Emma's Review: The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Liverpool 1940. Alice King stands on the deck of SS Carlisle, waiting to escort a group of children to Canada as overseas evacuees. She is finally doing her bit for the war.

In London, as the Blitz bombs rain down and the threat of German invasion looms, Lily Nicholls anxiously counts the days for news of her son and daughter’s safe arrival.

But when disaster strikes in the Atlantic, Alice and Lily – one at sea, the other on land – will quickly become one another’s very best hope. The events of one night, and the eight unimaginable days that follow, will bind the two women together in unforgettable ways.

Book Links: Kindle or Hardcover

Emma's Top Books of 2020

I wouldn’t normally do a books of the year post. But with the year that has been in it, reading has been an enjoyable escape for so many people, not to mention there have been an abundance of brilliant books  published this year. So I decided to look back at all the books that I have read this year and pick some of my absolute favourites as quite often there are some brilliant books that deserve to be read and that may have evaded the attention of people. I was originally going to pick five books but I couldn’t narrow it down so I have gone with ten and they are in no particular order as I found it very difficult to rate these chosen books from one to ten. Without further ado, here are my top picks from 2020.

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No books of the year could be complete without the utterly brilliant Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton. It’s not normally my genre of choice but all the hype and praise lauded on this phenomenal book was definitely worth it. I read it back at the very beginning of the year and it has stayed with me ever since. I recommended it to so many friends who then went on to read it and they loved it just as much as I did. It’s powerful, tense, gripping and a book that you will not leave out of your hand until you finish it. 

Set during a blizzard as a school community becomes cut off from the world it follows three hours where the lives of all involved are turned upside down. A maniac stalks the grounds and has taken the pupils and staff hostage. How much can change in three hours? Will they escape with their lives in tact? 

Rosamund Lupton captures so perfectly the sheer terror and hell each and every character is experiencing. From the students locked away with their teacher in the schools theatre who continue to rehearse MacBeth as a way of not giving into the situation they find themselves in, to the teacher in the pottery room in the woods with a group of younger children who hide under their desks continuing to make figurines oblivious as to what stalks the woods right outside the window. It’s a stunning read that leaves you breathless, I can’t wait to see what Rosamund Lupton brings us next.

https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/emmas-review-violinist-of-auschwitz-by.html

As historical fiction is my favourite genre, I couldn’t not include a book from this category. I read The Violinist of Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood towards the later end of the year and it completely blew me away. When you read so much in the same genre, and specifically books set during World War Two, you can become tired of reading about the same subject matter even though what you are reading about has had such a lasting and devastating impact on the world. Ellie Midwood was a brilliant find and renewed my faith in the genre as she shone a light on a story told many times - the incarceration of so many innocent people in the Nazi death camps. Yet she brought something new, fresh, innovative and gripping to the subject matter and I thought this was an amazing read that I raced through as I was so engrossed in the story unfolding. 

Right from the opening line, this story is absorbing, thrilling, tense and very very powerful and is a stark reminder lest we should not forget of the horror and suffering endured by so many because of the actions of a mad man. You run the gauntlet of emotions with each of the characters and at times this is a very difficult book to read as the images and situations written about are horrific and the picture built up in your mind is a very difficult one to shake. The writing is exceptional throughout this book and there were endless paragraphs or even a simple sentence that I had to stop and reread several times just to fully appreciate what was being conveyed and the impact it was making. 

No doubt about it The Violinist of Auschwitz is a book that deserves great success and to be read by as many people as possible. I cant wait to read her next book The Girl Who Escaped Auschwitz coming in March.

Emma's Review: The Bird in the Bamboo Cage by Hazel Gaynor

 Reviewed by Emma Crowley

China, 1941. With Japan’s declaration of war on the Allies, Elspeth Kent’s future changes forever. When soldiers take control of the missionary school where she teaches, comfortable security is replaced by rationing, uncertainty and fear.

Ten-year-old Nancy Plummer has always felt safe at Chefoo School. Now the enemy, separated indefinitely from anxious parents, the children must turn to their teachers – to Miss Kent and her new Girl Guide patrol especially – for help. But worse is to come when the pupils and teachers are sent to a distant internment camp. Unimaginable hardship, impossible choices and danger lie ahead.

