Tag: genre: historical fiction

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 9:50 am by Laura, on April 4, 2020

  I’ve fallen so far behind on my reviews this year that I’m struggling to write full-blown reviews with individual posts at the moment. So instead I’ll give you a rather packed post full of mini reviews! Enjoy!

  

  

  

  Contemporary Reads

  No Judgments by Meg Cabot (★★★)

  Fairly standard romance with light humor, so it was great for escapist fiction! A terrible hurricane is about to hit a small island in the Keys, and Bree is either incredibly calm or incredibly naive about it. She’s determined to stay put and care for all the abandoned animals, but she’s also distracted by another stubborn soul. I read this first in the series to know what was in store for the second, which I was more interested in (libraries!). I can tell I’m really going to be a fan of the small town/island setting. 

  This qualifies for my library books challenge!

  Tweet Cute by Emma Lord (★★★.5)

  This novel tapped into a universal experience: the ways in which drama online infects and disrupts our daily real life. It also speaks about power and long-held grudges. Pepper and Jack have power struggles with their parents and siblings, and the parents hold long grudges and vent it through their children. All Pepper and Jack want is to survive high school and figure out their futures, not get roped into a viral sensation. I appreciated the development of the romance here. It’s not insta-love, there isn’t really a slow burn here either—it’s a natural, gradual teaming up of flirty fun while maintaining sanity in the hot mess of social media life, and then a realization they’re meant to be together. It’s sweet, it’s PG, and I loved every second of it. I was also SO HAPPY SO SO HAPPY that the teens talked to each other instead of hiding crap like their parents’ did. Just be honest, folks. From the beginning. Save yourself a headache! Highly recommend this novel for someone wanting a sweet contemporary YA with all the growing pains of being a modern teen finding their footing IRL and online!

  This qualifies for my library books challenge!

  The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley (★★★)

  Entertaining, thoughtful, and ironic—just how “authentic” is Julian’s Authenticity Project? I identified with Monica, a driven, hardworking, loving young woman who gives and gives and feels she’s not worthy to receive anything back. Other characters—an addict trying to sober up, a backpacking Australian, an IG-obsessed new mom, a caring grandmotherly figure (Lizzie was my favorite!!!)—are impacted by Julian’s project in big and small ways, with twists and turns both predictable and surprising. Interesting concept, would definitely recommend for those seeking uplifting reads or community-of-strangers fiction a la Fredrick Backman, Phaedra Patrick, and Gail Honeyman.

  This qualifies for my library books challenge!

  

  

  Historical Fiction

  American Duchess by Karen Harper (★★★★)

  I finished this on audio and really enjoyed it! I’ve read Harper’s The Royal Nanny so I was already a bit familiar with her writing—clearly well-researched biographical historical fiction, great characters come to life, a little stiff in the dialogue, quick pace—and wanted to see how she did with American Duchess. Her writing of course is the same, but she really brought to life a woman I knew literally nothing about apart from her family name being basically American royalty.

  Consuelo Vanderbilt (!) is the daughter of a railroad magnate and rising suffragette, and one of the first “dollar princesses” to marry into European peerage/royalty to help fund those families. She married the Duke of Marlborough and it was not a happy one. Her cousin by marriage is Winston Churchill, and even after her divorce and remarriage to a French pilot, these two stayed in touch. The novel spans Consuelo’s life, from shortly before her first wedding through the end of WWII. It’s astounding all that can happen in our lifetimes, and Consuelo utilized everything she had to try to make the world a better place.

  Next on my Vanderbilt and Churchill journey is A Well-Behaved Woman (Consuelo’s mother Alva) and That Churchill Woman (Winston’s mother Jennie).

  This qualifies for my library books & genre challenge!

  The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick (★★★)

  About two months ago I took a poll on IG and asked which medieval/Plantagenet-set novel I should read from a stack I provided. IG voted for The Summer Queen. This was for the librarian book club called Genre Study, whose theme for 2020 was historical fiction, and March’s theme was medieval/Plantagenet/plague (…oh wait…). Though we couldn’t meet in person in March, and though our discussion is pushed to May (though that may also be pushed again), I still wanted to read my chosen book.

  The Summer Queen is the first of a trilogy on Eleanor of Aquitaine, with this one following her marriage (Louis VII), annulment, and early part of her second marriage (Henry II) as Queen of France and then Queen of England. Biographical fiction is difficult to do, especially this far back in time, because you have to make the modern reader interested in the person, their life, and their situations. Thankfully Chadwick does an excellent job of writing historical fiction that’s engaging with the modern reader, rather than feeling like a slog.

