Holmes, Margaret and Poe

James Patterson & Brian Sitts

PUBLISHED: 4/1/24

PUBLISHER: Century

SYNOPSIS

Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple and Auguste Poe run the most in-demand private investigation agency in New York City.

The three detectives make a formidable team, solving a series of seemingly impossible crimes which expose the dark underbelly of the city – from a priceless art theft, high-stakes kidnapping and a decades-old unsolved murder, to a gruesome subterranean prison and corruption and bribery at the highest levels of power.

But it’s not long before their headline-grabbing breakthroughs, unconventional methods – and untraceable pasts – attract the attention of the NYPD and the FBI.

After all, it’s no surprise that there’s a mystery or two to unravel in the city that never sleeps . . . not least, who really are Holmes, Margaret and Poe?

MY REVIEW

I’m a huge James Patterson fan, and when I saw this new novel I knew I just had to read it! The title itself is irresistible.

This is the story of three PI’s without a past. They have set up a new detective agency in New York and following the successful conclusion of their first case they are very much in demand.

The novel takes us into the minds of these three brilliant detectives, warts and all.

The cases they take on are complex and juicy and I thoroughly enjoyed investigating with them! There was even a bit of the supernatural about a cold case.

I loved the mystery surrounding these three, they have a close relationship and appear to know each other very well. Not only do they work as a team, they also all live above their offices, albeit in separate apartments.

A fast paced engrossing read I would highly recommend, and a brilliant book to end my 2023 year of reading.

Many thanks to Sarah Harwood at Harwood PR and Century (Penguin Random House) for sending me an ARC.

Devil’s Breath

Jill Johnson

Publication Date: 6/7/23

Publisher: Black & White Publishing

SYNOPSIS

I’ve always been better with plants than people . . .

Eustacia Rose is a Professor of Botanical Toxicology who lives alone in London with only her extensive collection of poisonous plants for company. She tends to her garden with meticulous care. Her life is quiet. Her schedule never changes. Until the day she hears a scream and the temptation to investigate proves irresistible.

Through her telescope, Professor Rose is drawn into the life of an extraordinarily beautiful neighbour, Simone, and nicknames the men who visit her after poisonous plants according to the toxic effect they have on Simone. But who are these four men? And why does Eustacia Rose recognise one of them?

Just as she preserves her secret garden, she feels inexplicably compelled to protect her neighbour, but Eustacia soon finds herself entangled in a far more complicated web than she could ever have imagined. When her precious garden is vandalised and someone close to Simone is murdered with a toxin derived from a rare poisonous plant, Eustacia becomes implicated in the crime.

After all, no one knows toxic plants like she does . .

MY REVIEW

What a character Eustacia Amelia Rose is. Professor of botanical toxicology. Some would say eccentric. Others would say neurodiverse. I just loved her and her views on life and people.

Living alone since her father’s death she lovingly and carefully tends to her poisonous plants on her rooftop garden. She spends a lot of time watching her neighbours through a telescope as a ‘social observation’, and journaling their movements for a possible book on her findings. She has filled 20 notebooks so far. This helps her distract herself from memories of her lost love. One day she sees one of her neighbours kidnapped, and as the police are less than useless she leaves her solitary existence to investigate.

As a ‘neurotypical’ reader with personal experience of friends who are neurodiverse I completely understood Eustacia. Her inability to read body language or understand sarcasm. Not understanding what a coping mechanism is, before fiddling with the cuffs of her fathers suit which she wears every day.

Beautifully and sensitively written, it follows Eustacia as she forces herself to interact with people, finding it’s not as hard or unpleasant as she thought. As she is investigating the kidnapping, someone breaks in to her home and destroys her beloved plants. Then a man is found poisoned.

A mystery within a mystery and the reader needs to keep their eye on the ball to keep track of who is who. Some clever twists.

I found the descriptions of the toxins from so many plants very interesting, and I will never again sit near a plant when I’m in a cafe!

This book was well deservedly chosen for the BBC Two Between the Covers programme.

I’m very much looking forward to the next book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jill is a Māori writer based in the UK, having lived in south-east Asia, Europe and New Zealand. She moved to London when she was 18 and the following year opened Gosh! Comics. Alongside this, she and her partner launched a graphic novel publishing company and an editorial cartoon gallery. While running her businesses and raising her three children, Jill obtained a BA Hons degree in Ornamental Horticulture and Design. In 2013, she submitted her writing to Faber and Faber, and was accepted into the Faber Academy. Her first novel The Time Before the Time to Come was published by OWN IT! in 2018. She now lives in Brighton.

