Lyn Shea - Hot Plots Because there are as many different types of books as there are people who write them, we present our ‘Hot Plots’ section for everyone who loves to read. This is, we hope, an eclectic mix of novels covering a vista of characters and themes. Reading a good story is like opening a window in your heart and glimpsing someone else's soul. It takes you through and it changes something of your perception of life. The imagination needs food just as much as the body. You may surprise yourself by enjoying something you wouldn’t normally even be aware existed! THE LUMINOUS LIFE OF LILLY APHRODITE Beatrice Colin Published by John Murray A stupendous book of depth and colour. Spanning the early years of the 19th century in Berlin before the first war and after it. It documents the life of one of the first silent screen actresses, her beginnings in an orphanage and her struggles to survive in war torn Berlin, until her rise to meteoric fame as one of the sought after celebs of her day. Her doomed love affair with a Russian director. From Germany to America and back, this is writing in a style beyond, because you simply forget you are reading and visualise instead. ‘Crooked Pieces’ Sarah Grazebrook Published by Allison & Busby Ltd Don’t be deceived by the first half of this book, which is decidedly two dimensional and light. It becomes increasingly more intense and multilevelled. Set in Edwardian England it explores the suffragette movement in it’s early days through the eyes of a young girl sent to be servant to one of the middle classes households on the fringe of politics & aristocracy whose womenfolk are caught up in the cause. Simple narrative & outline but obviously a story taken from someone’s own life memoirs. It is a riveting look at what these women were about and what they went through. The central character is no more than fourteen when she begins to get to know the Pankhursts and the other well-known lights in the Women's Movement and is increasingly involved in what they’re doing. It highlights the plights, moral dilemmas and the physical deprivations and sufferings these women went through to get the authorities of the day to table motions and pass amendments, even before the vote for women was granted. Perhaps a must for all people interested in history and certainly all thinking women under the age of seventy. ‘The Night Climbers’ Ivo Stourton Published by Transworld Publishers The theme of this book is unique, deserving of the term ‘novel’ as it looks into a corner of life which not so much rarified as privileged to insiders. Concerning a group of Cambridge under-grads who form a bond and close friendship by covertly scaling the walls of the college after dark as a hobby. Elegant in narrative and well-sculpted on characterisation, the plot takes a drastic swerve somewhere towards the middle as they involve themselves in the more risky world of art fraud to stabilise their financial futures when the wealthiest of their midst is disinherited by his father. This is a soulful and honest story and one that intrigues because it is both feasible and outlandish. It’s a debut novel and obviously written from the heart of personal experience. ‘Sacred Hearts’ Sarah Dunant Published by Virago Press A stunning and unique novel evoking a world which few of us can imagine. Convent life in the fifteen hundreds. A powerful love story, an unforgettable love story, but that is not the central theme of the book. An illicit romance sees a young girl enclosed in a nunnery against her will. The imagery and the atmosphere and the psychological pressures of such a place are just masterfully painted by this skilful writer, probably set to be on of the finest of our times. Every woman should read this book. ‘The Way Home’ George Pelecanos Published by Penguin Books. I.S.B.N. You might never read anything like it again. A fine, funny book published posthumously and quite a good while after this writer's death. Intelligent, funny, clever, droll, and absolutely filled with the vivid interaction of the characters of New Orleans in the 1960’s. Ignatius J. Reilly might well become an archetypal character in Western literature. This is the kind of novel which spoils you for other novels. It is a romp through the eccentricities of loveable human nature, and a joy to tired eyes and minds. ‘The Silver Linings Play Book’ Matthew Quick Published by Picador Quirky and warm. Touching and real. You get the feeling it’s a first time novel from first hand experience. Set in modern day Philadelphia around a mid-thirties guy who experiences tragedy and emerges. The reader is invited to discover his hidden past truths along with him. It is a homespun tale and yet manages to retain mystery. One of those books which takes you to the hearts of its characters, it has an honesty not easily forgotten. Unique in outline and with the possibility of becoming a niche classic. Like all good literature should, it explores the frailty of human nature without being patronising or mawkish. An easy read and a nice experience. ** If you arrived at this page via a search engine and would like a sample online tarot reading from lyn, click the link below. www.Tarot-Online.net or vist Lyn Shea's Astrology siter www.perceptivity.co.uk