Is there more to folklore, even if the folklore isn’t from your own specific region? For Merrily Watkins, the new Pastor-in-Charge at Ledwardine, it’s a old folklore tradition (from Derbyshire) that leads to the first death she encounters in the village. As Merrily and her daughter, Jane, settle in, they have to deal with a… Read More Book Reviews: The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman
A long time ago, when dragons still roamed the earth, there was a local lord of the manor named Piers Shonks. One day, he returned home from a holiday to discover a dragon was terrorising his village and desiring the peace of his village, he made battle with the dragon and finally defeated it. The… Read More Book Review: Hollow Places by Christopher Hadley
“Peace at all costs” I can’t remember how I found this book (or why I decided to buy it) but no regrets because this was a long and intense story that was difficult to put down. Set eight years after the Battle of Hastings, The Year We Lived follows the story of two Anglo-Saxon siblings.… Read More Book Review: The Year We Lived by Virginia Crow
It brought a smile to my face to see that the blurb of the book ended with “this is a rare and joyful book” while the first line of the preface was “Now that I look back, I see that I have written with some anger.” Those are such different emotions that I wonder how… Read More Book Review: The Running Hare by John Lewis Stempel
There’s no good reason why I bought this book, except that I’ve bought and enjoyed a book about the history of neighbours in England and the word “Cream Teas” is in the title. This amusingly named book is a fascinating exploration into the topic of the Britsh on holiday – both domestically and abroad. Divided… Read More Book Review: Cream Teas, Traffic Jams and Sunburn by Brian Viner
We go back to one of Britain’s most fascinating dynasties (or perhaps one that has been talked a lot of in recent times, what with Henry VIII’s wives and his daughters) to look at their private lives. For some reason, I thought that The Private Lives of the Tudors would be a book about the… Read More Book Review: The Private Lives of the Tudors by Tracy Borman
After reading A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym, I found myself with the sudden urge to read more of the Fairacre series. Luckily, I had a long weekend and I managed to make my way to the library after many months and borrow another book in the Fairacre series. Mrs. Pringle of Fairacre focuses… Read More Book Review: Mrs. Pringle of Fairacre by Miss Read
As I may have mentioned before, I am more willing to take chances on unknown books when it’s cheap. So like with Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes, I bought Jambusters based on its cover (and also its synopsis, which is one more piece of information compared to the former). And the similarities do not stop… Read More Book Review: Jambusters by Julie Summers
Confession: I did not actually know what this book about when I was bought it. I just knew that it was discounted and the cover made it seem rather quirky. I may have missed the part that stated “the story of women in the 1950s”. It was only when I started reading it that I… Read More Book Review: Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes by Virginia Nicholson
I’ve heard of Barbara Pym from reviews over at Pages Unbound, so when I had some time and was looking for a lighter read, I decided to check out A Few Green Leaves as it was available on Libby. I started this book hoping for something like the Fairacre series by Miss Read, and I… Read More Book Review: A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym