Nottinghamshire &amp; Derbyshire


<p>From Parisienne escapades and Greek romance to historical novels and island crime, the staff at Muddy Award-winning bookshop <a href="https://www.thebookcase.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Bookcase </a>are here with the best books to take away (and take you away) this summer. All in travel-friendly paperback and all included in their summer catalogue on their website. Bon voyage!</p>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/07/The-Red-Notebook.jpg" alt="The Red Notebook book" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">THE RED NOTEBOOK by Antoine Laurain</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>&#8216;A Parisian bookseller takes his usual route at the beginning of an ordinary day. All is as it should be until, heading for his favourite cafe, he registers an expensive handbag discarded atop an overflowing bin. Serendipity is at the centre of this beautifully written and very engaging novel; the writer explores human nature, love, loss and yearning through the objects in the handbag and the bookseller’s quest to find its owner. No words are wasted and Paris is undeniably the extra character here. By the time I finished reading I could picture myself, red-lipsticked, sipping a chocolat chaud at a pavement café and waiting for my own adventure to begin. I loved every moment!&#8217; &#8211; Karen Robertson.</p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/07/The-Marriage-Portrait.jpg" alt="The Marriage Portrait book cover" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT by Maggie O’Farrell</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>&#8216;Inspired by Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess”, this book is a fictional re-imagining of the life of Lucrezia de Medici. Lucrezia was the third daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo I, the 16th century ruler of Florence. The world of Renaissance Italy is brought vividly to life as the book shifts between the hunting lodge and Lucrezia’s privileged childhood in her parent’s palazzo. Reading this inspired me to visit Florence!&#8217; &#8211; Louise Haines</p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/07/Three-Hours.jpg" alt="Three Hours book" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">THREE HOURS by Rosamund Lupton</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>‘Once in a while we find a book that lives with us for a very long time. The story tells of a Somerset school in lockdown as a gunman threatens the safety of the children and teachers. Amongst the tension and fear, the love shines out among pupils for each other and the staff whose selfless bravery moves the reader. At the centre of the story is a teenaged Syrian boy, Rafi. Already these two young people have endured so much, yet Rafi finds the courage to deal with this unimaginable situation. This is a real page-turner and the writing is simply beautiful.’ &#8211; Eve Griffiths</p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/07/Still-Life.jpg" alt="Still Life book" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">STILL LIFE by Sarah Winman</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>‘As bombs fall around them, two strangers meet in the ruined wine cellar of a Tuscan villa and share an extraordinary evening. Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier, Evelyn Skinner a 64-year-old art historian living life on her own terms. She has come to salvage paintings from the wreckage of war and relive memories of her youth when her heart was stolen by an Italian maid in a particular room with a view. The link between these two lasts for decades with the story stretching from 1944 to 1979 and set in both Florence and London. The book is full of unforgettable characters who live on in your mind long after the book is finished,’ &#8211; Jane Streeter</p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/07/The-Island-of-Missing-Trees.jpg" alt="The Island of Missing Trees book" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">THE ISLAND OF MISSING TREES by Elif Shafak</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>&#8216;In 1974 on the island of Cyprus, two teenagers, from opposite sides of a divided land, meet at a tavern in the city they both call home. The tavern is the only place that Kostas, who is Greek and Christian, and Defne, who is Turkish and Muslim, can meet, in secret. In the centre of the tavern, growing through a cavity in the roof, is a fig tree. This tree will witness their hushed, happy meetings, their silent, surreptitious departures; and the tree will be there when the war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to rubble, when the teenagers vanish and break apart. This is a beautifully written book which explores the lasting impact the civil war had on Cyprus and the search for healing.&#8217; &#8211; Jo Blaney.</p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/07/Maureen-Fry.jpg" alt="Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">MAUREEN FRY AND THE ANGEL OF THE NORTH by Rachel Joyce</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>‘The beautifully written conclusion to the trilogy which began with The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and continued with the Love Song of Queenie Hennessy. Ten years on from Harold’s pilgrimage, Maureen receives an unexpected message from Northumberland which disturbs her fragile equilibrium and prompts her to make her own journey. A story of grief, pain but ultimately redemption and acceptance. If you loved Harold you must read this. And if you haven’t read any of these, I urge you to start now!’ &#8211; Jane Streeter</p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/07/Small-Pleasures.jpg" alt="Small Pleasures book cover" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">SMALL PLEASURES by Clare Chambers</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>‘The novel is set in the south-east suburbs of London in 1957 where Jean Swinney is a feature writer on a local paper, disappointed in love, and, on the brink of 40, living a limited existence with her truculent mother. When a young Swiss woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud, but the more Jean investigates, the more her life becomes intertwined with that of the Tilburys. This is a well-crafted story, incredibly evocative of life in the 1950s, with an intriguing mystery and an unexpected ending. There is much for book groups to discuss.’ &#8211; Jo Blaney</p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/07/Hell-Bay.jpg" alt="Hell Bay book cover" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">HELL BAY by Kate Rhodes</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>‘The first in a totally addictive crime series set on the Isles of Scilly. DI Ben Kitto has returned to his native island home after 10 years in the murder squad in London, intending to work in the family boatyard. But the body of a teenage girl is found on Hell Bay beach and Ben must question friends and family before the murderer strikes again. I guarantee when you read this, you will have to read the rest of the series! Perfect for fans of Elly Griffiths.&#8217; &#8211; Jane Streeter</p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/07/Lessons-in-Chemistry.jpg" alt="Lessons in Chemistry book" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>‘Such a wonderful read! Set in the US in the early 1960s, the story centres on chemist Elizabeth Knott, a far from average woman in her time. The lone female in a team of research scientists, Elizabeth is the victim of a very unscientific view of equality! Forced to resign, she reluctantly signs up as the host of a cooking show, Supper at Six. And soon a legion of overlooked housewives start to dare to change the status quo. It’s a poignant love story, an offbeat picture of motherhood, and a book full of the unexpected.’ &#8211; Jane Streeter</p></div></div></div></div>


Summer holiday reads: Books to take you away

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