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===[[The Water Thief Vera Magpie by Claire HajajLaura Solomon]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
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Nick is in As an opening line that must take some beating, but Vera's telling us the middle of wedding preparations truth. The first two husbands, Gary and Harry were abusive, but Larry was a treasure, a keeper, and it's difficult to understand why Vera would have killed him, particularly when he decides she was likely to leave his fiancée behind get found out very quickly and now she's in London and take up prison with a mandatory life sentence. Her only friend is Shirley, a lesbian, but Vera's not one to let herself be a victim. She's not keen on having a post sexual relationship with Shirley (she wouldn't risk the security of her life in some un-named west African country providing engineering support prison for the building sake of a childrenfling), but she is keen on getting an education and she's hospital. He has no idea what he is getting himself intostudying for a degree in English Literature. [[The Water Thief Vera Magpie by Claire HajajLaura Solomon|Full Review]]
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===[[Landslide Black Light by Melissa LeetLaura Solomon]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Jim is a university student and, as the saying goes, he hasn't got his troubles to seek. His father committed suicide when he was young and somehow he's never really managed to connect with his step-father. His younger brother would be kindly described as having learning difficulties: if you were being honest you'd just say that he was very difficult, but Jim does his best with and for him. Jim's in love with a woman, but she finds him repulsive and you can understand why: the looks, the attitude, the (lack of) conversational ability and the clothing all leave a lot to be desired. Despite all that's he's not about to sit back and allow his life to drift: he's actually writing ''two'' novels and he reads excerpts from these to his friends in the pub. [[Black Light by Laura Solomon|Full Review]]
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]]
The area where Jill and Susie lived wasn't highly populated so it was fortunate that they became such good friends, despite the fact that Susie was a year older than Jill. Susie lived with her mother, an alcoholic, and Jill lived with ''her'' mother, who dedicated herself to her garden. Jill's father was Jay Tutle, the photographer, but he spent much of his time working away - often for months on end. In reality there was little difference between the two families: Mrs Smith's alcoholism caused serious illness whilst Susie was still young. Joy and tragedy would visit Jill's home. ''Landslide'' is the story of how what happened determined the course of Jill's life and how great tragedy can breed resilience and hope. [[Landslide by Melissa Leet|Full Review]]
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===[[Aftershocks Redemptor Domus by A N WilsonGamelyn Chase]]===
[[image:3.5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
In a country very much like New Zealand, but A young boy arrives at an exclusive faith school on the same time most avowedly notscenic North Wales coast, two women will find lovesent far from his family in the Far East. Strong love too, for our narrator will say that her first attraction for her partner was As the only thing boy travels to make sense of all those exaggerated songs she'd heard, and books and poems she'd read, and plays she'd acted in – works of art that had until then seemed sheer hyperbole. It was entirely unrequited love for quite some time, but it does burgeon, or so we're promised from the offschool, because of something quite drastic – a major earthquake very much like family tragedy causes the one that hit Christchurch, but boy to arrive at the same time most avowedly notschool a vulnerable orphan, with an uncertain future. This book then is the combined exploration Plunged into a school full of danger and betrayal, the lovers boy is seen as a trophy by friends and enemies alike. With them locked into their scheming and plotting, it comes to the story boy to attempt to clean up the pit of filth that the quakeschool has become. [[Aftershocks Redemptor Domus by A N WilsonGamelyn Chase|Full Review]]
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===[[Hell's Unveiling The Long Path To Wisdom by Laura SolomonJan-Philipp Sendker]]===
[[image:3.5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]]
