Author Archives: Jane Cable

SUNDAY SCENE: KILEY DUNBAR ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM SUMMER AT THE HIGHLAND CORAL BEACH

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I call my third novel, Summer at the Highland Coral Beach, ‘the book of my heart’ as it was deeply emotional to write.

The story follows Bea six months after the miscarriage of her longed-for baby. She’s approaching her fortieth birthday, her marriage has ended, and she’s spiralling. Bea books a spur-of-the-moment crafting holiday in the highlands at the eccentric Princess and the Pea Inn (complete with towering fairy-tale bed). Here, Bea has time to wild swim off the coral beach, make beautiful things, and process her grief a little, helped by willow weaving tutor, Atholl.

Having grown used to keeping her grief to herself (so often grieving parents find they have no outlet for their sadness), the words spill from her during a panic attack witnessed by Atholl. He strikes upon a way of helping Bea begin to say goodbye.

I love this scene because it depicts things not all that often discussed in ‘light’, cosy romances.

He produced a parcel from under his arm and unwrapped the brown paper that protected it. ‘I thought maybe, if you want, you could make use of this wee thing?’

He handed her the intricately weaved hollow bassinette shaped curiously like a Russian doll or an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus with a round hole where the face would be.

‘I made it myself of the spring’s youngest willow back in March.’
‘It’s lovely. What is it?’ Bea asked.
‘It was for a talk Seth was giving about old Highland customs. It’s a swaddling basket. You’d wrap the baby in cloths and bands, tucking them up tight so they could sleep, and then they’d be placed inside the basket and worn over the parent’s back while they worked in the fields or at the fishes.’
‘It’s beautiful. It’s tiny, though. Too small for a newborn.’
‘It was only a model, to show what the real thing would be like.’

Beatrice turned it over in her hands, her eyes misting, and she looked up at him, hesitatingly, still unsure of what he intended her to do.

‘There’s another Highland custom, an ancient one, going back to the earliest folk on the land,’ he said softly. ‘When a loved one passed, they would swaddle them too like a bairn, placing them in the water, letting the tides carry them home.’

Beatrice took his meaning and she bobbed her head as the silent tears came again.

‘Do you want to do it now? There’s a braw moon lighting the harbour.’
‘All right.’

Those were the last words they said to each other that night as Beatrice, the mother of a loved son, threaded the Highland posy of forget-me-nots, heather and white campion into the loose basket work, weaving each flower in amongst the shoots from the sappy willows as Atholl watched on.

When her work was done she left the inn, crossing the dark road and leaning over the sea wall. Atholl stayed by the inn porch, close enough to see her kiss the little bundle before lowering the empty bassinette onto the surface of the gentle waters.

Neither could tell how long it took for the horizon to claim the floating focus of so much of her grief but by sunrise it was gone and Beatrice was asleep soundly in her bed.

 

Despite the sadness, there’s love and laughter in store for Bea and Atholl. I’ve received many messages from parents saying how Bea’s story helped them. I hope it continues to offer a wee bit of brightness to yet more readers when Summer at the Highland Coral Beach comes out on paperback this July.

One in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, the miscarriage association is there to help: https://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: NANCY PEACH ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM LOVE LIFE

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My debut novel Love Life is set in and around a hospice (admittedly an unusual choice for a romantic comedy) but one of my favourite moments in the book is when the heroine, Tess Carter (a palliative care doctor) visits the home of her patient, Mary Russel. Tess has a complicated relationship with the Russel family. Mary’s son Edward is in denial about his mother’s terminal illness and remains conflicted about the hospice and everything it stands for, including Tess. On this occasion she is visiting the house to return a scarf to Edward but is not sure what to expect. She knows that the Russel family are wealthy, but the family home is a bit more substantial than she’d anticipated.

‘Tess was entirely unprepared for the view of the Russell residence, which was indeed just up the hill from the vet’s practice. As she cornered round the leafy lane that circumnavigated the estate she caught a glimpse of the main house, a Georgian manor in mellow stone nestled amongst smaller outbuildings, including a carriage house and stable block. She pulled to a stop on the gravel drive, half expecting a butler from a Merchant Ivory production to emerge from the main portico and open her passenger door. She sat for a moment in the car just gazing in awe at her surroundings; the lawn rolling down away from the house towards a thicket of trees, the neatly trimmed box hedges that bordered the drive, the sash windows reflecting the early sunlight and lending a cheerful openness to the façade.’

The novel is set in Bristol and has a Pride and Prejudice theme, featuring a Jane Austen character as one of Tess’s internal narrators, and a hero with hints of Mr Darcy. I love the architecture of this period and the Russel house combines elements of Georgian splendour with the warmth of a family home, complete with canine companions.

