Founder/Publisher: Richard Lee, Marine Collage, The Strand, Starcross, Devon, EX6 8NY, UK (his t novel@ao l. co m )
SOLANDER
LDITOR: Sarah Cuthbertson, 7 Ticehurst Close, Worth, Craw l ey, W Sussex, RH IO 7GN, UK (sarah76cu1hbcrt(ZL,aol.com)
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FICTION EDITOR: Richard Lee, Marine Collage, T he Strand, Stareross, Devo n, EX6 8NY, UK. (histnovel (cl'aol.co m)
T II E I-II STO RI CAL NOVELS R EV I E W
CO-ORDINATI G EDITOR (UK)
Sarah Bower, Tangle\1ood, Old Forge Close, Long Green, Wortham, Diss, orfolk I P22 I PU (sarahbower@clara.co.uk) CO-ORD! /\TING EDITOR (USA)
Sarah Johnson, 6868 Knollcrest, Charleston, IL, 61920, USA. (cf.sln(,1 ,ciu.,--_g_~1 ) : Ra ndom H ouse, Pengui n, Fi ve Star , Cumbe rl and !l o u se, Ty nda l e, Bethany I louse
Re VIEWS EDITORS (UK)
Sarah Cuthbertson, 7 Ticehurst Close, Worth, Crawley, W Sussex, RH IO 7G (sarah76cu1hbcrt '£1 aol.com): Arcadia, Ca nonga t e, R ob ert H al e, I I odder I lead line (includes Hodder & Stoughton, Scep t re, NEL, Coro n et)
Val Whitmarsh, 27 Landcroft Road, East Dulwich, London SE22 9LG (v\\ hitma r sh@fsmai l. net)A lli so n &B u sby, Littl e, B row n & Co, ( in c lud es Abacus, Virago, Warner), Random I louse UK (includes Arrow, Cape, Cen tury, Cha ll o&Windus, H ar vi ll , I l ein ema nn , Hut c h i n so n, Piml ico, Secke r & Warburg, Vintage), Simon & Schuster (includes Scribner)
Ann Ought on, I I, Ramsay Garden, Edinburgh, E H I 2NA. (annoue:hton (a SL)i.CL).uk). Pengui n ( in c l ud es I l am i sh H amilt on, Vikin g, Mi c hae l Jose ph , Allen Lane), Bloomsbury, Faber & Faber, Constable & Robinson, Transwor l d (includes Bantam Press , B l ack Swa n, D o ubl ed ay, Co r g i ), Macmillan (includes Pan, Picador, Sidgwick & Jackson)
Sally Zigmond, 18 Warnick Crescent, Harrogate, orth Yorkshi r e, HG2 8JA. (.~;zigmond(a tsmail.nct): I l ar pc r Co lli ns U K ( i nc l ud es Fl am i n go, Voyager, Fourth Estate), Orion Group (includes Gollancz, Phoenix, Weidcnfe l d & N i co l son, Ca se ll ), Piatkus, Sc, crn !louse, Solidus, Summersdale, The Women ·s Press, House of Lochar Mary 1offat (Children's llistoricals - all UK publishers), Sherbrooke, 32, Moffa t Road, Dumfries. Sco tl and, DG I I NY (shcrbrookc,a marysmoffat.ndo.co.uk)
REVIEWS l·D ITORS (USA)
Lllcn Keith , 1\1 ilton S Eisenho\\ er Library, John Hopkins Uni,., 3400 Charles St, Baltimore, MD 2 12 18-2683 (eke i 1h@j h u.edu) I larperCollins (inc William Morro\\, A ,on, Regan, Ecco, Zanden an), 1loughton M ifnin (including Mar i ner), Fa r rar St rauss&Giro ux, kensi ng t on, Carroll&Graf, Algonquin Books of Chapel I !ill.
Trudi Jacobson, Uni\ crsity Libra1") , Uni, ersi1y at Albany, 1400 Washington Avenue, A l bany, Y, 12222, USA (tiac,1b,on (u uama1l.albanv.edu) Simon & Schuster, Warner, Little Bro\1 n, Arcade, WW Norton, I 1),perion, I larcourt, Toby, Akadine, 1ew Directio n s 1lysa Magnus , 5430 Netherland A 1e #C 4 I, Bronx, Y, I 0471, USA: (goodl:rn 2:,1 opt9nl_i_i_l~..,t.?.~_t) St Martin 's, Picador USA, Tor Forge, Gro, e. Atlantic
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THE IDST ORI CAL N O VELS
REVIEW
Issue 27 February 2004 TSSN 1471-7492
CONTENTS
Editorials Forum
Interview with Paullina Simon Deryn Lake's John Rawlings Mysteries
Regular readers will know that Sally Zigmond stepped down as UK Coordinating Editor of the Review at the end of 2003, although, happily, she is staying on as a reviews editor. So, a new year, a new editor, whose first task - even before begging your indulgence, dear reader, while I find my feet - must be to thank Sally for a wonderful job. When I joined the HNS just over a year ago, I immediately felt at home. I found the Review info1mative, entertaining, easy to read, but more than that , a gateway to a community with a shared passion for historical fiction. As a woman of a certain age who had recently emerged from a creative writing MA with a bevy of fiendishly clever twenty-something postmodern is ts, I can't tell you what a relief it was 1
Taking over from Sally, whose writing I have known and admired for many years, is a daunting prospect, but I must thank her personally for her support and encouragement, and also wish her the very best with her future plans, which r know include at least one novel. I am certain everyone at HNS will agree with me that she deserves great success, both for her talent and her dedication to her craft. Though modesty should forbid me to admit it, my credentials for this role are impeccable. I did all my 17 th centu1y European history A Level revision by reading Sergeanne Golan's Angelique series (in my opinion now well overdue a reprint) and only became a mediaevalist after falling madly in love with John Castle's portrayal of the wily Prince Geoffrey in the film of James Goldman's The Lion in Winter. Regardless of the great geo-political
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
determinants of history - climate, religion and the rest -I am convinced the way to bring it a live is to focus on the lives of individuals caught up in these movements. I have recently completed a novel about the making of the Bayeux Tapestry. My initial inspiration came, not from the representations of great men performing feats of cunning or bravery, but from the image of an ordinary woman and child fleeing a burning house. That is how the best historical fiction works, by showing us how daily life, the cycles of birth, death, work, love, faith, continue in spite of, and in some way transcend, the great events.
I often ask myself why I write historical fiction. What can it do, if anything, better than contemporary fiction? In The Lady and the Unicorn (reviewed in issue 26) Tracy Chevalier conjures the image of fourteen year old Claude resorting to self harm when denied the company of the man she is in love with. Its effectiveness lies in translating a condition we associate with modem challenges to girls' self respect to a scene in a fifteenth century c;onvent. Taking something out of the setting with which we normally associate it can give it greater power. _
But hey, it's not all senous. What about shameless fantasizing? Just how would it feel to go for a pint with Shakespeare or star gazing with Galileo, dance the first waltz, hear Robert Walpole crunching his little Norfolk apples during Commons debates? Four poster beds, roast swan, Hornblower, the Scarlet Pimpernel and Milady de Winter? The smug, voyeuristic pleasure of reading about childbirth and amputations from the vantage point of a society that enjoys the benefits of anaesthesia? Or the relief of escaping from newspapers full of WMD to read about an age when gentlemen settled their differences in the lists? Let me know what it is you love about historical fiction, what makes it special for you? Take up space, or you might be in danger of further very long editorials!
NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE and Other Happenings
In last November's issue, mentioned we were tentatively planning a North American conference for the near future. Plans have now been finalized. We'll be holding the first HNS North American conference on April 15-16, 2005, at the University Park Marriott in historic Salt Lake City, Utah . Conference co-ordinator, Ann Chamberlin, and I have been working on preparing a great program of events, which will include single speakers and panels, plus several networking opportunities for everyone - a Friday night banquet, and dinner the next night at a pioneer Mormon village. It will be the first major North American conference dedicated to historical fiction, and I'm excited that it's finally happening.
We'll need your help to make the conference a success. Interested in participating as a speaker, attendee, or volunteer? Can you supply books for the conference bookstore , or other publicity materials for attendees? If so, visit the HNS website ('www. historicalnovelsociety.or g) and click on Annual Conference. Linked from that page, you'll find an online Call for Participants where you can indicate your interest. Alternatively, just drop me or Ann (setzers@msn.com) an email note , and we'll be sure to get back to you. Registration will be open later this summer, and we'll be keepmg prices as low as possible to encourage attendance.
Last but certainly not least, l 'd like to thank Sally Zigmond for all the energy and dedication she's given to the Review over the past five years. She has been a pleasure to work with throughout. Her professional manner kept all of us on track, and she's been a great help to me personally when l had question s. Best of luck with your novel, Sally, which I know we'll be seeing in print someday! And don't forget that an invitation to visit us here in Illinois is always open.
With that , I'd like to welcome Sarah Bower to the editorial chair. I've heard great things about her
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
work and, speaking for all of the US editors, I'm sure she'll do a fantastic job.
THE FORUM
From Mrs. S. A. Revill Wottonunder-Edge, Gloucestershire
In the interview with Philippa Gregory in Issue 26, I thoroughly agree that she writes 'a cracking good story', holding the reader's interest throughout. However, I feel I must dispute her claim that her fiction is accurate in every detail. Perhaps every historical novelist should be wary of such a claim, as errors creep in and one cannot be mistress of every 'fact'.
It is probably nit-picking to complain that in 'Virgin Earth' John gives Hester a present of 'a couple of yards of grey silk for a gown.' Dr Gregory is presumably not a dressmaker, but gowns in 1639 as pictured perhaps by Hollar , could never be fashioned with so little.
l am more concerned with the herald in 'E arthly Joys' arriving at the Ark in 'full livery and with a powdered wig' a century before this was fashionable. There were also very few dukes in the 16 th and 17 th century and to elevate Robert Carr from an earl ( created from a viscount in 1613) to the highest rank of the peerage , as the Duke of Rochester, is not only a basic error, but lessens the effect of the 'sca ndal ' of Buckingham being made a duke.
Perhaps the most worrying statement for an ex-teacher comes in ' Virgin Earth'. I spent many a lesson pointing out that although Elizabeth J had a sister, Mary , this was not Mary Stuart, the mother of James I, but Mary Tudor. Dr Gregory has John Tradescant the Younger hope, in I 641, that the queen will remind Charles J ' that the king and queen he most admiredhis father James and his great-aunt Elizabeth, had spent all their lives weaving compromises.'
llistorical accuracy is vitally important in a novel. Obvious errors bring the readers to a full-stop and
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
make them doubt the accuracy of what might otherwi se be a very well-researched story.
From Michael J Hunt, Wigan Sally's comments in Issue 26 about reviewing print on demand and selfpublished books deserve careful consideration. l would like to think that l contributed, to a small degree, to the broadening of the categories, and l thank Sally for the part she played in this. However, it's regrettable that this 1s causing difficulties to HNS because of the poor standard of books submitted. l agree that reviewers ought to be as critical of members' work as the y are with professional authors .
I wholeheartedly agree with Teresa Funke regarding the manipulation of historical fact to suit author's needs. I would go a little further than Teresa does, however, and suggest that it should be the author's duty to abide by undisputed facts. Only where facts are disputed, or unobtainable , might writers introduce imaginary happeningsproviding they stay within reasonable bounds of credibility To do otherwise, I believe, is to treat the reader with contempt.
The third subject I'd like to contribute to is 'dialogue'. In my book, Matabele Gold (reviewed in issue 26), I had to convey something of the way African and Afrikaner people speak in order for them to be sufficiently distinctive from English speakers. But how could I achieve realism when they were speaking among each other in their own lan guage, and when they were speaking to the English characters in English , without making it sound as if they were different people? So far, my book has withstood the test , but the real ' proof of the pudding' will be how well it's received by African and Afrikaans readers.
We probably experiment with 'vo ice' more than any other element in our stories. If we get it wrong, readers no doubt will tell us; but, if we get it right, lik e the seams in well-tailored clothes, our carefully devised voices will barely be noticed - and that's as it should be.
From Ann Oughton
In response to Muriel Smith's letter. Issue 26
No one would suggest that Dickens was a historical novelist but A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel.
As for Guy Mannering, Scott wrote this in 1815 , the events at the opening of the novel took place at some time in the 1750s before Scott was born After a lap se of seventeen years, the story continues.
There is continuing debate about what qualifies a novel as 'historical' but many (including the producers of this magazine) accept that fiction set as recently as WWII and later are in this category.
The events in Guy Mannering were, for many of his readers, recent history but history nonetheless.
From Debra Tash
I am writing in reference to Mr. Michael I. Shoop's critique of my novel , Challenge The Wind , in your November 2003 issue of The Historical Novels Review. Be assured that this not a "sour grapes" rebuttal to his brief, dismissive assessment of my work, nor that in a handful of sentences he trashed years of hard labor. That is his view, and he has the right to whatever opinion he may hold.
However, for my own enlightenment, I requested a more through explanation of his conclusions with Ms. Johnson acting as the facilitator. Mr. Shoop's reply was as brief and unenlightening as his re view. I understand hi s criticism was never meant to be malicious. His intent would have been to wound, and it was obviously nothing of the sort. Still , it does me little good as an artist, or to edify your readers for that matter, to have such a negative assessment of a work go into print without anyth in g more specific being brought to light other than "numerous typos." When someone has invested years of research and a great deal of effort - only to have everything about their creation dismissed so casually is, to say the least, more than a bit disheartening. The characters are wooden; are they flat, stock, what? The s ituations contrived; too convenient to be believed, not historically accurate, what? The dialogue is too modem , really? If he
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
could have been so gracious as to have given me some example, perhaps.
For Mr. Shoop's future consideration and those who take on the task of assessing another's endeavour, if one is going to so readily condemn somebody's wo rk let him or her give a more thoughtful, more informed and more rounded assessment. As it is , and I am loathe to write this , I found Mr. Shoop's effort altogether lacking.
In closing, I wish to thank The Historical Novel Society for its efforts to promote a genre that I love and respect.
This is a long le i/ er, but I have decided to include it in full as I believe it raises an important point about the relationship between writers and reviewers. Our reviewers have a difficult task, lo convey the "flavour" of a book and give an honest assessment of its strengths and shortcomings in a very few words. They do it extremely well. They also work for us on a voluntary basis, fitting in hours of carefu l reading around the need lo earn a living
Review ing is a subjective business - one man's meal is another man 's poison. A bad review is excniciating, but it is also far more use to a writer who wishes to improve her practice than a good one. SB.
Remember, a free book to each correspondent whose letter is printed!
From Russia With Love
Sally Zigmond interviews Paullina Simons about her World War II epics, The Bronze Horseman and Tatiana and Alexander
don't know what I'd been expecting; something deep and sonorously tragic perhaps, but the voice over the telephone was a
THE HJSTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
shock. The up-beat tones were those of an intelligent and lively New Yorker.
However, Paullina Simons was born in Leningrad (St Petersburg) in 1963 and her early life bore all the horrors associated with the Soviet era. Her c hildh ood was spent in a two-roomed apartment which had to house six people. The bathroom and kitchen were shared with nine other families. When , in 1973 , her father was granted permission to leave the country after two years in a labour camp, her family emigrated to the USA. She now lives in New York with her husband and four children.
Although Paullina Simons may bear no vocal trace of her past, her novels are Russian through and through. The Bronze Horseman, her first historical novel, is a passionate romantic epic which recounts the meeting of Tatiana and Alexander and their love that flourished during the siege of Leningrad. Its sequel, Tatiana and Alexander, now in paperback in the UK, is equally heart-rending. Tatiana escapes from Russia and ends up in New York, where, alone, pregnant and believing herself a widow, she keeps hearing her husband calling out to her. Meanwhile Alexander has been arrested by Stalin's secret police and is awaiting death as a traitor and a spy.
