Jules feels old and past it. Her husband shows no interest in her and her children are ready to fly the nest. She is particularly worried about her daughter Leah who is emotionally vulnerable after a bad break up. Leah is on the look out for a new boyfriend…
My Daughter’s Revenge is a family drama and psychological thriller set in the UK.
Jules joins an app to get some positive interactions as she feels low and unloved. A few flirty comments to bolster her ego is all she wants but she feels guilty that she can’t reach her husband emotionally. Leah is also looking for validation from a man but her latest brief relationship with Dylan is destroyed when he discovers she has lied about her age.
The book is written from the first person perspectives of both Jules and Leah. Both characters are vivdly depicted and their voices are unique and distinct from each other. Jules is sad as she feels her love is not reciprocated by her husband. Leah’s voice is very immature and selfish. She is slightly reckless and her behaviour becomes obsessive when Dylan rejects her.
As a woman in my 40s, I could identify with Jules’ preoccupation with negative comparisons and the feeling of lost youth. Meanwhile as a mother of a daughter, it felt very powerful to be reminded of the teenage years and the danger of hormones going haywire (although I also think Leah has significant mental health needs) although I could understand Leah’s desire for independence.
Both women’s characters inspire pity because they are so unhappy. Initially I also felt really sorry for Dylan. Leah lied to him and then becomes obsessed, putting his job in danger. My sympathy waned at the way he behaves later in the book. There is a lot of build up in the book which slows the pace but allows us to fully understand Jules and Leah. There were twists until the very last page.
My Daughter’s Revenge is an emotionally charged psychological thriller with strong narration.
Book blurb: My Daughter’s Revenge by Natali Simmonds
My first mistake was raising my daughter to be just like me…
His death is reported on the morning news. The man my daughter’s been dating. Dead. Gone…
I blink slowly – once, twice, three times. The hair on the back of my neck rises as I grip my coffee harder. My breath comes in short bursts.
I didn’t even know he existed until recently. Leah doesn’t tell me anything anymore. But I found the letters she hid. I know she fell head over heels for him. That he broke her heart.
And that he’s dead now.
I wish more than anything that the news is only shocking because of who it is, and what’s happened to him.
But I know my daughter too well for that.
My first mistake was raising my daughter to be just like me.
My second mistake might be what I do to protect her…
An absolutely gripping suspense thriller that will have your heart pounding. Perfect for fans of addictive page-turners like The Housemaid, The Family Across the Street and The Family Upstairs.
Natali Simmonds began her career in glossy magazines, then went on to manage marketing campaigns for big brands. She’s now a creative brand consultant, freelance writer, and fiction author, writing gritty and unflinching stories full of complex women and page-turning suspense (and sometimes a little magic).
Simmonds’ dark, feminist thriller debut, Good Girls Die Last, has been optioned for a television series by STV. As N J Simmonds, Natali penned the fantasy trilogy The Path Keeper and Son of Secrets, and in 2022 was shortlisted for the RNA Fantasy Award for the last book in the series, Children of Shadows. She’s one half of paranormal romance author duo, Caedis Knight, and has also written for manga.
When she’s not writing or consulting, she’s a columnist for Kings College London’s ‘Inspire The Mind’ magazine, and lectures for Raindance Film School. Originally from London, Natali now divides her time between Spain, the UK, and the Netherlands where she can be found drawing, reading in her hammock, or complaining about cycling in the rain.
Our fourth day of our Norfolk holiday began with a brief visit to English Heritage site Weeting Castle.
Our main destination was Oxburgh Hall which was an unexpected delight. We had a newspaper voucher for free family entry to a National Trust property.
Inide the house I discovered that Oxburgh used to be the home of Henry Bedingfeld who was Elizabeth I’s jailor at the Tower of London when she was imprisoned there during the reign of her sister. He was an ardent Catholic but Elizabeth respected him for showing her compassion in her darkest hours.
Other historical elements that I found fascinating were the painting of the mysterious Countess whose identity is unknown but she was found dead in the moat in the late 1500s. There were also artefacts belonging to Mary Queen of Scots and many beautiful portraits.
Oxburgh recently featured on the BBC after a picture was discovered to be an incredibly rare mezzotint.
There were some activities dotted around the property. Our favourite was badminton and this brought back lovely memories of my childhood (in fact, I have now bought some racquets so we can play at home, yay!)
It was rather hot so after a wander in the woods we headed back to the cool shade of our holiday home for the rest of the day.
Ana has transferred to a new police team. Their first case is a vigilante taking on a group of racist teenagers. Then a troubled young woman dies and the vigilante is suspected of murder but Ana doesn’t think it fits his other behaviour…
The Girl in the Woods is described as a psychological thriller but also has strong police procedural/crime thriller elements.
