(from back cover)

After Flodden is a modern take on the lyrical ballads of old, centring on a courageous young woman’s refusal to give up her search for justice, as well as a gripping portrayal of the statesman who was largley responsible for the calamitous loss of the Scots at the Battle of Flodden.

Book Review

Ms. Goring’s background in Literature, publishing and Scottish studies is evident in the excellently written novel. It is a story covering a short period of time after the battle of Flodden in 1513, five hundred years ago, which has comprehensive history and background information covering the monarchy of Scotland, England and the border country, and the tensions therein. When James IV was on the Scottish throne Henry VIII was King of England, and brother-in-law to James’s wife.

The characters are listed at the beginning of the book and come starkly to life page by page, the narrative goes forward and backward in time flawlessly before and after the battle with perfect continuity and there are a few surprises at the end.

This book in really enjoyable and I learned a lot about history, military strategies and rules of engagement, but the book is much more than this. It is the story of a young courageous woman searching for her brother who is branded as a spy, and of her finding love in the process. However the most amazing thing that kept me reading this book slowly and carefully to the very end was the use of poetic, authentic language. Being Scottish, but not having lived there for twenty years is was delightful to read words and expressions I had not heard for years, bairns, weans, glaur, biddie, and lots more. The description of Dacre’s men attacking Crozier’s Keep will put you on the edge of your seat.

There are some beautiful word pictures i.e. when vixen the dog meets Crozier’s hounds ‘a growl rolled like dice in the little dog’s throat,’  and Gabriel’s Mother and Aunt, when sewing and decrying King James and his court, ‘stitching as if their needles were winkling out these gentlemen’s eyes.’

On Crozier’s wedding night he is described thus; his heart was beating so hard she could feel it through his shirt, as if it were her own’, erotic in its simplicity.

I could go on and on praising this book, and will definitely read it again.

Fifteen year old Virgil was ready to risk danger crossing the prairie to find his father and a fortune in gold. But he never expected to find himself among mammoth hunters or falling in love. Virgil had a vision, but would he live to make it real or witness humanity’s extinction instead?

Book Review

I received this book for free and enjoyed reading it although I felt at times it was like a condensed version of the real story. It leans towards the young adult genre but is quite a sophisticated story with time travel and the hero having to deal with different languages and cultures. The pace of the book is good but there was not a lot of detailed description so the reader has to use their imagination, which is not a bad thing, but there could have been more word pictures. The romance in the book is fairly chaste and endearing and the story touches on some serious issues like global warming and developing cultures. There were some strange spelling choices like never-the-less instead of nevertheless (location 377) and shown for showed (location 423). I feel this writer could develop his craft and produce an interesting full length excellent novel without too much problem.

This is a short story that is amusing but has some dark corners. It is about a child who believes he is everyone’s favourite and everyone likes him, or does he? He psychologically tortures his teacher to the point of collapse, his ‘absolutely positively all time favourite teacher’, and apparently has no insight into the effect he has on her and others. He causes havoc every day but it feels that there is knowingness in the behaviour.

There are hints at a very strange home life with locked bedroom doors and a mother who screams and he would also like Captain Kirk to be his father.

The story is flawlessly written well paced and has clear word pictures and subtle language.

Is this child intellectually challenged, or devious, or extremely naive, or struggling to cover unhappiness? Read this and make up your own mind.

This book is for you if you are divorcing, already divorced or wanting to be supportive of someone going through a divorce. It’s never too late to use this book. Maybe you’re already divorced but have a lot of residual issues that keep holding you back. This could be just what you need to get over your divorce once and for all. If you care about someone who is divorcing, you will find key things that will increase your ability to offer support that really works.

This book can’t take away your pain but it offers hope to help you ease it as soon as possible. Reading the short chapters and practising the tip you find here each day beats getting stuck and delaying yourself longer than necessary on your journey to feeling better. (From Amazon)

Book Review

I was invited by the writer to read and review this book and found it both informative and well written. The writing is flawless and the language is straight-forward and sensitive.

Don Love deals with a very difficult, emotive subject in a practical way and is non judgemental and avoids any moralistic statements. What this book offers is a bit of hope and a way forward to people who are divorcing, with anecdotes and case studies which are easy to follow. The chapters are short and easily absorbed and there is a list of affirmations and small exercises at the end of the book which, if followed will help to repair self esteem and start the important ‘moving on’ process.

Things that jumped out at me were; the idea of a bridge year giving time to heal, grief is an important part of the healing, building new support networks, and be a giver, all very positive aspects to getting your life back on track. This is a book that can be dipped into again and again, it is well written and easy to read.

That makes me want to grab people on the street and say: ‘Have you HEARD THIS?” 

Did you ever wonder what grandparents really got up to when they were younger? Have you ever seen a Mexican Barking spider.

Do you know who the first man to walk on Mars was? Find the answers to all of these questions along with why so many N.A.S.A scientists are bald and why American bridges are so strong inside this wonderful new book.

Warning: may contain rockets and scenes of a spidery nature.

 Book Review

This is a very interesting story for children of all ages, either when they are reading alone or being read to. It has enough gruesome descriptions of sick and wee and spider’s webs to satisfy most children. The book is very funny and the story is told at a fast pace. The basis of telling a tale to keep his grandchildren occupied on a long stormy journey is in some ways the real art of storytelling, to entertain, to distract, and to keep their fears at bay. The use of barking spiders as the brains of the operation, builders, organisers, and able to keep the humans under control is a very good ploy, just edgy enough for most children to enjoy. The ‘on the ground’ experts are well described (mostly bald) and the interaction between the two brothers being told the story is very realistic.there are some gems of language use i.e. location 445; (laugh) ‘like a kind of rumbling sound, like a grumpy old lion with no teeth and a sore back,’ exellent!

The illustrations did not show up too well on kindle but in colour they will be much better. There are also some punctuation anomalies which need proofing, however, I found this a very good read and will recommend it to my grandchildren