Cookie Fries - inspired by Disney (The Big Bakes shares secret recipes)

Do you miss your favourite treats from High Street food outlets, like Gregg's classic sausage rolls, or Café Nero vegan raspberry croissants?
Just the other day Eddie and I were discussing with a light note of nostalgia how wonderful the Krispy Kreme donuts are (chocolate with sprinkles are our favourites), and how much we miss them.

As Britain remains locked down, many people miss popping to their favourite High Street food outlets to pick up a delicious treat.
To keep the nation going during this time of culinary deprivation, The Big Bakes has pledged a new secret recipe each week to help Brits replicate some of the UK's most iconic High Street snacks at home.

This week one of tasks on Seesaw (homeschooling app) was to pick a recipe, cook a dish, take photos of the result and then discuss what's the best part about being a chef.
As soon as we read the task, I knew we had to try the recipe for Cookie Fries, as recreated by The Big Bakes.
Cookie Fries are basically choc chip shortbread shapes, served with dips.

Image credits: The Big Bakes

With so many popular dishes to choose from, The Big Bakes asked baking fans for help whittling down the options. In response, The Big Bakes has created five online recipe tutorials of the most popular dishes, which are revealed each Wednesday.
These include:
- Greggs Sausage Roll
- Cookie Fries - Inspired by Disney
- Nando's Portuguese Tarts
- Millie's Cookies

Each video masterclass will offer an easy, step-by-step guide for people to follow at home, no matter what their level of experience. Lasting two to three minutes, the home baking videos will feature day-to-day ingredients and basic kitchen equipment, so everyone (including the kids) will be able to get involved.

In order to take part in these digital baking sessions, all people need to do is visit @Thebig_bakes on Instagram or Facebook, for a list of the necessary ingredients needed for the up-coming class.

The Big Bakes was founded in 2017 by Adam Chaudhri and Eloise Frank, who discovered a gap in the market for fun, accessible and affordable baking events, after taking part in a bake-off competition during a work away day.
With locations across the UK as well as online, the Bakes combine socialising, baking, and good old-fashioned fun.

Last week The Big Bakes digital co-baking sessions kicked-off with the Cookie Fries, inspired by the tasty amusement park snacks found in Disney, these chip-shaped treats have risen to legendary status almost overnight.

Now, The Big Bakes has released its secret Cookie Fries recipe, so easy to follow that even kids will be able to have a go.
Perfect for sharing, these chocolate chip cookies replicate classic fries and are perfectly shaped for dunking into your favourite sauce.

We decided to cut our cookies into diamond shapes rather than chips.

Cookies Fries (recipe courtesy of The Big Bakes)

For the Cookie Fries:
50g sugar
100g butter
150g flour
50g chocolate chips

For the dips:
20g mini marshmallows
1tbsp milk
2tbsp Nutella
2tbsp jam

Equipment:
Mixing bowl
Spatula
Rolling pin
Knife (adult supervision needed)
Baking tray with parchment
Microwavable pots for your dips

Method:
Preheat your oven to 180C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
In your mixing bowl, start by creaming together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Stir in the flour and mix until incorporated.
Fold in the chocolate chips and then turn your dough onto a work surface and knead until it comes together in a ball.
Roll the dough into a rectangle about 2cm thick and cut into your desired chip shapes or smaller rectangles.
Place onto your baking tray a few centimetres apart from one another and bake for 10-15 minutes until the edges go golden brown.

Leave to cool before eating.

We didn't have chocolate chips, and chopped half a bar of chocolate into small pieces.

When you're ready to eat your Cookie Fries, make your dips just before:

Combine the marshmallows with 1tbsp of milk and then microwave in 5-second intervals and stir until fully combined, stop when the mixture has liquidised.

Microwave the jam for 15 seconds and then the Nutella for 15 seconds, stir and then serve with your cookie fries.


We don't have a microwave, and used some of the Marshmallow fluff instead.
We also prefer Jim Jams to Nutella which has a staggering amount of sugar. We skipped the jam altogether, as it was just too much sweet stuff together.

These cookies are super easy, anyone can have a go at this simple recipe.
My guys loved them so much that we baked them twice in two days (we didn't do the dips the second time).

