#BlogTour Watermarks: Life, Death and Swimming by Lenka Janiurek

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Watermarks: Life, Death and Swimming by Lenka Janiurek.

About the Author
Lenka Janiurek was born in York. At the age of 17 she won the prestigious Young Writer’s Competition at the Royal Court Theatre and subsequently had three plays on at the Royal Court Theatre, a platform play at the National Theatre, and one at the Other Place with the RSC in Stratford-on-Avon. She has facilitated workshops in writing, drama, art, and well-being, in schools, colleges, at camps, and in a women's prison. And worked as a baker, fundraiser, caretaker, green builder and researcher. She has four children. She lives close to the sea in Wales.

Follow @LenkaJ12 on Twitter, on Goodreads, Buy Watermarks: Life, Death and Swimming

About the book
Lenka Janiurek’s story really begins with the death of her mother when she was nine. She is the daughter of a Polish immigrant father, and one of eight children. Across the years she is plagued by the rage, addiction and despair of the controlling men she is closest to. This memoir grapples with identity, of trying to find a place in a world and within a family, that don’t feel like your own.

This remarkable story from the 1960s to the present day, describes the loss of her mother to her relationships with 2 stepmothers, early success as a playwright, extensive travel, and encounters with both extreme wealth and poverty. Throughout Lenka explores and celebrates the beauty and tragedy of living life to the full.

Watermarks is a stunning evocation of alienation, searching, and the restorative power of nature.

Review
This is an autobiographical story, a story from womb, to childhood, teenage and adult years. Filled with experiences that change her life and outlook on it.Tribulations and trials, but most importantly it's about the connection she makes with nature -with water to be more specific.

There are studies on the epigenetics of trauma, whether trauma can be passed down like a legacy from generation to generation. This story made me wonder about the silent impact it had on Lenka, and then in turn whether her own personal trauma - the loss of her mother - is also a factor that may impact her descendants.

Although the story is written in first person, which in itself always gives the reader a closer emotional connection and experience with an autobiographical account, the narrator remains at a distance. The overall style and voice often seems cold, displaced and without any emotional connection.

Then again what is the easiest way to cope with the most traumatic things in our lives. The moments that drive us to our lowest points, and yet somehow we have to move beyond those moments.

The most beautiful and intriguing aspect of this read was the emotional and almost spiritual link Lenka makes to the water throughout. From the childhood memories of family holidays on the beach filled with joy, to swimming in storms, the source of the light from the pond, relaxation and strength by swimming during pregnancy and at the end becoming the giver instead of the taker. Becoming the person who strives to protect the one constant in her life that has always given her peace without asking anything in return.

It's an introspective and reflective read.

Buy Watermarks: Life, Death and Swimming at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Allison & Busby on 21st May 2020 in hardcover and digital formats (paperback to follow in October 2020). Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Hive co.uk. At Foyles.co.uk. At Waterstones. Buy at Allison and Busby.

#BlogTour The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear. It's crime fiction in an historical setting with a compassionate, brave and intuitive main character.

About the Author
Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in Kent and emigrated to the USA in 1990. She has written extensively for journals, newspapers and magazines, and has worked in book publishing on both sides of the Atlantic. The Maisie Dobbs series of crime novels is beloved by readers worldwide always going into the New York Times top 10 on publication. Jacqueline will be available for interviews, events and written features.

Visit jacquelinewinspear.com, Follow Jacqueline Winspear on Facebook,
Buy The American Agent

About the book
When an American war correspondent’s murder is concealed by British authorities, Maisie Dobbs agrees to work with an agent of the US Department of Justice to help an old friend discover the truth.

With German bombs raining down on London, Maisie is torn between the demands of solving this dangerous case and the need to protect a young evacuee. And what will happen when she faces losing her dearest friend and the possibility that she might be falling in love again?

Review
Maisie doesn't just solve a case and present the guilty party, she goes around and picks up every single thread she encounters on the way. It's her way of maintaining a sense of justice in a world full of chaos and injustice. She cares about the people she meets and that no one is left behind.

