Janet Gordon is married, retired, obsessed with her Westlake Terrier, Rollo – and books are her passion. She reads multiple books a week across all genres and reviews them for Rest Less.
This month’s round-up features Five Nights, The Yacht, Diva, The List of Suspicious Things, and The Jewish Holiday Table – plus, for those in London, a suggestion for a fun evening out.
Note: Prices can change often, so you may notice some variations on the providers’ websites. Prices and availability are accurate as of the 25th of March, 2024.
Well, I’ve now had all the stitches out after my foot operation, but I’m still marooned on the sofa with my leg in the air – I’m going stir-crazy!!! However, the upside is that I’ve had some fantastic reading to keep me going…
Five Nights by Rachel Wolf (Kindle £3.99, Amazon £5, Head of Zeus £8.99)
Confession time: I’ve never been on a cruise and, in fact, I can’t swim. Cue shamefaced embarrassment… When my three-year-old grandchild Victoria asked, “Why can’t Grandmas swim?” I had absolutely no answer for her.
So, while lying on the sofa with my foot up, the first book I devoured this month was Rachel Wolf’s debut thriller, Five Nights. Under the pen name Rachael Blok, Wolf has also written a detective series set in St Albans (where she lives).
I’m addicted to the TV series Below Deck which features luxury yachts and some of the most revolting guests you can imagine. And in Five Nights we meet Emily, who hasn’t spoken to her old best friend Belle in three years.
Belle is now married to the head of the infamous Scarmado family (think Onassis) and has invited Emily on board the family’s pride – The Belle. This is the first in what they hope will be a succession of uber-luxurious cruise liners.
The Scarmados have all gathered, and Emily enjoys the excitement of the private VIP deck. However, when she begins receiving threatening notes and is locked in a dark storage cupboard (only released when one of the Scarmado family hears her screams), she doesn’t know who to trust or where to turn.
As the violence is ramped up, it’s Five Nights of absolute terror – and OMG I devoured it.
The Yacht by Sarah Goodwin (Kindle £2.99, Amazon £9.19, Avon Books £9.99)
On a similar theme, another book I obsessed over this month was The Yacht by Sarah Goodwin. It’s New Year’s Eve and Hannah, still in contact with her best friends from university, is invited to a low-key party (well, low-key for her friend Libby) on a luxury yacht in an Italian marina.
Hannah can’t believe her eyes when she steps aboard in her old designer shoes to see that Libby’s husband has hired a helicopter to sit on the yacht’s deck – so much for low-key! The only way Hannah can cope is to join in the festivities and get drunk along with the others.
But, waking the next morning to an absolutely trashed boat, Hannah quickly realises that the mooring rope has been cut and they’re drifting out to sea.
Plus, to make things worse, she discovers that there’s no fuel, no radio, no food – and no way of contacting anybody to be rescued.
Diva by Daisy Goodwin (Kindle £4.68, Amazon £9.19, Head of Zeus £8.99)
Continuing with the watery theme (prepare to cry!), my next read was Diva by Daisy Goodwin. Goodwin’s previous novels – such as My Last Duchess, The Fortune Hunter, and Victoria (based on the ITV series she wrote) – have all been set in the Victorian era, so this jump to the 20th century marks a complete change for her.
Diva follows the story of how the renowned opera singer Maria Callas met, and loved, Aristotle Onassis.
Sadly, once Maria had been won over by Aristotle – who spoke to her in Greek and told her she was his one and only – the thrill of the conquest wore off for him. And while Maria was busy rehearsing, he was off cruising on his beloved yacht, The Christina, and wooing Jackie Kennedy, the widow of the murdered US President.
Aristotle initially started to pursue Jackie’s sister, Lee, but switched his attention to Jackie following her husband’s death. I guess the cachet of marrying a former president’s wife is greater than an ageing diva because whilst he was forever happy to postpone marriage to Maria, he married Jackie with alacrity.
This is an enthralling novel with a notable cast of characters. We meet the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Elsa Maxwell (the gossip columnist back in the day), Grace Kelly, and, of course, Christina – Onassis’s yacht which played a major part in his romantic life.
