E takes us to...?

T














In a mysterious village deep in the mountainous desert of Upper Egypt, a handful of men jealously guards some of the most precious secrets of the Pharaohs. And the most fabulous of these is the Stone of Light. 

This time we're exploring Ancient Egypt as Christian Jacq evokes a fascinating period in history. As a child I loved reading about the achievements of this civilisation. Christian Jacq goes one step further however, initiating us into the minutiae of everyday life. If you love history or Egypt then you'll love this book. Wonderful setting, superb characters and a real flavour of the time.

Christian Jacq

Born in Paris in 1947, Christian Jacq is one of the world's leading Egyptologists. He is the author of many novels on Ancient Egypt, including the bestselling RAMSES series and THE MYSTERIES OF OSIRIS series. His novels have sold more than 27 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 30 languages. Christian Jacq lives in Switzerland.

Julie Ryan is the author of the Greek Island mystery series, Jenna's Journey, Sophia's Secret and Pandora's Prophecy. You can find out more about her here

https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00F0VYX34

Where will D take us?

This time we're off to one of my favourite parts of the world, much loved by British ex-pats, the Dordogne in south-west France. Famed for its food and wine, chateaux and idyllic French villages, this is one of the most visited regions by tourists in France.

It's market day in St Denis, a small town in the Périgord region of South West France. The locals are on the alert because inspectors are expected to make a 'surprise visit' in an attempt to enforce the unpopular and bureaucratic EU hygiene rules. But for Captain Bruno Courrèges, St Denis' Chief of Police, this particular market day turns into something far more serious. 

An old man, head of a local immigrant North African family, is found viciously murdered. Suspicion falls on the son of the local doctor, but Bruno isn't so certain. He believes it to be an act of vengeance, with its motive hidden deep in France's divisive war-time past. As rumour and mistrust grow, Bruno must look beneath the surface of this normally calm community to find a brutal killer.

Martin Walker's book captures the very best of the Dordogne, so much so that you can almost feel the summer heat rising from its pages, smell the fresh market produce and soak in the atmosphere of a typical French market town. There is village rivalry as you might expect and our hero, Bruno, Chief of Police, also has his own problems when his superior is called in when an elderly North African villager is found murdered. Teeming with history this book deals with the French occupation of Algeria and the Algerian soldiers who fought with the French army during WW2 (Algeria being a part of France at the time). I learnt a lot about the period and thought the way in which it related to the problems of immigration today was well done and told through the eyes of different villagers. I also loved the French attitude of cocking a snook at the ridiculous nature of European regulations.

So, whether you fancy a trip through the sleepy Dordogne or a fascinating crime story with a twist then this book is for you. I shall certainly be reading more by this author.

Biography

Martin Walker and his family have had a home in the Perigord region of France since the 1990s. We were drawn by the food and wine and engrossing history of the place and have become ever more connected to this gastronomic heartland of the country by friends and neighbours, dog and chickens, garden and countryside.

And among the friends is our local village policeman (and Martin's tennis partner) who inspired the series of mystery novels based around Bruno, chief of police.

After 25 years as a foreign correspondent for Britain's The Guardian newspaper, and then another stint in think-tanks in Washington DC and as editor-in-chief of United Press International, the sweet life of the Perigord is a delight. 

Still a senior scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Centre and a senior fellow of the Global Business Policy Council, both in Washington DC, Martin stays connected to the world of global economics and policy. And from giant American wine concerns to Chinese businessmen, from Basque terrorists to animal rights activists, from New York hedge funds to the global arms trade, this wider world keeps intruding into the tiny corner of paradise in Perigord that Bruno is sworn to protect.


Julie Ryan is the author of the Greek Island mystery series, Jenna's Journey, Sophia's Secret and Pandora's Prophecy. You can find out more about her here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00F0VYX34

Next stop is a country, city or region beginning with E. If you have any ideas for a book set in that location please drop me a link in the comments below.

Where shall we go for 'C'?

This time we're staying a little closer to home and visiting a beautiful part of the United Kingdom; a place that has special memories of childhood holidays, dramatic scenery and more recently a certain Mr Aidan Turner aka Ross Poldark. Of course, I'm talking about Cornwall, an area that we love to visit as a family in our trusty camper van.
For sheer escapism, we're travelling back to the eighteenth century, a lawless time of smugglers and robbers. In Victoria Cornwall's book, she introduces us to thief taker Jack Penhale and thief's daughter Jenna, who is on the wrong side of the law. Whilst essentially a romance, the historical aspects are well researched and add another dimension to the story. With Jenna's brother Silas making demands on her to join the smugglers, there is a dilemma. Who can she trust?

Hide from the thief-taker, for if he finds you, he will take you away …
Eighteenth-century Cornwall is crippled by debt and poverty, while the gibbet casts a shadow of fear over the land. Yet, when night falls, free traders swarm onto the beaches and smuggling prospers.

Terrified by a thief-taker’s warning as a child, Jenna has resolved to be good. When her brother, Silas, asks for her help to pay his creditors, Jenna feels unable to refuse and finds herself entering the dangerous world of the smuggling trade.

Jack Penhale hunts down the smuggling gangs in revenge for his father’s death. Drawn to Jenna at a hiring fayre, they discover their lives are entangled. But as Jenna struggles to decide where her allegiances lie, the worlds of justice and crime collide, leading to danger and heartache for all concerned.

