Books are celebrated in June, with the Sidmouth Literary Festival taking place. Author Jane Corry offers some highlights alongside her monthly reviews.
June is a very special month for Sidmouth when it comes to books. Yes! It's the Sidmouth Literary Festival at Kennaway House on Saturday, June 8, and Sunday, June 9.
Don't miss our star speaker Ann Cleeves (of 'Vera' and 'Shetland' fame).
And if you're a budding writer, sign up quickly for our 'How To Get Published Workshop' with feedback from Penguin, Orion, Harper Collins and many others.
Details on how to do this are at the bottom of the page. Meanwhile, here are some book ideas for June!
They all feature strong women with tough choices to make. Happy reading.
BELIEVE ME by JP Delaney. Quercus Books. £7.99
Claire is a drama student in New York.
She doesn't have a green card so she takes a job for a firm of divorce lawyers, pretending to be a pick-up girl in hotel bars to trap straying husbands.
But then the police ask her to investigate one of her clients.
Suddenly Claire is playing the deadliest role of her life….
STONE MOTHERS by Erin Kelly. Hodder & Stoughton £12.99
Marianne was only 17 when she ran away from her home, her family, her boyfriend and the body they buried.
Somehow she managed to make a new life with a husband and daughter who don't know anything about her murky past.
But now she has to come back. A real page-turner.
THE DAUGHTERS OF IRONBRIDGE by Mollie Walton. Zaffre. £6.99
I know from your letters how much you enjoy historical sagas - and I'm sure you'll love this one.
It's 1830. Anny Woodvine's family are employed at the local ironworks.
is the brightest child in her road and the first in her family to learn to read.
So when she is asked to run messages for a wealthy family, she jumps at the chance.
There she meets Margaret who becomes a friend and together they plan to change their lives.
But then disaster looms at the ironworks.
Can they hold true to each other? Or will they repeat the mistakes of the past?
THE EVIDENCE AGAINST YOU by Gillian McAllister. Penguin £6.99
Seventeen years ago, Izzy's father was convicted of killing her mother.
Now he's out, Izzy desperately wants to believe his innocence.
But is her own father luring her into the same trap as her mother? Nail-biting!
I LOOKED AWAY by Jane Corry. Penguin Viking £7.99
On the surface, Ellie is a kindly grannie who looks after her grandson once a week.
But something terrible happened to her as a child.
Something so awful that her family must never know.
Then one day, her life explodes - all over again.
Can she find happiness and forgiveness?
Reviewers have called it a triumph of hope over experience.
I hope you don't mind mentioning my own book. Do let me know what you think.
You can buy tickets for Sidmouth Literary Festival tickets from Winstone Books or through , www.sidmouthlitfest.co.uk
To read more features from East Devon Resident, click here.
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