Escape to the Bookshelf

‘Daughter of the Moon Goddess’ by Sue Lynn Tan

To be published 20/01/2022…

The moon is a prison. Having grown up there in isolated comfort with her loving mother this is an uncomfortable truth for Xingyin to learn. But it is not until she sees the rest of the world for herself that she truly understands how great a tragedy it is for her mother to be imprisoned. The oath to free her mother is a rash one and the path it takes her on is bumpy and dangerous and uncertain, but Xingyin has only to glance nostalgically at the far away moon to know that it is the right decision. She will need all the help she can get to complete her impossible task, but trust does not come easily to a girl who has had to lie about her parentage to survive.

‘Terciel and Elinor’ by Garth Nix

To be published 02/11/2021…

Having grown up in isolation in her family’s slowly failing manor house Elinor does not have much experience of the world; until an undead tragedy thrusts her out into it and she finds that she may be destined to be one of the world’s key players after all.

Plucked from the workhouse by an unknown and distant relative, Terciel is bought up in the thick of luxury and danger. His destiny is to be the Abhorsen, the one who makes sure the dead stay dead, but he is determined that there is still more to life than the bells and the dead and the Abhorsen’s house.

‘Gilded’ by Marissa Meyer

To be published 02/11/2021…

Serilda is different, marked so by her golden eyes and judged as bad luck by the villagers who scorn her storytelling talents. Only the children see her without prejudice, and her father whose unending love attempts to overshadow the absence of Serilda’s mother. When she crosses paths with the Erlking during his Snow Moon hunt she believes that her quick-spun story has saved her, but one such as Serilda is not easily forgotten and the Erlking wants her to spin more than just stories. Only the local poltergeist can save her, but his magic requires payment and Serilda has few possessions of value to offer. How many more lies can she spin before the truth is the only thing left?

‘The Mask of Mirrors’ by M.A. Carrick

Street urchin, turned gang member, turned maid, and now con-woman, Ren is halfway to ingratiating herself into the noble Traementis family when the entire city begins to unravel into a plot greater than anything Ren has ever seen before.

‘Under the Whispering Door’ by TJ Klune

Wallace Price is dead. He’s not overly impressed, but unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much he can do about it – other than hang out in a teashop with the Mei and Hugo (the reaper and the ferryman) and refuse to move on. Hugo’s dead grandad Nelson is there too, like Wallace stubbornly ignoring the door at the top of the house that calls to him. Life in the teashop is quite nice actually and Wallace feels that he is living life more than he ever has before. Except that he’s still dead.

‘The Bookbinder’s Daughter’ by Jessica Thorne

To be published 20/09/2021…

Sophie has never known what happened to her mother. So when an estranged Uncle shows up and offers her a job in the family business, her mother’s old job, it’s an offer too good to refuse. Little does she know that the secret of her mother’s disappearance isn’t the only mystery that will be unravelled.

‘Twilight at Moorington Cross’ by Abigail Wilson

To be published 11/01/2022…

When Amelia Pembroke is made heir to Moorington Cross she must marry one of two highly unsuitable men within the month or they will all lose everything. The situation is only made more complicated by the fact that the previous owner of Moorington Cross (and possibly the one before him too) was murdered. Only Amelia, with the help of her dashing young solicitor, can solve the murder. He’ll help her choose a husband too, for better or for worse…

‘A Spell of Rowans’ by Byrd Nash

To be published 26/10/2021…

Vic left home fifteen years ago under a dark cloud and she hasn’t been back since. Her new life in the city is built carefully around privacy and solitude and painstakingly constructed boundaries. When her mother dies, finally, Vic is finally drawn home to deal once and for all with her ghosts – and there might be even more ghosts than she remembers. In order to solve her mother’s murder she will have to join together with her equally traumatised siblings, hoping that they can forgive her for abandoning them. Only when every sordid truth has been unearthed will they finally have peace.

‘A Treason of Thorns’ by Laura Wheymouth

The Great Houses of England are alive with magic. Bound to the King’s service their magic can only be wielded through the stewardship of caretakers. For generations the Sterling family have been the caretakers of their beloved Burleigh House and Violet grows up happily within its walls, ready to take on the responsibility when her time comes. Until her father is convicted of treason and Violet is banished from the House.

The Betrayals by Bridget Collins

Set against the backdrop of Montverre, a boarding school where elite intellects study the complex intricacies of the ‘Grand Jeu’, this book focusses on the moments where two lives intertwine. Claire Dryden is Magister Ludi, master of the ‘Grand Jeu’ and first ever woman admitted into the mysteries of Montverre. Leo Martin was the Minister for Culture until he dared to disagree when his Party started taking things one extreme too far; returned to his roots in exile Leo struggles to find a place and a purpose for himself at Montverre. Apparent strangers, the two struggling professionals may share more secrets of the past than they realise.