Biography

Victoria Cornwall grew up on a farm in Cornwall. She can trace her cornish roots as far back as the 18th century and it is this background and heritage which is the inspiration for her Cornish based novels.

Victoria is married, has two grown up children and a black Labrador, called Alfie. She likes to read and write historical fiction with a strong background story, but at its heart is the unmistakeable emotion, even pain, of loving someone.

Following a fulfilling twenty-five year career as a nurse, a change in profession finally allowed her the time to write. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and the Historical Novel Society.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thiefs-Daughter-Choc-Lit-ebook/dp/B01MT550QT

If you have any suggestions as to where we visit next, please leave a comment with the name of a book set in a location beginning with D.

Julie Ryan is the author of the Greek Island mystery series, Jenna's Journey, Sophia's Secret and Pandora's Prophecy. You can find out more about her here https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00F0VYX34

B is for ...?

Many thanks if you're following this blog in which I aim to read my way around the world. The last book took us to the South of Spain, Andalusia in fact, but where shall we go this time?
I fancied a change of scene and then as if by magic, whilst scrolling through my unread books on Amazon, I came across a little beauty; a book that combines the past ( 1950's) and the present, set in what was a beautiful, cultural and historical middle Eastern city more likely known in the West today for the sheer devastation caused by bombing and terrorism.
Today we're off to Baghdad and the book that has taken me on this magical journey is 'The gardener of Baghdad' by Ahmad Ardalan.
I loved reading about the Baghdad of old as well as the developing romance between Ali the gardener and Mary, the daughter of the British Governor. The story is told through the eyes of Adnan, a bookseller ready to pack up his bookstore after the latest bombing when he comes across Ali's memoir. This is a book that works on many levels; first and foremost it's a romance  but it's also deeper than that embodying cultural differences, nostalgia but above all it's the story of hope. The writer not only expresses hope that true love can ultimately triumph but also that good can come from evil and that we learn from the mistakes of the past. Although saddened by the picture of modern day Baghdad that is painted, I am heartened as well by the hope of the author that one day the warring factions will stop fighting and come together to rebuild the city. It may seem far-fetched at the moment but just like the path of true love, we have to believe in the future.

The gardener of Baghdad
Two people, one city, different times; connected by a memoir. Can love exist in a city destined for decades of misery?

Adnan leads a weary existence as a bookshop owner in modern-day, war-torn Baghdad, where bombings, corruption and assault are everyday occurrences and the struggle to survive has suffocated the joy out of life for most. But when he begins to clean out his bookshop of forty years to leave his city in search of somewhere safer, he comes across the story of Ali, the Gardener of Baghdad, Adnan rediscovers through a memoir handwritten by the gardener decades ago that beauty, love and hope can still exist, even in the darkest corners of the world.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardener-Baghdad-Ahmad-Ardalan-ebook/dp/B00M91LJGW

If you want to come with me on my journey around the world I'm looking for books set in a location beginning with C or D. Please leave a comment on this page with your suggestions.

Julie Ryan is the author of the Greek Island mystery series, Jenna's Journey, Sophia's Secret and Pandora's Prophecy. You can find out more about her here https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00F0VYX34

Let's start with A

                                                                                

A is for .....?

I've always loved travel and have enjoyed reading since a young age, so combining the two seems the perfect fit. My favourite kind of book is one in which you are transported to another place Sometimes it can be a nostalgic trip down memory lane, revisiting places from my past; other times a book can take me on an adventure to pastures new. In this blog I aim to read my way around the world alphabetically so we'll start with a book set in a country or city beginning with A and so on.

With a huge backlog of books to read, they can sometimes be overlooked by new releases. What I thought I'd do is ask people for recommendations and hopefully take you with me on my travels.
We kick the blog off today with a book set in Andalusia. This region has long been on my 'to visit' list and after reading it, I want to explore the area even more.

Covering a huge surface area in the South of Spain, Andalusia is predominantly an agricultural area and much of what we deem to be typically Spanish hails from this region. Its Moorish history is reflected in its architecture, most notably in its well known cities of Seville and Granada, two places that I have long wanted to visit. For now though I will have to make do with an account of buying a derelict farm on a piece of Andalusian soil.

If you haven't already guessed then the book I'm talking about is 'Driving over lemons' by Chris Stewart.
   



The title is intriguing for a start and immediately conjures up pictures of hot summer days and sleepy Spanish villages set against a backdrop of lemon groves.  No doubt the author had the same romantic picture of a life in the sun when he and his wife moved to Spain. However, his account of farming during a harsh winter, of no running water or electricity paint an entirely different picture. I think it's the struggle of daily life and the interaction with the locals that make this book so endearing.
Surrounded by a menagerie of animals, eccentric villagers, unpredictable nature, this book really captures the essence of Andalusia.

If you've read this book and enjoyed it, there are two others in the series;

A parrot in the pepper tree
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parrot-Pepper-Tree-Driving-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B006WB2DQU

and The almond blossom appreciation society
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006WB7KRC

Next stop I'm looking for a book set in an area or country beginning with 'B'. Please feel free to leave a suggestion with the book title in the comments. Hopefully I'll manage to read myself around the world in 2017.

Julie Ryan is the author of the Greek Island mystery series, Jenna's Journey, Sophia's Secret and Pandora's Prophecy. You can find out more about her here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00F0VYX34