Recipes brought from Afghanistan to Australia and then tried and tested in a Dorset kitchen, and a wartime refugee's dream of building his own golf course in the Wessex countryside feature in Jess Morency's romantic reading list. So batten down the hatches and curl up with one of these brilliant books
The Flightless Traveller by Emma Gregg: The book’s tag line is ‘50 incredible trips by boat, train or foot’ - and what could be more romantic? It’s also a very practical guide, with sections like, ‘Can flight-free travel get me where I want to go?’ Because many of us will doubtless by now have experienced trying to get somewhere in Europe and finding that going overland would take four days and cost thousands of pounds. The book weighs up the various travel options in terms of their carbon footprint, then considers where you could stay upon reaching your destination.
Now for the romance. What it also provides are suggested city breaks, with sections on how to get there and the best places to go; coastal road trips; five of Europe’s most scenic railway journeys; walking and boat trails. Did you know that Eurostar runs overnight ski trains from London to Moûtiers-Salins or Bourg-St-Maurice? Or that you can travel overland from London to Singapore, or Amsterdam to Cape Town? Well, this is the book to show you how. And even if you don’t have the time or budget, its photos are evocative enough to flick through for hour upon hour, imagining that one day you will.
Published by Greenfinch at £22
All You Need Is Love by Jessica Redlands: Jemma thinks she’s found the love of her life. Sam knows he’s lost his. Told from both perspectives, this is a gentle story of two lost souls trying to find closure and happiness – while acknowledging the importance of family responsibilities. The book is set in London and the town of Whitsborough Bay - mostly Scarborough, with touches of Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Yorkshire coast.
Both lead characters are very likeable, as are their family and friends. But what I particularly enjoyed about the book is that, although it’s a traditional love story (with a happy ever after), it also explores serious issues such as what it’s like to have Parkinson’s, and how stress can dramatically affect your brain. These elements felt very real and well-researched. It’s an easy read, but one that’s so engaging I found myself thinking I’d like to visit the bear shop (Redland is a self-confessed arctophile: a collector of teddy bears), before remembering it wasn’t real. This very popular author has both a sense of being very grounded and a quirky sense of humour, which make this book a great curl-up option for a Sunday afternoon.
Published by Boldwood at £8.99
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: ‘The circus arrives without warning. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Against the grey sky the towering tents are striped black and white… When the tents are aglow, sparkling against the night sky, the sign lights up.’ Within these tents are experiences of breath-taking proportions - illusions, contortions and tricks - but behind the scenes two powerful magicians, Prospero the Enchanter and the enigmatic Mr H, have groomed their respective protégé, Celia and Marco, to battle each other in a game where only one can be left standing.
Oh, this book! If ever there was an example of how just 26 letters can create something magical, heart-warming and enthralling, then this is it. There is romance galore – but as much through the sumptuous descriptions of food, night skies, costumes and visual feasts as the central couple’s relationship. My only cautionary word regards the Audible version - if you wish to listen to this as an audiobook. Although the theatrical reading is engaging, Marco sounding rather like Alan Bennett certainly went against my desired mind’s eye. It’s not often I want to read something twice, but in order to appreciate the novel’s full complexity I’ll definitely be buying the book and revisiting the circus.
Published by Vintage at £8.99
Parwana by Durkhanai Aybi: As with many of today’s cookbooks, this collection of recipes and memories evolved out of a family restaurant of the same name, which opened in Adelaide in 2009 with the aim of sharing the family's homeland culture and revered traditions. It’s a beautiful book, both in its photography and the memories it holds of Afghanistan – written with a more analytical, journalistic style than you might have expected of a cookbook. Which isn’t surprising, given that the author - and daughter of the family - manages the restaurant and writes freelance opinion pieces.
The recipes feel very genuine and I particularly loved the family’s version of chaar masalah (four spices) which smells like Christmas and a spa rolled into one. A little tip, however: only make half the quantity and blitz it first. For even then, grinding it all to a powder is strenuous work. As with many books from this region, a couple of things had us exclaiming, ‘Really?’ Like when being told to use a whole cup of oil. Also, the sauces can be a bit runny, so go easy on the water. But we happily cooked from it for a week, and two weeks later my husband went looking for it to cook from again. High praise indeed.
Published by Murdoch Books at £25
Mr Rosenblum's List by Natasha Solomons: Jack Rosenblum is 5 feet 3 inches of sheer tenacity. It’s 1952 and arriving with his wife as a refugee from Berlin, he’s determined to become a Very English Gentleman. Number 150 on his list is to join a golf club. So having built up a successful carpet business and acquired both a Saville Row suit and a Jaguar, when he finds no golf club will accept him he builds his own: in Dorset.
What makes this book particularly poignant is that its reflections on the racism and discrimination faced by refugees in 1952 are still as relevant now - and when the book was written ten years ago. That said, with the action jauntily ripping along it’s also completely charming and often made me chuckle out loud – and very few books make me do that. Jack Rosenblum might not be your ideal heartthrob, but with his irrepressible positivity he’s a wonderful man. His wife, Sadie, is sadder – and wants her husband to suffer like she does. But watching the love gradually rekindle between them makes this book wonderfully romantic. And, with its unexpected touches of magic realism, it’s one that I absolutely loved.
The author Natasha Solomons is the New York Times best-selling author of five novels and lives in Dorset with her husband, the award-winning children’s writer David Solomons, and their two children.
Published by Sceptre at £8.99
A DORSET BOOKSELLER RECOMMENDS…
Karen Brazier, co-owner of Folde Dorset in Shaftesbury
Between Stone and Sky by Whitney Brown: At face value this memoir doesn’t look like a romantic tale. Nor is it, in the typical sense. It recounts the story of an academically excellent Masters student from South Carolina who is set to follow a safe career, until her life changes course when she meets a Welsh dry-stone waller at a folklore festival in Washington. Fascinated by his craft, within a few weeks she’s followed ‘Jack’ across the Atlantic to rural Wales, where she develops a desire to learn walling for herself.
Whitney makes the painful decision to turn her back on her old life, but with Jack as her mentor finds great satisfaction in physical work: the age and heft of the stones, the ring of the hammer. Working closely on the hillside all day, it seems inevitable that their relationship - him ‘a scholar, a poet, a warrior’ - will develop into something deeper, and indeed it does for a time. However, the enduring romance is Whitney’s love affair with Wales: the lure of the landscape, the beauty of its language and generosity of its people, among whom she finds lifelong friends. Heartfelt in its telling, the book is ultimately a story about following one’s dreams and finding one’s place in the world.
Published by Little Brown at £8.99. Receive 15% off online at foldedorset.com using the code HIRAETH at checkout, or in-store before 31 March 2022 (while stocks last).
Click here for our 6 of the best: Winter Reads
And finally...
Shoot the Moon by Bella Cassidy: Our book reviewer Jess Morency has recently published her own novel, Shoot the Moon, under the pen name Bella Cassidy. 'It’s a cross between romance and women’s fiction. It contains the classic love story (with a happy ever after), but there are also deeper themes of baby loss and what happens if a mother and daughter fail to connect early on. Many people have told me it’s a book they can really relate to, particularly those who’ve never quite managed to get over someone. But there’s also lots of fun bits – rides up Scottish mountains on borrowed horses and doves flying amok at a celebrity wedding.'
Shoot the Moon, by Bella Cassidy, is available on Amazon, priced £8.99, and free through Kindle Unlimited. You can follow the places featured in Shoot the Moon on Instagram @bellamoonshoot
