Comfort Reads Archives - Author Rosie Travers

Behind the Scenes with Alexandra Wholey

Posted on September 13, 2022 | by Rosie Travers | Leave a Comment

Can you remember what you got up to in lockdown? For some people, such as this week’s guest, Alexandra Wholey, those weeks at home provided the opportunity to explore their creativity. I’m delighted to welcome Alexandra to share the backstory to her debut novel, A Year at Honeybee Cottage.

A Year at Honeybee Cottage is my lockdown novel, written in the throes of all the chaos in the world. At the time I began watching the latest series of This Farming Life, and Channel 5’s All Creatures Great and Small, and a seed of an idea was born. I wanted to write a heart-warming, gentle romance which focused on life in a tight knit community, dealing with family and friendship through the good times and the not, and A Year of Honeybee Cottage developed from there. The village of Mossbrae is based on Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, and is one of my favourite places for its breathtaking views and scenery.

Blurb

Love Can Blossom when you least expect it…
Jilted on her wedding day, a surprise inheritance of Honeybee Cottage, her late grandmother Marianne’s home in the Inner Hebrides, gives Eilidh the chance of a fresh start she so badly needs. Welcomed back with open arms into the tight knit community of Mossbrae, Eilidh reconnects with old friends, adjusts to village life again, and slowly learns to come to terms with her heartbreak through her reignited passion for her job as a beekeeper, all the while vowing that is is done with love. That is, until her meddling matchmaking friends and the rest of the village get involved…with hilariously romantic consequences! Will Eilidh get the happily ever after she deserves or will she receive a sting in the tale?

Buying Link: A Year at Honeybee Cottage

Author Bio

Hi, I’m Alexandra, a Yorkshire-born lass, former library assistant turned romance writer, who now lives in the Midlands with my husband and two kids. An avid animal lover who loved reading and writing from toddlerhood, whose present of choice was either a notebook and pen, or a book, and who grew up in the countryside reared on a diet of James Herriot and Catherine Cookson, becoming an author seemed a fated career choice. When I’m not writing and spending time with my family out at National Trust places on a weekend, I love binge watching TV box sets. Current favourites are Outlander, Peaky Blinders, and Bridgerton.

Many thanks to Alexandra for taking part. That lovely cover oozes calm and well-being. I wish Alexandra every success in her new career as a novelist.

Comfort Reading with Alice Castle

Posted on June 4, 2019 | by Rosie Travers | Leave a Comment

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks – I’ve been on holiday, which was great fun, and moved house, not such great fun. The perfect tonic to the upheaval would be to immerse myself in a good book, so while I seek out my much cherished paperbacks amongst the packing debris, I’m delighted to welcome author Alice Castle as my guest to talk about her favourite comfort reads.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog today, Rosie. I’ve always been a voracious reader, disappearing into written worlds whenever I get the chance, so narrowing down my list of comfort reads to just five has been hard. Some have leapt onto the list, some have jostled elbows a bit with others in my subconscious before making it to the light of day. In the end, I’ve chosen a handful which I’ve not only truly loved but which also show my own writing passions and enthusiasms. I hope they’ll strike a chord with others, maybe because they’re so familiar – or maybe because they’re new and tempting.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. There are some books that you wish you’d never opened, just so you could have the sheer pleasure of reading them for the first time all over again. Mr Darcy and I have been an item since I picked this book up as a teenager, but I can still remember the excitement when our eyes met across that crowded ballroom and he was so withering about Lizzie. Strange he ends up with her every time.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Every time I re-read Jane Eyre, a differentaspect of the book resonates with me. As a teenager, Jane’s awful school experiences made mine seem a tad less grim. In my twenties, Jane’s struggle to be independent and to be taken seriously were inspiring. In my thirties, her verbal jousting with Mr Rochester started to fascinate me. And at all ages, it is hard not to be awe-struck by Charlotte Bronte’s crie de coeur: ‘Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!’

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. A book which, despite the obstacle of a dull-as-ditchwater mouse as protagonist, manages to drip with toxic glamour. From the wonderfully sinister Mrs Danvers to the lingering ghost of Rebecca herself, like a whiff of stale Je Reviens in the corridors of Mandalay, we are caught in the writer’s web as she doles out information precisely when it suits her. This could not be called a relaxing read, but it is a masterclass in writing. Amongst other mysteries, we never do find out the second Mrs de Winter’s first name.

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers. There are lots of things one probably shouldn’t enjoy about DL Sayers – the snobbery, the curiously dated attitude to the sexes, the self-conscious erudition – but in Gaudy Night everything comes together in one irresistible bundle, with a romance on top like a big red ribbon. And a heroine who writes whodunits and gets to marry into the aristocracy? Say no more.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. People always try and knock Agatha Christie, possibly because she makes it all look so easy. But she came up with amazing plots, time and time again. Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None and this book, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, are particularly brilliant examples of misdirection which are still fooling rapt readers every day. I love all her books but Roger Ackroyd has to be my favourite.

Alice Castle biography:

Before turning to crime, Alice Castle was a UK newspaper journalist for The Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Her first book, Hot Chocolate, set in Brussels and London, was a European hit and sold out in two weeks.

Death in Dulwich was published in September 2017 and has been a number one best-seller in the UK, US, France, Spain and Germany. A sequel, The Girl in the Gallery was published in December 2017 to critical acclaim and also hit the number one spot. Calamity in Camberwell, the third book in the London Murder Mystery series, was published in August 2018, with Homicide in Herne Hill following in October 2018. Revenge on the Rye came out in December 2018. The Body in Belair Park will be published on 25^th June 2019. Alice is currently working on the seventh London Murder Mystery adventure, The Slayings in Sydenham. Once again, it will feature Beth Haldane and DI Harry York.