  That said, this modern feminist reader was so frustrated with Eleanor’s limitations and powers––she could scheme, plot, and plant ideas to make men think they came up with it, but the execution was so slow-going I know I’d personally run out of patience if I were in Eleanor’s shoes––and so frustrated with the Church––the Crusades still baffle me––and I just…lost it with Louis. What a dick. And poor Eleanor was married to that man-child for so long. Henry was a relief, but not by much. The novel ends with them sailing to England to claim the throne. I guess, in short, Chadwick did an excellent job of expressing those frustrations to a modern reader without making Eleanor’s character feel anachronistic.

  There are, I’ve been told, better/more engaging narratives out there of Eleanor’s life (particularly by Alison Weir). I’m probably going to pick up the rest of this trilogy since I want to see her children rise up against Henry, but I’ll also try Weir too!

  This qualifies for my TBR & genre challenge!

   

  Posted in books, Reviews 2020 | 1 Comment | Tagged book review, genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult, mini review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 1:55 pm by Laura, on December 1, 2019

  

  

  

  

  I’d Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel — ★★★★★ — If you’re a reader you’ll find at least one thing in this book that is relatable to you! If not the entire book! Sharing your books with friends (or not), repeatedly going to the library and grabbing armfuls of books and holds (even though you have plenty of books at home you own and haven’t read), never leaving the bookstore without buying at least one book, knowing that book recommendations need more than “it’s great!” because readers all have different reading tastes, getting so lost in an audiobook the day has flown by and you didn’t do any housework or errands, rereading favorites because you love them (or not because you don’t want to mess with the memory of them), reading books with your children, racing to finish a book club title (or not and accepting the end will be spoiled), running out of space in your home for your books, buying and building more bookcases, dreading a move because of all the books you own, not owning a whole lot because you go to the library always, owning a lot because you go to the bookstore always, buying books to support authors but never reading them, buying used books because you like holding previously loved books, buying new books and cracking the spine…it’s endless!

  The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott — ★★★.5 — It’s good. The writing is perfect for historical fiction, the right atmosphere and tone for a Cold War novel. I enjoyed it enough to want to keep reading. But by the end it felt rushed, a little deflated. The love story fell apart/fizzled, and I found Boris to be incredibly selfish and thought Olga had it coming. There may have been some aspects of the CIA storyline that was totally over my head and implied and I simply didn’t catch on—some threads seemed loose, frayed, unanswered. I think my attention fell apart a bit when I spotted a major editorial error in a chapter heading. That said, I liked stylistically what was done with the novel. I liked you didn’t have to read Dr Zhivago in order to read and follow the story. I love that art prevails all, that art can reflect culture and criticize. I want to know more about the Cold War, about how people knew he was writing Dr Z and that the whole world knew before it was even published that it was criticizing the Soviet Union. I wanted more about the spying—lots of drops but not a whole lot of the actual acquisition of things—and perhaps more of Boris’s wife and what she was feeling about all of this (was she targeted too or just Olga? What’s the point of “hiding” the relationship when everyone knows what you’re doing, you pig, Boris? Sorry, moving on…). I loved the development of the CIA love story, and wanted more that too—with a more concrete ending please!

  The Trespasser by Tana French — ★★★★ — The sixth of French’s Dublin Murder Squad series held up to her usual literary detective fiction flair. It was a totally new experience for me to listen on audio to a Dublin Murder Squad detective rather than reading—the Irish narrator really grabbed and pulled me in. Hearing the thoughts aloud instead of reading them myself really put me on edge too, truly believing Conway’s paranoia was real and rooted in logic. French’s mysteries have always appealed to me. Her writing is engaging yet literary, smart yet accessible. I would not lump French in the same wheelhouse as Flynn or Hawkins or Ware as so many do—she stands out on her own. She’s a mystery writer for those who aren’t into mysteries (like me!). I also really enjoy that we follow a squad and not the same protagonist with each novel. The secondary character from the previous book becomes the main character for the next—and so forth. The trouble is…I think this series is now complete? Conway was the secondary character of the previous book, The Secret Place, but she’s still with her partner from that book in here too. I’m curious to see if French will continue the series, and how, now that we’ve closed this particular chapter of the Dublin Murder Squad narrative.

