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Blog Tour: ‘Small Bomb at Dimperley’ by Lissa Evans

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Lissa Evans’ latest novel, ‘Small Bomb at Dimperley’. Thanks to Random Things Tours and Doubleday for my copy of the book for review – opinions, as always, are my own.

From the Publisher:

The newest novel by the brilliant Lissa Evans, a historical fiction tale about a family and their country house needing to change with the times in the aftermath of the Second World War.

It’s 1945, and Corporal Valentine Vere-Thissett, aged 23, is on his way home. But ‘home’ is Dimperley, built in the 1500s, vast and dilapidated, up to its eaves in debt and half-full of fly-blown taxidermy and dependent relatives, the latter clinging to a way of life that has gone forever.

And worst of all – following the death of his heroic older brother – Valentine is now Sir Valentine, and is responsible for the whole bloody place.

To Valentine, it’s a millstone; to Zena Baxter, who has never really had a home before being evacuated there with her small daughter, it’s a place of wonder and sentiment, somewhere that she can’t bear to leave. But Zena has been living with a secret, and the end of the war means she has to face a reckoning of her own…

Funny, sharp and touching, Small Bomb at Dimperley is both a love story and a bittersweet portrait of an era of profound loss, and renewal.

‘Lissa Evans’ writing is so incredibly assured and affecting. I loved the world and the characters so much and it just seemed like the perfect novel to be read in such dark times. Joy and love found in the ruins, the hope after the horrors, simply gorgeous – a true balm.’

GRAHAM NORTON

‘Loaded with period detail, primed with characters you feel you’ve known for years, Small Bomb at Dimperley explodes comically, lovingly and very slightly wistfully into absolute delight. My best book (by a country mile) this year.’

HILARY MCKAY

My Review:

I love Lissa Evans’ books – she always manages to balance some hard-hitting and tragic ideas with such an incredible warmth and humour. I adored ‘Crooked Heart’ and ‘V for Victory and so couldn’t wait to read ‘Small Bomb at Dimperley’ to see if Evans’ version of a different aspect of World War II would be as fabulous.

It is. It really is.

‘Small Bomb at Dimperley’ takes a different focus from the previous books that focused more on London, evacuees and the Blitz. In this book, the focus is Dimperley, a huge mish-mash of a stately home, and those who live there.

It’s 1945, so the war is ending, and aristocratic families like the Vere-Thissetts of Dimperley are needing to navigate a very different political landscape – one that is more hostile. Added to this, the family hierarchy has been shaken by death and a brain fever, leaving the youngest son as heir to Dimperley. As he returns from war and now titled Sir Valentine, this heir finds he has large shoes to fill in the wake of his heroic big brother. His house is dilapidated, running on reduced staffing and populated by a selection of his eccentric relatives, plus a young woman and her daughter who stayed on after Dimperley was used as a maternity home during the war. It’s up to Valentine to come to terms with his new situation and work out how he can keep Dimperley afloat.

From the second I picked up this book, I knew that the world of Dimperley was one that I wanted to spend time in. While bad things happen – various deaths, poor Ceddy’s illness, Valentine’s wounds – this is an often charming look at a family clinging to an outdated way of life. It’s packed with interesting characters and astute observations on human behaviour – it made me laugh out loud several times with the slightly sharp comments and presentation of human foibles (such as Alaric’s obsession with the correct use of titles). At times, it felt a bit like the world of Nancy Mitford’s ‘The Pursuit of Love’ – often affectionate and charming, but also witty and arch. It never slips into being too cosy or twee, but remains appealing and immersive for the reader.

As always, the characters are beautifully drawn – Zena is glorious in her attachment to Dimperley and love for her daughter and my heart goes out to Valentine, returning from war to a chaotic mess. I also loved Miss Hersey – remnant from when the house was packed with servants before the war but now dealing (pretty competently) with being the last remaining one still resident there. There are lots of quirky, engaging characters throughout – some of whom I was intrigued to learn more about, such as the two daughters returning from a wartime spent in the USA.

