One reason I decided to include book reviews in my blog now is that these days it can be difficult (especially for those of us who live outside the UK) to have our reviews posted on a certain large online bookstore. Going forward, I’ll have a review post towards the end of most months – they’ll be short resumes of what I enjoyed in the books, just a few sentences giving my personal opinion, posted in the order I read them.
This week’s books are both in the magical realism genre, but with very different settings and stories.
Patricia Osborne‘s The Girl in the Ticket Office Window is the first in a new timeslip series with journalist Zara Wiseman. (The second was recently published too, and there’s a third on the way.)
My review: Absorbing
Journalist Zara Wiseman is approaching the ticket office window at the station when a flash of light hits her and she finds herself not only in a different era, 1910, but as a different person. Over the next few weeks she is transported back and forward between the two time zones, and begins to unravel a perplexing and dangerous historical mystery.
Patricia Osborne does a good job of creating two different worlds for Zara and making both believable, each with its own issues and conflicts. The book comes to an unexpected (to me!) but very satisfying conclusion – can’t wait for the follow up!
The Secret Library by Amanda James is a standalone story, and like all her books, is set in Cornwall.
My review: Cornish magic
Book editor Lucy’s grandmother has left her the family home in Cornwall. Still grieving, Lucy moves in, finding comfort in living in the middle of Gran’s treasures and possessions. The library up in the attic is full of memories, and it’s there that Lucy finds a box of unfinished editing tasks Gran wanted her to complete. She makes a start, little knowing the magic she is about to unleash – magic that brings her the greatest comfort of all.
This is a heartwarming book, a mixture of magic and fantasy, oozing positivity and providing, as always in Amanda James’ books, an escape from everyday life. Vivid descriptions make the Cornish setting a character in itself.
Watch out for the next review post in a few weeks – one is a translation set in Sweden, the other a truly remarkable book I read just recently.
Happy reading!
