Novelicious - The Female Fiction and Chick Lit Blog

Review - The Perfume Garden by Kate Lord Brown

Reviewed by Debs Carr 

Having chosen Kate Lord Brown's previous novel, The Beauty Chorus as one of my two favourite books of 2011, I was delighted to receive The Perfume Garden because I knew I would be in for a treat. I wasn't disappointed. Emma Temple returns home from an extended business trip several months after the death of her much-loved mother, Liberty, and the betrayal by her first love, Joe. She is lonely, grieving and pregnant with his child and when tragedy strikes she decides to leave her job as London's leading perfumier and move to the villa in the hills of Valencia that her mother has left her in her Will. Emma doesn't know what to expect but when she reaches the rundown villa untouched since Franco's forces tore through Spain in 1936, her instincts tell her that the crumbling, dilapidated house with its overgrown garden, laden with orange blossom is exactly what she now needs. As well as the house, her mother has written Emma letters, one for each special occasion, such one, 'On Perfume', another 'On Love' and so on. Emma savours these letters and opens them as and when the time arises when she needs her mother's guidance. Soon after arriving she meets Luca, a handsome, successful Spaniard whose family has lived in the area for generations. He introduces Emma to his family with mixed results. Some of the locals believe the house is cursed, although others are pleased to see the place being brought to life once again. The house holds many secrets, which certain people believe should be kept hidden.

Novelicious Chats To...Linda Mitchelmore

Interviewed by Debs Carr

1.Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

My ideal average writing day would start after breakfast with four solid hours at the keyboard – without interruption, apart from a strong cup of coffee deposited in silence just above my mouse mat at 11 a.m. by my husband. I would then break for lunch at 1 p.m. which I would eat in the garden with husband/son/daughter/good friends. But that doesn’t happen very often – twice a week in high summer if I’m lucky.

This has always been an ‘open’ house in that we welcome ‘droppers-in’ with no need for anyone to telephone first. So I’m flexible about when I work. I also keep in mind that my husband is not a writer (or a reader for that matter unless it’s books on vintage motorcycles – and nothing wrong with that) so if the weather looks set fair and he fancies a walk on Dartmoor, then I’ll go with him – writers’ bum is not an attractive attribute!

I’m in awe of writers who bake their own bread, keep the house to show-house standards, are always turned out like a catwalk model (and I know a few who do all of those things) and manage at least 4000 words a day. But that doesn’t happen in this house. Something has to give if I’m to get anything approaching an average writing day – which for me is at least 2000 words of some sort of creative writing be it short stories or novels – and in this house it’s the vacuum that gets let off the hook. All this said, if I have a deadline then I do ‘mention’ to friends and family that I will be ‘busy’ for the next ten days or whatever. Usually they take the hint.

2. When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

People I know, no – not knowingly, although as all writers know there is much buried in the subconscious and it is often only after something appears in print that we recognise that man we sat next to on the bus, or a former neighbour, or our mothers.

Celebrities I use sometimes, but only for their hair colour or their eyes or the way they walk – not their characters or their lifestyles. When I start a new piece of work it is always the characters that come to me first, their personalities and their back story – where they went to school, where they lived as children, their parents. Once I’ve got all that I do need what I call a ‘visual’ to ‘flesh out’ my hero/heroine/peripheral character. So, with a view to future writing, if I see a photograph (celebrity or not) in a magazine or a newspaper who catches my eye for some reason, then I cut it out and keep it. Currently, I can hardly close the lid on my box file marked ‘bods’. I’ve even been known to cut out pictures of the models in the Cotton Traders or Boden catalogues. Hair-dressing magazines are good, too.

Review - Pure by Andrew Miller

Reviewed by Cesca Martin

‘Pure’ – a book by Andrew Miller – won the Costa Book Award and is set in the years leading up to the French Revolution.  It is the story of a young engineer, Jean-Baptiste Barratte, sent to Paris to demolish an ancient cemetery – Les Innocents - that is overflowing with the dead. 

A lot of people had mentioned this book to me and I was not disappointed.  The quality of writing was clear to see from the start and I was engrossed.  The bizarre assignment was set and Jean-Baptiste had arrived in the area around the cemetery – where even the food seemed to taste of the dead.  Personally I felt that the story really got going in the second half of this book – up to that point I hadn’t felt there was enough action to keep me completely gripped (you know those books that you run home to be with, that you take to the bath etc).  Andrew Miller was clearly focused on the mundane, the everyday details, the tiny moments in the life of an individual but I was got a little fidgety waiting for something to really happen.   

It is however a master class in writing historical fiction: you can hear, see and smell late eighteenth century Paris and the level of detail is extraordinary -  yet the research is not pushed down your throat.  The clothes, the food, the grim discoveries from the grounds of Les Innocents are brilliantly portrayed – the mummified corpse, her lashes still intact, the terrible discovery of a mass grave of children – it is a fascinating setting for any story.  I found the book educational, entertaining and, at times, disturbing.  If you enjoy books set during this period it is an absolute must-read - a unique novel that focuses on the everyday during a popular period of French history.  If you enjoy historical fiction you will also have plenty to admire.  If you like Arnold Schwarzenegger action movies I’m not sure it will be your bag 

8/10

MORE ABOUT PURE BY ANDREW MILLER

Undiscovered Showcase #20 - Millie in the Middle by Liz Eeles

The twentieth entry of our Top 20 Undiscovered Shortlist is Millie in the Middle by Liz Eeles.

We encourage comment and critique on each entry but any offensive remarks or spam will be removed.

