Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT ECHOES OF TIME by @AnneAllen21 #WW2 #HistFic Occupied #Guernsey

Today’s team review is from Noelle, she blogs at http://saylingaway.wordpress.com

Noelle has been reading Echoes of Time by Anne Allen

I fell in love with books about the Guernsey Isles when I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows. Until then I had known nothing of the Channel Islands and what their inhabitants had endured during WWII. This book returned me there and had the added attraction of being a time slip novel, alternating between the present time and the time during that war.

In 1940, Olive Falla, a fairly independent young woman, who works as a farmhand on her father’s far, married Bill Falla. Falla owns his own farm, and Olive thinks this is the best future for her. She soon discovers she’s made a horrible mistake – Falla is a harsh, unloving, and demanding husband, who sees his wife as a slave to work the farm, take care of him, and give him children. Soon he finds any excuse to beat her. By chance, when collecting sticks for scarce firewood on an estate taken over by the German occupation, Olive meets Major Wolfgang Brecht, a veterinarian. She falls in love with the gentle and caring Wolfgang, who makes excuses to visit the farm to inspect the cows.

Flash forward to 2010, when Natalie Ogier returns to her homeland of Guernsey to escape her stalker, a man with whom she had a relationship but who turned abusive. She buys a beautiful cottage, built on the site of a secluded and burned out farmhouse. Her immediate neighbor is Stuart, the grandson of the original owners, Olive and Bill. His mother, their child, has lived off the island since she was old enough to be on her own, leaving her mother and her life there behind.  Stuart knows nothing of his grandparents because his mother is silent on her past.  When strange and eerie things begin to happen in the cottage, accompanied by a threatening voice, Natalie initially tries to tough it out on her own. Eventually she confides in Stuart and her parents.

Natalie wonders whose spirit is inhabiting her cottage, and after meeting Stuart’s mother, she becomes convinced that it has something to do with his grandparents. What happened to Olive, Bill and Wolfgang? What spirit inhabits Natalie’s cottage? Is it malevolent and how can it be banished? What links Stuart and his mother to that place? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It has several compelling threads and the jumps back and forth in time left me hanging and wanting to read on. The only problem was the prolonged diversion to France, where Natalie is invited to attend Stuart’s mother’s marriage to a gentle and understanding man. It went on far too long, and added virtually nothing to the progress of the story, so I skipped through it. I think it could have been omitted or vastly shortened.

Other than that, the author has created believable characters, lovely descriptions of Guernsey, and lots of tension, along with a healthy dose of history.  It is clear why she is a popular author. Well worth the read!

Book Description

Betrayal, injustice and revenge echo down the years… 

1940. Olive marries farmer Bill Falla. The Germans occupy Guernsey. 
All too soon Olive realises she’s made a mistake. 
Her life changes when she meets Wolfgang, a German officer- 
but there’s a price to pay. . . 

2010. Natalie Ogier returns to Guernsey to escape an abusive relationship – only to be plagued by odd happenings in her beautiful cottage on the site of a derelict and secluded farm. Disturbing dreams, disembodied voices and uncanny visions from the past. She becomes increasingly ill at ease as someone else’s past catches up with her own… 
Her only immediate neighbour, Stuart, is the grandson of the original owners, Bill and Olive. 

Thrown together in a bid to find out what really happened to Olive, can they each survive the repercussions of the past and move on? 

About the author

Anne Allen lives in Devon, by her beloved sea. She has three children and her daughter and two grandchildren live nearby. She was born in Rugby, to an English mother and Welsh father. As a result she spent many summers with her Welsh grandparents in Anglesey and learnt to love the sea. Her restless spirit has meant a number of moves which included Spain for a couple of years. The longest stay was in Guernsey for nearly fourteen years after falling in love with the island and the people. She contrived to leave one son behind to ensure a valid reason for frequent returns.
By profession Anne was a psychotherapist but has long had creative ‘itches’, learning to mosaic, paint furniture, interior design and sculpt. At the back of her mind the itch to write was always present but seemed too time-consuming for a single mum with a need to earn a living. Now retired from the ‘day job’, there’s more time to write and Anne has now published five books in The Guernsey Novels series (as at August 2016). A sixth will be published in 2017.