Cover Reveal!

SCANDALOUS WOMEN

By Gill Paul

Publication date: 29th August 2024 in the UK

August 13th 2024 in the US and Canada

SYNOPSIS

Mad Men meets the world of publishing in international bestselling author Gill Paul’s new novel about Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann, two dynamic, groundbreaking writers renowned for their scandalous and controversial novels, and the beleaguered young editorial assistant who introduces them.

1966, NYC: Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls hits the bookstores and she is desperate for a bestseller. It’s steamy, it’s a page-turner, but will it make the big money she needs? In London, Jackie Collins’s racy The World Is Full of Married Men launches her career. But neither author is prepared for the price they will pay for being women who dare to write about sex.

Jacqueline and Jackie are lambasted by the literary establishment, deluged with hate mail, and even condemned by feminists. In public, both women shoulder the outcry with dignity; in private, they are crumbling—particularly since they have secrets they don’t want splashed across the front pages.

1965, NYC: College graduate Nancy White is excited to take up her dream job at a Manhattan publishing house, but she could never be prepared for the rampant sexism she will encounter. While working on Valley of the Dolls, she becomes friends with Jacqueline Susann, and, after reaching out to Jackie Collins about a US deal, she is responsible for the two authors meeting.

Will the two Jackies clash as they race to top the charts? Will Nancy achieve her ambition of becoming an editor, despite all the men determined to hold her back? Three women struggle to succeed in a man’s world, while desperately trying to protect those they love the most.

 

Preorder links:

 US: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/scandalous-women-gill-paul?variant=41246722424866

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Scandalous-Women-Jackie-Collins-Jacqueline-ebook/dp/B0CNNMW3HX/

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scandalous-Women-Gill-Paul/dp/0008532168

Nightwatching

Tracy Sierra

Publication date: 1/2/24

Publisher: Viking

SYNOPSIS

There was someone in the house.

Home alone with her young children during a blizzard, a mother tucks her son back into bed in the middle of the night. Then she hears a noise – old houses are always making some kind of noise. But this sound is disturbingly familiar: it’s the tread of footsteps, unusually heavy and slow, coming up the stairs…

In that split second, she has three choices.

Should she hide? Should she run? Or should she fight?

MY REVIEW

The reader is immediately drawn in to the horror of a mother, in her house with her two children, in the middle of a blizzard. She wakes in the night. Hears an intruder coming up the stairs. The panic she feels is palpable. How can she protect her children?

What a terrifying journey of panic, claustrophobia, questioning your own sanity, and the worrying fact this mother couldn’t rely on the police.

The mother begins to question her sanity when the police speak to her. It appears they don’t believe her. Just an hysterical woman who recently lost her husband to a freak accident. Was the intruder real? She keeps going over the events, getting more confused in her mind with what actually happened.

Written in a way we feel we are inside the mother’s head, feeling her feelings and encouraging her forward. You have this! You are a strong woman!

I liked the fact the characters real names were not used. It added something to the cold and tense atmosphere. No cosy first names. The mother gave them nicknames such as the Corner (the intruder) and the boyish officer (young policeman).

I really didn’t know where this one would go and I was worried the ending would be a let down after the tense, adrenaline fuelled read but thankfully no. It was an excellent ending.

Many thanks to Viking Books for my advance copy. Due out Feb 2024.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tracy Sierra was born and raised in the Colorado mountains. She currently lives in New England in an antique colonial-era home complete with its own secret room. When not writing, she works as an attorney and spends time with her husband, two children, and flock of chickens. Nightwatching is her debut novel.

A Winter Wonderland

Rosie Green

Publication Date: 28/11/23

SYNOPSIS


The festive season is fast approaching and the Little Duck Pond Café menu has been given a mouth-watering sprinkling of December magic. Jaz is hoping for the perfect festive season with little daughter Emma. But her feelings for next-door neighbour, Milo, are getting in the way. With his old love back on the scene, is she really prepared to risk her heart and make it the best Christmas ever?

Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C97VXWCY
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C97VXWCY

MY REVIEW

Another gorgeous addition to the Little Duck Pond series of novellas.

I’m feeling all the Christmas feels after this one.

There is the boy (well, man) next door romance bubbling at the beginning, but can Jaz finally let herself get involved in another relationship? Has she waited too long? Milo has waited for her but now his beautiful blonde ex uni friend has appeared on the scene.

