BLOG TOUR - THE QUEEN OF FIVES BY ALEX HAYS

“Bridgerton meets The Sting in this effervescent offering…. Hay has conceived of a wholly original take on Victorian London and populated it with a gallery of colorful underworld types. The plotting will have readers on the edges of their seats as one twist after another sets the stage for a series of jaw-dropping revelations.
This literary confection is a delectable treat.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Title: The Queen Of Fives

Author: Alex Hays

Publisher: Graydon House

Release Date: 21st January 2025

BLURB
A confidence scheme, when properly executed, will follow five movements:

I. The Mark II. The Intrusion. III. The Ballyhoo. IV. The Knot. V. All In.

There may be many counter-strikes along the way, for such is the nature of the game; it contains so many sides, so many endless possibilities...

Nothing is quite as it seems in Victorian high society in this clever novel set against the most magnificent wedding of the season, as a mysterious heiress sets her sights on London's most illustrious family

1898. Quinn le Blanc, London’s most talented con woman, has five days to pull off her most ambitious plot yet: trap a highly eligible duke into marriage and lift a fortune from the richest family in England.

Masquerading as the season’s most enviable debutante, Quinn puts on a brilliant act that earns her entrance into the grand drawing rooms and lavish balls of high society—and propels her straight into the inner circle of her target: the charismatic Kendals. Among those she must convince are the handsome bachelor heir, the rebellious younger sister, and the esteemed duchess eager to see her son married.

But the deeper she forges into their world, the more Quinn finds herself tangled in a complicated web of love, lies, and loyalty. The Kendals all have secrets of their own, and she may not be the only one playing a game of high deception...

PURCHASE LINKS
HarperCollins page
BookShop.org
Barnes & Noble
Amazon 

EXCERPT 

A confidence scheme, when properly executed, will follow five movements in close and inviolable order:

I. The Mark.

Wherein a fresh quarry is perceived and made the object of the closest possible study.

II. The Intrusion.

Wherein the quarry’s outer layers must be pierced, his world peeled open…

III. The Ballyhoo.

Where a golden opportunity shall greatly tempt and dazzle the quarry…

IV. The Knot.

Wherein the quarry is encircled by his new friends, and naysayers are sent gently on their way…

V. All In.

Where all commitments are secured, and the business is happily—and irrevocably—concluded.

A coda: there may be many counterstrikes along the way, for such is the nature of the game; it contains so many sides, so many endless possibilities…

Rulebook—1799.

 

Day One

The Mark

 

1

Quinn

Five days earlier

Here was how it began. Four miles east of Berkeley Square, a few turns from Fashion Street and several doors down from the synagogue, stood a humble old house in Spitalfields. Four floors high, four bays across. Rose-colored shutters, a green trim to the door. A basement kitchen hidden from the street, and a colony of house sparrows nesting in the eaves, feasting on bread crusts and milk pudding scrapings.

On the first floor, behind peeling sash windows, stood Quinn Le Blanc.

She changed her gloves. She had a fine selection at her disposal, per her exalted rank in this neighborhood—chevrette kid, mousquetaire, pleated gloves for daytime, ridged ones for riding, silk-lined, fur-edged. All shades, too—dark, tan, brandy, black, mauve. No suede, of course. And no lace: nothing that could snag. The purpose of the glove was the preservation of the skin. Not from the sun, not from the cold.

From people.

She pulled on the French kid—cream-colored with green buttons—flexed her fingers, tested the grip. For she was the reigning Queen of Fives, the present mistress of this house; the details were everything.

“Mr. Silk?” she called from the gaming room. “Have you bolted the rear doors?”

His voice came back, querulous, from the stairs. “Naturally I have.” Then the echo of his boots as he clumped away.

The gaming room breathed around her. It was hot, for they kept a good strong fire burning year-round, braving incineration. But now she threw cold water on the grate, making the embers hiss and smoke. She closed the drapes, which smelled as they always did: a tinge of tobacco and the sour tint of mildew. Something else, too: a touch of cognac, or absinthe—one of the prior queens had enjoyed her spirits.

Quinn examined the room, wondering if she should lock away any valuables for the week. Of course, she had no fears of not returning on schedule, in triumph, per her plan—but still, she was venturing into new and dangerous waters. Some prudence could serve her well. The shelves were crammed with objects: hatboxes, shoeboxes, vinegars, perfume bottles, merino cloths, linen wrappings. But then she decided against it; she despised wasting time. The most incriminating, valuable things were all stored downstairs, in the bureau.

The bureau contained every idea the household ever had, the schemes designed and played by generations of queens. It stood behind doors reinforced with iron bolts, windows that were bricked up and impassable. It was safe enough, for now.

“Quinn?” Silk’s voice floated up the stairs. “We must be punctual.”

“We will be,” she called back with confidence.

Confidence was all they had going for them at the Château these days.

The Château. It was a pompous name for a humble old house. But that was the point, wasn’t it? It gave the place a sense of importance in a neighborhood that great folk merely despised. There were tailors and boot finishers living on one side, cigar makers and scholars on the other, and a very notorious doss-house at the end of the road. Quinn had lived in it nearly all her life, alongside Mr. Silk.

Quinn descended the creaking staircase, flicking dust from the framed portraits lined along the wall. They depicted the Château’s prior queens, first in oils, later in daguerreotype, with Quinn’s own picture placed at the foot of the stairs. Hers was a carte de visite mounted in a gilt frame, adorned with red velvet curtains. In it, Quinn wore a thick veil, just like her predecessors. She carried a single game card in one hand, and she was dressed in her inaugural disguise—playing the very splendid “Mrs. Valentine,” decked in emerald green velvet, ready to defraud the corrupt owners of the nearby Fairfield Works. She was just eighteen, and had already secured the confidence of the Château’s other players—and she was ready to rule.

