Scarf of the moment: Sous le Charme d’Orphée

Posted on 25/07/2022 by The Librain

Introduction

This is a special Scarf of the Moment post in that it includes two amazing formats of one design. I have done this before, with the 90cm and twilly versions of Dans un Jardin Anglais and also with the 90cm and cashmere/silk shawl versions of Plumes en Fête and Tulipomanie. Here are the 90cm silk twill double face scarf and the cashmere/silk shawl versions of the gorgeous Sous le Charme d’Orphée designed by Alice Shirley. Information about both will be interspersed throughout this post.

The silk twill double face scarf

As the first photographs started to appear online for Hermès Autumn/Winter 2022 scarf season, I couldn’t see any that really attracted me. OK, I thought, perhaps I will save my money this time…

Perhaps not! One of the new scarves suddenly caught my attention. It had all of the attributes and elements that I love in a scarf: gorgeous colours, a meaningful design (more about that later), and something about it that sang out to me. And it was designed by one of my favourite artists, Alice Shirley. There was just one problem: the cost. Hermès 90cm silk scarves are expensive enough, but this one is a double face, which means that it is printed on both sides. The price seemed prohibitive for me.

But I talked myself into it anyway! Here it is: Sous le Charme d’Orphée by Alice Shirley, a 90cm double face, colourway #05 rouge/rose poudre/bleu gris, purchase code H903702S 05.

Sous le Charme d’Orphée double face 90 cm scarf by Alice Shirley for Hermes

Description of the silk twill double face scarf

These are my own comments about the design. Lower down this post, you will find the artist’s own thoughts that I was able to find on Instagram. Her writing is detailed and very insightful.

To begin: Sous le Charme d’Orphée translates into English as “Under the spell of Orpheus”. Looking at the scarf, you can see a circles of beasts, creatures, plants and figures from Ancient Greek mythology sitting or dancing and moving around. In the four corners of the scarf are trees which appear to bend in the wind as the dance swirls before them.

Orpheus himself sits and plays a harp. Hermes can be seen and also Pegasus, a snake, a centaur and numerous animals and fish. All of these creatures, gods and goddesses circle around the great tree of life. The effect is joyous and celebratory.

Looking at my scarf, the front has rich autumnal feel with the use of a warm red shade, pink, orange and subtle blueish grey. The design is beautifully framed by the rolled contrast hem in a shade of blue-grey. The scarf looks lovely with grey clothing. The reverse is a study in a range of grey tones against a pretty pale pink background with the surprise appearance of touches of orange on some of the trees.

Colourways for the silk twill double face scarf

These are the colourways for the Autumn/Winter 2022 double face silk twill 90cm scarves. I have added in the codes to help those of you who wish to purchase this scarf. As this is a double face design, I have included both sides of each scarf, plus the Hermès modelling photos.

Sous le Charm d’Orphée H903702S 01
Sous le Charme d’Orphée H903702S 02
Sous le Charm d’Orphée H903702S 03
Sous le Charm d’Orphée H903702S 04
Sous le Charm d’Orphée H903702S 05
Sous le Charm d’Orphée H903702S 06

Here we have the twillies of this design from the Autumn/Winter 2022 season:

H063702S 01
H063702S 03
H063702S 04
H063702S 05
H063702S 06
H063702S 07
Sous le Charme d’Orphée twillies

The cashmere/silk shawl

When I looked at the new designs emerging for the Autumn/Winter 2024 season, I immediately fell for the cashmere/silk versions of Sous le Charme d’Orphée. As I have already said, this pattern calls to me with my love of Classical Greek art and mythology. I thought that owning the 90cm version would be enough, but I couldn’t stop visiting the Hermès site to look at the colourways.

I eventually bought the Tulipomanie giant triangle in an attempt to distract myself from my yearning, but this gorgeous shawl wouldn’t stop popping up in my brain! In the end, I simply couldn’t resist it. I knew straight away which colours called to me, so I took the plunge…

I decided on the one below. The purchasing code is H244177SF 09, the dimensions are 140×140 cm, and the colours are Gris Chiné / Bleu Électrique.

