In the small hours of January 1st, 1919, the cruellest twist of fate changed at a stroke the lives of an entire community.
Tormod Morrison was there that terrible night. He was on board HMY Iolaire when it smashed into rocks and sank, killing some 200 servicemen on the very last leg of their long journey home from war. For Tormod – a man unlike others, with artistry in his fingertips – the disaster would mark him indelibly.
Two decades later, Alasdair and Rachel are sent to the windswept Isle of Lewis to live with Tormod in his traditional blackhouse home, a world away from the Glasgow of their earliest years. Their grandfather is kind, compassionate, but still deeply affected by the remarkable true story of the Iolaire shipwreck – by the selfless heroism and desperate tragedy he witnessed.
A deeply moving novel about passion constrained, coping with loss and a changing world, As the Women Lay Dreaming explores how a single event can so dramatically impact communities, individuals and, indeed, our very souls.
"Gave me an insight into the Iolaire disaster which no history book could manage… a powerful book…which reveals new layers with every reading. It is history brought to life through fiction, and when it is done in a manner as moving and beautiful as this it is invaluable." Alistair Braidwood, Scots Whay Hae
Fiona Vigo Marshall0.0 Bonnie, a traumatised concert pianist, finds refuge at the edge of England, in a cliff-top house haunted by memories and broken dreams.
When Dominic, a road sweeper who is visited by neurological hauntings of his own, gives Bonnie a ring he finds on the street, elemental forces are unleashed that neither is able to control.
Gaby Koppel0.0 1997 and Elizabeth's emigre parents approach retirement in straitened circumstances. Mutti has come up with a novel solution - she is going to claim compensation from the Hungarian Government - hard enough for someone with a clear mind, but near impossible for an impulsive heavy drinker teetering towards dementia. TV journalist Elizabeth is pursuing a story of child abduction in the Hassidic community. In the wake of her father's sudden death and her mother's increasing obsession with wartime Hungary she struggles to keep her job and her relationship. Then she gets a phone call to say that her mother has been arrested in Budapest. Elizabeth is forced to confront the nature of motherhood, love and loss as she puts together the clues to Mutti's past and to the fate of the lost little girl.
Euan Cameron0.0 "A beautifully written and moving story of love and betrayal that casts light on the 'Dark Years' of French history, 1940-44." ALLAN MASSIE
Family history has always been a mystery to Will Latymer. His father flatly refused to talk about it, and with no other relatives to consult, it seems that a mystery it shall always remain. Until of course, Will meets Ghislaine, his beautiful French cousin, in a chance encounter that introduces him to his grandmother, Madeleine, shut away in a quiet Breton manor with her memories and secrets.
Before long, Will has been plunged headlong into the life of Madeleine's great love, his longlost grandfather, Henry Latymer. Reading Henry's old letters and diaries for the first time, Will discovers an idealistic young man, full of hopes and optimism - an optimism that will gradually be crushed as the realities of life under the Vichy regime become glaringly clear.
But the more Will delves into Madeleine and Henry's past, and into France's troubled history, the darker the secrets he discovers become, and the more he has cause to wonder if sometimes, the past should remain buried.
Rosalind Stopps0.0 ‘Cutting between past and present, Stopps has written a tense page-turning thriller that is also a powerful study of old age and disability’ The Times‘I devoured Hello, My Name is May…May is a brilliant character. Spiky and very funny, and the setting of the care home is superbly realised…a masterful feat of storytelling’ Tim Pears, author of The West Country trilogy* * * * * *They wrote it on the wall above my bed. Hello, it said, my name is May. Please talk to me.May has been moved to a care home after her stroke. She can’t communicate, all her words are kept inside. If she tries to point, her arms swing in wild directions, if she tries to talk, strange noises come out of her mouth.May is sharp, quick, and funny, but only her daughter Jenny sees this, and Jackie, a new friend at the home who cares enough to look and listen closely.When May discovers that someone very familiar, from long ago, is living in the room opposite hers she is haunted by scenes from her earlier life, when she was a prisoner of her husband’s unpredictable rages. Bill, the man in the opposite room seems so much like her husband, though almost a lifetime has passed, and May’s eyesight isn’t what it was.As Bill charms his way through the nursing home, he focuses his romantic attention on Jackie, while all May can do is watch. She is determined to protect Jackie and keep herself safe, but what can she do in her vulnerable, silent state?* * * * *Readers highly recommend Hello, My Name is May:‘A masterpiece of tension . . . An expert exploration of ageing, and mental health, and what happens to our faculties as we get older . . . Highly recommended’‘A lovely book and one I found hard to put down . . . a recommended read’‘I dived in without knowing much about the story and I ended up loving it. It was one the best reads’‘I wasn't able to put it down once I started it and I certainly wasn't expecting the ending. I shall be recommending this book’
George Alagiah0.0 'Gripping' Guardian 'Pacy and stylish' Jeremy Vine &t;br/&t; 'It was never meant to be like this. Sabotage, yes. Propaganda, yes. All of that and more – but not this. Not murder.' &t;br/&t; South Africa has become a powder keg. Its precious land is being sold off to the highest bidders while the country's corrupt elite pocket the profits. As the dreams and hopes of its people are threatened, frustration turns to violence. With the shocking murder of one of the country's bright young hopes, the fuse is well and truly lit. &t;br/&t; Conflict mediator Lindi and her childhood friend Kagiso find themselves in the heart of the chaos, fighting to save themselves and their country as events are set in motion that no one – least of all they – can control.