That was eight years ago.

Quinn rubbed the smeared glass with her cuff. The house needed a good spring clean. She’d given up the housekeeper months ago; even a scullery maid was too great an expense now. Glancing through the rear window, she caught her usual view of the neighborhood—rags flapping on distant lines, air hazed with smoke. The houses opposite winked back at her, all nets and blinds, their disjointed gardens tangled and wild. She fastened the shutters, checking the bolts.

Silk was waiting by the front door. “Ready?” He was wearing a bulky waistcoat, his cravat ruffled right up to his chin. His bald head shone in the weak light.

Quinn studied him, amused. “What have you stuffed yourself with?”

“Strips of steel, if you must know.”

“In your jacket?”

“Yes.”

“For what reason?”

“My own protection. What else?”

Quinn raised a brow. “You’re developing a complex.”

“We’re living in a violent age, Le Blanc. A terribly violent age.”

Silk was forever clipping newspaper articles about foreign agitators, bombs being left in fruit baskets on station platforms.

“Stay close to me, then,” Quinn said, hauling open the front door, squinting in the light.

Net curtains twitched across the road. This was a quiet anonymous street, and the location of the Château was a closely guarded secret, even among their kind. But the neighbors kept their eyes on the Château. Nobody questioned its true ownership: the deeds had been adulterated too many times, sliced out of all official registers. In the 1790s, it was inhabited by an elusive Mrs. B—(real name unknown). Some said she’d been a disgraced bluestocking, or an actress, or perhaps a Frenchwoman on the run—a noble comtesse in disguise! She caught the neighborhood’s imagination; they refashioned her in their minds. B—became “Blank,” which in time became “Le Blanc.” Her house was nicknamed le Château. Smoke rose from the chimneys; queer characters came and went; the lights burned at all hours. Some said Madame Le Blanc had started a school. Others claimed it was a brothel.

In fact, it was neither.

It was something much cleverer.

The Queen of Fives. They breathed the title with reverence on the docks, down the coastline. A lady with a hundred faces, a thousand voices, a million lives. She might spin into yours if you didn’t watch out… She played a glittering game: lifting a man’s fortune with five moves, in five days, before disappearing without a trace.

The sun was inching higher, turning the sky a hard mazarine blue. “Nice day for it,” Quinn said, squeezing Silk’s arm.

Silk peered upward. “I think not.” He’d checked his barometer before breakfast. “There’s a storm coming.”

Quinn could feel it, the rippling pleasure down her spine. “Better and better,” she replied. “Now, come along.”

They made an unassuming pair when they were out in public. An older gentleman in a dark and bulky overcoat, with a very sleek top hat. A youngish woman in dyed green furs, with a high collar and a sharp-tilted toque. He with his eyes down, minding his step. She with her face veiled, gloves gripped round an elegant cane. Always listening, watching, rolling dice in their minds.

Silk and Quinn had a single clear objective for the day. Audacious, impossible, outrageous—but clear. He showed her his appointment book: Three p.m.—Arrive in ballroom, Buckingham Palace, en déguisé.

“In disguise? Doesn’t that go without saying?”

“You tell me. Has your costume been delivered?”

“Not yet. But we have a more serious impediment.”

“Oh?” he asked her.

“I’ve still not received my invitation card to the palace.”

They turned into Fournier Street. Silk tutted. “I’ve dealt with that. Our old friend at the Athenaeum Club will oblige you.”

“You’re quite sure? We’ve never cut it so fine before.”

“Well, you might need to prod him a little.”

“Just a little?”

“The very littlest bit, Quinn.”

Unnecessary violence was not part of their method. But persuasion—well, that was essential. Let’s call a spade a spade: the Château was a fraud house, a cunning firm, a swindler’s palace ruled by a queen. It made its business by cheating great men out of their fortunes. In the bureau stood the Rulebook, its marbled endpapers inscribed with each queen’s initials, setting the conditions of their games.

And this week the Queen of Fives would execute the most dangerous game of her reign.

Quinn paused outside the Ten Bells. “Very well. We can’t afford any slips. I’ll go to the Athenaeum now. Anything else?”

Silk shook his head. “Rien ne va plus.” No more bets.

They gripped hands. He gave her his usual look: a fond gaze, then a frown. “Play on, Le Blanc.”

She grinned at him in return. “Same to you, old friend.”

They parted ways.

And the game began.

Excerpted from THE QUEEN OF FIVES by Alex Hay. Copyright © 2025 by Alex Hay. Published by Graydon House, an imprint of HarperCollins.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

ALEX HAY grew up in the United Kingdom in Cambridge and Cardiff, and has been writing as long as he can remember. He studied history at the University of York, and wrote his dissertation on female power at royal courts, combing the archives for every scrap of drama and skulduggery he could find. He has worked in magazine publishing and the charity sector and lives with his husband in London. His debut, The Housekeepers won the Caledonia Novel Award, and was named a Best Book of the Summer by Reader’s Digest, The Washington Post, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, and others. His second novel, The Queen of Fives, publishes in January 2025. Alex lives with his husband in South East London.

AUTHOR LINKS
Author Website: https://alexhaybooks.com/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/alexhaybooks?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexhaybooks/?hl=en 

 

 

 

 

 

REVIEW - KISS & GOODBYE BY PATRICIA ROSEMOOR

  

Title: Kiss & Goodbye
Author: Patricia Rosemoor
Publisher: Dangerous Love Publishing
                      (ARC provided by Victory Editing Netgalley Co-Op)
Genre: General (Adult) Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Womens Fiction
Release Date: 15th October 2024

BLURB
Renny Butler races to Ireland in search of her mom Irene, who mysteriously vanished during a secretive trip. As Renny combs through Mom's belongings, she uncovers a shocking she was adopted, and her birthmother was named Aghna Shaw. With her decade of experience as an investigative reporter, Renny digs deeper, working with enigmatic professor Connell Rourke, who runs the Lost Children website. Together, they explore the dark history of Castlemeehan, a former Magdalene Laundry where unmarried pregnant women like Aghna were forced to work, and their babies were taken and sold, often to American families—just as Renny had been.