Alice is also a blogger and book reviewer via her website: https://www.alicecastleauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alicecastleauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DDsDiary?lang=en

Links to buy books: http://www.myBook.to/1DeathinDulwich

http://www.MyBook.to/GirlintheGallery,

http://myBook.to/CiC

http://myBook.to/homicideinhernehill

http://myBook.to/revengeontherye

http://myBook.to/BodyinBelair

Death in Dulwich is now also available as an audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/B07N1VNMLT/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-140657&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_140657_rh_us

Alice lives in south London and is married with two children, two step-children and two cats.

The Body in Belair Park by Alice Castle – Blurb

Beth Haldane is on the verge of having everything she’s ever wanted. Her son is starting secondary school, her personal life seems to have settled down – even her pets are getting on. But then the phone rings.

It’s Beth’s high maintenance mother, Wendy, with terrible news. Her bridge partner, Alfie Pole, has died suddenly. While Beth, and most of Dulwich, is convinced that Alfie has pegged out from exhaustion, thanks to playing with Wendy for years, Beth’s mother is certain that there is foul play afoot.

Before she knows it, Beth is plunged into her most complicated mystery yet, involving the Dulwich Bridge Club, allotment holders, the Dulwich Open Garden set and, of course, her long-suffering boyfriend, Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Harry York. The case stirs up old wounds which are much closer to home than Beth would like. Can she come up trumps in time to stop the culprit striking again – or does the murderer hold the winning hand this time?

A couple of my all time favourite books in this list. Thanks so much to Alice to taking part. I’m a huge fan of the London Murder Mysteries and look forward to catching up with Beth’s next adventure!

Comfort Reading with Jo Fenton

Posted on May 13, 2019 | by Rosie Travers | Leave a Comment

This week I’m joined by psychological thriller writer Jo Fenton to talk about the books she considers her ‘treasured friends’. Jo’s debut novel, The Brotherhood, was released last year and her second book, The Refuge, is out later this month.

Rosie has kindly invited me to share my 5 favourite comfort reads today. To be honest, narrowing it down to 5 was the hardest bit!

My first is Persuasion by Jane Austen. I’ve always loved Anne Elliot as a character. She’s gentle, and yet holds firmly to her beliefs, even in the face of severe opposition, and even to the detriment of her own heart. This book has strong themes of friendship, loyalty and kindness – an ideal port in any storm.

From just a little later in time is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. My copy of this has fallen apart, so I now read it on kindle! Jane’s strength and vulnerability are the key characteristics that bring me to read this over and over again. Like Anne Elliot, Jane does what she think is right, despite it nearly killing her.

Moving forward to the early(ish) 20^th Century – I believe around the 1930’s, I come to another book that’s fallen apart from overuse: Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers. Harriet Vane was saved from hanging by Lord Peter Wimsey five years earlier. An incapacitating gratitude and inferiority complex has kept her from accepting his marriage proposal, but when he helps her tackle a dangerous poison pen writer at her old Oxford college, they are able to meet as equals. Dorothy L Sayers introduced me to the idea of combining a powerful love story with a crime thriller, and I return to this book at least once a year.

For my next choice, I return to my youth, and a book I was recommended by a sympathetic primary school teacher, who allowed me access to her ‘special shelves’. The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner, was my first introduction to magic, and the links with mythology. Like JK Rowling, Alan Garner’s books dwell close to the origins of our local and not so local legends. This book is based on the legend of Alderley, and is incidentally set in the same county as The Brotherhood and The Refuge.

Finally, I’m returning to a novel covering the period 1860-1901 with Victoria Holt’s On The Night of The Seventh Moon. This is probably classed as gothic romance, and has all the required elements of a fantastic love story: a mysterious hero, hints of Northern legends, Princes and Dukes from the little principalities that made up Germany at that time, and a vulnerable, but strong and determined heroine. Match these with a charming but evil villain, and death threats – how could I resist?

About Jo

Jo Fenton grew up in Hertfordshire. She devoured books from an early age, particularly enjoying adventure books, school stories and fantasy. She wanted to be a scientist from aged six after being given a wonderful book titled “Science Can Be Fun”. At eleven, she discovered Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer, and now has an eclectic and much loved book collection cluttering her home office.

Jo combines an exciting career in Clinical Research with an equally exciting but very different career as a writer of psychological thrillers.

When not working, she runs (very slowly), and chats to lots of people. She lives in Manchester with her husband, two sons, a Corgi and a tankful of tropical fish. She is an active and enthusiastic member of two writing groups and a reading group.

Her first novel, The Brotherhood, is available from Amazon: https://t.co/YXdn8AM506

The sequel, The Refuge, will be released on 28^th May by Crooked Books. It’s available for pre-order: http://mybook.to/therefuge

Website www.jofenton137.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jofentonauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jl_fenton

The Refuge by Jo Fenton

Following the death of The Brotherhood’s charismatic but sinister leader, Dominic, Melissa and her husband Mark resolve to turn the Abbey into a refuge for victims of domestic abuse. But when Melissa’s long-lost sister, Jess, turns up at the Abbey, new complications arise.

The Abbey residents welcome the new arrival but find it hard to cope with the after-effects of her past. As Jess struggles to come to terms with what she’s been through, her sudden freedom brings unforeseen difficulties. The appearance of a stalker – who bears a striking resemblance to the man who kept her prisoner for nine years – leads to serious problems for Jess.

Meanwhile, Mark also finds that his past is coming back to haunt him. When a mother and daughter venture from the Abbey into the local town for a shopping trip, there are dreadful consequences.

A build-up of tension, a poorly baby and a well-planned trap lead Mel, Jess and their family into a terrifying situation.

Can Jess overcome the traumas of her past to rescue her sister?

Thank you Jo, for taking part. There are only a handful of books which have made a regular appearance in this feature and Jane Eyre is one of them – a testament to the lasting influence of a feisty female heroine!

Comfort Reading with Angela Wren

Posted on April 1, 2019 | by Rosie Travers | 2 Comments

In France, 1 April is known as Poisson d’Avril and according to the internet (so it may not be true at all) the idea of playing jokes on friends and family evolved from the tradition of giving the gift of fish at the end of Lent. So in keeping with the French theme, albeit very tenuously, I’m delighted to welcome self-confessed Francophile Angela Wren to my blog this week to discuss her favourite comfort reads.