There is a homeless young man who heroically saves two young girls. Will he accept help?

And there is of course the Christmas Wonderland charity fundraiser to organise.

Grab those opportunities with both hands is the lesson I’ve taken away from this wonderful novella, and of course spend as much time as possible with friends and loved ones.

This is one of my favourite series and I’m always so excited to return to Sunnybrook for the next book!

Huge thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rosie has been scribbling stories ever since she was little. Back then, they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by ‘the baddies’. Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all – unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.

Rosie’s Little Duck Pond Cafe series of novellas is centred around life in a village cafe and each book can be read as a stand-alone story.

Look out for THE SUNSHINE SISTERS – a heart-warming and thoroughly enchanting trilogy of books in the Little Duck Pond Café series, out early in 2024!


Follow Rosie on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green88

The Haunting Scent of Poppies

Victoria Williamson

Publication Date: 1/12/23

Publisher: Silver Thistle Press

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SYNOPSIS

The War is over, but for petty criminal Charlie his darkest days are only just beginning.

Charlie Briggs is never off-duty, even when a botched job means he’s forced to lay low in a sleepy Hampshire town for the holiday season. Always searching for his next unwitting victim, or a shiny trinket he can pilfer, he can’t believe his luck when he happens upon a rare book so valuable it will set him up for life. All he needs to do is sit tight until Boxing Day. But there’s a desperate story that bleeds beyond the pages; something far more dangerous than London’s mobsters is lurking in the shadows.

Could the book be cursed? Why is he haunted by the horrors of war? Can he put things right before he’s suffocated by his own greed?

MY REVIEW

At just under 100 pages, this is a novella to read in one sitting. Which is good as you won’t be able to put it down.

Set just after the end of the Great War. Charlie Briggs, who didn’t serve in the war, is a cunning small time thief. Lying low in a town away from London where he is a wanted man. Dressed as a gentleman, with stolen accessories, he manages to get into a bookshop looking for a book he can steal to sell on. He doesn’t expect to find a rare and very valuable book right in front of his nose. And he definitely doesn’t expect the book to be haunted.

We follow Charlie as he guards the book with his life, whilst trying to evade a ghostly figure. He only has to get through the next few days until his acquaintance can pick him up.

Is he imagining the war scenes he finds himself in the middle of? And what about the choking fog which appears from nowhere? And the poppies growing where they shouldn’t at this time of year?

Such a spooky read! Brilliantly written as I was absorbed in the story from the first page.

Thank you to the author for my copy to read and review on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Victoria Williamson grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and has worked as an educator in a number of different countries, including as an English teacher in China, a secondary science teacher in Cameroon, and a teacher trainer in Malawi. 

As well as degrees in Physics and Mandarin Chinese, she has completed a Masters degree in Special Needs in Education. In the UK she works as a primary school special needs teacher, working with children with a range of additional support needs including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, physical disabilities and behavioural problems.

She is currently working as a full time writer of Middle Grade and YA contemporary fiction, science fiction and fantasy, with a focus on creating diverse characters reflecting the many cultural backgrounds and special needs of the children she has worked with, and building inclusive worlds where all children can see a reflection of themselves in heroic roles.

Victoria’s experiences teaching young children in a school with many families seeking asylum inspired her debut novel, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, an uplifting tale of redemption and unlikely friendship between Glaswegian bully Caylin and Syrian refugee Reema. 

Twenty percent of her author royalties for The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle are donated to the Scottish Refugee Council.

You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and upcoming events on her website: http://www.strangelymagical.com

Diva

Daisy Goodwin

Publication date: HB 14/3/24

Publisher: Head of Zeus

My Review: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

SYNOPSIS

In the glittering and ruthlessly competitive world of opera, Maria Callas is known simply as la divina: the divine one. With her glorious voice, instinctive flair for the dramatic and striking beauty, she’s the toast of the grandest opera houses in the world. Yet her fame has been hard won: raised in Nazi-occupied Greece by a mother who mercilessly exploited her, Maria learned early in life how to protect herself.

When she meets the fabulously rich shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, her isolation melts away. For the first time in her life, she believes she’s found a man who sees the woman rather than the legendary soprano. Desperately in love, Onassis introduces her to a life of unbelievable luxury, mixing with celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

And then, suddenly, it’s over. The international press announce that Onassis will marry the most famous woman in the world, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, leaving Maria to pick up the pieces.

