Travelling by Book this Summer! Part One

Even if we may not be able to travel on an aeroplane or a cruise ship this summer, we can always travel by book!
2020 is a great year for new paperbacks by my favourite authors, so these are the books that I'm going to read and these are the places I'm going to travel to from the comfort of my own home.

The Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris out already on Kindle, the paperback will be available on April 15th 2021 - Destination, France
As with probably everyone else, my first novel by Joanne Harris was Chocolat, the beautifully magical story thought to be set in Aquitaine. This eagerly awaited fourth book in the series finds Vianne back in Lasquenet-sous-Tannes running her chocolate shop with Rosette, but when Narcisse, the florist dies and leaves Rosestte some land, and a written confession to Reynaud, the priest, the cat is put amongst the pigeons.

The Secret Hours by Santa Montefiore out on July 9th - Destination, Ireland
The first novel I read by Santa Montefiore was The Swallow and The Hummingbird, the haunting love story of Rita and George, set in Devon and Argentina, and from that one I was hooked and I have read probably most of her nineteen books! This novel is set in Ballinakelly and sheds more light on the family who appeared in The Deverill Chronicles which told their story from 1910 to the 1960s.
This stand-alone story starts around 1885 and is about Bertie and Rupert's younger sister, Arethusa.
I really loved the Deverill trilogy and I'm looking forward to finding out more about this turbulent family.

The Giver of Stars by  Jojo Moyes out on May 14th - Destination, Kentucky
The first book I read by Jojo Moyes was The Ship of Brides, set after the Second World War when the Australian brides of British servicemen were brought back to England to be reunited with their husbands, and I was so captivated by the stories of the different girls and their relationships with each other and the crew, that I've read it several times.
This new book is also about a group of women who set out on a journey together, this time to spread the wonder of reading to the poor and lost. Based on a true story, it follows English girl, Alice, who has fallen into a controlling and loveless marriage to wealthy American, Bennett Van Cleve; and Margery O'Hare, a troublesome woman, and daughter of the local felon, who gathers a band of like-minded women together to trek through open skies and mountain forests and to discover freedom and friendship. I can't wait!

A Wedding at the Beach Hut by Veronica Henry out on May 28th - Destination, Good old British Seaside!
Looking back, the very first book I read by Veronica Henry was  . . . The Beach Hut! I have read several more since then because she is so good at weaving people's stories together. This is the fourth in her series about the beach huts at Everdene Sands. Robyn and Jake are planning their wedding, a small affair on the beach with their favourite people, but Robyn's thinking about her birth mother who gave her up for adoption and the box she left with her. Her adoptive parents are thinking about a new life for themselves and far away, Emily is thinking about the daughter she relinquished thirty years ago.
As always, I'm sure that their stories will be expertly woven together and I'm looking forward to losing myself on the beach in this one!

An Almost Perfect Holiday by  Lucy Diamond Also out on May 28th - Destination, Cornwall
This is the third book I've read by Lucy Diamond. She is excellent about writing about families, and relationships and I'm looking forward to being warmed by the Cornish sunshine as I read this one.
Lorna's holiday cottages are ready for new set of arrivals but will it be the perfect holiday they all yearn for?  Em is worried about how she will get on with George's seven-year-old daughter; Maggie wants to get on better with her daughter, Amelia, but then her ex turns up and she wonders if she can trust him again; Olivia has escaped the domestic grind, but what will happen when her past catches up with her?  With romance, trust, courage, wild teenagers and love in the air, the scene is set for an almost perfect holiday!

These are the first five novels I've chosen for my 'travel by book' summer.  I hope that I've inspired you to buy them and maybe try some of the other books by these wonderful writers.
Look out for the rest of my list, coming shortly!

The Temptation of Gracie by Santa Montefiore - Romance and Intrigue in 1950s Tuscany - Perfect for the Bank Holiday

The Temptation of Gracie by Santa Montefiore is a wonderful story of romance and intrigue, set in 1950s Tuscany.
When sixty-eight-year- old Gracie Burton suddenly decides to go on an Italian cookery course at a beautiful Tuscan castle, her friends and family are flabbergasted because she hardly ever used to leave her Devon village, even when Ted, her husband, was alive. However, her daughter, Carina, who has little time for her mother these days because she's busy running her PR firm, says she will go with her, if her daughter, Anastasia, will come along, as she's beginning to feel guilty that she spends so much time away from them both.

No one knows that Gracie has been to Italy before, but when she was thirteen, her mother's brother, Uncle Hans, offered to take her away to Tuscany to teach her how to restore valuable paintings. Grace's mother agreed, as she had little money, and so she went. There, Uncle Hans looked after her and bought her lovely clothes as she learnt the art of restoration. And there, Gracie fell in love with Count Tancredi.
But, why didn't she marry him? Why did she marry Ted instead? Why has she never told her family about her time in Tuscany? What draws her back there now?

Santa Montefiore paints a beautiful picture of Italy, from the Tuscan summer, to the snow-capped winter hills, where she sets her characters like Mama Bernadetta, whose traditional Tuscan recipes have a magical effect on the participants of her cookery course, including Grace, Carina and Anastasia.

