Portobello Book Blog

I’m pleased to be sharing a guest post from Effie Kammenou, author of Chasing Petalouthes, the third book in the Gift Saga today. Petalouthes, in case like me you were wondering, means butterflies. You can order a copy online here: Chasing Petalouthes

Effie’s Thoughts on Turning Sixty

I was the very last person from the Commack High School class of ‘74 to turn sixty years old. Birthday after birthday, as each of my friends celebrated their milestone year, I held onto the fact that I was still in my fifties. But on December 29, 2016 I could no longer make that claim.

It’s not the number that bothered me. As they say, you’re as young as you feel, and in my mind, I’m still quite young. I’m healthy, I keep up with the trends and latest fashions and, to me, it feels as though a minute ago I was a carefree teenager. What worries me is that time is ticking away and I never want it to run out. There is so much to explore in this amazing world and I want to experience it all. As youths we take time for granted as though it is infinite, as though we are invincible and, for some of us, more time is wasted than should be.

Through the decades my aspirations changed in accordance to my situation and place in life at that period of time, so each milestone birthday evoked a different emotion or expectation.

When I turned twenty I had my whole life ahead of me. I was a theater major in college and was sure that my future held a stellar performance followed by an Oscar nomination. I was a self-proclaimed disco queen who was out dancing at a different club each night of the week without a thought that there could be anything more valuable to do with my time.

Thirty was a bit of a eye opener for me. Suddenly I had become an official adult with real responsibilities. I got married at twenty-six and had my first child at twenty-nine. My husband was still early in his career as an accountant and I forgot all thoughts of a career in acting in order to help support our little family. Now, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have changed it for the world but, at twenty years old, I had no responsibility whatsoever, and now, at thirty everything had changed. Thirty hit me harder than forty.

Forty didn’t bother me in the least. I actually think I looked better at forty than I did at thirty, or maybe it was that we were out of the eighties and the clothing trends were better—well, a little better, I think. Now I had two daughters, our own home, and I only worked part time—but I volunteered for everything—PTA, class mother, Sunday school teacher, and I even directed a few school plays and Christmas pageants at church. In my late forties I had reconnected with a group of old school friends and we remain close to this day. (My inspiration for Waiting For Aegina) But in reconnecting with my friends I realized that I’d lost a part of myself. The part that craved creativity and I vowed to explore that part of myself once again as the children grew and became more independent.

Turning Fifty did not upset me in the least. If anything it energized me. I decided this would be the decade that I would do something that would define me. Would it be going back to acting and taking classes? Or another creative medium? I began making decorative cookie favors for special occasions. Fun. Creative. But I wouldn’t say it was the fulfillment I was looking for. I began to write a food blog. Now, I was getting closer. Cooking is a passion of mine and I love sharing my own recipes, as well as the traditional Greek ones that were handed down to me by my mother and grandmother. But I didn’t simply write recipes. There was a story to be told with every meal—a tradition or a memory—and I wanted to share that as well. It was in my fifties that I lost my mother and that led me to write my first novel. Writing was something that was in the back of my mind for a while, but I dismissed the thought until my grief brought all my emotions to the surface and gave me the inspiration to write a character bearing my mother’s heart and soul.

So what is in store for me in my sixties? I just finished my first series and plan to keep writing, but what I’ve learned is that the sky is truly the limit! And If I have my father’s DNA, I have many, many years ahead of me to catch up on all the adventures I might have overlooked in the past. He’s ninety-six and he tells me he feels the same as he did when he was thirty-five. Okay, I can run with that one!

About the author

Effie Kammenou is a believer that it is never too late to chase your dreams, follow your heart or change your career. She is proof of that. At one time, long ago, she’d thought that, by her age, she would have had an Oscar in her hand after a successful career as an actor. Instead, she worked in the optical field for 40 years and is the proud mother of two accomplished young women.

