Welcome to Litsy!

“Women's lives are shaped by sexism and expectations. Disabled people's lives are shaped by ableism and a complete lack of expectations. But what happens when you're subjected to both sets of rules?“

A memoir from journalist & advocate for people with disabilities, Lucy Webster, which examines how sexism & ableism are intertwined when it comes to disabled women. From dealing with education, finding work, & trying out dating, (continued)

1962 & Marta Khoury is on Cairnroch, an island off eastern Scotland, desperate to save her career. Her marriage breakdown means her career is on a knife-edge as her estranged husband is also her boss & is looking for any reason to fire her. As a marine archaeologist, Marta has been hired by the descendants of Captain James Purdie to retrieve his remains & personal artefacts from a shipwreck.

As a Brit I have occasionally heard the words 'Camp David' & viewed it as the US equivalent to Chequers, the grace-&-favour country residence of the UK Prime Minister. Which it is - sort of. Rather than a country house, this is a retreat in the Catoctin Mountains, comprising of 'rustic' cabins behind a guarded perimeter where the President can retreat to relax & unwind.

Since their mother died & their father succumbed to addiction, Luna & Solina have mostly been on their own except for each other. Luna works back-to-back shifts at the local diner in order to pay for her twin sister's tuition at the prestigious Kingswood Academy. Then, the week before she was due to return to school for her final term, Solina says she wants to drop out. (continued)

Short Review:

This turned out to be a very entertaining read mainly due to Miss Decima who was an absolute hoot. Yes there is a lot of swearing in this book but she's very funny & her tentative friendship with Steven is a highlight. The mystery itself was also well planned, although I had a feeling who it was from the start, & the inclusion of newspaper articles from the time period regarding the arrival of the comet was a nice touch. (continued)

Following divorce, Matt Blake moves house into what he hopes will become somewhere warm & welcoming to build new memories with his daughter. What he gets is radios & showers turning on at random, noise of footsteps when no-one is there, strange smells, & an odd 'heavy' atmosphere that almost every visitor notices.

As a journalist, Blake knows how to investigate a backstory so he looks into the history of the house & (continued)

Following the death of her grandmother, Freya spent this Christmas alone for the first time in years. Freya & her brother were raised by their grandparents after their parents died in an accident & Freya in particular was very close to her grandmother - living in the same house & running a bakery company 'Past Time Treats' together. Now both grandparents are dead & her brother has his own family, (continued)