Tag: Head of Zeus

Author Interview | Discussing #HistoricalFiction and “The Girl in the Pink Raincoat” with Alrene Hughes

Posted Wednesday, 24 April, 2019 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

As you might remember, I shared my ruminations on a lovely new war drama during #HistoricalMondays this week – which involved the life of Sarah and her daughter Gracie within the pages of “The Girl in the Pink Raincoat”. The story is set on the jump-start of WWII – in 1939 where the whole world is on bated breath and worried about what will come next as memories of the Great War were still fervently in their minds and memories. This is a story of trial, tribulation and adversity of facing fear and of giving yourself a chance to find unconditional love – you truly feel rooted in the setting, as Hughes has such a compelling way of bringing Manchester to life during this particular decade of interest.

Although I have read quite a lot of war dramas throughout my reading life and as a book blogger – this was the first I remember being set outside of the coastal regions of England, the inland townes or cities of England or Wales and outside the scope of the blitzing London endured. It gave a hearty new understanding of what another large city of England was facing and how brave the residents were to endure what was happening to them with little warning – the sense of hopelessness and the fears which arise when your being separated from your children and without the certainty of knowing if there would be a tomorrow in a peaceful world now that your life was being torn apart by war.

I appreciated the ways in which Hughes gave us a chance to get to know her characters before all the changes started to incur in their lives – she tempers the war itself by the interpersonal experiences of her characters’ lives – giving you a proper sense of community and the setting of being in Manchester at the turning of a new decade (the 40s). You truly felt captured by the factories in which Gracie finds employment  – how those interactions with her work mates and the discourse of stress that others in her work cause her – leads you to seeing a fuller sense of what life was for young woman when England joined the second world war.

I wanted to converse with Ms Hughes about how she approached writing this war drama and was wicked happy finding out there was time to add this as a secondary focus on my blog during the blog tour. This was a new author for me to read and as a lover of Historical Fiction, it was a delight of joy to disappear back into the 1930s and see life through the lens of an encapsulated viewing of the early 20th Century.

Brew yourself a cuppa and enjoy this conversation – you’ll have a lovely glimpse of what went on behind-the-book and a few insights into what I loved most about reading the novel, too!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com Find out why I enjoyed reading “The Girl in the Pink Raincoat”:

When we first alight into Gracie’s life, she’s one of the line workers for raincoats turning out quantity for an order which puts everyone on a bit of an edge. Her boss’s nephew catches her eye, as he would due to his personality and charming features – however, it is her approach to lifting the workday by her presence which hugged me into the story. The comforting encouraging voice of her mother trying to forestall the panic of the pending war gave you a proper sense of where we were in History; as she assuaged their fears but also, relied the truths of their situation in a way which felt more uplifting than horrifying. This was when England was on the fringes of war – before the blitzing and before they would all become afeared of the skies for what they would bring into their lives. You could readily see where Gracie found her font of strength and how she had the courage to do what she was doing – as she came from strong stock, as evidenced by her Mum.

My heart took a clutching moment of realisation when it was revealled Jacob was Jewish – I knew there was going to be a probable cause towards what might separate Gracie and Jacob, as this is in effect a romance caught in the tides of war; however, is anyone ever really prepared for what happened during that particular era? I liked how Hughes dampened the pending circumstances by allowing us to see the young couple together ahead of everything which would soon begin. We could tuck into their lives before the start of war – seeing how the innocence of their attraction and the joyfulness of a relaxing weekend could bring a bit of happiness into their lives. It was quite foretelling on Jacob’s behalf what he remarks to Gracie in that particular moment – about how this could be the last day of spending their hours in idle reprieve? There were little nuanced observations like this which took you backwards in time – to a point where no one was fully aware of how much their lives would become altered as it was all too new to where they were not yet afflicted.

I had to smile and chuckle when Gracie criticised her Mum for using too much vinegar on her hair! I hadn’t heard of this trick to keep the shine in your locks – I love rooting out this kind of trivia from the past – of how women sorted out ways to do things with ingredients we might not think of using today. Some of which, of course, still has merit as not every new way of doing ordinary things is the better option even today. It was keen to see where Jacob took Gracie on her first date as well – I liked how she was off-put at first by his choice and then, how she fell at ease with realising ‘where’ he was taking her wasn’t quite what it appeared on the surface. It spoke to how they both had different impressions and reactions to the same situations but also, how he hadn’t taken the time to disarm her concerns before he surprised her with a nice night out.

