The Death of Mrs. Westaway

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, and The Lying Game comes Ruth Ware’s highly anticipated fourth novel.

On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.

Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it.

Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, this is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.

My Review:

The Death of Mrs. Westeraway

By Ruth Ware

 I have enjoyed all of Ruth Ware's novels, but this last one, The Death of Mrs. Westaway has to be the best by far....This book is written differently than her other novels as it is a Modern Gothic Novel, and gothic novels are my favourite genre of books.  I found this book to be on par with Daphne du Maurier and Mary Stewart.  It has the poor,  unhappy, frightened and lonely female protagonist, the strange inheritance of a dark, old atmospheric large country estate, a family full of secrets and lies, an eerie and hateful housekeeper, a very gripping plot, interesting characters, suspense and a feeling of foreboding, that makes it impossible to put the book down.   Years of lies and secrets, death and deceit brings Harriet 'Hal' Westaway to a secret family she never knew existed, and to a terror and danger she could not get away from.

A big thank you to Netgalley for the chance to receive an advanced copy of the book and for allowing me to give an honest review.

Expected Release on: April 24, 2018

Author: Susanna Kearsley

Genres: Romance novel, Historical Fiction, Historical romance

From the bestselling author of A Desperate Fortune and The Firebird, comes an entrancing new novel of love, war, and historical intrigue.

Some houses seem to want to hold their secrets.

It’s 1759 and the world is at war, pulling the North American colonies of Britain and France into the conflict. The times are complicated, as are the loyalties of many New York merchants who have secretly been trading with the French for years, defying Britain’s colonial laws in a game growing ever more treacherous.

When captured French officers are brought to Long Island to be billeted in private homes on their parole of honour, it upends the lives of the Wilde family—deeply involved in the treasonous trade and already divided by war.

Lydia Wilde, struggling to keep the peace in her fracturing family following her mother’s death, has little time or kindness to spare for her unwanted guests. And Canadian lieutenant Jean-Philippe de Sabran has little desire to be there. But by the war’s end they’ll both learn love, honour, and duty can form tangled bonds that are not broken easily.

Their doomed romance becomes a local legend, told and re-told through the years until the present day, 
when conflict of a different kind brings Charley Van Hoek to Long Island to be the new curator of the Wilde House Museum.

Charley doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as she starts to delve into the history of Lydia and her French officer, it becomes clear that the Wilde House holds more than just secrets, and Charley discovers the legend might not have been telling the whole story...or the whole truth.

~~~~~~~~~~~ MY REVIEW

Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

Susanna Kearsley does it again! No wonder she is one of my top favourite authors.  This story has a Contemporary and Historical timeline which I love.  Susanna has that gift to transport the reader whether it is back in time or to a contemporary place, where the reader feels at home.  This book starts off slow, building the characters and story line.  Once the reader has been drawn into the story, it feels as if you know the characters personally.  They feel real and familiar as if a family member or a close friend. I found this a well-written book, interesting and enjoyable.  A wonderful story about the effects of the 7 Year War fought in the mid 1700's.  This story takes place in Long Island, New York but concerns the fight over Quebec between Great Britain and France.  It tells the story of French Canadian officers who during capture resided with an Officers family who would be considered their enemy at war.  The story concerns the relationship of one of the French officers and the daughter of his captor.  As someone who came to Canada from England quite young (10 years of age), I had always had a keen interest in Canadian History.  However, I knew very little about the 7 year War with France over Quebec or New France as it was known back then.  Susanna's story has peaked my interest to find out more.  One of my favourite things about Susanna's books is there is always a romance, however,  it is not in the readers face, but gently hinted, but enough to feel the sparks and the chemistry between the Protagonists without resorting to bedroom scenes.  There is always some excitement and suspense and surprises along the way, so when you finish reading the book, you have a smile of deep satisfaction and a hint of sadness that the book. Has finished!    Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me access to the ARC, to Sourcebooks for such a wonderful book cover as alway.  Thanks to the publishers for allowing me to read and review the ARC and to Susanna Kearsley for writing Bellewether it was a wonderful adventure.  I will be the first in line to buy the book when it published for re-reading and to put on my Susanna Kearsley book shelf at home.

The book was amazing so interesting and entertaining and the characters in both the contemporary and historical timelines, were very real characters that it felt like I knew them.  It was such a beautiful read not just as a well done historical fiction (although, I do want to read more on the Seven Year War), but it was such an entertaining and haunting read.  I was filled with mixed emotions when the story ended.  I felt truly blessed to have read such a wonderful book but at the same time, a bit sad that it was over.

Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

From the bestselling author of A Desperate Fortune and The Firebird, comes an entrancing new novel of love, war, and historical intrigue.





From the bestselling author of A Desperate Fortune and The Firebird, comes an entrancing new novel of love, war, and historical intrigue.

Some houses seem to want to hold their secrets.

It’s 1759 and the world is at war, pulling the North American colonies of Britain and France into the conflict. The times are complicated, as are the loyalties of many New York merchants who have secretly been trading with the French for years, defying Britain’s colonial laws in a game growing ever more treacherous.

When captured French officers are brought to Long Island to be billeted in private homes on their parole of honour, it upends the lives of the Wilde family—deeply involved in the treasonous trade and already divided by war.

Lydia Wilde, struggling to keep the peace in her fracturing family following her mother’s death, has little time or kindness to spare for her unwanted guests. And Canadian lieutenant Jean-Philippe de Sabran has little desire to be there. But by the war’s end they’ll both learn love, honour, and duty can form tangled bonds that are not broken easily.

Their doomed romance becomes a local legend, told and re-told through the years until the present day, when conflict of a different kind brings Charley Van Hoek to Long Island to be the new curator of the Wilde House Museum.

Charley doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as she starts to delve into the history of Lydia and her French officer, it becomes clear that the Wilde House holds more than just secrets, and Charley discovers the legend might not have been telling the whole story...or the whole truth.

Some houses seem to want to hold their secrets.

It’s 1759 and the world is at war, pulling the North American colonies of Britain and France into the conflict. The times are complicated, as are the loyalties of many New York merchants who have secretly been trading with the French for years, defying Britain’s colonial laws in a game growing ever more treacherous.

