General Chat

n

A good morning nudge

x Jill

A quick nudge while I am doing my lunchtime check of emails

Can't believe how quickly this slides down the pages.

n

Harlot Queen - Hilda Lewis

Isabella of France was proud to be wed to the handsome Edward II of England, but her joy soon turned to rancor, for Piers Gaveston, an egotistical and mercenary courtier, usurped her husband's bed. No woman could compete with her beauty, but another man? What could she do at the age of fourteen? Wait, only wait. And so she waited, nursing her anger, rejection, and disgust. She grew in beauty and wiles; the king, in weakness, as other men, worse men, took Gaveston's place. Weary of waiting, Isabella turned to Mortimer of Wigmore. In his bed, she found comfort and love and cared little that people called her a harlot. But even the presence of Mortimer could not quench her thirst for vengence, once she had tasted blood. Like an unleashed fury, she pursued the king's paramours. She would tear England in half to quench her rage; if she failed, her son would avenge her honour. The contest that ensued decided the fate of England. In this historically accurate and thrilling story of power and passion, Hilda Lewis has created an unforgettable account of how the fate of nations has often been forged in royal bedrooms.

Anybody Out There? - Marian Keyes

'I had to go back to New York and try to find him. There was a chance he mightn't be there but I had to give it a go because there was one thing I was certain of: he wasn't here.' Anna Walsh is officially a wreck. She's covered in bandages and she's lying in her parents' Good Front Room dreaming of leaving Dublin and getting back to New York, to her friends, to the most fabulous job in the world - and most of all, back to her husband, Aiden. But her family have other ideas (not to mention the usual problems that beset the Walsh sisters). And Aiden, for some reason, seems unwilling to get in touch. What happened to Anna to send her so far from all that she loves? And what happened to her marriage that her husband won't talk to her?

Jeanette x

The Visible World.. Mark Slouka.
As a boy growing up in New York, his parents' memories of their Czech homeland seen to belong to another world, as distant and unreal as the fairy tales his father tells him. It is only as an adult, when he makes his own journey to Prague, that he is finally able to piece together the truth of his parents' past, what they did, who his mother loved, and why they were never able to forget.

The 6th Target by James Patterson..
When a lone gunman goes on a shooting spree aboard a packed San Francisco ferry Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer is called in to investigate. Ar the scene she finds 3 people dead and her fellow Womens Club member Claire Washburn fighting for her life. Lindsay promises to find whoever did this but it's a promise she may not be able to keep.
As the investigation makes it's way to court, news of a child abduction comes through. Lindsay's put on the case and discovers that more children have been taken. But with no ransom demands the abductions don't seem to make sense - unless the kidnappers aren't planning on returning their hostages..
The clock is ticking as Lindsay tries to fit all the pieces together. She knows that if she doesn't find the children quickly it will be too late.....

Sovereign by C J Sansom


Synopsis
It is autumn, 1541. Following the uncovering of a plot against his throne in Yorkshire, King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to overawe his rebellious subjects there. Accompanied by a thousand soldiers, the cream of the nobility, and his fifth wife Catherine Howard, the King is to attend an extravagant submission of the local gentry at York. Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as assisting with legal work processing petitions to the King, Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission - to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator being returned to London for interrogation. But the murder of a local glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but to the royal family itself. As the Great Progress arrives in the city, Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret papers that holds danger for the King's throne, and a chain of events unfolds that will
lead Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age.



The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seaton

What an incredible story of an amazing woman. Elizabeth Fones, married into the Winthrop family, the leader of that being John Winthrop who took his family to New England to govern the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Elizabeth was a rare woman indeed, going on to being one of the few women of her times to be a large landholder, married three times and finally finding great happiness and love in the last one to Will Hallet.

This book has it all -- passion, madness, bigotry, ignorant superstitions and religious persecution. The author beautifully weaves her story so that you feel you are there, from terrors of sailing the Atlantic, small pox, the sights, sounds and smells of the times, everything is perfectly melded to entertain and educate you about this period. I was also sorrowed at the eventual treatment of the Native Americans, from originally friendly terms, then to end so tragically. I found out much about a period in our nation's history that I only had the briefest of recollections from those long ago history lessons in school.

x Jill

Just adding to say I have seen the thread and will add mine later if thats all right,tomorrow at latest.

x Jill

have to keep this up the top

sorry that was me deleted in error

hello

I would like to nominate these 2 books:

1. PD James - Death in holy orders.
One of the better books from this author and much better than the tv version.

A young boy (sebastian) was abandoned at birth and eventually ends up in a theological college, when another young man from the college dies sebastian's whole life changes as his true family becomes known to him - even the chief police officer in charge is at risk from a sinister murderer.

