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<!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->{{newreviewFrontpage|titleauthor=Dodger of the DialsTananarive Due|authortitle=James BenmoreThe Reformatory

|summary=Dodger Gracetown, Florida. June 1950. After a scuffle with a white boy, twelve year-old Robbie Stephens Jr is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, otherwise known as the Reformatory. It's a place with a brutal and dark reputation. But the segregated reformatory is back! And oha chamber of horrors, how I’ve missed him! Benmore’s excellent debut novel [[Dodger haunted by James Benmore|Dodger]] left me hungry for more Dickensian escapades and it was with greedy anticipation the boys that I began have died there. In order to survive the sequelschool governor and his Funhouse, ''Dodger Robert must enlist the help of the Dials'school's ghosts – only they have their own motivations...|isbn=1803366532}} {{Frontpage|author=Katherine Howe|title=A True Account|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Hannah Masury is living in Boston, having been sent to live with a family who run an inn, eager and being made to see what our eponymous hero had been up work there from a young age. When she hears there is to be a hanging of some pirates in the town, she decides to go and watch. Enthralled and horrified in equal measure, Hannah finds herself embroiled in a young boy's death at the hands of two years since his last adventurevicious pirates. Quite a lot She hides away, so that they don't find and kill her too, it would seemand then to escape them completely she runs away to sea, dressing as a boy and joining the notorious Ned Low's pirate ship as Dodger has reclaimed a cabin boy. She soon finds herself in the coveted spot thick of ‘'Top Sawyer' things when there is a mutiny on board, and has from there we are caught up in her rip roaring tale of life on the ocean waves.|isbn=0861547438}}{{Frontpage|author=Sarah Marsh|title=A Sign of Her Own|rating=3.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=After a bout of scarlet fever as a child, Ellen Lark loses her hearing. Suddenly plunged into a gang world of his very ownsilence, everything about her life changes. Living in a time when the use of sign language was seen as well as something only savages do, Ellen is sent to a school where she is taught to lip read, but physically restrained from signing. From here, she ends up in another school studying under Alexander Graham Bell who has been teaching the heart of deaf and using a system called Visible Speech. At the fair Lilysame time, Bell is working on other inventions and ideas, the new lady and Ellen finds herself unwittingly caught up in his lifea complicated tangle of espionage.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1780874685</amazonuk>1035401614

The follow-up to the excellent ''Ithaca'' picks up a few months after where we left off. In the palace of Odysseus, with delicate care Queen Penelope continues to rule without her husband, who sailed to war at Troy and then by divine intervention never returned home. As ever she remains surrounded by suitors vying for the throne of the Western Isles. Having survived – politically and physical – the chaotic storm that Clytemnestra brought to Ithaca's shores, Queen Penelope is on the brink of a fragile peace. One that shatters however with the return of Orestes, King of Mycenae, and his sister Elektra, seeking refuge.|isbn=0356516075}}{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Vanora BennettB0C7J9D21B|title=The White RussianA Captive in Algiers (Muhammed Amalfi Mysteries)|author=A J Lewis

|summary=ItWhen we first meet our hero, his name is Ettore and he lives at The House of Beautiful Swallows. Idyllic as this might sound, it's 1937 a bordello and Evie leaves her home and controlling Ettore's mother in the US to look up her estranged grandmother, Constance, in Parisdied when he was born. Constance is a mystery no one talks about so Evie is distraught when she dies soon after EvieHe's arrival. Howevernot been short of mothers, Evie chooses to stay though - but for a while someone of his background in late-eighteenth-century Amalfi, it's difficult to discover more about her grandmother obtain decent employment. The stint working with the preparation of anchovies didn't work out and carry out her last wish: to track down a mystery man from her pastbastards are considered bad luck on fishing boats. Not only is Ettore was nothing if not resourceful - and determined - and it was not long before he had a difficult mission, it'll expose Evie to danger in successful business as a city harbouring fierce enmities from the Russian ex-pat community that Constance nurturedguide for visitors. He was even saving some money.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780890044</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Patricia WatkinsEssie Fox|title=DYFED ODYSSEY: Connell O'Keeffe and The Spider's WebFascination

|summary=Connell O'Keeffe looked to be settled. His stud was prospering. He was deeplyThe Victorian era is incredibly over-romanticised as a setting for historical fiction (matched only, perhaps, enduringly happy with his wife who was expecting their second child and despite by the loss of his arm some years before Second World War) which had put an end has often led to his acting career, life was goodmore than a few writers mishandling it. Then one morning Morgan, his manservant brought bad news before he was even out There's such a glut of bed. Khayri, one of his brood mares, was missing from her stable and there was a ransom demand. Reluctant to lose media set in the era that the mare - or to be beaten - Ohallmarks we'Keeffe and Morgan set off ve come to retrieve Khayri, hoping associate with it are familiar to be back that nightthe point of being cliched, or - at the worst - the next dayhackneyed even. Little did O'Keeffe know All this is simply to illustrate that it would be many months before he saw his home againan easy thing to do poorly. But despite that, something about it still grabs me – and something about this book's description did as well.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0957210469</amazonuk>1914585526

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Michelle LovricNicole Jarvis|title=The True and Splendid History of the Harristown SistersA Portrait in Shadow

|summary=The seven Swiney sisters are growing up during Ireland's 19th century potato famine so know what it is to go without. Therefore when their eldest sister Darcy works out a way for them to earn money using their talent and long, long hair, the other six follow on. (They'd be daft I want all of Florence to cross the dangerous Darcy anyway.) Gradually their hair becomes their future and the 'Swiney Godivasknow my name' are created. However, fame doesn't always bring happiness with the adventure; in fact for the sisters it brings notoriety – a different thing altogether.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408833417</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|title=The Flower Book|author=Catherine Law|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Violet’s flower book is Cast out from Rome, Artemisia Gentileschi arrives in Florence seeking an oasis in which her secret treasure; art can find a way to glimpse inside home and where her soulfuture can thrive rather than stagnate. So much more than a mere diaryBut as some as she enters Florentine society she faces great opposition from the powerful Accademia, Violet uses the secret language self-proclaimed guardians of flowers the healing magics that through paintings have the power to convey her innermost thoughts protect the city and its citizens from plagues and feelingscurses. She takes inspiration from nature The all-male Accademia has hoarded power over art and architecture for centuries and uses guard it to tell a story across the pages of her private journalabove all else. A simple pressed gorse flower brings back warm memories of a carefree day at the cove with her best friendTo them, a bold peony is a bitter reminder of Artemisia – an unwelcome suitor ambitious young woman who promises trouble and a handful of poisonous tansy is the key to her biggest secret of all..change – has no place amongst them and their society.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0749015829</amazonuk>1803362340

{{newreview|author=Helen MacInnes|title=Home is Set in the Hunter|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Seventeen years after he left home to fight near-distant future, in a world on the Trojan War verge of climate collapse, Britain is in great peril. The British Isles desperately needs a hero (that's also seven years after it had finished!or several) Ulysses returns home. A lot has changed; his wife is at home with eleven men for a start! Penelope is being held under virtual house arrest by eleven strangers. How will Ulysses manage to free her save the day and regain his hearth with only his son and a pig herd to help? Gods only knows! Meanwhile Penelope is visited by another manrescue what little remains. His name's Homer and he wants to write an epic poemWhat no-one expected was that one of the Knights of the Round Table would answer the call. Not a good time Homer, not a good time at all!|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1781163316</amazonuk>0356518523