  And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander — ★★★ — Mystery isn’t really my jam to read, but I devour BBC/Masterpiece Mystery shows. This young Victorian woman who goes off on adventures and still stays true to the constraints of her society—a modern woman for her era without seeming anachronistic—happens to be at the center of a mysterious death. Lady Emily is recently widowed and ready to get out of mourning. But upon discovery of her late husband’s journals and fascination with Greek artifacts, Emily starts to fall in love with the man he was and learn that his death was…quite fishy. From London to Paris to Santorini to Cairo, Lady Emily must find the truth to her husband’s death and the mystery of stolen museum artifacts, all without shocking her mother half to death turning down marriage proposals. Emily was loads of fun and super intelligent. This had more dialogue than I expected, but the feel of the novel made me think, “If Jane Austen was born now and wrote historical mysteries, this is what she’d write.” It’s witty and clever, had lots of red herrings, and I was guessing through the end. I’d definitely pick up the next in the series!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2019 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, genre: mystery, genre: nonfiction, mini review

• Book Review: “The Golden Hour” by Beatriz Williams

  Posted at 8:15 am by Laura, on November 4, 2019

  The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams

  Publisher: William Morrow
  Published: July 2019
  Genre: historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780062834751
  Rating: ★★★★

  The Bahamas, 1941. Newly-widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives in Nassau to investigate the Governor and his wife for a New York society magazine. After all, American readers have an insatiable appetite for news of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, that glamorous couple whose love affair nearly brought the British monarchy to its knees five years earlier. What more intriguing backdrop for their romance than a wartime Caribbean paradise, a colonial playground for kingpins of ill-gotten empires?

  Or so Lulu imagines. But as she infiltrates the Duke and Duchess’s social circle, and the powerful cabal that controls the islands’ political and financial affairs, she uncovers evidence that beneath the glister of Wallis and Edward’s marriage lies an ugly—and even treasonous—reality. In fact, Windsor-era Nassau seethes with spies, financial swindles, and racial tension, and in the middle of it all stands Benedict Thorpe: a scientist of tremendous charm and murky national loyalties. Inevitably, the willful and wounded Lulu falls in love.

  Then Nassau’s wealthiest man is murdered in one of the most notorious cases of the century, and the resulting coverup reeks of royal privilege. Benedict Thorpe disappears without a trace, and Lulu embarks on a journey to London and beyond to unpick Thorpe’s complicated family history: a fateful love affair, a wartime tragedy, and a mother from whom all joy is stolen.

  The stories of two unforgettable women thread together in this extraordinary epic of espionage, sacrifice, human love, and human courage, set against a shocking true crime . . . and the rise and fall of a legendary royal couple.

  It has been way too long since I read a Beatriz Williams novel, and I’m so glad I picked this one up! Fun fact: a character from a previous novel of hers is born in this one—it’s so fun when authors drop Easter eggs like that!

  Lulu writes society columns for the Metropolitan magazine, mostly for the money but also to get the dirty gossip on the Windsors straight from the horse’s mouth. This takes place during WWII years when the Windsors were banished to the Bahamas, but Nassau is a thriving community of ties to Germany, hidden secrets, and a whole lot of racial unrest. Wallis was, frankly, despicable, and in many ways it sickened me to read the scenes with her in them because it feels like the times definitely haven’t changed a bit. Lulu was great though, I loved her voice and banter, her sleuthing and making connections, almost putting herself in the line of fire. I felt connected to her, and even she surprised me in wonderful ways. She may seem shallow, but boy is she full of depth, talent, and intelligence.

  Elfriede, set during the early 1900s and then through WWI, is caught between the ways of the old world (marriage for social standing) and the new (marrying for love), and the sacrifices that come with both. Talk about a strong woman! She made my heart ache every time children or pregnancy arose—she, like many women, suffered postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety, but men are idiots and don’t know how to help women of the time except shut them away or keep them away from children, period. All that she dealt with, all that she overcame, left me in awe.

  These two women’s lives collide by the shared connection of Elfriede’s son, who becomes Lulu’s future husband. The rising tension on the island and the paths they took to get to the end left me on the edge of my seat. What an enjoyable read!

  This qualifies as book 12 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2019 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 10:15 am by Laura, on August 19, 2019

  July has been a whirlwind of success at work (another deal announcement to come soon, eventually, maybe, keep your eyes open!) and the last few months is crunch time for the wedding, so I’ve been incredibly busy. Not enough time to write up reviews of the books I’ve read! Read, rate, carry on! So here is the miniest of mini reviews for a few of those books I’ve read lately…

  

  

  

  

  Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon — ★★★ — Priory is inspired by the legends of King Arthur as well as St George and the Dragon. Know those legends and you have a great sense of this book. Shannon builds this world from the ground up, and it mirrors our own—Virtudom is clearly Christianity/Holy Roman Empire, the East and South clearly inspired by Asia, Middle East, and Africa. A diverse cast of characters and cultural interpretations, all with different understandings and beliefs of dragons. The dragon lore was neat. The plot threads were intricate and detailed, and I was impressed with how they wove together. That said, the pacing was off, this was far too long (I know the intention was to have one epic feminist fantasy standalone, but it could’ve been edited down another 200 pages OR split into two books, easily), some elements of worldbuilding were dumped through clunky dialogue, and though I enjoyed the folktale way this was written it actually kept me at a distance from the characters and their hopes, dreams, desires, and motivations. And therefore lots of elements didn’t feel relatable, authentic, or justified. I’ve read many reviews of this book, in trusted trade publications as well as readerly reactions. This worked for some, not for others. I think I’m firmly in the middle. I enjoyed it; there are aspects I connected to, was interested in, was impressed by. And equally elements that could’ve been much better if given more attention.

  This qualifies as book 5 in my TBR challenge.

  Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston — ★★★ — I was super excited for this and enjoyed the first half well enough—laughed out loud even!—but I think my own expectations are at fault here with regards to my enjoyment of the novel. I was expecting The Royal We (but gay), or Royals (but gay), a book firmly placed in adult (though it’s drawing a YA crowd) that deals with the ins and outs of a budding romance between two top people in their respective countries (which this kind of does…kind of). That’s not quite what this book is and if someone told me it’s more New Adult than YA or adult, specifically that it’s more sexy times than plot, then I would’ve bypassed this for something else. I want plot and character development and deep, thoughtful discussions, but instead found bantering (least favorite dialogue), hate to love (least favorite trope), and more sex than plot development. Needless to say, I was really into the politics of this (what a dream America!), the family dynamics, and the PR/behind-the-scenes elements. Again, many of my critiques on this book I can only blame on myself and my expectations. If you love the tropes and dialogue I mentioned above, if you love New Adult, if you love romance as Plot A, this is definitely your book!

  This qualifies as book 6 in my TBR challenge.

  The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan — ★★★ — Ryan’s previous WWII novel, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, was fun, cheeky, and hilarious while at the same time heart-wrenching and mournful. It was also written in epistolary form, with letters and diary entries informing the reader of the goings-on in the village. The Spies of Shilling Lane didn’t shine quite as much in comparison. It follows your standard narrative form of Point A to Point B, in third person, flipping between Mrs Braithwaite, her daughter Betty, and Betty’s landlord and Mrs B’s sidekick Mr Norris. The spies aren’t as intense as you’d expect from The Alice Network, for instance, but it does shed light on the situations at home and just how unsettling everything was with the inability to trust anyone. Moles, leaks, and double agents are littered throughout the narrative, and Mrs B and Mr Norris are caught in the crossfire. It was entertaining but forgetful. I think it was meant to be more on the funny and cheeky side of things, but I simply wasn’t catching on to that. Read it with a bit of humor in mind, and it’s like watching two old people bumble around solving cozy mysteries when they’re really in the thick of something much worse. I expected more, and perhaps I wasn’t exactly in the humorous mood, but if you need a light WWII novel I would highly recommend this one. Sometimes the genre can get very heavy—but have no fear, Mrs B is here!

  This qualifies as book 7 in my TBR challenge.

  Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear — ★★★ — I stumbled across this book when looking up comparative titles for a client’s new project. Frankly there aren’t enough Great Khan/steppe-or-China/Song-dynasty era books out there. A favorite last year, The Bird and the Blade, is inspired by an opera that’s inspired by this era, but that’s all I’m really aware of. I was drawn to the premise, stayed for the setting (the steppes are vast!), and left interested in reading another Elizabeth Bear book. I didn’t quite connect with the characters or their quest fully, but Bear’s writing hooked me.

  This qualifies as book 11 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2019 | 5 Comments | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fantasy, genre: historical fiction, genre: romance, mini review, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 7:53 am by Laura, on June 3, 2019

  The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

  Publisher: Park Row
  Published: January 2019
  Genre: historical fiction
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: Grace Healey is rebuilding her life after losing her husband during the war. One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal on her way to work, she finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench. Unable to resist her own curiosity, Grace opens the suitcase, where she discovers a dozen photographs—each of a different woman. In a moment of impulse, Grace takes the photographs and quickly leaves the station. She learns that the suitcase belonged to a woman named Eleanor Trigg, leader of a ring of female secret agents who were deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of these women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but they never returned home, their fates a mystery. Setting out to learn the truth behind the women in the photographs, Grace finds herself drawn to a young mother turned agent named Marie, whose daring mission overseas reveals a remarkable story of friendship, valor and betrayal.