Remember your favourite entry because you'll get the chance to vote after all twenty excerpts have been posted!

Over to Liz Eeles...

MILLIE IN THE MIDDLE (BLURB)

Millie Johnson lives life in the middle lane. She’s middle-aged, middle of the road, and caught in the middle between stroppy teenage daughter Daisy and her elderly Dad who, worryingly, seems to be going off the rails. He’s fallen under the spell of a 73-year-old floozy who’s gagging to get her hands on his ISAs.

If life at home is exhausting, things are no better at PR agency Think Big where Millie is the oldest account manager by a mile. She needs to prove she’s not past it, but that’s hard going when new client Drake Connery, self-help guru to the stars, is such an arse. He’s determined to open a crystal-healing centre in the small Cotswold community where Millie lives and doesn’t care who he upsets along the way.

And then there’s Luke, the new vicar in town, who wants to open a refuge for homeless youngsters, right next door to the crystal-healing centre. Troubled teens and Drake’s elite clientele are definitely not a match made in heaven.

Millie needs to find out more about Luke’s plans and there’s only one way. She goes ‘undercover’ at the church, an almost impossible task for an atheist like her who’s already had an unfortunate run-in with the new vicar.

Aren’t Men of God supposed to be loving, kind and caring? This one can’t stand her...

READ THE FIRST 3000 WORDS OF MILLIE IN THE MIDDLE OVER THE CUT

Novelicious Chats To...Victoria Connelly

1.  Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

I try to write about 1,000 words a day.  I suffer from RSI so have to monitor my time at the keyboard by taking regular breaks and limiting my word count.  I have a gorgeous Springer spaniel who demands two walks a day and we also have 6 ex-battery hens to take care of so taking breaks is very easy! 

We’ve just moved house – swapping the London suburbs for rural Suffolk and I have my own study at last which is bliss!  I like to get up at about seven and get a few hundred words written before taking Molly on a good long walk around the fields and woods.  I then take care of the hens and settle down to more writing before lunch.  After lunch, I write until about five o’clock when it’s time for the second dog walk of the day and, if the word count hasn’t been reached, I’ll work on into the evening.  All this is punctuated by visits to Facebook and Twitter, of course!

 

2.  When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

I sometimes ‘cast’ an actor or actress as the characters in my books.  In The Perfect Hero, my handsome blond actor, Oli Wade Owen, was based – just a little bit – on Rupert Penry-Jones and there’s a lovely actress called Rebecca Night who would be the perfect Molly Bailey in Molly’s Millions.  But I mostly create my characters from pure imagination.  There might be the odd quirk borrowed from myself or indeed from friends but I’d better I’m not saying what!

 

3.  What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

Can I have two, please?  I’m really torn between Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle and Rosamunde Pilcher’s Coming Home.  I Capture the Castle is a delicious novel about a family who live in a crumbling old castle.  It’s wonderfully funny and romantic with midnight swims in the moat, handsome gardeners and an incident in which the hero thinks that the heroine is actually a bear!  Coming Home is a great big sprawling comfort read about a young girl who falls under the spell of the glamorous Carey-Lewis family and their home, Nancherrow in Cornwall.  The characters are so real and the settings are so vividly described.  Rosamunde Pilcher is a magical writer.

Review - Pear Shaped by Stella Newman

Reviewed by Kira Slaughter

Sophie Klein walks into a bar one Friday night and her life changes. She meets James Stephens: charismatic, elusive, and with a hosiery model ex who casts a long, thin shadow over their burgeoning relationship.

He’s clever, funny and shares her greatest pleasure in life: to eat and drink slightly too much and then have a little lie down. Sophie’s instinct tells her James is too good to be true- and he is.

Looking at the cover of this book and seeing the gorgeous light blue background teamed with the swirly pink writing, you’d be fooled into thinking that this is a piece of light-hearted chick lit. Upon reading the book I found it to be heart-wrenching and bittersweet as we follow Sophie in her quest to get over the one guy who broke her heart.

When we’re introduced to Sophie, she is confident, happy and loving her job as a Pudding Developer for a company called Fletchers. I know what you’re thinking: chick lit mixed with talk of puddings sounds like the best book EVER, but it’s not all sweetness and light.

Louisa Reid's Top Tips for Writers

1.  Listen. I’m a terrible ear-wigger, mainly because I find other people’s interactions and lives so much more interesting than my own. Wherever I am, I’m listening and observing and storing away things just in case they might come in useful in a book or a story one day.

 

2.  Have pen and paper to hand by your bed. I have all my best ideas when I’m lying in bed at night and although sometimes I’m too tired to write them down and have to silently repeat them over and over so they won’t be lost before morning, it’s much better if you actually make a note. Some of my notes I’ve made in complete darkness and they are entirely illegible, so maybe switch the light on!

 

3.  Don’t be afraid to use the delete button. Get rid of things which aren’t working, even if you think you’ve just come up with some of the most remarkable prose. If it serves neither plot nor character then it’s got to go. I have trouble with this one!

 

4.  Make mistakes. Start something. Work at it. If it doesn’t go anywhere, it doesn’t matter, you’ll still have learnt a lot from the process. I have heaps of half-written short stories to which I may one day return but currently can’t get to quite work out.

 

5.  Don’t let criticism crush you. It can be difficult if you have rejections from agents or publishers to keep believing that what you’re doing is worthwhile. But if you love writing, you won’t give up on anybody’s say-so.

 

Louisa Reid's Debut Novel is Black Heart Blue. Check out our review here.