Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce

A special thank you to to Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.  

London, November 1941. Following the departure of the formidable Henrietta Bird from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles (now stationed back in the UK) is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, is bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It.

When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit desperately needed female workers to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to be asked to step up and help. But when she and Bunty meet a young woman who shows them the very real challenges that women war workers face, Emmy must tackle a life-changing dilemma between doing her duty and standing by her friends.

A light and endearing read, Yours Cheerfully is the second book in the Emmy Lake Chronicles. Pearce deftly balances the struggles and brutality of war with lightheartedness and wit. It is a glimpse into the realities and challenges women faced during wartime.  

Pearce's expressions and capitalization of phrases such as "The Unfortunate Hiccup" or "In It Together" both punctuates her points and is a compliment to the 1940s. Her characters are vivid, endearing, and just plain likeable. Pearce pays homage to the women of this time—their spirit, their unwavering support, and how they stepped up wherever they were needed while their men were away.  

Yours Cheerfully is equally as charming and enjoyable as Dear Mrs. Bird. It is a delightful and humorous read about the women on the homefront and the importance of female friendship.   

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AJ PEARCE studied at the University of Sussex and Northwestern University. A chance discovery of a 1939 women’s magazine became the inspiration for her international bestseller, Dear Mrs. Bird, the first novel in The Emmy Lake Chronicles series. 

Pearce lives in the south of England.

Undersong by Kathleen Winter

A special thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When young James Dixon, a local jack-of-all-trades recently returned from the Battle of Waterloo, meets Dorothy Wordsworth, he's never met another woman like her. In her early thirties, Dorothy has lived an unconventional life. As her famous brother William's confidante and creative collaborator—considered by some in their circle to be the secret to his success as a poet--she has carved a seemingly idyllic life for herself, alongside William and his wife, in England's Lake District.

Dixon is approached by William to do some handiwork around the estate, but he quickly understands that his real responsibility is to keep an eye on Dorothy, who is growing frail and melancholic. The pair form a strong bond, and soon Dixon is witness to the everyday life of this extraordinary family and their unusual circle (which includes Samuel Coleridge, Thomas de Quincy, William Blake, and Charles and Mary Lamb).

Through the fictional voice of James Dixon we are witness to inside the Wordsworth family with its scintillating emotional and artistic struggles, hidden traumas, private betrayals, and triumphs. But Winter also weaves a darker, complex "undersong" through the novel, gradually bringing into the light Dorothy's rich and hidden life, and revealing the surprising meaning and effect of her tragically unacknowledged brilliance.

Undersong is a reimagining the lost years of misunderstood Romantic Era genius Dorothy "Rotha" Wordsworth. Winter chooses to tell Rotha's story through a servant, but will leave her reader feeling disconnected. 

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KATHLEEN WINTER's novel Annabel was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Literary Award, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the Orange Prize, and numerous other awards. It was also a Globe and Mail "Best Book," a New York Times "Notable" book, a Quill & Quire "Book of the Year" and #1 bestseller in Canada. It has been published and translated worldwide. Her Arctic memoir Boundless (2014) was shortlisted for Canada's Weston and Taylor non-fiction prizes, and her last novel Lost in September (2017) was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award. 

Winter was born in the UK, Winter now lives in Montreal after many years in Newfoundland.

The Therapist by B. A. Paris

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and Raincoast Books for a finished copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbours are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

Paris weaves an insidious web of lies in this gripping psychological thriller about a house with a shocking secret. Alternating between Alice in the present and a therapist in the past, the novel takes a deep dive into obsession and trust. 

Alice initially comes off as the all too familiar unreliable female narrator that is bordering on being crazy.  Early on in the story, we know that she is affected by an event in her past which has made her somewhat of a recluse—she is deeply attached to her village, her friends, and her cottage—and although she is apprehensive about moving to London, she is excited to be living with Leo. Even though she naive, and exhibits obsessive behaviour, her intentions are only good. Bust as the story unfolds it becomes apparent that she is not the unreliable narrator as originally perceived to be.

Perfectly paced, expertly plotted, The Therapist is Paris at her best. 

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B. A. PARIS is the internationally bestselling author of The Dilemma, Behind Closed Doors, The Breakdown, and Bring Me Back. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters. The Therapist is her fifth novel.

Paris grew up in England, but has spend most of her adult life in France.

Once More, With Feeling by Sophie McCreesh

A special thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once More, With Feeling follows Jane, an artist navigating her closest relationships while fixating on her own perceived failures and self-imposed isolation. When Jane receives a student grant to attend a workshop in London, England, she sees the opportunity to leave her tedious life behind and start anew, bringing along her new friend Kitty, who Jane will not admit she has little in common with other than a shared appreciation for boxed wine and various other drugs.

