Good afternoon everyone I was lucky enough to receive this surprise book post this week. The Blackbirds Of St Giles is a historical novel co-written by Marcia Hutchinson and Kate Griffin. It’s based on real historical facts and the real life gang The St Giles Blackbirds which I always love. It’s fascinating to learn more about a bit of history I knew nothing about previously.

Huge thanks to Rhys from Simon and Schuster for sending this to me. I can’t wait to read it.

Out January 2025.

Book Synopsis:

Born on a Jamaican sugar plantation, Daniel escapes enslavement, along with his sister Pearl, to find freedom and respect while fighting for the British in the American War of Independence. When he arrives in Georgian London with Pearl, he is in possession of a remarkable inheritance but is cruelly betrayed.

‘Blackbirds’ was the scornful name given to the community of the destitute who sought refuge in the infamous ‘rookery’ of St Giles. There was nowhere lower to fall in 18th-century London and many of the ‘Blackbirds’ were indeed Black men, women and children – mostly former soldiers, sailors and servants.

Daniel and Pearl become trapped in this dangerous world; a warren of dark and menacing alleyways, open sewers, drinking dens and brothels. Ruled by the robber king, Elias, the St Giles Rookery is rife with crime, violence and poverty.

Soon their lives are in danger and Daniel must use his strength, wit and the fellowship of the other Blackbirds to overthrow Elias and truly find the freedom he fought for.

About The Author:

Writing together as Lila Cain, Marcia Hutchinson and Kate Griffin are the co-writers and creators of The Blackbirds of St Giles, the first of two books centred on the lives of members of the little-known black community in Georgian London. United by their passion for history and a strong desire to tell an unfamiliar – and hugely resonant – story, Kate and Marcia are delighted that ‘Blackbirds’ and its sequel will be published by Simon & Schuster.

Marcia Hutchinson worked as a lawyer before founding educational publishing company Primary Colours and was awarded an MBE for services to Cultural Diversity in 2010. Her solo debut novel Mercy is due for publication in summer 2025.

Kate is the author of Fyneshade (Viper), a stand-alone Neo-Victorian gothic novel of witchcraft in a house of dark secrets. She is also the writer of the popular Kitty Peck thriller series (Faber and Faber) set in the Music Halls of Victorian London. After studying English Literature at university, Kate worked as assistant to a London antique dealer, as a journalist and in PR. Until recently she was Head of Communications for Britain’s oldest conservation charity, The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). Her love of old buildings and the stories they tell continues to inspire her.

Good morning everyone and happy Friday! I’m a huge fan of Greek mythology so I’m absolutely loving all the greek myth retellings that have been coming out.

I’ve been lucky enough to receive/buy these four beauties recently and thought they’d make a great flat lay!

What’s your favourite Greek myth retelling?

Psyche & Eros by Luna McNamara

THE GOD OF LOVE HAS FINALLY MET HIS MATCH…

Born into an era of heroes, a prophecy claims that Psyche – Princess of Mycenae – will defeat a monster feared even by the gods themselves. Rebelling against society’s traditions, she spends her youth mastering blade and bow, preparing to fulfil her destiny.

But she is soon caught up in powers beyond her control, when the jealous Aphrodite sends the God of Desire, Eros, to deliver a fatal love-curse. The last thing Eros wants is to become involved in the chaos of the mortal world, but when he is pricked by the very arrow intended for Psyche, he is doomed to love a woman who will be torn from him the moment their eyes meet.

Thrown together by fate, headstrong Psyche and world-weary Eros will face challenges greater than they could have ever imagined. And as the Trojan War begins and the whole of the heavens try to keep them apart, will they find their way back to each other before it’s too late?

A stunning, exciting and hotly-anticipated feminist retelling of one of the greatest love stories in Greek mythology. Luna McNamara’s exquisitely written debut will appeal to fans of Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint and Susan Stokes-Chapman.

Medea by Rosie Hewlett

Shunned. Persecuted. Tormented.
Medea longs for a different life. Since childhood, she has been separated from her sister, shunned by her mother, and persecuted and tormented by her brother and father. All because of a unique and dangerous talent: witchcraft.