In this remarkable novel, Daisy Goodwin brings to life a woman whose extraordinary talent, unremitting drive and natural chic made her a legend. But it was only in confronting the heartbreak of losing the man she loved that Maria Callas found her true voice.

MY REVIEW

I have just reluctantly emerged from the glamorous world of Maria Callas. I didn’t want this book to end!

Beautifully written, Daisy has captured the essence of La Divina – with her highs and lows; in her private life as well as her singing career. The constant worry that she was spending one of a finite number of ‘coins’ every time she performed, and her voice would not last forever. What would she do when it all ended? Well, she wanted nothing more than to settle down to a simple life with a loving husband and children.

She was a vulnerable woman, constantly looking for reassurance and love. She did not have it as a child as her mother favoured her older sister. Her husband wanted her for her talent and her earnings. Aristotle Onassis, the love of her life, perhaps loved her in his own way, but she was only ever going to be his mistress. The story ends after he marries Jackie Kennedy, for status rather than love, but still wants Maria in his life.

Daisy takes us on a trip through the world’s best opera houses, and we mingle with celebrities such as Princess Grace and Prince Rainier, Winston Churchill and Marilyn Monroe.

I am so glad Maria had her maid Bruna by her side all times, who looked after and understood her, and provided the mothering she so needed.

This book will have a place on my forever shelf as I know I will read it again. I am so grateful to Head of Zeus for sending me a proof. I have preordered the book – preorders are so important for authors – so I will have the set 💛

Can’t recommend it highly enough.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – in her own words

When I was eighteen I went to Cambridge University to study history. MY first assignment was Queen Victoria and the media. I went to the library to consult her Diaries. She wrote sixty two million words in her life time and as I pulled out the first leather bound volume I felt overwhelmed by its size and weight. But then it fell open at the entry for 3rd Nov 1839, ” I saw me dearest Albert who was all wet in his white cashmere breeches with nothing on underneath.” As I laughed out loud, the other readers looked at me in disapproval. Queen Victoria, I decided then, was not the boot faced old bag with a bonnet I had imagined, but a woman after my own heart. 

All my novels have been set in the Victorian era: The American Heiress is about a dollar princess called Cora Cash who marriesan English duke; The Fortune Hunter is the story of Sisi, the beautiful Austrian Empress who came to England to hunt – in the novel Sisi meets Victoria. I enjoyed writing this encounter so much – Victoria”s voice came so easily to me, that I decided that my next next novel would be about the young Victoria. But as I started writing it, I thought it would make a great tv drama, which is how I ended up writing the PBS Masterpiece series Victoria, as well as my novel Victoria, a novel of a young Queen. 

When I am not immersed in the nineteenth century, I live in London with three dogs, two daughters and a husband.

A Concert for Christmas

Helen Hawkins

Publication Date: 23/11/23

Publisher: Allison & Busby

SYNOPSIS

Unwrap a story of festive song, good cheer and – just maybe – a sprinkling of love …

Schoolteacher Sophie Lawson has fled to the Cotswold countryside after a tragic break-up and is throwing herself into dating and organising Cranswell’s annual Christmas concert.

The festive fun is marred by the arrival of a handsome but surly musical director, tricky pupils and concert preparations falling into disarray. Disaster strikes, but the show must go on. Will the concert bring Christmas harmony to Cranswell and will Sophie end the year on a high note?

MY REVIEW

A cosy Christmas romance to snuggle up with. Just add hot chocolate and a blanket.

I just love a good romance, especially when it is themed around Christmas, and this author is definitely on my list to look out for in the future.

Our main characters are Sophie and Liam who have recently had a disastrous first date, but seem destined to keep meeting. Liam turns up at her choir, where they are practising for a charity concert, as the temporary musical director. Then she finds out Liam’s troubled daughter is in her year 6 class.

Sophie has had more than her share of heartbreak in her life, as has Liam, and we gradually learn their stories and hope they can move forward with their lives.

If only all teachers were as considerate as Sophie, school would be a much better place!

I was obviously rooting for a happy ever after and for both of them to overcome their difficult pasts. I was also hoping Sophie’s mum would develop a heart as she is just horrible. Putting Sophie down at every opportunity. No wonder the poor girl wanted to leave her parents behind when she moved away for her job.

I enjoyed the ‘enemies to friends to enemies to lovers’ storyline, but I have to say my favourite character was Lulu, one of the minor characters. I would love to read a story of her life as a star at MGM when she was younger!

Thank you Libby at Allison & Busby for my gorgeous proof copy of the book and my spot on the blog tour.

