FLY OR FALL by Gilli Allan - A Review

I was delighted to receive a review copy of FLY OR FALL, since I have thoroughly enjoyed previous titles from this author, whose writing style is a little reminiscent of that excellent writer of women's fiction, Deborah Moggach.  What an engrossing story this is - Gilli Allan just gets better and better in my opinion.

The story concerns the quiet and self-effacing Eleanor, as she journeys through a traumatic period of her life.  Having become a teenage wife and mother, all she has known is devotion to her own invalid mother, her children and her husband.  Her 13 year old twins sometimes seem to be more worldly-wise than her.  She's suppressed her own needs and desires so completely that she seems almost without personality.  As such, she is quite difficult to relate to intimately and the reader has to get to know her in the same way as the other characters.  Nevertheless, it's impossible to dislike her.  Like all Allan's characters, Eleanor is complex and real.  

Eleanor's husband, Trevor is a rather devious, self-serving man; I suspected and disliked him from the outset and at no time did he redeem himself.  Yet he was no less real - in fact I felt I knew him all too well!  Having sold Eleanor's family home in Battersea for a substantial price, Trevor moves his family to the country to enjoy 'clean air, green fields, a house with a proper garden and a driveway'. Trevor selfishly pursues his new career and indulgences, while Eleanor tries to fit in with her sophisticated neighbours and sort out the marathon renovations of the new house.  Enter Patrick, the builder, a likeable rogue, whose constant harmless lies make him enigmatic and fascinating and who extends a warm hand of friendship to Eleanor, helping her through her most difficult times.

The village of Downland is peopled with interesting characters, Katherine, Felicity, Elizabeth and their husbands as well as Patrick and the even more mysterious David, to whom Eleanor is secretly drawn.  But no one in Downland is quite what they seem, as Eleanor has to discover in often painful ways.  This includes her own family and most of all, herself.  

Ms Allan writes about seemingly ordinary people in ordinary settings, but, of course, neither is ordinary.  The characters are richly drawn in all their complexities, yet grittily realistic and engaging.  The settings are carefully painted with the reverence of an artist who has a deep affinity with the countryside.  

The story is compellingly told with a well-sustained narrative flow.  I found it deeply engrossing and sat up late into the night more than once, unable to put it down.  It gathers momentum, like a snowball rolling downhill, hurtling towards its dramatic conclusion.  I look forward to reading more from this talented writer and am pleased to bring out all FIVE cute cats to award this book.

And here's a real bonus: FLY OR FALL is on sale at 99p only for a limited time.

Gilli Allan started to write in childhood - a hobby pursued throughout her teenage. Writing was only abandoned when she left home and real life supplanted the fiction. Gilli did not go to Oxford or Cambridge but after just enough exam passes to squeak in, she attended Croydon College of Art. 

She did not work on any of the broadsheets or in television, but has done a variety of slightly less prestigious jobs. She was a shop assistant in several West End department stores, selling wigs, shoes, children’s clothes and accessories. She has also been a beauty consultant, a bar-maid and did a job with no title which involved spotting American tourists in London and persuading them to go on a free guided-tour that culminated in lunch at the Hilton. There they had to endure a high pressure pitch selling real-estate in Florida! Gilli worked longest, and most happily, in her dream job as an illustrator in advertising. 

She only started writing again when at home with her young son, Tom, and her first two completed novels, Just Before Dawn and Desires & Dreams, were immediately accepted by a mainstream publisher. But the publisher ceased to trade and after a period in the wilderness, Gilli went independent. TORN, LIFE CLASS and FLY or FALL are all currently available both as Kindle books and in paperback. She also has a short story - Holiday Romance - in the e-edition of the recently published RNA anthology, TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY.

Gilli has been a school governor, a contributor to local newspapers, and a driving force behind the establishment of a community shop in her village.  Still a keen artist, Gilli designs the annual family Christmas card and in 2013, she and her son, Tom Williams, collaborated on a children’s book. He wrote and she illustrated THE TALE of KING HARALD - The Last Viking Adventure, published by British Museum Press to coincide with the ‘Vikings - Life and Legend’ exhibition, which has just opened at the British Museum.  

(All links go to the UK Amazon store, so for US readers, simply change .co.uk to .com in the subject line).

You can also connect with Gilli on any of the following links: 

Gilli's Blog 

Twitter

FB author page

Goodreads

New Ghost Story - UNWORKERS - Claim your free copy here

Rather than signing up to KDP Select and making my latest novel free for all, I thought I'd offer it exclusively to readers of my blog.  To claim your copy, all you need to do is leave your email address in the comments section, along with your preferred format.