 Her debut novel, Evanthia’s Gift, is a women’s fiction multigenerational love story and family saga, influenced by her Greek heritage, and the many real life accounts that have been passed down. She continues to pick her father’s brain for stories of his family’s life in Lesvos, Greece, and their journey to America. Her interview with him was published in a nationally circulated magazine.

Evanthia’s Gift: Book One in The Gift Saga was a 2016 award finalist in the Readers Favorite Awards in the Women’s Fiction category.  Waiting for Aegina is Book Two in The Gift Saga and Chasing Petalouthes is Kammenou’s latest release, completing the series.

Effie Kammenou is a first generation Greek-American who lives on Long Island with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not writing, or posting recipes on her food blog, cheffieskitchen.wordpress.com, you can find her entertaining family and friends or travelling for ‘research.’

As an avid cook and baker, a skill she learned from watching her Athenian mother, she incorporated traditional Greek family recipes throughout the books. 

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater Arts from Hofstra University.   

With his latest novel, A Keeper, Graham Norton proves that not only that is he one of the nation’s most popular presenters, but that he’s a blooming good writer as well.

Elizabeth Keane has returned to her childhood home in Buncarragh following the death of her mother. She left many years before for New York and had put her early childhood behind her. Not that she had a bad childhood, but as the only daughter of a single parent in small town rural Ireland, life was perhaps not the easiest. She expects to do nothing more than complete the legal formalities then head home. This all changes when she discovers a small pile of romantic letters from the father she never knew to her mother. She decides that she must find out a bit more about him before she returns home. As she begins to discover more about her parents’ life, we also hear from her mother Patricia in chapters entitle ‘Then‘. They paint a rather different picture than that which the heartfelt letters suggest.

This is such a well-written book. Graham Norton moves between Now and Then revealing just enough each time to make you want to keep reading. The story in the past reflects what Elizabeth is starting to uncover in the present, but adds so much more to what was really going on. As well as coming to terms with many revelations about her parents, she also has a lot going on in her own personal life to contend with which is very stressful when she is thousands of miles from home.

Only when you are reading the book do you realise the significance of the title. Secrets are closely kept throughout by so many characters and there is another meaning to the word ‘Keeper‘ too which I can’t reveal or it would spoil some of the plot.

A compelling read, A Keeper is full of suspense and atmosphere, disappointments and revelations. It’s also a really interesting exploration of mental health issues and overprotective mother/child relationships. There may be darkness in this book but ultimately, it provides a hopeful ending.

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of the book via Netgalley. A Keeper will be published by Coronet Books (an imprint of Hodder Books) in hardback and as an ebook this Thursday 4th October It will be available at your usual book retailer or you can order a copy online here: A Keeper

From the back of the book

Dear Lonely Leinster Lady, 
I’m not really sure how to begin . . .

The truth drifts out to sea, riding the waves out of sight. And then the tide turns.

Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, intent only on wrapping up that dismal part of her life. There is nothing here for her; she wonders if there ever was. The house of her childhood is stuffed full of useless things, her mother’s presence already fading. And perhaps, had she not found the small stash of letters, the truth would never have come to light.

40 years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet but for the tireless wind that circles her as she hurries further into the darkness away from the cliffs and the sea. She has no sense of where she is going, only that she must keep on.

This compelling new novel confirms Graham Norton’s status as a fresh, literary voice, bringing his clear-eyed understanding of human nature and its darkest flaws.

About the author

Graham Norton is one of the UK’s best loved broadcasters. He presents The Graham Norton Show on BBC1, has a weekly show on BBC Radio 2, and writes a column for the Telegraph. He is the winner of eight BAFTA awards. Born in Dublin and raised in West Cork, Norton now lives in London. 

His debut novel HOLDING was a commercial and critical success, winning Norton the Irish Independent Popular Fiction award at the Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards in 2016.

Three’s A Crowd is a lovely collection of 12 short stories by Kate Blackadder. A brief description of each story can be found further down the post. All were originally published in various magazines.

