This is a beautifully told story of a
highly imaginative and creative child who, left to her own devises, makes a
world for herself and siblings to escape the neglect of the self-indulgent
adults who have little interest in raising them.
Cristabel Seagrave is
courageous, fiercely loyal, and protective. She sees the magic in the
environment and people around her and when she makes a theatre from the
whalebones she claims as hers, she brings that world to life for others. The
book reaffirmed for me the exquisite nature of childhood imagination and the
resilience of the human spirit.
'A tour de force' Sarah Winman, author of Still Life
This is the story of an old English manor house by the sea, with crumbling chimneys, draping ivy and a library full of dusty hardbacks. It's the story of the three children who grow up there, and the adventures they create for themselves while the grown-ups entertain endless party guests.
This is the story of a whale that washes up on a beach, whose bones are claimed by a twelve-year-old girl with big ambitions and an even bigger imagination. An unwanted orphan who…
I’m a big fan of the character John Rebus
and Ian Rankin’s series about this tough, old-school Scottish detective whose
past is finally catching up with him in this book.
Rankin brings back all the
players who have been enemies and allies of Rebus. I love the way the story
ties up the loose ends of old cases and despite Rebus’s retirement from the
force he is still on the hunt to punish the perpetrators of long-forgotten
crimes.
I love his sarcasm and fearlessness. The rough tenderness and genuine
regret for things undone makes him a believable character who knows he is on
his way out, accepts the inevitability of his own wrongdoings and is prepared
to face whatever is coming his way.
In a brand-new series installment, New York Times bestselling author, Ian Rankin, returns to his legendary detective—it’s not the first time Rebus has taken the law into his own hands, though it may be the last.
John Rebus stands accused: on trial for a crime that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life.
But what drove a good man to cross the line?
Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke may well find out. Clarke is tasked with the city’s most explosive case in years, an infamous cop, at the center of decades of misconduct, has gone missing. Finding…
The sequel to The Boy in the
Striped Pajamas does not disappoint. The power of guilt and ghastliness of WWII
are some of the elements woven into Gretel Fernsby’s story.
It is an
interesting perspective as it is told by a 91-year-old woman who was undoubtedly
on the wrong side of history as a child. The story balances the longevity of
blame with Gretel’s right to keep her past a secret and as a reader I found
myself moving between understanding why there could be no forgiveness for the
horrors of Nazism and the recognition of the fact that a child does not get
choices about which side they are on in a war.
'Beautifully told and gripping from first page to last' Sunday Express 'An incredible feat of storytelling... and an old-fashioned page-turner' Donal Ryan 'Gripping and well-honed...consummately constructed, humming with tension' Guardian 'You can't prepare yourself for the magnitude and emotional impact of this powerful novel' John Irving ________________________________
From the author of the globally bestselling, multi-million-copy classic, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, comes its astonishing and powerful sequel.
Gretel Fernsby is a quiet woman leading a quiet life. She doesn't talk about her escape from Germany seventy years ago or the dark post-war years in France with her mother. Most…
In
this second novel featuring Lily O’Hara she comes to face the brutal truth about
abuse. No stranger to delving into the past and uncovering painful secrets Lily
is drawn to the unknown story of a young fisherman who takes his life and
leaves a cryptic message about the truth killing him. Lily doesn’t know the man
well having only met him briefly but her husband’s best friend, Max Fraser, is
the person who receives the letter and wants to know what it means. Benedict
(Kitty) Jepp is dead, and it falls to Lily to uncover why.