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Justin GoG K Holloway|title=The Steady Running In the Shadows of the HourCastles

|summary=Tristan Campbell, an American graduate, receives a phone call from an English law firm summoning him to London for a secret meeting. Mountaineer We begin after the momentous battle in 1066 and adventurer Ashley Walsingham died in 1926 without any direct heirson the day of William of Normandy's coronation as King of England. Since then his familyWilliam's legacy position is not secure and the new king has been in limbo while an heir is tracedmany challenges. They believe Tristan could be that lucky person but there's Imposing authority through a catchcoronation is important. He has And William is right to prove worry. While the previous king, Harold, is dead and the family connection within 7 weeks (when likelihood of more pitched battles is over, the 80 year limitation on rebels are stirring and much of the fortune runs out). The clock is ticking while Tristan starts country does not wish to recognise a hunt that will take him across Europenew overlord.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0434022330</amazonuk>1800422466

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Tim Willocks3949666079|title=The Twelve Children of ParisNoema|author=Dael Akkerman

|genre=Historical General Fiction|summary=Knight of the Order of St John the Baptist, Mattias Tannhauser, does as he has promised. After surviving the 1565 siege of Malta, Mattias goes to Paris to look for Lady Carla (his heavily pregnant wife) and Orlandu, her child by birth and his by adoption. Carla went to sing and play at the royal wedding but seems to have disappeared. It's definitely not a good time to sample Parisian hospitality: one of the city's bloodiest chapters This is a story about some things that happened to begin as the Catholics seek to cleanse the city of members of the Protestant Reformist Church of France, better known as Huguenotsme about twelve thousand years ago. It gets worse though: not only are all Huguenots (and anyone who gets in the way) being hunted down and killed grotesquely, guess which church Carla's hosts belong to?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099578921</amazonuk>}}'

{{newreview|title=An Appetite for Violets|author=Martine Bailey|rating=5|genre=Crime (Historical)|summary=Biddy 'Obedience' Leigh Maya is a young girl living in a hunter gatherer village during the under-cook at Mawton HallMesolithic era. Climate change is occurring, but although she is passionate about cookingthe Sea of Grass encroaches further and further into Maya's forest home, her dearest wish and food is to marry her young manbecoming more and more scarce. The date is set for her What to leave do? Can the Hall for married life and she is looking forward to it. But law givers in the master federation of villages muster peaceful ways to cope? Can the house surprises everyone when he gets himself Traveller, a very young wife – and Biddy’s world is rapidly changed. Lady Carinna takes a shine to Biddyspiritual figure who interprets the wisdom of All Life, and when Biddy proves herself to be resourceful and entrepreneurial, her fate is sealed.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444768727</amazonuk>provide solutions?

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Elizabeth Fremantle1529125898|title=Sisters of TreasonGodmersham Park|author=Gill Hornby

|summary=Now that their sister Lady Jane and father, Henry 1st Duke ''If it were not for the casual dereliction of Suffolk, have been beheaded for treason, the remaining Grey sistersodd gentleman's duty, Katherine and Mary have hidden there would no women to teach well-bred daughters at all signs .'' Anne Sharpe was thirty-one years old when she arrived at Godmersham Park to take up the position of their protestant reformist faithgoverness to twelve-year-old Fanny Austen. Their mother Frances can escape court She had no experience of teaching but Mary Tudor has other plans for the girls, keeping them under royal scrutiny. This is this was a dangerous spotlight to be subjected tocase of necessity. As Until the trademark heretic burning death of the Spanish Inquisition comes to Englandher mother, Anne had a comfortable life and was loved by both parents although her father was frequently absent from the Greys must work harder to impersonate good Catholicshousehold. Their lives depend on it. However Katherine is less than tactful When her mother died, her father cast her off and set on would have nothing more to do with her own path. Is Mary strong enough to protect both No explanation was offered but she would receive an annuity of them?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718177088</amazonuk>£35 a year. Her maid, Agnes, would receive nothing but was fortunately taken in by some neighbours.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Suzannah DunnMelissa Fu |title=The May BridePeach Blossom Spring |rating=43.5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Dateline approximately 1527: Edward Seymour marries Katherine Filliol and takes her I loved the prelude to live with his family at Wolf HallPeach Blossom Spring, a short chapter entitled ''Origins''. The days pass happily as coquettish Katherine proves to be a breath of fresh air for Unfortunately it is the household only truly poetic part of Sir John and Lady Margerya book that I expected more from. Of all JohnCovering Chinese history from 1938 to 2005 as viewed through one family's Seymour siblings she's drawn to young Jane perspective. When their home city is set ablaze during the mostwar with Japan, the two developing a close friendship punctuated by fun young mother (Meilin) and confidences. her four-year-old son (Including some of which Jane is too young to understand fullyRenshu) are among those who flee.) However there is one secret that Katherine doesn't confide The story follows them on their journey across China, and thatin Renshu's the secret that will pull the Seymour family apartcase eventually to America. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1408704684</amazonuk>1472277538

