Maddy's Book Blog

  Friends of Dorothy by Sandi Toksvig   I enjoyed this book more than I was expecting. It isn’t very ‘real’ but it’s just a good fun romp. Amber and Stevie are recently married, and have bought a house together – what they weren’t expecting was an octogenarian sitting tenant called Dorothy! Dorothy quickly gets under their skin – making them delicious meals, and tidying up around the house, although she nearly ruins it when she makes a large hole through a downstairs wall thinking she was being helpful and making it more open plan. Enter the builders – one of which seems to be fond of Stevie’s best friend Jack. It is amusing, and it had a novel (if unbelievable) story line, and I was happy to read it to the end. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6820910806

  The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier Tracy Chevalier is a wonderful writer, and has written an extraordinary magical story which totally blew me away. A brilliant idea, skilfully executed. A story which spans from 1486 to the current day, but the family and close friends in the story age very very slowly. Like a stone skipping across a pond, we follow the family across the years. Absolutely genius. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a Murano glassblowing family. When her father dies, his children all have to step up, and Orsola starts making glass beads in secret to help the family – as women didn’t really work at that time. We follow Orsola and her brothers, and their children and grandchildren – and all of their friends – down the years, From the great plague to current day Covid, the glassmakers of Murano have to survive them all. Absolute genius. A fascinating book, with believable characters and full of historical facts and famous figures. I couldn’t put it down. ...

  Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin   I was so excited to receive a copy of this book. I have never read a Rebecca Raisin book that I didn’t love. She writes from the heart, and her characters seem more like friends than two dimensional creations. I have read, and enjoyed a previous book of hers, also set in Paris, and I was delighted when an ‘old friend’ from a previous book popped into the Hotel to say hello.   Anais is half French and half English and was brought up in England. Like the Author, Anais is a successful romance writer, however unlike Ms Raisin, Anais was married to a vile French gold digger who took her money and slept around. In the divorce settlement, her ex got the apartment that Anais had paid for! Anais only got a run down and derelict Hotel that her ex had insisted on buying – with Anais’ money of course! Anais, with the help of her cousin Manon, decide the only way to recoup some money is to renovate the hotel and open it...