Belgravia by Julian Fellowes (Review)

Belgravia by Julian Fellowes

Blurb

On the evening of 15 June 1815, the great and the good of British Society have gathered in Brussels at what is to become one of the most tragic parties in history – the Duchess of Richmond’s ball. For this is the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, and many of the handsome young men attending the ball will find themselves, the very next day, on the battlefield.

For Sophia Trenchard, the young and beautiful daughter of Wellington’s chief supplier, this night will change everything. But it is only twenty-five years later, when the upwardly mobile Trenchards move into the fashionable new area of Belgravia, that the true repercussions of that moment will be felt. For in this new world, where the aristocracy rub shoulders with the emerging nouveau riche, there are those who would prefer the secrets of the past to remain buried . . .

Review

I bought this book after watching the fantastic TV series and I was really excited to read it, which of course means that it sat on my TBR pile for a few years. I will be honest I struggled at the beginning to get into this book. I found Fellowes writing style to be more like he is writing a screenplay rather than a novel and I found it hard to get into the flow of the book. However, once I got used to the style I did start to enjoy the book.

The book begins with a ball, a ball being held in the middle of a war. This ball is in Brussels and is hosted by the Duchess of Richmond on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo. Sophia Trenchard and her family are attending this ball and this is where she learns some devastating news. It is this news that sets in motion events that will not resolve for many years.

The story then moves ahead 25 years where we meet the Trenchard family again. This family is now very wealthy and rubbing shoulders with the aristocracy even if the aristocracy are not keen on rubbing shoulders with new money they grin and bear it. James Trenchard has been hugely successful and dreams of making it in high society. However, in his social climbing he can behave in quite a cringe worthy manner which makes his poor wife Anne dread going out in society with him and I can see why. I really liked Anne because she was quiet, she was thoughtful and she knew what she was doing. She was a little bit too trustworthy of her maid at times but otherwise she was a sensible woman who dreamed of a quiet life. She knew she wasn’t welcome in the homes of the aristocracy but she went to please her husband and she sat quietly, said the right things and smiled at the right people then she quietly went home again. James on the other hand had to be talking to people, to be made known to everyone in the room and was quite embarrassing at times. I felt myself cringing with poor Anne.

I enjoyed how the book showed how society functioned in the Victorian period and I loved the glimpses of the servants behaviour. I also really liked how true events were woven into this story. It really gave me Downton vibes at times. I also really liked the characters in the book with Anne being my favourite. This was my first book by Julian Fellowes but it will definitely not be my last. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes (Baron Fellowes of West Stafford), DL. English actor, novelist, screenwriter, and director.

Fellowes is the youngest son of Peregrine Fellowes (a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie restored to his throne during World War II). Julian inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Tattershall from his father, making him the fourth Fellowes to hold it. He was educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

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Nephthys by Rachel Louise Driscoll (Review)

Nephthys by Rachel Louise Driscoll

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

Blurb

Quiet and reserved, Clemmie is happy in the background. But although her parents may overlook her talents, her ability to read hieroglyphs makes her invaluable at the Egyptian relic parties which have made her father the toast of Victorian society.

But at one such party, the words Clemmie interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. The beautiful and dangerous glyphs she holds in her hands will change her life forever.

Five years later, Clemmie arrives in Egypt on a mission to save what remains of her family. The childhood game she used to play about the immortal sisters, Isis and Nephthys, has taken on a devastating resonance and it is only by following Nephthys’ story that she can undo the mistakes of the past. On her journey up the Nile she will meet unexpected allies and enemies and, along with long-buried secrets and betrayals, Clemmie will be forced to step into the light.

Review

I was really excited to read this book and had it preordered for quite a while and I read it almost as soon as it arrived in my parcel box which is unusual for me.

