The Horsekeeper's Daughter

The Horsekeeper's Daughter Is the true and absolutely amazing account of the life story of one 19th century woman's journey from a mining village in County Durham to the rainforest's of Queensland, Australia.

Sarah Marshall left her pit village during the wintertime of 1886.

She bravely used the Single Female Migrant Scheme to emigrate to Australia.

A battered and very elderly attache case has come into the possession of the author of this book, Jane Gulliford Lowes.

It had been the property of her Auntie Edie. Edie was not a familial aunt, she was one of that class of elderly female friends who had bestowed upon the the honorific title of aunt or auntie.

One day, Jane began to make a serious study of the contents of the case. And what she found was an astonishing story of bravery, courage and adventure starting in the 1880s in County Durham and into the 20th century in Australia and back to County Durham and Aunt Edie.

Although Jane points out that her book is not an academic work, I can confirm that it is very well researched and incredibly well written. It is laos well illustrated with historical and contemporary photographs.

It tells the story of Sarah Marshall, her marriage and of her family in Australia and also in County Durham.

The book is published by Matador at £8.99 and is a must have books for all students of social history.

Sleeping Through War

Sleeping Through War  is a novel from Jackie Carreira.

It is set in the year 1968. 1968 was a time of great political upheaval. The Vietnam War was raging, students were rioting, nuclear bomb test were commonplace, civil rights were being fought for.

Everywhere it seemed to be a highly volatile year, 1968.

But life for the vast majority of people had to continue as normal. As it always does.

There's Rose, a nurse living in London, Amalia who dearly hopes her son can get out of the life they live in Portugal and then there is Mrs Johnson who lives in Washington DC, who writes letter after letter to her son who is serving in Vietnam.

Like so-called ordinary people do, they do their best to live normal lives, with quiet dignity and a remarkable degree of bravery and courage.

It's an incredibly moving book that will bring smiles and some tears to those who are fortunate enough to read it.

It's published by Matador at £8.99.

The Man Who Lived Twice

Although this is a fictionalised account, the man featured in The Man Who Lived Twice written by David Taylor, Colonel George S Leger Grenfell, was very very real 19th century military figure.

Of Cornish extraction, he was an extremely brave soldier of fortune who fought on four different continents before emigrating to America to fight on the side of the Confederate forces.

He rode with the infamous Morgan's Raiders and was involved in a plot to create a Northern Confederation, for which he was arrested as a spy and sentenced to hang.

The intervention of the British government had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment at the Dry Tortugas prison where he was subjected to an incredibly brutal regime of what can only be described as torture, even though by that time he was in his early 60s.

His cell companion was the unfortunate Dr Samuel Mudd, jailed for his alleged part in the Lincoln assassination  plot.

But no matter how brutal the guards, Dr Mudd and Grenfell worked hard to save them from a Yellow Fever epidemic, which showed the mettle of both men.

After the epidemic Grenfell escaped from the prison in an open boat, never to be heard from again. The authorities presumed that he and his fellow escapees had drowned in the attempt.

But David Taylor wonders about what might have happened.

Grenfell was both incredibly brave, but also incredibly flawed. A wanted criminal and a fraudster, it's felt his desire for military glory was an attempt to atone for his earlier life of crime.

It's a powerful and well-written book which students of 19th century military history will be keen to own.

It is published by Matador at £7.99.

Sir Sam Fay Railway Manager Elite

Sir Sam Fay Railway Manager Elite This is the first ever full-length biography of one of the greatest ever rail managers of all time.

Sir Sam Fay's start in life was not, as one might have expected, in an industrial setting. He was born in rural Hampshire in 1856.

He started his working life with the London and South Western Railway. From humble, clerkly status, he swiftly rose through the ranks, becoming the General Manager of the new Manchester to London Great Central Railway in 1902.

During the Great War from 1916 to 1919. Sir Sam Fay had the onerous task of managing not only the rail system of the UK, but also roads and inland waterways.

He was responsible for the movement and transportation of troops, military supplies and ammunition. And also for ensuring that wounded troops were brought back to the UK for treatment and convalescent care.

He became involved with government ministers, senior politicians, top civil servants and generals, all of whom became reliant on him for his transportational expertise.

The book contains many interesting facts about Sir Sam Fay including that he was a well-read young man, that even after his Knighthood he still preferred to be known as Sam and that he was often mistaken, by his mode of speech, for a gentleman from America.

He explained this by pointing out that he spoke with a Hampshire accent and that the American accent was based on the Hampshire dialect which had travelled to America with early migrants from Poole Harbour and Buckler's Hard.

 In this biography John Neville Greaves has produced a most excellent biography of this eminent railway manager, which is a must have book for all railway enthusiasts and students of social history.

It is also conspicuously illustrated throughout and is an absolute bargain at £12.99, published by The Book Guild.

Looking for an ideal Christmas present for the railway enthusiast in your life? This is it!

Emotional Sandwiches

Emotional Sandwiches is a new self-help book from trained holistic therapist Sarah Ashley Neil.

Everyone of us is being encouraged to look within for the answers. And these answers, or so we are told, will then solve our dilemmas and problems.

That sounds great. But is it actually true? And if true, is it true for everyone?

Sarah asks her readers, instead, to explore their relationships with words. Because she argues that when we do this, the answers we require and need will slow bubble to the surface.

This book, the first part of a new series of self-help guidebooks, will introduce readers to the concept and character's of Sarah's brand, Emotional Sandwiches.

In her book Sarah employs humour and fictional characters to bring to the fore some very relevant non-fiction ideas.

Although deliberately designed to be humorous and entertaining the book does have a very serious underlying purpose. One of which is to prove to readers that although self-reflection can be great fun, it should not be spoiled by endless self-analysis.

There's a warning on the book's cover: "All fillings contain perspectives."

Sarah hopes that if you read this book that you will be able to learn something about how they communicate with not only other people but also how they communicate with themselves. The ability to properly communicate with ones own self is an interesting idea and one that, hopefully, will gain traction.

The book is published by Matador at £9.99.

Baby Daze

Poet Sarah Davis has decided to share with us, the reading public, her experiences as a young mother in her debut collection of poems Baby Daze.

Mums and Dads will find this book of poems to be very relatable indeed!

All aspects of pregnancy, childbirth and baby's early days are covered in these poems which are thoughtful, humorous and heartwarming.

The early scan (see the little heart beating?) the waiting period with baby clothes ready and the maternity hospital bag packed and waiting, the surprise of a premature birth, the birth itself, the post natal period, the emotions faced by both parents when a longed for baby is finally born, night feeds and day feeds, chatting to other new mothers, and those who have been through it before on the maternity ward.

The proud homecoming of mother and baby, health visitors, grandparents, the problems of milk (human, that is to say) the problems of 'baby brain' and of sleep deprivation, going out with baby, staying in with baby, going out without baby (dad's with him, it'll be fine!) bath time for babies and why dad really should wear an apron at bath time (you'll read about that on page 32!) and baby's first attempts to communicate.

You'll read all about these in this remarkable collection of poems.

In the opinion of this reviewer this book should be bought by every maternity hospital and Health Authority in the UK and issued to every doctor, gynaecologist, midwife, doctors's receptionist and new mother and father to be!

It is published by The Book Guild at £7.99.

To order multiple copies of this book visit https://www.bookguild.co.uk/.

Clash of Kings

Clash of Kings is a new historical Viking adventure novel from the pen of author Peter Wilks.

It is the eight book that he has published with Matador, but trhe difference is that unlike his other novels, this one is not aimed at thew younger audience.

This novel is a drama filled exciting adventure novel set during the times when Viking warriors were the terror of Western Europe.

The novel opens on the morning of 8th June, 793AD. From the mist a whole fleet of Viking longships are powerfully moving toward the famed religious community on the island of Lindisfarne. 

The Viking warriors beach their ships and with swords and battle axes tightly gripped, ready for action. they run toward the monastery, smash their way in and leave a trail of blood and destruction as they murder the defenceless monks, destroy buildings and altars, steal the holly treasures and enslave those they do not kill or capture and remove them in chains.

Who was behind this attack? Jarl Magnusson, otherwise known as the Red Plague.

However, whilst he was organising acts of plunder to help him create a powerful empire, he had failed to notice that other Vikings are also looking for plunder and the glory of building an empire.

One of these is a fellow Viking nobleman called Sigvald Foeslayer who is jealous of the Red Plague's successes and who coverts what he owns, including his massive fleet of longships. 

The Red Plague has underestimated how dangerous Foeslayer is to his fleet, his Norwegian territories and his own family.

Eventually he identifies the challenge that Foesleyer presents him with and he decides to take action against him.

But is he too late? Can he defeat his rival's allies? Can he kill Foeslayer? Or will Foeslayer be victorious in this blood soaked novel about rivalry between Viking clan chiefs?

The book is based on detailed research on what it was really like to be a Viking and it is very well written and exciting adventure novel.

The good news is that it is the first in a series of Viking chronicles from Peter Wilks.

It is published by Matador at £8.99.