‘She made her way round to the back of the house, where she found a weathered rear door with iron boot scrapers at either side. She knocked hard against the door panel and found that it was ajar. With some trepidation she nudged it open and called out “Hello?” Almost immediately there was a cacophony of noise from within the house, barking and the scrabbling of claws across tiles, and she was nearly knocked off her feet by a pack of dogs hurtling into her, tails wagging. The first three dogs were rangy setters, their knobbly heads knocking into her thighs as she fussed over them. A few moments later an elderly cocker spaniel with cloudy eyes shuffled into view and the setters backed off to allow the senior member of the party to greet the visitor.

“Hello?” Edward’s familiar voice shouted through from the next room, “I’m just in here, come through.”

Tess made her way into the kitchen accompanied by the enthusiastic canines and discovered Edward, clad in damp running gear holding his ankle behind him with one hand to stretch out his quads whilst supporting himself on the back of a chair with his other hand. He looked up at her in surprise.

“Dr Carter! How nice.” He was smiling, although she couldn’t tell if it was genuine pleasure at seeing her or more of a grimace as his muscles relaxed into the stretch. He released his right ankle and repeated the move with the left whilst trying to fend off the dogs who were all trying to get involved in the warm down. Tess was mortified.’

 

www.nancy-peach.com

PUBLICATION DAY SPECIAL: THE LOVE EXPERIMENT BY KITTY WILSON

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Sometimes I fall in love with a book instantly, and sometimes it takes a little while. This was one of the latter, but let me tell you, by the final chapters I was laughing and sobbing at more or less the same time, which isn’t the best of looks in a busy Starbucks branch.

The premise of The Love Experiment is deceptively simple; Lily won’t date – even staying the night after a hook up is too much like commitment, and Jay can’t date – he’s promised his sister he won’t in an attempt to show her that changing the habits of a lifetime is possible. But there the cliches end.

All the characters, large and larger than life, are drawn with an incredible eye for detail and a roundness that is often missing in romantic comedy. They were real and will stay with me for a very long time. And laugh? Did I mention a fair chunk of the action is set in a drag club? The names of the artists alone was enough to make me cackle. And don’t even get me started on the harpist…

This book is laugh out loud funny while at the same time dealing with serious issues and the horrendous scars they leave. The more I came to know about Lily’s past the more I ached for her to be able to move forwards. The more I understood what made her the way she is. The more I wanted to be her friend.

Lily’s backstory and what happened to her as a teenager really got to me. So much so I had to ask Kitty Wilson why she decided to shape her character that way:

Thank you. Lily is far from my usual heroine and is polished, successful and on the surface has it all but, underneath, is a scared young girl desperate for a sense of control.

When I was creating her, I initially wanted to highlight women’s health, I know so many women with periods that are completely incapacitating[1] and yet I haven’t seen it mentioned often in novels. That was my starting point but, as an author, it is hard not to be shaped by the things around you. As I wrote the first draft, the discussion of women’s safety was at its peak with the subsequent growth of Everybody’s Invited illustrating how schools and universities were often far from the places of safety that every parent hopes. This awareness worked its way into Lily’s story and when her body changes as a teen, things take a dark turn as name-calling in school morphs into something more sinister.

I did consider carefully whether these themes should be included but they are so frequent in women’s lives it felt wrong to cut them, so Lily was born, a high achiever who is privately carrying the weight of gynaecological issues and a related history of childhood bullying. These two things then shape all her life decisions; decisions that on the surface look like they are healthy, empowered choices but are actually indicators of deep-rooted scars.

But I love a happy ending – I write romance after all – and adore weaving through the joys in our lives, and hopefully The Love Experiment brings many, many moments of light and laughter to brighten Lily’s path as she learns to defeat the dark and open herself to life and love at its fullest.

 

 

[1] One in ten women in the UK have endometriosis and another one in ten have PCOS. https://www.endometriosis-uk.org/information

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos/

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: AUDREY HARRISON ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE SPINSTER’S CAPTAIN

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I have been writing and publishing Regency romances since 2011, being fortunate enough to be a finalist in the Amazon Kindle Storyteller competition and the Romantic Novelists Association Award. I never thought I would write anything other than my regencies, but there was a story in my husband’s family history which has niggled in the background as I wrote in my genre. I had resisted it as it was set in the Victorian era and although close to the Regency, there were still differences which could be stumbling blocks for me.

