and this would be the PR and Reviews page, where you will find links to articles, features video etc:
K-Girls book launch – held in Grove House, Schull: 2 Nov 2013
Independent Newspaper ‘Entertainment Book News’ feature : 10th December 2014
and some Reviews……
Carlo Gebler – author
“Scintillating, rollicking and fun – readers will not be disappointed.”
Amazon customer’s are saying:
Learn about life at the Kylemore Abbey boarding school while being entertained.
BySarah Joyon April 6, 2015
I visited Kylemore Abbey two summers ago, and heard about the book on my visit. When I got home I ordered the book and read the book in just a few days. I loved it, and am waiting for more books in the series. I remember thinking what an awesome place to go to school, and how much I would love to know more about what it was like to attend school at the abbey. This book informs the reader of life at the boarding school whilst mixing in a great story and a lot of mystery. I hope more books in the series are published soon!!
ByCindy Dunneon March 23, 2015
The story takes place at a girls boarding school at the Kylemore Abbey in Ireland. The combination of mean girls, nice girls, pranks, intrigue, adventure and the enjoyable writing style of the author make this book an entertaining and quick read. The book is delightful and I look forward to the further books in the series! As an aside, this story could be adapted to a teen/tween TV Series or a movie!
ByTracy Sinclairon June 9, 2014
Format: Paperback
Move over Mallory towers …. K girls have arrived ! A thrilling adventure full of high jinks and mysteries, Lydia Little may just be the next Enid Blyton, a very engaging read for preteens through to seniors. thoroughly recommend it !
Dermot Murphy – Good Reads reader, May 01, 2014
A tale of youthful pranks in a remote boarding school for girls in the west of Ireland. A perfect setting for fun and frolics and late night shenanigans! Oh, and there’s a ghost in there too. Very entertaining! And apparently there’s more to come!
Fergus O’Connell, author – I loved this book, August 6, 2013
I loved this book. Great, well-drawn characters, fast-paced, funny. Anyone who’s ever enjoyed a boarding school book would love this and want to get into the series. Go get it, you young adults.
Elizabeth Buckley, Amazon reader – Gem of a book, September 17, 2013
This is an enchanting book about one young lady’s experience in Kylemore Abbey. The story is full of characters, fun and adventure – keeping the reader intrigued to the end. The insight into Kylemore, its history and surroundings is an added bonus. Really enjoyed it!
GAVKEV, Amazon reader – Hard to put down December 27, 2013
When I started this book I expected it to be more suited to teenage girls but as a mature lady I enjoyed every page of this book, I was always fascinated by the idea of boarding school so I think thats what drew me to it & I found I was able to “live” my dream through this book, fascinating charachters with a very unexpected twist at the end. Highly recommend
Suma, Amazon reader – Excellent story – looking forward to sequel, April 15, 2013
I bought this book for my 10 year old daughter but ended up reading it myself – and thoroughly enjoying it. The characters are likeable and credible. I love the idea of the ghost in the tower and the fact that the whole story is set in an existing castle – a former boarding school – means that we can look forward to visiting the scene of the story at some stage. This book deserves AT LEAST five stars!!! Both my daughter and I are looking forward to the follow up.
A Spirited Tale of Irish Boarding School Escapades, 22 Oct. 2013
By
Tina Williams (United Kingdom) Book Reviewer
Readers of all ages who relish tales of high jinks and adventure with a paranormal twist will enjoy K-Girls. The read will be particularly nostalgic for those such as me who spent their youth in the 1980’s and enjoyed reading Enid Blyton’s St Clare’s and Malory Towers series. It is many a girls dream to attend boarding school away from the confines of home life, forging new friendships and experiencing exciting escapades and this book does not disappoint in bringing these dreams alive.
K-Girls is the first book in the Kylemore Abbey Series, by author Lydia Little, who was herself once a pupil of the school.It has been released in both digital format and paperback. In K-Girls Alice Stone persuades her parents to send her to boarding school, wanting to have the adventures she always dreamed about and at the same time reinvent herself. She is drawn to the beauty and splendour of Kylemore Abbey, Connemara, a convent school for girls, housed in a former castle. Alice enters the school as a somewhat nervous first year, nevertheless determined to make her mark and enjoy her life there to the full.
