DANCE WITH ME by VICTORIA CLAYTON

DANCE WITH ME

BY VICTORIA CLAYTON

THE BLURB:-

Viola Otway, young, romantic and with little formal schooling, has been sent out into the world by her guardian to earn her living. But her lack of education and experience are no disadvantage for her job at the Society for the Conservation of Ancient Buildings, otherwise known as SCAB.

Viola and her boss are sent to access Inskip Park, a huge house with an incredible facade and domes like Brighton Pavilion. The roof leaks, the walls drip with damp, the food is terrible and the servants distinctly odd- but Viola is enchanted. She loves everything about the house, the garden, and the peculiarly eccentric Inskip family- particularly Jeremy, the handsome, lazy and utterly charming son and heir.

Five days later, Viola returns to London having made some life-changing decisions. Even an unexpected marriage proposal fails to deflect her from her declared purpose: to acquire an education...

THE REALITY:-

An utterly charming upper-class comedy romp, which is tailor made for fans of Four Weddings And A Funeral. Although it's not that easy to work out which era this novel is set in, somewhere in the middle it states that these events take place during the unbelievably hot summer of 1976. Other reviews have stated that they cannot work out out heroine Viola's age- it mentions quite clearly that she is nearly twenty-one just a short way into the novel.

I took a long time to read this book. That's not because it was boring, but simply because I seem to have had so much going on in my life in the past few months; from a holiday, to trying to sort out builders and repair dates for my ruined cellar stairs, to job problems (i.e. the one I have is not exactly up to scratch and the company itself is not my cup of tea.)  But when I did pick it up properly it was thoroughly engaging and clearly written by someone who knows their stuff where art is concerned. It's always good to learn something new from a novel. The author also has an excellent grasp on the English language and I managed to learn a few new words (no, not swear words!) and also saw a few seldom used words creep in, which is great for descriptives.

Nothing was totally predictable about this work (apart from, maybe, who Viola ended up romantically ensconced with) and the characters were certainly colourful with some great and often hilarious traits. Inskip Park was brilliantly depicted and certainly made for a gripping base to the story and I especially found Lady Inskip's story moving and loved her youngest son, Nicky.

With superbly interesting, flawed, and often clumsy characters you can really feel for (including a villain who has seemingly played a hand in corrupting almost everyone at Inskip Park) and laugh-out-loud word play, juxtaposed with a comic take on the lives of the aristocracy, I would certainly recommend this light-hearted book as a summer read (even though I read it as the nights pulled in!)

BUTTERFLY MULES AND FORBIDDEN PINK STRAPPY SANDALS...

The pink strappy shoes were found in a dress agency in Southend but it was closed, aaarrrggghhh! They were only £15, my size, and held prisoner behind the window.

But the charity shop next door had these butterfly mules going for £4 and, as they were in my size, I think it was meant to be- look at the lovely diamante toe detail and the mirrored heels. Fate shoved me in the right direction!

I wouldn't have minded checking out the pink court shoes in the top photo as well but hey, it wasn't meant to be and I already own at least two pairs of pink shoes anyway. Whoever is in charge of these things made the correct decision for me!

MYLENE KLASS PURPLE BOLERO AND MAD HATTER'S TEAPOT...

I found this on sale at Bodgers of Ilford (a gem of a store, despite its unappealing name.)  They do some really individual items here, interesting things I've never found in more conventional department stores.

This little bolero, from the Mylene Klass range, was only a tenner.

I love the ruched detailing on the shoulder and, unlike the model, I like to pull my shrugs skin tight.  Well, I would- slutbox supreme is the way to go!

I'm also adoring this weird and wonderful Queen of Hearts flat teapot, reduced from £25 to £12.50.  This definitely looks like something the Mad Hatter would utilize at one of his parties!  I'm not one to generally bother making tea in a pot but am tempted to buy this as it will go perfectly with my kitchen decor and will serve as an ornament at worst.

Or, maybe I'll start behaving like a lady and this will inspire me to make tea properly...

(An update on the above- my SuperDean treated me and it was reduced even further, to £6.25...result!)

When I visited the Stranger's Hall, a museum in Norwich, the Mad Hatter was hosting his tea party in the garden...

And when I visited Margate, we had to pop into The Mad Hatter's Tea Rooms for a cup of coffee...

It appears that there are people in this world who are odder than I am!!!!

THE FATE OF KATHERINE CARR by THOMAS H. COOK

THE FATE OF KATHERINE CARR

BY THOMAS H. COOK

THE BLURB:-

Since the murder of his eight-year-old son, George Gates has written local stories for the town paper. A former travel writer, once he specialized in writing about places where people disappeared, sometimes individuals, sometimes whole societies. Since the tragedy, he plays it small and safe.

