Author:Iris Gower
When Ella Burton takes a job as a lowly cleaner at the glamorous Palace theatre in Swansea, she is surprised by how quickly she takes to the job - it's as if she was born for a life in the theatre. Unlike Kathleen, who wants her name in lights, it's backstage that Ella's heart lies, running the show under the watchful eye of Anthony. It's not long before she realises that she has fallen in love, and Ella begins to dream about a future that's far from everything she has ever known...
But a tragic accident threatens to ruin everything she has worked for, and it seems clear that Ella will have no choice but to accept the man that her father chose for her - even if it breaks her heart. Will Ella be forced to put her family before her own happiness - in the ultimate act of love?
Iris Gower, Wales' favourite bestselling storyteller, begins a powerful and warm-hearted series set around Swansea's beautiful theatre.
THE NEW CLIFFEHAVEN NOVEL BY SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR ELLIE DEAN.
Slapton Sands, 1943
War has not been kind to Carol Porter. It took her husband and baby, and with them her heart. At last she’s found some peace, working as a land girl at Coombe Farm. But Carol’s sanctuary, the whole local area in fact, is about to be disrupted.
The Waiting Hours is a gem of a book, which will touch readers' hearts. Ellie Dean effortlessly evokes a sense of time and place, and revisits a fascinating part of wartime history in a story where strong women triumph over adversity, and it's never too late to find love.
—— Clare HarveyFull of atmosphere and period detail, The Waiting Hours gives a fascinating and very human background to the tragic events that took place at Slapton Sands in 1944. The individual stories of the many varied characters are woven together with a compassionate understanding of all the tumult and uncertainly of World War Two. I am sure Ellie Dean’s loyal readers will be thrilled with this new novel, and even more delighted to be reacquainted with Peggy and Jim’s extended family at Beach View.
—— Helen Carey, author of the Lavender Road seriesAn immensely satisfying and entertaining historical novel.
—— Frost MagazineThe Waiting Hours vividly portrays England during the Second World War, revealing the role ordinary women played behind the scenes. If you’ve enjoyed Dean’s wartime sagas so far, this should be next on your list.
—— CultureFlyTouching, poignant and warm storytelling
—— Hair Past a Freckle BlogSaga fans will love The Waiting Hours and I would definitely recommend buying it as soon as possible
—— Shaz’s Book BlogThe characters feel real and authentic
—— Anne Bonny Book BlogI just could not put it down
—— Ginger Book GeekEllie Dean is such a fabulous storyteller. She never fails to deliver and I greatly Look forward to the next instalment.
—— Mojo MumsFor all of The Golden House’s folkloric architecture and twinkling prose, for all its impish cartoonery and exuberant storytelling, the novel is at its heart an unsettling portrait of the state of humanity in the United States of 2017. It celebrates our meager glories and exposes our flaws, particularly our inability to see outside of our own little cocoons, whether they be constructed of silk or some coarser material.
—— Nathaniel Rich , New York Review of BooksHis prose is just as often a pleasure, bursting with colour and texture… The result stands as Rushdie’s most vital book in years, and perhaps the first protest novel of the Trump era.
—— Stephen Phelan , HeraldA typically bold and all-encompassing saga.
—— Hilary A White , Irish IndependentRushdie is, as ever, excellent in conveying bitter, personal anger.
—— DJ Taylor , Literary ReviewTwo decades after Rushdie transplanted himself to the US, one of the major pleasures of this novel is the way in which he considers the mores of the one per cent of the one per cent. Rushdie writes about the Goldens’ glittering, private world with innumerable perfect details, down to the art hanging on the walls… It will be a long four years, but fictional protests are unlikely to be as electric as this.
—— Olivia Cole , GQHugely entertaining… Told against a backdrop of American politics and culture between Obama’s inauguration and the 2016 presidential election, it’s an extraordinarily powerful tale of our times.
—— Sue Price , Saga Magazine
[The Golden House] is a recognizably Rushdie novel in its playfulness, its verbal jousting, its audacious bravado, its unapologetic erudition, and its sheer, dazzling brilliance.
The Golden House is a searing examination of modern America and the world around it since 2008… Through the density of his intermingling literary references, puzzles and (deliberately) fanciful plot, comes Rushdie's true success: His great ability to capture the devilish mood of post-crash greed, political upheaval, and the rejection of the cosmopolitan, liberal west.
—— Peter Carey , Belfast Telegraph MorningRushdie’s prose is beyond much reprieve—there are few contemporary artists who come to mind that possess his ability to craft sentences. In this regard, The Golden House, his latest novel, is no exception... The Golden House is a joy to read… It’s hard to not have fun reading writing at Rushdie’s level of craftsmanship. It’s clever, intimidating, jocund, and electrifying.
—— Chicago Review of BooksThe Golden House is not Brideshead or Gatsby – it is too rich and too riotous. Rather it is a modern Bonfire of the Vanities, New York seen from the inside and the outside, as only a writer of multiple selves such as Rushdie – Indian, British, now a New Yorker – could do.
—— Aminatta Forna , GuardianRushdie’s story is a morality tale which unfolds with great verve and erudition, missing no opportunity to pillory Donald Trump with its withering contempt.
—— Richard Hopton , Country & Town HouseNo-one spins a yarn like Rushdie, and The Golden House’s tale of bastard sons, mysterious men and submerged pasts is hugely enjoyable… To say The Golden House is 'only' hugely enjoyable is a little like writing 'only' on a cheque for £1 million.
—— Ross McIndoe , SkinnySalman Rushdie has garaged the magic carpets and dived deep into 21st-century America, with its concerns about identity, guns, the 1 percent and even superheroes.
—— Jane Henderson , Miami HeraldIt couldn't have been done better
—— ScotsmanA visceral reworking of Oresteia
—— ObserverThe escalation of violence and desire for revenge has deliberate echoes of the Irish Troubles
—— Observer Books of the Year