Soon after she arrives she encounters Ruth, the ghost of a former pupil, who died at the school in the 1920’s and whose body resides in the cemetery. Alice has never seen a ghost before, let alone held a conversation with one! For her part Ruth has had a lonely existence since becoming a ghost, being able to observe the comings and goings at Kylemore, to which she is tied, but never having communicated with a soul, living or dead. Alice keeps Ruth and her ability to see and communicate with her a secret from her new friends, Gale and Bessie, and others at Kylemore, lest they think she is losing her mind.
As a first year Alice and her friends are viewed as the newbies by the other girls, especially the seniors and Alice cannot resist embroiling herself in some daring escapades as she strives to prove her worth in challenges set by the older girls. Her success in these ventures is threatened by some enemies she inadvertently makes and she has to rely on Ruth’s assistance and her own cunning and tenacity to succeed, often against all odds.
I enjoyed the two main characters of Ruth and Alice and the friendship and mysrerious bond they formed. Alice is a spunky, confident and likeable heroine, wanting to make her mark and do right by others. She is desperate to prove that she can succeed in the tasks she is set and at the same time not wanting to offend Dame Mary, who runs the school, with her exploits. Ruth is desperate for a friend, having been on her own for so long and sometimes Alice, who doesn’t want her ability to communicate with Ruth to jeopardise her budding friendships with other girls, is a little unfeeling with some of the things she says to her, although she does feel guilty afterwards. I really felt for Ruth as she cannot recall the circumstances around her death and cannot comprehend why she has not passed over. I was interested to learn about her story as her memories start to resurface. Ruth has a strong sense of what is right and wrong, sometimes at odds with more modern sensibilities.
The novel is set in the 1980’s and there are many references to the popular culture of the time. It is clear that the author is familiar with this time period as well as the minutiae of school life at the school she attended and its history. I enjoyed the descriptions of the school and its grounds and the escapades of the girls! There are many humorous scenes, such as Alice talking to Ruth and being overheard talking to herself by others and other scenes where certain characters get their comeuppance.
There are many other characters in the novel, comprising Alice’s friends, Gale and Bessie and other characters comprising older girls and teachers, some of whom do not have Alice’s interests at heart. The novel also deals sensitively with the usual issues of the making and breaking of friendships and making up, their emotions being perhaps more acute than normal as the girls are away from home and in a secluded environment. Some of the characters are not all what they first seem and there are a number of plot twists, including a major one at the end, which I did not expect. I will be very interested to find out where the author takes the tale in the next instalment!
I recommend this novel to readers of all ages who like tales of adventure and mystery with paranormal elements, but which also explore the trials and tribulations of pre-teen and teenage girls in their formative years.
A copy of this book was provided by the author for the purpose of a fair and honest review.
Review: ‘It’s boarding school with a spirited twist’
This first instalment of a series for young teenagers is a tale very much in the classic spirit of Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers and St Clares. Described as ‘an Irish boarding school adventure with a spirited twist’, the action takes place in the grounds of Kylemore Abbey School, where the author herself boarded during her teens.
The story races along with an old-fashioned pacy introduction to 12-year-old Alice Stone, a girl desperate for adventure and certain that boarding school is the best place to find it.
Settling in as a lowly first year, Alice soon makes friends, enemies – and the acquaintance of ghostly former pupil, Ruth.
Midnight raids on the kitchens, stern nuns and the sprawling castle grounds all set the scene for a distinctly Irish take on the traditional boarding school adventure. Strong characters, pacing and plot all contribute to a great read.
A worthwhile addition to any young – or nostalgic – reader’s stocking this Christmas.
Aoife Ní Dhálaigh – November 26, 2013 The Connemara Journal
Lydia Little - creative writer and K-Girl 