JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The French Gift by Kirsty Manning

A forgotten manuscript threatens to unravel the past …

Fresnes Prison, 1940: Margot Bisset, a former maid from the Riviera, finds herself in a prison cell with writer and French Resistance fighter, Josephine Murant. Together, they are transferred to a work camp in Germany, where the secrets they share will bind them for generations to come.

Present-day Paris: Evie Black lives above her botanical bookshop with her teenage son, Hugo. Nursing a broken heart, Evie receives an unexpected letter; she clutches at an opportunity to spend a magical summer with Hugo on the Cote d’Azur.

It’s here, on the Riviera, that the past envelops them and Evie attempts to unravel the official story of a famous novelist. If she succeeds, a murder from a lifetime ago may be solved.

Inspired by a true story of iconic French Resistance fighter, Agnes Humbert, whose secret journal shed light on a little-known aspect of World War II, The French Gift will captivate readers from beginning to unforgettable end.

Kirsty Manning’s The French Gift is a captivating, female-driven World War II story that switches between 1940s Europe and present-day Paris. The quest to discover a hidden manuscript by a world famous crime writer unravels a decades-long secret between the unlikeliest of friends.

Written in third person, The French Gift switches POV between three women. In present-day Paris, we meet Evie. Still grieving the sudden death of her husband, she is working to showcase an exhibition about her husband’s reclusive and recently deceased relative Josephine Murant. Over the course of the novel, we spend time in Josephine’s POV as she spends time in a French prison during the second World War. There, she meets fellow prisoner and cellmate Margot Bisset, a maid wrongfully imprisoned for murder.

“Laughter and the clink of crystal flowed through the open doors, and gauze curtains billowed in the breeze. Usually she would tie them back, but Madame had instructed her to stay in position. It wasn’t her place to disobey.”

Inspired by true events and meticulously researched, The French Gift has a cracking premise and opening chapter — Margot believes she’s participating in a murder ‘game’ at an elite 1940s party. But when the ‘victim’ actually does get shot, Margot is presumed guilty and immediately arrested.

The French Gift is about the perseverance and resilience of women, and their courage, strength and determination when faced with immense difficulties. Josephine and Margot form a strong friendship over the years that they’re imprisoned, and despite the horrible conditions of their imprisonment, their kinship is a very heartwarming aspect of the novel.

“Until today, Evie had seen this exhibition as a necessary task — like tax, probate, Foundation guidelines and pelvic floor exercises. She needed to seize this opportunity to honour Josephine, and Raph would have wanted her to — of that she was certain.”

Set against the backdrop of World War II, Josephine and Margot’s storyline is immediately captivating. Evie’s storyline is admittedly not as interesting, and I was pleased that the budding relationship in her life took a mostly backseat role in her storyline.

Truthfully, I think Evie was a bit lost in this story. Her storyline didn’t seem as engaging. Even the predictable twist at the end, which is signposted a bit too heavily throughout the novel (the facial scars and the head scarves, as well as the immense reclusively of Josephine kind of gave it away) wasn’t enough to increase my interest in her character.

“She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to right this wrong. The counselling was definitely helping, but he needed time to find his own path through the heavy fog that sometimes seeped in and threatened to smother his days.”

Tender and heartfelt, The French Gift is recommended for fans of historical fiction. Readership skews female, 30+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The French Gift
Kirsty Manning
April 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

Win by Harlan Coben

From the #1 bestselling author and creator of hit Netflix series The Stranger comes a riveting new thriller, starring the new hero Windsor Horne Lockwood III – or Win, as he is known to his (few) friends…

Over twenty years ago, heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family’s estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors, and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.

Until now.

On New York’s Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead not only on Patricia’s kidnapping but also on another FBI cold case – with the suitcase and painting both pointing them towards one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III – or Win as his few friends call him – doesn’t know how his suitcase and his family’s stolen painting ended up in this dead man’s apartment. But he’s interested – especially when the FBI tell him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism, and that he may still be at large.

The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades. But Win has three things the FBI does not: a personal connection to the case, a large fortune, and his own unique brand of justice …

Harlan Coben’s latest thriller Win is a delectable mystery novel, bringing a long-established sidekick into the forefront and exploring two crimes spanning two decades.