A group of teenage boys is spoiling the tranquility of the quiet Oxfordshire village. One man is prepared to stand up to them but hides behind a masked persona known as The Vigilante. Then a troubled teenaged girl (related to one of the racist boys) is attacked and killed in the woods and The Vigilante is accused so the police hunt ramps up.
Ana is keen to prove herself in the new team but the police have a variety of personal and professional issues. Beth has a new superior officer and the pair have a ‘past’. The mentions of their backstory refer to events in The Lies She Told but there are no spoilers about the case. Elements of their personal lives which featured in the first book are developed in this one but it would still work perfectly well as a stand alone book.
Most of the book is written in the present day to show current events. There are also chapters set 7 years in the past, allowing us to guess at the link between the two timelines. Both timelines involve girls and young women being abused and raped which is very powerful and emotive but I felt it was handled sensitively. There is also racist language and violence featured prominently in the book and I thought this was also dealt with to show the unpleasantness and unacceptability of this behaviour.
The plot and writing style were wonderfully engaging. At first, I did find myself a little overwhelmed with the different timelines and wealth of characters. However, by the end I was utterly hooked and making connections between the plot threads.
The Girl in the Woods is an engaging and emotionally charged novel.
Book blurb:
Ana, who lives in a small Oxfordshire village, came from Liverpool carrying a secret. Her life is now on the straight and narrow, though, and she has a blossoming career as a policewoman.
But when a vigilante starts to practice their own kind of justice on her watch, and then a body is discovered in the woods, Ana’s contentment is shattered as the past comes flooding back to haunt her.
Soon Ana must make a choice—turn her back on the girl she used to be . . . or embrace the bitterness and rage she has buried for so long.
Deaf after contracting measles as a child, Mina is a brilliant student but is thrown out of school due to the Nazi rules about disabilities. Luckily she can lipread and is able to get into university, keeping her deafness a secret. But her scientific brain is recognised by the government and she is whisked away to Berlin to work on the German atomic bomb…
When The World Went Silent is an historical book set in Austria and Germany during WW2. There is some basis in fact but Mina’s character is completely fictional.
Mina won’t let her deafness get in the way of achieving her dream. Luckily she became deaf as a child so is able to talk normally and she is proficient at lipreading so others don’t immediately realise she has a disability. However, she is also in danger from the Nazi ideology about perfect Aryans and the threat of sterilisation and euthanasia are mentioned to coerce her into working for their atomic project.
I loved Mina’s character and her determination to succeed. Her passion for science radiates from the pages as does her desperate hope for humanity. The latter leads her to sabotage the German atomic project to prevent the Nazis creating a weapon of mass destruction. The science behind the story was fascinating and I also enjoyed the medical side to the radiation plot.
I really loved this book despite not understanding most of the science! The best and worst of humanity are depicted with authenticity. The historical side of the book has been well researched. I felt immersed in the history and geography portrayed in the book. The supporting characters are a mix of real people and fictional but all add depth to Mina’s character through their relationships. My only quibbles were that the prologue and epilogue by ‘Mother’ weren’t really necessary and I felt the ending was a little rushed.
When The World Went Silent is a wonderful historical book about bravery and overcoming adversity.
When the World Went Silent: A completely heartbreaking and utterly gripping World War Two page-turner
Berlin, 1942. “All I know is we will survive this together,” he says before kissing the tears away from my cheeks. But I know if the Nazis discover what we’ve done, how we’ve conspired against them, we will die together.
Deaf since the age of five, Mina has had to fight for everything she has, including her place at an Austrian university to study physics. She has never felt accepted—until she meets fellow student Siggy, and her heart stops at the kindness in his bright blue eyes.
But Mina’s world comes crashing down when the SS arrive at her door and escort her to Berlin. She’s terrified it’s because of her disability—she’s heard the awful rumours about the Nazi euthanasia program. So relief washes over her when she’s told as one of Germany’s brightest minds, she’s been recruited to work for the government.
Soon, this relief turns to horror when Mina learns why she’s truly here: they want her to build the atomic bomb that will win Germany the war. Mina knows if she refuses they will kill her. But if she does as they say, she could be responsible for the death of millions.
With Siggy’s help, Mina vows to do everything she can to sabotage the project. Will they save the world from a devastating catastrophe? Or will everything they’ve risked be in vain?
An absolutely unforgettable and page-turning WW2 novel about one woman’s bravery and determination to save millions of lives. Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network and The Nightingale will be gripped.
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author, whose works have been translated into 14 languages. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, “The Girl from Berlin.” Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.
In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their two dogs.
Our first full week of the summer holiday at home! We have been taking it easy and enjoyed a trip to the cinema to see Despicable Me 4 before getting the paddling pool out ready for the hot weather.
