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The fiction page is dominated this month by three
fantastic novels about Emmerdale at the beginning of the last century,
with the Great War threatening to take away all the men from the
village, leaving the women to do all the work. This is a great new
series from relatively new imprint Trapeze (part of the Orion group,
who also brought us the two brilliant Sanditon books last month), and
I've written about it on the Home Page.
Book
of the Month - Pamela Bell: Christmas at Emmerdale
Published
by Trapeze 1st November 2018

A
wonderful Christmas gift for fans of ITV's Emmerdale and readers who
love heartwarming and heartbreaking stories set in wartime.
August
1914, and a terrible war begins, one that will affect the lives of
everyone in the village of Beckindale. For Maggie Sugden, left to run
Emmerdale Farm on her own while her husband, Joe, is at the front, it
will bring grief and loss but also independence and the chance to find
a place to belong - and perhaps even to love again.
Christmas At
Emmerdale is the first in a sweeping new saga
series, exploring the lives of Emmerdale's much-loved families during
the run up to the Great War.
The
first of these magnificent Emmerdale stories was published this time
last year, but for some reason I didn't know about it and consequently
missed it. I remember the first episode of Emmerdale Farm, with Annie,
Jack and Joe Sugden laying Annie's husband Jacob to rest. You won't
find any of those characters in this novel, which is set in 1914, but
you will find the Sugdens, you will find the Skilbecks, and a trio of
Dingles over from their home, their origin, in Ireland, and hell bent
on causing trouble in the Dales. Pamela Bell has laid the foundations
for the characters that will come, characters that we know and love in
our current seven visits per week to Emmerdale. There are many things
wrong with Emmerdale on TV at the moment - the writers have lost their
way and are making all sorts of textbook and childish errors. Only
Diane and Victoria remain of the Sugdens, but there are plenty of
Dingles, of course. No such problems with this first of three volumes
(soon to be four!), which are in extremely capable hands, and lay the
foundations for a brilliant new family saga in the tradition of the
Whiteoaks by Mazo de la Roche, and the Poldark series by Winston
Graham. All other family sagas in print fade into insignificance with
this trio. I'm proud to have been given the opportunity to review
Christmas at Emmerdale and the two subsequent titles on this page (see
below). The dustjacket designs are brilliant and evocative. These
magnificent books
have filled a huge need in me, to know about the origins of the
inhabitants of Emmerdale, and they are quite superb. I can't wait to
get my hands on Hope Comes To Emmerdale in February 2020!
Pamela
Bell: Spring Comes to Emmerdale
Published
by Trapeze 21st March 2019

World War I wages on, and the families of Emmerdale are trying
their best to move on from tragedy, while the effects of war still
resonate throughout the village of Beckindale. Though grief and loss
permeate, Maggie Sugden, Rose Haywood and the other inhabitants of the
village are finding independence, the chance to make their own
happiness - and even opening themselves up to find love.
Featuring
firm fan favourites like the Dingles, The Woolpack Pub and Emmerdale
Farm itself, this will be a delight for any Emmerdale fan.
'Totally brilliant and gripping -
didn't want it to end' - Amazon reviewer on Christmas at Emmerdale
Like the first in the series, Christmas At Emmerdale, the
second novel explores the lives of Emmerdale's much-loved families
during the Great War and beyond, and how the nation's favourite village
copes with the loves and lives lost.
In
Spring Comes to Emmerdale, the fighting on the Western Front is at last
coming to an end. This second volume in the series is dominated by the
Dingles, with Mick back from the war, his poisonous brother Levi is at the
heart of everything that's bad, and then there's cousin Jonah investing his "lump of
gold" fortune in re-opening the Woolpack with Dot, and helping Mick to
start his garage and car sales business. Rose is still in love with
Mick but her father won't have anything to do with him until he reveals
a terrible secret from his time on the Western Front that somehow
serves to break the ice and bring the families closer together. The
illicit romances and affairs, the burgeoning love between Mick and
Rose, Dot and Jonah and the tensions that still exist as the men return
to the village after their terrifying experiences in the trenches
remind me more and more of the brilliant Whiteoaks saga, and we're
still only on book two! There are babies being born, businesses rising
from the ashes of war and murder (as Levi comes to make his mark on the
village), gossips and family feuds, and the foundations are being laid
for the
coalescence of families that we will come to recognise in subsequent
volumes. The terrifying scenes towards the end of this second volume
are absolutely thrilling and brilliantly written.
Pamela
Bell: Emmerdale at War
Published
by Trapeze 3rd October 2019