Told in first person point of view, this is the first novel with the rich and unsympathetic Win as the protagonist. This is my first Harlan Coben read and from browsing reviews I can see that Win appears in countless other Harlan novels, but more in a supporting role capacity. Fans seem thrilled that Harlan has decided to redirect focus to Win in this new novel.

“We share a name — Windsor Horne Lockwood. He’s the second, I’m the third. He is called Windsor. I, like my beloved grandfather, am Win. I have no son, just a biological daughter, so unless I, to quote my father, ‘up my game,’ the Windsor Horne Lockwood name will end at three. I don’t really see this as any great tragedy.”

With more than one crime to solve, Win is an almost 400-page game of cat-and-mouse. When a reclusive man is found dead in his penthouse apartment, surrounded by two items stolen from Win’s family, there’s a chance this man’s death could unveil the truth behind Win’s cousin Patricia and her kidnapping decades earlier.

Harlan’s strengths lie in his plotting and pacing — he builds tension with every chapter, revealing just enough information to keep you hooked. His writing is tight, and the dialogue, whilst clipped and stunted at times, keeps the story moving at a continued heightened pace.

“The image freezes. I squint and lean closer. I still can’t pick up much, but this much seems clear: Both knew that they were on a security camera and at this point — the point where I’ve asked the image to be frozen — the man we now know is Ry Strauss looks up into the lens.”

Admittedly, Win isn’t a very likeable character, and without being familiar with him, I feel like his personality is a detriment. With how unsympathetic and arrogant he is, he feels inaccessible to a reader, like we care more about the secondary characters and their journey than we do about him.

Win is quite the complex, convoluted read. There are a lot of elements to Win’s debut story — his attack on Teddy Lyons and the fallout, his father’s secrets, his Uncle’s murder, his cousin’s kidnapping, the missing family items, the Jane Street Six, and the dead recluse in a fancy apartment. Did we need everything? Could the plot have been stripped of just one element, so that it wasn’t so easy to get confused about which characters were which? Which mystery belonged to which character? Perhaps.

“The two leaders were household names. In most famous photographs, people search for some kind of extra meaning in the placement of subjects, almost as you would, to stay on subject, with a great painting. You could see that all here.”

Fast-paced and absorbing, Win is recommended for fans of crime, thriller and mystery.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Win
Harlan Coben
March 2021
Penguin Random House Publishers

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly

Georgeanne Woolsey isn’t meant for the world of lavish parties and demure attitudes. So when civil war ignites the nation, she follows her passion for nursing during a time when doctors considered women a bother on the battlefront. She and her sister Eliza venture from New York to Washington, D.C. to Gettysburg, and while involved in the war effort witness firsthand the unparalleled horrors of slavery.

In the South, Jemma is enslaved on the Peeler Plantation, while her sister, Patience, is enslaved on the property next door. Both live in fear of LeBaron, an abusive overseer who tracks their every move. When Jemma is sold by the cruel Anne-May just as the Union Army comes through, she sees a chance to escape – but only by abandoning those she loves.

Anne-May is forced to run the Peeler Plantation when her husband joins the Union Army and her brother enlists with the Confederates. Now in charge, she uses the opportunity to follow her own ambitions and is drawn into a secret Southern network of spies . . .

Based on true events, Martha Hall Kelly’s Sunflower Sisters is an evocative and engaging historical novel set during the American Civil War. At over 500 pages, Sunflower Sisters takes us from the plantation homes where slaves were treated inhumanely, all the way to war-torn New York City and the horrors of the battlefield front. Not afraid to shy away from the tough realities of war, Martha places a female lens on a historical time in American history.

Since reading this, I’ve realised it’s the third book in a series set in this time period (After Lilac Girls and Lost Roses). However, each book is standalone and you don’t need to read either of the others to follow this one.

Sunflower Sisters is written in third person POV and switches between three women affected by the Civil War — nurse Georgy, Peeler Plantation slave Jemma, and the horrid homeowner Anne-May. Martha writes with intimate and unique POV, giving us incredible insight into how these women felt during this short snapshot of their lives. The writing is seamless and draws the reader in immediately, with three very different voices and three women whose lives will heavily intersect by the end.

“As my sister drove on, I opened the little leather book, the virgin paper smooth and white, to find an ivory-coloured silk bookmark, a pretty little magnolia embroidered at the top. I ran one finger down the silk, so much like the lacy underthings he sold at the shop.”