It’s a book I could write lots about as I found lots to love. However, I’d really just recommend that you pick up a copy and immerse yourself in the world of Dimperley. It’s a world that was archaic even in 1945, losing relevance further as the post-war world adapted to seismic change. However, it’s a lovely place to spend a few hours in the company of some lovely characters.

About the Author:

LISSA EVANS is an iconic director, producer and author of historical fiction with a devouted fan base. She has written books for both adults and children, including the bestselling Old Baggage, Their Finest Hour and a Half, longlisted for the Orange Prize, Small Change for Stuart, shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Costa Book Awards amongst others, and Crooked Heart, longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.

(Audio)Book Review: ‘A Haunting in the Arctic’ by C. J. Cooke

I was in two minds about reading this book – on the one hand, I’m obsessed with anything set in the Arctic. What a fascinating, inhospitable, fabulous place with plenty of scope for peril, adventure, tragedy, isolation, creepiness…it has it all! On the other hand, I’m often less convinced by ghost stories as I often find them just too silly. Regardless, the Arctic won me over and so I picked up this book.

The story is essentially in three parts, with the focus skipping between the three timelines quite regularly. One of the strands is set in 1901 and features Nicky Duthie, daughter of a shipping company owner, being kidnapped and taken on board the whaling ship, the Ormen. Then there’s a 1973 strand (not featuring heavily) where the Ormen (now in use as a scientific research ship) is found drifting with a missing crew and just one mutilated body on board. Finally, there’s a modern strand in which Dominique, an urban explorer, travels to the ship just before the wreck is due to be sunk forever off the coast of Iceland. Here, in the almost perpetual darkness and freezing cold, she is determined to uncover the secrets of the ship.

I did worry initially that I’d fail to engage with a narrative that moved so frequently between time periods. However, I found that Dominique and Nicky’s stories were so different that it was easy to follow. I thought I’d probably like the historical story the best (as I love historical fiction), but I did find Nicky’s story really very grim. I’m not one for trigger warnings, but there’s a lot of casual rape and abuse which I found quite hard to process. Instead, I found myself much more interested in Dominique’s story, although baffled as to why anyone – no matter how intrepid – might want to explore/live in/broadcast on social media such a dangerous location!

The Arctic was – as I expected – magnificent. I loved the description of the people surviving in the inhospitable terrain, the darkness, the bitter cold, the maritime details of life in the North Sea (less keen on the actual whaling!) I thought the setting was great and gave the sense of claustrophobia even within the massive open spaces of Iceland.

And as for the ghost story – I did find it engaging and relatively credible. There were definite twists that I didn’t see coming and Cooke skilfully manipulates the reader’s sense of dread in seeing the mysterious female figure in the barren Arctic landscape. I did appreciate that the ghostly elements weren’t there for all-out horror, but something more subtle to do with shadows of the past. Indeed, the plotting was clever and the revelations kept me reading.

I should also mention that I listened to the audiobook which is narrated excellently by Lucy Goldie. I loved the fact that she has quite a strong Scottish accent which was perfect for the Scottish origins of the story and the associated mythology around selkies that feature in the novel.

This is an intriguing novel and one that kept me interested throughout. Some of it I found uncomfortable, but I loved the sense of setting and the fact that it kept me guessing to the end.

I received a free copy of the ebook from NetGalley for review. As always, opinions are entirely my own.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Blog Tour: ‘Whole Life Sentence’ by Lynda La Plante

It’s out now! The last book in the brilliant Tennison series – this is Book 10 and it’s another great mystery.

Thanks to Compulsive Readers for inviting me to join #TeamTennison and to Zaffre Books for my review copy. Opinions, as always, are my own.

I’ve loved this series and it has been a treat to read it from the start with other bloggers as part of #TeamTennison. It’s been great to see Jane Tennison develop from a new recruit in the Metropolitan Police to a DCI in the prestigious AMIT unit. Along the way, she’s investigated IRA bombings, serial killings, cold cases, armed robberies and a fair dose of police corruption – it’s been a varied career and an enjoyable one to follow.

Blog Tour: ‘Forget Me Not’ by M. J. Arlidge

Thanks to Compulsive Readers for inviting me on the blog tour for this – the latest in the brilliant DI Helen Grace series. Thanks also to Orion Books for my copy of the book – as always, opinions are entirely my own.

A new M. J. Arlidge book is always a treat – fans of the series will know exactly what I mean and what to expect. There’s always the fabulous but maverick DI Helen Grace at the book’s heart, usually immersed in a tense, dangerous and high-stakes investigation as part of Southampton Police’s Major Incident Team.

This book starts on Day One with the abduction of a young girl, a case that DI Grace wants the team to prioritise. However, she is put under strict instructions to put her team to work instead on the gang crime that is taking over Southampton’s streets. As DI Grace is never one to follow orders, she begins work on the case of the missing girl – and uncovers some disturbing and dark secrets that are a little too close to home…

Blog Tour: ‘Northern Boy’ by Iqbal Hussain

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this fabulous, uplifting, heartwarming book! Thanks to Random Things Tours and Unbound for my spot on the tour and also my copy of the book for review. As always, opinions are entirely my own.

From the Publisher:

It’s 1981 in the suburbs of Blackburn and, as Rafi’s mother reminds him daily, the family moved here from Pakistan to give him the best opportunities. But Rafi longs to follow his own path. Flamboyant, dramatic and musically gifted, he wants to be a Bollywood star.

Twenty years later, Rafi is flying home from Australia for his best friend’s wedding. He has everything he ever wanted: starring roles in musical theatre, the perfect boyfriend and freedom from expectation. But returning to Blackburn is the ultimate test: can he show his true self to his community?

Navigating family and identity from boyhood to adulthood, as well as the changing eras of ABBA, skinheads and urbanisation, Rafi must follow his heart to achieve his dreams.

My Review:

There was so much that drew me to this book – the word ‘uplifting’ in any blurb is always appealing, plus I loved the idea of a 1980s setting (not that I’m old enough to remember the 80s too well…!) The fact the book is published by Unbound was also very promising – I’ve loved all the books I’ve read from that publisher and often find their books fabulous quality, quirky and offbeat.

I wasn’t disappointed at all – this is a story of Rafi Aziz, the ‘northern boy’ growing up in 1980s Blackburn but dreaming of stardom. He’s talented, has the support of his lovely teacher Mr H and best friend Shazia – but, unfortunately, not his family. They think his Bollywood fascination is a phase and something he will outgrow, plus being a flamboyant kid in 1980s Blackburn isn’t exactly smoothing Rafi’s way at school. Especially as the dreaded Everton High School beckons…

The story starts 20 years after Rafi’s tricky school days with Rafi travelling back to the UK for Shazia’s wedding. He’s made a success of his life with musical theatre roles, a serious boyfriend and a happy existence in Australia where he has chosen to settle. Coming back to Blackburn forces Rafi to relive his past and face up to some unfinished family business.

The 2001 sections of the novel are great – Rafi travelling back to the UK, meeting up with friends and family, attending the wedding and sorting out the family stuff. However, the 1981 sections are just amazing – really evocative of a life growing up in a small community where everyone knows everyone else’s business. It’s a childhood of shared bedrooms and ‘Smash Hits’ and local news on TV, ‘Bunty’ and Jim Davidson and the man from the Milk Tray adverts. I may not have grown up northern, or a boy, or Pakistani, or a Bollywood wannabee, but – wow – was it relatable.

It’s also a vivid picture of the Pakistani community in Blackburn – I really loved the descriptions of the cultural elements (the food, the clothes, the Bollywood films) alongside the trappings of a 1980s British childhood. There are some brilliant characters in there too – Shazia is a bit of a force of nature, Rafi’s siblings prove problematic at times (as with all siblings!) and Mrs Kappor is wonderfully opinionated. Rafi’s mother is also subtly portrayed, at once evoking sympathy and something much less positive as the novel progresses.

I always worry that novels like this are going to prove a bit too ‘gritty’ for me, but that isn’t the case here. While bad things do happen and Rafi has a tough time, the overwhelming feeling from the novel is heartwarming. It’s genuinely uplifting and funny and sweet and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

About the Author:

Iqbal Hussain is a writer from Blackburn, Lancashire and he lives in London. His work appears in various anthologies and on websites including The Willowherb Review, The Hopper and caughtbytheriver. He is a recipient of the inaugural London Writers’ Awards 2018 and he won Gold in the Creative Future Writers’ Awards 2019. In 2022, he won first prize in Writing Magazine’s Grand Flash competition and was joint runner-up in the Evening Standard Short Story Competition. In 2023, his story ‘I’ll Never Be Young Again’ won first prize in the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature short story competition. He was also Highly Commended in the Emerging Writer Award from The Bridge Award. Northern Boy is his first novel.

Blog Tour: ‘Taste of Blood’ by Lynda La Plante

Here we are – the 9th and most recently published of the Tennison series! This marks the last of my regular #TeamTennison reviews…until the publication of Book 10 in July!

Thanks to Compulsive Readers for inviting me on the tour and Zaffre Books for my review copy. As always, opinions are my own.

Book Review: ‘You Don’t Have To Be Mad To Work Here’ by Benji Waterhouse

I’m really intrigued by people’s jobs and always enjoy a sneaky behind-the-scenes look at other people’s careers. Especially jobs I could never do in a million years – and NHS psychiatrist can definitely be added to this list if this book is anything to go by!

Benji Waterhouse takes us on a journey through his psychiatric career – right from when he chose to specialise in psychiatry through to his various placements as he grapples with the state of mental healthcare in the NHS. Through this, we also learn a bit about Waterhouse’s family, his own mental health problems (it’s totally normal and actually recommended for psychiatrists to be in therapy themselves) and his feelings about the challenges of the job.

The easy comparison here is Adam Kay – like Kay, Waterhouse is funny and self-deprecating, but also doesn’t shy away from the more shocking elements. It’s always engaging and eye-opening, but often sad and frustrating too, as a lot of Waterhouse’s initial learning seems to be how to discharge patients who he has serious concerns about but for whom there is no available hospital bed. We meet a range of these patients – some ‘frequent fliers’ who play the system, some tragic and suicidal cases, and some whose mental health challenges have comic elements (although much of the humour is really levelled at Waterhouse himself). It’s important to say that Waterhouse doesn’t undermine the dignity of the patients – obviously, they are given pseudonyms or are amalgams of cases he’s encountered, and their difficulties are presented as (sometimes temporary) ailments or through unusual situations rather than being who they are as people.

I really enjoyed this book, if ‘enjoyed’ can be the right word for something that raised so many concerns about the broken NHS system of mental healthcare. This is a system stretched to its limits, peopled by those who are doing their best in impossible circumstances and receiving little recognition for their considerable efforts. However, it’s also often a warm portrait of patients who Waterhouse clearly cares about deeply. In fact, he comes across well himself too – a caring, if stressed and hardworking doctor with a bit of imposter syndrome and going through an incredibly steep learning curve.

This will make you very glad you’re not an NHS psychiatrist, but very grateful for the fact that some people do sign up for it as they’re clearly needed. It will definitely make you want mental health services funded properly. It will also raise a few smiles too – there are some lovely comic touches, with the table tennis story being my favourite!

Thanks to NetGalley for my review copy – opinions are entirely my own.

Header photo by rivage on Unsplash

Blog Tour: ‘The Continental Affair’ by Christine Mangan

I’m delighted to start the blog tour for ‘The Continental Affair’!

With thanks to Random Things Tours and Bedford Square Publishers for my spot on the tour and copy of the book for review. Opinions, as always, are my own.

From the Publisher:

With gorgeous prose, European glamour, and an expansive wanderlust, Christine Mangan’s ‘The Continental Affair’ is a fast-paced, Agatha Christie-esque caper packed full of romance and suspense.

‘Reads as if Jean Rhys and Patricia Highsmith collaborated on a script for Alfred Hitchcock; it is an elegant, delirious fever dream of a book.’
The Irish Times

Meet Henri and Louise. Two strangers, travelling alone, on the train from Belgrade to Istanbul.

Except this isn’t the first time they have met.