Fierce. Powerful. Sorceress.
But when a dashing young hero, Jason, arrives to claim the famed Golden Fleece that her father fiercely protects, Medea sees her opportunity for escape. Her offer to help Jason overcome the trials set by her father sets in motion a journey that will test every ounce of her strength, magic and loyalty; a journey that will see her battle monsters, dethrone kings and fall in love.

When faced with the ultimate betrayal, Medea is driven to an act of desperation so brutal it rips apart the lives of everyone involved…

Costanza by Rachel Blackmore Out 1st August 2024

Rome, 1636. History calls her a Muse. Temptress. Fallen woman. This is her story.

In the scorched city of Rome, the cobbled streets hum with gossip and sin. Costanza Piccolomini is a respectable young wife – until she meets Gianlorenzo Bernini, the famed sculptor and star of Roman society, whose jet-black gaze matches his dark temper. From the second they set eyes upon each other, a fatal attraction is born.

Their secret love burns with a passion that consumes them. But with every stolen kiss and illicit tryst, Costanza’s reputation is at stake. Meanwhile, Bernini has a dangerous desire: he wants to make Costanza immortal. He vows to possess her not just in body and soul, but also in marble.

When Bernini unveils his sculpture of Costanza, she is exposed as his lover, marking the undoing of their affair – and the beginning of a scandal which will rock Roman society. For Bernini would rather destroy Costanza than let her go.

Betrayed. Abandoned. Banished. This was meant to be the end of Costanza’s story. But Costanza is no ordinary woman: from the ashes, she will rise…

Based on a true story, Costanza is a dizzying and sensual historical novel that brings to life a feminist icon who has been written out of history. This utterly addictive tale of desire and betrayal is perfect for fans of The Marriage Portrait and The Miniaturist.

Fruit Of The Dead by Rachel Lyon

An electric contemporary reimagining of the myth of Persephone and Demeter set over the course of one summer on a lush private island, exploring who holds the power in a modern underworld.

Camp counsellor Cory Ansel, eighteen and aimless, afraid to face her high-strung single mother in New York, is no longer sure where home is when the father of one of her campers offers an alternative. 

The CEO of a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company, Rolo Picazo is middle-aged, divorced, magnetic. He is also intoxicated by Cory. When Rolo proffers a childcare job (and an NDA), Cory quiets an internal warning and allows herself to be ferried to his private island off the coast of Maine. Plied with luxury and opiates manufactured by his company, she continues to tell herself she’s in charge. Her mother, Emer, head of a teetering agricultural NGO, senses otherwise. When her daughter seemingly disappears, Emer crosses land and sea to heed a cry for help she alone is convinced she hears.

Alternating between the two women’s perspectives, Fruit of the Dead incorporates its mythic inspiration with a light touch and devastating precision. The result is a lush and haunting story that explores love, attraction, control, obliteration and America’s own late capitalist mythos. 

Book Synopsis:

FATE CAN BE CHANGED.
CURSES CAN BE BROKEN.

In a shabby house in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil. But when her scheming mistress discovers her scullion is hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to win over the royal court.

Determined to seize this chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of power-hungry nobility, desperate kings, holy men and seers, where the lines between magic, science and fraud blur. With the pyres of the Inquisition burning, she must use every bit of her wit and resilience to win fame and hide the truth of her ancestry – even if that means enlisting the help of an embittered immortal familiar, whose own secrets could cost her everything.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a bewitching novel, brimming with peril in a world where a woman’s ambition can prove deadly.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of Leigh Bardugo’s books so I was very intrigued to learn she was writing an historical fiction book. I really enjoyed this fantastic, gripping and magical book which I’ll be recommending to everyone!

Firstly I thought this book was well researched and I enjoyed learning more about Spain’s history during the equivalent of England’s Tudor period. It was interesting to see that a class difference existed in Spain too and I loved the little details the author includes which really helped bring the period to life for me. I especially liked the vivid descriptions of the fashions at the time and the wonderful sounding materials they used.

The characters are all wonderful creations with some characters I absolutely loved and some I loved to hate. My favourite character was definitely Luzia who I admired for her strength and her determination to create a better life for herself. It was great to follow her as she learns more about her magical gift and competes in the tournament. Santángel was another fabulous character who I wasn’t sure of at the start of the book but I grew fond of as the book continued. It was lovely to discover more about his history and to see him grow closer to Luzia.

