On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club, The Lengthening Shadow (The Linford Series) by Liz Harris #BookReview #WW2 #histfic @lizharrisauthor @maryanneyarde

 

I am once again working with The Coffee Pot Book Club to introduce you to your next favourite read!

When Dorothy Linford marries former German internee, Franz Hartmann, at the end of WWI, she’s cast out by her father, Joseph, patriarch of the successful Linford family.

Dorothy and Franz go to live in a village in south-west Germany, where they have a daughter and son. Throughout the early years of the marriage, which are happy ones, Dorothy is secretly in contact with her sister, Nellie, in England.

Back in England, Louisa Linford, Dorothy’s cousin, is growing into an insolent teenager, forever at odds with her parents, Charles and Sarah, and with her wider family, until she faces a dramatic moment of truth.  

Life in Germany in the early 1930s darkens, and to Dorothy’s concern, what had initially seemed harmless, gradually assumes a threatening undertone.

Brought together by love, but endangered by acts beyond their control, Dorothy and Franz struggle to get through the changing times without being torn apart.

My Review

The blurb intrigued me, but the story itself bewitched me. With a beautiful narrative and characters that were just so loveable and believable there was no way I was going to put this book down. I thought this book would pull at my heartstrings, but I was not expecting such an emotionally compelling read, and oh, how I felt for Dorothy and everything she goes through.

Set both in England and Germany, and with a careful use of foreshadowing, we witness the event unfold. This story is one of personal struggles, discrimination, but above everything else it is about love.  

Reading this book was a wonderful way to while away a day, and I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone I know.

Buy this Book

Amazon UK • Amazon US

Liz Harris

Born in London, Liz Harris graduated from university with a Law degree, and then moved to California, where she led a varied life, from waitressing on Sunset Strip to working as secretary to the CEO of a large Japanese trading company.

A few years later, she returned to London and completed a degree in English, after which she taught secondary school pupils, first in Berkshire, and then in Cheshire.

In addition to the nine novels she’s had published, she’s had several short stories in anthologies and magazines. 

Liz now lives in Oxfordshire. An active member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Historical Novel Society, her interests are travel, the theatre, cinema, reading and cryptic crosswords. 

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On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - The Wolf Banner (Sons of the Wolf, Book 2) by Paula Lofting #BookReview #HistoricalFiction @Paulalofting @maryanneyarde

 

I am really busy hosting for The Coffee Pot Book Club and this is my second review post today! But before we get to my review, let's check out the blurb!

WAR AND BLOODFEUD

"Best battle description ever!"

1056...England lurches towards war as the rebellious Lord Alfgar plots against the indolent King Edward. Sussex thegn, Wulfhere, must defy both his lord, Harold Godwinson, and his bitter enemy, Helghi, to protect his beloved daughter.

As the shadow of war stretches across the land, a more personal battle rages at home, and when it follows him into battle, he knows he must keep his wits about him more than ever, and COURAGE AND FEAR MUST BECOME HIS ARMOUR…

My Review 

As you would expect from a book that is set just before The Battle of Hastings, everyone is wondering who the next King of England will be. The king favours the Godwins, but they are not the only family who can lay claim to the throne. The political climate was masterfully portrayed and really set the scene for this story.

Although there are many characters in this book, the author does favour Wulfhere. Wulfhere really struggles throughout this novel, although some of his difficulties on the domestic front are due to his affair. His treatment of his wife was deplorable, but she was also no innocent participant in this dysfunctional family. Despite Wulfhere’s terrible betrayal I found it very difficult to sympathies with Ealdgytha for she was just so bitter, and although I could understand her depression there was no excuse for the way she treated her children. Her attitude, particularly towards her daughter in her hour of need, was deplorable.

This is an enjoyable story, but with hindsight, I do wish I had started with book one because I felt I had missed crucial parts of the story. Regardless of this, this is a novel that I would certainly recommend.

Buy this Book

Amazon UK • Amazon US

Paula Lofting

Paula Lofting is the author of 2 volumes in the Sons of the Wolf series of which she is working on her third instalment. She has been a prolific reader all her life, inspired by authors like Rosemary Sutcliffe, Mary Stewart, and Sharon Penman. She is a psychiatric nurse by day and writes in her spare time whenever she can. Mother of three grown up children and 2 grandchildren, she lives in Sussex and is also a re-enactor of the late Dark Age period. 

As a reenactor of the period I can actually say that I have fought and died at the Battle of Hastings at least three times.

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