As Renny and Connell untangle the sinister secrets of Castlemeehan, they uncover personal and historical tragedies, confront rising danger, and face a growing body count. Would she find Mom alive? Someone tries to stop her! Amidst viable danger, romance blossoms between her and Connell. Their pursuit of truth and justice reveals long-buried family secrets, reshaping Renny’s understanding of her past and her life forever.

Goodreads Link 

REVIEW
The cover of this book becomes all the more poignant when you read the book. It is a photograph plays am important part in the story of Renny, Irene and Aghna.

The book flips between present day 2013 Ireland and Ireland in the 1980s which may not seem that long ago but when you read the content of the book you realise it was a world away from both the present days of 2013 featured in the book and our days now in 2025. Expectations, attitudes and cultures have changed significantly.
Back in the 80’s the Church and Government were very closely interlinked with each other. When the Church is accused of any wrongdoing, the Government tended to close ranks with the Church to brush any trouble away and as the saying goes “under the carpet”.

The book begins with Rose Horgen who in a hesitating as to whether she is doing the right thing by posting some letters, but she’s desperate and in a turmoil, every time she closes her eyes all she can see is “their tear-stained faces”, and all she can hear is “their howls and cries of grief”. She hurries to the post box and posts the letters she is somewhat distracted as she cannot stop 'seeing' thinking of "all those girls, all those babies". Her next destination is St Maura’s but she never arrives there as she is knocked over by a car.

Renny receives a cryptic letter from Rose from Ireland, congratulating her on her career as a journalist and then editor for a large well-known magazine and saying she is proud of her for doing the article about Chicago’s Irish Americans, the letter also stresses she must stay away from Ireland. It’s whilst Renny is pondering what on earth the letter is and who it is from that she receives a telephone call from the proprietor of a guest house in Ireland informing Renny that her mother Irene has been staying there and has now gone missing. Renny didn’t even know her mother was in Ireland!

After notifying her boss at the magazine she is editor of Renny flies straight to Ireland in search of her mother Irene. Irene decides to stay at the same guest house and in the same room as her mother had been. Renny looks around the room for clues as to why her mother was in Ireland. Then Renny comes across her mother’s treasure box, which her mother had insisted she promise to never open. Renny wonders why her mother has brought this treasure box all the way to Ireland with her. Thinking it must be somehow relevant to why her mother suddenly decided to visit Ireland without even telling her. Renny opens the treasure box and looks through the documents, discovering that she was adopted. There is also a photograph of a young woman holding a baby. Renny notices how much she looks at the woman in the photograph, the hair of the woman in the photograph being so like her own now. She turns the photograph over to read what is written on the back, it says Aghna Shaw and Mirad. So now Renny know she was adopted in Ireland and her birth mother was called Aghna Shaw. Renny’s journalistic mind cannot help but think that her mother Irenes disappearance is something to do with her being adopted and them receiving letters from Rose.

Of course, Renny speaks to the Garda about her mother Irene’s disappearance. Renny decides to contact Professor Connell Rourke who runs the Lost Children of Ireland Website and along with some other individuals they have formed a network of people who help to reunite children with their birth parents. Some of the individuals involved with the network prefer to stay in the shadows so they can continue to help without alerting those who wish the dark history of Irelands lost children to remain in the past. At first Connell is off standish and quite rude and short with Renny but she persists and when he realises, she isn’t going away and is determined to find both of her mothers he decides to help and use his network to help Renny however they can. Renny and Connell come together and share what they already know and then continue together to delve into the dark history of Castlemeehan, the former Magdalene Laundry where unmarried pregnant women like Aghna and others considered “too pretty” that they would be “temptresses” were also taken by their own families! The young girls/women at Castlemeehan were forced to work long hours doing arduous tasks in the laundry. Their work was in exchange for a roof over their heads and just enough food to keep them healthy enough to carry their babies to term. Then Castlemeehan would arrange the adoption of the majority of the babies. Many were sold to American families, in fact Renny discovers that her mother Irene, still sent regular payments to Ireland to benefit those that were supposed to have cared for those at Castlemeehan.

Renny and Connell become closer and there are romantic feelings between them. Though there isn’t 100% trust between the pair as there’s a point later in the plot that Renny doubts Connells intentions, even considering him dangerous. Connel is also keeping secrets from Renny that explain his heavy dislike of reporters of any sort and the reason he left America himself to come to Ireland. It seems like Renny is getting too close to answers when she is threatened multiple times, followed and there’s even an attempt to kill her too! Who wants to keep their secrets hidden so much they would kill her? Then strange murders start occurring which worries Renny even more, as she wonders if her mother Irene is already dead.

I really enjoyed reading this book, in fact I found it difficult to put down! I find the subject of the Magdalen Laundries, Mother & Baby Homes and the part that Irelands Churches and Government played in the selling of babies equally fascinating and horrifying.

I loved the characters of Renny and Connell, falling in love with each other yet at the same time not telling each other the whole truth, both keeping facts from the other. I adored the way Renny interacted with both her mothers giving them equal respect and loving and caring about both in slightly different ways.

