre of wartime intelligence- a world of sex- scandal and spies, where lines of truth and deception blur with every walking day. Lysander must now discover  the key to a secret code which is threatening Britain's safety, and use all his skills to keep the murky world of suspicion and betrayal from invading every corner of his own life.

A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger (Penguin, January 31st 2013) Charley Lambert had worked hard a creating a pefect life. She has an aspirational flat, a job of international significance and a very good pair of legs, thanks to a rigorous health and fitness regime. Best of all, her boss has asked her out after seven years' hard flirting and a covert fumble in a mop cupboard.
Then she breaks her leg in three places, watches her boss propose to someone else and- horror- is forced to hand over her job to her nasty deputy. Charley, a certified workaholic, fears that she will go mad.
Dangerously bored, she starts helping people who are talentless at internet dating. Then William arrives in her inbox and rocks her world. Helpless, she watches herself fall in love with him and discovers she's not who she thought she was. But can she turn her back on her old life- all for a total stranger?

The Lies You Told Me by Jessica Ruston (Headline Review, 24th January 2013) When Klara Mortimer receives a letter from a mysteriously initialed N. R.  all the certainties of her existence are thrown into doubt. She's always believed everything that her father told her about her mother Sadie, a former model who disappeared from Klara's life when she was six years old. But the letter leads Klara to a garage, and a mysterious box of objects and her mother's diary.
As she begins to read the diary, the fragments of Sadie's life begin to come together and the image id her mother she now sees doesn't match the picture her father has painted. She begins to question her father's own motives for distorting the truth, can she trust anything that he has told her or is there a further layer to her mother's story?






The Heart Whisperer by Ella Griffin (Orion Books, February 2013) Claire Dillon still lives in the shadow of the past. On her thirty-third birthday, she gives herself a present. One year to change her future.
Claire's mother has everything to live for. A husband, two children, a successful medical practice. Then at thirty-three she died in a tragic accident. And it was Claire's fault.
Now Claire is the same age. A floundering actress with a broken heart, a collection of draft snakes, and a talent for self-sabotage. She is frittering her life away with the help of her oldest friend, the gorgeous ex-rock star, Ray Devine.
On her 33rd birthday she gives herself one last year to be more like her mother. But you should be careful what you wish for...
Her estranged brother Nick is back from America and keeping his distance from his clingy sister and his pathetic father while he reinvents himself as a daytime TV relationship guru. But Dublin is full of memories and Nick is already dreaming of escape. While his wife, Kelly has dreams of her own. Ones she isn't telling him about. What will happen when another accident throws the dysfunctional Dillons together and the secrets they have kept from themselves and one another finally begin to emerge?

14.1.13

Book Review: The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris

Can you let go of the past when you know what is in the future?
And when you know that every kiss is a countdown to goodbye?
This is the story of a love affair, of Ryan and Molly and they how they fell in love and were torn apart.
The first time Molly kissed Ryan, she knew they'd be together forever. Six years and thousands of kisses later she's married to the man she loves. But today, when Ryan kisses her, Molly realises how many of them she wasted because the future holds something which neither of them could ever have predicted.
I loved Ali Harris's last book Miracle on Regent Street. The First Last Kiss has a very different feel but is just as brilliant. Ali Harris delivers the love story of Molly and Ryan whose relationship spans 20 years. We jump back and forth, in the present Molly is packing up her house and we know that Ryan has gone but you have to read the whole book in order to discover where. The past covers the whole of their relationship, the awkward teenage years, highs, lows, house moves, contentment and disappointment. I really enjoyed the format of the book, it allows the reader to get to know Molly and Ryan and all of those around them.
Each chapter begins with a page detailing a type of kiss, these include; The Kiss to End All Kisses, The Remorseful Kiss, The Judas Kiss and The Tell Me It's Not True Kiss. Some of these kisses are kisses that Molly and Ryan have shared and some they haven't. It's such an interesting part of the book, it really makes you think of the kisses you have taken part in in your life and the moments when they took part.
I felt that Molly and Ryan's relationship was very realistic. It's not all hearts and flowers, they show how much work a relationship takes and the compromises that have to be made. There were times when I disliked Molly a little as I felt that she was sometimes selfish. Yet I think that she changes a lot throughout the book and her regrets are heartfelt.
The First Last Kiss is a heart warming read. It had me laughing and crying but most importantly it made me think of the bigger picture and be grateful for my lot in life. You will not be disappointed with this book, Ali Harris has given us a modern day love story that I highly recommend.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 5/5