Sous le Charme d’Orphée cashmere/silk shawl by Alice Shirley for Hermès

Description of the cashmere/silk shawl

The elements of this lovely artistic piece have already been described above. It is also worth reading Alice Shirley’s own words which I have taken as screenshots from Instagram and pasted on this post.

The design has transferred very well onto the larger size (140 cm versus 90cm) and the different fabric (cashmere/silk versus silk twill). The swirling dance of mythological creatures, birds, insects, plants and deities, interspersed with stylised curling fronds and other design elements is really beautiful on the larger size. This colourway has a light grey background and several shades of blue are used for the people, animals and plants: navy blue, very dark blue, sky blue and teal. Some of the dark blue appears to be almost black, or it may actually be black!  I cannot quite decide! For example the contrast hem looks black in some lights and dark blue in others.

The shawl will work so well with my wardrobe and accessories as I wear a lot of blues as well as greys. I might look for some suitable earrings to wear with it – Pegasus in silver? Or perhaps a silver tone shawl ring.

Colourways for the cashmere/silk shawl

These are the gorgeous cashmere/silk shawl versions of Sous le Charme d’Orphée , produced for the Autumn/Winter 2024 season, together with their purchasing codes:

H244177S 01
H244177S 03
H244177S 04
H244177S 06
H244177S 08
H244177SF09
H244177S 11

In December 2025, for the Spring/Summer 2026 season, Hermès reissued the design as a 45cm gavroche. I will add images of the scarves as they appear online.

H894358S 01
Rose / Caramel / Vert
H894358S 02
Blanc Cassé / Orange Cuit / Beige
H894358S 03
Ciel / Bleu Jean / Bouton D’or
H894358S 04
Beige Cendre / Blanc / Noir
H894358S 05
Bleu Nuit / Blanc / Jaune

This lovely design is also available as an Hermès bangle. Here are a few that I found…

Design story

This has been taken from the Hermès website:

“A tiger, a peacock, a bull, and a python, along with a centaur and winged horse… all the animals of Greek mythology form a joyful ring around five ancient trees: an olive tree, bay tree, pomegranate, apple and Aleppo pine—each one charged with symbolism. Some dance, while others sleep under a starry sky. Orpheus, a disciple of both Dionysus and Apollo, also the protagonist of this scarf, is a master of extravagance, as well as wine, wisdom, music and rhythm. He is the poets’ poet, a shaman and magician who can bewitch the world with his lyre and move with the gods of the underworld.”

Artist’s thoughts

I have added some screenshots of Alice Shirley’s own comments about her design, from her Instagram account:

Details of the silk twill double face scarf

Here are some closeups of my scarf in a slideshow format:

Details of the cashmere/silk shawl

Here are some close-ups of my shawl in a slideshow format:

How I wear the scarf and shawl

The warm, rich colourway of the scarf suits my grey clothing beautifully and I can see that I will mainly wear it during Autumn and Winter. Here are a few photos and collages…

In these photos, I am wearing the scarf with a Lands’ End short sleeved cotton mix top in grey and Swarovski grey crystal earrings.

Outfit of the day 22/07/22 with Hermès’ Sous le Charme d’Orphée
Outfit of the day 21/10/24 with Hermès’ Sous le Charme d’Orphée scarf

I have only recently purchased the cashmere/silk shawl and, as yet, the weather is still too warm for me to wear it properly. Despite this, I did take some modelling photos for last week’s post, so here they are…

Scarf ties

I have tried on the scarf in a variety of ways. At the moment, as it is so new, the silk fabric is very crisp and stiff so doesn’t fall easily into soft folds. Anyway, you can get the general idea of how it looks when worn. This double face scarf really needs to be tied in ways that make the most of the two sides, although it will be nice, occasionally, to highlight one side or the other. The scarf rings are by MaiTai.

I am still very new to Hermès shawls and I am struggling a bit to make some of the shawl knots that I have seen online. Anyway, these are photos which focus on the shawl rather than on my face!

Background information

The best explanation of this scarf comes, naturally, from its designer, Alice Shirley, and I have copied her Instagram posts further up.

This is her website:

Alice Shirley
https://aliceshirley.com/
Alice is also on Instagram and Twitter.

Here are a couple of YouTube videos from a few years ago featuring her:

Information about Orpheus himself:

Wikipedia
Orpheus
Very detailed article.