There is a lovely ebb and flow to this story – I felt so caught inside the goings-on of Gracie’s life – from the antics of her co-workers to how smitten she was with Jacob. Jacob was a bit of a Renaissance man – preferring the cultural offerings of theatre and music than most men their age. It was a special treat for Gracie to be treated to these kinds of luxuries and it was whilst she was listening to Jacob talk passionately about his love of the theatre where she realised how uniquely different he was from the other blokes she was previously interested in knowing. I felt for her it marked a turning point – about the kind of person she wanted to date and also, the kind of man who could introduce her to the joys in life she hadn’t been exposed too previously.

One of my favourite supporting characters is Gracie’s Mum – whom has her own story-line which I felt was of equal importance to Gracie’s. Her Mum had immigrated from Ireland to begin anew in England – not coming from the best of families and of having her own heart broken in young love. It is interesting too, how the mother had had experience with star-crossed love inasmuch as her daughter – almost as if history was repeating itself for both women. Wherein Hughes talks about the hardships between falling in love with men of a different religion, she also points out how sometimes you have to find the inner strength to stand against the distrust of a society. In this instance, the harder part of the story is the year it is set – 1939 as being at war changed everyone’s perception about everything.

Hughes represents the era well. Including how she eludes to what is going to be happening before you can blink past the horrors of what came next – she gives measure of place and setting for how lives were starting to become affected by the war and how the war was going to change the lives of those who lived in England and the surrounding countries. In small ways, she gave you a chance to navigate those changes – as she lent observations of what was happening in regards to what Gracie saw or how intuitive those round her were becoming of events yet known. Quite a smart way to approach writing a war drama as those of us who read a heap of these can appreciate this approach. It is the calm before the pending storm but it is also instinctive of human nature.

This is a very evolving story-line – at the heart of it is a young girl who is caught in the throes of first love on the fringes of the second world war. You find yourself following in her footsteps as she moves from one factory to another, trying to carve out a living wage at a time where jobs are scarce and there is a boiling effect of fear running through the undertone of society. No one understands what is going to happen next and with everything on the brink, it paints a solid portrait of how ‘life at home’ during the war years was just as trying as those who were fighting it. The women in the factories were oft-times placed in danger due to the kind of co-workers they found in those factories, which I felt Hughes highlighted well. However, rather than keeping this a darker tale of intrigue wrapped inside a war drama – she also etches out a lot of light, random joys and a sense of community amongst the friendships Gracie is able to maintain throughout the ordeal she finds the strength to survive.

-quoted from my review of The Girl in the Pink Raincoat

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Author Interview | Discussing #HistoricalFiction and “The Girl in the Pink Raincoat” with Alrene HughesThe Girl in the Pink Raincoat
by Alrene Hughes
Source: Direct from Publisher

In wartime it takes courage to follow your heart.

Manchester, 1939.

Everyone hated the heat and the deafening noise, but for Gracie the worst thing was the smell of chemicals that turned her stomach every morning when she arrived at the Rosenberg Raincoats factory.

Gracie is a girl on the factory floor. Jacob is the boss's charismatic nephew. When they fall in love, it seems as if the whole world is against them – especially Charlie Nuttall, who also works at the factory and has always wanted Gracie for himself.

But worse is to come when Jacob disappears and Gracie is devastated, vowing to find him. Can she solve the mystery of his whereabouts? Gracie will need all her strength and courage to find a happy ending.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical Women's Fiction, Women's Fiction



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781788543972

Also by this author: The Girl in the Pink Raincoat

Published by Head of Zeus

on 1st March, 2019

Format: UK Edition Paperback

 Published By:  Published By: Head of Zeus (@HoZ_Books)

Converse via: #GirlInThePinkRaincoat, #HistNov and #HistFic
Available Formats: Hardcover, Trade Paperback, Audiobook & Ebook

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What first inspired the story “The Girl in the Pink Raincoat” and of setting the story against the backdrop of the world war era in 1939?

Hughes responds: I had previously written a trilogy of WWII novels set in Belfast where I grew up. I then decided to write about Manchester, where I have lived for most of my adult life. Both were industrial cities, crucial to the war effort, and heavily bombed. The main character, Gracie, came to me straightaway and fully formed. A lively, confident young woman who would have the strength to endure the worst of what war could throw at her. Read More

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Posted Wednesday, 24 April, 2019 by jorielov in #HistoricalMondays, 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Content Note, Domestic Violence, England, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Publishers & Presses (Direct Reviews), Realistic Fiction, the Thirties, The World Wars, War Drama, Women's Fiction

Blog Book Tour | “The Girl in the Pink Raincoat” by Alrene Hughes

Posted Monday, 22 April, 2019 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

#HistoricalMondays blog banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Book By: In February, I was invited to join the Head of Zeus blog tour for the Historical novel “The Girl in the Pink Raincoat” which I was overjoyed in having discovered. Although I love to dance and weave myself through different genres of interest each year, I must confess, one of my favourites to disappear inside is Historical Fiction! This is a new author and my first Head of Zeus novel I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I was quite thankful to be included on the blog tour for this title and I can’t wait to share my ruminations with my readers!