Hi Rosie and thanks for inviting me to your blog today. I know it’s April Fool’s Day today, but my book choices are genuine despite the title of the first one!

Peacock Pie by Walter de la Mare – This book, published in 1946, wasn’t bought for, or by, me. But it has been in the family home ever since I can remember. I love it because some of my earliest experiences on stage are wrapped up in it. As I flicked through the pages when I picked it off my shelf, I had to stop at ‘Silver’. Before I’d even looked at the page properly I found myself reciting the first stanza :

Slowly, silently, now the moon

Walks the night in her silver shoon;

This way, and that, she peers, and sees

Silver fruit upon silver trees…

I was surprised that I could still remember the lines. I was 6 when I first recited it for a poetry speaking competition and took 3^rd prize. Later I had to learn ‘The Bees’ Song’ and a couple of years after that, ‘The Listeners’. It reminds me of the unencumbered bliss of being a child

Island-Nights’ Entertainments by Robert Louis Stevenson – I discovered this little gem, published in 1907 and leather bound, in a box of books in a junk shop whilst on holiday with my parents. It cost very little from my holiday money and, once I’d started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. This and some of the poems I had to learn for Mrs Burns – my speech and drama teacher – probably turned me into the RLS groupie that I am today. Stevenson has been with me all my life and I have just about everything he wrote, some stories in more than one edition! I know that, at times of great stress or difficulty, I can pick one of his books from my shelves and become lost for a while in the magic.

The Lost Girl by DH Lawrence– I came across my first copy of this book (the one in the pic is the first edition I bought later) as a twenty-year old. I can recall reading it on the bus to work, and as I got to the most crucial point in the book, the Inspector demanded to see my ticket. I just fished out a handful of tickets from my jacket pocket, slapped them in his open hand and went on with my reading. The tears that had already formed began to cascade down my face but I kept on reading. Eventually, I realised I was being spoken to, and it dawned on me that the ticket he wanted was the one in my book being used as a bookmark. I thrust it at him and continued reading. I did manage to get to the end before I had to get off the bus. Each time I re-read this story, I see something new in it, but I always cry at that same page. Have often wondered what the bus Inspector thought, though!

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn – I studied this book for my English exams at school and was not especially impressed. I came across this copy in a bookshop in my thirties and decided to read it again. Realising I had missed so much of the essence of the writing, and the skill of the writer, I started to build a collection of Hawthorn’s books. I have copies of his adult and children’s books – some of them very fine editions. It was Hawthorn, I think, that turned me into the true book collector that I am now. It was also Hawthorn that taught me that a book is for the words and that there will never be enough of them.

The Golden Reign by Clare Sydney Smith – Published in 1949 this little volume charts the life of T. E Lawrence following his return from Arabia until his death in May 1935 whilst serving in the RAF under the pseudonym of T. E. Shaw. Written by the wife of his commanding officer it charts the friendship that developed between Mrs Clare Sydney-Smith and Lawrence through their letters, her remembered conversations, and some diary entries. As a memoir it is one of the most fascinating I have ever read and I came across it by accident. The foreword, written by Lawrence’s mother, states that the title was ‘his own name for the happy time’ he spent with the Sydney-Smiths. Considering his vilification following his return to the UK, this book presents a picture of a very different man.

Bio

Having followed a career in Project and Business Change Management, I now work as an Actor and Director at a local theatre. I’ve been writing, in a serious way, since 2010. My work in project management has always involved drafting, so writing, in its various forms, has been a significant feature throughout my adult life.

I particularly enjoy the challenge of plotting and planning different genres of work. My short stories vary between contemporary romance, memoir, mystery and historical. I also write comic flash-fiction and have drafted two one-act plays that have been recorded for local radio. The majority of my stories are set in France where I like to spend as much time as possible each year.

Blurb for Montbel (Jacques Forêt Mystery #3)

A clear-cut case?

A re-examination of a closed police case brings investigator, Jacques Forêt, up against an old adversary. After the murder of a key witness, Jacques finds himself, and his team, being pursued.

When a vital piece of evidence throws a completely different light on Jacques’ case, his adversary becomes more aggressive, and Investigating Magistrate Pelletier threatens to sequester all of Jacques papers and shut down the investigation.

Can Jacques find all the answers before Pelletier steps in?

Links

Amazon : AngelaWren

Website : www.angelawren.co.uk

Blog : www.jamesetmoi.blogspot.com

Facebook : Angela Wren

Twitter : Angela Wren

Goodreads : Angela Wren

Contact an author : Angela Wren

Thank you very much Angela for taking part and sharing her love of some very classical and historical books.

Comfort Reading with CJ Sutton

Posted on March 18, 2019 | by Rosie Travers | Leave a Comment

Continuing the international theme this week I am joined by Australian author C J Sutton. C J writes horror/psychological thrillers, so his take on ‘comfort’ reading could be very interesting!

Hi Rosie,

Thanks for hosting me on your blog. When I think of comfort reads, I think of books that allow me to escape everyday life on such a level that they may inspire me to try something new, visit a different location or research an interesting topic.

Here are my top 5 comfort reads:

The Beach by Alex Garland

This book instilled my desire to travel. This desire has since waned as I’ve hit my thirties with more responsibility, but The Beach is written in a way that has one assessing their thirst for adventure. I first read The Beach when I was in my early twenties, and the narration style of the writer and the personality of the protagonist quickly drew me in. I pictured someone not too different from me, searching for something so far away from everyday life that one must physically look for it. The idea of finding a secluded haven untouched by technology and the eye of the public is a pipedream you can enjoy here, on your couch, without all the risks that befall poor Richard.