I also really loved Aghna, alone in a harsh world, finding herself pregnant with no where to turn and ending up in the even more harsh environment at Castlemeehan, basically used, abused and her baby snatched away from her and sold. I admired Aghna’s rebellion, her determination and even her surrender to what she had no way of controlling. When the title of the book “Kiss and Goodbye” is revealed to be a phrase said to those whose babies were being removed from them to be sold it had me in tears. I don’t think I will ever think of the phrase and not remember the story of Aghna and her Mirad revealed in this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed disliking or if I’m totally honest absolutely hating Bishop Nevan Flaherty and Reverend Mother Francis Xavier Cronan, being both horrified and disgusted at how they treat those they were supposedly “caring” for. Though this book is fiction I am fully aware of cases covered in the media where similar situations have occurred with people discovering they were sold and their birth mother forced to work in the laundries to pay for the “care” they had received from the nuns.

Two characters I felt sorry for were Rose Horgen & Sean Maddox. Rose was both victim and perpetrator really. Her conscience bothered her so much she had to do something, no matter the risk to herself in an attempt to right the great wrongs done at Castlemeehan. Personally, I believe Rose was taken advantage of and coerced into the position she found herself in, doing to others the exact thing that had been done to her. Her feelings for “right and wrong” won in the end and it was her letters that triggered the secrets being revealed. Sean Maddox was also a victim and a perpetrator but in a different way to Rose. He seemed such a quiet, introverted man, who did attempt to give Renny information but at the same time tried to discourage her digging any further into the dark history of Castlemeehan.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were that the “story” felt so “real”, that the book felt almost more “memoir” than fiction. I also think this book would make an amazing TV mini series or film. I’d love more from these characters perhaps plots centred around the Lost Children of Ireland site that Connell, Renny & their network could run. It would be interesting learning other stories and it would raise awareness that this sort of abuse actually occurred.

Summing up, this book may be fiction, but these women & children existed, they still do, and still experience trauma without any full closure. The powers that be in Ireland still seem to want to avoid the topics of Magdalene Laundries, Mother & Baby Homes and the result such as sold children, families ripped apart not to mention the baby remains found at Tuuam. It makes you wonder if the whole truth will ever come out. Will these families ever be given their rights to have/do whatever gives them peace. Awareness of went happened, the fact the last Mother and Baby home didn’t close until 1990, the last Magdalen Laundry closed in 1984, this isn’t that long ago, this isn’t ancient history. It is however a dark history that both deserves and needs to have a bright light to be shone on it.

 

REVIEW - BUZZ BOOKS 2025 SPRING/SUMMER BY PUBLISHERS LUNCH

  

Title: Buzz Books 2025 Spring/Summer
Author: Publishers Lunch
Publisher: Publishers Lunch Buzz Books
Genre: General Fiction, Non Fiction, Teens & YA
Release Date: 14th January 2025

BLURB
Readers will discover new works from beloved bestselling authors including Emma Donoghue, Georgia Hunter, Louis Sachar, V. E. Schwab, Mia Sosa, and Maggie Stiefvater. The collection also features compelling releases from acclaimed literary voices Ron Currie, Stuart Nadler, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Ivy Pochoda, Jessica Stanley, and others who continue to push boundaries in contemporary fiction.

Continuing our tradition of spotlighting the most promising new voices in literature, this edition introduces several remarkable debuts. Salvadorean-American author Darrow Farr’s The Bombshell draws partial inspiration from Patty Hearst’s kidnapping and radicalization to create a thought-provoking narrative. Other exciting debut authors include Katie Yee, Fred Lunzer, India Hayford, Nanda Reddy, and Josh Duboff, each bringing fresh perspectives to contemporary storytelling.

In nonfiction, powerful new releases explore the depths of human experience. Sophie Elmhirst’s A Marriage at Sea leads this collection with its gripping account of a couple’s Pacific Ocean survival after a whale destroys their boat. The other works delve into the complexities of communication, corporate culture, institutional power, and family dynamics.

The young adult section showcases Graci Kim’s Dreamslinger, a fantasy adventure set in Seoul where dreams materialize and dragons take flight. Other standout YA titles include Shampoo Unicorn, a heartfelt story connecting rural queer teens through podcasting, and Kaya Morgan’s Crowning Achievement, which weaves themes of grief and identity into a Renaissance Faire setting.

Goodreads Link

REVIEW
There's a great selection of excerpts as well as lists of book titles that are coming out.
So the ones I am really intrerested in are,
Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, I read one of her other books called Take My Hand and thought it was both an amazing & thought provoking read.

One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter, I'm super lucky to already have an e-arc of this one which I'm eager to read especially after learning that We Were The Lucky Ones was also written by this author, though I have to admit I didn't read that book, I actually watched the Tv Mini series!

Ties That Bind Us by Nicole Knight would be a totally new author to me, I don't read a lot of this type of genre but felt really pulled in by the excerpt and I really liked the main character.

The Names by Florence Knapp, is another "new to me" author and I am intrigued by the concept of one book telling three different versions of the characters life all dependant on one choice they make. After reading the excerpt I discovered that the book deals with the subject of domestic violence which and how the main character could deal with it in 3 different ways. I'd love to read this one and I'd hope the main characters makes a happy life with herself and her children whether she chooses to stay with her violent, aggressive partner or not.

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater, I read and adored her previous teen/YA aimed books Shiver and after reading the blurb and then the excerpt I am interested to learn how the Hotel will survive being taken over and how the straight talking, no nonsense main character will deal with the intrusion of these unwelcome guests.

The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai, I adore speculative fiction and I really loved the blurb, concept and excerpt of this one!

There was a non fiction title that had covered the subject of the scout movement, Sex, Death, And Secret Societies Inside The Boy Scouts Of America Scout Camp by James Renner, I had recently watched a documentary series on this subject so it certainly piqued my interest but as it releases in February I wasn't sure if I'd manage to squeeze in reading by then so I didn't request that one. 

