WRITING ARTHUR
A cautionary tale from an established writer
In the May 2001 issue of Solander Vivien Tyler threw down the gauntlet with her cautionary tale from an archaeological reader ....... .
....... Helen Holli ck takes it up
Most archaeologists pick holes in historical fiction - so do historians (and these two are even worse at stirring disagreement between themselves.) However, I do feel it is incredibly amusing to criticise historical accuracy in any book about Arthur, seeing as the man probably never existed in the first place! But that is the whole point - and the lasting excitement - of the Arthurian novel; the author has a free rein to exercise the imagination to the full potential of creativity. As I am at pains to point out in all my author's notes, my books are primarily stories, woven around a skeleton of facts. If I want to read facts, however, I will read non-fiction.
Is it not pompous to dismiss Arthurian fantasy outright?
Surely the main pint of any novel should be that it is a good yarn? Plausibility is required but total accuracy is not essential. Is it not a little pompous to dismiss Arthurian fantasy outright? After all, variety is the spice of life. I grant that for the historical novel to be believable, outright blunders are out. Romans on Hadrian's Wall eating rabbit and potato stew spring to mind. I try my best to be accurate, but I am a novelist; the pace of my plot is my priority along with the development of believable characters. I am not a historian
nor am I an archaeologist. From the footnotes to Vivien Tyler's article, I assume she has not yet completed a novel or reached the dizzy heights of publication. I do not wish to sound disrespectful or arrogant towards Vivien, but she is an archaeologist, not yet an established author. Until she is, she should bear in mind that constructive criticism is always welcome but lecturing is not!
Publishers are not interested in accuracy
Her advice the paragraph headed, what do you need to know ifyou want to write a novel about the 5th century? has something vital missing. We are told how to deal with historical content and authenticity; to be aware of the different areas of Britain and the political situation and not use the word Celt. (obviously, Tacitus hadn't the advantage of Vivien's advice.) These are all minor considerations. If you want to write an historical novel your MAIN objective is 'will publishers be interested in it?' And publishers, believe me, can be very pedantic and extremely picky. They are not interested in accuracy - only in what will sell. For a first time author a submitted manuscript about Arthur may, if well written, get a chance of at least being looked at. One with a minor historical figure as hero may not. When discussing possible subjects for my fourth novel with my editor at William Heinemann, I suggested a story about Maelgwyn of Gwynedd who may have served under Arthur. He was condemned by Gildas, shut himself away to escape the plague, became a monk for a while - quite a bit of challenging stuff there for a plot - but my editor wasn't interested. Publishing is about selling books. Books about unknown nobodies do not sell (apparently)! Hence, Vivien, all the books about Gwenhwyfar, especially as there is a publishing 'thing' at the moment that a good novel must have a dashing female as lead character- and a woman on the front cover, otherwise women will not buy it.
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
You and I know that this is tosh - but try telling that to publishers!
The debate about stirrups in Arthur's time is old hat
The weight of Vivien's article was about checking facts .... er, Vivien, your article scored an 'own goal' I'm afraid. The debate about stirrups in Arthur's time is as old hat as the one about, 'did Arthur exist?' By biggest personal beef is that most archaeologists/historians (and historical writers) know nothing whatsoever about horses except that they have two ears, four legs and eat oats and grass. If Vivien is writing her own novel, she should check her horse facts first. The leading authority on equine history is Anne Hyland. She has proved beyond doubt that the Roman saddle with four pommel horns (two at the front and two at the back) made any use of stirrups superfluous. These pommels 'wedged' the rider in and gave support much in the same way as the later medieval high cantle and pommel and the 'leaping head' of a lady's side-saddle.
I very much doubt that the British economy totally collapsed
Along with several eminent historians I very much doubt that the British economy totally collapsed any more than the towns did; there was a continuous fluctuation. If Britain was that poor, why on earth did the English bother to come here in the first place? ( or the Celts, the Romans, the Vikings, the Normans .... ?) Had the economy collapsed would there not have been a country-wide immediate 'free-for-all' between the incoming English in an attempt to gain power? Wouldn't it have taken many generations to recover? By the early 6th century, the country was pretty stable - the hiccup between the administration of Roman Britain and that of the English lasted a mere handful of years. The change from 'British' to 'English' was integrated and steady
with only a little bit of isolated bother, as reported by Gildas.
The church remained intact, yes, even in the Saxon areas. St Augustine was invited to England; a Christian community complete with church was already there in Canterbury; taxation and trade has always been doing OK. Britain sustains wonderful agricultural land, wool probably being our biggest asset right from the word go.
Pottery production is hardly indicative of the state of the economy
Compared to wool, pottery production is hardly indicative of the state of the economy. When the 'Vikings' settled in the Danelaw and when the Normans came the same pattern was repeated. Settlement was, on the whole, by peaceful integration. It was only the politics at the top that changed, not the underlying trade/economy/way of life.
So, I'm sorry Vivien, writing reader-grabbing fiction, whether historical or not is not about accurate detail. It is about a good plot; laughing and crying along with believable characters, leaving your readers panting for your next book. It's about the quality of the writing, not to mention getting a publisher to accept it in the first place!
Helen Hollick's Arthurian trilogy, The Kingmaking, Pendragon's Banner & Shadow of the King are all re-published with new covers by Arrow at £6.99. Harold the King is available in hardback from William Heinemann at £ 17. 99 and in paperback from Arrow mid October 2001, probable price £6.99
THE EMPEROR'S BABE, Bernardine Evaristo , Hamish Hamilton, 2001 , £10.99, pb , 252 pp , ISBN 0-241-14114-l Londinium, AD 211 Zuleika, the beautiful, streetwise and feisty daughter of Sudanese immigrants , is a child-bride married -bartered for her family's advancement- to a rich Roman businessman who's never at home Life in her rich villa is boring, to put it mildly, being waited on by a supercilious butler and two Scottish slavegirls When she can, Zuleika still hangs out with her old friend Alba and Venus the transvestite Some years later the Emperor Septimius Severus himself visits Londinium and sees Zuleika She becomes the Emperor's Babe - but not for long
This is a novel written in verse, but don't let that put you off. The Emperor's Babe is an enchanting creation, filled with characters and imagery that stay with you long after you've put the book down Funny, horrifying and achingly sad, this is a tour de force of imaginative writing. I can't wait for Bernardine Evaristo's next book.
Diane Johnstone
IMEDIEVAL (GENERAL) I
SHIPWRECKS
Akira Yoshimura , Canongate, 2001 (first published in Japan 1982), £8.99 , pb , 154pp ISBN l-84195-132-3
Medieval Japan : a tiny village of 17 houses , its inhabitants bound together by festivals and funerals , clings to the mountainous coastline
The only path to the outside world is a steep track over the mountains to a larger village where fish and salt can be exchanged for farm produce Otherwise, the villagers rely on the sea : the soil is too poor to grow more than a little millet.
In this desperate place the only way to save a family from starvation is indentured servitude Whoever can be spared is exchanged for a lump sum which buys a bag of grain
Isaku is nine and his father has sold himself into bondage, leaving the boy, his formidable mother and two younger children to cope alone. This drastic measure was brought about because for six years no ships have been wrecked on the rocky shore Wrecks occur during the autumn salt boiling; the fires burning under the salt cauldrons on the shore draw the occasional passing merchant ship to attempt a landing The villagers each get an equal share of the spoils, including sacks of rice, an unheard ofluxury. But the food supply soon dwindles , and as autumn comes around again, everyone begins to scan the horizon And a ship does come, and is wrecked, but the prayed-for cargo is as deadly as it is beautiful.
TIIE I-IlSTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
This is a superb novel , simply written and hauntingly memorable
Val Whitmarsh
141H CENTURY
HARLEQUIN: The Grail Quest
Bernard Cornwell, Harper Collins, 2001 , £5 99, pb , 484pp , ISBN 0-00-651384-0
Harlequin, we are told in a note , probably derives from the Old French 'hellequin', meaning a troop of the devil ' s horsemen . It is also the nickname that the French gave to their most hated enemies during the Hundred Years ' War - the English mounted archers. Bernard Cornwell·s new book follows the fortunes of a group of these archers through the Earl of Northumberland ' s campaigns in Brittany and Normandy , ending with the decisive battle of Crecy . 'More dead frogs ,' Bernard told me , when I asked him about the book. And there certainly are ' dead frogs ' by the pond-full. It is a war, actually , that needs a bit of gallows humour Crecy, where the French and Genoese were famously routed by the English longbow , may be a stirring image. Most of the fighting in this war, though, was not conducted in pitched battles but by means of the 'chevauchee', the laying waste of enemy land It was what we would now call total war, where the victims are whole populations, not just soldiers So this is no Boys ' Own story Cornwell scorns chivalry and false piety with equal measure , and the heroes of the book are precisely these hellequin, who might have taught the Vikings a lesson or two in savagery And yet , as with Richard Sharpe, there are qualities in the midst of the brutishnesscomradeship , loyalty, self-sacrifice, downright bravery - that make us warm to the characters
The 'grail quest' story is in some ways an addition to the soldier story , and brings together a pot-pourri of medieval lore : holy relics brought back from the crusades , dark prophecies, renegade Cathars and Black Knights The hero of the book (Thomas of Hookton) is drawn involuntarily into all of this for family reasons One instinctively feels that a longbow will be more than a match for religious hocus pocus in a Cornwell book - but you're never quite certain!
Harlequin is Bernard Cornwell very near the top of his form. There is all the action of a Sharpe novel, with more freshness of detailthe fact, for example, that Crecy's archers were a mounted troop who dismounted only for the battle itself; or the use of gunpowder during the campaign There is a love story, a twisty-tumy plot, and plenty of incident. And, as always, dazzling set-pieces. I loved it.
Richard Lee
THE BURNING TIMES
Jeanne Kalogridis , Harper Collins , 2001 , £16.99, hb, 385pp, ISBN O 00 225991 5 If we, in the twenty-first century, find the question 'What is the significance of Easter? ' difficult, how are we to fathom the mysteries of the Practica Officii Inquisitionis Heretice Pravitatis? The Burning Times will help Marie Sybille de Cavasculle, later to become ' accidentally ' the Franciscan Abbess Marie Fran~oise, is a ' relapsa' , awaiting the heretic ' s death at the stake Though a monotheistpantheist, even - who , nowadays, in these politically correct times, might be respected as something of an ecumenist, her true devotion is to the Great Mother, ' whose secret name the inquisitors shall never know .'
The book is set in fourteenth century Languedoc, in Albigensian lands The French and the English are at war Brother Michel , apparently the foster-son of Cardinal Chretien, head of the Inquisition in France - an irorric misnomer, his, if ever there was one - is a scribe, charged with recording the confessions of those accused of heresy. He has witnessed for himself the miraculous healing powers of the Abbess and is struck by her saintliness and also, significantly, by her physical beauty. She wishes , in the allotted three days , not only to record her story , but also that of her 'Beloved', Luc de la Rose, son of the grand seigneur of Toulouse. Jeanne Kalogridis turns on its head the theory of the evil witch, possessed by the Enemy. Her introductory quotation from The Winter ' s Tale , " Tis the heretic that makes the fire , not she who bums in ' t' encapsulates her thinking The 'yellow-green and predatory eyes of Domenico Chretien reveal his devilish nature Those who are , as it were, on the side of the angels , the ' Race of those who serve la bona Dea ' - Diana - in conflict with the Enemy , are doomed to end their lives at the stake . There is a multiplicity of ideas presented here The author introduces concepts involving the ' Race ', ' Circle ', ' Enemies ', the Arthurian knights and most importantly , Solomon ' s Seal and the Knights Templar The book is well-researched and readable , but I found the protagonist somewhat stereotypical and never really felt I was successfully understanding the minds of those of such different times The details seem to have great verisirrrilitude , however, and there is good exposition of much that was accepted dogma and practice in the mediaeval era.
Marian Hussenbux
THE ADMIRAL
Nigel Tranter, Hodder & Stoughton, 2001, £17.99, hb, 248pp, ISBN 0-340-77014-7
Nigel Tranter, who died in January 2000 at the age of 90, left behind stories in manuscript, including The Admiral, a 'faction' biography of Andrew Wood, Scotland's 15th-century seafaring hero who served James III, James N, and James V
Wood's boyhood ambitions were to be a merchant trader like his father and to avenge the latter's murder by English pirates His great courage in relpulsing and slaying English privateers brought him to the attention of James III, who commissioned him to convert captured vessels into the nucleus of a Scottish fleet (many years before Henry VIII began an English national fleet). Eventually, Wood became Lord High Admiral of Scotland, and in both his naval and diplomatic capacities he did much to further Scotland's cause at a time of international unrest, incurring the wrath of Henry VII and Henry VIII
As with all Tranter's novels , this is easy to read and provides historical detail in an interesting manner I have two criticisms First, this is a sanitised, almost romantic version of Scotland's bloodstained history Second, unlike many of his earlier novels (e.g. the 3-volume Bruce saga) , it's more a recounting of events than a dramatic tale of derring-do . Nevertheless , as an admirer of Tranter's work for almost 40 years, I wholeheartedly recommend it to all lovers of historical novels , especially those interested in Scottish history. Fortunately for his many fans , there are two more novels awaiting publication : Triple Alliance (end 2001) and The Islesman (early 2002)
Dr Ken Cosgrove
THE SWARM OF HEAVEN
Derek Wilson, Allison & Busby, £6 99, pb , 188pp, ISBN 0-74900-560-2 1495 Florence, and the young Niccolo Machiavelli is just married; a career in politics the farthest thing from his mind. But a private vendetta takes him to Rome and Naples and introduces him to a very different sort of life Originally published in 1999 this title is now available in paperback. I have just read it for myself and can only echo the words of the previous HNS reviewer 'A brilliantly crafted mystery But the crux of the work is the exploration of the character of the young Niccolo Machiavelli ; on the road to becoming a great writer and statesman, Florentine patriot, but above all, seeker of truth.' Well worth reading
Towse Harrison
VIRGIN
Robin Maxwell, Headline 2001, £9.99, pb , 277pp, ISBN 0-7472-7044-9See review in US/Canada section.
THE DREAMER OF THE CALLE DE SAN SALVADOR
Roger Osborne, Cape, £16 99, hb , 234pp, ISBN 0-224-06052-X
Lucrecia de Leon was born in Madrid in 1568 She was 19 when her extraordinary dreams began ; they continued for almost three years and more than 400 of them were recorded by two clergymen. She was arrested by the Inquisition in 1590 and the transcripts were placed in evidence at her trial They have Iain virtually undisturbed in the Spanish archives for more than 400 years. Lucrecia, professing to be illiterate and uneducated, to whom the dreams came unbidden and were recanted 'in confession' , held her own during five years of incarceration by the Inquisition Where she went after her sentence is a question that historians have not yet been able to answer
Based on these facts Roger Osborne presents 35 poetic, apocalyptic, prophetic and disturbingly compelling dreams here and weaves a commentary around each which allows us to see the world through Lucrecia's eyes. We are never quite sure if her dreams are visions, or if they have been accurately recorded. Neither do we know how much they were manipulated by her transcribers .
The author's commentaries are not forays into dream interpretation. However, through them he skilfully recreates the ending of the Golden Age of Spain to which the riches of America came and were lost on fruitless wars by Philip II and when the English were masters of the sea and the Spanish fearful of them. Osborne has an ability to convey a history packed with religious suspicion and political intrigue. I found this book fascinating. Dreams are indeed awkward and confusing things.
Gwen Sly
181H CENTURY
AFAR HORIZON
Meira Chand, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001 , £16.99, hb, 362pp, ISBN 0-297-81748-5
Events leading up to the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta form the main narrative of this book. Set in 1756, this book follows a range of characters, both Indian and British, as Chand weaves their lives together to give an
evocative and compelling picture of India before the Empire.
In White Town the two rival British leaders (Chief Magistrate Holwell and Governor Drake) unite in an attempt to outwit the new nawab, whose only interest lies in ridding India of the British As these political battles rage in the White Town, the Black Town witnesses a commotion when the troubled mixed race girl , Sati, becomes possessed by the Goddess Kali, and becomes the centre of a religious cult. Moving between the white and black districts of Calcutta, Sati is at the centre of a bitter battle between her grandmother Jaya and her promiscuous half-Indian mother, Rita Holwell's wife, Emily, has her own problems and sees in Sati someone who she can follow. Together they all have their part to play in the lead up to the siege of Fort William and the Black Hole of Calcutta
The book is beautifully written and brilliantly evocative of both time and place Chand has a masterful touch and an eye for detail as she corli_ures up the flavours , tastes and smells of 18 century India . Her research is impeccable while the prose is of a stifling intensity that portrays the suffocation that both Sati and Emily feel in their lives My only criticism is that she concentrated more on Holwell and Drake rather than on Sati and Emily, although she did describe the grandmother, Jaya very well . The women had good stories to tell and I wanted to hear more about them The tensions between Black and White Town were portrayed through the minute details that Chand excels in
This book reminded me of the Indian elements of Sharon Maas's Of Marriageable Age although it is a different time period I don't think it's necessary to know anything about this period before reading the book as she explains everything fully , including the true story of the Black Hole of Calcutta I had never read Meira Chand before but on the basis of this book I will definitely read some of her previous six It was instructive, informative, compelling and evocative, full of the steaming richness of a Calcutta slum Hazel Marshall
ON A MAKING TIDE
David Donachie, Orion, 2001, £12.99 , pb , 500 pp, ISBN 0-75283-789-3
Maps at the beginning of a novel are certain to put me in a positive frame of mind and this novel not only has maps but diagrams of one of Nelson's sea battles On A Making Tide is the first instalment in the story of Nelson, his naval career and his affair with Emma Hamilton
The childhood experiences of both Nelson and Emma Hamilton are depicted Nelson's
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
TIIE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
naval career has been thoroughly researched and although I am not conversant with the technical details of naval warfare of the time, the picture presented of naval life and the heat of battle rings true. Where the novel is less sure of itself is in the dialogue which is sometimes uneven and a little awkward
The author's note at the end gives the reader a glimpse of the author at work, tightening up the introduction of minor characters and placing them within the narrative to suit its structure None of us wants "to be burdened with scores of names flitting across the pages at random and Donachie has ensured that the reader's attention is not distracted He maintains that many of the men who served with Nelson would have remained ' obscure footnotes in history ' had they not had a connection with such a giant. Donachie also says much the same of Emma Hamilton. I am not so sure of this , due in part to Donachie's estimable portrayal of this fascinating woman
The story will conclude with Volume Two, Taken at th e Flood (not yet published)
Geraldine Perriam
INTO THE WILDERNESS
Sara Donati, HarperCollins 2001 , £6 99, pb, 876pp , ISBN 0-00-710828-1
An upper-class English girl , Elizabeth joins her father in what is now up-state New York, hoping to teach the local children The date is 1792. The settlers in Paradise village live beside an Indian family with an adopted English son and grandson The latter, Nathaniel , the 'white Mohawk' , and Elizabeth fall in love, and she joins him and learns to adapt to his lifestyle. This very long book (small typeface too) covers a relatively short span of time , a year. As well as lovingly described Mohawk traditions , there are secrets and past crimes involved, and the struggles between the white doctor who , himself brought up by the Mohawks , wants to marry Elizabeth and find Mohawk treasure, her vicious brother, a jealous rival for the doctor's affections , and other villagers who take sides Adventure and peril abound, but there is also a vast amount of detailed, often lyrically beautiful description, and many stories of the past interspersed in the present action Some questions , however, remain unanswered , and the story will obviously continue. If you want a satisfying holiday read in one volume, try this
Marina Oliver
FOR PROMISED JOY
Oonagh Morrison, House of Lochar, 2001 , £9 99, pb , 378 pp, ISBN 1 899863 75 3
Do you know what Flora MacDonald did next? No, me neither So you might learn TI-IE IIlSTORJCAL NOVELS REVIEW
something from this romantic account of how the ageing Jacobite heroine and her loving Hanoverian husband migrated to America , were caught up in the American War of Independence, and eventually returned home to Skye sadder and wiser It's presented as fiction but is obviously a heavily-researched excursion into territory nobody else has explored, with a huge cast of characters and lots of powerful moments as our heroine confronts the Colonial attitude to slaves , shadows from her own past in Skye, and finally the rebel troops There is a cameo appearance by Dr Johnson, who did meet Flora when he visited Scotland
One thing worries me : why is there a photograph of an alligator in the cover collage? Was there no contemporary engraving which could have been used ?
Pat McIntosh Spinn/er
TO THE BITTER END
Marcus Palliser, Heinemann, £17 99 , hb , 34lpp , ISBN 0-434-00765-X
In this latest book detailing the adventures of Palliser's seaman hero , Matthew Loftus, the scene has shifted from the Caribbean to Newfoundland and northern Canada Several years have elapsed . It is now 1708 and Matthew has managed to free himself from the taint of piracy and prospers as a fur trader along the Canadian coasts But as ever fresh problems loom For a newly fledged British Empire - the Act of Union had been passed the previous year - is embarking on its long struggle with the French for master of the North American continent. Matthew is sent on a mission into Hudson's Bay to recover a lost ship in the company of a villainous Scotsman committed to the Union, who repeatedly corrects him when he talks of England rather than Britain At the time this was of course as politically incorrect as having a Scottish villain in a historical novel is today
Not only does Matthew face storms both at sea and aboard the ship he commands , do battle with the icy tundra of the far north , travel though the Canadian forests and make a perilous canoe journey, he meets with Indians (or these days should I say Native Americans!) who, with impeccable political correctness , turn out to be the noblest of savages. In addition to all this he finds himself involved in deep political intrigue involving the imperial ambitions of Britain and France and the future of the aforesaid Indians. These issues concerning the expansion of empire and the fate of indigenous peoples are in fact extremely well handled Full marks again for Palliser! He has produced yet another highly enjoyable read! .
Neville Firman
RAMAGE
Dudley Pope, House of Stratus , 2000 , £6.99 , pb , 338pp , ISBN 1 84232 472 I English speaking historical authors have always been attracted to the nautical side of the Napoleonic Wars A period of almost uninterrupted British success , often against heavy odds, it could almost have been made for the historical adventure novel.
The de facto standard, by which all other entries in this sub-genre are measured, is C S Forrester's classic Hornblow er series Dudley Pope is generally regarded as the most successful pretender to the throne . This is a new reprint of the first of his Ramage series Lieutenant Ramage is the scion of an old but disgraced Cornish naval family. This clever device allows him to love his occupation whilst having a tension with the people at the top of it. Promotion seems unlikely , until a one-sided fight with a French Battleship leaves Ramage in command of four boatloads of survivors He resolves to continue the assigned mission even given the reduced circumstances, and we are led into various episodes of daring-do along the Italian coastline.
Mr Pope, who sadly passed away in 1997, was a long-serving officer in the Royal Navy and a keen amateur sailor He also wrote a great deal of highly regarded factual naval history You can rest assured that the technical aspects are correct.
As a work of fiction , 1 have to say I found Ramage a bit slow at first. There isn't a lot of description, and some of the situations seem decidedly contrived However, it does pick up and some of the later scenes (especially the courtroom ones ) are extremely well done , combining intrigue, romance and humour quite effortlessly. It isn't as good as Hornblower but it certainly comes closer than anything I've read, and if you're a fan of naval action stories , you'll love it.
Martin Bourne
19TH CENTURY
KITTY ALONE
Sabine Baring-Gould, Praxis Books , 2001 , £9 00 , pb, 30lpp , ISBN 0952842084 Originally published in 1894, this is another of Baring-Gould's delightful novels Set in 1848 in the Devon village of Coombe-in-Teignhead, it combines the Victorian love of sensational happenings with local colour, history, romance and humour If Winefred (Review 9) was evocative of Jane Austen and Through Flood and Flame (Review 12) was a Dickens/Wilkie Collins hybrid, this is very reminiscent of Thomas Hardy.
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
Kitty Quann lives with her feckless uncle Pasco and his bitter wife Zerah following the death of her mother. She appears a solitary, heartless girl and is dubbed 'Kitty Alone', the title of a traditional folksong Her uncle is an unsuccessful businessman egged on by Kitty's crippled father and never prospers until he hits on a (to him) foolproof if criminal way of making money Baring-Gould manages to give the reader a compelling picture of village life and the attitude to education, animals, outsiders and religion. His descriptions of Brunel's hopeless Atmospheric Railway and the villagers' music-making are very funny and also have the ring of historical accuracy The same is true of his portrait of cock-fighting and of the ill-educated schoolmaster Puddicombe who is replaced by romantic lead Bramber, a man with a mission to educate those who don't wish to be educated - with the notable exception of Kitty
There's far more than just a story in a Baring-Gould novel and anybody who thinks Victorian literature is wordy ought to contrast this with most modem novels As with his other books , this is truly to be savoured and kept like a fine old wine .
Rachel A . Hyde
THE LONG WAY HOME
Jessica Blair, Piatk'l.lS , £17 .99 , hb , 37 lpp , ISBN 0- 7499-0564-0 Whitby 1849 When prosperous ship-owner Mr Middleton dies suddenly after failing in business , he leaves his offspring Luke and Lydia near destitution , for his cruel brother Nathan repossesses the famil y home and refused to help Lydia and Luke go to Middlesborough where work is booming in the ironworks and Lydia broods on revenge . To add to Lydia's problems , her sweetheart David's ship-owning father is now against his son's marriage to a penniless girl. Then three Irishmen arrive in Middlesborough seeking work and one of them , Sean, is a real charmer. Will Lydia choose David or Sean? Will she opt for vengeance or love ?
Whilst Jessica Blair has obviously done her homework (I believe she is a he - Ed) on industrial Whitby and Middlesborough, unfortunately , the social inaccuracies are legion A respectable woman in l 849 did not go to funerals , nor travel unchaperoned with a young man, and the anti-Irish prejudice, so prevalent at the time , seems unknown to the author. Furthermore, an ambitious young working man would aspire to being called MR Middleton, not by his first name , which would be an insulting indication of his lowly position The characters' behaviour was so unlikely for 1849 that they swiftly lost all credibility
Elizabeth Hawksley
TRUE IDSTORY OF THE KELLY GANG
Peter Carey, Faber and Faber, 2001 , £16 99 , hb , 352pp, ISBN 0-571-19216-5
In Australia Ned Kelly is a folk hero , a kind of latter day Robin Hood. The son of an Irish ex-convict who survived by becoming in turns a farmer, a horse thief, a bushranger and a bank-robber He was also a killer and when the law finally caught up with him in 1880 he was hanged, aged only 25. Peter Carey could have written a straight biography of Kelly, instead he has gone one better and has given him a voice Troe History of the Kelly Gang takes the form of a memoir supposedly written by Kelly to an unnamed daughter It is a protest against the life that he was forced to lead, against the lies told about him and the wrongs he was forced to endure In a way Kelly's story is the story of Australia , a raw country that struggled to flourish against the odds
Carey's novel is written without obvious polish, using frequent colloquialisms and often rejecting punctuation to persuade the reader that it is an authentic account - it succeeds 100 per cent. The narrative is peopled with bold, plain-speaking characters and shows the harshness of life in nineteenth century Australia, where resorting to crime was often the only way for the poor to survive The only quibble really is one that is often levelled at fictional biographies - how can the reader tell what is fact and what is interpretation ? To that end Carey helpfully lists several of his research sources for the interested reader to refer to
Sara Wilson
EMILY
Irene Carr, Hodder & Stoughton, 2001 , £17 99, hb , 378pp, ISBN 0-340-75084-7 In l 884 an apparently abandoned two-year-old child is found wandering on the quayside at Monkwearmouth in Sunderland Emily is taken in by Albert and Ada Jackson who , having lost their own child, think she is a gift from God. Bert becomes Gatekeeper to a wealthy ship owner, and Emily grows up dreaming of owning her own fleet of ships, stubbornly refusing to heed warnings that this is an impossible dream, particularly for a woman . The story twists and turns , sometimes unexpectedly, and there's a clever twist at the end that I totally failed to see coming Born and brought up in the area she writes about, Irene Carr knows her stuff. Here she has produced a tale that, although a touch formulaic , nevertheless keeps the pages turning
Marilyn
Sherlock 15
SHARPE'S PREY
Bernard Cornwell, HarperCollins , 2001 , £16 99, hb, 26lpp, ISBN 0-00-225875-7
This is the eighteenth novel to feature Richard Sharpe, a gutter-snope from the London slums who becomes a private soldier It continues his escapades from where Sharpe 's Trafalgar ended
It is 1807 and following personal tragedy Lieutenant Sharpe, now returned to England, wishes to leave the army He is persuaded to undertake one last task ; to go to Copenhagen to assist John Lavisser counter Napoleon ' s naval ambitions. The French are intent on obtaining the Danish fleet ; large enough to place the warships they lost at Trafalgar. To prevent this , British troops besiege Copenhagen. The Danish want to remain neutral. They refuse to surrender. The British subject the city to a merciless bombardment. Sharpe was intended as a sacrificial pawn in a brutal under-cover war of espionage There is also a traitor in the British ranks Who is friend? Who is foe ? Sharpe is trapped inside Copenhagen In a night of horror as the city burns, he makes his own rules and becomes a hunter Will he bring the traitor to ' justice '? Will he survive?
This book is a worthy edition to the excellent Sharpe saga It is easy to read and the plot unravels with many intriguing twists and turns Bernard Comwell ' s impressive command of historical detail underpins a rousing tale of daring-do Great entertainment. His numerous fans will not be disappointed
But will there be any more Sharpe pre-sequels ? This latest one centres on September 1807 Sharpe's Iberian adventures began with the French invasion of Gallicia in January 1809. Perhaps Bernard Cornwell could provide some ' pre-pre-sequels ' devoted to Sharpe ' s early years in the squalid world of the late eighteenth century?
Dr Ken Cosgrove
THE MEMOIRS OF LAETITIA HORSEPOLE, BY HERSELF
John Fuller, Chatto & Windus , £14.99 , hb , 212pp, ISBN 07011 72053
Of all the daydreams of fame and fortune one must surely be the discovery of treasure , or of a diary or letters hidden for centuries This is exactly the case of Laetitia Horsepole's memoirs , unearthed some 300 years after her death in a secret drawer in an Italian cabinet.
Laetitia, at the age of 90 , became acquainted with Percy Shelley who was so intrigued by her life that he persuaded her to write her biography It was certainly no ordinary life. The daughter of a Bristol surgeon, she grew up to have five 'husbands', to be shipwrecked for some years on the island of Madagascar, living their with the heir to the
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throne and abandoning totally a European way of life Rescued against her will , she then campaigned tirelessly for the abolition of slavery, ultimately marrying her one time painting tutor From childhood she had devoted herself to art, earning a reputation as a portrait painter of some renown. She was also something of a philosopher.
John Fuller, who edits this book, is himself a poet and scholar. The language is 'poetic', the sense of time, place and attitudes convincing and yet all the time I was reading this entertaining account , I felt that it was not quite what it purported to be Laetitia apparently inspired both Swift and Shelley to write about her. Her paintings are catalogued and scattered around galleries and museums throughout the world and yet I still keep asking myself: did she really exist or is this a clever facsimile of a life? Whether or not she did , this is still a delightful book, capturing the feelings and experiences of a spirited and refreshingly honest woman of the early 19th century Whether it should be entered under fact or fiction however I will leave other readers to decide. (Ed Well I thought it was fiction but I may be wrong )
Janet
Mary Tomson
THE EDGE OF THE CROWD
Ross Gilfillan, Fourth Estate , 2001 , £10 , tpb , 233pp , ISBN 184156175
This novel is set in London during 1851 , the time of the Great Exhibition Henry Hilditch is searching for a woman, Mary Medworth, a love he fears he lost the previous summer in Florence While engaged in his search, he is working as a journalist and has become something of a celebrity His regular reporting on the squalor and deprivation of London's low-life and the poor slum dwellers has made him the talk of the town . During his work he encounters the dangers and excitements of Whitechapel. He also seeks out an old acquaintance , Cornelius Touchfarthing, who may be in a position to provide some answers as to Mary's whereabouts Cornelius is a photography man, taking portraits of the middle classes who are flocking to the Exhibition, striving all the while to elevate his trade to the realms of high art
This is Ross Gilfillan ' s second novel. It is a vivid recreation of London life in the mid Victorian period, very skilfully crafted Much of the storytelling is based on the research of Henry Mayhew who wrote extensively during this period of the poor and criminal classes . It is amusingly told and there is great attention to period detail , the atmosphere of the time well captured. The author is very sure of his ground and rightly so Whilst I enjoyed the book very much, for me it didn't quite match up to his first novel, The Snake Oil Dickens
TI-IE JilSTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Man Having said that , I would find it difficult to put a finger on the exact reason why. Perhaps it was the somewhat sure sense of where the story was going, the rather neat way the various layers unfolded However, I would not hesitate to recommend the book. The characters are very believable and the situations wonderfully portrayed and credible. If you like Victorian realism, you will enjoy this journey back very much
Bronwen Harrison
THE ELEMENT OF FIRE
Brendan Graham, Harper Collins , 2001 , £9.99 , pb, ISBN O 00 711002 2
In this sequel to The Whitest Flower (see HNR issue 6, Dec ' 98) Ellen Rua O ' Malley has come from America to Ireland to rescue her children from the Famine She is too late to save one of them; the novel begins with the child ' s funeral. Then the widowed Ellen returns to Boston with her two surviving children and ' the silent girl ', an orphan Ellen has taken pity on. In Boston they prosper. Ellen marries Lavelle, her partner in the wine importing business they had established before she returned to Ireland Then Stephen Joyce comes into her life and she puts her passion for him before everything - her children, her husband , even their business is put at risk.