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Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT ECHOES OF TIME by @AnneAllen21 #TuesdayBookBlog #WW2 #HistFic

Today’s team review is from Judith, she blogs at http://judithbarrowblog.com/

Judith has been reading Echoes of Time by Anne Allen

My Review;

A quick word on the cover. I loved both the evocative image and the title

And I love books that give a sense of place; of an era.  Anne Allen’s  writing in Echoes of Time certainly does that. Her descriptions use all five senses to create a setting; there are some wonderful portrayals that instantly took me into the characters’ world.

But, sometimes, I felt that they slowed the action down and add nothing to the story.

Although well written, the plot itself is a little predictable: boy meets girl next door; Natalie and Stuart  And I would have appreciated knowing much more about Natalie’s previous relationship with her old boyfriend. His appearance and then disappearance felt a little contrived and there only to show Stuart’s ‘knight in shining armour’ side. Yet this glimpse into Natalie’s past did  parallel the historic tragedy in Stuart’s family, which I thought clever.  I liked the idea of a dark past coming back to haunt the present. And these sections  did make me stop and think about how the walls of old buildings are steeped with their history.

It is this past, this history that makes up the  secondary plot-line; that of Olive (Stuart’s grandmother), Bill and Wolfgang. And I really do love these characters, multi- layered and believable, their  story is poignant and credible. I wanted so much more of  their  story. And, for me, the way Wolfgang went out of the story was disappointing; it felt too prosaic.

Overall it was the author’s writing style that persuaded me to give Echoes of Time four stars; the way the story is told from the alternate point of view of the main characters (I always love this; it gives different aspects to a narrative), the descriptions, the pace of the sub-plot, the presentation and dialogue of the characters, all make for a good read. I’d recommend this novel..

Book Description

Betrayal, injustice and revenge echo down the years… 

1940. Olive marries farmer Bill Falla. The Germans occupy Guernsey. 
All too soon Olive realises she’s made a mistake. 
Her life changes when she meets Wolfgang, a German officer- 
but there’s a price to pay. . . 

2010. Natalie Ogier returns to Guernsey to escape an abusive relationship – only to be plagued by odd happenings in her beautiful cottage on the site of a derelict and secluded farm. Disturbing dreams, disembodied voices and uncanny visions from the past. She becomes increasingly ill at ease as someone else’s past catches up with her own… 
Her only immediate neighbour, Stuart, is the grandson of the original owners, Bill and Olive. 

Thrown together in a bid to find out what really happened to Olive, can they each survive the repercussions of the past and move on? 

About the author

Anne Allen lives in Devon, by her beloved sea. She has three children and her daughter and two grandchildren live nearby. She was born in Rugby, to an English mother and Welsh father. As a result she spent many summers with her Welsh grandparents in Anglesey and learnt to love the sea. Her restless spirit has meant a number of moves which included Spain for a couple of years. The longest stay was in Guernsey for nearly fourteen years after falling in love with the island and the people. She contrived to leave one son behind to ensure a valid reason for frequent returns.
By profession Anne was a psychotherapist but has long had creative ‘itches’, learning to mosaic, paint furniture, interior design and sculpt. At the back of her mind the itch to write was always present but seemed too time-consuming for a single mum with a need to earn a living. Now retired from the ‘day job’, there’s more time to write and Anne has now published five books in The Guernsey Novels series (as at August 2016). A sixth will be published in 2017.

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APPLAUSE by Madalyn Morgan @ActScribblerDJ #WW2 #HistFic Dudley Sisters series book #2

Applause by Madalyn Morgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Applause is book #2 of the Dudley Sisters series of family saga books set in second world war torn Britain. This can be read as a stand alone book.