Low Men in Yellow Coats by Stephen King

I always enjoyed writing to some degree, but this book made me want to dedicate my life to becoming an author. This short story is found in Stephen King’s compilation book which has some of his lesser known works that became popular movies, such as Shawshank Redemption. But Low Men in Yellow Coats, more commonly referred to as Hearts in Atlantis starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, manages to balance a love of books with the wonder all children possess. There is a side of King’s horror in the background, but this story thrives with a young boy learning how to survive in a small town. My favourite King story, even if the film didn’t do it justice.

Fallow by Daniel Shand

Here is possibly the best representation of why exploring the relationships between family members can venture deeper than any other topic. Two brothers are hiding in the wilderness after one is released from jail, and while living out of a tent they regularly enter towns for a beer and socialisation. We are led by an unreliable narrator for a reason, and all is revealed in the book’s shocking conclusion. But the interplay between brothers is realistic, raw and emotional. Despite the Scottish backdrop, the road-trip style and the fun dialogue, it is their relationship that makes the book a remarkable read. I explore this theme in my own stories, and here is the benchmark.

Gone series by Michael Grant

Being able to enjoy a sci-fi series not intended for my age bracket is a guilty pleasure. Gone is the story of a suburb being shut off from the rest of the world, as children under the age of fifteen develop powers beneath a giant dome and everyone older than fifteen just disappears. Some would call it teenage X-Men, but the series is so much more than powers and battles. It’s Lord of the Flies with higher stakes. There were six books in the first series, and such was the impact on the author that we now have another series of three books set after the conclusion of the original story. But at its heart, this is a story about teenagers trying to find their place in the world, taking on the role of parents and trying to keep each other safe against the unnatural threats developing underground. I smashed this series and would do so again. To me it has a nostalgic feel I only really get when watching a movie from my childhood.

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

A big book with big ideas, Shantaram is a sprawling tale across India that was written in jail by a man who either has a great imagination or has led a truly interesting life. Gangs, war, drugs, love and philosophy are explored with a cast of unique characters and the swelter of an accurate Indian portrayal. Weeks can be lost in this giant tome of a book, the scenarios all-encompassing and shocking. Perhaps the reason I associate Shantaram with comfort reading is that I carried it with my during my trek through South East Asia and found a relaxing spot to read at every pause. But I am also inspired by this writer’s willingness to succeed, as he wrote this manuscript in full multiple times only for the guards to throw it away. He started again and again, and this is the result.

About CJ

CJ Sutton is a writer based in Melbourne, Australia. He holds a Masters in journalism and creative writing, and supports the value of study through correspondence. His fictional writing delves into the unpredictability of the human mind and the fears that drive us.

This Strange Hell by C. J. Sutton –

A suited man runs from a burning tower in Melbourne as bodies rain down upon him.

Before the city’s millions can compose, he boards a train into the countryside. Hiding his identity and changing his appearance, the man finds his way to Sulley Ridge, a lawless town in the heart of the harsh Victorian outback.

The following day, a burned man wakes up in a hospital bed. Surging with rage, he speaks a name. Within an hour, the suited man’s face is across every screen in the country. It’s the greatest manhunt Australia has ever seen.

But as he tries to camouflage in Sulley Ridge, he soon realises the town has its own problems. Under the iron fist of a violent leader, the locals are trapped within slow and torturous decay…

As we learn more about the night of the burning tower, the connection between the suited man and the burned man threatens to leave a trail of destruction across the state.

Here is the story of a man on the run from his past, as the line between sanity and evil is danced upon.

Here is the tale of This Strange Hell.

mybook.to/thisstrangehell

http://www.cjsutton-author.com/

https://www.facebook.com/cjsutton.author

https://twitter.com/c_j_sutton

https://www.instagram.com/c.j.sutton/

Thanks to CJ for taking part.

Comfort Reading – Guest Tom Halford

Posted on March 11, 2019 | by Rosie Travers | Leave a Comment

This week I’m heading across the Atlantic to meet Canadian author Tom Halford. Tom lives in Newfoundland where I suspect the chilly winters provide ample opportunity for comfort reading!

Thanks for having me on your blog, Rosie. I really appreciate it.

When I think of my favourite comfort reads, I always think of the bildungsroman. The bildungsroman is roughly defined as the novel of development, and these types of books usually focus on a younger person coming of age.

Here are my top five comfort reads.

Of Human Bondage W Somerset Maugham

When I started reading this book, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I can remember sitting in my parents’ basement over the Christmas holidays. There was this dusty, smelly red-orange chair that I had stuffed into my bedroom. This was where I befriended Philip Carey, Maugham’s protagonist, who has to come to terms with the fact that he will never become a professional artist. He chooses a more practical path and becomes a doctor. This book had a strange effect on me. Even though the conclusion was ultimately about choosing to be practical, Maugham’s style and character development led me to be even more obsessed with writing novels. I come from a family where almost everyone is a dentist (this sounds like a joke, but it’s true). After reading this book, I knew that had to at least try to be a writer. If I became dentist, I worried that I’d never really be happy.

David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

Where was I when I read this book? I believe I was staying at my parents’ camp while I worked at a nearby campground on Lake George, New Brunswick. This was one book that I didn’t want to end. There are a number of parallels between Philip Carey and David Copperfield. Both of them lose their mother at a young age. Both meet a host of characters both good and bad. I’m not sure why I was so drawn to these two books. I don’t have much in common with either hero, but they’re both great company, and they were my very good friends for a little while.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, JK Rowling

By the time I read the Harry Potter series, I was finally out of my parents’ house. My wife and I even own our own house now!

Currently, I end up driving everyone to where they need to be and am in our van for roughly an hour and a half each day. In the fall, I listened to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the van on a loaned copy from the library. Harry Potter is an incredible main character, and each one of the supporting characters are entertaining in their own way. Hagrid has to be one of the most likeable characters in any novel that I’ve read. I’m a big fan of Rowling as an author for a bunch of different reasons, but I’m stunned as to her ability to write so well in multiple genres. The Cormorant Strike series is another one of my favourite comfort reads, but I’m not including it in this list because it would be difficult to argue that it is a bildungsroman.