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen is a writer, editor and English teacher. Her first attempt at novel writing was shortlisted for the Penguin Michael Joseph Christmas Love Story Competition and highly commended in the I AM In Print Romance Competition. When she’s not writing, Helen can be found editing, singing and dancing with her local operatic society, or running around with her daughter and partner at their home in Oxfordshire.

The Art of Destiny

Wesley Chu

Publication Date: 17/10/23

Publisher: Daphne Press

SYNOPSIS

The former chosen one and their band of unlikely allies must find a new path in the sequel to The Art of Prophecy, an epic fantasy ode to martial arts and magic.

A hero once believed to be the chosen one must find a new path with the help of a band of unlikely allies in the sequel to The Art of Prophecy, an epic fantasy ode to martial arts and magic from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Wesley Chu.

Once there was a prophecy that a chosen one would rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, an immortal god-king. But the prophecy was wrong.

Now Jian, the former chosen hero, is just an ordinary young man trying to find his own way. But he may yet have an extraordinary destiny, because he joins forces with Taishi, his grumpy grandmaster, who instructs him in the ways of her family’s powerful war art. Jian still has a long way to go before he can become her heir, so she recruits a band of elderly grandmasters who come out of retirement to whip him into shape and help with this one last job.

And there are others who are also seeking their own destiny, like Qisami, an assassin on a secret mission to protect a powerful noblewoman from her enemies. But as Qisami goes undercover to complete her mission, she takes on a new identity that gives her something she never had before: friendship, found family, and new purpose.

Sali also thought her fate was laid before her. She was supposed to be looking for the next Eternal Khan and now finds her clan exiled from everything she’s ever known. As she leads the survivors in search of a new home, Sali discovers that she’s something she never thought she could be: a leader and a revolutionary.

Because sometimes destiny is grander than any prophecy can foresee. And the greatest destiny of all is the one you choose for yourself.

MY REVIEW

This is an absolute must read for fantasy and martial arts lovers. I hadn’t read The Art of Prophecy prior to this, this being the second in the series, but I will without a shadow of a doubt be reading it soon. I’ll be searching out one of those gorgeous hardbacks!

It’s a wonderful huge chunk of a book to get your teeth into and absolutely absorb yourself in this world. Be prepared to put a weekend aside to fully enjoy it, it was around a 17 hour read for me on my kindle. There are a lot of characters in this book and the author has written a helpful who’s who at the front of the book to refer back to.

The main character we follow is teenage orphaned Jian as he is trained in war arts by his ‘aunt’ Ling Tashi, a master of wind whispering. Jian’s destiny is to slay the immortal God King, the Eternal Khan. If he ever shows up. And it is beginning to look like he might not so Jian needs to find another purpose in life. Tiani calls retired masters of their respective lineages to help educate Jian. Unfortunately many of them are dead, retired or want nothing to do with her. One “secretly hates you with a passion of a thousand spears”. Which is also one of my favourite lines from the book! So there are five of them. But with some substantial war arts skill. Jian is also the most wanted person in the Enlightened States. So he lives under the radar in Cloud Pillars with Tashi and Zofi, another orphan taken in by Tashi. Until one day he unfortunately stumbles into a situation and kills around 10 bandits who are holding up a caravan and gets his face on wanted posters. Although it doesn’t really look like him. Apart from the one eyebrow. All he wanted was his aunt’s mail they were about to steal. Jian reminds me a lot of Aang the Avatar especially as he is practicing wind whispering.

Another of the main characters in this story is Maza Qisami, a highly effective assassin for hire who works in a cell of shadow kills. She is set up and captured during one hit and forced to work for Sunri – Duchess of Caobiu; simultaneously the most admired and most hated person in the enlightened states. And her life is in danger.

A third character Sali is on a quest to find a way to sever the Khan’s spirit from her body, which is killing her.

Three amazing storylines following outstandingly well developed characters which jump off the page. Each has their own quest / destiny to chase. The humour was perfect, making the characters feel real. A talented author indeed to bring another world to life in such depth.

There are plenty of strong female characters written into the story.

Many thanks to Stephen at Black Crow PR for introducing me to the writing of Wesley Chu, who is now an auto read author for me, and for having me along on the blog tour.

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wesley Chu is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twelve published novels, including Time Salvager, The Rise of Io, and The Walking Dead: Typhoon. He won the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. His debut, The Lives of Tao, won the Young Adult Library Services Association Alex Award. Chu is an accomplished martial artist and a former member of the Screen Actors Guild. He has acted in film and television, worked as a model and stuntman, and summited Kilimanjaro. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Paula, and two boys, Hunter and River.