Margaret is the only Dudley sister to be currently married. Her husband transports MOD documents around by day and is an ambulance driver by night. But it is the theatre which has always interested Margaret.

The book opens with her almost injured by a partially falling building as she intently hurries for a job interview. The job is only an usherette but it is a start. Margaret’s dream is to become an actress and nothing will stop her passion. She rises through the theatre taking on work in the wardrobe section and grabbing a chance to step in when an actress is ill.

Introduced to the nightclub scene by her acting friends Margaret is offered a chance to sing and it sets off her career as Margo Dudley. At first she tries to hold down several jobs and keeps too many secrets, until she’s found out.

An injury to her ankle puts her out of action for a while and when the theatre is also closed down due to a bomb Margo finds alternative ways to continue performing. With friends she becomes part of the Albert Sisters a group who go around entertaining the troops. But life isn’t all good. Margo drinks and becomes reliant of pain relievers and sleeping tablets which she becomes addicted to.

Her passion for the theatre puts a strain on her marriage on more than one occasion and we see Margot as quite a selfish women, perhaps portraying many a celebrity.

This book is packed with well researched nostalgia from the era, scattered between the pages, however I didn’t enjoy it as much as book #1 Foxden Acres, purely for personal reasons, I’m not a big theatre fan, however for those who know the London theatre world well, I’m sure they would enjoy this book.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Book Description

In the early years of World War 2, Margot Dudley works her way up from usherette to leading lady in a West End show. Driven by blind ambition Margot becomes immersed in the heady world of nightclubs, drink, drugs and fascist thugs – all set against a background of the London Blitz. To achieve her dream, Margot risks losing everything she holds dear.

APPLAUSE is the second book in the DUDLEY SISTERS QUARTET.

About the author

Madalyn Morgan has been an actress for more than thirty years working in repertory theatre, the West End, film and television. She is a radio presenter and journalist, writing articles for newspapers and magazines.

Madalyn was brought up in a busy working class pub in the market town of Lutterworth in Leicestershire. The pub was a great place for an aspiring actress and writer to live. There were so many wonderful characters to study and accents learn. At twenty-four Madalyn gave up a successful hairdressing salon and wig-hire business for a place at E15 Drama College, and a career as an actress.

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FOXDEN ACRES by Madalyn Morgan #WW2 #HistFic #FamilySaga #Bookreview @actscribblerdj

Foxden Acres by Madalyn Morgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Foxden Acres is book one of the Dudley Sisters Saga, WW2 Historical fiction with a romantic theme.

The book opens with a prologue, a family group wait at the station for the arrival of the train bearing soldiers coming home from the war.

Chapter one turns back the clock; pre-war, New Years Eve 1939. Bess is a trainee teacher in London, her father works on the Foxden estate, she has grown up riding the horses on the estate. Allowed to borrow books from the estate library, Bess is caught tip-toeing out by James.

Keen to get to know the grown up Bess more, James suggests they meet in London, but this isn’t their destiny, war breaks out and Bess is offered the job turning Foxden into a productive farm supplying home grown food for the nation. She finds herself busy with land girls and a makeshift hospital for war veterans.

Whenever James visits their friendship blossoms, despite social barriers, but will he ever be free to love Bess in the way she wants? And will Bess ever feel good enough for James?

This is a cosy read for those who like light war time family sagas.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Book Description

On the eve of 1939 twenty-year-old Bess Dudley, trainee teacher and daughter of a groom, bumps into James, heir to the Foxden Estate. Bess and James played together as equals when they were children, but now James is engaged to the more socially acceptable Annabel Hadleigh.

Bess takes up a teaching post in London but when war breaks out and London schoolchildren are evacuated she returns to Foxden to organise a troop of Land Girls. 

Traditional barriers come crashing down when Flying Officer James Foxden falls in love with Bess. But by this time Bess has come to know and respect Annabel. Can she be with James if it means breaking her best friend’s heart?