The tumultuous sweep of her books and their subject matter has created inevitable comparisons with Doctor Zhivago. Paullina is modest. I think they confuse the book and the film, she said. If people re-read the novel they wi II see that Pasternak was a poet and his book, especially in the original Russian, is far more than a romantic talc. She likes to think she writes more in the tradition of Tolstoy. She weaves the tale of two lovers onto a vast historical canvas. She is delighted when readers have confessed lo tears when reading her books. (Our reviewer called it a "three-hankie weepy.") But these novels are more than romance. I [istorieally accurate with an eye to detail, her books are long, range over continents, but are never repetitive. She ha s amassed a band of dedicated readers throughout the world and her wish is that one day her books will be read in Russia where she hopes her honest account of life under
Communism will be greeted with forgiveness.
This pull to her native land appeared again when I asked her whether she had read Helen Dunmore's The Siege, which, like The Bron ze Horseman, takes place in wartime Leningrad. She agreed that Dunmore's novel is powerful but she could tell it was written by an Englishwoman because of its quiet restraint. Simons writes fiction that is broader and more passionate; larger than life. Or to put it in one word - Russian.
During our conversation I soon realized that despite all appearances to the contrary, Paullina Simons is still haunted by her Russian past. You can take a woman out of Russia but you can't take Ru ssia out of the woman, to paraphrase the cliche. Her next novel, already written, is to be a 'prequel' to The Bronze Horseman. Get those hankies ready and prepare to be swept away.
The Bronze Horseman: £7.99, 0006513220, reviewed in issue 14 . Tatiana & Alexander: £6.99, 0007118899, reviewed in issue 24. Both Flamingo paperbacks.
NewBOOKSmag
If you are already a subscriber to this magazine, you will already have seen Sally Zigmond's feature on the HNS in the January/ February issue. Sally says, "They did us proud! If you haven't heard of it, I thoroughly recommend it. Aimed at readers and reading groups who like to hear about the latest fiction of all kinds, this magazine combines extracts, inter-views with authors and reviews. You can also get cheap - and even free - copies of some new books."
Annual subscription £11.50 for 5 issues
NewBOOKSmag, 15 Scots Drive, Wokingham, RG41 3XF
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
Case Notes
Val Whitmarsh talks to Deryn Lake about the latest case for her apothecary sleuth, John Rawlings . Deryn Lake's tenth John Rawlings' Mystery is due to be published next summer. For those of you who have never met him , John Rawlings is (and in real life really was) an apothecary living in Georgian London. Deryn came across him when she was asked by the drinks company Canada Dry to research the background of the H.D Rawlings Company, which invented soda water. There among the Victorian documents Deryn was looking at were records on John Rawlings, a member of the Worshipful Company of Apothecaries, who had lived at 2, Nassau Street, Soho back in the 1750s, and some time later, she adopted him as a character for this series.
1 like crime stories and I like historical novels, so these are just to my taste. l was very pleased when Deryn agreed to answer questions for the Review. I was less pleased when the completed article, plus all my notes and Deryn's quotes, disappeared during the chaos caused by the rebuilding of our kitchen, and I had to re -w rite the whole thing from memory!
Deryn Lake has, like her creation, had a former existence. As Dinah Lampitt, she began her writing career as a women's magazine serial writer, and produced her first fulllen gth novel, Sutton Place, in 1983. Since then she has written one book a year. Those early books were gothic, supernatural and romantic, often dealing with hypnotic regression. Her mother was Welsh, and a clairvoyant, and her father, whose family originated in Somerset, claimed a distant relationship to Thomas Hardy, but she doesn't think that this intriguin g background influenced her writing. What she enjoys is history, and all the little details which make finding out about our forebears and how they lived , so interesting. She has a pas sio n, she says, for everything from 'galliards to grottos'.
Georgian London was a place of change; there was war looming with
France and spies were everywhere, Horace Wa lpole was des igning his Gothic monstrosity at Strawbeny Hill, Hogarth, ever observant, was drawing Gin Lane, dresses could still be up to fifteen feet wide, draped on osier hoops, although the new absurdly high and ornamented wigs were coming into fashion; and John Rawlings likes lots of embroidery on his satin coats, but wears plain dark suits when he is at work. Many of the wealthy and aristocratic lived flamboyant, dissipated lives and were fervid gamblers; the rising middle classes hung onto their work ethic and respectability, the poor were miserably poor. While many people still lived in one place for the whole of their lives, others were on the move to the towns and what would become the British Empire. Justice in London was in the hands of Sir John Fielding, the remarkable magistrate, who, blinded at the age of 19, founded the Bow Street Runners. London was still a series of small villages divided by open land rife with highwaymen. Travel was by foot , sedan chair, horse, carriage or cart, or in the expert hands of the foul-mouthed fenymen who steered their boats across the Thames - a much wider, wilder and more dangerous river than it is now. It is a superb period for a historical writer.
John Rawlings begins his fictional life as a cheeky, cheerful, good looking young man who as a poor boy was taken, together with his mother, into the household of Sir Gabriel Kent , an idiosyncratic, rather eccentric gentleman. John trains as an apothecary, healing with the use of herbs. One evening, at the Vaux Hall pleasure gardens, he stumbles across a murder and is dragged, as a suspect, before the Blind Beak. The help he gives Sir John in solving the mystery is in part to save himself, but by the end of the story, the scene is set: John Rawlings, over the next few books , opens a sma ll shop, finds an assistant, meets and marries, becomes a father, helps his own father find a country cottage in Kensington , and , of course, helps Sir John Fielding as and when required.
I like the way the detail is never dumped on you in indigestible lumps, but the whole flows seamlessly; this is what John wears, eats, and knows.
He is street-wise and wary of dangers, but easi ly distracted by the ladies He gathers and dries his herbs and treats his patients, (in one story staying in the hotel where both my mother and I many years later held our wedding receptions) and it isn ' t at all easy to work out whodunit before the villain is unmasked.
Deryn doesn't use an index to keep track of what happened whenshe claims she is too 'shambolic' for that - but keeps her stories in her head. Although she has old maps, which she uses to track John across London, she doesn't visit places that no longer exist, in case their present buildings and busy streets wipe out the picture she has in her imagination She researches each book beforehand, and has recently been to Gunnersbury Park - now a museum in West London - as it is where her next book will be set. She feels strongly about the use of real people in her books. The original John Rawlings is lost in history - it is very unlikely that anymore details about him will come to light nowso she feels it is fair to create a persona for hLm, but she would never, for example, change the 'real' details o[ Sir John FieldLng's li[e to suit her own timetable; she feels this would be insulting to a well-known and remarkable man. There are a lot of books on the market at present that do use real people and turn them into detectives , and she feels that some have gone too far. It would not surprise her, she says, if Diana and Dodi turned up as a ' Tommy and Tuppence' duo (Agatha Christie's amateur detectives) in ten years time'
If you have never read the John Rawlings Myst eries, and enjoy a bit of teckery with your history , give these go:
D eath in th e Dark Walk (1994), Death al th e Beggar's Opera (I 995), Death at th e Devi l 's Tavern (I 996), Death on Romn ey Marsh (1998), Death in the Peerless Place (/999), Deat h at Apothecaries' Hall (2000), Death in the West Wind (200 1), Death at St James' Palace (2002) and Death in the Valley of Shadows (2003).
THE HfSTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
General fiction is classified by period. Within each section, the books are listed in alphabetical order of author.
Any books can be purchased in any country irrespective of where they are published. Unless a book is published in a different edition in the UK and the USA, no equivalent prices will be given, due to currency fluctuations. In case of difficulty in obtaining any book through bookshops or the internet, please use the HNS book ordering service. Details on page 46.
While the HNS takes every care to provide accurate and up-to-date information about the books under review, sometimes errors creep in. We apologise for these, and advise all our readers to cross-check our information with booksellers before attempting any purchase.
BIBLICAL
THE Kl GDOM OF THE WlCKED Anthony Burgess, Allison & Busby 2003 (first published 1985), £9.99, pb, 391 pp, 0749006722
This is an extraordinary book. It is a worthy successor to Robert Graves' Claudius novels.
In es~encc it is a re-telling of the Acts of the Apostles after Christ's crucifixion. Along ide, borrowing heavily and with glee from the racier aspects of Suetonius and Tacitus, is the history of the reigns of Caligula, Claudius and Nero. It is , however, not just another novel set in ancient Rome. The author tells us of the miracles performed by the Apostles in a dry, matter-of-fact style (sometimes with hilaiious results!) which in no way detracts from the sense of mystery and spirituality surrounding them. It is an amazing accomplishment.
The city of Rome is so vividly depicted that the reader could be an eyewitness to the gladiatorial games, the martyrs in the arena and the great fire. for which the Christians were held responsible. The survivors from the purges flee to Pompeii, convinced that their religion may not survive and that Vesuvius is safe for at least another hundred years.
My criticism is reserved for the current publishers who have produced a straight reprint of the 1985 paperback, with a classy front cover but with much smaller print. For a fine, literary book, requiring care and concentration, this is unacceptable, and the word 'God' on the back cover is in lower case, which readers of faith may find offensive. Mr Burgess deserves better.
Ruth Ginarlis
THE HISTORlCAL NOVELS REVIEW
HONORED
Roberta Kells Dorr, Fleming H.Revell, 2003,$10.99,hb,96pp,0800718178
How would Mary, mother of Jesus, remember the events surrounding his birth? In this understated novella, Mary shares her reminiscences with Luke, the Greek physician who wrote the third Gospel. This is not meant to be her biography, but simply the nativity told from her point of view. No controversial insights into Mary's character or Luke's distract from the story at hand. The conflicts are comfortably familiar without unsettling surprises. Although there is little ongoing plot to propel the book forward, the gentle retelling of the Christmas story is enjoyable to read.
Sue Asher
CLASSICAL
THE MASK OF THE BEGGAR
Wilson Harris, Faber & Faber 2003, £ 16.99, hb, 162pp,057l217745
Wilson Harris is a writer who is new to me but regarded as one of the giants of contemporary Caribbean literature. At the age of 82 he has a wealth of literary experience to bring to his novels
The Mask of the Beggar takes as its starting point the disguise that Odysseus adopts when he returns to his Kingdom in Ithaca as told in the climax to Homer's epic tale. This opening has great appeal for me as The Odyssey is one of my favourite books. The early chapters are very good and reminded me of the start of To the Lighthouse in the way they convey the relationship between parent and child. Harris does not sustain this and the initial premise is a springboard for his complex and bewildering imagination to run riot. This novel is a meditation on the timelessness of art and the creative impulse. I larris explores a range of ideas and cultures in an idiosyncratic way. Different mythologies and civilisations are conjured up from ancient Greece to South America to Mexico. The cast of characters i staggering. It includes Yan Gogh, Dorian Gray, Cortez, Goethe , Quetzalcoatl , Stalin, King Arthur and Sir Francis Drake to name a few.
This book has to be read closely because its ideas are densely packed and can be difficult to unravel as Harris philosophises on a variety of subjects. There are rewards for the reader who persists, some of the passages are very lyrical. Overall, the book was not to my taste.
Ray Taylor
EMPEROR: THE DEATH OF KfNGS Conn Jggulden, HarperCollins, 2004, $10.00,hb,551pp,0007136919
TI,is second instalment in Conn lggulden's fictional biography of Julius Caesar has
piracy, assassination, rebellion, politics, rape, gold, slavery, and two wars in it, and we're still barely started. In all, the series will probably be six or more books. Igguld en tells the story in muscular and sty li sed form. The kind of heroism that Caesar displays at this stage of his li fe is very much that of the modem sporting hero. He has athleticism, skill and charisma. Above all he has the will to win. He wins the fights, leads the troops, gets the girl, and those friends who inevitably die have the comfort of knowing that at least they died on the right side. I say modem, but it is also quite old-fashioned in that there is no suggestion that Caesar is at fault in any of his attitudes or deeds. Iggulden writes in the tradition of Rider Haggard via Wilbur Smith, and writes it well. One can only wonder how, in future books, he will deal with such issues as the genocide in Gaul! Reviewers of Iggulden's first novel were obsessed with its historical infelicities. I said at the time that this was not a worry for me. It's still not a worry. If you want a book that is accurate in every footnote, read elsewhere. If you want an excellent adventure story, read Iggulden.
Richard Lee
THE SACRED LAND
H N. Turteltaub, Forge, 2003, $25.95/C$35.95, hb, 379pp, 0765300370 Sostratos and Menedemos, the young Rhodian merchants and owners of the Aphrodite, arc not afraid to take their ship where no other trader will go. Menedemos is a great sailor with a weakness for married women. Sostratos, his cousin , aspires to become a historian and has an insatiable appetite for knowledge. In spite of the new war between Antigonos and Ptolemaios, marshab of the deceased Alexander, the two cousins decide to travel to Phoenicia. From there Sostratos intends to go inland to purchase the famed Engedi balm. But Menedemos doesn ' t want his cousin to travel alone, and so the two strike a bargain: Sostratos will take an escort if Menedemos promise not to commit adultery . Sostratos doe n't know how hard Menedemos, in love with his father's young wife, has been struggling with the issue. Neither can he suspect that he will be the one to face temptation when he meets the beautiful Zilpah in Jerusalem
In n,e Sa c red Land. H.N. Turteltaub contmues the adventures of Sostratos and Menedcmos that began with Over the WineDark Sea and The GY}phon 's Skull Mr Tu1ieltaub, the pseudonym of l larry Turtledove , a scholar and bestselling author (Justinian), is at his best when introducing the ancient world. At times in this novel, however , he seems unsure about his readers. He makes a pun with two Greek words, faros (gull) and lagos (hare) , without translating
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
them. Then, a little later , he sees the need to explain the shape of the Greek letter omega. Qualms aside, this is a good instalment. Plenty of excitement and growth in his characters make The Sacred Land the best novel in the series so far.
Adelaida Lower
THE
LABORS OF AENEAS (What a Pain It Was To Found the Roman Race) Rose Williams, Bolchazy-Carducci, 2003, $ I 2, pb, I 08pp, 0865 I 65564 This is Virgil's famous propaganda piece, the Aeneid, cheerfully made accessible to a modem reader who wouldn't glance at a fonnal translation. It is faithful to the story and might be used in conjunction with a high school Latin class. Beyond that, it was fun for this long-ago Latin student to peruse a cheeky retelling.
Juliet Waldron
1st CENTURY
FALCO ON THE LOOSE
Lindsey Davis, Arrow Books 2003, £12.99, pb, l 202pp, 0099451999
Lindsey Davis fans will find this omnibus edition of three of her Falco books delightful. The laid back , Marlowe style sleuth, Marcus Didius Falco, is once again up against the legendary corruption and black marketeering that was endemic in Imperial Rome and throughout the vast Roman Empire. Falco use s his usual wit and knowledge to solve the crimes that have been committed.
The three stories included are Last Act in Palmyra, which involves a spying mission and is set in the East; Time to Depart, which involves the investigation of a criminal ring in Rome with his oldest friend Petronius Longus, and A Dying Light in Corduba concerning the fiercely competitive world of olive oil production and political intrigue.
The Falco stories are set in the first century AD in the reign of Emperor Vespasian. He has the Emperor's trust and support and throughout these stor ies the thread of romance between Falco and the senator's intelligent daughter, Helena, becomes ever more involved. The author's meticulous research shines through as we follow the streetwise Falco on his journeys. The books are atmospheric, providing an insi g ht into this troubled yet exiting time. They are told with an ironic , wise cracking style that does not focus on the brutality or sadism of the time , but has a universal appeal. This omnibus edition is also excellent value for the price.
