June 2026 Round Up

 All it takes is a heat wave! I'm reading like it's gone out of fashion. Too hot to race around like I usually do. I use the term race figuratively. It's a long time since I did that. And I'm pleased to say that I've read several Library books. I think they're all by the same author but hey!

First up is a book that was sent to me from HQ stories by Elle Blair - In Deep Water. I was not familiar with the writer and it looks very much like it's the first in a series featuring DI Rachel Harlow. I will certainly enjoy reading some more. I have blogged about this but I'm saving it until the book's publication. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Also this month I finally got round to reading Elif Shafak's There are Rivers in the Sky. Some things are just worth waiting for. A book to be savoured, stirred not shaken. I will never think of a raindrop in the same way again. And I love the magic of considering the journey it makes. I also loved the breadth of the novel from Mesopotamia, the Victorian sewers and more modern times. I did not know of the genocide of the Yazidi people. Thanks to this book I do now. It's a story of depth and determination. But it is so much more. A book that stays with you. 

The third book was one of my Librarything wins. Melissa Jones, Gone for a Soldier. One of those stories that you have no preconceptions expectations of but totally grips you from beginning to end. It's a psychological drama that kept me utterly absorbed until perhaps the end where it did tail off a bit. Maddie, once a writer and married, is now an English teacher and mother to her troubled son, Pip. She claims responsibility for the death of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Benedict Fordham, but there’s no evidence he existed or died. The book explores themes of truth, deception, and trust in a postmodern world.

First Library book. Which Trial by Harriet Tice. I read Harriet Tyson's debut novel Blood Orange and really enjoyed it. And I knew she was someone to keep on my radar. But somehow another I've only just got around to reading some more of her books. I was motivated to when I saw her appear on series 4 of The Traitors. So to date, I've borrowed four of her books from the library - It Ends at Midnight, The Lies You Told and A Lesson in Cruelty in addition to Witch Trials. Without exception, they're all page turners. Couldn't put any of them down. All of them full of twists and turns. Deception and subterfuge. Action and reaction. So I've now read all of Harriet Tyce's books which, as a completist, is extremely satisfying.

Sandwiched in between the Harriet Tyces was A.A. Dhand's sequel to The Chemist, The Kingpin. It's another book I received from HQ stories and I have written a review but I won't post it until the book's publication date. If you've read The Chemist, you'll know what to expect as it follows on from that story. A high octane thriller. 

And finally I broke my books embargo after a trip to my local bookshop event. Lizzie Page's The Airline Girl. I've reviewed and blogged about it.

https://bookphace.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-airline-girl-lizzie-page.html

Footnote: I've noticed again that, whilst it doesn't show up in my draft of the post , the finished one shows a change in the format of the type, parts seem to have been in bold. However I cannot clear it. If anyone using Blogger can throw any light on why and how I can remedy it ,I would be thrilled!!!

The Airline Girl - Lizzie Page

 Unusually for me this year I made a resolution. The resolution was I’m not to buy any more books. I’m allowed to borrow them from the library. I’m allowed to accept books as gifts, and I’m allowed to accept books that are being lent to me. But I mustn’t buy any. I’ve got so many unread books. And it was going so, so well. Until the other evening. I went to an event at my local bookshop where I was thoroughly entertained by two local authors, Lizzie Page and Syd Moore. Fortunately, I’d already bought Syd’s books, but I hadn’t read any of Lizzie’s and after hearing her talk I couldn’t resist. I caved in and I bought a copy of The Airline Girl and Lizzie signed it for me. Do I regret it? Do I regret my weakness? No, I do not!

 

There’s something very intriguing about reading a book that is set in a location that you’re familiar with. It somehow brings you closer to the narrative and you’re experiencing what the characters are experiencing. The Airline Girl is set in my hometown. So immediately I was hooked.

 

Audrey Wright, a young woman in post-war London, longs for adventure despite planning a traditional future. After losing her job, she cares for her injured mother and prepares to marry Martin, who expects her to stay home. When Audrey is offered a chance to become an airline stewardess—an opportunity open only to unmarried women—she secretly pursues it, discovering fulfilment in her new role. As Martin pressures her to wed sooner, Audrey must decide between her dreams and the life she's always expected to live.

Audrey travels to Southend on Sea and trains at Southend airport. The story that follows allows us a glimpse into the post war life of women, the social flavour of those times and the evolution of commercial flying. Romance plays a part, but this is historical fiction. 

 

The reader is transported back to the late 1940’s, a nation still recovering from the ravages of war and the scars they bear, both physical and emotional. Bravery is a quality frequently associated with war but in this novel, it plays a big part in post war. It was uplifting to see how Audrey’s courage evolved throughout the story and how she followed intuition in spite of the pressure she was under to follow the expected, conformist path. This part of the plot was an opportunity to explore the gender roles of the time and the expectations placed upon both men and women. 

 

The book is populated with numerous characters. Audrey obviously, her flatmates and stewardess colleagues, Lola and Cherry who prove to be supportive friends but whereas with some stories characters appear to be included as purely functional, here they play their parts, but we can also see their development and the part they play in the wider narrative.  The way is wide open for a sequel, and I would love to learn more about some of the characters. I keep wondering about Mrs. Liker!! Such a clever name, the play on words, for me anyway, because I was frequently asking myself, do I like her?!

 

But for historical fiction to really work the research must be impeccable. And with a fiction that is historically ‘recent’ - in that there are people alive who lived through this era – there is no margin for errors which would be quickly spotted. Everything you read here is so palpable. The description of the airport for example is so authentic. 

The meals that Martin’s mum prepares are so consistent with that time. It’s the attention to detail that renders historical fiction so convincing. And there’s detail here aplenty. 

 

I hope there is another book and I suspect it may be about one of Audrey’s flatmates. I will look forward to it immensely.