Book Extract: Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons by Patsy Trench
I am pleased to be welcoming Patsy Trench to Novel Kicks today along with the blog tour for her novel, Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons.
London, 1905. A show. A stuttering romance. Two squabbling actresses.
Is it Shakespeare? Is it Vaudeville?
Not quite. It is Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons, a satirical play about suffragettes which its creators – friends and would-be lovers Robbie Robinson and Violet Graham – are preparing to mount in London’s West End.
It is the play rival actresses Merry and Gaye would kill to be in, if only they hadn’t insulted the producer all those years ago.
For Robbie and Violet however the road to West End glory is not smooth. There are backers to be appeased, actors to be tamed and a theatre to be found; and in the midst of it all a budding romance that risks being undermined by professional differences.
Never mix business with pleasure?
Maybe, maybe not.
Patsy has shared an extract with us today so enjoy!
*****beginning of extract*****
Extract from Chapter 24 of ‘Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons’- Mrs Santenoy goes to gaol.
It is 1905. Mrs Santenoy is an elderly suffragist in the early days of the suffrage movement, before Mrs Pankhurst appeared on the scene and when the demand for votes for women were largely peaceful. The protest Mrs Santenoy took part in was perfectly orderly until the police moved in on horseback to disperse it, and a handful of the lady protesters were rounded up and sent to prison for two weeks.
*****
When Mrs Santenoy arrived at Holloway Prison she was in a state of high excitement. For a woman from what society termed ‘a privileged background’, married for nearly forty years, the experience of going to prison was without question the most extraordinary event in the sixty-eight years of her life. Even as she was lined up against a wall with her fellow protestors and given a rudimentary medical examination, Mrs Santenoy still felt the strangest thrill of adventure. She saw herself as an actress in a play, going through the rudiments of being sent to prison without any idea of what lay ahead of her.
On instruction from the prison wardress she was made to undress – ‘Completely?’ – ‘Completely’ – and given some old, stained underclothing, brown woollen stockings and a green serge dress that really was stamped all over with broad arrows. She hunted for but did not find a matching pair of shoes to wear from a huge basket, after which, laden with sheets, a towel, a mug of water and a thick slice of rough bread she was shown to her cell. Even then it all felt quite unreal and startlingly melodramatic. She sank exhausted onto the hard wooden bed and closed her eyes and, surprisingly, slept.
The following day, having requested some reading matter she was given the Bible and an atlas of the world. She embarked on the first with interest and glanced through the second. During the obligatory hour’s exercise in the prison yard she kept her head held high and, as instructed, avoided contact with her fellow prisoners. She managed to keep this up for two whole days without too much pain.
It was around the third day that the excitement faded. It was not until then that she became fully aware of a kind of sour, stale odour seeping through the walls from centuries of poor ventilation and prevailing damp. Her cell was both stuffy and cold. She sensed the presence of something that moved and scuffled. She dare not leave what food she was given on the floor lest her fear of mice and rats became real.
In the exercise yard she observed her fellow detainees with dulled curiosity. Apart from the suffragettes, whom she recognised only vaguely by sight, the women kept their eyes on the ground, and she was struck by the thought that many if not most of them had possibly spent more of their lives in prison than out; that a good half of them were no more than girls, and that there was a kind of resigned doggedness to the way they walked, shoulders slumped, feet dragging, as if tramping mindlessly in a circle was all they knew how to do or would ever do in the future. There were very few outbreaks, or protests; they didn’t seem to have the energy.
by 
Book Review: Living Your Best Life by Maxine Morrey
I am happy to be welcoming Maxine Morrey back to Novel Kicks with the blog tour for her latest novel, Living Your Best Life.
Some days Bee feels invisible. Most days Bee does not feel as if she is ‘living her best life’.
Sure she has a loyal group of friends, a job she’s good at, and a small London flat to call home, but a lot of the time, Bee feels as if no one actually ‘sees’ her.
Her best friend, the unfeasibly handsome and successful Luca Donato does not have that problem. People are practically falling over themselves whenever they see Luca, but one thing the two friends do have in common, is they haven’t yet found the ‘One’. When their friend Tia challenges them to change all that through online dating, Luca and Bee set about the task with very different levels of enthusiasm.
The saying goes that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince, and it’s not long before Bee is ready to admit defeat. But with Luca inundated with potential love interests, Bee is determined not to give up. Surely her perfect partner is out there somewhere…
*****
Bee has spent most of her life feeling invisible and not worthy despite the efforts of her friends to tell her otherwise – especially her best friend, Luca who, up until now has never given any indication that he wants to settle down.
When a mutual friend challenges them to change their love lives through online dating, Bee reluctantly agrees. Luca thinks you can find love through apps, Bee not so much.
Having previously read Things are Looking Up, I was excited to be invited onto the blog tour for Maxine’s latest novel, Living Your Best Life.
