Who Is Eva Glyn?

Good friend, Eva Glyn’s latest novel The Dubrovnik Book Club published by One More Chapter was released on 8 March 2024. To celebrate the author reveals something of the real Eva Glyn for my blog readers …

Eva… she is me, and yet she isn’t. Perhaps she’s the best version of who I’d like to be, or maybe just a handy pseudonym for my books set in Croatia. Either way, I’ve become very comfortable with her, and when a certain coffee shop insists on having my name when I order, I normally give hers instead.

So where does the name come from? Eva was my father’s mother’s name. She died before I was born, but as Dad was a writer too it just felt right to use it. And Glyn is a tribute to my Welsh roots; most specifically author and poet Glyn Jones, a friend of my parents and a man I admired greatly.

Clearly Eva loves to travel, and her books were born out of her first trip to Croatia in 2019. Not only did she hear the most moving of stories about a boy growing up during the war in the 1990s, but she fell in love with the place and the people. That ‘boy’ is tour guide Darko Barisic who as well as inspiring The Olive Grove has become both a collaborator and a close friend.

Eva’s most recent trip abroad was to Florence where she soaked up the fabulous churches, the Medici history, Tuscan hilltop towns and a huge amount of pasta. She’s definitely a foodie, but sadly she shares my intolerance of wheat, and can’t even try the fabulous cakes and savoury pastries that feature in her books.

Naturally Eva loves to read and the stories she loves most are about people and their relationships. Not necessarily romances; friendships, families, neighbours… any book that puts the characters centre stage. As an author she’s lucky enough to receive review copies of new titles before publication, and her three most recent recommended reads are Bonjour Sophie by Elizabeth Buchan (out 4^th April), The Best Way to Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale (14^thMarch) and Claire Dyer’s fabulous What We Thought We Knew.

About Eva Glyn

Eva Glyn writes escapist relationship-driven fiction with a kernel of truth at its heart. She loves to travel and finds inspiration in beautiful places and the stories they hide.

Her love affair with Croatia began in 2019, and since then the country’s haunting histories and gorgeous scenery have proved fertile ground for her books, driven by her friendship with a tour guide she met there. His wartime story provided the inspiration for The Olive Grove and his help in creating a realistic portrayal of Croatian life has proved invaluable. Her second novel set in the country, An Island of Secrets is a dual timeline looking back to World War 2, and although her third is a contemporary romance featuring mature main characters, The Collaborator’s Daughter, has its roots in that conflict too.

Inspired by authors she loves such as Libby Page and Faith Hogan, Eva has wanted to write books about unlikely friendships for a long time. March 2024 sees her dream realised when The Dubrovnik Book Club is published. She had just the best fun choosing the diverse book club reads, including titles by Richard Osman and Jane Austen.

Eva lives in Cornwall, although she considers herself Welsh, and is lucky enough to be married to the love of her life, who she’s been with for almost thirty years. She also writes as Jane Cable.

Social media:

Instagram: @evaglynauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvaGlynAuthor/
Twitter: @janecable
Bookbub: @evaglyn

About The Dubrovnik Book Club

‘The perfect summer escape, I adored it!’ USA Today Bestseller, Faith Hogan

In a tiny bookshop in Dubrovnik’s historic Old Town, a book club begins…

Newly arrived on the sun-drenched shores of Croatia, Claire Thomson’s life is about to change forever when she starts working at a local bookshop. With her cousin Vedran, employee Luna and Karmela, a professor, they form an unlikely book club.

But when their first book club pick – an engrossing cosy crime – inspires them to embark upon an investigation that is close to the group’s heart, they quickly learn the value of keeping their new-found friends close as lives and stories begin to entwine…

Buying Link : https://mybook.to/TheDubrovnikBookClub

Review by Morton: 5 Stars

An Interesting and Absorbing Read

I have now read several novels by Eva Glyn, but I do believe this is my favourite book. A story, or rather multiple entwined stories, told through the point of view of four characters which I found myself absorbed and carried away by.

Claire has come to Dubrovnik to run a book shop for the owner whose wife is seriously ill and runs a book club at the store. Claire is paranoid about catching Covid again after a particularly nasty bout of the disease and Long Covid too. She has to learn to cope with the proximity of others. Luna, her assistant in the bookshop has secrets and obstacles of her own to overcome. Karmela, a history professor, caught up with the past and the distant past needs to thaw and allow herself to have friends again and Vedran, probably my favourite character, has complex wounds both from the war and his toxic relationship with missing girlfriend, Didi.

When the future of the book shop is threatened all four of the main characters and their friends need to join forces to try to save it.

As the story unfolds we learn more about the past and present of these characters and their life aspirations too. The book club reading choices are cleverly intertwined with the narrative of the story experienced by Claire, Luna, Karmela and Vedran. I found myself sneaking away at all hours of the day to read a little more and was totally wrapped up in their stories. 

I think this book could easily lend itself to a sequel. Bravo Eva Glyn.

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Published by Choc Lit an imprint of Joffe Books