Claire Evans is the author of The Fourteenth Letter. Her latest novel, The Graves of Whitechapel, was published by Sphere on 25 June 2020. Claire has written a guest post about the 1880s, the decade that changed everything. It’s a bold claim perhaps. Mostly, we think of time as a continuous drip of evolution, a…
The Half Sister by Sandie Jones – extract
Sandie Jones is the author of The Other Woman and The First Mistake. Her latest novel, The Half Sister, was published by Pan Macmillan on 25 June 2020. Today I have an extract from the book Kate sees the familiar nameplate on Dr Williams’ office door and feels a knot in her stomach. She doesn’t…
Maggie Hamand – Q&A
Maggie Hamand’s third novel, Virgin and Child, was published by Barbican Press on 2 April 2020. Maggie kindly answered a few of my questions. 1. Tell us a little about Virgin and Child. It’s a Vatican thriller with a difference, as it explores serious issues of sexuality and gender within the Catholic Church, wrapped up in a gripping narrative. It…
The Never Have I Ever Club by Mary Jayne Baker – extract
The Never Have I Ever Club by Mary Jayne Baker was published by Aria on 18 June 2020. Today I have an extract from the book. The fluorescent strip lights seared into Robyn’s brain in a shade of white she’d decided to name Guantanamo Ivory. She assumed she could thank the daytime drinking for her…
Gilly Macmillan – Q&A
Gilly Macmillan is the author of Burnt Paper Sky (which was also released under the title What She Knew ), Odd Child Out, I know You Know, The Perfect Girl and The Nanny . Her latest novel, To Tell You the Truth, is published by Century on 25 June 2020. Gilly kindly answered a few…
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce – review
Published by Doubleday Publication date – 23 July 2020 Source – review copy It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a…
V. Press – Q&A
V. Press is an independent publisher of poetry and flash fiction and was shortlisted in the Michael Marks Publishers’ Award 2017. Editor S.A. Leavesley kindly answered a few of my questions. 1. Tell us a little about V.Press. V. Press mainly publishes sole-authored poetry pamphlets, poetry collections, and flash fiction pamphlets (either a selection of unconnected…
Don’t You Know There’s A War On by Janet Todd – extract
Don’t You Know There’s A War On by Janet Todd was published by Fentum Press on 9 March 2020. Today I have an extract to share. A telephone rings in the dark waking Phyllis Payne. She picks up the receiver in the kitchen, hears nothing. Moments pass, then a dull wailing too dry for sobs….
Six Degrees of Separation: from Normal People to Let Me Tell You About a Man I Knew
Six Degrees of Separation is the brainchild of Kate from Books Are My Favourite and My Best. Each month there is a different starter book and through six books, with what can be, on my part, extremely tenuous links, you see which book you end up at. The starter book this month is Normal People by…
The Curator by M W Craven – review
Published by Constable Publication date – 4 June 2020 Source – review copy It’s Christmas and a serial killer is leaving displayed body parts all over Cumbria. A strange message is left at each scene: #BSC6 Called in to investigate, the National Crime Agency’s Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are faced with a case that…
