#BlogTour Blind Eye by Anna M. Holmes

 It's my turn on the BlogTour Blind Eye by Anna M. Holmes.

About the Author

Anna M Holmes is originally from New Zealand and lives in South-West London with her partner. She holds a BA in English, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism and an MA in Dance Studies. She began writing fifteen years ago, has shown work at the Marbella International Film Festival and her screenplay version of Blind Eye was joint winner of Green Stories screenplay competition in 2020. She released her debut adventure novel Wayward Voyage in April 2021, inspired by the famous female pirate Anne Bonny. Follow @AnnaMHolmes_ on Twitter, Visit annamholmes.com

About the book

Set in the Indonesian rainforest, Blind Eye is a fast-paced political environmental thriller exploring moral predicaments and personal choices.

Ben is an economist whose life is falling to pieces. The last thing he needs right now is to compile a report for the government on sustainable exportation of timber from Indonesia. But he has got to keep the pennies rolling in. 

Everyone seems to have an angle. The Government want trade, the businessmen want low-cost products, the environmentalists want to maintain endangered habitats and one young woman, Yulia, is determined to protect communities. Ben rushes through the report, but then tragedy hits. A community is shattered, and Ben realises, there is no staying neutral. He has a part to play in the global picture.

Review

I think Holmes captures the nature of the beast when it comes to Linda in her role as the staunch activist. They are often so blinkered in their views that they are unable to see the world beyond that. They come off as arrogant and entitled, and for the majority the over-exaggeration overshadows the truth they are trying to communicate to others. Result: everyone shuts down and stops listening.

It makes them not very likeable characters - I can think of a few that fit the same description when it comes to Extinction Rebellion or their offshoot protesting for the insulation of homes in the UK. Perfect example of a valid point or cause being lost in the entitled attitude of privileged activists, who are only causing harm to the very people they are allegedly supposed to be helping - and I say the word help with irony. 

The situation Ben is confronted with is quite similar. The destruction of habitat and species to create  non-essential items. There is no thought to the end result, because in the end only money and profit talk.

I really enjoyed Wayward Voyage by Holmes. This is a completely different read, more of a conservation thriller with a strong drive towards environmental crime. Very much a topic that is in the mouths of everyone from politicians to pupils in school. A reminder of the food chain and the destruction of our ecosystem, which translates into a direct threat of said chain and our survival.

Buy Blind Eye at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎The Book Guild; pub date 22 Sept. 2021. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Wayward Voyage by Anna M. Holmes

 It's my turn on the BlogTour Wayward Voyage by Anna M. Holmes.

About the Author

Anna is originally from New Zealand and lives in the U.K. with her Dutch partner.

Way ward Voyage is Anna’s first novel. She has been fascinated by the lives of women pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, for a long time. Some years ago, she visualised this story as a screenplay before exploring and building their world more deeply as a novel. Wayward Voyage made a longlist of 11 for the Virginia Prize in Women’s Fiction 2020.

Blind Eye an eco-thriller, will be published by The Book Guild in September, so this year, 2021, Anna will have two novels coming out. Her screenplay, Blind Eye, is joint winner of the 2020 Green Stories screenplay competition.  

A documentary about pioneers of flamenco in the UK that Anna produced and directed was screened in Marbella International Film Festival and in London. This passion project ensures a slice of cultural history has been captured. It is available on YouTube and via a portal on her website.

She holds a Humanities B.A, a post-graduate diploma in Journalism and an M.A. in Dance Studies. Initially she worked as a radio journalist before a career in arts management working with U.K. Arts Councils and as an independent producer, dance history lecturer and she has run a dance development agency. 

Anna is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher and enjoys practising flamenco. Writing, dance, and yoga shape her life.

Follow @AnnaMHolmes_ on Twitter, on Facebook, Visit https://www.annamholmes.com/

About the book

Anne is a headstrong young girl growing up in the frontier colony of Carolina in the early eighteenth century. With the death of her mother, and others she holds dear, Anne discovers that life is uncertain, so best live it to the full. She rejects the confines of conventional society and runs away to sea, finding herself in The Bahamas, which has become a nest for pirates plaguing the West Indies. 

Increasingly dissatisfied with her life, Anne meets a charismatic former pirate, John 'Calico Jack' Rackham, and persuades him to take up pirating again, and she won't be left onshore. The Golden Age of Piracy is a period when frontiers were being explored and boundaries pushed. Wayward Voyage creates a vivid and gritty picture of colonial life in the Americas and at sea.

Review

Is there anyone who hasn't heard of Anne Bonny, the woman who earned the right to be mentioned in the footnotes of the Golden Age of Piracy. This is her story, part fact and a lot of fiction, imagined through the eyes of the child and later the fierce woman seeking something more than what society has preordained for her.

'This thing called love could only truly be understood in its absence' - I think this sentence encompasses the woman and indeed her inner struggles. The inability to believe she is worthy and comprehend her own emotional attachments or even the lack of. It describes the close relationships she has with the men in her life.

I really enjoyed the read, but perhaps more so because Holmes manages to create this 3D perception of her main character, which becomes even more intricate when you draw upon historical fact and fictional sources. Who was this woman of great notoriety, who will be forever be synonymous with the greatly romanticised era of piracy, rebellion and political change. 

A woman who demanded a seat at the table and different role for her gender. She refused to be confined and described by sexual objectification and power taken from her through the same avenue. Making a name and taking a stance by becoming one of the boys is an interesting parallel to the world of business and the way modern women inhabit the male centric and patriarchal careers and societies. 

Under any other circumstances and perhaps in a situation where the law had better opportunity to curb her actions Anne would have been perceived and treated as a woman with mental health issues. In yet another perhaps as criminally intelligent and a sociopath. It's interesting how our legacies are framed by the person narrating and writing history.

It speaks volumes that her name, her history and her myth is embedded in books, television and even popular video games. I loved the way the author gave a voice, a story and an ending to Anne. It might not be the one everyone would tell, but it is one that is filled with a sense of compassion, the conflict, the pain and that immense inner determination and drive. It's a really good read.

Buy Wayward Voyage at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Book Guild Publishing Ltd pub date 28 April 2021. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Waterstones. WHSmith. Foyles. Blackwell's. Brownsbfs. Book Depository.