Fairytale Nerd

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry: My thoughts. This is a book which has been clamouring for me to read it since it first appeared in bookshops over a year ago. The cover drew me in initially, it's beautiful. Many of my peers recommended it and I love historical fiction with a literary feel. But the first 2 or 3 times I tried to read it, it just didn't engage with me so I put it aside and finally last week picked it up again and kept going. I enjoyed it, with a few reservations. It's very much a character-driven story. Set in Victorian England, in London and the South coast it is the story of Cora, recently widowed, her marriage never happy, she views widowhood as a kind of freedom, she has a son with whom she cannot bond and he is clearly on the autistic spectrum. She has a dour companion Martha who has been her rock, the 2 women act more like equals than mistress and servant and there is a deep connection which binds them. Then there is Doctor Luke, short of stature, big ...

The Tissue Veil by Brenda Bannister: Welcome to my blog today where I am taking part in the Blog Tour for the new book by Brenda Bannister called The Tissue Veil. My Review It's an intriguing and heartwarming dual time story set in 1901 and 2001 and features two teenage girls aeons apart but whose lives become as close as though they were divided by a thin sheet of tissue paper, the tissue veil. Both girls are teenagers with all the angst of young adulthood, facing decisions which could shape their entire futures, so this would make an ideal young adult read, as a coming of age novel, nevertheless I feel it will appeal to any age, I adored it and loved meeting Aysha and Emily. Aysha lives in the 21st century, in a house in London with her large Asian family, her beloved father moved here from Pakistan when he was a young man, now an ageing invalid he oversees his family from an armchair as he recuperates. Aysha is heading towards her A-levels, trying to reconcile the strict fa...

Today is publication day for the new historical novel by Deborah Carr - The Poppy Field and just look at that delectable cover! As my contribution to the blog tour to help celebrate todays launch of this exciting new title I have a question and answer session with the author for you. Q&A with Deborah J: Hi Deborah and Welcome to Beadyjans books. D: Thanks very much for hosting me and my new book, The Poppy Field published by HarperImpulse. Deborah Carr. J: Q1: Firstly can you tell me a bit about The Poppy Field and what inspired you to write it? D: The Poppy Field is a novel about two nurses, one a contemporary trauma unit nurse, Gemma Kingston, who is suffering from burn-out after a personal tragedy. She’s desperate to find a way to forget what’s happened and travels to a rundown farmhouse outside the town of Doullens to renovate it for her father. The other nurse, Alice Le Breton is a VAD working at a casualty clearing station near Doullens in the First World War. She is esc...

The Lighthousekeepers Daughter by Hazel Gaynor - my review Can I give it six out of ten please? The minute I heard about this book I knew I had to read it. Not only have I read and loved work by this delightful author before, including The Cottingley Secret. Not only is it a dual time frame historical novel with BOTH timelines set in the past (joy) but the subject is very dear to my heart ..... (tells a little story of own) "When I was about 7 years old I remember my (now late) Aunt, tracing our family tree on my Mums side. I was told she had traced it back to the 1800s where she had found a strong family link to Grace Darling. I went to school and told my teacher who incorporated Grace Darling into a lesson. Tragically, my Aunt died and the family tree research she had done has never surfaced. I dabbled with genealogy myself but didn't manage to go into as much depth as she must have and couldn't verify the link but anything connected with this heroine of the North East i...