Tag Archives: psychological

Jera’s Jamboree review : Tyringham Park by Rosemary McLoughlin

tyringhamparkPaperback: 528 pages

Publisher: Penguin (14 Feb 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1405910526

ISBN-13: 978-1405910521

Rosemary McLoughlin elegantly captures period glamour and darkness in Tyringham Park – a brilliant and epic tale of love and loss.

It is 1917 and Charlotte Blackshaw is only eight years old when her little sister Victoria vanishes from the magnificent country estate of Tyringham Park. The feverish search for Victoria soon uncovers jealousies and deceits that the inhabitants of the grand house have fought for years to keep hidden.

As the years pass and her sister’s disappearance casts a long shadow over their lives, Charlotte finds herself embroiled in the passions and secrets, lives and deaths, trysts and betrayals that affect the days of everyone connected to this once great house.

And though she tries to escape, she knows that Tyringham Park and its mysteries will never release their hold on her . . .

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We begin our journey in the country, at Tyringham Park in 1917.  Edwina Blackshaw (lady of the manor) and Manus (the horse trainer) find Victoria missing from her baby carriage.  Edwina knows nothing about her daughter … can she climb? Walk a distance? There’s intrigue straight away as Edwina falsified her date of birth on the official records so we know something has been hidden.  Husband Lord Waldren Blackshaw is at London in the War Office and isn’t able to go to Ireland.

Victoria is thought drowned but Edwina has suspicions the seamstress has taken her to Australia with her.

As the search for Victoria continues we get to know our characters.  Nurse Dixon, an orphan herself, is hell personified in the way she treats the girls.  Lord Waldren is not thought highly of outside the estate due to political alliances.  There’s conflict between housekeeper Miss Lily East and Nurse Dixon.  We experience a rather heart-wrenching scene involving them both and the doctor.  When Edwina goes to London we understand that the relationship she has with Lord Waldren is no relationship at all.

Through 1917 to 1943, Tyringham Park is the story of the Blackshaw family and the misfortune that befalls them.  Underneath is the thread of Charlotte and how the loss of Victoria has scarred her and affects how she engages in her world.  We spend time on the estate, in the townhouse and in Australia where Charlotte is sent in disgrace after a hasty marriage … and also where Nurse Dixon escapes to after being evicted from the Park.

The characters are solid and believable.  I understood and empathised with Charlotte but even though I could be tolerant I wanted to shake her at times.  Ultimately I was left with a feeling of deep sadness.  That one split second when emotions took over her rational self could only lead her to one place.  Her mother, aunt and father’s characters are all fitting with what we would expect from the time period.

The most enjoyable part of the story for me is when Charlotte is inspired by her tutor…  for a short time we get a sneak peek to how life could have been for Charlotte when her fear of the world abates… where she expresses herself through art and finds a niche for herself.

This is not a quick read but it is absorbing.  Each ‘part’ takes us to a different location.  The community in the Australian outback is interesting as is Nurse Dixon’s life in the city.  The secrets that are revealed pull all the threads tighter and tighter together leading us along a path of destruction and darkness.  Even when we expect there to be a lightness there is another secret in the making.

Tyringham Park truly is an epic debut of darkness – obsessive love, lack of familial love, revenge, death and destruction… and glamour of that time in social history where the landed gentry made up their own rules, where hunts took place and servants knew their place.

I have no hesitation in recommending you add Tyringham Park to your reading list.

Buy it and spread the word

Buy it and spread the word

I would like to thank the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rosemary McLoughlin is also an established artist.  Visit her website http://rosemarymcloughlin.com/.

Jera’s Jamboree review: Out of Sight by Isabelle Grey

Out of Sight by Isabelle Grey

Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: Quercus (2 Aug 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0857383183

ISBN-13: 978-0857383181

In a village in south-west France, a young Englishwoman, Leonie, meets a quiet, withdrawn man called Patrice. He has no wife, no child, and refuses ever to get inside a car. Leonie is certain she can help this man, that her love will heal his emotional wounds. But Patrice will not tell her anything about his past. So she decides to search herself – unaware of what she’ll discover.