I will be honest I did not gel well with this book. I really tried and there were parts that I enjoyed but I did struggle with the writing style and some of the characters. One of the elements I did enjoy was that the main character Clemmie was an asthmatic. As a fellow asthmatic I found it really interesting to see how asthma was treated in the Victorian period. It really made me realise how dangerous asthma was in that period as there really wasn’t any drugs to help if they had a bad attack.

The other element I loved was the descriptions of Egypt and how the Victorians visited the different locations. I also enjoyed the snippets of Egyptian myths that were included in the book and I would have loved to have had more of those and the descriptions of Egypt. The showing of how Egypt was plundered by tourists and so much history was either destroyed or taken was also good to see that it wasn’t covered up or skipped over but was made part of the story.

I did struggle with how much this book jumped around at times from the present to past and sometimes to dreams. I just felt like it detracted from the storyline and I found it slowed the pacing down quite a bit. I also struggled with Clemmie. Clemmie was a very frustrating character to me. At times she was just too naive and childish and although I know the Victorians were very superstitious Clemmie was broaching on the ridiculous.

This was a take it or leave it book for me, I did enjoy the scenes set in Egypt but I found the flashbacks all too frequent and I just wanted the story to get a move on and back to Egypt. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

Rachel Louise Driscoll won the Curtis Brown Creative scholarship in 2020. Originally from the South West of England, she lives in the North East with her husband and cat, Cleopatra. Nephthys is her debut novel. She was inspired to write Clemmie’s story by an experience she had at a local museum as a child where she was allowed to hold a mummified ancient Egyptian cat. Enjoying the hours of avid research required, Rachel even wrote some of the book wearing a corset in order to capture Clemmie’s experience more accurately!

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The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Review)

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

Blurb

1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.

So when the film’s mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.

Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination.

But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.

Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga.

Review

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my favourite authors and I fully plan on reading all her books so I was quite excited to read this book which I bought at Christmas. I was not disappointed.

The first thing that struck me about this book was just how clever it was. It doesn’t just tell one woman’s story it tells three and they are very different from each other. Vera is an unknown Mexican who is cast as the lead in a Hollywood film. The film is about Salome, the well known biblical figure from the Bible. The second woman is Nancy, who has only ever had bit parts and will do anything to get that lead role she dreams about. The third woman is Salome, that legendary woman from the Bible whose dance set in motion certain events.

I loved the setting of this book and found 1950’s Hollywood fascinating. How it all worked on the set of film, the way to publicise a film through socialising and being seen at certain events, right down to where they had lunch with other actors and writers. These scenes were so well written and well researched that it really helped me see what it was like, the glamorous parts and the not so glamorous.

The character I really did not like in this book was Nancy. Nancy was one of these characters who was convinced that she was cheated by everyone and that she should have the best of everything and yet she wouldn’t work for anything and was horrible to people. She was jealous and vindictive and I really didn’t like the parts of the book where she featured.

Vera was my favourite character and one that I felt very protective over. She had always been overshadowed by her sister, she even knew she wasn’t her mother’s favourite child and her mother regularly compared her to her sister. Vera was innocent and polite and kindness itself. She wanted to help everyone and be friends with everyone and never had a bad word to say about anyone.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and loved how Salome was portrayed. I could not put this book down and it very nearly made the 5 Dragons but I just could not get on with the character of Nancy and her storyline. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of several novels, including Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. She has also edited a number of anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu’s Daughters). Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination.

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The Household by Stacey Halls (Review)

The Household by Stacey Halls

Blurb

In a quiet house in the countryside outside London, the finishing touches are being made to welcome a group of young women. The house and its location are top secret, its residents unknown to one another, but the girls have one thing in they are fallen. Offering refuge for prostitutes, petty thieves and the destitute, Urania Cottage is a second chance at life – but how badly do they want it?

Meanwhile, a few miles away in a Piccadilly mansion, millionairess Angela Burdett-Coutts, one of the benefactors of Urania Cottage, makes a discovery that leaves her her stalker of 10 years has been released from prison . . .

As the women’s worlds collide in ways they could never have expected, they will discover that freedom always comes at a price . . .