The poverty of Irish immigrants and the hardship of their lives in the States is a constant theme and these hardships are vividly described in the last third of the novel. They made compelling reading.
J eanne Fielder
THE STONE FLOOD
Franz Hohler, the Harvill Press , 2001 , £10 , hb , 154pp ISBN l-86046-712-l
A short book this , it tells the true story of the disaster that befell the village of Elm in the Swiss Alps in 1881 when it was destroyed by a huge landslide.
Seven-year-old Katharina whose parents run the inn of the village is sent with her little brother up the mountain to stay with their grandmother while her mother gives birth to her sixth child Soon the baby is born and Katharina is meant to come home . But terrified by a sense of foreboding she refuses to go and her grandmother makes the trip down the valley with her brother alone They haven't gone very long when she sees the side of the mountain crashing down the valley
This is an enchanting portrait of a lchild at the end of the nineteenth century, in a world of responsibilities which are so remote from us -like emptying the chamber pots! Her readiness at obeying commands - be it with internal grumblings- also talks of periods past. But she leaps off the page truer than life as
she wonders about death and god , bosses her little brother about, worries about the impending birth, or tries to make out the adults around her. It is through her lively inquisitive mind that we slowly feel the surrounding world coming apart This is also a subtle thriller where signs of catastrophe hover in the air -the difficult birth , the intermittent avalanches , the strange behaviour of animals. Like Katharina we know something terrible is going to happen, but we don't know who or what will be saved. A perfect example of a historical fact brought alive by the imagination -a beautiful read.
Dominique Nightingale
A PLACE CALLED HOPE
Audrey Howard, Hodder & Stoughton 2001 , £17.99 , hb, 408pp , ISBN 0-340-76928-9
Amy, the young , maltreated wife of Sir Robert Blenkinsopp, runs away leaving her baby son behind. This is unacceptable behaviour in Victorian England, and she is forced to return Sir Robert suffers a fall and a stroke and Amy takes over the running of the estate, with the help of the gamekeeper Duffy Sir Robert , physically helpless but still vicious , plots against them with the aid of unscrupulous friends
This saga is , like all of Audrey Howard's books , compelling and memorable, and I particularly enjoyed the tender love story. The details of how Amy and Duffy restore the estate to prosperity make this a decidedly feel-good book, a joy to read
Marina Oliver
NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH
Josephine Humphries , Heinemann £9.99 , pb , 34lpp, ISBN 0-434-00935-0
North Carolina 1864. At the tale end of a catastrophic Civil War the men and women of Robertson County are beyond caring who wins. Their lives , always hard , are now hagridden with terrors They long for peace as they endure near starvation, looting, forced labour and dangerous deserters from both sides in a conflict of unprecedented barbarity . Beyond the swamps of Lumbee River, boys from established families have put themselves beyond any sort of law; shamed by their own helplessness they are 'lying out' in the woods . restless and in love with honour, they have found their leader; Henry, youngest son of the prosperous uxorious Allen Lowrie
This is the story of a woman's lifelong love for this compelling man. Rhoda Strong tells her own story in words that are plain, even homely, apart from imagery of startling originality that reveals her second great passion, the land known as Scuflletown that is sometimes more water than solid earth with its evocatively named swamps : Bear, raft , Burnt,
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Sadletree. She is a girl of mixed parentage, a Scottish immigrant father and the strongwilled Cee who is Allen Lowrie's cousin and like him of 'Indian' blood
To congratulate Josephine Humphreys on the accuracy of her research would belittle a novelist who so far transcends the commonplace, combining imagination and absolute conviction The book is fast paced and as easy to read as anyone could possibly wish . There are tremendous set pieces where the reader senses a build up of threat and longs to shout a warning. There are cliffhangers throughout and not only at the chapter ends The story is so exciting and suspenseful that I found myself hiding the right hand side of the page while reading the left, in case I inadvertently glimpsed what was to come And there are surprises right up until the end
Nancy Henshaw
THE SECRET DIARY OF DR WATSON
Anita Janda, Allison & Busby, £15 99, hb , 279pp, ISBN 0-74900-570-X
Sherlock Holmes is big in Japan, according to an ex-colleague of mine who writes and lectures on the great detective It would be interesting to find out what Japanese aficionados make of this faux novel, purportedly penned by Dr Watson . He has been encouraged to keep a journal by his wife, Mary he has also begun to write and publish accounts of Holmes' cases , although not without difficulty Holmes reads and censors the stories and the editor of The Stand magazine won't accept anything over 9,000 words Some of Holmes' clients quite enjoy seeing themselves in print, suitably disguised, while Watson has to watch out for the obituaries of others before he dares present the story
Meanwhile, still more cases are ongoingincluding The Hound of the Baskervilles The poor doctor finds himself 'damnably chilly' on Dartmoor in October, worrying about the fate of his patients back in London
It is helpful , rather than necessary , to know something about the Sherlock Holmes stories to really appreciate this book; which is witty , clever and thoroughly enjoyable . The American author has obviously immersed herself in the Holes stories and turned the accepted originals entirely on their heads Chapter 16 , for example, begins 'Today I invented Irene Adler'. This is a desperate attempt by the good doctor to foil Mary's attempts to marry Holmes off by introducing him to a number of single friends. What with the cases , clients , patients and the difficulties of pleasing his editor, it's all go in the Watson household; and then, of course, Holmes and
Moriarty disappear together at the Reichenbach Fall.
The strangest thing about this book is that the characters come across as real people, not fictional. The final chapters reduced me, hard bitten reader though I am, to tears A very nice book. Highly recommended
Val Whitmarsh
THE SCHEMING MR CLEEVE
Gillian Kaye, Robert Hale, 2001 , £16 99, hb , 208pp, ISBN 0- 7090-6793-3
Sarah, her mother and younger sister move to the Lodge when the new owner arrives There are wrong partners, unsuitable matches , and unrecognised love for Mr Cleeve to disentangle
I had the impression of a book written in haste and neither revised nor copyedited, given the numerous inconsistencies with ages Sarah is four-and-twenty, her mother in her fortieth year, yet nineteen when Sarah was born Sarah's brother is 'nearly twenty' , then twenty-one Apart from these problems, which the author should correct, the plotting was simple rather than subtle, problems were resolved at once , not woven into the rest of the story to create tension. Characterisation was superficial , with too many romances to cope with There was constant viewpoint switching, and lots of talk explaining past history The Regency slang seemed random rather than an integral element, and there were many long , confused sentences where a few commas would have made the meaning clearer
Marina Oliver
FAMILY OF THE EMPIRE
Sheelagh Kelly, HarperCollins , 2001 , £16 99, hb , 500pp, ISBN 0-00-225740-8
This is the second novel in the trilogy about the Kilmaster family. (The first , A &nse of Duty was reviewed in Issue I 0.) Kit Kilmaster was the main character in the first book. This novel centres on his nephew , Probyn.
Probyn is dissatisfied with life in a Yorkshire coal-mine and decides to run away to join the York and Lancashire Regiment , a move his family disapproves of. He serves in the Boer War and on his return and now promoted, he settles down to married life with Grace (not Agnes as the fly cover calls her!) This marriage severs all ties with his family because Grace is an Irish Catholic and the Kilmasters are all staunch Methodists
I am not a regular reader of either sagas nor military history and therefore am not sure how usual this combination is Issues such as pit strikes, pit disasters and their consequences on the families and local community come across much more convincingly than the descriptions of life in army barracks and campaigns in South Africa
Military action and descriptions of violence against the Boers and the ' niggers ' are repetitive, dull and unconvincing Family struggles and feuds make much more interesting reading It is likely that readers used to Sheelagh Kelly ' s style will find more in this novel than I did. For me the ' mix ' did not work and the result is disappointing.
Greta Krypczyk-Oddy
JACARANDA VINES
Tamara, McKinley, Piatkus , £17.99 , hb , 406pp , ISBN 0-7499-0555-7
A saga spanning five generations of Australian vine growers Maidservant Rose and gypsy John are separated by circumstances in 1830s Sussex but their descendants become entwined later on the other side of the world, by which time the family company is riven by big corporation jealousy and in-fighting Lots of local colour, plots , rows and romance A good holiday beach read
Val Whitmarsh
THE WHITECHAPEL CONSPIRACY
Anne Perry, Headline , 2001 , £17.99, hb , 28lpp, ISBN 0-7472-7339-l
Superintendent Thomas Pitt falls foul of the 'Inner Circle', a secret society of powerful and unscrupulous men. He is removed from his command of Bow St. Station and is now on the Circle's 'hit-list' To protect himself, Pitt must leave his family and work undercover in the dangerously volatile East End, a hotbed of racial and religious hatreds exploited by the Circle for treasonous ends A counter-plot threatens to expose shocking evidence concerning the Whitechapel Murders , which took place four years earlier Pitt must stay one step ahead of his enemies if he wants to survive
As ever, Anne Perry paints a vivid picture of late I 9th-century London, weaving Victorian politics in and out of the plot, seamlessly She deals with social issues that have a very modem echo, proving that 'the more things change, the more they stay the same' A good, pacy read
Celia Ellis
THE PATIENT'S EYES
David Pirie, Century £12.99 , hb , 245pp ISBN 0-7126-7089-0
Last year the BBC broadcast The Murder Rooms - a fictionalised account of the association between a young Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr Joseph Bell, one of his medical tutors at Edinburgh University , who apparently was the inspiration behind the creation of Sherlock Holmes . David Pirie has followed up this dramatisation with The
ISSUE 17. AUG 2001
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Patient's Eyes, a thriller that continues the story of Doyle and Bell.
Doyle has set up his medical practice in Southsea where one of his first patients , Heather Grace, is complaining of failing eyesight and disturbing visions of a disappearing cyclist. Just as Doyle is beginning to investigate this case he is implicated in the murder of another patient, Senor Garcia Thankfully Dr Joseph Bell arrives just in time to help Doyle with both problems
The Patient's Eyes also contains flashbacks to the original meeting between Doyle and bell and in doing so retells several incidents televised in The Murder Rooms - useful for those who haven't seen the programme Unfortunately the actual mystery that formed the major part of the television drama is only alluded to obliquely and never fully related in this book. This means that occasionally Doyle's motivation seems a little vague and obscure and the continual references to his unrevealed earlier tragedy become an irritation
That aside this is a lovely evocation of the late 19th century and the plot is intelligent enough to keep the reader guessing to the end It is easy to believe that this could be how Doyle the writer got his inspiration for his Holmes' plots If the real Dr Joseph Bell was even half as fascinating and clever as the character created by David Pirie then he truly was a living Sherlock Holmes Sara Wilson
THE SIAM QUESTION
Timothy Francis Sheil , Camdem House Publishing 1999, hb , 603pp
ISBN 0-9538160-0-1
The Siam Question is the first of two novels which provide an account of Sherlock Holmes' activities during what has become known as the great hiatus, the years when he was presumed dead at the hands of Professor Moriarty on Reichenbach Fall. It begins the day after Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventure Of The Empty House which described Holmes' dramatic return to public life.
Dr Watson is commissioned by Mycroft Holmes to write a report of Holmes' activities during the past three years using the four journals kept by Holmes travelling companion, the French detective M le Villard. This report will then be sealed for 100 years. While Holmes investigates a series of seemingly unconnected crimes in London Watson immerses himself in the first and last of le Villard's journals which tell of Holmes dangerous crossing of Tibet and his investigation into a delicate political situation in Siam.
Tiffi IDSTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
The problem I have when reviewing modern day Sherlock Holmes stories is that I always find myself comparing them to Arthur Conan Doyle ' s originals and finding them wanting. The Siam Question is no exception. But that said the book has much to recommend it and is ultimately worthy of the Holmes name. The novel is well written and obviously meticulously researched, with excellent portraits of 19th century Tibet and Siam.
This is not a book for the impatient reader. The central hub of the story, the Siam section, is one of political intrigue which some people may find somewhat dull. Curiously most the action scenes feel as if they have been tossed in for the sake of it , such as Holmes participating enthusiastically in a stand-off with Siamese gangsters or when Holmes and Watson get caught up in a shootout at the Crystal Palace There is very little of Holmes· legendary deductions , which is probably a good thing as Sheil ' s one attempt at it early on is laboured and unconvincing Sheil is obviously a keen of scholar of the original Holmes stories but his weakness is to draw too much from earlier works, with Irene Adler and Colonel Moran playing major roles in the novel. One of Conan Doyle ' s strengths was that he rarely recycled . Likewise there is too much of Mrs Hudson whom Conan Doyle only twice awarded a speaking part to and Holmes ' army of street Arabs who did not appear after The Sign Of Four. On the other hand Sheil's original characters more than compensate, with le Villard, the corrupt aristocrat Lord Coledale and the old sailor Jose Felipe Azvecado Marques being particularly memorable.
The Siam Question is a beautifully presented novel that unlike many mystery novels will stand repeated rereading. A second volume, The Egypt Question, containing le Villard's second and third journals is due to follow and I look forward to it.
Andrew Zigmond
THE ALEXANDRIA SEMAPHORE, Robert Sole, Harvill, 2001, £15.99, hb, 294pp, ISBN 1-86046-888-8 Translated from the French by John Brownjohn.
This was Robert Sole's first novel, published in Paris in 1994 as Le Semaphore d'Alexandrie.
A family saga told by Maxime Touta as he looks back through the years beginning with his arrival in Alexandria with his father in 1863 at the age of thirteen He meets two people who play major roles in his life: Albin Balinvin and Nada Sahel. The Semaphore is the local newspaper, Albin is the Cairo correspondent whose acerbic pen keeps the citizens of Alexandria informed of the
political and commercial machinations surrounding the excavation of the Suez Canal. He inspires Maxime to seek a career in journalism Nada, an orphan and Syrian exile like the Toutas , captures Maxime's heart at their first meeting.
The members of the Touta clan are vividly brought to life against the rich historical background of nineteenth century Egypt , a land in thrall to the French and the pawn of the British where conflict is inevitable. Racial , religious and political differences simmer and erupt in violence. Two ideals sustain Maxime; his love of reporting these turbulent events and his passion for Nada.
Ann Oughton
DINA'S SON
Herbjorg Wassmo, Black Swan, 2001 , pb , £6.99, 508 pp, ISBN O552 99825 7 I'm not sure what to make of this book. It's olfactive, if that's the right word : smells play a big part in it. Fish; the sea; a tannery ; women; fried pork; wool stockings ; garbage. Set against the background of northern Europe in the nineteenth century, this is the story of Benjamin Gronelv, son of Dina, to whom he is tied by blood in more ways than one , haunted by a childhood memory of his mother and a man - her lover - lying dead with his head blown off. Benjamin's putative father is also dead; Dina marries again but soon abandons husband and son. The book follows Benjamin in his rites of passage and his search for his mother and the truth. This is Part II of a trilogy I haven't read Part I and maybe because of this I found it difficult to work up much interest in the characters, apart from Dina, whose presence overshadows the story. Benjamin's sex life is graphically and not very attractively described. I found myself longing for more descriptions of nineteenth-century Scandinavia instead. The translation has an American ring to the language which I found got in the way of the characters. It's a curious book: I can't say I enjoyed it, but it still haunts me.
Diane Johnstone
THE DARK CLUE
James Wilson, Faber and Faber, 2001, £10.99, pb, 390pp, ISBN 0-571-20271-3 There has been a trend in recent years for writers to take a set of characters from an earlier classic and to continue their story. In The Dark Clue James Wilson has used Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White as his inspiration source . Walter Hartright and Marian Halcombe undertake an assignment to investigate the life of JMW Turner and write a definitive biography of the painter. But they are hampered at every turn by the wildly differing
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
accounts and opinions of Turner's contemporaries To some Turner was a funny , generous friend , a genius ; to others he was a shallow miserly fellow , a figure of ridicule. Whilst among the London slums and bawdy houses he was a man of peculiar sexual appetites. As Hartright and Halcombe try to sort out the truth from the lies they become drawn ever deeper into the mystery surrounding Turner and his paintings.
James Wilson has certainly achieved a vivid recreation of the Victorian suspense novel The dialogue , people and places are all well-steeped in period detail and flavour It is also an intellectual study into the paintings of Turner, giving deep insights into both the artist and his art . As a continuance of The Woman in White it works less well - it is always dangerous to take well-loved characters and give them new attitudes and dispositions In this case it also seems unnecessary since The Dark Clue sits easily as a stand alone novel and needs no gimmicks to support it.
Sara Wilson
20TH CENTURY
OF LOVE AND WAR
Vanessa Alexander, Headline, 2001 , £5 99 , pb , 312pp , ISBN 0-7472-6464-3 County Durham, 1921. The Great War is over. The survivors have returned to their village and are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives Widowed Kitty Allerton has remarried her husband's best friend As children the three had been inseparable Onto the scene comes Major Fairfax of the Military Police, seeking out deserters and others guilty of war crimes . His prime target is Jack Allerton, but others also have things to hide The village of Caundon is seething with conjecture and accusation
Sadly, for me, the outcome was never in doubt. The explanation was obvious from a relatively early point in the book and I was also slightly irritated by the repetitive descriptions of the mud and gore in the trenches, the same words and phrases being used every time
However, the story was well told, the characters believable and it was well paced
Marilyn Sherlock
IF THE INVADER COMES
Derek Beaven, Fourth Estate, £15 00, hb , 374pp, ISBN 1-84115-591-8
It was only after I had finished this book that I began to wonder if I'd missed the point. It is certainly gripping and I was completely absorbed by it , but I remain uncertain about it. 1HE
The story is simple enough Clarice has broken off a brief affair with her cousin's husband, an unemployed shipwright in the East End, and returned to Malaya where her father is a doctor. The husband, Vic, tries very hard to make his marriage work for the sake of his small son As it is 1939, Clarice's father decides to return to England, fearful of a Japanese invasion, only to find, living on the outskirts of Ipswich, that German bombers are attacking nearby airfields and they are in just as much danger as they were abroad . Clarice is hopeful that she will meet Vic again, but he appears to have vanished, and her psychotic cousin, Phylis, has taken up with a new man.
The story covers several years of the war and what happens to both families. The title of the book comes from a government leaflet, and part of the action takes place in one of the home-built shanty 'settlements' on which East Enders were allowed to erect homes in the 1930s, but into which areas public utilities were never laid (An interesting social experiment which was featured on TV a while ago.)
It would spoil the story to give the plot away but Clarice, Vic and Phylis make choices which then impact on the innocent. These choices are small fry amidst the overall devastation of war, but they were important to me, the reader. Perhaps the point is that we all make our little personal choices but can't necessarily control the outcome of them Or perhaps, this is one of those rare double layered books which reads differently depending on who is reading it. Whichever, it is a very good read
Val Whitmarsh
PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES
Anne Bennett, Headline, 2000, £5.99, pb , 439pp , ISBN 0-7472-6415-5
In 1930 , 18-year-old-Maeve arrives in Birmingham from rural Ireland looking for a more fulfilling life Dazzled by Brendan, she marries him and finds to her dismay that he is a sadistic bully The physical punishment and deprivation she undergoes make bleak reading When she runs home with her children, she comes up against the implacable rules of the Roman Catholic church and the scorn of the community, and is forced to return to her vengeful husband and his cruelty to her and her children. The church comes out of the saga badly, but Maeve's courage and her friends' staunchness alleviate the situation somewhat Although Maeve is a survivor, it is only at the end of the book that a note of hope emerges
The book covers the period from 1930 to the late 40s and is well told and full of authentic detail, but it is not a cosy read.
Pamela Cleaver
ASONOFWAR
Melvyn Bragg, Sceptre, 2001 , £16 99 , hb , 426pp , ISBN 0-340-73415-9
This sequel to The Soldier's Return (Review 10, December 1999) begins in 1947 It is set in Bragg's home town of Wigton in Cumbria, where the now 7-year-old Joe is living with his parents Sam and Ellen. The three are still affected by the long separation endured when Sam was fighting in Burma and are striving to secure the 'family unit'. But ghosts from the past keep reappearing, especially for Sam Sam is anxious to earn a decent wage , Ellen is trying hard to make ends meet and Joe tries hard to please, both at home and school. Both parents have expectations of Joe : Ellen organises piano lessons , which contrast with Sam's idea that boxing gloves are the best present for the boy. When Colin, a half-brother Ellen didn't know existed, arrives in Wigton, his presence and behaviour have a disturbing effect on all the family , especially when Sam decides to move to the Blackamoor, a rundown Wigton pub. Joe still attempts to please everyone, but he now has his own demons to fight. The war may be over, but everyday battles continue .
Life in postwar Wigton is brilliantly captured The effects of the deep snow of 1947 which gave everyone a sense of 'unreality' , a visit to a crucial Test Match in Leeds , a trip to Blackpool Illuminations and watching the flickering images of the Coronation are all described in accurate detail and written with humour and pathos Class differences and the pains of growing up in a country trying to recover from the mental and physical devastation of war are conjured up through characters who speak for themselves In A Son of War Melvyn Bragg has elevated the ordinary into an extraordinary and compelling novel.
Greta Krypczyk-Oddy
A NEW BEGINNING
Jean Chapman, Piatkus , £17.99 , hb , 346pp ISBN 1-85018-118-7
Gibraltar 1940 Laura Maclaren has always protected her mother Queenie from the brutality of her father, Jock. She knows that if he hears of Laura's love for Jamie de Falla his fist will come down heavily , especially as Jamie's father was Queenie's first love But war intervenes Jamie joins the navy and all the women are evacuated. The one bright spot is that Laura and Queenie hope never to see Jock again
After a nightmare journey, harried by U-boats and official incompetence, Laura and Queenie end up in London during the Blitz There, Laura joins the WRENS and Queenie volunteers in a hospital. But will they ever be reunited with the de Falla men when the war
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ends? Hitler has other plans - as does Jock Maclaren who has sworn to track them down.
I galloped through this very happily The Gibraltar experience of the war was new to me and made an interesting variation on the usual plucky women in war-tom Britain theme The menace exuded by Jock Maclaren was very real, as were the war-time chaotic arrangements made by harassed officials with which Queenie and Laura had to contend. I'm sure Jean Chapman's fans will thoroughly enjoy i!
Elizabeth Hawksley
FALLING ANGELS
Tracy Chevalier, HarperCollins, 2001, £12.99, hb , 400 pp, ISBN O 00 710835 7 Queen Victoria is dead and the middle-class of North London mark the occasion by donning black and visiting family graves in the local cemetery Here for the first time the Colemans meet the Waterhouses , whose family graves sit side by side. The families have little in common and both secretly sneer at the other. Is Kitty Coleman wearing a dress and who on earth would decorate their plot with an angel? How terribly vulgar .
However, they continue to come into reluctant contact as young Maude Coleman and Lavinia Waterhouse make friends and eventually neighbours and the cemetery becomes their playground
Bit by bit, each player in this Edwardian tragedy, (for the mood, already darkly comic, becomes more and more dark.) tells his or her own view of the unfolding story Restless , unfulfilled Kitty Coleman, her husband, Richard, plump and conventional Gertrude Waterhouse and her husband, Albert. Other commentators are Edith, Richard's mother and a constant thorn in Kitty ' s flesh, the opinionated maid, Jenny Whitby and young grave digger, forever hungry, Simon Field
As these people toe the waters of the new century, it is Kitty ' s actions that concern us most of all and are an indirect cause of the final tragedy
At first I was irritated by the constantly changing viewpoints However, I soon came to realise the strengths of this choice of narrative style The author makes sure the reader cares about each and every one of these people. They all have flaws in their character and all contribute to the final tragedy to a greater or lesser extent.
I was also impressed by the 'feeling' for the period, which covers the short Edwardian Age. Often labelled ' the long garden party ', Falling Angels shows that life was anything but for the majority of England's inhabitants Chevalier' s prose is sharp, simple and charged with stinging wit, her style disarmingly relaxed Without feeling I was being educated
lliE HISTORICAL
or instructed, I learned an awful lot about cemeteries, the complications of mourning , and the Suffragette movement. And to top it all the author has provided a helpful bibliography What more could one ask for? This novel still haunts me I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Sally Zigmond
THE FIRE FIGHTER
Francis Cottam, Chatto & Windus , £15 99 , hb, 234pp, ISBN 0-701-16981-8
Autumn 1940 , and the Luftwaffe are firebombing London : Jack Finlay, already notorious for his capacity to fight fires, and men, is recalled from the Western Desert to prevent five buildings vital to Britain's war effort from being destroyed.
This tautly written debut novel evokes the humour and determination of the worst days of the Blitz, but also cynicism and despair as the characters live out the legacies of the previous generation. Woven through the indiscriminate path of war and fire is a love story : a wartime liaison as improbable as it is intense In his background and determination to acquit himself better in the war than he had done in civilian life, jack Finlay reminded me of Prior in Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy ; this novel also has something of the trilogy's gritty depiction of men driven beyond endurance.
Janet Hancock
THE BIRD FLIES HIGH
Maggie Craig, Headline , 2001, £17.99 , hb , 308pp, ISBN 0-7472-7452-5
This is a finely detailed , many-layered novel of a young woman growing up in the slums of 1920s Glasgow. Josie Collins is ,left to cope with the abuse of her stepfather and his sons following her mother's death, and due to their cruelty loses the half brother and sister she loves to an officious council.
Alone and in trouble, Josie endures hardships for a few years as she recovers from the blows life has dealt her, but then she decides it is time to return to the work she loves - journalism. Her story of love, despair and an enduring optimism take her through WW2 to a satisfying ending A powerful story by a talented writer.
Linda Sole
THE PEPPERED MOTH
Margaret Drabble, Viking. 2001. £19.99 hb. J92 pp. ISBN 0-670-89400-2
In 1912 Bessie Bawtry is a small child in Breaseborough, a South Yorkshire mining town She is desperate to escape, and sees education as her way out. Nearly a century later, Bessie's grand-daughter, Faro returns to Breaseborough for a lecture on genetic inheritance All around her she sees the
families who have stayed there for longer than anyone can remember Faro's father was an exotic scion of part-Jewish, part-Polish, part-German refugees, but for all her exotic ancestry, has Faro really travelled any further than her Breaseborough kin?
This book cannot be described as an historical novel , partly because a significant proportion of it is set in the present day, but is Drabble's attempt to show both how you cannot escape your roots and how you must not let your roots hold you back. The character of Bessie Bawtry is based strongly on her late mother - in which case I have a great deal of sympathy for the young Margaret, as the adult Bessie is by no means a sympathetic character, coming across as a deeply disappointed individual. All through her childhood she is regarded as special because of her intelligence, but pressure this creates leads to an unfulfilled life , with the sins of the mother visited on her descendants. It is a mesmerising depiction, one of many in this absorbing and entertaining novel. The multi-layered storyline is guided and focused by the author, whose presence is felt throughout, occasionally to a distracting extent. That presence is, however, an essential element of what must have been an extremely cathartic book to write
An absorbing and thoughtful exploration of relationships between generations , environmental and genetic inheritance and adaptation, DNA and the individual's place in history. This is the first Margaret Drabble I have read It won't be the last.
Shirley Skinner
THE SIEGE
Helen Dunmore, Viking, 2001 , £16.99 , hb , 294 pp , ISBN 0-670-89718-3
Helen Dunmore has not hitherto been considered as a writer of historical fiction , but this beautiful novel of the 1941/42 German blockade of Leningrad demonstrates how her skills are finely attuned to bringing out the essence of the past. She is a sensuous writer ; her ability to reconstruct the sights , the smells , tastes and sounds of the countryside around Leningrad, and then contrast it with the bleak winter of the starving city is masterful This is a novel to be tasted and rolled around the palate
The writing is historically accurate She succeeds in presenting the awful choices facing the citizens of Leningrad through the winter of 1941 and 1942. With hindsight, we know what was to happen, but the reader has a sense of accompanying the characters through their near-unimaginable trials and dehumanisation. It can thus be a difficult and emotional novel to read for one identifies closely with Anna Levin, who has the responsibility of looking after and keeping
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
alive her young brother Kolya and rather useless father following the death of her mother The reader sees through her eyes what is happening to her and her family and friends Her prose style takes the story along without being too lush or aridly bare Her male characters are perhaps rather two-dimensional and formulaic Only the women are really alive and connect with the reader . Perhaps this is intentional , but it is a lapse in some of her previous work.
Helen Dunmore is an excellent writer and this is a fine example of historical writing that is highly literary, moving and elegantly created
Doug Kemp
BROKEN BODIES
Sally Emerson, Little Brown, £15.99 , hb, 293pp , ISBN 184156175
Set in present day London this novel tells the story of two historians , Anne Fitzgerald and Patrick Browning who are both researching the life of Mary Nisbet, wife of Lord Elgin Elgin is well known for 'stealing' the famous antiquities from Athens and Mary Nisbet's notoriety came from the scandal and disgrace she brought upon herself and family by embarking on an adulterous affair and the subsequent divorce
Literary competition and a strange attraction between Anne and Patrick results in sinister and mysterious happenings which gather pace and add to the suspense as the novel progresses The story comes to an end in Athens where the early 19th century story began.
This is a beautifully written novel in which Sally Emerson brings to life past and present London , Edinburgh and Greece . The 19th century is viewed mainly through the letters of Mary Nisbet to her lover Robert Ferguson and the house in Direleton, in Scotland, which like Mary's reputation has fallen into ruin A place rarely visited it thus makes a stark contrast with the high profile cool marble friezes in The British Museum .
All the characters are well drawn, especially Patrick's rich , bored mistress and the eight year old daughter of Anne's past tutor This is an elegant, tense novel which contrasts and compares the moral constraints of the early 19th century with dilemmas faced at the beginning of the 21st century A compelling novel in which the excerpts from Mary Nisbet's diaries , with the dark secret, suggest that the 'Elgin Marbles' were not the only 'broken bodies' which resulted from the plunder.
Greta Krypczyk-Oddy
CLOSE TO HOME
Pamela Evans , Headline , 2001 , £17 99, hb, 318pp, ISBN 0-7472-7100-3
All the trials and tribulations of life in the 1950s are here in this moving and absorbing book. Close to Home is the story of a young woman struck by tragedy because of an accident that leaves her husband brain-damaged. Ellie loved Tom despite his domineering ways and for a while life is hard after his accident. She eventually battles her way to success, but it's the intricate tangle of very real human relationships that gives this novel its power.
Linda Sole
FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE,
Joanne Harris , Doubleday, 2001 , £12 99, hb , 432 pp, ISBN 0385-601697
This is another in Joanne Harris's series of novels about food or drink -a concept which seems to be bearing fruit. The book is stuffed full of French cooking and most of the characters are somewhat ludicrously named after various sorts of food The story is set in occupied France during WWII in a small village near Angers . It is a formulaic page-turner of a novel , containing the customary feelings of hate , betrayal and guilt and so on. The narrator is a fonnidable widow, who looks back on the wartime events in her village which forced her family to flee and her subsequent, anonymous return years later, to set up a thriving creperie . The melodramatic story is revealed ad hoc and by carefully introduced hints and allusions In a well-written book, this approach can succeed, but the effect here is one more of frustration and a desire that the narrator just gets on with it and tells the reader the truth The book fails because the characters are essentially unbelievable; they are stiff and flat figures , with speech that is neither authentic nor credible even though the author tries desperately hard to make them live and vibrate on the page -I have yet to meet a girl of nine years who can act like the amazing Framboise . The German occupying forces are unoriginal and cliche-ridden. As a historical novel it is flawed by these drawbacks . This is not a good work of literature, but it is a good tale to be consumed, digested and immediately forgot about thereafter Perhaps one for the beach.
