Tag Archives: Catherine Balavage

Bright Stars by Sophie Duffy Book Review

Posted on by

I have read all of Sophie Duffy’s books and it is fair to say that I am a fan. Duffy is an exceptionally talented writer and Bright Stars is another jewel in her crown. The story of a group of university friends and the night that tore them apart, Bright Sparks is a well written novel on the bonds of friendship and love. How one little mistake in life can have devastating effects for decades after. Duffy captures the different periods, switching between the past and the present brilliantly. Bright Stars is another great novel from Duffy. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. Hugely enjoyable.

unnamed

Cameron Spark’s life is falling apart. He is separated from his wife, and awaiting a disciplinary following an incident in the underground vaults of Edinburgh where he works as a Ghost Tour guide. On the day he moves back home to live with his widowed dad, he receives a letter from Canada. It is from Christie.

Twenty-five years earlier, Cameron attends Lancaster University and despite his crippling shyness, makes three unlikely friends: Christie, the rich Canadian, Tommo, the wannabe rock star and Bex, the Feminist activist who has his heart. In a whirlwind of alcohol, music and late night fox raids, Cameron feels as though he’s finally living.

Until a horrific accident shatters their friendship and alters their futures forever.

Christie’s letter offers them a reunion after all these years. But has enough time passed to recover from the lies, the guilt and the mistakes made on that tragic night? Or is this one ghost too many for Cameron?

Bright Stars is available here.

 

 

September Book Picks

Posted on by

bookreviews

Geetu Bharwaney Emotional Resilience.

An intelligent and accessible book. This brilliant book helps you develop your emotional resilience. It has practical steps which are easy to follow and understand, leaving you with the tools to perform at your best. It is all broken down well and is an original, unique book that allows you to prepare yourself against challenging situations. This great book gives you the toolkit to be your best at work.

Pressure, stress and annoying problems are all part of life, especially at work.

By developing your emotional resilience you can be bulletproof, prepare yourself against even the most challenging situations, and focus fully on achieving your goals, getting things done, moving ahead and being the best you can be.

With this comprehensive, practical and empowering guide, you will start feeling the benefits of emotional resilience straight away as you learn to:

·   quickly adapt to tricky and pressured situations and get the best from them;

·   be at your best all the time by successfully managing your emotions, thoughts and actions;

·   handle everyday demands, hassles and annoyances with positivity and confidence;

·   realise your full potential – whether on your own or with others.

Being clever, skilled or smart is not enough. To get an edge, stand out and really succeed you need emotional resilience.

Emotional Resilience: Know What it Takes to be Agile, Adaptable and Perform at Your Best is available here.

 

J.D. Robb Obsession In Death.

Another brilliant crime thriller from J.D Robb AKA Nora Roberts. Entertaining and indulgent. These books are hugely popular for a reason.

A crisp winter morning in New York. In a luxury apartment, the body of a woman lies stretched out on a huge bed. On the wall above, the killer has left a message in bold black ink: FOR LIEUTENANT EVE DALLAS, WITH GREAT ADMIRATION AND UNDERSTANDING.

Eve Dallas is used to unwanted attention. Famous for her high-profile cases and her marriage to billionaire businessman Roarke, she has learned to deal with intense public scrutiny and media gossip. But now Eve has become the object of a singular and deadly obsession. She has an ‘admirer’, who just can’t stop thinking about her. Who is convinced they have a special bond. Who is planning to kill for her – again and again…

With time against her, Eve is forced to play a delicate – and dangerous – psychological dance. Because the killer is desperate for something Eve can never provide – approval. And once that becomes clear, Eve knows her own life will be at risk – along with those she cares about the most.

Obsession in Death is available here.

 

Helen Oyeyemi Boy, Snow, Bird.

Now out in paperback. this imaginative and original novel is well worth a read. Read our review here.

The fifth novel from award-winning author Helen Oyeyemi, who was named in 2013 as one of Granta’s best of young British novelists. A retelling of the Snow White myth, Boy, Snow, Bird is a deeply moving novel about an unbreakable bond . . .

BOY Novak turns twenty and decides to try for a brand-new life. Flax Hill, Massachusetts, isn’t exactly a welcoming town, but it does have the virtue of being the last stop on the bus route she took from New York. Flax Hill is also the hometown of Arturo Whitman – craftsman, widower, and father of Snow.

