Jane Cable

Jane Cable writes with a great sense of place and her latest novel, ‘Endless Skies', is set in North Lincolnshire, a place of wide horizons, mists and endless views. Her books always have an element of the supernatural and ‘Endless Skies’ doesn’t disappoint, from shadowy figures in a field to the lingering scent of lily-of-the-valley.
Rachel Ward, an archaeology lecturer, leaves her old job after a disastrous workplace affair and moves to Lincoln University. Living in a soulless box show more of a flat, she makes friends with Jem who lives on a barge moored on the nearby canal. Jem is a solid steady character and becomes a mentor, almost father-like figure for Rachel who has made bad choices in the past and seems set to repeat the pattern. Jem’s new lodger, student Ben, tempts Rachel’s newly sworn promise to foreswear men. Meanwhile she takes on a freelance contract for property developer Jonathan Daubney. As she researches her report on a prospective development site at an old wartime airbase, Rachel and Jonathan fall into an instant ‘hate’ relationship.
The past is ever-present in this story which explores how what has gone before is never absent from our everyday lives, whether by actions in our lifetime or events that happened long ago. Markers are there to be seen, most clearly evident in Rachel’s fieldwalking on the old airfield where pieces of old metal are scattered. As they may belong to a wartime bomber that crashed and exploded in this place, Rachel must consult a ballistics expert and dig test pits. And so the past delays the present, as Jonathan is unable to proceed with his property plans until Rachel’s report is finished. Cable handles well the personal and work conflicts between Rachel and Jonathan. Both are emotionally damaged in ways which are gradually revealed.
My favourite character was Esther, an elderly resident at the care home run by Jonathan’s mother. As a teenager in the war, Esther worked at the laundry on the airbase and she is key to our understanding of the book. As Rachel teases out Esther’s memories, the interlinked past and the present starts to make sense.
This is a contemporary romance and is firmly rooted in the present day but I would love to know more about the wartime story of Freddie, Teo and Esther. It was so uplifting to read about a firmly-rooted friendship between two women, Rachel and Esther – one young, the other elderly – and see how they enrich each other’s lives.
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The Cheesemaker's House is a lovely romance story. When I say that, don't think it's all hearts and flowers because it's far from it, but it is a love story with a part-historical element to it.

Alice Hart's husband is a cliché - he's had an affair with his secretary. Alice ends up with their second home, New Cottage in a North Yorkshire village, whilst he keeps the marital home. Needing a fair bit of work doing to it, Alice gets local man Richard, a bit of a charmer, to do some work on the show more house and on the barn that comes with it. She also meets Owen and she finds herself very taken with him indeed. He's part-owner of the local cafe and she keeps seeing him everywhere. Or does she? And there's the crying she keeps hearing. Is somebody nearby really unhappy or are echoes from the past seeping through into the present?

Jane Cable draws on her own experiences with this novel. Her own cottage, and New Cottage, were the local cheesemaker's house centuries ago. And the cheesemaker was a woman. I found this aspect fascinating. There are strong women at the heart of this story, both in the past and present. This is not a dual timeline or a time slip novel. It's as I said, the past is seeping through due to unresolved issues.

Owen is a lovely man but oh boy, I could have shaken him and slapped him at times. Instead of confiding in Alice as their relationship grew, he pushed her away. I think she was a saint to put up with him at all most of the time, but there was a real connection between them and Alice was determined to find out more about the 'other' Owen that she kept seeing around the village. I liked Alice a lot and really enjoyed her wit, her spirit and her determination. I also liked Richard as, despite his almost lecherous ways, he was a pretty good sparring partner for Alice.

I flew through this book in the space of a day. It's engaging on so many levels. I loved the way the past was intertwined with the present in lots of different ways. There's a slightly spooky element to the story and the historical aspects were so interesting as Alice tried to make sense of events. It's got some lovely relationships at the core of it, both with strong existing friendships and with new ones that are formed.

I've had this book for four years and only wish I had got around to it a bit earlier as I really loved it. It's utterly delightful and a complete page turner. show less

Another wonderful story about friendship, overcoming hardship, and being your authentic self from Eva Glyn! This terrific book is, yet again, set in beautiful Croatia. Eva Glyn writes about the people, places, community, history, and food so well that you feel as though you're really there. As the story progresses, you get to know more and more about main characters, Ana, Natali, and Lloyd and you find yourself drawn into each of their lives, coming to know the hardships, losses, and battles show more that each of them face and you can't help but want the best for each of them. These three strangers lives come together and they form an unbreakable bond, when, in other circumstances, had they each not pushed outside their comfort zone, they likely never even would have met. If you read The Dubrovnik Book Club, you already know what a realistic, yet magical tale Eva Glyn can write ... you must read The Croatian Island Library! My only complaint about this book is that it had to end and I would have much preferred to keep reading! I would love to know what happens next in the lives of each of the main characters and the others in the story. I'm requesting a sequel, or two, or perhaps a series, please! show less

The Collaborator’s Daughter is an outstanding novel. It makes you look back to the past with sadness and understanding and some regret, and makes you look to the future with hope and just a little bit of trepidation, all the while painting vivid word pictures of Dubrovnik, Croatia both near the end of World War II and in present day: beautiful, dangerous, irresistible.

At age 65, having lived nearly her entire life in England, Fran finds herself at loose ends. Unmarried, with a grown child show more and young grandchildren, a half-brother she adores and a half-sister who hates her, her mother has been gone for several years and the stepfather she has been nursing through illness has just died. Retired, no one to need her, no necessity of fitting in, Fran thinks if she can find the inner strength and courage that this may be the right time to finally find out more about where she came from, the hero father who died when she was an infant in Dubrovnik and fill in some of the blanks in the stories her mother told her about that time and place. The research she initially does tells her that instead of being the hero she was led to believe her father was executed as a collaborator. She almost turns right around and goes home, but she’s rented an apartment for three months and, with support and encouragement from her son, brother and good friend back home she sets out on what ends up being the adventure and discovery of her lifetime, not only for the past but for the present and the future as well.

The Collaborator’s Daughter is well-written, complex, detailed, intense and tells a fantastically entertaining story. Fran is likeable, insecure and brave at the same time, afraid to stay and learn things she doesn’t want to know but also feeling surprisingly at home in Dubrovnik. The local people are welcoming, particularly a young bartender and his uncle who helps her on her journey of discovery.

This is a delightful, through-provoking, satisfying story. It was refreshing to see in Fran a woman of a certain age who wasn’t a senile, toothless, doddering old lady in a wheelchair but rather an energetic, enervated woman with a little bit of a libido. The surroundings are so authentically described it feels as if you are there. Thanks to Harper Collins UK One More Chapter for providing an advance copy of The Collaborator’s Daughter for my reading pleasure and honest opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it without hesitation; all opinions are my own. show less