The story was that In 1846, a spinster travelled to America from Scotland to be a housekeeper for her brother. Domestic staff were hard to come by, so what was more perfect than a spinster sister? Unfortunately for the brother in America, there was also a handsome captain on the ship which was to bring his sister to him.

Researching the story was fascinating, when I (finally) gave in to family requests to write it. Most of the action had to take part onboard ship and so I started down the rabbit hole which was seafaring life.

We consider history as a different world, the language, manners, and rules, but throw in life on the water and there is even more to contend with! In my view sailors were so brave stepping aboard ship, let alone spending their lives onboard. Even within the family history, there is more than one shipwreck. It was a harsh life, but one which could reap rewards, as in the case of our captain.

I do love research, it is the part that I have to contain myself, only so much factual detail can be put into a romance before it becomes a non-fiction book! It doesn’t matter that readers don’t know the hours of research which can go into one sentence.

My resources were hundreds of books I own, and visits to various Maritime Museums all give me the buzz to create the little snapshots of life onboard ship as in this extract:

The call “Who’s for the shore?” had rung out across the ship and through the levels below deck. There had been a final scurry of activity before Robert was approached by David as he stood at the helm.
“We’re ready, Capt’n.”
“Without a moment to spare,” Robert responded.
“Perfect timing then.”
“I was beginning to think we would be stuck in port another day.”
“Oh ye of little faith. As if I would be so tardy.”
“In that case, all hands to weigh anchor and make sail,” Robert instructed.
“Aye, aye, Capt’n.”

The story turned into a trilogy, using two of the other siblings of the spinster. In a family of eleven, they were at the forefront of moving because of the real changes caused by the industrial revolution and it was fascinating enough to keep my research flowing.

The final in the trilogy is set in America, when land was being developed and for the first time men could own the land they worked on, rather than be tenants. So, although I was hesitant to start these stories, I loved writing them.

I have now returned to my regencies, I love taking a snippet of history, whether the Foundling Hospital, the Napoleonic Wars or how they dealt with injuries and disabilities and weaving a romance around that. Always being one who has hovered on the edge of society because of shyness and chronic illness, I will always fight for the underdog to get their happy ever after. It just has to be set in the time in history that I love.

 

www.audreyharrison.co.uk

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: RACHEL BRIMBLE ON THE SETTING FOR HER LADIES OF CARSON STREET TRILOGY

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There are two reasons I have set all my historical romances in the wonderful city of Bath, England – one) I live just a short 30 minute drive away and 2) it is filled with the most beautiful Roman, Georgian and Victorian architecture, the most amazing side streets as well as a plethora of grand (and not so grand) buildings that I pretty much use as my imagination dictates.

As Bath is obviously a real place, you might be wondering how I can use some of its buildings however I see fit. The explanation is simple – I don’t tell readers which buildings are imaginary! Thankfully, unless I use famous Bath buildings like the Abbey, the Pump Room or Royal Crescent, my audience seem to be happy to follow my lead.

For my latest series, the Ladies of Carson Street, I once again return to Bath.

However, rather than spending time enjoying high tea in the Pump Room or dancing in the Assembly Rooms, you will find the heroines of the trilogy, Louisa, Nancy and Octavia, either living and working from their house on Carson Street, frequenting the backstreet taverns or watching an act at the Theatre Royal.

In book 1, A Widow’s Vow, Louisa and Nancy arrive in Bath from Bristol to start anew after Louisa is unexpected widowed and left with nothing more than the keys to a Bath property she had no idea existed…

They walked along the sweeping curved wall surrounding the gushing waters of the River Avon and a beautifully landscaped area known as, according to Louisa’s map, the Parade Gardens. The barren trees were interspersed with evergreens, the soil beds empty of flowers in winter but imaginings of how the gardens might look in the summer months gave Louisa a flicker of optimism.

Continuing to walk along the cobbled street, she and Nancy neared the row of terrace houses.

‘Carson Street.’ Nancy pointed to a sign bolted to one of the corner houses adjacent to a busy thoroughfare filled with carriages, horses and pedestrians. ‘This is it.’

Locating the right house wasn’t difficult as Louisa had memorised the deeds so often and so intensely, the pencilled sketch of Anthony’s property was clearly drawn in her mind. ‘Anthony’s house is—’

‘Ahem, your house.’ Nancy grinned.

‘My house is about halfway along the street.’ Louisa inhaled a shaky breath. ‘Come on. I want this over with.’

She marched ahead of Nancy, pulling a brass front door key from her purse. Purposefully, Louisa drew forth her anger at Anthony’s lies, betrayal and cowardice. Lord knew, she would have to take strength from somewhere if she was ever to believe such a property was now hers to do with as she would. Lifting her chin, she shrouded herself in an invisible layer of protection against whatever further hurts were to come in her uncertain future.