Val Loh
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
GET OUT OR DIE
Jane Finnis, Poisoned Pen Press, 2003, $24.95,hb, 353pp, 1590580753
The narrator of this mystery, set in Brigantia in Northern England in 91 AD, pulled me into her story immediately with her lively and engaging voice. Aurelia Marcella is in charge of a mansio, a guest-house and posting station, about 15 miles from what is now York. Her father brought his family to this area a dozen years before , aft.er the eruption of Vesuvius destroyed their home in Pompeii. Normally the Oak Tree Mansio does a good business, but all of a sudden terror strikes the neighborhood with the discovery of a wounded man , left for dead, and a beheaded man. More headless corpses, all Romans, begin to appear, just as young Brigante warriors start to flex their muscles. The terror escalates as reports of a man in a skull mask begin to circulate, and warnings are left to Romans to "get out or die."
The author does a good job of portraying tensions between natives and Romans, while being careful to show that a range of emotions was held by members of each side The story encompasses spying and treachery, romance, heroism, and a vivid historical sense (the author includ es a section at the end of the book which exp lains what is known about the area during the time in which the story is set). What more could a reader ask for?
Trudi
E. Jacobson
HOUND
George Green , Bantam 2003, £10.99, pb, 41 lpp, 0593051971
Leary is a cynical Roman ex-slave shipwrecked on the shores of Ulster and taken in by the people of Ema in Macha, the palace of Conor, the Great King. He is befriended by Owen, an ambitious bard, and becomes charioteer to Cuc hullain , the Hound of Cullan.
Hound is the story of Cuchullain's birth , life and death and the great feats he performs under the guidance and protection of Leary and Owen. [f Owen embellishes the truth in his romantic portrayals of Cuchullain's deeds, Leary is always on hand to tell the prosaic facts.
Ba se d on the Iris epic , Tain Bo Cuailnge, this story remains faithfu l to the fabulous myths surrounding Cuchullain. How he got hi s name; how he won the love of Erner; how he grew up to become the greatest warrior in Jreland and culminating with his dramatic encounter with the vengeful Queen Maeve and her annies.
This is a thrilling tale of a golden age of heroes and champions when battles, feasting, drinking and storytelling were the chief pastimes. lt encompasses the bonds of friendship, love and honour. George Green skilfully retells the legends with affection
and wit. He uses Leary, the outsider, to explain how these legends might have grown. Great stuff.
Sara Wilson
CALIGULA
Allan Massie, Sceptre, 2003, £17.99, hb, 279pp,0340823135
I would not have liked to live in Allan Massie's Rome, populated as it 1s exclusively by unpleasant people. Or, more precisely, people who are part of a degenerate world and accepting of its mores. Caligula follows the Suetonius view of Imperial Rome, in which the li ves of the Julio-Claudian dynasty are a ceaseless round of debauchery, corruption, and murder of relations and anyone else who stands in the way of ambition.
Lucius, the narrator, is a rather shadowy figure who has the entree into the imperial circle, and is at various times the lover of Caligula 's brother and sister, and of one of his murderers. As a junior officer, he first meets Caligula when the future Emperor is a small boy petted and spoiled by the troops who serve under his father on the Gennan frontier, and gradually becomes his friend and confidant. Lucius's saving virtue is loyalty, but it is difficult not to think that his loyalty is misplaced, as he tries constantly to make allowances for Caligula's increasingly erratic behaviour and to find the odd redeeming feature in his personality. The nan-ative largely follows Suetonius's account of the reign in The Twelve Caesars, told with the slig htl y ironic detachment which characterises Massie's Roman novels. Massie wears his scholarship lightly , and the result is an enjoyab le introduction to the period.
Ann Lyon
5 th CENTURY
THESECUNDUSPAPYRUS
Alfred Noyer, Toby Press, 2003, $14.95 / C$19.95, pb , 337pp, 1592640346 Alfred Noyer's second historical mystery takes the reader to the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, where the physician Getorius and his wife Arcadia race to discover why all those connected with the discovery of potentially dangerous papyrus are being murdered. Present when the papyrus was found in the Gothic Queen and Empress Mother Galla Placidia 's mausoleum , Getorius and his wife know they are slated for death also. Not knowing if they are to be victims of political intrigue, the husband-and-wife-team use their knowledge of medicine and languages to glean clues from corpses and symbols found. Noyer 's characters are believable, and the interesting insights on the medical practices of the times are amusing as well as informative. Noyer's ability to portray the
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
religious strife between the numerous Christian cults and the impact on politics and ambition is also well done. The Secundus Papyrus is an enjoyable portal to Rome, her people, and problems in her penultimate stage of Empire.
Suzanne Crane
3RD TO 7TH CENTURY
THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF ROMAN WHODUNNITS
Mike Ashley (ed), Robinson 2003, £6.99, pb,526pp, 1841196851
The stories are arranged chronologically beginning with Tim Holt's vivid tale of Scipio and a wily Greek philosopher and ending with Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma yarn. Some of the stories are more successful than others and a couple possibly betray the author's lack of intimate familiarity with the Roman period. Most of the current big names in Roman fiction are here, including Gillian Bradshaw, Caroline Lawrence, Steven Saylor, and Simon Scarrow.
This collection provides an excellent opportunity to observe the contrasting styles of the authors as well as being entertained by ingenious cloak and dagger tales. S.Garside-Nevil le
Set during England's Dark Ages in the 9 th century, Danelaw is a fantasy romance combining elements of pagan powers and human passions. Pony (Epona), a worshipper of the Mother Goddess, is caught up in the wars between the Saxons and the invading Vikings. Pony is eventually tom between loyalty to her King, Alfred, and her love for Valgar , the Viking leader who has made her his prisoner. Pony uses her Goddess-born powers of communication with her own herd of horses and Nature to help end the bloodshed and violence so abhorrent to her. Not surprisingly, the love-hate relationship between heroine and captor resolves satisfactorily Even though Valgar is a little too altruistic for believability and King Alfred is somewhat buffoonish, the harshness of the times is well shown. Romance fans should enjoy Ms. Squires' novel.
Suzanne Crane THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
11 th CENTURY
FLAMBARD'S CONFESSION
Marilyn Durham, Phoenix Press , 2003, £14.99,pb, 789pp, 1842125184
I embarked on almost 800 pages about William Rufus' tax collector with a s inking heart , but was delightfully surprised by Flambard's Confession, which is a very good read. It was published in the United States in 1982, and I wonder why it has taken so lon g to find an English publisher.
Ranulph Flambard, who tells his own story in memoir form, is an irresistible rogue and a joyfully selective narrator not above giving himself the credit for many of the achievements of William the Conqueror and his sons, William Rufus and Henry I, including the idea of the Doomsday survey. Although Flambard is economical with the verite, the author's recreation of the late 11 th century is so meticulous and atmospheric, her book conveys a vigorous sense of authenticity.
This is a tale of low politics and fantastic brutality. Although she overwrites in places, Durham's account of the young William Rufus obliged to demonstrate his lo yalty to his father by castrating the corpse of a traitor is chilling, controlled and heartbreaking. l found some of the political exposition over lengthy, and Durham's elaboration of the known complications of William the Conqueror's family with a further layer of fictional plotting and scheming confusing at times. I would have liked to see more female characters, although Flambard's mistress, Giva, is memorable for her skill in extracting exactly what she wants from him while never shattering his illusion that he has the upper hand.
Finally, Flambard finds fulfilment, not in high office or the love of women, but, like modem mediaeval heroes from Golding's Dean Jocelin to Edith Pargeter's Harry Talvace, in building a church. It is his devotion, as Bishop of Durham, to the construction of the cathedral, which makes him a genuinely well-rounded protagonist, forging the link between this product of a remote and, in many ways, alien age and the modem reader.
Sarah Bower
THE MOSAIC OF SHADOWS
Tom Harper, Century 2004 , £12.99 , 288pp, 1844130274
Byzantium I096. When the Emperor Alexios is nearly assassinated by an unknown assailant using a fearsome new weapon whose bolt can pierce armour, Dernetrios Askiates, the revealer of mysteries , is summoned to the palace. lt can be no coincidence that the huge army of the First Crusade on its way to the Holy Land has just arrived outside the city gates
demanding safe passage. Demetrios's task is urgent. If the assassin succeeds in killing the Emperor, then the Holy Roman Empire will be tom apart.
The Byzantine world which, on the surface, appears sophisticated, cosmopolitan and wealthy, turns out to be full of corruption and intrigue - and Harper evokes it in all its splendour. He also illuminates brilliantly the culture clash between its ancient glories and the brash crusading army, led by the land-hungry dukes Godfrey and Baldwin. Demetrios slowly realises that a number of people would welcome the Emperor's removal and the more he uncovers, the murkier it gets. Soon it is not only the Emperor's life that is at stake. Can Demetrios unearth the plot before the Empire is plunged into chaos? I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping tale and look forward to Demetrios's further adventures. Recommended.
E li zabeth Hawksley
THE HELL SCREEN
I.J. Parker, St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 / C$34.95, hb, 338pp, 031228795X When you pick up this, the second case solved by nobleman Akitada Sugawara, be ready to be immersed in a world that's as strange and alien and fascinating as a trip equally far into the future might be: eleventh century Japan. While Akitada is staying overnight in a monastery on a return home, a young woman is murdered in a room nearby. And as fate would have it, the superintendent of the police who is in charge of the case is Kobe, with whom he helped solve a murder once before. Besides being involved with the murder, Akitada has a number of family problems to deal with as well, including the imminent death of his mother and his relationship with his two sisters. The myste1y itself gets a little melodramatic toward the end, but given the circumstances, it's easily forgiven Parker has a definite flair for describing both place and people, but to my ear, she doesn't have quite the same finesse in structuring the words spoken by her characters. The dialogue (in English) often feels too infonnal to be appropriate for the time and the level of society of the speakers. A minor complaint, perhaps, about a book which, based on two real-life cases , is otherwi s e solid and vividly done. And in the process , Akitada Sugawara learns a little more about life and - although he's very much happily ma1Tied - about women. Steve Lewis
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
12TH CENTURY
AN ANTIC DISPOSITION
Alan Gordon, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2004, $23.95/C$33.95, hb, 337pp, 0312300964
In the Black Forest in 1204, members of the Fool's Guild are in hiding from the Pope, who wants to stop their meddling in political affairs. Here Father Gerald, a Catholic priest and former fool himself, retells the story of how , in 1157 , a youthful Guild member named Terence of York played an integral role in a dispute over the Danish crown. Modem-day readers of Hamlet will recognize the major players , given name s from Shakespeare's original source, Saxo Grammaticus. These are 0rvendil, a claimant to Denmark's throne; hi s wife, the young and beautiful Gerutha; Gorm, their rather stuffy counselor; Fengi, 0rvendil's disloyal broth e r ; and of course Amleth 0rvendil and Gerutha's shy son, taken ~nder the wing of Terence of York (aka Yorick) and trained from early childhood to pla y the fool.
Retelling the background of Haml et from the fools' point of view is a stroke of geni us, but its tragic overtones can't help but carry over into thi s tongue-in-cheek version. This creates a somber mood that even the author's sarcastic, wisecracking humor doesn't relieve. For the most part, the mystery content is nonexistent, except for the suspicious drowning death of Gorm's lovel y daughter Alfhild towards th e end. But most readers will be too engrossed in the story to noti ce. As a historical novel , especially one that casts a new and unexpected light on Shakespeare's play, it's well worth reading.
Sarah Johnson
THE SNOW FOX
Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, Norton, 2003, $24.95/C$37.50, hb, 44 8 pp, 0393058 I 4X Schaeffer was inspired by the film " The Seven Samurai" to research medieval Japan, according to her web site. This book is one of the fruits of that research. Her main character, Lady Utsu, is based on a legendary woman poet, Ono No Komachi, who was a lso cruel to her lover s.
At the command of her protector, Lord Norimasa, Lady Utsu feeds one lover finely ground glass, hidden in a sumptuous feast. A second freezes to death while trying to complete a hundred-day test she demands of him. Yet despite her reputation, the samurai Matsuhito falls in love with her, and begets a d1ild. The lovers are separated as Matsuhito follows Lord Norimasa to war. Lady Uts u exi les herself from the court and disappears.
Years later, Matsuhito is a lordless samurai. During his wanderings, he adopts a young fox, which, when he becomes ill, helps him find s helter in the hut of a lady
hermit. Although she conceals her identity at first, it is Lady Utsu, who has also adopted a fox. But living among the glories of nature in the Japanese wilderness does not bring them peace.
Schaeffer makes liberal use of flashbacks and fantasy sequences, and there is a brief frame tale by the daughter Utsu gave up at birth. The book takes some concentration, but the persistent reader will be rewarded with a rich fabric of Japanese life. The author learned Japanese to aid in her research and to understand the Japanese mind-set. The result is a believable novel that will expose Western readers to the beauty and cruelty of medieval Japan.
In 1200 Ceridwen ap Morgan 's father arranges for her to wed her enemy, an English knight. She'd rather not , but there is no other way for the Welsh to survive. Sir Raymond de Beauchamp doesn ' t want to wed, either, but does want the land offered as her dowry Even for their marria ge in name only to work, Raymond and Ceridwen must first confront their different cultures and the pa st. Unless they learn to love each other and live in harmony , neith er will surv ive the onslaught of Ra ymo nd's evil brother and overlord.
The author quickly transports the reader back in time and weaves an intricate story of the conflict betw ee n the Wel sh and the English with a struggle that pits brother against brother. A satisfying tale of fullydeveloped characters that rem ai n true to their assigned roles in history.
Cindy Vallar
ARTHUR THE KlNG
Allan Massie, Weiden field & Nicolson, 2003,£14.99,hb, 292pp,02978l6780
A medieval scholar is telling this story of King Arthur to his pupil, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the 13 th century. It's a clever book, detailing a bygone era through medieval eyes. Hence Arthur's world is more 13 th century than 5th -6 th century in flavour, so fans of the latter may well be di sap pointed , but those enamoured of the former may well appreciate it greatly.
The narrative rambles somewhat, and characterisation is at a minimum . Many words are expended on the manly virtues, and women are defined by medieval male interests There is sca nt chance to get
immersed in another era. However, this may be a construct to mimic medieval texts of the time
At 20 years old , Eleanor of Wynethorpe is young to be appointed Prioress of Tyndal, Order of Fontevraud , leader of both the monastery's monks and nuns. Because of her age and noble background , Eleanor must gain her charges' trust before she can make inquiries into the priory's bleak financial situation.
Finances become less important , however , when Brother Rupert, the nun 's spiritual advisor, is discovered grotesquely murdered. Shortly after, Brother Thomas is sent to Tyndal and is selected to fill Brother Rupert 's position. As punishment for. his sexual orientation, he has been forced mto the monastery to investigate some vague charges against the priory's receiver. Neither Eleanor nor Thomas knows who to trust , but both soon realize that the murderer is someone within the priory.
Royal 's research is evident not only from her useful foreword, but by the terminology and historical bits thrown into the fast-paced mystery. Vocabulary thought to be of modem origin is used , supported by a hint of etymology. The plot moves quickly and the in s ights into the politics of life in a priory in 12 70 are intriguing However, more descrip tion of the priory surroundings would have been welcome.
Royal obviously did her home-work and will hopefully share more of it with us in later book s.
Suzanne J Sprague
14 th CENTURY
HERETIC
Bernard Cornwell, HarperCollins, 2003, $24.95/C$38.95, hb , 368pp, 0060530499 Pub. in the UK by HarperCollins, 2003, £17.99, hb , 336pp, 0007149883; also pb , £11.99,400pp,0007l72443
The no ve l opens in 1347 at the English siege of Calais. Thomas Hookton comes to join the fight. He is still recove rin g from wounds inflict ed during torture by th e Inquisition's Dominicans , but he ha s recov ere d enough to resume his pass ion as an English a rcher , one of the most feared warriors of the time. He is also on a mission - to recover the Holy Grail. After capturing the fortress Castillon d' Arbazon, Thomas discovers Genevieve, a young woman condemned to bum as a heretic. He falls in love with her, and defying the town
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
his own men, and the Church, he frees her. Now he is an outcast also, and together with a small band of loyal followers, they continue the quest for the Grail. After overcoming numerous obstacles, they return to Castillon d' Arbazon , which quickly comes under siege. The outlook appears grim, but nature intervenes with an unexpected twist, and the quest for the Grail comes to a surprising resolution
H eretic is the third in Cornwell's excellent Grail Quest se ries. As always, the master storyteller keeps the action moving with engaging characters, an intriguing storyline, and abundant historical detail. A marvelous medieval adventure novel.
