Nicola Cassidy

I received an electronic ARC of this book from Library Thing in exchange for an honest review.

Before reading this book, I hadn't heard much about Adele Astaire. As with many other women, her story got lost in the noise of the 20th century. Adele was a talented performer, with rare ability to connect with the audience, who refused to change her medium to film. She loved the immediacy of the theatre too much, and her movie attempts just amplified her insecurities.
Adele was loved by her contemporaries for her charm and glamour while being a down-to-earth person people could connect with. Her personal story is the one of sacrifice, with not a traditional happy end, but it is also a story of resilience. Despite her personal tragedies, she always pushed forward and blended in the turbulent tides of the times she lived in. She managed to change and adapt.

There's something about the novels set mostly in the 1920/1930s. It may be just me liking to read about that time, but it feels like those novels are somehow less forgettable, the characters stronger, the tragedy just a normal part of life.

Nicola Cassidy's writing is spot on. Most of the novel is written in the first person, and Adele's voice keeps evolving as she grows up. There is another perspective by a young journalist Ellie working on a piece about Adele's life and housemaid Patricia, who was Adele's companion. These perspectives are not central to the novel, but they offer a sort of framing and postscript to whatever happened in Adele's life.
There are interludes of fictionalized interviews and newspaper articles to offer a different point of view and foreshadow the coming events. It made for a nice change of pace in the novel.… (mere)

Yet another suspicious nanny suspense story

This was supposed to be a LibraryThing Win. As it was never received, I downloaded it as a a kindle Unlimited.
Although the story was good, it was rather predictable. Our Nanny is already described as someone not to be trusted.
The interesting part of the book was not her devious ways but what happened to her that caused her to do what she did.

There were a few areas of the book that fell short. Items of interest are introduced and forgotten and unanswered questions in the end. I suppose it ended that way to be realistic?… (mere)

Molly Thomas has no idea what tragic events are about to unfold in her life when she is living peacefully on a farm in Ireland with her parents and two brothers. Following the deceptive manipulations of a land agent, her family is evicted, quickly followed by the death of her beloved father. Her mother is forced by her homeless situation to marry a self-important, vicious man who proves to be Molly's worst nightmare. Parallel to Molly's unfortunate circumstances, are the stories of Henry, the heir to his father's fortune and title, and Gladys, whose desire to have a child pushes her to extreme measures. Their lives eventually merge in unexpected and tragic ways. Molly’s long-held deep secrets about her past when she did everything possible to survive haunt her throughout her life.

This is an engaging novel. The author is an excellent story teller. There are heartbreaking passages and there are events that make Molly’s future seem hopeful. The timeline does shift, often precipitously, so close attention is required to fully understand the circumstances and trajectory of the story.… (mere)