LUCINDA’S BOOK CHOICE 2021 (3)

These are the last 4 of my top 12 books for this year.

A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE Barbara Taylor Bradford  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074CG2WN1

One of the top-ten bestselling novels ever written. “An extravagant, absorbing novel of love, courage, ambition, war, death and passion.” —The New York Times
 
Barbara Taylor Bradford’s The Emma Harte Saga begins with this record-shattering New York Times bestseller that traces Emma Harte’s legacy through multiple generations of indomitable women.
 
From the servants’ quarters of a manor house on the brooding Yorkshire moors to the helm of a profitable international business, Emma Harte’s life is a sweeping saga of unbreakable spirit and resolve. Rising from abject poverty to glittering wealth at the upper echelons of society, there is only one man the indomitable Emma cannot have—and only one she yearns for. For me, this series has stood the test of time.

THE MUNICH GIRL  Phyllis Edgerly Ring

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AC4FHI8

Anna Dahlberg grew up eating dinner under her father’s war-trophy portrait of Eva Braun.
Fifty years after the war, she discovers what he never did—that her mother and Hitler’s mistress were friends.
Plunged into the world of the “ordinary” Munich girl who was her mother’s confidante—and a tyrant’s lover—Anna finds her every belief about right and wrong challenged. With Hannes’s help, she retraces the path of two women who met as teenagers, shared a friendship that spanned the years that Eva Braun was Hitler’s mistress, yet never knew that the men they loved had opposing ambitions.
Eva’s story reveals that she never joined the Nazi party, had Jewish friends, and was credited at the Nuremberg Trials with saving 35,000 Allied lives. As Anna’s journey leads back through the treacherous years in wartime Germany, it uncovers long-buried secrets and unknown reaches of her heart to reveal the enduring power of love in the legacies that always outlast war.

This is an interesting take on a woman most of us know little about. It certainly provides food for thought. It’s been on my kindle for years and I wished I had read it sooner.

THE CHAINMAKERS’ DAUGHTER  Rebecca Bryn

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089FGZ1NT

“Some make chains. Some wear them.” Rosie Wallace survives on three slices of bread a day. Scarred by flame and metal, she makes her life as her ancestors have: making chains for the rich chain master, Matthew Joshua. There is no hope for a better future. No hope even for a green vegetable on the table. Her life will be making chains, marrying Jack, the boy she loves, and babies every year. But when an assault by the chain master’s son threatens the very fabric of her tenuous existence, Rosie finds the courage and the reason to fight for her own survival and the lives of her family and neighbours. Set in the first decade of the 20th century The Chainmakers’ Daughter is a haunting portrayal of abject poverty, ever-present death, and modern-day slavery. The Chainmakers’ Daughter is set in England, the Black Country from 1901 – 1910.

I have shown book one, but all three in this amazing family saga were a truly great read and contain shocking historical facts of which /I was totally unaware.

This last book is one that is so well written I lived in the story, I was there, lying helpless, and how terrifying that was. The dishes went unwashed, the bed unmade as nothing was going to tear me away from my kindle.

SOMEONE CLOSE TO HOME    Alex Craigie

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016X2RPR4

Talented pianist Megan Youngblood has it all – fame, fortune and Gideon.
But Gideon isn’t good enough for Megan’s ambitious, manipulative mother, whose meddling has devastating repercussions for Megan and for those close to her.
Now, trapped inside her own body, she is unable to communicate her needs or fears as she faces institutional neglect in an inadequate care home.
And she faces Annie. Sadistic Annie who has reason to hate her. Damaged Annie who shouldn’t work with vulnerable people. Just how far will Annie go?

I have found a new author in Alex Craigie and I love her work. As I read this book I could feel and experience what it must be like to lie helpless, dependent on others, not even able to speak. A chilling and emotive a book I will remember for years.

I’ve read over a hundred books this year, not all listed in my Goodreads challenge, but I have listed the top twelve that stood out for me and enriched my life. A huge thank you to all the authors, even if many are not on this list, but so many books have enriched my life.

Lucinda Spain December 2021

LUCINDA’S BEST BOOKS OF 2021 (2)

Here are the next four books that made a huge impact on me this year that took me to times and places during the lockdown.

ACTS OF CONVENIENCE   Alex Craigie

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0825BL839
 

Imagine, if you will, a near future where governments adopt policies that suit them rather than the people they were elected to represent.
Imagine a near-future where old age and chronic problems are swept away with expedient legislation.
I know; it’s an unlikely scenario.
However, it’s a scenario in which Cassie Lincoln finds herself.
It’s a scenario that compels her to take action.
It’s a scenario that leads to despair and danger.

This rang eerily true for me in the wake of the Covid restrictions and sent chills down my spine. Again, I was glued to the pages. This is a new author I’ve discovered and I will read every book she writes.