The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Samuel Pepys

On that note, I’m going to argue that The Diary of Samuel Pepys can be considered a bildungsroman. It’s not a novel but a series of diary entries spanning from 1660 to 1669, so I’ll lose the battle in relation to the “roman” of bildungsroman. However, it is a book where the reader gets to see a clear development in Pepys. These developments are not always better for Pepys on a personal level. His relationship with his wife becomes increasingly strained, but he advances considerably in his professional life. So, even in relation to “bildungs”, I’m on shaky ground as well.

I don’t care though. I love Pepys. Of any literary figure, Pepys is the most alive to me. I feel as though I have gone back in time between 1660-1669 and hung out with him. This was at a lonely time for me, before I’d met my wife (yes, I also read The Diary of Samuel Pepys in my parents’ basement), and reading about Pepys’s life was one of my most comforting reads.

Mean Boy, Lynn Coady

Lynn Coady’s Mean Boy is more of a kunstlerroman (artist novel) than a bildungsroman, but I’m being loose with my definitions here so leave me alone. Of any book in this list, Mean Boy was one where I could closely relate to the narrator. Coady’s novel is set at a small university in Atlantic Canada, and it’s about an English major who is learning that his literary heroes are also fallible human beings. When I discovered Mean Boy, I had finally moved out of my parents’ house to a city about an hour away. I was reaching a point in my life where many bildungsroman end. I was the young, main character leaving the nest. Finding Mean Boy and spending time with the narrator Lawrence Campbell was important to me at the time. I don’t know if I’ve learned as much from any other book.

The comfort that I find in the bildungsroman genre is that the main character usually becomes a friend. I learn about his or her life from a young age, the struggles and the successes. In a way, I feel like Philip Carey, David Copperfield, Harry Potter, Samuel Pepys, and Lawrence Campbell are more than characters; they are good friends who I knew very well for a short period of time.

About Tom

Tom Halford lives with his family in Newfoundland, Canada. His novels are are set in New York State, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. He writes comedy and crime fiction.

He maintains a Twitter page: twitter.com/tomhalfordnovel
And he maintains a Youtube account: youtube.com/user/CyrilTrout

Tom’s debut novel Deli Meat is published by Crooked Cat Books and available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Deli-Meat-Tom-Halford-ebook/dp/B07FF5ZDKW/

Thanks to Tom for sharing his choices and an education. The theme of finding friendship amongst characters will resonate with many readers and writers, and ‘Bildungsroman’ is definitely the word of the day!

Comfort Reads – Guest Jennifer Wilson

Posted on February 27, 2019 | by Rosie Travers | Leave a Comment

Today I am joined by historical fiction writer Jennifer Wilson, and there is a definite theme amongst her choices for her top five go-to reads!

Hi Rosie, and thanks for the chance to visit your blog today; it’s been lovely thinking about my five comfort reads, bringing back some great memories too!

The Animals of Mulberry Common, by Hilary Cannock

I know this isn’t the first book I ever read (Puddle Lane or fairy tales probably count somewhere for that), but this book has come with me everywhere I’ve ever lived for some reason. I just cannot let it go. It’s a tiny, pocket-sized book, about, unsurprisingly, the animals which live on the fictional Mulberry Common, and has plenty of action and adventure, as well as a hint of danger in some of the stories. But then, books for children often do have underlying danger, just look at what could happen to Peter Rabbit if Mr McGregor ever did catch him, not to mention the death and destruction throughout the Harry Potter series. I haven’t re-read this for a while, but just knowing it still sits happily on my shelf keeps me smiling.

Bloody Scotland, by Terry Deary

As a child, I adored history, and found the Terry Deary books a brilliant way in to learning about periods of history which simply weren’t covered at school. Being obsessed with Scottish History meant that this was an immediate favourite, and I was thrilled to bits when the author came to my school, and I was able to get my copy signed. It’s since been reissued as just a Horrible Histories Special on Scotland, but frankly, I think this title is more fun!

Despite having read this dozens of times, there are still cartoons and lines which make me laugh out loud, and I did refer to it when I was researching Kindred Spirits: Royal Mile, so there’s definitely some solid facts in there, as well as the humour.

The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory

I love this book. The writing is brilliant, and I think the fact that Philippa Gregory is able to make you believe (spoiler alert) that Anne Boleyn might just be about to be saved, and sent to a distant convent, and not executed after all. I was given a copy to read by a colleague, despite not being interested in the Tudors at all, because she was convinced I would enjoy it. She was right. I devoured it in a matter of days, and that was it; I was hooked on the Tudors. As a result, I began reading as much fiction and non-fiction as I could (see below), and became absolutely obsessed with the era. Once I’d read a lot about the Tudors, I decided I didn’t want to move ‘forward’ in time, to the Stuarts, and decided to go ‘backwards’ instead, and that’s when I discovered the Plantagenets, and in particular, Richard III.

Whenever I’m sick, or stressed, this is the book I go back to. It doesn’t matter that I know the plot inside out; for some reason, on every re-read, I seem to find something I hadn’t noticed, and still enjoy it as much as the first time. It’s the perfect ‘ill read’, as I can open it at any point, read as much or as little as I like, and put it aside without even worrying about a bookmark for next time.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII, by Antonia Fraser

This is one of the books I bought as a result of having read The Other Boleyn Girl, and again, however many times I read it, I find different nuances, or facts, that I go and research further in other places. It was also where I found ‘my’ Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, for Kindred Spirits: Tower of London, due to the stories, quotes and reported words. It’s another ‘ill read’ for me, like The Other Boleyn Girl, and I always enjoy going back to it.

The Story of Scotland, by Nigel Tranter

This is one of those perfect history books, which makes facts read as addictively as fiction, just like The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Scottish history always makes fascinating reading, but it can at times be a little complex, especially when you go back so far that the history itself isn’t 100% certain. The book writes every period as though it was a chapter of a novel, and makes it nice and accessible. I’ve never used this as a resource specifically, but I do enjoy my Scottish history, and have often used it as a ‘jumping off’ point, to then go and read more about a particular person, or part of history.

