Lost Dog: a love story by Kate Spicer

Kate Spicer is a mid-forties freelance journalist living a drug- and alcohol-fueled life which is starting to seem increasingly empty and meaningless, until she decides to adopt a dog - and it's love at first sight. Wolfy is a huge shaggy lurcher who completely transforms life for Kate. She soon comes to prefer snuggling up at home with him in the evening to late night parties, early morning walks instead of the once-perpetual hangover. Then the unthinkable happens; left overnight with Kate's brother, Wolfy runs away. Kate and her partner Charlie are desperate. They search the streets of London, set up a Facebook page, and through the internet attract a host of well-wishers and helpers (and sadly some trolls too). Their relationship is pushed to the limits but everything will be perfect if Wolfy can be found.

This autobiographical story is both a very personal tale of redemption, and a wider reflection on the relationship between humans and dogs. Most dog owners can't claim to have had their lives changed dramatically in the way that Kate's was, but we all understand the unconditional love that dogs bring into our lives, and the very special place they hold in our hearts. 

The reader follows Kate's path from 'lost woman' to one with a new love and purpose in life - a love which looks likely to disappear forever, but miraculously is found again.Being a regular chatterer on Twitter I knew of the search for Wolfy, and its happy ending, but I was still pulled in by Kate's honesty and willingness to share the good and bad in her life; when Wolfy got lost, I almost felt as devastated as she did. 

Maryom's review - 5 stars 
Publisher - Penguin (Ebury) 
Genre - non-fiction, memoir, autobiography

A Godawful Small Affair by J B Morrison

Fifteen year old Zoe Love has gone missing from her home in Brixton. As her father alerts police, and a thorough search of the area is undertaken, her younger brother Nathan believes he has a better plan. A year earlier, Zoe claimed to have been abducted by aliens but no one believed her. Nathan thinks those same aliens have come back for her, and he, by getting abducted himself, is the only one who can bring Zoe back. He puts on his bright orange spacesuit costume, packs his rucksack with supplies - including a telescope, Swiss army knife, a Christmas cracker compass, and an MP3 player with Zoe's favourite David Bowie playlist - and waits. As the weeks drag on, and no aliens show up, even Nathan has to face the fact that maybe Zoe won't be coming home.

The previous books I've read by JB Morrison (once Jim Bob, the singer of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine) have been gentle comedies focusing on the life of 80-something Frank Derrick. A Godawful Small Affair is a change of pace with a total change in lead character. The story unfolds through the eyes and thoughts of ten year old Nathan, as he struggles to understand what has happened and tries to make sense of it in the only way he knows how - it's all down to aliens - and, although here and there lighter humorous moments peep through, the subject matter is serious.
Morrison handles the subject and perspective well, particularly his capturing of the mind-set of a ten year old, obsessed by anything and everything related to space. At first I thought we might be in a Stranger Things/ET- style scenario of actual aliens but we aren't; what happens to Zoe is an awfully familiar affair, seen so many times in the news.

There are plenty of 'missing person' novels out there, either following a police investigation or the unraveling of dramatic family secrets, but this is neither thriller nor high drama; following events from Nathan's perspective it manages to be both gentler and more devastating. It's a powerful book, heart-wrenching in its ending, but full of the love that binds family together.

Maryom's Review - 5 stars
Publisher - Cherry Red 
Genre - adult fiction

Jane Eyre: A Retelling by Tanya Landman

From her unpleasant life as an orphan only tolerated by her rich relatives, through her time at Lowood School, to finding a position and home at Thornfield Hall with its temperamental but attractive owner Mr Rochester, the story of Jane Eyre is retold by Tanya Landman in a way to appeal to anyone not inclined to read Charlotte Bronte's full original.

The words may be simpler, and the style more concise but Landman captures the feel of the original, of Jane's independent character, her determination to find a home and happiness without having to sacrifice her principles, and, of course, the secret of who is living in the attics of Thornfield Hall.



As ever with publishers Barrington Stoke, dyslexic readers are helped by un-fussy font on off-white paper, and the breaking down of the story into short chapters. The reading age is suitable for 9+ but the book is targeted at those teens 'forced' to read Jane Eyre at school, and struggling with the length and language of the original - in this respect it's definitely a better option than watching film adaptations which tend to place the emphasis on the relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester rather than on the development of Jane's character. The plot is necessarily curtailed here and there ( I would have liked to see more of St John Rivers, as I think he plays an important part in Jane's life) and a lot of Jane's introspection is cut, but the essence of the story is all there.


Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Barrington Stoke
Genre - teenage/teenage reluctant readers, Jane Eyre, 

The Whispering Stones by Saviour Pirotta

illustrated by Davide Ortu

After his first adventure, as told in The Stolen Spear, Wolf, has discovered what he wants to do when he's grown up - to be a healer and a shaman. That's still a long way off though, and although his village's current shaman, Moon, is sympathetic and encouraging towards Wolf, the shaman's son is the total opposite. He believes he should be the one to follow his father, and does everything he can to thwart Wolf. Moon takes Wolf along to a secret shaman ceremony, but during it the old shaman is poisoned and Wolf is blamed. Again, he's forced to clear his name, this time travelling with Moon in search of a cure - a search which takes them far away from their island to the Whispering Stones, but danger follows them close behind.