The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey (Kindle £7.99, Amazon £8, Hutchinson Heinemann £14.99)
Jennie Godfrey’s debut novel has shot up the bestseller charts and been a BBC Radio 2 Book Club choice. Word of mouth has everyone talking about it and I can envisage this being a top pick for many, many book clubs.
It’s 1979, Maggie Thatcher is Prime Minister and the Yorkshire Ripper’s reign of terror is frightening everyone in the Leeds area. Miv, aged 11, can’t survive without her best friend Sharon and decides that if she can catch the Yorkshire Ripper, her Dad won’t want to move down south and everything can stay the same.
So, with Sharon’s help, Miv decides to make a list of all the suspicious people that she thinks could possibly be the Ripper. She includes people she sees fleetingly and those she knows very well.
Her Mum is almost out of the equation with what appears to be a depressive illness, so her Aunty Jean has moved in to take care of them. There’s also a growing friendship between Miv and Armad, the son of the local corner shop owner, as they bond over their love of cricket.
The novel has all sorts of childhood angst, bullies, and grown-up secrets – and I love the way the author gets into Miv’s mind. A wonderful read that feels like Enid Blyton for grown-ups. I couldn’t put it down.
The Jewish Holiday Table by Naama Shefi and the Jewish Food Society (Kindle £10.99, Amazon £26.44, Artisan £30)
My first husband was always most insistent that I couldn’t cook – I guess that was why his mother bought me a Kosher cookery course for a wedding present! But, to be honest, I learned more from watching my Mum.
Sadly, both Mums are now long gone, but I’ve been lucky enough to have inherited my Mum’s copy of Florence Greenberg’s Jewish Cookery Book. It’s now torn and tattered with pages falling out, but it’s packed with Mum’s handwritten notes so I wouldn’t part with it for the world.
However, I’ve recently been sent something that could very definitely become a rival to the famed Florence Greenberg…
It’s The Jewish Holiday Table and it’s sumptuously illustrated (with images from award-winning photographer Penny De Los Santos) and packed with recipes and stories from Jewish families around the world. It includes ideas and inspiration for what to cook for Jewish festivals throughout the year.
As we’re coming up to both Easter and Passover, there’s a wonderful recipe for gluten-free pistachio cookies which I can’t wait to make – once I’m allowed off the sofa of course!
There are also several different recipes for Gefilte fish – which I make quite often after ordering the minced white fish from a specialist fishmonger in Loughton, Essex. My husband makes a mean chopped liver too!
The book is expensive at around £30 (although it’s £10.99 on Kindle), but I can envisage it being given as a wedding, engagement, or even a Batmitzvah present and it’s definitely something to be handed down through the generations.
It can be ordered on Amazon, or if you have a lovely indie bookshop near you, I’m sure they’d be happy to order it in. It’s so worth the cost.
The Starlight Big Band, Charing Cross Theatre, 5th May 2024
And, finally, if anyone’s looking for a break from reading, on Sunday 5th May, The Starlight Big Band will be giving a wonderful performance at London’s Charing Cross Theatre.
A truly professional London band, The Starlight Big Band performs a brilliant mixture of music from the Big Bands era, which I love. A friend of mine owns the theatre and it’s such an intimate space with wonderful acoustics – every seat is a good one! There’s also a charming little bar serving light snacks and drinks – ideal for a pre-theatre nibble.
The boys in the band always invite The Chelsea Pensioners from Royal Hospital Chelsea, who’ll be standing with buckets for donations that go towards The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans. This charity was founded in 1948 with the goal of funding days out and international trips for military veterans.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings and a contingent of London taxis will travel to Normandy with D-Day veterans to commemorate.
My Dad was one such veteran. Sadly, he died in 2010, aged 95, but he did manage to make a 60th anniversary trip where he was proud to receive the French Legion of Honour medal. So, this charity and The Starlight Band are very close to my heart.
Tickets are a very reasonable price at £20 per head, and if you do join the fun, please come up and say hello – I’d love to chat. It’s an evening not to be missed!
For more reading inspiration, head over to the books, literature, and writing section of our website. Or, for further book and literature discussions, you might be interested in joining the thriving book club or short story club over on Rest Less Events.
Have you read any of these books? Or have you added any of them to your reading list? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.