I particularly enjoyed the first story Class of 64 which was about a school reunion for a Marianne, fifty years after leaving school. Her grand-daughter Emily was having to come along and really not looking forward to it as you can imagine! However, Granny and her friends showed that you can have a great time whatever your age. Celia’s Surprise was a lovely story about a graduation and I certainly was as surprised as some of the characters when reading it! Are We Nearly There Yet? made me smile as it’s a phrase so many parents will be familiar with. In this case, young Abby is making the long trip with her mum to a new home on a Scottish island. It would be fair to say she’s not really looking forward to the move but her daddy has some surprises in store for her. The title story, Three’s a Crowd, is the last in the book and certainly made me smile. Young Toots is sent with her older sister on her dates with Bob with stern instructions from their mother not to let them hold hands. Toots can’t understand why her sister keeps asking if she knows what a gooseberry is: of course she knows it’s a sour fruit from the garden!

Three’s a Crowd is a great collection to dip in and out of when you have a spare ten or fifteen minutes. Each story is perfectly formed, which I always think is quite an art in a piece of fiction so short. There are stories to make you smile, plenty of twists in the tale and plenty of warmth and humour. 

My copy was from a lucky dip at a Christmas lunch last year (sorry it’s taken me so long to get to it Kate!).  It is available in both ebook and paperback formats. You can order a copy online here.

From the back of the book

Twelve heartwarming family stories by Kate Blackadder, previously published in The People’s Friend, Woman’s Weekly, and Woman’s Day.

Class of ’64 – Seventeen-year-old Emily is not looking forward to accompanying her grandparents to their school reunion but they have some surprises in store that change her mind.

Hide-and-Seek for Astronauts – when Julie is unable to give Ben the lavish seventh birthday party she’d planned, her sister Karen reminds her of the simple pleasures of their own childhood.

In my Dreams – a phone call startles the narrator out of a vivid dream that involved her much-missed mother, a pink fridge, a golden retriever pup, and Brad Pitt.

Celia’s Surprise – Celia has always gone her own way and been a worry to Simon but today it seems that she is anxious for his approval.

‘Are We Nearly There?’ – Abby and her mum are driving up through Scotland to get to the island that will be their new home, but Abby refuses to even look at the map her daddy has drawn for her.

The Generation Gap – At fourteen, Gabriella argues with her mother over most things but a revelation about her great-great-grandmother helps her decide her future.

The Night the Band Played – The Ceilidh Band is to play at the first post-war party in the village hall. Ten-year-old Alex schemes to get a chance to play on the piano accordion.

The New Eighteen – Ted is worried about his daughter Jess as she discusses her plans to go travelling on her own; her solution causes him even more disquiet.

New Tricks, Old Tricks – Meg may not be up to speed with the latest gadgets but she has a few old-fashioned skills that granddaughter Rosie and her friend are keen to learn.

Bicycles for Two – unexpectedly spending Christmas Eve with their great-aunts, Isabel and Joan have no expectation that the longed-for scarlet racing bikes will await them on Christmas morning.

Seeing Natalie – it should be Marty’s weekend to have their daughter but once again his ex-wife has come up with an excuse. However, this time Marty is optimistic that things are going to get better.

Three’s a Crowd – it’s 1951 and Mum has promised Toots a treat if she tags along with big sister Jane and her boyfriend Bob wherever they go.

About the author

Kate Blackadder was born in the Scottish Highlands but now lives in Edinburgh. She has had around 50 stories plus three serials published in women’s magazines. In 2008 she won the Muriel Spark Short Story Prize, judged by Maggie O’Farrell, and she’s been long-listed for the Jane Austen Short Story Award. Wearing her other ‘hat’ she works two days a week for a museum publishing house, and in her spare time she likes reading, going to the cinema, history, and crying over the television programme Long Lost Family. She blogs at http://katewritesandreads.blogspot.co.uk/

Stella’s Christmas Wish is her first full-length novel, published by Black and White Publishing in November 2016. She has published three of her magazine serials on Kindle – The Ferryboat, The Family at Farrshore and A Time to Reap – and three collections of previously published stories, Three’s a Crowd and other family stories; Another World and other stories; and The Palace of Complete Happiness and other stories. 

