Another You - Carol Thomas

A HUGE welcome to my good friend and fellow Apricot Plotter, Jane Cable, as she joins my Christmas Countdown!

It’s lovely to welcome you to my blog, Jane. With Christmas fast approaching, your post and novel offer a timely reminder that, for some, this can be a difficult time of year …

The Faerie Tree opens at Christmas and it’s a desperately sad time. Izzie is newly widowed and she and her daughter are facing their first Christmas alone. But when Claire takes her mum for a festive latte to cheer her up, Izzie bumps into a tramp and is sure she recognises him.

“So who do you think he is, Mum?”
“Someone I knew before I started my teacher training. I was filling in time selling stationery and he was the office manager at one of the big firms of solicitors.”
“Office manager? Wow – I wonder what happened to him?”
I shrug. “People’s lives change. The last time I saw him he was wearing a suit.” But it’s a lie and I know it; Robin was naked – his face buried in a pillow, our duvet twisted around his legs.

Robin spends Christmas on the streets and Izzie spends it thinking about the past. So on Boxing Day she sets out to find him.

I’ve read The Faerie Tree and this emotive scene has stayed with me since. For those who would like to know more, here’s the blurb:

In the summer of 1986 Izzie and Robin hold hands under the Faerie Tree and wish for a future together, but hours later tragedy rips their dreams apart.

In the winter of 2006 Izzie spots a down-and-out on the streets of Winchester – a man who looks very familiar.

The Faerie Tree pieces together Robin’s and Izzie’s stories as they try to create a second chance. But why are their memories of their brief affair so different? And which one of them is right?

Buying links: Amazon

It’s been fascinating for me (and I hope the followers of my blog) to discover how the authors stopping by will be spending Christmas, so I have to ask you, Jane, how will you be spending this festive season?

Since moving to Cornwall we always spend Christmas at our beach house on the north coast. We never let it out over the festive season because it’s so wild and wonderful we just want to be there.

For the last few years we’ve had friends to stay, but this year we’ll be on our own so we can have a leisurely start to the day. But at eleven o’clock we’ll be on the beach, cheering on our neighbours who brave the sea for a festive swim. Every year I say I’ll join them and (so far) every year I’ve found an excuse not to.

After that we’ll pop back home to put the joint (usually rib of beef) in the oven, then it’s off over the cliffs to the pub. It’s normally packed to the rafters for a couple of hours and it’s great to catch up with everyone. We’ll have our meal in the late afternoon and then will probably curl up on the sofa at watch a Christmas favourite, like Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather.

I don’t blame you for avoiding the dip in the sea, and I love the sound of the festive catch up in your local (great picture). Before you go, I must ask you to answer five of my festive selection of quick fire questions:

Black forest hot chocolate or gingerbread latte? Gingerbread latte – every time. We even buy the gingerbread syrup from Starbucks so we can make them at home. I haven’t forgotten I’ve promised you a Black Forest Hot Chocolate though 😉 I forgot to claim this on our recent meet up – you know that means we’ll have to do it again!

Must read Christmas book? Heidi Swain’s. Her Wynbridge novels are so stuffed full of Christmas they’re addictive and over the last few years have become an important seasonal tradition for me.

Favourite Christmas song? Fairytale of New York – it’s festive yet subversive, sentimental and cynical, all at the same time. It’s the only song I’d ever attempt at karaoke – Shane MacGowan’s part, of course.

Who did you play in the school nativity? I was almost always the narrator, and when we progressed to nine lessons and carols I normally read the last lesson. I remember being an angel once when I was very small, but I think I bent my wire coat hanger halo.

Angel, fairy or star on top of your Christmas tree? Owl.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, and though I am sure we will chat again before Christmas arrives, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a very merry festive season. xx

About the author:

Jane Cable writes romance with a twist of mystery. She enjoys Christmas far more now she’s moved to Cornwall where they do it so well.

Discover more about Jane and her work, here: Facebook | Twitter | website | Apricot Plots | Sister Scribes .

Don’t miss author Sue Moorcroft, joining my Christmas Countdown, on Thursday 12th December! xx

Today I am wishing my dear writing friend, Jane Cable, a very happy publication day for her haunting love story, Another You!

I read an earlier version of Jane’s book and so, not only am I super excited for her, I am also delighted to share my review.

The blurb:

Sometimes the hardest person to save is yourself…

Marie Johnson fell in love with The Smugglers pub when she first moved to Dorset with her husband, Stephen. But when Stephen’s wandering eye caused the breakdown of their marriage, and the costs of running the pub started to mount, Marie felt her dreams crashing down around her.

With local celebrations planned for the 60th anniversary of D-Day, Marie is hopeful things will turn around. But she could never have predicted the ways her life will soon be changed forever.

A charming American soldier walks into Marie’s life, but it becomes clear nothing is really as it seems…

Why is Marie suddenly plagued by headaches? Is her American soldier everything he seems to be? Or could the D-Day re-enactments be stirring up something from the past…?

Genre: Romance | Paranormal romance
Published by: Sapere Books

My review:

As I have come to expect from Jane Cable, Another You is a story that makes you think, that makes you question your understanding of what you have read and inspires you to want to read on.

I was fascinated, not just because of the well crafted and intriguing characters but also because of the historical references and the representation of the impact of war. It is well researched, with interesting historical detail throughout.

The characters, like the landscape in which they live, are brought to life well. While there is the question of who the heroine will end up with, I felt the book explored a variety of different relationships between the characters with equal importance.

For me, the central theme was the discovery of self, as the heroine, Marie, as well as others in the story embark on attempting to understand their identity beyond the expectations and issues that have impacted upon their lives.

An enjoyable, interesting read, that turns into a speedy page turner towards the end.

Buy the book here.

About the author:

Jane Cable says, “Perhaps writing is in my blood. My father, Mercer Simpson, was a poet; my cousin, Roger Hubank, a novelist; Roger’s uncle, John Hampson was also a novelist and fringe member of the Bloomsbury Group. And it’s even rumoured that John Keats is somewhere back there in the family tree.

“No wonder that I have always scribbled. But it took me until I was in my forties to complete a full length manuscript. And then another, and another… Writing stories became a compulsive hobby. I could lose myself in my characters, almost live their lives, and I started to long for readers other than my mother and a few close friends to be able to do the same.

“It was reaching the final of The Alan Titchmarsh Show’s People’s Novelist competition in 2011 which made me take my writing seriously. I went to a self publishing conference organised by the Writers & Artists Yearbook and was inspired by the speakers to publish independently.

“My first novel, The Cheesemaker’s House, was published by Matador in September 2013 and tells the story of Alice, who moves to Yorkshire following the breakdown of her marriage and meets her new neighbours from the present and the past. It was a finalist in the Alan Titchmarsh Show’s People’s Novelist competition and won Words for the Wounded’s independent book of the year award in 2015.

“My second book, The Faerie Tree, is a second chance novel also published by Matador. This time the mystery revolves around a couple who meet twenty years after a brief affair only to discover that their memories of it are completely different.

“My latest book, Another You, is OUT TODAY with Sapere Books. Marie Johnson feels her dreams have been shattered, but commemorations surrounding the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day become the catalyst for change she never could have imagined.”

Carol Thomas

Author

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Jane Cable joins my Christmas Countdown!