The Clifton Chronicles: Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer

Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪ out of 5 Stars

Release Date:                      March 2014

Author’s Website:              http://www.jeffreyarcher.co.uk/site/

Purchase in Australia:       QBD Bookstore & other good book stores

Purchase Book U.S.:          Amazon

Publisher’s Website:          Pan MacMillan

Only Time Will Tell: THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES 1       Released 2011

The Sins of the Father: THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES 2    Released 2012

The Best Kept Secret: THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES 3     Released 2013

What You Wish For: THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES 4       Released March 2014

My thoughts:

Since Not A Penny More, Not a Penny Less, I’ve idolized Jeffrey Archer as an author. Jeffrey Archer is the master of characterization and suspense. Somehow he commands that you care about the results of a high school exam, the vote for a board Chairman, or whether a cruise-ship will meet its construction deadline. None of these challenges are exciting mysteries. Yet we must know the answer. 

At age 74, after 35 years as a best-selling author, and over 270 million copies of books sold, Lord Archer has brought us a great series: The Clifton Chronicles, which follows the life and story of Harry Clifton and his heirs. We meet Harry in 1919 Bristol and follow him and his friends through to the 1940’s and the Second World War, and in Be Careful What You Wish For, the fourth volume we are taken through 1957 to ’64.

This book is essentially Harry Clifton’s wife, Emma Barrington-Clifton’s, story. Readers enjoy front row seats at the boardroom drama of Barrington’s, Emma’s family’s ship-construction company. The board-members are gambling the future of the company on the building of a luxury liner. High stakes criminal Martinez, who bears a murderous grudge against the Clifton family, is out to scuttle Barringtons, and there is much fun with wheeling and dealing in shares and board appointees. Like the previous books, this leaves us hanging on a cliff. It has all the twists, turns, dirty tricks, tragedies and vendettas that have made this series so fabulous. 

Jeffrey Archer is possibly the greatest storyteller of our time. The Clifton Chronicles, his most ambitious story, requiring of Archer a commitment of more than five years, with rumors that the five-part series may become seven. The series only curse is that there’s a year's wait after each book.

.  

Book Blurb:

The Clifton Chronicles Series

Only Time Will Tell Released 2011

The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1919, in the backstreets of Bristol. His father was a war hero, but it will be twenty-one tumultuous years before Harry discovers the truth about how his father really died and if, in fact, he even was his father.

Only Time Will Tell takes a cast of memorable characters from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take his place at Oxford, or join the fight against Hitler's Germany.

In Jeffrey Archer's masterful hands, you will be taken on a journey that you won't want to end, even after you turn the last page of this unforgettable yarn, because you will be faced with a dilemma that neither you, nor Harry Clifton could ever have anticipated.

Only Time Will Tell: THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES 1      Released 2011

The Sins of the Father: THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES 2   Released 2012

The Best Kept Secret: THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES 3    Released 2013

What You Wish For: THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES 4      Released March 2014

About the author:

Jeffrey Archer, whose novels and short stories include Kane and Abel, A Prisoner of Birth and Cat O' Nine Tales, has topped the bestseller lists around the world, with sales of over 270 million copies. He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (seventeen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries). The author is married with two sons and lives in London and Cambridge. www.jeffreyarcher.com

THE KINGMAKER'S DAUGHTER by Philippa Gregory ★★★★

Reviewed by Emily Barber

‘The Kingmaker's Daughter’ by Phillipa Gregory is the gripping story of the daughters of the man known as the "Kingmaker," Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick: the most powerful magnate in fifteenth-century England.  Without a son and heir, he uses his daughters, Anne and Isabel as pawns in his political games, and they grow up to be influential players in their own right.

At the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne grows from a delightful child to become ever more fearful and desperate when her father makes war on his former friends. Married at age fourteen, she is soon left widowed and fatherless, her mother in sanctuary and her sister married to the enemy. Anne manages her own escape by marrying Richard, Duke of Gloucester, but her choice will set her on a collision course with the overwhelming power of the royal family and will cost the lives of those she loves most in the world, including her precious only son, Prince Edward. Ultimately, the kingmaker's daughter will achieve her father's greatest ambition.

First of all a disclaimer of sorts: I love Sharon Kay Penman's ‘The Sunne in Splendour’ set in the ‘War of the Roses’ period and I have read it multiple times. So my reactions whilst reading ‘The Kingmaker's Daughter’ are coloured by that. There were multiple times whilst reading I found myself saying "Wait, that's not right" and I had to remind myself that both books are novels and no one can know the truth about character and motivations. However, most readers won’t know this.

In saying that I did enjoy this book and Phillipa Gregory deserves much praise for this series. I highly recommend this book, but I have to warn readers that this is an intense and dark part of history and there is no happy ending.

My review copy of THE KINGMAKER’S DAUGHTER thanks to the very wonderful people at Simon & Schuster Australia.

Release Dates: Australia and New Zealand: August 2013

CLICK THROUGH FOR BUYING INFORMATION: HERE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Philippa Gregory was an established historian and writer when she discovered her interest in the Tudor period and wrote the internationally bestselling novel The Other Boleyn Girl. Now she is looking at the family that preceded the Tudors: the magnificent Plantaganets, a family of complex rivalries, loves, and hatreds.

