A Place To Call Home Blog Tour – Review

Sphere, April 2014

A Place To Call Home by Carole Matthews.

Ayesha flees her abusive husband in the middle of the night. Scared and alone, they go to London where they take shelter in the home of reclusive pop star, Hayden Daniels. Ayesha and her daughter Sabina soon find a family with the occupants of Hayden’s home. Crystal and Joy, the other people taking refuge in the house soon become Ayesha’s friends as she tries to find her feet and her new life for her and Sabina. However, she doesn’t stop looking over her shoulder wondering when and if her past was going to catch up with her. 

This book tackles quite a dark subject of domestic abuse with sensitivity, warmth and humour. The characters drew me in from the first page as I wanted to know whether Ayesha and Sabina were going to be OK. At the beginning, Ayesha is very timid and very unsure of herself and I loved seeing how she progressed for the better through the book whilst she was with Hayden, Crystal and Joy. 

The mix of characters were fascinating, funny and loveable. I especially thought Crystal was great. I want to be her friend. Despite the bad things in her life she still manages to be positive. I disliked Suresh immensely and although I am ashamed to say it, I still could feel little sympathy for him, even at the end. 

All of the four people hiding in the house are all trying to get over heartbreaking pasts or are lonely and I think they are all good for one another. I liked the dynamic these people shared. I grew to really care for these people as I hoped they would all have their happy endings. 

The plot gripped me from the first page right to the end. I was sneaking in the odd page whenever I could on breaks at work. There were sad moments as well as moments that made me laugh and I just wanted to give all the characters in that house a hug. 

A wonderful, compelling story from Carole told with warmth and humour. I loved this book. 

Thank you to Carole and Sphere. The blog tour for A Place To Call Home continues and the next stop tomorrow is at One More Page (For more exclusive content from Carole, check out the blog tour banner for details of other stops on the tour.) 

A Place To Call Home is published by Sphere and is available to buy now in paperback and e-book from Amazon, Waterstones or your local retailer. 

Carole’s Website

Follow Carole on Twitter and like her page on Facebook. 

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.