#PublicationDay The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse

Happy Publication Day! - From the No.1 bestselling author Lesley Pearce comes her own unforgettable story - The Long and Winding Road.

Pic credit/copyright: Charlotte Murphy

About the Author

Lesley Pearse is one of the world’s leading storytellers with numerous No.1 bestsellers to her name and fans who span the globe. A Lesley Pearse book is sold every 4 minutes in the UK and with sales of over 10 million copies, she has dominated the bestseller charts for the last 30 years. Yet Lesley’s success is all the more remarkable because her first book wasn’t published until she was 48, and until that moment, her life was more incredible than any fiction. 

Lesley now lives in Torquay, Devon where she loves to spend time walking on the beach with her grandchildren. A fantastic speaker and committed and passionate fundraiser for the NSPCC, Lesley is a much sought-after guest at literary lunches, library events and festivals up and down the country.

About the book

Born in Kent during the Second World War, Lesley’s life changed irrevocably when a neighbour found her, aged 3, coatless in the snow. The mother she’d been unable to wake had been dead for days. Separated from her brother, and sent to an orphanage, Lesley soon learned adults couldn’t always be trusted, and certainly weren’t always kind. With her father in the Royal Marines, Lesley spent three years alone before her father remarried and Lesley and her older brother were brought home again. They were joined by two other children who were later adopted by her father and stepmother, and a continuing stream of foster children.  

Life at home was difficult and, aged just 15, Lesley headed to London determined to forge a better life for herself. Naïve and innocent, yet always resourceful (a trait that has served her well all her life), she worked her way through many jobs before finding herself pregnant. Sent to a mother and baby home, she was determined to keep her son, before realising she couldn’t give him the life he deserved. Aged just six months, Lesley gave her beautiful son, Warren, up for adoption. She would look for him for the next 50 years.  

The pain of such profound loss haunted Lesley, and she threw herself headlong into the hedonistic world of the ‘swinging sixties’ sharing flats, working hard (promotional work, retail, Bunny Girl), and partying harder, often with East End gangsters and musicians. A short-lived first marriage, was followed by a second to John, a talented trumpeter who played with Dusty Springfield, Lulu and David Bowie (Lesley even inspired lines in Bowie’s A Couple of Kooks). As the 60s turned into the 70s, Lesley found a longed-for sense of home and the start of the decade saw the birth of their daughter, Lucy and a record deal for John. The future looked bright but then the house they lived in was sold – ironically to become a homeless shelter – and the family found themselves homeless. John lost his record deal and his mental health began to suffer. Times were desperate and John became increasingly unwell, until Lesley had no choice but to have him sectioned. They eventually parted.  

Alone once again, and with a small child to support, it was while hitch-hiking to a job interview that Lesley was to meet her third husband, Nigel. She moved to Bristol, had daughters Sammy and Jo and set up a gift shop. It was only then that she began to write and 

the rest, as they say, is history. 

Told with Lesley’s trademark warmth, wit and poignancy, The Long and Winding Road is the extraordinary story of a remarkable woman fighting against the odds to achieve her dreams, and finally winning. Follow @LesleyPearse on X, Visit penguin.co.uk/lesley-pearse

Review

If you have ever wondered where Lesley gets her inspiration for her writing and stories, then reading this should explain a few things. Experiences and memories grow into written tales that engage many readers. The good, the painful, the bad, the ugly and the moments of pure joy somewhere in the middle of all the chaos.

And it does seem quite chaotic at times, probably because there is a lot to tell the reader and not enough pages or time to fit it in. Equally it also seems as if the author has disassociated at a certain level, which makes it easier to deliver facts or her experiences at a factual level without letting them, herself and us be overwhelmed by the emotional impact of many difficult and traumatic events.

Aside from choosing what she hoped would be a safer more secure path for her child, Lesley is changed by the traumatic experience of having a child and giving them up. Simultaneously she also glosses over the tragedy of the loss of her mother, the abandonment by the father and other family members, and the neglect and abuse her new mother is responsible for. It's a miracle she didn't let it all break her.

I think her childhood forged coping mechanisms, lack of trust, and the lack of empathy and love is pivotal when it comes to creating meaningful and lasting relationships. Inadvertently creating patterns of chaos, self soothing behaviours and living alone surrounded by many others.

It's an incredibly open experience and certainly one her readers will enjoy.

Buy The Long and Winding Road at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Penguin Michael Joseph| pub date 29th February 2024 price £22.00 in hardback. 

#BlogTour The Twins of Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor with Lisa Rojany Buccieri

It's a pleasure to take part in the last day of this fantastic BlogTour for The Twins of Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor with Lisa Rojany Buccieri.

About the Author
Eva Mozes Kor was a resident of Terre Haute, Indiana. Following her survival of Auschwitz, she became a recognised speaker, both nationally and internationally, on topics related to the Holocaust and social justice. Eva created the CANDLES organisation in 1985 to locate other Mengele twins and found 122 twins across the world. Ten years later, she opened the CANDLES Holocaust Museum to educate the public about the historic event she survived. A community leader, champion of human rights, and tireless educator, Eva has been covered in numerous media outlets and is the subject of a documentary, Forgiving Dr. Mengele. She passed away in 2019.

