Lucy Foley on The City of Tears The focus in her historical fiction has always been on the untold stories of women and Minou is an appealing heroine. Mosse includes all the ingredients you would expect from a historical epic – murder, treachery, lost children, stolen relics, buried secrets – but she also dramatizes the complexities of sixteenth-century French and Dutch politics without weighing it down. This is a compelling story of how political upheavals play out in individual lives Mosse clearly did her homework and knows how to bring history to life! This was outstanding, well thought out and well researched. I am not a sailor, nor a history buff, but this story makes me want to become both. It begins with Louise, a young woman who lives with her grandparents. Having lost both of her parents earlier, she is about to become very wealthy when she comes of age and accepts her inheritance. This sets her up for her future, where she decides to follow her dream of sailing. When she meets Gilles, a wine merchant's apprentice, she realizes she can be more than she ever thought possible. Their relationship is modern and refreshing and everything it should be for a female captain in the 1600's looking to change the rules.

But the bravest among them are not who they seem. The stakes could not be higher. If arrested, they will be hanged for their crimes. Can they survive the journey and escape their fate? Feeling every one of her sixty-eight years, she raised herself on one elbow, and gazed at Piet sleeping beside her. His beloved features, grown white with age, were as familiar to her as her own. Against all odds, they had been by one another’s side for nearly fifty years. Together they had faced grief and despair, they had lost their way and been reconciled once more. Blessed with three children and three grandchildren, they had suffered, but kept going. Companions-in-arms, they had stood firm against the vicissitudes of life, the evils of war and the deaths of those they loved. They were old, but they had somehow kept living when those around them stumbled and fell. They had survived. On February 27, 1927, Agatha Christie arrived in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, on the northeastern tip of the island. Christie was there to surf, to escape the trials of an English winter, and to begin to mend her broken heart and spirits after her first husband’s infidelity and the death of her mother. She wrote several short stories during her fortnight on the island but photographs show she found time to go surfing at Playa de Las Canteras. It’s still the most popular of the city’s four beaches.

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The ending left the door open for the reader to learn more about her life- I just hope I don’t have to wait too long as it’s difficult to remember what happened in earlier books when there is such a big gap! This felt nothing like the first 2 books in the series. The whole atmosphere was entirely different. Infact, I'd say this was a different genre. The first books were historical dramas, where as this was an adventure-romance. I like both genres, but I was caught off-guard by the mid-series change. The plot also didn't have much reliance on the first two stories. Other than following the same family (but a different generation), it seemed fairly unrelated; more like whole other companion series than a direct sequel. This is the third book in The Joubert Family Chronicles and is full of adventure that takes you to France, the Netherlands and The Canary Islands. You follow one of my new favourite female characters Louise Reydon Joubert who is awe-inspiring. She is brave, intelligent, loyal and reading about her transforming into such a powerful woman was pure joy. Her quest to break the rules and shatter the patriarchy had me cheering her on. This is the kind of female character I am here for! The loving relationship Louise developed with Gilles was very touching. Both of them have my heart. When the worst happened and Louise found herself cornered by those who despised her, her life in danger, the loyal Giles stepped up.

Details: https:// yeovilliteraryfestival.co.uk/ whats-on/all-shows/kate-mosse/ 9251/ 19 – 26 November The Ghost Ship is a story of love, revenge and adventure and a fabulous addition to the series. Above all though it is an excellent, immersive tale from a master storyteller.Also part of their household is Granny Rosie, Mosse’s mother-in-law, who will turn 93 this year and who, as we speak, is sipping the lunchtime gin and tonic Mosse has prepared for her. The writer and her husband are Rosie’s carers, and it is that experience, along with having cared for her own, much-loved parents, that formed the basis of Mosse’s memoir An Extra Pair of Hands, with its evocative subtitle, A Story of Caring and Everyday Acts of Love.