I received a complimentary copy of “The Girl in the Pink Raincoat” direct from the publisher Head of Zeus in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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The reason reading ”The Girl in the Pink Raincoat” appealled to me:

I have a penchant for Women’s Fiction and a new interest for Historical Women’s Fiction which I felt this particular title fit into a niche rather perfectly as it is about one woman’s journey. I have a soft spot in my bookish heart for war dramas which is also what tipped my hat towards wanting to seek this out to read!

I’ve had a bit of a break from reading war dramas – I had to opt to seek out the human interest stories within the war dramas I was previously reading, as some of the harder hitting ones set within the scope of the war itself were becoming a bit too much for me to process. Thereby, I’ve been trying to re-focus on the kinds of dramas I am reading during the world war era and this particular one caught my eye due to the description and what I was hoping it would reveal of the journey Gracie took to sort out the truth of what happened to her beloved.

I love stories of this nature – the kind which take you on a journey and even despite the hard circumstances behind the drama, there is something to be said for how a writer approaches their narrative and how they capture your heart in the process of telling you a story you simply cannot put down. This is what I was hoping I’d find within the pages of the novel and quite happily as you’ll soon find out – this is exactly what I discovered inside The Girl in the Pink Raincoat!

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Blog Book Tour | “The Girl in the Pink Raincoat” by Alrene HughesThe Girl in the Pink Raincoat
by Alrene Hughes
Source: Direct from Publisher

In wartime it takes courage to follow your heart.

Manchester, 1939.

Everyone hated the heat and the deafening noise, but for Gracie the worst thing was the smell of chemicals that turned her stomach every morning when she arrived at the Rosenberg Raincoats factory.

Gracie is a girl on the factory floor. Jacob is the boss's charismatic nephew. When they fall in love, it seems as if the whole world is against them – especially Charlie Nuttall, who also works at the factory and has always wanted Gracie for himself.

But worse is to come when Jacob disappears and Gracie is devastated, vowing to find him. Can she solve the mystery of his whereabouts? Gracie will need all her strength and courage to find a happy ending.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical Women's Fiction, Women's Fiction



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781788543972

Also by this author: The Girl in the Pink Raincoat

Published by Head of Zeus

on 1st March, 2019

Format: UK Edition Paperback

Pages: 368

 Published By:  Published By: Head of Zeus (@HoZ_Books)

Converse via: #GirlInThePinkRaincoat, #HistNov and #HistFic
Available Formats: Hardcover, Trade Paperback, Audiobook & Ebook

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

About Alrene Hughes

Alrene Hughes

Alrene Hughes grew up in Belfast and has lived in Manchester for most of her adult life. She worked for British Telecom and the BBC before training as an English teacher. After teaching for twenty years, she retired and now writes full-time.

Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

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Posted Monday, 22 April, 2019 by jorielov in #HistoricalMondays, 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Content Note, Domestic Violence, England, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Publishers & Presses (Direct Reviews), Realistic Fiction, the Thirties, The World Wars, War Drama, Women's Fiction

Book Spotlight w/ Notes | “Snowflakes Over Holly Cove” by Lucy Coleman (an early #blogmas post!)

Posted Wednesday, 12 September, 2018 by jorielov , , , 3 Comments

Stories in the Spotlight banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Even though it is ONLY *September!* – this is one year where #ChristmasRoms are already starting to tug at my heart! Similar to last year, where I was starting to find out about a lot of lovely #newbooks arriving for the hols but without a way to purchase them (this year, I’m submitting quite a lot of lovelies to my local library – whose been rather gracious with me accepting more than they’ve turnt down!) – which is why I was featuring a series of Spotlights and/or Book Announcements whilst interconnecting Q&As into those threads from last Autumn & Early Winter!!

