The Egg and the Family

The Egg and the Family is a remarkable first-hand account by Steve Green, who shares the pioneering early days of IVF treatment.

Steve Green, PhD, is a Clinical Embryologist who is widely considered as being one of the founders of  modern embryology.

In his book he charts his own personal journey of working at the leading edge of IVF research.

From life as a homeless teenager in Grimsby to a leading IVF pioneer, Steve's story is a truly fascinating one.

Despised by his father who threw him out of the family home at 16 for the crime of wanting to better himself by seeking an education, he had a difficult start, but Steve was determined that he would obtain an education and escape the typical working class life that was the fate of his contemporaries.

And so he did, becoming a laboratory technician and working hard to establish himself as a leading authority on IVF, and the author of in excess of 50 academic papers on the subject.

He helped many thousands of people become parents, but this was not without costs to his person life.

It is an interesting, compelling and highly personal account of what it was like to be an IVF pioneer.

The book really needs to be on the shelf of any MD who deals with infertile couples and any student of embryology.

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99. 
 

Times and Places

Times and Places is an interesting novel from Keith Anthony.

It is a decade since the death of Justine, the daughter of Fergus and his wife, Sylvie. Fergus is bedevilled by anxiety and he and his wife decide to take a cruise.

On the cruise Fergus meets a wide variety of characters, some he finds interesting and enchanting, others irritate him or even leave him feeling disgusted.

He begins to feel conflicting emotions and a whole chain of rather bizarre happenings on board the ship leaves him feeling even more anxious than before.

By the clever use of flashbacks Keith Anthony explores the life of Justine, her romance (albeit short lived) the way that she lost her life and a subsequent police investigation into her death is begun.

Meanwhile, back in the present day on the cruise ship, Fergus finds himself at a mental breaking point, convinced that he has done something truly terrible.

Has he done something truly terrible? Even if he has not, by the time the ship returns to port, his life will have been changed for ever.

It's a quirky, character-driven novel which is also emotionally charged, so do expect to have a few moist eyes, at least.

It's published by The Book Guild at £9.49.

Fire and Honey

Fire and Honey is a novel by C J Evans that is set in the Caribbean.

Susan and Andrea believe that they deserve romance and adventure, plus something to distance themselves a little form their troubled pasts.

And so it is that the two women decide to seek both adventure and romance amongst the Caribbean islands.

And, as if by magic, they meet two utterly charming men and all seems set fair for the romance and adventure that they were craving.

Or does it? Because things are never quite what they seem and soon the two women find themselves drawn into a web of mystery, intrigue and lies, where past evils lurk beneath the surface and ancient curses seem to hold sway and threaten to engulf everyone they come into contact with.

Will Susan and Andrea survive and find happiness? Or will they be destroyed by the dark forces that swirl around them?

This book is published by The Book Guild at £7.99.

The Hanging Women

The Hanging Women is a mystery novel from John Mead. It's a mystery novel with a difference, for it is set against the backdrop of the Chicago of 1886.

Retired Sheriff Jack Stevens makes a grim discovery, the corpses of two young women, one white, one black, hanging from chains in a warehouse.

The position they are in denotes that their killer had thought them guilty of treachery.

Who were the women? Who had determined that they had to die?

Stevens feels duty bound to participate in the investigation, even though he is formally retired. The case is a convoluted one, and it quickly sucks him into a dangerous world of extremists, notorious street gangs battling for supremacy in Chicago and dubious undercover spies and detectives.

With the infamous Haymarket riots and bombings to contend with along with the actions of the city's largest and most deadly street gang, the Dead Hands, can Stevens track the killers down before things really start to get out of hand?

This is an exciting mystery novel and it is clear that John Mead has researched his subject matter very well and has brought the Chicago of the 1880s to life.

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Lady Frances

Lady Frances is the first detailed biographical account of the life of an extraordinary woman, Lady Frances Balfour, one of the main figures behind the votes for women campaign.

She had been interested in politics from an early age, but was stumped from having any real, meaningful involvement in the world of politics because, as with all women of her generation, she was not allowed to participate in democracy because she did not have the power of the vote.

In 1889 she began campaigning for the rights of women to vote (suffrage) and she was the key lobbyist in the Houses of Parliament.

She battled for the rights of women to be able to obtain work with reasonable incomes, to defend the rights and safety of women lured to London by fraudsters, she joined a variety of government committees to fight for changes in the unfair divorce laws, supporting hospitals for women an,d of course, the right to vote for women.

However, although her role was of vital importance to the movement, Joan B. Huffman came to realise that Lady Frances Balfour was the only leader of the women's suffrage campaign who lacked a biography.

So she undertook detailed research into the life of Lady Frances Balfour to redress this situation by providing her with a very well researched and very well written biography.

The book is also profusely illustrated with photographs and paintings of Lady Frances Balfour, family members, etc.

This book will appeal to historians, people who are interested in learning about feminist history and also the general public.

It is published in hardback at £19.99 and is, in my opinion, a must purchase book for school, universities, colleges and municipal libraries throughout the land, but especially Scotland where Lady Frances Balfour was born.

The Singing Chair and Other Stories

The Singing Chair and Other Stories is a collection of highly entertaining short stories from Herta Maria Moser.

Herta is 94 and lived through many of the great events of the tumultuous past century.

She has drawn on her life experiences to create a collection of short stories that cover a wide range of topics, many which draw up[on her own life experiences.

The title story tells the tale of a businessman who, though well-to-do, suffers from stress. His discovery of a chair with the magical powers to take him to a peaceful, calming universe. But what happened when someone did him a favour? Would the chair be ruined forever? Only time would tell.

There are stories set in the aftermath of the First World War, stories that are humorous, poignant, sad or filled with energy, passion, love and betrayal.

Each story is imbued with the sharp intelligence, wit and veracity of the author who is also an accomplished artist, which might indicate why the stories have such a vividness about them.

The book is published by Matador at £8.99.