  Mini Review: I adored Grace and Eleanor’s characters, and I felt Marie was…lacking. This also wasn’t at all what I was expecting, which was great––but on the other hand, all of that suspense and build-up to what really happened fell flat for me. Though the end is tied neatly together, I would’ve given higher stars if all those questions and the tension didn’t build up to what ended up happening. If you love WWII hist fic, definitely read this. It’s exciting, it’s a neat little puzzle, but in many ways the true action of the story was kept hidden from the reader, all behind-the-scenes, which was meant to build tension I’m sure but left it feeling loose and frustrating. I’d recommend other WWII female agent or French Resistance stories above this one, but still good to add to the general collection.

  This qualifies as book 5 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  In Another Time by Jillian Cantor

  Publisher: Harper Perennial
  Published: March 2019
  Genre: historical fiction
  Rating: ★★★★
  Summary: 1931, Germany. Bookshop owner Max Beissinger meets Hanna Ginsberg, a budding concert violinist, and immediately he feels a powerful chemistry between them. It isn’t long before they fall in love and begin making plans for the future. As their love affair unfolds over the next five years, the climate drastically changes in Germany as Hitler comes to power. Their love is tested with the new landscape and the realities of war, not the least of which is that Hanna is Jewish and Max is not. But unbeknownst to Hanna is the fact that Max has a secret, which causes him to leave for months at a time—a secret that Max is convinced will help him save Hanna if Germany becomes too dangerous for her because of her religion.

  In 1946, Hanna Ginsberg awakens in a field outside of Berlin. Disoriented and afraid, she has no memory of the past ten years and no idea what has happened to Max. With no information as to Max’s whereabouts—or if he is even still alive—she decides to move to London to live with her sister while she gets her bearings. Even without an orchestra to play in, she throws herself completely into her music to keep alive her lifelong dream of becoming a concert violinist. But the music also serves as a balm to heal her deeply wounded heart and she eventually gets the opening she long hoped for. Even so, as the days, months, and years pass, taking her from London to Paris to Vienna to America, she continues to be haunted by her forgotten past, and the fate of the only man she has ever loved and cannot forget.

  Mini Review: I picked up this book because it was a pre- and post-WWII novel about a bookseller and a violinist, both professions tapping into my biggest life passions. But something about the premise initially kept me at a distance—dissociative memory loss, or amnesia, as a plot device. One of my least favorite. But fairly early on we learn it’s not quite that—it’s wormholes. Time travel. At first I wished I’d known about that up front. But then perhaps I wouldn’t have picked this book up. I fell in love with Hanna’s story, felt deeply her passion for music, for playing, for always being attached to her violin. Cantor is an excellent writer—I felt immersed in Europe, lost in time, along with Hanna and Max. I enjoyed this book, and I was eager to see how they found each other again, if ever. Moving and impactful, even with the time-travel-as-science element.

  This qualifies as book 6 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

  Publisher: Sourcebooks
  Published: June 2013
  Genre: historical and contemporary fiction
  Rating: ★★★★ 
  Summary: Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird—the mythical creature from an old Russian fable. Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna into the past who leads her on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption.

  Mini Review: I highly recommend listening to this on audio. The narrator does an excellent job not only when men and women are speaking, but also English, Scottish, Irish, French, and Russian accents. It was an absolute pleasure to listen to this! As to the book itself, it’s a long and quiet book, meant to be savored. The narrative storytelling is incredibly immersive, drawing you in with each of Nicola’s ESP experiences. Nicola wars between wanting to master her gift like her friend Rob, who utilizes his abilities to read minds and see the ghosts/spirits of history in his daily life, and keeping it suppressed like her grandfather wishes her to do. It’s an excellent commentary on what’s considered “normal” and what’s considered “a gift,” and drawing upon those strengths to navigate through life. I especially enjoyed Anna’s narrative too — she had to learn at a very young age how to distinguish between honest and distrustful people during a very turbulent time in European history. The combination of these two narratives with the help of Nicola’s ESP abilities made for a magical read (or listen)!

  This qualifies as book 7 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2019 | 0 Comments | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, mini review, review

• Book Review: “The Familiars” by Stacey Halls

  Posted at 7:45 am by Laura, on March 21, 2019

  The Familiars by Stacey Halls

  Publisher: MIRA
  Published: February 2019
  Genre: historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780778369189
  Rating: ★★★★

  Young Fleetwood Shuttleworth, a noblewoman, is with child again. None of her previous pregnancies have borne fruit, and her husband, Richard, is anxious for an heir. Then Fleetwood discovers a hidden doctor’s letter that carries a dire prediction: she will not survive another birth. By chance she meets a midwife named Alice Grey, who promises to help her deliver a healthy baby. But Alice soon stands accused of witchcraft.

  Is there more to Alice than meets the eye? Fleetwood must risk everything to prove her innocence. As the two women’s lives become intertwined, the Witch Trials of 1612 loom. Time is running out; both their lives are at stake. Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.

  Fleetwood Shuttleworth is a young noblewoman living near Pendle Hill in 1612 and approaching her fourth pregnancy with trepidation. Her other pregnancies have failed and she’s terrified this one will be the death of her. She requires the midwifery services of Alice Grey, who is later accused of witchcraft along with a dozen other women in the Lancaster area. Desperate to prove her innocence, Fleetwood defies the men in her life and tries to piece together the puzzle of Alice’s unfortunate situation.

  This solidly historical novel, with writing and atmosphere that feels like there’s a touch of magic, recounts the Pendle Witch Trials in northern England, taken from transcripts, letters, and notes of the time. Halls does an incredible job of making the reader question if Alice really was a witch––the eerie coincidences, Fleetwood’s moments of fear, and the misunderstandings of the townspeople are full of the uncanny and unsettling. Hundreds of years later our society is fascinated by witch trials and witch hunts––what really happened, what caused them, and why don’t we believe it now––and let’s just say Halls really nails it with this novel.

  Poor, illiterate women were the scapegoats for any instances of misunderstanding or coincidences. These women were also relied upon (“wise women”) to serve their villages and towns with their knowledge of herbal medicines and remedies––far more than any doctor at the time, and far more successful. Whether people (particularly men) were offended or threatened by them for their poverty and illiteracy, or for their expertise in something one was not familiar with, or for the plain fact they were female and it offended one’s masculinity, these “wise women” were sought out and accused of witchcraft. In the case of the Pendle witches, they were poor, possible mentally abused and traumatized, and neighbors as well––perhaps there was a long familial rivalry and things just snapped––and immediately were the ones blamed for all bad luck in the Lancaster area.

  In a way, Hall makes us examine just how much we’ve “grown” from these trials. We still have prejudices against the poor, mentally ill, and boundary-pushing women, all who are still at risk of being pushed down, silenced, and minimized. They’re not witches anymore, but they’re still “unwanted” members of society.

  Politics aside, I was enamored with the writing, the power behind the story, and all that women were still able to do (in very roundabout ways) in order to stand with each other on the right side of justice. Excellent, atmospheric novel!

  This qualifies as book 3 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2019 | 1 Comment | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, review

• Book Review: “The Light Over London” by Julia Kelly

  Posted at 6:15 am by Laura, on March 18, 2019

  The Light Over London by Julia Kelly

  Publisher: Gallery
  Published: January 2019
  Genre: historical fiction
  ISBN: 9781501196416
  Rating: ★★★★

  It’s always been easier for Cara Hargraves to bury herself in the past than confront the present, which is why working with a gruff but brilliant antiques dealer is perfect. While clearing out an estate, she pries open an old tin that holds the relics of a lost relationship: among the treasures, a World War II-era diary and a photograph of a young woman in uniform. Eager to find the author of the hauntingly beautiful, unfinished diary, Cara digs into this soldier’s life, but soon realizes she may not have been ready for the stark reality of wartime London she finds within the pages.

  In 1941, nineteen-year-old Louise Keene’s life had been decided for her—she’ll wait at home in her Cornish village until her wealthy suitor returns from war to ask for her hand. But when Louise unexpectedly meets Flight Lieutenant Paul Bolton, a dashing RAF pilot stationed at a local base, everything changes. And changes again when Paul’s unit is deployed without warning.

  Desperate for a larger life, Louise joins the women’s branch of the British Army in the anti-aircraft gun unit as a Gunner Girl. As bombs fall on London, she and the other Gunner Girls relish in their duties to be exact in their calculations, and quick in their identification of enemy planes during air raids. The only thing that gets Louise through those dark, bullet-filled nights is knowing she and Paul will be together when the war is over. But when a bundle of her letters to him are returned unanswered, she learns that wartime romance can have a much darker side.

  While searching through a client’s estate for antiques to bring back to the shop, Cara stumbles across an old tin filled with trinkets and a diary. The diary belongs to a young Cornish woman in 1941, experiencing her first romance and making a name for herself as a Gunner Girl. Cara has experienced recent turmoil in her life and solving the mystery of the owner of the diary rejuvenates her. She is determined to identify the owner of the diary and return it to her, especially because it may lead to answers in Cara’s own family’s past. The Gunner Girl, Louise, breaks free from her mother’s oppressive control by enlisting in the ATS, and then becoming one of the first women in Ack-Ack Command, shooting down German planes bombing London and other large cities—but she also finds herself caught in a whirlwind romance that does more harm than good.

