“… there was something, something pretty terrible… Not just plain terrible. This was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it…” – Dorothy Parker (on turning fifty), The Middle or Blue Period. Fifty is a big age. Neglected artist, Clair Harkin, tries to hide from it on the Greek Island of Symi. But, of… Read More »
People tell me what an awful place Twitter can be – but I have to say my experience is totally different, and I’ve made some lovely friends just through a chance comment or retweet. And that’s where I first came across author (and proofreader) Wendy Janes – I’m so looking forward to reading and reviewing her new… Read More »
When Milla Graham arrives in the picture-perfect village of Buckley, she tells everyone she’s investigating the murder of her mother who died eighteen years ago. But there’s already one Milla Graham buried in the churchyard and another about to be found dead in the derelict family mansion. Obviously she’s lying. Detective Inspector Ben Taylor has… Read More »
I have bit of a “first” for you today. I’m an ex-literature student so poetry doesn’t really frighten me – I do sometimes dip into contemporary poetry, have tried to write it myself on a number of occasions. Hey, I’m even part of a poetry appreciation group with my local U3A. But I’ve never been brave enough… Read More »
Paul Starr, Ireland’s leading cardiologist dies in a car crash with a pregnant young women by his side. United in their grief and the love of one man, four women are thrown together in an attempt to come to terms with life after Paul. They soon realise they never really knew him at all. The… Read More »
This little island has some big secrets… Isla’s got her dream job as head stylist at the most exclusive salon in Edinburgh. The fact that she’s been so single-minded in her career that she’s forgotten to have a life has completely passed her by – until disaster strikes. Out of options, she heads to the… Read More »
Betrayal, injustice and revenge echo down the years… 1940. Olive marries farmer Bill Falla. The Germans occupy Guernsey. All too soon Olive realises she’s made a mistake. Her life changes when she meets Wolfgang, a German officer- but there’s a price to pay… 2010. Natalie Ogier returns to Guernsey to escape an abusive relationship –… Read More »
I really do have something rather special for you today. If you were to ask me my favourite book read this year so far… well, I’d really struggle, because I always do. But one of the very strongest contenders would have to be In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings. If you haven’t read my review, you’ll… Read More »
Let’s have a quick look at what’s coming up for the rest of this month on Being Anne. I’m a little behind on my reviews with all the wrestling with the new site – I hope to have reviews for these two lovely reads done very soon… Tomorrow – as well as my third and final giveaway… Read More »
Can I just start with a massive thank you to everyone for all the shares, tweets and comments yesterday? I was totally overwhelmed – at one point Being Anne was trending on Twitter! – and just couldn’t keep up with the sheer volume. It really made all the work that went into setting up the… Read More »
Hello everyone! I’m delighted to welcome you to the new home for my blog, Being Anne. You’ll still be seeing the same mix of reviews, features, guests, interviews and promotion that was on my previous site, but I hope you’ll agree that everything here looks so much better. The purple background and the sunset were really starting… Read More »
If you’ve arrived here expecting to see the old Being Anne site with its purple background and all the usual clutter, I suspect you might be just a little surprised. I’m just completing some final touches to the new site, and wanted to make it live so that I can get advice and feedback from… Read More »
Fielding Bliss has never forgotten the summer of 1984: the year a heat wave scorched Breathed, Ohio. The year he became friends with the devil. Sal seems to appear out of nowhere – a bruised and tattered thirteen-year-old boy claiming to be the devil himself answering an invitation. Fielding Bliss, the son of a local… Read More »
Forty-year-old air stewardess Emily Forsyth has everything a woman could wish for: a glamorous, jet-set lifestyle, a designer wardrobe and a dishy pilot of a husband-in-waiting to match. But when he leaves her to ‘find himself’ (forgetting to mention the bit about ‘…a younger girlfriend’), Emily’s perfect world comes crashing down. Catapulted into a mid-life… Read More »
A teenage girl is missing. Is your daughter involved, or is she next? Your daughter is in danger. But can you trust her? When Karen Finch’s seventeen-year-old daughter Sophie arrives home after a night out, drunk and accompanied by police officers, no one is smiling the morning after. But Sophie remembers nothing about how she… Read More »