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Dark Observation
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2023 Featured Authors Archives > Catherine Cavendish - Featured Author - Dark Observation - February 1, 2023 - February 28, 2023

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message 1: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Dark-Observation-featured-author-Feb-2023.jpg

Synopsis of story:

Eligos is waiting…fulfil your destiny

1941. In the dark days of war-torn London, Violet works in Churchill's subterranean top secret Cabinet War Rooms, where key decisions that will dictate Britain’s conduct of the war are made. Above, the people of London go about their daily business as best they can, unaware of the life that teems beneath their feet.

Night after night the bombs rain down, yet Violet has far more to fear than air raids. A mysterious man, a room only she can see, memories she can no longer trust, and a best friend who denies their shared past... Something or someone - is targeting her.


Goodreads Author Profile of Catherine Cavendish:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Link to buy the book from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09...

Please welcome, Catherine Cavendish!


message 2: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Welcome back Catherine! So looking forward to reading this book next month! :)


message 3: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Thank you so much, Marie. Delighted to be here. Happy New Year everyone. Hope you enjoy Dark Observation!


Graeme Rodaughan | 1302 comments I'm in.


Jenny (diggensjenny) | 7 comments I am in!


message 6: by Kasia, il Barbaro (last edited Jan 05, 2023 02:28PM) (new) - added it

Kasia (kasia_s) | 1085 comments Mod
Catherine wrote: "Thank you so much, Marie. Delighted to be here. Happy New Year everyone. Hope you enjoy Dark Observation!"

Thank you so much for being here with us Catherine!


message 7: by Sally, The Ninja Clown (new) - rated it 5 stars

Sally | 1211 comments Mod
Yay Catherine is back! Looking forward to reading this one!


message 8: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Catherine wrote: "Thank you so much, Marie. Delighted to be here. Happy New Year everyone. Hope you enjoy Dark Observation!"

Thank you!


message 9: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Welcome Sally, Kasia, Graeme and Jenny. Hope you enjoy your trip back in time and under the streets of London... I have visited the underground war rooms and it is a seriously spooky and atmospheric place


message 10: by Gareth (new)

Gareth Is Haunted (garethj1979) | 25 comments I'm in. Good to have you here Catherine.
You're right, the war rooms are kinda creepy and atmospheric. Looking forwards to reading this.


message 11: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Catherine wrote: "Welcome Sally, Kasia, Graeme and Jenny. Hope you enjoy your trip back in time and under the streets of London... I have visited the underground war rooms and it is a seriously spooky and atmospheri..."

Hi Gareth. Good to have you here


Denis (deez_bookish_adventures) (denis_lamontagne) | 195 comments I got my copy and looking forward to reading it in Feb. :)


message 13: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Welcome to the read Denis! Whoo-hoo! :)


message 14: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Denis (deez_bookish_adventures) wrote: "I got my copy and looking forward to reading it in Feb. :)"

Welcome, Denis! Looking forward to chatting with you


Jenny (diggensjenny) | 7 comments I have a copy of this book, and I am looking forward to reading this book.


message 16: by Sally, The Ninja Clown (new) - rated it 5 stars

Sally | 1211 comments Mod
Nice! Glad you're joining us Jenny!


Netanella | 100 comments I will be here as well. Good times with this crew!


Graeme Rodaughan | 1302 comments I'm looking forward to this. It's my next book after Chamber of Secrets.


message 19: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Netanella wrote: "I will be here as well. Good times with this crew!"

Cool Netanella! Happy to see you will be here with us as well! :)


message 20: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Not too many more days and we can jump into this book! I am excited!


message 21: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Jenny wrote: "I have a copy of this book, and I am looking forward to reading this book."

That's great. Thank you, Jenny. Looking forward to chatting with you here


message 22: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Netanella wrote: "I will be here as well. Good times with this crew!"
Thanks Netanella. Great to see you here!


message 23: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Graeme wrote: "I'm looking forward to this. It's my next book after Chamber of Secrets."

Thanks, Graeme. Eligos is waiting...


message 24: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
I am going to start reading this later tonight. :)


message 25: by Graeme (last edited Feb 01, 2023 02:47PM) (new) - rated it 3 stars

Graeme Rodaughan | 1302 comments Hi Marie, just finishing up 'Sisters of the Crimson Vine,' and then I'll join in.

(Thought I'd slip this novella in before Dark Observation).


message 26: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Graeme wrote: "Hi Marie, just finishing up 'Sisters of the Crimson Vine,' and then I'll join in.

(Thought I'd slip this novella in before Dark Observation)."


No worries at all. Start at your own pace - Catherine is here with us all month. :)


message 27: by Nora (new)

Nora | 1 comments Hi! I’m new to Goodreads groups so please bear with me! This looks like a really interesting read-I’ll pick up a copy in the next few days and get started.


Netanella | 100 comments I started tonight - this book lines up nicely with our current unit on World War II in my class, so I'm pretty excited about that.

First chapter completed. I love Gran already, and the three generation vacation in London.


message 29: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Nora wrote: "Hi! I’m new to Goodreads groups so please bear with me! This looks like a really interesting read-I’ll pick up a copy in the next few days and get started."

Welcome to the group read Nora. :)


message 30: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Netanella wrote: "I started tonight - this book lines up nicely with our current unit on World War II in my class, so I'm pretty excited about that.

First chapter completed. I love Gran already, and the three gene..."