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Stephen Burke1916072038|title=The Good ItalianHouse in the Hollow (The Talbot Saga)|author=Allie Cresswell|rating=4.5

|summary=Enzo is an Italian living in Eritrea, We meet part of Mussolini's new Italian empire of 1935. In charge of the quiet Massawe Harbour he leads an equally quiet life, trying to adhere to gentlemanly standards; being the good ItalianTalbot family in Yorkshire in November 1811. His friend Salvatore, a Colonel in the occupying Italian army, thinks Enzo should live a little Twenty-seven-year-old Jocelyn Talbot and her mother have travelled in some fun with the local womendiscomfort from their home at Ecklington, just like his peers. Enzo isn't so sure but decides to engage a local cook/cleaner - see how it goesthe house in the hollow. The streetwise Aatifa gets the job, both she two women are angry with each other and Enzo being surprised by things that werenJocelyn is well aware of her mother't in the job description. Meanwhile Mussolini has plans for Massawe that will change Enzo, Aatifa (s strengths and everyone around them) forever.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848549148</amazonuk>}}weaknesses:

{{newreview|title=Poppy|author=Mary Hooper|rating=4|genre=Teens|summary=Poppy ''She is practiced at subterfuge, at concealing, beneath a parlourmaid at facade of respectability, the de Vere familydeplorable truth's country house when World War I breaks out. Poppy is a very bright girl but had to enter service rather than continuing on to college after school because her family is poor. But the war is changing everything - even for working class girls - and Poppy's old teacher sees an opportunity for her intelligent ex-pupil. She suggests that Poppy become a volunteer nurse, a VAD.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140882762X</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Angela Thirkell|title=August Folly|rating=4.5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Richard Tebben came down from Oxford in June with an undistinguished Third and little idea of what he wanted Hester is furious about Jocelyn's refusal to do with himself. It was a pity that money dictated the need to remain in the Barsetshire village of Worsted (just a little way from Winter Overcotes) with his family and others who were not really up to scratch (his mother had taken a First...) particularly as there she was little in the way of diversion other than Mrs Palmer's Greek playasked, into which everyone was roped willy-nilly. Then the Dean family arrived for the summer, impossibly glamorous has precipitated ''this violent and accompanied by six of their nine children and Richard was immediately smitten by Rachel Dean, mother of the family and more than twice his ageunexpected removal''.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1844089681</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Robin Lloyd|title=Rough Passage to London: A Sea Captain's Tale, a Novel|rating=4|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Elisha Ely Morgan leaves his native Connecticut to go to sea, partially but not entirely to escape his father's cruelty. There's a second reason: the sea has been blamed for the loss of two Then we are told of his brothers, the exact circumstances birth of his elder brother's disappearance never having been clear. But Ely has heard a rumour; a rumour that will take him as far away as London child and, soon after, Hester Talbot departs, leaving Jocelyn in shame and obsess him for decades. His brother Abraham may not be deadisolation in Yorkshire.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1574093207</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Kirsty WarkAnnabel Abbs|title=The Legacy Language of Elizabeth PringleFood

