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A Fresh Start for the Country Nurse by Kate Eastham #Review

  I am delighted to introduce a new series by Kate Eastham. A Fresh Start for the Country Nurse was published by Boldwood Books on 7th March. Call the Midwife meets All Creatures Great and Small in this first of a heart-warming series about a country nurse and midwife. July, 1936 After an unexpected heartbreak and a nasty accident on a busy Liverpool street, Lara Flynn is desperate to start afresh and leave painful memories behind her. She takes on a new job as a district nurse and midwife at a country practice, in the remote Lancashire village of Ingleside. But instead of the friendly rural idyll she pictures, Lara finds she must cycle vast distances to visit locals who harbour an innate suspicion of a newcomer from the city – as well as dealing with unpredictable livestock, an erratic senior doctor and often challenging medical cases. She also rubs up against handsome local vet, Leo, when she helps to deliver a calf! With time, Lara learns that healing is a two-way s...

Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay

Bone by Bone is a psychological thriller which succeeds in creating a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere. It is centred on a mother and daughter, Laura and Autumn who have recently moved to Bristol. Autumn is the victim of bullying by an older boy at the school. In trying to intervene, Laura sets off a chain of events which turns the whole community, children, adults and the establishment against her and isolates Laura further. 

    It is easy to empathise with Laura and Autumn and we are given events from both their perspectives, alternatively. As the suspense is built up, we see Laura becoming cut off from all the usual safety nets until she seems to have no one there to support her. Just as her daughter is bullied by the other children, we see her being bullied by the adults around her. 

    The novel is written in a realistic style which draws the reader in to the situation. The climax of the story stretches the tension to breaking point. In all, I found this debut novel eminently readable, a real page turner in fact.

In short: a dark thriller set in an everyday situation. 

I received a copy of the book in advance of publication by the publishers,Corvus,  in exchange for an honest review. 

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