This year, I’m continuing the tradition – with one small upgrade – due to my participation in #blogging4books – a lovely new group for bookblogger support – I learnt about #blogmas! I believe it generally takes place during *December!* – where you spend 31 days sharing Christmassy posts spilt between the festive season in [general] and the Christmas stories your either reading [that year] or have enjoyed discovering. Sometimes it’s even topical based or you can feature interviews, etc – the rules (haven’t yet been found) appear to be a bit up in the air in regards to each individual blogger! Happily, as this is my first spotlight for a Christmas story – I am starting a wee bit early! Even though, technically my *first!* Christmas book review will be going LIVE in *November!* this year!!

I truly never tire of Christmas stories – Contemporary, Historical, a cross-genre selection – whether in fiction and/or tv/film, there is something uniquely pulling about the context of a Christmas story for me! I am appreciating my journey into discovering #newtomeauthors how are writing these kinds of selections and I hope, as the years move forward, I will not just be spotlighting the titles I wish to be #amreading *but!* I will start to have opportunities to either a) start collecting the paperbacks b) continue to make purchase requests at my local library c) borrow these lovelies through ILL’ing (inter-library loan) or d) happily await the audiobook releases (if they go into that format!).

Curiously, which routes of exploration do you take to curl into a #ChristmasRomance and/or a #HolidayRom!? Which authors are your #mustread favourites and which styles of Christmas/hols stories are your absolute favourites to continuously seek out?! Full novels? Novellas? Shorts? Anthologies? Which genres? New or Classic or a Mixture? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Let’s peer into this latest release by an author I am most eager to start reading – I have an extract to share with you which is why you might want to brew yourself a cuppa of your favourite tea or java selection before returning in for the ‘read’!! Happy (early) Christmas!

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Book Spotlight w/ Notes | “Snowflakes Over Holly Cove” by Lucy Coleman (an early #blogmas post!)Snowflakes Over Holly Cove
Subtitle: This Christmas, there's happiness sparkling on the sea air...
by Linn B. Halton, Ms Linn B. Halton

As the snowflakes start to fall, Holly Cove welcomes a new tenant to the beautiful old cottage on the beach...

For lifestyle magazine journalist Tia Armstrong, relationships, as well as Christmas, have lost all their magic. Yet Tia is up against a Christmas deadline for her latest article 'Love is, actually, all around...'

So, Tia heads to Holly Cove where the restorative sea air and rugged stranger, Nic, slowly but surely start mending her broken heart.

Tia didn't expect a white Christmas, and she certainly never dared dream that all her Christmas wishes might just come true...

Set in Caswell Bay on the stunningly rugged Gower Coast, the cottage nestles amid the limestone cliffs and the woodlands; the emotions run as turbulently as the wind-swept sea.

As cosy as a marshmallow-topped cup of cocoa, fall in love with a heart-warming festive story from the bestselling author of The French Adventure.

Genres: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1788541558

Also by this author: Christmas at Bay Tree Cottage, Coming Home to Penvennan Cove

on 18th September, 2018

Published by: Aria Fiction (@Aria_Fiction)

an imprint of Head of Zeus

Formats Available: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #HolidayRomance + #ChristmasRomance & #Contemporary #Romance

About Lucy Coleman

Lucy Coleman

From interior designer to author, Linn B. Halton - who also writes under the pen name of Lucy Coleman - says ‘it’s been a fantastic journey!’

Linn is the bestselling author of more than a dozen novels and is excited to be writing for both Aria Fiction (Head of Zeus) and Harper Impulse (Harper Collins); she’s represented by Sara Keane of the Keane Kataria Literary Agency.

When she’s not writing, or spending time with the family, she’s either upcycling furniture or working in the garden.

Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award; her novels have been short-listed in the UK's Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards.

Living in Coed Duon in the Welsh Valleys with her ‘rock’, Lawrence, and gorgeous Bengal cat Ziggy, she freely admits she’s an eternal romantic.

Linn is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and writes feel-good, uplifting novels about life, love and relationships.

All the author links below equal the links I've previously shared for Ms Halton with the exception of her Twitter feeds, Amazon page, GoodReads page & LibraryThing page which are exclusively for her pen name.

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Posted Wednesday, 12 September, 2018 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Brook Cottage Book Tours

Author #GuestPost | feat. Erin Green who wrote another #Contemporary #ChristmasRomance Jorie is itching to be #amreading!

Posted Monday, 4 December, 2017 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Author Guest Post Banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

For the first time since I launched Jorie Loves A Story, I’ve been able to have a lovely sub-focus on the *Christmas!* stories which alight in our lives per annum! This year, in particular I’ve had a lovely focus on UK Contemporary Christmas Romances – as I will readily admit, I’m quite smashingly addicted to the writing styles of UK authors! I’ve had to put my #ChristmasReads on hold whilst I was participating in #RRSciFiMonth – so outside of Ms Carla Kelly’s Sweet Regency Christmas Romances, I haven’t yet come across another *favourite!* read of the Season!