|summary=Elizabeth Pringle bequeathed her house on Arran Eliza Acton is a poet who has never had the slightest inclination to Anna Morrison even though boil an egg. When tasked with writing a cookery book, she didn't actually know her. Anna just happened to walk past and ask to buy the house decades earlier. Elizabeth hadn't said yes but always remembered the young ladyrecruits Ann Kirby, walking past a local woman with the baby in the prama troubled home life. The babyTogether, Marthathey test, is now an adult visiting Elizabeth's house – Anna's house – after Elizabeth's death. Through craft, refine and reshape the belongings that Elizabeth left with itworld of domestic cookery, Martha sees glimpses of a past life while hoping that that this refuge will now become a haven for her mother before it's too late reinventing the recipe book and while she still has a mind to take her back to changing the good timesface of cookery writing forever. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1444777602</amazonuk>1398502227

 {{newreviewFrontpage|titleauthor=After the BombingFreya Marske|authortitle=Clare MorrallA Marvellous Light|rating=4.5

|summary=On 28th March 1942Robin Blyth is nudged into a job in the Civil Service, much to his chagrin. There he meets Edwin Courcey and learns that the city streets of Lubeck was attacked by RAF bombersLondon are threaded with magic. The medieval buildings were reduced Desperate to remove a curse that threatens to rubble and hundreds of innocent people lost their lives. In retaliationswallow him, Hitler decided Robin follows Edwin to bomb the most beautiful and culturally rich cities of Englandcountryside, using Baedeker’s tourist guide as a reference. The cities he chose were Exeter, Bath, Norwich, York where the hedgegrows bristle with incantations and Canterburythe people shimmer with power. 'After There they uncover a sinister plot that threatens the Bombing' follows the story lives of an Exeter schoolgirl and her friends all magicians in the aftermath of the attackBritish Isles.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1444736426</amazonuk>1529080886

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Vanora BennettB09F4CTKJR|title=Midnight in St PetersburgFlights for Freedom|author= Steven Burgauer

|summary=Inna Feldman is in It's the later stages of World War I and the Kiev theatre United States has just entered the night that Prime Minister Stolypin conflict. Petrol Petronus is assassinated in front of a young American who has signed up and joined the Tsar17 Aero Squadron. Fearing This company was the retribution against the Jews first US Aero Squadron to be trained in general and being picked out as a suspect in particularCanada, Inna flees the first to St Petersburg be attached to the RAF and her landlord's cousin Yasha. Her arrival causes complications. Not only is she unexpected but Yasha is a revolutionary, a dangerous occupation the first to be sent into the skies to fight the Germans in Russia during 1911active combat. The family But before that Yasha is living with takes her in anywaycan happen, unaware that darker times are ahead for all of themPetrol has to master flying the notoriously difficult but majestic Sopwith Camel.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780890036</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Rosie ThomasChristophe Medler|title=The IllusionistsMadrigal: A Closely Guarded Secret

|summary=Jack and his granddaughter Natalie are both at Set against the backdrop of the English Civil War, a cross roads secret plan (code-named Madrigal) is discovered by Sir Robert Douse in their livesthe summer of 1642. She is single again after As a short disastrous marriage and he is dying. Natalie comes to stay and during her visit Jack asks a favour. He asks her to embark on a mission for him involving a peacock pendant and some unfinished business from nearly 70 years ago.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444763091</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=The Eagle Trail|author=Robert Rigby|rating=4|genre=Teens|summary=The Nazis have occupied Antwerployal servant of the King, where Paul lives with his English father and French mother. But Paul doesn't think things are too bad. Life is going on pretty much as normal if you are a teenaged boyHead of the Secret Service, Paul feels. But Paul it is wrong. In the space of an afternoon, PaulRobert's world is turned upside down. His father is shot in front duty to uncover the details of him, having been discovered as an early resistance organiser. His mother is arrested. And Paul finds himself fleeing for his life, hunted by the Nazis for what his father knew. The journey is a long plan and dangerous one - through Belgium and France for follow the Pyrenees and Spain and then, hopefully, for England. Every stage is dangerous but the final clues to uncover one - of the Eagle Trail across most guarded secrets in history—especially since the mountains - is plot could affect the most perilousKing.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1406346667</amazonuk>B095HY8SXQ

