A loan from Steffi, and a readable mix of two distinct habitats on the coast of North Carolina – the marsh, and the town, and the experiences of Kya, the Marsh Girl.
Poems by Amanda Hamilton are interspersed throughout the story, which I found increasingly irritating. But their presence was justified by the end.
Author page: Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
Another insight into a young Black woman’s life in London in 2020. Queenie grapples with difficult family relationships and terrible dates, but solid friends and a strong family see her through the bad times that so often seem to arrive in our mid-late 20s.
Author page: Queenie – Candice Carty-Williams
A little kindness goes a long way.
Don’t judge people based on first impressions.
One of those books where there comes a page and you suddenly, unexpectedly, find yourself welling up.
Publisher page: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
From the Walton bookshelves.
Village England, southern variety, in the late Eighties. Helen and Edward slowly find themselves following the death of their controlling cantankerous mother.
Younger sister Louise, who escaped to London in her late teens, visits from time to time, with an accompanying personal whirlwind that stirs things up.
Helen has a crush on the local solicitor; Edward eventually acknowledges his own homosexuality.
Publisher page: Passing On – Penelope Lively
Loved it.
Have a hanky ready though, if you’re prone to tears.
Author page: Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng