The Woman on the Orient Express, Lindsay Jayne Ashford (Review)

The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford

Set in 1928, this novel follows the adventures of the famous Agatha Christie as she tries to escape from herself and the London society. She decides to travel on the Orient Express all the way to Baghdad to get rid of her thoughts about her recent divorce from Archibald Christie. The beginning of the book revolves around her nervous breakdown and the impact it had on the public press given that her disappearance and temporary memory loss after having learned that her husband was cheating on her and wanted a divorce were considered somewhat of an embarrassment.

On the one hand, Agatha needs a break because gossiping was quite common at the time, especially in London’s high society. On the other hand, the author knows that she will have the chance to discover new things that will probably be interesting enough to be included in one of her next novels. While on the train, the mastermind meets two ladies, and both have interesting stories to tell. Nancy Nelson is an unhappily married woman who wants to escape her husband but has little to no prospects in Baghdad. She hardly knows how she will be able to survive in an unknown environment, where there doesn’t seem to be anything expecting her. Katharine Woolley is a unique character that I very much enjoyed, especially as she is strong, willful, and rather masculine, to a certain extent. Katharine shares the same room with Agatha, which is why the two women manage to strike up a friendship. Agatha, traveling by the name of Mary Miller, has no idea that these two ladies have secrets of their own, which she will discover later on.

The book is focused both on the Orient Express journey and the events that occur when the three women eventually reach Baghdad. A good portion of the novel is set in Ur, where various archeological diggings are being performed. People who read Christie’s autobiography might be bothered by certain inadvertencies such as the fact that, in reality, the author doesn’t meet Max Mallowan, her second husband, until much later, when she undertakes her second trip to Mesopotamia.

Personal thoughts

I swear that this book was crafted perfectly. Of course, it all depends on one’s literary taste, but for me, it was just the right choice at the right time, particularly as I am currently traveling through Britain and for the time being, the English accent is the only one I can hear around me. Obviously, I am fascinated by Agatha Christie and have read more than forty pieces of her work, including her 700-something-page autobiography (twice!). I do admit that there are several historical liberties that the author had to take in order to make the book more attractive, but I honestly wasn’t bothered by any. Another reason I warmly recommend the novel is that it manages to be character-driven in spite of the fact that there are actually three characters that all work together in defining and sketching the personal life of Agatha Christie. Besides, I feel obliged to be honest and say that I was overwhelmed by a fuzzy, comfortable feeling while reading The Woman on the Orient Express and after having heard the author’s voice in a BBC interview, it was like the lady herself was speaking to me, at times.

As for the writing style, in all truthfulness, I have nothing bad to say about it. I thought that this novel would be a bit cheesy or too romantic for my taste, but it turned out to be a pleasurable read. It wasn’t overwritten in the least and it seems to me like Lindsay Jayne Ashford invested a lot of time in research.


I have to thank NetGalley and the publisher for offering me an electronic copy of this book to review. It’s one of the best novels I had the chance of reading this year, which only makes me happy.

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Life After Coffee by Virginia Franken

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance of reading an electronic ARC of Life After Coffee!

What's this book about?

Amy O'Hara is a buyer for a company in the coffee industry. Seeing how she is forced to travel all the time, there is no point in her trying to focus on finding a work-life balance. She has none to speak of because she leaves her two children with her husband back at home, in Los Angeles, while she consistently searches for the perfect coffee bean, the one that can save them all from extinction. Just when she is about to make this discovery, she gets sacked. That's when she finds out that her family life isn't all fun and games, and that she will have to make a commitment and spend considerably more time with the kids and with her spouse, at least for the time being. All of the sudden, she finds herself at the mercy of her children, one of whom is a needy toddler and the other is trying to cope with his behavioral issues. Both Billy and Violet have suffered a great deal due to the constant absence of their mother, and that can be seen in the way they interact with the people around them, be they individuals they meet in the street or other kids of their age they come in contact with at kindergarten.

Amy has always been looked down at because of her busy schedule. Now, she discovers that many of the homemakers living in the same neighborhood have been eyeing her husband for a while. But this is not the biggest problem that's on her list because she'll have to deal with a lot more than trying to fend the attacks of other women. Since her husband, Peter, isn't employed, she has a tough time paying the mortgage. What's more, Peter doesn't seem to understand that working on his screenplay can pay the bills. Eventually, Amy touches base with one of her ex-boyfriends to try to get Peter a job. That's when things really start to become complicated...

Personal impressions

I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed with the beginning of the novel. It didn't seem to me like Amy had made the right choices in her life, but who does? Fortunately, I was patient enough to give it another chance, and once Amy started spending more time in LA, I began to appreciate her efforts. Some of the parts in this book were hilarious, mainly because the main character is completely out of touch with what has been happening to her children. The same goes for her husband's plans, of which she had no idea. Once I read about 30% of the novel, I found it very hard to put it down. Luckily, I was traveling to Birmingham, UK, and spent many hours in transit, which fortunately gave me the chance to finish the book. All in all, it was a well-written title that I enjoyed thoroughly. Also, I liked the ending although I don't want to give too much detail about it so that you hopefully get a chance to read Life After Coffee by Virginia Franken, as well.

Is it worth reading?

Without a doubt, Life After Coffee is an enjoyable read particularly for individuals who are trying to cope with managing their busy schedules and the needs of their families.

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How To Get Free Books

I'm going to start this post by saying that I'm not necessarily referring to physical books. Instead, I'll mostly be focusing on websites and other resources that offer free e-books and audiobooks. I've recorded a video about this topic last year, and if you'd like to avoid wasting any time reading this article, perhaps you'd prefer a shorter and more interactive version of it: Where I Get Free Books.

1. The first way of getting free books is by creating a library card. I know this isn't an innovative idea or anything, but it had to be pointed out as I've seen that libraries are getting less and less popular with every minute that goes by, and it's a real shame. In fact, many of these services are closing down every year in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and so it wouldn't hurt if we all went down to our local library and paid a small subscription fee. After all, one of the neatest things about such a place is that its officials are able to order rather new titles and as such offer them to eager readers.

2. Get in touch with the author. This is something I've done in the past, particularly if I was on Twitter and couldn't help noticing that a new book by an author I was admiring had come out. I asked for an electronic copy, and I got it via email. Eventually, I discovered yet a better way of getting free books, particularly if you want your pick at some of the ones that have been released on the market rather recently.

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Try Not to Breathe, Holly Seddon

I received a free electronic copy of Try Not to Breathe  thanks to NetGalley. I posted my review on Goodreads and Amazon. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It might be surprising, considering I didn't have so many expectations from an author I hadn't heard anything about before.

What's it about?

Alex is what you might call a washed-up journalist, with a life in shambles. She lives in the house she inherited from her mother. Her ex-husband is a policeman, and let us just say they aren't friends. Alex is an alcoholic who has lost a child sometime in the past, and ever since she's been trying to juggle with her alcoholism and her freelance writing career.

She begins writing an article about how patients who were once considered 'vegetables' have been discovered to be able to communicate, both with one another and with their physicians. In the hospital she visits one day, she comes across Amy, a girl who's been unconscious ever since she was found in a park, skull crushed. Alex remembers about Amy's case, partly because she had been living in the same area when the case of her disappearance was the headline of all newspapers, and partly because they are close in age.
One thing leads to another, and Alex ends up investigating this cold case with the help of her husband and some of Amy's acquaintances.

Personal impressions

Frankly, I didn't necessarily expect too much from this book. Fortunately, the action was fast-paced, and I never came to be bored.

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New Releases: The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder by Rachel McMillan

This novel is going to be released in April 2016. We had the wonderful chance of reading it because we're NetGalley users. In case you didn't know, NetGalley is one of the best places in the world when it comes to getting free e-books that haven't yet seen the light of day.

The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder by Rachel McMillan

What's it about?

The action is set in 1910, in Toronto. We have to be honest and say that we knew little to nothing in regards to Toronto in general and that period in particular. In fact, we had no knowledge that women were still looked at as they were at the end of the 19th century. Therefore, they were somehow forced to get a man, get married, build a family and just become a homemaker, in general. That may now look like a tedious thing for the modern woman, but it seems it was just the lifelong dream of many girls at the time.

The book traces the adventures and misadventures of two female friends who are living together: Jem and Merinda. While Jem might be tempted to think that the homemaking lifestyle suits her, Merinda is your regular tomboy. She wears pants, which was something out of the ordinary back at the beginning of the 20th century and usually acts like a man. Moreover, she enjoys dressing up like a man and going out at night to investigate mysteries
A murder takes place in the city, so these two women eventually start snooping around as much as their sex allows them to.

How does it stand out from other mystery & thrillers?

For one, it's funny. Pretty much all mysteries and thrillers have to be entertaining up to some point in order to actually be enjoyable. However, things are somewhat different with this one. First off, the detectives are two females, which was nice to read about, for a change. Secondly, the topics developed in the book are very diverse and range from the number of immigrants who were coming to Canada at the beginning of the 20th century to how much corruption the town was suffering from. From a historical point of view, the novel is extremely well-written. We took the time to go through the notes at the end of the book and found that the author did an incredible research in regards to what was happening in Toronto at the time. Sure, some of the details were figments of her imagination, but overall, Rachel McMillan couldn't have done a better job.
Therefore, The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder is unique, in that it has different characters and quite a thrilling plotline.

Characters

As previously mentioned, there are two main characters in this book: Merinda and Jem. Merinda comes from a rather wealthy family where her parents allow her to behave and dress up like a man. She lives in the same boardinghouse as Jem, who comes from a somewhat traditional family. The fact of the matter is that Jem receives a letter from her parents according to which they've disowned her due to her inability to choose a husband and stop living and working in the city. 

Two other characters show up as the plot develops. One of them is a journalist whose origins are Italian (Ray), and the other is a local policeman who sometimes lets the girls in on details regarding the murders (Jasper). The other characters are quite enjoyable as well, regardless of whether they're good or bad.

Rating

We decided to give The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murderuide to Murder a 5-star rating on Goodreads and Amazon. This review is unbiased in spite of the fact that we've received the book for free, from NetGalley. We honestly enjoyed the book and thought it's a delicious combo of historical fiction and mystery.

Click here to check out the price of this book on Amazon!

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