 

Five years before, Patrice was living in London. He was called Patrick, and he had a wife and child. And one fateful day in July changed his life for ever.

 

Out of Sight is a third person narrative and told in four parts.  I really enjoyed the way this is laid out allowing the mystery and tension to build.

In Part One we’re in Sussex and it’s 2005.  The reader gets to know Patrick, his family and parents.  The reader is left on a cliffhanger.  We know that something is about to unfold but not what.

Part Two finds us in France.  It’s now 2010 and we become involved in Patrice’s relationship with Leonie.  It is through a conversation with Leonie that we find out he was married for three years and is now divorced.  He tells Leonie.

“I let her down.  There was no future for us together.”

The reader knows he is lying about one thing but is still unaware of what happened on that day in July where we left Patrick in 2005.

Leonie knows that Patrice is wounded in some way and often refers to him as a wild animal being hunted.  There is an incident where Patrice’s reaction is fearful.  He withdraws from the relationship with Leonie by becoming unavailable.   Leonie asks herself all sorts of questions.  She wants to save him:

“How she longed to lead him out into the sunshine where he could be his best and fullest self, for she was intuitively sure it was what Patrice himself most wanted, however deeply buried that wish might be right now.” (page 113)

There is another life-changing moment and Patrice handles it in the same way he’s handled everything else so far. This is a poignant time in the story as we suffer with Leonie.  Leonie’s best friend Stella directs her to look at an article from the Brighton Argus.  Now Leonie knows what happened on that fateful day …

Part Three we’re back in Sussex, 2005 where everything is laid bare.  For me, this was the most heart-wrenching and brought out the rawest emotions.  Exquisitely written, we experience everything Patrick and Belinda do.  The reader begins to understand more about Patrick’s childhood and his beliefs, which have shaped him.

In Part Four it’s London, 2011.  Leonie is sharing Stella’s flat.  Despite her loss and the subsequent depression, Leonie still holds hope in her heart that there is a future for herself and Patrick.  This part caused me the most confusion in how I felt about Patrick.  Having not liked him in France, then beginning to understand him when we revisit his life in Sussex and even sympathising with him a little … in London he made me angry and I loathed him.  I could understand why he compartmentalised for self-preservation and why he never truly engaged with life – always wearing his mask, unavailable on an emotional level … but I still loathed him! I hate to admit it but I could see myself in Leonie …

It is here where we realise that other people also hold their secrets close and the wounds they carry, which interfere with engagement on a deeper emotional level … and the redemption that’s possible when we understand this.

Out of Sight is a story about forgetfulness, tragedy, loss, how we deal with that loss and carry on engaging in life … but it’s also about family secrets and how our role models from childhood affect our trust in the universe to keep us safe and provide for us.  The reader is taken on a psychological and very emotional journey alongside these brilliantly portrayed characters.

This is a debut novel that has provoked all sorts of emotions in me and will stay with me for a long time.

 

Buy it but be loathe to share your copy … it’s a keeper!

I would like to thank the author (and Quercus http://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/) for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Out of Sight is available to purchase:

Amazon Paperback £5.99 

Amazon Kindle format £7.16

And all good book stores

 

About the Author:

Isabelle Grey grew up in Manchester and graduated from Cambridge.  A former freelance journalist for national newspapers and magazines, she also writes television drama.  Under her maiden name Isabelle Anscombe, she is the author of five non-fiction books.  Out of Sight is Isabelle Grey’s first novel.  She lives in London.

You can tweet with Isabelle Grey.

Meeting Lydia by debut author Linda MacDonald

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Matador (1 Sep 2011)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1848767129
  • ISBN-13: 978-1848767126

Synopsis from Troubadour Publishing Ltd:  


Marianne Hayward, teacher of psychology and compulsive analyser of the human condition, is hormonally unhinged. The first seven years of her education were spent at a boys’ prep school, Brocklebank Hall, where she was relentlessly bullied. From the start, she was weak and frightened and easy prey for Barnaby Sproat and his gang. Only one boy was never horrible to her: the clever and enigmatic Edward Harvey, on whom she developed her first crush. 

