September Book Round-Up

Gulp! I've hardly read anything this month - I think the changing seasons, work and other things have slowed me right down. (I'm also wayyyyyy behind on my Good Reads challenge "cries"). What I did read however I thoroughly enjoyed! Books marked with * I gratefully received from the publisher via netgalley/direct from the publisher.

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier* - This is an absolute gem of a book. I loved the main character Violet. It's 1932 and the losses of WW1 are still being felt. Violet is mourning the deaths of her fiance and brother and find out quite quickly that she's a surplus woman - one who's unlikely to marry and have a family. Her mother finds fault in everything she does and is very demanding. Violet decides, even now in her 30s she needs to leave home and asks the local insurance office where she works to be transferred to Winchester. She finds a room in a lodging house and is now an independent woman.

She comes across a group of women who are broderers, who embroider kneelers for the Cathedral and she becomes part of the group making friends with flamboyant Gilda and Dorothy. She also meets Arthur, a married bell ringer whom she grows to really like and have feelings for. Something happens on a solo walking holiday which she manages to put to one side but when the same problem is encountered a second time she stands up for herself and fights back. She grabs glimpses of happiness and some wonderfully life changing things happens to her which you'd never expect. I absolutely loved the story. 

Mudlark by Lara Maiklem* - this was an absolutely fascinating read which follows Lara's life as a mudlark around the River Thames. It's stuffed full of interesting facts, history, anecdotes and tales which are interwoven with the living thing which is The Thames. I found the book easy to read and interesting. Would recommend.

Blood Song (Roy & Castells #3) by Johana Gustawsson* - I took part in the blog tour for this amazing read. See my review HERE.

in the absence of miracles by Michael J Malone - I'm still reeling from that twist! John Docherty's mum has had a massive stroke and it's unlikely she'll ever live at home again and so, John finds himself clearing out the family home. 

He finds something which will turn his life and that of his brother upside down. The storylines are dark and disturbing with lots of twists and turns and I so recommend it (although it's not for the faint hearted!)

The Lost Child by Emily Gunnis* - the story starts in the fifties when we meet 13 year old Rebecca who is best pals with Harvey. Something unthinkable happens to her beloved mother, Harriet and she vows she'll make something of herself (Senior Paediatric Doctor). She gets on with her life after the night she lost her mother but the niggle is constantly there that someone saw what happened that night..

Fast forward to 2014 and Rebecca's estranged daughter Jessie (whom she had with Harvey), is due to give birth and is feeling deeply anxious. She wants to meet her to discuss the family history and to see if that has anything to do with the way she's feeling. Rebecca had psychosis during her pregnancy though it seems her mother Harriet did not. Rebecca is not keen to delve into the past, even for her daughter...

Iris, is her second daughter, is a journalist, the daughter she had with stable and dependable John, is who she turns to when Jessie and the seriously ill baby disappear.. I loved how the stories from the past and present are so cleverly intertwined. In the past we learn that Harriet was a lady's maid to the gorgeous Cecilia and that her husband Jacob returned from WW2 a broken and dangerous man. I didn't see the twists coming at all (one of which made me cry!) Highly recommend!

What have you been reading this month?