She has a story in two Alfie Dog Fiction anthologies: A Wish for Christmas and ‘Came as me, left as we’.

With familiar settings and familiar characters, reading Mrs Bates of Highbury is just like stepping into a Jane Austen novel and meeting with old friends, even though in this case they are in fact younger. Allie Cresswell has the style of writing pitch perfect and the plot was so like a Jane Austen novel. The manners and mannerisms of the characters were spot on. As in many Austen novels, there is a focus on social niceties and the difficulties for women particularly unmarried women with no income. 

Mrs Bates is not the silent old lady we know from Emma. She has been recently widowed and like most mothers in Jane Austen books, is trying to make sure that her daughters are happily married and settled. She is not without the possibility of romantic attachments herself. Hetty, who we know in Emma as Miss Bates, is a nervous young woman, wittering on as she does in Emma, so true to Jane Austen’s character. Her sister Jane is bright and intelligent, keen to see more of the world – or even just more of England! Mr Knightley is only a boy but already thoughtful, intelligent and caring even then. He is considerate of others feelings just as he is when we meet him as an adult. There is no Emma yet but her father Mr Woodhouse, although just in his 30s, is just as paranoid about his and everyone else’s health. He behaves as a much older man even then

I thoroughly enjoyed Mrs Bates of Highbury and feel it is a very convincing prequel to Emma. I really must reread Emma soon as it now seems like such a natural follow-on to this book, which felt almost as though it was flowing from the pen of Jane Austen herself. Although there is going to be another book focusing on the other Miss Bates, Jane, so I’d perhaps better wait for that one first. If you are a fan of Jane Austen and wish she had written more in her short life, I’m sure you would enjoy meeting her characters again in this short but entertaining book.

Thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be part of the tour. Mrs Bates of Highbury is available now as an e-book or in paperback. You can order a copy online here: Mrs Bates of Highbury

From the back of the book

The new novel from Readers’ Favourite silver medalist Allie Cresswell.

Thirty years before the beginning of ‘Emma’ Mrs Bates is entirely different from the elderly, silent figure familiar to fans of Jane Austen’s fourth novel. She is comparatively young and beautiful, widowed – but ready to love again. She is the lynch-pin of Highbury society until the appalling Mrs Winwood arrives, very determined to hold sway over that ordered little town.

Miss Bates is as talkative aged twenty nine as she is in her later iteration, with a ghoulish fancy, seeing disaster in every cloud. When young Mr Woodhouse arrives looking for a plot for his new house, the two strike up a relationship characterised by their shared hypochondria, personal chariness and horror of draughts.

Jane, the other Miss Bates, is just seventeen and eager to leave the parochialism of Highbury behind her until handsome Lieutenant Weston comes home on furlough from the militia and sweeps her – quite literally – off her feet.

Mrs Bates of Highbury is the first of three novels by the Amazon #1 best-selling Allie Cresswell, which trace the pre-history of Emma and then run in parallel to it.

About the author

Allie Cresswell was born in Stockport, UK and began writing fiction as soon as she could hold a pencil.

She did a BA in English Literature at Birmingham University and an MA at Queen Mary College, London.

She has been a print-buyer, a pub landlady, a book-keeper, run a B & B and a group of boutique holiday cottages. Nowadays Allie writes full time having retired from teaching literature to lifelong learners.

She has two grown-up children, two granddaughters and two grandsons, is married to Tim and lives in Cumbria, NW England.