The he hears about Katherine Carr, a woman who vanished twenty years before. She left nothing behind but a few poems and a bizarre story. It is this story that spurs Gates to inquire into its missing author's brief life and tragic fate, an exploration that leads him to make surprising discoveries about his own life.

THE REALITY:-

Weird. Definitely bizarre. It was one of those novels that forced me to go back and read sections, as I finished it and thought, 'What the fuck was that all about?!' This may have been my fault, as I bought the book from Poundland (yes, really!) and it took me a long time to read it, maybe because I've got a lot of other, stressful, things going on in my life. Following the floods that affected East London on election day, my cellar ended up under two feet of water and the bottom three stairs down into it were washed away, warranting a totally new staircase. As my electrics are down there, this is a serious problem.  I have my quotes and am now putting the matter to the insurance company. Also, Newham council have been on at me, as part of their “clean up Newham” campaign to erect a new fence at the front of my property and I have had trouble lining up a reliable builder. This is a fucking joke- maybe Newham council should think about cleaning up the people- such as the drug dealers that deal at the dead end at the back of my property and the prostitute who works the corner and who apparently lives in a garage opposite- first.

Rant over, now back to the review. I did a lot of picking up and putting down with this novel but found the thread easy to follow. The writing seemed a bit “out there” and, whimsical and... touched. You did question what drugs the author was on when he wrote this! It was a novel that was very unsettling, tackling nasty subjects such as the real horrors of society and the kind of dangerous sicko bastards who commit appalling crimes. It was all there in the detail, and that detail made for a very uncomfortable read. I learnt about various “lost societies” and, whilst it is always good to learn new things from a novel, the were very depressing things.

There is more than one story interlinked here, as you read George's story and also Katherine's writing and there's also another tragic character who George befriends via his work- Alice, a little girl with a penchant for crime stories. Alice is dying from progeria. Such disheartening subjects. The writing is good, though, and the stories do kind of come together at the end although you have to read between the lines as nothing is ever explained fully to the reader. I think it was the man who owned the meat market who attacked Katherine (though it could have been his never-revealed employee.) It looked like she disappeared rather than died, and I think she was the person in the yellow jacket who let George know that Teddy's death had been avenged. And I think Hollis Traylor killed little Teddy.

This is a story about vengeance, and passing on and teaching others the ability to do so, as Maldrow does to Katherine, and Katherine does to George. And the story ends with George seeking vengeance with Mr. Mayawati- another dreg of society, or so it would seem- and nothing is ever quite what it seems with this book.

A strange story. Maybe it was because I read the final thirty pages at one in the morning, but I had to go back and re-read sections to clarify things. Would I read more by this author? Maybe. But I wouldn't rush to do so,. Unnerving and unsettling.

LOOSE GIRL by KERRY COHEN

LOOSE GIRL

BY KERRY COHEN

THE BLURB:-

“There is a new boy I like. I see him every other day when our classes let out at the same time. He has long, dark hair and unbelievably beautiful eyes. Almost immediately I can feel the energy between us, the promise of something to come.”

Kerry first noticed the power she had over the opposite sex at the age of eleven. By the time she was in her teens she was obsessed by boys, and soon she needed sex just to feel alive.

Sleeping with countless partners, Kerry's misguided search for love was getting out of hand. But would she ever find what she really needed?

THE REALITY:-

This didn't come across as a diary of a sex addict- I've read before about the desperation involved with using sex like a powerful drug and that tipping point where the addiction begins to control the addicted- that obsessive crave whilst searching for the next fix and total breakdown when denied it. Rather, this came across as a journal of a thoroughly normal young woman's sexual conquests!

Maybe that came from being brought up in a small town. It was the kind of place where eleven year old girls think they are pregnant by an eighteen year old “boy”; the kind of place where a fourteen year old girl has a baby and there are six possible candidates for the position of father; the kind of place where a fifteen year old girl keeps a sex diary listing the twelve or thirteen boys she has fucked, with boxes ticked for fellatio, cunnilingus, anal, a bit of finger etc; the kind of place where a twelve year old loses her virginity and, a couple of years later, takes out a group photograph of her male "friends", pointing, laughing and boasting about who she's been out with, got off with or just plain shagged.   This, sadly, is all true.  Although with the latter female, I've always thought that half the fun with regard to having sex is the boasting about it afterwards. A bit blokeish, me!

When I moved to London, in my early twenties, I was surprised how innocent and decent the girls were when it came to sex. Maybe it's because, in the provinces, there is nothing much to do and no future to plan other than getting married and having babies. And with that comes too much focus on the former experimentation and exploration. I'm glad I don't have a teenage daughter. If I'd had a child, I would have made sure I did the preliminaries at an early age; those being making sure the poor little mite had such a bigged-up sense of self esteem that she didn't feel the need to validate her worthiness via the media of sex. The peer pressure to perform at an earlier and earlier age is absolutely colossal (and depressing.) It was there when I was at school and, like autobiographical Kerry in the book, my parents had to take a large share of the blame where my particular behaviour was concerned. Like Kerry, I also noticed my power over the opposite sex at the age of eleven. I won't tell you how- it's rather freaky and for my next novel. Like Kerry, I also used sex as a weapon, although for her it was to shore up her shattered sense of worthiness and for me it was an act of rebellion and sticking one in the eyes of my verbally abusive and morally self righteous parents, and getting my own back on certain vile boyfriends. One teenage suitor in particular was a nasty, jealous, insecure, possessive bastard who wasn't fit to even be in my presence. I stayed with him because I was young and innocent and didn't know any better. But to this day I haven't cheated on someone as much as I cheated on him. And I'm proud of it! I'm not sorry that I lowered myself to get him and my parents back! It shows that I thought very little of them, which is exactly how they deserved to be thought of! But it's not necessarily a good way to behave and thankfully I grew out of it and raised my standards. Kerry's parents must take some share of the blame in the novel. They both come across as too hedonistic and the boundaries seem to be blurred where sex is concerned. For instance, Kerry's mother touching Kerry's sister Tyler's breasts and mentioning that it can feel quite nice when a man does it. Or Kerry's dad getting into bed with teenage Kerry just for a cuddle, because he needs comfort. Neither of them are perverts, but uuurrrggghhh! That's too much familiarity.

I was glad that this book was only 300 pages long and that the writing was well-spaced, as it meant it was over quickly. It didn't seem that great. What I would have loved to have read were gory descriptive details laid out there, such as who had a walloping big penis and who was hung like a toddler; who was a fantastic shag and who was a jackrabbit who came in two seconds flat. This had all the power to be humorous but just came across as a bit depressing. I also found it hard to relate to some of Kerry's situations and choices as Americans always seem to be so well-off in comparison to us British. Their standard of living is certainly better than ours. The book did, however, make the very good point that a lot of young women use sex as a means of attracting attention.  Again, parents wise up and do your job properly, then maybe youngsters won't feel so inclined to seek emotional fulfillment outside of the family home.  This is probably a book a teenage girl would find enjoyable but for me it was just okay and nothing more.

CROSS BONES by KATHY REICHS

CROSS BONES

BY KATHY REICHS

THE BLURB:-

An orthodox Jew is found shot dead in Montreal, the mutilated body barely recognizable.

Extreme heat has accelerated decomposition, and made it virtually impossible to determine the bullet trajectory.

But just as forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan is attempting to make sense of the fracture patterning, a mysterious stranger slips her a photograph of a skeleton, assuring her it holds the key to the victim's death.

The trail of clues leads all the way to the Holy Land where, together with detective Andrew Ryan, Tempe makes a startling discovery- but the further Tempe probes into the identity of the ancient skeleton, the more she seems to be putting herself in danger...

THE REALITY:-

This was The-One-That-Got-Away... It was the only Kathy Reichs Temperance Brennan novel that I hadn't read the whole way through and that's because when I first gave it a go, about eleven years ago, I had to put it down as it started to drag and, although the hardback remained in my collection for some time, I could never bring myself to pick it up again. It actually put me off the Temperance Brennan series- after being given Deja Dead, the first of its ilk, I then couldn't wait to read the novels and bought them in hardback fresh after their release. But it was some four years before I resumed reading the paperback versions of the series. I wanted to give this one another try, though, so when I saw it sitting in a charity shop...

I'm glad I did! I remembered the jist of the story but not the finer points and found this gripping and easy to read, if a bit heavy with technical details- at times you do have to concentrate on the text. I found the part where I had previously given up and it's around chapter 34, 388 pages in. The talk of the occupants of the Jesus tomb just got too damn confusing and a bit dreary. But this time I ploughed through and it led to a cracker of an end. Inconclusive? A bit, but not disappointing. It was possibly the only way this novel could have ended.

The characters were a good mix and well described and I loved the locations of Montreal and the Holy Land. Reichs really made the culture, customs and everyday lives of the latters' occupants come to life.

I'm very glad that Tempe's relationship with Andrew Ryan is in full swing in this book. I love the details surrounding her private life and think that she and Ryan are meant for each other. This book has been likened to The Da Vinci Code and called a “lukewarm” version.  Now there's another book I put down and gave away. My ex-partner found it on a skip (lots of good things can be found in skips!) and gave it to me, but I read about half a dozen pages then left it alone, despite its absolutely fantastic reviews. It's another novel I will look out for on my charity shop trawls...

AFFINITY by SARAH WATERS

AFFINITY

BY SARAH WATERS

THE BLURB:-

'Now you know why you are drawn to me- why your flesh comes creeping to mine and what it comes for. Let it creep.'

From the dark heart of a Victorian prison, disgraced spiritualist Selina Dawes waves an enigmatic spell. Is she a fraud or a prodigy? By the time it all begins to matter, you'll find yourself desperately wanting to believe in magic.

THE REALITY:-

Yawn.. This novel really knew how to draw itself out. After 30 pages I put it to one side and read another book from start to finish. I picked up the thread quite easily, but I could not really get into this story until about page 100.  Even then, I found myself surreptitiously looking to check what page I was on- and therefore how many I had left to go!

I've read Tipping The Velvet (very good), Fingersmith (very good), The Nightwatch (good but drawn out and tedious) and The Little Stranger (okay) by the same author and have seen the television adaptations of the first three. I have to say that these stories come across a lot better on TV than on paper. I'm all for descriptiveness and getting into the minds of the characters but this author can certainly make things drag a bit.

I loved the subject matter and have always believed in ghosts. Why? Not just because I have seen one (a very well-documented grey lady in a haunted hotel in Norfolk) but because I like to keep an open mind about such things and there are too many recorded sightings of ghosts to dismiss the matter completely. I know the Victorians found the supernatural fascinating and I also know that there were a lot of fraudsters about who took advantage of such things. The London location of a grim female prison was enthralling and the characters interesting; Selina being one hell of an enigmatic, talented actress...

I could see the fact that (spoiler alert!) Margaret was going to be defrauded coming and that would have been true had I not previously read a review of this book that revealed one of the protagonists. I suspected that this villain (or maybe villain's puppet?) of the piece was in cahoots with someone in Margaret's house but I didn't work out that these two people were actually one and the same, and now I've read the novel it seems so obvious.

It wasn't until page 329 (23 pages from the end!) that the book started to get really enthralling, which was, unfortunately a bit too long a wait. I also felt very daft in missing the fact that not all the prison officers were going to be as white as snow and as honest as the day is long- in retrospect it is something stupidly obvious to overlook!

A word to the author- find another adjective other than queer. I saw it used so many times that I was tempted to highlight the “queers” and count them later. Fortunately, a search online revealed that that task had already been done and forty uses of queer in one novel is way too much. We know that you're a lesbian and we don't care, so please give the double-entendre references a rest.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN by LIONEL SHRIVER

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

BY LIONEL SHRIVER

THE BLURB:-

Shortly before his sixteenth birthday, Kevin Khatchadourian kills seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher. He is visited in prison by his mother, Eva, who narrates in a series of letters to her estranged husband, Franklin, the story of Kevin's upbringing. For this powerful, shocking novel, Lionel Shriver was awarded the Orange Prize for fiction.

THE REALITY:-

Uurrgghh!! I was so glad when I finished this novel! Why? Was it awful? No, it was bloody brilliant but the subject matter was too horrific for words.

I must confess, I have already seen the film of the same name, so I knew the story, so certain aspects that are meant to come as a surprise at the end, things regarding Franklin and Celia, did not. I described the film as “powerful and disturbing” (incidentally, great acting performances across the board) and the book is also the same. In places, I did find it almost too detailed (I'm a hypocrite, I know, as my work is also very in-depth and I tend to prefer this approach to heavily edited work) and too much about psycho-babble, but I suppose that is the whole point of the novel- to try to get inside Eva's and Kevin's heads.

Nature or nurture? I think at least 90-95% nature, if not more. As one of the other mothers of an incarcerated teen put it (affect a southern USA accent), 'Some kids just damned mean.' Was Eva's failure to bond with her son from day one her fault? No. I don't think so. In many ways, even as a newborn, Kevin seemed to repel her rather than the other way round and it must be difficult to continually have to try and express love to someone who doesn't seem to want it and who rejects you quite nastily. In any other relationship a human being will walk (though to be honest, I'm surprised Eva didn't- she must have been tempted to have this little shit thrown into the care system.)

A very, very exemplary novel. Worth a read but be warned- it will give you nightmares.

CORAL COTTON COAT...

The weather turned from warm(ish) and sunny to cool and cloudy whilst I was in Great Yarmouth recently, and I was wandering around the town centre wearing just a skimpy top and a light cardi...

So I was pleased to see this lovely coral cotton coat, standing outside a charity shop, on a dummy...

It was a bit big for me but belted at the waist so it was very easy to make it fit and I love the pleated rever detail.  And for £6, who's complaining?!

I bought it and wore it there and then- although I usually like to wash second hand finds, it had been outside airing and beggers can't be choosers.

