Source: Publishers Group Canada

#BookReview The Hidden Beach by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheHiddenBeach

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#BookReview The Hidden Beach by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheHiddenBeach Title: The Hidden Beach

Author: Karen Swan

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Apr. 30, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From internationally bestselling author Karen Swan comes The Hidden Beach, an addictive story of heartbreak, loyalty and hope, set in the historic city of Stockholm and along the beautiful archipelagos of the Swedish coast.

In the oldest part of Stockholm, Bell Everhurst is working as a nanny for an affluent family. Hanna and Max Von Greyerz are parents to 7-year-old Linus, and 5-year old twins Ellinor and Tilde, and Bell has been with the family for over two years.

One early Spring morning, as she’s rushing out to take the children to school, she answers the phone – and everything changes. A woman from a clinic she’s never heard of asks her to pass on the message that Hanna’s husband is awake.

Bell is confused. She clearly just saw Max walking out of the house a few minutes earlier, but the woman mentioned Hanna by name . . .

When she gets hold of her employer, the truth is revealed: Hanna’s first husband fell into a coma seven years earlier, following an accident. But now he’s awake. And life is going to change for them all.

Review:

Pensive, mysterious, and multilayered!

The Hidden Beach is a heartwarming, compelling story that sweeps you away to the idyllic archipelagos islands of Sweden and immerses you into the lives of Bell Everhurst and the Von Greyers family as their world is turned upside down when a miracle brings the past into the present and triggers a whirlwind of emotions, strains on relationships new and old, and secrets long-buried to become unearthed.

The prose is expressive and vivid. The characters are complex, confused, troubled, and intriguing. And the story is a beguiling tale of life, loss, love, familial drama, friendship, secrets, infidelity, forgiveness, heartbreak, deception, and romance.

Overall, The Hidden Beach is a thoughtful, emotive, charming tale by Swan that is absorbing, entertaining, and perfect for any sunny day.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

               

 

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Karen Swan

Karen Swan began her career in fashion journalism before giving it all up to raise her three children and a puppy, and to pursue her ambition of becoming a writer. She lives in the forest outside Sussex, England, writing her books in a treehouse overlooking the Downs.

An internationally bestselling author, her numerous books include The Rome Affair, The Paris Secret, Christmas Under the Stars, and The Christmas Secret. 

Photograph by Alexander James

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#BookReview Braised Pork by An Yu @groveatlantic @PGCBooks

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#BookReview Braised Pork by An Yu @groveatlantic @PGCBooks Title: Braised Pork

Author: An Yu

Published by: Grove Press on Apr. 14, 2020

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 240

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 7/10

One morning in autumn, Jia Jia walks into the bathroom of her Beijing apartment to find her husband – with whom she had been breakfasting barely an hour before – dead in the bathtub. Next to him a piece of paper unfolds like the wings of a butterfly, and on it is an image that Jia Jia can’t forget.

Profoundly troubled by what she has seen, even while she is abruptly released from a marriage that had constrained her, Jia Jia embarks on a journey to discover the truth of the sketch. Starting at her neighbourhood bar, with its brandy and vinyl, and fuelled by anger, bewilderment, curiosity and love, Jia Jia travels deep into her past in order to arrive at her future.

Braised Pork is a cinematic, often dreamlike evocation of nocturnal Beijing and the high plains of Tibet, and an exploration of myth-making, loss, and a world beyond words, which ultimately sees a young woman find a new and deeper sense of herself.

Review:

Unique, mesmerizing, and reflective!

Braised Pork is a short but mystifyingly lush tale about a young, vulnerable widow, Jia Jia whose life is irrevocably changed, upheaved, and somewhat freed when her husband suddenly dies and leaves behind a sketch of a “fish-man” figure.

The prose is elegant and expressive. The imagery is gritty and vivid. And the plot is a spiritual journey into the true meaning and importance of life, love, and death.