Doug Kemp
THE PURSillT OF HAPPINESS
Douglas Kennedy, Hutchison £9 99, hb, 5 l 9pp, ISBN 0-09-179434-4
It is Thanksgiving Eve, Manhattan, 1945 and America is celebrating victory. Sara Smythe, a bright Byn Mawr graduate with literary ambitions, meets Jack Malone, a US Army journalist and they fall in love Then there is
Eric , Sara's brother, a closet gay with left wing sympathies, who writes for a prime-time NBC comedy show. But there are difficulties ahead. This accomplished book is about chance and choice and how the latter is influenced by the times we live in. All three characters have to make difficult moral choices, not only during the McCarthy witch hunts , when people were asked either to betray their friends or risk being blacklisted; but in a society which believed that 'nice' women did not have sex lives and where homosexuality was seen as a disgusting aberration The choices they made will cast long shadows
What impressed me about this book was the skill with which Kennedy depicts the female psyche - most of the book is first person narration by Sara. The picture of post-war America also rings true and the research is thorough, but never intrusive. This is a gripping story, told with skill and intelligence
Elizabeth Hawksley
FOLLY
Laurie RKing , Harper Collins, £9 99 , pb , 400pp , ISBN 0-00-711132-0
I have a love/hate relationship with literary fiction I either love it or I hate it! I am delighted to say that I loved this novel , as advertised by the fact that I stirred the pans with one hand and held the book in the other, unable to put it dO\m If forced to leave the novel , I found myself pondering on the characters , the plot and the many levels of meaning . There are depths within depths
Recovering from a mental breakdown after tragedy and a violent assault on her person, Rae Newborn comes to a lonely Island off the Northwest coast of America in to piece together her shattered life A skilled woodworker, she intends to restore the folly built by her great uncle in the 1920s and destroyed by fire In the course of rebuilding , she makes several disturbing discoveries that change her perceptions of her family and her own past. What really happened on the island eighty years ago? What is the truth behind her great uncle's disappearance? While pondering this mystery, Rae finds herself pray to notions that she is being watched and cannot be certain whether her fears are grounded in fact , or a result of her unstable mental state. She also has to deal with visitors from the mainland who are far too intrusive when all she desires is to be left alone . This is powerful, skilful writing. There are sections of the novel where the only character on stage is Rae and the inside of her mind It could have been stultifying, but I was riveted. My only quibble? The parts set in the l 920s are negligible and although the past impinges on the present in a huge way, it's a novel of modem psychological suspense, rather than
THE
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being a historical. However, I have no hesitation in recommending it highly Susan Hicks
RIPTIDE
John Lawton, Wiedenfield & Nicholson, 200 l , £16 99 , 320p , hb , ISBN O297 64345 2 . ' Caught in a riptide, tom between two loves ,' as the wartime song has it - and the characters in this novel are caught, pulled about by the tide of war A senior Gestapo officer, about to be exposed as an American spy flees Berlin and seek refuge in London Here , suave American career officer Captain Calvin McCormack III is 'loaned unofficially' to the British secret service to help track down this elusive agent. America is not yet in the war, Russia is still on the sidelines and so when matters go horribly wrong, he finds himself disowned and turned upon, caught between the two sides, his own and the British
Fortunately, Sgt Kitty Stilton of the Metropolitan Police is able to provide her former boyfriend, Sgt Troy of the Murder Squad to help him out. That she also dominates a lust-driven affair between McCormack and herself, doesn ' t help his sense of duty nor does the fact that she is the daughter of his British colleague, Chief Inspector Walter Stilton.
The characterisation is both subtle and strong, reminiscent of Graham Greene's work. Even the minor characters have substance, both fictional and historical. Lawton creates a very believable London The pubs are grubby, the food is mundane and the Cockney characters are not all the chirpy sparrows that popular legend have made them. We are taken on a trail around some of the immigrant quarters of London where the Poles and Czechs are grateful for England's protection but at night wait in the bowels of church crypts , expecting Hitler to come hunting for them. I was delighted with this background detail , to the extent that I felt able to trust the historical background material with which I was unfamiliar It is a very credible story
Lawton has paced this novel in a very tantalising manner Misleading clues and events take our hero away from the main story However all these detours are credible and well crafted It was hard to put this book down. I had not read any of John Lawton's novels before. I shall be reading his others very soon
Paul F Brnnyee
THESALTOFBROKENTEARS
Michael Meehan, Vintage, £6 99, pb, 297pp, ISBN 0-09-9286483
In north-west Victoria, Australia in the 1920s, an isolated farmstead family is struggling to
survive. Their lives are harsh and joyless. Few travellers pass , until one day a girl , Eileen, turns up out of nowhere. Eileen's spontaneity and earthiness acts as a catalyst for all the repressed emotions and tensions in the small community. But then, after a mysterious quarrel , she disappears The boy of the family goes in search of her and we follow his journey across the haunting landscape of the Australian outback.
This novel ought to be unreadable Mostly description, the tone is similar throughout and, though the boy meets various characters, each with stories to tell , nothing much happens But it is compelling reading One is drawn into a subtly changing landscape, which has both a mythic resonance and is completely convincing in its naturalism The boy's odyssey is both an inward and an outward journey . His very inarticulateness (he is even nameless) sets up a tension between the emotional poverty of his previous existence and the possibilities of the creative imagination with Eileen represents The novel haunted me whilst I was reading it and echoed long after I had finished. A most impressive debut.
Elizabeth Hawksley
TWELVE BAR BLUES
Patrick Neate , Viking , £9 99 pb 400pp 2001. ISBN 0-670-88791-9
This is a warm, moving and thoroughly enjoyable homage to New Orleans jazz and the folks that created it. The story shifts between two odysseys : that of Lick Holden , a black cornet player from Cooltown, searching for his sister Sylvie 'who ain't no blood relation at all' , at the beginning of the 20th century, and the other of Sylvia, a middle-aged, coffee-coloured London prostitute, who heads for Louisiana nearly one hundred years later in search of her roots The parallel quests have a successful outcome although somewhat tinted with blood and tragedy Ex-hooker Sylvia flanked by her white drunken boyfriend and an African witchdoctor, strides through the book in turn farcical , pathetic and heroic But the one who really steals the show is the Cooltown boy Lick Holden, drifting along with an endearing stubbomess in pursuit of love . He is much more joyful and less lonely than Sylvia despite the poverty, the bullying and the deaths they both experience. And surely it is that whatever his tribulations, he breaks free the minute he picks up his horn.
This is a hymn to the magic power of music, and Patrick Neate's writing is equal to the vibrant sounds and times he describes , giving us back those hot electric nights of 1920s Louisiana, full of the twelve bar blues
that 'fills our guts with an emptiness to swell souls .'
Dominique Nightingale
LEO'S
GIRL
Victor Pemberton, Headline, 2001 , £17 99, hb , 377pp , ISBN 0-7472-7019-8
Middle-class Peggy Thornton longs to do her bit when WW2 breaks out. Against her father's wishes, she trains as a bus conductor in the Holloway depot, and meets a young mechanic , Leo Quincey, but as their friendship deepens into love, she discovers that his family is as opposed to their cross-class relationship as her own
Victor Pemberton handles this familiar saga territory with a master's deft touch . London during the Blitz is recreated in all its horror and solidarity The working lives of the bus drivers and conductors who helped keep London moving are depicted with great detail and confidence - it's good to learn about the people who helped fight on the Home Front.
One minor criticism is the continual recreation of London dialect in the dialogue of the Holloway characters Surely only the occasional word or phrase is needed for authenticity In contrast, middle-class speech remains undoctored
Sara Wilson BLITZ
Claire Rayner, House of Stratus, 2001, £6 99, pb , 321pp , ISBN 1-84232-539-6
House of Stratus have re-issued all six novels in Rayner ' s Poppy Chronicles, of which this is the fourth . The title tells it all Poppy and her family struggle on through the darkest days of London ' s Blitz.
All the wartime horrors are here, the blackout, shortage of food , bomb damage , evacuation, bomb shelters , canteens and gas-masks but it's all rather relentlessly jolly and bleak in turns . The characters are mostly good eggs (Everybody is so terribly , terribly tired but Gosh, we ' re British and we won ' t let that nasty Mr Hitler get us down!) Characters fall into neat stereotypes . The nurses are either angels or battle-axes , the Cockneys are all jolly and the men are stoical heroes or spivs. Because it is one of a series, there was an awful lot of referring back to past events which I felt was unecessary
This novel was an easy read if not particularly well-written. There are plenty of World War II sagas on the shelves today Whilst I applaud the House of Stratus ' s project to re-issue forgotten classics, I wonder why they felt this particular series of novels needed another airing.
Sally Zigmond
TI-IE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
17 AUG 2001
THE SONG AND THE TRUTH
Helga Ruebsamen, Harvill , 2001 , £14 99 , hb , 356pp, ISBN 1-86046-833-0 Translated from the Dutch by Paul Vincent. Lulu is the only child of a Dutch family living on the island of Java between the two world wars She hardly sees her father , a doctor dedicated to his work, so she alternates between her self-absorbed mother and her Aunt Margot. Often left to her own devices , Lulu has created a magical world of her own which comes to life at night. The arrival of Uncle Felix introduces a breath of fresh air into their stagnant lives as well as an element of danger . In her innocence , Louise describes to her aunt what she has seen in the night. She cannot understand the anger and disruption which follow her revelations nor why they must return to Holland In 1939 it is a hostile place for a Jewish family With the German invasion imminent Lulu's mother flees to England , her aunt returns to Java and Lulu and her father go into hiding
An adult world seen through the eyes of a child, where harsh reality and fantasy merge ; Helga Ruebsamen handles it all in a uniquely understated manner. The result is a remarkable book.
Ann Oughton
THE BLUE MOUNTAIN
Meir Shalev (translated from the Hebrew by Hillel Halkin) , Canongate, 2001 , £9.99, pb , 377pp, ISBN 1-84195-115-3
This is a truly delightful book, set in a small rural village prior to the creation of the state of Israel. It is narrated by Baruch, who, now wealthy, is about to leave the village and the cemetery he has built as a resting-place for the pioneers , and move to a villa by the sea. As he does so, he recalls not only his own strange past but also the history of the village.
A community of Russian immigrants crossed the Blue Mountain in the early 1900s to pioneer life in a new land . They were led by Baruch's own grandfather and two friends In telling their stories , the book gives a fascinating account of pioneer life, with its hardships , humour and philosophy. Shalev's writing is rich in the Jewish tradition of storytelling and in its own particular sense of fun. He has , too , a wonderful gift of seeing all plant and animal life as purposeful and linked inevitably with human life
Shalev's prose, clear and bright, brings every one of the many characters vividly to life , and though at first I found the names confusing, I soon ceased to worry about this , or about the constant movement in time and the weaving together of past and present, and simply enjoyed the book. Meir Shalev is well known in his native Israel , and I look forward
to others of his books reaching us through Hillel Halkin's excellent translation
Marcia J. Treece
EIGHT MILLION GODS AND DEMONS
Hiroko Sherwin, Robert Hale, 2001 , £17 99, hb, 317 pp , ISBN 0- 7090-6878-6
This debut novel was five years in the making Spanning the 1890s to the end of the Second World War, this is the story of three generations of the Imura family of Tokyo. It begins with Emi Imura's fight against epilepsy and marriage at 14 to Tak'U, a modem idealist caught up in the campaign to make an independent Korea, who betrays her with a geisha who can have the children Emi cannot. Tak'll hopes to play a major part in world affairs as a member of the Japanese parliament, but inevitably his life reflects his country as it presses onward with its ill-conceived and self-indulgent quest for supremacy in Asia.
The title will mean little to most Western readers. The otherwise useful glossary does not explain that the eight million gods of the title are the kami of the Shinto pantheon, ' the numberless and numinous powers inherent in nature and associated with the forces of growth and renewal. ' They show their demonic side as Japan is devastated by the 1923 earthquake, foreshadowing the conflicts to come in their disastrous attempt to conquer China, and the appalling destruction ofWW2
The book is gently written The pace is slow and emotions are kept under the surface of male misogyny and female acquiescence There is little light and the characters , though finely drawn, are seldom happy Hiroko Sherwin reveals the secretiveness and mysteriousness of the Japanese woman 'like a moon in a dark shadow. '
The novel is enlightening in that it shows the defects of a bureaucracy which held the God Emperor superior to life itself, but it is deeply depressing
Gwen Sly
MATA-HARi,
Richard Skinner, Faber and Faber, 2001 , £9 99, pb , 206pp , ISBN 0-571-20213-6
This book should certainly hold the interest of a reader who is not familiar with the life of the fascinating Mata Hari But the form, a collection of chapters from the points of view of those who knew Mata Hari , interspersed with irrelevant essays about zeppelins, trains and Indonesian music , never aroused any sense of being hooked . A feeling of passion or commitment might have redeemed all , but I didn't sense any of that. In fact there was a nuts & boltsy feel about the whole thing which was disappointing given the exotic subject.
As for poor Mata Hari, they should never have shot her ; they shouldn't have shot the millions of young men on both sides either, but it seems to have been the fashion of the day . Sydenham Hill
YEARS
La Vyrle Spencer, Harper Collins , 2001 , £5 99, pb , ISBN 0-00-647716-X
In 1917, newly-qualified schoolteacher Linnea Brandonberg, almost eighteen years old, is appointed to a local school in North Dakota to teach the children of the Norwegian immigrant wheat farmers who have settled on the prairie Theodore (Teddy) Westgaard, a crusty farmer of thirty-four with a son of sixteen, whose wife deserted him soon after Kristian ' s birth, is at first determined not to have a woman lodger in the house but is overruled by his mother Nissa, the matriarch of the extensive Westgaard family This is the story of Linnea ' s and Teddy's growing love for each other, of Teddy ' s struggle with the difference in their ages - the years that separate them
The beautifully written, lyrical prose not only deals sensitively and tenderly with their feelings for each other and for all the members of the extended family , but also describes the harshness of the cold winters , the unremitting labour, the beauty of the prairie and the day to day lives and traditions of the Norwegians who have made it their home
It took me a while to become thoroughly involved with the characters but the story ultimately grips and the writing enthrals One for all those who enjoy a love story and are not afraid to find tears in their eyes when misfortune and tragedy strike
Monica Maple
SISTERS THREE
Jessica Stirling, Hodder and Stoughton, 2001, £17 99, hb, 440pp , ISBN 0-340 -73867-7
As the title indicates, this is the story of three sisters living in Glasgow at the end of the I 930's Rumours of war are rampant although there is still hope that Neville Chamberlain will negotiate 'peace in our time' with Hitler. And that is as far as anything historical goes The story follows the lives of the three sisters with their problems , marital difficulties etc. and bowls along quite nicely although I found it put-downable and not a particularly riveting page-turner. It could have been set in any age : WWI , Prohibition in the States, or even some time in the future with an invasion by aliens . It is the kind of book that sits very comfortably on the 'mainstream shelves' and does not, in my opinion, deserve the status of an historical novel. It was also spoilt, again in my opinion, by very poor proof reading
Marilyn Sherlock
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
1HE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
NINETEEN TWENTY ONE
Adam Thorpe , Jonathan Cape, £15 99, hb 37lpp , ISBN 0-224-05282-9
Joseph Monrow is trying to write the first Great War novel. Throughout the hot, dry summer of 1921 he is haunted by guilt at having missed fighting in the trenches. In an attempt at expiation, he visits Flanders , where he meets Tillie, an English girl and Marda , a German widow The book chronicles his attempts to come to terms with and find meaning in the devastation and ruined lives all around him
I was very impressed by this book; Thorpe evokes a multiplicity of ideas and images of the time with uncanny accuracy. I found myself being reminded of Woolf's stream-of-consciousness , D H Lawrence's striving after truth and passion and various eye-witness accounts of WWI , as Joseph lumbers round the still-churned up battlefields. The scenes in Flanders with the smells of rotting corpses and cordite is a nightmare world, peopled now by the human detritus of war still resonating with the emotional horror of what they have been through. As Marda says at the end of the book, 'We are all empty, our wells are quite dry.' Adam Thorpe's achievement is to chronicle that post-war emptiness and make it unnervingly real
Elizabeth
Hawksle y
SUMMER OF SILENCE
Janet Mary Tomson, Robert Hale , 2001 , £17 99, hb , 240pp, ISBN 0-7090-6864-6
Fifteen-year-old Maisie Morris suffered a trauma early in life and since then has retreated into a world of near silence. When a tragic accident kills her remaining family she turns to her teacher, Joanna Cameron, for help and Joanna secures her a job on an isolated farm
One day the farmer accidentally buys an ageing and maltreated horse called Duke Maisie connects with the poor animal immediately and takes over his care and treatment. As friendship and trust develop between girl and animal they both start on the road to recovery.
This is a touching story, simply told, and all the more appealing for that. The subject matter is sensitively handled, as the reason for Maisie's mental anguish is gradually revealed to the reader Daily life in the postwar years is lightly sketched in with a few telling details , and for readers who remember the early 1950s there is plenty to reminisce over - coffee bars, dances , California Poppy perfume Several subplots provide added spice and sit comfortably beside the main action A good read .
Sara Wilson
Tiffi IDSTORJCAL NOVELS REVIEW
THE LILY THEATRE
Lulu Wang (tr Hester Velmans) , Sceptre, 2001 , £6 99 , pb , 366pp , ISBN 0-340-69667-2
Based on Lulu Wang's own experiences of growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution, this novel gives a fascinating and often grim account of life under the leadership of Chairman Mao It covers the years 1972-74, so is not far back in historical time , but because living in 1970s Britain was far removed from the experience described in this story, it has a more historical feel.
The oppressive political regime under the 'Great Helmsman' is portrayed by Lian, whose parents are intellectuals and therefore high in the caste system but despised under the new regime At school Lian befriends Kim, a third caster who lives in the Beijing slums and a large part of the novel tells of the differences in their way of life and the problems they face in their relationship At one stage Lian joins her mother in a re-education camp and finds a quiet spot by a pond she names the 'lily theatre' where her 'audience' are crickets and frogs who will not 'tell' on her for voicing anti-propaganda material and for reading other than the Little Red Book.
The Lily Theatre was first published in the Netherlands , where Lulu Wang now lives The story demonstrates the power of the human spirit and is a fascinating read, although the plot moves very slowly. However, excellent characterisation and a strong first person narrati ve keep the pages turning
Gre ta Krypczyk-Oddy
THE STRANGE DEATH OF A ROMANTIC
Jim Williams , Scribner, £16 99, hb , 34lpp , ISBN 0-743 2 -0838-2
This bizarre novel is very odd, but an excellent read Back in 1930, young doctor Guy Parrot spent the summer with four rich and glamorous friends in La Spezia, Italy They passed their time taking turns to each tell a story based on the death of Percy Bysshe Shelley in La Spezia a century before. Shelley, of course, had also spent time with his friends , including Byron, each writing a macabre story (one of which became Franken s tein). Guy's friends decide that Shelley's drowning was not accidental but murder and whodunit ?
Fifteen yeas later Guy is sent to La Spezia to set up and army hospital in the aftermath of the war Unsure at fist where his orders have landed him he walks up the hill - and sees the house he stayed in At this point I was thinking, this is Brideshead Revisited And the joke continues , as each of the Guy's friends parodies other authors when telling their own tales ; plus , following the discovery of a corpse in the water cistern, there is more than a touch
of Agatha Christie thrown in for good measure (watch out for the use of the other name she wrote under)
Despite all the oddities of this literary game this is a really enjoyable book. Who was actually around when Shelley made his last ill-fated trip across the lake , how that gifted louche crowd behaved, and why , has fascinated people ever since . Guy, by 1945 , has had time to compare his friends with Byron, Shelley et all and to also work out his own part in that long, hot summer and just who the mysterious drunk, Nessuno (Mr Nobody) really is Meanwhile he has to cope with setting up a hospital while the villainous Corporal Long is lining his pockets by selling of all the hospital equipment.
Clever, funn y and very, very different.
Val Whitmarsh
THE RIGHT HAND OF SLEEP
John Wray, Chatto & Windus £10 00 , pb , 325pp , ISBN 0-701-16964-8
Oskar Voxlauer is in flight from his past: his bourgeois Austrian upbringing ; horrific memories of fighting on the Italian Front in 191 7 and the twenty years spent in the Ukraine watching his Bolshevik ideals crumble. In March 1938 he returns to the small town of his birth where his mother is waiting to greet a son she hasn't seen since he was a boy . However Hitler marches into Austria and Oskar's rural community is about to be changed forever. Families take sides, old friendships and allegiances can no longer be taken for granted
In this debut novel the author, who is half Austrian, lovingly and lyrically portrays the beauty of the Austrian landscape and skilfully depicts life in inter-war Germany and Austria The narrati ve spans six months , interleaved wi th twenty years of Oskar's backstory This works well and fills out his character. Less satisfactory is the backstory of Oskar's Nazi adversary, interleaved in the second half of the novel , making the narrative fragmented British readers may find the American phraseology and absence of speech marks a distraction. Nevertheless , the novel is an interesting portrait of the dark side of Austria's past and of human weakness
Janet Hancock
PATTERNS OF LIFE
Janet Wright Matthews , Severn House, 2000 , £17 99, hb , 245pp ,7278-5585-9
Catherine Harrison is seventeen when her mother dies . Her father, Walter, forces her to give up her hopes of a college education when he takes her and her younger brother to Cornwall to make a new start. Walter lives in fear Although the Great War is over, desertion is still punishable by death Walter is
a deserter, prepared to commit murder to keep his secret safe.
Catherine and her brother befriend Gunter , a German ex-prisoner of war and involve themselves in his struggle to rebuild the business his grandfather had in Cornwall before the war. Gunter and Walter have met before So have Walter and Major Random who has come to Cornwall to exact vengeance on the deserter who attacked and crippled him to his uniform and papers. What happens to these characters is told in short dramatic episodes , moving swiftly from one tense situation to another. A good read
Jeanne Fielder
MULTI-PERIOD
THE HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINE STEPS
Michel Faber, Canongate, 2001 , £9 99 , hb, l22pp , ISBN 1841951994.
Michel Faber's accomplished new novella exists because Keith Wilson, Artist in Residence at Whitby Abbey during summer 2000 , asked the author to come and write a short story inspired by the English Heritage dig What results is a contemporary love story interleaved with an Eighteenth Century confession - with sundry hauntings from St. Hilda and Bram Stoker thrown in It is only marginally within our genre, but it does have several interesting features The confession is marvellously done . Written in a sinuous pastiche of a whaler's language, it also thrills with all sorts of playful echoes of the main narrative It is a bold example of how dynamic and modem such seeming archaism can be. Another joy in the book is Faber's constant musing on the nature of our response to history The ways in which we look back are subtext to every page - not just the ruins and the archaeology , but the rebuilding of the past, the schlock-gothic, the personal histories , and, most importantly, attempts to grasp the mindscapes of the past. And, as ever, I just love Faber's sense of humour. Again, there are examples of this on every page, but I particularly enjoyed the research subject of the scornful, modem, twenty-first century medic . Can parrot fever (caught by inhaling the powdered faeces of caged birds) be transferred from human to human? The answer, of course, is 'maybe': how wonderfully medieval!
Richard Lee
justice to the tight entwining of past and present.
In 1733 , Venice verges on the over-ripe but it is still a place of high culture where Vivaldi rehearses his young female musicians, benevolently supported by mysterious Englishman, Delapole When Lorenzo Scacchi's uncle Leo allows him to chaperone the violinist Rebecca Levi, beautiful , talented, but Jewish, Lorenzo and Rebecca relish outwitting the ghetto guards and presenting Vivaldi with an incomparable musician and a superb concerto of unknown provenance.
A bereavement sends Lorenzo into an agony of grief. His narrative continues without the lightheartedness which has hitherto prevented the reader from entering what has all along been a tale of mounting horror . Burdened with ghastly knowledge and under compulsions so intolerable that no man could long sustain them, Lorenzo confronts ' Lucifer ' s Shadow ' in a scene of frightful, unrestrained violence and death. But who has died?
In present day Venice , Daniel Forster meets his new employer, Signor Scacchi and his lover Paul , and Laura , his beautiful housekeeper These three are flatteringly eager to include Daniel in their lives When Laura and Daniel interest English entrepreneur, Hugo Massiter, in a unique treasure Daniel believes this to be a small fraud , harming no one . Instead he is entrapped in ancient terror. Short chapters and tense, illuminating prose allow David Hewson to whisk the reader to and fro in time I delighted in the alluring complexities of this hugely enjoyable, rich sensual novel which is imbued throughout with music
Nancy Henshaw
LUOFER'S SHADOW
David Hewson, HarperCollins, 2001 , £16 99, hb , 408pp , ISBN 0-00-225622-1 This novel has rightly been called a double helix . It is impossible in a few words to do
TI-IE HISTORJCAL NOVELS REVIEW
THE TOWN HOUSE
ISBN 1-84232-145-5 , 435pp
THE HOUSE AT OLD VINE
ISBN l-8423322-1433-9 , 435pp
THE HOUSE AT SUNSET
ISBN l-842332-144-7 , 355pp
Norah Lofts, House of Stratus , £6 99 each These three books , recently re-issued by the excellent House of Stratus form a trilogy set around the fortunes of one house. The time span is from 1381 to 1956
In the first book we follow the struggles of Martin Reed to free himself from serfdom. This can only be achieved by running away from his lord and living in a town for one year and a day or entering a church. Given a basic education by the village priest, his lord refuses to allow him to enter the church or marry the woman he loves Martin struggles and founds the House. When his wife and children die in a tragedy he marries a gypsy girl. Her wild blood and his stubborn determination to get
his own way are to continue down the generations and the varying fortunes of the house.
Each book contains a set of long short-stories linked by an Interlude In these stories we meet the varying people who inhabit the House at Old Vine and follow the fortunes of the house itself
Nora Lofts was a best-seller in her time (she died in 1983) The style of writing is not unlike Catherine Cookson's: people struggling to survive, cruelty within the home, jealousy, bastardy and just hinted at incest.
Despite the struggles and occasional grimness of the people ' s lives the books are not unpleasant. They are not romantic , but neither are they sordid The language is simple and very readable The sense of history is excellent The books flow along easily and the interludes carry you over the years to the next time span with ease . Nora Lofts taught History and English before becoming a best-selling author This probably accounts for her easy prose style and her ability to convey history without burdening her reader Not althogether cheerful reading, but very enjoyable.
Finally, although the standard of printing is good and the covers pleasing I have a grumble with the binding. It is tight and consequently difficult to keep open. Mai read McKerracher
THESONGCATCHER
Sharyn McCrumb , Hodder&Stoughton, 2001, £17 .99, hb, 320pp, ISBN 0-340-71717-3
See review in US/Canada section
THE ICE-CIDLD
Elizabeth McGregor, Bantam Press, 2001 , £9.99, pb , 400pp, ISBN 0593 046838
This book intertwines a modem day story of relationships , with a well-researched account of Franklin's tragic voyage in search of a north-west passage, told through the eyes of a boy sailor. The modem tale has its own threatening tragedy in the potential death of a little boy of aplastic anaemia The fate of the boy did hook me , but overall I didn't like the contrived juxtaposition of the two worlds. The modem day characters failed to charm, their quarrels and reconciliations unable to rise above the level of routine sagas The account of disintegration of the Franklin expedition is well constructed, but the fictional passages just get in the way Altogether I would rather have read a documentary account of the horrific battle with the ice in the Canadian archipelago Sydenham Hill
IN THE SHAPE OF A BOAR
Lawrence Norfolk, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2000 , £16 99, hb ,3 !Opp, ISBN 0297 64618 4
Lawrence Norfolk pursues the story of the hunt for the boar of Kalydon from pre-Homeric Greece to a re-enactment of the chase in the last months of the Second World War, when a Nazi officer assumes the role of the boar and becomes the quarry of Greek partisans
The first third of the novel is tightly packed with well-researched historical details The annotated notes (on almost every page) present the reader with an amazing catalogue of sources and descriptions about the Kalydon boar hunt. These are very precise for example : boar spears had blades that were fifteen inches long with stout teeth in the middle of them The notes are interesting and do compliment the text.
The remaining two-thirds of the novel features Sol Memel a Romanian Jew as the linchpin character Sol witnesses another 'boar hunt' as he flees through Europe during the Second World War, and carries away with him a secret. This hidden truth is only revealed many years later as a consequence of a documentary about his epic work of literature. Interwoven into Sol's story is his past love affair with Ruth
The characters that stand out are not the modem ones , but the long dead hunters Atalanta ' springs ' out from the pages , a huntress more skilled than most of the men in her own world You can feel the rhythm of her breathing as she watches, crouches, coils her fingers around her bowstring and runs with the hunters. However, it is the ' Boar' of Kalydon, which leaves the most memorable imprint. Its instinctive intelligence is described in a captivating manner.
Along with the historical descriptions Lawrence Norfolk raises several philosophical questions What is left after the death of the boar ? What remains after the chase? A mark on a cave wall ? There are no traces of the hunters ' footprints , and the fate of the boar and the hunters become as one
Lawrence Norfolk ' s evocation of pre-Homeric Greece and its heroes are poetic in the Homeric manner It could stand as an independent work of fiction The remainder of the novel although well written does not have the same 'epic ' grandeur
Myfanwy Cook
CANE RIVER
Lalita Tademy, Headline, 2001, £12.99 , pb, 352pp, ISBN 0-7472-7015-5
For review, see Issue 16 (May 2001), US section. Tiffi IIlSTORICAL
I HISTORICAL FANTASY I
THE WOLF KING
Alice Borchardt, Voyager, March 2001 , £11.99, pb , 375pp , ISBN 0-00-224717-8
For review see Issue 16 , US/Canada section
SON OF THE SHADOWS
Juliet Marillier, Voyager, £10 .99, pb , 540 pp ISBN 0 00 224737 2
This is book 2 of the Sevenwaters historical fantasy trilogy which began with Daughter Of The Forest (issue 13) The setting is mythical Ireland when the Vikings and the Christian religion were making inroads on ancient Celtic culture Liadan has inherited her healing powers and second sight from her wisewoman mother, Sorcha. Wamed by the supernatural 'Fair Folk' to follow the path they ordain or else , Liadan nevertheless defies them and chooses her own way and her own (tortured hero) mate with consequences that the reader just knows are going to reach far into book 3 ! As in book l , the lead role is taken by a quiet but strong woman who is prepared to endure terrible perils to save her loved ones - who are not always grateful for her intervention I enjoyed this novel.
The author weaves her tale with the firelit skill of a born storyteller I cared about the characters , I wanted to know what happened next and even if I didn't turn the pages at breakneck speed, I was thoroughly absorbed Nevertheless I have a few nit-picks The author takes great care with her Irish names and pronunciation to the point of inserting a glossary However the poor Britons get the fuzzy end of the lolly and are given Norman and Medieval appellations such as 'Hugh' and 'Johnny' as if she couldn't care less . Some of the language and attitudes sound as if they've come straight out of a counselling course. Characters hug dark secrets to their bosoms , which you know any sensible person would have told everyone straight away - but then there wouldn't be a story!
Having said that, readers who enjoyed the first of the Sevenwaters Trilogy will not be disappointed by Son Of The Shadows , which in this reader's opinion has more depth than the first , and is perhaps the better novel.
Susan Hicks
NON-FICTION
RICHARD BEAUCHAMP
Medieval England's Greatest Knight
David Brindley, Tempus Publishing, 2001 , £19 99 , pb , 160pp (colour and b/w plates) ISBN 0 7524 1780 0
David Brindley is Rector of the Collegiate Church of St Mary in Warwick which houses the Beauchamp Chapel, the finest medieval chantry in England and the burial place of Richard Beauchamp . Because of his closeness to the subject, what could have been a dry tome is tempered with the author ' s passion and dedication for his subject.
I. for one, had barely heard of Beauchamp which the Sunday Times recently listed eighth in their list of the 200 richest people in history and was fascinated by this account of this Earl of Warwick who was always in the right place at the right time, if not a particularly interesting character in his own right. He was Henry V's closest friend, arranged his marriage and after his death was tutor and guardian to the young Henry VI. It was he who encouraged the ecclesiastical court of the Inquisition to try and bum at the stake Joan of Arc
With plenty of colour photographs and illustrations from contemporary documents, in particular The Beauchamp Pageants which chronicles important events in Richard's life (incidentally some with later anti-catholic defacings probably by 17th century Puritans ) It is such illustrations that bring this book to life and which no doubt are the reason behind the steep cover price
If you are studying this most turbulent period in English history and are seeking a research resource that is so close to the original as possible without trawling through dusty archives oneself, then this it is it.