When captured French officers are brought to Long Island to be billeted in private homes on their parole of honour, it upends the lives of the Wilde family—deeply involved in the treasonous trade and already divided by war.

Lydia Wilde, struggling to keep the peace in her fracturing family following her mother’s death, has little time or kindness to spare for her unwanted guests. And Canadian lieutenant Jean-Philippe de Sabran has little desire to be there. But by the war’s end they’ll both learn love, honour, and duty can form tangled bonds that are not broken easily.

Their doomed romance becomes a local legend, told and re-told through the years until the present day, when conflict of a different kind brings Charley Van Hoek to Long Island to be the new curator of the Wilde House Museum.

Charley doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as she starts to delve into the history of Lydia and her French officer, it becomes clear that the Wilde House holds more than just secrets, and Charley discovers the legend might not have been telling the whole story...or the whole truth.

One of Historical Fiction Fans most Influential Authors of the 20th Century

As we approach what would have been her 106th Birthday and as she was such an influential Author to most of us Historical Fiction fans, I thought I would add some information about the lustrous career of the author who many of us know as JEAN PLAIDY, VICTORIA HOLT and PHILIPPA CARR, just to name a few...

Eleanor Alice Burford was born on 1 September 1906 in Kensington, London, England. She married a leather merchant, George Percival Hibbert, who shared her love of books and reading. Eleanor Burford was one of the preeminent English authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century. She used eight pennames during her career and many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities. In 1941, she began signing her novels with her maiden name: Eleanor Burford, later she created her first and most prolific pseudonym: Jean Plaidy. In the 1950's she used the pseudonyms: Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. In 1960, she created the pseudonyms: Anna Percival and the popular Victoria Holt. In 1972, she created her last pseudonym Philippa Carr. (Some of her novels were reedited as different pseudonyms). She died on January 18, 1993 at sea, somewhere between Greece and Port Said, Egypt. By the time of her death, she sold 56 millon copies as Victoria Holt, 14 as Jean Plaidy and, 3 as Phillipa Carr.

Author's series
Catherine de Medici Trilogy
The French Revolution Trilogy
The Georgian Saga
Isabella & Ferdinand Trilogy
Lucrezia Borgia Duology
Mary, Queen of Scots Duology
The Norman Trilogy
The Plantagenet Saga
Queen Victoria Quartet
The Queens of England
Spanish Inquisition Trilogy
The Stuart Saga
The Tudors

Single Novels:

Together They Ride (1945)
Beyond the Blue Mountains (1948)
The King's Pleasure (1949) (a.k.a. Murder Most Royal in the Tudor Saga)
The Goldsmith's Wife (1950) (a.k.a. The King's Mistress)
Daughter of Satan (1952)
Lilith (1954)
Melisande (It Began in Vauxhall Gardens) (1955)
The Scarlet Cloak (1957)
The Queen of Diamonds (1958)
Milady Charlotte (1959)
Evergreen Gallant (1965)
Defenders of the Faith (1971)
Madame du Barry (1994)
The King's Adventurer (1996) (Originally This Was a Man by Ellalice Tate)

OMNIBUS
Katharine of Aragon (omnibus of novels 2 – 4 in The Tudor Saga)
Catherine De Medici (1969)
Charles II (omnibus of novels 2 – 4 in The Stuart Saga)
Isabella and Ferdinand (1970)

The Tudor Saga
Uneasy Lies the Head (1982) (a.k.a. To Hold the Crown)
Katharine, the Virgin Widow (1961)
The Shadow of the Pomegranate (1962)
The King's Secret Matter (1962)
Murder Most Royal (1949) (a.k.a. The King's Pleasure)
Saint Thomas' Eve (1954) (a.k.a. The King's Confidante)
The Sixth Wife (1953)
The Thistle and the Rose (1963)
Mary, Queen of France (1964)
The Spanish Bridegroom (1954) (a.k.a. For a Queen's Love)
Gay Lord Robert (1955) (republished as Lord Robert (UK) in 2007 and A Favorite of the Queen (US) in 2010)

The Catherine De Medici Trilogy
Madame Serpent (1951)
The Italian Woman (1952) (a.k.a. The Unholy Woman)
Queen Jezebel (1953)

The Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots Series
Royal Road to Fotheringhay (1955) (first published as by Eleanor Burford)
The Captive Queen of Scots (1963)

The Stuart Saga
The Murder in the Tower (1964)
The Wandering Prince (1956)
A Health Unto His Majesty (1956)
Here Lies Our Sovereign Lord (1957)
The Three Crowns (1965)
The Haunted Sisters (1966)
The Queen's Favourites (1966) (a.k.a. Courting Her Highness)

The French Revolution Series
Louis the Well Beloved (1959)
The Road to Compiegne (1959)
Flaunting, Extravagant Queen (1957)

The Lucrezia Borgia Series
Madonna of the Seven Hills (1958)
Light on Lucrezia (1958)

The Isabella and Ferdinand Trilogy
Castile for Isabella (1960)
Spain for the Sovereigns (1960)
Daughters of Spain (1961) (a.k.a. Royal Sisters)

The Georgian Saga
The Princess of Celle (1967)
Queen in Waiting (1967)
Caroline, the Queen (1968)
The Prince and the Quakeress (1975)
The Third George (1969)
Perdita's Prince (1969)
Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill (1970)
