Books - Catch Up

The Silk Vendetta by Victoria Holt. Another great novel from one of my favorite authors.

Lenore and her Grandmother live at Silk House owned by the Sallonger Family.  Following a scandal and the death of Lenore's mother in France the pair were transferred to England.

The Sallonger family is in the silk business and get their silk from France produced by the St. Allengeres family.

Weddings, funerals, coming of age traditions, reunions and grudges all play a part in the story. 

The divide between the upper and lower house in England is blurred with Lenore marries the son of the house and becomes the Lady. Her husband is murdered, but why?

Lenore and her grandmother start up a good business in London then expand to Paris. Silk is in good demand with a friend who becomes the business manager.

A great read!

Ines of my Soul by Isabel Allende.  Another favorite author.

This is a story of the conquest of Chile by the Spaniards.  What a brutal story. The goal was to annihilate the natives and steal their land and gold.

There are love stories with Inez Suarez having 3 husbands in the time of the story.  Great travels by sea and over land which are arduous and dangerous.

I love a strong female character and this has it in spades.

Another great story less the violence.

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox. I was 

intrigued with the story of twins who switch places.

The city girl and the country girl try manage the other's life.  There are challenges when this switch was done in a couple of days. You know your sister but what is her favorite coffee shop, how does the family bakery work, how to grow sourdough starter are a few of the issues that arise.

Of course, there are love interests which come the switch and eventually the truth has to come out.

Success and growth for both girls is the result.

Books - Catch Up

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie

I finished this book a bit ago.  I wanted to document my recent read before my from the blog for a bit.

I was surprised to find this book was first published in 1925.  Anthony Cade is doing a favor for a friend when he heads to the UK from France. A simple delivery.

Well, when he arrives at Chimney, the grand estate in the late evening he senses something amiss so decides to leave under the cover of dark and return in the morning.

There has been a murder! The story was very well done and Anthony uses his charm to get to the bottom of it and into a woman's heart.

It was a very good read.  I will keep an eye out for more of her books.

It's always good to reconnect with Kinsey Milhone in B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton.  This is the second book.

Beverly Danziger is looking for her sister Elaine Boldt and hires Kinsey to locate her. 

Elaine does go to Florida for a few months in the winter but her pattern of behavior changes just before she leaves. She takes off a few days prior to her plan, she leaves in the dead of night and where is her cat?

There has been a fire in the house next to Elaine's apartment building in Santa Teresa. Elaine knew Marty Grice her neighbour. 

Kinsey heads to Florida and finds Pat Usher living in Elaine's flat.  She is subletting she says.  No sign of Elaine.

There is a connection between the fire and Elaine's disappearance and as usual the final chapter things turn completely upside down.

Great read!

Another great book! The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley.

Verity Grey is asked to join an archaeology dig in Scotland to uncover an ancient Roman site. She leaves London and takes the bus to the town of Eyemouth, Berwickshire then makes her way to Rosehill estate a good walk from the town.

Peter Quinnell has searched his whole live for the Ninth Roman Legion. Verity is reacquainted with a past boyfriend and there is David Fortune an archaeologist who teaches at University of Edinburgh and is part of the crew on the dig.

The gatehouse at Rosehill estate houses a small family - Brian, Jeannie and Robbie McMorran. Brian is a fisherman and is away a lot, Jeannie is the cook at Rosehill and Robbie is a very special young boy.

There are romantic interests, the sound of galloping horses when none are about, and those who have the second sight.

After a couple days, I had just sit down and finish this book. The history recounted in this story is wonderful. 

I found several Sue Grafton books at the thrift store a while ago so I picked up about 5 of them.

K is for Killer by Sue Grafton is this one.  I missed Henry Pitts the landlord this story. 

Janice Kepler is a grieving mother who can't leave the death of her beautiful daughter Lorna alone.

 
Kinsey pieces together Lorna's young life: a dull day job a the local water treatment plant spiced by sidelines in prostitution and pornography. She tangles with Lorna's friends: a local late-night DJ, a sweet, funny teenaged hooker, Lorna's sloppy landlord and his exotic wife.

This story was full of suspense and twists and turns and really finishes with a bang on the last few pages.

 

Books - Catch Up

 August

Live the Dream by Josephine Cox - It's 1932 and Luke Hammond is doing the right thing by his wife Sylvia who has been ill for a while and things are not improving. She has dark moods and their servant Edna is home to take care of things while Luke runs his business in Blackburn.

On Tuesdays, he takes refuge in a cottage in the woods and paints. He has lunch at a cafe in the village near the cottage.

Daisy runs the cafe and her friend Amy with her small son drops by to help when she can.  She must work to provide a roof over their heads.

Along the way, Daisy and Amy wonder about the man who comes in for lunch every Tuesday. Who is he? Where does he come from? Where does he go?

Luke has noticed Amy and eventually he invites her to the cottage to see his paintings.

Luke's factory suffers a major fire. Sylvia and her sister Georgina continue their push and pull relationship to a disastrous end. Amy finds love in the end.  Great book.

October

The Orphan Sisters by Shirley Dickson  - In 1929 Etty 4 years old and Dorothy eight years old are dropped off at Blakely Hall Orphanage by their mother.  They await her return but it never happens.

In 1940 both girls are finally released from the confines of Blakely Hall but freedom comes when the country is in the grip of WWII. 

Both girls find love in the midst of war and the difficulties that brings with it. Husbands off to war for home and country.

Babies are born, the war is over, celebrations take place everywhere.

Etty receives Olga and friend of her mother's in 1920's. She brings news of why the girls were brought to Blakely Hall and why she did not return.

Another great book.

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish - Set in London in the 1660s and the early 2000s. It is the story of Ester Valesquez, an immigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi before the plague hits the city and Helen Watt an ailing historian with the love of Jewish history.

Helen is called to see a newly discovered cache of seventeenth century Jewish documents she find a young man Aaron to help with the work. He is American and needs an intervention in his life and Helen provides it.

Ester and Helen separated by centuries have life choices and sacrifices to make to reconcile heart and mind.

Wonderful book!

The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin.

Sara Smith runs her little bookshop "The Bookshop on the Corner" in Ashford in a low key style with a warm community of friends close by. Business is slow.  Her long distance boyfriend Ridge calls from his across the world job as a correspondent/journalist.  How exciting!

Sophie owns a bookshop in Paris called "Once Upon a Time" located along the banks of the river Seine.

Sophie has had a big break up and wants to swap places with Sara.  Sara's is stuck so jumps at the chance to be in Paris for Christmas. Her first plane rides take her to the City of Lights.

The Paris bookstore is a hopping place.  The city is huge and runs at a maddening pace.  The shop has a variety of employees.  There is daily paperwork to do and reports to be sent to Sophie in America.

There are many bumps in the first months of Sara's stay in Paris. Slowly she turns the corner on the employee relationships and the business.

Christmas is coming and Ridge has only visited 1 day while Sara has been in Paris. Very disappointing!  A wonderful surprise comes with Christmas day!

The Sum of our Days - Isabel Allende - one of my favorite authors.

This was a different read because it was not a novel but a collection of events from Isabel's life. Written often as recollections to her daughter Paula who passed away.

I learned about her early years in Chile and husband #1 Paula and Nico father. 

How she found husband #2 Willie Gordon and their life in California.

How she loves to have her large extended family close to her.  The adoption of friends into this large circle as well. 

The separations, divorces, travels, trips, births and deaths in the large family.

Very interesting dynamics between Isabel and her children  and grandchildren. 

I will be looking for novels!

Recent Reading

This book is cleverly written which leaves us with a major twist at the end of the book.

A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn't have prevented it. Could she?

In a split second, Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever.

Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating . . .

I loved the living by the sea in a small cottage getting to know the neighbors and town folk.  Jenna working through trusting people again, going for walks and being in nature as a healing process.
 

Sylvia Compson is a quilter who returns to the family manor Elm Creek Manor in the south after inheriting it after her sister passes away.

She has built a business of providing quilting retreats at the manor where the guests stay and the Elm Creek quilters teach classes.

The Runaway quilt focuses on a journal Sylvia found in the attic of a early ancestor Gerda Bergstrom who lived at Elm Creek before the Civil War.

The Master Quilter brings another story of Sylvia Bergstrom Compson who marries her sweetheart.  The Elm Creek quilters decide to make her a wedding quilt as a gift.  The story has secrets, financial hardships, relationships struggles test the bonds of friendship.

I put a hold on this book at the library after I read a review from on of the bloggers I follow reviewed and highly recommended it.   I waited a long 6 weeks for notification that it was now my turn to read it.

I was expecting it to be good and it was terrific.

A story that covers 1913, 1975 and 2005 starts with a little girl sitting on a wharf in Australia with no one to take care of her in 1913.

The little girl does have a family care for her and when she finds they are not her real parents she starts the hunt.  When her father passes she finds has a fairy tale book which was in her small suitcase when she arrived in Australia. Eventually, she heads to England to discover the cottage during her time there. Her plans to move are interrupted.

When her grand daugther inherits the cottage she decides to visit England to find out more about grandmother Nell's family history and see the cottage and the secrets it may hold.  There is more there: The Blackhurst Manor, the Maze, the Walled Garden and the tiny cottage on the edge of a cliff.

I could not put the book down.  It is over 500 pages.  I did sleep but I finished it in 2 days! I loved it!

The layers of the  family  history is quite complex and I certainly will have to read it again in a while to absorb more of it.

Again, English and Australia settings are wonderful. Mothers, grandmothers, cousins and women are the focus of the story.

This book mark given to me by my painter aunt came in very handy with all the reading I have been doing.  I love the colors and texture of this piece of art.

It is becoming my regular bookmark in the book I am reading.

Looking forward to my next escape into a good book.

Recent Photos

My window sill art for this morning.  It's nice to spend a few minutes putting together small arrangements to enjoy through out the day and week.  My trip to the thrift store added the small green vase to this sill.  You can check out this post for the details on how I discovered this art.

I finished this book this week.  It is about a female war photo journalist who followed in her father's foot steps.  After her father passes away she goes through his large collection of photos to produce a book of his work.  She discovers some interesting photo which leads to the secret the family and friends have been hiding from her.

The locales of Venise, Nice, and New York make for some terrific back stories.  Who would not love to live in a large house in France with a house keeper.

The relationship with the 3 sister was interesting but I found the love relationship was to tumultuous for me.  He is a war correspondent as well which adds wrinkles.






This morning was a breakfast of yogurt, rolled oats and saskatoon berries.  I had some Rooibos Chai tea steeped in a cute leaf green tea pot.

The green plate under my cereal bowl is very old and dates back to the 30's  by the Stanley Potteries in England.  I bought it because it reminds me of dishes my Mom had when I was a kid.

I was very fortunate to put away several bags of saskatoon berries last summer.  Delicious.

The white tea cup and saucer is by Johnson Brothers - White Regency.

I have 4 set which can easily be paired with my Blue Nordic or blue "Hunter".  The Rooibos Chai is a great tea and I discovered in my cupboard a bag which is several years old but having been stored in Tupperware still tastes great.

Sharing with
Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson who hosts Share Your Cup #288
Bernideen who hosts Friends Sharing Tea
Ruth who hosts Tuesday Cuppa Tea