Everybody's Somebody by Beryl Kingston

Rosie was not just somebody. For the late nineteenth century, she was certainly no pushover. She was not going to be happy or resigned to her lot, which seemed to be the idea of the working lot. They were born to it and there was no choice about bettering themselves. Rosie had ideas and she certainly was not going to let a bit of adversity or hard work get in the way of getting there.

I admired her spunk in the face of so much opposition. It was a time when women did what they were told to do by their parents or their husbands and most of them just buckled under. Rosie first as a maid - an understudy to a nanny made it her business to learn her trade and from there better herself.

After getting married, she ended up as a model for a famous artist, despite her husband's objections. Her first aim was just economic. It paid well and secondly it proved to be a learning experience in love for her. She balanced her career as a model, and on the other a loving mother and a wife admirably.

Set during the beginning of WWI and the ominous beginning of Hitler the story told how these wars affected directly and indirectly the rural population of Britain . It was insidious but a deep rooted effect on the entire population and affected entire generations.

The book was sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Agora Books.

Deep Waters by Martin Edwards

This was a lovely theme of historical fiction mixed liberally with mysteries on anything water. Canals, lakes, seas, everything connected to the murder or the mystery was linked to a waterway and they were all picturesque, all descriptive and some of them remote.

All the stories are slightly old fashioned form of detective work, many of them were solved by laymen in collaboration with the police force and all conducted in a very gentlemanly like and orderly manner, despite the final brutality of the act itself!

Very easy to read, very pleasant to read.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press.

Reading this mid September here in Sri Lanka and very apt, because we are having floods right across the country. I just got up this morning to see the river alongside my home flooding the opposite bank.

The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen by Ada Bright & Cass Grafton

I knew this was going to be a variation of the Jane Austen theme but this took me way out of any comfort zone I had! In a very good way.

The idea that what would have happened if the Jane Austen books we know were not written or not published is unimaginable.

September and in Bath it is  all about Austen. Finding someone in period costume is nothing unusual at the time and Rose begins to think that the lady she glimpses everywhere is another of those who has immersed herself fully into the Austen saga. When Morgan arrives from America and Rose's entire present world is turned upside down with the appearance of a necklace which has brought Jane Austen to present day times and then takes Rose back in time, things get complicated.

Rose desperately wants to get back to modern times and Jane Austen needs to go back to write and publish her books but how are they going to do this, when the only way back is a necklace secreted in a safe in a place hidden by double walls and in a building which is now an office!

Taking innumerable twists and turns, you do know this story is going to end well. Otherwise there would be no Jane Austen novels today!

A fun read, for lovers of Jane Austen a must.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Canelo

The Postcard by Zoe Folbigg

Maya and James journey starts with an idyllic, sumptuous fairy tale wedding of someone for whom James is the "fourth" photographer. It is a typical Bollywood style wedding and the accommodation and the luxury is overwhelming. What follows their journey in India is also typical. Ranging from horrible train journeys to middle of the road guest houses interspersed with the beauty and culture of India the story is almost a travel memoir.

The romance part of the story is that James and Maya are unsure of their own personal wants. At some point in their travels Maya knows that she wants a baby. She has just left her friend Nena back home with an adorable baby and this has set off Maya's yearning for a baby for herself. James does not seem to want the commitment, just yet.

In the same time frame of the story - a separate story of Nena and Tom is played out. Nena coping with motherhood, trying to be the "best" mother and maintaining a facade which will crack soon. Tom knowing something is not quite right, but not knowing how to put it right.

Then we have the missing French girl Manon - which has been covered by the International Press. The girl missing initially from Vietnam, then spotted in Thailand and now it is told at a very later stage that the girl has a mental illness and this adds to the problem of trying to locate her.

How the three widely different stories are linked, all with the background of exotic travel starting from the luxurious and going to the spartan, back packing lifestyle and finally coming to what James and Maya actually want from their lives.

Descriptive and captivating as any travel memoir, the story of James and Maya and the other characters all blend in well.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Aria.

Last Pen Standing by Vivian Conroy

 

It is an idyllic story. You use your inheritance to set up a partnership in an idyllic village background to do what you love to do. This was the beginning of Delta's dream to set up a paper craft business in association with her best friend in an area which was a village but also a tourist destination.

They never expected to find on the their first day of their much anticipated workshop, a body of a well known figure murdered whilst a full scale party was going on, and that her friend's brother seems to be implicated upto his neck in the whole thing. Her friend Hazel trying her best to protect her brother and not divulging very much does not help the scenario and she ends up getting arrested too. It is now upto Delta to try to figure out who had to gain by the death and by a series of elimination work out who was responsible.

With a Chief Constable who is more obstructive than helpful, and not wanting assistance of any kind Delta battles it alone with the help of Jonas an ex cop himself unpopular with the local police.
Complicated plots and characters abound but with all the hallmarks of a good cozy mystery murder this is a good one.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press.

A Shadowed Livery by Charlie Garratt

On the brink of war, Inspector Given is trying to deal with the wave of Anti Antisemitism sweeping the United Kingdom. Two people who were caught in the latest killing are being hanged though the masterminds behind the attack are still free and very much pursuing constant attacks against Jewish businesses.

Surprisingly he is taken off the case and given another one - a triple murder cum suicide (apparently) for the flimsiest of reasons. Suspicious about the reasoning behind the murders and thinking it is an inside job Inspector Given is swept into a case with much wider repercussions. It is not a family saga, with family secrets to hide but goes back decades and uncovers a very long trail of coercion, deceit, cover up and many secrets.

Told in a slightly old fashioned style, not detracting from the story or the detection the story is well told. Characterization was spot on and very good reading.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Sapere Books.

Today We Go Home by Kelli Estes

My knowledge of American history is scant. I think this was a good one for me. Set in 1861 and present day times, we deal with women (and to a lesser degree men) involved in the military not in a supporting role of nurses and carers but both front line soldiers.

We have Emily who after the death of her father and brother, joins hands with her surviving brother Ben to join the Army to fight not as a woman, but disguised as a man. She goes through several skirmishes, and when she is found out she is demoralised to see that her achievements as a soldier are not taken into account - only the fact that she disguised herself as a man. The story of "Jesse" and her brother Ben in the heart of the Civil War fights and how the only survivor was Jesse is remarkable. Because she maintained a diary which was found by Sarah who was one of her descendants and this in turn came into the hands of Larkin, our present day soldier.

Larkin has her own devils to contend with. A survivor from Afghanistan, she carries the overwhelming guilt that she was directly responsible for the death of Sarah, her best friend and Anahita a girl she befriended in Afghanistan. Suffering from PTSD and unwilling to seek counselling or therapy Larkin is battling it alone, with just the help of her grandmother and her cousins.
Till Larkin comes to peace in her own mind with Sarah's death, she knows she will have no solace at all in her life.

What must be a common problem amongst many soldiers, unable to bear the overwhelming guilt of death - whether to friend or foe is dealt with, with  empathy in this story. The personal lives of both Larkin and Emily and how they cope with their worlds is handled delicately. The history of both periods are also detailed well and gives one an inside view of life on the ground in both situations.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Sourcebooks, Landmark.