Greeka
Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice
Clear article about the character and this particular myth.

Mythopedia
Orpheus
Article with images from art.

And here’s a quick video version of the famous Orpheus and Eurydice story:

If you are interested in finding out more about the wonderful tales of Greek mythology, there are thousands of websites available!

I hope readers have found this exploration of Sous Le Charme d’Orphée both interesting and useful. Once again, if you find any errors or have any additional information that I could add, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Updated 31/10/24 to add information about the cashmere/silk shawl plus some general stuff!

Updating December 2025 to add the designs and colourways of the 45cm gavroche size.

Posted in Scarf of the moment, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Update 22/07/22 with a gorgeous reveal!

Posted on 22/07/2022 by The Librain

OK, I know that Fridays are for Outfit of the Week posts, but it has been such hot and debilitating weather that I haven’t had the strength to get dressed properly, never mind wear a scarf! Instead, I am going to reveal my latest purchase…

Here we go with the famous orange box – yes, I have succumbed to my Hermès addiction again! The following reveal photos will take you through the unboxing, finishing with two images from the Hermès website…

Isn’t this wonderful! As you can see, I have chosen a scarf full of images from Ancient Greek art and mythology. It is a double face (printed on both sides) 90cm silk scarf called Sous le Charme d’Orphee and the designer is one of my favourites: Alice Shirley. The Hermès purchase code is H903702S 05 and the colourway is rouge/rose poudre/bleu gris. Once again, the actual scarf colours are much more beautiful and rich than those in the website images.

I will show you a couple of modelling photos now, but will leave the rest until I have finished the full Scarf of the Moment post about the scarf. That will be uploaded to the blog very soon, all being well. That post will have all of the colourways with lots of, I hope, useful and interesting information. And there are twillies of the design too!

Here are some quick modelling photos. It’s a bit gloomy today, but you can see how it looks:

Sous le Charme d’Orphee by Hermes – modelling photos

The photo on the left shows one side of the scarf in an asymmetric knot. On the right is my attempt to showcase both sides. I am not sure what this knot is called, if it even has a name! Now, I will try to take some more photos so that I can finish the Scarf of the Moment post. I am hoping to have it ready by Monday.

Anyway, that’s all for this week. I do hope that you have a great weekend.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

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Reading roundup 20/07/22

Posted on 20/07/2022 by The Librain

Hello Reading friends! Apologies for the lack of Reading Roundup posts for a couple of weeks. Illness and hot weather meant that I couldn’t cope with writing on the blog. I didn’t even read for a few days! Anyway, I have picked up now and, although we have had rather extreme weather for the UK, I have managed to cobble a post together.

As it is a while since the last Reading Roundup post, I have read quite a few books. I have decided not to write about all of them in one post, but will split them up over this week’s and next week’s posts. So, let’s get going…

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

I couldn’t wait to read the sequel to Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor: The Witness for the Dead. Here is the blurb:

“When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had set the bombs that killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his father’s Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. He lost his place as a retainer of his cousin the former Empress, and made far too many enemies among the many factions vying for power in the new Court. The favor of the Emperor is a dangerous coin.

Now Celehar lives in the city of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is his preference. He lives modestly, but his decency and fundamental honestly will not permit him to live quietly. As a Witness for the Dead, he can, sometimes, speak to the recently dead: see the last thing they saw, know the last thought they had, experience the last thing they felt. It is his duty use that ability to resolve disputes, to ascertain the intent of the dead, to find the killers of the murdered.

Now Celehar’s skills lead him out of the quiet and into a morass of treachery, murder, and injustice. No matter his own background with the imperial house, Celehar will stand with the commoners, and possibly find a light in the darkness.”

Once again, this was a very engaging and enjoyable read. This is the review that I posted on Goodreads:

The Witness for the DeadThe Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book a lot, but fans of The Goblin Emperor should be aware that the Emperor himself does not appear. This is a shame because I thought that he was an excellent character in the first book. Instead, the main character this time had a smaller part in The Goblin Emperor. He is a Witness for the Dead, which is an intriguing occupation, but not one that I would like!

As Witness, he carries out what is really detective work on behalf of the dead to find out the manner of death and who may have been responsible. He also has other parts to his work, some of which involve dealing with ghouls. These are as nasty as they sound.

