Published by Crooked Cat Books on November 20 2018
Pages: 223
Amazon UK, Amazon US
Goodreads
A story of Family, Rationing and Inconvenient Corpses.
Life in 1918 has brought loss and grief and hardship to the three Fyttleton sisters. Helped only by their grandmother (a failed society belle and expert poacher) and hindered by a difficult suffragette mother, as well as an unruly chicken-stealing dog and a house full of paying-guests, they now have to deal with the worrying news that their late – and unlamented – father may not be dead after all. And on top of that, there’s a body in the ha-ha.
Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Nicola Slade to my blog with a Guest Post for us to read today. Plus there is a giveaway too so make sure you check it out below!
I am loving the book cover for this, it looks mystical and sombre which seems quite fitting for the story. The lilies too symbolising that “the soul of the departed has received restored innocence after death” and the purity.
When the first line of the synopsis is “A story of Family, Rationing and Inconvenient Corpses.” then you know it will be a treat of a book!
So what have other reviewers said about the book so far?
Goodreads reviewer says
The setting is fabulous and feels like an actual portrayal of the times. The characters are quirky and unique and I absolutely loved it
Goodreads reviewer says
Well, what a treat this book was. The WW1 setting was very believable, the narrator Christy has a fabulous voice and I loved her whole bonkers, eccentric family. Having a mystery to solve too was the icing on the cake!
Goodreads reviewer says
Another excellent cosy mystery by Nicola Slade. Not only is this a jolly good story with a cliffhanger ending it portrays life on the Home Front in 1918 without being mawkish or sensationalist. I love the details of the food; the struggle was real!
Wish I had the time to read this book now, everything sounds so good!
Be sure you check out the other fantastic bloggers today opening the tour with me!
Marianne at Books, Life and Everything. Nicola at Short Book and Scribes.
Julie at A Little Book Problem and Stefanie at The Magic of Wor(l)ds
So then the guest post! Let us check out what Ms Slade has instore for us today!
✮ Guest Post ✮
The War changed everything for young women
There’s murder and mystery in The Convalescent Corpse but mostly it’s about how a family of women struggle to keep the Home Fires burning while the war rages on apparently unceasingly just across the Channel. Life at home did carry on regardless and people still managed to laugh, so this is a gently funny book about family ups and downs, complicated by murder.
Although things had started to change before the onset of WW1, prospects for young women were still limited. Working-class girls went into service, worked in shops or factories, or married and had a family. Middle-class girls on a limited income were expected to marry, to teach, to stay at home and look after their parents, with few other options. Education for such girls often took second place beside that of their brothers. A boy must be educated to support a family; a girl would marry – no need for any training.
As the war progressed it became heartbreakingly clear that marriage might no longer be possible with so many prospective bride-grooms lost. This led to thousands of broken hearts but also to a realization that for many girls who had unexpectedly found themselves working in factories or on the land, the end of the war would offer new opportunities. Nursing and teaching, working as a ‘typewriter’ in an office, joining the police force, all became acceptable and possible.
Early in the book, Alix, the eldest says, ‘Bertie (their brother, killed in the war) promised to look out for lots of eligible young men – a Mr Darcy or even a Bingley – when he went up to Oxford.’ There was a bleak twist to her mouth and a catch in her voice as she added, ‘I’m still cross with him for leaving the job unfinished.’
In fact, though, the three young sisters in my book are muddling through as best they can, with no time or opportunity to go husband hunting. A dead father, a difficult mother, and very little income, combined with rationing and shortages, means life is difficult, although their aristocratic grandmother is their greatest support. Anxious to increase their erratic income, they learn that the house next door has become empty and decide to turn it into a boarding-house for women visiting the local convalescent hospital.
This venture is a mixed success. Yes, the lodgers move in and pay their rent, but it’s hard work, the lodgers are tricky and almost immediately the girls are embroiled in murder and mystery…
Ah yes! Before you go there is a giveaway! How could I forget!!
Giveaway Time
Win a paperback copy of The House of Ladywell (Open Internationally)
a Rafflecopter giveaway*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize
Thank you for stopping by!
Until next time xxx
Thank you so much to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour invite and the author for the Guest Post
jenchaos76 says
Yay, I saw this on the Reader!
Zoe says
Oh yay!! woohoo lol x