Now 46, when Marianne finds her charming husband in the kitchen talking to the glamorous Charmaine, her childhood insecurities resurface and their once-happy marriage begins to slide. Teenage daughter Holly persuades her to join Friends Reunited, which results in both fearful and nostalgic memories of prep school as Marianne wonders what has become of the bullies and of Edward Harvey. Frantic to repair her marriage, yet rendered snappy and temperamental by her plummeting hormones, her attempts towards reconciliation fail. The answer to all her problems could lie in finding Edward again… But what would happen if she found what she seeks? 

Meeting Lydia is a book about childhood bullying, midlife crises, obsession, jealousy and the ever-growing trend of internet relationships. It will appeal to fans of adult fiction and those interested in the dynamics and psychology of relationships. Author Linda is inspired by Margaret Atwood, Fay Weldon and David Lodge.




~~~~~~~~~~


The prologue of ‘Meeting Lydia’ intrigued me straight away and the hook had my full attention.  I wanted to know the answers to my ‘w’ questions … Why were they there?  Why the lack of intimacy?  What did it have to do with the story?  What was happening the next day?  Who is Lucy?  Where are they? 


Marianne’s journey of feeling comfortable in her skin is told with alternating threads of time. We start in August 2001 and then the next chapter finds us back inFebruary 1962 to when she is five years old. From that point on we get to experience Marianne’s time of angst in the school playground, in the classroom and playing field while also experiencing her life ‘now’ . 

Her school days aren’t all about bullying. We also get to see her make friends and share part of her teenage years – although her lack of confidence stays with her. 

When her relationship with Johnny shows cracks, those protective layers she’s surrounded her inner core with start peeling back to expose the rawness of the days when she was lacking in confidence and self-assurance.  Her neuroses push Johnny away – it’s almost as though she is testing him – to see if he can surmount her challenges and be the perfect man she wants him to be. 

Marianne has not dealt with her childhood demons and is still expecting others to provide happiness and love.  Does she find out during her journey that love and happiness can only come from sharing those experiences and from within ourselves?

From reading the synopsis I wondered if Edward or the image of Edward would be the catalyst that would help Marianne face her insecurities and change her life totally.  Did he play the role I assigned him before I even started reading the story?

Marianne is such a believable character.  I identified with her in so many ways as I’m sure many women will (but then I do have a Capricorn Sun too!).  Have you searched Friends Reunited? looking for the gang of boys you used to hang around with at school?  Old friends you’ve lost touch with?  Honestly? For those of us living with the M word (menopause), did you experience a sadness of all that’s gone by and an anxiety of your identity in the future without the very thing in our culture that makes us feel like women? 

I did find Marianne exhausting – interpreting every nuance and taking those into account before deciding how she would react.  At times she is manipulative, knowing what to do to elicit the response she wants from Johnny.  In fact, I realised I could have been looking at myself … but quite a few years ago!

In becoming a part of Marianne’s story we experience much more than her school days and her relationship with Johnny.  There are several things I enjoyed – her relationship with her daughter and how eventually she is able to show the love she feels; the snippets of time spent in the classroom while she is teaching (and yes, in school it is true, tell us names and we can tell you what character traits they portray in the classroom!) and how the author relates the units she is teaching as to what Marianne is going through with cyber friendships.  I was behind her 100 percent when there is confrontation on a family day out …

Just before I started reading ‘Meeting Lydia’ I went to a friends wedding – my friend and I had been in the same class at school.  I knew some of my old classmates would be there.  Coincidentally, as these things happen, one of the ‘boys’ I had spent my entire school years with (and who incidentally protected me on the walk to and back from school) and I were talking about who we had stayed in touch with and this brought up ‘name calling’… and he showed remorse for a hurtful name he had called a friend I was still in touch with.  A child’s perception is so different to an adults! Sometimes it is good when past and present meet …

I found the authors style of writing easy to read leaving room for my imagination to become completely involved.  ‘Meeting Lydia’ is one woman’s psychological journey involving those she is closest to. All my questions from reading the prologue were, of course, answered …and you understand why the book has the title that it does.