2. Bernard Cornwell - Sharpe's Company.

I have only just started reading this book and have never seen the tv series, but I love historical fiction, this particular book is dealing with possible infiltrators from the enemy and some seriously tired brits, the outcome is a major assault where nerves and foul moods are intertwined with the battle.
I can't wait to get to the battle - hooked already.


Gill

My suggestions

Shadows and strongholds Elizabeth Chadwick

England 1148 10 year old Brunin FitzWarin is an awkward misfit in his own family. A quiet child, he is tormented by his brothers and loathed by his powerful and autocratic Grandmother. In an attempt to encourage Brunin’s development, his father sends him to be fostered in the household of Joscelin de Dinan, Lord of Ludlow. Here Brunin will be educated in knightly arts.
Hawise, the youngest daughter of Lord Joscelin, soon forms a strong friendship with Brunin and they grow up together against a tumultuous background. Family loyalties mean that her father, with the young Brunin as his squire must aid Prince Henry of Anjou in his battle with King Stephen for the English crown. Meanwhile Ludlow itself comes under threat from Joscelin’s rival, Gilbert de Lacy. As the war for the crown rages, and de Lacy becomes even more assertive in his claims for Ludlow, the relationship between Brunin and Hawise is irrevocably changed as their parents arrange a marriage between them.
As the pressure on Ludlow intensifies and a new Welsh threat emerges, Brunin must confront the future head on or fail on all counts.


The River by Tricia Wastvedt

In the summer of 1958 two children are drowned while they play in a boat on a Devon river. Their parents, Isabel and Robert, are bound together in guilt and anger, and as years pass the tragedy becomes part of the invisible fabric of village life. Thirty years later Anna comes to the village, escaping city life and her own disappointments. She does not tell anyone that she is pregnant.
Anna goes to live with Isobel and for a time the women find comfort in each other, but the baby’s arrival opens up old wounds. As Anna uncovers the secrets of the past, she is inexorably drawn into the conflict in which Isobel and Robert have been locked for three decades.
The River is a lyrical, hypnotically readable novel about families, old secrets and loss. Peopled by a large cast of beautifully rendered characters, it is a portrait of a community and the landscape in which they live – a haunting tale of betrayal, failure, love and fortitude.

From Kate

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
Maraim is only 15 when she is sent to Kabul to marry the troubled an.d bitter Rasheed, 30 years her senior. Nearly 2 decades later tragedy strikes 15 year old Laila who must leave her home and join Mariam's unhappy household. Laila and maraim find consolation in each other and the ties of friendship grow strong.
The Taliban comes to rule Afghanistan and the streets of Kabul ring with gn fire and bombs.Life is a desperate struggle. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism. In the end it is love that triumphs over death and destruction.

The Butterfly House - Marcia Preston
Roberta and Cynthia are destined to be best friends forever - when both you fathers are missing you have a lot in common. Roberta finds Cynthia's house the perfect refuge from her alcoholic father. Cynthia's mum keeps beautiful, rare butterflies in her sun porch and she's everything Roberta thinks a mum should be. But, like the butterflies they are living in a hot house. Years later a hauntingly familiar stranger knocks on Roberta's door forcing her to begin a journey back to childhood. But is she ready to know the truth about what happened to her, her firend and their mothers that tragic night 10 years ago?

'The Probable Future' by Alice Hoffman

The women of the Sparrow family have lived in New England for generations. Each is born in the month of March, and at the age of thirteen, each develops an unusual gift. Elinor can literally smell a lie. Her daughter, Jenny, can see people’s dreams as they’re dreaming them. Granddaughter Stella, newly a teen, has just developed the ability to see how other people will die. Hoffman unlocks the caskets of family life and the secret history of a community in this magical story about young love and old love, about making choices.

From Scotland on Sunday - Magical and entertaining; at times possitively bewitching... That Hoffman is a highly capabpe storyteller is no doubt. Hoffman's novel possesses the irresistible quality of a compeling fairytale for adults.


Lords of the Bow (The Epic Story of the Great Conqueror - Genghis Khan) by Gonn Iggulden (I am so glad I do not have to pronoune either of those names)

Temujin of the Wolves has become Genghis Khan, a man who must unite the most fractious, warlike tribes on earth.

