Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...: My Coffee and Thorn guest: Charles Moberly

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https://mybook.to/trytheleopardsmouth

About the Book

Purchase link: https://mybook.to/LeopardsMouth

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/151526805-try-the-leopard-s-mouth

Genre: Recent historical fiction; colonial Africa

Print length: 375 pages

Age range: This is an adult book but could be suitable for mature older teenagers

Trigger warnings: racial oppression and violence; violent death

Amazon rating: 5*

AFRICA 1970

Briony and Tom, both in their twenties, are very different characters. But opposites attract. In business, as in love, they complement each other.

They buy a farm and discover a rare drug. Tom grows it and Briony markets it. At first, they are oblivious of their responsibilities to the land and its people. But gradually they realise that they have been supporting a racist and colonialist regime.

The onset of the Rhodesian – Zimbabwean War of Independence tears at the couple’s relationship. Misunderstandings arise from their conflicting personalities and from external pressures. Events pull them apart, but also bind them together.

Try the Leopard’s Mouth is a romantic thriller set in Africa. It is also a historical novel, grounded in real events in the period 1970-80.

AUTHOR’S AWARDS and OTHER BOOKS

http://mybook.to/TheCorncrake

getbook.at/TheScrotumToad

https://mybook.to/CooeeBaby

The Scrotum Toad – A Chill with a Book Reader Award)

The Corncrake – A Chill with a Book Premier Award

Try the Leopard’s Mouth, Highly Recommended Award by

The Historical Fiction Company

the author on Mount Kilimanjaro

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charles Moberly’s novels are different from one another in style and genre. He likes to push boundaries, and to address subjects rarely covered by other writers. If there is a common theme, it is tension arising from misunderstandings.

Moberly has written three novels to date: The Scrotum Toad, a satirical comedy; The Corncrake, a historical novel set in 1909-10 and 1914-15; and Try the Leopard’s Mouth, a romantic thriller with a firm historical base . All three novels are available in paperback and Kindle from Amazon now.

In his second novel, The Corncrake, four members of a family share the narration, which passes between them over two hundred and fifty times. This powerful technique allows the reader to enter the minds of characters as they react to events, so that love, conflicts and misunderstandings are conveyed immediately. This is only possible if the voices of the characters are so strong that they are identifiable the moment they speak.

Moberly lived and worked in Africa for two years. Two of his novels are set in Africa.

Website: https://charlesmoberlyauthor.blogspot.com

My review

I have to state that I know Charles, until a few years ago he was my neighbour - I was sad to see him move away with his lovely wife, Andrea, who has since passed away. I'll never forget how welcoming they were when we moved to Devon. That said, I have been a published author for over thirty years now, so along the way I have come to know many writers who have subsequently become good friends, and, naturally, I read their books. If I enjoy the read I leave a review - an honest one, which is what I have done here...

I think the most remarkable thing about Charles Moberly, as a relatively new author, is that all four of his novels, so far, are totally different in style and plot to each other, which shows just how good a writer he actually is.

This is what I posted non Amazon:

There are several things I enjoyed about Try The Leopard's Mouth, the tale itself, the characters, the competent writing, but principally - the location and setting.

How refreshing to read a novel that is not set in Tudor or Jane Austen's England, but in Africa during the 1970s and the Rhodesian/Zimbabwean War of Independence.

Mr Moberly is very talented in his writing, bringing Africa vividly to life - I'd say very much on a level with Wilbur Smith in his heyday. As a romance and a thriller the tale should satisfy many readers, and as a look at the difficult history of the period Try The Leopard's Mouth is sensitively and expertly done.

The cover too, (designed by www.avalongraphics.org) is beautifully depicted, superbly adding to the evocative atmosphere of the book.

Recommended read.

***** 5 Stars - awarded with great pleasure

https://mybook.to/trytheleopardsmouth

More Praise for Try The Leopard’s Mouth

Winner of Highly Recommended Award by The Historical Fiction Company, who commented:

“Moberly is a mastermind in his craft. Painting an image so vivid of 1970s Rhodesia, later Zimbabwe, with its lush rolling hills, fertile farmland, roaring waters and rich culture that any reader would feel as though they’ve been dropped into the middle of the African bush. For they are to feel as drawn to it as the characters of the story, regretting when the time comes that they must leave. He has woven a tale of incredible stakes. A country at war with racism embedded into the very foundation of its start.

We are thrust into the middle of the goings on and the history of the story delivered is precise, it’s harsh in its truth, but it’s emotional and sucks the reader in so they are as immersed as the characters are in the plot. A man who just wants to be a farmer is sucked in by the angel he’d never intended to meet and his world of simplicity turns into one of politics, warfare and a drug that can only be fuel to the fire.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was knocked sideways by this book. I ended up staying up all night to finish it, and although it is in no way a sentimental book, at the end I was weeping – not for the main characters but for the country and for some of the minor characters who had moved me.

It is beautifully written – summoning a time and a place with deft strokes and capturing the lived reality of a terrible period of colonial history. Goodreads review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

There are several things I enjoyed about this book, the tale itself, the characters, the competent writing, but principally – the location and setting. ….as a look at the difficult history of the period Try The Leopard’s Mouth is sensitively and expertly done. Amazon review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Excellent read. I will read it again. Recommend. Amazon review

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