Everyday Magic ~ A Review
It’s been some time since my last review, and today I’m delighted to share Charlie Laidlaw’s latest novel, Everyday Magic. Read on for an excerpt and a chance to win a signed edition of the book.
Everyday Magic Publication Date: 26 May 2021
Genre: Literary fiction/ Contemporary Fiction/ Humour
Publisher: Ringwood Publishing
Synopsis: Carole Gunn leads an unfulfilled life and knows it. She’s married to someone who may, or may not, be in New York on business and, to make things worse, the family’s deaf cat has been run over by an electric car. But something has been changing in Carole’s mind. She’s decided to revisit places that hold special significance for her. She wants to better understand herself, and whether the person she is now is simply an older version of the person she once was. Instead, she’s taken on an unlikely journey to confront her past, present and future.
Everyday Magic is an uplifting book filled with humour and poignancy, and reminds us that, while our pasts make us who we are, we can always change the course of our futures. Add to Goodreads
Excerpt
Chapter One
When Carole was little, she found a magic clearing in the woods near her home. She had been exploring, surrounded by oak, birch, and hazel trees, picking her way carefully between bramble and nettle. There was birdsong, squirrels darting across branches, and patterns of sunlight on the woodland floor. She had been looking for bilberries, and her hands were full of small black berries. She stopped to sit on an outcrop of rock by a wide stream that, in winter, could quickly become a torrent of brown water. In summer, it was comforting; in winter, treacherous. She ate her bilberries, the stream cascading over a small waterfall; the sound of water in her ears. It was summer and the stream bubbled crystal clear. The woodland rose in folds from the stream, and she climbed steadily upwards. Here, the trees crammed in on her; it was darker. When she looked up, she could only see sunlight trapped on leaves far above. It was a part of the old woodland that she’d never been to before, but she pushed on, feeling that she was on an adventure and might suddenly come across a gingerbread house or wizard’s cottage.
At the top of the hill she found herself in a small clearing. It was only a few yards across, framed with oak trees, and perfectly round. Sunlight from directly above made the clearing warm, and she stood at its centre, wondering if she was the first person to have ever discovered it. Each of the oak trees around the clearing seemed precisely set, each one a perfect distance from the next, and she walked around them, touching each one, wondering if someone had planted the oak trees, or if the clearing really was a magic place. She still sometimes believed in magic. Then she stood again at its centre, wondering at its symmetry and why a long-dead sorcerer might have planted the oak trees. Then, realising that the sorcerer might not be dead, and that she had walked uninvited into his private domain, she hurried away, not sure whether to be frightened or excited. It was a place she often went back to that summer, and on following summers, sometimes alone and sometimes with her little brother. They would sit in the centre of the woodland circle, eating bilberries, hoping to meet the sorcerer who had built the clearing. She wasn’t frightened of him anymore; the clearing was too peaceful to have been made by a bad wizard. It was their secret place, but mainly Carole’s, because she had found it. It was a comforting place: it was somewhere she would go if she was sad or angry about something, because the woodland circle and its shifting half-shadows offered calm and new perspectives. She could almost hear the trees speak to her, the wind in their branches making the leaves whisper, but so softly that she couldn’t understand. She would listen, eyes closed, the leaves rustling, but she never understood what they were saying. The circle of trees stood solid and immovable, dark and stoic, old and wise, and each one the colour of stone.
Review
Charlie Laidlaw is an expert at crafting immersive stories which engage the reader from the outset. As with his other books, I struggled to put this one down. Through the main protagonist, Carole, we are invited on a thoughtful journey, during which we join Carole in considering how her past shapes her present, which in turn influences her future.
Carole is a woman of myriad titles; Iona’s mother, Ray’s wife, home maker … the sort of labels which many of us acquire. In the process, we sometimes loses sight both of who we are, and what our motivations are. What drives us to get up in the morning, beyond the routine, the feeling of obligation, or requirement. Carole is uncertain as to where she fits into her own life, and struggles to find a personal path into the future. Not at the exclusion of those she cares about, but in order to once again be Carole. Not a label. With some guidance from forces she doesn’t quite understand, including modern technology, Carole revisits her past as she strives to make sense of her present. This, in turn, begins to create a clearer future.
Everyday Magic is set in Scotland, a beautiful country brought alive brilliantly by Charlie’s detailed narrative (North Berwick is now at the top of my list of places to visit in Scotland). Carole’s expertise is in archaeology, and this theme features throughout the book in vivid description. The reader senses the excitement at any find, however small, and the brooding solitude of some of the Scottish islands which Carole encountered through the research work of earlier life.
Charlie builds strong personalities throughout the story, creating relatable characters for readers to care about. Carole in particular comes to life through Charlie’s natural ability to not only step inside the female mind, but understand and empathise with women.
A thoughtful book filled with hope and life lessons, without preaching or becoming overly sentimental. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey, and will certainly return to this book in future. I recommend Everyday Magic most highly.
About The Author
Charlie Laidlaw lives in East Lothian, one of the main settings for Everyday Magic. He has four other published novels: Being Alert!, The Space Between Time, The Things We Learn When We’re Dead and Love Potions and Other Calamities. Previously a journalist and defence intelligence analyst, Charlie now teaches Creative Writing in addition to his writing career.
Charlie Laidlaw | Facebook | Twitter
International Giveaway (closing soon): Win one of two signed editions of
Everyday Magic ~
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Book Tour Schedule
June 14th
Reads & Reels (Review) http://readsandreels.com
@esmeralda_lagiggles18 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/esmeralda_lagiggles18/
Phantom of the Library (Review) https://phantomofthelibrary.com/
Books, Ramblings & Tea (Spotlight) https://booksramblingsandtea.com/
June 15th
@swimming.in.books (Review) https://www.instagram.com/swimming.in.books/
Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/
Books Teacup & Reviews (Review) https://booksteacupreviews.com/
Rambling Mads (Spotlight) http://ramblingmads.com
June 16th
Nesie’s Place (Spotlight) https://nesiesplace.wordpress.com
@geauxgetlit (Review) https://www.instagram.com/geauxgetlit/
@greeneyedgirl0704 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/greeneyedgirl0704/
@m_books.dogs (Review) https://www.instagram.com/m_books.dogs/
@reads.by.the.sea (Review) https://www.instagram.com/reads.by.the.sea/
June 17th
B is for Book Review (Interview) https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com
The Librocubicularista (Review) https://thelibrocubicularista.wordpress.com/
@theculture.hunter (Review) https://www.instagram.com/theculture.hunter/
Banshee Irish Horror Blog (Review) www.bansheeirishhorrorblog.com
June 18th
The Photographer’s Way (Review) https://www.thephotographersway.org
@jypsylynn (Review) https://www.instagram.com/jypsylynn/
@jenniferclaywood (Review) https://www.instagram.com/jenniferclaywood/
Liliyana Shadowlyn (Review) https://lshadowlynauthor.com/
@jeyreads (Review) https://www.instagram.com/jeyreads/
The Magic of Wor(l)ds (Review) http://themagicofworlds.wordpress.com
Book Tour Organized By
Thank you to Shannon, at R&R Book Tours, for offering me a place on this tour. Also to Charlie Laidlaw for gifting me a copy of the book, in return for an honest review. All views are my own.