Cool Netanella. :)


message 31: by Kai (new) - added it

Kai Oram | 1 comments Definitely in! Gonna start reading this tomorrow as I’m just finishing up with a book. Looking forward to it!


message 32: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Kai wrote: "Definitely in! Gonna start reading this tomorrow as I’m just finishing up with a book. Looking forward to it!"

Welcome to the group read, Kai! :)


message 33: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (last edited Feb 02, 2023 05:26AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
4% into the story. Do not read the spoiler "unless" you are this far into the book.

I started this earlier this morning and already loving the atmosphere along with (view spoiler)


message 34: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Hi everyone! Lovely to see you all here and to discover some of you have already started reading.

The first setting of the story is Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair, London where I have been lucky enough to stay myself. It is the most wonderful, luxurious place. Yes, it's pricy but it's also one of the friendliest hotels I have ever stayed in. Staff treat everyone as being special so Heather, Vi and Connie would have felt perfectly at ease even though they, like me, were not used to such luxury.

If you ever get the chance to stop there for even one night, I would say grab that opportunity with both hands. Everyone has stayed there - Winston Churchill and his wife, Clemmie, treated it as their second home during WW2. Spencer Tracy said that when he died, he didn't want to go to heaven, he wanted to go to Claridge's. Actors, writers, artists, politicians, royalty, sports celebrities, models, musicians - you name it, they've stayed there over a period spanning more than 175 years.

So much history lies within those walls and my short time there has inspired a number of stories. When I was staying there, my husband and I went on a trip to Churchill's Secret Underground War Rooms - a trip you will be making soon, in the pages of Dark Observation...


message 35: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Catherine wrote: "Hi everyone! Lovely to see you all here and to discover some of you have already started reading.

The first setting of the story is Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair, London where I have been lucky enou..."


Love that story Catherine which really answered my question I was going to ask of how did this story come about as you stayed in the hotel and your brain started weaving a story, right? :)


Graeme Rodaughan | 1302 comments I must admit ... I love the cover.

Just started 5 minutes ago.


message 37: by Sally, The Ninja Clown (new) - rated it 5 stars

Sally | 1211 comments Mod
Catherine wrote: "Hi everyone! Lovely to see you all here and to discover some of you have already started reading.

The first setting of the story is Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair, London where I have been lucky enou..."


I love when you read with us Catherine! Thank you for already sharing the background of this story. Also, I absolutely love Spencer Tracy! Of course I adored him in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, but my favorite Tracy/Hepburn movie is Desk Set.


message 38: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
22% into the read

(view spoiler)

Going to read some more today. :)


message 39: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Marie wrote: "Catherine wrote: "Hi everyone! Lovely to see you all here and to discover some of you have already started reading.

The first setting of the story is Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair, London where I ha..."


Absolutely right, Marie. I know I'm not the only one to be inspired by that hotel. It oozes atmosphere. Crime authors have set murders here, there have been mysteries, romances...you name it. And plenty of ghost stories because, let's face it, if those walls could talk...


message 40: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Graeme wrote: "I must admit ... I love the cover.

Just started 5 minutes ago."

Hope you're enjoying it, Graeme!


message 41: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Sally wrote: "Catherine wrote: "Hi everyone! Lovely to see you all here and to discover some of you have already started reading.

The first setting of the story is Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair, London where I ha..."


He was a wonderful actor - the epitome of the best Hollywood ever produced, in my opinion


Graeme Rodaughan | 1302 comments Catherine wrote: "Hope you're enjoying it, Graeme!"

Thanks, Catherine. Good sense of mystery to start with. Now I'm curious to find out more.


message 43: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Graeme wrote: "Catherine wrote: "Hope you're enjoying it, Graeme!"

Thanks, Catherine. Good sense of mystery to start with. Now I'm curious to find out more."


I'm glad I've grabbed your attention, Graeme.

It's one of the things I love about writing. As I never plot too much in advance, what happens next is always a mystery to me...until it happens


Netanella | 100 comments I stayed up late last night to finish the book, and I've posted my review!

I love the small details of the descriptions of the daily life during the bombings and the war. How much research did you do into this aspect of social history? Did you use any particular texts, or was it more anecdotal evidence from friends and family?


message 45: by Catherine (new)

Catherine Cavendish | 135 comments Hi Netanella. Many thanks!
I did quite a lot of research as I always try and be as authentic as possible. Of course, it did help that this was very much my late Mum's era but, during the course of my preparations and while writing the story, I referred to my bookshelf of published diaries of Mass Observation (especially those of Nella Last), as well as various books covering Churchill's underground war rooms, his working relationships with staff (especially secretaries) which provided me with some lovely little details and various other social histories of WW2 and also biographies of both him and his mother. A book on Nazis and the Occult was also extremely helpful - but I won't say in what way yet as others may not have got to that part yet!


message 46: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
I am 40% into the story! It has been speed throttle ahead today! lol I got caught up in everything within the story and couldn't put it down!

Thoughts so far:

(view spoiler)

I do have a question, Catherine but going to have to put it in a spoiler as it is spoilery. lol

(view spoiler)


Netanella | 100 comments The answer to that last question, Marie, is very spoilery!


message 48: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Netanella wrote: "The answer to that last question, Marie, is very spoilery!"

LOL!! I will be lucky to even get an answer to it till probably the end of the book! 😂 🤣


Graeme Rodaughan | 1302 comments I'm travelling today. So a handy opportunity to get some reading in.


message 50: by Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover (new) - rated it 5 stars

Marie | 3677 comments Mod
Graeme wrote: "I'm travelling today. So a handy opportunity to get some reading in."

Awesome! :)


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