Editorial Content for The House with the Golden Door
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Elodie Harper’s debut novel, THE WOLF DEN, was a raw, unflinching exploration into the emotional turmoil and physical abuse of ancient Pompeiian sex workers. In that book, Amara --- enslaved to the mercurial and brutal Felix --- manages to seemingly win free of her captivity. However, in Harper’s follow-up, THE HOUSE WITH THE GOLDEN DOOR, Amara soon sees that everything that glitters isn’t gold --- or, at least, sometimes might be fool’s gold. Read More
Teaser
The life of a courtesan in Pompeii is glamorous yet perilous. At night in the home he bought for her, the house with the golden door, Amara’s dreams are haunted by her past. She longs for her sisterhood of friends --- the women at the brothel she was forced to leave behind --- and, worse, finds herself pursued by the cruel and vindictive man who once owned her. To be truly free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is. Amara knows that her existence in Pompeii is subject to Venus, the goddess of love. Yet finding love may prove to be the most dangerous act of all.
Promo
The life of a courtesan in Pompeii is glamorous yet perilous. At night in the home he bought for her, the house with the golden door, Amara’s dreams are haunted by her past. She longs for her sisterhood of friends --- the women at the brothel she was forced to leave behind --- and, worse, finds herself pursued by the cruel and vindictive man who once owned her. To be truly free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is. Amara knows that her existence in Pompeii is subject to Venus, the goddess of love. Yet finding love may prove to be the most dangerous act of all.
About the Book
From prize-winning and international bestselling author Elodie Harper, the second book in the Wolf Den Trilogy introduces Amara, as she escapes her life as a slave in the city's most notorious brothel, the Wolf Den. Her survival depends on the affections of a man she might not know as well as she once thought.
The life of a courtesan in Pompeii is glamorous yet perilous. At night in the home he bought for her, the house with the golden door, Amara’s dreams are haunted by her past. She longs for her sisterhood of friends --- the women at the brothel she was forced to leave behind --- and, worse, finds herself pursued by the cruel and vindictive man who once owned her. To be truly free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is. Amara knows that her existence in Pompeii is subject to Venus, the goddess of love. Yet finding love may prove to be the most dangerous act of all.
Readers of CIRCE, THE SONG OF ACHILLES and other Greek mythology books, as well as fans of inspiring feminist historical fiction books exploring the worlds of Ancient Greece and Rome, will love Harper's acclaimed Wolf Den Trilogy. The trilogy's first book, THE WOLF DEN, was a Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month and a critically acclaimed UK bestseller.
Audiobook available, read by Antonia Beamish
Editorial Content for The Witch in the Well
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
A perfect way to begin the Halloween season is to choose some solid novels that are sure to provide plenty of thrills and chills. THE WITCH IN THE WELL by Camilla Bruce should be added to your list of October reads. Not only is it a terrific psychological thriller involving two women with dueling points of view surrounding a centuries-old legend, it is also an above-average gothic horror story that will keep the candle burning long into the night as you furiously turn the pages. Read More
Teaser
Centuries ago, beautiful young Ilsbeth Clark was accused of witchcraft after several children disappeared. Her acquittal did nothing to stop her fellow townsfolk from drowning her in the well where the missing children were last seen. When author and social media influencer Elena returns to the summer paradise of her youth to get her family's manor house ready to sell, the last thing she expected was connecting with --- and feeling inspired to write about --- Ilsbeth’s infamous spirit. The very historical figure that her ex-childhood friend, Cathy, has been diligently researching and writing about for years. What begins as a fiercely competitive sense of ownership over Ilsbeth and her story soon turns both women’s worlds into something more haunted and dangerous than they ever could imagine.
Promo
Centuries ago, beautiful young Ilsbeth Clark was accused of witchcraft after several children disappeared. Her acquittal did nothing to stop her fellow townsfolk from drowning her in the well where the missing children were last seen. When author and social media influencer Elena returns to the summer paradise of her youth to get her family's manor house ready to sell, the last thing she expected was connecting with --- and feeling inspired to write about --- Ilsbeth’s infamous spirit. The very historical figure that her ex-childhood friend, Cathy, has been diligently researching and writing about for years. What begins as a fiercely competitive sense of ownership over Ilsbeth and her story soon turns both women’s worlds into something more haunted and dangerous than they ever could imagine.