Many thanks to the people at Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of this book to review, The First Last Kiss is published on January 17th and I urge you to go get a copy!

10.1.13

Book Review: The Killing Place by Tess Gerritsen

Something terrible has happened in the snowbound village of Kingdom Come, Wyoming. Twelve, eerily identical houses stand dark and abandoned. The people who lived in them appear to have vanished, seemingly into thin air.
Maura Isles is driving through the area with a group of friends when they find themselves trapped in a snowstorm. They stumble into the abandoned village to take shelter. Their nightmare has only just begun.
Days later, Jane Rizzoli flies to Wyoming to search for her missing friend. A crashed vehicle has been found with four badly burned bodies still inside. Can one of the corpses be Maura's?
Jane's hunt for the truth leads her to Kingdom Come. Where the person who was watching Maura now lies waiting for her...
This series of  books never fails to grip me, The Killing Place was no different, I raced through this book in two days.
I think out of all of the books in this series that I have read so far, this one is the most chilling; it really played on my mind when I turned the light off at night. The story is pretty sinister and dark, it felt as though everything is working against Maura and Jane.
Maura is the main focus of this book; she is attending a medical conference when she bumps into an old college friend. Her invites her to join him, his daughter and some friends to do a spot of sight-seeing before they head home. She sets off full of excitement but it soon turns into a nightmare when they encounter a huge snowstorm. They take shelter in a deserted village. They are just relieved to have found somewhere warm with a fire. But they are actually staying in Kingdom Come which until recently has been a fully functioning religious cult. Maura and her companions do begin to wonder where the village's inhabitants have gone and why did they leave in such a hurry? A series of incidents lead Maura to realise that they are being watched, why does this person not reveal themselves and help them? Are they safe to stay in the house where they though they had found sanctuary?
Tess Gerritsen is so good at creating suspense. I experienced goose bumps several times when reading this. The snow really creates a sinister atmosphere; it has caused them to be trapped and then magnifies any noise or movement around them.
I like the focus being on Maura as I didn't feel that I knew her as well as Jane. This book explores how she functions and she she chose the job she did. Her relationship with Father Brophy is laid bare in this book; she has fallen in love with a man she can't have, their relationship can never be an honest and open one. Is she happy to live like that?
The Killing Place is an excellent read and a perfect example of thriller writing from one of the best.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 5/5


8.1.13

After the Fall by Charity Norman selected for the Richard and Judy Spring Book Club

After the Fall by Charity Norman which I reviewed last week has been selected by the 2013 Richard and Judy Spring Book Club. I think this is very exciting and well deserved, After the Fall was the first book that I have read by Charity Norman but I fell in love with her writing and story telling style. I have popped a few details about the book club below and also my review of After the Fall!


- After the Fall will be the featured title in the week of 4th March.
- An exclusive interview with Charity Norman is available as part of the Richard and Judy podcast series which readers will be able to immediately download by scanning the QR code in the back of their book.
- The first chapter of After the Fall is available to read for free by visiting       www.whsmith.co.uk/bcchapters
- Other titles in the Spring Book Club include Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Gold by Chris Cleave.

