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#BookReview ‘The Lives She Left Behind’ by James Long #romance #timetravel

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There was a novel about time-travelling love before The Time Travellers Wife. It is called Ferney, written by James Long, and to my mind is far superior. The Lives She Left Behind is the sequel. James LongWhen I finished Ferney, I couldn’t imagine how the story could continue. After all, we’d worked out how the time travel worked and what the relationship implications and difficulties were. I feared that a sequel would be a let-down, some books are just meant to be stand-alone novels. I am pleased to say I was wrong. The Lives She Left Behind is as heart-wrenching as the first, combined with a thriller element involving murder and sexual assault. Misunderstandings across the centuries, modern policing methods and contemporary parenting, all combine to make the lives of Ferney and Gally difficult. Ferney explains his connection with Gally: ‘Our halves are nothing on their own but half and half make one and halves, divided, stand alone when the adding’s done.’
The second book can be read on its own, but I do urge you to read Ferney first. Both novels are infused with the Somerset countryside and the history of England. Ferney and Gally remember the old names of roads, remember when the tiny plantation of trees was an entire wood, when kings had different names.
Three teenage girls go on their first archaeological dig, not knowing what to expect. Into their lives falls a teenage boy on a bike, pulled to that location by some force within himself. The action moves to the ancient village of Pen Selwood as Ferney and Gally find each other again.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

Read my review of FERNEY.

If you like this, try:-
‘In Another Life’ by Julie Christine Johnson
‘Please Release Me’ by Rhoda Baxter
‘Outline’ by Rachel Cusk

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE LIVES SHE LEFT BEHIND by James Long via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1cy

#BookReview ‘Ferney’ by James Long #romance #timetravel

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I missed Ferney by James Long when it was first published in 1998 and so came to it with some anticipation. I was not disappointed. Set on the Somerset/Dorset border, Ferney tells the interlinking tale of Gally, her husband Mike and elderly countryman Ferney. James LongIt’s a difficult book to review without giving away too much of the story, suffice to say it combines modern and ancient love stories in a setting so evocative of this mythical magical part of the world. It makes you believe in the power of true love.
Young couple Mike and Gally find a rundown cottage at Penselwood and move into an old caravan next door while the builders renovate. The countryside seems to dispel Gally’s nightmares and her sadness at a miscarriage, in fact the countryside seems to be a character in itself and is an integral part of the story. History, folklore and nature are woven into a love story across the centuries.
I know I will read it again and again, it is an uplifting story stuffed with history from Saxon times via witchcraft and rebellions. Just when you think you have worked it out, something unexpected happens. It is tender, touching, and right up until the last page you wonder how the story will be resolved.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

Read my review of the sequel to Ferney, THE LIVES SHE LEFT BEHIND.

If you like this, try:-
‘Master of Shadows’ by Neil Oliver
‘The Beekeeper’s Daughter’ by Santa Montefiore
‘In Another Life’ by Julie Christine Johnson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview FERNEY by James Long http://wp.me/p5gEM4-yA via @SandraDanby