What is Unworkers about?

The lives of five women converge at Chichester Court, an elegant Georgian mansion, now converted into apartments for women in need. 

Anne Baron is currently undergoing an unpleasant divorce.  Anne experiences strange time-shifts in the house, while her six year old suffers terrifying nightmares—though he claims he isn't dreaming.

Joanna Sterne is Anne's oldest friend.  She used to live at Chichester Court and knows something of its strange history.  Her visits there now bring back unpleasant memories and strange voices urging unspeakable acts.  She helps Anne explore the house's past in more detail.

Gemma Peterson is striving to make a new life for herself and her two young children with lover, Andy, but is haunted by a recurring dream and a mysterious woman in grey—not one of the residents—who watches over her children.

Rhia Masterson is Gemma's friend, a striking beauty who seems to lead the perfect life with her perfect house, perfect husband, perfect children… But Rhia is concealing a past so terrible that she has completely suppressed it—until now.  The forces of house exert a powerful influence over Rhia, leading her and new-found friend, Anne, to dabble in a past life regression experiment with curious results.

And finally Paige Hutton, the lonely teenage mother who has become a semi-invalid following an accident on the stairs which she insists was no accident.  Paige and her baby seem to be the chief targets of the more malevolent forces within the house.

Anne is the catalyst who brings the five women together, causing the disturbances at the house to escalate as its spirits clamour for attention and release.  Unworkers is not just a story about a ghostly house, but about five women and their very real struggles to find their rightful place in the world.

UNWORKERS is currently available at Amazon, but if you would like a copy free of charge, please leave your details below and I'll be delighted to send it to you.  

Released at last - 'Unworkers' by Lynette Sofras

Deciding that a book is finally ready to be unleashed to the reading world is never easy and 'Unworkers' has caused me far more agonies than any of my other books.  I've lived and breathed this story for so long that I've worried at times that my obsession with it might become unhealthy and have therefore taken numerous holidays from it, hoping that distance will be the cure.  I always come back to it, of course, and it welcomes me like the dear old friend it is and settles down for further surgical intervention. Well, enough is enough.  It's time to pronounce the delicate procedure over, discharge it from my care and watch it thrive or fail.

So what is it about?  Well, first and foremost it's women's fiction - concerning women and their relationships with each other, with their families - husbands or partners, past and present - with their children and with Chichester Court, a strange house with a sinister past which is somehow related to each one of them.  So, as you may have gathered, it's also very much a ghost story!

Let me introduce you to the women you see on the cover:

ANNE (centre) – former teacher, currently undergoing an acrimonious divorce, recently moved into Chichester Court with her deeply unhappy, 6 year old son.

GEMMA (right of centre) – ex-nurse, divorced from playboy-husband, two young children, one new lover but a recurring nightmare prevents her from moving forward.

RHIA (left of centre) – Gemma’s friend who enjoys a seemingly perfect marriage to a doctor; a perfect husband, perfect children, perfect house; but repressing the pain of her secret past leads to compulsive and disturbing behaviours.

JOANNA (far right) – Anne’s oldest friend and an ex-resident of the house.  She is a new age therapist, long-divorced, with three older children; the oldest lost to her forever.

PAIGE (far left) – a lonely teenage mum with young baby; left a desperate semi-invalid after a mysterious accident on the staircase, which she insists was no accident.

These five women are drawn together by Chichester Court – a large Georgian mansion now converted into flats for one-parent families.  Despite copious architectural re-planning, it seems the house’s dark and sinister past cannot be destroyed.  Anne is the catalyst who brings these significant lives together and eventually draws out the house’s secret: that five young women in a former age were brutally murdered within its walls.

In the process of discovery, these women’s lives and young families are irrevocably transformed by the escalating forces operating in the house when the past encroaches on the present.  Anne and Joanna track down the former owners of the house, the frail and elderly Chichester sisters, to uncover the dark, ancestral secrets they have guiltily concealed for their entire lives.

'Unworkers' is about poisons and potions; about relationships, past lives and the painful secrets between men and women which spread to permeate the private spaces of their lives and homes.

I hope you will read it.

Wednesday's Writer - Jan Warburton

A Face to Die For by Jan Warburton

I feel rather ashamed about the length of time it's taken me to get to this particular book, when it has been high on my list of 'to be read' for several months. In fact, I was already engrossed in it following my initial 'look inside' and knew I was going to enjoy it even before I downloaded it.  And, of course, I did enjoy it - from start to finish.  The intricate plotting and close attention to social and historical detail meant that once started, I could hardly bear to put it down and often sat up late into the night reading it.  

To summarise very briefly, the novel follows the life of Annabel Spencer, an aspiring fashion designer and her gradual rise to fame and fortune in the 1960s.  Her life is interwoven with that of Kate, an attractive fellow-student who models her designs at college and whose career as a top model is subsequently launched.  Over the ensuing years Annabel and Kate's lives continually criss-cross and an intriguing friendship ensues.

I can perfectly see why anyone who 'seized the day' during those so-called Swinging Sixties would love this nostalgia trip.  This fascinating glimpse into a world of which all young girls of that time could only dream, kept me totally captivated.  Very well done to the author for capturing the era so beautifully and evocatively - this novel reads like a valuable (and very interesting) piece of social history.  Jan Warburton is a gifted and knowledgeable writer and I know I will be reading more of her work.

The main character, Annabel was very interesting but I found her self-absorption and amorality a little unattractive.  Maybe that was a symptom of the times, but it made her rather brittle and unlikeable - not that it in any way spoiled my enjoyment of the story, I hasten to add!  Annabel was capable of showing great kindness to certain people (Kate and Lynda among many) but her generosity was invariably motivated by self-interest and I found myself wishing for her to receive her comeuppance at the end - though I won't say if she did or not!  The realistic 'warts and all' presentation was extremely well done.  Kate, on the other hand, was very sympathetically drawn and I found her complex and fascinating.  I couldn't wait to find out more about her and her inner conflicts and felt a great empathy for her.  Despite the 60s setting, Kate's struggle is very contemporary and believable in the tough world of fashion. I'm tempted to give examples but am afraid of creating spoilers, which I would never dream of doing purposely.  I heartily recommend this book and hope many people will read it and decide for themselves about Annabel and Kate.

The rich enjoyment reading this story gave me makes it worthy of top marks, but my reading experience was just slightly marred by some poor editing.  Such a great story really deserves to be fault-free but the punctuation and grammatical errors grated slightly.  I thought some of the scenes could also have used a bit more spark and passion. However, for anyone interested in high society London life during that fascinating era, or just looking for a thoroughly engrossing read, I guarantee you will enjoy A Faceto Die For and I'm awarding it 4.5 cute cats.

As a postscript, I'd like to add that since finishing this novel, I've found myself thinking about it quite a lot.  It's the sort of story I'd love to have in print form to be able to dip into and re-read passages, if not the entire story again (I haven't quite got the hang of doing that on my Kindle!).  I wish I'd made it last longer - but, great news, I've just heard there's a sequel due out this month. Guess who'll be downloading that on the day it's released?!

The Blurb:

Pure nostalgia: London in the “swinging sixties” – Struck by a beautiful girl’s face in an award winning photograph, fashion student, Annabel Spencer, chooses the girl, Katherine, to model her gowns in her art college’s final year fashion show. It tells how this brief meeting with the girl becomes pivotal to Annabel’s eventual success and how these two women’s careers and love lives become uncannily and fatally entwined. An intriguing and truly fascinating love story hampered by loose morals, drug taking and emotional conflict, at a time when anything risqué goes, and frequently does! The storyline reveals the scandal and glamour of a most decadent and revolutionary period in modern history.

About Jan Warburton:

Trained in fashion design at Ealing Art School, Jan first began working for the House of Worth in Mayfair, London in 1958. She then moved on to wholesale fashion as the designer’s assistant. Marriage to an army officer in 1961 took her to Germany for three years. Later, back in civilian life they moved to Singapore; “another amazing experience”, she says, which has proved valuable ‘grist’ to her writing ‘mill’.

After a painful divorce she survived 6 years with two kiddies as a one parent family - a tough period, from which she has drawn in her fiction writing. After managing a fashion boutique in Wakefield for 2 years, her last position for several years was sales rep for top designer spectacle frame company, Oliver Goldsmith, until redundancy finally allowed her to pursue her writing ambition.

She has a daughter Jayne, son Justin, and two granddaughters Abby and Alexia.

Now happily married to Mark for 32 years, they live in a converted barn in rural Yorkshire.

In the past she has sold various articles and short stories to UK magazines, but longer book length fiction has been her main interest for many years.

In December 2009 she was commissioned to ghost write a successful autobiography for black American soul singer/songwriter, Tommy Hunt; ONLY HUMAN, published by Bank House Books. (For further info visit: www.tommyhunt.co.uk )

JOANNA (a spin off sequel to A Face to Die For) will be her third novel, and is due for release on Kindle later in November 2012.

Her previous novels:

THESECRET

AFACE TO DIE FOR

All are available on Kindle.

Please visit her blog: www.janwarburton.blogspot.co.uk