Eddie has submitted his report to the Seesaw app, and his teacher commented that she'd love to try the recipe too.
What have you been baking recently (that is, if you have some flour)?

Photo diary: week 20, project 366

Days, dates have lost any meaning and have become pointless. I'm not sure which week of the lockdown are we now on, is it 7th or 8th? If Sasha were not attending his school 3 times a week, it would have been even more tricky to distinguish the monotonous routine.
I go through motions, feeling a bit lost in time.

I venture out grocery shopping a couple of times a week, and get annoyed with people not understanding the social distancing.
I cook, read, clean, check out news online, homeschool, read to Sasha, it's all very same-ish.

Last Sunday my husband took Eddie out for a walk in the evening, they passed by the Ability Systems shop. Eddie misses the friendly lady who always waves to us from the shop, whenever we pass by on the way home from school.
They are a really lovely bunch there, helped us so many times with the ipad repairs.

Taking numerous photos of our garden to show my Mum what it looks like. She is a keen gardener, and asks me every day on the phone what's what. She remembers all the details of our garden.

Eddie has re-arranged books on his book shelf, moving some books to the closed unit above, and adding some of our latest purchases on display.
We're reading Gargantis by Thomas Taylor at bedtime, almost finished, and will pick another one to read together, maybe the next instalment of the Murder Most Unladylike.

One of the bakes from the last week, a nectarine polenta cake. I have poached a couple of nectarines with apricot brandy, then blitzed them into a puree and added to the cake batter. The cake was lovely, and didn't last long.

Eddie enjoys watching videos of his favourite Youtubers. Unfortunately for me, I cannot stand their inane banter and annoying voices (Skeppy, looking at you!). My child is now wearing headphones so that I don't have to hear the noise.

The rhododendron in the garden is a magnet for bees.

The window display at Waterstones has been the same since the beginning of the lockdown. Every time I pass by, I look at this book title "This too shall pass", and think: How apt.
Rather philosophical. I read it as a message of hope: This lockdown too shall pass.

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UK vs International Degustabox

Many of our meals in lockdown are a game of Ready, Steady, Cook, when I look inside the kitchen pantry and fridge to decide what ingredients I can use to make a decent lunch or dinner. Receiving a food box with surprise ingredients is a cause of much excitement, as you get new products to work with.

Degustabox is a monthly food and drink subscription box. It's an excellent way of discovering new products which have only just appeared in the shops, or those which have been around a while but you haven't had a chance to try them yet.
Thanks to Degustabox, I have found new favourites to add to our shopping list, including some products which I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.
Each time the monthly box arrives, its contents are a total surprise. You get a good selection of foods and drinks.
If you haven't tried Degustabox subscription box yet, and would like to have a go, I have a whopping £7 off discount from your first box (and you can unsubscribe any time), just use code 8EVI8 when you place an order.

What did we receive in UK vs International Degustabox?

Percy's Caramel Chocolate Shortberad Sticks (£3) are a delicious treat for anyone who enjoys the irresistible combination of chocolate and caramel. The buttery, melt-in-the-mouth shortbread sticks are coated in caramel milk chocolate and hand spun with dark chocolate to decorate.
Lovely with a cup of coffee or tea.
Available at Sainsbury's, Ocado and independent stores.

Brynmor Flapjack - Caramel Fudge/Apple & Raspberry (£1.29) - is lovingly baked in the heart of the Welsh countryside.
Brynmor's range of tasty nutritional flapjacks is available at Ocado, Waitrose, NISA, WHSmith Travel, Grapetree, independent health shops and at brynmorfoods.com.
Traditional 80g flapjacks offer reduced sugar and protein. As they say, their products offer something for everyone, and each comes with a variety of real health benefits. They are gluten free, wheat-free, vegan-friendly, contain no artificial flavours or colours, and are a good source of fibre.
There are two items in the box.

Terry's Chocolate Orange Easter Egg/Minis Popping Candy (£4) - the iconic Terry's chocolate orange presented as an Easter treat. The Minis Exploding Candy are classic milk chocolate segments, flavoured with real orange oil and packed full of fun popping candy pieces (4%).
Nutritional information: 17g of sugar and 145kcal per 7 segments.
Great for sharing with family and friends.
There are two items in the box.
Available in the major supermarket chains as part of Terry's Chocolate Orange Popping Candy Easter Egg pack.