Her other great interest is the charity that she founded nearly twenty years ago: Gardens for The Gambia. She has raised funds and paid for 140 wells for the primary schools of this poor African country. A former student of Sussex university, and a PhD and Alumna of the Year 2009 of Edinburgh University, her love for history and commitment to historical accuracy are the hallmarks of her writing. She lives with her family on a small farm in Yorkshire.

She welcomes visitors to her site www.PhilippaGregory.com

THE MIDWIFE'S TALE by Sam Thomas ★★★★

Reviewed by Tracy Harris

In the early 1600s, a woman’s role was easily categorised as that of being a wife and mother. Nothing more, nothing less.  Except in the case of twice widowed Lady Bridget Hodgson, who serves her community in the role of midwife, tending to ladies and maids and everyone in between.

York in 1644 is not a pleasant place, even for an educated and wealthy woman such as Bridget. A civil war is splitting the country in two, and Parliament’s forces are at the city’s walls.  In the midst of this uncertainty, one of Bridget’s friends is accused of murdering her husband, an act of petty treason. Esther Cooper begs Bridget to help prove her innocence and save her life.

Appalled at the way Esther’s trial is handled and at the attitude of the Lord Mayor, Bridget finds herself drawn towards proving Esther’s innocence, and her life, ably assisted by her new maid, Martha Hawkins. For a lady’s maid, Martha has an unusual skill set and understanding of the seedier side of life which comes in surprisingly useful in a city under siege, where unsavoury characters lurk around corners and danger comes in all shapes and sizes.

Samuel Thomas has captured his female protagonist with a realistic hand, keeping her wit and wisdom fresh and believable. His enthusiasm for Reformation history keeps the story flowing without becoming bogged down in dreary details. Samuel based his character Bridget on a midwife by the same name who practiced in York and whose Will can found online at the Borthwick Institute for Historical Research website.

However the most unique aspect of this book is its historical accuracy as far as midwifery. We are taken on a journey into a world that exists no longer, but was an integral and essential part of life in the 1600s. As a midwife, Bridget is not only responsible for bringing new life into her world, but for interrogating single mothers and ensuring the fathers’ of their children take responsibility for their actions.

A mystery with a unique setting, The Midwife’s Tale is certainly a novel worth exploring, if you like facts along with your fiction.

FOR PURCHASING INFORMATION: CLICK HERE
VISIT THESE SITES FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE AUTHOR:

• Author Website
• Author Facebook
• Author Twitter

LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson ★ ★ ★★★

A CLASSIC IS BORN

 

Kate Atkinson’s LIFE AFTER LIFE is amazing, incredible, unique, extraordinary, page-turning, surprising, moving.    Still all these superlatives fall short in their praise.  It’s that special.

Even labelling presents difficulty.  It’s an historic tale set during WWI and WW2. It’s a supernatural tale of re-incarnation.  It’s an alternate history in part. It’s beautiful literature with sentences so poetic you read them more than once.  And it’s a drama of secrets that unfold so teasingly that you want to skip ahead so bad your fingers itch.  But you dare not because Atkinson has framed and paced her story so perfectly you know you will miss out.  As you close the final page you want to open the first page and start all over again. This is a book you want to own and not borrow from a friend.  You want to touch its cover later and remember how you felt as you read it. 

Ursula Todd is born on February 11^th, 1910 to wealthy English parents but dies immediately only to be reborn again.  This time she lives longer and we learn more about her life and family.  But again she dies and is reborn to a new life with slightly altered events.  It is an era fraught with danger from illness, accidents and dangerous friends and strangers.  In each new life Ursula retains a Déjà vu sense of her previous downfall and is able to avoid  those deaths only to face new challenges. Her deaths are varied and surprising and whilst some lives are short, in some she lives to middle-age. Atkinson’s mastery of pacing creates a marvelous rollercoaster ride, so we never really know when the next death will arrive.

Through Ursula’s and her family’s eyes we experience life in early twentieth century England and the horror and tragedy of the two World Wars; once even behind the German lines up close and personal with Hitler. The detail is meticulous and the feeling of witnessing history uncanny.

LIFE AFTER LIFE is a thought-provoking rarity and sometimes these beauties cannot be analysed. Somewhere in the words, the emotions, between the ink on the page, a magic is born.  On February 11^th, 1910 Ursula Todd is born, a classic wondrous character, surely to be loved by generations of readers.

 

My review copy of Life After Life thanks to the hardworking people at RANDOM HOUSE Australia.
For more information please visit http://www.randomhouse.com.au

Release Dates: Australia and New Zealand: 18^th March 2013

To Pre-order or purchase after release date in Australia  click here
Available in Hard Cover, Paperback and eBook.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

         Kate Atkinson was born in York and now lives in Edinburgh. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and has been a critically acclaimed international bestselling author ever since.

         She is the author of a collection of short stories, Not the End of the World, and of the critically acclaimed novels Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird, Case Histories, and One Good Turn.

         Case Histories introduced her readers to Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, and won the Saltire Book of the Year Award and the Prix Westminster.

          When Will There Be Good News? was voted Richard & Judy Book Best Read of the Year. After Case Histories and One Good Turn, it was her third novel to feature the former private detective Jackson Brodie, who also made a welcome return in Started Early, Took My Dog.  Kate was awarded an MBE in the Queen's 2011 Birthday Honours, for services to literature.

Useful Links

• Visit Kate Atkinson's official website
• Follow Kate Atkinson on Facebook
• Follow Jackson Brodie on Twitter
• Sign up to Kate Atkinson's enewsletter for updates