And besides, Bess has a shameful secret that she has vowed to keep from James at any cost…

About the author

Madalyn Morgan has been an actress for more than thirty years working in repertory theatre, the West End, film and television. She is a radio presenter and journalist, writing articles for newspapers and magazines.

Madalyn was brought up in a busy working class pub in the market town of Lutterworth in Leicestershire. The pub was a great place for an aspiring actress and writer to live. There were so many wonderful characters to study and accents learn. At twenty-four Madalyn gave up a successful hairdressing salon and wig-hire business for a place at E15 Drama College, and a career as an actress.

In 2000, with fewer parts available for older actresses, Madalyn learned to touch type, completed a two-year course with The Writer’s Bureau, and began writing. After living in London for thirty-six years, she has returned to her home town of Lutterworth, swapping two window boxes and a mortgage, for a garden and the freedom to write.

Madalyn is currently writing her third novel, China Blue, the third of four books about the lives of four very different sisters during the Second World War. First and second novels, Foxden Acres and Applause, are now available.

Visit Madalyn Morgan online:

The Foxden Acres Website: https://sites.google.com/site/foxdena…

Non-Fiction Blog: http://madalynmorgan.blogspot.co.uk/

Fiction Blog: http://madalynmorgansfiction.blogspot…

Actress website: http://www.madalynmorgan.com/

Goodreads | AmazonUK | AmazonUS | Twitter    available free from Kindle Unlimited

Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT THE 45th NAIL by @Ian_Lahey #WW2 #TuesdayBookBlog #HistFic

Today’s team review is from Noelle, she blogs at http://saylingaway.wordpress.com

Noelle has been reading The 45th Nail by Michael & Ian Lahey

Book Review: The 45^th Nail by Michael Lahey and Ian Lahey

 

I am torn between describing this book as compelling or interesting. I think I’ll go with the latter. It has been described as a noire drama, but I found the first half of the book quite humorous.

Robert Svenson, a middle-age French teacher from the Midwest, receives a postcard and a Christmas present from his mother’s brother, a man believed to have died at Anzio during WW II. The gift is a valuable Etruscan amulet which Robert sells, ostensibly to pay for a two-month visit to Paris to work on his French. Instead he heads for Italy to find his uncle, lying to his wife, who to my mind is incredibly gullible and pretty laissez faire about his proposed trip.

On his arrival in Rome, Robert has his luggage stolen, followed by his wallet, and is forced to find the means to support himself plus accumulate the funds to search for his uncle. Luckily, the owner of the hotel to which he had been directed from the airport takes him under his wing and gets him a job with a tenuous relative. The relative owns a restaurant and hires Robert, who doesn’t speak Italian and knows nothing about wine, as his wine consultant. Robert acquires other jobs and friends and eventually meets his uncle Jim.

At this point, the novel transitions from humor to darkness, as Jim takes Robert on a tour of his Italy, where he has been living and working for the decades after the war as a sweeper of WW II mines and finder of Etruscan antiquities. The characters are richly drawn and the reader becomes pulled into the journey, discovers Robert’s moral compass, and comes to understand Jim’s convoluted thinking about his troubled past. The book is in part a tour of the history of the west coast of Italy, focusing on Jim’s knowledge of the Etruscans and of WW II, and colorful friends or acquaintances of Jim’s pop in and out of the story, sometimes with meaning, sometimes not. The food, the wine and the Italian language become threads binding the story together.

However, a sense that something terrible is going to happen increases with each step of the journey, as the meaning of the book’s title is revealed, along with the secret buried in Jim’s heart – one he feels he can only reveal to Robert.