From the back of the book - Lords of the Bow is epic in scope, convincing and fascinating in the narration of an extraordinary story.

Alfie's suggestions
Brick Lane by Monica Ali.

Amazon.co.uk Review
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the life of an Asian immigrant girl deals cogently with issues of love, cultural difference and the human spirit. The pre-publicity hype about Brick Lane was precisely the kind to set alarm bells ringing (we've heard it so often before), but, for once, the excitement is fully justified: Monica Ali's debut novel demonstrates that there is a new voice in modern fiction to be reckoned with.
Nazneen is a teenager forced into an arranged marriage with a man considerably older than her--a man whose expectations of life are so low that misery seems to stretch ahead for her. Fearfully leaving the sultry oppression of her Bangladeshi village, Nazneen finds herself cloistered in a small flat in a high-rise block in the East End of London. Because she speaks no English, she is obliged to depend totally on her husband. But it becomes apparent that, of the two, she is the real survivor: more able to deal with the ways of the world, and a better judge of the vagaries of human behaviour. She makes friends with another Asian girl, Razia, who is the conduit to her understanding of the unsettling ways of her new homeland.

This is a novel of genuine insight, with the kind of characterisation that reminds the reader at every turn just what the novel form is capable of. Every character (Nazneen, her disappointed husband and her resourceful friend Razia) is drawn with the complexity that can really only be found in the novel these days. In some ways, the reader is given the same all-encompassing experience as in a Dickens novel: humour and tragedy rub shoulders in a narrative that inexorably grips the reader. Whether or not Monica Ali can follow up this achievement is a question for the future; it's enough to say right now that Brick Lane is an essential read for anyone interested in current British fiction. --Barry Forshaw

Observer
'... Surely, Brick Lane can't be that good. Actually, it's better.'


The Rose of Sebastapol' by Katherine McMahon.

Russia, 1854. As the Crimean War grinds on, Rosa Barr- young headstrong and beautiful- travels to the battlefields, determined to save as many of the wounded as she can.

For Mariella Lingwood, Rosa's cousin, the war is contained within the pages of her scrapbook, in her London sewing circle, and in the letters she receives from Henry her fiance, a celebrated surgeon who has also volunteered to work within the shadow of the guns. But when Henry falls ill, and Rosa's communications cease, Mariella finds herself drawn inexorably towards the war.

Following the trail of her elusive and captivating cousin, Mariella's epic journey takes her from the domestic restraint of Victorian London to the ravaged landscape of the Crimea. As she ventures deeper into the dark heart of the conflict, Mariella's ordered world begins to crumble and she finds she has much to learn abut secrecy, faithfulness and love.
(from back cover)

DEE'S suggestions

The Girls – Lori Lansens

In twenty-nine years, Rose Darlen has never spent a moment apart from her twin sister Ruby. She has never gone for a solitary walk or had a private conversation. Yet, in all that time, she has never once looked into Ruby’s eyes. Joined at the head, ‘The Girls’ (as they are known in their small town) attempt to lead a normal life, but can’t help being extraordinary. Now almost thirty, Rose and Ruby are on the verge of becoming the oldest craniopagus twins in history, but they are remarkable for a lot more than their unusual sisterly bond

Semi-Detached – Griff Rhys Jones

Semi-Detached is Griff Rhys Jones’s own account of his ordinary suburban childhood; of adolescent scraps and scrapes; of coming of age in the 1960’s and 70’s; of family and university life; and of times lost or at least fuzzy around the edges

It is a powerful, moving and above all touchingly funny memoir of how one of the nation’s most popular comics and personalities got from there to here

-------------------------------

I am putting this up early to give people the chance to see it as it is bank holiday and more might be around. If it has not been seen by everyone I will leave it until the date I said (26th) as people may be checking for it then.

Please suggest two books of any category. Please avoid for the moment the following authors read in the recent past

Philippa Gregory (X2)
Minette Walters
Anita Shreve
Joe Hill
Louise Candlish
Mark Billingham
Kate Morton
Jane Harris
Charlotte Bingham
Marcus Zusak
Elizabeth Kostava
Valerie Wood
Mark Mills
Diane Setterfield

And don't forget you will not be able to vote for your own books.

The vote will be held either when all suggestions are in or at the latest Wednesday 26th evening.


for those who are new - welcome, if you have any worries about your suggestions pm them to me and I will see if they are OK. Don't forget to give a synopsis of the books.

Ann
Glos