Mystery
Non-Fiction
Rosemary's June newsletter
Author of the Month | Lauren Chater
Lauren writes historical fiction with a particular focus on women’s stories.
After working in the media sector, she turned her passion for reading and research into a professional pursuit.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and children. The Lace Weaver was her first novel.
Book of the Month
The Winter Dress | Lauren Chater
Jo Baaker, a textiles historian, and Dutch expat is drawn back to the island where she was born to investigate the provenance of a 17th – century silk dress. Retrieved by local divers from a sunken shipwreck, the dress offers tantalising clues about the way people lived and died during Holland’s famous Golden Age.
Jo’s research leads her to Anna Tesseltje, a poor Amsterdam laundress turned ladies’ companion who served the enigmatic artist Catharina van Shurman. The two women were said to share a powerful bond, so why did Anna abandon Catharina at the height of her misfortune?
Jo is convinced the truth lies hidden between the folds of this extraordinary dress. But as she delves deeper into Anna’s history, troubling details about her own past begin to emerge.
Recommended reads
The Jane Austin Remedy | Ruth Wilson
As she approached the age of seventy, Ruth Wilson began to have recurring dreams about losing her voice. Unable to dismiss her feelings of unexplainable sadness, she made the radical decision to retreat from her conventional life with her husband to a sunshine-yellow cottage in the Southern Highlands where she lived alone for the next decade.
As Ruth settled into her cottage, she resolved to re-read Austen’s six novels and rediscover the heroines who has inspired her.
This is a beautiful life-affirming memoir of love, self-acceptance and the curative power of reading.
Dancing With The Enemy | Diane Armstrong
Dancing with the Enemy is based in Jersey, Channel Islands between England and France 1940 German occupation with the story told from three characters perspectives. 1940 to 1945 events recorded in a journal by an admired doctor, Dr Jackson who wished to capture his thoughts on paper to calm his mind during the occupation, not knowing how valuable his written recordings would become.
The Devil’s Bargain | Stella Rimington
In 1988 Harry made one mistake; he took a bribe, letting a man he knew as Igor into Britain – and he’s regretted it ever since. So when he recognises Igor many years later as his newly elected MP, he knows he has to come clean. But the MP recognises him too- and Harry fears what he might do next.
Peter Robinson entered Britain in 1988 as an illegal, deep undercover, but the break-up of the Soviet Union cut Robinson of from Moscow. He’s been working alone to inch closer to Britain’s levers of power – until the one man who knows his secret reappears. Now he must act fast to preserve his position, at any cost.
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