 

REVIEW - THE TEACHER OF AUSCHWITZ BY WENDY HOLDEN

From the bestselling author of Born Survivors, comes an assiduously researched
and powerful new novel. Drawn from archives and survivor testimonies,
historian and biographer Wendy Holden tells the inspirational
and uplifting true story of Fredy Hirsch: The Teacher of Auschwitz.

Title: The Teacher Of Auschwitz
Author: Wendy Holden
Publisher: Bonnier Books, Zaffre
Genre: General Fiction, Historical Fiction, History
Release Date: 16th January 2025

BLURB
Fredy built a wall against suffering in their hearts...
At the dark heart of the Holocaust, there was a wooden hut whose walls were painted with cartoons; a place where children sang, staged plays and wrote poetry. Safely inside, but still in the shadow of the chimneys, they were given better food, kept free of vermin, and were even taught meditation to imagine full stomachs and a day without fear. The man who became their guiding light was a young Jewish prisoner named Fredy Hirsch.
But being a teacher in such a brutal concentration camp was no mean feat. Whether it was begging the SS for better provisions, or hiding his homosexuality from his persecutors, he risked his life every day for one thing: to protect the children from the mortal danger they all faced.
Time is running out for Fredy and the hundreds of children in his care. Can he find a way to teach them the one lesson they really need to know: how to survive?

'Haunting and beautiful. Excruciatingly vivid, The Teacher of Auschwitz is rigorously researched and true to the history, powerfully conveying what a smart, loving and energetic man Fredy was.' Dr Elizabeth Baer, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

'The closest possible narrative a person who did not experience those times herself, could have written... which will do justice to Fredy and all those victims.' Dita Kraus, the real-life inspiration for The Librarian of Auschwitz and one of the last known survivors of the children's block.

Goodreads Link

REVIEW
I really like the book cover with the bright yellow butterfly representing freedom, that the Jewish people had in their hand until the Nazis snatched it away. The butterfly would also represent the hope that Fredy tried to give all the children that were ever in his care. The cover image would also fit a scene in the book very well too.
The bright yellow amongst the other more drab colours certainly catches your eye, so I would think the book would stand out on a bookshelf well.

The book’s prologue reveals Fredy’s arrival at Auschwitz and explains the conditions those prisoners had to endure on what was a long journey. All crammed into the carriage with just one bucket of drinking water for the whole carriage. Many died on journeys like this one and Fredy’s carriage was no exception to deaths, hysteria and a mixture of denial and fear. Denial that they could be going any where worse than where they had just been and fear that the rumours they had heard about the mass extermination of Jews was true and that when they got to where ever they were going they would either be immediately murdered or would be worked to death and suffer every day until they died. Those “looking on the bright side” as many valiantly tried to do would be telling those around them that this place could be better, that they wouldn’t be here long as the allies were winning the war etc. Even Fredy had tried to “look for the good” as he always did hoping they were not going to Auschwitz, even though those around Fredy told him what SB6 meant on the transportation paperwork, Fredy had hoped so much they were going to be wrong.

The book then flips back to Fredy’s early life with his family. Fredy didn't have the best or easiest childhood, never feeling he fit in at home or at school, perhaps that's what taught him to always search for the good in what he had and what was around him.

Fredy moves around in an attempt to stay ahead of the Nazis as many Jewish people did at that time. Fredy also realises he is “different” he doesn’t have a girlfriend, nor does he want one. This is something that causes him many problems in the jobs he does with people jumping to the conclusion he is homosexual which at the time was still a controversial topic and of course the Nazis party hated it and threw homosexual people or anyone they suspected of being homosexual into camps. Fredy does date a few women in an attempt to satisfy what was expected of him by those employing him. Fredy has an excellent work ethic and always strives to be as fit and healthy as he can be. He eventually meets and embark on a relationship with Jenda whose family also welcome him. Jenda is somewhat protected by his family and their wealthy status and has yet to really experience racism, anti-homosexuality & the Nazis regime.

Eventually, as with most people the Nazis caught up with Fredy and he ended up in the Thereseinstadt Ghetto. Fredy immediately offered himself forward to Jakob Edelstein, the leader of the Jewish Council there to work with the children and help care for the other people forced to live in the ghetto.

At Auschwitz Fredy helped those around him clamber from the carriages, those Auschwitz prisoners in the striped uniforms try to offer advice and answer questions without drawing the ire of the Nazis who basically want everyone moved and sorted as quickly as possible. When people notice the black smoke coming from two tall chimneys, one comments of the smell wondering what it is, one says it smells rancid, one of the people in the striped uniforms answers 'rotten flesh usually is'.

Fredy tries to help those around him quickly adapt and comply with the harsh orders that are being barked at them by the Nazis. When their heads are shaven, and they are directed to the showers, Fredy hopes its water that comes out of the shower heads not gas. Then clothes thrown at them by those in the striped uniforms, no chance to find sizes just put on what you’re given and be quick about it. Next there’s the line to be tattooed. When a nearby guard hears Fredy speaking, trying to reassure the younger people around him he realises that Fredy is German he instructs Fredy he is exempt from the tattooing. If these Jewish prisoners thought conditions and life were hard in Thereseinstadt they are soon wishing them selves back there. Auschwitz is a concentration camp with one purpose, to exterminate the Jewish people as Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party have decreed.

Fredy helped a lot of children 'escape' the horrors of Thereseinstadt, then Auschwitz in creating as safe a haven as was possible. Then, via the concerts, he & the children performed, he provided some 'relief' from the terrors of the daily life of existing in Auschwitz. Fredy and those he asked to help him taught the children so they did not totally miss out on an education, though doing this was strictly forbidden by the Nazis. Fredy created 'games' that meant the children had some outlet & and escapism, yet by playing the games, there were serious lessons behind them, such as obeying the Nazis. He taught them morals and values, not to steal from each other, to help each other and to respect the older prisoners too. Fredy managed to get as many children as he could way from the harsher conditions and routines of Auschwitz. He is constantly worrying about these young people especially when Dr Mengele shows an interest. Fredy isn’t a push over for the youngsters though and when one breaks Fredys groups rules, he kicks him out of the group.

The book is well written and describes things so well that you can both visualise and almost “feel” the surroundings, such as when Fredy describes the train carriages as 'a coffin on wheels' you can imagine how claustrophobic those inside the carriages must have felt with no option but to stand pressed up against each other. Though the book is fiction it is based on real people and events. If you’ve read Heather Morris books then this book is written in a similar way and is well worth reading. Though these books may be fictionalised they need to be read so the real people and their stories are never forgotten. 

 

REVIEW - THE SPIRIT CIRCLE BY TARA CALABY

  

Title: The Spirit Circle
Author: Tara Calaby
Publisher: Text Publishing
Genre: General Fiction, Historical Fiction, LGBTQIAP+
Release Date: 7th January 2025

BLURB
For Ellen Whitfield, the betrothal of her dear friend Harriet to Ellen’s brother has brought both loss and solace. But when Harriet suddenly breaks off the engagement, ostensibly at the insistence of her deceased mother, Ellen is bewildered. And when she learns that Harriet is involved with a spiritualist group led by the charismatic Caroline McLeod, she fears losing her friend altogether.

So it is that practical, sceptical Ellen moves into the gloomy East Melbourne mansion where Caroline, along with her enigmatic daughter Grace, has assembled a motley court of the bereaved. Ellen’s intention is to expose the simple trickery—the hidden cabinets and rigged seances, the levers and wires—that must surely lie behind these visits from the departed.

What she discovers is altogether more complicated.

REVIEW
It was the cover of The Spirit Circle that first caught my attention, the deep blue background with the candles and flowers all of which feature in the book. Then once I read the blurb, I knew I wanted to read the book! I do find the spirit world, and things like tarot readers fascinating.

The book is set in East Melbourne Australia and the central characters are William Whitfield, Ellen Whitfield and Harriet Kirk. William lives with his spinster sister Ellen Whitfield. Harriet Kirk, Ellen’s friend lives alone, nearby the Whitfield siblings, as all her family died when the ship they were on sank at sea. Ellen and Harriet have become closer over the years, in fact, Ellen had romantic feelings for her friend that were unreciprocated. Their friendship continued despite the rebuttal. Harriet and William became close, dated and became engaged and Ellen is truly happy for her friend and brother. Once married it is planned that they will all live together in the Whitfield home. The wedding of William and Harriet has been postponed due to the mourning etiquette of the era, but William is happy to wait until Harriet feels it is the appropriate time. So, when Harriet suddenly calls off the engagement saying her mother told her to call it off, he is surprised as he always got on so well with Harriet’s family as well as being curious to how Mrs Kirk has told her daughter to call off their engagement/relationship from beyond the grave.

It turns out that Harriet has discovered a Spiritual Church and has been attending it for a while. It is there whilst in a séance circle that her mother spoke to her through the Circle leader Caroline and told her to break off her engagement with William. Harriet cannot seem to stay away from the Spiritual Church, in fact she confides in Ellen that she is going to move into the house where the Spiritual Church is based. Harriet tells Ellen that she feels safe and at “home” there and closer to her family again. Ellen tries to be the voice of reason asking Harriet about the home she is leaving, but Harriet reassures her she can/will come back when she is ready and she may even rent it out. Harriet then invites Ellen to visit her at the house where the Spiritual Church is based.

Ellen discusses the changes that Harriet is making in her life, with her brother William and naturally they are worried she is being taken advantage of. With her family gone, they are the only people to really look out for Harriet, and they are worried that this new on the scene Spiritual Church is just wanting Harriet’s money and property as her family left her quite comfortably off. Ellen explains that Harriet has invited her to visit her at the Spiritual Church house and suggests to William that maybe she should. Ellen plans to show her best friend Harriet that the Spiritual Church and its seances are nothing more than charlatans. Ellens idea is to visit and observe as much as possible, then work out how the séance’s etc work, to reveal the “tricks” that are being used against her friend.

Ellen does visit the once quite grand house that seems to have been let go into disrepair. The door is answered by the house owner Mrs Margaret Plumstead, herself a widow who is fiercely protective of the Church leader Caroline McLeod and isn’t afraid to make it known to new comers and anyone she may be suspicious of their motives for attending/visiting. Ellen visits on a few occasions welcomed by the house owner Margaret and Church leader Caroline. Everyone is very “normal” and welcoming, so much so Ellen feels a little guilty about the fact she is there on a mission to unmask their tricks! The only unwelcoming person in the house is Caroline’s daughter, Grace, a quiet, sullen young woman. At one point in the book Grace tries to warn Ellen off from becoming overly involved with the church. However this warning has the opposite effect on Ellen, who visits more and more, witnessing seances, and the use of the message boards. Ellen learns that the spirits communicate in various ways using Caroline as a conduit. The spirit may send a message via the dead Reverend McLeod who then speaks through Caroline with his voice. The spirits can also give Caroline the message directly for her to tell the recipient, or they can be asked questions and answer yes/no via sounds/taps on the séance table.

It's not long before Ellen is invited to move into the house and share a room with her friend Harriet. Ellen talks the idea over with William but has really already made up her mind to move in, though she is still determined to unmask Caroline as a fraud she is also becoming more and more drawn into the idea of those departed into spirit being able to speak to the living, even if it is via a third party or a variety of knocks on a table.