I loved this book. It's the next best thing to going to Italy this Bank Holiday!

The Last Secret of the Deverills by Santa Montefiore - A Wonderful End to this Trilogy!

Love and forgiveness are the main themes of The Last Secret of The Deverills by Santa Montefiore. It concludes the fascinating trilogy about Kitty and Celia Deverill and their childhood friend, the daughter of the cook at Castle Deverill, Bridie, who were all born in 1900, and this final instalment takes them up to the 1950s.
Each book has focussed on a different girl, although the stories of the others carry on at the same time, and in this one, it's Bridie.
Also, the story of Maggie O'Leary who put a curse on the first Lord Deverill, after he took their land, that he and his descendants would be confined to roam the castle after death until it is returned to the hands of an O'Leary once again, is played out.
Bridie has returned from New York with her new husband, Count Cesare di Marcantonio to buy Castle Deverill, a place that she has always wanted to make her appear as good as the Deverill girls. Although she doesn't know it, her daughter (who she was told had died at birth leaving her twin brother, JP, to survive) Martha Wallace, has also returned to Ballinakelly to find her birth mother. But she thinks that it is Grace Rowan-Hampton because that's the name on her birth certificate.
On the way, Martha comes across JP in Dublin, who has been brought up by Kitty and her husband, as he was her father's son. They are instantly attracted to each other. What will they do when they find out the truth?
Jack O'Leary, Kitty's childhood sweetheart, also returns to the town, but now he's married. How will Kitty be able to mend her broken heart that she's tried to live with all these years?
There is a wonderfully satisfying conclusion to these stories with love and forgiveness winning over all. But I can't tell you how!
I have loved reading all these books and I'm glad to know that Santa Montefiore is writing another novel about the Deverills, starting in 1885. I can't wait!

The Daughters of Castle Deverill by Santa Montefiore - A Magnificent Sweep of a Novel

The Daughters of Castle Deverill by Santa Montefiore is the second part of a trilogy about Kitty Deverill, her cousin, Celia, from England, and Bridie, the cook's daughter: three girls who spent idyllic summers together at Castle Deverill on the west coast of Ireland in Songs of Love and War. (You can read my review here)
It is now 1925, and after a catastrophic fire which destroyed the castle, Celia has bought it and intends to rebuild it and make it grander than ever it was; Kitty has married her tutor, Robert, and is bringing up, Little Jack, her father's son with Bridie who has fled to New York and made a fortune marrying an elderly rich man.
So now, Celia has the castle at last; Kitty pines for Jack O'Leary (the man that she and Bridie both loved) who has also gone to America; and, although she's now very well off, Bridie yearns for her son, Little Jack.
Set against the Stock Market crash of 1929 which changes everyone's fortunes, this is another of Santa Montefiore's sweeping stories that she does so well, and I was totally immersed in its depth and breadth. It takes place from the west of Ireland to London, New York and the diamond mines of South Africa. It is romantic, atmospheric, yet also tragic and shocking.
This book also reveals more about the first Lord Barton* Deverill arriving in Ballinakelly to claim his lands (bestowed upon him by King Charles II, for his support to the Crown) and his relationship with Maggie O'Leary, who puts a curse on him and his heirs that their spirits will never rest from their wandering until an O'Leary owns Castle Deverill again.
It is through this curse that we see Kitty Deverill's ancestors, from the raging Barton, to her much missed grandmother, Adeline, a bit like a Greek chorus, observing the family's celebrations and, commiserations.
Told from many points of view, it's a magnificent sweep of a novel and the final part, The Last Secret of the Deverills is out now.

*In her introduction, Santa Montefiore tells how she chose Barton's name from the village sign along the A303 for Barton Stacey. I've often thought it would make a good name for a character, and she's beaten me to it! 

Songs of Love and War by Santa Montefiore - A Fabulous Tale of Friendships and Rivalries

This story could so easily be about three girls, Kitty, Bridie and Celia, who spent wonderful summers at Castle Deverill, County Cork, and grew up and found the most loving and suitable husbands, had lots of children, and lived happily ever after. But it's not!
Santa Montefiore has written a fabulous tale in Songs of Love and War of the friendships and rivalries of the girls, set against the Irish uprising at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Kitty, the granddaughter of Adeline, Lady Deverill, and her husband, Hubert, Lord Deverill, lives a privileged life, but is shunned by her mother, Maud, who favours her elder sisters, Victoria and Elspeth. She is shocked to discover that her father, Bertie, is having an affair with the beautiful Grace who becomes involved with the aggression towards their Anglo-Irish family.
Kitty considers herself as Irish as Bridie Doyle, the daughter of the cook at the Castle, and they slip away together to play in the gardens with Cousin Celia who arrives each year to spend the summer in Ireland. But their happiness doesn't last as Kitty and Bridie both fall in love with Jack O'Leary, the vet's son.
Castle Deverill has a curse that the male heirs of the Deverill family will have to haunt the castle as ghosts (which Kitty and her grandmother can see) until an O'Leary owns the castle again. So apart from the fact that Jack's Irish and not of the same class as Kitty, she knows that her father would never allow them to marry.
The story follows the girls through the Easter Rising which has a tragic effect on the Deverills and their castle, and into their twenties. As they grow up, they move further apart, but they never lose their love for Castle Deverill and the memories that they made there.
This book is the first of a trilogy, and I can't wait to read the rest!