I identified with Marianne so much that there really is only one fairy rating I can possibly give:

Buy it but be loathe to share your copy … it’s a keeper!



I would like to thank the author for sending me a signed copy of ‘Meeting Lydia’.  All views and opinions expressed in my review are my own.

You can catch up with author Linda MacDonald on Twitter


*Breaking News*
I have just heard from Linda that there is a sequel to ‘Meeting Lydia’ focussing on two different characters from the story.  I can’t say anymore without giving away the plot from this novel but suffice it to say, it will be on my wishlist.

*As at 29.06.2012* Meeting Lydia is available to purchase:

Amazon Kindle £2.99

Amazon Paperback £5.99

The Book Depository paperback £6.51

the secrets between us by Louise Douglas

Bantam Press • General & literary fiction
Publication Date: 07/07/2011 • 464 pages • Royal Octavo • ISBN: 0593067088
Territory: UK C/Wealth + EU ex Can • EAN: 9780593067086




Synopis from Books at Transworld:  


A chance encounter: When Sarah meets dark,brooding Alex, she grasps his offer of a new life miles away from her own.They’ve both recently escaped broken relationships, and need to start again.Why not do it together?

A perfect life: But when Sarah gets to thetiny village of Burrington Stoke, something doesn’t add up. Alex’s beautifulwife Genevieve was charming, talented, and adored by all who knew her. Andapparently, she and Alex had a successful marriage complete with a gorgeousson, Jamie. Why would Genevieve walk out on her perfect life? And why has noone heard from her since she did so?

A web of lies: Genevieve’s family and allher friends think that Alex knows more about her disappearance than he’s lettingon. But Sarah’s fallen in love with him and just knows he couldn’t haveanything to hide. Or could he?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


the secrets between us is my third book in ‘The Transworld Book Group Reading Challenge’ 

When Sarah and Alex meet in a hotel on the south coastof Sicily, Sarah is feeling numb from the trauma that has rocked thefoundations of her world.  There is amystery surrounding Alex’s wife who has gone away.  Sarah feels drawn to Alex’s son Jamie, experiencing maternalfeelings for him.

We get to find out about Sarah’s relationship withLaurie and the fact that she has never had a personality of her own – she hasalways been seen as Laurie’s shadow as he has made all the decisions anddominated the relationship.

Alex and Sarah meet again in Sicily on a tour whereAlex suggests to Sarah she lives with him to look after Jamie ………….. so ontheir return, Sarah moves from Manchester to a village in Somerset where she isnot accepted and shunned.

What follows is an amazing story full of suspense,intrigue and nail-biting moments as the story of Alex and Sarah’s love unfoldsamidst the mystery surrounding Genevieve’s disappearance.

Sarah and Alex’s love is innocent and accepting.  The secrets are exposed layer upon layer,which only serves to bring more darkness and uncertainty.  Their passion and its undercurrents arepowerful to be drawn into.  By creatinga journey shared, the power of the past to wound and scar is blunted andcompartmentalised.

The setting is exactly what you would expect to createthe mood.  We have the remotely locatedhouse, the old and big empty barn, the family and villagers not accepting anoutsider and when the story peaks, the wintery landscape.

Louise Douglas’s writing of the scenes is descriptive(but not flowery).  You get to feel thetwigs snapping below your own feet as you walk and the wind howling through thecracks in the windows.  She buildstension by using short sentences, which only spur you on to read faster to findout where your imagination is being taken. The psychological/mind game scenes had the hairs on the back of neckbristling and I had goosebumps!  I wasliterally sitting on the edge of my seat totally focussed.

Everything is by inference (which I thoroughlyenjoy).  I loved using the hints andintrigue to try to guess ahead of time where they would lead, to draw my ownconclusions.  We don’t find out anythingconclusive until near the end of the story. I did not guess until the words were in black and white in front of me.

Due to the strong emotions I experienced, I know thesecrets between us will stay with me for a very long time.

I don’t think there will be any surprises when I say Iam giving the secrets between us my highest rating.  This one is definitely a book you should loathe to share for fearit won’t be returned – it’s a keeper to be re-read!



This is Louise Douglas’ third book – I now have theother two on my wishlist.

You can find out more about Louise on her webpage.  Louise is also on Twitter. 

http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?t=jersjam-21&o=2&p=8&l=as1&asins=0593067088&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr