Today it’s my great pleasure to welcome author Jane Cable to the blog to help me spread a little more book love. Before we take a look at Jane’s choices, here’s a little more about the woman herself.
Jane Cable is a writer of romantic suspense novels. Her first, The Cheesemaker’s House, was a finalist in The Alan Titchmarsh Show’s People’s Novelist Competition and won Words for the Wounded’s Independent Novel of the Year Award. Her latest book, Another You, is published by Endeavour Press and tells the story of how chance encounters around the 60th anniversary of D-Day help downtrodden Marie to rebuild her self confidence and to find new love.
You can follow Jane on her website, Twitter, Amazon and Facebook
Sometimes the hardest person to save is yourself…
Marie Johnson is trapped by her job as a chef in a Dorset pub and by her increasingly poisonous marriage to its landlord.
Worn down by his string of affairs she has no self-confidence, no self-respect and the only thing that keeps her going is watching her son, Jude, turn into a talented artist.
But the 60th anniversary of a D-Day exercise triggers chance meetings which prove unlikely catalysts for change.
First there’s Corbin, the American soldier who she runs into as she’s walking on the cliffs. He is charming and has a quaintness about him, calling her an ‘English rose’.
Then there’s George the war veteran, who comes to dine at the pub, and his son Mark. George fascinates Marie with his first-hand accounts of the war, whilst Mark proves helpful in making sense of the pub’s financial situation.
And there’s Paxton. Another American soldier with an uncanny resemblance to Corbin. Young, fit and very attractive, Marie finds him hard to resist. But little does she know Paxton is also battling some inner demons.
As the heat of the summer intensifies, so do the issues in Marie’s life. Why is Corbin so elusive? Why is the pub struggling to make ends meet? Why has Jude suddenly become so withdrawn and unhappy? Can she help Paxton open up and begin to deal with his pain? Or will she be shackled to the pub and her increasingly spiteful husband forever?
But as events unfold, Marie finally realises that she is not trapped, but stuck, and that it is down to her to get her life moving again.
Perfectly blending the complexities of twenty-first century life with the dramatic history of World War Two, Another You is a charming tale that will warm your heart.
You can read Mandie’s review of Another You here on the blog tomorrow.
Childhood Sweetheart
Favourite book from childhood
Terribly politically incorrect now, but it was a tiny illustrated book called Little Black Sambo which told the story of a small boy who was terrorised by a tiger but out-witted it by getting it to chase its tail around a tree until it turned into butter. I was so disappointed I couldn’t find the book when I was clearing my mother’s house after she died.
First love
The first book you fell in love with
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I actually wanted to be Jo. It must have been the start of my desire to be a writer.
Biggest book crush
The book character you’re totally in love with
I found this question really hard because I mainly seem to fall for settings or atmospheres. Plus the answer I’ve come up with might be cheating because it’s Wilfred Owen – but Owen as depicted in Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy, in particular the final book, The Ghost Road. I’ve never read a biography of Owen in case it rips away my fantasy of the tragic hero whose death in November 1918 seemed to sum up the wasteful loss of life.
Weirdest book crush
Well… duh
Fiver in Watership Down. A psychic rabbit? Well you did ask…
Hardest break up
The book you didn’t want to end
R F Delderfield’s Horseman Riding By trilogy. Thank goodness there were three of them.
The one that got away
The book in your TBR or wish list that you regret not having started yet.
Oh dear – my TBR is far too long so there’s plenty of choice. I think the one that’s lingered longest for no particular reason is Elaine Everest’s The Woolworth Girls. I downloaded it as soon as it came out and I still really, really want to read it!
Secret love
Guilty Reading pleasure
I don’t think I’ve ever felt I had to keep loving a book a secret, but I have had a huge crush on K M Peyton’s Flambards books since I was a teenager and I probably should have grown out of it by now.
Love one, love them all
Favourite series or genre
A few years ago I became absolutely hooked on Mark Hebden’s Inspector Pel series. I borrowed Pel and the Picture of Innocence from the library to read on holiday in France (where the books are set) and loved every last one of them, even though I probably read them in the wrong order. The characterisation is fantastic and the mysteries suitably hard to guess. Even after reading an awful lot of them.
Your latest squeeze
Favourite read of the last 12 months
Barbara Copperthwaite’s debut novel Invisible. I was completely gripped and continually chilled by this brilliantly drawn story. No wonder she’s since signed a major deal with Bookouture.
Blind date for a friend
If you were to set a friend up with a blind date (book) which one would it be?
It would depend on whether they were looking for a lifelong commitment or a bit of fun. For the former I would say Claire Dyer’s The Perfect Affair, a simply beautiful book about two relationships, one in the 1950s and the other today. For a bit of fun anything by Judy Astley – perfect chicklit for grown ups. Unchained Melanie is probably my favourite.
Greatest love of all
Favourite book of all time.
Rosamunde Pilcher’s The Shellseekers – absolutely no question. The characters are so beautifully drawn across the generations. I could read it over and over again.
Thank you Jane. Some fab choices in there. I love Little Women too and get what you mean about wanting to be Jo. She was such a strong character. And I love your weird book crush pick. Who doesn’t love rabbits? Although Watership Down always makes me cry…
What about those picks then guys? Any of them sound like your kind of read? Any other books you think that Jane should be checking out?
Join me next week when I have Helena Fairfax and Jack Steele joining me to spread a little more #booklove.
Have a brilliant weekend everyone.
#BookLove: Jane Cable @JaneCable Today it's my great pleasure to welcome author Jane Cable to the blog to help me spread a little more book love.
