Summary:
Alice Calwin finds herself without purpose in life after the death of her mother, whom she'd been caring for following a stroke. Theo Edwards, a literary journalist, has a sour outlook on life, bolstered by his ongoing divorce, and is feeling the pressure to revitalise his column in the newspaper. They encounter one another at a writers' retreat in France, but Alice's shameful past and Theo's deceptive reasons for being there end up affecting them both in very different ways. When someone finally acknowledges their mistakes, is it ever too late to make amends?
Information about the Book
Title: Garlic & Gauloises
Author: Hemmie Martin
Release Date: 11th December 2015
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Winter Goose Publishing
Pages: 208
Author Information
Hemmie Martin spent most of her professional life as a Community Nurse for people with learning disabilities, a Family Planning Nurse, and a Forensic Mental Health Nurse working with young offenders. She spent six years living in the south of France. She now writes full time.Hemmie created the DI Wednesday series, featuring DI Eva Wednesday and DS Jacob Lennox, set in and around Cambridge, with fictional villages. There are four books in the series so far. Hemmie has also written a psychological thriller, Attic of the Mind, and two contemporary women's fiction, The Divine Pumpkin and Garlic & Gauloises. Mental health often features in her novels due to her background of forensic mental health nursing. Hemmie is a member of The Crime Writer's Association.
Tour Schedule
Monday 29th August
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Wednesday 31st August
Thursday 1st September
Friday 2nd September
Saturday 3rd September
Sunday 4th September
My Thoughts:
The Cover: I thought the cover to this one was very plain. Garlic rests on what is probably a wooden table. Very earthy and homey, if one associates cooking as a comforting thing. It gave me that impression.
The Plot: While not in my normal genre, I did find it interesting. It was a pleasant foray into a situation I would love to find myself. The staying in a foreign place, at a relaxing inn with a slower pace, perhaps a writer's conference, not the unpleasantness that our characters had to deal with. The storyline moved along well, with great twists and wow moments that blew my mind.
The Characters: Our characters were exactly what you would expect from this kind of story. The frigid protagonist with a horrible secret from her past, the egotistical antagonist, one who is great at getting people to share the skeletons in the closet. He wrongs her, she vows to never forgive him and moves on with her life. He can't get over her. But that's where this story takes on a life of it's own. Or I guess where our characters take on that life really. I didn't really like either of our main characters, they were just too typical. It was really the supporting characters that did it for me.
Is it Worth Reading?: Garlic and Gauloises was definitely different and a nice vacation of some of the other books I have been reading. I recommend it to readers of this genre and I give it 3 out of 5 crossbows.
Many thanks for having me on your blog, and for writing a review. Much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteYour very welcome, Hemmie! Thank you for sharing your story with me!
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