Moving from sweet treats to savoury products:
Growers Garden fresh Broccoli crisps (£1.99) are believed to be the world's first crisps to be made with fresh broccoli. They are a healthier alternative to potato crisps.
We had first tried Broccoli crisps last October, when several flavour packs were delivered in the food box. I remember I wasn't very enthusiastic about them, though my Mum enjoyed them.
This time our elder son surprised me by eating all the broccoli crisps. He clearly liked them.
Grown on their own farm, Growers Garden are using the wonky veg to make a healthier snack.
Available in approximately 600 stores across the UK. Visit growers-garden.com/stockists for your nearest store.

Tilda Peri Peri Microwave Rice (£1.59) is the latest addition to the delicious range of international rice flavours from Tilda. Peri Peri is a taste sensation, combining bird's eye chilli heat with green and red peppers, sweet tomato, garlic, smoky paprika, oregano and a squeeze of lemon.
It is gluten free, suitable for vegetarians and vegans and contains to artificial flavourings, colours or preservatives.
Available in the major supermarket chains.

My personal favourites were two pastes from Very Lazy - Very Lazy Lemongrass Paste and Very Lazy Ginger Paste (£1.85 each). They are so handy to keep in the kitchen, and jazz up a variety of meals. 1tsp = half a stick of lemongrass or 1 thumb of ginger.
Available at Tesco.
For recipe ideas, visit verylazy.com
I cooked a simple cabbage dish, with an addition of a grated carrot and both pastes as a side dish, and it was so flavourful and vibrant. Add them to the grilled fish, curries, roast vegetables, soups and stews, the possibilities are endless.

Peppadew Sweet Piquante Peppers Mild Chopped (£3) are loved for their unique layered flavour, sweet and then mildly spicy, firm and crunchy texture and excellent quality.
It can be used as an ingredient (try it in a potato salad with mayo and spring onions), or as a topping for pizza, pasta, salads, wraps, sandwiches and burgers.
Visit the antipasti aisle at Tesco for Peppadew full range.

And finally the drinks:

Sxollie Cider Cripps Pink (£1.80) is a light refreshing drink. Sxollie Ciders are made exclusively from famous apples, the Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and the Pink Lady.
Apples are sourced directly from the Elgin Valley in South Africa where the apples are lovingly grown in the sunshine. The cider captures the essence of the fruit with its sweet and sharp notes.
Available at Sainsbury's, Waitrose and selected pubs and bars.

Remedy Kombuch Raspberry Lemonade 250ml/Cherry Plum 250ml (£1.85) is a healthy soft drink, made by naturally fermenting sweet tea with a live culture.
The result is a sparkling drink that contains live cultures, tea polyphenols, organic acids and no sugar, naturally.
Available at M&S, Morrisons, Amazon.co.uk, Holland & Barrett, Boots, Booths, WH Smith, Planet Organic, Whole Foods Market and many more.

Banana carrot bread

I know that the mere mention of banana bread spreads yawns across the social media, since it's been the staple of baking during the lockdown, but please bear with me. I baked a banana bread last week, and it didn't last long. This week I have added a carrot to the banana loaf, and it was very tasty too.

We have a lovely café in town, called UE Roasters. They serve the best coffee in town, and oh boy, I do miss it. They also serve the best (and truly it should be with a capital B) banana bread with Greek yogurt and honey. If ever you stop by in Witney, treat yourselves to a slice of banana bread at UE Roasters, you wont' regret it.
I did ask them if they'd share their recipe with me. They told me they don't bake it on the premises, but people who bake it for them use Delia's recipe.
I have used Delia's recipe for banana bread, and though delicious, it's still not the same as they serve in the café. So, I'm working on trying to figure out what the secret ingredient is.

Banana carrot bread
Ingredients:
2 medium bananas, mashed
carrots, grated (130g unpeeled weight)
150g demerara sugar
100ml mild olive oil (butter is fine too)
2 medium eggs
250g flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
a pinch of salt
60g walnuts, chopped (optional)

Mash two peeled bananas in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add a grated carrot and demerara sugar, pour olive oil, beat in eggs, one at a time, and add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, a pinch of salt and chopped walnuts. Mix all the ingredients together, and pour the cake batter into a well oiled loaf tin.