Find more books by Eva Mozes Kor on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ushmm.org and candlesholocaustmuseum.org, Buy The Twins of Auschwitz

Follow on Lisa Rojany Buccieri on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit lisarojany.com

About the book
In the summer of 1944, Eva Mozes Kor and her family arrived at Auschwitz. Within thirty minutes, they were separated. Her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, while Eva and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man who became known as the Angel of Death: Dr. Josef Mengele. They were 10 years old.
The Nazis spared their lives because they were twins.
While twins at Auschwitz were granted the ‘privileges’ of keeping their own clothes and hair, they were also subjected to Mengele’s sadistic medical experiments. They were forced to fight daily for their own survival, and many died as a result of the experiments, or from the disease and hunger rife in the concentration camp.

Publishing for the first time in the UK in the year that marks the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation, The Twins of Auschwitz shares the inspirational story of a child’s endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil.

Also included is an epilogue on Eva’s incredible recovery and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Through her museum and her lectures, she dedicated her life to giving testimony on the Holocaust, providing a message of hope for people who have suffered, and worked toward goals of forgiveness, peace, and the elimination of hatred and prejudice in the world.

Review
Eva Mozes Kor is or was a remarkable woman. She dedicated the majority of her life to educating the world on the horrors of The Holocaust, the loss of her family, and the experiences both and her twin sister Miriam were subjected to at the hands of Dr. Josef Mengele. She also made a lot of waves and created discussion because of her choice to forgive her tormentors and the Nazis. She was very vocal, and watching the documentary Forgiving Dr. Mengele will give more insight into this approach to taking back the power for herself and living with some semblance of peace.

Given the level of atrocities, the systematic and well-oiled machinery of murder, which was used to annihilate millions of children, women and men - it's perhaps hard to understand the willingness to forgive. Understandable however if viewed merely from each person and their own perspective. How they live and deal with that burden of pain, torment, memories, nightmares and the survivor's guilt, is not for anyone else to judge. In equal measures neither is the way others deal with the anguish, anger or the way the legacy of trauma has caused epigenetic changes to the genes of Holocaust Survivor's and their children.

Eva Mozes Kor was very clear on it being her personal path, but also one she hoped others could find peace with. I think it is important that survivors share their stories and journeys in an attempt to stop the past from repeating itself, especially given the rise of anti-Semitism in the 21st century. We are seeing fascists, far-right and Nazi parties with politically correct party names sit in governments throughout Europe. Hate crimes against Jews are on the rise, Swastikas and Juden Raus are scrawled on walls, and neo-Nazis march through the streets once again. That's why the eyewitness and survivor accounts are so important.

It's a poignant story that should be shared and retold.

Buy The Twins of Auschwitz at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray: pub date 6 August 2020 | Paperback | £7.99. Buy at Amazon com.

Kill the Silence by Monika Kørra

Kørra probably won't win any awards for her literary style, prose or writing in general, however she certainly deserves recognition for being brave enough to face her demons and put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

For having the strength to lay bare her experiences and emotions, so others can see that there is a life beyond rape. Learning how to cope is a day by day and hour by hour uphill battle.

Her story is an autobiographical account of the horrific kidnap and gang rape ordeal she went through, as a college student.

Not only was she literally grabbed from the streets right in front of her friends, she was a student in a foreign country at the time. No family or childhood friends to support her during the aftermath of her ordeal.

Monika was lucky enough to have made a close-knit group of college friends, who were there to support her. In fact the details of the kidnap bound them together in a way I think outsiders might have trouble understanding.

I think one of the things that stood out for me the most was the treatment Monika received, specifically the way the police and hospital handled her. Lacking in sensitivity, in training, in understanding and in empathy.

The other thing was. and this is in no way a criticism, far from it, was the complete detachment from an emotional point of view.

Completely normal in her situation and certainly a coping technique. Keeping a wall between the flood of emotions and the memories isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as a support system is in place.
Kudos to her for surviving, being strong and sharing her story.

Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for my copy of Kill the Silence.
Buy Kill the Silence at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography

It is certainly an interesting way to write an autobiography. The reader gets to pick which direction they want the life of Neil Patrick Harris to go.

So, for instance you get to the end of a chapter get three choices and pick one. That in turn takes you to another chapter and three other choices.

No matter what you pick, when you start from the beginning again, you never get the same story twice. That in itself makes it an extraordinary read. In essence the read you experience depends completely on your own mood when you pick which direction you want to go in. The power to decide which way to go and what choices to make.

The concept works better digitally, obviously clicking a link is faster and more efficient than searching for specific pages in a hard-copy. I think that would be the only downside to the way it is constructed. Other than that it is quite entertaining.

I think one of my favourite chapters or should I say some of, are the ones about the children. The careful planning, the selection process and the hilarious POTUS  like security scheme when the babies are born.
What is absolutely clear to any reader is just how much Neil loves his husband David, and their children Harper and Gideon. He sounds content, as if all his boxes have been ticked and everything else is just a cherry on top of his very own ice-cream sundae.

My very own voyage with this book was taken at a time of stress and worry. I chose an amusing, happy and fulfilling read, which is exactly what I got. I finished it with a smile on my face and a chuckle on my lips.
I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher via Edelweiss.