There were parts of this book where the exposition and dialogue were overlong or ponderous, but there is also much to appreciate. Like a moth to the flame, I had to read it to the end.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 

 

Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT THE SEVEN YEAR DRESS by @MahurinPaulette #WWII #HistFic

Today’s team review is from Wendy, she blogs at http://booklovercircumspect4.wordpress.com

Wendy has been reading The Seven Year Dress by Paulette Mahurin

This is a story that involves a Jewish teenager, Helen Stein, and her family who lived through Hitler’s deranged views of annihilating the Jewish population. Helen was born during the early stages of Hitler’s rise to power. As a younger child, Helen was shielded from most of what was happening in her country by her parents. However, Helen had a friend who had joined Hitler’s army as a young man and kept Helen informed of what was going on. As Hitler’s power grew, so did his relentless pursuit against the Jews and Helen’s family has no choice but to face what is happening in their country and to their culture.

Helen was able to evade capture by Hitler’s army for a period of time but was eventually found and taken to Auschwitz. To keep through the early times of Hitler’s reign, Helen learned to sew to help supplement her family’s income. Because of this, she was able to live upon her arrival to Auschwitz, was tattooed, and endured several hours of hard labor every day, was given little edible food, and forced to sleep in unimaginable living conditions.

Although Hitler and his army was able to force Helen and others into these conditions, he couldn’t take away Helen’s will to live and her ability to see the good in others that were also there. This is what helped Helen throughout her time in Auschwitz until she was later freed. Hitler’s army tried to cover up what they had done but it was Helen and other survivors that were a true testimony to what had occurred to them. Thankfully, allowing many of Hitler’s soldiers to be held accountable for their actions. Helen was able to leave Auschwitz and relocated to America. This is just one story of many Jewish survivors of this horrific period in our history.

The story is very well-written and it was as if I was with Helen throughout the story and enduring her pain and heartache along with her. I couldn’t put this book down and read it in one night. I actually had to wait a few days to write a review as the book has really touched me deeply. I would highly recommend this book to others.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com also available free from Kindle Unlimited

 

Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT THE 45th NAIL by @ian_lahey #WWII #HistFic #TuesdayBookBlog

Today’s Team Review is from Terry, she blogs at http://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Terry has been reading The 45th Nail by Ian & Michael Lahey

The 45th Nail by Michael Lahey and Ian Lahey

4 out of 5 stars

The basics: Bob, a middle-aged French teacher from middle America, receives a strange communication from his long-lost Uncle Jim who he believed to have gone MIA during World War II.  The contents of this communication are sufficient to send Bob off to Italy to find him.

From the blurb I was expecting an adventure type thriller, but the beginning is more like dark comedy, as Bob tells wife Beth untruths about where he is going (the portrayal of Beth was hilarious, I’d like to have read more about her), has his luggage and wallet stolen by a con artist/pickpocket gang as soon as he arrives in Italy, then takes a series of part-time jobs in order to clothe, feed and house himself before he can even think of travelling to Anzio to seek out the mysterious Uncle Jim.  His experience ‘winging it’ as a sommelier is very funny indeed, and some of the characterisation of the people he meets is first class (I particularly liked Edigio, the hotelier who helps him along the way).

As for the plot itself, I wasn’t really convinced by it at first; it seemed to be more of a story about this funny guy who has all sorts of accidental adventures in Italy.  Then, at about twenty per cent, a well plotted twist made it all clear, and the tone changed.

The book shows the legacy left by the war, a love of Italy, the language, archaeology and social culture; I didn’t know what some of the dialogue meant and had to do a certain amount of ‘winging it’ myself, but this wasn’t a problem.  The last fifteen per cent of the book provides the terrible truth about Uncle Jim and the 45th nail – I was engrossed, and found it sad and moving.  The end is excellent.

I thought the story rambled a fair bit and gave more detail in many places where a more succinct account/stream of conversation would have had better effect, but the writing itself is great.  If it was trimmed down a bit it would be worthy of at least another half star, as far as I’m concerned.

An unusual book, and a good one.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 

Back Behind Enemy Lines by Chris Bridge

Back Behind Enemy Lines by Chris Bridge

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Back Behind Enemy Lines is a historical fiction, the first part is set in 1944 in Normandy during WWII, the second part is in 2006, England.

