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<!-- Bowden Laura Solomon -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1512235857.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1512235857/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Vera Magpie by Laura Solomon]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] ''I have murdered three husbands.'' As an opening line that must take some beating, but Vera's telling us the 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 she was likely to get found out very quickly and now she's in 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 sexual relationship with Shirley (she wouldn't risk the security of her life in prison for the sake of a fling), but she is keen on getting an education and she's studying for a degree in English Literature. [[Vera Magpie by Laura Solomon|Full Review]] <!-- Laura Solomon -->
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===[[Black Light by Laura Solomon]]===
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link===Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[The Amber Maze by Christopher Bowden:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]===
[[imageJim 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:4starthe looks, the attitude, the (lack of) conversational ability and the clothing all leave a lot to be desired.jpg|link=Category Despite all that's he's not about to sit back and allow his life to drift:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] he's actually writing ''two'' novels and he reads excerpts from these to his friends in the pub. [[:Category:General FictionBlack Light by Laura Solomon|General FictionFull Review]]
Hugh Mullion goes away to Dorset for the weekend and, while waiting for his wife to arrive, finds a mysterious key down the back of an antique chair. The grubby and torn label to which is attached reads... [[The Amber Maze by Christopher Bowden|Full Review]]
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===[[The Water Thief Redemptor Domus by Claire HajajGamelyn Chase]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]]
Nick is A young boy arrives at an exclusive faith school on the scenic North Wales coast, sent far from his family in the middle of wedding preparations when he decides Far East. As the boy travels to leave his fiancée behind in London and take up the school, a post in some un-named west African country providing engineering support for family tragedy causes the boy to arrive at the building school a vulnerable orphan, with an uncertain future. Plunged into a school full of danger and betrayal, the boy is seen as a children's hospitaltrophy by friends and enemies alike. He With them locked into their scheming and plotting, it comes to the boy to attempt to clean up the pit of filth that the school has no idea what he is getting himself intobecome. [[The Water Thief Redemptor Domus by Claire HajajGamelyn Chase|Full Review]]
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===[[Landslide The Long Path To Wisdom by Melissa LeetJan-Philipp Sendker]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]On my travels around the world, [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]]The area where Jill and Susie lived wasn't highly populated so it was fortunate I have a tendency to end up in any bookshop that they became such good friendsis selling English-language books, despite and while I buy as many second-hand escapist tales as the fact that Susie was a year older than Jill. Susie lived with her mothernext person, an alcoholic, and Jill lived with what I'm really looking for is the 'herlocal'' mother, who dedicated herself to her garden. Jill's father was Jay Tutle– the cookbook maybe, the photographermaps definitely, but he spent much of his time working away - often for months on end. In reality there was little difference between above all: the two families: Mrs Smith's alcoholism caused serious illness whilst Susie was still youngfolk tales. Joy and tragedy would visit JillIf I ever get to Burma, I won's home. ''Landslide'' is the story of how what happened determined the course of Jill's life and how great tragedy t need to hunt, I can breed resilience and hoperead before I go. [[Landslide The Long Path To Wisdom by Melissa LeetJan-Philipp Sendker|Full Review]]
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===[[Aftershocks Katalin Street by A N WilsonMagda Szabo]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
[[image:3This is a story about the past.5starA 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.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]]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. [[:Category:General FictionKatalin Street by Magda Szabo|General FictionFull Review]]
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]]
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===[[Hell's Unveiling by Laura Solomon]]===
===[[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston]]=== [[image:3.5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:FantasyFor Sharing|FantasyFor Sharing]]
A little while ago I really enjoyed [[Marsha's Deal by Laura Solomon|Marsha's Deal]] and I was delighted by the opportunity to read the sequel, ''Hell's Unveiling''. It's probably not much of a spoiler to say that Marsha bested the devil in ''Marsha's Deal'', 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 as a 'goody two shoes' in Hell). Although a strong person, she's vulnerable where her foster children are concerned. Daniel is framed for a crime he didn't commit and sent to juvenile detention and refused permission to return to live with Marsha. Then, of course there are all the other children who are not only targeted, but - worst of all - 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 elevator to Hell. [[Hell's Unveiling by Laura Solomon|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]]<!-- C M Taylor Mandeville -->
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===[[Staying On Every Colour of You by C M TaylorAmelia Mandeville]]===
[[image:4star4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
