A Place To Call Home Blog Tour – Review

Sphere, April 2014

A Place To Call Home by Carole Matthews.

Ayesha flees her abusive husband in the middle of the night. Scared and alone, they go to London where they take shelter in the home of reclusive pop star, Hayden Daniels. Ayesha and her daughter Sabina soon find a family with the occupants of Hayden’s home. Crystal and Joy, the other people taking refuge in the house soon become Ayesha’s friends as she tries to find her feet and her new life for her and Sabina. However, she doesn’t stop looking over her shoulder wondering when and if her past was going to catch up with her. 

This book tackles quite a dark subject of domestic abuse with sensitivity, warmth and humour. The characters drew me in from the first page as I wanted to know whether Ayesha and Sabina were going to be OK. At the beginning, Ayesha is very timid and very unsure of herself and I loved seeing how she progressed for the better through the book whilst she was with Hayden, Crystal and Joy. 

The mix of characters were fascinating, funny and loveable. I especially thought Crystal was great. I want to be her friend. Despite the bad things in her life she still manages to be positive. I disliked Suresh immensely and although I am ashamed to say it, I still could feel little sympathy for him, even at the end. 

All of the four people hiding in the house are all trying to get over heartbreaking pasts or are lonely and I think they are all good for one another. I liked the dynamic these people shared. I grew to really care for these people as I hoped they would all have their happy endings. 

The plot gripped me from the first page right to the end. I was sneaking in the odd page whenever I could on breaks at work. There were sad moments as well as moments that made me laugh and I just wanted to give all the characters in that house a hug. 

A wonderful, compelling story from Carole told with warmth and humour. I loved this book. 

Thank you to Carole and Sphere. The blog tour for A Place To Call Home continues and the next stop tomorrow is at One More Page (For more exclusive content from Carole, check out the blog tour banner for details of other stops on the tour.) 

A Place To Call Home is published by Sphere and is available to buy now in paperback and e-book from Amazon, Waterstones or your local retailer. 

Carole’s Website

Follow Carole on Twitter and like her page on Facebook. 

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.