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...

  Holding by Graham Norton I was given an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting too much of this book, but mainly bought it because of the author. I was really pleasantly surprised to find that I loved it.   The characters were well thought out and believable. The 'hero' wasn't the most handsome stereotypical hero. There was a good blend of humour and pathos, and it held my interest to the end. I'm looking forward to his next book - a sequel would be nice! Read September 2016 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1755616752

  Bella’s Countryside Christmas by Claire Huston I was attracted by the blurb for this book – Christmas and romance – what’s not to like. Unfortunately, I enjoyed it so much I continued reading ‘just one more chapter’ until 3am when I finished the book!   When Bella escapes from a very boring conference, she goes to have a look at the church she would have got married in – if her engagement hadn’t come to an abrupt end! Inside the church she meets Jack, has a dangerous encounter with a tree, and finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend – well she couldn’t leave him the subject of pity – and he was very cute! After a brief kiss at the end of the evening Bella has to run off to help out her sister (the only character in the book I didn’t like) and they lose touch. A year later Bella returns to the village and a new job. Imagine her surprise when Jack is also working there, but isn’t happy about her disappearing act. Can Bella get him back o side? And maybe more?? ...

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton   There were parts of this book which I really loved. Unfortunately, there were also parts I didn’t.   During lockdown, Chloe was working from home in the countryside and found a leveret seemingly abandoned by her mother. Having left it, hoping for her mother to return, she realised that if she left it then it wouldn’t make it. She took it home, and took advice of feeding it and looking after it, until it was able to roam free. This wasn’t the end of the relationship as the hare spend many days and nights in Chloe’s house including giving birth to several sets of her own leverets.   I really enjoyed reading about the author’s interactions with the hare (she doesn’t give it a name as it is a wild animal), however, it did get bogged down in facts and information about hares generally and other animals, and those parts ruined the book for me.   https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6779354580

  The Hidden Girl by Lucinda Riley All I can say is WOW! I have just finished this book and my heart rate is so fast I feel like I’ve been for a run! Lucina Riley is a master storyteller, and this book is an epic lost masterpiece. After Lucinda’s passing, Lucinda’s son Harry Whittaker has taken this story, originally entitled ‘Hidden Beauty’ and has reworked it, doing her proud. The story is told in timeless between WW2 and more modern times. It is the story of David and Rose who escaped from the camps in Treblinka. David became a property magnate and Rose a famous artist, but they had fallen out and weren’t in touch. David’s son Brett is sent to stay with Rose in the school holidays – their first contact in many years, and whilst there he falls in love with the beautiful Leah – the housekeeper’s daughter. Unfortunately, this doesn’t go down well with Rose’s children Miranda and Miles. This is an incredible story, carefully woven together to reveal just enough through the nov...