The Book of You - Claire Kendal

'It is you. Of course it is you. Always it is you.'

Clarissa is being stalked by Rafe. He appears all the time, wherever she is, at her home, when she is out, in the park, everywhere, his menacing, unwanted presence is there. No matter how clearly she tells him to leave her alone, to go away, or even when she tries to just ignore him completely, to not give him the satisfaction of any response, he does not stop, he is determined she will give in to him, and that he can control her. She avoids him as much as she possibly can, but they share the same workplace, and they shared one night together, once. Then Clarissa is called for jury duty, and feels relieved because she'll be in the courtroom away from Rafe for most of the day for several weeks at least. There she gets to know some of the other jurors, including one who is kind and friendly, who she chats with and this takes her mind off events with Rafe, at least for brief periods. As she listens to the evidence in what is a violent case, things start to compare to the situation she is in. She realises what she needs to do, and she collects together the evidence of what Rafe has done. She's got her notebook, detailing all the times he has threatened, stalked, intimidated her, she keeps things he has left in her mailbox and so on, stockpiling the evidence, hoping that one day there'll be enough for it to be considered seriously by the police.

The main narrative sees Clarissa's experiences as recorded in her notebook, using the second-person. The style isn't all that common in popular fiction to my knowledge, but it is used really effectively here, like it was in Rosamund Lupton's Afterwards. It conveys with immediacy the fear she feels, the threats she endures, and the total, unwavering obsession Rafe has with her. Rafe is genuinely frightening and manipulative, utterly determined to have his way and be in control. Clarissa is an increasingly frightened victim and despite her best efforts can't seem to outmanoeuvre him. This all culminates in a dramatic finish. The other part of the narrative is in the third-person, recounting the events in the court.

It's an utterly compelling story, a brilliant, haunting read, that made my heart beat a bit faster and my pulse race. I read it on holiday and it was absolutely perfect for fast-paced, tense reading when you're in the mood to get totally lost in an absorbing story and gulp it down. The fear and anxiety felt by Clarissa is palpable, as well as her seeming very alone with this problem for the most part. 

The Book of You is a strong debut novel, a really cracking page-turner, a tense, excellent psychological suspense tale; Claire Kendal does a good job of getting you emotionally invested in what happens to Clarissa; I almost didn't dare read on at times and yet of course the story had me hooked and I didn't want to put it down until I'd finished.

Thank you to the publisher for kindly sending me a copy of this novel for an honest review.

Thank you also for sending me a beautiful notebook! 

Published by HarperCollins

Woman Walks into a Bar - Rowan Coleman - Book Blitz

Woman Walks into a Bar

Help Rowan Coleman raise £10,000 for Refuge

On September 10^th Rowan is publishing her novella Woman Walks into a Bar as an ebook for the first time. And 100% of her proceeds will be donated to Refuge. 

Her goal is to raise £10,000 and you can help. All you have to do is buy a book, or two, and get your friends to buy one too. You’ll get a funny, romantic and touching summer read and you’ll be helping women you’ve never even met at the same time and all for the price of £1.59!

The story behind the story

Every book Rowan have ever written has meant a lot to her, but with her latest book ‘Dearest Rose,’ something really special happened when the real world and the fiction she loves to write collided.  It changed her as a person and a writer, forever.

She was getting ready to research her tenth novel, which with the help of her Facebook readers she decided should pivot around the theme of domestic abuse. It was a subject she’d touched on briefly once before, when she wrote a short novella as one of the first Quick Reads called Woman Walks into a Bar, which to this day remains one of the pieces of work of which she is most proud.

So she posted on her Facebook page asking if anyone had any personal experiences of domestic abuse, and any stories they might share with her in confidence.

She was shocked and amazed by the response; there were more than 200 emails waiting in her inbox the next day. Each story she read was horrific and frightening in its own way, giving her an insight into the secret lives of many women; lives that all too often remain hidden. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone - well educated wealthy women are just as likely to suffer as women from a working class background - but the one thing all those women had in common was that they were survivors. After years of being mentally and physically beaten down, they had managed to find the emotional strength, somehow, to break free and start again. 