The perfect Christmas gift,
full of warmth and nostalgia, for fans of ITV's Emmerdale, and readers
who love heartwarming and heartbreaking stories set during wartime.
Britain
is at war once again and the families of Emmerdale are trying their
best to cope with a new way of life.
Rationing
has been introduced across the country, two million more men have been
called up for service, and blackouts, evacuees and military training
camps have become the norm. In Beckindale, three young women are about
to find their lives changed forever...
Annie
Pearson is working on Emmerdale Farm, while her love, Edward Sugden is
at the front line. Lily Dingle has found purpose in joining the ATS,
though she may get more than she bargained for. And Meg Warcup, now
teaching at the local school, has taken in two children evacuated from
Hull. They've adjusted to their new way of life until one day a German
plane comes crashing down in the village... and changes everything in
the village of Beckindale.
The third novel in the Emmerdale series
transports us to the Yorkshire Dales in the midst of World War II,
exploring the lives of Emmerdale's much-loved families. Will the
nation's favourite village overcome adversity to deal with the loves
and lives lost?
In
Emmerdale at War we've moved from the Great War to the Second World
War, and the lady who will become Annie Sugden is at Emmerdale Farm and
falling in love with Edward Sugden who, after drawing the shorter
straw, goes off to war while his brother Jacob stays behind to work on
the farm. Annie is
convinced that Edward will come back and marry her, but Fate doesn't
always pan out the way we think it will or want it to. Once again the
Dingles are at the centre of just about everything - Mick's lovely
young wife Rose has died suddenly from an aneurism, her daughter Lily
is in the ATS and driving decidedly dodgy senior officers around from the local
training camp, whilst making very poor choices when it comes to her
love life. There's a new village bobby, invalided out to the country,
who takes a secret shine to Lily, who doesn't reciprocate at all. There
are the familiar village gossips, there are tensions, abuse, and
evacuated children. The rebuilt Woolpack is still very much the centre
of village life, although Jonah and Dot have taken their children to
Australasia to give them a view of the world, and they don't return in
this book. Mick has taken up with a rather colourful, bohemian female
artist who is the talk of the village and not very well liked, although
that could all change! No spoilers, but
it's a well known fact that Annie is burying Jacob, her husband, in the
very first episode of Emmerdale Farm, so... This third Emmerdale novel
by Pamela Bell is equally as enthralling as the first two, and paves
the way for familiar names from the TV series to enter the saga. This
is family saga literature at its very finest - I await and anticipate
in the same way I was waiting for and anticipating back in the 1950s,
when Mazo de la Roche was still writing her brilliant Whiteoaks series.
With the Whiteoaks, it was always Renny Whiteoak who dominated the
series. With this brand new Emmerdale series, it's Annie Sugden, just
as it was all those years ago with ITV's Emmerdale Farm. Emmerdale
remains the best soap for me, and this series of books confirms it. The
best romantic fiction I've read so far this century!
As I mentioned briefly above, Hope Comes To Emmerdale will be published
by Trapeze in February 2020. It's written by Kerry Bell, who some of
you will know from the now defunct Soapbox magazine, and the soapbox
website. Kerry has been working hard on Hope Comes to Emmerdale, and
when it's finished, will be back at work on the website. Looking
forward to "Hope Comes" very much indeed, Kerry!
Rachel Sargeant:
The Room Mates
Published
by Harper Collins 28th November 2019
THEY
LIVE IN YOUR HOUSE
University is supposed to be the best time of your life. But Imo’s
first week is quickly going from bad to worse.
YOU SHARE EVERYTHING
A stalker is watching her flat, following her every move, and Imo
suspects that her new roommates are hiding dark secrets…
BUT DO YOU TRUST THEM?
When
one of them suddenly disappears, the trauma of Imo’s recent past comes
hurtling back to haunt her. And she begins to realise just how little
she knows about the people she lives with…
‘Gripping, original and unpredictable’ Alex
Lake
“Twisty and unnerving, Rachel is back with
a thriller that will keep you up all night. Her best novel yet!’ Phoebe
Morgan
‘From the very first page, the intrigue of
this page-turning mystery builds until the gripping climax’ Caroline
England
It's
a fact that relationships sometimes go horribly wrong when people share
with others they don't know or know very little about. Rachel Sargeant
plays on the tensions and the anxieties to great effect in this
absorbing and emotive thriller, which will keep you awake at night if
you're in a similar situation. Brilliant!
Val McDermid:
Insidious Intent
Published
by Sphere 22nd February 2018
A
quiet night on a country road. The stillness shattered by a car
engulfed in flames, and a burned body discovered in the driver's seat.
As the investigation unfolds, DCI Carol Jordan and psychological
profiler Tony Hill quickly realise that this is more than just a tragic
accident. And so begins the hunt for a truly terrifying killer, someone
who believes he is invisible, untraceable and untouchable.
As
other victims are found to have met the same terrible fate, and with
more women at risk, Tony and Carol are drawn into a dark and twisted
web of fear and revenge that will force them to question their own
ideas of justice . . .
Discover
the pulse-pounding new novel from the inimitable queen of crime and
number one bestseller, Val McDermid, featuring two of the most iconic
and unforgettable characters in crime fiction: Tony Hill and Carol
Jordan
It's
a real pleasure to have Tony Hill and Carol Jordan back, and Carol, in
particular, has some ghosts to lay while she takes control od Re-Mit,
the new unit designed to get results on high profile cases where local
CID investigations have drawn a blank. Except that they hit the ground
running with the first case, where a young woman has died a horrible
death before being set on fire in her car by the man who picked her up
at a wedding. The TV series was brilliant because it was based on Val's
books. This new tale by Val is some of her best work, and I absolutely
loved it. (There's a new Hill and Jordan on the way in 2020)
Peter Sissons: The
Rosario
Published
November 2019
Imagine
being flown to a new job at a luxury estate belonging to a fabulously
rich but obnoxious Englishman, in the Catalonian mountains. This man's
bizarre character is hard to handle, but he is paying you handsomely
and you tolerate his rudeness and demands. Then imagine discovering
that he is downright dangerous and now you are trapped. What would you
do next? This is the crisis facing Max, an architect, and Katie, an
expert on 16th-century history, in this hard-to-put-down story of
intrigue and adventure. Packed with murder, robbery, romance and
life-changing discoveries, Max and Katie are plunged into a race
against time across Europe as a long-held secret that spans the
centuries is revealed. Knowledge is a dangerous thing, but when the
ability to rewrite history falls into the wrong hands, the total
domination of a criminal mastermind becomes a frightening reality in
this fast-paced mystery thriller. Building to a shocking and unforeseen
conclusion, The Rosario will grip you until the very end.
Shades
of Dan Brown but as always, it's far better than Dan Brown. and the
premise is extremely intriguing. Peter Sissons (not the late
newsreader) draws you into a web of mystery with consummate ease, like
a spider drawing its prey into the centre of its web. Expertly written
and absolutely mesmerising stuff. You probably won't find it in high
street bookshoips, but it's readily available on the internet, so order
it!
Charles
Dickens: David Copperfield
Published
by Alma Classics Evergreens 19th October 2019

