Blog tour: The Seduction

By
Welcome to the blog tour for The Seduction, Joanna Briscoe’s latest novel, published in hardback today by Bloomsbury. 

Without further ado, let’s dive in…

 Synopsis: Beth lives in the tree-shrouded no-man’s land by Camden with her partner Sol and their daughter Fern. Life is peaceful, but Beth is troubled by increasing unease. It could be the uncertainty of her mother, who disappeared when Beth was a child. Or it could be the sense that Fern is keeping secrets from her.

 So she goes to therapy. Dr Tamara Bywater is there to help her patients. But what if the very person who is meant to be the solution becomes the most dangerous problem of all? And why is what’s bad for us so enticing?

How did this book end up in my hands? I was invited to take part in the novel’s blog tour, organised by Random Things Tours, and I was kindly given a free copy in exchange for an honest opinion, which follows below…

Was it a page-turner? Yes, absolutely. The book drew me in slowly but inexorably until I just couldn’t stop and I had to know where it all was heading.

Did the book meet my expectations? Yes, definitely. I have never seen a therapist but the relationship between therapist and client – and the transference phenomenon – have popped up in a couple of books I’ve recently read and The Seduction was exactly what I needed to delve deeper into this fascinating event. I felt palpable sexual tension between the two women but I never really knew what was happening. Was it real? Was it not? Only one way to find out…

Three words to describe it. Elegant. Gripping. Seductive.

Do I like the cover? Mmmm, not one of my favourite. The cover image has a certain elegance but I find it also quite clinical and this novel can be described as anything but clinical!

Have I read any other books by the same author? No, and I’m sitting here wondering how this could have happened. A major fault to be rectified at once!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Booknet: a new platform for authors and readers

By
Image
‘Ooooh, what is Booknet ?’ I hear you ask… Booknet is a popular literary social media network, self-publishing platform, and Bookscription eBook sales model, all of which is being introduced to the UK following rapid growth in Latin America and Eastern Europe since 2015. How does it work? Booknet is both a successful literary self-publishing platform and a social network, founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs in 2015. Booknet has gained significant traction in countries such as Ukraine, Russia (the Russian division was sold in the spring of 2022 because of the war between Ukraine and Russia), as well as Latin America. The company is now actively investing resources into the development of its English-language version. Authors can either publish their books with free access by readers, or sell them after obtaining commercial status through the platform. Booknet provides free advertising for eBooks sold by their authors on the platform. Booknet’s distinctive features (apart from being a pop...
Read more

Book review: She’s Never Coming Back

By
Image
By Hans Koppel Translated by Kari Dickson Published by Sphere It is safe to say that my choice of reading material is not usually truculent. That’s why I surprised myself when I decided to read a novel whose front cover prominently displays a quote describing it as a ‘terrifying crime novel’. I started to read expecting the worse and - it being impossible to put the book down - a few hours later I was trying to understand what had hit me. Let’s be clear: I loved this book and I’m grateful to Sphere for publishing this Swedish novel by author Karl Petter Lidbeck who, being a children’s literature author, decided to have it published under the pen name of Hans Koppel. I can see why he doesn’t want to have the two genres mixing on the bookshelves! The plot is simple enough: one day after work, Ylva does not return home. When she hasn’t returned 24 hours later, her husband Mike starts to worry and calls the police. Ylva seems to have disappeared without a trace and, month after month, Mike...
Read more

“Italy in books” - reading challenge 2011

By
Image
Why this challenge? This year I’ve decided to host a reading challenge because I think that they are a brilliant idea. They help to make reading a more collective experience and are a great way to find out more about any particular author / genre / topic and get to know about books you might never have come across. I chose this topic because - as an Italian who has been living abroad for many years now - I feel the need to learn more about my home country and I’m curious to see the difference between the way it is portrayed by native Italians and others. The details of the challenge The challenge will run from January, 1st 2011 to December, 31st 2011 . The aim of the challenge is to read at least 12 books that are set in Italy. Whether written by Italian authors or not, it doesn’t matter. They don’t have to be set exclusively in Italy but this country needs to play a significant role in the book. The challenge can include non-fiction books about Italy. You can also review Italian lea...
Read more