Book review: Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead

My edition: Paperback, to be published on 1 July 2013 by HarperCollins, 415 pages.

Description: The Van Meters have gathered at their family retreat on the New England island of Waskeke to celebrate the marriage of daughter Daphne to an impeccably appropriate young man. The weekend is full of lobster and champagne, salt air and practiced bonhomie, but long-buried discontent and simmering lust seep through the cracks in the revelry.

Winn Van Meter, father-of-the-bride, has spent his life following the rules of the east coast upper crust, but now, just shy of his sixtieth birthday, he must finally confront his failings, his desires, and his own humanity.



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Book review: The Bad Mother by Isabelle Grey

My edition: Paperback, published on 9 May 2013 by Quercus, 368 pages.

Description: Tessa Parker runs a successful B&B in a seaside town. During a surprise visit from Australia, a long-lost aunt lets slip a family secret that unsettles her fragile world.

In shock, and feeling betrayed by her whole family, Tessa confides in her ex- husband just as he reveals he has a new woman in his life.

Struck unexpectedly by jealousy; balancing her own turmoil against the demands of parenting, Tessa tries to trace her birth father, with devastating results. Yet she fails to see how this is a crucial moment in her children’s lives. If she gets things wrong, the consequences could be fatal.

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Book review: Bay of Secrets by Rosanna Ley

My edition: Paperback, to be published on 9 May 2013 by Quercus, 560 pages.

Description: Spain, 1939. Following the wishes of her parents to keep her safe during the war, a young girl, Julia, enters a convent in Barcelona. Looking for a way to maintain her links to the outside world, she volunteers to help in a maternity clinic. But worrying adoption practices in the clinic force Sister Julia to decide how far she will go to help those placed in her care.

England, 2011. Six months after her parents' shocking death, 34-year-old journalist and jazz enthusiast Ruby Rae has finally found the strength to pack away their possessions and sell the family home. But as she does so, she unearths a devastating secret her parents, Vivien and Tom, had kept from her all her life.

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Book review: The Things We Never Said by Susan Elliot Wright

My edition: Paperback, to be published on 23 May 2013 by Simon and Schuster, 384 pages.

Description:In 1964 Maggie wakes to find herself in a psychiatric ward, not knowing who she is or why she has been committed. She slowly begins to have memories of a storm and of a man called Jack and slowly the pieces of the past begin to come together.

In 2008 Jonathan is struggling to put his differences with his parents aside to tell them he and his wife are expecting a baby, when a detective arrives to question him about crimes committed long ago.

And as these two tales interweave, the secrets of the past, long kept hidden, start to come to light in unexpected and sometimes startling ways.

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Theatre review: Once

Synopsis: Based on the much-loved Oscar-winning film, Once is an extraordinary, original and irresistibly joyous celebration of love, friendship and music.

When an Irish busker and a young Czech girl meet through a shared love of music, their songwriting sparks a deep connection and a tender, longing romance that neither of them could have expected.

Cast: Declan Bennett, Zrinka Cvitešić. Valda Aviks, Phoebe Fildes, Ryan Fletcher, Allison Harding, Aidan Kelly, Gareth O’Connor, Michael O’Connor, Tim Parker, Miria Parvin, Jos Slovick, Flora Spencer–Longhurst, Alex Turney, Jez Unwin, Gabriel Vick, Robbie White, Poppy–Lily Baker, Mia–Jai Bryan, Pacha Ann Green, Nancy Ann Jeans.

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Book review: When Captain Flint Was Still a Good Man by Nick Dybek

My edition: Paperback, published on 1 March 2013 by Constable & Robinson, 306 pages.

Description:Loyalty Island is a small fishing community dependent on the Gaunt family fleet for survival. Each winter, Cal's father - a captain of the fleet - sets sail for Alaska to trawl for crab. Cal may be too young to join in their adventure, but he is old enough to know that everything depends on the fate of those few boats thousands of miles north.

When the fleet's owner, John Gaunt, dies, he leaves the town's livelihood in peril. With winter fast approaching, Cal starts to suspect that his father may have taken extreme measures to save the fleet from extinction . . . Plagued by doubt, his loyalties strained and his moral compass in tatters, Cal is forced to make a terrible choice.

When Captain Flint Was Still a Good Man maps the troubles waters of a community at risk, a family in turmoil, and a young boy becoming a man.

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Book review: The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel

My edition: Paperback, published on 28 March 2013 by Quercus, 461 pages.

Description: The North Star Bakery has been in Hope's family for generations, the secret recipes passed down from mother to daughter. But at thirty-six and recently divorced, with rebellious daughter Annie and elderly grandmother Rose to care for, Hope is less than enthusiastic about carrying on the family legacy. When the bakery runs into financial trouble and Rose takes a turn for the worse, Hope's delicate balancing act is in danger of crumbling entirely.

Then Rose reveals a shocking truth about her past and everything Hope thought she knew about her family and the bakery is turned upside down. At her grandmother's request, Hope travels to Paris, armed only with a mysterious list of names. What she uncovers there could be the key to saving the bakery and the fulfilment of a star-crossed romance, seventy years in the making.

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Theatre review: The Book of Mormon

Synopsis: The Book of Mormon is a religious satire musical from the creators of South Park, Matt Parker and Trey Stone, and Avenue Q's Robert Lopez, which tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries who are sent to a small town in Uganda to bring news of the Latter Day Saints.

Cast: Gavin Creel, Jared Gertner, Alexia Khadime, Stephen Ashfield, Giles Terera, Haydn Oakley, Chris Jarman, Mark Anderson, Benjamin Brook, Daniel Buckley, Daniel Clift, Ashley Day, Candace Furbert, Patrick George, Nadine Higgin, Tyrone Huntley, Evan James, Michael Kent, Matt Krzan, Oliver Lidert, Daniel Mackinley, Luke Newton, Terel Nugent, David O'Reilly, Olivia Philip, Lucy St Louis, Yemie Sonuga, Kayi Ushe, Tosh Wanogho-Maud, Sharon Wattis, Liam Wrate.

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Book review: Tangled Lives by Hilary Boyd

My edition: Paperback, published on 14 March 2013 by Quercus, 377 pages.

Description: Annie Delancey is happily married with three grown children. But she guards a secret. Aged eighteen she had a baby boy, and gave him up for adoption.

Out of the blue, she receives an official-looking letter from Social Services. Her son wants to make contact.

Now, the presence of the son she has never known begins to expose the flaws in the family Annie has to try to hold together.

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Transworld Publishers Crime Event

On Wednesday I had the pleasure to visit Transworld Publishers for their special crime event in honour of the publication of Cath Staincliffe's second Scott & Bailey novel: 'Bleed Like Me'.

Never having ventured over to Ealing before of course I ended up getting us briefly lost but we still found the offices on time and were welcomed with gruesome looking (but delicious) cupcakes and a glass of wine. The evening was off to a good start, that's for sure!

Click on the link below for photos and my full report on the evening.