I think the shop was called Great Yarmouth Against Animal Cruelty and when I stepped inside it was packed to the rafters with stuff, including some very nice gowns, a couple of them quite gothic.

But I'm soooo glad the coat was standing outside the shop- the inside smelled of mangy wet dogs foisting on damp nylon carpets.  Yuk! 

THE SILENT TIDE by RACHEL HORE

THE SILENT TIDE

BY RACHEL HORE

THE BLURB:-

London, the present day: Emily Gordon has found her dream job, as an editor at a small publishing house. When the biography of a late great English novelist crosses her desk, she discovers, buried beneath the history, a story that simply has to be told...

London, 1948: Isabel Barber has barely arrived in the city when a chance meeting leads to a job offer, and a fascinating career beckons. But as she develops a close working relationship with a charismatic young debut novelist the professional soon becomes personal, and she finds herself fighting for her very survival...

THE REALITY:-

This book was totally un-putdownable and it was a real race for me to get to the end, to find out how Isabel's story unfolded.

I don't suppose it was that uncommon for a young woman to feel thwarted when it came to her professional ambitions- after all, the 1950s were a man's world and a woman was supposed to give up any chance of a (hard won) career and devote her life to her husband and children after her marriage. Domestic life is not for everyone and it was interesting to read of Isabel's post-natal depression and her inability to adapt to her new role as a mother. The end result, though (I shan't spoil the surprise!) was totally unexpected and made for a couple of great final chapters.

The modern day story of Emily was also interesting, although it didn't touch me like Isabel's tale- but then I suppose that's exactly what the author wanted.

It's with hindsight that I wished that I'd worked in the field of publishing and had learnt a lot about the business before embarking on my own novel. I feel I would have fitted in there (although this is only a thought based upon speculation, not fact) in a way that I did not in the fashion industry. I was unlucky. It was partly my fault, as I did not choose my undergraduate course with care but even with the benefit of hindsight, I do not see what else I could have done. Although I like designing dresses, I noticed that the industry was made up of wall-to-wall idiot, and it was the tutors that were offending me rather than the students. My first job in fashion, at a semi-bankrupt company with very low morale, did not do anything to change my opinion, rather instead enhancing it. I saw how people took themselves and the making of garments too seriously and I cannot get my tits in a knot over a few shitty little dresses!!!!  End of. But had I have worked with the written word, I do believe that I'd have been motivated to do such things as overtime and actually enjoy it, as so much of the work involves reading- one of the great loves of my life, along with writing. Ah well, hindsight is twenty twenty vision, so they say.  Let's hope I find some joy with my first novel. SOON.

This book was a pure dream to read and enchanted me from the very beginning. Its main locations of London and Suffolk during the stark, post-war years came alive, personally helped along by my own passion about the choices of professions of the main characters. All of the other characters were well thought out, especially Jacqueline. You start off by hating her, this cuckoo in the nest, but you end up feeling quite sorry for her. Even a tough old boot like her couldn't control the workings of other people's heartstrings. Like Emily, I kind of agree with Isabel's gut instinct regarding her suspicions of Jacqueline's too-close involvement with her husband, but it was quite clever that this fact was never confirmed- instead the reader is left to make his or her own decision  I also warmed towards Penenlope, a woman who did things her way (although she was far from perfect) and on her terms and was lucky enough to have the financial back-up to be able to do so.  There were many little twists and turns in this book and they all came together and interlaced very easily indeed.  From a historical point of view I liked how the floods of 1953 were documented in a way personal to Isabel. Extremely likeable and readable.  

THE MEMORY GARDEN by RACHEL HORE

THE MEMORY GARDEN

BY RACHEL HORE

THE BLURB:-

Magical Cornwall, a lost garden, a love story from long ago...

Lamorna Cove- a tiny bay in Cornwall, picturesque, unspoilt. A hundred years ago it was the haunt of a colony of artists. Today, Mel Pentreath hopes it is a place where she can escape the pain of her mother's death and a broken love affair, and gradually put her life back together.

Renting a cottage in the enchanting but overgrown grounds of Merryn Hall, Mel embraces her new surroundings and offers to help her landlord, Patrick Winterton, restore the garden. Soon she is daring to believe her life can be rebuilt. Then Patrick finds some old paintings in an attic, and as he and Mel investigate the identity of the artist, they are drawn into an extraordinary tale of illicit passion and thwarted ambition from a century ago, a tale that resonates in their own lives. But how long can Mel's idyll last before reality breaks in and everything is devastated?

THE REALITY:-

Rachel Hore is a novelist whose works I can't resist reading. She is one of a distinguished group of only a few, for me. That group also includes Kate Morton (I've read all but one of hers), Judith Lennox (I've read most of hers) and the Kathy Reichs Temperance Brennan series (I've read all but one of those.) Katherine Webb is another author who will also, at some point, reach that distinction, as will Lisa Jewell and Maggie O' Farrell.

