Hello and welcome to day 44 of #R3COMM3ND3D2020 and a brand new week of brilliant books! Today I am delighted to welcome a fantastic author to share three of their top picks published this year with us. It’s the lovely Cath Barton whose most recent publication is the heart-warming and emotional In the Sweep of the Bay. I recently organised a blog tour for ITSOTB and the love the book received from the bloggers was just wonderful! Scroll down to the end of this post to find out everything you need to know about In the Sweep of the Bay.

So, what is #R3COMM3ND3D2020? It’s about sharing the book love. It’s a chance for authors, book bloggers and bookstagrammers to shout about three (yes, *only* three) books they love. They can be written by any author, in any genre and published in any way (traditionally, indie press or self-published). But there is a catch. All three books must have been published in 2020. To make things interesting I have added a couple of teeny, tiny rules this year which are; 1) the book must have first been published in 2020 and 2) special editions and reissues do not count. I like to keep you lovely people on your toes. 😉

Here are the three books Cath has selected…

The Codes of Love by Hannah Persaud
I rarely give a book 5 stars. To merit that accolade, it needs to have swept me into its world and kept me captive there. The Codes of Love is one that did so. I read the final chapters before I went to sleep and they got into my dreams.
Cath’s Review of The Codes of Love

The Almost Mothers by Laura Besley
I admire Laura Besley’s writing in this flash collection for its lack of sentimentality and its directness in showing some of the many aspects of motherhood. I also very much like the way she matches style to content.
Cath’s Review of The Almost Mothers

Exit Management by Naomi Booth
There is no trace of melodrama in this taut and elegantly-written novel, but a measured weighting of what, in the end, is important in life and what is only vanity or hubris.
Cath’s Review of Exit Management

Three really interesting choices, Cath. Thanks so much for sharing them with us today.

If Cath has managed to tempt you, or if you would like to find out more about the books recommended above, please see the following links:

The Codes of Love by Hannah Persaud
The Almost Mothers by Laura Besley
Exit Management by Naomi Booth

About In the Sweep of the Bay:
This warm-hearted tale explores marriage, love, and longing, set against the majestic backdrop of Morecambe Bay, the Lakeland Fells, and the faded splendour of the Midland Hotel.

Ted Marshall meets Rene in the dance halls of Morecambe and they marry during the frail optimism of the 1950s. They adopt the roles expected of man and wife at the time: he the breadwinner at the family ceramics firm, and she the loyal housewife. But as the years go by, they find themselves wishing for more…

After Ted survives a heart attack, both see it as a new beginning… but can a faded love like theirs ever be rekindled?

“A tender and moving study of a marriage” Alison Moore, author of the Booker short-listed The Lighthouse

| Louise Walters Books | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Waterstones | Foyles | Barnes and Noble | Apple Books |

About Cath Barton:
Cath Barton is an English writer who lives in Wales. She won the New Welsh Writing AmeriCymru Prize for the Novella in 2017 for ‘The Plankton Collector’, subsequently published by New Welsh Review. Her second novella, ‘In the Sweep of the Bay’, was published on 23 November 2020 by Louise Walters Books.

Cath’s Website and Social Media Links:
| Website | Twitter @CathBarton1 |

If you’re a book blogger, bookstagrammer or an author and you have three books published this year which you want to shout about then please complete the following form (or click this link: https://forms.gle/kHTQeQdiUNZTsW4d6)