Gerald T. Burke
THE CHANGELING OF FINNISTUATH
Kate Horsley, Shambala, 2004, $22.95, hb,352pp , 1590300483
Set in medieval Ireland , The Changeling of Finnistuath is an in-d epth look into the morass of hypocri sy and vulgarity that one calls civilization. It is the life journey of a peasant named Grey, born a girl, but raised believing she is a bo y. When finally revealed as female, Grey's li fe becomes a series of events that exposes the failures of almost all the ideals that her society professes. From fornicating priests to the iniquities of the unbreakable caste sys tem, Grey observes, participates, and survive s. From boy to girl, spiritual whore to mother, goatherd to warrior, Grey becomes all of these and more. When plague and men 's evil cannot break Grey, and when the death of love seems to be able to destroy her at last, it is her ability to don the cloak of so many assumed personae that allows her to continue.
Ms. Horsley's writing is inten se and thought-provoking, and the enforced mixture of the beliefs of Old Religion and Christianity appropriately reflect s society at that time. The oppression of the Iri sh by the English, the squalor and poverty in which all but the privileged few live, and the brutalities of life in those times are vividly portrayed. An excellent novel, but definitely not for the lighthearted.
Suzanne Crane
THE MAD MONK OF GfDLEIGH
Michael Jecks, Trafalgar Square/ Headline, 2003, $9.95 /£6.99, 460pp, pb , 0755301692 Devon, England, 13 23. A pregnant girl is found murdered. Her lover, a monk, flees. Is he the killer, or did fear make him run away? This is what Baldwin, Keeper of the King's Peace and Puttock , Ba iliff of the Stannaries, have to determine. The story is difficult to get into because the timelines are out of order and there are multiple points of view, but once the two investigators arrive, it becomes more line ar and captivating.
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Apart from the lawmen, the characters are similar, all motivated by sex, greed and violence. The men are prey, the women victims. This is a very bleak and humourless book: "The people here had no sense of humour, their existence was harsh, unleavened with laughter and pleasure." leeks really captures that dark reality and the social structure. Although it reads like an instalment of a medieval soap opera, the plot is complex and full of unexpected developments. This is a long book that could have benefited with less repetition. If you enjoy rosy cosies, this is not for you; the body count is high and the mood is dark. But if you care for a well-researched visit to medieval England, don't pass this series.
Pub. in UK by Harlequin Mills & Boon, £13.30,hb,2003,288pp,0263179885
Two betrothals and a marriage, each lasting only three months before death claimed the men involved, has convinced Lady Eloise that she is cursed. Determined to take control of her life , she petitions the king for permission to marry he r steward, hoping a platoni c marriage will break the curse. King Edward III , however, desires her. He names her as a prize in a tournament in which he is entered and, being the king, has every expectation of winning. After all, who among hi s loyal knights would be foolish enough to risk a charge of treason by raising a hand against his king, even in sport? The king has not taken into consideration the determination of his be st knight, Sir Owain. Years before, Lady Eloise and Sir Owain fell in love. He has been carrying a torch for her ever since. Can he win her back and still survive the curse?
Juliet Landon has drawn on her love of early medieval English hi story for The Knight's Conquest. The story is well-written and easy to read. Her heroin e is feisty, likeable , and independent, but too twentieth century, and the attractive hero is a typical a lph a male.
Loyal followers of the life oflsaac the blind physician take up the tale in 1354 where the 7th novel in the se ri es opens. Isaac's daughter, Raquel, is betrothed to Daniel, a young g lov e r in the "call " or Je wish Quarter in Girona, Spain. Daniel briefly meets an unusual young man while on a journey. The young man, who s ubsequentl y becomes an important figure in the novel , is rarely met by the reader. In fact, he is occasionally
confused with one or possibly two other young men of roughly the same age in this slightly convoluted story.
Luca, an aspiring herbalist, has traveled to Girona to meet Isaac, of whom he has heard, and wishes to learn from him While practicing as an herbalist, two people are poisoned and some believe that Luca was involved
As always, it is a pleasure to read about Isaac, his large and interesting family and his relationship to the Bishop , who is his patron, as well as a most important patient. Much of the day - to-day life of Spain in that era, especially Jewish life, is set out for lovers of historic a l novels The re sea rch by the author, a medieval scholar, is thorough, and reading these books is surely akin to traveling in time back to medieval Spain. That fact keeps the readin g coming back each time, even when the mystery plot is as thin as in this book . But old friends are the best , and loyal readers will continue to read about this engaging protagonist.
Lorraine Gelly
15 th CENTURY OWEN GLENDOWER
John Cowper Powys, The Overlook Pre ss, 2003, $35.00, hb , 777pp, l585673145
Originally publi shed in 1940, thi s grandly written epic recounts the adventures of Rhisiart, a I 5th century Oxford student who returns to the land of his fathers (Wales) only weeks before revolt engulfs it. A prophecy has urged Owen Glendower to take up anns against his people's English oppressors, and fight for freedom and glory. As Owen's cousin, Rhisiart becomes immersed in the events that tear Wales asunder between 1400 and 1415. He falls in love, and learns about battle and treachery and Welsh myths. It is principally his story the reader follows, though the author does use other viewpoints when it suits him.
Those seeking a full-fledged account of the Glyn Dwr Rebellion will not find it here. John Cowper Powys may have ca ll ed hi s novel "Owen Glendower,'' but he produced instead a story of Glendower's time It is a tale of romance, war, fantastical events and extreme characters, fashioned in the style of Walter Scott. 1t is extremely complex and requires perseverance But the way th e author weaves his storylines together draws the reader in , and he faithfully adheres to the few facts known about Glendower and his rising. His characters are very human, even when they are behaving lik e figt1res out of the Mabinogion. And bis language is ri c h and evocative. demonstrating his lov e for Glyn Dwr Cou ntry. Most interesti ng ly, he captures the spirit of the Welsh , a vanq ui shed people who refused to relinquish their culture. Claire MmTis ISSU
MEDIAEVAL (GENERAL)
THE DEATH OF Kl G TSONGOR
Laurent Gaude, trans. David Herman, Toby Press, 2003, $17.95, pb, I 30pp, l 592640303
This story of bizarre family relations purports to be set in an African kingdom, but the story reads more like medieval myth. King Tsongor's preparations for the wedding of his daughter Samilia are interrupted by the appearance of a playmate from her childhood who claims the right to marry her, setting off a war between the father-approved suitor Kouame, Prince of the Salt Lands, and the old claimant Sango Kerim Faced with this dilemma, the king sends his youngest son off to build a series of tombs , then slashes his own wrists and depends an old retainer to finish the job. After the king is dead and placed m his coffin, he makes several more appearances.
One of Kouame's armies contains a division of khat chewers and another regiment of transvestites. At a key point in the battle, a troop of Amazons led by his mother makes its appearance. The king's children fight among themselves while the kingdom is destroyed , a piece of illogical behavior that matches well with many events in actual history.
The cover of this novel advertises it as the winner of the Prix Goncourt, but closer inspection reveals it to be the Prix Goncourt des Lyceens , a contest with voting done by secondary school students. Perhaps this novella works best for juvenile readers James Hawking
16 th CENTURY
JRONFIRE (UK title: The Sword and the Scimitar)
David Ball, Delacorte, 2004, $24.95, hb , 672pp, 0385336012
Pub in the UK by Hutchinson , 2004, £12.99, pb , 0091800234
Set during the 16th century on both the isle of Malta, home of the ancient order of the Knights of St. John, and in the Ottom a_n Empire of Suleiman the Magnificent , this novel is a page turner from beginning to end. As the story opens, two Maltese children, Maria and her brother Nico , are playing on the isle when corsairs kidnap Nico and sell him into slavery m the Ottoman Empire. From that point on, both characters' lives are followed simultaneously across the years as the sto1yline builds 10 its grand finale, the massive siege of Malta by some forty thousand of the Sultan's finest warriors. Ironi cally, one of those warriors will be Nico, now known as
Asha, who eventually becomes an officer in the Sultan's fleet.
The characters in this novel are all extremely well drawn , and it's filled to overflowing with well-researched history I found it very interesting that the burning of supposed heretics at the stake was a common practice in the Western world during this time period , while in the Ottoman Empire, Christians and Jews were allowed to retain their religious laws and practices. And on Malta, those of the Jewish faith who refused to convert to Catholtc1sm "were put to the torch, or forced to don slavery's chains." Although there's no way I can do justice to this fine novel in a short review, I can certainly recommend it highly to all history lovers.
This is the seventh title featuring Ursula Blanchard, Queen Elizabeth's spy. The queen needs a trusted person to deliver a sensitive message to her cousin, Queen Mary, who is now living under Elizabeth's protection (or imprisonment). Ursula is also asked by Lord Cecil to discover the depth of Mary's involvement in the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley. Despite misgivings, Ursula agrees - partially because she needs to find a husband for a troublesome ward.
As the women travel into the North they are beset by puzzling and dangerous incidents: Ursula's daughter is kidnapped, and mysteriously loosed ; a servant is murdered and his body disappears. Ursula is further distracted by the charismatic Scots queen who evades Ursula's queries. When Mary escapes from Bolton Castle in an effort to reach France, Ursula uncovers the relationship between all these incidents.
While the mystery elements a re well handled , the real cham, of this book is its authentic depiction of life, manners and morals in I 6'h century England. The reader sees the personalities , homes, countryside, sports and clothing of the characters clearly. The difficulti es of those who balance loyalty to a Protestant Queen and loyalty to their Roman Catholic faith are cleverly incorporated into the plot. While some readers will not agree with Ursula's co nc lusions about Darnley's murder, Buckley certainly makes a good case for her conclusion.
This book will delight readers of historical novels. Kathleen Sullivan
CUPID AND THE SILENT GODDESS
Alan Fisk, Twenty First Century Publishers Ltd,2003 ,£7.99, pb , 196pp, 1904433081
In 1544 Duke Cosimo de'Medici of Florence commissioned the artist Bronzino to paint a gift for King Francois I of France. The result was Allegory with Venus and Cupid which now hangs in The National Gallery, London.
This much of Fisk's novel is fact. Around these facts he has weaved a fiction which is as intriguing as the painting itself.
The statuesque Venus is given a name, Angelina , and a curious character who can neither speak nor appear to understand. The dominant centrepiece in Bronzino's painting, in Fisk's novel she is a complex victim , a heroine exploited for her beauty , and defenceless to her plight.
The angelic Cup id is Bronzino's apprentice, Giuseppe, who struggles to form judgements and find a purpose under th_e crushing authority of his master. His despair and eventual strength of mind make him a memorable character.
Around these central protagonists Fisk explores the characters of artists Bronzino and Pontormo, and paints a gritty and fascinating picture of Sixteenth Century Florence His writing style is plain, which suits the human honesty and earthiness of his story.
This is an excellent read, but like any novel which fictionalises a painting 's creation, it risks forever contorting the image. My advice: see the painting first , then read the book Emily Retter
THE QUEENE'S CHRISTMAS
Karen Harper, St. Martin's Minotaur , 2003 , $24.95 / C$34.95, hb, 320pp, 03 I 230 I 758
As Christmas of 15 64 approaches , Queen Elizabeth I decides to grant the wishes of her beloved "Kat" (Lady Katherine Ashley), her aging confidante, and decrees the Court sha ll have Twelve Days of feasting and festivities However the joyful season starts off on the wrong foot when the dresser of the Queen's kitchen, the person who ornately adorned the fancy dishes for feasts, is found hanged in his kitchen.
As the news quickly spreads around the court, the queen and her closest advisers , the members of her "Privy Plot Council" who Elizabeth trusts and upon whom Elizabeth heavily relies , attempt to stem the rumors and gather clues. However before too long, other event occur which cause her to even begin to suspect her staunchest allies.
This the sixth book in the series, is an imagina(ive mystery into which Harper incorporates many historical figures and events Certainly, the character of Elizabeth and members of her court are fascinating in their own right. Having them investigate, search for clues and attemp t to solve crimes
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ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
MARY, QUEEN OF FRANCE
Jean Plaidy, Three Rivers Press, 2003 (cl964),$12.95,pb,287pp,0609810219
Renowned historical fiction author Jean Plaidy has written numerous stories featuring the Plantagenets, Stuarts, and Tudors along with other royal families throughout history. Several of Plaidy's books written early in her career are now being republished. Mary, Queen of France tells the story of Princess Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII.
This story begins when Mary is a child of ten As Mary grows to womanhood she falls in love with the handsome Charles Brandon , friend to Henry. Even though Henry adores his sister, he orders her to marry the elderly King of France. Mary is heartsick, and has no choice but to do her duty as a Princess. When the King of France dies shortly into the marriage, Mary vows to marry no other man but Charles. Fearing the wrath of her brother Henry VIII, Mary fights all odds to have a life with the man she loves.
Plaidy's characters are so genuine that you feel as if you are eavesdropping on the conversations of royalty. I recommend Mary, Queen of France as an enchanting glimpse of life at the court of Henry VIII. Kathy King
THE ROSE WITHOUT A THORN
Jean Plaidy, Three Rivers Press, 2003 (cl994) , $12 95, pb , 278pp, 0609810170 Katherine Howard is beautiful but clueless. Her grandmother , the Duchess of Norfolk , who worships the memory of Katherine's clever cousin Anne Boleyn, thinks she ' s doing her a favor by extracting Katherine from her father's impoverished household and bringing her into her own. But instead of grooming her for her new life, the duchess leaves her granddaughter on her own The result is a disaster. Katherine has no brains and no inclination for an education. She is fond of grand balls, pretty clothes, and handsome young men. Then Katherine becomes lady-in-waiting of Anne of Cleves , the king's new and detested wife. There are signs of impending doom , but Katherine does not heed them She meets Henry Vlll and is fascinated by his clothes and jewels. The monarch simply can't resist her giggles So the question is not if but when Katherine's indiscretions will catch up with her.
Jean Plaidy is one of the pen names of the late Eleanor Hibbert, a prolific writer who in the course of her career wrote over two hundred novels and sold millions of copies. Her wntmg is simple and economical, and her narrative has focus and motion. Only once or twice does she get sloppy, as when she uses the same phrase to describe both Katherine and her grandmother. For the most part , however,
reading this novel is like driving a reliable, well-tuned car: you know she's going to get you to your destination without detours, mechanical failures, or excitement.
Adelaida Lower
UNTIL YOU
Bertrice Small, New American Library, 2003,$14/C$21,pb,371pp,0451209745
Continuing the story of orphaned, thricemarried Rosamund Bolton, Lady of Friarsgate, this is the second offering in the Friarsgate Inheritance series. Determined to make her own choices after a lifetime of doing what was expected of her, Rosamund rejects her latest suitor, the handsome, determined Scotsman Logan Hepburn, and accepts an invitation from her dear friend, Queen Margaret of Scotland, in order to escape Hepburn's attentions. Once there, she meets the passionate Patrick Leslie, the first earl of Glenkirk, and embarks on a breathtaking adventure to try and avert war between England and Scotland.
Quite simply, this book is great! As one would expect from this best-selling author, the characters are vivid, believable and passionate. The vibrant descriptions of the courts, locales and intrigues make it easy to create Rosamund's world in the reader's mind. Although the reader can probably guess the ultimate ending, the twists and turns to get there are wonderful and keep the pages turning
Readers shouldn't be put off if they haven't read the prequel, Rosamund, as Until You works very well as a stand-alone offering. If you enjoy a lusty , sensual romp th.rough the great Courts of old coupled with passion and intrigue, this one is tops.