Braised Pork as a whole is a beautifully crafted tale that is perplexing, immersive, melancholic, and pensive, and yet when I finished the final page I was, unfortunately, left feeling a little flat and unfulfilled.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy of this story from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

       

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About An Yu

An Yu (安於) was born and raised in Beijing, and spent parts of her life studying and working in London, New York, and Paris. She received her M.F.A. from New York University. Her first novel, Braised Pork, was published by Harvill Secker in January 2020, Grove Atlantic in April 2020 (US), and forthcoming in six other languages worldwide.

She currently lives in Beijing.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview The Telephone Box Library by Rachael Lucas @karamina @PGCBooks @panmacmillan

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#BookReview The Telephone Box Library by Rachael Lucas @karamina @PGCBooks @panmacmillan Title: The Telephone Box Library

Author: Rachael Lucas

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Feb. 25, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 401

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

The Telephone Box Library is an uplifting story about fresh starts and new beginnings, set in a picturesque Cotswold village, by bestselling author Rachael Lucas.

Books. Wine. Secrets. You’ll find them all at the telephone box library . . .

The Cotswolds: the perfect retreat for a stressed-out teacher. And Lucy has found just the right cottage for a bargain rent. All she has to do is keep an eye on Bunty, her extremely feisty ninety-something neighbour . . .

With her West Highland terrier Hamish at her side, Lucy plans to relax and read up on the women of nearby Bletchley Park. But the villagers of Little Maudley have other ideas, and she finds herself caught up in the campaign to turn a dilapidated telephone box into a volunteer-run library.

Along the way, she makes friends with treehouse designer Sam, and finds herself falling for the charms of village life. And it seems Bunty has a special connection to Bletchley and the telephone box, one that she’s kept secret for decades . . .

Review:

Quaint, cosy, and heartwarming!

The Telephone Box Library is an absorbing, uplifting tale that sweeps you away to the beautiful village of Little Maudley and immerses you into the lives of several of its residents, both old and new, permanent and temporary as they celebrate, support, heal, grow, communicate, remember the past, take chances, start anew, and join together to create something worthwhile.

The writing is seamless and light. The characters are multilayered, kind, and endearing. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a charming tale of life, love, family, friendship, self-reflection, history, happiness, romance, and community.

Overall, The Telephone Box Library is a sweet, atmospheric, delightful tale by Lucas that is entertaining, satisfying, and the perfect sunny afternoon treat.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

             

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rachael Lucas

Rachael Lucas juggles working as an author, coach, and freelance writer with the aid of quite a lot of tea. She and her partner (also a writer) live by the seaside in the North West of England with their six children.
She is the author of Finding Hope at Bramble Farm, My Box-Shaped Heart, Wildflower Bay, Coming Up Roses, and Sealed With a Kiss.

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#BookReview I Thought I Knew You by Penny Hancock @Pennyhancock @MantleBooks @PGCBooks

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#BookReview I Thought I Knew You by Penny Hancock @Pennyhancock @MantleBooks @PGCBooks Title: I Thought I Knew You

Author: Penny Hancock

Published by: Mantle Books on Feb. 4, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

For fans of He Said/She Said and Anatomy of a Scandal, Penny Hancock’s I Thought I Knew You is about secrets and lies – and whose side you take when it really matters.

Who do you know better? Your oldest friend? Or your child?
And who should you believe when one accuses the other of an abhorrent crime?

Jules and Holly have been best friends since university. They tell each other everything, trading revelations and confessions, and sharing both the big moments and the small details of their lives: Holly is the only person who knows about Jules’s affair; Jules was there for Holly when her husband died. And their two children – just three years apart – have grown up together.

So when Jules’s daughter Saffie makes a serious allegation against Holly’s son Saul, neither woman is prepared for the devastating impact this will have on their friendship or their families.

Especially as Holly, in spite of her principles, refuses to believe her son is guilty.

Review:

Pensive, intricate, and raw!

I Thought I Knew You is a gripping, domestic drama that delves into the unbreakable bond between a mother and her child and reminds us that when push comes to shove a mother will defend her child to the detriment of all other relationships regardless of how close or enduring.