So, the plot follows the Witness over a few weeks as he investigates cases and carries on his other activities, whilst visiting numerous named tea houses, drinking vast amounts of interesting tea (sounds like my life!), and talking to a range of people with very complicated names.

That paragraph doesn’t really do justice to the book! It is well written, intriguing and comes to a satisfying conclusion. I look forward to reading the sequel.

View all my reviews

I have just noticed that the two books which are written in the same world as The Goblin Emperor are listed as books 1 and 2 in a different series: The Cemeteries of Amalo. I am really looking forward to reading book 2, The Grief of Stones.

The Gifts by Liz Hyder

For the next book, I chose something completely different: The Gifts by Liz Hyder. Here is the blurb:

“October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in Shropshire as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders.

Meanwhile, when rumours of a ‘fallen angel’ cause a frenzy across London, a surgeon desperate for fame and fortune finds himself in the grips of a dangerous obsession, one that will place the women he seeks in the most terrible danger . . .

THE GIFTS is the astonishing debut adult novel from the lauded author of BEARMOUTH. A gripping and ambitious book told through five different perspectives and set against the luminous backdrop of nineteenth century London, it explores science, nature and religion, enlightenment, the role of women in society and the dark danger of ambition.”

I read this as I was starting to feel ill, so only wrote a very short response. The book is brilliant and definitely deserves the full five stars:

The GiftsThe Gifts by Liz Hyder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was an excellent read. Complex plot, interesting characters, a fantasy element and a strong feminist angle. Highly recommended.

View all my reviews

My third choice, and final book for this week’s post, was the 2021 winner of a Goodreads award. Despite this, it has mixed reviews on the site! It is just as well that there are so many books available to us all.

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

The third book was The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. Once again, this was a random choice from our Library Service’s ebook service. This is the blurb:

“Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered; as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss; as a US Marshal and FBI agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth, together. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they are also building a new future. One neither Hannah nor Bailey could have anticipated.”

This time, if you are interested in this book, I urge you to look at a range of reviews as mine is short and sparse, to say the least!

The Last Thing He Told MeThe Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, despite taking quite a long time (for me) to read it, due to illness.

View all my reviews

OK, we have come to the end of this week’s post. I do hope that you have enjoyed it.

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

📚📕📚📕📚

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Update 18/07/22 with more gorgeous earrings!

Posted on 18/07/2022 by The Librain

Hi, everyone! I am so pleased to be back writing on the blog. A combination of severe health issues, a bad psychological reaction to a medical procedure, and very hot weather made it impossible for me to post on here. Now I am feeling a lot better and am trying to write my posts on the days when it is not too hot to think straight.

While I was away from the blog, we had a quick visit from Younger Son, who we hadn’t seen since Christmas. It was lovely to be able to spend a little time with him. I am hoping that he will visit again in September for Lovely Husband’s 70th birthday!

Anyway, today I have another earring purchase to show you. You may have read my post about the gorgeous selection available on the Chalk Jewellery website and how I found it after I saw a photo of the Duchess of Cambridge wearing their beautiful earrings. As I looked through the site, I thought about the dress that I recently purchased from Marks and Spencer:

Dress by Marks and Spencer

I was thrilled when I saw these earrings:

Sipho earrings by Chalk Jewellery

The pink colours are a very close match and I am waiting for an occasion to wear the dress with the earrings. Here is a quick modelling photo with my other Marks and Spencer summer dress:

Sipho earrings by Chalk Jewellery

I think I will definitely be visiting the Chalk Jewellery site again!

Bye for now!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

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Update 10/07/22 with an extended break

Posted on 10/07/2022 by The Librain

Hi! I don’t usually post on a Sunday evening, but I just want to let you know that I am taking a break from the blog for at least a week. This is due to several issues, mainly to do with my poor health. I simply don’t have the brain power to do the blog justice.

When I come back, I will have plenty to write about, I am sure!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

Posted in Blogging, Health | 1 Comment

Outfits of the week 08/07/22 and a haircut!

Posted on 08/07/2022 by The Librain

This week, I have actually been out twice! On Tuesday for a hospital appointment and today for a much needed haircut. More about the haircut later on.