You can contact her via her website at www.allie-cresswell.com or find her on Facebook

Social Media Links –

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/alliescribbler/

Twitter @alliescribbler

For the duration of the blog tour, Allie Cresswell has five hard copies of Game Show and five hard copies of Tiger in a Cage, all signed, available for £5 plus p & p to UK addresses. If you are interested then please get in touch.

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Almost exactly two years ago I read and loved Louise Beech’s novel The Mountain in My Shoe. I enjoyed it so much that I included it in my top reads list for 2016. I just had a look at my review for that book (you can read it here if you’d like to) and my opening words are pretty much what I would say about this book too –  ‘Do you know what? Just buy it as it’s wonderful’.

This book tells the story of Ben and Andrew. When we first meet Ben, he is volunteering at a lion sanctuary in Africa. Louise Beech created a very vivid picture in my mind of just what that would be like, bringing her setting to life through her descriptions of the heat, the sunrises, the quiet of the morning and the beauty of the landscape. He is fulfilling a promise to his late mother and following a dream. The relationship he builds with young lioness cub Lucy is very moving and teaches him much about loving and letting go. Andrew is a writer working on a book about a boy with a physical disability for whom lions play an important role. Ben and Andrew meet several times unexpectedly with Ben noting ‘you always follow an accident’. The comparisons and parallels in their lives and with the book seem to suggest that fate is playing a hand in their being together. But a wish Andrew made as a young boy and secrets from Ben’s family’s past seem to combine to threaten their happiness.

Louise Beech is so skilled at evoking emotions in her readers with her exquisite writing, or at least in this reader. While following Ben and Andrew’s story I felt emotions ranging from despair to joy, from dread to hope, from sadness to delight. The feelings they experienced were almost tangible so that I imagined I could feel them too. It’s a book which should definitely come with a mascara warning or at least a packet of hankies!

The Lion Tamer Who Lost is simply a stunning book: poignant, touching and above all a beautiful, powerful portrayal of love. The characters and their experiences are unforgettable and will stay with me. It will not surprise you to know that Louise Beech with this outstanding story will also be on my top reads list this year.

My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of the blog tour and to Orenda Publishing for my copy of the book. It is available now as an ebook and in paperback. You can order a copy online here: The Lion Tamer Who Lost

From the back of the book

Be careful what you wish for…

Long ago, Andrew made a childhood wish, and kept it in a silver box. When it finally comes true, he wishes he hadn’t…

Long ago, Ben made a promise and he had a dream: to travel to Africa to volunteer at a lion reserve. When he finally makes it, it isn’t for the reasons he imagined…

Ben and Andrew keep meeting in unexpected places, and the intense relationship that develops seems to be guided by fate. Or is it?

What if the very thing that draws them together is tainted by past secrets that threaten everything?

A dark, consuming drama that shifts from Zimbabwe to England, and then back into the past, The Lion Tamer Who Lost is also a devastatingly beautiful love story, with a tragic heart…

About the author

Louise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2015. Her next book, The Mountain in My Shoe was shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize. Maria in the Moon was compared to Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, and widely reviewed. All three books have been number one on Kindle, Audible and Kobo in USA/UK/AU. She regularly writes travel pieces for the Hull Daily Mail, where she was a columnist for ten years. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice and being published in a variety of UK magazines. Louise lives with her husband and children on the outskirts of Hull – the UK’s 2017 City of Culture – and loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012

Catch up with the rest of the tour at these fabulous blogs

I read and thoroughly enjoyed the first in Jessica Redland’s Whitsborough Bay trilogy Searching for Steven a few months ago. (You can read my review here). Dreaming About Daran is actually the third in the series – somehow I have missed out the second but I’ll get back to it sometime.

This book focuses on Clare, a career woman who very reluctantly has to return to Ireland, her homeland, for work. She left under something of a cloud some years previously and has had no contact with most of her family ever since. Returning brings back all kinds of painful memories and leads her to try to find out a bit about what happened after she left.

