Review: The Silence Between Breaths by Cath Staincliffe

Title: The Silence Between Breaths
Author: Cath Staincliffe
Publisher: Constable
Publication Date: 22nd September 2016
Pages: 272
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 3.5/5
Purchase: Amazon

Passengers boarding the 10.35 train from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston are bound for work, assignations, reunions, holidays or new starts, with no idea that their journey is about to be brutally curtailed.

Holly has just landed her dream job, which should make life a lot easier than it has been, and Jeff is heading for his first ever work interview after months of unemployment. They end up sitting next to each other. Onboard customer service assistant Naz dreams of better things as he collects rubbish from the passengers. And among the others travelling are Nick with his young family who are driving him crazy; pensioner Meg and her partner setting off on a walking holiday and facing an uncertain future; Caroline, run ragged by the competing demands of her stroppy teenage children and her demented mother; and Rhona, unhappy at work and desperate to get home to her small daughter. And in the middle of the carriage sits Saheel, carrying a deadly rucksack...

Guest Post: Half The World Away: Unfamiliar Territory by Cath Staincliffe

Cath Staincliffe's latest novel is Half the World Away which I have reviewed here, finding it to be a rather addictive story. What really stood out to me, even before reading the book, was the Chengdu setting. Whilst reading the story it was clear that Cath had carried out some impeccable research, and so I asked whether she would be able to write a guest post for me about it. And she did! So, hopefully you enjoy reading it and if you haven't already picked up Half the World Away then make sure you do!

Review: Half the World Away by Cath Staincliffe

Title: Half the World Away
Author: Cath Staincliffe
Publisher: Constable
Publication Date: 4th June 2015
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9781472117977
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4.5/5
Purchase: Amazon

Newly graduated photography student Lori Maddox spends the year after university travelling and visits China where she finds work as a private English tutor. Back in Manchester, her parents Jo and Tom, who separated when Lori was a toddler, follow her adventures on her blog, 'Lori In The Orient'.

Suddenly communication stops and when the silence persists a frantic Jo and Tom report her missing. It is impossible to find out anything from 5,000 miles away so they travel out to Chengdu, a city in the south-western province of Sichuan, to search for their daughter.

Landing in a totally unfamiliar country, with no knowledge of the customs or language, and receiving scant help from the local authorities, Jo and Tom are forced to turn detective, following in their daughter's footsteps, tracing the people she mentioned in her posts, interviewing her friends, colleagues and students. It's an unbearably difficult challenge and, as the days pass, the fear that Lori is lost for good grows ever larger.