I have always longed to visit Cornwall, this almost ethereal, haunted part of England, which is often referred to as, “the oldest part of Britain.” I might just do so, later in the year (I have a holiday in Norfolk to get through first!)

This novel takes you out into a dream world of relaxed bucolic life and historical, abandoned buildings and gardens. The descriptives regarding the characters and the interest involving the time-slip element of the novel, and the way the characters entwine together is really magical. I also like that Rachel Hore offers up a variety of persona types in her novels and, generally speaking, a feel-good happy ending. The Memory Garden certainly evoked pathos... of school holidays and lazy summer days (although the book starts in Spring and the main characters all have work to do!)

The one thing that grated was the fact that the majority of the characters are all middle class with well paid jobs. In these difficult times where myself (and many others) are struggling, this distance from the realities of life does tend to get annoying but it's me who's got the problem, not the author.

I'm glad that the identity of the artist P.T. was discovered but I sometimes wanted to shake Mel and Patrick, both of whom seemed way too absorbed with their miserable recent pasts. They needed to move on, and much faster (or am I being too harsh? You read the book and tell me for yourselves.) I also hated Patrick's ex fiancée, the manipulative cow that was Bella- another middle class twit who appeared to have spent her life living on Easy Street. This little bitch wanted to have her cake and eat it and I'm glad the author gave her the sheep's face that she deserved.

A great read, showing England at its nicest- it would be fantastic to take on a British summer holiday.

THE UGLY SISTER by JANE FALLON

THE UGLY SISTER

BY JANE FALLON

THE BLURB:-

Beauty can be a blessing or a curse. As Abi would be the first to know. She has spent her life in the shadow of her stunningly beautiful, glamorous older sister Cleo.

Headhunted as a model when she was sixteen, Cleo has been all but lost to Abi for the last twenty years, with only a fleeting visit or brief email to connect them. So when Abi is invited to spend the summer with her sister's perfect family, she can't bring herself to say no. Maybe Cleo is finally as keen as Abi to regain the closeness they shared in their youth?

But Abi is in for a shock. Soon she is left caring for her two young, bored and very spoilt nieces and handsome, unhappy brother-in-law Jon...while Cleo plainly has other things on her mind. As Abi moves into her sister's life, a cuckoo in the nest, she wrestles with uncomfortable feelings.

Could having beauty, wealth and fame lead to more unhappiness than not having them? Who in the family really is the ugly sister?

THE REALITY:-

Drab. Drear. A mission to finish. "Skeletons" by the same author, was great, but this story did not really do it for me and seemed to run on....and on....and on....

It did, however, bring up some interesting and personal dilemmas. Is blood thicker than water? No, no, fucking NO! In my experience it most certainly is not, although there are many in that small, shitty fucking town that I grew up in who would disagree, as family values and unity seemed to stand way above everything else in importance there. I suppose you could say that I empathized with this book as I wasn't the favourite child in my family either (or so it seemed) although I take that as a compliment. I personally had a brother with a learning disability (not diagnosed until AFTER my parents' deaths) and I kind of got the impression that it was my responsibility to befriend him, deal with him and bring him out of his shell, even though he was over ten years older than me. Note to my parents from this side of the grave:- bring up your children yourself, and stop trying to palm those you can't be bothered with off onto other people.

Rant over. At school I studied drama at O level and we had to keep drama diaries about the lesson, and I always used them as an excuse to go in depth on a related, personal subject, as I am doing now. But this is my blog, so I can!

Cleo is definitely the ugly sister in this book and will sadly end up very alone. She's used and rejected her sister and, in general, uses people. And not very nicely either. She will meet all of those she abused on the way up, on the way down, and that's something she's currently finding out. The characters were all very believable, but being the devil that I am, I would have loved to have seen Abi get together with Jon. The story gave a good descriptive with regard to the Primrose Hill area of London and there was the odd twist in the tale with- spoiler alert- Jon and Abi's infatuation with each other and also the discovery that Richard was indeed very shallow. I also loved Abi's down-to-earth daughter, Phoebe, who found Cleo very transparent and saw her for what she really was.  I'm also glad that Cleo's spoilt children developed as better human beings under Abi's coaxing.  But the story dragged and dragged towards a very insignificant and nondescript ending. Hardly blockbuster material.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MELODY BROWNE by LISA JEWELL

THE TRUTH ABOUT MELODY BROWNE

BY LISA JEWELL

THE BLURB:-

When she was nine years old, Melody Browne's house burned down, taking every toy, every photograph, every old Christmas card with it. But not only did the fire destroy all her possessions, it took with it all her memories- Melody can remember nothing before her ninth birthday.

Now in her early thirties, Melody lives in a small flat in London with her teenage son. She hasn't seen her parents since she left home at fifteen, but Melody doesn't mind. She's made a good life for herself and her son and likes it that way.

Until something extraordinary happens. Whilst attending a hypnotist show with her first date in years she faints- and when she comes round she starts to remember. At first her memories mean nothing to her but then slowly, day by day, she begins to piece together the story of her childhood. Her journey takes her to the seaside town of Broadstairs, to oddly familiar houses in London backstreets, and meetings with strangers who love her like their own. But with every mystery she solves another one materialises, with every question she asks another appears. And Melody begins to wonder if she'll ever know the truth about her past...

THE REALITY:-

Damn blasted continuity- I know I'm a stickler for these things but when a chapter is entitled 1989 and it's about Melody being thrown out of her home for being pregnant- with a son who was born in 1988, it gets on my bloody nerves. It also makes self-published moi breathe a small sigh of relief. I haven't had the luxury of a professional copy editor (content editors can keep their greasy paws off) and always manage to find a small error in my first novel every time I pick it up. Ah well, such is life.

This isn't the first Lisa Jewell book I've read and this one was every bit as inviting as the last. The author has a real eye for the detail of taking a reader back to a certain time in recent history, through fashions, attitudes and influences. I loved the notion of a single mother living in a council flat in Covent Garden. I know these places exist, I have come across them whilst traversing central London and think that's so cool! And lucky! Talk about getting a good deal out of a tricky (baby at fifteen) situation. I've never visited Broadstairs but would certainly like to, if only to visit the Charles Dickens' House. I've stayed in Margate, up the coast, but didn't have time to see Broadstairs. Next time I take the high-speed link to Kent I'll make sure I see Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate.

The concept of a little girl's memory being totally wiped is a strange one. Is it even possible? I suppose it must be, otherwise authors wouldn't have the reality back-up to be able to write a convincing story. It's something I've come across before, with other novelists. I loved the way Melody's memory came back piece by piece, like a camera aperture slowly coming into complete focus. Her life in a commune made for good reading with some very lively characters, from kind Ken with his idealism, Grace and her liberalism and little Matty with his dissection of animals (he turns into big Matthew, a drunk.) This book contains very good descriptions of these people, her London father and Melody's sad mother, Jane. I shan't spoil it by telling you what happened to her and how such rotten luck led to her destruction but read it yourself and see just how bad luck heaped on top of more bad luck can shape a person and cause a domino-like affect on their shattered world.

This story, thankfully has a happy ending, as Melody meets up with her little, adoring, sister and finds out what happened to the rest of her family. She also makes peace with adoptive mother Gloria and moves on with her second chance at life, in her new relationship. A fantastic, un-putdownable read from start to finish. You won't be disappointed with this one.

KIZZY...

This was also one of my childhood favourites and a heartwarming tale.  It was a series televised in 1976, based on the book "The Diddakoi" by Rumer Godden.  It's available to watch on YouTube.

Kizzy lives in a gypsy wagon with her Nan and horse Joe, but her Nan dies and her people move on so she has to go and live in the village and attend the local school, which she hates and where she is viciously bullied.  She's no heroine- she can punch, scratch and throw a strop like the rest of them and is a royal pain in the butt when she stays with, firstly, the Admiral, at his big house and then Olivia, the local magistrate.  There is a happy ending, though, as the latter two marry and she becomes part of their family and gets accepted by her peers.

The ending, with the schoolkids wheeling in her gypsy mini-wagon, which they have lovingly restored after a fire, and leading in her new horse Joey (Joe died) brought a tear to my eye.  Lovely stuff!

COME BACK, LUCY...

Come Back, Lucy was aired on British television in Spring 1978, late on a Sunday afternoon.  It was about a young orphan girl who went to live with her uncle, aunt and boisterous cousins.  She gazes into a mirror and comes face to face with Alice, who used to live in the house a hundred years before.  Lucy slips across the time frame and befriends Alice but it soon becomes clear that Alice's intentions are malevolent.

I loved, loved, LOVED this show!  It was spooky and creepy and therefore right up my street.  I was only six at the time but wasn't in the least bit scared by it (I have read testimonies from children who were- what a bunch of wimps!)

They really don't make 'em like they used to.  I actually pity children today as the offerings available on TV seem lame by comparison.  Those who enjoyed this show will never forget the spine-tingling opening music and the opening scene....Lucy looks into a mirror, but when she turns and leaves the room her body stays gazing into the glass and you see the back of her head, Rene Magritte fashion.  Then the head turns and the face is missing!!!!

Lucy looks into the mirror...

Lucy turns but her head remains...

The head turns but the face is gone!