Overall, as you can probably tell, I loved this book and really hope the author writes more historical fiction in the future. I felt the story started off a bit slowly as the author sets the scene but soon becomes very gripping. The tournament scenes were especially gripping, with lots of twists and I never knew what was going to happen next. I loved the description of all the magic involved and following all the amazing action as the tension slowly increases making the book very hard to put down. The ending was brilliant and I loved how everything played out in the end.

Huge thanks to Ellie from Viking for sending me a copy of this book.

About The Author:

Leigh Bardugo is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, the King of Scars duology—and much more. Her short fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies including The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. She lives in Los Angeles and is an associate fellow of Pauli Murray College at Yale University.

For information on new releases and appearances, sign up for Leigh’s newsletter: http://bit.ly/bardugonews.

Good afternoon everyone I hope you’re having a great Wednesday. I’m a huge fan of Eve Chase so I was very excited to be sent a copy of her latest book, The Midnight Hour. Her books are always such interesting, absorbing dual timeline mysteries which are hugely enjoyable.

Huge thanks to Phoebe from Penguin and @michaeljbooks
for sending me a copy of this book. As you can tell I’m so excited to read it.

Out 27 June 2024

Find out more about the book below ⬇️

The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase

Notting Hill, London. One May evening, seventeen-year-old Maggie Parker’s mother walks out of their front door and doesn’t return . . .

With her little brother in tow, desperate to find her mother, Maggie is drawn into a labyrinthine world of antiques and shadowy figures, far from the grand stucco terraces. There she befriends another young person living on their wits. But can he help solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance?

Twenty-one years later, in a Parisian apartment, Maggie’s phone rings and her hard-won grown-up life shatters. While in London, the new owner of the Parker’s old Notting Hill house is excavating a basement, unaware of what might lie beneath, and the clock starts ticking on buried secrets.

Sweeping from bustling London streets, the boulevards of Paris to an old English country house, The Midnight Hour is a thrilling, richly woven story about a golden family with a hidden past – and a woman trying to turn back the hands of time before it’s too late.

About The Author:

Eve Chase is an internationally bestselling British novelist who writes rich, layered and suspenseful novels, thick with secrets, unforgettable characters and settings. Her latest novel, The Midnight Hour – ‘Her best yet…I loved every word’ – Claire Douglas – publishes June ’24, in the UK. Other novels include, The Birdcage, The Glass House (The Daughters of Foxcote Manor, US) a Sunday Times top ten bestseller and Richard and Judy Book Club pick, The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde (The Wildling Sisters, US) which was longlisted for the HWA Gold Crown Award, and Black Rabbit Hall, winner of Paris’ Saint-Maur en Poche prize for Best Foreign Fiction. She works in the Writer’s Shed at the bottom of her garden, usually with Harry, her golden retriever.

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday. Today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two books from Karen Swan.

I am a huge fan of this series and have grown very fond of the characters, particularly the three main women. I especially liked the wonderful descriptions of St Kilda and what it was like living there. The Lost Lover is the third book in The Wild Isles series.

Huge thanks to the lovely @libraryofchlo from @panmacmillan for sending me a copy of this book.

The Lost Lover is out 18th July 2024 and you can find out more about it below. The other books in the series are available now.

What’s your favourite series?

The Lost Lover by Karen Swan

An epic, sweeping historical novel of second chances and lovers reunited . . .

Flora MacQueen has always dreamt of more than life on the small Scottish island of St Kilda. So, when she catches the eye of visiting adventurer and wealthy businessman James Callaghan, her future seems brighter. Winter seas separate the lovers, but the island’s evacuation the following summer promises to reunite them – until tragedy strikes.

Heartbroken and needing to support her family on the mainland, a chance meeting offers hope. Soon, Flora is the toast of glamorous Paris; fame and fortune are hers for the taking. But at a high price.

When a scandal erupts back home, Flora is implicated, along with her friends Effifie and Mhairi. But as dark secrets come to light, it is a lie by a fellow islander that changes everything . . .