  I was listening to this book on audio, two hours away from finishing, when I had to return it to the library—so I ran to the bookstore and bought it to finish! I love the WWII fiction that’s coming out lately, focusing on the brilliant efforts women made during the war, the unsung heroes and lesser-known stories, the powerful female friendships taking center stage over the wartime romances. Don’t get me wrong, romance is fine, but the accounts of these brave women are far more inspiring, empowering, and interesting to me. (Plus I love a good modern-day heroine who is a curator, archivist, librarian, etc…)

  What touched me most about this novel was Louise’s story. She’s swept up into a love affair as epic as the movies, full of urgency due to the war. She’s desperate to leave her mother’s grasp and defiant in anything her mother believed, but also wants to find herself in the midst of turmoil. Her search for an identity, to know herself and her strengths and weaknesses, and subsequently finding the thrill of independence among other like-minded women, was such a joy to read, even during her naivete in love. I want more of this. More female empowerment, more female friendships, and less focus on finding The One in order to make oneself “whole.” The Light Over London is all about second chances, starting over, reinvention, independence, and strength amidst chaos.

  This book is perfect for fans of Guernsey Literary and The Alice Network (likely also Lilac Girls and The Nightingale, though I’ve yet to read those!). Next on my TBR is The Huntress so expect lots of feminist history reviews!

  This qualifies as book 2 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2019 | 1 Comment | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 6:25 am by Laura, on February 25, 2019

  Today I’m sharing two vastly different novels — one is deeply character-driven, and the other deeply plot-driven — both eliciting similar ratings for enjoyment. Should be fun!

  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

  Publisher: Viking
  Published: September 2016
  Genre: historical fiction
  Rating: ★★★.5
  Summary: In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.

  Mini Review: I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this novel. Character-driven narratives are my jam, but for a novel to be almost entirely devoid of plot was astounding. This novel follows a man living in confinement as a Former Person in a Moscow hotel following the Revolution. He was once a member of the aristocracy, and as the decades pass he continues to live with one foot in nostalgia and one foot looking toward the future. I enjoyed his turn of phrase, how he made the most of his circumstances, and the way time (passage of, experience within the moment, and history itself) altered while he was trapped in the hotel. He was an individual who still saw his “comrades,” the believers of the People as one homogeneous group, as individuals. When one girl’s life rests in his hands, he moves from a life of leisure to one of purpose, which was a joy to watch develop. (The experience was a bit like reading a narrative of the Earl of Grantham through the eyes of Carson the Butler in Downton Abbey.) I can’t pinpoint what exactly pushed me through to continue reading, but I’m glad I did!

  When You Read This by Mary Adkins

  Publisher: Harper
  Published: February 2019
  Genre: contemporary
  Rating: ★★★.5
  Summary: For four years, Iris Massey worked side by side with PR maven Smith Simonyi, helping clients perfect their brands. But Iris has died, taken by terminal illness at only thirty-three. Adrift without his friend and colleague, Smith is surprised to discover that in her last six months, Iris created a blog filled with sharp and often funny musings on the end of a life not quite fulfilled. She also made one final request: for Smith to get her posts published as a book. With the help of his charmingly eager, if overbearingly forthright, new intern Carl, Smith tackles the task of fulfilling Iris’s last wish. Before he can do so, though, he must get the approval of Iris’ big sister Jade, an haute cuisine chef who’s been knocked sideways by her loss. Each carrying their own baggage, Smith and Jade end up on a collision course with their own unresolved pasts and with each other.
  

  Mini Review: Perfect for fans of Attachments and Eleanor Oliphant, this novel is a modern-day epistolary told through emails, blog posts, online therapy submissions, text messages, and other snippets from the characters’ virtual lives. There’s so much that can be gleaned from a person’s online presence! Though the formatting kept me from deeply connecting to the characters, I really enjoyed this quick read for all the ways one can see how people go about their days — their “external” communications with other people, as well as their “internal” struggles that still leave a footprint online (for example, all those pizza deliveries!). It’s also a captivating discussion on grief and death in the modern age — by emailing or writing on the loved one’s wall, knowing they’ll never see it or respond to it but somehow it helps us cope — that remarkably stays bittersweet and even funny without becoming too gloomy.

