#Blogtour The Things That We Lost by Jyoti Patel

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Things That We Lost by Jyoti Patel. Winner of the Merky Books New Writers Prize.

About the Author

Jyoti Patel was born in Paris to British Indian parents and grew up in North West London. She is a graduate of the University of East Anglia’s Prose Fiction MA and winner of the 2021 #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize. Her writing has previously been published as part of We Present's ‘Literally’ series and in the anthology for the 2022 Bristol Short Story Prize, for which she was shortlisted. The Things That We Lost is her debut novel. Follow @Jyoti__Patel on Twitter

About the book

This moving coming of age story explores what it means to be a person of colour in Britain today, discussing themes of identity and the stories that we tell ourselves to manage trauma.

Nik yearns to know more about his father, who died before he was born. His mother, Avani, held hostage by her guilt surrounding his death, refuses to share any information with her son. Nik is forced to create a fragmented image of his father, pulled together from hushed whispers at family gatherings and photos stolen from his mother’s bedroom.

When his grandfather dies, secrets are revealed, and everything Nik thinks he knows about his father is turned on its head. Nik makes it his mission to discover the truth about his father and the circumstances of his death, uncovering painful truths in the process.

The Things That We Lost is a beautifully tender exploration of family, loss, and the lengths we go to, to protect the ones we love.

Review

A story of coming-of-age, a discovery of self, identity and truth. Yes, but simultaneously there is the silent repression that walks alongside the story of Nik in the form of his mother and her own truth.

It's interesting how the entire group of family, friends become enmeshed in the structure of the invisible fabric Avani weaves around her life and her emotional lability. A lability that shows itself outwardly as strength - a simmering cauldron of denial and seething emotions. Keeping her son safe from the truth. Or is she?

Is the truth just another word for grief? For me this is what is at the core of the story, not just an examination of culture, lack of acceptance, ingrained systemic racism and inter-cultural traditions that clash with society norms that don't demand or expect certain things in relationships.

It's a fascinating read, but also a compassionate and introspective one. Take note of this name, I'm guessing you'll be hearing more from and by this author in the future. The kind of talent that creates an atmosphere thick with emotion, unspoken words and heavy tension, and lays it all on top of thin layer of ice. Throughout the read you are waiting for the first crack, as the weight of the aforementioned begins to cause irreparable damage or is it just simply a release from guilt and pain.

Buy The Things That We Lost at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Merky Books pub date 12th January 2023 - £16.99, Audio, HBK, EBK. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Island Affair by Helena Halme

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour The Island Affair by Helena Halme. It's a contemporary read, a tale of different types of love, but mainly it's one of grief and trying to find a way to heal.

About the Author
A prize-winning author, Helena Halme writes contemporary fiction with a hint of both Nordic Noir and romance. She’s a former BBC journalist, bookseller and magazine editor. Originally from Finland where she gained an MSc in Marketing, she also holds an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and writes in English.

Helena acts as Nordic Ambassador for the Alliance of Independent Authors and helps other writers publish and market their books.

Helena has published seven fiction titles, including The English Heart, a best-selling Nordic romance, which won an Awesome Indies badge on publication. The bittersweet 1980s love story between a Finnish student and a British Navy officer is now a series, including a prequel novella, The Young Heart, the sequels The Faithful Heart, The Good Heart and Helena’s latest title, The True Heart, book four in The Nordic Heart Series. Helena has also published a non-fiction title, Write Your Story: Turn Your Life into Fiction in 10 Easy Steps. Helena is addicted to Nordic Noir and dances to Abba songs when nobody’s watching.

Follow @helenahalme on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, Visit helenahalme.com
Buy The Island Affair

About the book

Can one summer mend a broken heart?
After the tragic loss of their 17-year-old son, journalist Alicia and surgeon Liam struggle to keep their marriage afloat. During their usual holiday to Åland, the Nordic islands where Alicia grew up, the rift between the couple deepens.

Enter tall, blonde Patrick, with the most piercing blue eyes Alicia has ever seen. When Patrick confides in Alicia about the near loss of his daughter and the breakdown of his marriage, Alicia is surprised to feel an affinity with the Swedish reporter. He’s the only person who understands Alicia.
But secrets held by people close to Alicia give her life another surprising turn and she finds there is a reason to live – and love – again.

Review
This story hit a personal note for me, because our family has been through a really traumatic time in the last six months. We have had to learn to cope with the emotional upheaval caused by grief, especially because it manifests itself differently in each person. Anger, self-destructive behaviour, depression and denial are just a few coping mechanisms, there are plenty more.

I guess that is why the grief element of this storyline drew me in like a moth to a flame. Halme captures the way the death of their young son destroys the relationship and marriage of Alicia and Liam. Neither of them are willing to accept how the other is dealing with the tragedy. Alicia is just surviving on a day-to-day basis and Liam has found comfort in the arms of another woman.

They come to a crossroads and decide to go their separate ways, which is where the tale really begins. Alicia finds common ground and a flirty romantic connection with Patrick. The helpful and willing listener helps her to come to terms with the loss of her son.

