Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I am wicked delighted to be featuring a lovely #newtomeauthor today – as I recently had the chance to select quite a few Head of Zeus and Aria Fiction novelists to be spotlighting throughout the Spring months this year – wherein I was rather delighted finding so many keenly interesting stories to start seeking out to read! These are stories which dance between Romance & Women’s Fiction – from Contemporary to Historical settings. Being an avid reader of these genres I couldn’t miss the chance to bring the JOY of discovering these lovely authors to my readers of Jorie Loves A Story!
It is my intention to start requesting these novels via my local library if they are not available in audio formats via Scribd. At the moment my library is experiencing an unprecedented sabbatical on requests which put me in a bit of a pickle as I’m an active patron whose constantly requesting purchases every month – which is why I’m simply saving my queue lists and will turn them in once the services resume. For now at least – I can champion the discoveries and the joy of finding the stories whilst hosting the blog tours!
Why I wanted to host a spotlight & extract
for “The French Wife”:
As the founder and host of @SatBookChat – I am constantly seeking to find new stories featuring strong women in the centre of Romance & Women’s Fiction. I read an equal amount of Contemporary and Historical stories within these genres of interest whilst encompassing all the lovely sub-niches of their literary styles as well. This New Year 2020 I am also seeking out Feminist Lit which celebrates the kind of stories I am enjoying to discover as well. All of which I try to champion and showcase in the chats I host on Saturdays – wherein writers, readers, book reviewers, book bloggers and the rest of the bookish community on Twitter get to engage with one another. Thereby as a regular reader of these stories I was delighted to find a #newtomeauthor to start seeking out to read!
I personally adore reading as much Historical Fiction & Historical Women’s Fiction as I can get my hands on – there are new authors and voices in these two sections of Literature I am most keen on exploring further and most of them are from the UK. I have been appreciating my chance to spotlight these stories throughout the Spring of 2020 – whilst finding that quite a few of them are now available to be heard via Scribd! This helps me loads as a reader whose leaning on her libraries to help her source either print or audio copies of the stories she wishes to read – however, I hope there are similar streaming audio services aboard for those who don’t have access to Scribd. From what I understand it is available in most regions but perhaps not all of them.
I happily found this novel is available via audiobook on Scribd! I immediately listened to the audio sampler to gather a sense of how the narrator Georgia McGuire approached her performance.
My thoughts on the story: This part of the story is involving the church and the duties of a priest. I can’t say it was the most exciting part of the story but it is how McGuire approached her delivery and what was happening behind the goings on of the clergy-house is what held me to the earphones. Towards the end of the sampler, things turnt a bit more dramatic – wherein someone is being put out of their job and they must find new accommendations – it seemed rather sudden and unexpected which given the timeline of the story, I was unsure where she would go from here. It was here where I drew closer to listening to the narrator as this was the kind of turning of events that gets rather exciting in a Historical novel!
My impressions of the narrator: McGuire has a strong and sharp voice which lends well for this story and the characters she’s bringing to life. I would consider this spoken narrative vs theatrical – wherein enjoying hearing her voice would be a joy as she had a nice cadence of rhythm in her performance. She has a keen accent as well – the kind of accent you love to find for British stories in narration.
As I listened to this sampler ahead of finding which extract I was given – it was quite champion to realise the two were connected in sequence of order within the story’s arc of disclosure!
Did I grab your eye and attention?
Sound like the kind of bookish read you’ve been needing?
Be sure to brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy this extract from the novel.
The French Wife
by Diney Costeloe
Love, secrets and danger abound in the new historical novel from bestselling author Diney Costeloe, set in 19th-century France.
As the St Clair family prepare for the grand wedding of their daughter, Clarice, trouble is brewing. An old friendship, a new love and a dangerous secret threaten to destroy the life the St Clairs have built.
Their younger daughter, Hélène, became friends with orphaned Annette during the terrible events of the 1871 siege of Paris. Now they are reunited, with Annette working below stairs for Hélène's parents. But she is hiding a dangerous secret, which Hélène has promised to keep at all costs.
Meanwhile, Hélène has begun to fall in love with a young nobleman from England, whose family has plans which do not include their son choosing a French wife.
Places to find the book:
Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction
Published by Aria Fiction
Published By: Aria Fiction (@Aria_Fiction)
a Digital First imprint of Head of Zeus (@HoZ_Books)
Available Formats: Hardback, Audiobook & Ebook
The Ebook & Audiobook released on 7th May 2020
Whilst the Hardback releases 6th August 2020!! (which is my 7th Blog’s Birthday!)
Converse via: #TheFrenchWife, #HistoricalFiction or #HistFic Read More
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