About the Book
When two former friends reunite after decades apart, their grudges, flawed ambitions and shared obsession swirl into an all-too-real echo of a terrible town legend in Camilla Bruce's THE WITCH IN THE WELL.
Centuries ago, beautiful young Ilsbeth Clark was accused of witchcraft after several children disappeared. Her acquittal did nothing to stop her fellow townsfolk from drowning her in the well where the missing children were last seen.
When author and social media influencer Elena returns to the summer paradise of her youth to get her family's manor house ready to sell, the last thing she expected was connecting with --- and feeling inspired to write about --- Ilsbeth’s infamous spirit. The very historical figure that her ex-childhood friend, Cathy, has been diligently researching and writing about for years.
What begins as a fiercely competitive sense of ownership over Ilsbeth and her story soon turns both women’s worlds into something more haunted and dangerous than they ever could imagine.
Audiobook available; read by Charlotte Davey, Christina Cole and Emily Barber
Editorial Content for Book of Knives
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Nora is mourning the death of her husband, Takeo. Although he will never be replaced in her life or in her heart, circumstances put another person in her path. Takeo’s best friend, Paul, had fallen on hard times. Nora and Takeo had invited Paul and his 18-year-old son, Leon, a wannabe rock star, to live with them until their situation improved.
It will come as no surprise that Paul and Nora will eventually fall in love, sharing a deep mourning for Takeo that binds them together. This relationship sets off the events that drive Lise Haines’ novel, BOOK OF KNIVES. Read More
Teaser
When Nora agrees to help her new husband, Paul, and his family fix up Hidden Lake Camp, she didn't expect it to be in such a state of ruin. Only a few months, he said. They'd drive north to get Paul's elderly parents settled while he and his brother make enough repairs to sell the property. But the summer camp and its deep lake have other plans. On the first night, Nora stumbles through a first meal with his difficult family. Her sister-in-law shows off a prized collection of handmade knives, 13 in all. Long summer days stretch before them, and one by one the knives begin to disappear. There's talk of ghosts, secret rooms, and someone at the summer camp found dead in the tall grass.
Promo
When Nora agrees to help her new husband, Paul, and his family fix up Hidden Lake Camp, she didn't expect it to be in such a state of ruin. Only a few months, he said. They'd drive north to get Paul's elderly parents settled while he and his brother make enough repairs to sell the property. But the summer camp and its deep lake have other plans. On the first night, Nora stumbles through a first meal with his difficult family. Her sister-in-law shows off a prized collection of handmade knives, 13 in all. Long summer days stretch before them, and one by one the knives begin to disappear. There's talk of ghosts, secret rooms, and someone at the summer camp found dead in the tall grass.
About the Book
When Nora agrees to help her new husband, Paul, and his family fix up Hidden Lake Camp, she didn't expect it to be in such a state of ruin. The dock full of rotten boards, smashed windows, cabins falling apart --- it's all a past he'd just as soon bury. Only a few months, he said. They'd drive north to get Paul's elderly parents settled while he and his brother make enough repairs to sell the property.
The summer camp, however, and its deep lake have other plans.
On the first night, Nora stumbles through a first meal with his difficult family. Her sister-in-law shows off a prized collection of handmade knives, 13 in all. Long summer days stretch before them and one by one the knives begin to disappear.
By the time the fourth and fifth vanish from behind locked doors and out from under watchful eyes, Nora can barely sleep. There's talk of ghosts, secret rooms, and someone at the summer camp found dead in the tall grass.
Unsettling, gripping and totally original, BOOK OF KNIVES is a literary thriller that shows how one person's unraveling can bring the whole house down.
Audiobook available, read by Eve Passeltiner
October 7, 2022
About 35 years ago, I bought some t-shirts from Patagonia. The colors, as well as the size and fit, were terrific! I probably got a dozen of them. A few years after I started wearing them, it was discovered that the cotton they were made from was not sustainable. So they stopped making them with that fiber, and in those shapes and colors.
The funny thing is, while that cotton has not been used anymore, those shirts have washed well, even with really tough stains, and they still are in rotation in my wardrobe.
Do you read before you go to sleep at night?
October 7, 2022, 691 voters
