• Search
  • Lost Password?
Sharing our love for authors, and the stories they are inspired to tell.

Mailbox Monday
New On My Shelf

Image of a red letter box set in a wall. Featured image for Mailbox Monday meme

I have three lovely new books to be added to my shelf this week and joy of joys! one of them is a beautiful paperback edition which I can see, smell and feel, was gifted to me out of generosity, by the author and beautifully inscribed by her with a personal message 🙂

I am still trying to be good and schedule all the books I receive, so as not to increase my toppling TBR pile, and so far it is working, although it’s quite a close call!

Picture of an English red post box - generic image to link to the mailbox Monday meme

This book arrived courtesy of the lovely Sarah, representing publisher Bookouture, via NetGalley, ready for my January ‘Books On Tour’ spot.

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS by SIOBHAN CURHAM

Cover image of the book 'An American In Paris' by author Siobhan Curham1937: Florence has dreamed her whole life of coming to Paris. She arrives on a sweltering summer day and, lost on the steep streets of Montmartre, asks for directions from Otto, a young artist with paint-spattered clothes and the most beautiful smile she has ever seen.

Otto becomes her guide to Paris, taking her to visit paintings in the Louvre and bookshops by the Seine. And when Otto returns home to finish his studies, they vow to reunite on the same spot they met, one year to the day.

Still dreaming of their parting kiss, Florence starts writing for an American newspaper and throws herself into becoming truly Parisian. All too soon, heady days of parties and champagne are replaced by rumours of war. When Otto finally returns to her, it is as an exile, fleeing Nazi persecution.

Soon, not even Paris is safe. Florence’s articles now document life under occupation and hide coded messages from the Resistance. But with the man she loves in terrible danger, her words feel hollow and powerless. If Florence risks everything by accepting a dangerous mission, can she rescue their dreams from that sunny day before the war?

Picture of an English red post box - generic image to link to the mailbox Monday meme

This NetGalley download, was made available by the lovely Claire, representing publisher, Flatiron Books. My Blog Tour / Review is scheduled for March 2021

THE NORTHERN REACH by W.S. WINSLOW

Cover image of the book 'The Northern Reach' by author W.S. WinslowA heart-wrenching first novel about the power of place and family ties, the weight of the stories we choose to tell, and the burden of those we hide

Frozen in grief after the loss of her son at sea, Edith Baines stares across the water at a schooner, under full sail yet motionless in the winter wind and surging tide of the Northern Reach. Edith seems to be hallucinating. Or is she? Edith’s boat-watch opens The Northern Reach, set in the coastal town of Wellbridge, Maine, where townspeople squeeze a living from the perilous bay or scrape by on the largesse of the summer folk and whatever they can cobble together, salvage, or grab.

At the center of town life is the Baines family, land-rich, cash-poor descendants of town founders, along with the ne’er-do-well Moody clan, the Martins of Skunk Pond, and the dirt farming, bootlegging Edgecombs.

Over the course of the twentieth century, the families intersect, interact, and intermarry, grappling with secrets and prejudices that span generations, opening new wounds and reckoning with old ghosts.

Picture of an English red post box - generic image to link to the mailbox Monday meme

This beautiful paperback edition which I can see, smell and feel, was gifted to me out of generosity, by the author and beautifully inscribed by her with a personal message 🙂

THE RAILWAY GIRLS by MAISIE THOMAS

Cover image of the book 'The Railway Girls' by author Maisie ThomasIn February, 1922, at the western-most entrance to Victoria Station in Manchester, a massive plaque was unveiled. Beneath a vast tiled map showing the lines of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway network, a series of seven bronze panels recorded the names of the men of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War – a total of 1,460 names.

In March, 1940, a group of women of varying ages and backgrounds, stand in front of the memorial, ready to do their bit in this new World War. Under the threat of invasion, it will take strength and courage to rise to the challenge of working as railway girls…

Mabel is determined to make a fresh start as a railway girl where no one will know the terrible thing she did and she can put her guilt behind her… Or is she just running away?

Meanwhile Joan will never be as good as her sister, or so her Gran keeps telling her. A new job as a station clerk could be just the thing she needs to forget her troubles at home.

And Dot is further into her forties than she cares to admit. Her beloved sons are away fighting and her husband – well, the less said about him the better. Ratty old sod. She is anxious to become a railway girl just like her dear mam – anything to feel she is supporting the sons she prays for every night.

The three women start off as strangers, but soon form an unbreakable bond that will get them through the toughest of times…

Picture of an English red post box - generic image to link to the mailbox Monday meme

Mailbox Monday’ is a gathering place for readers to share links to the books that came into their house during the last week.

This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well, after all you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

Share
Written by
Yvonne

I can’t remember a time, even as a child, when I haven’t been passionate about books and reading.
I began blogging, when I realised just how many other people out there shared my passion for the written word and I have been continually amazed at the wealth of books that are available and the amount of great new friends I have made, from literally 'The Four Corners Of The World'.

View all articles
Written by Yvonne