emma_rreads's Reviews (183)

Although I found it an engaging read and one I read with interest, I can’t say it blew my mind. 
Told alternately between Dame Julian, an anchoress in Norwich, and Margery, a merchant class woman. Both have visions and eventually meet.
With strong religious themes throughout, it is also interesting in terms of the lives of medieval women as both women and the books they write existed and have huge historical merit.

An absolute must read for fans of the Bronte sisters. 

Told from the point of view of Emily Bronte, this is the story of the incredibly talented, yet tragic family from childhood through to Emily’s death. 

Beautifully told, the scenes featuring Emily’s connection with the wild moorlands surrounding Haworth are stunning. The sense of place, sisterhood and what it was to be a woman of ambition in a time when women held little value in society beyond their ability to reproduce. 

A stunning read, and one that left me choked up and desperate to take a trip to Haworth! 

A fictionalised account of the life of real-life Trinidadian gangster, Boysie Singh, as told from the point of view of four women in his life. For me, this book had me completely engaged from the off. Authentically told throughout in the local dialect, it builds wonderfully on a sense of place, with the voice of each woman feeling unique, seeing a different side to the infamous gangster. Fascinating historical fiction that has ensured Ingrid Persaud a place on my must-read list!

I’m working my way through the Walsh family books, and it was another fun, but moving read. This time it was Anna’s story. Home in Ireland recovering following an accident….its all a bit disorienting to begin with. But all slowly becomes clear and the slightly waffy Anna of earlier novels rounds out beautifully. While not my favourite of the series so far (Watermelon and Rachel’s Holiday will take some beating!!) I do love my time with the Walsh family immensely!

Told in memoir style by Emilia, a young woman whose mother’s vow of silence led to a global movement which has changed the world. From being the daughter of someone with such noteriety, to her own involvement with The Community, The Silence Project is a really engaging read with a dystopian edge. This was our Reading Group book for February 2024, and it really is an excellent read for a book club due to the complex themes and multiple discussion points! 

Four scholarship students join High Realms, a prestigious boarding school, and The Four follows their dark and twisty time….
I went through a bit of a rollercoaster with the Four. At first I wasn’t sure, I didn’t think it was for me; dark academia has never really been a genre I’ve gelled with. Then all of a sudden it grabbed me and I was tearing through the pages….but I was getting really cross with the characters. By the end I decided I would just go with it, and threw myself into it wholeheartedly! Dark, intense and very readable.

A quietly beautiful story of Manod, a young woman whose desire to discover life beyond the small island she inhabits is stoked by the arrival of two people from the mainland. 
The writing is mesmerisingly visceral and wonderfully descriptive - I began to feel that this was a place I knew and felt quite protective over!

I have many authors I love to read, but Lesley Pearse writes books that are much more than that. I discovered her twenty-odd years ago and I’ve since read everything she has ever written. Although devoured is more accurate. They been read, and re-read. Been a comfort through hard times and I will never part with them.
And so, when I learned Lesley’s memoir was being released I was very excited. Her ability to weave magic into her stories where the characters feel alive is unrivalled as far as I’m concerned. And fascinated (maybe bordering on nosiness!!) as to where this ability comes from. 
And this memoir reveals all. What a life! When I say she has live a life of novel proportions, it’s no lie! At times I had to remind myself that this was a life lived. 
Absolutely brilliant, my love affair with Lesley Pearse continues! 

I love historical fiction, but of the genre what I love the most is a fictionalised imagining of a persons life. 
Diva focuses on the life of Maria Callas, someone I have to admit that I knew very little about. The bulk of the story centres on her relationship with Aristotle Onassis, interwoven with her career as an established opera singer whose greatest fear is losing her voice. Diva shows Maria as a strong willed yet at times fragile woman. Daisy Goodwin paints a woman who feels real and relatable despite possessing a talent and drive the majority of us could never understand. 
I sailed through this book, highly readable and enjoyable - plus its had me lost in a major Wikipedia rabbit hole!

I’m working my way through the Walsh family books, and I really enjoy them, although so far this is my least favourite. It took me a while to warm to Maggie, and I’m not sure I loved the LA setting. Still it made me giggle and kept me company on several cleaning bouts and dog walks!