Danielle Steelathon V – The Klone and I pub. 1999

What an utterly utterly ridiculous book this is. This is, I suppose, Sci-Fi-omance, where Steel was either being exceptionally experimental or just odd. I dug in eagerly to this after enjoying 'Star' so much, and my senses were instantly put on alert by Steel's revolutionary use of the first person. That's right, I was genuinely … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon V – The Klone and I pub. 1999

Danielle Steelathon IV – Star pub. 1989

What can I say, this book was a pleasure...exciting, gripping, well structured stuff that in parts was just so well written I felt like I was in the 1950s, on the ranch, watching my world collapse along with Crystal's- the 'Star' of the title. Opening just after the end of World War II, this is … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon IV – Star pub. 1989

Danielle Steelathon III – Heartbeat pub. 1991

OK, so this book, genuinely gripped by. Hero-Man-In-Forties this time is celebrated script writer Bill, creator of a daytime TV soap that wins Emmy's as well as hearts (I'm getting good at this cliche thing, aren't I?). Hero(ine)-Woman-In-Late-Twenties-Early-Thirties is Adrian (yes that is a girl's name) who lives her her husband Steven in a beautiful … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon III – Heartbeat pub. 1991

Danielle Steelathon II – Leap of Faith pub. 2002

A shorter, but by no means a lesser book, this is the story of Marie -Ange, daughter of an American man and French woman, who grows up in an idyllic chateu in the 1950s. The book is in two parts. The first describes how, at the age of 11, Marie-Ange's world falls apart when her … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon II – Leap of Faith pub. 2002

Danielle Steelathon I – Daddy pub. 1991

Reading this book was, for me, a little like reading Marilyn French's The Woman's Room, only backwards, from the other side, and with (slightly) more foaming at the mouth. The basic premise is this (and I apologise in advance if I go off on one); Oliver (think David Cameron meets Charlotte's first husband played by … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon I – Daddy pub. 1991

Danielle Steelathon- Introduction

My Grandma is amazing. Not only does she ply me with tea, biscuits and family gossip on a monthly basis, she also passes along shed loads of books for the Travelling Suitcase Library. Recently she donated 14 Danielle Steels, with publishing dates ranging from the 1980s onwards, for me to 'lend' out to people. Now … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon- Introduction

Book Club the Seventh

Book Club the Seventh  - BOOKN00B - 18-08-10 Agreed on: We by Yevgany Zenyatin (AvidReader) Discussed: - The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry - The Twins by Tesse De Loo - House at River ton by Kate Morton - Millennium Trilogy by Steig Larsson (this time with Phee … Continue reading Book Club the Seventh

Horrible Histories

I love history. I was my third favourite subject at school (after English and Drama), I did it for my A Level (along with, you guessed it, English and Drama) and am a massive massive fan of historical fiction (especially when it is on the telly, thus combining English, History and Drama, at which point … Continue reading Horrible Histories

Middle Class blah blah blah

When I was a teenager, one of my favorite authors was Deborah Moggach, author of many books including Tulip Fever, Seesaw and, my favorite, Close Relations. Close Relations is a 'family drama' following the lives of the fair to affluent Hammond family, builder-dad Gordon, his wife (very much in that order I'm afraid) and their … Continue reading Middle Class blah blah blah

Psycho Killer, qu’est-ce que c’est

Strangely, for a summer that should surely be made of entirely superfluous 'beach reads', where drippy Modern Women find there feet and stand up to their philandering husbands/ bosses/ bank managers etc etc ad naseum, the last few books I've read have been very intense. I am blaming this entirely on my friend B. B … Continue reading Psycho Killer, qu’est-ce que c’est