Tony Metcalfe is a Yorkshireman through and through and being honest, Yorkshire's where he'd really like Zoe believes in adding life to years as well as years to belife. You suspect that Scarborough would be perfectHer world, 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 UKher name, what is bursting with life and colour. She is the uncertainty sort of Brexit and everything, but there are girl who would sing a couple of problems. First off, his wife - Laney - refuses to go back to the UKrainbow is she could. SheTristan (or 'd have you believe that she's not well, but thereTree's a backstory there that's not being talked about. Then there's as she calls him) is the pub, which isn't doing well enough to sellopposite. In fact Tony's cleaning the swimming pools Fresh out of expats who have left Spain and returned home, hospital following a prolonged stay in order to make a bit of money to try and make ends at least come in sight of each otherpsychiatric unit, even if they never meethe sees a world as a grey place. [[Staying On Every Colour of You by C M TaylorAmelia Mandeville|Full Review]]
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===[[The Day A Spark of the Orphan Light by Dr Nat TanohJodi Picoult]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
Saga The Center is eighteen the last remaining abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi andis the source of great controversy when it comes to the Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice debate. It is at The Center where one man, like many eighteen-year oldsGeorge Goddard, his prime concerns are listening takes it upon himself to what get revenge for the loss of his mum calls ''hop-hip''grandchild, eating copious amounts in the form of food, and learning about girlsa mass-shooting. Living in an affluent, liberal and protected suburb, he has What arises is a good life. Howevernovel that details the lives of the remaining hostages, as well as other characters central to the suburb story. One of these characters is Hugh McElroy, a hostage negotiator called in Africato help deflate the situation, where childhoods can be snatched in an instant. When who soon discovers that his friends sister and family are dragged into the conflict raging around daughter, Wren, happened to be at the dictatorship clinic that Saga lives under, he is forced to become an unlikely revolutionaryday. Can chubby Saga really stand up to a murderous regime? And can he stay one step ahead [[A Spark of the soldiers desperate to stop himLight by Jodi 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-align: left;"|===[[The Day Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of the Orphan Death by Dr Nat TanohM B Vincent]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|Full Reviewlink=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
Dr Jess Castle, the self proclaimed failure of the prestigious Castle family has returned home to the sleepy, idyllic chocolate box town of Castle Kidbury. Rather than being delighted, her family are suspicious, especially her father, the judge. Luckily for Jess, she doesn't have to try too hard to dodge her family's suspicions as a series of gruesome local murders are taking place and that's all anyone is talking about. Jess accidentally finds herself in the thick of the investigation, and to her delight finds that she can actually be useful. But with the small population dwindling and the sense of danger moving ever closer to home, has Jess made a grave mistake getting involved? [[Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death by M B Vincent|Full Review]]<!-- Lock Stone -->
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===[[Murmuration by Robert Lock]]===
===[[What's Left Unsaid by Deborah Stone]]=== [[image:3star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]
''Murmuration'' follows the lives of Sasha has a host of characters from 1863 to the present daylot on her plate. From a risqué comic to a fortune teller, we see Husband Jeremy is distant and absent and the birth of Blackpool and its steadily fading glamourmarriage needs work. There Son Zac is entering a hint of mysticism rebellious adolescent phase and it's hard to know how to the taleredirect him. Mother Annie, an alcoholic, with is beginning the mesmerising dance of starlings over the pier acting as journey into dementia and has never been an anchor throughout easy person at the distinct narratives herebest of times. Thank heavens for her lovely dog, drawing together disparate stories of lives captivated by the seaSebastian, and his unconditional love. [[Murmuration What's Left Unsaid by Robert LockDeborah Stone|Full Review]]
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===[[Smoking Kills by Antoine Laurain and Louise Rogers-Lalaurie (translator)]]===
===[[The Place Where Love Should Be by Elizabeth Ellis]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[: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?''
Meet Fabrice ValantineI think most women have felt like this shortly after having a baby. He's a headhunter, and a successful Many of them simply managed to put one too, foot in an office in Paris. All around him however his world is changing – yes, there is a new ban on smoking in all workplaces. Goaded by his non-smoking wife, even though they met over an ashtray, front of sorts, he sees a hypnotist who had success with a mutual friend in stopping their nicotine habit. The session seems to have been successful, however he faces the prospect of having such a change to his own personality, his imbued habits and lifestyle, with fear, when he realises it other until things calmed down but some will never again grant him any pleasure. He needs this pleasure when further changes at work come about – but have found it's what he replaces the habit with that will surprise the most. harder and developed post-natal depression[[Smoking Kills The Place Where Love Should Be by Antoine Laurain and Louise Rogers-Lalaurie (translator)Elizabeth Ellis|Full Review]]
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===[[The Island by M A Bennett]]===
===[[The Amber Maze by Christopher Bowden]]=== [[image:5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
