Hello, welcome to my April Newsletter and a Happy Easter!
After a few warm days, it’s so nice to see the garden coming to life. The leaves are beginning to show on the trees, and a few plants are in bud, while the many primroses have been a picture for weeks. My camellia continues to flower but is beginning to drop the blooms everywhere now, especially in the high winds over the last week or so.
We recently had an enjoyable weekend away with our eldest son, Stuart, and his wife, Laura. It was a welcome break for Bryan and me after a busy few months decorating and gardening since moving house in November. Stuart had always wanted to visit Bletchley Park and invited us to join him and Laura. We spent a day in Oxford en route and enjoyed seeing the architecture and some of the more famous buildings. We then carried on to Milton Keynes and stayed a couple of miles from Bletchley Park.
The English country house and the surrounding land were purchased in 1938 by MI6 for use should war break out, and the site served as the centre for Allied code-breaking during World War 2. This work was incredibly important and highly secret, with many who worked there never mentioning it to family and friends, even long after the war had finished.
The three cypher machines whose codes were broken were the Enigma, the Bombe, and the Lorenz, and this work led to the development of Colossus, the world’s first programmable digital computer.
The photo above is of the library in the mansion at Bletchley Park.
The site is now a museum, housed partly in the mansion and in several huts. The displays and information were a lot to take in, and after five hours, we were all suffering from information overload and sought cake and coffee! There is a picturesque lake in front of the mansion, and we were fortunate to see a heron.
For anyone interested in history, I recommend a visit.
This is a photo of the Enigma machine.
Old Saying of the Month
Sleep Tight
Nowadays, when we say “sleep tight”, we mean to sleep soundly, but the phrase likely originated from a time when many beds had a framework of ropes that supported the mattress. To provide a firm, comfortable, taut sleeping surface, the ropes had to be pulled and tightened regularly. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite” is a later addition to the original saying.
April Blog Spot
A Walk from Hele Bay to Berrynarbor
If you like fantastic scenery, then join me on my walk from Hele Bay to Berrynarbor.
This lovely walk has magnificent coastal views and country scenery and is around five miles long. The circular walk starts at Hele Bay on the road from Ilfracombe to Combe Martin, and the route is via Watermouth Cove and Berrynarbor.
You can find the walk here:
https://marciaclayton.co.uk/a-walk-from-hele-bay-to-berrynarbor/
My Writing News
Book 8 in The Hartford Manor Series
Book 8 is progressing well, albeit slowly. As I mentioned earlier, we’ve been busy decorating and getting work done on our new house, and this has left me with little time or energy for writing. However, we have mostly completed what we set out to achieve, so now I can concentrate on my writing, which I’m pleased about. When I’m writing a book, I find it’s better to write a little every day, and that is what I intend to do over the next few months. I’m still hoping to publish the book later in the year, and so I’ll keep you posted!
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, and this is one I hosted last month.
West of Santillane by BrookAllen
Desperate to escape a mundane future as a Virginia planter’s wife, Julia Hancock seizes her chance for adventure when she wins the heart of American hero William Clark. Though her husband is the famed explorer, Julia embarks on her own thrilling and perilous journey of self-discovery.
With her gaze ever westward, Julia possesses a hunger for knowledge and a passion for helping others. She falls in love with Will’s strength and generous manner, but, like her parents, he is a slave owner, and Julia harbors strong opinions against slavery. Still, her love for Will wins out, though he remains unaware of her beliefs.
You can find the book here: https://mybook.to/5DPlLDi
The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi)
I’ve been a member of ALLi for a few years now, and I find the site helpful with various discounts for writers and advice on any publishing queries. My book is now featured at the Indie Author Bookstore, a brand-new online bookstore dedicated entirely to indie authors. If you love discovering fresh voices and hidden gems, it’s definitely worth a browse, and yes, you can find mine there too! Check it out here:
https://bookstore.allianceindependentauthors.org/
This Month’s Bargains!
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:
The Angel Maker will be reduced to 99p from 7th to 14th April
The Angel Maker is set in a Devon village in Victorian times.
Unmarried mother Charlotte is distraught when her aunt has her baby adopted behind her back.
Will she ever see her daughter again?
You can find the book here:
A Woman Scorned will be reduced to 99p from 21st to 28th April
An embittered woman is determined to wreak vengeance on her late husband’s two illegitimate children, but just how far will Lady Lilliana go?
A gripping Victorian tale!
You can find the book here: https://mybook.to/AWomanScorned
My Book of the Month
The Lives and Deaths of Max De Pauley
About the Book
This is Max de Pauley’s story – the journey from shy young man, appearing in a working men’s club, to famed and revered female impersonator with a career spanning decades. It’s also Martha Sunday’s story – their two lives so entwined that they knew each other’s deepest secrets. Max’s funeral cortège comes to an abrupt halt when a body is discovered already in the grave. The nightmare doesn’t end there, however, as it transpires that the victim was known to both Max and Martha. Instead of hosting a funeral breakfast, Martha finds herself at home, accompanied only by a small group of friends, some of whom have their own axe to grind. The arrival of two police officers, digging ever more deeply into the circumstances surrounding the death, opens up secrets and lies that have been hidden for many years. Shifting from the distant past to the present day, a shocking truth emerges, laying bare a history of deception, violence and betrayal.
My Review
I was drawn to this book by the curious title and the stunning cover, but also by the desire to read another book by this talented author.
The story begins with the main character, Max de Pauley, passing away a few days short of his eightieth birthday, which was to be a grand celebration. Martha Sunday, his partner of over sixty years, seems less distressed over his death than might be expected. However, she too is traumatised when, on the morning of the burial, the body of Charlie Fox is found floating in the water-filled grave intended for Max. Throughout the book, there are flashbacks to the 1950s, and I think the two time periods worked well, providing the reader with glimpses of what led to the current situation.
The story is set in the world of drag queens, rent boys, and dirty old men, and the author does not shy away from the more sordid facts. There are many twists and turns in the story, which I enjoyed very much, and I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery.
Having enjoyed Ashes on the Tongue, a thought-provoking novel set in the 1950s in troubled Northern Ireland, and Albert’s Garden, a cosy little whodunnit, I wanted to see what other delights J J Grafton had to offer. I was not disappointed, for in The Lives and Deaths of Max de Pauley, the author tackles yet another genre, this time an LGBTQ murder mystery.
My preferred genres are historical fiction and crime, so all three of these novels took me out of my comfort zone, and I found all three to be a refreshing change.
You can find the book here: The Lives and Deaths of Max de Pauley by J J Grafton
So, that’s all for this time. Thank you for listening to my ramblings, and until next time, I hope you keep safe and well.
Happy Easter!
Best wishes
Marcia
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.