#Blogtour Gone With the Penguins by Hazel Prior

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Gone With The Penguins by Hazel Prior.

'From the No.1 bestselling author of Away with the Penguins comes the heart-warming and charming final chapter of Veronica McCreedy's story.'

About the Author

Hazel Prior lives on Exmoor with her husband and a huge ginger cat. As well as writing, she works as a freelance harpist. 

Hazel is the author of Ellie and the Harp-Maker, the #1 ebook and audiobook bestseller Away with the Penguins and its follow-up, Call of the Penguins. Gone with the Penguins is her fifth novel. Follow @HazelPriorBooks on X

About the book

"Emperor penguins defy the odds, and I shall too.” - Still fiery and feisty at eighty-seven, Veronica McCreedy, the very first Penguin Ambassador, is determined to prove that nothing is impossible when you put your mind to it.

Eileen, Veronica’s ever-patient assistant, is content taking care of other people. But when a new adventure calls, it makes her question everything...

Ten-year-old, penguin-obsessed Daisy can’t wait to be reunited with Mrs McCreedy in her huge house by the sea for the school holidays.

When they discover that the local Sea Life Centre is under threat, the unlikely trio are determined to save it and the penguins that live there.

Inspired by the penguins and fuelled by Darjeeling tea and finger sandwiches, they embark on an epic fundraising walk. But soon, their mission becomes so much more and it might just lead each of them to a new beginning...

Review

As I often do with books, I pondered the most on the ending, perhaps because it says the most about this book and the trilogy. There is a clear separation of threads, how they connect and where the disconnect is. You see the human factor, the animal's view - albeit through the eyes of the character and writer, and the environment. I think it's important to note that the environments can also be viewed as two and then again as a third entity when envisioned as a result of current and impending changes.

It's not only a story about conservation, about sustaining the planet for all living species - it's also one about human hierarchy and where society places us in the rankings. Veronica's journey is an example of ageism and being the forgotten group, and how the majority of society is only too happy to appease and quieten older generations. At some level their lack of importance is mirrored in the way the world is only too happy to ignore the Pip's and their environment.

It's a superbly poignant story that doesn't preach or try to whack the reader around the head with truths, facts and realities. It invites you to take a seat on a sweet, often funny and sometimes tongue-in-cheek ride, perhaps with the hope that you will take away the fun stuff and the important messages within.

Buy Gone With the Penguins at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Penguin; pub date 7th November 2024 | Paperback Original | £9.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Ellie and the Harp Maker by Hazel Prior

Today it's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Ellie and the Harp Maker. It's contemporary fiction, a story about breaking free from the chains of our existence and societal rules.

About the Author
Hazel Prior lives on Exmoor with her husband and a huge ginger cat. As well as writing, she works as a harpist.
You can find and follow Hazel at @HaveAHarp on Twitter, Visit hazeltheharpist.co.uk
Buy Ellie and the Harp Maker

About the book
Meet Ellie. She’s perfectly happy with her home and her husband and her quiet life. Happy enough,
anyway. Which is why she’s so surprised to find herself drawn to an extrordinary stranger who
gives her a gift - and a fresh perspective.

Dan. He thinks all he needs to be happy is the time and space to carry on making harps.
Sometimes people buy them, too. But the last thing he expects is for Ellie to walk into his life, a
whirlwind with cherry-coloured socks, bringing a string of surprises into his ordered existence.

As Ellie and Dan get to know one another, they begin to see the world - and themselves - in an
entirely new way...

Review
What comes to mind when you read this is the simplicity of the interactions, the words, the dialogue and structure of the story.

Whilst it is never referred to in the sense of a diagnosis, it's clear that Dan doesn't fit into certain typical stereotypes. He has his own way of living. A perspective through his own lenses, which doesn't necessarily fit with the general overall perspective the majority of the world has.

The author doesn't give it or Dan a label, which I found quite refreshing, because that way every reader experiences him in a different way and through their own frame of reference. His vision of the world and of beauty is envisioned through the works of art, his harps. He doesn't make them to make money, he creates them because he has a calling. That's the only way to explain it. His harps have individual identities, each one forged by hand.

When Ellie stumbles upon Dan and his harps she has no idea how it will change her life. It helps her to open up the door to her own wants, needs and dreams. A life controlled, determined and undermined first by her parents and then by her husband. A possessive and abusive husband who doesn't want her to discover the magic of harps.

On a side-note: Anyone who calls any person, especially a woman Honey-pun deserves to be tarred, feathered, maimed and quartered. I am fairly certain that would drive me to commit the most heinous of crimes. Why did you kill your husband? He called me Honey-pun one too many times.

I couldn't decide whether I liked the oversimplified writing, however when taking the entirety of the story into consideration it helped to portray and tell the story in a way it needed to be told.

It's contemporary fiction, a story about breaking free from the chains of our existence and societal rules. It's also a story about self-discovery and lifting the veil of oppression.

Buy Ellie and the Harp Maker at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.Publisher: Bantam Press; pub date 2 May 2019. Buy at Amazon com.