About Jennifer

Jennifer C. Wilson is a marine biologist by training, who developed an equal passion for history and historical fiction whilst stalking Mary, Queen of Scots on childhood holidays (she has since moved on to Richard III). Enrolling on an adult education workshop on her return to the north-east of England for work reignited her pastime of creative writing, and she has been filling notebooks ever since.

She lives in North Tyneside, and is very proud of her approximately 2-inch view of the North Sea.

Website: https://jennifercwilsonwriter.wordpress.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jennifer-Wilson/e/B018UBP1ZO/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifercwilsonwriter/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/inkjunkie1984

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifercwilsonwriter/

Comfort Reads – Guest Paula Williams

Posted on February 11, 2019 | by Rosie Travers | 2 Comments

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word ‘comfort’ as a state of physical well-being; in plural – things that make life easy or pleasant. To me that term is synonymous with reading, and I think today’s special guest, cosy crime writer Paula Williams would heartily agree!

Thank you, Rosie, for inviting me to talk about my comfort reads. It was incredibly difficult to pick just five to talk about because, to me, reading is the ultimate comfort activity. Curled up, reading on a cold, rainy day when the wind is howling outside and I’m snug and warm – that’s my idea of bliss!

So, as I can’t include the entire contents of my bookcases/Kindle I’ve checked them out and found the following precious (to me) books.

1. The Discontented Pony. Noel Barr

This tops the list because this book was the reason I was such an early reader. It belonged to my older sister and I loved it so much and used to beg people to read it to me. But my mum didn’t have time (I have 5 siblings!) and my sister didn’t have the inclination. So I learnt to read. I don’t remember how, I only know I would spend hours bent over this book, trying to make sense of the words. The copy in the picture is not my sister’s. That disappeared years ago. (She doesn’t share my need to hoard books) I found it in a charity shop many years ago and leapt on it with cries of joy. It has pride of place on my Treasured Books shelf ever since.

2. When We Were Very Young. By A A Milne.

Having just said that nobody in my family would read to me, my maternal grandmother used to read this to me when she was visiting or we went to stay with her. I loved it and knew many of the poems off by heart. (Still do, in fact!)

It is the reason my eldest son is called Christopher. There was never any doubt in my mind what my first son was going to be called, even before I became pregnant! And, I’m happy to say, that he loves the book as much as I do – although I can’t help wondering if part of the appeal came from the fact that if I started reading the poems as a bedtime story, I would find it very hard to stop at just one. It was a brilliant way of extending bedtime.

Years later, I read the poems to my grandchildren, although they didn’t like them quite so much, with the possible exception of The King’s Breakfast, which I do with all the different voices. How come I forget where I put the car keys yet remember in perfect detail every single line of that silly poem?

3. The Footsteps of Angels. H.W. Longfellow

Hope it’s all right to include a single poem as my comfort read. Now this really was a comfort read – at least it was when I was nine years old.

I’ve already mentioned my maternal grandmother and how she died when I was young. I was devastated by her death as she was a gentle, bookish lady and we really enjoyed each other’s company. She lived with us for the last year of her life and I missed her so much when she died. Our household was a noisy, very boy dominated one, (I have four brothers and my sister was away at school for a lot of the time) and I treasured the precious quiet time my grandmother and I spent together.

After she died, I inherited many of her books, one of which was a book of poems by H.W. Longfellow which she’d been awarded back in 1907/08 for ‘Regularity, Progress and Conduct.” It amuses me to see that Longfellow is described in the Preface as one of the ‘modern’ poets!

This book, like the other two, lives on the shelf allocated very precious books. The pages are all brown and crumbling and the whole thing is falling apart but I still treasure it.

I learnt The Footsteps of Angels just after her death. All ten verses of it! I had the idea that I was learning it for her. Reading it through now, I can see it’s very sentimental but at the time, it was a real comfort to grieving little nine year old me and brought me a little closer to my sorely missed ‘Nan’.

4. The Big Four. Agatha Christie.

My mother introduced me to Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy Sayers when I was about 12 and I have loved crime fiction ever since, both as a reader and a writer.

I hadn’t read any Agatha Christie for years although I really enjoyed most of the television productions, especially the ones with David Suchet as Poirot and Joan Hickson as Miss Marple. But a couple of years ago, we were staying near Dartmouth in Devon and were waiting to take the steam train up the Dart Valley. Of course, being as we were in the heart of ‘Agatha Christie’ country, there was a whole selection of her books on sale in the station shop. I chose The Big Four as I didn’t remember the story – and I was totally drawn in. I’d completely forgotten what a great story teller she was and couldn’t put it down.

That particular book brings back many memories, of my mother and, more recently, of a lovely holiday in a beautiful part of the world.

5. On Writing. Stephen King.

I bought this book ages ago and resisted reading it for year, mostly because I’ve never read any of Stephen King’s fiction (nor seen any of the films), as I don’t enjoy horror stories.

But I’m so glad I put my prejudice aside. Because here is a man in love with writing and every time I get a bit down and think I’m not cut out to be a writer and that maybe I should give it up and take up crochet or something, I dip in to this and my world is restored.

And isn’t that the point of a comfort read?

Author Bio

Paula Williams is living her dream. She’s written all her life – her earliest efforts involved blackmailing her unfortunate younger brothers into appearing in her plays and pageants. But it’s only in recent years that she discovered to her surprise that people with better judgement than her brothers actually liked what she wrote and were prepared to pay her for it.

Now, she writes every day in a lovely, book-lined study in her home in Somerset, where she lives with her husband and a handsome but not always obedient rescue Dalmatian called Duke.

She began her writing career writing fiction for women’s magazines (and still does) but has recently branched out into longer fiction. She also writes a monthly column, Ideas Store, for the writers’ magazine, Writers’ Forum.

But, as with the best of dreams, she worries that one day she’s going to wake up and find she still has to bully her brothers into reading ‘the play what she wrote’.