SNOW is mild-mannered, radiant and deeply cherished – exactly the sort of little girl Boy never was, and Boy is utterly beguiled by her. If Snow displays a certain inscrutability at times, that’s simply a characteristic she shares with her father, harmless until Boy gives birth to Snow’s sister, Bird.

When BIRD is born Boy is forced to re-evaluate the image Arturo’s family have presented to her, and Boy, Snow and Bird are broken apart.

Sparkling with wit and vibrancy, Boy, Snow, Bird is a novel about three women and the strange connection between them. It confirms Helen Oyeyemi’s place as one of the most original and dynamic literary voices of her generation.

Boy, Snow, Bird is available here.

 

J.D Robb Devoted In Death

Another entertaining thriller. A must read and destined to become a film (we hope).

It’s a new year in New York city, and two star-crossed lovers have just discovered an insatiable appetite…for murder.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas has witnessed some grisly crimes in her career and she knows just how dark things can get on the streets. But when a much-loved musician is found dead, Eve soon realises that his murder is part of a horrifying killing spree, stretching right across the country.

Now the killers have reached New York, and they’ve found themselves another victim. Eve knows she only has a couple of days to save a young girl’s life, and to stop the killers before their sadistic games escalate. Eve’s husband Roarke is ready to put his brains and his considerable resources behind the search. But even as the couple works closely together, time is running out…

Devoted in Death is available here.

 

 

Anne Hathaway Losing Roles To Younger Actresses At Grand Age of 32

Posted on by

AnneHathawayAAFeb09Being an actor is hard and being an actress even more so. An actresses career used to be over by the time she was 40. Thankfully, there are still some roles for actresses in their 40s now, but it seems that ageing is still a disadvantage for a woman in film. Women have always had a tough time in film but recently more actresses have been speaking out about sexism and ageism. Sometimes with depressing results. In this months Glamour magazine, cover girl Anne Hathaway said that she was already losing roles to younger actresses. “I can’t complain about it because I benefitted from it, When I was in my early twenties, parts would be written for women in their fifties and I would get them. And now I’m in my early thirties and I’m like, ‘Why did that 24-year-old get that part? I was that 24 year old once. I can’t be upset about it, that’s just the way things are.” She admitted.

Anne also says “…there are fewer roles [for women] and the competition is just as fierce as ever. I look around at my peers and I’m so blown away by their talent…and we’re all trying to get the same parts.” She had to audition for her role in The Intern. In the great interview she also says she doesn’t beat herself up as much anymore. Buy this months Glamour and have a read.

 

 

Interview With a Refugee. Destination: Freedom Author Lily Amis Tells All

Posted on by
lily amis, author, refugee

Author Lily Amis

What inspired you to write the book?

When I went through difficult times as a teenager in my early years in Switzerland, I always knew that I would someday share my story with others. I just felt that what my mom and I were experiencing as war-refugees was beyond normal and that I had to become the voice for other silent suffers like us. I felt it was my duty to share our story.

Also as a teenager drawing and painting was my way of self-therapy. But through long-term unemployment the older I got the more writing became my way of self-therapy.

refugeecrisis

You experienced many setbacks. Some were because of war, bureaucracy and  medical reasons. What was the hardest and what did you learn from it?

The hardest setbacks were and still are dealing with bureaucracy. As a kid I was an outsider as a refugee. Than the older I got I felt unwanted as a foreigner. And today as an adult I still feel unwanted and not integrated because of stupid bureaucracy.

That’s why I always say once a refugee, always a refugee. Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. The problem is that I feel homeless and lost. Even though I speak fluent German, Swiss German, English and Farsi where ever I go, I feel invisible, like nobody takes notice of me.

I learned from early years on to fight for my right and this hasn’t stopped until now and yet. I’m still fighting for my right, for my freedom and my acceptance!

refugee

You use Asiacity and EUcity instead of the names of the countries. Why is this?

I used Asiacity for Iran because unfortunately I feel specially these days when you say you’re Iranian you have to deal with injustice and discrimination. People have a negative view on my birth country. They believe what they see and hear by the Media and think my country is evil.

To be honest I was afraid that readers wouldn’t show interest in my story because they don’t like my country. Which is a shame, because my birth city Tehran is actually a great city and Iranian people are the most loving, friendly and helpful people.

I used EUcity for Swiss because I didn’t want to point my fingers out on Swiss and blame them for what the refugee law has done to us. Because the law is similar in most European countries and our suffer could have happen anywhere else to. And we see that now more than ever daily on the news.

What do you think of the current migrant crisis?

There are no words to describe my feelings. I have mixed feelings. I watch the news daily and it breaks my heart to see so many desperate people, young, old, families, children coming to Europe with completely false hopes and expectations. They have NO idea that becoming a refugee basically means giving up on your life, your future, hopes, dreams and goals. You leave your identity, pride and dignity behind for NOTHING in return.

It is also the prove of Karma. Twenty-eight years ago my mom and I left our home because of war. And nobody showed any compassion. Instead we were punished with bureaucracy.

Today Millions of refugees are coming from all kinds of countries and finally EU has to act and the Refugee Law has to change. The governments finally realize that the Refugee law as it was until now can’t function any longer. They have to find a fast and human solution to integrate these people in EU ASAP. That was what I always wanted to achieve with my story: Change the Refugee law which is now happening by a higher power.

Should people use the term refugee rather than migrant?

I don’t understand why people make such a big issue out of these two words. For me a refugee is someone who’s fled from war to stay alive. For me these people are war-refugees who have lost everything they have because of war.

Than we have economic-refugees. For example people from East Europe. They have not much and wish to have a better life and future. Which is absolute legitimate. After all we all are just short visitors on planet earth and should have the same rights for a happy life.

For me Migrants are people who have a life. But for whatever reason they decide to leave their home country and start a new life in another place. They do it legally with Visas by Embassies.

So in other words all the people that we see now coming are Refugees and not Immigrants. Why? Because they have lost their existence and have no place to go back to.

What got you through the tough times?

My mums devoted Love, support, care and believe. She’s an incredibly strong woman. I admire her strength and trust in God. Also my art work was a big help. Drawing and painting was my way of getting through tough times.

I have two examples that I like to share with you. Both were done in 1996, the original size is 50X70 cm. One is expressing that my only hope to ever feel Freedom is death! And the other one is expressing how I felt as a Refugee in Switzerland.

What can be done to help refugees?

I waited for this question for twenty-eight years. The refugee law must be updated ASAP. It can’t go on like this anymore. Toying with peoples destinies must take an end. The whole process of taking or not taking refugees in must be handled faster and fair. And finding a human solution is easier than the EU believes.

Depending on the country the people are coming from and why the decision whether to take them in or not can be done in a short matter of time. It shouldn’t take fifteen years to get a proper residence permit like in our case. It shouldn’t be necessary to get married without Love just to be able to have rights.

And when the EU countries accept these people they should give them a fair chance for a normal life and future. First of all treat them with respect and not like a disease. Understanding, caring, compassion and support MUST be the main priority.

Secondly when they start a life in a new country, they should have all the possibilities that are the fundament for an independent and fearless Life. Such as education and work opportunity.

Because Education means independence and independence means liberty.

Let them become the next Albert Einstein, Freddy Mercury, Bob Marley, Billy Wilder, Marlene Dietrich or Sigmund Freud. Don’t stop them from improving just because of stupid laws and injustice.

But the best HELP of all would be to STOP the War & Weapon business by reach and greedy countries. Than we wouldn’t have any refugees at all. Every human being could stay at home and live a fearless, normal life without suffer and pain.

You returned to your home country. How did that feel?

The title of my book is “Destination: Freedom”. When you read the book you assume that I found my freedom in EUcity (Switzerland) by leaving my hometown Asiacity (Iran). But actually the opposite was the case. When I returned to my hometown Tehran after fifteen years I felt Freedom for the first time in my entire Life. Even though the circumstances were terrible and sad, I was happy and free. I felt welcomed and not like an outsider anymore.

When will the other books be out and what can we expect?

The second book “Definition of Freedom” will be out soon. It is ready for print in English and in German. I think the readers of my first book “Destination: Freedom” will be very surprised to read how my life continued as a former-refugee.

“Definition of Freedom” is a cry for help and the perfect example of how the future of a refugee kid will look like if EU don’t put an end to the refugee system and change the rights of Refugees. Otherwise the future of innocent refugee kids like me are damaged forever and filled with personal and professional setbacks.