Sally Zigmond
VIKINGS: FEAR AND FAITH
Paul Cavill , Harper Collins 2001 , £16 99 , hb , 36lpp, ISBN 0 00 710401 4
The traditional image of the Vikings is one of rape , pillage and destruction The aim of Paul Cavill's well-written and illuminating book is not exactly to overturn this image but to show how the Viking invasions played a pivotal role in unifying and shaping what was eventually to become Anglo-Saxon England The book also demonstrates the ways in which the Vikings who settled in Britain came to integrate themselves into Anglo-Saxon society and culture and actually play a major role in rebuilding the land they had savaged
The narrative of the book begins with the first Viking raids in the eighth century and moves on to discuss developments under the
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
Danish rule of King Cnut and the important cultural and political unity that was achieved under King Alfred The author, Paul Cavill, lectures in Anglo-Saxon literature at Nottingham University and his book reveals a wide-ranging understanding of the period and a high level of academic rigour. However, Cavill also brings a great deal of accessibility to his subject. This book is not simply written as a historical textbook but is put together in a lively, compelling and entertaining style This makes Vikings : Fear and Faith equally suitable for armchair readers as it is for students of the Anglo-Saxon period
A large chunk of the book is taken up by appendices. These include a wide range of texts in translation, including poetry, chronicles and even treaties Therefore the book allows you to view the evidence at first-hand as well as read Cavill's interpretation of the period Vikings : Fear and Faith is recommended for anyone who enjoys reading about real history, particularly when it sheds new light on a much misunderstood period of the past.
Christopher Lean
THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS OF THE WEST COUNTRY WRITERS' ASSOOATION
Anne Double, 2001 , £20 (inc. p&p) , hb , 237pp, ISBN 0954012003. Available from Taylor's Cottage, Little Wittenham, Oxon, OX144RD
The WCWA is an old-world and utterly English sort of institution The West Country it celebrates is a region of the mind, rather than of geography or birth, and the Association's most famous members seem to have found its community more a relief from the literary world than an inspiration. Even so , there is a quiet energy to the WCWA. And its roll-call of members past and present is impressive by any standard: from older days, Henry Williamson (Tarka) , Daphne du Maurier, Eden Philpotts and Laurie Lee; currently Christopher Fry, Joanna Trollope, E.V Thompson, Jeffrey Archer, Winston Graham, Michael Holroyd, Joanna Hines, Gene Kemp , Fay Sampson, Caroline Stickland, Rachel Billington and Margaret Drabble. I attended the Association's annual congress in 1999 and thoroughly warmed to the style of the association , (as well as listening to some first rate talks and lectures) . This book conveys the same charm to its readers
Richard Lee
LORD MINIMUS: The Extraordinary Life of Britain's Smallest Man
Nick Page, Harper Collins , 2001, £12 .99, hb , 26lpp, ISBN 0-00-710186-4
This is a small book about a very small man. It is biography, of sorts , of Jeffrey Hudson generally known at the Court of Charles I and his Queen, Henrietta Maria, as the Queen ' s Dwarf When he was taken to Whitehall by the Dulce of Buckingham from his humble home in Rutland at the age of seven, he was just eighteen inches tall. Although he was to grow somewhat as he reached maturity, he remained exceptionally small throughout his eventful life. He achieved fame not only for his size but for his wit and poise, and then later for his military service during the Civil War, for killing a member of the exiled Court in France in a duel on horseback and then to suffer from years of slavery in North Africa He probably ended his life after coming out of prison when caught up in the Popish Plot of 1678-79 , having become a Catholic while under the influence of his adored Queen
This is indeed a life suitable for a thrilling biography, but the problem is that there is so little documentary evidence available and the author does not seem to have unearthed anything appreciably new to add to the knowledge of Jeffrey's life. Hence the very little tl}at is known is fleshed out with mini-biographies of the important figures of the day with whom he was associated, such as Henrietta Maria , William Davenant and Titus Oates Similarly, the thread of history that accompanies Jeffrey ' s life with the build-up to the Civil War, and later the Restoration are skated over, only of interest to anyone with next to no knowledge of English 17th Century history It is an easy , undemanding read, though it needed a more rigorous editor From pages three to nine, we are informed that the Jeffrey Hudson ' s was a ' remarkable story ', that he was a ' remarkable man ' and enjoyed a ' remarkable life '; furthermore that it is a 'fantastic story' and he was one of the 'wonders of the age'. Eventually the reader may just get the message There are no footnotes to the text, though there is a fairly full listing of sources for each chapter at the close of the book.
Doug Kemp
LOST LION OF EMPIRE
Edward Paice, Harper Collins, 2001 , £19.99 , hb , 414pp , ISBN O 00 257003 3
Edward Paice took on a big subject with this biography, for Ewart Grogan ' s name is synonymous with the ' Scramble for Africa ' and the country ' s subsequent history
Born in 1874 in London, Ewart Grogan always knew he would not settle for a hum-drum life in Victorian England By the
time he was 20 he had conquered the Matterhorn and become the youngest ever member of the Swiss Alpine Club A year later he was in Africa, fighting with Cecil Rhodes in the Matabele War His next challenge made him famous both in Africa and England In order to prove himself to his future father-in-law , Grogan undertook to traverse the continent of Africa from Cape to Cairolargely on foot - crossi.'lg the impenetrable jungles of Central Africa in the face of hostile tribes. This had never before been achieved , even by the great Stanley; that it was suicidal only strengthened Grogan ' s resolve The epic journey took three years to complete and almost ruined his health But it gave him a knowledge of Africa that was to influence the rest of his life Africa was now in Grogan ' s blood He settled in East Africa , became leader of the pioneers and embarked on a lifetime of grand designs He founded the country's timber industry, built Mombassa ' s first deep-water port, East Africa ' s finest hotel and its first children 's hospital
Possessed of ' disarmingly good looks , magnetic charm, a formidable intellect and a near-boundless ego,' Grogan was a great orator and a man who knew Africa and its people better than most at that time His battles with the British Government and Colonial Office made him many enemies in England He predicted troubles long before they came, including the Mau Mau uprising , but his warnings to the British Government were largely ignored
The account of Grogan ' s life is the history of Colonial Africa He was not only a founding father of Kenya but one of the very few who also witnessed decolonisation
A fascinating read and highly recommended Celia Elli s
THE WORLD FOR A SHILLING
Michael Leapman, Headline, 2001, £14.99, hb , 296pp, ISBN 0-7472-7012-0
This isn 't merely an account of the staging of the Great Exhibition of 185 l. It's also a social history and it provides the reader with much food for thought. The story is as exciting as any novel - all the ingredients are here, from passion and intrigue to the final resounding triumph over difficulties.
The Prince Consort initiated the project in the teeth of objections from those who regarded him as a meddlesome foreigner More opposition came from the aristocracy, who feared that an influx of the lower orders into the capital would ruin the London Season, and from the police, who didn't trust the mob It was a bare half-century since the French Revolution and the riots of 1848 in Europe had added to the unease of those in authority .
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
The Exhibition was intended as an international celebration of human progress in industry and invention, but would foreigners send their goods to be compared with British products? They did so in great numbers
Then there were fears that the Crystal Palace wouldn't be built in time and if it was , it would collapse in the first gale Both designers and builders confounded their critics
Visitors came in their millions , many taking advantage of the cheap railway trips organised by Thomas Cook. All were anxious to test the claim that they would see the world for a shilling The largest single day's attendance was 109,915 Sneered at as ' The Great Unwashed ', their dignified behaviour changed attitudes and the Exhibition helped shape the thinking of the nation in the coming century
Michael Leapman devotes part of his final chapter to comparisons with the Millennium Dome, noting that the Exhibition made a handsome profit despite its modest admission charge
These days , it's fashionable to sneer at the Victorians for their narrow-mindedness , paternalism and lack of taste This book shows the other side of the coin. It is a valuable work of reference, and marvellous value for money
Margaret Crosland
THE PLOTS TO RESCUE THE TSAR
Shay McNeal , Century, hb , 326pp including bibliography and notes, ISBN 0 7126 8029 2 If my name were Frederick Forsyth, Alistair McLean, Michael Crighton or Wilbur Smith and I had it ' in mind to write a novel about the Russian Revolution of 1917, the resultant civil war, what happened to the Romanov family and the wheeling dealin_g political intrigues that were going on throughout the world, this book is an ideal starting point for research It wouldn't matter in the end what scenario I created to deal with the mystery of what happened to the Romanovs because what I would have is a rip-roaring political thriller of global proportions, a cast of spies of huge talents and the possibility of governmental conspiracy on the scale of The X Files McNeal has provided a dense and detailed study that explores the many facets of this intriguing story. That the provenance provided for the DNA from the recently buried alleged Romanov bodies is doubtful; and that many files are either still 'closed' or mysteriously disappeared, just serves to deepen the intrigue. A sure-fire stimulus for an imaginative writer of thriller fiction.
Towse Harrison
SEAHENGE
New Discoveries in Prehistoric Britain
Francis Pryor, HarperCollins , 2001 , £19 99, hb , 337pp, ISBN0-00-710191-0
Let's get my one complaint out of the way first. The title is misleading Seahenge is the name given to a timber circle discovered on a Norfolk beach (which incidentally is another misnomer ; It was built on land; coastal erosion decided its final resting-place ) Although this book discusses that find, it is only a small part of this fascinating book which is an overview of Pryor' s excavations on the wetlands of East Anglia in which he discovered a great deal about the life of pre-Roman Britain, be it Bronze or Iron Age
Prior writes lucidly in layman ' s terms about what archaeology can and can ' t reveal and conveys that sense of excitement at each new discovery which sheds light on the lives of our ancestors. What I found most fascinating is the evidence that subsequent generations of people respected their ancestor ' s boundaries or 'sacred places ' which proved that life evolved relatively peacefully at this time and did not consist of successive waves of invading tribes as popular history describes The first people to do this were the Romans
Pryor is a man who has no truck with ' new age ' mumbo-jumbo about the mystical Celts (He also dislikes this name too ) He is scornful of such things as ley-lines and magic in the earth. He has no time for those who say that what he does is sacrilege and that if only he sat crossed legged and ' communed ' with the ancients he would find out far more than disturbing the sacred earth He is as down to earth as the job he goes . What he does is not sacrilege. (Usually he is working flat out before another housing or industrial estate removes the evidence altogether ) To him knowledge and discovery tells a far more interesting tale than swords and sorcery.
I loved the accounts of his discoveries which said so much about these early people Have you ever thought about ancient ladders? Neither had I. Our ancestors had ladders but they were nothing ours. They used 'notched' ladders which are still in use in countries like Nepal today No ' communing with dead spirits' can bring that sort of information to life Only hard slog with a digger and trowel and years of experience can do that.
Forget the fantasy. If you want to know about the 'real' pre-Roman Britain then read this book.
Sally Zigmond
IN THE LION'S COURT
Derek Wilson , Hutchinson, £20 00 , hb , 52lpp ISBN 0-09-180118-4
In his new book biographer and novelist Wilson returns to his original themes first explored in A Tudor Tapestry and examines the power politics and intrigue within the court of Henry VIII
The opening decades of the 16th century witnessed a change in the exercise of power; no longer would baronial alliances offer effective resistance to the state and old truths were questioned and ancient institutions undermined
Into focus come six very different men all called Thomas : Wolsey, More, Howard, Cromwell , Cranmer and Wriothesley Their interlocking lives influenced both the court and the government and did much to shape the history of England during the years of turmoil leading to the Reformation and its aftermath There are also tantalising glimpses of the six tragic Queens as the curtain is lifted on their comings and goings
The book is divided into six parts , each covering a decade , but the lives of the Thomases do not correspond neatly with these periods The constant transition from one Thomas to another and cross-referencing can be abrupt and confusing , as can the use of their various names and titles , sometimes within the same sentence . A separate chronology for each Thomas might have been a better division, and less use of modem terminology more satisfying.
A prodigious amount of research and understanding of the period is contained within the pages and Wilson brings out the true characters of the six Thomases with conv1ction. Their individual lives are described, their families and social origins and the pathways to power along which ambitions and principles brought them face to face with their personal destinies Violent deaths overtook them all except Howard and even he would have gone to the block as a traitor if the King's own death had not intervened The Lion's Court was, as more said, an extremely hazardous place
TIIE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Gwen Sly
THE LOST DIARY OF HERCULES' PERSONAL TRAINER
Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore, HarperCollins, 1998, £3.99, pb, 126 pp, ISBN 0 00 694582 1
What basically happened in this book was you (the reader) were reading Arikarpentes' (Hercules' personal trainer's) diary He wrote about everything that happened between him and Hercules from day one to the day Hercules left him to become a god. The story is based on the story of Hercules that we are all told nowadays, with a twist and other bits that have been added in. It was a very good story, and I think the format was very good although there is one bit that could be improved It is where it tells you in the story what month it is (this is used instead of chapters) because you never actually know what month it is because it is in the Ancient Greek language. Although it does tell you at the front of the book what they all mean, it's not easy to memorise so you keep having to swap from the front of the book to the back to find out what month it actually is; in the end I just gave up! I would definitely try out some of the other books in the set that these two people have written because this was a very enjoyable book. I would give it to an age group of about ten to thirteen because you have to know the real story to understand this book, and also there are quite a few long words.
Sophie-Ann Leyland (aged
12)
SID'S WAR A Tale about Evacuation. Jon Blake, Franklin Watts , (Sparks), 1999, £3.99, ISBN 07496-34456
Though easy to read and, according to the publisher, linking into KS2 National Curriculum History, this little novel reveals the same failure of nerve found in Disney's treatment of the very serious Jungle Book by supposing that history is unpalatable to young children unless spiced up with something more attractive Jon Blake cannot decide what is more important - history or humour Opting for comedy, he inevitably sacrifices historical accuracy for anachronism. The simple story of Sid's evacuation with his school from London to the country is told in the first person, in Sid's own voice Through this form of narration the author hopes to catch the interest of the modem child reader in his character, but it is the source of the book's weakness. Sid is made to be far more up-front and in-your-face cheeky than children of the period were . He sounds too much like a product of Grange Hill to be true to 1940 realities. Toe recent ITV historical reincarnation of The I 940's House conveyed clearly how well-behaved and Tiffi HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
respectful of people in authority working class children were brought up to be Inevitably the first person mode of narration means we see all characters through the prism of Sid's distorting vision, so the teachers and adults are stereotypical monsters as in the Beano. Mrs Abbott, with whom Sid is billeted, is described as 'the enemy' and equated with Hitler. Her devotion to her fighter-pilot son in the RAF is presented as mania. The whole telling of the tale has a hard, cynical, 1990s tone , conveyed largely by the humour which is entirely of the lavatorial kind from the dictionary revealing two possible meanings for the word 'evacuate' and the scatalogical one being played on in a long sequence in which the class teacher confirms they are all going to evacuate together, teachers as well as children and do it in the country Later, Sid stinks because his cat has wet his coat. When the teacher demands, 'Keep in line. We don't want an accident!' the reply is , 'Sid's already had one.' And as for the bold expression 'cat's pee,' which appears in the book, a class of ordinary 9-10 year-olds I recently taught were shocked it should be found in something as superior as a book. They had higher expectations of 'literature,' at least on that score, though they found the story amusing as the following reviews reveal.
Linda Hall
SID'S WAR
' Sid's War' is about a boy called Sid who is very cheeky, who in WW2 was evacuated to the country to live with the stem Mrs Abbott . He gets into a bit of mischief and this book is about his troubles. What I liked: the adjectives and descriptions when Sid and one of his friends ate a special cake and Sid got all of the blame and when Sid's friends were chased by an angry farmer. Sid's War is a good book because it tells you what it would have been like for an evacuee in WW2 I'm glad I wasn't an evacuee I enjoyed reading Sid's War and I highly recommend it.
Matthew Mutter age I 0
A highly interesting and amusing book, full of facts but completely comical. The pictures show what it would be like in the war very well. It's a book that catches your attention Esther Wheatley age JO
MUSIC ON THE BAMBOO RADIO
Martin Booth. Puffin. First Published by Hamish Hamilton Ltd 1997. 130pp £4 00 ISBN 0-14-038366-2
Hong Kong 1941 and the Japanese are invading On Christmas Day the colony surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army and both allied military personnel and civilians were rounded up and imprisoned. Nicholas
Halford escaped with Ah Kwan, the family's gardener, Tang the Cook, and head servant and his wife Ah Mee who had been Nicholas' nurse ever since he was born Together they escape over Nine Dragon Mountain to the village of Soh Wan
Between then and the end of the war in 1945 Nicholas lives as a Chinese boy, learns to speak Cantonese and enters fully into the life of the village The story is full of atmosphere and the action is well paced while the characters are wholly believable . There are several books on the market concerning WWII but this is the first I have come across involving the Far East. An exciting story, well told. A real page turner.
Marilyn Sherlock
THE SEEING STONE
Kevin Crossley-Holland, Orion 2000, 324pp, £10 99
This book for older children is an attractive and very readable take on the King Arthur legends In 1199, young Arthur de Caldicot is growing up on his family's manor and hoping to become a knight. A hundred short chapters create snapshots of Arthur's family , friends and daily life in a medieval manor. This approach could have felt disjointed , but in fact has a collage effect, building up a composite picture of Arthur's relationships and interests through brief, strongly visualised verbal portraits.
Everyday events, together with Arthur's growing awareness of social injustice and issues of loyalty and war, take on another dimension when Arthur's father's friend Merlin gives Arthur a magical black stone, the ' seeing stone ' of the title. When he looks into the stone, Arthur sees episodes in the life of an earlier Arthur ; and from seeing the earlier Arthur, he gradually starts to experience the episodes as waking dreams in which he is that earlier namesake , and takes the sword from the stone. Events are paralleled in both lives , and Arthur's uncertainties about his parentage and his future role come to the fore as he tries to translate the events he sees in the stone into a meaning for his own life
Almost but not quite a timeslip story, this book blends legend and fantasy with convincing details of daily medieval life, and the combination of the magical with the prosaic makes for a compelling read The book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone historical fantasy, but to get the very best from it, some familiarity with Arthurian legend is recommended, or many references will be lost to the child reader I'm not suggesting that teenagers need to read Malory to understand this story, but a modem retelling of King Arthur would make a good companion volume. Recommended for bookish older
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
children who will enjoy the story for itself whilst perhaps having some appreciation of Arthurian references and resonances
At a time when good new historicals for older children are thin on the ground, this book is a pleasure and one that is worth buying It's the first of a trilogy, and I'm eagerly awaiting volume two
Belinda Copson
RUNNING OUT OF TIME
Margaret Haddix, Random House , 2000 , £4 .99, pb , 180 pages . ISBN 0-09-940283-l
The book is set in Clifton, USA , a replica village from 1840, but unlike colonial Williamsburg where the inhabitants return to their normal modem lives at night , this is permanent. The Clifton children do not even know that it is not 1840 They cannot see the tourists who observe the village through an arrangement of mirrors
Then diphtheria strikes and 13-year-old Jessie has to escape to try to find the modem medicine that the ill children so desperately need The rest of the book is a gripping modem adventure
This book barely scrapes into the historical novel category, but the early part, set in 1840, is full of authentic details , from the oil paper in the windows to the chore of emptying the chamber pots A thoughtful teenage .reader would surely apprec iate Jessie's bewilderment at having to cope with the telephone, for example, and her struggles to understand a totally different mind set. I thoroughl y enjoyed it.
Elizabeth Hawksley
MISSION
FROM THE MARSH
King Alfred and the Vikings, Rosemary Hayes , 1991 , £4.25 , 55 pages. ISBN 1-871173-12-4
This book describes how Eadwulf went to Wessex to see King Alfred. Alfred told him how the Vikings were attacking the country. When the Vikings invaded Chippenham the King and his people escaped to the marshland. The book tells how they lived and worked Eadwulf persuaded the king's friends in Somerset to join with him to have a battle against the Vikings. Unfortunately Eadwulf was killed in the battle My favourite character was Eadwulf because he was very brave
Ben Larkin , age 10
The description in • the story was brilliant especially the marshes! My favourite character was Eadwulf. He was brave and fierce in battle, but he died in the end. He got killed by a Viking The paragraphs were set out like a play with little chunks of outstanding
description. The story was set in 878 when Alfred was King
Lewis Osmant age 10
OIAINS
Frances Mary Henry, Oxford University Press , 2000, £6 99, Trade paperback. 175 pages ISBN 0-19-271813-4
This novel explores the institution of slavery in all its forms at the end of the eighteenth century
Juliet Smethwick, the daughter of a Liverpool merchant , is desperate to learn about trade so that she can take her place in her father's business but instead she is to be sent to a finishing school. But, with the help of her grandmother, she disguises herself as her brother and takes his place aboard her father's ship the Kestrel.
The Kestrel sails to East Africa and takes on a cargo of slaves and then sails to the Caribbean Captain Owens is a deeply religious man and his slaves are treated better than they would be in many other ships but even so Juliet sees many things which horrify her.
Juliet starts off by believing that slavery is justified But gradually she begins to have doubts . When the slaves first come aboard Juliet has to force herself not to look at their eyes where she would see the pitiful pleading, the despair, the pain By the end of the book she is convinced that slavery is wrong and is determined to spend the rest of her life trying to {cbange things
On board Juliet finds her life linked together with Gbodi , Hassan and Dand and she learns much from them. Gbodi is a twelve-year-old girl who lives in a little African village which is raided by slave traders Hassan is the fourteen-year-old son of a Muslim merchant from Mali. Hassan goes , with his father , on a trading trip to buy and sell slaves But Hassan is betrayed and finds himself a slave.
Dand is brought in to show a more subtle form of slavery He is a poor Scotitish boy who is abducted and taken aboard a ship to be sold as an indentured servant. He is technically free but he might as well be a slave.
Chains shows the true horror of the ' Middle Passage ' but it also tries to show the broader picture The African side of the slave trade is brought out clearly The African raiders of Gbodi's village, Hassan living in a household which included slaves (one of which was his own grandmother who came originally from Cornwall), and the King of Benin who makes large profits from slaves
This is a book which examines the wider picture and which makes a gallant effort to show the evils of slavery in the general c.ontext of the eighteenth century. As Captain Owens
says ' Life is cruel and unfair for whites as well as for blacks. ' (This after casually having let drop the fact that his mother died of starvation on the farm in Glamorgan when he was six) Comes with a historical note, a glossary and a bibliography I was very glad to see that the bibliography contains many original sources
This is a book which asks many questions. Teenage to adult
Mary Moffat
WHEN JESSIE CAME ACROSS
SEA
TIIB HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
THE
Amy Hest , illustrated by P J.Lynch, Walker , 1999, £5 99 , Paperback, 38 pages , ISBN 0-7445-6963-X
This book was first published in 1997. It won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1998
It is a large format picture book. The story is set around the tum of the nineteenth century and is about emigration from Europe to America
Jessie lives with her grandmother in a poor village We are just told it is ' far from here .' One evening the Rabbi calls the people of the village to the synagogue His brother in America has just died but before he died he sent the Rabbi a ticket to America The Rabbi cannot go so he chooses one of the villagers to go in his place. He chooses Jessie . She can live with his brother's widow who has a dress shop
So Jessie leaves her grandmother and the little village We are shown the voyage on the emigrant ship and the questioning on Ellis Island Then we see Jessie settling down in America - sewing for Cousin Kay, learning English, meeting and becoming engaged to Lou, and finally saving up enough money to be able to send for her grandmother
This is a lovely book. It is beautifully illustrated The pictures really bring the story of the emigrant ships alive This book shows that picture books are not just for children 8 to adult
MaryMoffat
HERO
Catherine Johnson, Oxford University Press , £6 .99, pb , 124pp
The story is set in early 19th century London and begins when Hero is forced to move from 'The Feathers' to live with her mother's family in the East End. Her grandfather has died and her father , the prize fighter The Dark Destroyer, has been taken away to be returned to the slave plantation he escaped from. Hero's greedy relatives despise her for being half-black and she is further disadvantaged because she is female and Jewish Her 'new family' treat her like a prisoner and a skivvy, but Hero is her father's daughter and has inherited his fighting spirit. She is intent on ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
finding and rescuing him so that they can reclaim the pub and their true inheritance. Hero is a feisty, independent character and assisted by her cousin, Daniel, she escapes and sets out on her adventures
This is an exciting tale which also gives an excellent account of street life in London. It also demonstrates how the Thames was the 'heart' of the city and its importance prior to the railways. The ways in which people from different classes and backgrounds were treated, as well as racial and religious intolerance is presented without compromising the plot. Hero's search held my attention all the way through to the exciting , if enigmatic, ending This is a novel which brings early 19th century London to life and also makes the reader think of how little as well as how much life has changed for young teenage girls in the past 200 years.
Greta Krypczyk-Oddy
BEYOND THEWALL
Christa Laird, Red Fox, 1999, £3. 99 , Paperback, 299 pages ISBN 0-09-950121-X
This is , I believe, intended for a slightly older readership than the other book of Laird's that I was fortunate to review. The story follows on from Shadow of the Wall but is told largely in retrospect by Misha who has grown up and is having difficulties in his relationship with his stepson. Misha is visiting Australia but has left behind him an account of his life after he escaped from the Warsaw ghetto and joined a group of Partisans living wild in Nazi-occupied Poland
We learn of the dangers , the hunger, the lice and the disease which the group has to endure. We also learn of their triumphs , how they harrass the Germans , blowing up their transport and making the enemy's task of keeping order in occupied Poland difficult by committing many acts of sabotage Eventually the Allies are victorious and, after trailing around Europe for months , Misha finds a home in Britain
As his stepson reads through the long account of Misha's early life the boy begins to feel respect for him, grudging at first but later, as he tells his girlfriend in the letters he writes her from boarding school , he begins to understand what a privileged life he is living although he had considered himself to be very hard-done-by
This story is a true page-turner and is a wonderful way for modem teenagers to learn about what life was like in a Europe tom apart by war and conquered by a brutal dictatorship.
Jan Shaw
ROBIN OF SHERWOOD
Michael Morpurgo Heineman New Windmills First published by Pavilion Books 1996. 120pp. £5 .99 ISBN 0-435-12502-8
Following a violent storm during the night a young boy sets out the next morning to see what has happened to his 'special' tree in Sherwood Forest. He discovers that it has been blown down by the strong winds, its roots ripped from the ground and it is what he finds among those roots that sets him off on a journey he will never forget.
In the retelling of the story of Robin Hood, Michael Mopurgo has , to a certain extent , wandered from the pathway of the familiar. Whether this has resulted from his researches or imagination I cannot say but on the whole I'll go along with it. Having said that , however, I'm not sure why he treated the outlaws as he did in making them all outcasts and misfits of society.
Fans of Michael Mopurgo will doubtless read it and enjoy it but it will be interesting to find out what children think of it.
Marilyn Sherlock
Robin of Sherwood is about a boy called Robin Hood who lost his mother one winter thanks to the Sheriff who was taking all the food and riches for himself. He joined the band of outcasts in Sherwood Forest to try to bring King Richard back to England
This was a good story although to begin with I didn't understand what was going on. I liked the idea that Robin was having the same dream about his death and in the end the same thing really happened .
This book was much better than I thought it would be and recommend it to 9-12 year olds
Loui se Knock Age 10yrs
THE STONE STREET
Marilyn Tolhurst , A&C Black, £4 99, pb , 88pp, ISBN 0-7136-4727-2
This is one of a series of historical stories by recognised authors such as Geoffrey Trease The Stone Street is both an entertaining and well-written book, suitable for the designated age group of7-10 It is set during the Roman evacuation of Britain in 410 AD and tells of a young girl's journey to find her father , a senior officer in the retreating Roman army. It is a very short novel , but the pace of the narrative drives the reader along and the historical details do not overly intrude too much. There is the usual collection of goodies , baddies and those on the cusp , about whom the reader will have to make up his or her mind My only negative comment concerns the price, £4 99 , which seems rather steep for such a short book for children.
Doug Kemp
This book is set in Roman times in England and is about a girl called Luciana who has a dog called Ferox One day Luciana wakes up to find the villa she lives in is empty Her father is in the Roman army and she goes on a long journey to join up with him She comes across a lot of obstacles and meets a boy called Vennorix who helps her along the way. I did not enjoy this book all that much There was not much plot and there was not a lot of description, so I couldn't picture what the scenes in the book looked like. This book is for 7-9 year olds
Charlotte Kemp age I 0
TUCKET'S RIDE
Gary Paulsen, Hodder Children's Books, 1999, £3 99 , Paperback. 154 pages. ISBN 0-340-75713-2
This is a sequel to Mr Tucket , (reviewed in issue 3 , December, 1998) which told how fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket was kidnapped by Pawnees from a wagon train on the Oregon Trail , but was later rescued by a mountain man. In this book he is still trying to find his family , together with Lottie and Billy, the two young children he made himself responsible for after he found them in an abandoned wagon, their father having died of cholera
Francis delays , autumn comes early and snow fills all the mountain passes Then he is told there is another trail in Mexico a trail which passes through Santa Fe and stays open all year round So he takes Lottie and Billy and heads south to more adventures
But what he has not been told is that Mexico and the United States are at war He becomes involved with the US Army . Then he is captured by the dreaded Comancheros , groups of men who trade with the Comanches. As if all that is not bad enough, Francis finall y gets bitten by a rattlesnake . But as well as all this excitement Tucket's Ride also includes details of what has become something of Gary Paulsen's trademark survival . We are shown Francis and the children making camp , killing a deer, skinning it and making mocassins from the hide.
There is a brief respite from all the thrills near the end of the book where we are shown an almost idyllic picture of the pueblo dwellers with their adobe huts and farms A welcome contrast to the cruelty of the Pawnees of the Plains in the first book . It is quite obvious that there is going to be at least one other book about Francis Tucket. For one thing he is still looking for his family For another, near the end of this book he finds a skeleton together with a cache of gold and silver. Francis and the children are rich, but are they ever going to get to a place where
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
their new found riches will be of any use to them?
This reads like part of a longer book the middle part. This seems to be something of a modem trend - the splitting up of a book which editors suspect may be too long for the reading stamina of modern children This is quite different from a consciously planned series.
But despite the above I really enjoyed Tucker's Ride It is a thrilling story with a detailed and authentic background. And how refreshing to get a straight forward story again 10+
Mary Moffat
LONDON'S BURNING
Karen Wallace, Franklin Watts, 1998 , £3.99 , 64 pages ISBN O 7496 3122 8 London's Burning is one of the Spark's Historical Adventure series and specifically designed to fit in with the History National Curriculum. As the title suggests , it is the story of the Great Fire of London in 1666 and seen through the eyes of Harriet, daughter of Thomas Farynor, the King's baker, who lived in Pudding Lane in the old City of London We follow Harriet's adventures from her taking the King's special biscuits to the Palace with her friend Nelly, to the horror of the Great Fire when Harriet fears that her dog Ginger may have been burned.
The best thing in this lively tale is the description of London life in the seventeenth century, and Karen Wallace has obviously done her research properly: Thomas Farynor was indeed the King's baker who lived in Pudding Lane in the very house where the Fire started and we are offered an intriguing account of Harriet making the King's knot-shaped biscuits, complete with recipe! The illustrations by Jamie Smith help to explain unfamiliar concepts, such as the tumspit dog, where we see poor Ginger in his treadmill turning the tumspit to roast a leg of pork.
The topography of London, with old St Paul's and Old London Bridge is well caught in both words and pictures and Jamie Smith has obviously studied contemporary prints by Wencelas Hollar and the like Karen Wallace, too , has read her Samuel Pepys and other eye witness accounts and the sounds, smells and sights of London burning are vividly depicted. However, I have a number of niggles. The punctuation is not always what it should be : there are questions without question marks and subordinate clauses masquerading as sentences e.g 'Which meant that she was much less strict than other adults.' Surely children deserve better than sloppy punctuation? Secondly there are a number of anachronisms, e.g. the girls run 'the last few
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
metres' and a decidedly American 'every which way '
There are some curious lacunae in the story itself. The reader follows Harriet's excitement at being allowed to deliver the biscuits to the Palace only to be disappointed when the story moves on abruptly to the following day. In the final chapter, Harriet is overjoyed that Ginger is safe and comments 'there is nothing to worry about at all.' The fact that Harriet, Nelly and their families have lost their homes and livelihoods appears not to concern her in the least! But surely it would worry her young readers?
Overall I enjoyed the book and found it a lively and informative account which is eminently suitable for school library shelves. The language is suitable for 7-8 year olds, but older children should find much to interest them, particularly in the social history details and the pictures.
Elizabeth Hawksley
US/CANADA TITLES
'US/Canada' here means that the following books are published, but not necessarily . set, in The United States or Canada.
NOTE: Within this section, if books are available from Amazon UK these prices are also listed (£). An asterisk next to this price indicates a separate UK edition. Canadian prices are also given, if available.