She is asked to help when a young American correspondent is found brutally murdered. The autopsy reveals evidence of her keeping quite a few important secrets. The question is whether her ambition led her to a dangerous story or was she hiding something worth killing for?

Sometimes the finer and often quite important historical details, which could have influenced the outcome of conflicts, battles or wars given slightly different circumstances, are lost in history books and old newspaper articles. That also includes the political beliefs of people in positions of power, the kind of beliefs that are glossed over as time goes by, because they are controversial and put the rest of the family in a bad light.

People like the head of the infamous and powerful Kennedy family, who is mentioned in this book. He was a nazi sympathiser, as were many members of the British aristocracy including one short-lived British king. These people spent a lot of time hobnobbing with the Nazi elite. The not so subtle influencers who fade away as time speeds forward.

Winspear gives readers the stories within the bigger picture. In this case the bigger picture is the Blitzkrieg in Britain 1940. The story within is a murder that takes places as bombs destroy entire neighbourhoods and kills without compunction.

It's crime fiction in an historical setting. It's also book 15 in the Maisie Dobbs series, which means there are plenty more to read if you like compassionate, brave and intuitive sleuths.

Buy The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear at Amazon Uk. Publisher: Allison & Busby; Hardcover pub date 26 March 2019. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Severed by Peter Laws

Today it is an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Severed by Peter Laws. I have no idea why I haven't come across this author before, but I will be making a point to do so in future. It's an eclectic mixture of theology, faith, thriller and horror.

About the Author
Peter Laws is an ordained Baptist minister with a taste for the macabre. He regularly speaks and preaches at churches and events. He lives with his family in Bedfordshire.

Follow @revpeterlaws @AllisonandBusby
Visit peterlaws.co.uk
Buy Severed

About the book
During a communion service at a village church, the teenage son of a vicar brutally attacks his father with an axe. The horrified congregation watch the son escape and during a frantic police search rumours arise that the boy was involved in devil worship.

Professor Matt Hunter, an atheist ex-minister and expert on religion, is brought in to advise, yet he quickly suspects the church attack may have a far more complex cause. Meanwhile, a ten-year-old boy called Ever grows up in a small Christian cult. The group believe they are the only true humans left and that the world is filled with demons called Hollows, but they’re working on a bizarre ritual that will bring peace and paradise to the world. Soon, the worlds of Matt and Ever will collide in one awful, terrifying night where Matt is thrown into the frightening and murderous world of religious mania.

Review
I have no idea why I haven't come across this author before, but I will be making a point to do so in future.

Matt Hunter is a one-time man of God, who now likes to dabble in atheism instead. Now he spends his time dissecting his own feelings of faith and his knowledge of theology. He is also the go-to man for all things macabre and faintly godly or devilish in any way, which is how he ends up in the middle of an unusual attempted murder in an old church.

A teenage boy attacks the local vicar during a service all whilst mumbling a strange language. At the same time the reader is introduced to a young boy called Ever, who lives in a seemingly idyllic, albeit odd, small community of very religious people. His family. The question is what is their connection to the events in the church?

I think one of the most interesting aspects of Severed is the way the author unfurls the complexity of cult mentality. How is easy it is to be sucked into a theoretical concept, which to the objective outsider may seem completely absurd. I mean how many people, including really intelligent people I might add, do you think would fall for a money making oppressive religion based on the failed sci-fi stories of an ego-maniacal author who envisioned himself as a leader of the 'enlightened' members of the human race. Oh wait, yeh, my bad. Loads of people already have and are paying through the nose for the privilege.

A cult environment is bit like creating the perfect growth habitat for delusional thought fungi. They absorb the vulnerable, the rejected and the lost of our society, whilst the sharks at the top feed on their insecurities, fears and traumas.

This eclectic mixture of theology, faith, thriller and horror makes for a spectacular read. It bandies around the concepts of Christianity, religion, cults and atheism in a way that engages the reader in the narrative like a literary novel, despite the fact it is an action-packed horror read.

When you've read this book take a moment to read the author's note of acknowledgement - emotional and honest words on the thought process behind the story. In a way it says so much more about the story, the author and society, perhaps more than a mere read may.

Buy Severed at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Allison and Busby; pub date 24 Jan. 2019