A little while ago I really enjoyed [[Marsha's Deal by Laura Solomon|Marsha's Deal]] and I was delighted by On my travels around the opportunity to read the sequelworld, ''Hell's Unveiling''. It's probably not much of I have a spoiler tendency to say end up in any bookshop that Marsha bested the devil in ''Marsha's Deal''is selling English-language books, but the devil is not one to take defeat lying down. He's out to wage war on Planet Earth and particularly on Marsha (who's thought of while I buy as many second-hand escapist tales as a 'goody two shoes' in Hell). Although a strong the next person, shewhat I's vulnerable where her foster children are concerned. Daniel m really looking for is framed for a crime he didnthe 'local't commit and sent to juvenile detention and refused permission to return to live with Marsha. Then– the cookbook maybe, of course there are all the other children who are not only targetedmaps definitely, but - worst of above all - subverted to : the devil's evil endsfolk tales. HeIf I ever get to Burma, I won's out t need to prey on their fears and weaknesses and as with many foster childrenhunt, their self esteem is very fragile. This is no small-scale operation, either - the devil has set up a training complex on earth, complete with an elevator to HellI can read before I go. [[Hell's Unveiling The Long Path To Wisdom by Laura SolomonJan-Philipp Sendker|Full Review]]
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===[[Staying On Katalin Street by C M TaylorMagda Szabo]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
[[image:4starThis is a story about the past. A specific past, certainly, in the form of pre-war Budapest, but also a story about how that past can impact on the present and the future. In this book, the first of three Magda Szabó wrote on the same theme between 1969 and 1987 and now newly translated and reissued, we witness a heart-rending nostalgia for happier days, guilt about those who did not survive, and a dogged but doomed determination to cling to long-gone times, feelings and experiences which mark the here and now, staining and warping it into another, subtler misery.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General FictionKatalin Street by Magda Szabo|General FictionFull Review]]
Tony Metcalfe is a Yorkshireman through and through and being honest, Yorkshire's where he'd really like to be. You suspect that Scarborough would be perfect, but he's living in a mountain village just beyond the Costa Verde and running a pub. The Viva Espagñe isn't flourishing: Tony would really like to sell it and return to the UK, what with the uncertainty of Brexit and everything, but there are a couple of problems. First off, his wife - Laney - refuses to go back to the UK. She'd have you believe that she's not well, but there's a backstory there that's not being talked about. Then there's the pub, which isn't doing well enough to sell. In fact Tony's cleaning the swimming pools of expats who have left Spain and returned home, in order to make a bit of money to try and make ends at least come in sight of each other, even if they never meet. [[Staying On by C M Taylor|Full Review]]
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===[[The Day of the Orphan by Dr Nat Tanoh]]===
===[[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General FictionFor Sharing|General FictionFor Sharing]]
Saga is eighteen and, like many eighteen-year olds, his prime concerns are listening to what his mum calls ''hop-hip'', eating copious amounts of food, and learning about girls. Living in an affluent, liberal and protected suburb, he has a good life. However, the suburb is in Africa, where childhoods can be snatched in an instant. When his friends and family are dragged into the conflict raging around the dictatorship that Saga lives under, he is forced to become an unlikely revolutionary. Can chubby Saga really stand up to a murderous regime? And can he stay one step ahead of the soldiers desperate to stop him? [[The Day of the Orphan by Dr Nat Tanoh|Full Review]]
Something's gone horribly wrong. It's Christmas Eve and everything is very busy in Santa's grotto. The presents are all ready and waiting to be loaded onto the sleigh and the reindeer are itching to get going. But Santa? Santa is just not in the mood. He is tired of delivering the latest toys to children who only play with them for five minutes. He wishes people would remember what Christmas is really about - a time for families to come together for love and friendship and goodwill to one another. [[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston|Full Review]]<!-- Lock Mandeville -->
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===[[Murmuration Every Colour of You by Robert LockAmelia Mandeville]]===
[[image:3star4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]