US/CANADA: ANCIENT AND CLASSICAL
THE ANUBIS SLAYINGS
P.C. Doherty, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2001, $23.95, 308pp, hb, ISBN 0-312-27658-3
Reviewed in Issue 15 (Feb 2001), UK section. 32
THE RAID: A Dramatic Retelling of Ireland's Epic Tale
Randy Lee Eickhoff, Forge, 1997, $22.95/C$32.95 (£16.22), 283pp, hb , ISBN 0-312-86238-5
Eickhoff has taken on the mammoth task of ' dramatically' retelling the story of Ireland, the Tain Bo Cualigne, in several books being published by Forge, The Raid being the first installment. Although I had a problem defining the genre (translation or not?), the ultimate result is a new and different telling of the oft-magical and symbolic adventures which instill life into Irish myth
The battle between Connacht and Ulster rages on. The Red Branch of Ulster is dreadfully unprepared to defend its land. It is by the hand of a mighty boy-warrior, Cuchulainn, standing alone against the forces of Connacht, that Ulster survives. In this willful , courageous stand against invasion, Eickhoff sees mirrored Ireland's stand against England in its war for independence.
Eickhoff tolerates no prudery, though the versions of others (like Lady Gregory in her Red Branch translation) are largely censored The stories are bawdy , the language as plain and as real as it could ever be For anyone interested in Celtic folklore and storytelling, this is the very stuff of what Irish myth is made.
Ilysa Magnus
THE TEN THOUSAND
Michael Ford, St. Martin ' s Press , 2001 , $24.95 , 383pp, hb, ISBN 0-312-26946-3
For review, see UK section
THE HORUS ROAD
Pauline Gedge, Soho Press, 2001 , $26, 528pp , hb , ISBN 1-56947-236-X
The concluding volume in the Lords of the Two Lands trilogy, this novel is Gedge's fictional recreation of the times and struggles of the Tao family of the ancient Egyptian city of Weset (called Thebes by the ancient Greeks , and Luxor by the modem world) . In volume one, Seqenenre Tao, a prince of Weset, began a rebellion against King Apepa, one of the Hyksos outsiders who had ruled Egypt for more than a century from their stronghold, Het-Uart, in the northern part of the country. In volume two , Seqenenre's son Kamose continued the uprising, and in The Horus Road, Kamose's brother, Ahrnose, leaves his capable wife to govern the southern part of Egypt while he takes the fight to Apepa in Het~Uart
Unfortunately, Gedge does not have an ear for dialogue, and she often recites what happened instead of drawing a verbal picture. Also, only King Ahrnose (and to a lesser
ISSUE 17. AUG 2001
extent Aahmes-nefertari, his wife) is a three-dimensional character. As always, though, Gedge's research is meticulous , and she populates her story with people who are known to have lived then, though they probably did not experience all the plot twists she incorporates . Her recreation of scenes , such as the pomp of a royal coronation, is well thought out, and her story is well paced.
Ahmose is a shadowy character in Egyptian history, but Gedge brings him to life so that we can see why this man was loved by his soldiers and revered by his people for centuries after his lifetime.
Elizabeth Garner
GILGAMESH
Stephan Grundy, Morrow, 2000, $26 (£16.54) , 464pp , hb , ISBN 0-380-97574-2
This is a novel-length retelling of the Swnerian 'Epic of Gilgamesh,' an adventure tale starring one of mankind's first action heroes Gilgamesh is leader of the city-state of Erech : ruler, warlord, and promised spouse of the goddess Inanna But Gilgamesh fears marriage to the goddess , which may carry death as its price The Shamhatu, high priestess and vessel for Inanna Incarnate, tries to urge Gilgamesh to take up his divine duties , but without success, for Gilgamesh is interested only in preparing Erech for war, and there is no one equal to the task of taming this headstrong hero
But then the gods send Enkidu, a man reared by lions : a man who is the only true match for Gilgamesh as both friend and lover. Together Gilgamesh and Enkidu defeat the hwnan forces raised against Erech, and defy magical beasts together. But when death claims his beloved Enkidu, it is Gilgamesh's efforts to return his friend to the world of the living that change Gilgamesh forever , and lead to a true understanding of the meaning of his duty as ruler of Erech and bridegroom of Inanna . Although a bit overlong , this is an interesting retelling of ' mankind's oldest epic adventure ' set in a really underused historical period This version of the epic should please readers interested in the ancient Near East, and it may pique the interest of Hercules fans as well
India Edghill
THE STONE OF LIGHT: Volume III: Paneb the Ardent
Christian Jacq, Pocket, 2000 , $16 00/C$23 50 (£8 00*), tpb , 392pp , ISBN 0-7434-0348-7 Jacq continues his saga of ancient Egypt in this third novel of a projected four-part series chronicling the lives of the society of craftsmen called the Brotherhood This secret society, which dwells in the Place of Truth, is
TIIE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
responsible for building and decorating the magnificent pharaonic tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
In this installment, Egypt is in turmoil , the country split between two Pharaohs Seti II and his son Amenmessu each declares himself the supreme ruler of the kingdom , and the conflicting loyalties threaten the sanctity of the Place of Truth In fact, danger besets the Brotherhood from all sides, for a villain in their midst is conspiring to destroy them and will stop at nothing to possess the village ' s most precious treasure , the mystical Stone of Light.
Paneb , a powerful giant of a man, attempts to protect the village and the Stone of Light , but discovers obstacles that surprise even him While Paneb is the central character here , Jacq makes use of a very large supporting cast. Corrupt officials, assassination attempts , murder, threats of civil war, superstition, and double-crosses enliven a colorful , vividly detailed and well-paced narrative An unsolved murder sets the stage for the final volwne in the series.
Michael I. Shoop
VOICE OF THE GODDESS
Judith Hand, Pacific Rim Press, 2001, $25 .95, 374pp, hb , ISBN 0-930926-9
The first person narrator weaves her spell with endearing characters , an atmosphere of danger, elemental nature , and the dialog of a culture where the Goddess reigns supreme Crete was called Keftiu in 1628 B.C ., and the Minoans were Keftians. Leesandra, the young daughter of priestess Danae on an island north of Keftiu called Kalliste (present-day Santorini) falls in love with an outsider, Alektrion.
After an earthquake, Leesandra experiences a trance and hears the voice of the Goddess , a murmur she can't understand Her mother believes she is called to be a priestess, but Leesandra rebels Only when the Goddess speaks plainly does Leesandra heed her calling, travel to Knossos and learn the art of bull-dancing.
Author Judith Hand excels at scene development. Her thorough research gives depth to the atmosphere The two main characters' lives run parallel due to similar traits of courage, ambition and discipline In third person alternating chapters , Alek'trion experiences political intrigue and sea battles in the Keftian navy He rises in the ranks while keeping pure his Goddess worship and love of Leesandra
The nobility of these characters in times of peril gives dignity to a magical world where women were revered and, with epic scope, evokes the heyday of a lost civilization Marcia K. Matthews
CARTHAGE
Ross Leckie , Canongate, 2001 , $24 , 240pp, hb, ISBN 0862419441
Reviewed in Issue 13, UK section.
US/CANADA: 1ST CENTURY
THE LOVE-ARTIST
Jane Alison, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2001 , $23C$37 (£14.63) , 242 pp, hb, ISBN 0-374-23179-6
Ovid, creator of Metamorphoses, The Art of Love and other works which have been lost to us forever , arrives at his place of exile on the Black Sea, having angered the Caesar and fallen from grace There he looks back upon his life
Ovid has been to the edges of the Empire before There he once met Xenia , a young woman who became Ovid's muse for his darkest work. Xenia is a complex woman who is not merely a healer, a seer, and a witch , but one who knows the answer to the one secret which haunts Ovid : Will he be remembered by generations to come? Will he become immortal through his poetry? He is obsessed by the answer
Little is known of Ovid ' s life Ovid ' s poetry, as focal as it was to his existence, is not a necessity in approaching the book. Alison, a talented new writer, presents these two people - Ovid and Xenia - as if she shared their lives and understood the passions and obsessions which motivated them The highly charged, emotional atmosphere is often eerie and sensual, the language lyrical and lovely The political and literary scenes in Rome are carefully and honestly drawn
This is a wonderful book and is highly recommended . Ilysa Magnu s
FISHERS OF MEN (The Kingdom and the Crown, v.1)
Gerald N. Lund, Shadow Mountain, 2000 , $26 95 (£17 15), 642pp , hb, ISBN 1-57345-820-1
This novel focuses on the period of Jesus Christ's ministry Although the timeframe of action is less than one year, the reader is able to get a great sense of the religious and cultural beliefs at odds during this time
Written almost in diary or journalistic format, the novel chronicles the lives of individuals who are representative of the numerous factions Lund beautifully displays that one ' s profession, religion or culture should not be a barrier preventing one from being the friend or enemy of Jesus. There is
ISSUE 17. AUG 2001
no intention to condemn any for their loves and hates born solidly of experiences It is the fanaticism, the harm to others by biased or self-serving individuals , and the inability to forgive that are destructive and serve mankind ill
Lund has notes at the end of many chapters which refer to sources used; for continuity's sake, the reader may prefer to return to them at the novel's finish. Either way, Lund's writing should be pleasing, as it will introduce, without preaching, the culture, times and lessons of Jesus the Teacher to new readers - or renew the strength of them.
Suzanne Crane
closest friend and cousin, Merlyn Britannicus. Impulsive, aggressive and brutal, Uther personifies his homeland of Cambria while Merlyn, as good a soldier as he is , is also the more intellectual, introspective of the two . What brings the boys together as men, of course, is war - against the Saxons, and against Lot and his Cornish mercenaries. Enter Ygraine , Lot's wife, and Arthur ' s mother The stage is set for the infant Arthur ' s apprenticeship by Merlyn
This is a huge, panoramic book in which Whyte draws each character in depth Although at times slow going, it is rewarding reading Nothing is touched on lightly or tangentially. A must read for those interested ._____u_s_i_~_ENTUR_AD_A;_;_s_th_~I
CONFESSIONS OF A PAGAN NUN
CENTUR
Kate Horsley , Shambhala, 2001 , $19.95 y (£13 59), 208pp , hb , ISBN l-57062-719-3
Based on an obscure 5th century Gaelic manuscript discovered in Ireland, this short novel is written in the form of a diary by a nun called Gwynneve In return for the privilege of staying at the convent, Gwynneve, literate and intelligent, aids in making copies of the writings of St. Patrick. Through Gwynneve's musings , questions and doubts , the reader is given a wonderful view of the bigotry, strife, cruelty and love that ensue as a result of the clash between Christian dogma and ' pagan ' religions Ireland in the aftermath of St. Patrick is made open to the reader , and the Gaelic and Christian ideals are expressed through ,Gwynneve, now ,a woman of both cultures P.acked with cultural and re~gious currents of the time, .Confessions of a Pq_gan Nun is swift readiltg One hopes Ms. Horsley continues towlTite such novels for our' enjoyment and "lemning.
Suzanne Crane
UTHER
Jack Whyte, Forge, 2001 , $27.95 (£17.78), 623 pp , hb , ISBN 0-312-86443-4
In what can only be called the 'prequel' to Whyte's Camulod Chronicles, Whyte recreates the world of Uther Pendragon, the King of the Cambrians. Far more Celt than Roman, Uther grows up patrician, yet with the mindset of a warrior and a hero. Ultimately , it is that perspective that will shape his choices and determine his fate.
Uther ' s parents have set in motion the conflict which Uther feels throughout his lifethat between his savage home of Tir Manha and the more Romanized Camulod. This conflict is nowhere more succinctly drawn than in the personalities of Uther and his
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
THE WOLF HUNT
Gillian Bradshaw, Forge , 2001 , $24 95C/$35 95 (£15 87) , 384pp , hb , ISBN 0-312-87332-8
Bradshaw is one of a few authors who can take a snippet of history at any time in the past and turn it into a novel worth reading The Wolf Hunt is one such endeavor.
Based upon one of Marie de France's lais , the story of Marie Penthievre, a novitiate at a Norman priory during the Crusades, is ripe for storytelling Marie is abducted and taken to the Breton court, where her overlord intends to marry her off and take title to her estate Tenacious and clever, Marie manages to escape but becomes lost in the woods Tiaman, a young nobleman, saves her life and grants 1her surety with her overlord that she will not be forced to marry a Breton.
But Tiaman has a dark secret: he frequently goes off into the woods near his estate, without his hunting dog, companion or any explanation, and remains away for days When Tiaman disappears and is believed dead by nearly all who surround him, it becomes the quest of the perceptive Marie to learn the truth
This is a beautifully written, lyrical novel about an often brutal time Each character is fully realized and the story, as embellished by Bradshaw, is both entertaining and historically accurate Although the ending is predictable (this is obviously not Bradshaw's doing but Marie de France's), getting there is all the fun.
Ilysa Magnus
THE RABBI KING: David of Khazaria Monroe S Kuttner, Xlibris , $16, 2001 , 505 pp, tpb, ISBN: 0-738-884011-4
David, born and raised in Khazaria, a historically Jewish state in the area of the Caucasus , has been living a scholar ' s life in Cordova, Spain in the twelfth century. He returns to his childhood home when his father, the King, dies, only to find Khazaria , which is surrounded by enemies, constantly threatened by invasion much like present-day Israel. Yet the people, who are observant Jews , believe that God ' s protection will help them overcome their foes
These dreams of security and peace are dashed by Khazaria ' s enemies David himself is in conflict, returning as he has from the charmed life of a scholar to be hurriedly proclaimed Khagan, or King, of the principality David is confronted by the fact that his scholarly life and Jewish upbringing are incompatible with his duties as king and warrior . Nowhere is this more evident than when David and his legion of warriors must eat non-kosher food on the battlefield in order to survive While David deals with these moral and ethical dilemmas as a scholar, he must also be a proponent of Khazaria as a nation
When enemy forces prevail, David is placed on a path where he must find a way to regain control of Khazaria, encountering danger through adventures that hone his skills as a politician and test his faith An interesting subject not often explored, well written, and despite some rather graphic combat and explicit sexual situations , well worth the read
William Nage
THE SONG OF GIRALDUS
Richard Loomis, Xlibris , 2000 , $16 (£25 .87 hb ), 228pp , tpb , ISBN 0- 7388-4606-6
This novel presents the recollections of medieval historian and chronicler Giraldus Cambrensis Giraldus , who narrates in a rather lofty tone, tells of his youth as a chronicler at the court of Henry II Through his eyes and those of his friends and servants, we also witness the lives of King Richard and King John and the path of the Fourth Crusade. Giraldus' unsuccessful struggles with the church and his family, many of which could perhaps be blamed on an overlarge ego, turn him into an angry , bitter man though not one without intelligence and wit.
Loomis , a scholar and translator of medieval Welsh literature, has provided us with a competent illustration of this historical figure However, the historical details tend to overwhelm the story, and there ' s little dramatic tension. At times the novel reads like a medieval chronicle itself; perhaps this
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
was intentional, but it makes for dry reading in places. Still, as a self-portrait of a historian of noble birth, self-important attitude, and great intellect, perhaps this novel is an accurate representation.
Sarah L. Nesbeitt
US/CANADA: 13th CENTURY
MURDER ON GOOD FRIDAY
Sara Conway, Cumberland House, 2001 , $22 .95/C$34.95 (£14.60), 31 lpp, hb, ISBN 1581821883
Set in Hexham, England in 1220, this novel follows the efforts of the local bailiff, Lord Godwin, to clear the city's Jewish community of accusations of the ritual murder of a young boy
As a mystery, this book works quite well. Slowly Lord Godwin uncovers the truth, but experienced mystery readers may find they have solved the crime before the hero.
The author has a propensity for ' dumping' large blocks of information into the narrative. There are also some rather unfortunate historical errors, most notably a reference to King John as still alive in May 1217. Modern slang and the presence of a rocking chair also pulled this reader from the story On the other hand, Conway has a knack for bringing even the most minor characters to life with unique mannerisms and speech. And as characters are the key to any novel, the author shows great potential for creating a well-loved series She also provides an interesting look at Christian/Jewish relations in thirteenth century England.
Teresa Eckford
WARRIOR'S SONG
Catherine Coulter, Signet, 2001 , $7 99/C$10.99 (£14 60), 374pp, pb , ISBN 0-451-19894-8
In this rewritten and re-titled version of Catherine Coulter ' s 1983 book, Chandra, we meet Chandra de Avenell , a medieval heroine who is tougher and more outspoken than any other. She thinks like a man , talks like a man and fights like a man - almost. Enter Jerval de Vernon, Chandra ' s equal and then some, and the man her father commands her to wed Jerval demands Chandra ' s obedience, but he wants her love as well Love to Chandra is tantamount to surrender, however, and so she deals with her growing affection for her husband in the way a warrior deals with an adversary.
Ms Coulter gives this familiar romantic theme a radical twist, sweeping the reader along on a heady adventure through England
TI-IE illSTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
and over the sea as Jerval and Chandra accompany the future King Edward I on Crusade Warrior 's Song is frequently inaccurate in its depiction of medieval English life. While Ms Coulter admits to adjusting some dates to suit her purposes , her fun but outrageous portrayal of medieval-lady-as-warrior far exceeds authorial license
Excellent escape reading ; however, knowledge of medieval history might be an obstacle to enjoyment.
Kelly Cannon
US/CANADA: 14th CENTURY
THE WHITE COMPANY & SIR NIGEL
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Akadine Press (commomeader.com or l-800-832-7323), $24 95 (£1.50* for The White Company), 618 pp ., tpb , ISBN 1-888173-90-4
At the Abbey of Beaulieu in 1366, the abbot expels Brother John for a rash of bad behavior, and the brawny youth makes good his escape When Sir Nigel of the White Company of ' brave English boys ' comes recruiting, John joins the ranks Doyle chooses words that shed light on usage and that illuminate the Hundred Years War at the time of the Black Prince The epic Doyle most enjoyed writing, from which he resented being pulled away to crank out another Sherlock Holmes mystery , is a wonderful discovery.
Sir Nigel is the ' prequel ' volume which details the coming of age of the heir of a noble but impoverished family. He plays tricks on the abbey that usurped his land. The churchmen put him on trial and he is rescued by the archer Aylward with news that King Edward is coming to visit. Nigel challenges the king and his retinue to joust on the bridge His courage finds fa vor with the king and he gets the opportuni ty to go to war in France, ' the land of chivalry and glory .' He loves Mary, daughter of Sir John Buttlesthorn, for her spirit, and vows to perform three deeds that will make him worthy of her His failings and triumphs in this quest depict the knights on a human scale in the days when a man would risk all to exalt his lady
Marcia K. Matthews
THE ARCHER'S TALE
Bernard Cornwell , HarperCollins, 2001 , $26 , 268pp , hb , ISBN 0066210844 (October publication)
For review , see UK section (UK title : Harlequin)
THE BURNING TIMES
Jeanne Kalogridis , Simon & Schuster, 2001 , $25/C$37, (£13 54*), hb, 394pp , ISBN 0-684-86923-3
This novel takes place in southern France during the 1300s , a France beset by the Inquisition and visited by the plague . However, it is not strictly historical fiction The supernatural underpins the entire novel , in which we follow the life of Sybille, later known as Mother Marie Fran~ise, who is gifted with the Vision and destined to play a critical role in the survival of good in the world At the start of the book, she is in prison in Carcasonne, waiting to be interrogated by agents of the Inquisition, expecting to die at the stake The book goes back and forth in time, as she relates her past to the only agent she will consents to speak with, a Dominican scribe, and as we follow the scribe ' s actions at the time of the interrogation
Parts of this book are difficult to read The author describes the inquisitors ' torture methods and the phenomenon of burning at the stake vividly though not gratuitously, and thankfully briefly. The descriptions of life in medieval France seem well done, and minor characters come alive even with just brief descriptions . I came to care very much for Sybille. The reader discovers her special powers as she does herself, making them integral and natural to the story itself The plot was engrossing Kalogridis is the author of a number of vampire novels , but I hope she takes the time to write another in the vein of this book.
Trudi E. Jacobson
US/CANADA: 16th CENTURY
THE TWYLIGHT TOWER
Karen Harper, Delacorte, 2001, $23 95 /C$34 .95 (£1 5.2 4), 289pp, hb , ISBN 038533477X
Th e Twy light Tow er is Karen Harper's third Elizabeth I Mystery, in which she sets out to solve one of the greatest historical mysteries -the death of Amy Robsart She reunites the mystery-sol ving cast of characters from the earlier novels , including Elizabeth, Dudl ey, Lord Cec il, Kat Ashley, Dr John Dee, Henry Carey, and several of the Queen's servants . Amy Robsart is not the first character to die a mysterious death That honour falls to the Queen's chief lutenist, Geoffrey Hammet , literally, when he dies in a fall from the ramparts at Richmond Palace, setting in motion a mysterious chain of events
This book works much better as a piece of historical fiction than as a mystery The details
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are plentiful , the characters true-to-the-period and the political history just right. Yet the pacing is uneven, especially at the beginning However, once Amy Robsart tumbles down the stairs, the book takes off
Though Elizabeth's giggling jarred with my interpretation of her character, her yearning to be a normal woman, free to love, rang very true Not a perfect read , but the author's solution to the Robsart mystery makes this book worth picking it up for devotees of the Elizabethan period
Teresa Eckford
VIRGIN: Prelude to the Throne
Robin Maxwell , Arcade , 2001 , $24 .95 , 25 6pp , hb , ISBN 1559705639
Maxwell , in her third novel of the Virgin Qu een series, illustrates in detail a frequentl y glossed-over episode in the life of the Tudor monarch : the romantic pursuit of the young princess by her stepmother ' s husband , Thomas Seymour At thirteen, Elizabeth has been re-granted her royal title with no small help from her father's sixth wife, Catherine Parr, now Queen Dowager A dangerous undercurrent of attraction, one not unnoticed by the pregnant Catherine, develops between the princess and Seymour, and their flirtation follows a swift, logical course until it reaches a shocking conclusion
In many ways a typical teenager, Elizabeth ' s infatuation with Seymour makes her occasionally forget her loyalty to Catherine and her own royal position The twist to this well-known story is in the character of Seymour Although his handsome physique and :gallant.manners tend to blind people to his faults , 'he can ' t completely conceal either his unscrupulous nature or his underly.ing ambition to claim the power behind the throne in any way possible Max.well , finding gaps in the historical record, has formulated her own explanations of both Elizabeth ' s and Catherine ' s behavior. Given her interpretations, all of which seem historically plausible, one can easily imagine Elizabeth ' s later refusal to marry
Sarah L. Nesbeitt
THE DARK VIRGIN
Oakland Ross, Harper Flamingo Canada, 2001 , C$35 , 522pp, hb , ISBN 0-00-255746-0
Pitoque is a traveling merchant who sells his wares throughout the Aztec empire. While not an Aztec himself, he acts a spy for an Aztec called Azotl , the Keeper of the House of Darkness and a self-styled Master Functionary --a man who gets things done
Rumors of ' towers built upon the sea ' have made it back to Tenochtitlan To find out more, Azotl sends Pitoque to investigate, and
thus begins the chain of events that will change the Aztec world forever
The most refreshing aspect of this wonderful story is its foundation in historical fact. The author most definitely takes creative license, but the student of early Mexican civilization will find solid historical basis for this epic tale . The book richly evokes the most detailed aspects of characters, places, events and especially food the descriptions of exotic cuisine will certainly cause the most finicky .reader to salivate The moving portrayal of religions and cultural perspectives creates an atmosphere where the reader cannot always be sure who is the villain and who is the hero . This is a fun read one the best r v e r.ead this year. Due to its length, however, it is not for the timid For those interested in the period or who appreciate a well written, historically based piece of fiction, this work is sure to please
Alycia Harri s
US/CANADA: 17th I
1HE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
trains the young man of no breeding or wealth as his own son Coke finances his education at Cambridge, where Williams ' religious convictions make him appear a threat to the King Williams is rescued and protected by political allies . He eventually flees to America The Puritans were too judgmental for Williams , whose battle cry is for freedom of conscience for all Williams is an observer of, then an active participant in, the turbulent religious and political events of his day Mary Lee Settle writes as Roger Williams , using words and setting a tone to match his own writing style It is extraordinary prose , but difficult reading at times Williams frequently regrets the consequences of an action before he explains the action itself: the result is anticlimactic . The reminiscent quality of the writing is so effective that this reviewer doesn ' t know whether it's the book ' s greatest weakness or greatest strength This work is a historical treasure chest, but you must let that pirate, Roger Williams , explain each treasure to you in his own time and in his own way.
NanCurnutt
__CE_NTUR__Y__ I US/CANADA: 18th
YEAR OF WONDERS
Geraldine Brooks, Viking, 2001 , $25 95 , 304pp, hb , ISBN 067091021X
Reviewed in Issue 16, May 2001 , UK section
THE RISING SUN
Douglas Galbraith, Atlantic Monthly, 2001 , $25 , 352pp, hb , ISBN 08711378IX
Reviewed in Issue 16, May 2001 , UK section
GARDENER TO THE KING
Frederic Richaud, Arcade, 2000, $19 .95/C$29 95 , 117pp , hb , ISBN 1-55970-583-3
Reviewed in Issue 15 , February 2001 , UK section
I, ROGER WILLIAMS: A Fragment Of Autobiography
Mary Lee Settle, W.W Norton, 2001 , $24.95/C$35 99 (£16 02) , hb , 312pp , ISBN 0-393-04905- I
An elderly Roger Williams , the founder of Rhode Island, reminisces about the people and events that shaped his life , many of them having changed the course of two countries . Most of this novel describes his early formative years in England. He remembers the jurist Sir Edward Coke who hired him as a boy of 14 for his intelligence and linguistic skills Williams loves and admires Coke, who
CENTURY
THE LOST BAND
Don Coldsmith, Bantam, 2000, $5 99 (£3.81) , pb , 322pp , ISBN 0-553-29473-3
At the annual Big Council of the People an empty place is reserved in honor of the Lost Band who, at some point in the past, disappeared . This year the Council proceedings are disrupted by the arrival of Story Keeper, chief of this Lost Band Derision turns to happy acceptance as he unravels the mystery of the missing group He begins with the story of White Moon, a young widow who watches the massacre and enslavement of the Forest Band by the Shaven-heads and who is determined that their culture will survive Her dream inspires many generations of her descendants , until Story Keeper himself is born, gathers together the remains of the band, and brings them to the Council.
This is the story of how heritage can be preserved, furtivel y and against the odds , and it demonstrates just how valuable the oral tradition can be It is also an indictment against those who would crush the cultural history of other creeds simply because they do not hold the same beliefs A powerful novel , The Lost Band cloaks its intense themes in an involving and page-turning read . Coldsmith certainly knows his Native American history and, as a natural storyteller, has woven this knowledge into a vivid ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
depiction of the enduring human spmt. Luckily for the reader, this is only one in a lengthy list of novels by this talented writer
Sara
Wilson
THE FRANKLIN AFFAIR
(An Henri Gruel Adventure)
Ty Drago , Regency Press , 2001 , $7 95 , pb , 164pp, ISBN I-929085-75-3
Written in the first person , Henri Gruel looks back to his youth and his adventures with Benjamin Franklin during the time of the American Revolution Although categorized as a mystery, this is really the story of a young man ' s coming of age
While the mystery is well done , what impressed me most about this charming book were the layers upon layers of personal relationships that Drago so impressively and competently pieces together The character of Franklin is humorous , wry , witty and perceptive The bond between Gruel and Franklin is finely ttmed and tightly written The secondary characters also do not lack for development and independent traits
Drago has presented a fine work of fiction that both deeply moved and impressed me The only fault may be in some oversights in the editing process Certainly with a work this fine I had no problem overlooking them, and rm relatively sure other readers will feel the same way A must read for anyone interested in the American Revolution!
Wendy Zollo
THE SWEET TRADE
Elizabeth Garrett , Forge, 2001 , $24 95 (£15 87) , 400pp , hb , ISBN 0-312-87518-5
This book fictionafues the short and colorful careers of the two best-known female pirates ever to sail together, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, and their lesser-known confederate, Calico Jack Rackham . Born to poverty, Mary Read lives her life disguised as a man, both as trooper and able seaman, until her ship is taken by the Pretty Anne, the pirate commanded by Calico Jack and his wild consort, Anne Bonny Anne instantly recognizes that ' Michael Read' is a woman, and the fast friendship between the two causes Calico Jack to become violently jealous, until Mary must reveal the secret of her masquerade to him in self-defense.
But the ' sweet trade ' in the second decade of the eighteenth century is no longer what it was in its heyday, and inevitably, the Pretty Anne is taken by Jonathan Barnet, acting on behalf of crusading governor Woodes Rogers , and the pirate queens must face their surprising fates.
A powerful , readable , and very accomplished first novel that treats its subject with care and love , balancing the wild
Tiffi HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
romance of piracy with its more squalid aspects
Rosemary Edghill
A MISCHIEF IN THE SNOW
Margaret Miles , Bantam, 2001 , $5 99 (£3 81) , 322pp, pb, ISBN 0-553-58288-7
This mystery is the fourth in a series featuring widowed sleuth Charlotte Willett and set in the village of Bracebridge, Massachusetts shortly before the Revolution Adams , Revere and Walpole receive cameo mention . Rumors run of stamp tax and tea trade. Against this background we have a plot of stolen silver, a hidden child, a haunted ' castle ' (which seems rather gothicly out of place) and , of course, murder in this case , an unpleasant young man axed to death in the snow during the ice cutting To say more would be to reveal too much of what comes to be a fairly satisfying and cozy read.
Details of colonial life are often well-written : ' She brought back four joined tapers , cut apart their wicks , then inserted them into brass candlesticks .' To my taste , however, the language of the whole rang a little too contemporary My biggest problem was keeping the multitude of characters straight. I felt many of these villagers were not drawn memorably enough to spark a desire for reacquaintance For one new to the series , the cast of characters was more muddle than red herring and detracted from the pleasure of trying to figure out whodunit.
Ann Chamberlin
US/CANADA: 19th CENIURY
GOB'S GRIEF
Chris Adrian, Doubleday Broadway, 2001 , $24 95/C$34 95 (£15.87), 384pp , hb , ISBN 0-7679-0281-5
Gob is Dr Gob Woodhull , the fictional son of real-life personality Victoria Woodhull , the first woman to run for President in 1872 Gob ' s grief refers to two losses : the death of his twin brother Torno at age 12 in the Civil War and the loss of all who died in that war.
Grief envelops this book Adrian tells the story not just from Gob ' s viewpoint but also from those around him who have also lost loved ones Characters like Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennie are seen as largely untouched by this particular grief and are pushed to the margins of the story , although they are vividly and accurately rendered in their appearances I would have liked to see more of them
The outlet for Gob ' s grief is the machine he builds to bring Torno and all the war dead
back to life. The machine is only one of the fantastical elements of the book : personal ghosts surround some characters, often appearing more real to them than the living , and a mysterious child, Pickie Beecher, appears His origin is a wink to those cognizant of the Beecher-Tilton scandal. Gob ' s Grief is an ambitious book that draws the reader into the profound sense of loss caused by the Civil War and makes it plausible that grief would drive Gob to grotesque lengths to get his brother back. However, after all the anticipation built up by the machine , the conclusion seems too short and ambiguous , and the mixture of the historical and the supernatural is often uneasy . Ellen Keith
LOSERS AND KEEPERS IN ARGENTINA
Nina Barragan, Univ of New Mexico Press , 2001 , $19 95 (£12.69), 254pp , hb , ISBN : 0-8263-2222-0
It is 1889 when Rifke Schulman, a young Jewish woman, is sent to Argentina by her family to escape the pogroms of Russia She helps set up a small agricultural communi ty called Moises Ville . There , she becomes a librarian and meets the love of her life , Henoch Rosenvitch Unfortunately, Henoch is married To escape from her feelings for Henoch, Rifke moves to Buenos Aires Here she meets with poverty, white slavery, union organization, brutality and love
The Rifke Chronicles are her journals , and they make up a large part of this fictionalized work. In them, Rifke describes the people she becomes close to and how they live their daily lives Interspersed with these journal entries are bits and pieces of stories from the lives of people from the 20th century, descendants of Moises Ville founders and other pioneerin g Jews
Nina Barragan maps a fascinating piece of history in this story of Rifke Schulman and Argentina She both reminds and compels people not to lose touch with their heritage Her characters seem so believable that her reminder at the end of the book that is a work of fiction seems startling I recommend this book for anyone, especially for those with an interest in the history of Jewish Latin America .
