Julia Ibbotson – Drumbeats (The Drumbeats Trilogy Book 1) #Giveaway

I’m part of the book tour for Drumbeats by Julia Ibbotson. I also have a giveaway at the bottom of the page. Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources and the author for my gifted copy of the book to write my honest review.

It’s 1965, and 18 year old Jess escapes her stifling English home for a gap year in Ghana, West Africa. But it’s a time of political turbulence across the region. Fighting to keep her young love who waits back in England, she’s thrown into the physical and emotional dangers of civil war, tragedy and the conflict of a disturbing new relationship. And why do the drumbeats haunt her dreams?

This is a rite of passage story which takes the reader hand in hand with Jess on her journey towards the complexities and mysteries of a disconcerting adult world.

This is the first novel in the acclaimed Drumbeats trilogy: Drumbeats, Walking in the Rain, Finding Jess.

For fans of Dinah Jefferies, Kate Morton, Rachel Hore, Jenny Ashcroft 

Julia Ibbotson is someone whose books I have read and thoroughly enjoyed previously. Drumbeats is the start of a trilogy that piqued my interest when I was involved in the cover reveals.

Set in the 1960s, we meet Jess, a young girl who is about to go on a gap year in West Africa. This will be a trip that changes her life. She wants to teach and experience a truly different way of life. This does mean leaving her boyfriend behind this is a relationship her parents approve of, but Jess is determined to go.

A coming of age historical fiction novel that is written so descriptively I was in love with this story. I have never been to Ghana, but I feel like I have been since reading this book. The experiences Jess has while there are not all good, and we see the effect these all have on her good and bad.

The facts and fiction are woven together superbly, and it brought to life the Ghanaian history for me. This is always a plus for me, I love to learn new facts as I read. That’s partly why I have a love for historical fiction.

As Jess meets new people, she finds herself in a quandary about her relationship and in which direction she should go. I was eager to see how her experiences would change her as a person. Just how much would her trip make her mature into a woman.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Ghana alongside Jess. I would have read it in one sitting if I had more time. Instead, I had to finish it the next morning. A historical fiction story with more than enough going on throughout the book to keep the reader turning the pages. I am so curious about the next book now! I want to see what Jess does when she is back home in England.

Purchase Link https://books2read.com/Drumbeats1

Author Bio

Award-winning author Julia Ibbotson herself spent an exciting time in Ghana, West Africa, teaching and nursing (like Jess in her books), and always vowed to write about the country and its past. And so, the Drumbeats Trilogy was born. She’s also fascinated by history, especially by the medieval world, and concepts of time travel, and has written haunting time-slips of romance and mystery partly set in the Anglo-Saxon period. She studied English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language, literature and history, and has a PhD in linguistics. She wrote her first novel at age 10, but became a school teacher, then university lecturer and researcher. Her love of writing never left her and to date she’s written 9 books, with a 10th on the way. She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, Society of Authors and the Historical Novel Society.

Social Media Links

Author website:
https://juliaibbotsonauthor.com/
Facebook Author page:
https://www.facebook.com/JuliaIbbotsonauthor
Twitter:
@JuliaIbbotson
https://twitter.com/JuliaIbbotson
Pinterest page: includes boards with pics and images that inspired each book
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/juliai1/
Goodreads author page:
https://www.goodreads.com/juliaibbotson
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/julia.ibbotson/
RNA (Romantic Novelists Association) website author page
https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org/rna_author/julia-ibbotson/

Giveaway to Win a Signed paperback copy of Drumbeats (Open to UK Only)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494572/?

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.