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1471187179|title=I Always Loved YouA Beautiful Spy|author=Robin OliveiraRachel Hore

|summary=Mary Cassatt was Minnie is an anomaly among the Impressionists: she was one of very few women, and also the only American-born member. A Philadelphia native, she made Paris home for nearly five decades. Oliveira's novel opens in 1926, with Cassatt (now nearly blind) searching for the letters Edgar Degas wrote her in the 1870s-80s. Degas and Cassatt had been subjects of Parisian gossip; no one knew for sure whether their friendship shaded into romance. Even Mary herself seems confused about what they meant to each other; ordinary'she still didn't understand…whether there was room for love girl living an unexciting life in two lives already consumed by passion of another sorta leafy provincial suburb.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0670017191</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Sally Wragg|title=Loxley|rating=3.5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Harry, the eleventh Duke of Loxley, fell The book is set in love with Bronwyn and they married. It wasn't the match that his mother would have chosen - Bronwyn was, after all, nothing more than the daughter of the local doctor 1930s and even Harry and Bronwyn wondered whether or not they'd done the right thing as they struggled Minnie is expected to come live up to terms with married life. Katherine, the dowager Duchess, didn't make Bronwynher mother's life any easier - I mean, the girl wasn't above starting to clear the breakfast dishes when there were servants to do ''that'' sort of thing. And - to cap it all - she still wasn't pregnant and an heir for Loxley was of paramount importance.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00EHMH5XC</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Antonia Hodgson|title=The Devil in the Marshalsea|rating=5|genre=Crime (Historical)|summary=1727: The Marshalsea prison is hell on Earth expectations and find a Damoclesian sword over the heads of prospective debtors. Tom Hawkinsnice young man to marry, gambler produce children and bon viveur, has always stayed one step ahead of it until, ironically, spend the day rest of his big win. He's mugged, his winnings are stolen and Tom's hurled into the depths of Sheol itself. Is it as bad as he thought? Worse! Not only does he have to survive the cruel and brutal deprivations but a murderer walks the prison's corridors.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444775413</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Octavia E Butler|title=Kindred|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|summary=Life is a nightmare for black women (and indeed men) back in the southern USA in 1815. For Dana that's just history as she lives over a century away with her days looking after her husband in and their new LA apartmenthome. However one day everything changes: Dana starts to feel faintUnfortunately, the edges of her modern life blur and she's back in the era that can take more than her liberty. She knows her time travel is somehow linked to plantation owner's son Rufus but that doesnthis isn't help. In fact its knowledge that could make matters worse.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472214811</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Rebecca Hunt|title=Everland|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=There have been two expeditions what she wants to the Antarctic island of Everland a century apart. The ill-fated 1913 trip of Dinners, Napps and Millet-Bass is primitive by today's standards. The 2012 expedition is better equipped, better prepared and arrives do at a better time of year so all bodes well for Decker, Brix and Jess. But despite the differences both expeditions have things in common. Both groups carry secrets, some become obvious but others ''remain behind waiting to become discovered''.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905490658</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Eva Stachniak|title=Empress of the Night|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Russia, 1796 and the ruler is dying from a stroke. As each new symptom hits and her life recedes a little further she remembers how she came this far. Her recollections begin when neither does she was Sophie, Princess of Anholt-Zerbst, sent want to young Russian Grand Duke Peter continue working as a marriage prospectsecretary. The wedding plans go through and her new life is accompanied by a name change: Princess Sophie becomes Catherine Alekseyevna but history will christen her Catherine the Great.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00J8KYE14</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=A Love Like Blood|author=Marcus Sedgwick|rating=4.5|genre=Horror|summary=One day towards the end of World War Two, Charles Jackson is dragged to As a museum result of antiquities just outside a newly liberated Paris by his commanding officer during their downtime. While the other looks at the unusual ancient artefactschance meeting, Jackson she finds something much more horrific – a man in a wartime bunker in the grounds, squatting over a female figure, blood on his lips that could only have come from her neckline. Years laterherself drawn into espionage, Jackson returns to Paris working for reasons to do with his medical career, the secret service and finds the same man in the company of someone who, were he only aware of the fact, is effectively living a double life - attempting to become infiltrate the first and possibly only love Communist Party of his lifeGreat Britain. But that's not Minnie finds herself torn between what she perceives as her duty and the only time the paths of Jackson friends she has made - and likes - whilst working for the mysterious male are destined to cross – the prologue was set in the late 1960s…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>144475193X</amazonuk>Communist Party.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Lesley GlaisterAfonso Cruz and Rahul Bery (translator)|title=Little EgyptKokoschka's Doll|rating=2.5|genre=General Literary Fiction|summary=Twins Isis and Osiris are now in their 90sWell, living together in Little Egyptthis looked very much like a book I could love from the get-go, the English manor house where they were born which is why I picked my review copy up and brought upflipped pages over several times before actually reading any of it. Their names are I found things to potentially delight me each time – a clue to their parents' near fetish for everything Egyptian. In fact this near fetish leads their parents to Egypt itselfweird section in the middle on darker stock paper, in search of a big discovery back chapter whose number was in the 1920s20,000s, letters used as narrative form, demonstrating more enthusiasm than savvyand so on. Having left It intrigued with the twins subterranean voice a man hears in the care wartorn Dresden that what little I knew of the housekeeperit mentioned, they never returntoo. Isis But you've seen the star rating that comes with this review, and Osiris are now bound to the housecan tell that if love was on these pages, tied it was not actually caused by love or memories but dark secrets that won't let gothem. So what happened?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>190777372X</amazonuk>1529402697