Place in the oven preheated to 180C and bake for about 45 minutes, until golden brown (check if it's ready with a wooden toothpick).
Remove from the oven, leave it in a tin for about 5 minutes before removing out of the tin and letting it cool on the cooling rack.

It is tasty warm, with a cup of tea and coffee. For a totally decadent treat, add a big dollop of thick Greek yogurt and drizzle a bit of honey over it. Mmmm, so, so good.

In this recipe I used Homepride Superior Sponge Flour from March Degustabox food box. Superior Sponge Flour is the latest addition to the Homepride range, a perfect flour for cake-baking.
It's made from 100% British wheat flour, and is available at Tesco.

If you don't have this flour (I know finding flour is still a problem in many supermarkets), any quality self-raising flour will do.

Skip walnuts if you don't like nuts in baking (or have allergies).
I prefer using demerara sugar with the banana bread, but again, caster sugar will be fine.

Photo diary: weeks 18 and 19, project 365

Last Sunday I spent in bed, with a high temperature, feeling sorry for myself. I was quite worried that I might have gotten the dreaded virus. Luckily, it had nothing to do with the virus, and all with an insect bite on my leg. I simply didn't put two and two together. I don't know what has actually bitten me, but reading descriptions of bites online after asking friends on Facebook, it most likely was the Blandford fly. I haven't heard of the Blandford fly before, my only association with the name is related to the Duke of Marlborough's family.
My leg got awfully swollen, red, hot to touch and extremely itchy. Plus, the bite caused my fever.

And now back to our two weeks of photos...

My husband and Eddie have gone on a long walk out of town, and discovered a new route which brings them back into town. They wanted to show it to me, and a few days later we did go together.
This photo was taken by my husband on their walk. It's pretty amazing how rural it looks just a short distance out of town.

Apple blossom in the garden, with the most delicate beautiful scent

Sasha came back home from school with a surprise treat for us all - they baked a sponge cake. We all enjoyed it (it was a tad too sweet for me, but my boys loved it). It was most kind of them to send us a lovely cake.

Eddie was super keen to show me the out of town route they discovered a few days earlier, and off we went to explore. It was a lovely walk.

After the rain in the night a lot of apple blossom petals fell on the lawn (or the remains of the lawn), covering it like a lacy shawl. Playing football and table tennis there has completely destroyed the grass.

Homeschooling continues, and there are new tasks added on Seesaw every day. One of the tasks from that week was to recreate The Big Wave by Hokusai. Eddie spent three days, working on his project, and I think he did a splendid job. I've already framed it.

Walking into town for grocery shopping, I saw these cloud shapes which reminded me of galloping horses.

I didn't take any photos on Sunday, as I was feeling awful, trying to lower my temperature. It stayed 38.7C for most of the day.
I was much better on Monday, out of bed, and starting to potter around, though I still felt a bit weak.
As often happens on Mondays, I cooked tofu in Teriyaki sauce, one of Eddie's favourite meals (and he's not even a vegetarian).

Bananas were going rather slimey-black, and I baked a banana carrot bread with walnuts. It was delicious. My guys love to drizzle a bit of honey on it.
A few weeks ago I bought a set of Spode Italian Blue mugs on BrandAlley. I love Spode, and have quite a collection, mostly mismatched, as I buy pieces I like in charity shops. Oh, charity shops, when will we be able to visit them again?!

Eddie and I were sitting by the window, waiting for Sasha to arrive from school, and taking selfies (as you do). I don't bother with make-up these days, well, I do slap on the lipstick and foundation when I go out shopping.

Eddie and I love Astrid Lindgren's books. He has recently read the first book in the Pippi Longstocking series, and asked me to get more books for him. That's my happy boy, engrossed in the next instalment.

We peeked out of the door on Thursday when it was the clapping time. By the sound of it, people are losing enthusiasm. Or perhaps don't see the point of it, as it doesn't help the NHS.
I was chatting to a friend yesterday, whom I met on the way home from grocery shopping (we were at a distance). She works for the NHS, and said that though most people are friendly and lovely, her next door neighbour doesn't want to say Hello, and avoids looking at her, when people do the weekly clap.