Nan Curnutt
ALL GONE WIDDUN
Annamarie Beckel, Breakwater Books (Canada), 1999, $14.95/C$19 95 , tpb , ISBN 1-55081-147-9
This is the fictionalized story of the actual search for the remaining members of the Beothuk tribe the aborigines of Newfoundland The search was carried out in
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the early 1800s by the main character in the story
The mores and beliefs of the time, both scientific and social , are shown to a high degree of accuracy The treatment of the Irish and the Indians reflect the times The role of women and the beginnings of change are quite subtly introduced. A precise use of the scientific method by the main character and his two professors can be followed throughout the story. However, his scientific method does not interfere with the romance ; if anything, it enhances the problems suffered in both.
The Indian storyline and the romantic threads are woven in with the problems of business conducted on two continents , and the pace of the story is held steady throughout. There is a minor inconsistency with a bonnet being thrown to the floor of a gig, then being taken off at a later time but this does not affect the flow of the narrative
I enjoyed this book very much, and I would recommend it to anyone It is not only a historical novel , but also a romance and a tale of man's thought of his government. It is also a story of the first voices of women's liberation .
Don E. Hill
THE DRAGON'S BRIDE
Jo Beverley, Signet, 2001 , $6.99/C$9 99 (£4 45) , 374pp , pb , ISBN 0451203585
When Susan Kerslake and Con Somerford meet again after eleven long years apart , much has changed Con is the battle-hardened new Earl of Wyvem, and Susan is Con 's new housekeeper - and .sister to the smuggling master 'Of the Devil's Horde gang Determined to find the smugglers' _gold stolen by Con's predecessor, Susan reluctantly remains at Crag Wyvern, despite the rising tension between her and Con He suspects she is up to more than tending house and sets out to discover her secret.
The Dragon's Bride is classic Jo Be verley, a skillful mix of romance, history and adventure. As always , Beverley's engaging characters and strong plot make the story sparkle with an energy all its own The historical details blend naturally into the narrative, creating a rich and authentic backdrop Con and Susan's romance , fraught with guilt and doubt, blossoms slowly as they rediscover each other and learn to put the past behind them . The smuggling subplot provides added depth and excitement as the local riding officer is determined to identify and capture the area's lead smuggler.
All in all , The Dragon's Bride is an enjoyable, well-paced and satisfying read Very highly recommended for fans of the genre
Teresa
Eckford
THE MAIDEN OF MAYFAIR
(Tales of London, v.1)
Lawana Blackwell, Bethany House, 2001 , $11.99 (£7 62), 409pp, tpb, ISBN 0-7642-2258-9
This heartwarming work set in Victorian London tells of a young girl's inspirationa1 journey from abandonment to belonging Sarah Matthews , raised in an orphanage in the slums of London, suddenly finds herself living in the wealthy Mayfair district as the ward of a wealthy widow, Dorothea Blake Sarah and Dorothea struggle to understand each another, but one is harboring a secret that has the potential to destroy their fragile world and make outcasts of both among London's social elite They and Naomi , the servant woman that brought them together, struggle to discover God ' s love and develop a bond stronger than blood.
Although this story has a strong Christian core, it is one most readers of historical fiction would find intriguing regardless of personal religious beliefs. This is a charming, tender and sometimes funny story that delves into Victorian social structure By forcing readers to question the moral implications of characters ' choices, Th e Maiden ofMayfair is a book that finds one thinking about these choices long after the book has been put back on the shelf.
Dana Cohlmeyer
SUNDANCE
Sigmund Brouwer, Bethany House , 2000 , $8 .99 (£5 72), 303pp, pb, ISBN 0764223674 THUNDER VOICE
Sigmund Brouwer, Bethany House, 2001 , $8.99 (£5 72), 298pp, pb , ISBN 0764223682
Sam Keaton is sheriff of Laramie back in the wild western days of the 1870s. He has his work cut out for him in these breathless adventures : solving mysteries and chasing murderers in two of the fastest-paced historical whodunits I have read for some time He struggles with his obsession for both the beautiful Sioux chiefs daughter Evening Star and the bottle, and has some good friends and a lot of bad enemies, not all of who are male
He also wrestles with his Christian faith , having come to it late in life If you are not religious or of a different faith , don ' t let it put you off a good story, but if you are a Christian, then Sam ' s joys and travails will add an extra dimension to these already well-rounded stories Don ' t think either that these are prim and ' squeaky clean ' tales where the hero is afraid to draw a gun and the villains aren ' t bad enough, for Sam gets into some far tougher and more violent scrapes than in many murder stories I have read
recently I personally enjoyed the added dimension of Sam being a practising Christian, for it reminded me that in the past religion filled most aspects of people ' s lives , and this too often gets passed over in many historical novels. I can thoroughly recommend both these books If you want more, then clieck out the first two in the quartet, Evening Star andSilver Moon.
Rachel A Hyde
LADYOFSKYE
Patricia Cabot, Sonnet, 2001, $6.50 (£4 . 13), 452pp , pb , ISBN 0743410270
Reilly Stanton, the eighth Marquis of Stillworth, is also a trained medical doctor He accepts a position in Scotland in a small village on the Isle of Skye in need of a medical practitioner.. or so he thought. Brenna Donnegal , however, has been doing just fine following in the footsteps of her physician father
Set in 1847, Lady of Skye exhibits the Victorian occupation with social ills and the dawning of medical practice based on science. Populated with a cast of quirky characters, Lady of Skye is written in a warm, comedy of manners style At the same time , it showcases a very earthy, human, tangible romance between two people passionate about their beliefs Two such opposite themes are not easily balanced, and at times the balance becomes precarious . Furthermore, sticklers for peerage accuracy should beware. There are unfortunate errors in the usage of the peerage ranking and forms of address , especially in light of the English attitude towards Scottish titles
Despite these bobbles, Cabot delivers an unusual historical romance that should especially appeal to those looking for stories that follows a slightly less traveled path
Nina C. Davi s
TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG
Peter Carey, Knopf, 2001 , $25 , 349pp , hb , ISBN 0375410848
For review, see UK section
RAVEN MOCKER
Don Coldsmith, Univ of Oklahoma Press , 2001 , $22 95 (£14 60) , 264pp, hb , ISBN 0-8061-3316-3
The twenty-ninth entry in Coldsmith's Spanish Bit Saga, Raven Mocker follows the story of Snakewater, a conjurer (healer) of the Cherokee people during the time of the westward expansion Snakewater is an embittered old woman who has lived in Old Town longer than anyone else alive can remember. When she is accused of being a
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Raven Mocker (in legend, a person who achieves immortality by killing people, stealing the years remaining to them, and adding them to his/her own), she finds it easier to leave than to stay. She heads west to the new territory of Arkansas with a small band of traveling Cherokee, a journey which will change her life forever
Coldsmith weaves elements of Cherokee myth and legend into the narrative through Snakewater's origin and trickster tales and by her relationship with one of the Little People. Is Snakewater a Raven Mocker? The answer is uncertain Snakewater herself isn't sure - and the handling of this element of the story provides some necessary dramatic tension
Taken as a standalone novel the level of historical detail is sparse Enough is given to set the stage and add some flavor , but I found myself wanting to know more about the events going on outside the immediate characters' interests . An uncomplicated afternoon's read .
Tracey A Callison
A DANGEROUS COMPROMISE
Shannon Donnelly, Zebra, 2001, $4 99/C$6 99 (£3 60), pb, 254pp, ISBN 0-8217-6752-6
Clarissa Derhurst is in London for her first season and is determined to a find a rake , with whom she can have a grand passion, to marry. Lord Wolviston, very much a gentleman, has just returned to London after a nine-year absence He glimpses the beautiful Clarissa at a party and overhears her disparagement of country gentlemen He decides he must transform himself into a rake in order to teach her a lesson.
While I enjoyed Donnelly ' s first Regency, A Compromising Situation , I found the motivations and actions in this linked book (Clarissa and other characters appear in both) muddled and not particularly believable . Clarissa was a very annoying heroine - I much preferred her witty friend Jane , who, regrettably, did not have a speaking role in many scenes. Perhaps the author ' s next book will revolve around Jane?
Trudi E. Jacobson
THE WINIER HOLIDAY SAMPLER:
Seventeen Wonderful Stories of Regency England, Edited by Kelly Ferjutz, Regency Press , 2000, $14 95 , tpb, 217pp, ISBN l-929085-81-8
The result of a second contest designed to solicit story entries (the first resulted in A Regency Sampler), this collection's requirements were that the stories be based on the winter holidays and set between Advent and Twelfth Night. The result? Eighteen original tales running the gamut from
traditional lighthearted Regency romance to heartfelt stories of acceptance , faith and love
In A Hanukkah Invitation , a Jewish widower must decide whether to stay true to his heritage or marry for advancement. It's a relief to get out of the ballrooms and sitting rooms and into the life of some of the less prominent members of the time. The Christmas Walk is a poignant tale of love and loss set in Edinburgh, another underutilized location There are some fine examples of traditional Regency tales as well Page and Monarch , Forth They Went was my favorite of these, a touching tale about a young woman being manipulated into a marriage against her will. Recommended for readers who enjoy Regencies
Tracey A Callison SISTER NOON
Karen Joy Fowler, Putnam, 2001 , $24 95/C$35 99 (£15.87) , 32lpp, hb, ISBN 0-399-14750-0
In Gilded Age San Francisco, Lizzie Hayes is a volunteer for the Ladies ' Relief and Protection Society. A plain spinster of forty , she's called to the door to meet with Mary Ellen Pleasant, a real life character famous in San Francisco legend. In Sister Noon , she works as housekeeper to Thomas Bell in the mansion neighbors call the House of Mystery The reason for her visit is to bring a child named Jenny, age five , for Lizzie to take in Aside from being notorious , Mrs Pleasant has psychic powers She reads Lizzie's tea leaves and predicts three signs : a blue-eyed man, a white dog , and the number 12. ' When you've seen them all, you'll have a choice to make.'
Inspired by Mrs. Pleasant, Lizzie performs small acts of rebellion. She takes little Jenny for a walk at night. Invited to a seance at the Palace hotel , she attends only to hit up the socialites for donations She defies the comments of her deceased mother Fowler excels at characterization and lyrical description. The reader is immersed in Lizzie's struggle, but just when the story is rolling , Fowler chunks in a chapter of historical fact. She mines the jewels from history, but the matrix still shows
Marcia K. Matthews
BREAKING THE RULES
Sandra Heath, Signet, 2001, $4.99 (£3 .53), 227pp, pb, ISBN 0451202694
Ursula Elcester find no happiness in the thought of her upcoming marriage, arranged by her father in order to keep Elcester village and the home park safely in the family But it may take more than marriage to bring safety to the village Something's not right in the forest, something that may be beyond mere human hands to set right.
Sandra Heath has taken fantasy to heart and once again woven it through her Regency world Drawing on Celtic lore and magic, Heath writes a tale reminiscent of the mischievousness and fey beauty of A Midsummer Night's Dream Here we have no less than three couples vying for true happiness against otherworldly spells and vengeful desires The strength of this novel , however, rests not on the light romance but on her descriptions which urge the reader to use all the senses , senses which cannot help but say that here is rural 19th century England at its full and most enchanting Yet this charm is at times jeopardized, even for a fairy tale , because of strained verisimilitude and suspension of disbelief. In all, Heath's latest is a mixed blessing
AN ORDINARY WOMAN
Tiffi HISTORICAL NOVELS
39
Nina C. Davis
Cecelia Holland, Forge, 2001 (cl999), $13.95/C$19 .99 (£8 87), 219 pp, hb , ISBN 0-312-87417-0
This is the story of Nancy Kelsey , the first American woman in California, and an elemental part of that great state ' s early history
In 1841 , Nancy, her husband, Ben, and their infant daughter leave their Missouri farm to follow their dream and settle in California They take the shortest route through the Plains the Rockies , the Great Western Desert and the Sierra Nevada range - which is also the most dangerous route due to the hostile climate and Indian threats When they reach The Great Sandy River their party splits up. Nancy, Ben and their daughter remain with the pioneers determined to reach California, and the party doggedly continues traveling onward, overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Holland is a master at assimilating her readers into the time period she ' s writing about , and this book is no exception.
Pat Maynard
SNOW MOUNTAIN PASSAGE
James D. Houston, Knopf, 2001 , $24 (£15 26) , 3 l 7pp, hb , ISBN 0375411038
Based on the Donner Party tragedy of 1846-4 7, this novel tells of American emigration to California in the mid- l 800s Through The Trail Notes of Patty Reed, a retrospective journal of the experiences of her father Jim Reed, James D Houston enables us to experience with them the most tragic year of their lives
Eight-year-old Patty Reed left Springfield, Illinois with her parents and a wagon train under the leadership of George Donner in the spring of 1846. Her intelligent, articulate father had spent considerable time preparing for the journey, and his opinions were highly
ISSUE 17. AUG 2001
regarded. He tragically recommended an unproven ' short-cut' that took the Donner Party through the great salt basin Instead of saving time, the route caused continual delays and ultimately many lives
Good humor in the wagon train turned to irritability and resentment, much of it directed at Reed When Reed defended himself against a vicious beating, killing his attacker, he was banished from the group . More dead than alive, Reed made it to California before it began snowing in the Sierra Nevada; he did not yet know that he was the luckiest one in the group Of the original 87 in the Donner Party, only 48 survived
Houston ' s compelling novel tells an incredible tale of human suffering and survival. It is also a tale immersed in horrible and tragic images and not for the faint of heart .
Jean Langlais
AMERICAN BY BLOOD
Andrew Huebner, Scribner, 2001 , $1 3/C$1 9. 25 (£5 59*) , tpb , 247pp, ISBN 0-684-85771-5
Reviewed in Issue 12 , May 2000
PRIMROSE PAST
Caroline Rose Hunt, Regan Books (HarperCollins) , 2001 , $26/C$39 .50 (£16.69) , hb , 25lpp, ISBN 0-06-039413-7
This book is subtitled The 1848 Journal of Young Lady Primrose and indeed the book ' s lovely design simulates a diary Unfortunately, its entries aren ' t much more interesting than those of the average fifteen-year-old The young lady Primrose doesn ' t stray far from the advice she is admonished to follow , ' purity of manners , fine sensibili ty, chastity, modesty, sweetness of nature , temper meek - that's what's important. ' But these attributes don ' t tend to make for a lively book. Luckily, she isn ' t always complimentary about her younger brother, which adds a dash of needed spice
The diary does allow glimpses into domestic and estate matters of the time : fashion , cooking, household management, the hunt, and landlord-tenant relations However, the author ' s research isn ' t always well incorporated into the story, particularly in the case of the letters of Primrose ' s father The book does pick up towards the end, and there is a surprise twist that possibly sets the stage for a sequel. If you are looking for a sweet reading experience, this may be just the book. The drawings interspersed within the entries are a treat.
Trudi E. Jacobson
Miranda Jarrett, Pocket, 2000, $6.50/C$8 .99 (£4.13) , pb , 309pp, ISBN 0743403568
The Fairboume family saga continues. Diana Fairboume left America for London to find a titled husband, and her mission is a success until love intervenes Fate brings her to a captain in the royal navy, James Dunham, who seeks to woo Diana from her intended, the Marquis of Roxby His pursuit is merciless , for he believes he holds the key to her happiness However, life has another twist for Diana as she learns that the one who has stolen her heart is also the enemy of her entire family Will she be saved from a loveless union with the Marquis of Roxby? Only time will tell , as their adventures carry them through London and the English countryside Shannon Wally
ACROSS THE SWEET GRASS IDLLS
Gail L. Jenner, Creative Arts , 2001 , $15.99 (£10.14) , 303pp, tpb , ISBN 0-88739-302-0
In Montana Territory the wagon transporting Liza Ralston and her father is attacked by outlaws Their guide is killed, and her father is left for dead . Barely surviving, Liza hides from the gang until Red Eagle comes to their aid. A native of St. Louis , she is suspicious of the Pikuni warrior. With medicinal knowledge and skills equal to a surgeon, Red Eagle removes the bullet from her father and saves his life. Instead of being grateful , Liza thanks him with bigotry
Reminiscent of Dances With Wolve s, Jenner portrays the Pikuni (a Blackfoot tribe) with sensitivity and passion. As Liza grows as a person, she comes to know the Pikuni as individuals And she begins to fall in love with Red Eagle. She learns day-to-day chores of tanning hides , beadwork, and hunting In this peaceful lifestyle, I almost came to believe in the Noble Savage But the dream is shattered by the reality of a harsh existence
Based on a true event, Across the Sweet Grass Hills brings to life a sad reminder of American history, yet the tale of Liza and Red Eagle's love gives satisfying hope A must read for any lover of the historical American West.
Kim Murphy
SOULCATCHER AND OTHER STORIES
realistic settings will reward those who venture forth. This is as fine a collection on the topic as one can find.
John R Vallely
WIND WALKER
Terry C Johnston, Bantam, 2001 , $24 95 (£15 87), 448pp , hb , ISBN 0553090909 By 1847, Titus Bass has spent the better part of his life in the Rocky Mountains With his Crow wife and their children, he lives the life he knows best while struggling to understand the world changing around him Most of his companions from the ' glory days ' are gone Now, with the wagon trains bringing more white settlers through, his way of life is disappearing. With the few friends he has left, he takes advantage of any opportunity to have one more adventure and see the country he loves before civilization completely ruins it
This is the last novel in Terry C. Johnston's nine-book Titu s Bass saga He does an admirable job of incorporating details from the other books into this story, providing footnotes so that first-time readers will be able to follow There is also a map , which is always a nice feature . Suffice it to say that Titus has seen it all , done it all , and had it all done to him Regardless of the cliches, this is a thoughtful and colorfully written book that is hard to put down.
Alice Logs d on
THE CAPTAIN'S WIFE
Douglas Kelley, Dutton, 2001 , $23 95 (£15.24) , 304pp, hb , ISBN 0-525-94619-5
STAR BRIGHT
TI-IE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Charles Johnson, Harcourt, 2001 , $12 00 (£7 63) , tpb , I !Opp, ISBN 0-15-601112-3 Johnson is best known as the author of Middle Passage , a graphic novel of the slave trade which won the National Book Award Sou/catcher is a collection of twelve short stories on slavery Each tale is brief and stands alone as a compelling and powerful introduction to the world of slaves and slaveowners While the topic may repel some readers , the finely crafted characters and
In the summer of 1856 Mary Patten and her husband, Captain Joshua Patten, begin what would become an incredible voyage aboard the clipper ship Neptune ' s Car as it sails from New York to San Francisco Events became bleak. The first mate ' s behavior leads to a plot of mutiny and to his arrest. Captain Patten becomes deathly ill Mary Patten assumes command and continually nurses her husband Storms tax the vessel and threaten the crew ' s safety through Cape Hom Kelley ' s research is based on written documentation of the actual voyage . The lives of Mary, Joshua , and their son are recorded primarily in obituaries . By using facts and creativity, Kelley successfully illuminates the exploits of this young heroine. However, the novel suffers from a general lack of plot development. Expansion on Mary ' s real life experiences could have enriched the storyline, and perhaps less description of sailing would have kept the focus on the characters Despite these flaws , the author ' s first effort is above the norm, and this book should have a wide readership
Jetta Carol Culpepper
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
THE AMBITIOUS BARONET
April Kihlstrom, Signet, 2001 , $4 99 (£3 53), 220pp , pb , ISBN 0451202589
A woman living in the woods of a country estate rescues abused children and turns them over to Alexandra Barlow, the local baronet's daughter, for placement in safe homes Unfortunately, Alexandra has run out of foster parents and must hide her charges in her father's manor Her father has just committed suicide after a gambling loss , and the winner, Robert Stamford, has coincidentally been asked to investigate a rash of disappearing children Alexandra and her sisters must find a way to prevent Stamford from discovering them and returning them to their abusers
Kihlstrom tries to pack too many of the ills of the age into this romance She touches on the evils of class structure, child abuse , and the lack of opportunities for women, but relies too much on coincidence to move the story forward While this novel may appeal to her fans , it will not satisfy those who read novels for either characterization or historical accuracy
Kathleen Sullivan
CODE OF THE WEST
Aaron Latham, Simon & Schuster, 2001 , $26/C$39.50 (£16.69) , hb , ISBN 0-7432-0117-5
The Arthurian legend retold , this sweeping saga becomes Camelot in Texas. Fate rescues Jimmy Goodnight (King Arthur) from the Comanches who savaged his famil y. An awkward adolescent in the white man ' s world, Jimmy changes his life at a country fair by miraculously freeing an ax (Excalibur) embedded in an anvil. With the prize money and a dozen, awed cowboys , he sets out on his quest to raise cattle and build the Home Ranch, his ' kingdom.' Courage and luck prevail until he meets Jack Loving (Sir Lancelot du Lac) and Revelie (Queen Guinevere) , daughter of the Bostonian with whom he forms a partnership
Loving embodies everything Jimmy is not: graceful , a dead shot, and a good dancer. Goodnight and Loving bond like brothers Unfortunately , they both love the same woman. Along the way, Jimmy and the ' Home Ranch boys ' make a dangerous enemy of a local outlaw, Gudanuf (Merlin). Into this mix Latham stirs an understanding of Indian thinking and plot surprises that delight. Minor characters live and breathe, even ' burp ,' as does Revelie's ' dragon ' mother.
Latham has pulled off the kind of saga not seen since Lonesome Dove. A page-turner, Code of the West informs , entertains, and inspires
Meredith Campbell
CAPTAIN KILBURNIE
William P Mack, Berkley, 2001 , $13.95/C$19 99 (£8 87), tpb , 367pp , ISBN 0-425-17826-9
Fergus Kilburnie is an unlikely candidate for officer rank in the Royal Navy of the time of the French Revolution A Scottish farm boy who is forced to flee his home, Kilburnie enters a service which stubbornly refuses to promote common seamen and which further holds Scottish sailors in contempt. Even though the title of the book fairly well gives the ending away , naval fiction buffs will nonetheless enjoy sailing with our redoubtable hero. The battle action is finel y written. The description of life at sea is equally well done Napoleon always asked if an officer was lucky before he decided to promote him Kilburnie ' s rapid rise from new recruit to captain may strike some as overly lucky, but the novel ' s action and easygoing prose enable the reader to wink at circumstances relating to Kilburnie ' s stunning rise to the top. Not O ' Brian and not Forester, but readers will not be disappointed.
John R. Vallely
TWO MOONS
Thomas Mallon, Harcourt, 2001 , $14 , tpb , 303pp , ISBN 0-15-601082-8
Reviewed in Issue 13 , August 2000
BOONE'S LICK
Larry McMurtry, $24 (£15.41) , 0-684-86886-5
Simon & Schuster, 2000 , hb , 287pp , ISBN
Boone ' s Lick is the small settlement in Missouri where 15- year-old Shay Cecil (who narrates the story) grew up in the 1860s, along with his Ma , his Uncle Seth, Granpa Crackenthorp , a brother and two sisters Pa (Seth ' s brother) shows up only now and then , but to Shay that wasn ' t remarkable In his own words: ' I always thought we were just an ordinary family-and maybe we were ; but then, may be we weren ' t. ' That was after discovering that the local saloon girl Rosie McGee was really Aunt Rosie, and that his mother had almost married Seth instead of Pa Fifteen years is old enough to learn some family history. It just takes some handling, that's all. When Ma decides she ' s done waiting for Pa ' s next visit , and that it's time for her and the whole family to hunt him down - clear out in Wyoming - Shay begins to realize that life is full of changes , and surprises , and growing up
Gently humorous , solidly nostalgic and filled with homespun sentiment, this honest portrayal of family life on the frontier of the American movement west is also
compulsively readable Not a deep story , but one that ' s full of cheer, even in hard times , and a full sense of the small, quiet miracles of life
Steve Lewis
ALMOST HEAVEN
Judith McNaught, Pocket, 2001 (cl990) , $7 99 (£4 79*) , pb , 517pp,
ISBN 0-671-74255-8
With intelligence and humor , Judith McNaught has created a lively and fun Regency romance Impoverished Lady Elizabeth Cameron must marry well to save the family estate. After receiving a record number of proposals , her London season comes to an abrupt end when she is discovered in a compromising situation with Ian Thornton, a disreputable gambler rumored to be the illegitimate son of a nobleman Elizabeth retires to the country in disgrace, but her guardian devises a plan to marry her off quickly to one of her former suitors - a group that includes Ian Thornton.
At first glance, the characters appear to be the usual stock in trade : a penniless but beautiful heroine and a rogue However, one of the things that make this book a cut above the rest is the wonderful job McNaught does of fleshing out her characters so that they emerge as intelligent individuals with distinct personalities Regency fans will not want to miss this one, but readers who are fans of the period but not of romances in general should also give this a try - they may be very pleasantly surprised
Lisa Sween ey
TWO BROTHERS: THE LAWMAN AND THE GUNSLINGER
Linda Lael Miller, Pocket , 2000 (cl998) , $7 99 US/C$10.99 (£4 98), 416pp , pb , ISBN 0-7434-1154-4
It is 1853 , and on a wagon train west a youn g woman gives birth to twin boys Soon orphaned , the brothers , Shay and Tristain, are adopted by separate families and raised apart It will be thirty years before they meet again.
Lael ' s latest effort contains two romance novels in one book. The first story is about Shay, marshal for the town of Prominence, California As the two brothers work together to discover who was responsible for the death of Shay' s fiancee , they begin to learn about each other Miller interjects many humorous episodes into the storyline, making the book lighthearted and extremely enjoyable .
The second story is about Tristain , who decides to stay on in Prominence as a cattle rancher . One day as Tristain is out on the range , Emily Starbuck drives a flock of sheep through his ranch Emily then stakes a claim on Tristain ' s land that starts the sparks flying
ISSUE 17. AUG 2001
between them Trouble is not far behind as the two fight together to protect their property
Linda Lael Miller paints a picture of the old West that makes readers feel as if they are standing in the middle of a dusty trail .
As in all romance novels, there is love at first sight and happy endings, and Two Brothers is no exception If you enjoy stories of the old West with dangerous, mysterious, gorgeous cowboys and beautiful, daring, sassy women then you won ' t be disappointed
Kathy King
SHERLOCK IN LOVE
Sena Jeter Naslund, HarperPerennial, 2001 , $13/C$19 95 (£3.53) , 240 pp , tpb, ISBN 0-688-17844-8
Sherlock Holmes aficionados would expect that the title refers to ' the ' woman, Irene Adler, known in modem parlance as ' the one who got away .' Although Adler appears, Naslund has invented a new love , introducing her with the device of Watson looking back at the past after Holmes ' s death and uncovering more than he bargained for.
Alternating between past and present, using both Watson ' s and Holmes ' s diaries , the reader is reminded of Holmes ' s cleverness and Watson ' s occasional obtuseness Early on, we learn that the one who really got away was Violet Sigerson, a violinist pretending to be Victor Sigerson so she could play in the Munich Opera Orchestra. Watson, of course, is the last to know . Although the story starts promisingly enough, it becomes more implausible with clumsily inserted historical figures , such as the mad Ludwig II of Bavaria, and an out-of-left-field revelation of why Holmes ' s and Violet's love could never be.
Naslund has done her research, inserting references to previous cases and displaying the famous Holmes inductive reasoning, but she sacrifices credibility as a claimant to the Conan Doyle throne with the preposterous ending
Ellen Keith
HUSSEIN
Patrick O ' Brian, Norton, 2000, $23.95 , hb, 239pp, ISBN 0-393-04919-1
Reviewed in Issue 13 (August 2000).
DEATH AT EPSOM DOWNS
Robin Paige, Berkley Prime Crime, 2001 , $21.95 (£13 96), 292pp, hb , ISBN 0425178072
In this , the seventh book in a series by Robin Paige, pseudonym of the husband-and-wife team of Bill Albert and Susan Wittig Albert, Lord Charles Sheridan and his Irish-American wife Kate attend the Derby at Epsom Downs Charles is invited to photograph the finish of
11IE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
the race ; Kate shares a box with the (in)famous Lillie Langtry, actress , racehorse-owner, and mistress of the Prince of Wales. When a doped horse causes a fatal accident, Charles is asked to investigate.
The parts about nineteenth-century horse racing and the practice of doping, which was still legal at this time, are particularly interesting As they have done in previous volumes in this series, the authors provide an epilogue with historical notes and a list of sources However, this book did not hold my interest as much as the others, possibly because Charles and Kate are separated for much of the story Also , Kate's appearances are kept to a minimum , and I found that disappointing In spite of these complaints, however, I enjoyed the book. I especially recommend it to fans of Anne Perry , although this series is much lighter in tone . Vicki Konde/ik
SHADOWS OF GLORY
Owen Parry, William Morrow , 2000 , $24 (£15.26) , 31 lpp , hb , ISBN 0380976439
Second in a series (after Faded Coat of Blue) , this welcome addition should draw even more readers Abel Jones , a new member of William Seward ' s secret service, is sent to upper New York State to investigate rumors of an Irish insurrection and the possibility of Canada being drawn into the war on the Confederate side. While there he meets , through the local Methodist minister, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frederick Douglass. Jones solves the mystery of the conspiracy but only in a way that will trouble his good Methodist beliefs
Jones serves his country because he believes deeply that he has a moral responsibility to do so But he misses his wife and child, and in his brief time spent with them, some of the most affecting parts of the novel are revealed Parry has succeeded in writing a wonderfully complex story that covers many important social issues of the Civil War period: war profiteering, the development of a national railway system, immigration (particularly by the despised Irish), and the relationships between the abolitionist and women's rights movements Highly recommended to all readers who love historical novels with compelling language and characterization.
Kathleen Sullivan
MURDER AT BERTRAM'S BOWER
Cynthia Peale, Doubleday, 2001 , $22.95/C$32 95 (£14 60) , 342pp, hb , ISBN 0-385-49637-0
When two residents of Bertram ' s Bower, a house for fallen women, are found violently murdered , shock reverberates amongst residents of the upscale communities of 42
Boston's Beacon Hill Caroline Ames, an attractive thirtyish spinster, quickly steps in to investigate when she finds her friend Agatha Montgomery, the Bower' s proprietress, near nervous collapse and at risk of social disgrace . This is Victorian Boston done a la Merchant Ivory, complete with horse-drawn carriages, detailed descriptions of elegant fashion, and the precise, almost formal language of Beacon Hill ' s elite The author evokes particularly well the wide disparity among the social classes, from the upper crust Ameses down to the reviled immigrant Irish In all , the novel works better as historical social commentary than as a mystery, for the murderer may be rather obvious , but this doesn't make the story any less enjoyable Cynthia Peale is Nancy Zaroulis , author of several other novels of historical Massachusetts.
Sarah L. Nesbeitt
FIRE ON THE WATERS:
A Novel War of the Civil War at Sea
David Poyer, Simon & Schuster, 2001 , $25/C$38 (£15.90), hb , 443pp , ISBN 0-684-87133-5
Fans of contemporary naval fiction are undoubtedly familiar with David Poyer His The Med, The Gulf, Tomahawk and others follow the careers and adventures of sailors and ships in the contemporary US Navy and have been well received by critics and casual readers alike
Poyer leaves the modem world of cruise missiles and high tech drama for a series set in the America of 1861 The US steam sloop Owanee is the ship on which his main characters sail to the relief of a besieged Fort Sumter Each of the officers must decide where their loyalties belong (two successive commanding officers choose the Confederacy over the United States) All officers and seamen must struggle with the challenges posed by the evolving steam technology on warships and the demands it places on them
Poyer knows his field : the descriptions of life on board the Owanee should satisfy even the most critical readers . He has also done his homework on the customs of life in Civil War era America Advise the lookouts to keep alert for succeeding novels . It looks as if Poyer will provide a very satisfying glimpse into the naval aspects of the conflict.
John R. Vallely
THE CLOUD SKETCHER
Richard Rayner, 2001 , HarperCollins , $25 (£5 59*) , 435pp , hb , ISBN 0-06-019634-3
Rayner ' s treatment of early 19th century coming of age , war, art and architecture , love , passion and obsession is nothing short of an epic From the remote and mystical Finnish
village where Esko V aananen is born and raised , to the mob-run streets of Prohibition New York, Rayner offers depth of character and environment and unforgettable relationships
Esko, eleven years old as the novel opens , is suffering. He suffers the loss of his mother and a painful facial disfigurement as well as a strained relationship with his stem and drunken father He also suffers because of his intense and seemingly unrequited love for Katerina Malysheva, the rich daughter of a Russian aristocrat and provincial governor of his Finnish home
His early life is not all pain, however He has dreams and hopes, a passionate artistic sense, and a patron in the person of Kalliokoski , the village priest , who helps Esko to follow his dreams He is drawn to New York by the promise of finding Katerina, but once there, he is also consumed by the prospect of achieving another dream the building of skyscrapers
A wonderful , richly layered novel which effectively incorporates the unique mysticism of Finns , the politics of communism, and the materialism of New York City into a tender love story, Cloud Sketcher is an experience to be savored
Jean Langlais
VICKSBURG
James Reasoner, Cumberland House , 2001 , $22 95/C$34.95 (£14.60) , 399pp , hb , ISBN 1-58182-163-8
This fifth novel in the Civil War Battle series focuses on the West and on the Union taking the city of the book's title Cory Brannon is called away from the wagon train supplying the city for a special mission The dangerous duty takes him to Tennessee, where he meets up with his old friend , Nathan Bedford Forrest. Circumstances delay his return to Vicksburg , making him late for his wedding to Lucille Farrell Finally, Union soldiers lay siege to the city , and the citizens face starvation
The vast array of characters present in the previous book was mostly absent. Except for Cory, none of the Brannon family appears The characters lacked depth, and I had difficulty getting my orientation, since Vicksburg begins before the fourth book ends Halfway through, when the tirneline was back on track, I finally realized the regression The author's research is excellent, but the battle narrative comes uncomfortably close to reading like a battlefield brochure. Die-hard fans of the series will certainly enjoy this installment and not want to miss it. Most Civil War buffs will probably prefer to wait for the sixth book, Gettysburg. Hopefully, the fast-paced action and basic plot of how one
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Southern family copes with the war will resume .