The prose is eloquent and absorbing. The characters are multilayered, well developed, and troubled. And the plot told from two different perspectives uses an alternating, back-and-forth style to create tension and unease as it subtly unravels all the personalities, behaviours, relationships, and histories within it.

I Thought I Knew You is, ultimately, a novel about parenting, friendship, trust, loyalty, secrets, betrayal, repercussions, scandal, and community fallout. It is certainly an edgy novel by Hancock that is not only thought-provoking but emotionally compelling.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Penny Hancock

Penny grew up in South East London and then did an English degree in Newcastle Upon Tyne. For several years she taught English as a foreign language in Italy, Greece and Morocco. She then took a PGCE, got a job as a Primary school teacher in an inner city London school, and moved into her partner Andy’s short-life house in East London, which is now part of the hardcore under the M11 that links their new home in Cambridge with her birth place in Greenwich!

While bringing up their three children, she continued to teach in primary schools, taught English to asylum seekers, and ran adult education classes in writing. She also wrote articles for various papers (The Independent, The Guardian, The Times Ed, The Sunday Express magazine, and Child Education, amongst others) specialising in family and education. Penny has also written readers for English language learners for Cambridge University Press, and a Primary English course for children published by Longmans. It was an Arvon writing course and an MA in creative writing at Anglia Ruskin University that encouraged her to complete her first novel.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview A Midwinter Promise by Lulu Taylor @MissLuluTaylor @PGCBooks @panmacmillan

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#BookReview A Midwinter Promise by Lulu Taylor @MissLuluTaylor @PGCBooks @panmacmillan Title: A Midwinter Promise

Author: Lulu Taylor

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jan. 14, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Historical Fiction

Pages: 560

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A gripping and compelling gothic novel from Lulu Taylor, bestselling author of The Snow Rose and Her Frozen Heart.

One family across two generations.
A marriage marred by trauma and infidelity.
Lives marked by death, divorce and a shattered family. A dark secret at the heart of a tragedy.

Now the Pengelly family reunites around the sickbed of David, a beloved husband and father, to confront the emotions and the secrets that have divided them over the years.

Set around the beautiful wildness of Tawray, a house near the Cornish coast, A Midwinter Promise by bestselling author Lulu Taylor, is a dramatic story of loss, grief and the legacy of secrets. It is also a tale of reconciliation and renewal.

Review:

Disquieting, moving, and absorbing!

A Midwinter Promise is predominantly set in Cornwall during the 1980s and 90s, as well as present-day that takes you into the lives of Alex and Johnnie Pengelly, two middle-aged siblings who are struggling to come to grips with the complicated relationship they have with their dying father, the hostility between themselves and their stepmother, and the truth behind the life and loss of their mother, Julia when they were children.

The writing is captivating and vivid. The characters are genuine, distressed, and intriguing. And the plot, alternating between timelines, unravels and intertwines into a sweeping saga filled with life, loss, family, heartbreak, parenthood, mental illness, substance abuse, secrets, deception, and friendship.

Overall, A Midwinter Promise is another compelling, intelligent, heartwarming tale by Taylor that reminds us that life is short, psychological disorders are a very real concern with often devastating consequences, and people often do the wrong thing for the right reason.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or one of the following links.

          

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lulu Taylor

Lulu Taylor moved around the world as a child before her family settled in the Oxfordshire countryside. She studied English at Oxford University and had a successful career in publishing before becoming a writer. Her first novel, Heiresses was published in 2007 and nominated for the RNA Readers' Choice award. It was followed by Midnight Girls, Beautiful Creatures, Outrageous Fortune, The Winter Folly, The Snow Angel, The Winter Children, and The Snow Rose. She lives in Dorset, England, with her husband and two children.

Photograph by Alicia Clarke.

