Women Widening Worlds With Words.

Book Review for “The Temple of the Muses” by Jane Davis. Summary: "London, 1780. As the city smoulders in the aftermath of the Gordon Riots, booksellers James and Dorcas Lackington resolve to fight despair not with charity, but with books. Convinced that reading is the surest path out of poverty, they launch a daring experiment … Continue reading Women Widening Worlds With Words. →

The Mother of All Controversies.

Book Review for “MUV: The Story of the Mitford Girls' Mother” by Rachel Trethewey. Summary: "Everyone knows about the six flamboyant Mitford girls but in fact there were seven remarkable women in the famous family—the seventh was "Muv," Lady Sydney Redesdale, the mother of the notorious sisters. Too often portrayed as different from them and … Continue reading The Mother of All Controversies. →

Verbal and Literal Bombs.

Book Review for “Table Two” by Marjorie Wilenski. Summary: "Marjorie Wilenski’s only novel, as biting and funny as Barbara Pym at her crankiest, follows an office of women translators at the fictional Ministry of Foreign Intelligence in London as they bicker, manoeuvre, and shift allegiances just before and then in the thick of the London … Continue reading Verbal and Literal Bombs. →

Spirits Without Ghosts?

Book Review for “A Carol for Mrs. Dickens” by Rebecca Connolly. Summary: "By 1851, all of London has fallen in love with A Christmas Carol, heralding Charles Dickens as “the man who invented Christmas.” But for his wife, Catherine, Christmas is less of a reason for celebration and more of a burden. Between hosting lavish … Continue reading Spirits Without Ghosts? →

Writing the Endings.

Book Review for “Dear Miss Lake” (The Emmy Lake Chronicles #4) by A.J. Pearce. Summary: "London, July 1944. After nearly five years of war, the readers of Woman’s Friendmagazine are relying on the support of Emmy Lake and her team more than ever. With the city under attack, the magazine staff decamps to the countryside … Continue reading Writing the Endings. →

Seas of Torments.

Book Review for “The Last Lifeboat” by Hazel Gaynor. Summary: "1940, Kent: Alice King is not brave or daring—she’s happiest finding adventure through the safe pages of books. But times of war demand courage, and as the threat of German invasion looms, a plane crash near her home awakens a strength in Alice she’d long … Continue reading Seas of Torments. →

Queen of Bohemia.

Book Review for “The Thirteenth Husband” by Greer Macallister. Summary: "Tearing through millions of dollars, four continents, and a hearty collection of husbands, real-life heiress Aimee Crocker blazed an unbelievable trail of public notoriety, private pain, and the kind of strong independent woman the 1880s had never seen. Her life was stranger than fiction and … Continue reading Queen of Bohemia. →

Savvy Cinderella Story.

Book Review for “The Girl from the Savoy” by Hazel Gaynor. Summary: "Dolly Lane is a dreamer; a downtrodden maid who longs to dance on the London stage, but her life has been fractured by the Great War. Memories of the soldier she loved, of secret shame and profound loss, by turns pull her back … Continue reading Savvy Cinderella Story. →

TCL’s #CCSpin #37 Book Review – Difficult Moorings.

Book Review for “Offshore” by Penelope Fitzgerald. Summary: "On the Battersea Reach of the Thames, a mixed bag of the slightly disreputable, the temporarily lost, and the patently eccentric live on houseboats, rising and falling with the great river’s tides. Belonging to neither land nor sea, they cling to one another in a motley yet … Continue reading TCL’s #CCSpin #37 Book Review – Difficult Moorings. →

Dangerous Spills.

Book Review for “The Tumbling Girl” by Bridget Walsh. Summary: " 1876, Victorian London. Minnie Ward, a feisty scriptwriter for the Variety Palace Music Hall, is devastated when her best friend is found brutally murdered. She enlists the help of private detective Albert Easterbrook to help her find justice. Together they navigate London, from its … Continue reading Dangerous Spills. →