Despite Anne-May’s flaws, all three women are determined, bold and refuse to give up when faced with hardship. During a time when there weren’t very high expectations placed upon women, all three of these characters rose beyond those around them. They’re headstrong and fierce, and young women will find themselves falling for Georgy and Jemma in particular.

I read a lot of historical fiction and it’s rare to have a ‘villain’ as one of the main characters, let alone with their own perspective we follow. It felt quite refreshing to have Anne-May in the story — I feel like she added something unique to the genre and I liked finding out how her story would progress, the good and the bad.

From the detailed notes at the end of the book, it’s clear how much research went into writing Sunflower Sisters. The extensive work that Martha put in prior to writing is evident in every page.

“I stood on the porch overlooking the tobacco fields that ran down to the river, Ma, Pa, Celeste, and Delly bent at the waist over the young tobacco plants. That scene from up there’d take your breath away, the wide river beyond, until LeBaron rode into view, up on his horse with his whip coiled at his thigh, and you remember it was all just a place to keep us chained for their own use.”

Admittedly, Georgy’s story does lag a little bit in the middle, and I felt unsure of her purpose in the book until her path crossed with Jemma.

Although I did really love the romance that budded between Georgy and Frank, Jemma’s love story felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped and I wasn’t sure if it was necessary in the novel. It felt like it was put in to please readers, and not because the story demanded it.

“To meet our ship, Eliza and I boarded the tugboat Wissahickon, whose captain agreed to deliver us…It all seemed peaceful enough below deck, neatly made beds, the sounds of a well-tended ward, sepulchral whispers and a few moans. But I could feel it coming. That peace would not last long.”

Raw, vivid, expertly written and filled to the brim with three-dimensional characters, Sunflower Sisters is highly recommended reading for fans of historical fiction. A sweeping saga indeed. Readership skews female.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sunflower Sisters
Martha Hall Kelly
April 2021
Penguin Random House Publishers

Heartsick by Jessie Stephens

Claire has returned from London to the dust and familiarity of her childhood home, only to realise something is wrong with her partner Maggie.

Patrick is a lonely uni student, until he meets Caitlin – but does she feel as connected as he does?

Ana is happily married with three children. Then, one night, she falls in love with someone else.

Based on three true stories, Heartsick is a compelling narrative nonfiction account of the many lows and occasional surprising highs of heartbreak. Bruising, beautiful, achingly specific but wholeheartedly universal, it reminds us that emotional pain can make us as it breaks us, and that storytelling has the ultimate healing power.

Jessie Stephens’ Heartsick documents three lives affected by heartbreak. Whilst names have been changed and small details have been altered, Ana, Patrick and Claire resemble three very real individuals who have — at some point — felt truly alone in experiences with love. Readers will devour this.

Predominantly non-fiction with a slight amount of fictional embellishment cast through inner dialogue, Heartsick will appeal to all readers who’ve experienced romantic trauma — heartbreak, whether you caused it or were the recipient, isn’t a feeling we easily forget.

“I wrote the book for people who know that a self-help book won’t fix it. No book will. And for the people who know there’s no such thing as distraction because there’s someone living behind your eyes and they shape everything you see. I wrote this book because I know what it is to feel fundamentally unlovable. Like there’s something wrong with you. It is their story — Ana’s and Patrick’s and Claire’s. But it is also my story and our story.”

Written in third person and rotating between the three stories in linear fashion like a roll call, Heartsick reads like fiction and will completely absorb readers. The book captures that visceral experience of a relationship ending. Jessie offers great insight into how these three people felt at these pivotal moments in their relationship. The inner dialogue offers characterisation, as well as emotional observations that readers will be able to relate to. Each of the three main characters regularly reflect on their life, allowing for quiet moments in the book.

Despite being non-fiction, Jessie builds tension throughout each chapter. You experience love building between two people, and then you witness the ups and downs of their relationship, and then ultimately the final downfall. I felt great empathy for Patrick, whose love for his girlfriend is so strong, and it’s clear it may not be reciprocated. And Ana being married to the wrong man but being unable to follow what she truly wants is something I’ll be thinking about for days to come.

“We can’t understand how they tucked everything they once felt for us away into a back pocket and forgot about it. As though it never existed. We keep fantasising that they’ll find their old pair of jeans and pull them on, only to rediscover that feeling they’d misplaced.”