The Nordic atmosphere and stoic attitude of the townspeople gives the story a quirky charm. There is an underlying tension of a thriller that flows through this hotbed of emotional turmoil, which isn't an easy feat considering the pain that hovers around the main characters.

It's a contemporary read, a tale of different types of love, but mainly it's one of grief and trying to find a way to heal. Both Alicia and Liam learn that when one door shuts and disappears other ones open up. Whether they choose to walk through the same door is an individual decision. Sometimes tragic events show the fissures in relationships in a brighter light. The tragedy will either tear them apart forever or make them base their relationship on something other than their living child. Perhaps to build upon the deep love they shared for him instead.

Buy The Island Affair at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Newhurst Press; pub date 21 Mar. 2019.

#BlogTour One Small Thing by Erin Watt

It's my pleasure to take part in the BlogTour for One Small Thing by Erin Watt today. It's an emotional roller-coaster ride filled with strong characters, right-fighters, and with a young girl at war with the world and herself at the midst of it all.

About the Author
Erin Watt is the brainchild of two bestselling authors linked together through their love of great books and an addiction to writing. They share one creative imagination. Their greatest love (after their families and pets, of course)? Coming up with fun–and sometimes crazy–ideas. Their greatest fear? Breaking up.

Follow @authorerinwatt (brainchild of authors: @JenSFred and @ElleKennedy)
Follow @HQStories and @HarlequinTEEN
Buy One Small Thing

About the book
Their secret could tear everything apart…
Beth’s life hasn’t been the same since her sister died. Trapped at home by her over-bearing parents Beth needs to get out. So when she sneaks out to a party and meets the boy everyone’s been talking about she’s shocked by their instant connection, and the part he played in her sister’s death.
A forbidden romance is the last thing either of them planned for, but the more time they spend together, the deeper their feelings become. Beth has a choice to make – follow the rules, or risk ruining what she cares about most.

Review
Grief plays a major role in this story, and the different ways people deal with it or don't deal with it, as is the case with Beth. Her inability to accept any kind of emotional reaction about her losing her sister becomes the active volcano in the midst of the emotional minefield surrounding her.

She has to deal with her parents obsessive need to protect her and their refusal to let Rachel go, the killer and his need to be punished indefinitely for her death, and the community and friends who all have an opinion on how she should react to the tragic event.

Watt makes it easy to understand both sides of the coin, when it comes to Beth and her parents. As a parent you are terrified another child will be taken from you, so your reactions don't seem over the top or extreme. You can justify any action or rule that will keep your kid safe, right? Simultaneously you have Beth reacting and rebelling against the restrictions, the oppression and the panic that oozes from their every pore. Normal teenage shenanigans become more dangerous and risky, when seen through the lens of the frightened and angry parent.

Everything takes on a more explosive and destructive element when Beth hooks up with a handsome mysterious young man at a party, who later turns out to be the person charged and sentenced for the death of her sister. Beth struggles to satisfy her instinctual attraction to him, whilst pretending to hate him for what he has done to her family. She finds it difficult to juggle what she knows of him with what she experiences when she spends time with Chase.

This author duo certainly knows how to tug on the heartstrings and make the reader feel the intensity of the emotional upheaval the characters go through. The sign of good YA romance is being able to communicate the confusion, passion, anger, sadness and joy of a young person, which is usually all over the place, in a way that makes the reader connect with the characters and the story.

At the same time Watt also subtly weaves important topics like abuse, peer pressure, isolation and child-parent conflicts, into this tapestry of grief and pain. It's an emotional roller-coaster ride filled with strong characters, right-fighters, and with a young girl at war with the world and herself in the midst of it all.

Pre-order/Buy One Small Thing at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Published by HQ on 28th June 2018 Paperback £7.99 /
eBook £2.99 pub date 26th June 2018 
pub date 26 June 2018 Audio 12.99

About HQ
At HQ we love writers and readers. We publish books we believe will bring pleasure and satisfaction regardless of genre or classification. Our aim is simple. To combine the classic values of readability and quality with a focus on reaching readers directly, while giving writers the support they deserve. HQ is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

The style of the story is reminiscent of The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy and the subsequent Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

Arthur is grieving for his wife. His story is about processing the grief and coming to terms with the woman she was with him and the woman she was before he come into her life.

Isn't that true for all of us or at least the majority of us? There is always an element of ourselves and our lives we keep hidden from our spouses and/or life partners. The life, friends, adventures and experiences before you settle down, and sometimes even after you've settled down. Secret lives and the unknown facets of the person you love.

This is exactly what happens to Arthur. He finds an expensive charm bracelet in a small box hidden in a shoe in his wife's cupboard. A trinket he has never seen before and knows nothing about.

The charms end up leading him on a lifetime of adventures. He discovers so many new things about Miriam, things he couldn't have imagined her ever doing. Ex-lovers, trips to exotic places and even living in India for a while. It makes him doubt the life they had together and the love they had for each other.

In the end this is a story of how Arthur emerges from the darkness and the depths of his grief. How he reconnects with life and in a way with the Miriam he used to know and most importantly the Miriam he knows now.

It's a lovely tale of sorrow, loneliness and despair, which is replaced by curiosity, happiness and a zest for life.

Buy The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.