In the quite of a New Zealand winter's night, a rescue helicopter is sent to airlift a five-year-old boy with severe internal injuries. He's fallen from the upstairs veranda of an isolated farmhouse, and his condition is critical. At first, Finn's fall looks like a horrible accident; after all he's prone to sleep walking. Only his frantic mother, Martha McNamara knows how it happened. And she isn't telling. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Tragedy isn't what the McNamara family expected when they moved to New Zealand. For Martha, it was an escape. For her artist  husband Kit, it was a dream. For their small twin boys, it was an adventure. For sixteen-year-old Sacha it was the start of a nightmare.
They end up on the isolated east coast of the North island, seemingly in the middle of a New Zealand tourist campaign. But their peaceful idyll is soon shattered as the choices Sacha makes lead the family down a path which threatens to destroy them all. Martha finds herself facing a series of impossible decisions, each with devastating consequences for her family.
This book is going to be very difficult to review as I don't want to give the plot away but I have to stress that it was a fantastic read.
Martha and her family move to New Zealand because Kit, Martha's husband is drinking heavily after seeing his company collapse. New Zealand offers him a chance to pursue his painting ambitions and offers Martha and the children a new life on the other side of the world. Sacha is Kit's step-daughter and a doting sister to her twin half brothers, Charlie and Finn. The move to New Zealand affects Sacha in a way that none of them saw coming and her actions put her whole family in danger.
We know at the beginning of the book that Finn has had a fall; he has a head injury and lies in a coma. Martha has explained that it was an accident but her inner thoughts, expressed in the book, suggest otherwise.
Charity Norman flits back and forth between the past and the present. We learn of the events leading up to Finn's fall and the then the immediate aftermath.
The plot is extremely intriguing, I really couldn't decide what had happened and Charity Norman keeps up the tension and mystery throughout.
Sacha is a difficult character and I still haven't decided what I think about her. I felt so much empathy for Martha though as the book really made me question how I would react to my own daughter in the same situation. There were times when I could really feel Martha's desperation to make everything right and her fear that it is all out of her control.
After the Fall is a particularly gripping read. I have Charity Norman's first book sitting on my shelf so I am really looking forward to reading more by this great author.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 5/5

Many thanks to Allen and Unwin for sending me a copy of the book to review, After the Fall is out now.

The lovely Charity Norman is also on Twitter, simply follow @CharityNorman1

4.1.13

Book Review: Stranded by Emily Barr

It was meant to be a trip to Paradise...
Bruised from the breakdown of her marriage, Esther Lomax needs to get away and hopes Malaysia's unspoilt shores will provide the space and time alone she seeks.
But a day's boat trip takes a desperate turn when Esther, along with six other holiday makers, is deposited on an uninhabited island, their guide promising to pick them up in an hour's time.
Only, he doesn't come back: not an hour later, not two, not even the next day. Before long, the dreadful reality of the situation hits the group: they have no way of getting back to the mainland and they know nothing about each other. As tensions erupt, secrets emerge and time begins to run out, Esther must ask herself the ultimate question, will she leave the island alive?
I love Emily Barr's last novel, The First Wife so I had high expectations of Stranded. I am pleased to report that my expectations were met, I couldn't put Stranded down and my romantic notion of a deserted island has been blown apart!
In Emily Barr's books, nothing is ever as it seems, characters are often hiding something and the plot has you guessing what will happen next.
Esther Lomax goes to Malaysia to get her head together after her divorce. She leaves her daughter Daisy at home and she is the sole reason that she wants to return in one piece; she wants to be able to prove to Daisy that she can be the mother that she deserves. A day trip to a deserted island turns into Esther's worst nightmare when the guide does not return to pick up her and the other travellers. However idyllic looking the island is, the reality is horrendous, they have to pull together in order to survive, their hope of being rescued, fading every day.
I don't want to give the story away but Emily Barr delivers a beautifully sinister plot, the ending took me completely by surprise, I loved that it wasn't predictable in any way.
Stranded is an excellent read, Emily Barr has a writing style that draws you in, her characters are flawed and believable and you quickly become engrossed in the story she is telling. Highly recommended.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 5/5

Many thanks to the lovely people at Headline for sending me a copy of the book to review, Stranded is out now.

All change here!

I have made the decision to stop doing written reviews on here for a little while. I shall keep this page open but for the time being I sha...