Her debut crime novel, Murder Served Cold, is a murder mystery set in a small Somerset village which bears a striking resemblance to the one she lives in. (Although, as far as she knows, none of her neighbours are cold-blooded murderers!) It was published by Crooked Cat Books in October 2018, and is the first in the Much Winchmoor Mysteries series, the second of which, Rough and Deadly, will be published soon!

Murder Served Cold can be bought at: https://mybook.to/murderservedcold

Social Media Links

Blog. at paulawilliamswriter.wordpress.com.

Her facebook author page is https://www.facebook.com/paula.williams.author.

Twitter. @paulawilliams44.

Website paulawilliamswriter.co.uk

Many thanks to Paula for taking part.

Comfort Reads – Guest Post with Nicola Slade

Posted on January 28, 2019 | by Rosie Travers | 1 Comment

This week I am delighted to welcome fellow Crooked Cat author Nicola Slade to my blog. Nicola was the first ‘Cat’ I met after I signed my publishing contract and I value her friendship and support. She lives near Winchester and also sets her novels in Hampshire

Thank you, Rosie, for inviting me to talk about my comfort reads.

I have so many old friends that I read over and over again that it would be difficult to limit them to only five, so I thought I’d mention a few of the much more recently-discovered books that have quickly become comfort reads.

I can’t abandon all my much-loved treasures though, so here’s my top favourite, the book I think of as my Desert Island book. The Pillars of the House by Charlotte M Yonge, first published in 1873 is considered by many to be the Victorian best-selling novelist’s masterpiece.

Pillars of the House – Charlotte M Yonge

I was brought up on the novels of Charlotte Yonge, notably The Young Stepmother, but it wasn’t till I was grown up and with a young family, that I discovered her gripping story of the thirteen young Underwoods left to manage for themselves in the 1850s when the eldest, Felix, is only sixteen. He and his sister Wilmet are the ‘pillars’ of the title and their story ranges across several sequels as they struggle to bring up their crowd of younger siblings, including the twins who are born almost at the moment their consumptive father, a curate, dies.

It sounds grim, but Charlotte Yonge created wonderful characters and I love them – and still cry over one particular family tragedy, no matter how many times I’ve read the book. https://amzn.to/2RHOugn

Landscape in Sunlight – Elizabeth Fair

Elizabeth Fair is a recent discovery. I first came across her in the blog, Furrowed Middlebrow, when Scott, the blogger, embarked on a publishing adventure and re-issued all six of Elizabeth Fair’s gentle novels set between the 1940s and 1960. Similar to Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire novels and gently funny, but without the snobbery and acid wit. I love them all and it’s difficult to choose a favourite, but Landscape in Sunlight gives the flavour of all the books which usually contain: a small village, a gentry house, usually a doctor, a middle-aged bachelor, a vicar, a vicar’s wife (usually a managing woman), a church fête and, of course, a pair of lovers. https://amzn.to/2AVcjqK

City of Shadows – Ariana Franklin

I read several historical novels by Diana Norman and particularly enjoyed her two books about Henry II, always a bit of a hero of mine. I wasn’t so keen on her later books until I discovered she had reinvented herself as Ariana Franklin and was writing mediaeval novels about Adelia Aguilar, a 12^th Century female forensic pathologist at a time when no such creature could possibly exist. A doctor had to be a man and bodies certainly could not be dissected to look for the cause of death, but Ariana Franklin manages to take this unlikely scenario and make it plausible and enjoyable.

However, City of Shadows, her standalone novel as Ariana Franklin, is my favourite and quite different. Set in Berlin just after the First World War, it’s a marvellously evocative story of that city in the dark and dangerous throes of the rampant inflation of the 20s and the rise of Hitler. It also happens to be the best Anastasia mystery I’ve ever read – so plausible that I wish it had really happened that way! https://amzn.to/2ATg2VE

The Little Women Letters – Gabrielle Donnelly

Brought up on Victorian novels, of course I love Little Women and its sequels by Louisa Alcott and was thrilled, years ago, to visit Orchard House in Concord, the model for the March family home. I was delighted to spot a mention of The Little Women Letters somewhere, probably on Facebook, a few years ago.

Set in contemporary London it’s the story of three sisters, Emma, Lulu and Sophie, whose American mother, Fee (short for Josephine) is the great-granddaughter of ‘Grandma Jo’ Bhaer, who turns out to have had a third child, a daughter, from whom the girls are descended.

It’s a fascinating concept that has Jo fabled in the family as having been a writer, though as it turns out her stories were the penny-dreadfuls of the type written by Louisa Alcott. Little Women, it seems, was never written and Jo faded into obscurity.

This is a good contemporary family story, easily readable by someone who has never read Alcott’s book, as it doesn’t hammer home too obviously the three sisters’ story arcs which do follow their famous originals to some extent. It’s when one of the girls is rummaging in the attic and finds a cache of faded letters written by Grandma Jo, that the story comes alive. It adds depth if you’ve read and loved Little Women, but even without that, it’s a very warm, satisfying book.

https://amzn.to/2Cwo3zY

Sally’s Family – Gwendoline Courtney

Published in 1946 this is another family story set in the immediate post-war atmosphere of 1945. Sally Hamilton has not seen her motherless younger siblings since she joined the A.T.S at the beginning of the war, and they – two boys and three girls – were all evacuated after the family home was bombed. Their father died in Burma but had saved the life of one of his comrades, Major Selwood, who feels obliged to help Sally collect up her family and make a home for them.

Written originally for teenagers, it nevertheless gives a very clear picture of the difficulties at that time: rationing, shortage of most household furnishings, shortage of housing, shortage, in fact, of everything – and the way Sally manages to turn five strangers into a family is warm and fascinating.

