New-To-Me Books

Published on by Margaret

Another visit to  Barter Books in Alnwick means I’ve added 5 more books to my TBRs.

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From top to bottom they are:

Fair Stood the Wind for France by H E Bates – a Penguin modern classic. It was first published in 1944 and is about a British pilot, John Franklin, whose plane was shot down in occupied France, and Francoise, the daughter of a French farmer who hid Franklin and his crew from the Germans. I haven’t read any other books by Bates (1905 – 1974) – he was a prolific writer.

Recalled to Life by Reginald Hill, the 13th Dalziel and Pascoe book.  Dalziel reopens the investigation into a murder that took place in 1963 – the year of the Profumo Scandal, the Great Train Robbery and the Kennedy Assassination. I should be on safe ground with this book as I’ve enjoyed all the other Dalziel and Pascoe books I’ve read.

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. Three boys’ lives were changed for ever when one of them got into a stranger’s car and something terrible happened. Twenty five years later they have to face the nightmares of their past. I’m not sure what to expect from this book, not having read any of Lehane’s books before, but a reviewer in the Guardian described it as one of the finest novels he’d read in ages.

The Hog’s Back Mystery by Freeman Willis Crofts, first published in 1933 during the Golden Age of detective fiction between the two world wars. It’s an Inspector French murder mystery set in Surrey, where first one person then others disappear. Have they been murdered? I’ve read just one of Crofts’ books before, Mystery in the Channel, which completely baffled me – will this be just as complicated?

The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier, the story of two women, born centuries apart and the ancestral legacy that binds them. This was Tracy Chevalier’s first novel. I’ve read and enjoyed some of her later books, including The Girl with a Pearl Earring and Falling Angels, so I’m looking forward to reading this book.

Please let me know if you’ve read any of these books and whether you enjoyed them – or not.

8 thoughts on “New-To-Me Books”

  1. Excellent haul there, Margaret. Do you remember the BBC adaptation of Fair Stood the Wind From France yonks ago? I think I may even have been in my teens, which is possibly why it had such a strong impression on me as I was a teen who loved a bit of romance in books and on TV. So of course I dashed out and bought the book and read it from cover to cover, weeping profusely. Sadly I no longer have the tear stained book.

    I think Virgin Blue is one of TC’s books I’ve not read, so I’ll be interested in your take on that.

    Hope A Discovery of Witches is going ok. *Coughs*

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    1. Cath, I don’t remember that BBC adaptation – I must have missed it because it sounds as though I’d have liked it. I left A Discovery of Witches whilst I read the new Rebus book – but I’m getting back to it now. 🙂

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  2. You’ve got a nice lot of books here, Margaret. I really do think you’ll enjoy Recalled to Life. It’s got an interesting premise, and I think it’s one of Hill’s better books. I’ll be keen to know what you think of it.

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  3. I agree with Margot that Recalled to Life is one of Hill’s better books and I also thought Virgin Blue was better than some of Chevalier’s later novels although it does have a supernatural slant to it.

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  5. What a great stash – I think you must be congratulated for limiting yourself to only 5 books, given the joys and delights of Barter Books!! I like the sound of all of them, so look forward to hearing how you get on. 🙂

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