As I leave the house so rarely, it is fun and distracting to plan my outfits carefully. I probably end up overdressing, but my opportunities for wearing my lovely clothes and accessories are very limited these days. The weather has been warm this week, but I was able to wear two of my gorgeous Hermès scarves.

I decided to work around an idea: what if I based my two outfits around my main “neutral” colours in my wardrobe? Specifically navy blue? I thought that it would be interesting to demonstrate what a difference well chosen accessories can make.

Here are four navy pieces:

Clothing in navy blue

Clockwise from the top left: linen mix trousers by Isle Clothing, cotton vest by Lands’ End, linen mix skirt by Isle Clothing, cotton t-shirt by Tu at Sainsburys. As you can see, all of these items are in a basic plain navy and are inexpensive.

For Tuesday’s hospital visit, I chose accessories in orange, white and navy, and wore the t-shirt and skirt:

Outfit of the day 05/07/22 with Hermès’ Hermès Tea Time scarf

The Hermès scarf is a 70cm called Hermès Tea Time, the bangles are by Halcyon Days, the handbag by Massaccesi, shoes by Hotter, and earrings from Etsy.

Let’s have a closer look at that lovely scarf:

Hermès Tea Time by Jonathan Burton for Hermès

Today, I have been to the hairdresser’s at last! I am so pleased that my messy hair has been tamed. This time I have gone for a much shorter cut, especially around my ears. This is so that I can show off my new earrings!

Anyway, here are the before and after shots. I am sorry that the two photos don’t match up very well…

Before and after haircut 08/07/22

Right, now for the outfit. You can see that I am wearing the Lands’ End vest in navy today. I am also dressed in the Isle Collection linen trousers.

Here are the accessories:

Outfit of the day 08/07/22 with Hermès’ A l’Ombre des Pivoines scarf

The beautiful Hermès scarf is A L’Ombre des Pivoines, tied in a necklace knot with a gold scarf ring by MaiTai. I also wore a navy and gold Halcyon Days bangle, blue topaz earrings, navy sandals and my lovely Massaccesi handbag.

I will show you a larger image of the scarf:

A L’Ombre des Pivoines by Octave Marsal/Théo de Gueltzl for Hermès

Phew! That’s been a long and complicated post today. I hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed creating and building it!

Happy weekend to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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P.S. Younger Son is coming to stay for the weekend. Hooray!!!!!

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Reading roundup 06/07/22

Posted on 06/07/2022 by The Librain

This is going to be a very short post today. I have been going through various medical procedures and am feeling rather upset and traumatised.  Because of all this, I have been unable to concentrate on my reading and I am definitely incapable of writing one of my Reading Roundup posts as they take quite a lot of time to construct on the WordPress platform.

So, I apologise for not writing a proper post today, but I hope that all will be fine by next week.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Posted in Blogging, Reading | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Update 04/07/22

Posted on 04/07/2022 by The Librain

Welcome to a new week on my blog. I had planned a post to show you a new purchase, but it hasn’t yet arrived. Never mind, I have been busy this afternoon and am feeling very tired indeed. Tomorrow is yet another hospital appointment day, so I’m rather worried about that. I will leave you with this lovely image that I saw on Twitter:

Foxgloves and Finches by Annie Soudain

Aren’t the colours gorgeous?

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

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Outfits of the week 01/07/22

Posted on 01/07/2022 by The Librain

Welcome to Friday’s post and the final one of the week.

This week I have had two medical appointments to attend, so, for once, I had to get properly dressed! I am suffering from a form of agoraphobia these days and feel very nervous and frightened when I leave the safety of my bedroom, so planning and wearing a nice outfit helps with that a little.

Yesterday, we had to travel to a large hospital and, once parked, had a long walk through the maze of buildings. This was extremely tiring for both of us. This was my chosen outfit:

Outfit of the day 30/06/22

I have made a collage to go with this:

Outfit of the day 30/06/22 – with Liberty of London Aurora scarf

The enamel and gold earrings and bangles are by Halcyon Days; the enamel and rose gold pendant necklace is Ianthe by Liberty of London; the small blue and white scarf (which I tied on the Massaccesi handbag) is Aurora by Liberty of London; and the blue and white kimono jacket is by One Hundred Stars. In the collage above, the colours of the jacket appear much too dull. They are brighter in real life, as you can see in the modelling photo.

