May 1

My Mother’s Secret – Sanjida Kay

You can only hide for so long…

Lizzie Bradshaw. A student from the Lake District, forced to work away from home, who witnesses a terrible crime. But who will ultimately pay the price?

Emma Taylor. A mother, a wife, and a woman with a dangerous secret. Can she keep her beloved family safely together?

Stella Taylor. A disaffected teenager, determined to discover what her mother is hiding. But how far will she go to uncover the truth?

And one man, powerful, manipulative and cunning, who controls all their destinies.

 

My thanks to Corvus Books for my review copy

Having thoroughly enjoyed the two previous novels by Sanjida Kay I was keen to see what lay in store for readers in My Mother’s Secret.

Family drama from multiple narrators is what I got to enjoy, the story is told from different viewpoints and we can see one incident played out from various perspectives.  One of the main voices is teenager Stella and her contributions are perfectly laced with teenage hormones and anger.

Sanjida Kay gets right into the head of each of her narrators – we read what a wife thinks about her husband, his annoying habits and quirks which irritate her.  Stella’s frustrations at her mother and the lack of respect she feels towards her father who seems too forgiving of others.

Chapters come in small bursts and name the next narrator so you can know who is pulling the story on.  I have a terrible habit of skipping chapter names/numbers so I often found I had to flick my eyes back a page to make sure I knew who was speaking (do not adopt this lazy reading habit!!!)

I am purposefully not speaking too much about the plot for fear of slipping spoilers.  There are secrets lurking in this tale (and I love stories with secrets) but the reason things are kept a secret is that having the information made pubic can create pain or problems for others.  Probably not ideal for the characters in My Mother’s Secret…

Sanjida Kay writes beautifully and I swear that I could smell fresh baking or the countryside freshness as I was reading her latest book. Trials and troubles in this story – well worth your time seeking this one out.

 

My Mother’s Secret is published by Corvus on 3 May 2018 and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Mothers-Secret-brilliantly-deception-ebook/dp/B0785MSQDD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525208302&sr=8-1&keywords=my+mothers+secret

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April 8

The Stolen Child – Sanjida Kay

 

Zoe and Ollie Morley tried for years to have a baby and couldn’t. They turned to adoption and their dreams came true when they were approved to adopt a little girl from birth. They named her Evie.

Seven years later, the family has moved to Yorkshire and grown in number: a wonderful surprise in the form of baby Ben. As a working mum it’s not easy for Zoe, but life is good.

But then Evie begins to receive letters and gifts.

The Stolen ChildThe sender claims to be her birth father.

He has been looking for his daughter.

And now he is coming to take her

 

My thanks to Kirsty at Atlantic Books for my review copy

 

Last year I read Sanjida Kay’s debut novel, Bone By Bone, and it messed with my head. Bone By Bone tells an intense story which focusses heavily on bullying and the impact that it can have. Despite all the terrible things I read about in the many dozens of crime thrillers I read each year, I find it hardest to read about bullies. Sanjida Kay did an amazing job of crafting a story around bullying which drew me in and kept me reading – I had to see how the story would be resolved.

Spin forward to yesterday morning and I don’t mind admitting that I was more than a little wary of picking up Sanjida Kay’s new novel: The Stolen Child.  Yup that DID say “yesterday morning”  I poured through The Stolen Child in superfast time as Sanjida has written another nail-biting emotional rollercoaster of a novel.

Zoe and Ollie adopted Evie 7 years ago. The story actually opens when Evie’s mother goes into labour – early. A tricky birth and a spell in intensive care for a baby, could this have had some impact upon Evie’s behaviour as when we meet her (aged 7) she appears a flighty, distracted girl?  Zoe is struggling to cope with the demands of young children, managing a home, trying to find time to work on her painting and she has, in Ollie, a husband who appears more focussed on work than his family. It is not an uncommon situation but Sanjida Kay brings the reader into the family home and exposes all their insecurities and weak moments.

