The Trial of Maria Montrecourt

The Trial of Maria Montrecourt is a debut novel by Kay Patrick a thespian (RADA-trained) who has acted on Doctor Who (alongside William Hartnell) and was then an equally influential television director, including 20 years with Coronation Street.

It is 1899, and a young French girl, 18-year-old Maria Montrecourt, arrives in the Northern English town of Harrogate.

She is orphaned, yet is supported by a shadowy and mysterious benefactor.

Whilst Maria is struggling to find her footing in a strange and somewhat alien environment, she finds herself drawn into the early dawning of the battle for the rights of women.

But eventually the son of her benefactor hunts Maria out. And, gradually, over time a hideous and terrible secret begins to emerge.

Events that occurred many years before suddenly re-emerge from the past and these events have the power to alter the life that Maria thought she was living forever.

Soon Maria finds herself accused of monstrous sins and crimes and she finds herself alone, in a dark and dank cell, a guttering candle her only source of light, as she is on trial for her life, accused of a notorious and heinous murder.

Who is the mysterious benefactor? Why are they her benefactor? Why must they remain in the shadows?

Did Maria commit murder? Or was the whole case a ghastly mistake? Or was it something else?

This novel is not merely set in the latter part of the 19th century, it actually takes the reader back to that time, so evocative is the writing.

An ideal summertime read and extremely well priced at only £8.99.

It's published by Matador and is published in support of Alzheimer's Research UK, so every copy you buy (either from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop or elsewhere) you are helping to support Alzheimer's Research UK.)

Diet of Doubt

Diet of Doubt is a love story set amongst the rarified atmosphere of French high cuisine, written by debut author Margaret Christopher.

Lisa Saunders is a freshly qualified catering student. She has a somewhat stormy and unpredictable interview with an internationally renowned master chef, Marcel Peronnaud.

She is shocked but thrilled when he decides to appoint her as the newest trainee at his own restaurant in Paris.

She has to be careful, however, as she is fully aware of his reputation of being a lady's man, with his latest "affaire de cœur" often making the headlines in the tabloid press.

Could she, should she, be the first attractive young woman who enters his life who spurns his amorous advances?

However, all is not quite what it seems. Is Marcel really the Lothario of the haute cuisine demimonde? Or could there a great deal more to this man than his public image?

Whilst travelling through France with Lisa as he records his new cookery programme, she sees a different, much more sensitive side to Marcel.

During the ensuing months Lisa's resolve crumbles and she begins to fall in love with Marcel.

But then evidence comes to light that he may, after all, be nothing more than a player.

Is their romance doomed? Or can a miracle save this culinary "affaire de cœur"?

This is an ideal romantic novel for the holiday reading list so pack it with your sunglasses and your sunscreen!

It's published by Matador in paperback at a very reasonable £8.99 and is, as ever, available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you'll find, over there >>>>>> to the right of this review.

Harold's Story The tale of an RAF Armourer in WWII

Harold's Story The tale of an RAF Armourer in WWII is the true story of Harold Marsh.

Harold's cousin, Daphne Davison discovered a collection of old audio recordings on a series of tapes.

The recordings were made by Harold so that his grandchildren would know of his part in the fight against the Nazi and their Axis allies.

Like many service veterans, Harold had not welcomed the opportunity to speak of what trials and tribulations he went through. But unlike most other veterans, Harold actually took the time and trouble to make an audio record of his experiences.

Daphne has merely transcribed the words of her cousin Harold. So the book is entirely his work.

It is also well, illustrated with photographs from the family album.

The story begins with Harold's early life in Seasalter on the north east coast of Kent, how Harold appeared in a carnival dressed as a penny collecting box and his sister dressed up as a butterfly.

Harold joined the Seas Scouts and the ordinary Scouts and attended summer camps and generally enjoyed themselves as young boys do.

He relates the amusing tale of how his grandfather, when using a new electric torch instead of his usual candle, attempted to extinguish the torch by blowing it out!

When Harold was about sixteen and a half he had a fancy to join the Royal Navy.However, his father dissuaded him from joining the Navy and suggested that he join the RAF, instead, which is what Harold did, a year or so before the beginning of World War 2.

However, he was too young to join under the Boy's Service scheme, so was advised to wait until he was seventeen and a quarter to join the RAF. Which he duly did.

The letter from the Air Ministry telling him to attend for a series of initiation tests at the Air Ministry in London.

He, and a large number of other young men, met in a large hall and took a number of different tests including a maths test and a medical test.

After the tests they were marched off to a Tube station and thence on to West Drayton in Middlesex where they began their training as RAF recruits.

The next morning they had a very good breakfast and ice cream at lunchtime and Harold began to think he might have made the right choice of military career!

After filling in forms, swearing allegiance to the King and getting a service number (648355) Harold was in the RAF. Complete with his own housewife! (You need to read the book to learn how and why this happened.)

After his initial training he was posted to Shrewsbury, Shropshire, where he was stationed when war was declared on 3rd September 1939.

Eventually he was posted to Pembrey in South Wales were his training as an armourer would commence.

Harold saw service in a variety of locations within the UK and abroad such as Singapore, from which he and his mates were evacuated in the nick of time, eventually arriving on a crowded ship in Columbo, Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.

They made their way to India where they saw service with American-made Mohawk planes which would sometimes shoot through their own propellers if the timing was set incorrectly.

Mention is also made of the problematic dhobi rash the cure for which was worse than the ailment!

The book then moves on to the post war years and is a moving and loving tribute to an extraordinary man and his loving family.