THE ASSASSIN   Thomas Baeur

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097CFY4PG

During the Napoleonic era, Umberto Guardo, a naive son of a baker in an insignificant Italian village, falls under the spell of a radical revolutionary. When the great general himself sets foot in the village, the awe-stricken lad is given a task that could alter the course of history. The Assassin portrays an Italy that once was and a small village, isolated and unaware of the world beyond its borders until the unexpected intrusion by the most famous man in the world.

This was a book I was asked to review and it was absolutely delightful! Not only was there a smile on every page, it sums up the human condition with a sharp eye for detail. How do you rouse a group of young men to go on the offense when all they want to do is drink and chase girls? I laughed and I cried as I turned the pages.

THE ARCHITECT Lesley Hayes

 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095N3YQSN

September 2020, and Covid has swept the world with devastating consequences. In England, after months of lockdown followed by a cautious loosening of restrictions, friends and family are now allowed to gather if they abide by the government’s ‘rule of six’. Ric is an architect, both by profession and by nature. He has invited guests he refers to jokingly as ‘the usual suspects’ to celebrate his son Noah’s thirtieth birthday. His crazy ex-wife Allegra will be there, and his dependable business partner Jake, together with his nubile girlfriend Eden, and of course Ric’s long-suffering partner, Sally. Secrets and lies and the bitter taste of corruption are items on the menu, and they all have reasons to be suspicious and resentful. Not one of them is exactly who they seem to be. Can anything they say be trusted? Will this be the occasion when one of ‘the usual suspects’ is pushed too far?

I am a huge fan of this author, who writes books with depth and meaning that brings them above the thriller level into the literary world.

FALL OF GIANTS   Ken Follett

Ken Follett’s magnificent historical epic begins as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women’s suffrage.

A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man’s world in the mining pits. . . . An American law student rejected in love finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson’s White House. . . . A housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with a German spy. . . . And two orphaned Russian brothers embark on radically different paths when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BYKJ32F

Another spellbinding family saga that moves through the decades. I could not turn the pages fast enough.

The last four choices next week.

LUCINDA’S BEST BOOKS 2021

It’s that time of year when I list the books I most enjoyed in 2021. In the latter part of the year I chose to revisit some old favourites to see if they still held an magic.

Daily, I’m bombarded with emails and blogs with invites to courses and workshops and tips and writing and sales techniques, the list is endless. I’ve beta read dozens of books, reviewed many more and still the question remained in my mind, what makes a book special? Can I improve my own writing by learning from those authors who have stood the test of time? A few I revisited didn’t, but many did.

The answer? Those books which still captivated me had a story with characters I really cared about. Narratives that did not drag, dropped in a few new facts and threw one disaster after another at the heroes and heroines. These books were written from the heart and this is the lesson I learned from all of them. The more recent books in this year’s list were the ones that blew me away, for their originality, their awakening of emotions and the passion enclosed within the covers. My grateful thanks to all the authors I’ve chosen this year.

Thirteen Hours   Deon Mayor

They killed her best friend. Now they are chasing Rachel Anderson through the streets of Cape Town. The young tourist doesn’t dare trust anyone – except her father, back home in America. When he puts pressure on the politicians, they know that to protect their country’s image, they must find Rachel’s hiding place before the killers.

A fast-paced book that kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page to the last.

PURPLE HIBISCUS    Chimamanda-Ngozi-Adichie

Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria. They live in a beautiful house, with a caring family, and attend an exclusive missionary school. They’re completely shielded from the troubles of the world. Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less perfect than they appear. Although her Papa is generous and well respected, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home—a home that is silent and suffocating.
As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt, a university professor outside the city, where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father’s authority. 

A fascinating glimpse into another world and culture.

THE BOY KING   Janet Wertman

His mother, Jane Seymour, died at his birth. Now his father, King Henry VIII, has died as well. Nine-year old Edward Tudor ascends to the throne of England and quickly learns that he cannot trust anyone, even himself.
While Edward can bring frustratingly little direction to the Council’s policies, he refuses to abandon his one firm conviction: that Catholicism has no place in England. When Edward falls ill, this steadfast belief threatens England’s best hope for a smooth succession: the transfer of the throne to Edward’s very Catholic half-sister, Mary Tudor, whose heart’s desire is to return the realm to the way it worshipped in her mother’s day.

I love historical novels and this blending of facts with a fictional narrative made for an excellent read.

CLIFTON CHRONICLES   Jeffrey Archer

The box set

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1529014255This Was a Man is the captivating final installment of the Clifton Chronicles, a series of seven novels that has topped the bestseller lists around the world. Cometh the Hour opens with the reading of a suicide note and book 3  opens with an IRA bomb exploding during the MV Buckingham’s maiden voyage across the Atlantic. So continues the lives of the Cliftons and the Barringtons throughout the twentieth century.,

There are seven books in this series and I devoured them one after the other. I really like
Archer’s easy read books but it is the story which makes them good. There are several main characters to relate to and you care about them. It’s not surprising his work has stood the test of time.

Four more choices next week.