Gosh, this is going to be a hard book to review without giving away anything. I can’t even tell you who Daran is really! Part of the appeal of this book is discovering the surprises along with Clare. And my goodness what a lot of surprises she had in the course of the story. I’m not sure how I would have reacted in her position. What I really liked about her was the way she reacted to everything that happened and rose to the challenge of coping with whatever life threw at her. She had plenty support from her friend Sarah’s brother Ben. Sarah and her other good friend Elise both had their own issues to deal with. It was lovely to catch up with some of these characters from the first book and find out what had happened to them in the intervening time. A whole host of new characters from Clare’s past are introduced to the story too, some truly unlikable and others who really valued Clare’s support.

Dreaming About Daran is an enjoyable, warm-hearted book which was just what I was needing. Like the first in the series, this visit to Whitsborough Bay focuses firmly on friendship and love and is both engaging and uplifting.

Dreaming About Daran is published by Little Bear Books and available now as an ebook. You can order a Kindle copy online here: Dreaming About Daran

From the back of the book

Where do you go when it’s your own past you’re running from?

Sometimes, you can run from the past, but you can’t hide. Since the age of sixteen, Clare O’Connell has lived her life by four strict rules:
1. Don’t talk about Ireland
2. Don’t think about Ireland
3. Don’t go to Ireland
4. Don’t let anyone in

And so far, it’s worked well. She’s got a great career, some amazing friends, and she’s really happy. The future’s all that counts, isn’t it?

When her boss insists she travels to Ireland to repair a damaged relationship with a key client. Clare finds herself drawn back to the village of Ballykielty where she comes face to face with the one person she’d hoped never, ever to see again.

With the door to her past now wide open, the first three rules have gone out of the window. Can Clare stick to rule number four?

About the author

Jessica Redland is the author of heartwarming contemporary romances set on the stunning #northyorkshirecoast She loves stationery, bears and chocolate.

Today I have the chance for you to win a paperback copy of False Witness, the latest in the DC Maggie Neville series from Michelle Davies (UK only). To enter, click on the link below. You have until midnight UK time on Tuesday 25th September to enter and I’ll select a random winner through Rafflecopter on Wednesday The book was published by Pan on 20 September and you can order a copy online here. It will also be available from all good book retailers.

Click here to enter the giveaway

What’s the book about?

7.15am: Two children are seen on top of a wall in a school.
Shortly later one of them lies fatally injured at the bottom.
Did the boy fall or was he pushed?

As a family liaison offer, DC Maggie Neville has seen parents crumble under the weight of their child’s death. Imogen Tyler is no different. Her son’s fall was witnessed by the school caretaker, a pupil is under suspicion, and Imogen is paralysed by grief and questions.

For Maggie, finding the truth is paramount if she is to help the mother. But as she investigates, further doubts emerge and the truth suddenly seems far from certain. Could the witness be mistaken about what happened, and if he is, then who is responsible? And how far will they go to cover up the boy’s death?

False Witness by Michelle Davies is the gripping third novel in the critically acclaimed Maggie Neville series, following Gone Astray and Wrong Place.

About the author

Michelle Davies was born in Middlesex in 1972, raised in Buckinghamshire and now lives in north London.

Her debut crime novel, Gone Astray, was published in Hardback in March 2016 and features Family Liaison Officer DC Maggie Neville as its central police character. The paperback version is due for publication on 20th October 2016. Gone Astray was part of a two-book deal with Pan Macmillan and the follow-up, Wrong Place, also featuring DC Neville, is due for release on 27th February 2017.
When she’s not turning her hand to crime, Michelle writes as a freelance journalist for women’s magazines including Marie Claire, Essentials, YOU and Stylist. Her last staff job before going freelance was as Editor-at-Large at Grazia and she was previously Features Editor at heat. She began her career straight from school at 18, working as a trainee reporter on her home-town newspaper, the Bucks Free Press.

Twitter @M_Davieswrites

Author Page on Facebook

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