The Apple Tart of Hope - Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

‘He wasn’t just my friend. He was kind of magic.’

I previously read and enjoyed Back to Blackbrick, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald’s debut novel, so when I saw she had written a second novel, I was keen to read it, and when I saw the lovely title and the beautiful cover design, I was even more attracted by it.

Oscar and Meg live next door to each other, and have done for years, and they chat to each other through their facing bedroom windows. The pair of them have developed a close friendship, and brighten up each other’s lives:

‘We got to sitting at our windows, late at night, at the end of every day. He was different from anyone I’d ever met, and when Oscar was my friend, nothing was annoying or complicated. Everything was simple and enjoyable and fun. Everything made sense.’

As the story opens, we learn that Oscar is missing, presumed dead by suicide, though Meg, as well as Oscar’s brother Stevie, wont believe it. Then we are taken back to several months before, and the story tells of Meg’s father taking his family to New Zealand with him for six months with work, with Meg bitterly opposed to going. Alternating chapters, ‘slices’ of an apple tart, are recounted from Meg’s, and then Oscar’s, perspective, and gradually reveal how Oscar and Meg’s friendship is changed when she does go. A new girl, Paloma, and her mother, move into Meg’s house temporarily. With regard to the book’s title, Oscar has a heightened sense of when something particular is in the air, and this is when he bakes one of his remarkable apple tarts which improved people’s feelings and helped with troubles.

I felt this story had real depth, and dealt honestly and compassionately with strong emotions and serious decisions. At times it was also rather magical which just added an extra element of sparkle to a great tale. I liked Meg and Oscar, and I was compelled to read on and discover what happened to them both, why had things changed, what had caused so much sadness? There are themes of love and friendship, the difficulty and sadness of separation and loss, as well as belief and honesty, manipulation and jealousy. The story shows how strong a connection we can feel for another person, and how nerve-wracking and all consuming it can be when we try to convey our feelings, and how devastating it is if we suspect our feelings aren’t reciprocated, and all this even more difficult to deal with as a teenager.

It’s a fairly quick read and is really well written with some lovely use of language; I liked this description of one of the character’s homes; ‘Barney’s house stood battered and gloomy, as if it was in a sulk from having gone to the elaborate trouble of being built and then having been neglected so badly that it looked as if nobody lived in it.’ Overall this is another very good young adult (and indeed adult) offering from this talented author.

Thank you to amazon vine for a review copy of this novel. 

Author links - twitter @SMooreFitz |

Published by Orion Children's Books

My review of Back to Blackbrick

The Promise - Ann Weisgarber

Set in 1900, this moving novel tells of a talented young pianist, Catherine Wainwright, who leaves Dayton, Ohio having been involved in a scandalous affair and subsequently found herself ostracized by the community. In desperation she starts writing once more to the man she once corresponded with years before and who admired her back then, Oscar Williams. They agree to marry, and Catherine travels hundreds of miles to Galveston in Texas, where Oscar has now made a life for himself. He is recently widowed, with a young son named Andre, and his housekeeper Nan who promised Oscar’s late wife Bernadette that she would care for Andre.

Everything about her new environment is a shock to Catherine; meeting Oscar and getting to know him again after all the time that has passed, learning to deal with a young child who misses his mother as well as the housekeeper who has a firmly established place in the household, getting used to the remote, unfamiliar place that is now her home, coming to terms with having left everything she has known hundreds of miles away. So much change, so much upheaval for Catherine.

Then there is Nan, who has her promise to take care of Andre, but who is distrustful and suspicious of Catherine when she arrives, and wonders at the different behaviour and ways she brings with her. For Nan, Catherine’s arrival also means that the romantic feelings for Oscar that she has tried to hide will now never be reciprocated. Whilst they are all dealing with these new relationships and struggles, the biggest test of their lives comes from nature in the form of the worst storm in US history.

This is a very absorbing and well-crafted historical novel, with a firm sense of place and time that I felt totally transported to. Ann Weisgarber has created two distinctive and strong female voices as narrators in Nan and Catherine. I felt sadness for Nan because she loves Oscar too and has to witness the affection that he shares with Catherine. Nan is such a key part of the household yet she is always slightly on the outside, whereas Catherine arrives and is immediately part of Oscar and Andre’s family, which is understandably hard for Nan to stomach. Catherine looks to make a new start in Galveston with Oscar, having been in a desperate situation and seen this as her last opportunity. I admired Oscar, who had traveled south years before and made a home and life for himself, and who is a kind and trusting man. As I read, I was intrigued as to how these characters would relate to each other and what conflicts may arise. The author captures and portrays the subtleties of the relationships really well, with small moments that have huge significance. 

Music is an important theme in the novel; it is such an important means of expression for both women, and the contrast in their styles mirrors the contrast in their personalities and backgrounds, yet music also unites them and suggests that they may not be that different after all, deep down.

The novel highlights the vulnerability of humans to the devastating forces of nature, with the author combining the real storm that took place in Galveston, Texas, with her fictional tale. It is a beautifully understated, character-driven story of promises and secrets, of disgrace and suspicion, of jealousy and love, and it is a compelling and emotional read which I greatly enjoyed. I shed a tear at the end.

Published by Mantle

Thanks very much to the publisher for kindly sending a copy of this novel to read and review. 

You can find the author on twitter @AnnWeisgarber and visit her website here.