When Ellen moves in the house it’s full of women of various ages that have either lost husbands, or family members as well as a woman there who lost a child. All the women are waiting for a message from a departed love one for one reason or another. All the women have their own sad stories about those from their past they wish to have a message from. Even Ellen has suffered the loss of a loved one, though she keeps this information to herself, she is not really there to receive a message. Not everyone’s partners and families accept their loved ones living in the house in the hope of receiving messages from those departed loved one, very well. One husband becomes angry and tries to strongly persuade his wife to return home. Another rather spoilt young woman from a wealthy family, continually sways between staying as she likes being part of everything and getting a message but wanting to return to her family home to attend fancy balls and functions.
Mrs Plumstead is always quick to try to talk the women into staying, saying they never know when they’ll get a message and that if they only attend the church rather than living there, they could miss an opportunity. Caroline soon becomes attached and interested in Ellen saying she can sense she herself has a “gift” that if worked on could lead to her being able to communicate with spirit. Though sceptical, Ellen does some “work” on her gifts with Caroline. Theres a sudden increase in spiritual activity, it seems the departed are giving more physical messages for the women like a favourite flower, moving their things round etc.

When two mysterious deaths occur the suspicion immediately falls on those at the house when they cannot explain what happens there to the satisfaction of the Police. The Police investigate - secrets are uncovered, lies discovered and half-truths exposed.
Caroline is under suspicion, until someone else comes forward as the culprit, not of murdering those that died but of creating circumstances that led to accidents and their deaths. It’s a really sad end for the character that comes forward, it is clear they were so desperate not to be lonely, to keep their spiritualist family together and caught up in keeping the mystery and magic of spiritualism going that they themselves gave a human living hand to the spirits which ended in disaster for the two characters that died, meaning they had an extremely sad ending themselves too.

I really enjoyed the book, the way Ellen initially started attending the Church to prove to her friend Harriet that she was being tricked, but Ellen ended up moving in and though I don’t think she ever truly, fully 100% believed, though she came pretty close when she received her own “message” from a departed loved one. The book is very cleverly written as even as a reader you feel your opinions of the Spiritual Church and its leader Caroline flipping from one view to the other. The book covers a few important issues such as grief, loneliness, abuse, sexuality and women’s rights. I think the character of William was a very patient and fairly modern male in his attitude to Harriet’s reasons for calling off their engagement, his sister then visiting the Spiritual Church services more and more often and leaving the family home where she was the one who “looked after” him and “the home” which in that era would have been looked upon as her “abandoning her duties” to move into the Spiritual Church House. William was the voice of reason when Ellen visited him when she needed to escape the Spiritual House, never ridiculing her, only being supportive and providing a listening ear. Grace was a complicated character torn between protecting and caring for her mother and being truthful and pursuing a relationship with Ellen which was frowned upon in that era too. Women may have had relationships but it would have been behind closed doors and never talked about. During her time at the house Grace appear to really dislike Ellen, she even warns her to leave the house. Then she seems to warm to Ellen and there is a budding relationship between them, though Caroline will always be Grace’s first priority.

I really enjoyed learning the different stories and reasons for why the women were at the Spiritual Church house desperately awaiting messages from those in their lives who had died. Though most of the stories were emotional and I guess what I’m trying to say is I could understand why they felt the need for reassurance and messages from spirit. I’ll admit that I’d had my suspicions and they were proven right about who the real 'puppeteer' of the spirit apparitions was. It was a seriously sad ending for them.

My immediate feeling upon finishing the book were “Wow, my suspicions were right”! But then there was the feeling of sadness, particularly for one of the characters and how things ended for her. I was also curious as to whether Caroline was going to continue her séances and a Spiritual Church House.

Summing up, The Spirit Circle it was an interesting historical fiction book that covers a lot of subjects from thoughts and feelings about grief and séances, to sexuality and family relationships. I really enjoyed reading this one a lot, I was as intrigued as Ellen at some points as to what was happening and how! I loved the descriptions of the séances the wind flowing round the room, flickering candles etc they really helped you visualise the scenes well. I’d say that The Spirit Circle had a similar feel to it as The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond by Amanda Glaze which I also loved. The Spirit Circle would make a great TV mini-series!

 

 

REVIEW - PANIC BY CATHERINE JINKS

  

Title: Panic
Author: Catherine Jinks
Publisher: Text Publishing
Genre: General Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: 7th January 2025

BLURB
After posting a drunken rant that goes horrifically viral, Bronte needs a place to lie low. Jobless, friendless, broke, she volunteers as a carer on an isolated rural property. She won’t be paid for looking after dementia sufferer Nell, but at least she’ll have a place to stay. Bronte’s host is Nell’s daughter Veda, who runs spiritual rebirthing retreats. She also claims the rights of a sovereign citizen and rejects the authority of the state, refusing even to register her car. She has acquired a small but devoted following of the like-minded.

Are they harmless cranks, with their conspiracy theories and outrage at government overreach? Or dangerously paranoid domestic terrorists? And what is the dark secret that Nell, in her confused state, keeps harking back to? Bronte, increasingly uneasy, would be getting far away from the whole place—if she had anywhere else to go.

In Panic, master storyteller Catherine Jinks delivers a tense, claustrophobic thriller of isolation and fear that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Goodreads Link

REVIEW
The cover shows the rather desolate looking, isolated farm that is called Gwendolynn, it is in Australia and is the central setting in the book.

Bronte finds out that her boyfriend Callum has been cheating on her with her best friend and housemate Harper. Not only has she lost her boyfriend but her home too as Harper wants her out! Bronte is naturally upset so she gets drunk and goes on social media making a drunken Tik Tok rant about her ex-boyfriend Callum! Bronte can’t prove which one of her friends leaked the video she made but it had to be someone that she knew that had access to her accounts. Due to the content of this video, she earns herself the name and hashtag “pussybugs.” Later Bronte has her hot drink drugged and is filmed totally “out of it” on a train, further fuelling the context that is a some “drunken idiot who sleeps around.” Despite reporting the incident of her drink being drugged the Police don’t take her seriously because of her reputation of being “pussybugs.” Bronte is convinced that Callum, his cousin Jesse and their Tik Tok followers are hounding her so, decides she needs to “disappear” for a while. Bronte answers an advert on HelpX a site that matches volunteers with jobs. Bronte ends up answering an advert from a woman called Veda who needs someone to be a companion to her mother Nell who has dementia. The job sounds too good to be true, Nell can wash, and dress herself she just needs a companion and someone to keep an eye on her so she doesn’t wander off. In exchange for being this “companion” Bronte is told she will get free bed and board, though there are no wages.

Bronte soon begins to regret her decision to take the volunteer job when on the way from the train station, the Police attempt to get her new employer Veda to pull over and she refuses!! It literally takes another Police vehicle coming in the other direction to force Veda to stop. The Police want to talk to Veda about her lack of registration plates. It turns out Veda does not believe in our government, police and laws and will only recognise the common assembly that she is part of with some other like-minded members. Theres complete chaos with both Veda’s husband Troy and other farm tenant/Veda follower, Prish blaming Bronte for the current situation of Veda being held at the Police Station.

Once Veda is finally back at the old farmhouse, Bronte learns a little more about Gwendolynn, though it is a farm there is no livestock, but Veda's husband, Troy has beehives and sells honey. Veda explains they are vegetarian and that there will be lots of fresh organic produce & home baked bread. Bronte will not be staying in the main house she will have her own vintage caravan with kitchenette & composting toilet. She will be able to use one of the bathrooms in the main house to shower etc. The main house is used for Veda’s business which is a wellness retreat. The retreat is called YouBorn. Later when Bronte explores the house alone, she discovers there were 3 'womb rooms' all freshly decorated all in pink, called Rose, Aster & Olive. These bedrooms only have a kingsized be with pink plush headboard.

A 4th bedroom is called Daisy and was Prish's room, it is all white & Victoriana in style. When Bronte asks Prish is she can use the upstairs bathroom she is abruptly told, no she should use the downstairs one. Bronte puts her washbasin in the downstairs bathroom where she will shower etc.

We discover that reason Bronte has been employed later in the book. Nell tends to wander if she can get out alone. Her last adventure took her to the neighbouring property which used to belong to the farm but was sold off to a nurse called Iris. The Munro don’t like Iris, as they see her as always complaining and blame her for bringing Nell to the attention of social services. As when Iris found Nell on her property, she called the Police who in turn called the paramedics to check over the confused Nell.

Nell occupies the entire top floor of the rear wing of Gwendolynne and it’s whilst exploring that area that Bronte discovers a panic room containing a single bed, toilet & lots of food supplies behind a piece of the wall in Nells bathroom upstairs, when she talks to Nell about it Nell reveals there's one underneath it too downstairs, she explains that they were for herself and Joanne/Veda to hide in away from Ezra. The rules of “the house” that apply to Bronte even though she isn’t staying in the house are that all phones & devices are locked away, except for a short period after dinner and for work use, which she is happy to go along with due to her recent social media notoriety.

Bronte finds the job easy enough with Nell already having her own routine, the only issues she seems to have become somewhat obsessed on checking on the dam that is on the property and the fact she is terribly afraid of the Police. Veda/Joanne explain the fear of the Police as being a result of Nells latest encounter with them when she wandered onto Iris’s property.

Bronte goes along with a lot of things that should have given her “off vibes” because she feels has nowhere else to go. She comes to the conclusion that she is staying with a bunch of nutty, paranoid, new age anarchists! Sadly, she is soon labelled paranoid by Prish and Veda when she complains about someone hanging around her caravan at night. It’s a long, quite treacherous underfoot walk from the house so Bronte worries if anyone would hear her if she needed help.

There is quite a bit going on in the book, though it is all linked to Nell and her obsession with the dam and the obsession of Joanne/Veda and Troy etc being part of a common assembly that is against all “normal authority.” There’s a siege where Bronte and a Police officer end up locked in one of the panic rooms only to be rescued by the confused Nell.

Just when you think everything is over and all questions are answered something else pops up! This story really shows just how 'strange' people can be and how far people are prepared to go when they think they are being pushed into a corner. I enjoyed reading the book and it certainly kept me reading, I wanted to know who was hanging around after dark outside of Bronte’s caravan. I also wanted to learn more about Ezra and his altercations in the past with Joanne/Veda and Nell. There were so many spokes to this plot, though most seemed to lead back to Joanne/Veda and her mother Nell and a history of violence at Gwendolynn.

The book also reveals how social media is a double-edged sword, that once something is posted it is out there forever. That you can have a supportive, positive reaction on social media but that there is a darker, negative side where you can be trolled continually.

My immediate thoughts were Wow! What an ending! Just when I thought it was over something else happened…twice!

Summing up, despite having dementia there was a memory that Nell was fixated on to do with the dam that ends up explaining the reality behind her fear of the police. It does make you wonder if her daughter Joanne/Veda really cared about her mother or if she tolerated her just to keep a hold of the property Nell owned and keep their dark history with Ezra a secret. The loose ends were all tied up at the end of the book but the relationship that was created between Bronte and Reece could hint at a possibility of more books where the duo solve cyber bullying cases. There is also the potential for more exploration of the friendship with Iris and the possible romance between Bronte and Reece.