The Moon Field - Judith Allnatt

The novel opens with an intriguing prologue in which a tin box and its contents are described; immediately the reader is keen to discover the provenance of these objects. It is 1914, and eighteen-year-old George Farrell is a postman who has befriended, and secretly fallen for, Violet Walter, a young woman whose grand home he delivers to on his rounds in the villages around the fells in the Northern Lake District. One day, he delivers a letter to Violet, preparing to declare his true emotions to her, however, when she reveals the contents of the letter - she is in love with another man - he knows he cannot. Desperately disappointed, he flees, makes some new friends, drowns his sorrows, and against his peace-loving family’s wishes, and indeed his own prior pacifist beliefs, he enlists to fight in the war. Those he leaves behind, his family and his colleagues at the post office, including the owner’s daughter, George’s dear best friend Kitty, await anxiously for news.

The Moon Field is a moving story of the innocence, joy and pain of young love and of a changing society in a world altered forever, told through understated yet powerful prose. Judith Allnatt writes beautifully, with honesty and compassion, about 1914-15, the bravery of George in going to fight, the tragedy and futility he sees, his loved ones at home always fearing the worst but hoping for the best.

I loved the strong evocation of time and place, the feeling of an ordinary, decent young man’s innocence being lost forever so that he no longer recognises in himself the man he was before, and the idea of whether it is possible to rediscover joy in life after witnessing such senseless loss and experiencing desperate sadness. 

The Moon Field is a very good read, and a timely and fitting novel with 2014 seeing the centenary of the start of World War One – it reminds us of what must have been the terrible reality of those times; ordinary young men like George heroically offering themselves up in the patriotic defence of their country, only to discover the cruel realities and horror of the war.

Source - We Love This Book - thanks to them for a review copy of this novel

Publisher - HarperCollins - 16th January 2014

Beautiful blossom, lakes, fells and books

I'm back and scheduling some blog posts, and I thought I'd share a photograph of the beautiful blossom we are lucky enough to have in the garden at the moment. I love seeing the blossom out and there are some beautiful colours around. 

It was a wonderful, warm sunny bank holiday Monday here in our part of the UK yesterday, which is quite a rarity, and we worked hard in the front garden; we're trying to remove all the grey concrete slabs and begin to create a cottage garden. Daisy was of course on hand to offer her help; well, actually she was quite sensibly sleeping peacefully in the shade most of the day. 

She, along with us, enjoyed the break we had in the Lake District. We even had lunch outside one day near to Ullswater with the fells around us as a stunning backdrop.

Such a wonderful part of the world. We did some lovely walks and enjoyed the fabulous scenery. I also found time to browse around some of the bookshops, of course, and in particular I enjoyed looking in Fred Holdsworth's, an independent bookshop in Ambleside. Here's a photo of the notice in the window highlighting the books that have been selling well there. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink was one of their World Book Night books which I thought was an excellent choice as that's the one I gave away too! 

I'll leave you for now with a photo of Grasmere and the surrounding fells. The one on the left of the dip is Helm Crag which we have walked up on a previous visit. 

Just What Kind of Mother Are You? - Paula Daly

Lisa Kallisto receives a phone call from her friend Kate Riverty, and replies to one of her questions without thinking about it very much. After all she’s tired and stressed, busy with her children, her husband, carrying out her job, worrying about money, and her ageing mother; so many things to juggle every single day. Then it is revealed that Kate’s daughter, thirteen-year-old Lucinda has gone missing. And the way things have worked out, it seems Lisa is implicated in this; Lucinda was supposed to have been staying over at Lisa’s with her friend Sally, Lisa’s daughter. So begins a nightmare few days in Lisa’s life, during which friendships are tested, her marriage comes under strain, dark and uncomfortable secrets are brought out into the open, and the community is shocked and scared. When another girl who had been missing is found, the search for Lucinda intensifies and fears grow when there is no news.

This is a wonderful, compelling modern day tale, with some good twists and revelations. The author tackles the modern day plight of women who are trying to cope simultaneously with caring for their children, looking after their home, doing well at work and maintaining their relationships as well as competing with the standards that other seemingly 'perfect' mothers appear to set and which are realistically impossible to maintain. The novel deftly highlights the importance of the real, loving relationships in our lives as opposed to the somewhat fake friendships that can be formed when really there is actually little in common.

This novel appealed to me on many levels; I loved the Lake District setting around Troutbeck and Windermere because that whole area is one of my favourite places in the world, so it was exciting for me to be reading a story based there. I also was very pleased about the inclusion of Lisa’s work caring for and rehoming abandoned dogs and cats. It was great to see an incredibly important cause like this highlighted in this story and incorporated well within the progression of the main plot too at one stage.

First and foremost though it’s a cracking thriller, the author has done a great job for her debut work in keeping the reader’s attention and produced a very good story; it’s pacey and passionate and I was turning the pages very quickly to find out what had happened. I found the narrative really engaging; we have chapters from Lisa’s point of view, an emotional observer on the investigation and close to all involved, then the main detective on the case, DC Joanne Aspinall, and also some short, haunting and teasing passages that allow us an insight into the criminal’s thoughts.

Lisa is a likeable, flawed main character who has a good heart but has made mistakes and is aware of them; in other words she is rounded, human and believable, and she goes through so many emotions over the course of the story. Likewise Joanne’s character is developed beyond her role in the investigation to incorporate aspects of her home life and make her a rounded personality.

As with the best crime stories, there is plenty of intrigue to make you wonder as you read and to make you think about if how things look on the outside really reflects what is hidden within. Importantly, the tension doesn't let up from start to finish. To say anymore about the plot would spoil it, so just give this one a read! I think it could be very popular, in particular at book clubs as it does provoke interesting discussion points. Definitely one to pick up this summer.

Published by Bantam Press

You can follow the author on twitter @pauladalyauthor and discuss the book there using #JWKOMAY

Thank you to Alison Barrow at Transworld for the chance to read a proof copy of this book.

Scenes from life - a birthday spent in the Lake District

Whilst I am busy reading, and writing reviews for the books I've recently finished, I thought I'd post about our holiday. We visited the Lake District last week, and were blessed, apart from one day of rain, with lovely weather, some days were really warm and we enjoyed lots of sunshine! Quite an achievement for a place where a visitor should always be prepared for mixed weather. (A keen walker friend always tells me, 'there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.') Ironically, back home in Cambridgeshire, many parts of which are currently in drought conditions, and where we hardly ever have any rain, it actually rained most of the week we were away, and we came home to find the pond at it's highest level yet! The Lake District is one of our favourite places to visit, and we try and go as often as we can. I love the sense of achievement after reaching the top of a fell, standing and admiring the view. The lovely weather and beautiful scenery all made for a special birthday. 

I thought I'd share a few photographs from our trip.

One of the many little feathered friends stopping by at Whinlatter Forest Park.

Boats at Derwentwater by the launch for the lake tour boats, with Skiddaw in the background.

We've walked up Skiddaw before, it's a marvellous view from the top on a clear day.

A lovely local Herdwick sheep with a new arrival.

Daisy pup seems to be enjoying it.

We had a lovely walk around Loughrigg Tarn. Yes, that is blue sky and sunshine :-)

The Langdale Pikes can be seen in the background.

~~~

The Coffin Trail - Martin Edwards

A mystery set in the Lake District, featuring historian Daniel Kind, who leaves his position as a historian at Oxford and relocates with his new partner Miranda to Brackdale, where he once spent his holidays as a child and met a friend there named Barrie Gilpin. Daniel’s father Ben left Daniel and his sister and mother when Daniel was young, Ben going off to live with another woman in the Lake District. Daniel is curious now to find out more about who his late father really was, what sort of man he was, from his former colleagues in the police force, and from one in particular, DCI Hannah Scarlett, who admired and worked closely with Ben. Coincidentally, Hannah has been tasked with working on cold cases, leading the Cold Case Review Team, looking back into local crimes that were never solved, and one of these involves the murder of a young woman on a local landmark, the pagan Sacrifice Stone. This murder was assumed by most people at the time to have been carried out by Barrie Gilpin, who was subsequently found dead nearby on the very same night. But his guilt has never been proven, and it was a case that Ben Kind questioned. Now, thanks to a tip off in an anonymous phone call, Hannah is looking into it once again, and with Ben’s son Daniel on the scene and also believing in Barrie’s innocence, there is a determination to uncover the truth behind the secrets in this small close-knit community. However, naturally there are those for whom the past best lies well hidden, and who don’t welcome this digging around to unearth secrets long buried.

I was excited about reading this mystery, as it is the first in a series set in the Lake District, my favourite place in the UK, where I have spent many a happy week. It’s a good read and the characters are introduced slowly and built up nicely. In particular, the meetings between Hannah and Daniel, as Daniel can't resist getting involved with the investigation, and the story builds to a dramatic, tense conclusion. I believe there are currently five books in this series so far, so there are plenty more cases to read about involving Daniel and DCI Scarlett, and it will be interesting to see how Daniel's relationship with Miranda will fare, and whether they will both be satisfied with lakeland village life in the long-term. Looking forward to reading more of these thrillers soon, perhaps next time I am in the Lakes!

3.5/5

The Coffin Trail is published in the UK by Allison & Busby and is available now.

Visit the author's website here for more about the series.
Find him on twitter @medwardsbooks