The Stolen Hours by Karen Swan

A reluctant bride. A forbidden romance. An island full of secrets . . .

It’s the summer of 1929 and Mhairi MacKinnon is in need of a husband. As the eldest girl among nine children, her father has made it clear he can’t support her past the coming winter. On the small, Scottish island of St Kilda, her options are limited. But the MacKinnons’ neighbour, Donald, has a business acquaintance on distant Harris also in need of a spouse. A plan is hatched for Donald to chaperone Mhairi and make the introduction on his final crossing of the year, before the autumn seas close them off to the outside world.

Mhairi returns as an engaged woman who has lost her heart – but not to her fiancé. In love with the wrong man yet knowing he can never be hers, she awaits the spring with growing dread, for the onset of calm waters will see her sent from home to become a stranger’s wife.

When word comes that St Kilda is to be evacuated, the lovers are granted a few months’ reprieve, enjoying a summer of stolen hours together. Only, those last days on St Kilda will also bring trauma and heartache for Mhairi and her friends, Effie and Flora. And when a dead body is later found on the abandoned isle, all three have reason enough to find themselves under the shadow of suspicion . . .

The Stolen Hours is Book Two in Karen Swan’s bestselling Wild Isle Series.

About The Author:

Karen Swan is the Sunday Times Top Three and international best-selling author. Her novels sell all over the world and she writes two books each year – one for the summer period and one for the Christmas season. Her books are known for their evocative locations and Karen sees travel as vital research for each story. She loves to set deep, complicated love stories within twisting plots.

The Last Summer is the first book in her five-book historical series called The Wild Isle Girls, set around the dramatic evacuation of the Scottish island St Kilda in the summer of 1930. It was partly inspired by Karen’s Scottish roots: her father’s family came from Skye, moving to Fort William where Karen was christened and where many of her family still live. Her childhood memories are full of Christmases, Hogmanay and summer holidays spent in the Highlands and she was married there in 2001.

She lives in Sussex with her husband, three children and two dogs.

Book Synopsis:

From the Polari Prize-winning author of IN AT THE DEEP END

When Lena buys DNA testing kits for her father Tom and her twin sister Alison, she thinks they’ll enjoy finding out where their ancestors come from, and what percentage Neanderthal they are. She has no idea the gift will blow her family apart.

Tom is forced to admit that he isn’t his daughters’ biological father: he and his late wife, Sheila, used a sperm donor. He’s terrified Lena and Alison will reject him, and desperate to win back their trust – whatever it takes.

Alison thinks DNA doesn’t matter. She and her wife are trying to start a family using donor sperm, too. To her, Tom is their dad, and that’s that.

But Lena becomes obsessed with tracking down their biological father. And when she discovers she has a half-brother – an actor with a blue tick on Instagram – she becomes obsessed with him, too…

From the author of the Polari Prize-winning In at the Deep End, this is a very funny and deeply moving novel about identity, donor conception and what it means to be a family.

My Review:

Nuclear Family is an emotional, touching and thought provoking read that I think would make a great book club read as there would be lots to discuss.

The story follows twins Alison and Lena, who find out at Christmas that they are donor conceived. The two girls have very different reactions to this news which causes a few problems to the previously very close knit family. I initially found Lena’s reaction a bit over the top and felt angry with her for dismissing the father that had raised her. However this reaction changed as the story continued and I actually ended up feeling a lot of sympathy for her. Alison and her wife are trying to conceive a baby through IVF which added a different element to the story.  I thought it was very clever of the author to include this into the story as it helped give the reader more of an holistic view of donor conception.  It was interesting to follow the two girls as they try to come to terms with thai news and it was fascinating to explore the argument of nature v nurture alongside them when determining what or who constituted a father.

I loved the vivid descriptions of the family that made me feel like I was a fly on the wall watching all the action unfold.  The relationship between fathers and daughters was beautiful to witches and I loved seeing them try to support each other through the difficult times.  I found it very poignant to follow Tom as he tries to figure out his role in the girls’ lives now and to try and carve out a life of his own now the girls are grown up.  It made me tear up to see him struggle with his loneliness and to see his attempts to try and fit in.  I often wished I could reach into the book and give him the huge hug I felt he needed. 

