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Here we are then, a thread of my Top 10 #BooksOfTheYear - you can probably get a sense of what type of book I love from this exquisite pile!
Stay tuned as I’m giving away brand new copies of my Top 5 in the coming weeks!
#BookOfTheYear #BookReview
Stay tuned as I’m giving away brand new copies of my Top 5 in the coming weeks!
#BookOfTheYear #BookReview
At 10 is #TheNightOfTheFlood by @zessomerville. A beautifully atmospheric tale set on the north Norfolk coast, a part of the country that I am completely in love with. Set in the great flood of 1952/3.
At 9 is #TheSoundMirror by @heidipearljames. It tells the story of three generations of women, struggling with class, violence & family shame. Heidi is a stunning writer & I’m looking forward to reading more of her work. She’s also a bloody lovely lady!
At 8, it’s #TheIllnessLesson by @clarebeams with it’s gorgeous cover! Set in 1871, it discusses female physical & mental illness & the somewhat dubious & inappropriate methods one male physician uses to treat women’s minds. Haunting but beautiful
At 7 is #TheGoverness by @Wendy_Holden. Fictional but based on the real governess to Princess Elizabeth (now the Queen!). Crawfy is a magnificent, strong-willed character who pretty much gave up her own life to care for the Princess & her sister 
At 6, it’s the #BookerPrize winning #ShuggieBain by @Doug_D_Stuart. I don’t really think it needs much introduction (you’ve all heard about it, right?), but it is both beautiful & sad & clearly written with a great deal of passion.
At 5, it’s #TheBookOfLongings by @suemonkkidd. I read this whilst self-isolating back in March & I was glued to it. Ana, wife of Jesus, is a strong-willed, intelligent woman who rallies against being forced to marry someone she does not love.
At 4 is #MissBensonsBeetle by #RachelJoyce. This was sent to me by the lovely @alisonbarrow & it got me out of a huge reading slump in the summer after struggling to read through lockdown. Rachel is an exceptional writer & I love all of her work 
At 3, it’s Waterstones #BookOfTheYear #Hamnet. Maggie O’Farrell is another of my favourite authors. I was overjoyed to receive a proof of this from @PublicityBooks. I read it back in January & it’s stayed with me all year. “A blanket of words”, as I described it back then!
In joint 1st place (because I genuinely could not pick between them) is...
#SmallPleasures by @ClareDChambers (thank you to @gigicroft for my copy). I was smitten with Jean & I sat for some time staring out the window when I’d finished it, I was bereft to leave it!
#SmallPleasures by @ClareDChambers (thank you to @gigicroft for my copy). I was smitten with Jean & I sat for some time staring out the window when I’d finished it, I was bereft to leave it!
...and joint 1st place to #TheRiverWithin by @karenlpowell1. Beautiful & haunting, it made me ache inside 
Ever so grateful to @discodanskin for sending me this. I’d absolutely love to get more people reading & talking about it
Ever so grateful to @discodanskin for sending me this. I’d absolutely love to get more people reading & talking about it