Review

Stacey Halls is one of my favourite authors and is definitely an auto buy author for me so I was very excited when I bought this book. As usual though it got added to my TBR pile and didn’t get read straight away.

The thing I always love about Halls’ books is how well researched her history is and this books makes no exception. This book features Urania Cottage which was a second chance for women who had fallen. Urania Cottage was a refuge for prostitutes, thieves, criminals and the destitute. It gave them new skills and a new chance at life. The cottage was real and just like the book was founded by Charles Dickens and the heiress Angela Burdett-Coutts. However, the thing I love about this book is that Halls features the women in this book and Dickens is only mentioned at certain points. It could have been so easy to make a big feature of such a famous author but thankfully he only gets a very tiny bit part and we get to learn more about the actual women in Urania Cottage and Angela Burdett-Coutts.

There are various women featured in the book whose histories we only learn about as we read through the book. Martha and Emily (who were actual inspirations for people in David Copperfield) and Josephine and Annie. At the other end of the social ladder we get to learn more about Angela Burdett-Coutts which is again based on the true history of Angela Burdett-Coutts. Angela is hugely wealthy and loves to help others, she also loves to travel and host parties. She is a woman of means who should have no worries but sadly she is plagued by a stalker who has stalked her life for the past ten years. As the book goes on these characters’ worlds collide and it is fascinating to see it all unfurl.

I enjoyed this book but I did find it lacked the special something Halls’ previous books had. I found Annie very annoying so I was quite pleased she wasn’t featured massively. The one thing I really liked though was that these women who had totally fallen never lost their strength, their pride and their drive. They remained strong characters throughout. This book also also drove me to do further research of my own into Urania Cottage and Angela Burnett-Coutts. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

Stacey Halls grew up in Rossendale, Lancashire, as the daughter of market traders. She has always been fascinated by the Pendle witches. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and moved to London aged 21. She was media editor at The Bookseller and books editor at Stylist.co.uk, and has also written for Psychologies, the Independent and Fabulous magazine, where she now works as Deputy Chief Sub Editor. The Familiars is her first novel.

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Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2024

Hello!

I have decided to take part in the Historical Reading Challenge hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader. I love reading historical fiction so I thought this would be a perfect challenge for me.

Each month a new post is created by Marg where we can post our links for the books we read and review in that month.

Any sub-genre of historical fiction is accepted (Historical Romance, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy, Young Adult, History/Non-Fiction, etc.)

There are different reading levels to work towards:

20th Century Reader – 2 books
Victorian Reader – 5 books
Renaissance Reader – 10 books
Medieval – 15 books
Ancient History – 25 books
Prehistoric – 50+ books

I think I will aim for Ancient History but hopefully I might get higher than that.

I would love to hear if any of my fellow book bloggers are taking part in this challenge. Please drop me a comment with what level you are aiming for in 2024.

Happy Reading

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The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut’s Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney (Review #8)

The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut’s Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney

Blurb

An engrossing biography of the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and the story of her audacious rise to power in a man’s world.

Hatshepsut, the daughter of a general who took Egypt’s throne without status as a king’s son and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty, was born into a privileged position of the royal household. Married to her brother, she was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father’s family. Her failure to produce a male heir was ultimately the twist of fate that paved the way for her inconceivable rule as a cross-dressing king. At just twenty, Hatshepsut ascended to the rank of king in an elaborate coronation ceremony that set the tone for her spectacular twenty-two year reign as co-regent with Thutmose III, the infant king whose mother Hatshepsut out-maneuvered for a seat on the throne. Hatshepsut was a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays with the veil of piety and sexual expression. Just as women today face obstacles from a society that equates authority with masculinity, Hatshepsut had to shrewdly operate the levers of a patriarchal system to emerge as Egypt’s second female pharaoh.

Hatshepsut had successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt’s most prolific building periods. Scholars have long speculated as to why her images were destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her rule. Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power—and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.

