Author: Heather Peck
Publisher: Ormesby Publishing
Available: 7th March 2024 in Paperback & eBook
Thank you to Anne Cater, Random Things Tours, Heather Peck & Ormesby Publishing for my gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.
Book Details:
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, there have been a number of significant milestones: dates when millions of people around the world can say ‘I know where I was when…’
Aelfwyth, born on the day Elizabeth II was crowned Queen, finds her life has shared many pivotal moments with such milestones, from the childhood moment when she heard of the death of Kennedy and met The Five Towns Flasher, through wars and the Chernobyl disaster to the culmination of her ex-husband’s persecution coinciding with 9/11.
Milestones follows a life through joys and disasters, from first love to last, through miscarriage and abuse to survival and the realisation, at the end, that what really matters is love and hope.
My Thoughts:
With the Easter Bank Holiday weekend fast approaching, like me you maybe stockpiling possible reading options, so it is my great pleasure today to share with you, my thoughts on Heather Peck’s novel Milestones. Which I believe should certainly be a book, you consider reading sooner, rather than later! Heather is a new author for me but one, whose other books, I will be exploring further, as her DCI Greg Geldard Norfolk Mysteries series sounds right up my street.
What struck me initially, when I read the details of Milestones, was the unusual combination of mixing a memoir with a mystery. I confess, I wasn’t quite sure how that combination of genres would work, but I was nevertheless intrigued by the concept and Heather’s considerable creative writing skill and vast historical knowledge, won out and proved to me within a chapter or two that I had nothing to be concerned about and instead, I was completely absorbed in the story she has constructed, to the point I read past my bedtime and on into the early hours, a decision I only marginally regretted the next day! It was too good to put down in my defence!
So let me now, share a little of the novel with you, the book is constructed like a literary photograph album, each chapter captures a snapshot or a milestone in Aelfwyth life while in conjunction with pivotal moments in history; from the day Elf (her nickname) was born on Queen Elizabeth II Coronation day (2nd June 1953) spoiling her mother’s celebration plans or to Kennedy’s shocking assassination and Elf’s incident with a flasher and a school satchel, to Churchill’s burial and Elf’s internal proclamation, that she too wants to be ‘History’s Child’ (a reference to Lyndon B Johnson’s words at the time of Churchill’s death) and not be just someone ordinary, not someone forgotten and it is why she remembers “the day they buried history’s child, it was the day I became a witch and acquired magic” but trust me, to find out exactly what she means, you will have to read the book and these examples, I’ve just shared are just the tip of the very clever iceberg and I am so excited for you to find out more, as you have such a treat in store (ok, yes that last sentence did rhyme, just put it down to my enthusiasm for the book!)
Like a literary kaleidoscope, in every chapter you read, the world changes and the patterns of Elf’s life, dissolve and transform and we experience all her highs and lows, her transitions in and out of relationships; her array of emotional experiences, from the euphoria of love, to the decimation of loss and at the heart of this novel, is importance of the enduring nature of hope and the perspicacity of the human essence.
Milestones is an astute, authentic, amusing, and awesome read, a true gem and I can only express how much I admired Heather’s perceptive, pithy storytelling and I really encourage you to get hold of a copy ASAP. I mean how can you resist a book, that has this line in it ‘ What is the point of having a hot man, if you can’t warm your feet on him’…it makes me grin broadly every time I read it and this is just a taste of Heather’s endlessly witty style that you have instore, when you read her book. Another element of this wonderful novel, that I found irresistible, was Helen’s delightfully devious, shock elements and all I will say about these, is to expect, the unexpected but to say anything more would constitute a spoiler in my book…so I shall leave you to discover, exactly what I am referring to for yourselves.
If this extraordinary and exceptional book wasn’t on your radar before now, I hope my little taste into its delicious cleverness, will encourage you to add it to your bookshelves, trust me, this novel is not to be missed.
Happy Reading Bookophiles….
About the Author:
Award-winning author Heather Peck has had a varied life. As featured in the ‘Norfolk’ magazine and the Eastern Daily Press, “Norfolk farm disaster expert turns to crime writing” she has been both farmer and agricultural policy adviser. She bred sheep and alpacas, reared calves, broke ploughs, represented the UK in international negotiations, specialised in emergency response from Chernobyl to bird flu, managed controls over pesticides and GM crops, saw legislation through Parliament and got paid to eat Kit Kats while on secondment to Rowntree.
She has also chaired an NHS Trust, worked on animal welfare, sailed a boat on the Broads, volunteered in Citizens Advice and the Witness Service and vaccinated humans against Covid. Two golden threads have run through everything; her fascination with words and her Gran’s wise advice: ‘You can do anything if you try hard enough’.
Member of the Crime Writers Association
Member of the Society of Authors
Please do read some of the other reviews available on this blog tour.
The Fallen Librarian Reviews 