  This qualifies as book 1 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in Reviews 2019 | 0 Comments | Tagged genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: historical fiction, mini review, review

• Book Review: “Once Upon a River” by Diane Setterfield (ARC)

  Posted at 6:45 am by Laura, on December 5, 2018

  Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

  Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
  Publishing Date: December 4
  Genre: historical fiction, gothic
  ISBN: 9780743298070
  Rating: ★★★.5

  A dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the Thames. The regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open on an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a little child.

  Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life.

  Is it a miracle?

  Is it magic?

  Or can it be explained by science?

  Replete with folklore, suspense and romance, as well as with the urgent scientific curiosity of the Darwinian age, Once Upon a River is as richly atmospheric as Setterfield’s bestseller The Thirteenth Tale.

  In a pub known for its storytellers, nestled along the Thames, an injured and soaked man stumbles across the threshold, carrying what looks to be a drowned girl. But as the evening bustles to care for the strangers, a nurse and the innkeeper’s son both realize the girl is neither dead nor alive. And yet, she awakens. Three different people claim her as their lost daughter or sister, but the girl refuses to speak. Is she really who the others claim, does she belong to someone else, and how is it she managed to be neither alive nor dead when she appeared at The Swan?

  Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale is one of my all-time favorite novels. Though Bellman & Black hasn’t quite captured my attention, I knew from the jacket of this book that Setterfield was back in her game with Once Upon a River — atmospheric, absorbing, and full of wonder.

  The little girl’s arrival sparks an interesting scientific and fantastical discussion on life, death, and the in-between. The inn’s patrons are natural storytellers, and as they watch and soak up every minute detail of her appearance and life following the inn, you begin to wonder yourself, as the reader, how she came to be and what exactly happened. Rita, the nurse (and probably my favorite character!), relies on science to find the answers to the little girl’s situation, but nothing scientific comes to light. This sparks a philosophical discussion about God, about myths and legends and fantasies, and how to grapple with the unknown.

  Setterfield writes the narrative like the tributaries leading to the Thames — little, seemingly insignificant stories and characters grow and develop into a powerful flood of emotion, drama, and enlightenment by the story’s end. This is a novel that begs to be read slowly, savored, and not rushed or skimmed. Like the storytellers at The Swan, this too feels like a fairytale, to be read by a warm fire, in a cozy chair, with hot tea in hand.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2018 | 8 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, genre: adult fiction, genre: gothic, genre: historical fiction, review

• Book Review: “The Girl in the Tower” by Katherine Arden

  Posted at 6:45 am by Laura, on November 29, 2018

  The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

  Publisher: Del Rey
  Published: December 2017
  Genre: historical fiction, fantasy
  ISBN: 9781101885963
  Rating: ★★★

  Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to life in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop.

  The Girl in the Tower, the second book of the Winternight trilogy, starts immediately where The Bear and the Nightingale ended. Vasya is free from her village and wants to see more of the world. Her desire leads her to trouble in Moscow, and the rumbling undercurrents of war and oppressive religion. Is she to be trapped as a boy and become a warrior for the Grand Prince, or locked in a tower as a girl to be wed or sent to convent? And what does the prince of night, winter, death, and darkness have to say about it all?

  Of these two books so far, the first is my favorite. It stands out in my mind because it was full of medieval Russian culture, mythology, history, and lore. It was a commentary on religion mixed with paganism and magic. However, this book was far more political and battle-hungry, and it worked well with Vasya’s character and her need for adventure and freedom. While The Bear and the Nightingale has a clear-cut villain, with a tangible beginning, middle, and end in plot arc, and a cast of recurring characters, The Girl in the Tower felt far more realistic to life (even with its magical elements). Characters come and go depending on the location and political situation, all the characters from her village do not appear in here (of course they wouldn’t — Vasya’s left them all behind!), and newer, more immediate events take place that require Vasya to look deeply into herself and her motivations and goals. The romantic thread is far more prominent in this novel as well, and it felt appropriate to Vasya’s character growth — I was pleased to see that.

  By the end of the novel, Arden has set the stage for what’s no doubt going to be a spectacular showdown. I’m curious to see where Arden takes us next.

  I’d recommend this book — this trilogy! — to anyone who loves Eastern European history, folklore, and fantasy. Uprooted, Spinning Silver, and The Sisters of the Winter Wood come to mind…

  This qualifies as book 11 of 16 in my TBR challenge. 

  Posted in books, Reviews 2018, Rock My TBR | 9 Comments | Tagged book review, genre: adult fiction, genre: fantasy, genre: historical fiction, review, rock my TBR

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• Hello, I’m Laura!

  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to travel, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm always down for chips-and-queso nights. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!

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