VIEW POST
Seditious
A remarkably immersive and compelling story, crafted with Eliot Pattison’s atmospheric style of vividly portraying historical fiction. Pattison provides fascinating historical detail which he weaves seamlessly into his storytelling to create an outstanding novel. A focal point of his novels is his ability to bring to life the wonderful…
VIEW POST
Distinctiveness
The Smallest Man is a fascinating story of an unusual man during the 17th-century reign of King Charles I of England. The religious conflict in Europe seemed focused on England and Charles was the King who contributed to England’s descent into civil war. The resulting Interregnum years when Parliament ruled…
VIEW POST
I came to reading this book as someone who is not a Shakespeare aficionado. I have over the years seen various productions of Shakespeare plays, some wonderful, and some not so much so. I have never held a season’s subscription to a local Shakespeare company, but I am an…
VIEW POST
Artifact
The Four Symbols (Sacred Grounds) is a World War II thriller set against the shrouded beginnings and growth of Nazi ideology and the pursuit of ancient relics in establishing a new order – a Third Reich. Ancient swastika relics hold importance and deep meaning that foster a new religion and…
VIEW POST
Like many other readers, I was surprised to have learnt that Sin Eaters really existed that that they continued well into the beginning of the 20th century.
The story of a teenage orphaned girl who for a petty crime is forced to become a sin eater moved me deeply. The…
VIEW POST
As I’m interested in the history of medicine this is a book that appeals. ✔️ Set in Edinburgh? Another ✔️. Featuring Dr James Simpson of chloroform fame? ✔️ Brilliant characters in the aforementioned Simpson, Dr Will Raven and Sarah Fisher? ✔️ An intriguing mystery? ✔️ I could go on!!…
VIEW POST
A sweeping and tumultuous story of an injured American Civil War soldier who goes AWOL and makes a relentless and dangerous journey back home to Cold Mountain, and to the woman he intends spending the rest of his life with. As poetic as Homer’s Odyssey, Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain is an…
VIEW POST
Among the images of my mother that exist online is a black-and-white photograph of me, watching her from the wings. I am four or five years of age, and sitting on a stool, in a little matinee coat and a bowl haircut. Beyond me, Katherine O’Dell performs to the…
VIEW POST
Discovery
A beautifully immersive story celebrating a journey into the wonderful landscape of Australia with intriguing characters that wrestle with its wildness and their own self-discovery. Alison Booth uniquely characterises the landscape giving it energy with features of beauty and harshness at the heart of the story. As two young female…
VIEW POST
Cupidity
A Hundred Suns is a probing story of avarice, power, revenge and colonial politics set in French Indochina in the 1930s. Jessie Lesage and her husband, heir to the Michelin business empire, Victor Michelin Lesage, arrive in Vietnam amidst a global recession to manage the Michelin rubber plantations and grow…
Founder of The Reading Desk, supporting readers, authors, publishers and book industry. Top Reviewer on Amazon, Goodreads, and NetGalley peter@thereadingdesk.com