Zoe believes in adding life to years as well as years to life. Her world, like her name, is bursting with life and colour. She is the sort of girl who would sing a rainbow is she could. Tristan (or ''MurmurationTree'' follows as she calls him) is the lives opposite. Fresh out of hospital following a host of characters from 1863 to the present day. From a risqué comic to prolonged stay in a fortune tellerpsychiatric unit, we see the birth of Blackpool and its steadily fading glamour. There is he sees a hint of mysticism to the tale, with the mesmerising dance of starlings over the pier acting world as an anchor throughout the distinct narratives here, drawing together disparate stories of lives captivated by the seaa grey place. [[Murmuration Every Colour of You by Robert LockAmelia Mandeville|Full Review]]
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===[[Smoking Kills A Spark of Light by Antoine Laurain and Louise Rogers-Lalaurie (translator)Jodi Picoult]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
Meet Fabrice ValantineThe Center is the last remaining abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi and is the source of great controversy when it comes to the Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice debate. He's a headhunterIt is at The Center where one man, George Goddard, and a successful one tootakes it upon himself to get revenge for the loss of his grandchild, in an office in Paristhe form of a mass-shooting. All around him however his world What arises is changing – yesa novel that details the lives of the remaining hostages, there as well as other characters central to the story. One of these characters is Hugh McElroy, a new ban on smoking hostage negotiator called in all workplacesto help deflate the situation, who soon discovers that his sister and daughter, Wren, happened to be at the clinic that day. Goaded [[A Spark of Light by his nonJodi Picoult|Full Review]] <!-- Vincent -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471168239.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471168239/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-smoking wifealign: left;"|===[[Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death by M B Vincent]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Dr Jess Castle, even though they met over an ashtraythe self proclaimed failure of the prestigious Castle family has returned home to the sleepy, idyllic chocolate box town of sortsCastle Kidbury. Rather than being delighted, her family are suspicious, especially her father, he sees the judge. Luckily for Jess, she doesn't have to try too hard to dodge her family's suspicions as a hypnotist who had success with a mutual friend series of gruesome local murders are taking place and that's all anyone is talking about. Jess accidentally finds herself in stopping their nicotine habitthe thick of the investigation, and to her delight finds that she can actually be useful. The session seems But with the small population dwindling and the sense of danger moving ever closer to have been successfulhome, however he faces has Jess made a grave mistake getting involved? [[Jess Castle and the prospect Eyeballs of having such Death by M B Vincent|Full Review]]<!-- Stone -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789014921.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789014921/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[What's Left Unsaid by Deborah Stone]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]  Sasha has a change to his own personality, his imbued habits lot on her plate. Husband Jeremy is distant and absent and lifestyle, with fear, when he realises it will never again grant him any pleasure. He the marriage needs this pleasure when further changes at work come about – but . Son Zac is entering a rebellious adolescent phase and it's what he replaces hard to know how to redirect him. Mother Annie, an alcoholic, is beginning the habit with that will surprise journey into dementia and has never been an easy person at the mostbest of times. Thank heavens for her lovely dog, Sebastian, and his unconditional love. [[Smoking Kills What's Left Unsaid by Antoine Laurain and Louise Rogers-Lalaurie (translator)Deborah Stone|Full Review]]
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===[[The Island by M A Bennett]]===
===[[The Place Where Love Should Be by Elizabeth Ellis]]=== [[image:5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] ''Edward is six weeks old and I’ve had no sleep. I had thirty stitches in my perineum, the wounds still tug and itch. They had to do the stitches twice because the first lot became infected. The old-school midwife told me I wasn’t paying enough attention to personal hygiene. I must shower twice a day, or better still, take a salt bath. Do they really expect me to do that? Have they ever tried to shower when a baby is crying and you’re so tired you can barely stand and your partner is banging around downstairs because he’s late for work again?''