Indiscretions of the Queen (1970)
The Regent's Daughter (1971)
Goddess of the Green Room (1971)
Victoria in the Wings (1972)

The Queen Victoria Series
The Captive of Kensington Palace (1972)
The Queen and Lord M (1973)
The Queen's Husband (1973)
The Widow of Windsor (1974)

The Norman Trilogy
The Bastard King (1974)
The Lion of Justice (1975)
The Passionate Enemies (1976)
The Plantagenet Saga Edit
The Plantagenet Prelude (1976)
The Revolt of the Eaglets (1977)
The Heart of the Lion (1977)
The Prince of Darkness (1978)
The Battle of the Queens (1978)
The Queen from Provence (1979)
Edward Longshanks (1979) (republished as The Hammer of the Scots in 2008)
The Follies of the King (1980)
The Vow on the Heron (1980)
Passage to Pontefract (1981)
The Star of Lancaster (1981)
Epitaph for Three Women (1981)
Red Rose of Anjou (1982)
The Sun in Splendour (1982)

The Queens of England Series
Myself My Enemy (1983) (a.k.a. Loyal in Love)
Queen of This Realm (1984)
Victoria Victorious (1985)
The Lady in the Tower (1986)
The Courts of Love (1987)
In the Shadow of the Crown (1988)
The Queen's Secret (1989)
The Reluctant Queen (1990)
The Pleasures of Love (1991) (a.k.a. The Merry Monarch's Wife)
William's Wife (1992) (a.k.a. The Queen's Devotion)
Rose Without a Thorn (1993)

Children's novels
Meg Roper, daughter of Sir Thomas More (1961)
The Young Elizabeth (1961)
The Young Mary Queen of Scots (1962)

The Spanish Inquisition Series (non-fiction)
The Rise of the Spanish Inquisition (1959)
The Growth of the Spanish Inquisition (1960)
The End of the Spanish Inquisition (1961)

Historical non-fiction
A Triptych of Poisoners (1958)
Mary Queen of Scots: The Fair Devil of Scotland (1975)

Pamela Hartshorne a new favourite author to add to my list

Times Echo by Pamela Hartshorne

When I first read this book I had never actually heard of Pamela Hartshorne. But as it was recommended by a friend who like me,  love books that are Historical Fiction with a Time Slip element,  I was willing to give it a go.  In particularly, as the story takes place in York, where I was actually going to visit on holiday.

The story is about Grace Trewe the main protagonist from the 21 century who moves to York in order to sort out her Godmother's things after her sudden death.  Grace had recently survive a tsunami in Indonesiana and was hoping with the sale of her godmothers house, she would have the finances to travel and enjoy living!...but once Grace started sleeping in the house, she was bothered by nightmares and then while waking around York she felt herself drifting in and out of 16th Century York.  Streets would change in front of her and she thought she was suffering from stress, but this was no to be the case...500 years before a women named Hawise, who's own life starts to take Graces over, died a  horrible death during a time of witch trials and death to women who were accused of Witchcraft.  Even the house is magical!

Time Echo's  is a brilliant "Gothic" Historical Fiction with the right mix of fascinating history to make the reader feel as if they are living in the past at times, as well as a contemporary suspenseful, and mystical fiction, that is downright entertaining and thrilling to read.  At times it is somewhat errie,  yet you are drawn into the story and can not pull yourself away.  This book is a haunting mystery with lots of suspense and at times quite creepy yet totally interesting and absorbing. I found that I couldn't put the book down even though at times I had a feeling of unease and spookiness! ...I will never look at "rotting apples" without a chill run down my spin!..

 I also like to mention that the historical part of the book was so real, I felt as if I was actually living in 16 century York.  When I finally visited York myself, I could see how it was during the Middle Ages and was hoping I too, would have a time slip moment, alas, this was not to be.  But York in the 21 century still maintains a 16 century feel.

The Memory of Midnight

Like Time’s Echo, The Memory of Midnight is a Historical time slip which is set in present day and Elizabethan York.  It’s the story of Tess, who returns from London with her small son, Oscar, in an attempt to escape from her controlling and manipulative husband.  Living with her mother again isn’t a success, so Tess is delighted when she has the chance to move into a flat in Stonegate, one of York’s oldest streets.

But the flat that seemed so welcoming when she first saw it holds a terrible secret.  More than four hundred years earlier, Nell was mistress of the house in Stonegate, and as Tess is increasingly drawn into her life, she finds herself sharing Nell’s joys, fears and tragedies.

For a historian like Tess, the idea that she might be reliving the past is an impossible one, but the vividness of her experience is hard to deny.  Is she really slipping through time?  Or is she having a breakdown?  With a husband intent on tracking her down and threatening to claim custody of Oscar, both options are equally frightening.  Stalked by danger in the past and the present, Tess has to find the strength to confront her own demons, as well as Nell’s.

Sometimes the past refuses to let go …

A Beautiful Poem by Julia Donaldson