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Anne O'BrienChristina Hammonds Reed|title=The Scandalous DuchessBlack Kids

|genre=Historical FictionTeens |summary=1372: Lady Katherine de Swynford Christina Hammonds Reed's debut novel is widowed and in reduced circumstances as a result. She remembers a more sumptuous life before her marriage; a life in set against the service backdrop of Queen Philippathe 1992 Los Angeles riots, mother of John, Duke of Lancaster. In a reaction to the hope absolution of reprising her past lifestyle she goes to the Savoy Palace to beg the Duke four police officers for beating a role in his household. He willingly employs her to help his new wifeblack man, ConstanzaRodney King, nearly to death. Told from the Princess perspective of CastilleAshley Bennett, the novel follows her evolution from a silent bystander when confronted with matters of race, to a woman finding her imminent birth but this is a dangerous move. As John voice and Katherine fall in love and Katherine becomes John's mistress they endanger more than their hearts; their attraction provides ammunition for their enemies, risking fatal resultsembracing her heritage.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1848452985</amazonuk>1471188191

{{newreview|author=Juliet Greenwood|title=We That Are Left|rating=4|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Hugo and Elin are settling down Move on to life at home in Hiram Hall now Hugo is back from the Boer War. He refuses to speak about his experiences in Africa but carries the psychological effects. However, appearances count for a lot so they both continue to run the house, gardens and staff while Elin tries to ignore the deficiencies in their marriage. She succeeds as well but then two things change her outlook: the arrival of daring adventurer Lady Margaret ('Mouse' to her friends) and the less welcome outbreak of World War I. Both will leave their indelible mark so that, for Hugo, Elin and many others around that time, there'll be no going back.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>190678499X</amazonuk>}}[[Newest History Reviews]]