Dana Cohlmeyer
18 th CENTURY
REBECCA WENTWORTH'S DISTRACTJON
Robert J Begiebing, Univ. Press of New England , 2003, $24.95 / C$32.85 (£14.70), hb,264pp, 1584652845
When Englishman Daniel Sanborn takes his first portraiture commission in Portsmouth, Virginia , he doesn't expect his subject, a mere child, to be an even more accomplished artist than himself. Rebecca Wentworth ' s instinctive talents with pigment and brush capture the essence of truth to the canvas , whatever her subject. But her imaginative renderings of landscape often possess disturbing qualities, and her portraits are disarmingly invasive. Her guardians forbid her to paint, fearing this outlet exercises harm to her mental self, for distraction has visited the family before. They send her away to be with relatives on the frontier where chores and expectations
leave her little opportunity to engage in creative pastimes
Although he does not see Rebecca for two years, Daniel cannot put aside his concern for her welfare, nor can he explain - even to himself - why he must see with his own eyes that she is all right. He discovers her whereabouts but his interference will alter the course of Rebecca's life.
Set in the 1740s , Rebecca Wentworth's Distraction is an interesting and detailed glimpse into the attitudes of the times. While Rebecca's character rings true, Sanborn's character lacks passion, almost as though he is one of his paintings; the reader can see what is on the canvas but it engenders no emotion. It is a detached quality shared by the novel - a wellrendered image observed from a distance.
Janette King
WINTER FIRE
Jo Beverley, Signet, 2003, $6.99 / $9.99, pb, 312pp,0451210654
December 1763. It is challenging to take seriously a novel featuring females called Genova, Calliope, Thalia, Regeanne, Sheena, and Damaris. But in this story only one name really matters - Malloren-and Beverley plays it for all it is worth. The Marquess of Ashart, mistrusted cousin of the Malloren clan, accompanies his two doting, dizzy aunts and their companion, Genova Smith- who has taken custody of an infant which Ash steadfastly denies having fathered - to Rothgar Abbey for Christmas. To mask his purpose, he enters into a false betrothal to Genova.
Genova warns her supposed betrothed that if he seduces her, he must marry her. Ash regards her humble birth as an impediment yet persists in making advances, though he decides to wed her blue-blooded rival. While the Mallorens and their guests make Yuletide merriment, Ash and Genova become friends and lovers, leading to complications and misunderstandings.
Beverley dilutes the effectiveness of her story by laying on too much Malloren family lore and cumbersome classical references. Not her best work , but recommended to her fans.
Book I of this series introduced Jack Frake , a poor runaway who fell in with smugglers and was eventually shipped off to the American colonies as an indentured servant. Book II lold the story of Hugh Kenrick, born into nobility and destined to be an earl. Hugh despised the false deference paid to people of his status and questioned the right
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
of the monarchy to rule, an attitude that eventually forced him to flee to the New World. It is there, in the Virginia tobacco country in 1759, that these two seemingly disparate personalities meet and become good friends.
Cline's goal with this series is to highlight the seldom seen grassroots dissention in the Colonies that became the flint from which the first sparks of the Revolution were struck. Long before the Boston Tea Party and Valley Forge, there were patriots like Jack and Hugh ; citizens of a country not yet born, but certainly conceived. As with Books I and II, the writing here is superb. I often found myself smiling with joy at a particular passage, so perfectly was it written. This is more than a great story. This is art.
In l 842 Salzburg, Sophie Weber reflects on her family's friendship with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They first meet in Mannheim in 1777 , where he falls in love with her sister Aloysia. During the years following, their paths criss-cross as the Webers and Mozart move from city to city pursuing their musical careers. Aloysia breaks Mozart 's heart , but the friendships endure. This, despite his parents' best efforts to discourag e his involvement with the Weber family. Though Mo zart's heart remains loyal to Aloysia, at some point he starts to see Constanze in a different light , leading to a new romance.
Marrying Mozart is Stephanie Cowell's fourth novel. A singer herself, she brings a unique perspective to the story of Mozart and the Weber girls. Her elegant prose weaves a gentle spell that whisks the reader back to the 18th century. Mozart's early career comes vibrantly to life as he struggles to make a name for himself while resisting following in the footsteps of his father, bound in servitude as church musician to the Archbishops of Salzburg. Th e Weber girls' efforts to launch their singing careers are covered in equal measure.
Ms. Cowell's recreation of the period is seamless and full of rich detail, while her central characters draw the reader into their stories. The various plots are woven into a tale that ripples along a t an easy yet compelling pace . Occasionally we see glimpses of Sophie as she recites the tale, the lone survivor living on her memories.
Without a doubt, this is one of the best books I have read in the la s t year. Ms. Cowell does for Mozart and the Webers what Sandra Gulland did for Josephine and Napoleon. I highly recommend this enchanting novel.
In this romance set in England in the mid 1700s, Sylvain Harwood, nearly 20, considers herself the family disappointment due to her tomboy ways. Terrance Winslow, slightly older, knows his antics bring shame to his family, the latest of which is a dalliance with a married woman. While wandering the forest, Sylvain happens upon Terrance, who has been hurt pursuing an acquaintance who has falsely accused him of murder. As Sylvain believes his innocence and helps him , Terrance remembers her as the mussed girl who was always tending to wounded animals. Sylvain recall s him as her first kiss , brought about by a wager to see if he could kiss every female in the district.
Before Terrance's health can be restored, Sylvain is packed off to London to be introduced to society. Terrance also makes it to Londo n and begins his search for the true killer, enlisting a Bow Street Runner who was originally sent to apprehend him. Suspense mingles with romance as they work together to try to absolve Terrance of the murder and to resolve their feelings for each other.
Aside from an unrealistically speedy recovery from a broken leg, Barely Prop er is totally enjoyable.
Suzanne J Sprague
THE BLACK VIOLIN
Maxcnce Fcrmine, tr. from the French by Chris Mulhern, Atria, 2003, $16, tpb, 133pp, 0743456858
Pub in the UK by Acom, 2003, £6.99, pb, 90pp,0953420566
At age five, Johannes Karel sky hears a gypsy violinist and quickly become s a musical prodigy as a result. Being drafted into Napoleon's army takes him to Venice where he recuperates from a battle wound in the home of a chess-playing, grappadrinking violin maker. Except for the wound itse lf, the wars are m the distant background. The plot mainl y concerns hi s determination to compose an ima gina1y opera in hi s head , a project probably more intere sting to do than to read about.
The story of the vio lin takes us back to Cremona and then forward to the 18th century Venice of masked balls and artistic riches sinking into th e sea. The central love s tory consists of a romance that is conducted, like the opera , exclusively in the ima gination of the protagoni st.
Mulhem's translation is ve 1y loose. A phrase which literall y translates " I had never even thought that livin g could be useful" becomes "To be honest , l ' d never really thought there was much point to everyday life ." Not recommended.
Jam es Hawking
THURS BITCH
Alan Gamer, Harvill Press 2003, hb , 158pp, £14.99, 1843430878
In 1750s Cheshire, the rural community of Thursbitch still follows the old pagan ways Glimpses of the outside world come only with the packman, Jack Turner, to be wondered at, but ignored Jack, whose origins are mysterious, is also the channel between the villagers and the spirit world. The story intertwines with that of 21 st century geologist Sal and her friend Ian, who are walking the moors and caught up in the eerie atmosphere.
Many years ago, during a discussion of Gamer's R ed Shift, a friend said: 'I don't know what the hell 's going on, but the writing's marvellous '. I agreed, and things haven't changed. In Thursbitch, the 18 th century dialect is brilliantly caught - but almost impenetrable. Unexplained words like 'periploos' and 'tragwallet' abound. The 21 st century jargon isn't much clearer: 'That is a transient artefact of weathering in the laminate' , says Sal.
I was reminded of Mary Webb 's Pr ec ious Bane , with an occasional whiff of Cold Comfort Farm, and a definite Amos Starkadder moment during a hell -fire sermon: ' It avails you nowt to lament. Skrike (sic) ye, 0 ye foredoomed'. The writing's powerful all right , but I' m still not sure what was going on.
Elizabeth Hawksley
(Thanks to Elizabeth for the above - the first reviewer to attempt this book asked for a second opinion)
Jack Absolute is a character in Ri c hard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals, and this no vel makes him a real Army officer.
As the novel begins , Jack Absolute has just returned to London in 1777 He has been out of the Anny for many years, away in India with his spectacle-wearing, Shakespearequoting, romantic-novel-reading chum, the Iroquoi s warrior Ate. A du el on Hounslow Heath provides a Flashmanesque means by which General Burgoyne blackmails Jack into rejoining the colours and accompanying Burgoyne to Ame1ica and the war.
On the ship over, Jack meets a beautiful Loyalist, Louisa Reardon , and the sinister German Count von Schlaben.
Jack Absolute is well-equipped to be a spy in the Hudson Valley, bein g a n adopted Iroquois and knowing th e language and their ways perfectly. (Jack is also sent to America with a full set of 2003 politically-correct left- liberal attitudes. One almost expects Captain Absolute to declare for vegetar iani sm and against smoking in taverns.)
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
The plot now really speeds up. It is not often that one complains that a novel is too fast-paced, but this is one of those rare cases. The duels, escapes, betrayals, and rescues are mixed up in the details of the Saratoga campaign, and no sooner is a scene set up than it ends, and we've moved on to the next crisis
The actual historical characters appear in their currently-fashionable interpretations with all the familiarity of the figures in an English Christmas pantomime: Benedict Arnold is merely a shallow fop, for example, and Banastre Tarleton is just a goggle-eyed psycho.
The central quest 1s to uncover the identity of the Rebel spy who operates under the nom de guerre "Diomedes". It takes Jack until near the end of the novel to discover who Diomedes is, which I had worked out hundreds of pages before. There is also a spasmodic sub-plot about the Freemason sect of the "Illuminati", but this is never developed except to pull an unconvincing surprise revelation just before Jack is to be hanged as a Rebel spy.
For me, this was not an enjoyable read There is something creepy about the character of Jack Absolute that gives the whole book an unpleasant feel. This author had been recommended to me for his humour , but in this book , at least , he has concealed any gags much more successfully than the identity of Diomedes.
Alan Fisk
THE HONOURABLE EARL
Mary Nichols , Ha rlequin Historicals , 2003, $5.25/C$6.25, pb, 297pp, 0373304331
Set in 1763, this is the romance of Lydia Fostyn and the Earl of Blackwater. Lydia is being pressured into marrying a wealthy but unattractive older man to improve her family's financial security. The Earl has just returned from a ten-year exile in India, in consequence of a duel he fought with Lydia's brother, his childhood companion. Lydia's father was accidentally killed in the duel , and she has blames the Earl for her family's misfortune since then.
Although stereotypically beautiful people, the Earl, Lydia , and the supporting characters have human dimensions and faults. Nichols uses description of period costumes and cosmetics; prevailing attitudes about marriage, class distinctions, and financial security; and just a little period slang, to create a period atmosphere. She switches point-o fview from one character to another, occasionally distractingly. A specialist in the period might find fault, but I found it a pleasant bit of escapism.
This is the fourth in the 'acclaimed' new Thomas Kydd naval series following the passage of a pressed man through the ranks to that of admiral.
This book begins with a mission to Venice in I 797, is largely concerned with Kydd's part in the mutiny at the Nore on his and his friend Renzi's return to England, and ends with a naval action in the North Sea against the Dutch fleet.
As in previous books I have read in this series, I find Kydd's reactions to events somewhat strange and the behaviour of his superiors in regard to his advancement even more curious. I hesitate to doubt Mr Stockwin 's accuracy but to me, having read much naval fiction, the issuing of a full commission to a warrant officer to fill a vacancy after a battle sounds unlikely An acting appointment to the coveted rank of lieutenant, yes, but that would surely be followed by examination before the actual commission is granted.
Unfortunately I cannot empathise with either Kydd or Renzi in the way I can with Bolitho, Ramage and Aubrey and the extensive use of uneducated and/or dialect language with apostrophes all over the place makes for difficult reading However , despite these niggles, overall the series is inforrnative and enjoyable and this adventure will please Mr Stockwin 's fans. Monica Maple
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF MURDER
Karen Swee, Bridge Works , 2004, $23.95 hb /$ 15.95 pb, 304pp , I 8825938 I 2 (pb), 1882593782 (hb)
In the New Jersey river port of New Brunswick , the town inhabitants had a front row seat of the war action in early 1777. General Washington had just made his daring moves at Trenton and Princeton, which re-ignited the heart of the American patriots for their revolution. The result for the townspeople was occupation by the British, requiring individual decisions on how to react. Some left, some stayed willingly, and some merely appeared willing to better work from behind the lines. The tavern mistress of New Brunswick , who is the heroine of this debut novel, has sterling qualities of character, which are called upon when a murder victim is found in her lodgmg rooms. Since she has a house full of British officers, a pretty young daughter, a local constable whose loyalties she is unsure of and an uncle whose patriotic leanings are dangerously apparent, she has her hands full , still finding time for a flirtation or two
and keeping the tavern running, and passing information to the American cause given the opportunity. The details and manners are accurate, if producing a sigh over the relative civility of war in past times. Abigail deals with an attempted rape of her daughter by a British lieutenant in short order, and is backed up by British command. The war is mostly background which occasionally weaves into the direct story, just as current events do in our daily lives. Those of us who love this period rejoice that an author chooses it for a good mystery.
Mary K. Bird-Guilliams
WARRIOR WOMAN
James Alexander Thom and Dark Rain Thom, Ballantine, 2003, $25 95 /C $39 95, hb,450pp,0345445546
The story of Nonhelema needs to be told. A Shawnee whose name means "Not a Man," she lived during the Revolutionary War and years of U.S. expansion while "heroes" like Daniel Boone drove her people from Virginia and Kentucky. Literate, multilingual, tall and beautiful, she bore children to two white lovers-a nd lost the acceptance of her people through her attempts as diplomat.
Unfortunately , somewhere between a fine opening where the native women's council is consulted before their men can go to war, and an ending with some power , if a bit preachy, this version bogs down hopelessly. Too many characters too ill drawn who simply "appear," and masses of emotionally disjointed events reported from a distance, are major slowing points. In particular, Nonhelema's conversion to Christianity and continuous attraction to it I found completely unbelievable, and it is the novelists' job to make even such choices in their heroes sympathetic. I longed for a nonfiction history of the events in hopes that I might find there the comprehension this novel failed to provide. Also, "Warrior Woman" is a misleading title for an epic about a woman whose goal - to the point of stupidity, it seemed-was to spread peace.
On the other hand, there are some truly beautiful and rich descriptions of Native life, although the spiritual underpinnings seemed spotty. Tecumseh makes a youthful appearance along with his brother, the Shawnee Prophet. And the scene where the noble old chief Moluntha stands waving his American flag while white soldiers come through his peace village " like the teeth of a comb" is heartrending. Desperately he holds the treaty , " putting his finger on the place where he signed it, showing the officers his mark" while his people die .
Ann Chamberlin
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
19 th CENTURY
THUNDER ON THE DOS GATOS
Paul Bagdon, Fleming H. Revell, 2003, $11.99, pb, 189pp, 080075834X
This Western with inspirational elements is the fourth in the West Texas Sunrise series. It continues the adventures of Marshall Ben Flood and his sweetheart, rancher Lee Morgan, in 1880s Texas. The collapse of the only bridge over the Dos Gatos River means a huge herd of longhorns are trapped near Burnt Rock Loose cattle cause the deaths of two of Lee's prize mares. Flood confronts trail boss Atticus Toole and orders him to move the herd away from the town, but Toole refuses. The conflict between the cowboys and the townsfolk escalates when a threatening storm brings fears of a lightningsparked stampede through the town.
