Category: historical fiction

Extract from The Other Mother by Heidi Field

Suzannah is at home with her fiancé, Alec, talking about choosing a name for the baby that is growing in her stomach. Alec is explaining that he wants to name their little girl her after she is born because he doesn’t want people to know until she has arrived, and he hates keeping secrets. 

Alec reaches for his mug and slurps his tea. “How’s Blair? I hope I get to meet her before the wedding. I’m sorry that my work keeps me so busy, and I haven’t managed to make time for her, yet, but I promise I will when this little one is born. You’ll see a new me.”

“I can’t wait. I’m going to enjoy having you around more.”

I rest my head on his shoulder and wonder how on earth I’ll manage to visit Mason when Alec takes a step back from work. I’ll have to think of a better excuse than a non-existent friend. Maybe my boss at work will need me for meetings or a slight change of duties that require some office-based days. Oh, I don’t know, I’ll come up with something.

The doorbell rings. “I’ll get it.” I stand up and my belly rumbles. “Why don’t you get started on dinner—we’re starving.”

Alec glugs the rest of his milky beverage then picks up both mugs and walks out to the kitchen. I head to the door.

The doorbell rings again. “OK. OK. I’m coming.”

I lift the chain and unlatch the door, pulling it open and holding it ajar. My heart stops.

“Breck!”

“Suzannah.”

I glance towards the kitchen. The tap is running and Alec has switched on the speaker to play some rather hectic dance music.

I turn back to Breck, his tall, slim frame and curly brown hair still the same; it’s only the look in his eyes that’s different. “Shit, Breck, what are you doing here? I thought you were back in Ireland with your parents.”

“I am. I was. I just need to talk. Please. You can’t keep ignoring me.”

“There’s nothing to say. Nothing has changed.”

“Mason is in prison. He confessed to being an accomplice to a serial killer. Jesus Christ, Suzannah, that changes everything.”

I put a hand on my stomach. “I’m moving forward with my life, Breck. You left, remember. Ran away. Abandoned me. Please, leave me alone. If I ever find out anything about Lily, I’ll tell you. I promise. Please, just go.”

Alec hollers out from the kitchen. “Everything alright, Suzannah?”

I call down the hallway. “Just a delivery driver looking for an address. He got the wrong house.”

I eyeball Breck, one hand on my hip. “Goodbye, Breck.”

I close the door and lean back against it, praying he will leave and never come here again.

Excerpt From

The Other Mother

Heidi Field

This material may be protected by copyright.

Here’s the blurb

Suzannah is pregnant with her third child. The first is in prison. The second is dead. How far will she go to keep her unborn baby safe? 

When Suzannah learns she is pregnant, she feels like safety and happiness are finally within reach. Her handsome, successful fiancé, Alec, is over the moon about the baby. He proposes and pampers her. He thinks this is Suzannah’s first marriage and first child, but she’s keeping a few secrets. Actually, a lot of secrets. And they are dangerous…putting Suzannah in a position where she must choose who and what she’s willing to sacrifice to keep her baby and her freedom.

Drowning in her lies, Suzannah is desperate to bury her past, but her ex-husband, who abandoned her years ago, returns, stalking her and demanding to know what really happened to their daughter. When the imprisoned serial killer who lured and groomed her son, threatens to sell his story to the press, Suzannah feels like the life she’d built and the precious one she’s growing, teeter on a precipice. Now the two children she’s hidden from Alec may be the least of her worries.

Pre-order Links

https://amzn.to/4bP39Mu

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https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-other-boy-11

Meet the author

Heidi Field was raised in the beautiful countryside of the South of England with her parents and her two sisters. In her twenties she was a freelance Sports Massage Therapist. She achieved a Degree in Zoology at the age of thirty and then went on to raise two boys and became the stepmother of three more young children. She still lives near her family home with her partner, their Great Dane and the children that have yet to fly the nest. In her early forties Heidi completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Winchester University. She entered the course hoping she would become a children’s fantasy writer and left with a burning desire to write contemporary mysteries and thrillers. Heidi wanted to put relatable people in extraordinary situations, challenge them, push them to their limits and watch them fight for their sanity. The Other Mother is Heidi’s second novel, the next book in The Peasedale Woods Killers series.