Another task we found on Seesaw was to read a few pages from Tom's midnight garden, and take some photos, pretending to be Tom. Here is Eddie as Tom, bored to stay at his aunt and uncle's house indoors, waiting to find out whether he got measles like his younger brother.

We didn't do anything special for VE day on Friday. I baked brownies and we had tea in the garden. We also talked with Eddie about the war, and solved the Morse code tasks on Seesaw, which was quite fun.
Our teddy bear shop is closed, but they still decorated the window displays to mark the VE day.

My husband kept asking me to do his haircut. I did my best, honestly. Eddie looked and asked if I had a grudge against him. My dear husband looks like Blackadder (season 1). Well, he should have known better than asking me, hasn't he seen our children's haircuts?!

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A Ration Book Wedding by Jean Fullerton #BlogTour

"Well, this will be a wedding to remember, won't it?"

A Ration Book Wedding by Jean Fullerton is a war time romance, set during the Blitz in London's East End.

It is the fourth book in the East End Ration Book series, and the second one I've read by the author (see my review for A Ration Book Childhood). It is a family saga, following the lives of the Brogan family, and their close friends.
It can be read as a standalone, but you might appreciate the family dynamics more, if you've met the main characters in the previous books, and know what's happened before.

While Ida Brogan and her husband Jerimiah make their appearances in the latest book in the series, it is centered more around the younger generation of the Brogans, their spouses, prospective partners, and friends.
The wedding of the Brogans' daughter Jo is much anticipated by the whole Brogan clan.

Life in the Blitz continues to be perilous and traumatic. Spending the nights away from home has become a new norm. Nobody knows if their home is still there, when they return from the shelter.

Francesca Fabrino is working in the aircraft engine component, allocated to the factory when she's signed up a couple of months earlier. "The new war conscription act meant all women between the ages of eighteen and fifty, without dependants, were required to register for war work".
The work is manual, dull, repetitive and not very inspiring, so when Francesca sees an ad for the BBC Overseas Service position for a young lady who can do clerical and general duties, and is able to read and speak Italian, she jumps at the chance.

Francesca is very close to the Brogan family. When her mother died six years earlier, Ida Brogan, her best friend's Mattie's Mum had taken Francesca under her wing.
In 1942 Mattie is married with a child, and another one on the way. And Francesca's old flame, Charlie, is also very much on her mind. She has been in love with him for many years, but he hasn't noticed her. And now he's married to a glamorous and vicious Stella, and they have a little boy together.

We've met Stella in the previous book in the series, she is a kind of villain you love to hate. She's extremely selfish and doesn't seem to care much about her little boy. Stella works as an exotic dancer under a moniker of Salome of the Mysterious East in a night club Bon Bon, that's where she can have an adoring crowd around her. She has always loved to be the centre of attention, and the roar of loud male voices in the club fills her with excitement. There are lots of Americans in the city, and they pay handsomely for her company.

While the Brogans know of Stella's job, they decide not to tell Charlie anything while he's away fighting for the King and the country.

Francesca must forget Charlie, but it's so hard. He's back from the North Africa, recuperating after his wound, and finds out the truth about his wife.

Her new colleague, count Leonardo D'Angelo, does  Radio Roma's evening news broadcast. Leo's handsome, debonair and charming. He is also smitten with Francesca. Will she be able to put her hopeless love for Charlie aside? Her father would be so happy if she marries Leo, but her heart is pining for Charlie. Why does the love life have to be so complicated?!

Just like the previous book in the series, A Ration Book Wedding is rich in historical detail. It has strong female protagonists who are finding their way in "a man's, man's world". The war times have brought new freedom for women, and showed the men what women are capable of.

I enjoyed this book, except for a couple of niggles regarding the plot. Without giving any spoilers, I thought that one particular twist of fate was too much of a "deux a machina", bringing a solution to something that looked pretty insoluble.

This is a real treat for fans of historical fiction, especially war time romance. Looking forward to reading more of the East End Ration series. The story drips with authenticity, the research is of high calibre. Full of drama, romance and social mores.