Kim Murphy
SCANDALOUS
Karen Robards , Pocket Star Books, 2001 , $7 99/C$l0 99 (£5 13), 360pp, pb, ISBN 0-7434-1059-9
Take three titled-but-penniless sisters who are dependent on the good will of their distant brother for survival, add in the brother ' s murder and the eldest sister's daring scheme to prevent society from finding out about it , toss in the plot twist of a stranger masquerading as the brother, and you have all the makings of a thrilling historical romance Had Robards stuck with these plot elements, the book would have been more successful
The story of Lady Gabriella Banning' s willingness to flout the conventions of early 19th century England by presenting her two sisters to London society has great potential ; however, Robards includes very little in the way of accurate historical description Several sex scenes appear entirely out of place. Reading how the stranger, who has been shot by Gabriella and endured surgery without anesthesia, is able to pin her under his supposedly unconscious form and make love to her defies even the most willing suspension of disbelief. The romantically-minded may leap at this title, but the historically-minded may want to avoid it.
Helene Williams
ON NIGHT'S SHORE
Randall Silvis, St. Martin ' s Press , 2001 , $24 95/C$38 99 (£15 87) , 338pp, hb , ISBN 0-312-2620 l-9
The father of the modem detective story takes center stage in a riveting tale of murder, corruption and redemption A street urchin discovers a dead girl , and chance leads his path across that of struggling journalist Edgar Allan Poe Ever the alert profiteer, Augie Dubbins reveals his grisly find to Poe in exchange for a coin. The two then find themselves navigating a labyrinth of contradictory evidence and repelling attempts both on their lives and on their integrity in order to expose the murder ' s identity and motive
Silvis recreates 1840s New York with an unstinting and often brutal clarity His elegant, evocative prose is suggestive of Poe ' s own style, and his narrative integrates elements from Poe's more popular works The characters , real and fictional alike , are masterpieces of insight into the human experience Nowhere is this insight more evident than in the author ' s rendering of Edgar Allan Poe, a brilliant, compassionate and fatally complex man whose devotion to his
work was exceeded only by his love for his family . Kelly Cannon
THE TAINTED SNUFF BOX
Rosemary Stevens, Berkley, 2001 , $21.95 (£13 96), 292pp , hb , ISBN 0425179486
In the autumn of 1805 , the Prince Regent receives threatening letters and hastily removes himself and his entourage including his dear friend Beau Brummell , arbiter of elegance and fashion to Brighton. But violence and murder follow the Prince: first the Beau discovers the body of a young woman washed up on the beach, and then the Prince's self-appointed food-taster, the odious Sir Simon, insists on sampling Lord Petersham's newest blend of snuff before the Prince tries it and dies. Appalled, Prinny demands the Beau discover the identity of the murderer, and the Beau is eager to do so to exonerate his friend Petersham But clever though he is , it takes all the Beau's not-inconsiderable brainpower to unearth the truth
This second Beau Brummell mystery is as engaging as the first (Death on a Silver Tray)
A charming series ; I look forward to many more ' comfortable cozes ' with the Beau India Edghill
THE CROWN & THE CRUCIBLE
415pp , pb , 2001 (c1991) , ISBN 0764224646
A HOUSE DIVIDED
350pp , pb , 2001 (cl992) , ISBN 0764224654
TRAVAIL & TRIUMPH
400pp , pb , 2001 (cl992) , ISBN 0764224662
HEIRS OF THE MOTHERLAND
384pp, pb , 2001 (cl993) , ISBN 0764224670
All by Michael Phillips and Judith Pella (#4 Judith Pella alone) , Bethany House , $7 99 (£5 09) each
Set in the last years of the 19th century , this is a sweeping saga of Russia before the Revolution that reads like a cross between War & Peace and Dr Zhivago. It was a time of great unrest and war At its heart is a romance between a prince and a peasant girl , and a princess and a reckless soldier Replete with descriptions of snowy villages , the Winter Palace, fashionable life in St Petersburg and grim prisons , there is certainly plenty of it - these are the first four of a seven-book set - but it is never boring
It is also an inspirational saga, just like the Sigmund Brouwer western mysteries reviewed elsewhere in this issue I hadn't read any inspirational fiction before I picked up the first of these novels, and as I am not religious myself wasn ' t sure what to expect. What I got wasn ' t a sermon but a thumping good story replete with all the things you would expect in a novel about Russia in the late 19th century -
ISSUE 17. AUG 2001
to say more would perhaps spoil the story. I won't say you can imagine what it is going to be about, because this makes it sound predictable (and perhaps it is), but historically the series is very well researched and highly entertaining.
I personally enjoyed the added dimension of religion, for it reminded me that in the past religion filled most aspects of people's lives. I can thoroughly recommend all four of theseand presumably the other three as well!
Rachel A. Hyde
DR. MORTIMER AND THE BARKING MANMYSTERY
Gerard Williams, Carroll & Graf, 2001, $24. 270pp , hb, ISBN 0-7867-0859-X
Reviewed in Issue 16 (May 200 I), UK section
THE DARK SUN RISES
Denise Williamson, Bethany House, 2001 (cl998) , $11.95 (£7.62) , 448pp, tpb , ISBN 1-55661-882-4
For Joseph, a slave in 1834 South Carolina, the adage ' a little learning is a dangerous thing ' proves more than true At the age of 25 Joseph is a favored manservant to Abram Calicott, planter, and devout Christian. At the time, state law forbid literacy training for slaves Discovered secretly reading the Bible by Calcott ' s son, Joseph is subjected to some of the most inhumane treatment this reviewer has ever read. Calcott hires Joseph out to a Charleston mill-owner to protect him and then pays for him to be secretly educated His experiences in the city and his ardent faith motivate Joseph to thirst for knowiedge and freedom. But how can he run away and disappoint Calcott, more of a father to him than a master? And what about Rosa, the beautiful mulatto housemaid, with her own tortured story?
In a novel that unashamedly promotes the Christian message, archetypes abound, but here , the device works Superbly researched and documented, this page-turner does more than get across the Christian message. Williamson does a masterful job of showing the societal, legal, economic, and emotional damage that slavery entailed
Meredith Campbell
WHEN STARS BEGIN TO FALL
Denise Williamson, Bethany House, 2001, $11.95 (£7.62) , 446pp , tpb , ISBN 1-55661-883-2
After leaving slavery behind, I 851 finds a devout Joseph Whitsun practicing medicine in a small , Negro community outside Philadelphia. Legally, Negroes cannot be
TI-IE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
doctors so his ministrations are secret and his prayers, numerous Mayleda, daughter of the plantation owner who freed Joseph, escaped her abhorred plantation life and married a compassionate abolitionist, but now is widowed and lives in Philadelphia Forced to live with her prominent in-laws, Mayleda has become a pious Quaker With their grudging permission she nurses Negro patients in Dr. Eilis's clinic A Quaker abolitionist, Dr. Ellis surreptitiously trained Joseph
Because of the 1850 passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, slavers freely hunt down runaways to the north Mayleda's attempt to rescue a Negro child reunites her with old friend Joseph. Tragic consequences result. One to suffer with them is bachelor shopkeeper Charles Powell. A non-Quaker Christian, Powell struggles with his own prejudices . Powell's struggle becomes the reader's as events rapidly unwind, slowed only when characters become preachy. However, this satisfying love-story sequel to When the Dark Sun Rises proclaims the Christian message so that the reader is profoundly uplifted Meticulously researched, this unflinching view of the African-American experience reassures that fear and hate flee when overcome by faith and love
Meredith Campbell
US/CANADA: 20th CENTURY
A LEGACY
Sybille Bedford, Counterpoint, 200 I , $15/C$22.95 (£6.39*) , 368pp , tpb , ISBN 1-58243-142-6
The intelligent voice utters profound truths while unmasking secrets of the family and by extension, the German psyche. The persecution of cadet Johannes reveals that Germ8D$ at the turn of the century were as cruel to their own, be they noble or common, as their descendants would be to the Jews . The family of the girl narrator depends on Jewish relatives who live in Berlin. The Merz house Gn Voss Strasse is a refuge and bedrock for the extended family . Jules , Baron von Felden, is a bohemian who makes an art of living He had arrived in Berlin to marry the Merzes' daughter, accompanied by two apes that misbehaved on the train. Offered a diplomatic post, he declined to represent Germany and requested another country Passion and betrayal stretch the fabric of this family , but everyone belongs, whether by ties of blood or love The conflict comes from a militaristic society which resents the
aristocracy and its excesses Germany had only become a nation in 1870 The ' Felden scandal ' threatens to bring down the Kaiser and the military state.
Engrossing because it requires study, this narrative challenges the reader to keep up with family relationships across time, geography and languages It's an impressionist style with lush descriptions and the floaty effect of prose that requires interpretation, dialog with scant attribution, French with no translation The strokes seem fragmented , but viewed from a distance, the picture comes together
Marcia K. Matthews
ANGEL IN BLACK
Max Allan Collins, New American Library, 2001 , $21.95 (£13 96) , 340pp, hb , ISBN 0-451-20263-5
The most notorious unsolved murder in US history is probably that of the ' Black Dahlia,' the young woman whose bisected nude body was found in a empty Los Angeles lot, January 1947. A stack of books have been wri tten about the case, and none ha ve come close to naming the killer.
Until now In the guise of his alter ego , fictional private eye Nate Heller, Collins takes the facts as they are known, gives them a new twist, and lays out possibilities nobody's suggested before
This isn't the first time Collins has done this this is Heller's 12th book mixing Heller's private life with America's best-known crimes, and recreating bits of American life and folklore along the way Orson Welles has a bit part in this one; Arthur Lake (Dagwood of the movies) is briefly a suspect. Eliot Ness flies out to California to give Heller a hand.
Collins tends to go overboard with the details of postwar California life, and it certainly takes nerve to have Heller learn that he made the dead girl pregnant during a short fling they had had together Wow! There's no denying it this noirish adventure is an attention grabber.
Steve Lewis
STOLEN AWAY
Max Allan Collins, Signet, 2001 , $6 .99/C$9 .99 (£4.45) , 59lpp , pb , ISBN 0-451-20241-4
Nate Heller, Collins ' Chicago detective, is assigned to the Lindbergh abduction case after rescuing a child from a kidnapping attempt. Heller is forced to play games with the masters of the underworld, the tricksters , and the warped ideals of the thirties A game he plays very well , indeed! He confronts gangsters , Colonel Lindbergh , an inept investigation, and Eliot Ness while slithering his way to a very plausible conclusion.
17 AUG 200 1
Collins knows the meaning of the word ' detective ' and has drawn an immaculate portrait of a man who is a flawed seeker of truth. His sage never seems out of touch with the era and delivers some of the most priceless , sardonic statements I've ever read (The best of the best is at the end of the book, and Collins deserves a pat on the back for using it!)
Any fan of gritty , exceptional mysteries will be impressed, startled and easily won over by Collins and Heller
Wendy A Zollo
PLACES IN THE DARK
Thomas H Cook, Bantam, 2001 , $6.50 (£4 79*), 28lpp, pb , ISBN 0553580671
In small-town Maine , two brothers regard life as polar opposites. Their mother follows passion, embracing its call , and her favorite son does the same, jumping in where his heart leads him The opening scene relates his rescuing a child swept downstream in a fast river. They are saved from disaster by the reluctant intervention of his brother, who follows the father , logical, stoical, resigned to life as a bleak landscape of colorless motions all designed to avoid the entrapments of the heart He loves his younger brother, though and plunges in to save him from his altruistic deed
The relationship between the brothers and the old antagonism between the head and the heart gives depth and character to this story The mystery has vivid, dark, horrifying scenes related in fitful increments by the older son The style proceeds in a meandering, leisurely, sparse manner, contrasting with the jolting events, which together provide the pull to keep the reader going. It ' s the first book in a long time that had me wanting to know the secrets waiting in the labyrinth of the plot. The author is several times an Edgar nominee and a 1997 winner for Chatham School Affair
Mary K. Bird-Guilliams
DEATHINLACQUERRED
Jeanne M. Darns , Walker, 2001 (cl999), $8 95 (£5 70), 225pp , tpb , ISBN 0-8027- 7609-4
There are now three in the series, but this marks the first appearance of young household maid Hilda Johansson, and the first murder she's involved in She works under a tremendous handicap, too , as in South Bend, Indiana, April 1900, servants (especially female) were not expected to leave the house without permission, much less conduct an investigation on their own, asking impertinent questions and doing all of the footwork that needs to be done.
Hilda works for the wealthy Studebaker family, one of South Bend's most illustrious
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
(and real life) names . Next door are the Harpers (fictitious), and it is Judge Harper's missionary sister, recently returned from China, who is murdered. Hilda, and her would-be paramour, Patrick Cavanaugh, find her.
Would-be , as the Swedes and the Irish do not really mix socially. Hilda is quite progressive, however, with an independent streak a mile long. Her sense of right and wrong is deeply challenged by the killing , and through the servants' grapevine, plus some other highly irregular nighttime activities , she nudges justice in the right direction
Read this book for the characters , though, finely drawn and irresistible The mystery is weak, with a loose end or two left dangling. No matter I'm ready for more
Steve Lewis
A SPELL OF WINTER
Helen Dunmore, Atlantic Monthly, 2001 (c1995) , $24 (£5.59*) , 313 pp , hb , ISBN 0-87113- 782-8
This novel of early 20th century English pastoral Life is a compelling story of a brother and sister whose Jives evolve from innocent curiosity to protecting family secrets . The novel's narrator, Catherine, lives with her older brother, Rob , only siblings together in their country house Their mother has left them and their father is ' away. ' Catherine is an innocent who has a sensual curiosity about life and death What she has not learned from humans , she learns from animals which her brother shoots, but can't bear to carry home.
A new neighbor shows an interest in Catherine . At tea, he admits to having met her mother, startling Catherine and opening new wounds Although attracted to the cold and distant Olivia, Rob decides marriage is not a possibility for him or for Catherine because of their parents' failure. Soon a brother/sister pact is made and they agree never to take partners . This decision is the turning point of this poignant novel.
Helen Dunmore delights us with her mastery of language, whether describing joy or sorrow , the spell of winter Catherine loves , or the loss of what was once precious to these characters
Tess Allegra
DEATH AT WENTWATER COURT
Carola Dunn, Kensington, 2000, $5 .99/C$7 99 (£4.40) , 233pp, pb , ISBN 1-57566-750-9
Dunn introduces readers to the aristocratic young flapper/journalist Daisy Dalrymple in this novel , the first in her series set in the charming bygone era of 1920s Britain The wealthy heroine has chosen to throw off her
respectable background and plunge into the field of journalism
Her new assignment, writing a story for Town and Country magazine, finds her ensconced at elegant Wentwater Court for a behind-the-scenes look at life in an English country house Expecting a lovely weekend in the country, the seemingly posh assignment turns sinister when one of the guests is found floating face down in the icy skating pond
Although charming, this story seemed a bit tedious at times However, Daisy Dalrymple has great potential, and it certainly merits checking out more recent offerings in the series
Dana Cohlmeyer
THE WINTER GARDEN MYSTERY
Carola Dunn, Kensington, 2001 , $5.99/C$7 99 (£3 .81), 254 pp , pb , ISBN 1-57566-751-7
Cheshire, England circa 1923 finds Daisy Dalrymple, flapper-turned-reporter , on assignment to Occles Hall. She uncovers more than information when the dead body of a former parlormaid, Grace Moss , is found in the Winter Garden . Although Grace was believed to have run off, her one-time lover is arrested as her murderer. Daisy doesn't buy it , and her investigations uncover more dirt in Cheshire than in the garden.
This cozy English mystery is a light , enjoyable read on the surface, but schemes and secrets abound beneath . Characters are well drawn, and the author captures the atmosphere of the flapper era A very good second installment in a delightful series
Te s s Allegra
A LITTLE EMPIRE OF THEIR OWN
Bruce Farcau, Vandamere , 2000, $2 l.95 (£15 51), 344 pp , hb , ISBN 0-918339-54-5
This enthralling story revolves around Empress Charlotte, the lethally sharp-witted widow of Archduke Maximilian, the (very) short-lived Emperor of Mexico Set during World War I, the Empress lives in a run-down chateau in Belgium She still commands considerable respect from the German government, and her request for an attache from the German High Command is granted
The attache , a Major Gerhard von Schwartz-Schilling, becomes an unwitting pawn in the Zimmermann telegram scandal , all arranged with delicious duplicity and underhandedness by the Empress herself.
Intertwined with the main story is a two-sided telling of the war between Mexico and France, the French having the idea of sitting the Archduke on the throne and then bleeding silver-rich Mexico dry. Blasio, the Empress's driver and former secretary to the Archduke, tells the Major about the war as he
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
saw it. He also owns a set of three diaries taken of a dead officer of Benito Juarez ' s Mexican loyalists , who were battling the French and their land-owning Mexican supporters The major reads the diaries , seeing the other side from the officer ' s point of view This subplot itself is spellbinding. Thus the reader gets two great stories in one novel.
Mark F Johnson
THE YEARS WITH LAURA DIAZ
Carlos Fuentes (trans Alfred MacAdam) , Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2000 , $26 (£14 39*) , 518pp, hb , ISBN 0-374-29341-4
This big Mexican novel takes its main character, born in 1898 , through 74 years of the 20th century. Mexico , for better or for worse , re-created itself during those years , though the novel pays little attention to the most dramatic events : the Revolution, the Cristero reaction of the 1920s, and the growth of the corruption of the one-party (PRI) state
The main axis of the narrative runs from Mexico City to Veracruz and on to Europe, and Europeans carry the narrative ; the Spanish Ci vil War (as Laura admits) was more important to her than Mexico ' s travails
The novel has a huge scope despite its self-limitations Though packed with detail , Fuentes has written a novel reverberant with bi g images , a narrative of psychological, political , and even philosophical intricacy : a ' deep ' novel that never bogs down in these ideas The large cast of characters includes poets and exiles , aunts and ancestors (and Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo) Rebirth (or return) is a central theme Laura Diaz remains the focus of the novel : her eyes see all , and in the end her suddenly revealed gift for evocative and realistic photography lets her chronicle Mexico fifty years after the Revolution.
The translation hesitates a bit at first and then moves along splendidly The Mexican texture and its complex interrelationship with time are rendered by indirection and nuance, but with unmistakable authenticity , and completely without cynicism Fuentes is by now a very skilled novelist, but this novel moves well beyond mere wordcraft ; this is a rich and yet subtle work, and it may justifiably be called a great novel.
Dean Miller
THE SEVENTH MOON
Marius Gabriel , Bantam, 2001 , $6 .99/C$9.99 (£4.49) , pb , 418pp , ISBN 0-553-57231-8
This compelling novel moves between 1970 and 1941-42 , with an intermediate stop in 1954 Francine, half British, half Chinese, is married to a British mine manager in Malaya when the Japanese invade the peninsula Her husband sends her and their daughter Ruth to
TIIE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Singapore for safety There, she meets a dashing British soldier, Clive When Singapore falls under attack, Francine, Clive and Ruth make a desparate escape attempt , but before they can reach safety, they are forced to leave Ruth with a sympathetic tribal group , as she is too weak to travel. This devastates Francine, who spends the ensuing years searching for her daughter, shunning other emotional attachments , and building up a successful business empire. 1n 1970, she is approached by a young woman who may be Ruth. She is suspicious, believing Ruth to be dead
This bare bones description of just a small part of the plot doesn ' t do justice to the interwoven plot lines , the action, the heartbreak encompassed within the story. The vivid writing plunges readers into the places , periods and situations described, making it very difficult to put the book down once started
Trudi E. Jacobson
THE EDGE OF TOWN
Dorothy Garlock , Warner Books, 2001 , $19.95 (£12 .81) , hb , 370pp , ISBN 0-446-52769-6
Raising her brothers and sisters and doing daily farm chores doesn ' t leave Julie Jones much time for a social life. She yearns for someone to court her, but she ' s just a country girl, not one of those flappers who live in town Her world, however, turns upside down when several new faces appear in Fertile, Missouri
Evan Johnson, a veteran of the Great War, returns to protect the family farm from his drunk and abusive father Birdie Stuart is a widow looking for a new husband. Corbin Appleby, the new police chief, searches for a rapist and murderer The manner in which their lives intersect with those of Julie and her family threaten to rip asunder the ties that bind Julie to her family and to Evan .
The characters in The Edge of Town are ordinary people with all the foibles and traits that breathe life into them The story transports readers back to the years just prior to the Great Depression in a rnidwestern town where city dwellers and farmers intermingle but don ' t always look at their community through the same eyes . Readers in search of a wonderful old-fashioned romance won ' t be disappointed, and those looking for mystery will find more than enough to fill their plates.
Cindy Vallar
GHOST TOWN
Ed Gorman, Berkley, 2001 , $5 .99 (£3 .81), pb , 252pp, ISBN 0-425-17927-3 Bryce Lamont is just out of prison and , with his younger brother Paul , has tracked down his
fellow bank robbers to collect his share of the loot. He is surprised when his gang pays up without trouble, but another kind of trouble is about to strike. A serious malaria outbreak threatens the town and then Paul is shot dead If Bryce is to get revenge he needs to both fight off his illness and find out who is ultimately responsible for the murder.
The novel has a lean, tight style and its dialogue is hardboiled , without unnecessary embellishments . It manages to successfully blend elements of the private investigator novel with those of the traditional western Ed Gorman has a good eye for historical detail and uses it conjure up scenes with a few telling phrases
On the whole Ghost Town is a pretty exciting read with a high body count , plenty of gunfights , brawling, bank robbing and heavy drinking The mystery element is just intricate enough to keep the reader guessing at least some of the time . Unfortunatel y it is let down by continuity problems , such as an only child later acquiring a brother, and too many typographical errors . Sara Wil s on
PIANO MUSIC FOR FOUR HANDS
Roger Grenier (trans Alice Kaplan), University of Nebraska Press , 200 I (c 1991 ), $15 (£9.54) , 153pp , tpb , ISBN 0-8032- 7087-9
Learning piano at age fi ve from maestro Nicolau Arderiu, Michel Mailhoc seems bound for international stardom Blocking Michel ' s progress are World War Il , the deportation of Arderiu, various love affairs , and attachment to his home in Beam, as well as his own belief that he is as much an outsider as his Cagot ancestors. He settles for piano bars , local concerts, and teaching Toward the end of his life, he asks himself: ' Had the piano been nothing but an instrument of seduction?'
Told in very short chapters , this novel cultivates an aura of mystery about Michel. He remains purposefully held at one remove Much of his life apes that of his mentor, Arderiu , even when he nurtures Emma , his great niece , his only pupil of outstanding talent. Emma, however, does succeed as a world-class pianist. And so Michel must let go the one person he loves unequivocally Michel describes the difference between a duet and a piece of music written for four hands The duet is a rivalry ; the four-hands piece symbolizes harmony , unity , togetherness Metaphorically powerful , this haunting novel is both melancholy and satisfying
Claire Morris Bernard ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
LITTLE MEXICO
Cathie John, Journeybook Press , 2001 , $12 95 (£8.32) , tpb , 254pp , ISBN 0963418378
It' s 1943 and Navy shore patrohnan Nick Cavanaugh wants to do his part to defend his country But because of his height (6 ' 4 '), he ' s stuck on land instead of out where the action is Ironically, after accepting the invitation to spend a IO-day leave with his friend, Joey Jules , he lands in the middle of another kind of war, a mob war, in of all places , Newport, Kentucky The Cleveland Syndicate wants to drive out the competition and routinely employs heavy-handed tactics But are they responsible for shooting Joey ' s father , casino owner Carl Jules , and leaving him for dead ?
This story is based on actual events Due to its location and inaccessibility, Newport was a haven for bootleggers and outlaws Illegal casinos flourished , the better ones drawing celebrities as well as ordinary people out for a nice dinner, a show and a game of chance
Little M exico is compelling, dialogue driven and , above all , a quick read Though I wish there had been more character development , the author successfully conveys the glitter and sleaze of the era Take it to the beach
Alice Logs don
TAKING LOTTIE HOME
Terry Kay, William Morrow, 2000, $25 (£15 90 ), 294pp , hb , ISBN : 0-688-17646-1
Anybody who's ever played baseball will always remember the moment in the game when he was magnificent. Unbeatable . Ben Phelps' moment comes in Chapter One He's also cut from the team the very same day , in Augusta , Georgia , 1904, a very young eighteen-year-old, with a lifetime of li ving still ahead of him Also cut is a grizzled 29-year-old veteran , Foster Lanier, and as they take the train out of town, they meet a beautiful, ethereal girl named Lottie All three of their lives are changed irrevocably thereafter
One of those making the team is Milo Wade , a clone of Ty Cobb a greatest player who may have ever lived, and perhaps the most unliked But the story is not Milo Wade's , except in glancing shots here and there (and yet it is). The tale , told in clear, direct, and striking prose , belongs to Ben, his fiancee , his mother, all his hometown neighbors , and Little Ben, Foster and Lottie's son When Foster dies , Ben's promise to him to take Lottie back home, on the train, to Augusta, must be fulfilled . There is also a sharp , uneasy (erotic) edge to the events that unfold I defy anyone to truthfully be able to say how it will all come out. Lottie is an angel in disguise , utterly
THE IDSTORJCAL NOVELS REVIEW
innocent, come down to earth to watch over lonely people and to relieve their torment. You will not know what I mean until you read this book. A remarkable novel , fixed well in its time and place
S teve Lewis
HALIDE'S GIFT
Frances Kazan, Random House, 2001 , $23 95/C$35 95 (£15 87 ), 256pp, hb , ISBN 0-375-505 l l-3
The historical Halide Edib Adivar was the first Turkish student at the American Girls College in Constantinople. Enrolled there in 1897 by her progressive-thinking father , Halide masters several languages She later translates European texts into Turkish for her husband, a mathematical scholar, and publishes her first novel , under a male pseudonym For despite liberal Western influences in Constantinople, Sultan Abdulhamid and his secret police pounce on any action that appears to counter the established order The young Halide of Halide 's Gift is not attempting to overthrow any government; she simply wants the right to freedom of expression Yet she remains traditional in many ways , adhering to her Muslim faith , and wearing a veil in public She also accepts her gift: the ability to hear and see the spirits of departed family members
In this novel , personal and political history mix together extremely well. The author successfully integrates the points of view of several characters, including Halide ' s likeable grandmother, her father , her rebellious sister, her stepmother, and her enigmatic first husband Past events are seldom stated directly, yet the reader still understands what has transpired Unfortunately , many current happenings are also inferred, like Halide ' s father ' s second wedding, a pivotal event in her life. But this is my only criticism of a novel that presents an enticing picture of Constantinople c 1900.
Claire Morris Bernard
A BICYCLE BUILT FOR MURDER
Kate Kingsbury, Berkley Prime Crime, 2001 , $5 .99 (£3 .81), 216 pp , pb , ISBN 0-4 25-1785 6-0
This first book in a new series by the author of the Pennyfoot Hotel My ste ries introduces Lady Elizabeth Hartleigh, the impoverished owner of an estate located in Sitting Marsh, England, during World War II When a local teenager is found murdered, the spunky Lady Elizabeth pledges to find the killers Suspects are plentiful and include the American soldiers from a nearby base Like a true sleuth, Lady Elizabeth finds that clues, logic, and a little help from the handsome Major Monroe lead to the truth.
Well-researched historical details such as aircraft, furnishings , and war-time behaviors help support a well-developed plot. However, the quantity of characters and sometimes grating banter, intended as comic relief, distracts from the clever storyline Romantic subplots are also quite intriguing , but since they are never full y developed, we will need to wait for future novels for the resolutions
Due to the charming Lady Elizabeth and the promise of future shenanigans, the Manor House Mystery series has the potential to become popular with those who enjoy a good whodunit.
Suzanne Spragu e
SCROLLS OF TESTIMONY
Abba Kovner, Jewish Publication Society, 2001 , $75 (£47.71) , 229 pp , hb , ISBN 0-8276-0710-5
This book intends to remind the reader of the Tahnudic scrolls, with a main text down the middle of the page and notes and commentaries down either side Other scenes are reminiscent of a fictional thriller with gallant heroes fighting unspeakable ev il in wartime Poland and Lithuania Some of the sidebars are merely explanations , either added by the author in the original Hebrew text or by translator Eddie Levenston At first some seem unnecessary , like the short biography of Hitler, but this reinforces the idea that the book is meant to be read three thousand years from now . Other notes include brief discussions of historical events , quotes from testimony by the author at the Eichmann trial , Biblical passages, poems , and short bios of Jewish freedom fighters or Nazi villains The paintings of Samuel Bak add another dimension of somber reality to the book.
Vivid descriptions of extermination in the camps or mass shootings at the s ide of pits give the book a horrifying reality , but the main theme is resistance efforts , whether through military confrontation or cultural preservation Courageous Jews and the occasional righteous Gentile resist the calculated madness of the Final Solution The fight continues after the War when the same resistance forces , opposed by the British Navy, smuggle Jews into Israel. Credited with refusing to go to extermination ' like sheep to the slaughter,' Kovner was a leader of the resistance in the Vilna ghetto A recent biography alleged that the now deceased Kovner plotted to achieve revenge by killing 6,000 ,000 Germans through poisoned water supplies The events described here make such thinking understandable
Jame s Hawking
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
MURDER AT MONTICELLO
Jane Langton , Viking, 2001 , $22 95 / C$33.99 (£14 60) , 256pp , hb , ISBN 0-670-89462-1
This novel. Langton·s latest Homer Kelly mystery , is set in Charlottesville, Virginia as preparations are underway for the 200th anniversary celebration of the election of Thomas Jefferson Fern Fisher, a former student of Kelly, is ensconced in Monticello"s Dome Room immersed in research on Jefferson for a book that , hopefully , will restore his dignity in the face of attacks based on Sally Hemings and slavery Add to this mix a red- headed serial killer, a young man who is discovered illegall y camped in the woods behind Monticello , and Augustus Upchurch , the elderl y president of Jefferson Studies and proverbial •dirty old man ' who has targeted young Fern for his amorous attentions and you have a page turner that culminates as the serial killer sets his sites on Fem. Langton·s lovely line drawings of Monticello and excerpts from the Lewis and Clark journals are an added treat.
Patricia K. May nard
1921
Morgan Llywelyn, Forge, $25 .95/C$36 .95 (£14.39) , 445 pp , hb, ISBN 0-312-86754-9
For review , see Australian section
THREE APPLES FELL FROM HEAVEN
Micheline Aharonian Marcom , Riverhead, 2001 , $23 95 , 208pp, hb , ISBN 1573221864
Reviewed in Issue 16, May 2001.
THE FISHER KING
Paule Marshall , Scribner, $23/C$34 (£14 76) , hb , 222pp , ISBN 0-684-87283-8
A young boy arrives at a forbidding brownstone in Brooklyn. His great-grandmother shows him how to ' chase the keys ' and fish for the music on a player piano Her son had to leave the States to pursue his art, and now she looks for him in the namesake of Sonny-Rett Payson Then Sonny meets his other great-grandmother. Florence McCullum is an outspoken as Ulene Payne is guarded
Young Sonny-Rett loves his home in a rundown district a few blocks from the elegant boulevard of Paris cafes His caretaker Hattie wants to move back to Paree Cinq, where the Belle Epoque club still features a poster of Sonny-Rett, jazz pianist. Marshall sketches each character ' s relationship to the boy , then fills in key scenes from each one's past , branching out the point of view. She attributes dialog by a terse naming of the speaker, no verb She builds a metaphor from the castles the boy draws, with
TI-IE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
himself a little knight. Racial relations are brought into high relief, human relations are complicated by envy and spite. In style and content , The Fisher King excels.