But once she was standing outside the residence, her bravado floundered.

The house was beautiful. Built in a butter-coloured stone, its sash windows were flanked with velvet drapery, the front door painted a dark grass-green, complete with brass knocker and a stone ornament decorating its step. The longer Louisa stared, the more strongly inevitability enveloped her. She had survived this long and she would continue to survive, come what may.

 

This extract perfectly introduces you to the tone of the series and to two of the main three characters in the trilogy. Gritty, sometimes tough, sometimes hilarious, the Ladies of Carson Street are an unforgettable trio!

 

Rachel’s Website: https://rachelbrimble.com/

 

 

 

 

 

JANE CABLE REVIEWS THREE VERY DIFFERENT SECOND WORLD WAR NOVELS

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Hope for the Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas

I rarely follow a whole series, but the Railway Girls’ Second World War novels gripped me from the very first one. The characters are fresh and stand out from the page, there is tension, pathos and heartbreak, but more than that, there is joy – and that is important.

So often I find sagas descend into what I call ‘it’s grim up north’ where the heroines’ hardships and battles become so impossibly dark the book is no longer a pleasure to read. What is so clever about Maisie Thomas’s work (both in this series and The Surplus Girls, which she writes as Polly Heron) is that the moments of high tension – and frankly apparently insoluble conundrums – are balanced by humour and happiness. And of course, they’re so very beautifully written.

In this fifth book we follow Alison as her new romance develops, Joan as she approaches motherhood, and a relatively new viewpoint character Margaret, who I found the most interesting of all. If you haven’t read the other books these names will mean nothing to you, but I urge you to go back and start at the beginning of the series. You have an absolute treat in store.

 

The Helsingor Sewing Club by Ella Gyland

I love an unusual Second World War story and when I heard this one was set in Denmark I really wanted to read it. In part my choice was influenced by having loved Elizabeth Buchan’s I Can’t Begin To Tell You so much, but The Helsingor Sewing Club deals with a completely different aspect of Danish resistance.

I didn’t know that, thanks to the Danish (albeit puppet) government, Jews were safe from persecution until 1943. Or that when the wrath of the Nazis descended on them the vast majority of Danes were prepared to help them to escape. This book provides a fascinating glimpse into that tiny slice of the country’s history and I loved it.

But no novel is ever a history lesson and Ella Gyland creates wonderful characters, not always brave, sometimes full of fear and even despair, but you love them all the more for it and root for them all the way. The whole story is fraught with tension and there are some truly heart-stopping moments too. My only slight reservation is that I thought the book was strong enough to stand without a contemporary narrative running alongside it, although I do appreciate most readers will have loved it exactly the way it is.

 

The Frequency of Us by Keith Stuart

I’m a sucker for a great premise: in 1942 radio engineer Will regains consciousness after a bombing and realises the love of his life, Elsa, is missing. But he is told there was no one else living with him, and no records of her seem to exist.

Seventy years later Will is struggling to cope and is refusing care, but he sees a kindred spark of loss in Laura and lets her in. It’s a prickly, difficult, unlikely yet beautiful relationship which evolves as strange things happen in the house compelling Laura to try to uncover what happened.

The flashbacks to Will’s wartime romance with Elsa provide relief from the unremitting greyness of Laura’s battle with mental illness and Will’s with old age. Whose mind is playing the most tricks? Clues are revealed, but none of them fit; indeed some of them seem completely contradictory.

Every thread is drawn together in the end, and although I found the ultimate answer deeply unsatisfying, I have to say I enjoyed the journey.

 

 

CARIADS’ CHOICE: JUNE 2022 BOOK REVIEWS

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Rachel Hore’s One Moonlit Night reviewed by Jane Cable

An interesting mixture of a Second World War story and family mystery, the more I read of One Moonlit Night the more it intrigued me.

With her husband Philip missing in action after Dunkirk, Maddie is bombed out of her London home and her only safe option seems to be to take her daughters to the house in Norfolk where Philip grew up. But Knyghton holds its own secrets, including the reason why Philip rarely spoke of it and never took her there.

The characters are beautifully drawn and their reactions to the new arrivals complex, convincing and very much of their age.

Although told mainly from Maddie’s point of view, the story is interspersed with Philip’s dangerous journey across France to escape the German occupiers and return to his family and this adds contrast and an extra layer of tension.