Would you believe me if I tell you that it took me twenty-seven years to be finally a naturalized “Swiss”? And that nothing has changed and I’m still desperately looking for Freedom? A place where I feel home, welcome, accepted and integrated? Would you believe me if I tell you that I’m still struggling and fighting for a “normal” life? Well these are just a few topics that I’m sharing with my readers in the second book of the trilogy.

What is next for you?

I’m hoping to find Freedom in a country where I feel welcome.

I’m praying to be able to breathe and live an independent life without fear of existence and the future.

I wish to continue my writing and use my voice for the voiceless. I want to help other sufferers specially Woman who have to deal with issues such as long-term-Unemployment, fear of existence, bullying, emotional and sexual harassment, burn out, depression, social isolation, loneliness etc. which are the topics of “Definition of Freedom” and my third book “Definition of Love” which I’m working on right now.

Interview With a Refugee Destination- Freedom Author Lily Amis Tells All book review

Destination: Freedom is a warts and all book which tells the brutal truth about being a refugee. Lily Amis does not censor herself at all. You learn about her frustration as bureaucracy stops Lily and her mother integrating into their new environment. They escape unimaginable horrors and are held back instead of being helped. If they were helped and given visas they could work and pay tax in the country they arrived in (Switzerland). I hope people in power read this book and some changes are made. This book is timely with the current refugee crisis the world is currently facing. An interesting read from a brutally honest writer.

Destination: Freedom is available here.

 

 

Beneath The Bonfire By Nickolas Butler Book Review

Posted on by

beneaththebonfirebookreviewBeneath The Bonfire is a collection of ten short stories, all set in small town America. Each story shows one thing absolutely: the talent of Nickolas Butler. He is a voice of America and a master of human emotion. He may well become one of the great American writers, if he is not there already. I found it hard to put this book down, the stories drew me in and stayed in my mind. Some were happy and others sad, but all came with a slice of Americana and characters it is hard to forget. It is hard to pick a favourite so I won’t, but I will pass this book along to a friend, such is its power to entrance.

Nickolas Butler’s debut novel, Shotgun Lovesongs, has become an international bestseller and won numerous accolades, including France’s Prix Page/America, previously won by Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding. Now, in Beneath the Bonfire, he demonstrates his talent for portraying “a place and its people with such love that you’ll find yourself falling for them, too” (Josh Weil, author of The Great Glass Sea).

Young couples gather to participate in an annual “chainsaw party,” cutting down trees for firewood in anticipation of the winter. A group of men spend a weekend hunting for mushrooms in the wilderness where they grew up and where some still find themselves trapped. An aging environmentalist takes out his frustration and anger on a singular, unsuspecting target. One woman helps another get revenge against a man whose crime extends far beyond him to an entire community. Together, the ten stories in this dazzling, surprising collection evoke a landscape that will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has traveled the back roads and blue highways of America, and they completely capture the memorable characters who call it home.

Beneath the Bonfire is available here.

 

 

Why a Caesarian Can be a Positive Birth Experience

Posted on by

Catherine Balavage I didn’t give enough thought to how my son would be born. I just knew it would be painful. I would put the baby clothes, we bought, to my bump and wonder at just how lucky we were to be having a child. It felt like such a happy miracle it didn’t even feel real, even as he kicked inside me. Little did I know just how hard his birth would be.

I went into labour with a positive mindset. I am a worrier by nature so I can’t say there were not moments when I did not contemplate the worst, but overall, I was feeling strong, happy and positive. We were so excited to finally meet our son. For such a worrier, I wasn’t that worried. The human race has survived thousands of years. Women have given birth at home, in caves and even in cars. It was going to hurt but I have always had a high pain threshold. I was confident I could manage the birth. So when I went into labour on a Sunday evening I did not think it would be long until we met our child. What followed was over 80 hours of hell followed by something glorious: a C section.

A lot of negativity is said about the C section. Some people claim it is the easy choice, it isn’t, the recovery is a bitch.  Others say it isn’t natural, it may not be ‘natural’ but it has saved countless human lives so hurray for medical science. I, however, have nothing but praise. After 80 hours of labour our son was in distress, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice and his heartbeat kept on dropping. I switched off and just concentrated on the best case scenario, knowing that panic would just make the situation worse.