I adored Bee from the first page. Bee felt so real to me, so relatable. She’s complicated and shadowed by her upbringing and lack of self esteem. I think many readers will unfortunately know how that feels. I think we’ve all also had those moments at work where we’ve felt under-appreciated but never wanting to rock the boat.
by Book Review: The Personal Shopper by Carmen Reid
I am pleased to be welcoming Carmen Reid and the blog tour for her novel, The Personal Shopper.
Meet Annie Valentine: stylish, savvy, multi-tasker extraordinaire. As a personal shopper in a swanky London store, Annie can be relied on to solve everyone’s problems . . . except her own.
Because as a busy single mum to two kids, Annie’s realised there’s a gap in her life as well as her wardrobe. But with her heart still hurting from losing the love of her life, Annie’s discovered that finding the perfect partner is turning out to be so much trickier than finding the perfect pair of shoes!
Can she source a genuine classic? A lifelong investment? Or will Annie realise that her perfect man is already sitting on the front row of her life…
*****
Annie Valentine is stylish, savvy and great at her job, even if her boss thinks otherwise.
Being a single mother, she does the best she can.
What she is missing is a man.
Can she find the right one? Can he live up to the lost love of her life? Has the perfect love been in front of her all along?
The Personal Shopper was my introduction to Annie Valentine and to Carmen Reid. Although this book did take me a couple of chapters to get into, once I did, I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting.
This novel was a lot of fun but deals with sensitive themes well.
Annie feels like a real, relatable character. She has a need to be control and at work, she is. She’s straight talking and successful. However, due to past events, there is a vulnerable side to her that she tries to hide. This possibly leads to her making some questionable choices in her personal life.
by Book Review: The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
Greta James is adrift. Literally.
Just after the sudden death of her mother – her most devoted fan – and weeks before the launch of her high-stakes second album, Greta James falls apart on stage. The footage quickly goes viral and she stops playing. Greta’s career is suddenly in jeopardy – the kind of jeopardy her father, Conrad, has always warned her about.
Months later, Greta – still heartbroken and very much adrift – reluctantly agrees to accompany Conrad on the Alaskan cruise her parents had booked to celebrate their fortieth anniversary. It could be their last chance to heal old wounds in the wake of shared loss. But the trip will also prove to be a voyage of discovery for them both, and for Ben Wilder, a charming historian who is struggling with a major upheaval in his own life.
In this unlikeliest of places – at sea and far from the packed venues where she usually plays – Greta must finally confront the heartbreak she’s suffered, the family hurts that run deep, and how to find her voice again.
I adored this novel.
Both Greta and Conrad are complicated, complex characters but beneath it all, they grieve for the person they have lost and find it hard to communicate. Greta is just trying to hang on to the one thing in her life to which she truly feels she belongs – being a musician.
Both Father and Daughter are very relatable. At least to me. I’ve known the grief Greta feels. The themes of grief and loss were handled with care and grace. I wanted Greta and Conrad to be ok.
by Book Extract: Brown Eyes by Frances Ive
I am pleased to be welcoming Frances Ive to Novel Kicks today with the blog tour for her book, Brown Eyes.
A watchful eye as a marriage falls apart. The phone call, the rows, and the split are all observed by the family Labrador. He knows the habits and senses the moods of his beloved family members. Seeing them unhappy and hurting each other is unbearable. Where did his perfect life go?
Her marriage to Phil in crisis, two children at the challenging teenage stage, and a close friend in peril, Meriel’s world is falling apart. She finds solace in the arms of another man, but is this the answer for her? It is her stubbornness that threatens the family’s future together, until a major loss has a life-changing effect on her. A sliver of hope returns.
Like a fly on the wall, Benji the dog sees it all.
Narrated by both the dog and Meriel, Brown Eyes is a novella (a short read) written by the author of Finding Jo and Give and Take with a Capital G & T.
Frances has shared an extract from Brown Eyes today. We hope you enjoy!
*****beginning of extract*****
Can a marriage be saved?
In many countries including the UK the divorce rate is very high – between one in two or three marriages ends in a split. Sometimes relationships break down because of extreme behaviour, but others are often just lacking communication and appreciation. The route from problems like infidelity to splitting up is sometimes very fast.
For those couples who seek couples counselling it can sometimes be avoided if both partners want it to work. Meriel and Phil were jogging along in their relationship when one of them strayed off the path. Almost immediately they were splitting up and the children and the family Labrador were distraught. Could therapy save their marriage?
Extract from the point of view of Jane, the counsellor. Starting with Phil speaking.
‘I didn’t think it happened quickly. I had liked Meriel for a long time, but she always seemed to be with a boyfriend. I used to wonder how we could get together, and so I just took a risk and rang her. And thank goodness, it worked.’
by Book Club