I was a little skeptical of a couple of plot points, such as Flood single-handedly defeating nine drunken rowdies. Otherwise, it's a pleasant cross-genre book. The main characters' Christian be! iefs are unobtrusive, so straight Western fans should not be put off. The author's experiences as a horseman and ex-rodeo rider provide authenticity to the setting.
BJ. Sedlock
SLIGHTLY TEMPTED
Mary Balogh, Dell, 2003, $5.99, pb, 384pp, 0440241065
Lady Morgan Bedwyn is visiting Brussels in June 1815, just prior to Waterloo. There she is seen by Gervase Ashford, a man who hates her oldest brother, Wulf. Though revenge is his initial motive, Gervase discovers Morgan is a charming, caring woman. Friendship and romance blossom, only to be threatened by past injustices and betrayal.
Set in Belgium and England, Slightly Tempted is the fifth entry in Mary Balogh's Bedwyn series and a well-paced, exciting and heart-warming story of love and redemption. Ms. Balogh chronicles the after-effects of the great battle in all their grit, blood and horror. Morgan shines through as a worthy heroine , believable in her role of debutante turned nurse - not something easily achieved. Though we are told Gervase is a rake, I found this hard to believe as his nobility and strength shine through almost from the beginning. Their developing romance is totally believable.
The rest of the setting is equally well portrayed, from London to the countryside, while the supporting cast of the Bedwyn and Ashford clans brings added warmth to the story. Though I enjoyed Slightly Wicke d 'slightly' more, r do not hesitate to recommend this book.
The Curse of Kali is a story of passion and intrigue set in mid-nineteenth century India. In 1854, Dr. Helen Forsyth marries her childhood sweetheart, Gavin French, the British Resident to the court of a Muslim prince, and moves to India to start her new life. But her love for him is bedeviled by her suspicions of his relation ship with an attractive Goanese woman, and a growing presentiment that something evil is overshadowing her family's life This novel vividly illustrates the beauty and barbarity of British-occupied India. To the story's detriment , though, it is weakened by too much te lling of the story, rather than showing. The portrayal of Helen and Gavin as irritatingly perfect, from their appearance to their intellect, detracts from the reader's compassion for their plight.
In 1822, Sam Morgan is growing up in the mountains near Pittsburgh, with itchy feet and a hungry sp irit. At 19, he leaves his home and family to experience the wild frontier, trekking seven -hundred miles across the Great Plains to Fort Atkinson on the Missouri. Along the way he meets with companions who teach him the ways of the world, and gains priceless experience in survival and se lf-kn ow ledge.
This is the first of a series based on the mountain men who explored the unmapped West with the fur trade from its beginnings in the early 1820s to its denouement in the late 1830s. 1t includes those who were excluded from the first western mythmountain men, Indians, women, and blacks, who adventured in the new land and loved its immense possibilities.
Blevins has been called the foremost expert on the Plains Indians, and sections dealing with the tribes Sam encounters, particularly the Crows, show respect and admiration for the native people, without ideali zation. Many characters are based on historical personages , and these are also well-realized. Sam is credible, but some of his fictional companions less so. Blevins' style 1s erratic: some passages flow smoothly, others are somewhat stilted. Sometimes he mixes tenses, normally using the past, but in a few passages switching to present. Presumably he wishes to project a heightened sense of immediacy , but the effect is uneven. Blevins also takes the reader into several of the characters' heads sometimes within the same scene. '
The story is interesting, but the style is inconsistent and detracts from the tale.
Mary L. Newton
HAVEN
Irene Bennett Brown, Five Star, 2003, $26.95, hb, 244pp, l 59414088X
In this li ght romantic western, Laila Mitchell travels to the wild country of Oregon in the 1890 s in search of her grandparents. Among her few possessions are a medicine kit and a small amount of cash. Surviving th e trip means combining resources with Kate, a fellow traveler. Both women are looking for a new life, and Kate is off to answer an advertisement by the owner of the Rub y Gold, a gold mine. Arriving at Snake River Canyon on her way to La Grande, Oregon, Laila is thrust into a community composed almost exclusively of men. Laila had acquired nursing ski lls while attending an old man back home. In Oregon she creates a nursing service of her own and finds a chance at love.
This easy read has a s low-moving plot, and little relevance to actual historical events is shown. Its strengths are in the portrayals of Laila and Tansy, a wild child, and their efforts to survive on the frontier. The book is recomm ended for readers intrigued by women's roles 111 the development of the west.
Jetta Culpepper
THE EMPIRE OF SHADOWS
Richard E. Crabbe. St. Martin's Minotaur 2003, $24.95 / C$34.95, hb, 356pp, , 0312106143
It is August, 1889. In his second historical novel after Suspension, Crabbe revisits the li ves of Police Captain Tom Braddock and his son, Mike. When Braddock decides to take his family on an upstate New York vacation, the holiday is not what he had planned. Jim Tupper, a Mohawk of the Iroquois nation, runs away from New York City after he kills a man in self-defense, and heads for the Adirondack Mountains. Tupper's and Braddock's trails intersect as Braddock ' s family is ripped apart when Lettie, his son's lover, is murdered and Mike is suspected of the crime But Braddock is not convinced , and in his private pursuit to clear his son of the crime, he begins to follow Tupper's tracks and clues.
Crabbe incorporates impeccable research about the times into the generous ly descriptive narrative and rich plot. Carefu l wording moves step-by-step through a highly entertaining story worth reading more than once.
Jetta Culpepper
OSCAR WILDE DISCOVERS AMERICA
Louis Edwards, Scribner, 2003, $24 00/ C$38.00, hb, 284pp, 0743236890
"I have a black servant, who is my slavein a free country one cannot live without a slave " (Oscar Wilde, January 1882).
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ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
Oscar Wilde's well-documented American lecture tour in 1882 offers a window on the country he encountered. Rather than focusing on Wilde and his experience as the title implies, Edwards builds his carefully researched novel on the fragmentary documents mentioning Wilde's American valet. His identity is vague enough to give Edwards free rein to create a complete fictional character while remaining true to the historical record of the tour.
Edwards imagines the valet as William Traquair, a twenty-two year old New Yorker nurtured and educated within the wealthy white family that employs his parents as servants. Fresh out of college, William is recruited to serve as valet for Oscar Wilde when he an-ives in New York. Naive, highly educated and inclined toward delicate aesthetic sensibilities, the valet is a great admirer of Wilde's ideas and overlooks the menial nature of his job for the chance to bask in the great man's presence.
This coming-of-age novel follows William on the cross-country tour as be comes to tem1s with his racial and sexual identity and searches for a place in his own family and in American society. He meets long lost cousins, loses his virginity ever· so discreetly, and develops a personal attachment to Wilde that is emotional as well as intellectual. If William has a fault, it is his stiffly formal and verbose style of narration, giving the book a slow and stately pace The author's bibliographic note states that mo s t of Wilde ' s dialogue is not exact quotes but written to give the flavor of the famous wil. For example (p. 61): "Immortality' A few lines in badly written history books? That's not eternal life. That's eternal damnation!"
Nina de Angeli
MR. DOYLE AND DR. BELL
Howard Engel , The Overlook Press, 2003, $24.95 / C$32.85, hb, 212pp, 1585674176 Pub. in the UK by Duckworth & Co., 2004, £14.99, hb , 268pp,07156327IX With this book, Arthur Conan Doyle joins the ranks of authors as detectives, but unlike Jane Austen et al. , Conan Doyle seems more suited to the title. Engel draws the Holmes parallel by making medical student Conan Doyle the Watson to his professor , Dr Jo seph Bell, the real-life inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. ln 1879 Conan Doyle and Bell embark on their first case together at the urging of the brother of a man convicted of killing an opera singer and her lover. The doctor and his student find a justice system unwilling to hear the evidence, come upon a sympathetic police officer, and keep company with such notables as Robert Louis Stevenson and Benjamin Disraeli. Engel, the author of the Benny Cooperman mystery series, has done well
TI-IE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
by the real Conan Doyle. By making the author and his Holmes-inspiration the detectives, he not only sidesteps the pitfalls of trying to imitate Conan Doyle, he also provides an entertaining view of how Holmes came to be. It's a delight to see all the elements~the deductive powers, the awesome intellect, and most amusing, Conan Doyle's boredom with his medical studies making the case more exciting to him. Making Conan Doyle the Watson is also a clever twist. I look forward to more of Mr. Doyle and Dr. Bell's adventures.
Ellen Keith
THE QUIET REBEL.
Joanna Erle, Robert Hale, 2003, £17.99, hb, 207pp,0709074964
This well written book is more of an adventure story than a romance. Elise Hilliard has come to Sussex, having left Bath under a cloud of scandal. Her first encounter with Nicholas MaITiott seems promising and sets the scene for their relationship. However, smuggling, betrayal and lost friendship take up too much of this short novel, leaving little space for the love affair. Set loosely in the Regency period, this lacks something as a romance. More sparky encounters between Nick and Elise might have lifted it, as would more period detail, but readers looking for a different kind of story will probably enjoy it.
Linda Sole
THOMAS GAGE
James Fleming, Jonathan Cape 2003 , £16.99 , hb, 297pp, 022407119X
Thomas Gage is a satisfied man. At 50 years old he has status, a good wife , promising children, a successful business and a painting accepted by the Royal Academy. The future looks secure, but when the Norwich to Cromer railway is about to be built across his land, the certainties he has before encountered begin to unravel. From inside the head of Thomas Gage we experience the inexorable change from smugness and confidence to loss and revenge.
This is an excellent book peppered with well-drawn characters, a wholly authentic sense of time and place and a story that keeps the reader turning the page. Mr Fleming has an enviable gift for painting word pictures - just the thing for curling up with on a winter's afternoon.
Janet Mary Tomson
COLD MOUNTAIN
Charles Frazier, Sceptre, 2003, £6.99, pb, 438pp,0340824727
Film tie-in. Originally published in 1997 and reviewed in HNR 4 (May 1998). Mixed reviews but with Nicole Kidman, Renee Zelwegger and Jude Law, and Anthony Minghella directing, it has to be worth the price ofa ticket and a bucket of popcorn. SB
This engrossing mystery is set during the Regency period. Captain Gabriel Lacey comes across a mob in a fashionable square , and tries to save the life of the mob's leader when he is shot. Lacey learns that the man believed his daughter had been kidnapped by the owner of : he house, and was trying to rescue her. Lacey feels compelled to delve into this mystery, aided, in a number of ways, by Lucius Grenville, a favorite of Society. Lacey is an intelligent and sympathetic character, a veteran of the Peninsular Campaign who feels lucky to be alive. Most of the supporting characters are well drawn, not only Grenville, at one end of society's spectrum, but Black Nancy, a whore who works the area from Covent Garden to the Strand, at the other. The plot is satisfyingly complex and the sense of period is strong. I eagerly await the next Captain Lacey mystery.
This is the first book in a new series featuring the cattle drovers of Wales in which the animals were walked from the valleys to Smithfield Market in London. In 1831 Manon Jenkins, the daughter of the local vicar, enjoys a pleasant life in a small town. She is a herbalist and makes and sells her own preparations in the local market. Then disaster strikes. Her father dies and Manon is required to leave the vicarage to make room for the new incumbent.
When Georgina Jones decides to travel to London to visit her aunt, Manon obtains the post of chaperone. However, Georgina plans to make the journey with the drove that will be led by her brother , Caradoc Iris Gower ' s knowledge of the Welsh drovers coupled with the detailed descriptions of the herbs Manon uses gives the story an authentic background but I found the romantic angle totally predictable and the conclusion held no surprises at all. It left me wondering how she will take these characters on if this is the first of a series.
Marilyn Sherlock
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
CARISBROOKE ABBEY
Amanda Grange, Robert Hale, 2003, £17.99,hb,223pp,0709074042
I am delighted to see the return of the Gothic novel, and in this case, one so skilfully handled. We have the full range of ingredients here. Miss Hilary Wainwright is the orphaned young woman going for a position to a gloomy, dramatic castle set in a wild and lonely spot; Lord Carisbrooke is her irascible employer who has more to him than at first seems the case. There are strange sounds in the night, secret passages, an untrustworthy heir, a mad woman and sullen retainers. Lord Carisbrooke has a terrible secret hanging over him; dastardly deeds are in train and Hilary finds herself in very real danger. Over the top you might think, but Amanda Grange tells her story so well and with such bravura we are convinced and read on to an exciting denouement and a satisfying end. An absorbing and enjoyable read.
Pamela Cleaver
THE DREAM KINGDOM
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Little, Brown 2003, £17.99, hb,632pp,0316860050
This is the latest in the Morland Dynasty series and the author's skill is demonstrated by the fact that any reader new to the scnes can easily follow the intricacies of the relationships, family or otherwise, of a dauntingly enormous cast of characters. The Dream Kingdom is firrnly rooted in the Edwardian period, a time of flamboyant brilliance when men and women took to radical ideas in politics, science and industry, confident in their certainty that progress was ongoing and benevolent. The novel is told from the viewpoints of people who are aristocratic, wealthy, educated, articulate, and often close to the centre of great events.
The Suffragette Movement is an inevitable part of this explosion of vitality that leads all to easily to extreme cruelty; these episodes are both powerful and pitiful. Otherwise, from a multiplicity of stories I wa most engaged by that of Violet, a Debutante of the Year, who tumbles into a bleak marriage that comes close to destroying her. Apart from these two strands, the mood is upbeat in the extreme and I did not become deeply involved in the even-paced, stately narrative which ends in 1911. The wily author does not make the mistake of foreshadowing what the next volume is bound to reveal.
ancy Henshaw
HIGHLAND SUMMER
Elizabeth Hawksley, Robe11 Hale, 2003, £18.99,hb,272pp,0709074859
It is always a pleasure to read the work of a writer in full command of her materi:il.
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Elizabeth Hawksley is equally at home with characterization, dialogue , plot and setting. She has a sensitive feeling for both place and period.
This book can be read on a number of levels At first glance it may be seen as a simple Cinderella story. Robina Drummond, born in India in 1833 and orphaned at the age of seven, goes to live with her grandparents in the Highlands of Scotland. Although well-connected, Robina has no money of her own and when her grandfather dies she and her grandmother are left in relative poverty by the te1ms of his will. His estate is left to her cousin Beatrix, who is married to the obnoxious Duncan Penicuik. Robina will inherit a small sum of money when she is 35 but at this time she is onlyl7. She and her grandmother have the choice of living as dependants of the Penicuiks or making a new life abroad. This they decide to do and it is through her own strength of character that Robina wins through to happiness in the end.
On another level the book is a valuable social document. Sometimes we forget just how much the position of women has changed in the last 150 years. Without a dowry and only passably good-looking Robina has little hope of the safety-net of marriage. She is forced to rely upon her own resources which she does to good effect, scandalising her snobbish relatives in the process.
I found the construction of this book most interesting , At times we are invited to read Robina's diary, giving us access to her most intimate thoughts and bringing us closer to the heroine. Elizabeth Hawksley also gives us brief glimpses into the stories of the other characters in this book. There seemed to be material here for many further novels and at the start of the story I did wonder how these disparate threads could be brought together. I needn't have worried. All is smoothly resolved. The villain gets his deserts, and the book is beautifully rounded off.
Margaret Crosland
CARELESS LOVE
Kate Horsley, Univ of New Mexico Press, 2003,$23.95 , hb , 249pp,0826330l69
Thomas Hall of Boston reasons that his mother's story about his father being killed in the Civil War doesn ' t mesh with the date of his own bi11h , two years after the war. This fabrication fits into her plan to raise a cultured son, one unlike those held in contempt by the American public, especially the Irish. Thomas's curiosity lead s to an investigation that reveals his real father is Patrick Michael O'Hallahan, an Irishman. Interest in adventure takes Thomas via train to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and eventually farther west, all the time changing his heritage to fit his situation . The
plot flows well but doesn't contain the suspense that might keep pages turning rapidly. The narrative shows how historical and cultural realities influence the characters. Readers are transported back in time to the late l 9'h century, when unknowing easterners' dreams of the West prove to be harsher than expected.