Thus far, I’ve had the pleasurable joy of interviewing Ms Halton where we exchanged our Christmas family traditions inasmuch as chattering about why the holidays are special to each of us – celebrating her latest release “Christmas at Bay Tree Cottage”! Shortly thereafter, I interviewed Ms Helen Rolfe – an author I’ve followed on Twitter since she found me therein, whose released a delightful Christmassy Rom set round a knitting shoppe! Still my heart, being a girl knitty over yarn – this one definitely had my heart going a-flutter reading the premise!

Right in line with the festive glow of joy talking about stories set during Christmas I had the honour of bringing to my reader’s attention a delightfully festive bookaway fused with the Christmas spirit of ‘giving’ – whilst interviewing the author who inspired the event to happen! All of this, is continuing – as December dawns – I’ll be interchanging my Sci-Fi reads with dashes of Christmas stories, select Non-Fiction and other lovelies I’m hankering to read during this glorious time of the year.

This is the time of the year of garland and Yule; of heaps of snow & loads of family being round a tree lit and outfitted nicely with all the accompaniments of Christmastide! Where stockings are hung over hearths and a ready fire helps keep your favourite brewed in your cuppa of choice!

I am thankful to be crossing paths with #newtomeauthors who are giving me a heap of joy to host this festive season whilst finding STORIES to gather in time for next Christmas! A few of them are not yet released into paperback but the stories within their pages will be lovingly read once they are published. Today, marks my next special guest, of whom I offered to write a Guest Post Essay in lieu of an Interview – this novel is set in an attractive ‘small towne’ (if you might recall, Small Towne Fiction is amongst my favourites to be reading!) where you can quite literally re-invent yourself and/or find a new beginning. Small townes are glorious for either occasions as much as they offer something quite lovely outside of a ‘big metropolis’ where you can lose your thoughts as much as your sanity for the chaos you endure.

Remember to give me a nod towards what your reading this Christmas & holiday season – especially if you know of a Contemporary or Historical Christmas Rom you feel might whet a thirst of interest for me to be reading right now! Til then, I hope you’ve been enjoying my series of Christmas Guest Features as we welcome Winter into our hearts & let the holidays sweep us up into their Yuletide blessings! Merry meet, dear hearts!

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Author #GuestPost | feat. Erin Green who wrote another #Contemporary #ChristmasRomance Jorie is itching to be #amreading!A Christmas Wish

Flora Phillips has an excuse for every disaster in her life; she was abandoned as a new-born on a doorstep one cold autumn night, wrapped in nothing but a towel. Her philosophy is simple: if your mother doesn't want you – who will? 

Now a thirty-year-old, without a boyfriend, a career or home she figures she might as well tackle the biggest question of them all – who is she? So, whilst everyone else enjoys their Christmas Eve traditions, Flora escapes the masses and drives to the village of Pooley to seek a specific doorstep. Her doorstep. 
But in Pooley she finds more than her life story. She finds friends, laughter, and perhaps even a love to last a lifetime. Because once you know where you come from, it's so much easier to know where you're going. 

A story of redemption and love, romance and Christmas dreams-come-true, the perfect novel to snuggle up with this festive season.


Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 9781788541077

on 19th October, 2017

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Guest Post Topic I asked of Ms Green:

Did you fashion the community of Pooley after a particular towne you’ve visited or did you want to craft a setting where someone could unexpectedly ‘put their life back to rights’ such as how Flora is needing to do with her own affairs – thus, creating an ‘unexpected’ locale where second chances are possible? What inspired you most as you created Pooley to give readers the sense of wonder Flora feels herself?

Flora’s Pooley is based on the town of Atherstone, Warwickshire, it is a small town which once boasted a vibrant hatting industry. It’s suggested that Lewis Carroll fashioned the Mad Hatter from ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ on the hatting-workers of the area as they were systematically poisoned by the mercury used for felt making. The Market Square comprising of a beautiful church, large stone archway and cobbles was the perfect setting for Flora’s story. The village name Pooley comes from another quaint village in Warwickshire, which used to boast a thriving coal mine and brick yard, near to where I grew up. The village of Pooley was once home to the American soul singer Edwin Starr, prior to his death. I simply merged, and fictionalised, the two villages to create a perfect backdrop.

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Posted Monday, 4 December, 2017 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Brook Cottage Book Tours, Reader Submitted Guest Post (Topic) for Author, Women's Fiction