This book had a great pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening which made the book very difficult to put down.  The author lays bare the emotional impact of ivf and the need to find out who you are which made for very gripping but emotional reading at times.  I soon felt so involved in the characters’ story, almost as if it was happening to me and I wanted to keep reading to find out how everything was resolved.  I think I went through every emotion whilst reading, wanting to cry one moment but laughing out loud the next.  This is the first book I’ve read by this author but I’m very interested to read more from her in the future.  

Huge thanks to Indie thinking and Borough Press for sending me a copy of this book. 

About The Author:

Kate Davies is a novelist, screenwriter and author of children’s books.

She is the author of two novels, Nuclear Family and In at the Deep End, which won the Polari Prize and was shortlisted for the Bollinger Wodehouse Everyman Prize for Comic Fiction.

Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a children’s book editor for twelve years.

She lives in East London with her wife and son.

Good evening everyone I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of Anyone’s Ghost by August Thompson at work last week. I’ve been hearing lots of great things about this one and as I love unique love stories I’m very excited to read it soon.

Huge thanks to Picador for sending a copy of this to my work.

Out 11th July 2024.

Book Synopsis:

It took three car crashes to kill Jake . . .

‘An overwhelmingly beautiful love story. This book will make you cry’ Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything Is Illuminated

The lonely life of fifteen-year-old Theron David Alden is transformed when he meets Jake. Older, cooler, more confident and startlingly beautiful, Jake likes the same bands, the same drugs, and has the same drive to oblivion.

Over the course of two decades, Theron and Jake get high, drift apart, and are brought hurtling back together, until a final collision tears them apart forever.

Theron wants Jake, and he wants to be Jake. But is Jake brave enough to want him back?

A gorgeous modern love story about the lives that change us, and the loves that haunt us, Anyone’s Ghost will break your heart.

About The Author:

August Thompson was born and raised in the middle of nowhere, New Hampshire. He studied in New York and Berlin, wasted all of his good hearing at metal shows, taught English in Spain for two years, and spent another two on couches across three continents. He returned to New York as a Goldwater Fellow at NYU’s Creative Writing Program. Anyone’s Ghost is his first novel.

Book Synopsis:

One detective driven by instinct, the other by logic.
It will take both to find a killer who knows the true meaning of fear . . .
 
When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of Mount Judd, AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI Detective – and DCS Kat Frank are thrust into the spotlight as they are given their first live case.
 
But with the discovery of another man’s body – also crucified – it appears that their killer is only just getting started. With the police warning local men to be vigilant, the Future Policing Unit is thrust into a hostile media frenzy as they desperately search for connections between the victims. But time is running out for them to join the dots and prevent another death.
 
For if Kat and Lock know anything, it’s that killers rarely stop – until they are made to.

My Review:

Leave No Trace is another gripping, thought provoking book in what is quickly becoming my favourite crime series. It’s going to be a difficult book to review as I really don’t want to give anything away.

Firstly it was great to be back with DCI Kate and her team, especially as I’d grown so fond of them in the first book. The author does a great job of describing the action so that the reader feels like they are actually there as part of the team, watching all the action unfold. I loved following all the characters and discovering more about what had been happening in their lives. All of the team had hidden problems that they were struggling with and it was quite poignant at times to see how much this was affecting them. I especially liked seeing Kat grown in confidence during this book and stand up for herself more.

As with the first book the author sets out a compelling case for the use of AI in police work. I found it fascinating, though a bit frightening, to find out more about what AI could be capable of – especially that it could be capable of human emotions. It was interesting to see it’s limitations too and to understand why it wouldn’t be a good alternative to a real life police officer.

The murder investigation was really interesting and I enjoyed trying to solve it alongside the characters. The investigation throws up some very thought provoking issues which I enjoyed learning more about, especially seeing the different perspectives it throws up which would be very different if it was happening to another group of people. I loved seeing how the investigation unravelled and the reasons for the murders which was different to anything else I’d read before.