Set in England against the background of the 1831 Reform Act troubles during the reign of William IV, Madeline Hunter's latest entry in the Seducer series is a so lid historical romance. Adrian Burchard has been dispatched to France to bring Sophia, the new Countess of Everdon, back from self-imposed exile whether she wishes it or not. She is needed on her estate, to nominate candidates in a key election. Well-suited, Adrian and Sophia develop a tentative friendship, which blossoms into a love relationship that does not seem forced. The story is straightforward, but the execution is above average and wellgrounded in history with an appealing collection of secondary characters, especially Adrian's brother and Sophia's poets. Equally well rendered is the setting, with authentic touches and beautiful imagery, demonstrating this author's dedication to research. And while politics and history play their pa11, they do not overwhelm the story. A slightly less than savoury revelation at the end might shock some readers, but should not discourage. Somehow, though, the magic isn't quite there, at least not for me. Still , for fans of Ms. Hunter, or those readers looking for a good romance, this book is well worth picking up.
In the 1830s , Dante Duclairc is about to flee England to escape his creditors when he collides with a childhood friend, Fleur Monley, \.vho is fleeing her guardian. Capture will inevitably result in her being locked up in Bedlam; evidence of her in sanity i!> the fact that she has been giving a large portion of her immense fortune to ch:irity Naturally , any self-respcct111g guardian would be opposed to this folly, but her stepfather has an ulterior moti, e that has nothing to do with the preservation of her fortune Fleur hits upon a solution to both their problems. If she and Dante marry, she would be relieved of her stepfather's guardian~hip and Dante's debts would be paid. Unfortunately, due to a childhood trauma , Fleur cannot participate in a
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
traditional intimate marriage. Dante accepts her proposal of a "white" marriage, against his better judgment. He falls in love with her, and finds himself confronting real danger to protect her from her enemies
This is the fourth book in Madeline Hunter's new series beginning with The Seducer. The Sinner is another romantic intrigue with interesting, multi-dimensional characters that are this author's specialty. Audrey Braver
A METROPOLITAN MURDER
Lee Jackson, Heinemann 2004, £12.99, hb , 332pp,0434-12297
Just twelve months afttr the opening of the Metropolitan Line, a woman is discovered strangled in a second-class carriage by a young man named Henry Cotton. But before the police can be summoned, the man abruptly runs away into the night.
Inspector Decimus Webb is brought in to investigate the 'Railway Murder', an investigation that leads him on a convoluted trail into the seedier parts of Victorian London. There he meets a young servant called Clara White who is carefully hiding a painful secret past. It is up to Decimus to decide whether she is a victim of circumstances or has a more sinister role to play in thi s murd er mystery. The situation is confused even further by the recurrent, yet elusive, pre sence of the enigmatic Henry Co tton Inevitably , other lives are put in danger before the case is finally solved.
A Metropolitan Murder is stuffed full of authentic details of London in the mid I 9 th centenary, with special reference to its criminal underworld. The numerous sights, sounds and smells all help to recreate an atmospheric snapshot of Victorian life. Lee Jack so n then skilfully blends these minutiae into his racy and pacy plot.
All in a ll this is an entertaining mystery story and one that is guaranteed to keep the readers on their toes throughout.
Sara Wilson
THE GOLDEN LORD
Miranda Jarrett, Harlequin Hi storicals, 2003, $5.25/C$6.25, 297pp, pb , 0373292724
While trespassing on a Duke's estate, an accident befalls Jenny Dell , sister and accomplice of a cham1ing swindler. After her ducal rescuer transfers her to the luxury of his country hou se, she feigns amnesia. Determined to discover the mysterious young woman's identity, Brant ignores the parson and his wife, and refuses to place his guest in their respectable care. Spunky, pragmatic Jenny settles in for a pleasant recuperation, even as her brother schemes to seize advantage from her situation. Jenny 's attraction to her noble protector is shadowed by dread that her shocking past may be revealed to him. Brant finds himself able to
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
reveal his own secret shame to her, and the intimacy of confidence eventually leads to the intimacy of the bedchamber.
As gossip rages, the lovers travel to London to solve the "mystery" of Jenny's parentage, unaware that tragedy stalks them in the form of her brother's spurned mistress. A splendidly entertaining, historically grounded, emotionally engaging effort by a veteran romance author.
Margaret Barr
A DOUBLE DECEPTION
Gillian Kaye , Robert Hale, 2003, £17.99, hb , 205pp,0709073755
Charlotte Kempe's stepfather tries to seduce her once too often, so she flees to Granny Smailes hou se disguised as a boy. There she finds the retired cook involved with the local smuggling racket in Robin Hood's Bay and promptly offers to lend a hand
Charlotte also finds work as a stable boy at nearby Howebeck Hall and, during her duties , she meets the dashing Marius Howe. Although drawn to him, she dare not drop her disguise. He also seems to be paying her undue attention, but could /le be playing a double game? Then when the Preventatives close in on the smugglers, Charlotte makes a discovery that will change her life.
A Double Deception is an enchanting Regency romance, full of fun , intrigue and excitement. The hero and heroine are a sparky and likeable pair, who carry the story along at high s peed and the smuggling plot provides several interesting twists and turns.
A cham1ing littl e gem.
Sara Wilson
EVERY FIXED STAR
Jane Kirkpatrick, WaterBrook , 2003, $13.99/C$20.99, pb , 422pp, 1578565006
Jane Kirkpatrick continues the fictional account of Marie Dorion and her amazing life in this sequel to A Name of Her Own. In 1814 , Marie has become a legend in her part of the country because of the hardships she has endured crossing the Rocky Mountains with the Astoria company. Now she wants peace and a good life for her sons, which she hopes to find in the Okanogan settlement where they are staying. Marie soon discovers all is not well in her own sons' hearts. She feels their failures are a product of her own poor choices. She is afraid if she loves anything too much, God will take it from her. Marie has many le ssons to learn before s he begins to understand how God, who calls every star by name, has a name and a plan for her as well.
The rich hi sto rical detail of thi s novel , meticulously researched by the author, adds depth to the story, making it an extraordinary read. Notes about the research are included in the book, as are maps of the Northwest Territory at the time this story
takes place. This reviewer eagerly awaits the final volume in the trilogy.
Nan Curnutt
A MAN TO CALL MY OWN
Johanna Lindsey, Sceptre 2003, £5.99, pb, 427pp,0552151300
It is 1870 and the twins, Amanda and Marian Laton have been used to living comfortably in a small town in Massachusetts. Although they are identical, physically the sisters' personalities could not be more different. Through years of experience Marian has learned to disguise her looks and avoid confrontation with her spoilt sister.
When their father dies the young women go to live with their aunt Red on her Texan farm. There they meet a handsome cowboy, Chad Kincaid and Marian falls in love with him. At first their happiness is threatened by the scheming Amanda then news reaches them that their inheritance has vanished and for the first time the women must pull together if they are ever to untangle the truth about their father.
A Man to Call My Own is a traditional romantic story from a celebrated romantic novelist. Although this style of novel seems a little dated today it is nonethele ss an amusing and undemanding read. The romantic entanglements are well handled , the setting is convincing and, if the denouement seems contrived it does not detract from the overall enjoyment at all. The best way to approach this type of book is to keep disbelief suspended and ailow yourself to be carried along with the ride.
Saving Louisa is a descriptive title, describing the action and alluding to a le ss than tragic ending. This is the second book featuring Josiah Beede who left New Orleans for New Hampshire in a previous book Death of a Mill Girl (2002). He returns to the Crescent City with his freed slave, Randolph , to search for Randolph 's wife, Louisa, left behind in s lavery and sold before he could raise·the money to purchase her freedom. This is roughly the same period , between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, as the Benj am in January series by Barbara Hambl y. The "Kai ntucks " (Americans) invigorating the city at the expense of the older Creole, French and Spanish elements of the city, the class distinctions exacerbated by the practice of slavery and plantation agriculture, the dangers for even free persons of color, plus some remolded gold pieces and the lingering traces of the Battle of New Orleans , all play into the plot. Andrew Jackson is used as an offstage deus ex
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
machina to foil a conspiracy. The reunion of Randolph and Louisa is handled gently and realistically, allowing for the separation's toll under the existing conditions. If you enjoy period mysteries you will like this one, which combines the glamour of New Orleans with the tidy capability of New England residents.
In 1844 Flora Tristan left her abusive husband and set out on a one-woman campaign to promote workers' rights. In 1891 her grandson left a wife and five children to 'find himself in Tahiti.
Paul Gaugin never knew his maternal grandmother, she died before he was born, but both characters were driven by demons. Whilst Flora fought tirelessly for the rights of others , Gaugin selfishly espoused his own. Two flawed individuals who sacrificed all for an obsession. Gaugin soon discovered that his South Sea paradise was corrupted by French colonialism and seeks solace and inspiration with the nubile, sexually uninhibited native girls. Flora wore herself out trying to improve life for the underdog. D~prived and downtrodden for so long they lacked the will to respond , and often turned against her for upsetting the status quo.
Flora and Paul's stories are told in parallel and the author alternates between third person to second person na1Tative throughout. This device appears as an inner voice, or conscience reminding each character of their shortcomings. You might be able to fool others but you cannot really fool yourself.
The result is a fascinating account from an author who treats hrs subject with honesty and compassion. Top marks must go to the translator for a sensitive rendition. Ann Oughton
THE M[SSJNG MARCHrONESS
Paula Marshall, Harlequin Historicals , 2002, $5.25/ C$6.25, pb , 299pp, 03 73304323 Pub in UK by Harlequin Mills & Boon , 2002,£3.20,pb,249pp,0263828573 It's autumn in 1812 and while Marcus Cleeve, Lord Angmaring, is betting his friends that he will never marry , Louise Cleeve, Marchioness of Sywell disguised as Madame Felice, is planning the trousseau of his sister. When Marcus meets the lovely dressmaker, he decides to make her his mistress. Little does he know she's a long lost relative and the runaway bride of the recently murdered Marquis of Sywell. This Regency story has all the plot elements of a gothic novel without being scary The action is predictable, but the
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
characters are lively and likable. The epilogue is confusing. It is a gathering of characters that are assumedly from the author's previous works, but a reader not familiar with these characters will feel like they walked in on someone else's party.
Nan Curnutt
THE TOUCH
Colleen McCullough, Simon & Schuster, 2003,$25.95,hb,464pp,0684853302
Pub in the UK by Century, 2004, £15.99, hb,608pp, 1844134512
The author returns to Australia with a romantic family saga encompassing the events of the late nineteenth century. Alexander Kinross fled his family's poverty in Scotland at age 15, determined to make his fortune. Through ingenuity and fortitude, he succeeds in amassing his own financial empire. Cocky with success, he sends to Scotland for a bride, hopeful of securing the woman he wants, but instead is offered the hand of her younger sister, his cousin Elizabeth.
Against her wishes, Elizabeth is sent to her new life with Alexander. She cannot imagine what life will hold for her in this wild, rugged country. One thing she knows for certain the minute she lays her eyes on her husband, who looks to her like the devil: she can never love this man. Not long after her arrival, she learns about her husband's long-time mistress , the flamboyant and outspoken Ruby Costevan. She fulfils her duty regardless, bears children , establishes the Kinross family line, but at what cost to herself and her family?
The Touch is a compelling new perspective on the romantic theme of the mail- order bride. The novel, set against the advent of the industrial age, is steeped in Australian social and political history. It is an educational read, targeted to an intellectual audience.
That being said, the plot and the characters exhibit an industrial feel-cold, metallic , impersonal-perhaps intentionally so. The book delves a bit too deeply into the mechanical details of gold m·ining, steam engine building and the politics of labor unions for my taste. It attempts to convey too much information in its 450+ pages , leav ing the central plot line of Elizabeth and Alexander's unsuccessful marriage, and their relationship with Ruby , trailing behind. Although l learned a great dea l about th e history of Australia, l found it difficult to enjoy this book much as I wished to.
Andrea Connell
MOUNTAIN OUTLAW
Ian R Mitchell , Luath Pres s 2003, £6.50, pb , 130pp , 1842820273
This is a fictional retelling of folklore stories about Ewan MacPhee , a Highlander who was conscripted to fight in the
Napoleonic wars, but who deserted and was sentenced to death. He returned to his native Lochaber, where he lived as an outlaw and rustler for some 20 years. He either abducted or persuaded a woman to share his life and she became both wife and ally, and he became a local hero by helping victims of the Clearances.
The author has collected many of the stories told about this last of the Highland outlaws. He presents the material in a somewhat curious manner, in my opinion, through the eyes of various fictional characters, but I found it an easy to read book, giving a good picture of life in the Highlands of Scotland during the enforced clearing of the land of people to make way . for sheep.
Pub. in the UK by Viking , 2004, £14.99, 280pp,hb,670914312
When their father dies, Lady Eleanor and her two siblings, Henry and Harriet, find themselves in dire straits financially until Henry is appointed Governor-General of Calcutta. As a result, in 1836 the three of them travel to India , accompanied by their cousin. The novel proceeds in journal form as Lady Eleanor records their experiences while there. Involved in an incestuous relationship with Henry , whom she has always idoli ze d , Lady Eleanor begins seei ng him through a more critical eye as she witnesses hi s and his peers' continual attempts to impose the English culture on India. Henry's arrogance is only exceeded by his ignorance when it comes to executing the duties of his new post. Thus; when he comes up with a grandiose but fatally flawed scheme, the resulting adverse consequences come back to haunt them all.
Thi s is a character- rather than a plotdriven no ve l, so it won't appeal to everyone. Although the author's main characters are beautifully drawn, none of them are particularly likable people. Based on actual memoirs, the history is excellent while the overall storyline is a depressing one. And how could it be otherwise, considering its subject matter - the suppression of a country and its people. Regardless, the author paints colorful and vivid word pictures throughout of India's lush beauty , the conspicuous consumption of its " haves " as opposed to the deprivations of its " have nots " and, underlying all, the callousness and contempt of the occupiers for the native inhabitants and their customs.
This well-written romance is set in Marshall , Kansas, around the tum of the 20 th century. Rejecting the prevailing notions of women's roles, Annie Malloy discovers she is pregnant out of wedlock and refuses to marry the father, outlaw Bodie Miller. But s~e is ahead of her time : the townspeople violently reject her " New Modem Woman" idea s and shun Annie and her parents, making their social li ves miserable. Annie encounters unexpected sympathy from Sheriff Jesse Harden, who is partially motivated by a secret from hi s past. He offers marriage. Bodie, returning from a bank-robbing trip, vows revenge on the man steal ing " his " woman.
Osborne creates memorable , complex characters. She gives Annie believable motives for such non-conformist behavior. Most of the secondary characters are similarly multi-dimensional. Annie's parents react to her pregnancy with shock and repressive treatment, yet they still love her and eventually be gin to change their way of thinking Osborne's inventive plotting kept me guessing as to what would happen next , and which man Annie would end up with. l would gladly read more of Osborne's work.
B .J. Sedlock
DEAD RECKO ING
C. Northcote Parkinson, McBooks, 2003 (cl978), $15.95, pb, 315pp, 1590130383
A few pages into this novel, I felt like struck gold with this tale of high adventure in the South Seas. Capta111 Delancey has married hi s sweetheart Fiona, and been posted on a frigate for a dangerous mission to the East Indies Parkinson writes with an ease and skill that delivers the content whole. He's like a great chef who whips up delica c ie s in the kitchen but doe sn' t intrude on the guests. He relies heavily o n dialog, which carries entire scenes.
