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Book recs for International Women's Day!

What better day to celebrate strong women's stories than today. Here's my top recommendations for this special day.


Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent.

What its about: Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died.


Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she cannot remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends and big decisions, and learning that people don't always mean what they say.


But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world? And why does her neighbour seem to be obsessed with her? Sally's trust issues are about to be severely challenged . . .


Bobs and Books honest review:

I finished this book over a week ago and I still cannot stop thinking about it. Straight away Sally reminded me of Elinor Oliphant, misfit, socially awkward, takes things literally. Even the first two paragraphs had me totally hooked and I read this in one sitting til 1am !


Make no mistake, there are some things to read in this. Violence against women and PTSD are prominent here and some scenes are very very difficult to read. The way in which the story unfolds, keeps you hanging, eagerly awaiting to find the next breadcrumb and piece it all together.


Sally is a phenomenal character and I enjoyed watching her adapt to life after her dad dies. The characters that enter her life post bereavement shape the novel too and the sub plot is just as harrowing, if not disturbing at times.


This will shock, stun and is an emotional read. But its the most addictive thing I've read in a very long time. Goodness me, what a ride.



The Garnett Girls, Georgina Moore


Forbidden, passionate and all-encompassing, Margo and Richard's love affair was the stuff of legend--but, ultimately, doomed. When Richard walked out, Margo locked herself away, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen, and Sasha, to run wild.


Years later, charismatic Margo entertains lovers and friends in her cottage on the Isle of Wight, refusing to ever speak of Richard and her painful past. But her


silence is keeping each of the Garnett girls from finding true happiness.


Rachel is desperate to return to London but is held hostage by responsibility for Sandcove, their beloved but crumbling family home. Dreamy Imogen feels the pressure to marry her kind, considerate fiancé, even when life is taking an unexpected turn. Wild, passionate Sasha, trapped between her fractured family and controlling husband, is weighed down by a secret that could shake the family to its core.


Bobs and Books honest review:


A glorious setting for this read. I gave me Cornish nostalgia with the beaches. The women are strong characters in this book and their complex relationships in the family dynamic and how they connect is a fascinating read. Intense at times, with a bucketful of passion.



When I First Held You, Anstey Harris


In 1960s Glasgow, anti-nuclear activists Judith and Jimmy fall in love. But their future hopes are dashed when their protestors’ squat is raided and many, including Jimmy, are sent to prison. Pregnant and with no word from Jimmy, Judith is forced to enter an unmarried mothers’ home, give up their baby and learn to live with her grief.


More than half a century later, Judith’s Mending Shop restores broken treasures, just as Judith herself has been bound back together by her late, much-missed partner, Catherine. But her tranquillity is shattered when Jimmy—so different and yet somehow the same—reappears, yearning to unpick the painful past.


Realising they each know only half of the other’s story, Jimmy and Judith finally break the silence that tore apart what might have been their family. Amid heartbreak and hope, how much can now be mended?


Bobs and Books honest review:


This is a truly phenomenal read. It gave me so many emotions, I cried, I giggled, I cringed. The characters felt so real and vivid, even weeks later I'm still thinking about them. A really important story to be told, and I was very invested.


I also liked the nuclear campaign backdrop, rarely mentioned in books and also an important theme that must not be forgotten.

Moving, thought provoking and powerful.



All out now.

Happy International Women's Day!

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