In London, Jane struggles to improve both her craft and her mindset while Kitty thrives, and a once exciting trip abroad transforms the already uneven dynamic of their friendship, leaving Jane feeling more withdrawn than ever. As her increasingly destructive behaviour gets in the way of her artistic ambitions, her most important relationships--those with Kitty, her absent lover Richard and a discredited therapist named Anna--begin to deteriorate as Jane starts to examine her growing dependence on substances.

Darkly funny, piercing and tender, Once More, With Feeling is a portrait of a detached young woman trapped in the perils of self-loathing and addiction, who is searching for originality in an age of profound social disconnection and anxiety.

In the vein of smart, deadpan, and unrepentant novels such as The New Me and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Sophie McCreesh's distinctive and striking debut novel is about a young woman veering towards self-destruction. 

Jane, our protagonist, is incredibly complex and extremely detached. She is struggling to find her place in the world and seems to think that this is achieved through masochism and we are witness to her dizzying descent. 

The overall conversational tone serves the novel well and the writing is solid. But the plot is slow-moving and nothing actually happens. McCreesh is witty and there are some clever bits, although her humour does take some getting used to. 

With its arresting cover, Once More, With Feeling is morose, moody, and poignant. This book will find its niche audience and resonate with it. 

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SOPHIE MCCREESH is a fiction writer whose writing has appeared in Cosmonauts Avenue, Hobart, Bad Nudes and elsewhere. 

McCreesh resides in Toronto.

Her Turn by Katherine Ashenburg

A special thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.  

Ashenburg's latest is about a journalist who stumbles into an unusual relationship with the woman who broke up her marriage. At first glance, Liz appears to have a fulfilled life: she has a good relationship with her adult son, her own apartment, an active dating life, and is the editor of "My Turn," a popular newspaper column where readers submit personal essays. But Liz is actually resentful of her ex-husband because he cheated on her, is emotionally unavailable to her suitors, and involved with a married man. And to make matters worse, her correspondence with her ex-husband's wife—the woman who he had an affair with—is bordering on unethical and could get her fired. 

Liz is complex and layered. She thinks she is managing her deep-seated resentment towards her ex but it is seeping into all of her relationships, including the most important one, which is with her son. Her inability to move past what Sydney did makes her emotionally unavailable to her suitors, pushing her towards a man who is married and another who is a complete narcissist. While it is refreshing to read about someone in their late forties, Liz is not overly likeable and ultimately loses the plot literally and figuratively. 

Her Turn is character-driven novel that explores one woman's second act in life while she's still tethered to the first. It is a story about infidelity, forgiveness, and taking a chance.

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KATHERINE ASHENBURG has worked as an academic, a CBC Radio producer and the Arts and Books editor of the Globe and Mail. She has written about travel for the New York Times and architecture for Toronto Life magazine. Her books include Going to Town: Architectural Walking Tours of Southern Ontario Towns, The Mourner’s Dance: What We Do When People Die, The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History, and the novel Sofie & Cecilia. Her Turn is her second novel.

Ashenburg lives in Toronto.

Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey

A special thank you to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

The town of Whistling Ridge guards its secrets.

When 17-year-old Abigail goes missing, her best friend Emma, compelled by the guilt of leaving her only friend alone at the Tall Bones party that night, sets out to find the truth about what happened to Abi. But as the details unfold, the festering secrets and longstanding resentments of the people of Whispering Ridge, Colorado, begin to surface with devastating consequences.

Among those secrets are those harboured by the members of Abi's family: her older brother Noah, who has an unworldly yet horribly dangerous love for the handsome Rat, a Romanian immigrant who recently entered town; her 12-year-old brother Jude, who is filled with a shining goodness yet walks with a stick because his father threw him down the stairs while their mother Dolly turned away; and, Dolly, who married the bible-bashing Samuel on a whim, and now, with a frozen heart, watches her children unravel. 

When a teenaged girl disappears from an insular small town, all of the community’s most devastating secrets come to light. Filled with stereotypic characters, Where the Truth Lies is a slow burn character-driven mystery that is not quite worthy of your patience. 

Bailey's use of flashback for her big reveal is anticlimactic—the story doesn't feel fully fleshed out. Although she captures the small town dynamic and the difficult lives of her characters, Bailey misses the mark. The shifting perspectives and time periods are problematic, they interrupted the flow of the story and the reader is left dependant on what feels more like hearsay versus what actually happened.  The chapters are short and jarring, again, interrupting any cohesiveness. 

Where the Truth Lies is dark and atmospheric, crushing and claustrophobic.

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ANNA BAILEY studied Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and wanted to be a journalist, but ended up moving to Colorado and becoming a Starbucks barista instead. In 2018, she returned to the UK where she enrolled in the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing course and wrote her first novel Tall Bones, inspired by her time in the US. 

Bailey currently lives in Cheltenham, where she writes for Cotswold Life and Good On Paper magazines.