A contemporary take on the savage classic ''Lord of the Flies'': a group of mismatched, modern-day teenagers must fight Hugh Mullion goes away to survive on a deserted island. Link is a fish out of water. Newly arrived from America, he is finding it hard to settle into Dorset for the venerable weekend and prestigious Osney School. Who knew there could be so many strange traditions , while waiting for his wife to understand? And what kind of school ranks its students by how fast they can run round the school quad - however ancient that quad may be? When Link runs the slowest time in yearsarrive, he immediately becomes finds a mysterious key down the butt back of every school jokean antique chair. And some students are determined The grubby and torn label to make his life more miserable than otherswhich is attached reads... [[The Island Amber Maze by M A BennettChristopher Bowden|Full Review]]
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===[[The Lost Letters of William Woolf Water Thief by Helen CullenClaire Hajaj]]===
[[image:5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]]
William Woolf Nick is a letter detective, working in the Dead Letters Depot middle of wedding preparations when he decides to leave his fiancée behind in East Londonand take up a post in some un-named west African country providing engineering support for the building of a children's hospital. He spends his days deciphering smudged addresses, tracking down mysterious people and reading endless letters of love, guilt, death, hope, and everyday lifehas no idea what he is getting himself into. [[The Lost Letters of William Woolf Water Thief by Helen CullenClaire Hajaj|Full Review]]
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===[[Marsha's Deal Landslide by Laura SolomonMelissa Leet]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short StoriesGeneral Fiction|Short StoriesGeneral 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. [[:Category:FantasyLandslide by Melissa Leet|FantasyFull Review]]
Marsha didn't have an easy ride in life the first time around<!-- Wilson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786496038. She'd been afflicted with [httpsjpg|link=http://enwww.amazon.wikipediaco.orguk/dp/wiki1786496038/Fibrodysplasia_ossificans_progressiva fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva], a rare disease which turned parts of her body to bone when they were damaged. Finally she was unable to stand her life any longer 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 face-toref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-face with the devil. And that was when she made the pact. In exchange 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 of disease. [[Marsha's Deal by Laura Solomon|Full Review21]]
 | 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]] <!-- Novik Laura Solomon -->
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===[[Spinning Silver Hell's Unveiling by Naomi NovikLaura Solomon]]===
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:FantasyShort Stories|FantasyShort Stories]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:TeensFantasy|TeensFantasy]]
Miryem comes from A little while ago I really enjoyed [[Marsha's Deal by Laura Solomon|Marsha's Deal]] and I was delighted by the opportunity to read the sequel, ''Hell's Unveiling''. It's probably not much of a long line of moneylenders – spoiler to say that Marsha bested the devil in ''Marsha's Deal'', but her Father isnthe devil is not one to take defeat lying down. He't very good at it at all. Lending freely s out to wage war on Planet Earth and rarely collecting, he leaves the family particularly on the edge Marsha (who's thought of poverty, until Miryem must step as a 'goody two shoes' inHell). Hardening her heart and collecting what is owed from local villagers, she becomes Although a strong person of great interest when , she borrows 's vulnerable where her foster children are concerned. Daniel is framed for a pouch of silver pennies from her Grandfather crime he didn't commit and sent to juvenile detention and returns it full refused permission to return to live with Marsha. Then, of goldcourse there are all the other children who are not only targeted, soon becoming entangled with an array but - worst of strange creatures, from all - subverted to the dark beings that haunt the wood through to a King whodevil's eager to exploit Miryemevil ends. He's talents – she soon becomes aware that her skills may be more trouble than they're worth… 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 elevator to Hell. [[Spinning Silver Hell's Unveiling by Naomi NovikLaura Solomon|Full Review]]
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===[[Four Staying On by Andy JonesC M Taylor]]===
[[image:4.5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
Friends are niceTony 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 couple friends are doubly nice, giving you running a pub. The Viva Espagñe isn't flourishing: Tony would really like minded people to spend time sell it and return to the UK, what with. A pair the uncertainty of pairsBrexit and everything, or but there are a couple of couplesproblems. Married couple Sally and Al have known Mike for ages – Sally from universityFirst off, Al through workhis wife - Laney - refuses to go back to the UK. His new girlfriend Faye completes their foursome and though She'd have you believe that she doesn't have their shared historys not well, shebut there's a lot 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 fun – expats who have left Spain and returned home, in order to make a bit younger than the rest of themmoney to try and make ends at least come in sight of each other, an actress and so oneven if they never meet. [[Four Staying On by Andy JonesC M Taylor|Full Review]]
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===[[A Child Called Happiness The Day of the Orphan by Stephan CollishawDr Nat Tanoh]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
Mazowe ValleySaga is eighteen and, 2011 – Natalie hears a sharp cry that she thinks at first might be a birdlike many eighteen-year olds, but turns out his prime concerns are listening to be 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 babygood life. However, abandoned to the birds on the kopjesuburb is in Africa, where childhoods can be snatched in an instant. She is there with her uncle When his friends and they take family are dragged into the childconflict raging around the dictatorship that Saga lives under, back he is forced to his farm initially and then become an unlikely revolutionary. Can chubby Saga really stand up to a local village where it is taken in. They do not report it murderous regime? And can he stay one step ahead of the soldiers desperate to the police. stop him? [[A Child Called Happiness The Day of the Orphan by Stephan CollishawDr Nat Tanoh|Full Review]]