Many thanks to Jean Fullerton and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

Purchase Links

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ration-Book-Wedding-Perfect-Gibson-ebook/dp/B081DDLWQD

US - https://www.amazon.com/Ration-Book-Wedding-Perfect-Gibson-ebook/dp/B081DDLWQD

Author Bio – Jean Fullerton is the author of thirteen novels all set in East London where she was born. She also a retired district nurse and university lecturer.  She won the Harry Bowling prise in 2006 and after initially signing for two East London historical series with Orion she moved to Corvus, part of Atlantic Publishing and is halfway through her WW2 East London series featuring the Brogan family.

Social Media Links –

Website: http://jeanfullerton.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jean-Fullerton-202631736433230/?ref=bookmarks

Twitter:  @JeanFullerton_

Sometimes in Bath by Charles Nevin

"... we are down by the old Pump Room, where there is a usual commotion of chairs and crutches, passing gamesters, assorted rogues, ladies and gentlemen, unimpeachable and otherwise, old and young, fierce and fluttering, frowning and frowsy; where the air is full of chatter and the cries and wheedles of sellers of cures and trinkets, all set off  by the clatter on the cobbles".

Sometimes in Bath by Charles Nevin is an amusing and entertaining paean to the elegant city.

It's a charmingly eccentric narrative, a mix of fiction and history facts. Each chapter begins with a fictional account, where historical figures, both well-known and minor, mingle with the literary characters. As the author notes, "none of the events described is completely implausible".

Historical figures range from world-famous to local celebrities. You will meet Beau Nash, Dr Johnson, Horatio Nelson, Bladud, Queen Bess, Chaucer, Haile Selassie and many others. As you follow the characters along, you learn about the history of Bath, as well as its unique architecture, social history, fashions, literature, food and much more.

This work is a homage to many literary classics, a witty fan-fic. There is a whole sub-genre of Jane Austen fan-fiction. Most of the retellings and re-imagined stories centre on the female characters from Austen's books.
Yet here Mr Bennet is one of the main protagonists, while his ladies take a back seat. "Mr Bennet is for some the true hero of Pride and Prejudice".

He has brought his family to Bath, and reminisces about his visit to the city years before his marriage.
It is a delightful though mildly bizarre little story. You can see how much fun the author had, making Mr Bennet meet young Horatio Nelson, Dr Johnson and Boswell, as well as Jack Rann, aka Sixteen-String Jack, who was a notorious highwayman.
Craving adventures, Mr Bennet unwisely follows an unsavoury character into a gaming den only to be introduced to Lord Byron, Sir Walter Elliot, Captain Crawley (from Vanity Fair), Mr Silver (from Treasure Island), Mr Heathcliff (Bronte's hero), Mr Flashman and Mr Jingle (from Pickwick Papers).

Fashion Museum in Bath (Photo credits: Anca from Anca's Lifestyle)

Another enjoyable episode is inspired by The Canterbury Tales. In The Cook's Tale we encounter Chaucer himself, "the lettered and foppish toff" who suggested that everyone should tell a story as they rode along. The story is a wonderful blend of the Chaucer's characters, with the bits thrown in from the later literary sources.
"The Tapestry Maker, a man made romantic by studying his subjects, said he knew a wonderful story about the star-crossed lover in Mantua who poisoned himself after thinking that his love was dead rather than just sleeping heavily. The Guildsmen all agreed this was far-fetched, even for Italians" (this made me chuckle).

Foodies will enjoy a witty reimagining of the origins of the Bath Bun, and its healthier alternative, the Bath Oliver biscuit. You will want to catch the first train to Bath to sample another of Bath's premier gifts, the Sally Lunn (a delicious brioche bun).

At Sally Lunn's (Photo credits: Anca from Anca's Lifestyle, read all about it in her blog post Sally Lunn's Kitchen Museum)

Frolic through the history of Bath and its citizens and guests with Charles Nevin, and dream of visiting Bath, once the lockdown is over.
Each chapter has a useful list of further reading on the topic, as well as a list of places to visit.

I've been to Bath only once, visiting the Roman Baths with my younger son's class. I loved what I've seen of the architecture, and hope to return there one day for a longer visit.