Amazon Links: Kindle or Hardcover

Emma's Review: Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Movie stars and paparazzi flock to Cannes for the glamorous film festival, but Grace Kelly, the biggest star of all, wants only to escape from the flash-bulbs. When struggling perfumer Sophie Duval shelters Miss Kelly in her boutique to fend off a persistent British press photographer, James Henderson, a bond is forged between the two women and sets in motion a chain of events that stretches across thirty years of friendship, love, and tragedy.

James Henderson cannot forget his brief encounter with Sophie Duval. Despite his guilt at being away from his daughter, he takes an assignment to cover the wedding of the century, sailing with Grace Kelly’s wedding party on the SS Constitution from New York. In Monaco, as wedding fever soars and passions and tempers escalate, James and Sophie—like Princess Grace—must ultimately decide what they are prepared to give up for love.

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The Write Stuff with... Hazel Gaynor

Today it's my pleasure to be part of the blog tour for Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb's novel Last Christmas in Paris.  I don't know about you but I'm always intrigued as to how a duo writing together works so I'm delighted that Hazel has taken time out of her busy schedule to talk about this very subject.

Hazel Gaynor
copyright Deasy Photographic

When people discover we have written a novel together, the question is always: how? How do two writers, with unique styles and voices, come together to produce a seamless novel? We first ‘met’ in 2013 after being introduced online by our mutual agent. We hit it off instantly, and in early 2015, Heather approached Hazel about contributing to an anthology of short stories: FALL OF POPPIES - Stories of Love and the Great War. As Fall of Poppies was nearing completion, we both felt there was more we wanted to write about the Great War. We were also really excited to write together again and the idea to co-write a historical novel began to take shape.

The idea for LAST CHRISTMAS IN PARIS developed from a frenzied Facebook Messenger chat one afternoon and the book was then written through a literal exchange of letters between us, writing as our characters. Hazel would wake up in Ireland, pen a letter from one of her characters, and wait for a reply. Several hours later, Heather would wake in the U.S. to find mail in her inbox and respond. The process felt so organic and the story flowed. The editing process was a little harder to manage, moving a partially-edited document between the two of us, but we made it work.

Emma's Review: The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

1917: When two young cousins, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright from Cottingley, England, announce they have photographed fairies at the bottom of the garden, their parents are astonished. But when the great novelist, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, endorses the photographs’ authenticity, the girls become a sensation; their discovery offering something to believe in amid a world ravaged by war.

One hundred years later… When Olivia Kavanagh finds an old manuscript and a photograph in her late grandfather’s bookshop she becomes fascinated by the story of the two young girls who mystified the world. As Olivia is drawn into events a century ago, she becomes aware of the past and the present intertwining, blurring her understanding of what is real and what is imagined. As she begins to understand why a nation once believed in fairies, will Olivia find a way to believe in herself?

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Giveaway: Win a signed copy of The Girl from the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor

Earlier this week Emma reviewed Hazel Gaynor's new book The Girl from the Savoy and it's fair to say she loved it, you can can read her review here if you missed it.  The Girl from the Savoy is out now in Ireland, USA and Canada but sadly for those of us in the UK it's only available in eBook format at the moment as the paperback isn't due to be published over here until September. 

But thanks to Hazel's lovely publishers Harper Collins Ireland, Emma has been offered a signed copy of The Girl from the Savoy to give away to a follower of the blog (book in photo is Emma's own copy). 

Dolly Lane is a dreamer; a downtrodden maid who longs to dance on the London stage, but the outbreak of war takes everything from her: Teddy, the man she loves – and her hopes of a better life.

When she secures employment as a chambermaid at London’s grandest hotel, The Savoy, Dolly’s proximity to the dazzling guests makes her yearn for a life beyond the grey drudgery she was born into. Her fortunes take an unexpected turn when she responds to an unusual newspaper advert and finds herself thrust into the heady atmosphere of London’s glittering theatre scene and into the sphere of the celebrated actress, Loretta May, and her brother, Perry.

Emma's Review: The Girl from the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Dolly Lane is a dreamer; a downtrodden maid who longs to dance on the London stage, but the outbreak of war takes everything from her: Teddy, the man she loves – and her hopes of a better life.

When she secures employment as a chambermaid at London’s grandest hotel, The Savoy, Dolly’s proximity to the dazzling guests makes her yearn for a life beyond the grey drudgery she was born into. Her fortunes take an unexpected turn when she responds to an unusual newspaper advert and finds herself thrust into the heady atmosphere of London’s glittering theatre scene and into the sphere of the celebrated actress, Loretta May, and her brother, Perry.

