Tag Archives: Maddie Please

SISTER SCRIBES: SUSANNA BAVIN ON WHY WE NEED LIFE-AFFIRMING STORIES

Posted on by

Certain types of books have a way of touching readers on a very personal level. For example, starting-again stories are deservedly popular. Who hasn’t at some point said to themselves, “If I could go back and do it all again…” or words to that effect? Call it a natural thought process based on experience or disappointment; call it pure fantasy. The point is that wondering “What if…?” it is part of the human condition and starting-again novels speak to us in a direct way that we can all relate to. One such book is the wonderfully funny and fulfilling The Summer of Second Chances by Maddie Please. Written with a light touch and plenty of chuckles along the way, this is a witty romp that deals with serious themes that add depth to the story.

Another type of book that touches readers in a similar way if the life-affirming story, the sort of book that touches on the strength of the human heart, and encompasses the resilience of the individual and a basic belief in goodness and hope.

Take Minty by Christina Banach. This is a YA book, but, as an adult reader, I was completely drawn into it. It deals with the difficult subject of death and bereavement and is beautifully observed and deeply moving. As well as tragedy and grief, there is also humour and wit and both the characterisation and the depiction of relationships are both spot-on. The book’s ending is an extraordinary piece of writing, being both heartbreaking and uplifting, and it will take your breath away. In spite of Minty’s central topic, we are very much in life-affirming territory, thanks to Christina Banach’s skill and empathy as a writer. (If this blog makes you buy the book, I’ll know when you are all reading the ending, because shares in Kleenex will go through the roof.)

Recently I read Christmas at the Foyles Bookshop by Elaine Roberts. This is the last in a trilogy set in the early part of the 20th century, about three friends, Alice, Molly and Victoria, with each girl taking centre stage in one of the stories. Right from the beginning, the girl I most wanted to read about was Victoria, whose parents died tragically when she was just sixteen, at which point she had to assume responsibility for the younger children; but I had to wait until the final book to delve into her life and find out the answers to all those questions. Victoria has known her share of heartache and now she faces the challenge of a family mystery. Set against the backdrop of the First World War, Christmas at the Foyles Bookshop is an emotional story, filled with love and loss, friendship and family, mystery and duty, heartache and hope. Elaine Roberts has written a heart-warming and engrossing saga that rounds off the trilogy perfectly. It gradually builds up to a gloriously satisfying ending brimming with that special life-affirming quality that, put simply, makes the reader feel good about the world.

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES GUEST: MADDIE PLEASE ON LIVING AND WRITING IN DEVON

Posted on by

I’m delighted to introduce my good friend Maddie Please. Maddie writes the most hilarious romcoms set in Devon and we met at one of the retreats she runs with Jane Ayres at The Place To Write. I visited her lovely house near Exeter and asked her what it’s like to live and write in Devon.

In May 2015 we moved into our lovely house on top of a hill midway between Exeter and Crediton. We were convinced we were downsizing. (It wasn’t until we actually moved in that we realised we hadn’t.) The house had remained empty for a year before we bought it, and the main decorating influence we inherited was wood chip wallpaper, painted magnolia and apparently stuck on with superglue.

The garden was overgrown and very neglected but we have never regretted the move, and the starry skies at night are wonderful.

The first thing we did when we moved here was build a garden office, which I share with my husband. This means my daily commute is now twenty-five steps; I just counted them.

Occasionally we hear pheasants or pigeons trampling about on the roof. At this time of year the neighbouring fields are busy with the harvest and tractors and farm machinery trundle past our gate, something which is very exciting for our grandchildren when they come to visit.

In our garden office I have my own desk where I work just about every day.

I have s lovely hand painted cushion from my Bestie Jane to make life more comfortable. I am in charge of filling the stationery cupboard too! Any writer will know how much fun that is. I mean going into an office supplies superstore or Paperchase or Smiths and calling it work related is a dream!

Our makeshift shelving got a bit out of control last year so we replaced it with some industrial units from Big Dug. An excellent purchase. I try to keep the boxes of stationery under control but boxes of pencils, Sharpies and Post-it notes are like cat-nip to me!

