Monday Moments-Books read #1

Welcome to my Monday Moments slot! 

During the past weekend, I've been out selling my novels at a FOCUS Craft Fair in Aboyne on Royal Deeside but I've also been catching up with writing short reviews for novels I've personally read during April and May. Similar reviews to what's on this blog have been posted on Amazon UK and Goodreads for the authors since I know how useful it is to have reviews for helping to raise the book's ratings.

To kick off a series of reviews that will appear on this blog this week, here's a 5 * read that I really enjoyed:

Dirty Weekend by Deirdre Palmer

What people say and what they don’t tell…

This was a very enjoyable and, at times, an amusing read though the themes running though it are not so funny at all. Hearkening back to 1966, the author tackles what would have been a very difficult subject to mention to anyone. I found the character of Jeanette a bit undeveloped at first, her loyalty to her friend Carol-Anne a little ambivalent but she changed towards the end as her 'horror' was revealed. I imagine a real victim (as in what Jeanette suffered) during the 1960s would have ended up keeping their own counsel, if there was limited parental support involved.

The four main characters are well portrayed with realistic, likeable characteristics that ring true for the era. The ‘Swinging Sixties’ are successfully evoked in all the little details mentioned by the author, some of which made me smile and others laugh outright! Particulars are remembered by readers who lived through the 1960s but there's social information included in the text which would also be valuable for a younger reader interested in learning more about the times.

A very enjoyable read which I can easily recommend.

Click the link above if you'd like more information from Amazon, or to buy.

Slainthe!