As is indicated in the book description, Evie is receiving notes which appear to come from her father. Zoe finds the notes and the family face the challenge of explaining to a headstrong child that she was adopted. Evie’s reaction is initially one of acceptance, however, when her temper is raised she starts to lash out at Zoe and indicates that she want’s her “real” family.  Once again Sanjida Kay has a story which unsettles and I can honestly say that during the course of the book I was empathising with almost all of the characters at some point (and wanting to give them a stern talking to at others).

There are loads of discussion points which could arise from The Stolen Child and after this review I have some possible topics for consideration – this book is a dream for reading groups.

 

The Stolen Child is published by Corvus, is available now in paperback and digital format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stolen-Child-Sanjida-Kay/dp/1782396918/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491607094&sr=1-1&keywords=sanjida+kay

 

Book Club Questions:

  • What do you think about the attraction between Zoe and Harris?
  • Sanjida KayWho do you think is the best person for Zoe to be with – Ollie or Harris?
  • How does Ollie and Zoe’s marriage and their relationship change as the
    novel progresses?
  • Zoe says she feels almost like a single mum at times. Do you think this
    is true for many modern-day families?
  • Zoe is trying to be an artist. How hard to you think it is for her, and
    women like her, to juggle creativity and motherhood?
  • The novel is set in Ilkley, with some of the key scenes taking place on
    Ilkley Moor. Do you think such a large expanse of wilderness can be
    strange and frightening?
  • What do you think of the relationship between Jack and Evie?
    How do you feel Zoe and Ollie handled Evie’s adoption? Do you think
    she’s simply a ‘quirky child’ as Ollie does, or has she been damaged by
    her biological mother?
  • Zoe initially thinks that Harris is not from Ilkley. Later she and the police
    make some key assumptions about him based on what they believe
    about his religion and ethnicity. What role does race play in this novel?
    The title of the novel comes from a poem by WB Yeats, also called, The
    Stolen Child. How much of an influence do you think fairy tales, like the
    one described in Yeat’s poem, play in the novel?
  • Sanjida Kay has said that one of her favourite books is Emily Brontë’s
    Wuthering Heights. Can you see the novel’s influence on The Stolen
    Child?
  • Were you surprised by the ending?

 

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September 29

Bone By Bone – Sanjida Kay

bone-by-boneLaura loves her daughter more than anything in the world.

But nine-year-old Autumn is being bullied. Laura feels helpless.

When Autumn fails to return home from school one day, Laura goes looking for her. She finds a crowd of older children taunting her little girl.

In the heat of the moment, Laura makes a terrible choice. A choice that will have devastating consequences for her and her daughter…

My thanks to Corvus for my review copy

 

If I were to draw up a list of everything that I dislike then this would be the longest book review ever. Future generations of psychology students would have it included in their university set text lists and spend many frustrating hours in tutorials unpicking just how irrationally angry one person can be over very random things.  So we are not going there.

If I were to do a very short list of things that I dislike then I can guarantee that bullying would feature.

I hate bullying. Completely. Totally. An all consuming hatred of bullying.

Bone By Bone is a story about bullying.

So in a departure from my normal style of review I am not going to try to describe how the story unfolds. Nor shall I even give away much about the characters, what form the bullying takes or even who the bullies are.  All I will share is that Laura’s daughter is being bullied.  Laura finds out and does what many parents would do for their child – tries to help and tries to stop the bullying.  Needless to say that in such an emotive situation tempers will flare and there will be consequences. It made for intense reading.

I have to give Sanjida Kay a huge amount of credit for making Bone to Bone so screamingly realistic (my screams). I anguished over what I was reading. I wanted to reach into the book and make the bad things stop.  I hated the bullies.  I hated how they grew in number and I hated how the victim retreated to the safety of isolation. It was too real and I couldn’t stop it.  But I kept reading because I HAD to know what would happen. No spoilers – but I did not expect THAT.

A debut novel which I can honesty say put me through the emotional wringer. Highly recommended.

 

Bone By Bone is published by Corvus and is available in paperback and digital format now.

You can order Bone By Bone by clicking through on this link:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bone-Psychological-Thriller-Compelling-Wont/dp/1782396896/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475183219&sr=8-1&keywords=bone+by+bone+sanjida+kay

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