My Psychic Life – Sally Morgan

Sally Morgan is an ordinary woman with an extraordinary gift: she can communicate with the dead.

Sally saw her first ghost at the age of four.  Since then she has been speaking to spirits and passing on their messages, hopes and fears to the living with astonishing accuracy.

It took first-hand experiences of intense conflict and personal turmoil, as well as a particular disaster in Sally's life to help her understand how to take control of the mysteries of the spirit world and become a professional medium.  She has now given thousands of readings for people who have experienced personal tragedy or suffered great loss.  Packed with amazing anecdotes that will send a shiver down the spine, this is Sally’s remarkable story.

My Rating 5/5 (Autobiography)

I watched Sally on TV and was amazed. I then went to one of her live shows and was very impressed. I bought the book at the show and met Sally she signed my book. I couldn't put this book down, it has small chapters so if you want to you can just have a few minutes here and there. I read in bed before I go to sleep so I thought it may scare me. It didn't! I found it fascinating.

Mother’s Only Child – Anne Bennett

Maria is a girl with great talent for design.  Although the world is embroiled in war, all she can think of is her scholarship to study in Dublin.  But then her father has a dreadful accident and her mother breaks down in guilt and grief.  Maria, the only child, must care for them both.  Her hopes are dashed, not only of her career, but of marrying the one who’s loved her for years.

Reluctantly, Maria is driven into the arms of the supposedly reliable Barney.  But no such thing.  The young couple have to leave the village in a hurry and settle in Birmingham, where Barney betrays those who have helped them and finally goes too far.  The family comes perilously close to tragedy before Maria finds hope in the most unlikely place...

My Rating 5/5 Easy Read (Fiction)

I loved this book so much I just couldn’t put it down.

Shadows Of The Workhouse – Jennifer Worth

When Jennifer Worth became a midwife in the 1950’s, she joined an East End where many lives were touched by the shadow of the workhouse. For, although the institutions were officially abolished in 1930, in reality many did not close until several decades later.

In the follow-up of her bestselling Call The Midwife, Jennifer Worth tells the true stories of the people she met.  There’s Peggy and Frank, who were separated in the workhouse when their parents died – until Frank’s strength and determination enabled him to make a home for his sister.  Jane was a bright, lively child, whose spirit was broken by cruelty, until she found kindness and love later in life.  Then there is the matchmaking nun, Sister Julienne, and Sister Monica Joan, who ends up in the High Court...

My Rating 4/5 (Non-Fiction/Memoir)

I started to read this before Christmas and just couldn't get into it.
I started it again in January and reread from the start.
This time I was really into it and was glad I gave it another go.

The Power Of Dreams – Rosie Harris

When all hope is gone, are dreams enough...?

After losing both her parents, sixteen-year-old Merrion Roberts is left to bring up her baby sister. Unable to cope alone, she teams up with Rhonda Rees, a trained milliner, who also has a young baby. They share rooms in notorious Tiger Bay in Cardiff, struggling to make ends meet. In time, though, they are able to open up a little shop and it seems as if life is looking up for both young women.

But fate soon intervenes and they are reduced to living in even greater squalor, barely able to eke out enough money to support themselves let alone their two children. Meanwhile, Merrion’s brother and her childhood sweetheart have both gone to sea and she has almost given up hope of ever seeing them alive again...

My Rating 4/5 Liked This Book (Fiction)

Red Lotus – Pai Kit Fai

Li-Xia refuses to succumb to the fate of a concubine: beautiful and quick-witted, she desires more than to be just a painted slave.  When her father orders her feet to be bound in the illegal and cruel practice of the Golden Lotus, she cleverly outwits him-Li-Xia knows her feet will be her freedom.

Her wilful spirit sends her to the silk-weaving factory of Ten Willows.  Here, among the strict rules and brutal punishments, Li-Xia finds her first loving family – but her happiness is short-lived.  Forced to flee rather than be called to the silk merchant’s bed, Li-Xia is delt a deadly punishment – but is rescued just in time by Ben Devereaux, a mysterious ‘foreign devil’. Together with Ben, Li-Xia takes the first steps of a dangerous new journey...

My Rating 5/5 Loved This Book (Historical Fiction)

I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down.

More Than Just Coincidence – Julie Wassmer

One hot summer day in 1970, teenaged Julie dresses her ten-day-old baby daughter for the last time.  Then she placed her newborn into a nurse’s arms and walked away, taking with her only a tiny plastic bracelet on which were written two words – ‘Baby Wassmer’.

Over the next twenty years, the print on the bracelet began to fade, but the memory of Julie’s lost child continued to run, like a thread, through the fabric of her life.

On November 1990, as she stared at her reflection in a mirror on her bathroom wall, one thought suddenly came into her mind: now might be the perfect time for her daughter to re-enter her life.  A few hours later, in the most astonishing way, two worlds were about to collide.

My Rating 5/5  (Biography)

 A remarkable story I couldn't put it down.

The Lost Daughter – Diane Chamberlain

Would you live a lie to keep your child? 

In 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child. 

CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve died – because she was there. She also knows what happened to the missing infant, because two decades ago CeeCee made the devastating choice to raise the baby as her own. 

Now Timothy Gleason is facing the death penalty, and CeeCee has another choice to make. Tell the truth and destroy her family. Or let an innocent man die to protect a lifetime of lies. 

My Rating 5/5 Really Good Read (Fiction)

I could not put this book down.