I’m usually at work between 8 and 9 o’clock and unlike some writers who prefer to work without distraction, I have a wonderful view of the garden and beyond that the Creedy valley. I don’t like working in silence either, so I listen to BBC Radio Devon, which is my daily companion; I love it. Gordon Sparks and the Gordon Hour, David Fitzgerald and his Fighting Fitz competition or Janet Kipling and her Devon Debates – there are enough plot ideas there every day to keep any writer thinking.

I’m often to be found with a vacant expression as I do some important thinking and when I’m using earphones have been known to sing along. Much to my husband’s utter delight. Maybe that’s not the right word?

I occasionally go back into the house to make us coffee and usually by 3.30 in the afternoon, I’m done for the day.

Does the Internet distract me? Well of course. I am an avid Twitter and Facebook user and I have been known to check my Amazon reviews once or twice…

But I do regard writing as a job not a hobby.  My debut The Summer of Second Chances was based on this area with its winding lanes and fabulous views. So was my fourth book; The Mini-Break which takes successful writer Lulu out of her London comfort zone and into the muddy and glorious Devon landscape.

Living here is simply lovely, our local pub is the award-winning Beer Engine, and despite the headline story in the local paper, our neighbours are friendly and welcoming.

My husband has always been interested in researching his family history and found details of his ancestors who had lived nearby in 1674. Perhaps something called us back here?

To us this is the very best place to live and work.

 

SISTER SCRIBES: JUNE READING ROUND UP

Posted on by

Susanna:

Since our own Jane Cable’s Another You has been reissued, I’d like to celebrate the gorgeous new cover by sharing my review – and please be aware that I first read this book long before the Sister Scribes were even thought of.

In places I found Another You painful to read, because the heroine’s unhappy marriage, which is inextricably linked to her work life, was depicted with such understated realism. This is an intriguing read from start to finish, blending romance, domestic problems and a mystery that kept me turning the pages. Present and past seem to merge together… or do they? Above all, this is a story about the long shadows that can be cast by war. It is skillfully written and kept me guessing right to the end. Every time I thought I had worked out the answer to the mystery, something happened to make me question it again, including an unexpected final twist. This is that very rare thing – a book that makes you think.

Of the four books Maddie Please has written so far, Come Away With Me is my favourite. The characterisation feels deeper and more rounded, especially as the two sisters, Alexa and India, come to know and appreciate one another fully as the story develops. The plot is clever, fast-moving and often funny, the humour being derived from descriptions of life on board a cruise ship. Trust me – this story will make you want to enrol for towel-folding lessons! An uplifting, feel-good read with laugh-out-loud moments as well as moments of true poignancy.

 

Jane:

I am fast coming to the conclusion there are two sorts of books in my world; books I absolutely adore and books I read because they are rip roaring successes in the world of mainstream romance. And with a few notable exceptions, rarely the twain shall meet. I’ve been busy trying to analyse why, and I guess it’s the same reason that I’ll probably never write one of those rip-roaring romantic fiction successes – there’s just not enough ‘meat’ in them for me.

Lorna Cook’s The Forgotten Village was a case in point. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a good book and I enjoyed it, but it didn’t make me go ‘wow’. It’s well written with all the best-seller ingredients and if you want a great, light read for the beach then I would urge you to buy it. But to me it all seemed a bit inevitable – I guessed more or less what would happen in both timelines early on, but let me stress again – I still enjoyed the journey. I guess what I’m trying to say is it didn’t challenge me, which was why it earned four stars from me on Amazon and not five.

Other than that my reading has taken a bit of a back seat as I launch one book, complete the manuscript for a second, and start to research a third. But research has led me into a glorious place – the eleventh book of the Poldark series, The Twisted Sword. Set in Cornwall, France and Belgium in 1815 it was perfect for my background reading and I know Winston Graham’s research to be precise so I can rely on his realistic portrayal of the era.

It meant I skipped a large chunk of the series but it was actually quite easy to pick up what was going on – with the help of a family tree in the front of the book. Ross and Demelza travel to Paris during the brief return of the Bourbon regime and the adventure unfolds from there, interwoven with the lives of their older children in Cornwall and Brussels. So far it’s a great read – I reckon one of the best.