Blog tour: Dark Clouds Bring Waters

By

Welcome to the blog tour for Dark Clouds Bring Waters by I R Ridley!

More about the book…

We all have questions for the dead…

Comedy writer Luke Jessop’s life is in stasis.

He hasn’t written a word since his wife, Billie, died almost three years ago and on finding a pile of old letters from her ex, Adam, he has begun to wonder how well he really knew her.

Embarking on a pilgrimage to Italy, Luke determines to piece together the full story about his wild and sometimes secretive love.

But with Adam refusing to answer his questions and a flame-haired hotel guest threatening his fragile calm, can Luke finally face the truths of the past and learn to live again?

More about the author…

Ian Ridley is a writer and journalist who spent 35 years on national newspapers, including 18 on The Guardian and The Observer.

Dark Clouds Bring Waters is his third novel, and a move into literary fiction after his two crime thrillers, Outer Circle and Don’t Talk, in the ‘Jan Mason investigative journalist’ series.

Ian has also written 14 non-fiction books, including two shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. Addicted, written with the former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams, was a Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller while The Breath of Sadness: On love, grief and cricket is a poignant account of coping with the death of his wife Vikki Orvice, a trailblazing sports journalist, in February of 2019 at the age of 56. 

My impressions…

If the rollercoaster of grief could be made into a novel, this would be it. The five stages that people talk about - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance - all have a place in these pages, albeit not quite so orderly since grief is not something that follows a tidy, linear trajectory. With depth and dignity, the author gives us a glimpse into the life of Luke as he approaches the third anniversary of his wife’s death and, having read it could be helpful, embarks on a pilgrimage to a place where they had both been happy. Everything, from a favourite restaurant to a beloved view, becomes both joyful and melancholic in a tug of contradicting emotions. Evocatively set in the beautiful Cinque Terre, this is a short but powerful novel on love and loss.

Three words to describe it. Evocative. Inspiring. Emotional.

Do I like the cover? Yes, it’s beautiful.

Have I read any other books by the same author? No, I haven’t yet.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

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

“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