I've got lots of very promising-looking new books to talk about here, so let's start the first batch with Lindsay Stanberry-Flynn's novel Unravelling:
"A passionate and involving read", this is about Vanessa and Gerald - she an art student, he a sculptor and her tutor - who first fall in love in the 1960s. Though Vanessa sees them as the glamorous couple of the art world, and their thrilling relationship leads to marriage, all is not as it seems. "Exploring the complexity and contradictions of love and sexual attraction .... Unravelling is a story that engages both the heart and the mind."
Next, "a cane-twirling, bowler-doffing triumph", Sunnyside by Glen David Gold has a huge cast of characters including Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and even Rin Tin Tin the dog! It's "a panoramic tale of power and stardom, ambition and dreams", and the reviews are peppered with words like "sumptuous" and "entrancing".
Coming out soon is Jennie Rooney's novel The Opposite of Falling. I really did enjoy her first book, Inside the Whale, (read about it here) so I shall be keen to read her new one which begins in 1862 and features Cook's tours, an independent young woman from Liverpool and Niagara Falls seen from a great height.
Now for some non-fiction and Chloë Schama's Wild Romance: The True Story of a Victorian Scandal. 1852 and a flirtation aboard a steamer turns into a clandestine, epistolary affair and a secret marriage in Edinburgh [local interest - always a hook for me]. But Theresa Longworth and the aristocratic William Charles Yelverton will be separated by circumstance and will never live together as man and wife, and when Yelverton marries another woman, Theresa is forced to prove the validity of their union. Steamy intrigue and women's rights make this "a delightful and gripping debut".
Lastly today, Maggie O'Farrell's latest novel, The Hand That First Held Mine. Maggie O'Farrell is someone I've wanted to read for quite a while, her reputation goes before her, reviews on many trusted sites reinforce it; her new book is set in 1950s Soho and in the present day, and if you follow that link you can see the author talking about this "spellbinding story of love, loss and redemption."
What a great collection! I just finished The Hand That First Held Mine and absolutely loved it. I didn't know that Jennie Rooney had a new book out but I will be seeking it out as I loved her first one.
Posted by: Karen | 10 May 2010 at 01:12 AM
I recently read and reviewed Wild Romance - thought it was excellent though I have doubts about the cover - makes it look much less than it actually is. Here is my reivew should anybody wish to take a look:
http://randomjottings.typepad.com/random_jottings_of_an_ope/2010/04/wild-romance-chlo%C3%AB-schama.html
Posted by: Elaine | 10 May 2010 at 08:28 AM
I am intrigued by the Maggie O'F, but might read some of the others I have by her first.... I was impressed by The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.
Posted by: Simon T | 11 May 2010 at 12:21 PM