Website: http://www.wesleychu.com

Twitter: @wes_chu

Boundary Road

By Ami Rao

Publication Date: 21/9/23

Publisher: Everything With Words

My rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m delighted to be part of the blog tour for this immersive, hard hitting and thought provoking book. Very cleverly written and I developed a soft spot for the philosophical young Aron as soon as he was introduced into the story. I absolutely loved it.

I have included a synopsis for the book below, then there is a Q & A section with Ami about her inspiration for Boundary Road and a teaser for her next book.

SYNOPSIS

A story of colliding lives, beguiling opportunities, and reckless illusions. A compelling blend of comedy and tragedy. Love, desire, fear, and dreams on a London bus: we’re on the thirteen, heading for Boundary Road. People get on and off leaving something of themselves behind, but two of the passengers have a past they can’t escape. People can’t stop talking. A giddy cocktail of monologues, dialogues, memories and gleeful anticipation. It’s amazing what people will say to total strangers. Suddenly the unsayable just trips off the tongue and there’s so much feeling behind it; hours of thought, sprinkled with melancholy or sharp blades of aggression. While some just accept what life offers, others react with dangerous determination. A man haunted by his past and the many pasts of his family, but in love with the present; all that’s greeting his senses right now. He’s charming but he’s got a secret waiting to catch up with him. A woman stifled by lack of affection but determined to do what’s right. A man obsessed with architecture and in love with a painting. For most, it’s a liberating opportunity to exchange confidences with a stranger, but for two passengers this journey will be unexpectedly life changing.

Author Q & A:

What inspired Boundary Road?


I think it was a confluence of disparate events or observations that came together to inspire Boundary Road.

Firstly and perhaps most interestingly, I saw “Aron” –meaning I saw an extremely unusual looking young man with striking blue eyes walking down Baker Street and was immediately taken by something about him, his confidence, his energy, yes, those eyes – he seemed so alive and so vital. I watched him get into the number 13 bus and I guess somewhere in that fleeting moment, a seed was sown.

Another trigger I remember vividly is when I was visiting my friend Nora in Maida Vale. I received a text message from my friend Aron and when I told him where I was he very casually pointed out the ARON:NORA thing. I’d say that was probably the genesis moment for the entire novel. It immediately gave me a structure, a sense for the architecture of the book. Sometimes that’s all it takes to spark an idea – an observation, a coincidence, an incongruity, a puzzle that floats around in your head, and doesn’t go away and you feel compelled to do something about it. Write a book or whatever.

Time is definitely a factor, meaning the times we are living in or through. I wrote Boundary Road entirely during covid and the multiple conversations that take place on the bus are probably a projection in opposition to the experience of the unnatural isolation we were all a part of. If you trace the development of the novel over time, you can see how it tends to be a reflection of, or a reaction to, the time it is set in, and my response to that moment in time was to produce a polyphonous novel. George Orwell wrote in his wonderfully funny Why I write essay that a lot of novels are written out of some kind of desire to fix things or right some kind of perceived wrong. I guess that’s what I was doing – all totally subconscious of course.

Finally and most seriously, I’d say Boundary Road is a work of art, but if you take away the abstraction, it is ultimately about knife crime. It takes a simple google search to get an idea of how dire the stats are. It’s honestly so depressing to see how many young lives are over before they even begin. I guess I was fed up of constantly reading about this on the news or watching it on TV, how normalised this violence has become in the mainstream media. So, I wanted to sort of grapple with it even just for myself and the way I grapple with things is to write fiction. I wrote Boundary Road not because I had any grand notions that my book will change anything, but because of the hope that if I did an okay job with it, it might just spark conversation and even that is something because there is nothing more dangerous than apathy. You will notice that the novel “ends in the middle.” This was a creative decision about the shape of the book that I made pretty early on. I guess you can think of it as a tiny gesture of resistance to closure. Philosophically speaking, the story cannot end until the unbidden violence underpinning it also ends.

 

What are you writing next?


I’m working on a psychological thriller about a woman whose story is drip-fed to the reader in 19 sessions with her psychotherapist. There’s a seriously twisted twist in the end and when I told it to my husband, his response was “Boy, your mind is one scary place!” Which is really reassuring. Writing-wise that is. Also, it’s in the first person which I’ve never done before. It’s exciting. I mean I’ve written about two words, but still…