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Shining a light on Rome’s street artists: The ‘invisible’ performers hiding in plain sight 

Street artists and performers feature prominently in my novel The Starling Dance. As the evening sky over Rome turns pinky-purple, there’s something special about seeing musicians, mimes, jugglers and acrobats transform the ancient piazzas into their stage to delight passing tourists.

Today’s street artists are not a modern phenomenon. They were a familiar sight in the thriving multicultural metropolis of Ancient Rome, flocking to bustling market squares or busy roads, hoping to be compensated for their entertainment. Some were migrants from faraway lands, others were freed slaves, and some were simply dreamers hoping to make it big by being ‘scouted’ by a member of Roman high society. Then, as today, it was unstable work, dependent on the generosity of passersby.  

I first noticed the street artists while working in Rome as a journalist. My walk to the office took me past the Colosseum and the ancient Fori Imperiali and, on the way, I passed many street performers. That ‘commute’ is something I often dream about now when I’m crammed into the tube at rush hour! 

I’m someone who just can’t sit still, so I was particularly intrigued by the ‘human statues’, who, wearing creative disguises, hold poses for hours on end. There were ‘floating’ genies, cupids, and men with hats, sunglasses but no heads, among many others. I wondered what they thought about while they worked. 

Some mornings, I would catch a glimpse of their real faces as they changed into their costumes. I speculated about their lives and what led them to perform.

By that time, I had developed an initial idea for The Starling Dance – a lonely woman in a foreign country spying on her neighbours – but I needed a love interest to, potentially, turn this character’s fortunes around. I started to imagine chapters filled with colourful street artists to add a magical touch. Perhaps the love interest could be a charming street performer, I thought. 

Like most people who pass by, I didn’t know anything about street artistry, so, before creating a character, I wanted to find out more. I visited the ancient squares and spoke to some of the performers who worked there. At the time, I was thinking that The Starling Dance might be a film so I asked if I could film them, with the idea of compiling an atmospheric montage of their work.   

First, I met a jazz band from Eastern Europe who had been performing in Piazza Navona for years. They could find alternative work, they told me, but they loved music and the freedom performing gave them. They explained about the difficulties they faced with stricter controls on performers and ever-increasing competition. 

I also spoke to a charismatic Charlie Chaplin impersonator. He’d moved from Venice to Rome following restrictions on street artists there. I planned to film his performances but one day he disappeared from the square and I never found him again. 

Then, there was the cowboy who stayed impossibly still in his costume – moving only occasionally and deliberately to impress passersby. He told me about his wife and child back home in Southern Asia, where he sent the money he made. In his spare time, some of the other artists were teaching him to paint with aerosols and stencils – apparently more lucrative than performing. One day, after I’d filmed his work on several occasions, he invited me for coffee and proudly showed me photos of his family. He insisted on paying for my drink – a gesture I will always remember! 

Following my research, I decided to make a street artist a key character in the book – I won’t say too much for fear of spoilers, but I knew I wanted to portray him as a talented person with an interesting and credible backstory.

Including this character allowed me to introduce a vibrant cast of street performers – from the veteran clown who has been performing for decades in Rome’s old town, to the bubble blowers, impersonators and daring flame throwers. The artists in Rome add a touch of sparkle to the ancient city and I hope that I’ve managed to bring that to life in The Starling Dance. 

Here’s the blurb

In a sweltering Roman summer, Laure is trying to start a new life. But can she manage in a city where walls have ears, trees have eyes and even the birds are acting strangely?

It’s been exactly one year since the shit hit the fan and Laure’s anxiety exploded into a full-blown burn out. In search of a new start she’s moved to Rome – pasta, Aperol and sunshine should make everything better, right?

