Emma's Bookish Lifestyle

"The Marquess House Trilogy #1" by Alexandra Walsh 4* England 1539 When Catherine Howard arrives at the court of Henry VIII it is to be maid of honour to the new Queen, Anne of Cleves yet she had no idea where this path would take her. When Catherine becomes the King's new fancy she finds herself caught in the politicking of her Uncle, the Duke of Norfolk and his ambition to put a Howard heir on the throne. Terrified by the health of the King affecting his behaviour, the fate of her cousin's Anne and George are forever on her mind and stoke fears for her own safety. Wales 2018 Dr Perdita Rivers is the estranged grand daughter of Mary Fitzroy a famed Tudor historian.  After Mary's inexplicable loss of contact with both herself and her twin sibling, Piper.  Mary's unexpected death and the girls sudden inheritence of Marquess House a beautiful tudor estate on the Pembrokeshire coast, Perdita begins to learn and unravel the reasons...

by Sonia Velton 4* "...There are no secrets in London " Esther Thorel is a wife of a Huguenot silk weaver, she rescues Sara Kemp from her unfortunate life in a brothel under the pretext of doing gods work however, when Sara begins her maid duties she is not convinced she is any better off but to escape her madam the offer is too good to ignore. In the Thorels Spitalfields home, the ghost of two looms haunts the attic.  As the women's relationship is forged through the physical intimacies between maid and mistress, Sara becomes ever hostile to Esthers inability to see the hypocrisy of her household, too absorbed in her own secrets to believe Sara is a threat. Esther is a painter, keen to transfer her artwork to the craft of silk weaving.  Her husband rebukes her suggestion which forces her to develop a relationship with a journeyman weaver working on the loom in the attic, in the hopes of obtaining his own status as master weaver.  This relatio...

Normal People By: Sally Rooney Rating 3* Connell and Marianne grew up in rural Caricklea in Ireland.  They come from different worlds when they meet in school and their lives collide.  Despite the social barriers of school a connection develops between them that follows them to their University years in Dublin and well into their futures. This book is my first from author Sally Rooney and I was uncertain if this would appeal to me as her writing has been deemed the "Millenial Voice".  I can honestly say that the writing style was light and easy to read however, felt that the political inferences only seemed to be for effect and didn't really have any relevance to the context of the plot or the characters personalities. The story I believe was intended as a modern love story but sadly, I believe that is a matter of view point as I feel the characters from very early on had an unhealthy relationship which infact developed into a more toxic dependancy based a...