As the surgeon who did my caesarean explained why I should have an emergency caesarian she looked almost like an angel to me. Within twenty minutes, my son was born. The obstetrician team at Kingston Hospital who did my C section were amazing. Despite being paralysed from the waist down and being naked underneath my hospital gown I felt safe. They were truly wonderful and I still think of them when I look at my little boy. My little boy who’s life they saved. The midwife even stayed with me the entire time, from the morning when my baby was in distress, until just after noon when he was born. There is an obsession with natural birth these days, and as I was wheeled into the theatre I did feel like I had failed, but the only thing that really matters about childbirth is a healthy mother and child. How that happens doesn’t matter in the end, and that is never more true than when they put the baby in your arms. My C section was not only a positive experience, it saved the life of my son. What could possibly be negative about that?

 

 

The Faerie Tree Book Review

Posted on by

The Faerie Tree, book, book review, reviewI loved Jane Cable’s first book, The Cheesemakers House. It was her debut novel and won the suspense & crime category of the Alan Titchmarsh Show People’s Novelist competition in 2011. You can read the Cheesemakers House review here. Cables new novel is even better than the first. Her grasp of human emotion and character description is something to behold. She is a naturally talented writer, destined for even greater things. Cable captures the human condition perfectly, you have the feeling that she could write the phonebook and make it fascinating.

Frost is very proud that Cable is one of our writers and wrote a great series on the making of The Faerie Tree. This in no way influences my review, The Faerie Tree is an enjoyable book of depth. Robin and Izzie are great characters and everyone can relate to a lost love. But will they be reunited? Buy The Faerie Tree to find out.

How can a memory so vivid be wrong?

I tried to remember the first time I’d been here and to see the tree through Izzie’s eyes. The oak stood on a rise just above the path; not too tall or wide but graceful and straight, its trunk covered in what I can only describe as offerings – pieces of ribbon, daisy chains, a shell necklace, a tiny doll or two and even an old cuckoo clock.
“Why do people do this?” Izzie asked.
I winked at her. “To say thank you to the fairies.”

In the summer of 1986 Robin and Izzie hold hands under The Faerie Tree and wish for a future together. Within hours tragedy rips their dreams apart.

In the winter of 2006, each carrying their own burden of grief, they stumble back into each other’s lives and try to create a second chance. But why are their memories of 1986 so different? And which one of them is right?

 

 

Easterleigh Hall At War Book Review

Posted on by

easterleigh hall, easterleigh hall at war, book, book review, review, Margaret Graham, Many authors write about war. Some do it well and others not so much. What sets out the good writers is always the same thing: research. Talent matters of course and Margaret Graham has it in abundance, but she also puts in the valuable research time. Which is why the books she writes that are set during wartime are not only so captivating, but also so educational, So worthy of your time and attention. The characters are wonderful, you want to know more about them and what happens in their life, but the obvious attention to detail brings Easterleigh Hall At War up yet another notch.

Evie is the protagonist, a spunky young woman with ambition but also kindness in abundance. Evie is a wonderful character: a role model for anyone, even in the modern age. The Forbes family and the Brampton family are forever entwined: the Forbes are ‘downstairs’ and the Bramptons are ‘upstairs’, as it were. I don’t want to give too much away but this book is the second book in the series. Yes, a series. So you can really get stuck in and, trust me, you will want to. Margaret Graham is one of my favourite writers. So much so that she is now the contributing editor of this very magazine. I have read many of her books. Grab this one and the first Easterleigh Hall book if you have not yet read it. Then wait with baited breathe for number three. This book is prefect for lovers of Downton Abbey. Someone send Julian Fellowes a copy quick, it will be his next hit.

Easterleigh Hall at War is available here.

 

The second novel in a compelling new series set in County Durham just before and during the First World War.

England is at war and Easterleigh Hall has been turned into a hospital for the duration of the hostilities.

With its army of volunteers and wounded servicemen, cook Evie Forbes is determined that everyone will be properly provided for, despite the threat of rationing and dwindling supplies.

All the while she waits for letters from her fiancé and beloved brother, fighting on the Western Front.

Then the worst happens – a telegram arrives with shattering news. And Evie wonders if she’ll have the strength to carry on…

 

 You can read A Day in The Life of Margaret Graham here.