A relatively new find for me, but one that’s already a favourite.

https://amzn.to/2Mpgik0 (Not available as an eBook)

Bio

Nicola Slade was brought up in Poole, in Dorset, and since then has lived in various places including Cairo, in Egypt. Nicola’s books are all set in Hampshire and her first published novel, Scuba Dancing, a romantic comedy, will be reissued in February 2019 by Endeavour Media. She then turned to crime with theCharlotte Richmond Mysteries, an historical series featuring Charlotte Richmond, a young Victorian widow, and The Harriet Quigley Mysteries, a contemporary mystery series which features recently-retired headmistress, Harriet Quigley and her clergyman cousin, Canon Sam Hathaway. In 2017 The House at Ladywell, a contemporary romantic novel with historical echoes, was published by Crooked Cat books. It is currently a semi-finalist in the Chatelaine awards based in the USA.

The Convalescent Corpse, a cosy historical mystery set in 1918, was published, also by Crooked Cat Books, in November 2018 and is the first in a planned new series. Nicola wrote magazine short stories while her three children were growing up and at one time was an antiques dealer. She now lives with her husband near Winchester.

Links

Website: www.nicolaslade.com

Blog: www.nicolaslade.wordpress.com

Twitter: @nicolasladeuk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/nicolasladeuk

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/nicola8703

Amazon.co.uk: https://amzn.to/2SrDDUt

Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/2QRCEeh

Thanks Nicola for taking part. I’ve just finished reading The Convalescent Corpse and highly recommend it!

Comfort Reading – Guest Paula Martin

Posted on January 21, 2019 | by Rosie Travers | 2 Comments

De-cluttering guru Marie Kondo has caused quite a stir amongst the reading and writing community by stating we only need keep 30 books on our shelves. I’m a harder taskmaster than Marie, because I only let my guests choose 5 “keepers”! Today I’m handing over the challenge to romantic novelist, Paula Martin.

Thanks for inviting me to share my ‘comfort reads’ with you and your readers, Rosie. I must have read thousands of books in my life, so it wasn’t easy to pick only 5 books. In the end, I’ve chosen 5 which are ‘special’ to me for different reasons.

The Swish of the Curtain by Pamela Brown

I first read this when I was ten or eleven, and then read it over and over again! It’s a story of seven children, each with different talents, who form their own theatrical group and write, produce, and act in their own plays. I’ve heard that this book (first published in the 1940s) inspired many future actresses, including Maggie Smith, Victoria Wood, and Eileen Atkins. In my case, it led to a lifelong love of the theatre, and also inspired me, when I was about twelve, to write my first full-length novel of over 60,000 words, which I called ‘We Wanted a Theatre.’ I still have it somewhere, written in long-hand in pencil on whatever paper I could find!

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I ‘met’ Jane when I was twelve and my mother took me to our local repertory theatre to see a play based on the book. The next day I rushed to the library to borrow the book, and then asked for my own copy for my next birthday. I always loved Jane whose inner strength enabled her to cope with so many traumatic events in her life. She spoke her mind, and considered herself to be Mr. Rochester’s equal, even at a time when women were considered ‘inferior’ to men. In later times, I’m sure she would have been a suffragette or an ardent supporter of women’s rights! An interesting footnote to my love for this book is that a few years ago, I discovered Charlotte Bronte started writing the story when she was staying with a friend in Hathersage in Derbyshire, and based her heroine on a medieval brass on the tomb of Joan Eyre (hence the surname, of course) – and Joan Eyre was actually one of my ancestors.

Katherine by Anya Seton

In my teens I was hooked on Tudor novels, especially those by Jean Plaidy, but this book changed all that. Based on the factual story of Katherine Swynford, and set in the 14th century in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II, it brought the later medieval period to life for me. Historical people who had just been names became real people, especially John of Gaunt – and I must admit I fell in love with him! I was full of admiration for Katherine, too, who became governess to John’s two daughters (echoes of Jane Eyre here?). After his wife’s death, he and Katherine began their love affair, which continued until his second ‘political’ marriage to a Spanish princess. After Constanza’s death, John returned to Katherine and married her. This was at a time when royal Dukes simply did not marry their mistresses, so it is an indication of John’s lasting love for her. This book led to my fascination with later medieval history which I later studied at university, and in turn, led to my next book:

The Sunne in Spendour by Sharon Kay Penman

Many novels have been written about Richard III, but in my opinion this is by far the best. Sharon’s research is second to none and, like Anya Seton with the 14th century, she brings the events and historical characters of the 15th century to life. The story begins in 1459 with Richard as a young boy, covers the period of the Wars of the Roses, includes family and political intrigues, and ends in 1485 with Richard’s defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Like many others, Sharon rejects the Shakespearean portrait of Richard as an evil monster, and shows him as a man with loyalty, courage and strong principles. It’s a novel I return to again and again, but as it is such a thick tome (over 1200 pages), I now have it on my Kindle!

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Not a novel this time, but a play, which I first saw on stage when I was eleven, and then bought the full script (a hardback book at that time) with my Christmas money. I love Wilde’s clever wit and brilliant one-liners, and also his satirical comments on the so-called ‘rules’ of Victorian society and morality. Every time I read the script, I seem to discover something new.

Bio

Paula Martin lives near Manchester in North West England and has two daughters and two grandsons.

She had some early publishing success with four romance novels and several short stories, but then had a break from writing while she brought up a young family and also pursued her career as a history teacher for twenty-five years. She has recently returned to writing fiction, after retiring from teaching, and is thrilled to have found publishing success again with her contemporary romances.

Apart from writing, she enjoys visiting new places. She has travelled extensively in Britain and Ireland, mainland Europe, the Middle East, America and Canada. Her other interests include musical theatre and tracing her family history.

Her most recent book is Irish Shadows, the fifth book in the ‘Mist Na Mara’ series, published by Tirgearr Publishing. All five books are stand-alone stories, set in beautiful Connemara in the west of Ireland, and combining romance with suspense and intrigue. They are available from various distributors (Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Smashwords) via http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Martin_Paula/

Thanks to Paula for taking part – and for telling us about her intriguing personal connection to Jane Eyre. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to inspire a story, even if it is just in name only!