Daughters of Castle Deverill is out now.

The Last Secret of the Deverills is out on July 13th 2017.

My Summer Reading List - Gorgeous books to be read this summer!

Here are my gorgeous books to be read this summer!
And here's why I've chosen them (in no particular order!).
1. The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies
I've chosen this because I love the sweeping romantic novels set in exotic places that Rosanna Ley writes so well, and I'm hoping that this one set in Ceylon in the 1920s and 1930s with its powerful themes of love, loss, and secrets revealed will do the trick.
2. The Lake House by Kate Morton
I've already enjoyed two books by this author, The Secret Keeper and The House at Riverton, so I'm looking forward to reading it. The blurb states: A missing child; an abandoned house and an unsolved mystery. Perfect! I can't wait!
3. Last Dance in Havana by Rosanna Ley
If you've been following my blog, you'll know how much I love Rosanna Ley's novels; I've read four in the past year! So I'm looking forward to reading this one set in Cuba and England from the 1950s to the present day, and enjoying Rosanna's skill at combining place and the action of the story. This one should be Hot! Hot! Hot!
4. The Heroes' Welcome by Louisa Young
I read My Dear I wanted to tell you four years ago, and was moved by the story set in the First World War about how the war affected the soldiers fighting in it and how it affected those at home.
This one is the sequel, and looks at the life of the couples after the soldiers have returned. I am especially interested because my father was a soldier who returned, but whose life was never the same.
Louisa Young is the granddaughter of Kathleen Scott, the widow of Captain Scott of the Antarctic, and her first book, A Great Task of Happiness, was a biography of her grandmother's colourful life which I'm looking forward to reading as well.
5. Songs of Love and War by Santa Montefiore
This is another of my favourite authors, and I have read nearly all of her books. Songs of Love and War is another sweeping story set in Ireland and is the first of a trilogy, so that will be wonderful to see what happens next. It follows three girls whose lives are affected by the First World War and the Irish Uprising. I'm looking forward to it because Santa Montefiore is another writer who can combine setting, characters and story to produce a really absorbing novel.
6. The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans
Another favourite author! I remember her telling the story at the London Book Fair a few years ago how, working at a publishers, she submitted her first novel, Going Home, under a pseudonym and was delighted that it was accepted!
This book is about Keepsake House in Cornwall and the romantic and dangerous secrets that is holds. Another epic read!

I hope that you might find something here to try too. Happy Summer Reading!

Relax and enjoy Secrets of the Lighthouse by Santa Montefiore

It's always a pleasure to lose myself in one of Santa Montefiore's novels, and Secrets of the Lighthouse did not disappoint.
The story takes place on the wild shores of Connemara. Ellen has run away to Aunt Peg's house in Ballymaldoon, because she doesn't want to marry William, the man that her mother, Madeline, thinks is the perfect match for her. There, she discovers a whole family that she did not know existed, and also the brooding Conor whose wife, Caitlin, died under uncertain circumstances at the old lighthouse.
A broad cast of characters, reminiscent of the those found in a Jojo Moyes novel, enlivens the story of how Ellen uncovers the secrets of her family, not only in Ireland, but also in England, and finds out how Caitlin died, and the hold that she still has on her family, and indeed, Ellen as she grows closer to Conor.
Through all this, Ellen has to decide whether she is to stay in Ireland where she feels she belongs, or return to England to marry William.
This is a great story which I could not put down!

The Summer House by Santa Montefiore - A Good Read for Spring or Summer

The Temple of Apollo is a folly overlooking Stourhead Gardens in Wiltshire, and Santa Montefiore uses one like this in The Summer House.
It isn't one of Santa's usual stories of sapphire Italian skies or French vineyards, heavy with purple grapes, but is set in Fairfield, an English country estate, and tells the story of Antoinette Frampton and Phaedra, who turns up at her husband's funeral claiming to be his daughter.
George, Lord Frampton, was only 58 when he was killed in a skiing accident, and his wife and sons are reassured by Julius Beecher, his friend and lawyer for 30 years, that a DNA test confirms her claim.

It's recently been in the news that Peaches Geldof has called her new son Phaedra, and I was surprised to find the same name here. It's usually a girls' name, and can be pronounced as Fey-dra, Fee-dra, Fie-dra, or  Fed-dra which I think that Peaches has chosen. It means bright, and in this story the character is a blue-eyed, blonde Canadian with a positive attitude who is embraced by George's family. There is a growing mutual attraction between her and David, the eldest son, which they both try to resist as they help Antoinette restore the summer house to its former glory. However, Phaedra isn't telling everything. What is her secret? What is her true identity?
The story also deals sensitively with Antoinette's loss, and also her worry that if George had kept his secret about Phaedra from her, what other secrets did he have?

Altogether, a gripping story told against an English country spring that unfolded around me as I read it. Beautiful!

Which is your favourite Santa Montefiore novel?