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===[[Mr Peacock's Possessions Murmuration by Lydia SysonRobert Lock]]===
[[image:4star3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Historical General Fiction|Historical General Fiction]], [[:Category:General Historical Fiction|General Historical Fiction]]
On a remote volcanic island off ''Murmuration'' follows the coast lives of New Zealand, a family host of settlers struggle characters from 1863 to make such an unforgiving place the present day. From a home. When risqué comic to a ship appearsfortune teller, they feel that their wishes have been granted we see the birth of Blackpool and their community reinvigorated – but high hopes are swiftly dashed when its steadily fading glamour. There is a vulnerable boy disappears. As both settlers and newcomers come together in hint of mysticism to the tale, with the search for mesmerising dance of starlings over the childpier acting as an anchor throughout the distinct narratives here, they uncover far, far more than they were looking for – discovering dark secrets about both drawing together disparate stories of lives captivated by the island and those who inhabit itsea. [[Mr Peacock's Possessions Murmuration by Lydia SysonRobert Lock|Full Review]]
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===[[Underwater Breathing Smoking Kills by Cassandra ParkinAntoine Laurain and Louise Rogers-Lalaurie (translator)]]===
[[image:5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
A tumble-down Edwardian house that will sooner rather than later tumble down the mud cliffs Meet Fabrice Valantine. He's a headhunter, and away into the sea a successful one too, in an office in Paris. All around him however his world is changing – yes, there is where we meet Jacob and Ella. They share a bathroom new ban on smoking in the turretall workplaces. Goaded by his non-smoking wife, old and cold and not really supposed to be used…but this is where even though they hide away from the shouts met over an ashtray, of their parents' arguments. Here they play the Underwater Breathing gamesorts, submerging themselves he sees a hypnotist who had success with a mutual friend in the water holding stopping their breath for as long as they cannicotine habit. For sixteen year old Jacob it's just a way of drowning out The session seems to have been successful, however he faces the arguments…but for Ella it is more than that. She is terrified prospect of the seahaving such a change to his own personality, his imbued habits and lifestyle, with fear, of the fact that when he realises it will come and swallow their housenever again grant him any pleasure. She He needs to know this pleasure when further changes at work come about – but it's what he replaces the habit with that she can survive under water. She has to practicewill surprise the most. [[Underwater Breathing Smoking Kills by Cassandra ParkinAntoine Laurain and Louise Rogers-Lalaurie (translator)|Full Review]]
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===[[The Great Believers Island by Rebecca MakkaiM A Bennett]]===
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:LGBT Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:General Fiction|LGBT General Fiction]]
A contemporary take on the savage classic ''The Great BelieversLord of the Flies'' follows : a group of friends whose lives are devastated by the AIDS crisis in Chicago during the late 1980’smismatched, modern-day teenagers must fight to survive on a deserted island. Link is a fish out of water. Beginning in 1985Newly arrived from America, he is finding it hard to settle into the reader follows Yale venerable and his friends as 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 come to terms with can run round the increasingly virulent illness spreading throughout their community, alongside their demonisation at school quad - however ancient that quad may be? When Link runs the hands of a conservative America. Thirty slowest time in years later Fiona, a devoted friend to Yale, is searching for her estranged daughter on he immediately becomes the streets butt of Paris, trying every school joke. And some students are determined to rebuild a relationship beset by memories and old hurtmake his life more miserable than others... [[The Great Believers Island by Rebecca MakkaiM A Bennett|Full Review]]
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===[[The Brighton Mermaid Lost Letters of William Woolf by Dorothy KoomsonHelen Cullen]]===
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]]
In 1993, two teenagers stumble across William Woolf is a horrific scene on the beach as they're sneaking home after an un-authorised night out: a body of a young womanletter detective, partially stripped, totally deceased. The find hits working in the girls Dead Letters Depot in different ways. Nell becomes obsessed with finding the identity of the girl – who she calls ''the Brighton Mermaid'' because of a distinguishing tattoo – whereas Jude just wants to forget it ever happenedEast London. Fast forward 25 years and Nell is still haunted by what happened that night. With few leads to go on, the Police closed the case without cracking itHe spends his days deciphering smudged addresses, tracking down mysterious people and so it remains one of those unsolved mysteries that become part reading endless letters of local folklorelove, but Nell struggles to let sleeping dogsguilt, or even sleeping mermaidsdeath, lie. As for Judehope, well no one knows if the discovery still haunts her because no one knows where she is. Shortly after that fateful night, she too disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. There's more to Brighton than Stag Dos and Gay Pride, it seemseveryday life. [[The Brighton Mermaid Lost Letters of William Woolf by Dorothy KoomsonHelen Cullen|Full Review]]
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