This series is shaping up to be a great way to interest children (and perhaps even their parents in this time of home-schooling) in history, while still having all the ingredients of a gripping adventure, with illustrations throughout to really bring the characters alive. It isn't really necessary to have read The Stolen Spear, the first of Wolf's adventures, but if you have, you'll know he's a boy from the Neolithic age, who lives on Orkney, the islands just off Scotland's northern coast (it's briefly re-capped in the introduction for those who haven't). Wolf's friend Crow, who lives on another Orcadian island, is back to share his adventure, and prove that girls can be as strong and resourceful as boys. Children will learn a lot about the Neolithic period without realising they're having a history lesson, but the story also tackles problems which can apply to children, or adults, anywhere, anytime - choices we have to make, things we have to accept, and the importance of friendships.

Publisher  - Maverick Books
Genre - Children's historical fiction, 7+, KS2, Orkney Islands, 

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.

Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief. It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker's son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. Above all, it is a tender and unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.

William Shakespeare has to be England's best known playwright - four hundred years later his plays are still performed regularly, and he's there in every other English and drama lesson at school. Probably few of us know anything about the man himself though, his private life, and the loss which (some scholars say) lies behind his finest play Hamlet. This is where Maggie O'Farrell's first venture into historical fiction takes us - into the annex, next to his parents' house where Will and Agnes live (though he spends most of his time in London) with their son and two daughters, and where tragedy is waiting to strike.

This latest work of Maggie O'Farrell's brings all the empathy and understanding that I've found in her previous work and applies them to the Shakespeare family. As the hours tick down, as Judith takes to her bed feeling ill, and her brother Hamnet desperately tries to find his mother, another thread moves back to the first meeting of Will and Agnes, their passionate love affair and rather pressing marriage, and the bond which has kept them together even though Will has fallen in love again - this time with the theatre.

O'Farrell captures the period and the characters brilliantly. The reader is right there, alongside the women collecting eggs, tending to herb beds, and making tinctures and ointments ready for times of need, with the children trying to skip their chores and play instead, following after them round the house and garden or sneaking into the adjoining workshop of Shakespeare's father, where furs and skins are turned into gloves, from the plain serviceable pairs to the fashionable finery aimed more at show than hard wear.

Then lives are stopped by tragedy and all-encompassing grief - and O'Farrell is spot on in its description. I've lost family members over the past couple of years, and I felt that here I'd found someone who knew the emptiness and immense feeling of loss, who understood how I've felt for months, and could put it into words for me.

This is possibly O'Farrell's best work (to date, who knows what will come next?) but it just seems unfortunately timed. I think for some readers, as we head into months with corona virus dominating our lives, it may just be a little too close to home.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher -  Tinder Press
Genre - Adult historical fiction,

You Never Told Me by Sarah Jasmon

Charlie is on the far side of the world, running away from a life she's found increasingly stifling, when she's told her mother is seriously ill. Before Charlie can return home, her mother has died, but the past in its various guises is there waiting to be faced up to - the boyfriend she left only a few months before their wedding, the dog she had to abandon, her sister left juggling the care of young children and elderly parents. Charlie's mother has also left unfinished business behind - unknown to her family, she'd bought a canal boat; a link to her own past, and secrets that had been hidden for years.

Having nowhere else to live, Charlie moves into the boat, and finds herself drawn irresistibly on a voyage of discovery - learning the practicalities of canal life alongside the story of her mother's unknown early life.

You Never Told Me is an enjoyable and intriguing tale of self-discovery and family secrets, set on the semi-hidden world of northern England's waterways. The various threads of the story -  twist round and complement each other well. As her confidence in handling the boat and coping with life on the canal increases, so does Charlie's faith in herself and her ability to make decisions rather than just run from them. At the same time, she uncovering aspects of her mother's life which have never been talked about. Most of us probably dismiss parents as just that - parents - with no life or feelings before they gained that status; most of them fortunately don't have such tremendous secrets from us.

I found the whole description of canal life fascinating. I've walked alongside them often (including Bugsworth Basin which gets a mention in the book), stood at locks and watched boats move up and down, but never actually tried my hand at doing any of it. I'm not sure I'd actually be much help on a canal boat - I'd probably fall in the water - but it's nice to dream  ...

Maryom's review - 4 stars

Publisher - Black Swan (Transworld)

Genre - adult fiction,

Dominicana by Angie Cruz

Review by The Mole

A young girl has a husband chosen for her by her mother who sees the marriage as a way for the family to enter the USA. This is how Ana finds herself 'married' to a man twice her age and living in New York at the age of 15. Ana has undergone a huge cultural shock and does not believe she can love her 'husband', who she finds herself afraid of.

I had a PDF version of this book which I read on my phone but... despite the formatting issues that this creates I found it extremely engaging and surprising.

The author interviewed generations of Dominicans and compiled this novel (for that's what this is) from bits and pieces of accounts that she picked up from family and friends of the family - so it is not entirely fiction.

The sacrifices that Ana makes to her family came as a shock to me - one that became more concerning when reading the final author's notes to explain the book.

I didn't love this book - because that feels like condoning the behaviour of everyone involved. I did find it fascinating and extremely disturbing. Well worth a read by anyone.

This has now been long listed for THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020 and it's a book well worthy of going further.

It's not a huge tome so won't take forever to read but it's well written and powerful.

Publisher: John Murray
Genre: Adult fiction