P p p p pick up a penguin .....

No, not the chocolate biscuit, something far more fulfilling and longer lasting.  This book....

Available from WHSmiths, Waterstones, Amazon etc
Richard & Judy Bookclub Pick 2020
Published by Transworld Publishers Ltd.

Hazel Prior has done it again.  I couldn't put this book down and it left me with a great need to own a fluffy baby penguin, so I ordered a toy one to bring me comfort (see below - you know I love teddies etc, he's soooooo soft). It will give me a lasting memory of the Antartic, global warming and nature in decline.

Everyone needs a Granny in their life right?  I haven't had one for most of my adult life but 'adopted' one or two older people over the years, sadly most are now gone.  One remains and is VERY much like Veronica in this book.  She would do exactly as this character has done by having one last adventure and using her money to good cause.

The story was both heartwarming and joyous intertwined with awkward moments and hard decisions.  The Antartic comes to life and I was right there in the midst of the penguin colony with Veronica and the scientists.  I really didn't want the book to end but couldn't help turning the pages to see what happened next.  

Patrick/Pip the orphaned penguin was adorable.  I was happy to know from the 'acknowledgements' that Hazel had researched at the Living Coasts centre in Torquay which I visited myself a few years ago, but sad to learn that it has now closed down and I wonder at where all the animals have been rehomed.

Our planet needs the David Attenborough's amongst us, not just to watch his programmes of how our planet has changed and what is becoming of our world, but it also needs activists and generous people to donate money where they can to keep the animal kingdom from extinction.

Away with the Penguins addresses this in a beautiful story of  hard lives, relationships and how money does not make us happy but can help a troubled world.  It will make you smile and ponder your own life and love of nature.

Five star review on Goodreads and Amazon.  

My (Eco friendly made) Pip saying hi from my writing room.

Harps, a Pheasant and Exmoor's natural beauty

      

You may wonder what anyone could write about these three subjects which seem very much unrelated.  But I know a fellow Swanwick Summer School writer who has done the most excellent of jobs combining the three into a fabulous novel.  Her characters of Dan and Ellie you will love, Clive, Rhoda and Jo you may not, harps and pheasants may not hold much of a interest until you have a heightened awareness and if you have not visited Exmoor you surely will want to after reading ...

Hazel Prior is a freelance Harpist.  The harp is an instrument that isn't high profile but sounds divine.  I've heard her play.  Her two novels were on my 'TBR' (to be read) list and winning a competition on Twitter I was thrilled to receive a copy which I dipped into immediately and enthusiastically.  I read nine chapters straight off.

Ellie is an Exmoor Housewife, her husband Clive likes her at home but out on a walk one day she comes across the Harp Barn where Dan makes harps and gets great pleasure from being outdoors in nature.  They become friends and he gives her a harp to learn to play, which doesn't go down well with Clive.  

Dan leads a simplistic life and thinks he is made differently from most people.  He likes counting and making sandwiches apart from making exquisite harps in his workshop.  One day out walking he saves a pheasant from being shot but in doing so is injured himself.  He gives the pheasant a safe haven and Ellie helps Dan with his wound dressings.

This book has secrets and lies, happiness in the soul, friendship, hate, destruction from rage, true, pure love and an awakening for the reader of understanding difference.

I gobbled it up like the pheasant and his feed, my heartstrings were plucked like the F cord of a harp, my mind was educated and I felt as if I had been through some trauma and then rewarded with a nice big creamy cake (or a plum jam sandwich).

Highly recommended read, 5 star review on Goodreads.  

Hazel's website is www.hazeltheharpist.co.uk.  Please do take a minute to look her up and listen to her recordings of playing the harp or excerpts of her stories. 

Ellie and The Harp Maker is published by hbright@penquinrandomhouse.co.uk.  available at all good bookshops. 

Look out for this too.....

If you use Twitter her handle is @HazelPriorBooks.