All three are searching for something, yet the aftermath of war has cast a dark shadow over them all. A brighter future is tantalisingly close – but can a girl like Dolly ever truly leave her past behind?

Amazon links: Kindle  

Cover Reveal: Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War

Top voices in historical fiction deliver an intensely moving collection of short stories about loss, longing, and hope in the aftermath of World War I—featuring bestselling authors such as Hazel Gaynor, Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig and edited by Heather Webb.

A squadron commander searches for meaning in the tattered photo of a girl he’s never met…

A Belgian rebel hides from the world, only to find herself nursing the enemy…

A young airman marries a stranger to save her honor—and prays to survive long enough to love her…The peace treaty signed on November 11, 1918, may herald the end of the Great War but for its survivors, the smoke is only beginning to clear. Picking up the pieces of shattered lives will take courage, resilience, and trust.

Within crumbled city walls and scarred souls, war’s echoes linger. But when the fighting ceases, renewal begins…and hope takes root in a fall of poppies.


Excerpt from “Hour of the Bells”  A short story included in Fall of Poppies
Beatrix whisked around the showroom, feather duster in hand. Not a speck of dirt could remain or Joseph would be disappointed. The hour struck noon. A chorus of clocks whirred, their birds popping out from hiding to announce midday. Maidens twirled in their frocks with braids down their backs, woodcutters clacked their axes against pine, and the odd sawmill wheel spun in tune to the melody of a nursery rhyme. Two dozen cuckoos warbled and dinged, each crafted with loving detail by the same pair of hands—those with thick fingers and a steady grip. 
Beatrix paused in her cleaning. One clock chimed to its own rhythm, apart from the others. 
She could turn them off—the tinkling melodies, the incessant clatter of pendulums, wheels, and cogs, with the levers located near the weights—just as their creator had done before bed each evening, but she could not bring herself to do the same. To silence their music was to silence him, her husband, Joseph. The Great War had already done that; ravaged his gentle nature, stolen his final breath, and silenced him forever. 

Irish Fiction Week Giveaway: Win a copy of The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor

To celebrate Hazel Gaynor winning the RNA Historical Romance Award last night for her debut novel The Girl Who Came Home I have decided to run an additional giveaway today for my own signed copy of the book as I do also have an eBook copy.  

Ireland, 1912. Fourteen members of a small village set sail on RMS Titanic, hoping to find a better life in America. For seventeen-year-old Maggie Murphy, the journey is bittersweet. Though her future lies in an unknown new place, her heart remains in Ireland with Séamus, the sweetheart she left behind. When disaster strikes, Maggie is one of the lucky few passengers in steerage who survives. Waking up alone in a New York hospital, she vows never to speak of the terror and panic of that terrible night ever again. 

Chicago, 1982. Adrift after the death of her father, Grace Butler struggles to decide what comes next. When her Great Nana Maggie shares the painful secret she harbored for almost a lifetime about the Titanic, the revelation gives Grace new direction—and leads her and Maggie to unexpected reunions with those they thought lost long ago. 

To enter the giveaway, follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter form below.  The winner will be selected at random on 25th March and contacted for their postal address to enable me to send the book to you. 

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Irish Fiction Week Interview & Giveaway: Hazel Gaynor

Today I'm delighted to welcome to the blog author Hazel Gaynor, who last night won the RNA Historical Romance award for her debut novel The Girl Who Came Home, to talk about her latest novel A Memory of Violets.

Can you tell us a little bit about your second book A Memory of Violets? 
Inspired by true events, A MEMORY OF VIOLETS is a novel about the forgotten lives of London’s flower sellers in Victorian London. It tells the story of Tilly Harper, a young woman who finds the diary of an orphaned flower seller who was separated from her sister forty years earlier. As Tilly learns the fate of the long lost sisters, she begins to make sense of her own past.

It is a novel about family bonds, especially the unique relationship between sisters, and about hope and redemption. With a touch of the paranormal and an intriguing mystery at its core, I hope there is something for many readers to enjoy. 

Where did the inspiration come from to write about Victorian flower sellers? 
The novel was first inspired by my love of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady (I played the role of Eliza Doolittle in the school musical when I was seventeen). I wanted to understand more about the real Elizas – the young women - and children - who sold flowers and watercress on the streets of Victorian and Edwardian-era London. I also read Henry Mayhew’s, London Labour & The London Poor, in which he recorded detailed interviews with London’s street sellers in the 1800s. His interview with two orphaned watercress sellers especially resonated with me and I knew I had the basis of my story.