Welcoming Clare Flynn and her book - A Painter in Penang - to my blog

Today I'm welcoming Clare Flynn and her book - A Painter in Penang - to my blog as part of the blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club (founded by Mary Anne Yarde)

 

I will share a review with you all, but first I will introduce the book.

A Painting in Penang

 

Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Barrington hates everything about living in Kenya and longs to return to the island of Penang in British colonial Malaya where she was born. Expulsion from her Nairobi convent school offers a welcome escape – the chance to stay with her parents’ friends, Mary and Reggie Hyde-Underwood on their Penang rubber estate.

But this is 1948 and communist insurgents are embarking on a reign of terror in what becomes the Malayan Emergency. Jasmine goes through testing experiences – confronting heartache, a shocking past secret and danger. Throughout it all, the one constant in her life is her passion for painting.

From the international best-selling and award-winning author of The Pearl of Penang, this is a dramatic coming of age story, set against the backdrop of a tropical paradise torn apart by civil war.

Publication Date: 6^th October 2020

Publisher: Cranbrook Press

Page Length: 362 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

You can purchase the book via -

https://books2read.com/painterinpenang

Now for the review - 

Where do I even begin to describe how wonderfully poignant A Painter in Penang is? I was initially slightly nervous about jumping in at Book 3, but I need not have been concerned, for this novel stands very firmly on its own two feet.

This is the story of sixteen-year-old Jasmine Barrington who is desperately unhappy living in Kenya. She feels adrift, lost almost. So when she is given the opportunity to go back to Penang, she jumps at the chance. Unfortunately political events, shocking family secrets, and unsavoury suitors threaten everything. I really felt for Jasmine. She is this talented young woman, but she is also extremely innocent. This emotional rollercoaster that Jasmine finds herself on is beautifully portrayed and intensely gripping.

This is a novel that one can really lose themselves in—the author has a gift of making the hours seemingly fly by.  Painter in Penang is a novel that I enjoyed from beginning to end. I will certainly be going back and reading the first two books in this series.

Clare Flynn

Clare Flynn is the author of twelve historical novels and a collection of short stories. A former International Marketing Director and strategic management consultant, she is now a full-time writer.

Having lived and worked in London, Paris, Brussels, Milan and Sydney, home is now on the coast, in Sussex, England, where she can watch the sea from her windows. An avid traveller, her books are often set in exotic locations.

Clare is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of The Society of Authors, Novelists Inc (NINC), ALLi, the Historical Novel Society and the Romantic Novelists Association, where she serves on the committee as the Member Services Officer. When not writing, she loves to read, quilt, paint and play the piano. She continues to travel as widely and as far as possible all over the world.

You can connect with Clare Flynn via the following platforms -

Website: https://clareflynn.co.uk

Blog: https://clareflynn.co.uk/alternate-blog-style-page.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorclareflynn

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarefly

Twitter: https://twitter.com/clarefly

 You can learn more about this book and the author by visiting the other blogs on the tour -

 

That's it for now.

Till the next time.

Take care Zoe