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...

The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have read many books on the holocaust and it's survivors but apart from Anne Frank they have mainly been from the perspective of male survivors. What I regarded so highly in this book was both Edith Egers writing style and was astounded by her ability even all these years on to not only face the horror head on but use it for the benefit of others. She admits early on that "I am happiest when I am alone, when I can retreat into my inner world...". Something that is constantly referred to is the choices she has had to make and that have been such an integral part of her life and whether focus should in fact be on those things we lose or to the things we do have in our life. One quote from her mother has stuck with me even now "No one can take away from you what you've put in your mind". I still find it awe inspiring the inner strength and determination to kindl...

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is a thriller in the veign of Gone Girl, and although I can agree to some extent I do feel that authors should not be compared as it can be the kiss of death to a premise. In this case I really did enjoy this book, I read it during a stay in hospital and found it light heartedly drawing me in however, not as intense in the suspense or so I thought.....making it easy to read for hours on end. The story begins with Vanessa and her husband Richard and their married life together, until he begins an affair with his secretary at work (cliche I know but stick with it!). When it falls apart so does Vanessa's life and she immerses herself in the pain of her failed relationship and where it went wrong. Vanessa however is far from blameless and when Richard becomes engaged to Nellie and provides her with the love and security she craves, as her wedding looms ever closer she feels that she is not alone...

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss My rating: 5 of 5 stars This darkly poignant and compelling novella draws you in from the first pages and holds you to the very end. The tale of Sylvie and her summer's experience with her family and small group of university student's opens her not only to the experience of iron age living but to the devastating climax of her time living as an iron age villager. There are trigger warnings for violence in this book however, these are delicately handled and Sarah Moss had an almost lyrical way of writing that both draws you in to the surroundings and it's modern connection to times now past. At times Sylvie is portrayed as just a teenager desperately seeking normality and yet at times darkly mirrors the demise of an iron age sacrifice. This book is so far one of the best books of my year and I cannot recommend it highly enough. View all my reviews

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is a time travel story with a thriller twist spread over three timelines. We join the story in 1967 with four female scientists who are developing a means of time travel however, on the cusp of becoming pioneers in the industry one of them suffers a mental breakdown calling the validity of the research into question. Along with the pioneers, we meet two further characters in Ruby, a grandchild of the scientist who had a breakdown and Odette a university student who discovers a body with no explanation for the preceding events. This story is beautifully written with a strength of character, purpose and plot so compelling, it was hard at times to put it down and return to the real world. @Katemascarenhas has an ability to interweve both plot and sub-plot seemlessly to draw you deeper and deeper into the story whilst the sub-characters add depth and detail to the overall story. I...