Hello, and welcome to my August Newsletter.
Bryan and I enjoyed our brief visit to Cornwall last month. We stayed in Truro, which was a good location for visiting other places. We only went for a couple of nights, but we joined the National Trust and visited three gardens, so we made good use of our time.
The first was Trerice, a fairly small estate, where we admired The Knot Garden (left) where the scent from the lavender was amazing.
The second garden we visited was Glendurgan, a steep-sided garden with beautiful views leading down to the sea. We were curious to see this one, as we visited it on our honeymoon over fifty-four years ago and I’m sure the hills were not as steep then!
The last garden we visited was Llanhydrock, near Bodmin, on our way home, and this was my favourite.
The gardens were beautiful and the house interesting.
The photo is of a bed of astilbe.
Old Saying of the Month
Close, But No Cigar
In modern times, this saying has come to mean almost, but not quite successful. However, in the late 19th century, when most carnival games were aimed at adults rather than children, the prize was often a cigar rather than a toy or stuffed animal. If a person came close to winning but did not succeed, it was often said they were “close, but no cigar”.
August Blog Spot
My Visit to Porto
Last year, we visited the beautiful city of Porto in northern Portugal. The photo on the left is of the bridge over the Douro River in Porto, and on the right, the Douro Valley. To learn more and see a few more photos, check out my blog: https://marciaclayton.co.uk/my-visit-to-porto-2025/
My Writing News
Book 8
My exciting news this month is that I have finished writing the first draft of Book 8. Regular readers might remember I said I was planning to call it A Moment of Madness. However, that may change to A Mother’s Love or simply Danny, mainly because I’ve struggled to find a suitable image for the cover for the first title. As regards the content of the book, any of the titles would be appropriate, but I think the image I have found for the second one is more appealing and fits the title better. I’ve asked my daughter-in-law, Laura, to produce a cover for me. Fortunately, Laura is a graphic designer and has produced all of my covers. All I have to do now is get the book edited, proofread, and uploaded to Amazon. That all takes a while, but all being well, it will be published in the autumn in plenty of time for Christmas.
The Coffee Pot Book Club
Over the last few months I’ve been acting as a Blog Tour Host for The Coffee Pot Book Club: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/ and these are the ones I hosted last month:
The Valet’s Witness by Rohn Hein
In the summer of 1776, as the Declaration of Independence takes shape within the charged chambers of the Second Continental Congress, two lives unfold in quiet, irrevocable collision-one etched into the official record, the other deliberately erased from it.
The Valet’s Witness is a sweeping, intimate reimagining of America’s founding, illuminating the lives that moved just beyond the margins of recorded history.
With lyrical depth and moral clarity, it reveals not only how independence was declared, but what-and who-was sacrificed to secure it. In the space between liberty and bondage, between principle and profit, a hidden truth emerges-one that challenges the very meaning of freedom in a nation built on both hope and contradiction.
You can find the book here: https://books2read.com/u/4X7j29
The Making of Marigold McGrath by Carrie Hayes
New York City, 1937. Seventeen-year-old Marigold McGrath is coming undone.
Her mother is dead. Her father is drawn to dangerous politics. The only place she feels joy is behind a camera — where she can frame the world on her own terms. After a series of her own missteps, she reinvents herself in London: mentored by a celebrated émigré photographer, photographing Kindertransport children, working alongside Edward R. Murrow.
She falls in love with Joop, a charming Dutch student, and shrugs off the war gathering around her. Then the Blitz begins, and Joop vanishes into the Dutch Resistance.
And Marigold — who has always preferred to photograph the world as she wishes it were — must finally decide what kind of woman, and what kind of witness, she is willing to become.
A sweeping WWII coming-of-age novel set in wartime London, and you can find it here: https://books2read.com/u/388dyw
My Book Bargains This Month
Special Offers – 99p
All of my books are free to read if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited on Amazon. However, if you want to grab a bargain, these books will be reduced to 99p on the following dates.
Millie’s Escape will be 99p from 6th to 13th August
A young girl, wrongly accused of theft, is relentlessly pursued across the desolate countryside.
A delightful Victorian family saga set in a Devon village.
You can find it here: https://mybook.to/MilliesEscape
The Mazzard Tree will be 99p from 13th to 20th August.
When Annie’s father dies, her mother is left with 7 hungry mouths to feed.
Annie, 15, is determined to keep her family from the workhouse. Will she succeed? What lengths will she go to? A gripping Victorian family saga.
You can find it here: http://mybook.to/TheMazzardTree
My Book of the Month
Wildflowers and Barbed Wire by Sarah Jacobson
About the Book
Penny Monroe fled her home and her alcoholic father the minute she turned eighteen. She escaped with Ethan Webb, the golden child of the wealthiest man in town, and fled for the city in search of a better, more fulfilling life. Three years later, her life isn’t what she imagined. Working two jobs while being the only present parent to their one-year-old daughter is wearing her down, especially as Ethan stays out all night, drinks all day, and won’t get a job. One fateful day, Penny stumbles onto something so terrifying that it turns her whole world upside down, and she has no choice but to flee, eventually landing back home in the small town she so desperately tried to escape. Jack Hunter is the new guy in town, and being the new guy in a small town draws a lot of unwanted attention. He has secrets, and he’s looking for someone – the last name on his list. This someone took something very important from him, and his mind is set solely on vengeance. He moves in across from a young single mom with two daughters, and although he gravitates towards her, he soon grows suspicious. This woman has secrets, too, and he needs to know more. What does she know? What did she do? Falling in love with her will only complicate things, especially if he has to hurt her.
My Review
Desperate to escape her unhappy life living with her alcoholic father, Penny Monroe falls for the son of the wealthiest man in town, and the youngsters flee to the city in search of a better life. However, Penny quickly realises she has swapped one sad life for another, as Ethan refuses to find work and spends all day drinking.
Eventually, Penny leaves him and returns home to the small town she was so anxious to leave. A new man, Jack Hunter, arrives in town, living a short distance from Penny and her two daughters, and the pair are irresistibly drawn to each other. However, Jack is on a mission and bent on revenge, and before long, he realises the woman he is falling in love with may be involved with the person he is seeking. The book is told from a dual point of view by Penny and Jack, and I thought this worked well. A thrilling storyline and strong characters made this a very enjoyable book and one of the best yet by this author.
You can find the book here: Wild Flowers and Barbed Wire by Sarah
Well, that’s all for now, so thank you for continuing to follow me. Until next time, I hope you keep safe and well.
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