Review

I have been wanting to read this book for ages as I have always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt and have always been interested in Hatshepsut. My wonderful husband bought me the book for Christmas so I decided it would be my nonfiction read of February.

Hatshepsut was an amazing woman and one who was unrivalled for hundreds of years but as usual she was also a woman who was driven out of history. Due to the destruction of her statues, monuments and building projects a lot of her history is lost so Cooney has had to do some educated guesswork about certain aspects of Hatshepsut’s life. Cooney explains her reasoning for the guesswork and it is clear that it is all backed by what she knows about the period in history and also by the evidence of Hatshepsut’s life that does thankfully still survive.

Cooney’s writing is packed full of information but it is still an easy read that doesn’t make you feel bogged down with information. It almost reads in places like historical fiction but it isn’t. The only criticism that I do have and it did start to drive me a little crazy was the repetition. Cooney would tell you a fact then repeat it either on the next page or a few pages along and it really wasn’t necessary. I started to find myself sighing and thinking why are you telling me this again when you have literally just told me, I don’t need to be told again but with slightly different wording. I will definitely read more books by Cooney and I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Book Depository | Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

About the author

Dr. Kathlyn M. Cooney aka Dr. Kara Cooney is an Egyptologist and Assistant Professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture at UCLA. She was awarded a PhD in 2002 by Johns Hopkins University for Near Eastern Studies. She was part of an archaeological team excavating at the artisans’ village of Deir el Medina in Egypt, as well as Dahshur and various tombs at Thebes.

In 2002 she was Kress Fellow at the National Gallery of Art and worked on the preparation of the Cairo Museum exhibition Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt. She was a member of the teaching staff at Stanford and Howard University. In 2005, she acted as fellow curator for Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Raised in Houston, she obtained her B.A. from the University of Texas.

She worked on two Discovery Channel documentary series: Out of Egypt, first aired in August 2009, and Egypt’s Lost Queen, which also featured Dr. Zahi Hawass.

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Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse (Review)

Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse

Blurb

Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries brings together Kate’s rich and detailed knowledge of unheard and under-heard women’s history, and of how and why women’s achievements have routinely been omitted from the history books. This beautiful illustrated book is both an alternative feminist history of the world and a personal memoir about the nature of women’s struggles to be heard, about how history is made and by whom.

Split into ten sections, each covering a different category of women’s achievements in history, Kate Mosse tells the stories of female inventors and scientists, philanthropists and conservationists, authors and campaigners. It is the most accessible narrative non-fiction with a genuinely diverse, truly global perspective featuring names such as Sophie Scholl, Mary Seacole, Cornelia Sorabji, Helen Suzman, Shirley Chisholm, and Violette Szabo. And in deeply personal passages Kate writes about the life of her great-grandmother, Lily Watson, where she turns detective to find out why she has all but disappeared from the record.

Review

I discovered Kate Mosse this year so when I saw this book come out I bought it straight away. It took me a long time to read this book because I found that I preferred to dip into it when I was in the mood for some nonfiction.

I found this book absolutely fascinating but at the same time rather frustrating. Just as I discover this fantastic pioneering woman from history the book quickly moves on to another pioneering woman from history. There were certain women that I would have loved to have learned more about. It did mean that I started doing my own research into these interesting characters.

I will be honest I didn’t really find the sections on Lily, Mosse’s great-grandmother, very interesting and would have happily done without them. I can understand Mosse’s interest in her great-grandmother but it just felt a little bit like she was trying too hard to make her relative who published books and articles known to the general public again as Lily had fallen from everyone’s memory and her books are out of publication.