A contemporary take on the savage classic ''Lord of the Flies'': I think most women have felt like this shortly after having a group baby. Many of mismatched, modern-day teenagers must fight them simply managed to survive on a deserted island. Link is a fish out put one foot in front of water. Newly arrived from America, he is finding the other until things calmed down but some will have found it hard to settle into the venerable harder and prestigious Osney School. Who knew there could be so many strange traditions to understand? And what kind of school ranks its students by how fast they can run round the school quad developed post- however ancient that quad may be? When Link runs the slowest time in years, he immediately becomes the butt of every school joke. And some students are determined to make his life more miserable than others... natal depression[[The Island Place Where Love Should Be by M A BennettElizabeth Ellis|Full Review]]
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===[[The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen]]===
===[[The Amber Maze by Christopher Bowden]]=== [[image:5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]]
William Woolf is a letter detectiveHugh Mullion goes away to Dorset for the weekend and, working in the Dead Letters Depot in East London. He spends while waiting for his days deciphering smudged addresseswife to arrive, tracking finds a mysterious key down mysterious people and reading endless letters the back of love, guilt, death, hope, an antique chair. The grubby and everyday lifetorn label to which is attached reads... [[The Lost Letters of William Woolf Amber Maze by Helen CullenChristopher Bowden|Full Review]]
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===[[Marsha's Deal The Water Thief by Laura SolomonClaire Hajaj]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:FantasyLiterary Fiction|FantasyLiterary Fiction]]
Marsha didn't have an easy ride Nick is in life the first time around. She'd been afflicted with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibrodysplasia_ossificans_progressiva fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva], a rare disease which turned parts middle of her body to bone wedding preparations when they were damaged. Finally she was unable he decides to stand her life any longer leave his fiancée behind in London and went to Dignitas, the Swiss euthanasia clinic. She'd thought that would be the end, but after cremation her body went straight to hell and she found herself facetake up a post in some un-to-face with the devil. And that was when she made the pact. In exchange named west African country providing engineering support for details about some of those who had been close to her - their strengths and weaknesses - she would be reborn on the same day to the same parents, but would live her life free building of diseasea children's hospital. He has no idea what he is getting himself into. [[Marsha's Deal The Water Thief by Laura SolomonClaire Hajaj|Full Review]]
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===[[Spinning Silver Landslide by Naomi NovikMelissa Leet]]===
[[image:5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:FantasyGeneral Fiction|FantasyGeneral Fiction]], [[:Category:General Women's Fiction|General Women's Fiction]]The area where Jill and Susie lived wasn't highly populated so it was fortunate that they became such good friends, despite the fact that Susie was a year older than Jill. Susie lived with her mother, an alcoholic, and Jill lived with ''her'' mother, who dedicated herself to her garden. Jill's father was Jay Tutle, the photographer, but he spent much of his time working away - often for months on end. In reality there was little difference between the two families: Mrs Smith's alcoholism caused serious illness whilst Susie was still young. Joy and tragedy would visit Jill's home. ''Landslide'' is the story of how what happened determined the course of Jill's life and how great tragedy can breed resilience and hope. [[Landslide by Melissa Leet|Full Review]] <!-- Wilson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align:Categorycenter;"|[[image:Teens1786496038.jpg|Teenslink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786496038/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
Miryem comes from a long line of moneylenders – but her Father isn't very good at it at all. Lending freely and rarely collecting, he leaves the family on the edge of poverty, until Miryem must step in. Hardening her heart and collecting what is owed from local villagers, she becomes a person of great interest when she borrows a pouch of silver pennies from her Grandfather and returns it full of gold, soon becoming entangled with an array of strange creatures, from the dark beings that haunt the wood through to a King who's eager to exploit Miryem's talents – she soon becomes aware that her skills may be more trouble than they're worth… [[Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik|Full Review]]