 

Jan Baynham’s Her Nanny’s Secret reviewed by Carol Thomas

I have read and enjoyed the author’s previous books, so I was looking forward to this one; it didn’t disappoint. The female lead, Annie, was likeable from the start, and her emotional journey enthralled me both in WWII and the 1960s. Every character was well-drawn, and every setting transported me in time and place. As the end of the novel drew near, I was desperate for a happy ending, and I loved how the author achieved that without compromising the characters or the lives and emotional ties they had built since the start of the novel. As always with this author, the characters have stayed with me even after the final page was read. It is a compelling read with a wartime romance, enduring love, lies and a search for the truth.

 

Melissa Fu’s Peach Blossom Spring reviewed by Kitty Wilson

I listened to this as an audiobook and absolutely loved every second. A sweeping epic of a novel, it had me thoroughly emotionally invested as Mei Lin struggles to survive China at a time of huge upheaval, escapes to Taiwan with her son and has to begin her life again with very little support and danger around every corner. An evocative and skilfully written book that will stay with me for a very long time, and that I intend to buy in paperback so I can revisit it again in the future.

 

Nicci French’s The Unheard reviewed by Jill Barry

Whether or not you’ve read novels by this writing partnership, you’ll swiftly be drawn into a masterclass of crime writing. Poppy’s estranged parents are doing their best to make sure their little daughter isn’t upset by being ‘shared’ between them. But mum Tess starts to notice worrying indicators after Poppy’s been staying with her dad. It’s a measure of how clever the writing is that I became convinced demonic possession could be involved.

Tess’s concerns lead her to contact the police, confiding in an already stressed and overworked female detective who really doesn’t have much evidence to convince her anything is wrong. Tess, seeing worryingly violent drawings her daughter produces becomes convinced Poppy has witnessed something of a dark nature. But without proof, the police are becoming sceptical of Tess’s suspicions. And who or what is to blame?

And the moral is? Beware who you invite into your home.

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: DEBORAH CARR ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE BEEKEEPER’S WAR

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I’ve always dreamt of owning a folly and specifically to have one as my writing space. I’ve also always loved the thought of having a walled garden where I could grow vegetables, fruit trees and flowers. I don’t have either of these and doubt that I ever will but there was nothing stopping me putting both of them in a book. It had to be the right book though and when I was writing my latest historical novel, The Beekeeper’s War I knew this was that book.

The Beekeeper’s War is set during the First and Second World Wars when Pru Le Cuirot, a young Jersey girl and her friend go to work as nurses in a beautiful manor house in Dorset being used as a hospital for recuperating injured soldiers. Later in the book Pru’s daughter Emma goes to stay at the manor and discovers an unfriendly beekeeper tending to his beehives in a beautiful walled garden. When Emma arrived she was told to enjoy the grounds but stay away from the folly, which is why she went looking for someone to speak to and ask where the folly is so she that could avoid it.

Not wishing to go where she shouldn’t, Emma decided to ask someone so that she could avoid the folly. She spotted a walled area to her right with a painted wooden door, so she doubled back on herself and went to look inside. It was slightly open so she entered, relieved to see someone working at the far corner. It was a beekeeper. He would know where the folly was, surely.

‘Hello?’ Emma called. He didn’t seem to hear her as he stood pointing a metal container with smoke coming out of it at one of the hives. She walked closer to him and called out to him once again. ‘Excuse me?’

The next thing she knew, she was being pushed roughly from behind. Emma shrieked as she fell forward, landing hard on the stone pathway. She gritted her teeth as pain shot through her right knee, and, sitting up, she turned to see who had attacked her.

‘Buddy!’ the man bellowed. ‘Get down, now!’

Emma saw a large bouncy dog that looked like a cross between a Labrador and something else.

The man tapped his thigh and the dog loped over to him. ‘Are you hurt?’ he asked, hurrying over to her.

Emma raised her hand. ‘I’m fine,’ she insisted, not sure that she was, and rubbed her sore knee. She got to her feet.

The man stared at her. At least she presumed he was staring at her. It was a little difficult to see though the beekeeper’s hat with the black mesh obscuring his face.

‘Did you want something?’ He didn’t seem all that friendly all of a sudden, which was odd, seeing as it was his dog that had pushed her over. Maybe he was simply surprised to see a stranger in the garden.

‘Um, I was wondering if you could help me.’

‘Should you be in here?’

‘Yes.’ She realised that entering the walled garden hadn’t been the clever idea she had imagined it to be.

‘Really?’

She wasn’t sure what business it was of his but, wanting his help locating the folly, decided to appeal to his friendlier side. If indeed he possessed one.

 

The Beekeeper’s War is out on July 21st. Find out more about my books at deborahcarr.org.