It is published by the Book Guild in hardback at £12.99 and is a very easy to read book.

It's available via the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which you'll find just over the the right of this site.

Pendragon Rebel With a Cause

Pendragon Rebel With a Cause is a romantic tale.

It tells the story of a Welsh chieftain who sets out to prove that love can conquer all.

It's a multi-layered book, with interweavings of the spirit of Pendragon, the ancient Welsh chieftain, with the life of a very modern young Welshman by the name of Dewi.

Dewi declines to be browbeaten by his Welsh nationalist friends who, because they know they are right, think this gives them carte blanche to bully Dewi.

But Dewi decides to show them and the world that love can conquer all.

He meets people who are influential in his life. There's the unexpected encounter with a cousin of his from America, then the extremely unexpected encounter with Helen. Extremely unexpected because he had been lead to believe that Helen was dead. But the truth was that Helen was very much still in the land of the living.

There's the swirling emotions of hatred and of love, and also of life and death that permeate this moving romantic novel.

Will a miracle happen for Dewi? If it does, would he recognise it for what it was? And would it make any significant difference, in any case?

The book takes the reader through modern day and ancient Wales, combining and mixing the two in a way that will resonate with everyone with even a tiny speck of Welsh blood within them.

It costs £9.99 and is published by the Book Guild. It is available via the That's Books and Entertainment Bookshop, just to the right of this review.

First Choose Your Congo

First Choose Your Congo is the ninth travel novel by author David Fletcher.

There are two Congos, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo.

Planning a visit to the Congo? Then perhaps you had better take the advice of experienced traveller and author, David Fletcher and remember to First Choose Your Congo!

First Choose Your Congo is the latest in the Brian's World series of novels.

Adjudged by some as provocative and irreverent, they are also highly amusing, as is the latest book.

Brain and his long suffering wife take the advice of David Fletcher and they take the necessary steps to choose their Congo. They opt, sensibly, one might hope, for the safer of the two Congos, the Republic of Congo.

Brian decides to secure a place on an expedition right into the heart of the rainforest of the Congo. Where, thankfully, there are no rebels and dangerous gangs of armed thugs to contend with. Just a blissful paradise of an unspoilt environment, filled with natural wonders to be experienced by the fortunate traveller.

It is a fascinating read, a book, illustrated with a selection of beautiful colour photographs, which takes the reader into a seldomly visited part of the heart of Africa.

From the trials of the tsetse flies and the Brazza monkey, the males of which have a bright blue scrotum and the facial features of an Ayatollah to the Gorilla sanctuaries, this book is certainly a useful primer for the person thinking of visiting the Congo (the right part of the Congo, naturally!) or the confirmed armchair traveller.

It is published by Matador Travel in paperback at £12.99.

It is available for purchase at the That's Books and Entertainment shop, which you will find over to the right of this review.

Small Lives, Big World

Small Lives, Big World is a collection of short stories by R. M. Green.

The inspiration for the stories comes from the absolutely extraordinary amount of world travels that he has undertaken.

Over 90 countries, in total, have brought together the inspirations for these vastly different short stories.

Or are they all that vastly different? For Green has noticed that all the people he met, no matter what their many different and varied lives they lead, there is one common thread that binds them together, that of a firm belief in hope.

The stories, he reassures his readers, are all based on people he has met and on events that he, himself, witnessed on his many different and varied journeys around the globe, from Australia to Zambia. And some from closer to home, too.

There are ten stories in total, they reveal miniature universes of pain, frustration, of angst, fear, of love and joy, and of hope.

The book is published by Matador at £9.99 in paperback and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just to the right hand side of this review.

Summer Skool

Summer Skool is an interesting book about being a teacher. Because it is written by a real teacher, Edmund Irons.

Edmund Irons spent 20 years working as a PR consultant, an industrial editor and a copywriter. He also wrote a number of books, news and feature articles.

Eventually he decided that he had had quite enough of the demanding clients and their often impossibly tight deadlines, so he decided that he would retrain as a teacher, instead.

After all, wouldn't that be a much quieter, calmer lifestyle? A nice, steady income, all those long holidays and never home later than 5pm!

And then, reality hit home and Edmund found himself in a highly stressful job, that was very time consuming and one in which newly qualified teachers could often finds themselves putting in 12 hour days.  And assailed by problem pupils and problem educational policies, too!

During his first year as a newly qualified teacher Edmund found work as a supply teacher, working throughout a total of in excess of a dozen different schools.

He realised that many pupils at the different schools he worked in all used the same tactics during lessons to disrupt the learning process.

"But how and where could they be learning these tactics?" he thought, idly.

Eventually such musings caused him to wonder if someone, somewhere, was offering pupils lessons in the art of disrupting the learning process?

These thoughts eventually coalesced into the book Summer Skool which is about a group of boys who take special classes to learn tactics to disrupt lessons and bring chaos to the classrooms.

And they then test out their newly obtained skills on the put upon Mr Godfrey.

Although the book is humorous, Edmund does point out that it has a serious side to it, as he hopes that if read by teachers -both old and new hands at the education game- it might help them develop a better understanding of what is happening in their classrooms.

We watch as pupils learn the "no pen" trick, the use of relevant conversation to delay a teacher, what break time is really for, the masterful employment of misdirection, the use of blinds to interfere with the lesson and so on.

It's published by Matador Education, so if you are a teacher, or you know a teacher, or if you have children or you were a child at one stage in your life, this book -at £8.99 in paperback- is worth every penny!

It's available from the that's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.