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Aftershocks by A N Wilson]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] In a country very much like New Zealand, but at the same time most avowedly not, two women will find love. Strong love too, for our narrator will say that her first attraction for her partner was the only thing to make sense of all those exaggerated songs she'd heard, and books and poems she'd read, and plays she'd acted in – works of art that had until then seemed sheer hyperbole. It was entirely unrequited love for quite some time, but it does burgeon, or so we're promised from the off, because of something quite drastic – a major earthquake very much like the one that hit Christchurch, but at the same time most avowedly not. This book then is the combined exploration of the lovers and the story of the quake. [[Aftershocks by A N Wilson|Full Review]] <!-- Jones Laura Solomon -->
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===[[Four Hell's Unveiling by Andy JonesLaura Solomon]]===
[[image:43.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]]
Friends are nice, A little while ago I really enjoyed [[Marsha's Deal by Laura Solomon|Marsha's Deal]] and couple friends are doubly niceI was delighted by the opportunity to read the sequel, giving you like minded people to spend time with''Hell's Unveiling''. A pair It's probably not much of pairs, or a couple of couples. Married couple Sally and Al have known Mike for ages – Sally from universityspoiler to say that Marsha bested the devil in ''Marsha's Deal'', Al through workbut the devil is not one to take defeat lying down. His new girlfriend Faye completes their foursome He's out to wage war on Planet Earth and though she doesnparticularly on Marsha (who's thought of as a 'goody two shoes't have their shared historyin Hell). Although a strong person, she's vulnerable where her foster children are concerned. Daniel is framed for a lot crime he didn't commit and sent to juvenile detention and refused permission to return to live with Marsha. Then, of fun – a bit younger than course there are all the rest other children who are not only targeted, but - worst of themall - subverted to the devil's evil ends. He's out to prey on their fears and weaknesses and as with many foster children, their self esteem is very fragile. This is no small-scale operation, either - the devil has set up a training complex on earth, complete with an actress and so onelevator to Hell. [[Four Hell's Unveiling by Andy JonesLaura Solomon|Full Review]]
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===[[A Child Called Happiness Staying On by Stephan CollishawC M Taylor]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
Mazowe ValleyTony Metcalfe is a Yorkshireman through and through and being honest, 2011 – Natalie hears a sharp cry Yorkshire's where he'd really like to be. You suspect that she thinks at first might Scarborough would be perfect, but he's living in a mountain village just beyond the Costa Verde and running a birdpub. The Viva Espagñe isn't flourishing: Tony would really like to sell it and return to the UK, what with the uncertainty of Brexit and everything, but turns out to be there are a babycouple of problems. First off, abandoned his wife - Laney - refuses to go back to the birds on the kopjeUK. She is 'd have you believe that she's not well, but there's a backstory there that's not being talked about. Then there with her uncle and they take 's the childpub, back which isn't doing well enough to his farm initially sell. In fact Tony's cleaning the swimming pools of expats who have left Spain and then returned home, in order to make a local village where it is taken bit of money to try and make ends at least come in. They do not report it to the policesight of each other, even if they never meet. [[A Child Called Happiness Staying On by Stephan CollishawC M Taylor|Full Review]]
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===[[Mr Peacock's Possessions The Day of the Orphan by Lydia SysonDr Nat Tanoh]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
On Saga is eighteen and, like many eighteen-year olds, his prime concerns are listening to what his mum calls ''hop-hip'', eating copious amounts of food, and learning about girls. Living in an affluent, liberal and protected suburb, he has a remote volcanic island off good life. However, the coast of New Zealandsuburb is in Africa, a family of settlers struggle to make such where childhoods can be snatched in an unforgiving place a homeinstant. When a ship appears, they feel that their wishes have been granted his friends and their community reinvigorated – but high hopes family are swiftly dashed when a vulnerable boy disappears. As both settlers and newcomers come together in dragged into the search for conflict raging around the childdictatorship that Saga lives under, they uncover far, far more than they were looking for – discovering dark secrets about both he is forced to become an unlikely revolutionary. Can chubby Saga really stand up to a murderous regime? And can he stay one step ahead of the island and those who inhabit it. soldiers desperate to stop him? [[Mr Peacock's Possessions The Day of the Orphan by Lydia SysonDr Nat Tanoh|Full Review]]
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===[[Underwater Breathing Murmuration by Cassandra ParkinRobert Lock]]===
[[image:5star3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]
