Where Have I Gone? ~ Pauline Quirke

"Pauline Quirke was a skinny child, a slim teenager, a curvy woman, then - according to her bathroom scales (curse them) - just plain fat. Yes, the 'F' word. Tipping the scales at nearly 20 stone, with creaking knees and a dodgy ankle to boot, at the beginning of 2011 Pauline had reached a crisis point. Something had to change, and fast.

It was never going to be an easy ride, but with her trademark warmth and sense of humour, Pauline recounts the highs and lows of the rollercoaster year in which she whips herself, and her life, into shape - with a fair few tales from her celebrated forty-year acting career thrown into the bargain. She reveals all: from the strain of working long hours away from home on one of Britain's most popular soaps to renewing her wedding vows and reuniting with her Birds of a Feather co-stars; from battling the bulge and facing the naysayers to rediscovering the joys of airline travel . . . without a seatbelt extension."

Honest and revealing, Where Have I Gone? is brimming with brilliantly funny anecdotes and truly moving moments. So put your feet up and join Pauline as she embarks on the most incredible year of her life."

Review from the Internet

Read by Robyn S.

The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts

"Ryder is the hardest Montgomery brother to figure out - with a tough-as-nails outside and possibly nothing too soft underneath. He's surly and unsociable, but when he straps on a toolbelt, no woman can resist his sexy swagger. Except, apparently, Hope Beaumont, the innkeeper of his own Inn BoonsBoro...

As the former manager of a D.C. hotel, Hope is used to excitement and glamour, but that doesn't mean she can't appreciate the joys of small-town living. She's where she wants to be - except for in her love life. Her only interaction with the opposite sex has been sparring with the infuriating Ryder, who always seems to get under her skin. Still, no one can deny the electricity that crackles between them...a spark that ignited with a New Year's Eve kiss.

While the inn is running smoothly, thanks to Hope's experience and unerring instincts, her big-city past is about to make an unwelcome - and embarrassing - appearance. Seeing Hope vulnerable stirs up Ryder's emotions and makes him realize that while Hope may not be perfect, she just might be perfect for him..."

Review from the Internet

Read by Robyn S.

Birthright ~ Nora Roberts

This was my crime novel for April and I enjoyed this story immensely, It had so many twists and turns.  With so many evil people who just decided they could take children and give them to people who had none at a very large price of course.  The murderer on site was unexpected and was probably more evil than the baby snatchers because she just did not care who she killed.  The love stories within were a bonus.

"On a hot July afternoon, a worker at an Antietam Creek construction site drives the blade of his backhoe into a layer of soil — and strikes a 5,000-year-old human skull. The discovery draws plenty of attention and a lot of controversy. It also changes the life of one woman in ways she never expected...

As an archaeologist, Callie Dunbrook knows a lot about the past. But her own past is about to be called into question. Recruited for her expertise on the Antietam Creek dig, she encounters danger — as a cloud of death and misfortune hangs over the project, and rumors fly that the site is cursed. She finds a passion that feels equally dangerous, as she joins forces in her work with her irritating, but irresistible, ex-husband, Jake. And when a strange woman approaches her, claiming to know a secret about Callie’s privileged Boston childhood, some startling and unsettling questions are raised about her very identity.

Searching for answers, trying to rebuild, Callie finds that there are deceptions and sorrows that refuse to stay buried. And as she struggles to put the pieces back together, she discovers that the healing process comes with consequences — and that there are people who will do anything to make sure the truth is never revealed."

Read by Robyn S.

A Dark Adapted Eye ~ Barbara Vine

This month’s Caffeine and Chapters Book Club read is an Edgar Award Winning Novel.  Having never read any books from the list of winners I realised this was a genre I probably hadn’t tapped into.  I liked the sound of this title over all the others on the list and so I downloaded it as an audio book.

I didn’t realise that Barbara Vine was the nom de plume of Ruth Rendell’s.  I had recently read The Killing Doll by Rendell and thoroughly enjoyed her characterisations and the dark nature of the novel, so once I realised who had written this book I was quietly pleased about my choice.

What a great story it is.  It is the tale of a family with dark secrets and the secrets are slowly unraveled by Faith, the niece of the main character Vera, after she is approached by a true crime writer who wants to write about Vera’s life.  The title of the novel relates to the opening of Faith’s eyes to events in her family and seeing them with an adult’s new perspective.

The novel opens with Vera’s execution and Faith mentions just about all the main characters without us knowing who they are and how they will relate to the story.  As the novel progresses some of these characters and their relationships are a revelation.

In short Faith’s father has two sisters – Vera and Eden.  He places these two women on a pedestal as paragon’s of virtue and Faith finds it very hard to live up to their standards only to find that they were not very virtuous at all as she pieces together their past.  Vera is much older than Eden and pushes her son away in favour of raising Eden when their parents die.  Faith often stays with them on holidays only to find them whispering and keeping secrets and making her feel very uncomfortable a lot of the time.  Vera’s son is very scornful and cruel to her but Eden appears to counter his presence with beauty and a strong love for her sister Vera.

Things take a turn when Faith’s family are told that Vera is expecting.  She is a much older lady and with her husband away (this is set during the 2nd World War) they can do the math.  They don’t receive much communication whilst she is pregnant but are relieved when they are told eventually by Eden that she has delivered a healthy baby boy – Jamie.

Vera is completely devoted to Jamie, but when she falls very ill she is devastated by the fact that Eden has taken him to live with her and her new very wealthy husband.  Eden has been trying for a child of her own, but a miscarriage and subsequent problems mean that she can no longer have a baby.  What ensues is a very bitter custody battle to try and bring Jamie back home to Vera, which culminates in murder and Vera’s execution.

What I loved about this novel were the insights by Faith describing the time she spent with the two women.  What seems innocuous at first becomes darker when viewed in light of the later events.  The characterisations are absolutely brilliant and their history quite complex.  What we have here is a mystery story, but we are still left with a mystery at the end of it – well two actually.  Who was Jamie’s father and who is actually Jamie’s mother?

This is a fantastic read and Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell will be on my reading list for the rest of this year.  With Rendell’s passing a few days ago I can see there are a lot of novels I need to catch up on.

Maxine