One
of the most famous and celebrated Victorian coming-of-age novels, David
Copperfield charts the adventures and vicissitudes of its eponymous
hero's life, from the misery of his childhood after his mother's
marriage to the tyrannical Mr Murdstone, through to his first steps as
a writer and his search for love and happiness. Along the way he
encounters a vast array of gloriously vivid characters many of whom
number among the most memorable in literature such as the eccentric
aunt Betsey Trotwood, the eloquent debtor Wilkins Micawber and the
obsequious villain Uriah Heep.
Replete
with comedy and tragedy in equal measure, and cited by Dickens as his
favourite child, this partially autobiographical work provides
tantalizing glimpses into Dickens s own childhood and remains one of
the most enduringly popular novels in the English language.
ABOUT
THE SERIES: Alma Evergreens is a series of popular classics. All the
titles in the series are provided with an extensive critical apparatus,
extra reading material including a section of photographs and notes.
The texts are based on the most authoritative edition (or collated from
the most authoritative editions or manuscripts) and edited using a
fresh, intelligent editorial approach. With an emphasis on the
production, editorial and typographical values of a book, Alma Classics
aspires to revitalize the whole experience of reading the classics.
I
had a copy of David Copperfield for Christmas in 1957 in a handsome
blue leather edition that was intended to be kept forever, a gift from
a loving Aunt and Uncle who wanted to foster my growing love of classic
literature. Most of my classics were Regency Classics, and I had Robin
Hood, King Arthur and Lorna Doone, together with a couple of Dickens:
Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, and also Treasure Island.
Regrettably, I didn't keep this handsome leather-bound volume, and I'm
overjoyed to have it back on my shelf courtesy of Alma Evergreens. I
love the stylised design of Alma's paperbacks, and I love the fact that
I have nearly nine hundred pages of Dickens to read over Christmas!
Update: I've just finished David Copperfield whilst waiting for Spring
Comes to Emmerdale to arrive - this has to be my new favourite Dickens!
The characters are sublime - Betsey Trotwood, Little Amy, Agnes, Uriah
Heap, Barkis (who is willing) and Peggotty etc. It's a genuine page
turner, and a great, great story. There is humour of the Victorian
kind, and tragedy as you would expect, set in Victorian Britain as it
is. There is the bullying by Mr Murdstone and his poisonous sister,
both of whom Aunt Betsey treats with disdain and contempt in the most
satisfying way, and she certainly tells them their fortune in a scene
that marks the main turning point in David's life. It's a family saga
of
gigantic proportions. And the good news is that there's a new film out
in January, The Personal History of David Copperfield starring Dev
Patel (?!), Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton and Ben Whishaw - something to
look forward to after reading this extraordinary book. There will
doubtless be a movie tie-in book, but for me, Alma Classics' edition is
all you need. This is Charles Dickens at his very finest, and it's
treated in the finest possible way by Alma. Read it and
enjoy the King of British literature at his very best and most
engaging.
More Alma Classics on the Alma Classics page.
The
small print: Books
Monthly, now well into its 22nd
year on the web,
is published on or slightly before the first day of each month by Paul
Norman. You can contact me here.
If you wish to submit something for publication in the magazine, let me
remind you there is no payment as I don't make any money from this
publication. If you want to send me something to review, contact me via
email at paulenorman1@gmail.com and I'll let you know where to send it.
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The books below all
make brilliant Christmas gifts!








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