Jessie captures love at different ages. We meet Patrick at university and we stay with him until his early 20s. Claire is also in her twenties, but a little older. And Ana is in her 40s, with a husband and children, and a home she resents being inside. The end of the book offers great reflection from each of these characters, as their stories don’t just end with the relationships breaking down. We witness their turmoil afterwards, and them desperately trying to piece their life back together after it shattered.

Heartsick will either make you feel grateful for the love you have now, or will make you feel like you’re not alone as you currently go through love that’s been lost. Heartache and heartbreak is something all humans should be able to relate to, and understand.

“Heartbreak does not seem to be a brand of grief we respect. And so we are left in the middle of the ocean, floating in a dinghy with no anchor, while the world waits for us to be okay again.”

Raw, relatable and honest, and dripping with emotional insight, Heartsick is highly recommended reading. Anyone who has experienced a broken heart is about to remember it.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Heartsick
Jessie Stephens
April 2021
Pan Macmillan Publishers

The Hiding Place by Jenny Quintana

Some houses have their secrets. But so do some people . . .

Abandoned as a baby in the hallway of a shared house in London, Marina has never known her parents, and the circumstances of her birth still remain a mystery.

Now an adult, Marina has returned to the house where it all started, determined to find out who she really is. But the walls of this house hold more than memories, and Marina’s reappearance hasn’t gone unnoticed by the other tenants. Someone is watching Marina. Someone who knows the truth . . .

Jenny Quintana’s The Hiding Place is a crime thriller about an abandoned baby in a share house, and that child’s search for the truth about her parents.

The Hiding Place switches between three POVs — Connie in 1964, and Marina and Eva in 1991. Marina, who was abandoned as a baby, moves into the house she was discovered in to try and find out who her parents were. Eva, her new neighbour, is an emotionally unstable, anxious woman with long-buried traumatic memories. Slowly, we come to understand how these three stories correlate, and why Marina was abandoned.

“The sky hangs low and claustrophobic and Marina loosens her collar despite the chill. She has an odd, prickling feeling as if she’s being watched, but the houses are as silent as they were last night, their windows shuttered — and when she looks back at number 24, there is no shift in curtains, no one looking out.”

There’s quite a large cast of characters in this novel — a lot of people moving in and out of the storyline — and Jenny captures each character and role with enough unique personality that makes it easy for the reader to follow. There are plenty of rooms in the house, and therefore a lot of threads for Marina to follow in her quest for the truth.

Jenny always crafts a premise that will entice readers. The abandoned baby is not the only crime to be uncovered in this novel, and Jenny captures a claustrophobic, eerie setting very well. What secrets and memories does this house hold? In a way, the house feels like another character in the book, holding on to its own secrets and slowly releasing them when necessary.

One of the things I love most about Jenny’s books is how she concludes her chapters. There’s either something reflective about the ending, forcing you to feel the emotion she’s working to transmit, or it’s a cliffhanger that forces you to keep turning the page because you want to see how that thread continues.

“Was Connie in desperate straits? She wasn’t sure. And perhaps she could solve the problem herself. She had heard that moving heavy furniture might bring on a miscarriage, or flinging yourself down the stairs. There were poisons that would flush the baby clean away.”

Admittedly, Marina does feel like the weakest character of the three. Eva’s personality immediately draws you in — she’s mysterious and plagued by childhood memories. You immediately want to know more. And your heart breaks for Connie. She’s hopeful and ambitious, but incredibly naive. And she’s very much in love. Marina’s search for the truth comes across a bit stiff at times, the storyline blocking her personality from shining. She comes across unfeeling, unemotional, devoid of compassion. She’s determined and I admire that, but I found her characterisation to be lacking.

Additionally, the ending was a bit of a letdown. For such a slow burn of a novel, I was expecting big twists or surprises — neither happened. Whilst some people withheld the truth, the circumstances around Marina’s birth and abandonment weren’t quite as enticing as I’d hoped.

“At school, when she had managed to get there, she had been silent and serene, unemotional, a remarkable musical talent. The bullies hadn’t understood her so had left her alone. At music college, she had taken on a similar persona, staying in her room at halls and avoiding communal areas like the students’ union and bar.”

An engrossing tale of long-lost secrets, The Hiding Place is the perfect rainy day read. Recommended for fans of crime, thriller and mystery. Readers of women’s fiction will also enjoy this.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Hiding Place
Jenny Quintana
April 2021
Pan Macmillan Publishers