Anna Julen is about to be parachuted into Normandy as a special agent, she’s part of a Special Operations Executive and from now on she is Marie-Claire Cardon, niece of Madam Desaint and milkmaid. Alone in a dangerous time she must hide her radio, blend in with the locals and start finding information to send back home. She works long hours, up early to milk the cows and goats delivering milk and cheese, eyes and ears open to everything. As Marie-Claire she cycles miles observing and mapping German gun placements and movements, always in danger of arrest.

To gather further information Marie- Claire must set up her own network of local spies and helping the resistance, her first recruit is seven year old Franck. Everyone is waiting for the allied invasion, both German and resistance activity is increasing. Marie-Claire’s group help others sabotage railway tracks and communication lines. In May a new agent is sent out, Pierre, young and healthy he must be kept out of sight or he’ll be questioned as to why he is not fighting at the front.

I loved reading about Marie-Claire, she showed such extreme strengths and bravery. In July the invasion came, the frontline moved and the British came to the rescue, Anna’s job was over. I wondered what the rest of the book would be about and if it would keep my attention.

Part two is about Anna, it’s now her ninetieth birthday, her husband Ronnie has died, she has three grown up children. They want to run her life, move her to an old folks home, remove her independence. But Anna resists, she’s back behind enemy lines and her old dormant training re-ignites. She recruits two youngsters to help her and decides it’s time to lay some ghosts to rest, re-turning to Normandy for answers and forgiveness. Part two kept me just as enthralled as part one and I was up late reading into the night to get to the end of this wonderful book.

This review is based on a free copy of the book given to me by Publishing Push in conjunction with Peach Publishing.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

The Orchid Tree by Siobhan Daiko

The Orchid Tree by Siobhan Daiko

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Orchid Tree is a historical drama set in Hong Kong. The First part is from 1941 – 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during WWII. Fifteen year old Kate Wolseley is British and lives with her parents on The Peak. When the Japanese invade and the governor surrenders no one can quite believe what happens.

Once the Japanese have taken over, Kate and her family are moved to the Stanley Internment Camp, an ex-prison. Conditions are poor and food soon runs very short. Kate makes friends with Charles Pearce a half Chinese boy as they queue each day for water and attend lessons together. The descriptions and imagery are very thought provoking as everyone waits to be rescued by either the British or the Americans.

Across the water in Macau we meet Sophia Rodrigues and her family who are from Portuguese descent. During the war, Macau was neutral, yet Japanese people still arrived in the area. Sophia’s father is head of the Macau gold consortium and befriends the Japanese Kimura family. Sophia is half Chinese and is close to her Uncle who is involved with smuggling. During the war he smuggles medicines into the POW camps.

As the recapture of Hong Kong drew nearer, situations on both sides got very desperate, Charles is arrested one day when the prison guards learn of a radio that the prisoners are listening to. News comes that Charles was on a ship heading for a Japanese labour camp when the boat as torpedoed and everyone fears the worse.

A heart-broken Kate and her father go to Australia after the war, but both return to their home in Hong Kong later. Part two of the book covers the years 1948-1949. Hong Kong rebuilds itself and there are many opportunities to make money for enterprising individual’s. The population is growing fast with the spread of communism in China and people fleeing the fighting. Sophia and Kate are both young ladies now and their lives and loves link them in more ways than one.

I enjoyed this book, it was a very good insight into the war years and how Hong Kong expanded in the post war years.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Mystery Book Tour Day 27 #MysteryNovember Pattern Of Shadows by Judith Barrow

Welcome to Day 27 of our Mystery Book Tour. Please welcome Judith Barrow and her book Pattern Of Shadows.

Where is your home town?

I was born and brought up in a place called Saddleworth; a group of villages at the base of the Pennines. I loved walking across the moors where I watched skylarks, grouse and grey sheep. But for the last thirty-five years have been a happy immigrant in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. Lovely coastline here, where I can walk along the coastal path watching seals, seagulls and white sheep.