This book is an amazing resource to dip into and one that I will return to again and again. I learned so much from this book and found some amazing women from history who I plan to research further. History has always generally been written by men about men so it was refreshing to find a book written by a woman about women from history. I didn’t find this book an easy read because I found it jumped around rather a lot but I still loved it. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Book Depository | Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

About the author

Kate Mosse is an international bestselling author with sales of more than five million copies in 42 languages. Her fiction includes the novels Labyrinth (2005), Sepulchre (2007), The Winter Ghosts (2009), and Citadel (2012), as well as an acclaimed collection of short stories, The Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales (2013). Kate’s new novel, The Taxidermist’s Daughter is out now.

Kate is the Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (previously the Orange Prize) and in June 2013, was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to literature. She lives in Sussex.

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The Hemlock Cure by Joanne Burn (Review)

The Hemlock Cure by Joanne Burn

Blurb

A glitteringly dark historical novel of love, persecution, and survival set against the backdrop of one of history’s most terrifying episodes: the Bubonic Plague.

It is 1665 and the women of Eyam village keep many secrets. Especially Isabel and Mae.

Isabel Frith, the village midwife, walks a dangerous line with her herbs and remedies. There are men in the village who speak of witchcraft, and Isabel has a past to hide. So she tells nobody her fears about the pious, reclusive apothecary, on whom she is keeping a watchful eye.

Mae, the apothecary’s youngest daughter, dreads her father’s rage if he discovers what she keeps from him: her feelings for Rafe, Isabel’s ward, or the fact that she studies from her father’s books at night.

But others have secrets too. Secrets darker than any of them could have imagined.

When Mae makes a horrifying discovery, Isabel is the only person she can turn to. But helping Mae will place them both in unimaginable peril. Meanwhile another danger is on its way from London. One that threatens to engulf them all. . .

Review

I found this book whilst browsing in Toppings and Company whilst in Bath a couple of months ago. I had never come across Joanne Burn before but seeing this book on display I was attracted by the title and the blurb and decided to give the book a read. I am so pleased I decided to read this book because I absolutely loved it.

This book is based on true events that happened during the plague in 1666. The village of Eyam quarantined itself in an attempt to stop the plague spreading. They sacrificed their own lives to try and save others. Certain characters within this book are also based on real characters from the village as well.

I must admit to begin with I was a little confused with who was telling the story but I soon worked out the different voices and thought it was really cleverly done. I won’t say any more about the different narrators because I don’t want to spoil it for people.

Mae is a confused young girl who lives in fear of her father but at the same time desperately wants to prove to her father that she is worthy of his pride and can be useful to him. To escape her rather tense life at home she visits her friend Isabel who is the village midwife and whose family welcomes Mae as one of their own. At Isabel’s she feels loved and welcome and of course there is also Rafe who is the ward of Isabel and her husband. Mae has feelings for Rafe but due to her age she is confused and can’t quite make sense of these feelings.

This book is full of secrets. Mae has secrets she keeps from her father, Isabel has secrets she keeps from public view and Wulfric has secrets he only tells his diary and God. The whole village is full of secrets and as the story progresses we begin to see glimpses of these secrets and what they mean for the characters.

The book is beautifully written and I will be honest I couldn’t put it down. The book kept me on tenterhooks all the way through and I loved every page. It is probably one of my favourite reads for 2022. I will be definitely reading Joanne Burn’s first novel and any further books. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Book Depository | Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

About the author

Joanne Burn was born in Northampton in 1973, and now lives in the Peak District where she works as a writing coach. Her first novel, Petals and Stones, was published in 2018. The Hemlock Cure is her second novel.

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The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse (Review)

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

Blurb

World War I robbed England and France of an entire generation of friends, lovers and futures. In Freddie Watson’s case, the battlefields took his beloved brother and, at times, his peace of mind.

In the winter of 1928, still seeking some kind of resolution, Freddie is travelling through the beautiful but forbidding French Pyrenees. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. Freezing and dazed, he stumbles through the woods, emerging in a tiny village, where he finds an inn to wait out the blizzard. There he meets Fabrissa, a lovely young woman also mourning a lost generation.

Over the course of one night, Fabrissa and Freddie share their stories. By the time dawn breaks, Freddie will have unearthed a tragic mystery that goes back through the centuries, and discovered his own role in the life of this old remote town.