But with her 30s around the corner, la bella vita isn’t going to plan.

1. Her boyfriend, the dreamy Davide, has disappeared (Either Laure’s been ghosted or he’s accidentally fallen off a cliff – hopefully)
2. She wants to murder her neighbours: their arguments are keeping her up all night.

In her local café, Laure meets a handsome stranger and the sparks fly, that is until she finds herself caught in a big lie.

‘Hmmm, it’s not ideal,’ says her best friend Eva, as she puffs on a spliff in the bathtub.

Just as things are heating up, a talking tree enters the fray (as if this Roman summer wasn’t weird enough, just ask the birds).

That tree is Viviano, a dynamic and adventurous street performer who poses around the Eternal City dressed as a tree, well, sometimes a cat too and sometimes a ripe tomato. He could be thriving in life but something is holding him back. One thing is certain though: he wants to meet Laure.

Will Laure find her path? Will she accidentally put pineapple on a pizza? And is there a real love story to be found in the surreal swirls of the Italian capital?

The Starling Dance is a love story full of quirk, humour and heart-warming characters, each trying to overcome their personal obstacles and demons to give themselves a chance at life and love.

Lucy Elena is a journalist who has worked across Europe and Latin America. The Starling Dance is her debut novel. It was initially dreamt up as a film while Lucy was working in Rome and became interested in the street artists she passed every day on her way to work, eventually getting to know them. The artsy film of her imagination never materialised but The Starling Dance was born in the form of a book, with a big dose of love, fun and healing thrown in for good measure.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Starling-Dance-riotous-heartwarming-romance-ebook/dp/B0FL12DQ34

https://www.amazon.com/Starling-Dance-riotous-heartwarming-romance-ebook/dp/B0FL12DQ34

Meet the author

Lucy Elena is a Londoner with a love of languages and exploring new different cultures. For most of her career she has been a journalist reporting across Europe and Latin America. But she has also experimented with career forays into pasta making (yes, like an Italian nonna) and teaching. Lucy has always loved dreaming up and telling stories and The Starling Dance is her debut novel. When not writing or working, Lucy enjoys spending time with friends and family, trying out new foods and pretending she can play the ukulele.

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Here’s the blurb

New Year’s Eve, 2019

While everyone else is popping champagne corks and ringing in a new decade, Alison—The Accidental Plus One—is crammed into a flying tin can somewhere over the Equator, obsessing over whether she remembered to lock the front door. 

Can she really uproot her life halfway across the world—again? 

Rural calm was sweet while it lasted, but when her partner’s job prospects dwindle, the lure of a new adventure on the far side of the planet proves irresistible. 

This time, she promises herself it’ll be easy. Fewer things to pack. No dog to uproot. Renting rather than buying. And before she knows it, Alison is heading for a land of giant spiders, the world’s longest lockdown and a place where strangers call you mate. 

The Accidental Plus One Down Under is a heartwarming and humorous memoir that proves sometimes love leads us on the most unpredictable journeys. 

Perfect for fans of:

.           Real-life expat tales

.           Heartwarming stories of starting over

If you love stories about the ups-and-downs of life far from home, you won’t want to miss this next hilarious chapter!

Book 2 of the Plus One series. 

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Accidental-Plus-One-Down-Under-ebook/dp/B0FRT3ZY64

https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Plus-One-Down-Under-ebook/dp/B0FRT3ZY64

My Review

The Accidental Plus One Down Under is a memoir of the author’s time living in Australia and her many travels while there, to New Zealand, the UK and Canada. For those who like food, travel, and knowing how much everything costs to achieve those goals, this could well be the book for you.

The memoir is at its strongest in the closing chapters, where the author is saying a farewell (for now) to Australia and takes a journey across the vastness of Australia via train. There, I feel the author’s love for the location really shines through.

I also found the chapters on Australia’s Lockdown intriguing, but lacking in enough detail for my nerdy need to equate my experiences in the UK with those in Australia.