Overall, as you can probably tell, I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read more in this series. The book is fast paced, with short chapters which make it very easy to read. I quickly found myself hiding away in the kitchen to try and read a little bit more. There were lots of twists to keep me guessing and I liked that I wasn’t able to guess who the murderer was until the end.

Huge thanks to Rhys the rep for Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of this book. If you’re a fan of crime fiction then you need to read this book.

About The Author:

Jo works full-time as a senior strategist, where she has carried out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. After losing her husband to cancer in 2019, she started writing In The Blink of An Eye. She lives with her two children in the Midlands, where she is currently writing the third novel in the Kat and Lock series.

Good morning everyone and happy Saturday. I’ve seen a few people doing a colour challenge on here which looked really fun so I thought I would join in. I’m starting with a green stack as it’s the colour I seemed to have the most of when I looked!

💚The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
💚A Witch’s Guide To Dating A Demon by Sarah Hawley
💚The Beholder’s by Hester Musson
💚Dead Happy by Josh Silver
💚 Lovelight Farms by B.K Borison
💚The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh
💚The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé
💚In Search Of Ethel Cartwright by Tom Winter
💚Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen
💚A Lesson In Cruelty by Harriet Tyce
💚The Examiner by Janice Hallet

All of these are tbr apart from A Witch’s Guide which I absolutely loved. Out of these I’m probably going to read The Three Body Problem as I keep hearing lots about it or The Library Thief as it sounds like a brilliant read!

Today I’m hoping for a quiet morning as my youngest two are off to clubs with my husband. My eldest has a friend coming over but I’ll be hiding upstairs to give them some space and hoping to read my book. All the kids are on sleepovers tonight so Stu and I are kid free overnight which will be really weird. We’re hoping to go out for food and some drinks though I don’t want to be too late as I’m working tomorrow.

I’ve tagged a few people who might want to join in and share a one colour book stack but, as always, no pressure.

What are your Saturday plans?

Book Synopsis:

1946: The war might be over but for the Gilby family there are still battles to be fought at home . . .

For Birmingham and the Gilby family the war years have been a time of great change. With her husband having left her for another woman, Ann Gilby is finally free to follow her heart. While the neighbours may be scandalized by having a divorcee in their midst, Ann is determined to rise above the local gossip and make a happy home with her former sweetheart, the father of Ann’s youngest child.

Meanwhile daughters Joy and Sheila are lucky enough to have their menfolk back home, but Joy’s husband has returned from his experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp a broken man.

Then there’s Ann’s son, Martin, who is still coming to terms with learning who his real father is, as well as having secrets of his own . . .

From Annie Murray, the bestselling author of Chocolate Girls, Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls is the heartfelt and dramatic conclusion to this gritty family saga series about love, war and chocolate . . .

My Review:

Homecoming For The Chocolate Girls is another fantastic addition to one of my favourite saga series.

Firstly I loved being back with the fabulous characters who I’ve grown very fond of over the course of this series and who have started to feel like old friends. It was great to be able to follow them past the end of the war and to be able to see what happens next for them. I found it quite emotional though to see how changed the returning men where and how little help they got.

The author has obviously done a lot of research and I loved all the little historical details she included in the story. I live about an hour away from Cadbury World so knew a little bit of the history of Cadbury but it was fascinating to learn more about what it was like to work there. I was pleased to learn it was considered one of the better employers who looked after not just their workers but their family too. Throughout the book the reader learns more about societies view on divorce, sexuality and mental health which I found very interesting though it was quite poignant to see how this view affected or restricted people. It made me very glad that we are a more tolerant society now.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading another installment soon. There was always something happening to keep me reading and I quickly found the book hard to put down as I wanted to make sure everything ended well for the characters. I think this might be the last book in the series which I’m sad about as I’m not ready to leave the lovely characters behind.

Huge thanks to the lovely Chloe from Pan Macmillan for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Annie Murray was born in Berkshire and read English at St John’s College, Oxford. Her first ‘Birmingham’ novel, Birmingham Rose, hit The Times bestseller list when it was published in 1995. She has subsequently written many other successful novels, including The Bells of Bournville Green, sequel to the bestselling Chocolate Girls, Sisters of Gold and Black Country Orphan. Annie has four children and lives just south of Oxford. She also writes as Abi Oliver.