Review

After reading my first Mosse book a few weeks ago I knew I had to read more of her books. Thankfully, my TBR trolley had a Mosse book sat on it which I am ashamed to say has been sat on there for over a year. I really wish I had started reading Mosse’s books earlier as I could not put this book down.

Freddie is a lost soul. The death of Freddie’s brother has affected him deeply and instead of getting better his grief has slowly got worse. This has left him wandering around Europe trying to find some way to cope with his loss. This ends up with Freddie losing control of his car whilst in a snowstorm in France and ending up in a tiny village called Nulle which is very strange.

The village is isolated and the hotel Freddie finds currently has no guests because it is not the season but the landlady airs the room and tries everything she can to make Freddie feel comfortable, including inviting him to a village get together. At this get together Freddie meets the stunning Fabrissa. Fabrissa is another lost soul and she decides to tell her story to Freddie.

As Freddie and Fabrissa exchange their stories you begin to feel the emotion of both stories but as Fabrissa starts to tell her story you realise that it is a lot darker and that something is not quite right.

The story is beautifully written and I absolutely loved the descriptions. It is written in first person and Mosse has done a brilliant job of getting the personality and character of Freddie across. This would have been a fantastic read for the spooky season but I am pleased that I read it this month as Autumn arrives as it felt like the perfect book for the season change. I can’t wait to read my next Mosse book and I give this brilliant book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Book Depository | Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

About the author

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The Woolworths Girls by Elaine Everest (Review)

The Woolworths Girls by Elaine Everest

Blurb

It’s 1938 and as the threat of war hangs over the country, Sarah Caselton is preparing for her new job at Woolworths. Before long, she forms a tight bond with two of her colleagues: the glamorous Maisie and shy Freda. The trio couldn’t be more different, but they immediately form a close-knit friendship, sharing their hopes and dreams for the future.

Sarah soon falls into the rhythm of her new position, enjoying the social events hosted by Woolies and her blossoming romance with young assistant manager, Alan. But with the threat of war clouding the horizon, the young men and women of Woolworths realize that there are bigger battles ahead. It’s a dangerous time for the nation, and an even more perilous time to fall in love . . .

Review

This is my third Elaine Everest read and the first one that I haven’t read at Christmas. I read Christmas at Woolworths last Christmas which is actually the second in the series so I thought I would start at the beginning and read the full Woolworths series.

I love Everest’s writing because I always find it so comforting, it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling which is always a good thing with a book. This book introduces the characters of the series, focusing on Sarah Caselton. Sarah gets a job working for Woolworths and makes two firm friends, the glamorous and feisty Maisie and the shy Freda. The three women are all so different but together they are unstoppable and best friends.

As Sarah, Maisie and Freda start to enjoy their working lives at Woolworths and meeting and making new friends they also have to deal with the threat of impending war. As romances blossom the girls begin to realise that the men they love will be sent to war and this leads to uncertain times.

My favourite character in this book was Ruby who is Sarah’s grandmother. Ruby is a widow and her home is at the heart of this book, everyone is welcome. Ruby takes anyone who needs help under her wing. There is always a hot meal and a shoulder to cry on where Ruby is concerned. Ruby works hard and goes above and beyond to help people, she really is a treasure.

Everest’s clever writing makes you want to know more about all the characters in this book and not just the details of the main characters. I felt immersed in the story desperately wanting to know more about the characters which also meant I found it hard to put the book down.

This story is so beautifully written and the characters Everest has created are just so easy to love that I will definitely be continuing with the series and reading other books by Everest. Everest is definitely a new comfort author for me. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Book Depository | Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

About the author

Elaine Everest was born and brought up in northwest Kent and has written widely – both short stories and features – for women’s magazines. When she isn’t writing, Everest runs The Write Place creative writing school in Dartford Kent, and the blog for Romantic Novelists’ Association.