I remember my mother having to fiddle with the ariel to try and get a picture on our black-and-white TV.  Sometimes that wasn't always possible, and I do remember being very unhappy that I missed this show once due to poor reception.  But when I did see it, I would sit in front of the box eating my Knorr Knoodles (their version of the Pot Noodle) in prawn curry flavour.  It was a weekend treat and, to this day, I love prawn curry and noodles, although I tend to make a proper curry and not chew on something from a pot!

I bought the series on DVD.  I felt I had to before it disappeared forever.  The series has aged well, is something that will appeal to adults as well as children and is well worth the money.

DREAM STUFFING...

I absolutely loved this sitcom, which was aired on UK television on Friday evenings early in 1984.  It ran for only one series and was laugh out loud funny!

It was about two girls named Mo and Jude- one was unemployed and played the saxophone and the other worked in a factory.  It was set in a high rise London council block and the theme song was written and sung by the late, great Kirsty MacColl (possibly my favourite female singer ever).

Mo and Jude

I loved Jude's punk look!

Unfortunately, no-one seems to remember the series.  Another girl called Elaine, who I used to sit next to in English at school and who was INCREDIBLY brainy, used to watch it and we'd discuss it on a Monday morning, but surely we can't be the only two people who did?

I don't think it's available on DVD.  I've found the first episode on YouTube and will have a trawl for more recordings.

THE DREAM HOUSE by RACHEL HORE

THE DREAM HOUSE

BY RACHEL HORE

THE BLURB:-

Everyone has a dream of their perfect house...

For Kate Hutchinson, the move to Suffolk from the tiny, noisy London terrace she shares with her husband Simon and their two young children was almost enough to make her dream come true.

Space, peace and a measured, rural pace of life have a far greater pull for Kate than the constantly overflowing in-tray on her desk at work. Moving in with her mother-in-law must surely be only a temporary measure before the estate agent's details of the perfect house fall through the letterbox.

But when, out walking one evening, Kate stumbles upon the beautiful house of her dreams, it is tantalizingly out if her reach. Its owner is the frail elderly Agnes, whose story- as it unravels- echoes so much of Kate's own. And Kate comes to realize how uncertain and unsettling even a life built on dreams can be: wherever you are, at whatever time you are living, and whoever you are with...

THE REALITY:-

New York, New York, so good they named it twice, sang the song. The Dream House, The Dream House, so good I read it twice. That's exactly what I did, starting it again the minute I had finished it, as I liked it that much and wanted to absorb more of it!

Yet again, though, I find we have the problem of the person writing the blurb on the back of the book not having read the novel- I don't see how Agnes's story echoes Kate's own, not in the least.

The house and garden in the novel reminded me of the Plantation Garden in Norwich, which I visited last May. There is also a disused Plantation House. The author lives in Norwich, so I contacted her via her website, asking if that was indeed her inspiration. It wasn't, but I got a real sense of desolation whilst walking around the Plantation Garden and I found a sense of bleakness tripping out of the pages when Seddington House (The Dream House) was described. The author conjured up some very atmospheric feelings, not in the least a strong sense of deja-vu.  I think we can all relate to that "I've been here before..." feeling.

Rachel Hore's novels seem to have a theme of the heroine exiting a bad romance and walking into a better situation and this book is no different. The gradual breakdown of Kate's marriage (sorry, spoiler alert!) is nicely documented as Simon, hypocrite that he is, struggles to adapt to the life he has chosen. I'm glad Kate left him behind, despite there being children involved, as it seemed that they outgrew one another.

It was endearing reading about Agnes's life, the roaring twenties, the loss of her great love affair, the intricacies of her nearest and dearest and how they were all complexly involved and why one side of the family was sidelined from her father's, and her, will. Her devotion to her home was unwavering and I loved reading about her collections and the house itself. The mystery of her missing “son” certainly made for a page turner, but it would have been nice to find out how Harry's half of the locket came to be found in a shop in Norwich. On the other hand, maybe it's nice for the author not to spell everything out, and to let the reader make up his or her own mind.

There was a good mix of believable characters and lifelike situations for the reader to chew on and a decent balance of tragedy and happiness. Also, thanks for the family tree- it certainly made my life easier as this family is complex!

As I was brought up in Norfolk, it's good to have places I can relate to mentioned. It helped with shaping the novel in my mind. On that note, I must make a point to read less and write more- I know reading other novelists' work is good from a learning point of view but I need to slack less and get on with my own writing, although sometimes I lack motivation- an agent and a publisher would be nice and, I think, deserved.

The Plantation Garden, Norwich.

I thought this might have been the inspiration for The Dream House but I was wrong!  The gardens are well worth a visit.  I did find that they had a real sense of loneliness, though.