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#BookReview The Daughter by Michelle Frances @PGCBooks @panmacmillan

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#BookReview The Daughter by Michelle Frances @PGCBooks @panmacmillan Title: The Daughter

Author: Michelle Frances

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jan. 1, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

Getting pregnant as a teenager was never part of Kate’s plan, but when it happens she’s determined to do right by her daughter, showing her the love she never had as a child.

Life as a single mother is hard, sometimes impossible, but it only brings Kate and Becky closer together. By the time Becky is making her own way in the world as a tenacious trainee journalist, Kate couldn’t be prouder.
But when the unthinkable happens, Kate’s life is changed forever. Desperately trying to understand, Kate stumbles across a story Becky was researching.

Is it possible that this cruel twist of fate wasn’t an accident?

The Daughter is a gripping, powerful story of a mother’s courage and devotion, by the number one bestselling author of The Girlfriend.

Review:

Gripping, propulsive, and chillingly informative!

The Daughter is an eerie, suspenseful thriller that takes us into the life of Kate, a middle-aged single mum who after the sudden death of her inquisitive daughter endeavours to seek justice and discover once and for all whether her daughter’s death was purely accidental or altogether something entirely more sinister.

The writing is sharp and intense. The characters are passionate, persistent, and consumed. And the plot told in alternating points-of-view is a pacey, dramatic tale of determination, courage, corruption, power, greed, suspicion, violence, reckless endangerment, and murder.

Overall, The Daughter is an engrossing, perilous, timely novel by Frances that reminds us of the unconditional, powerful love shared between a mother and her child and the sometimes ruthless lengths big business will go to keep turning a profit.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

             

 

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Michelle Frances

Michelle Frances graduated from Bournemouth Film School and then from the Masters programme at the American Film Institute, Los Angeles. Returning to London, she has worked for several years in film and TV as a script editor and producer for both the independent sector and the BBC.

Her first novel, The Girlfriend, became an international best seller.

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#BookReview Crushed by Kate Hamer @kate_hamer @FaberBooks @PGCBooks

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#BookReview Crushed by Kate Hamer @kate_hamer @FaberBooks @PGCBooks Title: Crushed

Author: Kate Hamer

Published by: Faber & Faber on Jun. 7, 2019

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

Phoebe stands on Pulteney Bridge, tights gashed from toe to thigh. The shock of mangled metal and blood-stained walls flashes through her mind as she tries to cover her face so she won’t be recognised. It wouldn’t do to be spotted looking like this. She’s missing a shoe. She feels sick.

Phoebe thought murder and murder happened. Thoughts are just thoughts, they said. Now she knows they were wrong.

At home, Phoebe arranges the scissors and knives so they point toward her mother’s room. She is exhausted, making sure there’s no trace of herself – not a single hair, not even her scent – left anywhere in the house. She must not let her thoughts unravel, because if they do, there’s no telling who might be caught in the crossfire, and Phoebe will have to live with the consequences.

Review:

Gloomy, tragic, and consuming!

Crushed is an ominous, gritty, character-driven tale that takes you into the lives of three teenage friends, Phoebe, Orla, and Grace, as they each struggle to find some semblance of control, power, and love in a life littered with dysfunction, self-destruction, insecurities, and lack of affection.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are vulnerable, damaged, and impulsive. And the plot is a slow-burning, immersive tale full of life, loss, deception, desperation, friendship, familial drama, manipulation, jealousy, obsession, emerging sexuality, abuse, violence, and murder.

Overall, Crushed is a dark, eerie, astute, coming-of-age tale by Hamer that does a remarkable job of delving into the complex dynamics between friends and family and highlights just how parasitic and toxic some of those relationships can truly be.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                          

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kate Hamer

Kate Hamer's third novel CRUSHED is published in May 2019 (Faber & Faber). She is the author of THE DOLL FUNERAL (Faber & Faber 2017) which was a Bookseller book of the month and an editor's pick for Radio 4's Open Book. Her first novel THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT has been translated into 18 different languages. It was shortlisted for The Costa First Novel Prize, the British Book Industry Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year, The John Creasy (New Blood) Dagger and the Wales Book of the Year. It was a Sunday Times bestseller. She grew up in the west country and rural Pembrokeshire and now lives with her husband in Cardiff.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview Be My Guest by Priya Basil @canongatebooks @PGCBooks

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#BookReview Be My Guest by Priya Basil @canongatebooks @PGCBooks Title: Be My Guest

Author: Priya Basil

Published by: Canongate Books Ltd on Nov. 15, 2019

Pages: 128

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A meditation on the meaning and limits of hospitality today, from the shortlisted author of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.

The dinner table, among friends, is where the best conversations take place⁠—talk about the world, religion, politics, culture and cooking. In the same way, Be My Guest is a conversation about all those things, mediated through the medium of shared food.

We live in a world where some have too much and others not enough, where immigrants and refugees are both welcomed and vilified, and where most of us spend less and less time cooking and eating together. Priya Basil invites us to explore the meaning and limits of hospitality today, and in doing so makes a passionate plea for a kinder, more welcoming realization that we have more in common than divides us.

Review:

Eloquent, pensive, and rich!

Be My Guest is a beautifully written, candid story by Basil that explores the power of being hospitable and the diverse customs and traditions that people use around the world to invite, include, accept, nourish, and share with others.

The writing is informative and moving. And the novel is a generous, welcoming tale that delves into the true meaning of hospitality and emphasizes that the dinner table should not only be a place for nourishment but a place for unification regardless of political ideologies, religion, skin colour, or socioeconomic status.

Overall, I would have to say that Be My Guest is, ultimately, a genuine, impassioned, humourous reminder that breaking bread with family, friends, strangers, and even the diverse community at large is not only good for the body and mind but also a conscientious, important salve for the heart and soul.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                   

 

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Priya Basil

Priya grew up in Kenya, returning to the UK to study English Literature at the University of Bristol. She had a career in advertising before becoming a full-time writer. In 2010 Priya, and the journalist Matthias Fredrich-Auf der Horst, initiated Authors for Peace. It is intended to be a platform from which writers can actively use literature in different ways to promote peace. The first event by Authors for Peace took place on 21 September 2010, the UN's International Day of Peace. With the support of the International Literature Festival Berlin, Priya hosted a 24hour-live-online-reading by 80 authors from all over the world. The authors read from their work in a gesture of solidarity with those who are oppressed or caught in conflict. Priya lives in London and Berlin.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview The Christmas Party by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan

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#BookReview The Christmas Party by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan Title: The Christmas Party

Author: Karen Swan

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Nov. 1, 2019

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 474

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The Christmas Party is a delicious, page-turning story of romance, family and secrets, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Karen Swan.

When Declan Lorne, the last remaining knight in Ireland, dies suddenly, an ancient title passes with him. But his estate on Ireland’s rugged south-west coast is left to his three daughters. The two eldest, Ottie and Pip, inherit in line with expectations, but to everyone’s surprise – and dismay – it is the errant baby of the family, Willow, who gets the castle.

Why her? Something unknown – something terrible – made her turn her back on her family three years earlier, escaping to Dublin and vowing never to return. So when Willow quickly announces she is selling up, her revenge seems sweet and the once-close sisters are pushed to breaking point: in desperation, Pip risks everything to secure her own future, and Ottie makes a decision that will ruin lives. It’s each woman for herself.

Before moving in, Connor Shaye, the prospective new owner, negotiates throwing a lavish party at the castle just days before Christmas – his hello, their goodbye. But as their secrets begin to catch up with them, Ottie, Willow and Pip are forced to ask themselves which is harder: stepping into the future, or letting go of the past?

Review:

Beguiling, quaint, and heartwarmingly festive!

The Christmas Party is an alluring, heartfelt story that sweeps you away to the beautiful, rugged coastline of southwest Ireland in winter and immerses you into the lives of the Lorne family as they endure a great loss, accept the things they cannot change, confront the past, repair strained relationships, take chances, and embrace the future.

The prose is evocative and well turned. The characters are distressed, vulnerable, genuine, and troubled. And the story is an engaging tale about life, loss, love, grief, familial drama, community, friendship, forgiveness, nostalgia, duty, and romance.

Overall, The Christmas Party is another lovely, absorbing, magical treat by Swan that reminds us to always live life to the fullest and surround ourselves with those we love.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

               

 

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Karen Swan

Karen Swan began her career in fashion journalism before giving it all up to raise her three children and a puppy, and to pursue her ambition of becoming a writer. She lives in the forest outside Sussex, England, writing her books in a treehouse overlooking the Downs.

An internationally bestselling author, her numerous books include The Rome Affair, The Paris Secret, Christmas Under the Stars, and The Christmas Secret. 

Photograph by Alexander James

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#BookReview The Summer Queen by Margaret Pemberton @PGCBooks @panmacmillan

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#BookReview The Summer Queen by Margaret Pemberton @PGCBooks @panmacmillan Title: The Summer Queen

Author: Margaret Pemberton

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Sep. 3, 2019

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 512

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The Summer Queen is an evocative and grand historical novel from Margaret Pemberton, the bestselling author of A Season of Secrets and Beneath the Cypress Tree.

August 1879, Osborne House. Queen Victoria has occupied the British throne for over forty years. Bringing together her extended family from across Europe offers a chance for old alliances to be strengthened and new unions to be forged.

May Teck, daughter of a Duke and Princess, is constantly reminded that she lacks the pedigree to be a true royal. Considering herself an outsider, she finds comfort in meeting two kindred spirits at Osborne; creating a bond with them that she thinks will last forever.

Alicky lives in the shadow of her older siblings and has never recovered from the death of her mother. Until she meets Nicky, heir to the Russian throne, who sweeps her off to his homeland where life will never be the same again.

And then there is Willy, destined to be the future Kaiser of Germany. Suffering from a birth defect, he’s always kept his true feelings locked away and all the world sees is the bombastic persona he projects. As shifting forces of power send warning ripples across Europe, an unavoidable war looms on the horizon . . .

Review:

Fascinating, complex, and compelling!

The Summer Queen is an informative, immersive story set in the UK and Europe from the late 1870s until 1918 that tells the story of Queen Victoria’s descendants, primarily three of her grandchildren; May Teck, an educated, Serene Highness who after living a life of exclusion and heartbreak ultimately becomes Queen Mary; Alicky of Hesse, a shy, religious young woman whose enduring love for Nicky Romanov leads her to become Empress Alexandra; and Willy of Prussia, the Queen’s oldest grandchild who after his father’s death becomes Kaiser Wilhelm, the last emperor to rule Germany.

The prose is vivid and perceptive. The characters are multilayered, stalwart, and resilient. And the plot is a sweeping saga that gives us a unique view into the struggles, sacrifices, hopes, fears, politics, and entangled relationships of the most powerful monarchy of the time.

The Summer Queen is, ultimately, a story about life, love, loss, politics, perseverance, power, war, and sacrifice. It’s an exceptionally well written, rich, thoroughly absorbing story by Pemberton that does a remarkable job of highlighting her considerable research and impressive knowledge into the royalty that existed and ruled the British Empire during this exceptionally important period in European history.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                   

 

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Margaret Pemberton

Margaret A. Hudson was born on 10 April 1943 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, UK, of German extraction. She was daughter of Kathleen (Ramsden), an artist, and George Arthur Hudson, an architect. Married with Londoner Mike Pemberton, they have five grown children, today she lives with her husband and four small dogs in Whitstable, Kent. Apart from writing, her passions are tango, travel, English history and the English countryside.

Published since 1975, she is a bestselling romance writer as Margaret Pemberton, and under the pseudonyms Carris Carlisle; Maggie Hudson and Rebecca Dean. Having travelled extensively, her novels are set in different parts of the world. She was the fifteenth elected Chairman of the Romantic Novelists' Association (1989-1991), she has also served on the Crime Writers' Association Committee.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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