Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson

Frances Field knows she was lucky to be taken in by an uncle and aunt when she was orphaned at three but whatever she owes them has been amply repaid – she has acted as housekeeper and slaved for her indolent aunt since her late teens, without payment or time off. When the war begins she is eager to do her bit but is forced to go on catering to her aunt’s every demand until a bomb lands near their home, breaking most of the windows in Wintringham Square. 

The Tall Stranger by D.E. Stevenson

Nell is worried about her friend, Barbie France, who has been very sick and is not getting better. When the doctor she works for accompanies her to the hospital in a thick fog, he recommends that Barbie recuperate in the country. Nell calls Barbie’s aunt, Lady Steyne, and Barbie is sent by ambulance to the Cotswolds to Underwoods to rest. Barbie misses her work for an interior decoration firm but it is wonderful to be spoiled by her Aunt Amalie and her companion, Miss Penney.

The Shell House Detectives by Emylia Hall - a series launch

Ally Bright is a recent widow living with her dog in the picturesquely named Shell House on the Cornish coast. Like any of us, she is startled when a young man bangs on her door late at night. It turns out that Ally’s husband Bill, a compassionate policeman, had put this young man in prison but offered to help him when he got out. When Lewis was released, he returned home, only to find that his grandmother’s house is gone – an ostentatious new house, Sea View, has been built there instead.

Old Baggage by Lissa Evans – 8/20 Books of Summer

Mattie Simpkin fought valiantly for women’s right to vote as one of Mrs. Pankhurst’s militant supporters: speaking in public, arrested five times, force fed at Holloway Prison, but now, years later, with a small independent income, lives with her devoted friend, Florrie, near Hampstead Heath.

The Eights by Joanna Miller – 3/20 Books of Summer

In this debut historical novel, which begins in October 1920, four very different young women arrive at Oxford to be part of the first female class actually allowed to matriculate. Brilliant but awkward Beatrice has always been in the shadow of her suffragette mother and yearns for friends; shy Marianne, only child of a poor minister, already wishes she hadn't come, for complicated reasons; 

The Note by Alafair Burke - when a joke goes deadly wrong

An anticipated reunion in the Hamptons turns deadly after a practical joke in this novel by bestseller Burke. May Hanover, a lawyer living in NYC with her fiancé, has been looking forward to and yet dreading a weekend get-together with her two closest friends from summer camp. They were very close once but she hasn’t spent time with them in person for years. 

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

It’s been ten years but Hannah Jones has not recovered from the tragedy that ended her first year at Oxford – when her beautiful, charismatic roommate, April Clarke-Cliveden, was murdered. 

A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban, for the #1970Club

Frances the Badger is best known for refusing to go to sleep (Bedtime for Frances), being unadventurous about food (Bread and Jam for Frances), disgruntled about her new sibling (A Baby Sister for Frances), exploring friendship (Best Friends for Frances) and upset that it is not her birthday (A Birthday for Frances) but in this book she deals with something familiar to at least some of us – a sneaky friend.

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

Title: The Phoenix Crown
Authors: Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
Narrators: Saskia Maarleveld and Katherine Chin
Publication: HarperCollins, Audiobook, 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: San Francisco, 1906; Paris, 1911

Description: Four unusual women meet in San Francisco, just days before the infamous earthquake of 1906 and resulting fire that lasted three days, destroying nearly thirty thousand buildings and killing at least 600.

A Game of Snakes and Ladders by Doris Langley Moore

Title: A Game of Snakes and Ladders
Author: Doris Langley Moore
Publication: Dean Street Press, paperback, originally published in 1938
Genre: Fiction
Setting: 20th century Egypt and London, between the wars

Description: Lucy Kendon was the second lead in a second-rate theatrical company touring overseas, now in Egypt. With help from kind-hearted Lucy, Daisy Joy joined the company in Australia when a cast member dropped out.

Evelyn Finds Herself by Josephine Elder, for the #1929Club

Title: Evelyn Finds Herself
Author: Josephine Elder
Publication: Oxford University Press, hardcover, 1929
Genre: Juvenile fiction/school story
Setting: Britain

Description: Elizabeth and Evelyn, now in the Upper Fifth at Addington High School, have been best friends since they were seven. They are fierce competitors at hockey and tennis, and are also strong students, working towards scholarships at Cambridge. 

Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Title: Take a Bow
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Publication: Scholastic, hardcover, 2012
Genre: Young Adult
Setting: New York

Description: Emme, Sophie, Carter and Ethan are seniors at an exclusive performing arts high school in New York. Emme is a talented songwriter whose songs are usually performed by her friend Sophie.

She Lies in Wait by Gytha Lodge, a suspenseful series launch

Title: She Lies in Wait
Author: Gytha Lodge
Publication: Random House, hardcover, 2019
Genre: Suspense
Setting: Present-day Britain, somewhere near the New Forest

Description: Back in 1983, six teenagers and one younger sibling went camping in the forest. Aurora Jackson was in awe of her older sister’s confident friends and intimidated by their drinking and drug use. She disappeared in the middle of the night and was never seen again.

The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson - my first summer reading recommendation

Title: The Narrowboat Summer
Author: Anne Youngson
Publication: Flatiron Books, hardcover, 2020
Genre: Fiction
Setting: England

Description: Three women meet by chance and reassess their priorities in this novel about friendship and second chances.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, a whodunnit set on an isolated Highland estate, cut off by snow

Title: The Hunting Party
Author:  Lucy Foley

Publication: William Morrow, Trade Paperback, 2020 (originally published 2019)

Genre: Suspense

Plot: A group of friends in their early 30s book four days at a winter Highland wilderness, Loch Corrin.   It’s a chance to relax together and celebrate New Year’s Eve.   Miranda and her husband Julien, Samira and her husband Giles, Mark, Katie, and Nick have been friends since they were up at Oxford.  Samira and Giles now have baby Priya, Nick has an American boyfriend Bo, and Mark’s competent girlfriend Emma has organized this trip, in part to be accepted by his friends.  Heather, the manager, and Doug, the brooding gamekeeper, have secrets of their own that brought them to the back of beyond.  The estate, while beautiful, is very isolated and cut off from the world once it begins to snow and the guests begin to quarrel – and then a guest is murdered . . .