I wore these with a simple white cotton vest by Lands’ End and a navy linen mix midi skirt by Isle Collection. Links to all of these sources can be found in the sidebar.

So, today I had another appointment, this time at our local surgery. Here is the outfit:

Outfit of the day 01/07/22

This time I chose a turquoise, teal and navy theme with my Liberty of London chiffon scarf in the lovely Hera pattern. I wore a turquoise t-shirt and navy linen trousers and carried my gorgeous Massaccesi bag in a metallic navy leather. My earrings were in teal, the Halcyon Days bangle was a turquoise enamel giraffe print and my sandals were navy. I think the whole outfit worked well and it was very comfortable.

Here is another collage showing my accessories today:

Outfit of the Day 01/07/22 with Liberty of London Hera chiffon scarf

I actually have two more appointments next week, so I will, once again, distract myself from worrying by planning nice outfits to wear. Now, what colours should I choose and should I wear Hermès scarves this time?

What do you think?

Happy Weekend to you all.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

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Reading roundup 29/06/22

Posted on 29/06/2022 by The Librain

Hello and welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup post: the last one in June. At the end of last week’s post, I said that my next book was by a new-to-me author. Oh, my memory is so awful! In fact I had already read a couple of books by her and really enjoyed them. Here is the latest…

Reputation by Sarah Vaughan

The book was Reputation by Sarah Vaughan. This is the blurb:

“The bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal returns with a new psychological thriller about a politician whose less-than-perfect personal life is thrust into the spotlight when a body is discovered in her home.

As a politician, Emma has sacrificed a great deal for her career–including her marriage and her relationship with her daughter, Flora. A former teacher, she finds the glare of the spotlight unnerving, particularly when it leads to countless insults, threats, and trolling as she tries to work in the public eye. As a woman, she knows her reputation is worth its weight in gold, but as a politician, she discovers it only takes one slip-up to destroy it completely.

Fourteen-year-old Flora is learning the same hard lessons at school as she encounters heartless bullying. When another teenager takes her own life, Emma lobbies for a new law to protect women and girls from the effects of online abuse. Now, Emma and Flora find their personal lives uncomfortably intersected–but then the unthinkable happens: A man is found dead in Emma’s home, a man she had every reason to be afraid of and to want gone. Fighting to protect her reputation, and determined to protect her family at all costs, Emma is pushed to the limits as the worst happens and her life is torn apart.”

I really enjoyed reading this book and awarded it four stars on Goodreads. Here is my response from that website:

ReputationReputation by Sarah Vaughan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting psychological thriller with plenty of twists in the plot. Told from the point of view of a woman Labour MP, struggling to maintain her reputation amidst online abuse, sexist colleagues and personal issues. There are gripping court scenes and a plot that seems to curl back on itself several times. Just when the reader feels as if everything is coming to a suitable ending, our certainties are overturned!

Oh and it was interesting that some of the timeline dates corresponded to the real time that I was reading the book!

Recommended. This author is well worth reading.

View all my reviews

My next book was recommended to me by a dear friend. I am so glad that she did!

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

The recommended book, and series, was the Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. Let’s look at the blurb:

“Maia, the youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.

Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favour with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the spectre of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor.”

Once again, I urge you to read a range of reviews about any book that I mention on here. Anyway, this is mine:

The Goblin Emperor (The Goblin Emperor, #1)The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was recommended this book by a dear friend and I thank her for doing so. This was an interesting and absorbing read for me with a well-drawn main character. The story intrigued me with its tale of sudden elevation to a high position, lack of preparation, confusing rules and the difficulty of knowing who to trust.

Like other readers, I found the naming system very difficult to deal with and it did detract from the plot at times as I couldn’t always remember who was being written about! This was not helpful to the reader and so I removed one star.

I am, nevertheless, going straight on to read the second book!

View all my reviews

As you can read above, I have already moved on to the sequel, The Witness for the Dead, and have purchased the next book also: The Grief of Stones. Maybe I will have worked out the naming system by the end of the third book!

Well, that is all for this week. Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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