It’s the 1960s, and Louise is running.

From her past in England, from the owners of the money she has stolen―and from Henri, the person who has been sent to collect it.

Across the Continent―from Granada to Paris, from Belgrade to Istanbul―Henri
follows. He’s desperate to leave behind his own troubles and the memories of
his past life as a gendarme in Algeria.

But Henri soon realises that Louise is no ordinary traveller.

As the train hurtles toward its final destination, Henri and Louise must decide
what the future will hold―and whether it involves one another.

Stylish and atmospheric, ‘The Continental Affair’ takes you on an unforgettable journey through the twisty, glamorous world of 1960s Europe.

My Review:

I’d read and enjoyed ‘Tangerine’ by Christine Mangan, so it was a pleasure to be asked to join the blog tour for ‘The Continental Affair’. What’s not to like about a 1960s tale of glamour and mystery and romance playing out across some of Europe’s most gorgeous cities?

The story is told from both Henri’s and Louise’s perspectives, and across a dual timeline. In the ‘Now’ timeline, they are meeting on a train heading across Europe. It seems to be a meeting of strangers forced to share a train compartment, but we soon discover that Henri knows exactly who Louise is – and what she’s up to. The ‘Before’ sections then take us into the back-story so that we discover more about the characters and their motivations. The longer the cat and mouse game goes on, the more the tension rises…

What I really loved about this novel was the sense of place; the detail in the descriptions of the cities is vivid and sumptuous. I particularly loved the focus on the Alhambra, beautiful and serene, where the two first ‘meet’. While the visual description throughout the novel is fabulous, what’s really striking is the fact that the novel is a sensory treat – this is a world where orange blossom and creponne add tantalising smells, thumbs rub against banknotes, local delicacies are tasted and the characters move in and out of the warm golden sunlight and shadows.

It’s a world – glamorous in an old-fashioned way – that is evoked so vibrantly that it feels like Mangan has dropped us into a movie. Enhancing this is the sense of claustrophobia that Mangan weaves into the novel – although European travel is open to the travellers, their personal situations mean they are trapped in different ways, be it grief, the past, money…

I found that I was more strongly drawn to Henri at the start of the novel – although his situation is morally very dubious, I really felt for his back-story and how he had managed to get into this situation far from his home in Algeria. He seemed a much more human character than the slightly aloof and detached Louise, but this initial impression soon shifted as Louise’s back-story was explored with a key moment outside a Parisian cemetery. I really started to root for her as she – this quite reserved and naive English woman – started to relax into the European way of life and make her own choices.

I did like the fact that the story kept moving between the perspectives and timelines, although it also took a bit of getting used to. I did think it was a bit of a slow-burner – the initial sections were quite slow, but I found myself totally immersed in the story once Louise left Spain with Henri following at a distance.

I’d recommend this to readers who like tense and tightly-wound noir thrillers; there’s a simmering sense of menace within the glamorous and gorgeous locations, a seductive subtext in the interactions between characters, and mysteries and secrets at the heart of the main characters. It’s a heady and appealing mix.

About the Author:

Christine Mangan is the author of the national bestsellers ‘Tangerine’ and ‘Palace of the Drowned’. She has her PhD in English from University College Dublin, with a focus on 18th-century Gothic literature, and an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Southern Maine. She lives in Detroit.

Book Review: ‘Divine Might’ by Natalie Haynes

I absolutely love Natalie Haynes – her writing is excellent and her podcasts (‘Natalie Haynes Stands Up For The Classics’) are both enlightening and witty. She can take some impossibly complex ideas and make them engaging, accessible and entertaining – this is exactly how I like my Classics and I just wish that my lecturers at university back in the mists of time had been half as funny when we looked at Homer!

Book Review: ‘Hunted’ by Abir Mukherjee

Wow! The pace of this book is incredible – this is one you’ll pick up, read at every opportunity and it will have to be prised out of your hands!

I really loved Abir Mukherjee’s Wyndham and Banerjee historical crime series, but I didn’t know whether I’d feel quite the same about a modern thriller as they aren’t my usual fayre. I’m quite happy to report that I loved this too.