A tumble-down Edwardian house that will sooner rather than later tumble down ''Murmuration'' follows the mud cliffs and away into lives of a host of characters from 1863 to the sea is where we meet Jacob and Ellapresent day. They share From a risqué comic to a bathroom in fortune teller, we see the turret, old birth of Blackpool and cold and not really supposed to be used…but this its steadily fading glamour. There is where they hide away from the shouts a hint of their parents' arguments. Here they play mysticism to the Underwater Breathing gametale, submerging themselves in with the water holding their breath for as long as they can. For sixteen year old Jacob it's just a way mesmerising dance of drowning out starlings over the arguments…but for Ella it is more than that. She is terrified of pier acting as an anchor throughout the seadistinct narratives here, drawing together disparate stories of lives captivated by the fact that it will come and swallow their house. She needs to know that she can survive under water. She has to practicesea. [[Underwater Breathing Murmuration by Cassandra ParkinRobert Lock|Full Review]]
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===[[The Great Believers Smoking Kills by Rebecca MakkaiAntoine Laurain and Louise Rogers-Lalaurie (translator)]]===
[[image:5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:LGBT General Fiction|LGBT General Fiction]]
Meet Fabrice Valantine. He''The Great Believers'' follows s a headhunter, and a group of friends whose lives are devastated by the AIDS crisis successful one too, in an office in Chicago during the late 1980’sParis. Beginning All around him however his world is changing – yes, there is a new ban on smoking in 1985all workplaces. Goaded by his non-smoking wife, the reader follows Yale and his friends as even though they come to terms with the increasingly virulent illness spreading throughout their communitymet over an ashtray, alongside their demonisation at the hands of sorts, he sees a conservative America. Thirty years later Fiona, hypnotist who had success with a devoted mutual friend in stopping their nicotine habit. The session seems to Yalehave been successful, is searching for her estranged daughter on however he faces the streets prospect of Parishaving such a change to his own personality, trying to rebuild a relationship beset by memories his imbued habits and old hurtlifestyle, with fear, when he realises it will never again grant him any pleasure. He needs this pleasure when further changes at work come about – but it's what he replaces the habit with that will surprise the most. [[The Great Believers Smoking Kills by Rebecca MakkaiAntoine Laurain and Louise Rogers-Lalaurie (translator)|Full Review]]
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===[[The Brighton Mermaid Island by Dorothy KoomsonM A Bennett]]===
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
In 1993, two teenagers stumble across a horrific scene A contemporary take on the beach as theysavage classic ''re sneaking home after an un-authorised night out: a body of a young woman, partially stripped, totally deceased. The find hits the girls in different ways. Nell becomes obsessed with finding the identity Lord of the girl – who she calls Flies''the Brighton Mermaid'' because : a group of mismatched, modern-day teenagers must fight to survive on a distinguishing tattoo – whereas Jude just wants to forget it ever happeneddeserted island. Fast forward 25 years and Nell Link is still haunted by what happened that nighta fish out of water. With few leads Newly arrived from America, he is finding it hard to go on, settle into the Police closed the case without cracking it, venerable and prestigious Osney School. Who knew there could be so it remains one many strange traditions to understand? And what kind of those unsolved mysteries school ranks its students by how fast they can run round the school quad - however ancient that become part of local folklorequad may be? When Link runs the slowest time in years, but Nell struggles to let sleeping dogs, or even sleeping mermaids, lie. As for Jude, well no one knows if he immediately becomes the discovery still haunts her because no one knows where she isbutt of every school joke. Shortly after that fateful night, she too disappeared, never And some students are determined to be seen or heard from again. There's make his life more to Brighton miserable than Stag Dos and Gay Pride, it seemsothers... [[The Brighton Mermaid Island by Dorothy KoomsonM A Bennett|Full Review]]
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===[[Falling Short The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Lex CoultonHelen Cullen]]===
[[image:4star5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Women's Literary Fiction|Women's Literary Fiction]]
Lex Coulton's debut novel William Woolf is a story about mistakesletter detective, failuresworking in the Dead Letters Depot in East London. He spends his days deciphering smudged addresses, tracking down mysterious people and relationships. The main protagonistreading endless letters of love, Frances Pilgrimguilt, is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jacksondeath, a work colleaguehope, and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mothereveryday life. This relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was five years old. [[Falling Short The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Lex CoultonHelen Cullen|Full Review]]
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