A Dance in Donegal - Jennifer Deibel

Grieving the recent loss of her mother, Irish-American Moira Doherty leaves Boston to take up the post of teacher in the small Irish village of Ballymann in Donegal, a place her mother had often spoken of with deep affection.  But the welcome extended to Moira is far from friendly and it seems a secret related to her mother’s past is going to impact Moira’s present with increasingly devastating results.  Yet among the suspicious locals are people who become Moira’s close friends – and a green-eyed thatcher who she may just come to love.

Jennifer Deibel writes an engaging story with a real sense of place and some beautifully developed characters.  It’s a bit of a shame that the school and most of the children feature very little, but the community itself is well described, and it’s not surprising to learn that it’s based on the Irish village where the author lived for two years.  I could ‘see’ the village and nearby countryside in my mind’s eye as I read, and I loved the characters of Brid, Peg and Colm especially.  

This is a book which is very strongly ‘Christian fiction’.  In fact, it’s much more direct with the faith elements than many inspirational novels of the last several years.  I liked the way Moira heard God’s voice/His prompting, and although I personally found some of the other elements a little more heavy going at times I can see this being appealing to many Christian readers.  

There’s much here of how actions have consequences which can be much bigger than expected, and there are also strong themes of forgiveness.  Almost the entire story shows the dangers of making assumptions about other people, for good or ill.

There are a few oddities – duvets are mentioned frequently, but were not used at all widely until the 1950’s, we don’t call carts, traps, carriages, gigs or wagons ‘rigs’ on this side of the Atlantic, and the final scene while lovely seems at odds with much of the rest of the story where what would be considered ‘proper’ in the 1920s is often mentioned.  

I’d give this 4 stars.  It’s a comfortable read to while away a winter evening and I look forward to the author’s next novel set in Ireland.

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

The Diary of Isabella M Smugge - Ruth Leigh

‘Part of my success is to stay humble and relatable’ Issy Smugge Says in her diary.  

Several times in different ways in fact. All the while absolutely missing the point that she is barely relatable at all to most of those in the country village she’s moved to from London with her City Banker husband and three children.  All of whom feature strongly in her #awardwinningblog and on her other prize-winning and hugely followed social media platforms.  Her private school education, enormous house, and staff - #soblessed - are just some of the things which are glaringly different from the other school mums.

But despite all her efforts, Isabella’s #perfectlife is not so perfect as she would like, and things are about to get a lot less perfect.  The mother she feels has never loved her comes to visit, oldest child Finn gets into trouble at school, Issy’s much-loved sister is far away in Hong Kong and their close bond is broken, and a childhood enemy re-appears with what seems a single aim – to destroy brand Isabella M Smugge. Is it possible for things to get any worse?  Well, yes, actually, it turns out that it is. #impendingdoom

 

I absolutely LOVED this book! It’s very wittily written with lots of pace and energy. There are some genuinely laugh out loud funny moments – and a few shocking ones. You can’t help warming to Isabella quite early on, even though she’s a frightful snob who makes a lot of quick and not very complimentary assumptions about many of the people in her new village. However she is generous, and keen to get to know people, even if at first her motives are a bit suspect. She finds out that those she is quick to dismiss have their own struggles and heartaches and that it’s wise not to judge on first impressions.  One of the great threads of the book is the friendship Isabella finds with Lauren and vicar’s wife Claire.  She is going to need #realfriends to get her through some very big challenges.

 

‘If you’d told me a year ago that I would find comfort and happiness in the company of a mumsy vicar’s wife in the wilds of Suffolk while stuffing my face with organic shortbread, I’d have laughed in your face.’

 

This is an easy read, and not as frothy as you might expect. There are lots of relatable elements, in fact.  ‘Issy’s’ writing is spikey, and she is far from perfect at various points of the book, which does make her more of a real person to the reader.  I enjoyed the changing relationships between Isabella and her children too. The faith elements are woven gently throughout but this is not at all a preachy novel and would be good for a non-Christian friend or for a reader who is wary of Christian fiction because they think it’s too implausible.  

 

I can’t wait for the next one. #comingsoon? #dyingtoread

(Oh, and I think Mr Fazakerley is a great name for a rocking horse…)

9781912726400, Instant Apostle, paperback, UK publication February 2021

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

A Long Time Comin' - Robin W Pearson

A Long Time Comin’ is the Christy Awards Debut Novel winner for 2020.  Although this story is centered on the cantankerous Beatrice Agnew, it begins when things are not going too well in her granddaughter Evelyn’s life.  Evelyn has just found out that her husband Kevin has had an affair, and she’s also found out that she’s pregnant.  At the same time a little too much curiosity about some letters in a box her grandmother’s house results in her being turned out of the house by the formidable ‘Granny B’.

Trying to find some space to think, she goes to stay with her mother Lis, but rather than finding the solace she’s seeking, she discovers Granny B has terminal cancer.  Then, Evelyn has a car crash…

To begin with, we think that the story is about whether Evelyn and Kevin can mend their marriage and whether Evelyn and Granny B will be reconciled, but this is a book with multiple threads as along the way we meet each of Beatrice’s six children and find out something of each of their own hopes and troubles.  

Pearson’s characters are ‘real’ and flawed.  They make bad choices at times and live with the consequences, but in some ways this makes the story more grounded and enables the reader connect in a way they may not with some other Christian novels where the real world can seem strangely distant.  The faith elements are well woven throughout and yet this book never feels preachy.  The lead women are all very strong willed and sometimes frustrating to the reader as well as their relatives!  

This is a story which challenges the issues of loving and living, when both elements are rooted in sometimes harsh realities, and where long held secrets impact lives both while they are kept, and when they are revealed.  There’s a strong element too of being reminded that things can be very different in reality from how they appear on the surface.  An involving and immersive read.

9781496441539, Tyndale House

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

The Painted Castle - Kristy Cambron

The Painted Castle is the winner of the Christy Awards Historical Romance award, 2020.  Set in the 1800s, in the 1940s and in the present day, the author weaves the three stories together masterfully.  ‘Today’, Irish art expert Keira is enticed away from nursing her broken heart and injured pride to the run down Parham Hill Estate in Suffolk to assess a painting with an unknown and intriguing past and a royal connection.  To do so however means working with a man long suspected as an art thief.  

 

In the ‘40s, Amelia Woods acquired a title when she married RAF pilot Arthur, Viscount Huxley.  But their happiness was cut short when he was shot down and killed. Parham Hall is now filled with refugee or evacuee children, and then a whole heap of US servicemen unexpectedly arrive from the nearby airfield.  Including Captain Wyatt Stevens.

 

But the book opens in the 1800s with the young Lady Elizabeth, who loves to sketch, and whose life is upended when she sees her father shot in the street.

 

I love mystery novels, and this book is absolutely full of questions, despite being an historical romance.  Kristy Cambron writes beautifully, the story is compelling, the characters very well drawn, and the plot constantly keeps you guessing.  The only reason I’d knock a star off my review is because there are SO many inaccuracies in the portrayal of the 1940s section.  And a few other weirdnesses: ie Framlingham Castle does not, and never has had spires! But that aside, this is a very enjoyable read.  Despite that fact that it’s book three in a series, it can be read without having read the other two books first.

9780718095529, Thomas Nelson