Now Rowan wants to do something that will help other women find that inner courage, and change their lives.

‘Woman Walks into a Bar’ is the story of 28-year-old single mother Sam spends her days working in the local supermarket and her Friday nights out with her friends letting her hair down at the White Horse. Life hasn’t been easy for Sam and her daughter, Beth (who always looks on the bright side) but she’s always hoped that one day she’ll break free from her past and meet The One.

But after a series of terrible dates with men she’s met through an internet dating site, that have all been as awful as her daughter’s terrible jokes, she’s starting to lose heart - until her friends tell her they’ve set her up on a blind date. Sam’s horrified but finally she agrees to go. After all you never know when you might meet the man of your dreams; maybe Sam’s happy ending is just about to begin….

£1.59 Amazon Kindle

So, come on and join Rowan, and help to #supportafriend on September 10^th. Every time you buy or pre-order ‘Woman Walks into a Bar’ you’ll be entered into a prize draw for fabulous prizes every week, while the #supportafriend #womanwalks campaign is running. On 10^th September, tweet Rowan photos of you and your friends, tell her your ideas to support a friend, and why your friends mean so much to you.

You can be a best friend to someone you have never even met. You can help someone out there find the support they need to change their lives.

If you are a blogger or tweeter, spread the word using #supportafriend #womawalks. If you are a company who could offer a prize to drive book sales and thereby money for Refuge, please get in touch. If you are a woman in an abusive relationship, or if you have a friend about whom you are worried, please get in touch with Refuge and ask for help today. 

About Rowan

Rowan Coleman

Rowan Coleman grew up in Hertfordshire secretly longing to be a writer despite battling with dyslexia.  After graduating from university she worked in bookselling and publishing for seven years before winning Company Magazine Young Writer of the Year in 2001.  Her first novel ‘Growing Up Twice’ was published in 2002.

Rowan has gone on to write eight novels for women including the bestseller ‘The Accidental Mother, The Baby Group’ and ‘The Accidental Wife‘ and eight novels for children and teens including the paranormal adventure novels Nearly Departed and Immortal Remains under the name Rook Hasting. Her books are published around the world. She now lives in Hertfordshire with her family.

Woman Walks into a Bar website

Rowan’s website

Twitter @rowancoleman

Rowan’s Facebook Author Page

Rowan’s Amazon Author Page

Rowan’s Goodreads Author Page

The Literary Giveaway Blog Hop

The Literary Giveaway Blog Hop  is organised by Judith at Leeswammes' Blog.

The giveaway runs from June 22nd to June 26th 2013 and there are lots of book blogs taking part - check the list lower down this post!

My giveaway is open internationally to countries that The Book Depository delivers free to - check the list here.

The choice of books on offer in my giveaway are:

Journey Into The Past by Stefan Zweig
(read my review)

The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman
(read my review)

The Girl who Fell from the Sky by Simon Mawer

(read my review)

The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen

(read my review)

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED - please see 27th June post for the winner!

I'd love it if you'd like to leave a comment too, with which book you might like to win, or your thoughts if you've read any of these.

The winner will win their choice of one of the titles listed above, and will be drawn at random and contacted as soon as the giveaway ends. 

If I don't hear from the winner within 48 hours a new winner will be selected. 

Linky List:

Leeswammes Ciska's Book Chest The Book Garden Sam Still Reading Ephemeral Digest Curiosity Killed the Bookworm Rikki's Teleidoscope The Things You Can Read (US) Seaside Book Nook The Relentless Reader (US) Under a Gray Sky Blog Exurbanis Candle Beam Book Blog Booklover Book Reviews Books in the Burbs (US) Babyboomerwrites River City Reading (US) Lakeside Musing (N. America) Read Lately (US) The Book Diva's Reads A Place That Does Not Exist Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book (US) A corner of the library Roof Beam Reader The Misfortune of Knowing Girl Vs Bookshelf

heavenali Love at First Book The Little Reader Library The Siren's Tale Musings and Ramblings The Readers Realm (US) Lost Generation Reader Readerbuzz Literary Meanderings Book Clutter Bay State Reader's Advisory Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity Nose in a book Audios & More Laurie Here Mythical Books Books in the City