Marcia K. Matthews
FEARLESS JONES
Walter Mosley , Little Brown, 2001 , $24.95 US /C$34 95 , hb , 312pp, ISBN 0-316-59238-2
Pairing the main character with a more violent sidekick is a classic format for mysteries Mosley uses it with a twist. Although Fearless Jones appears to be the hero his best friend Paris Minton , mild-mannered bookstore owner, is the real main character
Swept away unwittingly on a trail of violence - the body count is high - Paris tells us a complex story of revenge , sex, racism, and friendship set in Los Angeles in the 1950s Mosley slips the reader into the skin of a colored man and through him brings the era to life with images , dialogues , and diverse characters, making us feel their tenderness to each other as well as the weight of prejudice Nothing is truly black or white in this very well crafted mystery , which I hope proves to be the beginning of a new series Nicole Leclerc
LIVES OF GIRLS AND WOMEN
Alice Munro , Vintage, 2001 , $13 (£5 .59*), 277pp , tpb, ISBN-0 375 70749-2
Canadian writer Munro is known for her excellent short stories However, in this , her only novel , she proves that her ability to tell a wonderful story with lovable and intriguing characters extends to the novel format.
The story is told from the point of view of Del Jordan, a perceptive young girl living on her father's silver fox farm with an eccentric cast of characters These include ' Uncle ' Benny (nobody's actual uncle), who always has a business scheme going; Del's two aunts , Elspeth and Grace , who sing as they milk the cows ; Uncle Craig, for whose funeral she wore her 'black watch plaid funeral dress '; her mother, Addie , an agnostic who sells encyclopedias to keep the family fed ; and Del's best friend , Naomi , with whom she shares life and learns how girls become women.
Although the novel is set in Canada, readers of any locale will feel nostalgic and at home with this story. It has the flavor of a Southern novel without the angst.
Tess Allegra
A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS
V S Naipaul , Vintage International , $15 .95 (£6.39*) , 2001 (cl961) , 564pp , tpb , ISBN 0375707166
Born six-fingered and ' in the wrong way ,' Mohun Biswas is no stranger to misfortune as he grows into adulthood From one job to the next , he holds tenaciousl y onto the dream of owning his own home When he marries into the Tulsi famil y, things get more complicated Though he brings much of the ill fortune in his life upon himself, he doesn't always see things that way. He is unbearably stubborn and self-righteous at times Ne vertheless , I wanted him to succeed
Darkl y comic, laden with irony, A House For Mr Biswas moves at an often frustratingly slow pace For those unfamiliar with post-colonial Trinidad or Hinduism , this book will leave you with more questions than answers For those who appreciate a well-crafted phrase , this narrative will be a delight. Naipaul is particularly deft at imagery and description His words evoke not only the sights, smells and sounds , but also the claustrophobic feelings that drive Mr Biswas
Alice Logsdon
LORD OF THE SILENT
Elizabeth Peters, William Morrow, 200 I , $25/C$37.95 (£15 90) , 416pp , hb , ISBN 0-380-97884-9
In this , the thirteenth Amelia Peabody mystery , the hale and hearty Peabodys find themselves deeply ensconced in yet another intrigue, this time in 19 I 5 Egypt. The spectre of World War I looms everywhere, and the opportunities to make fortunes during such upheaval arc seemingly endless
Though Amelia and her husband, Emerson, are still important characters, here the focus shifts to their son Ramses and his wife , Nefret. While the Peabodys try to ascertain the source of a fresh corpse in a tomb being excavated by them, they are faced with the possibility that they have uncovered yet another arch-rival Is this a political killing? Has Ramses, who has previously been involved in intrigues during the War, become a target?
Ramses and Nefret are delightful creations. Ramses is no longer the enfant terrible, and Nefret , a physician, is a liberated woman in a post-Victorian world Having read almost all the Peabody mysteries , I must admit to feeling a bit of ennui. However , since we've run the gamut with Amelia and Emerson , it was clever of Peters to shift the focus to Ramses and Nefret. Light , fun reading , without anything terribly profound going on
Ilysa Magnus
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
A NEW DAWN OVER DEVON
Michael Phillips, Bethany House, 2001 , $12 99 (£8.26), 438pp, tpb, ISBN 0-7642-2440-9
Phillips ' latest work of inspirational fiction is an intriguing story of secrets, heartbreak, and guilt set on a lovely Devonshire estate. This fourth installment of his Secrets of Heathers/eigh Hal/ series further explores the struggles of the Rutherford family to become better Christians in the face of an ever-changing world rocked by World War I.
Young Amanda returns home to mourn losses and deal with guilt over her past while at the same time trying to fully accept God into her life. The plot, which in the beginning captures the reader with descriptions of hidden rooms and filched pirate treasure , becomes tedious and evangelical in the middle third of the book. However, the last third keeps the reader turning pages to find out just what happens to the Rutherfords and their much-loved Heathersleigh Hall.
In a postscript, the author defends his writing style as " idea fiction ' in which, by confronting ideas , confronting themselves and confronting God, the characters grow .' After reading the postscript, my opinion shifted from ambivalence to tentative acceptance Overall, the plot is interesting and worthwhile, and if the reader can approach the book with an open mind , is one to enjoy Dana Coh/meyer
FREUD'S MEGALOMANIA
Israel Rosenfield , W.W. Norton & Company, 2001 , $12 00/C$17.50 , (£7 70) , tpb , 173pp, ISBN 0-393-32199-1
This book tears down the foundation of Freud ' s controversial philosophy to give us a new view The story is based on a lost manuscript given by Freud ' s granddaughter to Professor Albert J . Stewart, the fictional narrator. Freud supposedly wrote the document in the last years of his life as a legacy to his illegitimate daughter, whose own daughter now possesses the manuscript.
The word ' megalomania ' means the psychological belief of self-grandeur and power Throughout the manuscript Freud discusses acquaintances and circumstances that have caused him to realize he has been under this self-delusion. He analyzes himself, which causes him to question his theories . Freud concludes that individuals are not motivated by physical drives , which is the whole basis for his theories , but by the ability to deceive themselves.
Rosenfield gives the reader an intellectual journey through Freud ' s mind, reintroducing Freud to contemporary science by reinventing him The author also creates a different theory of explaining psychological behavior I
TI-IE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
recommend Rosenfield's book to those interested in a new perspective on Freudian thought.
Kathy King
MOIRA'S CROSSING
Christina Shea, St. Martin ' s Press , 2000 , $22 95/C$35 99 (£14 73) , hb , 248pp , ISBN 0-312-20347-0
In the late 1920s, Ellis Island is seeing the last of its great waves of immigrants Among these are two Irish sisters who bring with them little more than the clothes they wear and their late mother ' s hope chest. Moira and Julia O ' Leary appear as different as can be - one light and the other dark: one strong and bold, and the other frail and quiet. The two young women share a strong bond, however, one that is nearly as much about shared guilt as it is about family.
Within days of their arrival in Boston, the two find employment in domestic service. Four years into their new life , a chance meeting with one of their fellow Irish passengers results in marriage for Moira and yet another new life for both women
Moira 's Crossing follows the O'Leary sisters for more than forty years , Moira remains somewhat enigmatic to the reader, but she claims our empathy and our hearts , for her weaknesses and her strengths are our own Despite a reserved nature and ill health , Julia possesses an inner strength on which Moira relies heavil y. Julia ' s self-realization is achingly gradual and would never happen at all were it not for her devotion to - and subtle rivalry with - Moira.
Through narrative so sensitively crafted that it often seems to flow straight from the minds of her characters , Shea ushers us into the lives of real people whose loves , triumphs and heartbreaks mirror our own
Ke//y Cannon
THE KOMMANDANT'S MISTRESS
Sherri Szeman, Arcade , 2000 (cl 993) , $13 95/C$20 95 (£8 87) , 269pp , tpb , ISBN 1-55970-542-6
Centered around the concentration camps of WWII , this intense work of fiction deals with the complex personal struggles of, and between, the camp Kommandant and his Jewish mistress Though on opposite sides of the fence , Max von Walther, the Kommandant , is as much an inmate of the camp as his mistress , Rachel. He cannot reconcile his desire for her with his loyalty and dedication to the country whose ideals he holds so dear A failing marriage , a failing war, and dark political objectives all combine to oppose his efforts to subjugate her and force her to desire him. Rachel is caught between her constant struggles with the
Kommandant and the demands of the camp resistance, who attempt to use her position in the Kommandant's office to their advantage . Written alternately in past, present, and future tense , the work attempts to create a greater understanding of the characters ' motivations This rapid transference between time periods , particularl y at critical moments in the story, is occasionally confusing. It does serve , however, to help us comprehend the full spectrum of forces at work during these tumultuous times. That both of the central characters are based upon real people lends authenticity, bringing to the forefront the human element which chills us with the realization that there are those who carry stories like these in their memories rather than in their imaginations.
Jesse Dubuc
THE BONESETTER'S DAUGHTER
Amy Tan, Putnam , 200 I , $25 95/C$37.99 (£13 59*), 353pp, hb , ISBN 0-399-14643-1 No writer navigates the emotional terrain of famil y relationships particularly mother-daughter relationships - better than Amy Tan. She writes of mature relationships laden with secrets , bleeding from the wounds of uncounted verbal stings , and falling into new and more difficult crises . In The Bone s etter 's Daughter , these dysfunctional patterns echo down the generations of one Chinese famil y, like a curse that only the catharsis of confession can break .
Ruth is a ghostwriter living in San Franc isco with her di vorced lover and his two daughters . Ruth ' s mother, LuLing, is slipping into dementia Years before , when LuLing became aware of her own deteriorating condition, she pressed into Ruth ' s hands a written chronicle of her life in China in the 1920s The story in these pages - finall y translated - is a gripping narrative of personal tragedy in the midst of war , revolution , and the rise of Communism Secret upon famil y secret is re vealed, explaining much of LuLing ' s later irrational and often suicidal behavior Ruth comes to understand through her mother ' s experiences the root of the difficulties in her relationship with her lover, and begins to heal it, just as her grandmother once healed broken bones
Amy Tan ' s writing is pure lyrical magic She manages to weave two disparate stories into a well-knitted if slightly uneven whole. The Bonesetter 's Daughter is a gripping novel of secrets revealed and relationships healed - and a thoroughly enjoyable read
Lisa Ann Verge
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
MURDER ON GRAMERCY PARK
Victoria Thompson, Berkley, 2001 , $5 99/ C$8 99 (£3 81), 330pp , pb , ISBN 0425178862
Thompson's third Gaslight Mystery once again plunges the reader into life in tum-of-the-century New York City. Midwife Sarah Brandt and Police Detective Frank Malloy team up once more to solve a murder
The victim is a healer , Edmund Blackwell , whose clients number many of the city's elite But who wanted him dead, and why ?
Thompson weaves a credible plot , replete with interesting characters, assorted motives and the requisite red herring . The historical background is both rich and accurate, yet never takes away from the mystery Sarah and Malloy share the detective duties equally , combining their particular talents to piece together the puzzle of Blac1-."Well's death Their romance continues to blossom amid all the skullduggery This reviewer will admit. however, that she did strongly suspect th~ murderer's identity by the midpoint of the story Overall, though, this novel is a highly entertaining and well-executed piece of historical detective fiction
Teresa
Eckford
LOST
Hans-Ulrich Treichel, Vintage International , 2000 , $ll/C$17 (£4.00*) , 136pp , tpb , ISBN 0-375-70622-4
This important little book lays open the psyche of ordinary Germans after World War II Having lost their firstborn son in the flow of refugees , his parents treat their second horn son like ' the finger on the wound. ' He senses that he is a source of pain to his mother , who is obsessed with proving that Foundling 2307 is her lost Arnold He fights to overcome the family guilt and shame, and to replace Arnold in his mother's affection.
Treichel picks up a line, then repeats and varies it like jazz. The rhythm of his straightforward, periodic sentences is mesmerizing. Stream of consciousness lends itself to wry humor that exaggerates the everyday to absurdity
Characters rising to an emotional pitch stretch the boundaries of family relationships The irony of the child, not knowing what the reader can surmise, keeps the novel on edge.
Marcia K. Matthews
GRACE
Jane Roberts Wood, Dutton, 2001, $22 95 (£14 60) , 245pp, hb, ISBN 0-525-84602-0
There have been many, many novels about World War II, and if the majority of them have focused on life in combat, on the front lines, it wouldn't surprise me any. This one's about life on the homefront, however, well away
TIIE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
from any fields of battle. The year is 1944, and even in Cold Springs, a small town in east Texas , the war is on everyone's mind everv waking minute of the day .Grace Gillian , whose husband has just left her , is a high school English teacher . One of her students is Bobby Miller and even though he has a 'lazy eye' , he like all of his friends cannot wait until he can enlist for duty, to do his part against the Germans , the Japanese. Parents know better, however. The sadness of sending a son off to war is both personal and universal , and Wood captures the feeling to perfection The courage of facing the fact when you know a loved one is never going to return is displayed more than once as well , as it was in every hometown in the land , large and small.
Don't get me wrong This is not a sad story at all. It's equally funny and touching , full of life and love , and learning about both, at a unique turning point in this country's history , if not the world's
Steve Lewis
KILLING GIFTS
Deborah Woodworth, Avon , 2001, $5 99 (£3.81), 248 pp , pb, ISBN 0-380-80426-3 During the Depression, Americans often found themselves poor and hungry The fortunate who lived near the Hancock Shaker Village outside of Pittsfield, Massachusetts , however, found a warm welcome Woodworth ' s fifth Shaker My stery featuring Eldress Rose Callahan finds Rose summoned from her Kentucky Shaker community by Hancock ' s Eldress Fannie to help solve the murder of a young woman of questionable character. Though the mystery itself is engaging and satisfying, the most compelling element is the Shaker way of life. Woodworth does an admirable job of educating us about the Shakers, and, in selecting the Depression era as a backdrop , thoughtfully addresses some of the most troublesome aspects of their community Modest and unassuming, the Shakers lived a simple and celibate life and were industrious, prayerful and gentle. That they were so different from most people occasionally prompted the suspicion and contempt of outsiders
When Rose arrives at Hancock Village to investigate the murder of Julia Masters, she finds herself among angry and resentful people. As Rose and her sidekick, Gennie, discover, all is not as it seems Though the Shakers themselves try to lead upright lives, they are still tempted by the same evils as the rest of humanity Recommended.
Jean Langlais
US/CANADA: MULTI-PERIOD
DEATH OF A RIVER GUIDE
Richard Flanagan, 200 l (cl 994 ), Grove , $24 (£15 26) , 326pp , hb , ISBN 0-802-ll682-5 This novel is a wondrous piece of skilled work, and, incredibly, Richard Flanagan ' s first novel. His language is as rich and fecund as the Tasmanian rain forest and his narrative is as wild a ride as any white water rafting trip might promise to be
The story is the first person narrative of river guide Aljaz Cosini who is drowning , held underwater by the rocks along the Franklin River As Aljaz ' s brain is deprived of oxygen , he has visions which he is compelled to share He observes the events of his life and of this rafting trip as well as events in the lives of his ancestors and loved ones , and of the land itself. Alja z relates the experiences of convicts , Aborigines and immigrants and reveals the human truths apparent in those stories
Flanagan effortlessly draws the reader into this implausible scenario His descriptions are vivid, his dialog direct and simple He brings us into the lives of very diverse people , all of whom are marginalized in one way or another, and reveals a unique phy sical place on earth
This novel is so original and remarkable , so skillfull y written and full of truth , it is ea sy to recommend to everyone It will not appeal to all readers , however Point of view in the narrative varies considerably with each unique story told, making it difficult at times to see the novel in its entirety Likewise , there is no clear, methodical timeline. Still, fans of historical fiction will want to give this absorbing novel a try.
Jean Langlais
THESONGCATCHER
Sharyn McCrumb , Dutton, 2001 , $24 95 , 32lpp, hb , ISBN 0-525-94488-5 Accompanying one Appalachian famil y down through the years is a ballad first learned by Scotsman Malcolm McCourry aboard ship in 1751. Another inheritance brought with him to America is a family curse, which states that the eldest child of each successive generation will never be loved best by his parents . The song and the curse follow Malcolm and his descendants from Morristown, New Jersey to their later home in the western North Carolina mountains Each generation forward participates in the folk process, but for present-day descendant, renowned folksinger Lark McCourry, the song is only a vague memory Her quest to regain her family's lost
heritage becomes one of the novel ' s focal points
From her own family history , McCrumb has crafted a graceful tale redolent with the history and lore of the Carolina mountains
The author ' s respect and admiration for the land, legends , and the people of the Appalachians are present in every word. Based on this story, it's easy to understand why families long resident in this part of the South don ' t seem to want to leave.
Sarah L. Nesb e itt
LOSING NELSON
Barry Unsworth, Norton, 2000, $14/C$20 (£5 59*) , tpb , 338pp , ISBN 0-393-32117-7
Reviewed in Issue IO (December l 999)
US/CANADA: TIMESLIP
IN THE COUNTRY OF THE YOUNG
Lisa Carey, William Morrow, 2000 , $24/C$36 50 (£15 26), 286pp , hb , ISBN 0-380-97675-7
In 1848 , the Irish emigrant ship Tir na n6g broke up against the rocky Maine coast, drowning many , including a seven-year-old girl. Today, a brooding, fortyish artist lives alone on Tiranogue Island, named after the ship that sank so long ago on its shores Both the young girl , Aisling, and the artist , Oisin, have had difficult lives which included the loss of a well-loved sibling. So when Oisin spies young footprints in his house , he assumes , and greatly hopes , that his beloved sister ' s ghost has finall y found him Instead he finds Aisling, no longer a ghost but real , returned to reclaim her lost childhood But young girls soon become young women, and for Aisling , time is of the essence
What could easily have been a rather trite story of wounds healed and faith regained becomes magical in Carey ' s hands, for here the impossible becomes easily accepted. How the artist's and the girl ' s situations are both resolved is perhaps surprising, but somehow entirely appropriate. An uplifting, charming book.
Sarah L. Nesbeitt
HANG MY HEAD AND CRY
Elena Santangelo, St. Martin ' s Minotaur , 2001, $24 .95/$38.99 (£15 87), 322 pp , hb , ISBN 0-312-26930-0
Pat Montella, a refugee from Philadelphia blessed with Sight, now lives in rural Virginia with Miss Maggie Shelby. In Miss Maggie ' s back yard, skeletal remains are discovered Who do the bones belong to? Enter a cast of
TI-IE HISTORICAL NOVELS
unforgettable, complex characters The mystery is deepened by Pat's startling visions of Reconstruction-era Virginia and by the story of a young boy, Emancipation ' Mance ' Jackson, whose tale is interspersed, chapter by chapter, with what is happening at the 'dig.' Santangelo has a way of recalling 1871 rural Virginia with an immediacy that makes the reader feel very much as if the Civil War never ended . You can almost feel the heat and humidity of both Virginias , past and present, seep off the pages. The ugliness of racial hatred , presented from Mance ' s perspective, makes us feel part of that time , whether we like it or not. Pat is an unusual mystery heroine - part detective, part homemaker (the pages are literally peppered with low-fat alternatives to fattening Italian dishes) and part mystic I never quite knew what was going to happen , and these are the most fun mysteries , after all I enjoyed this one and intend to read the first Montella book, By Blood Possessed.
Ily sa Magnu s
US/CANADA: FANTASY
EXILED FROM CAMELOT
Cherith Baldry, Green Knight , 2001 , $14 95 (£9 51 ), 320pp, tpb , ISBN 1-928999- I 6-6
In Arthurian England , the mysterious young Prince Loholt comes to court, claiming to be the son of King Arthur and the lady Lisanor, whom Arthur once bedded Onl y the seneschal Kay realizes that Loholt is not what he seems , and on campaign against Briant des Isles, the Breton warlord, Loholt's treachery, caused in part by the dark sorcery of Brisane, Briant's leman, forces Kay to slay the boy. Disgraced, exiled, and outlawed, Kay fights to warn Arthur of the truth , though he has been cast out into the lowest levels of medieval society
Not a retelling of an old legend, but a new story set in the Arthurian world, with wonderfully realized familiar characters and a strong courtly sensibility As in the older medieval romances , the strongest bonds are between lord and liegeman, and the women of the Arthurian saga play a comparatively small role
Rosemary Edghill
INTO THE PATH OF GODS
Kathleen Cunningham Guler, Bardsong Press , 1998, $22 95 (£14 60), 413pp , hb , ISBN 0-9660371-0-3
The first of the Macsen's Treasure Series begins in the year 459 AD. , following the exit of the Roman legions from Britain, and during
a period of political upheaval as factions contend for the High Kingship Guler ' s hero is Marcus ap Iorwerth, a minor Welsh prince and a consummate Dark Ages James Bond During Marcus' crusade for Britain's freedom from not only imported Saxon and Irish mercenaries , but also from Britain's own, he meets Claerwen , a woman touched by the Gods , and his match in courage, love and dedication.
Into the Path of Gods has intrigue, treachery, and love combined with almost superhuman actions and the mystical presence which makes for a good Celtic historical fantasy Marcus and Claerwen race to keep the pieces ofMacsen's Treasure, symbolic of High Kingship, from the hands of enemies so that the one foretold in prophecy to be Britain's hope and savior the one to be called Arthur will prevail.
Suzanne Crane
IN THE SHADOW OF DRAGONS
Kathleen Cunningham Guler, Bardsong Press, 2001 , $25 (£15 .90) , 384pp , hb , ISBN :0-9660371-2-X Book 2 of Guler's Macsen 's Treasure series , this novel brings the reader to 470 AD Having successfully helped strengthen Ambrosius ' High Kingship against unlawful contenders , Marcus ap Iorwerth, Britain's erstwhile masterspy, and his wife Claerwen have settled in Marcus' minor princedom in Wales . Needless to say, in these unstable times their domestic bliss is not to last. The request for aid by High King Ambrosius' son, Prince Myrddin Emrys , in proving and preventing treachery by Octa, a Saxon leader, uncovers multiple traitors to whom war and assassination are but means for usurping the throne.
Guler's characters have been further fleshed out, and the historical feel of the pre-Arthur era is more plausible than in the first novel of the series The sense of urgency to save Britain from usurpers , both external and internal , and the characters ' actions are less fantastical and more realistic The anguish felt by Marcus and Claerwen is all too human as they continue in their unswerving dedication to bring a future King called Arthur to the throne
Suzanne Crane
THE SERPENT'S SHADOW
Mercedes Lackey, DAW , $24 .95/C$34 99 (£15.87) , 343
ISBN-0-88677-915-4 2001 , pp , hb ,
This first fantasy novel of a Victorian trilogy features 25-year-old Maya Witherspoon , qualified doctor in her mother's native India, but regarded with suspicion in her father's England.
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
Her parents' suspicious deaths send Maya into exile in a shabby section of London where she qualifies to practice medicine in a clinic for the poor. She also opens an office in her home to treat ' female complaints ' while exploring the magical gifts she inherited from her mother. Maya must balance her two medical practices with her search for unseen enemies, while avoiding the dreaded ' serpent's shadow' her mother warned of in her delirious dying moments
Being new to the fantasy novel , this reader was startled to find herself willingly immersed from page one in this tale of magical intrigue Readers will feel that they are ' there ' and must follow the tale to its conclusion .
Tess Allegra
SON OF THE SWORD
J. Ardian Lee, Ace , 2001 , $14 (£8.90), 323pp, tpb , ISBN 0441008380
Dylan Mattheson is a modem-day American martial arts and sword instructor who is transported to 18th century Scotland when he is caught up in a faerie spell laid upon an ancient broadsword . This is Scotland in the era just before the Jacobite uprising, and try as he may to avoid it , he is soon caught up in local intrigues and politics . Dylan's sword-fighting skills and knowledge of Scots history come in handy , but he is completely disconcerted by the primitive living conditions and the way the Scots are treated by the British He is also at times self-centered and inclined to be petulant in response to his plight... in short , a real person His growth of character as the story unfolds is as interesting to read as the gritty , realistic historical setting. 1n the end, the author stays true to the story she has crafted instead of opting for easy heroics , and this makes her novel stand out.
Tracey A Callison
SON OF THE SHADOWS
Juliet Marillier, Forge , 2001 , $25 95/C$36 95 , 448pp , hb, ISBN 0-312-84880-3
Reviewed in Issue 16, UK section
THE PAGAN KING
Edison Marshall , Green Knight , 2001 (cl959) , $14 95 (£9 51), 336pp, tpb , ISBN 1-928999-17-4
This well-designed paperback reprints a 1959 novel based on Welsh versions of the Arthurian legends Arthur struggles against his wicked but sportsmanlike half-brother Modred for the throne of their father Vortigem. Guided by the prophecies of the wizard Merdrin, young Arthur can marry neither his true love Elain nor the mischievous
spirit Vivain because his destiny is with Wander, a descendant of King Lear.
Although more fantasy than history , the novel realistically portrays a material culture impoverished by the relatively recent departure of Roman rule Roads and ruins evince a bygone culture, and a secret cache of rusted Roman weapons provides the power for Arthur's ragtag troop to overcome the incumbent dynasty The dwarf Pillicock, at first taken for a treasure-guarding gnome , gradually takes on a fuller and more rounded human character. The story itself follows somewhat the same course , progressing from myth and legend to fully realized characters.
James Hawking
LEOPARD IN EXILE
Andre Norton and Rosemary Edghill , Tor, 2001 , $24 95 (£15 87) , 347pp, hb , ISBN: 0-312-86428-0
The divergence in time creating this alternate-history fantasy (second in a series) occurs when the English king, Charles II dies. To prevent our world's James II from taking the throne , Charles reveals a legitimate heir, James , Dulce of Monmouth , who becomes Charles III. Other changes follow The American Revolution has never happened, and Napoleon has become an even more ruthless military dictator When the rightful French king , now exiled in the Americas , disappears , then later his wife, it falls upon the Duchess of Wessex to find them, with the Dulce following behind
Thus four different trails are followed , in grand pulp fashion Overriding everything is a search for the Holy Grail the Church has become weaker, and magic now exists. The Governor of Louisianne , the Marquis de Sade, has lofty goals of his own
It's quite a story It's also very bloody, with an unexpected, unpleasant edge. The prologue is especially nasty, with a detailed description of de Sade removing the living heart from a young sacrificial nun. The excruciatingly repulsive finale is equally offensive. Scenes like these are not for the squeamish They're also beneath the authors' talents
Steve Lewis
HISTORICAL HAUNTINGS
Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, eds. , DAW , 2001, $6.99 (£4 45) , 320pp, pb, ISBN 0886779928
Eighteen science fiction and fantasy writers herein turn their pens to the creation of tales containing haunts drawn from the pages of history. The result is a collection that has something for just about everyone. The settings range in time from 17th century Japan to the present, and the ghosts are for the most
part well-known figures. The usual themes of helpfulness or vengeance are present, but there are several tales with a sharp twist at the end
The moods also run the gamut , from Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's light and humorous The Mummies of the Motorway to Brian M Thomsen's In the Charnel House , a profoundly moving tale whose origins lie in the Holocaust. There are Revolutionary ghosts , Arthurian ghosts , and angry and bewildered ghosts , in settings as diverse as the streets of Victorian Alexandria and the mind of Helen Keller. The overall quality is reasonably high, and every story contains some morsel for thought and reflection upon the ties between the past and the present.
Tracey A Callison
US/CANADA: NON FICTION
THE DETECTIVE AS HISTORIAN: History and Art in Historical Crime Fiction Ray B Browne and Lawrence A. Kreiser, eds ., Bowling Green State University Popular Press , 2000 , $29 95 (£21.17) , tpb, ISBN 0-87972-816- 7
This volume on historical crime fiction , containing twenty-five studies , follows up on the phenomenal growth of this subgenre . On Rita Rippetoe s overview of Lynda Robinson ' s view of ancient Egypt as compared to Lauren Haney ' s, I personally find Robinson more psychologically convincing. On ancient Rome, I can ' t get interested in Steven Saylor, which may be my fault , while Lindsey Davis's Falco , once a favorite , is running out of steam and credibility ; Terence Lewis (on Saylor) and Peter Hunt (on Davis) are, in the main , fair. My opinion of Ellis Peters as a dangerous perverter of historical accuracy , and a first-rate writer, is firmly set; Edward Reilly is, at least , not adulatory towards her. The three analysts of PC Doherty are justifiably if carefully critical. Scott Christianson gives us a sharp study of Keith Heller, and we even have a valuable reconsideration of Tey's Daughter of Time Some critiques are not up to the general standard: Donna Smith on Bruce Alexander's Fielding books is journalistic and banal, and Margaret Foxwell gives Peter Lovesey the credit he deserves for the excellent Sergeant Cribb novels, but too much credit for the essentially silly Bertie series.
1n sum , this is a serious book of opinion and reference , with a good if naturally variable level of scholarship and critical acuity It is probably skewed more toward ' history ' than ' art,' but more complex and deeper analyses will undoubtedly appear in time
Dean Miller
TI-IE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 17 AUG 2001
GEORGETTE HEYER: A Critical Retrospective
Mary Fahnestock-Thomas, PrinnyWorld Press, 2001, $29 95 (£19.22), tpb, 544 pp, ISBN 0-9668005-3-2 (More details from www.prinnyworld.com)
This reference book, obviously an incredible labor of love, is a treasure trove for the Heyer fan. The author has collected a wide range of Heyer resources including six short published pieces , the full text of reviews of her books from 1921 to 1997, obituaries, articles and excerpts from books relating to Heyer (ranging from a section of Germain Greer·s The Female Eunuch to a scholarly essay entitled Gendering Places: George/le Heyer ·s Cultural Topography), and information on dramatizations of her works , with reviews Also included are lists of her books chronologically and alphabetically, and an index The scope of the materials includes both Heyer' s regencies and her mysteries , as well as the unexpected: one of the pieces included is Heyer ' s short 1929 essay, The Horned Beast ofAfrica. about a rhinoceros!
While this isn ' t the type of book that one (except perhaps the most avid Heyer fan) would read straight through, it is the perfect companion when reading her novels. The author and the publisher are to be commended for this publication
Trndi E. Jacobson
A TREASURY OF ROYAL SCANDALS
Michael Farquhar, Penguin, 2001 , $l3/C$19 (£8.27), 324 pp , tpb , ISBN 0-14-028024-3 Writing in a vividly ironic style, Farquhar exposes the excruciating, ridiculous, poignant, stupid, and incredibly weird activities of the ruling classes royal, imperial, and papal. His compendium, drawn from the darker , stranger depths of European history , is both entertaining and informative, as clever as it is creative Illustrating six of the seven deadly sins, the author identifies each with a royal personage : Elizabeth I (envy) , Louis IV (pride) , Empress Anna of Russia (wrath), George IV of England (gluttony), Queen Mary of England, consort of George V (covetousness), and Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor (sloth).
Peter the Great could easily have been called Peter the Creepy: his cabinet of curiosities contained teeth he pulled from his subjects' mouths himself In the section on Royal Family Feuds, Farquhar explains complicated dynastic conflicts (Wars of the Roses) and simple ones (the Ballling Bonapartes) Chapter titles are as sharp as the text can be: Swimming in a Shallow Gene Pool, and Drool Britannia are but two examples.
Humorous but never frivolous, always illuminating, Royal Scandals contains many useful family trees , detailed timelines for every monarch noting famous events during his/her infamous reign , and a select bibliography A must for the history lover
Margaret Barr
THE MUMMY CONGRESS: Science, Obsession, And The Everlasting Dead
Heather Pringle, Hyperion , 2001, $23 .9 5 (£12. 79*), hb, 384pp, ISBN 0-7868-6551-2 Pringle is a frequent contributor to Discover magazine , and if you like easy-to-read articles of that publication ' s type, you will definitely enjoy this book. The Mummy Congress is a small gathering of fewer than 200 devotees held every three years in an out-of-the-way locale-northern Chile was last; Nuuk, Greenland is next-where mummies have been found. The mummies might be like those of the ancient Egyptians , where elaborate and lengthy procedures have been undertaken to preserve a body after death, or those whose preservation is solely because of an extremely arid climate and a desiccating substance.
Each chapter describes a different set of mummies and seeks to pinpoint what in their culture might have led to the efforts to preserve these bodies after death For instance, the oldest mummies known, 2500 years older than any from Egypt, are from Chile, and all are children and infants , even including a few premature stillbirths . The author theorizes that mummification among the Chinchorro started as a way to lessen the grief of parents, who would be able to keep the mummified body of their child, rather than see it disappear into the ground A fascinating , well-written book on a fascinating subject.
Elizabeth Garner
lHE HISTORICAL NOVELS