This is a book for those who love to travel, or for those who love to travel from their armchair.

Meet the author

Alison Ripley Cubitt is a multi-genre author who started her writing career by winning first prize in a writing competition with a pony book. Some years later, she left New Zealand with the ability to make a white sauce without a recipe, carry three plates at once, and ride a horse (though not at the same time). Dreaming of becoming a copywriter, she landed a job as the receptionist in an advertising agency in Sydney that made the TV series Mad Men’s work culture look tame.

But after two and half years, the lure of London proved too hard to resist, and she left Australia. Landing in London at the right time, she got her break in television production and lasted 15 years, working on Channel 4’s anarchic The Big Breakfast and at Walt Disney and the BBC.

For the past five and a half years, she has divided her time between Melbourne, Australia and Jane Austen country, England.

Her published non-fiction includes travel guides and memoirs. Her fiction includes screenplays, short stories and thrillers. The Accidental Plus One Down Under: Travel Tales from a Trailing Spouse (Book 2) is her tenth book.

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https://www.lambertnagle.com

Here’s the blurb

1594, Bishopsgate Ward, London. Within the walls and without, unease and uncertainty lurk beneath the noise and bustle of a smoky, teeming city.

Matthew Cutler, newly widowed and caring for two spirited daughters, takes his position as constable for the parish of Spitalfields very seriously. So when Paulo Brisco, a quiet Venetian perfumer is found brutally murdered in his own shop, Cutler throws himself into his first major crime, and one which threatens to set all Bishopsgate alight. 🔥

Being a humble parish constable, Matthew Cutler’s powers are slight – and yet he possesses a skill which most others do not. As a former actor he can employ disguise, to considerable effect and to his unique advantage…

Plunged into a treacherous world of notorious rakes, angry tradesmen and a community seething with anti-foreigner sentiment and suspicion, Cutler must decipher shattered clues and confront a killer whose motive remains a baffling mystery – until the very last.

Step into the dangerous world of Elizabethan London with this cracking murder mystery!🩸🔍

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/DeathStranger

My Review

Death of a Stranger introduces the reader to Matthew Cutler, a former player and now a widower, working as a constable of his parish, under the guidance of his father-in-law. Matthew is a likeable character as he navigates Elizabethan London. He has to contend with some quite tricky situations too, as well as trying to solve the mystery of who our killer is.

We are treated to a depiction of Elizabethan London, after a resurgence of the pestilence, and with the memory of the Spanish Armada still fresh in everyone’s mind. This is a time of unease and suspicion, alongside the rigid social strictures of the era.

The attempt to solve the mystery takes the reader on quite the journey through the Elizabethan underworld, as well as into high society, a society Matthew is effectively barred from, although there is an intriguing solution to it. At points, it feels as though anyone could be the murderer, from the lowest to the highest, and then many others in between. Matthew does not lack for suspects, but he does struggle to find the killer, even when someone is sent to effectively stop his investigation.

There is no doubt that I don’t understand much about the Elizabethan justice system, and it’s possible that some of the nuances may have passed me by, but I did enjoy this historical mystery, which contains the elements I’d expect from a story set in the era. An enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading more by the author.

Meet the author

A writer for over forty years, John Pilkington was born in Lancashire and worked at many jobs including laboratory assistant, farm worker, weaver, shipping clerk, picture frame-maker and cabaret musician before taking a degree in Drama and English and finding his true 2 vocation. He has since written plays for radio and theatre, television scripts for a BBC soap, a short-lived children’s series and numerous works of historical fiction, concentrating now on the Tudor and Stuart eras. He also ventured into speculative fiction with his biography of Shakespeare’s famous jester, Yorick.

He now lives in a village on a tidal estuary in Devon with his long-term partner Elisabeth; they have a son who is a psychologist and musician. When not at the desk he walks, swims, listens to music and tinkers with d.i.y. projects, and is enjoying being a grandfather.

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Bookbub profile: @jpscript