The mother's secret

Love keeps us together

Sisters Kate and Georgie have always shared a close bond. While Kate enjoyed the freedoms of youth, Georgie remained at home. But now Georgie is grown up, it’s time she started exploring. 

Love can tear us apart

Their mother Jan loves her daughters with all her heart. So what if she kept them out of sight when they were young? She wanted to protect them.

What if your life was based on a lie?

Maybe there was another reason for Jan’s protective behaviour? If they ventured too far afield, it might destroy the facade of their childhood. This family is about to discover that while lies can cause pain, the truth could destroy them all.

About the author




Clare Swatman is a journalist for a number of weekly women's magazines. The Mother's Secret is her second novel. Clare was Features Editor for Bella and has written for Best, Woman's Own and Real People. When not working on her next novel, she also writes for her local magazine as well as the travel pages for Take a Break. Clare lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and two boys.

My Review

An enjoyable read that whilst easy to read, explores more serious issues such as the loss of a child, bereavement, post-natal depression and child abduction. All these issues are sensitively dealt with and were far more interesting to me than the storyline itself. The story is well-told but to be honest it isn't that different from many other stories out there. I did like the ending and felt a kind of satisfaction that it wasn't the ending that the reader had been led to expect - a kind of non-twist that felt less contrived. I don't want to risk saying any more and risk spoiling it. Definitely worth a read.

Unconvicted

Book Blurb: In a razor-sharp legal thriller, Jack Kowalski must win two challenging trials to save his reputation and his career

Junior barrister Jack Kowalski is crushed. His client Timothy Smart appears to have committed a monstrous crime while on bail – a bail application Jack fought hard to win.

When a high-profile Polish footballer is charged with rape and demands a fellow countryman represent him, Jack must overcome his guilt and get back to work. Before long he takes on a second case, a GBH for instructing solicitor Lara Panassai, who Jack remains desperate to impress. But neither case is what it seems, and Jack will face an extraordinary uphill battle to see that justice is done…

The second Jack Kowalski novel, Unconvicted is a gripping courtroom drama written with the expert insight of a practicing criminal barrister, perfect for fans of William L. Myers, Deborah Hawkins, and Scott Turow.

Links to Book:

Amazon (UK)

Google Books (UK)

Apple Books (UK)

Author Bio:

Olly Jarvis is a writer and criminal defence barrister, originally from London but now working in Manchester. Drawing on his experiences, he writes both fiction and non-fiction with a particular understanding of the pressures and excitement of life in the courtroom. He wrote the highly acclaimed Radio 4 drama Judgement, and wrote and presented the BBC documentary Mum Knows Best. He is also the author of Death by Dangerous. Olly has two children and lives in Cheshire.

Twitter: @OllyJarviso

Olly Jarvis is a writer and criminal defence barrister, originally from London but now based in Manchester.

Drawing on his experiences he writes both fiction and non-fiction with a particular understanding of the pressures and excitement of life in the English courtroom. He wrote highly acclaimed Radio 4 drama Judgement exploring a barrister’s thought processes whilst cross-examining a rape victim. His first novel, Death By Dangerous was long listed for the CWA Debut Dagger.

After leaving University, Olly travelled the world, teaching English, with stays in Paris, Singapore and Indonesia.

Years later, using his knowledge of the Indonesian language he returned to Sumatra where he wrote and presented a BBC documentary entitled Mum Knows Best, which compared two neighbouring tribes, one of which has a matrilineal system of inheritance.


My Review

Interesting book especially if you like Courtroom drama/ Police procedurals. This book has an added extra in that the protagonist is of Polish extraction so as a backdrop there is his relationship to those around him and the prejudice he receives from his peers. There are really three stories in this book and a fascinating insight into what goes on behind the scenes. The cases are obviously not clear cut so there are plenty of surprises along the way. The most important fact that the book deals with is not so much whether the person is guilty or not but that each defendant deserves the best defence until he has been found guilty. Our hero is quite naive and finds this concept difficult to deal with at first. I like the fact that he really is one of the good guys, which is borne out at the end.

Prosecco and promises

 


A feel-good story of self-discovery and love in the face of grief, join Mia in the beautiful Italian island of Ischia. Perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Lindsey Kelk and Lucy Vine.

Since her mother died when Mia was a child, her dad has been her best friend and her idol. Now, the cancer he survived years before is back, and this time there’s no fighting it. To make matters worse her dad’s last request is for Mia to leave him and visit her mother’s family on the Italian island of Ischia so she doesn’t have to be there at the end.
Arriving at the sun-soaked island, Mia is embraced by the warm, crazy family she doesn’t know. While she waits for the phone to ring with the dreaded news, Mia desperately looks for a connection to the mother she never knew. Stumbling upon an antique shop run by the charming Antonio and his grouchy but handsome grandson Salvatore, she throws herself into helping with the shop restoration. As Mia and Salvatore’s bickering soon turns to chemistry, will she risk having her heart broken when she knows what’s waiting for her at home?



A L Michael is a writer, currently living in Watford. She has a BA in English Literature with creative writing, and an MA in Creative Entrepreneurship, both from UEA. She also has an MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes, where she researched the usefulness of therapeutic writing with those in recovery from eating disorders.

She writes books about women who are trying to figure out their place in the world, and who aren't afraid to make mistakes.

When she's not writing novels, she's working as a content writer, practicing yoga, looking at puppy videos or drinking too much red wine.

She is represented by Madeleine Milburn.

My Review

Having lost my own father two years ago, this book was very emotionally charged for me as Mia is sent away to Ischia by her dying father so that she won't be there at the end. This makes the book stand out as something different from the usual chick-lit fare and wasn't at all what I was expecting from the title. It's quite cathartic but I couldn't have read a book like this until recently. I loved the sense of place and the characters but it did feel as if there was a big black cloud hanging over the prose, despite the happy ending. Mia's crazy Italian family bring the story to life and I enjoyed watching Mia's relationship with Salvatore. I also like the way that her step-mother wasn't quite what Mia had thought either. An interesting and poignant read.