How long have you been writing?

Forever. But I’ve only been brave enough to let it loose on the public over the last twenty years. I suppose I didn’t want to chance finding out my writing was no good. So I used the excuses that I worked full time, had a family to bring up, was a carer for two elderly relatives, was involved with too many committees. Not forgetting making and selling my novelty cakes. See – Any excuse!

What is your favourite sub-genre of mystery?

Sagas. I love writing family sagas. I’m always intrigued by the intricacies of relationships; the secrets, the ‘unspoken’ – to use a cliché, the ‘skeletons in the cupboard’. And it gives me scope to balance humour and gritty drama. Do love a bit of drama.

 

Where and when is Pattern Of Shadows set?

Pattern of Shadows was inspired by my research into a disused cotton mill in Oldham, Lancashire and its history of being the first German POW camp in Britain during WW2. As with all my books, so far, Pattern of Shadows is set between Wales and Northern England. I still speak with a strong Lancashire accent and I’ve been told my voice comes through in the book. A compliment … I think?

 

Please introduce us to Mary.

Mary is a civilian nurse in a hospital attached to the prisoner of war camp, and the main breadwinner of her family. She’s a strong independent woman who loves her work. But she lives within the shadows of her family’s expectations of her – a pattern that rules her life: the acceptance of the responsibility for the spoilt younger sister, the belief that she always needs to protect her eldest brother, a Conscientious Objector, now in Wormwood Scrubs, the dependence of her weak but loving mother, the presence of both her aggressive younger brother and her bullying father in the home. She’s loyal to her dysfunctional family and, on the whole, endures the weight of the demands on her. But she has almost no social life and so, when Frank Shuttleworth appears, she is flattered by his attentions and falls in love with him

.

Tell us about Frank.

Frank Shuttleworth is not what he seems to be. As a guard at the POW camp he’s been watching Mary for a while and contrives a friendship with her younger brother to be able to approach her On the face of it he is a handsome, genial bloke but underneath he is a possessive and jealous man who resents Mary’s commitment to her work and family. There is also some ambiguity about how he arrived at the camp; a young strong soldier, who was apparently injured at Dunkirk. His hatred for the German is revealed through his cruelty and is exacerbated when a German doctor arrives as a prisoner at the camp.

How would locals have felt about the POW camp?

There were mixed reactions in the town about the POW camp. After the war, many of the local people took prisoners into their homes at Christmas and for other occasions. But, apparently, during the war there were fears that the Germans would escape and murder them in their beds. The die-hard Nazis were especially feared; although many of them were eventually transported to Canada. But some locals did have compassion for the prisoners and would throw cigarettes and food over the fence to them. And, of course, after the war many POWs were unable to go home; either the area where they had lived was obliterated or was within the Russian sector or the men did not want to live under Communism. Many of them went on to marry local girls.

What is the mystery element of this book?

For me, the mystery is what Mary ever sees in Frank. But to be serious, a major crime is committed by one of the characters in the story that changes all the lives of everyone in Mary’s family. The perpetrator is only revealed to the reader at the end of the book but never to any of the other characters. That comes out in the second of the trilogy, Changing Patterns.

 

Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

I’m editing the third of the Pattern series, which is due out in the autumn of 2015. And I’m also writing another completely different novel which is set around a woman who is a carer for her mother who is an Alzheimer sufferer.

 

Where can readers find out more about you?

Here I am:

wwwjudithbarrow.com

wwwjudithbarrow.co.uk

wwwtwitter.com/#judithabarrow

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3295663.Judith_Barrow

judith.barrow.3@facebook.com

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pattern-Shadows-Judith-Barrow/dp/1906784051.    

http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Shadows-Judith-Barrow-ebook/dp/B00940YWKQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414399602&sr=1-1&keywords=pattern+of+shadows 

http://www.honno.co.uk/dangos.php?ISBN=9781906784058.