Sometimes in Bath is an unusual and quirky guide to the city, which is a pleasure to read.

Many thanks to Charles Nevin, The Book Guild Ltd and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!

Little White Secrets by Carol Mason

"They say normal people tell a white lie three times a day. Lately, I feel like I'm exceeding my limit"

Little White Secrets by Carol Mason is an addictive domestic noir. It has all the right elements of a compulsive read: obsession, lust, revenge, menace and death.

Emily Rossi is quite content with her life. Her marriage to Eric has withstood the hard times, they live in a big house in the country with their two lovely children. Her career is on the right track as well.
Outwardly they appear an almost perfect family.
Behind the façade there are all sorts of cracks. Eric has taken a job in London after a chronic spell of unemployment, and sees his family at the weekends. He is an alcoholic, though his wife seems to find excuses for his drinking habits. As she later describes it to her friend, for them it has become a normal.

Emily is stressed with her job-family balance: "Lately I'm always running after life as though it's ten minutes ahead of me. I don't know where the balance went...
Lately I find myself watching my kids as though we are rapidly becoming Venn diagrams that will no longer overlap".

She has lost her mother recently, and the grief is still raw: "I have noticed that grief for my mother has me one step removed from even the most routine of rituals, It's like being partially deaf. Life's noise is going on out there, but there is a buffer between it and my ability to be properly attuned to it".

Talking to their new neighbour Steven about her children, she says: "When you become a mother, no one else can even come close to making you feel how their little life makes you feel, so much that you reposition everyone else you love. You love them all a slightly distant second".
While I share this sentiment whole-heartedly, I don't think Emily notices that her love isn't equally distributed to both of her children.

Daniel is their golden boy, who was born prematurely. He is a talented tennis player, and all the family ambitions are centred around him and his needs.
His younger sister Zara, a teen with no particular skills or talents, is resentful of all the money and attention Daniel gets. Parents think of her as a quiet, undemanding girl, with no ambitions of her own.
They don't notice that she's seething with discontent.
No wonder, that when an opportunity presents, she goes off the rails.

She is befriended by a teen from hell, Bethany. Bethany is every parent's nightmare, she is rude, obnoxious, is into drugs, alcohol and has a boyfriend who's 10 years older.
Zara relishes the company of her toxic friend. Finally, her parents begin to notice her and worry about her.
Their little cocoon of middle-class banality starts to spiral out of control.

Zara's parents believe "Zara is shielding Bethany because this is what Zara does. Zara loves loners, underdogs and the disenfranchised; she has a bizarre way of martyring herself for them".

Bethany's mother Janet, an embittered single mother, seems to know more about Emily's family that she's comfortable with. Just who is she, and where did she come from? What are her motives?
And more importantly, how can Emily stop her daughter from a path of self-destruction she's so intent on?

None of the characters is particularly likeable. In fact, they are all quite unpleasant, except perhaps Daniel, whose "easy charisma always brings out the best in people", but then he doesn't feature much in the plot.
As it happens, they all have their secrets, not so little or white at all. In fact, they are pretty damning secrets, with devastating consequences.

I guessed pretty much from the beginning some of the plot development, but the last couple of pages were still a bit of a shock.

The novel poses a lot of ethical questions. There are quite a few potential triggers: alcoholism, still birth, drug-related death, harassment, sexual coercion etc.

Going back to Eric, he's a cliché alcoholic. "Drama and self-pity: the hallmarks of an alcoholic. When he used to say he was tired, so tired, before, I thought he meant he needed to sleep. I'd encourage him to go to bed, feel better; tomorrow is a new day. I didn't know he meant he was tired of the intolerable state of his own existence".

Little White Secrets is a terrific domestic noir, with a shocking twist at the end. It's dark and disturbing. I simply couldn't stop reading, and had to finish it in the early hours of the morning.
And after I finished, I couldn't fall asleep either, as it kept me thinking.

About the Author:
Carol Mason was born and grew up in the north-east of England. As a teenager she was crowned Britain's National Smile Princess and subsequently became a model, a diplomat-in-training, hotel receptionist and advertising copywriter.
She currently lives in British Columbia, Canada, with her Canadian husband.
To learn more about Carol and her novels, visit www.carolmasonbooks.com

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