Delancey intrigue s in China to plant disinformation so that the French will attack hi s ship. He 's entrusted with a mission against a privateer. He's a lso on the trail of hi s ne'er-do-well brother Michael. He proves him se lf a master s trat egist in several actions against Napoleon's forces. He feels exiled from home and hi s beloved. While his ship is being repaired, he goes on land as an intelligence agent and seeks his nemesis, the elusive Fabius, who interrogated and tortured British POWs. This is a harder Delancey, too lon g away from civilization. He sai ls into the Seychelles under false colors and uses psych o logy to pry open the hiding place of mutineers.
The geography covers a wide territory , but maps are includ ed. The character
development is best appreciated by familiarity with other books in the series.
Marcia K. Matthews
HALF A MIND TO MURDER
Paula Paul, Berkley Prime Crime, 2003, $5.99 / C$8.99, pb, 20lpp, 0425192822
Set in the English seaside village of Newton-upon-Sea , Paula Paul's third offering in the Dr. Alexandra Gladstone mystery series is a lovely romp through Victorian society. After losing three patients to a mysterious illnes s, Dr. Gladstone is pulled into searching for a killer after a body is found with its heart cut out. The villagers are quick to blame a local simpleton, but she finds clues suggesting otherwise. Fighting rigid Victorian attitudes towards women, Alexandra searches for the real killer.
A standard English mystery, this book is a pleasant read. It weaves comments on the class system and Victorian standards with a compelling plot and intriguing characters At times it feels a bit heavy on talk and light on action, but as the suspense builds the action turns the book into a real page-turner. A lovely little book for a rainy afternoon. Dana Cohlmeyer
Anne Perry , Ballantine , 2003, $15.95 / C$22.95, hb , I 80pp, 034546673X
Pub in the UK by Headline , 2003, £12.99, hb,224pp ,075532 1146
Readers of Perry 's Pitt series will be familiar with Aunt Vespasia , one of my favorite Perry characters. Thi s no ve lla takes place prior to the Crimean War. Vespasia Cumming-Gould is attending a preChristmas hou se pa1ty along with a friend of hers , Isobel Alvie. Isobel is a widow with a cutting tongue, which she uses to ill effect on a new widow also at the house party. The dire consequences threaten to cut Isobel off entirely from polite society, unless she expiates her guilt. This involves a journey on which Vespasia generously volunteers to join Isobe l, through wretched winter condi tion s to the Highland s of Scotland. Perry's book highlights the rigid strictures of society, the difficulty in truly knowing another person, and the power of forgiveness , set against a backdrop of the holiday seaso n. This is a rather lightweight work in Perry's oeuvre, and may best be enjoyed by other Aunt Vespasia fans.
Trudi E. Jacobson
THE I IJSTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
A DAY TO PICK YOUR OWN COTTO
Michael Phillips, Bethany House, 2003, $12.99,pb,318pp,0764227017
The Civil War's remote distance from present reality disappears with this sensitive yet realistic narrative story told by a plantation owner's daughter and former slave, now surviving and forging a secret, new life. Having watched their families killed in the historical Shenandoah Valley Massacre by Bilsby's marauders, Katie Clairborne and Mary Anne (Mayme) Jukes struggle to run the Rosewood plantation, pay off its debt , and raise enough money for necessary food and supplies.
Of note is a poignant conversation about why God lets horrible things happen such as the murder of their respective families, the rape of another former slave, and escape of an abused white girl who receive sanctuary at Rosewood. Their experiences powerfully connect the reader to well developed, faithful characters residing in a shelter for anyone who has been set adrift because of the war.
Unique to this novel is a wonderful presentation of cultural differences , delightfully presented in shared classical and African-American stories and music. Freedom is a word so commonly used that one forgets its precious nature , that is , until we read the words of Mayme Her diary excerpts truthfully record the pre-Civil war mentality that took so long to change.
This second novel of the Shenandoah Sisters series is superb, like the first (Angels Watching Over Me), and emphatically deserves the high est commendations.
Viviane Crystal
TOUCHES THE SKY
James Calvin Schaap, Fleming I I. Revell, 2003,$12.99,pb,256pp,0800758927
In the late I 880s, a Paiute Indian known as Wovoka proclaimed that if Indians performed "ghost dances" and other ceremonies, they would be rid of the white men and pro sperity would follow. In a time when Indian s were starving, it was easy to follow this religion. The movement led to a sort of craze among Indian tribes , and in 1890 was one of the causes of the SiowcOutbreak and the terrible massacre known as Wounded Knee
Schaap takes these true events a nd weaves a touching tale around them The story is se t in the desolate South Dakota Territory in 1890 Jan Ellerbrock , a Dutch se ttler , and hi s wife, Dalitha, a missionary on the Sioux reservation, are in search of a Sioux woman, Anna Crow. Anna 1s a follower of the Wovoka faith , and the Ellerbroeks are deeply concerned with her whereabouts and well-being. Schaap effectively creates a s uspenseful account of this tragedy , which will help more ofus understand this story. Carol Anne Germain
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
SOJOURN OF A STRANGER
Walter Sullivan, Louisiana State Univ. Press, 2003 (cl 957), $17.95, pb , 316pp, 0807129178
This novel is a study of the consequences of idealism, the injustices of racism, and the variables that determine one's social standing. Allen Hendricks is 14 when his father, Marcus , brings him to Gallatin, Tennessee, into the realm of his grandfather, a decorated hero of the War of 1812, now a respected, wealthy plantation owner. Marcus and the General have been estranged for many years, owing to the fact that Marcus chose to marry Allen's mother , Lucy, an octoroon. Despite this, Allen soon becomes belov e d of the General and eventually his sole heir.
Most of the action takes place prior to the Civil War. Among the society that makes up General Hendricks' circle, the facts of Allen's birth are known. He is accepted, however , he never escapes the fear that someone wi II make an issue of his " taint. " As war looms , Allen falls hopelessly in love with the daughter of a neighbor. What would be a match made in heaven is constrained by the facts of Allen's birth , but more importantly by his own youthful impatience.
This is a thoughtful , poignant novel , first published in 1957, a time when racial division was at a.critical point , especially in the South. The idea that love is more powerful than hate is s till relevant. However , the idea that change is possible if one has the time and patience to wait out the last diehards might seem frustratingly inadequate today . Al ice Logsdon
PATHSOFDESTI Y
E.V.Thompson, Time Warner 2003, £10.99, pb,326pp , 0316857238
Cornwall 1894 Alice Rowe - illegitimate daughter of her late mother, Grace, and a local miner - is taken from the workhouse by Reverend Alfred Markham who employs her as a housemaid When he dtes su dd en ly , Alice is very worried as to what the future holds.
When she discovers the Reverend 's body in the woods, she meets Gideon Davey , a 'ganger' who is working on the construction of a railway line nearby He helps her and returns for the funeral to see Alice again. Gideon is threatened by the local bullies, critical of Alice and her past , but stands up to them.
As Gideon and Alice's friendship becomes more serious, he accepts an offer to travel to the Crimea to build a railway to help the British troops. Alice moves , too, as the new rector and his wife make life difficult for her, and also travels to the Crimea to help the wounded soldiers.
E.V.Thompson combines romance, action and history to weave an amazing story that transports the reader across the world. The battles and conditions in which the railway lines were laid in the Crimea are well researched and related in fine detail, and the characters are empathetic and believable. This book held my attention all the way through, and culminated in a satisfying conclusion. A compelling read which I would highly recommend.
Vivienne Bass
RUDDLEMOOR
E.V.Thompson, Time Warner 2003, £6.99, 680pp,0751534420
I am not, nor ever have been , a saga fan but I confess to always enjoying the works of E.V.Thompson. Ruddlemoor is the seventh of his Re ta/lick series, and takes the reader up to the early 20 th century with the adventures of Josh and Miriam Ben, owners of the Ruddlemoor china clay works just outside St Austell (Eden project country for those who do not know the area).
What actually happens is typical saga stuff and perhaps needs little description as it can be imagined , but there are some elements that lift this tale out of the common run. As a person intere sted in industrial archaeology, it's my habit to skirt around what actually happens in the mill/mine / factory and concentrate on the interpersonal side of things. In an E.V. Thompson novel you get a good fat story plus all the fascinating details about china clay works and how they operated, as well as a good feel for the area. Clog and shawl stories tend to concentrate rather too hard on the grim side of things and leave little opportunity to explore the lighter side of life, but although bad things do happen to the characters that is not all there is; life"s rich tapesuy is unrolled in full. This is a longer novel than is usual from this writer and at time s the pa ce nags somewhat; it could stand some editing to add a tautness. But I will be waiting for book eight! A saga for those who don ·1 like sagas (as well as those who do , of course)
Rachel A Hyde
MURDER ON MULBERRY BEND
Victoria Thompson , Berkley Prime Crime, 2003, $6.99/C$9. 99, pb , 346pp, 0425189104
This is th e fifth volume in the author's Gaslight Mystery ser ies , following Murder on Washington Square. The series takes place in New York City in the 1890s, and features midwife Sarah Brandt and police detective Frank Malloy. In this vo lume, Sarah volunteers to help al the Prodi gal Son Mission , which rescues teenage girls from a life on the streets. When one of the girls is
found murdered, wearing Sarah's clothes which she had donated to the mission, Sarah investigates, despite warnings from Frank to stay out of the case
This book is very enjoyable, although, without giving too much away, I must say I found it more disturbing than other volumes I have read. I figured out the mystery fairly quickly , but that did not bother me too much, because I enjoyed reading about the relationships between the characters; the relationship between Sarah and Frank is obviously developing into a romance. This, in spite of the fact that Sarah is the daughter of one of New York's wealthiest families and Frank comes from a family of Irish immigrants. I highly recommend this book , especially for fans of Anne Perry Vicki Kondelik
SUMMER IN BADEN-BADEN
Leonid Tsypkin, New Directions, 2003 (cl987), $13.95, pb, 176pp, 0811215482
The Dostoyevyskys spend the summer of 1867 at the German Kurort of BadenBaden Fedya, the great writer, suffers from epilepsy, the scorn of Turgenev, the effects of a Siberian imprisonment , and a mania for gambling that drives him to pawn his own wedding ring and all but the clothe s off the back of hi s young and longsuffering wife, pregnant with "their future Misha or their future Sonya." This tale, how eve r, is but the center doll of a matryoshka set of stories, the inner treasure the writer's discovery of th e vivid characters of hi s great opus , and the outer one a "present day" pilgrimage by a vague " [" to the scene or Dostoyevsky's death.
Leonid Tsypkin follows Fed ya 's descent- or ascent, as the book sometimes describ es it , to the pinnacle of a sharp triangle with the stolid grimness the Russian s have perfected. The prose is hi g hly literate, on the verge of poetry as im ages reassert themselves like the words of a chorus, and flow s in chapterless, maniacal , stream -of-con sciousness sentences, one per paragraph in paragraphs severa l pages long.
Perhaps the most intere s tin g aspect of the novel, how ever, is the story of it s author told in the introduction. A Jewish refusenik with the terrors of both Hitler and Stalin in his past, Leonid Tsypkin toiled his life away at a job degrading to hi s intelligence and medical education. Writing al night, in secret, he never saw his fiction publtshed until seve n days before his death when th e first part of this manuscript, sec ret ed out of Soviet Russia, appeared in an expatriate ma gazine. The very apex of thi s novel's triangle is that or a Jew trying to come to terms with his passion for one of the world's greatest authors, sym pathetic on paper to the down-trodden, but who was, in fact, an antiSemite of the first order. The J ewis h
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
pawnbrokers who took the pathetic bundle of clothes were somehow to blame for Fedya's own mania.
Ann Chamberlin
HUCK FINN AND TOM SA WYER AMONG THE INDIANS
Mark Twain & Lee Nelson, Council Press, 2003, $ I 8.95, pb, 272pp, 155517680 I In 1885 Mark Twain began a sequel to The Adventures of Hu ckleberry Finn. Though Twain subsequently published many books, he abandoned this novel in mid-sentence Lee Nelson, author of western adventures, has dared to finish it.
For the first fifty-six pages we are regaled with Twain's winking humor, his keen ear for dialect , and his grand storytelling skill. Huck, Tom & Jim have decided to go west in search of adventure. They travel with a migrating family and barely escape an Indian attack. Jim , a child, and a young woman are kidnapped. Tom & Huck follow in an attempt to save them and Twain falls silent.
This is where Nelson takes over. Within a dozen pages, Nelson has the indomitable Tom Sawyer sobbing. Yes, sobbing. Nelson fills Huck with tingly feelings for the "violated" female captive. Gone is the dialect and the side-of-the-mouth humor. Nelson leads Huck across the country, where he comes in contact with a pedophile army officer, Mormon gunslingers, ex-slave " lnjun " chiefs, dirty trapper s - all the flotsam and jetsam of the mythic American West. This makes for entertaining reading but it ain't Huck Finn.
Here's the problem: This book is neither fish nor fowl - not a full attempt to ape Twain's style, nor a clean break into a fresh perspective. By attempting this project, Mr. Nelson has sat himself upon a fencepost and handed the critics guns. As Huck Finn might say, " that takes a lot of sand."
The West ha s seldom seemed as alien a country as in this novel focusing on the inters ecting lives of an isolated frontier outpost commander and the enigmatic redeemed Indian captive he tries to understand as the neglected fort crumbles arou nd them.
Much of the story is locked within the woman once known as Abigail Buwell, pregnant and despised by the soldiers and her fellow captive alike for going Indian. Hints of the four years she felt alive are peppered throu gho ut and in one evocative pa ssage. Major Cutter is haunted by a life full of sorrows too, from the horrors of Civil War engagements to family deaths and
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
madness and separation from his beloved wife Firm in the belief of no afterlife, the ghosts of this story are the spirits of live people, from the high sensitivity of the outpost's smith to the Blue Horse bonded to the woman who aided his birth.
Wallace's self-conscious, ornate writing is not served well by paragraph-long sentences, the decision not to include quotation marks and the redundancy in Cutter's letters home. But the story's cheerless evocation of "this is no world to be born into" will stick in the reader's mind.
The reader who picks this up having seen "Civil War" on the cover and hoping for tales of cannon shot and screaming horses will be disappointed-but I hope, in the end , as enriched as I was. The characters are Quakers, after all, an orchard man, doing his part to fructify his little part of the early frontier, and his preacher wife, not inclined to war. The time spread, while a little vague , goes from their years with a young family to the putting m of gas lighting and grandparenthood. The big battles are fought over the kitchen table, and not over whether one might die , which is bound to happen sooner or later, but over the horror that one might kill. In "The Battle of Finney's Ford," the enemy never appears- or is found, rather, in a young man 's own impatience struggling with his fear when he goes against faith to fight for his country. "Pictures from a Clapboard House," the name of another chapter, could title the whole book when it gives us a child's view of the adult world. Then the next chapter balances with an adult glimpse of childhood.
Unlike most other genres, historical fiction has unique capabilities to withstand becoming dated. Jessamyn West 's collection of stories connected by on-going characters, which began life as magazine publication in 1940, gathered together and called a novel in 1968, is a case in point. As long as readers can find historic a l fiction of this caliber reprinted , modern attempts must struggle not to appear mere popguns. The beauty of the writing takes the breath away on every page. The most pivotal issues of human life are picked up and caressed in the particular until they glitter brilliantly. The unique bravery in home spu n innocence, the universality of lives comfortable in their quirks, accepting of other's differences as the limits of one's own faith are likewise accepted-this is a beautiful book charged with heavenly power, all the while firmly grounded on earth.
Ann Chamberlin
THE EX ILE
Richard S. Wheeler, Forge, 2003, $24 .95 / C$34.95, hb, 336pp, 0312878478
Thomas Francis Meagher , the Irish exile, lived a life so turbulent that Richard Wheeler never once exaggerates in narrating the rebel's story. Born in Waterford, young Meagher used his silver tongue to argue for the repeal of the union between England and Ireland, a popular cause in the mid-19 th century. While still in his twenties , he was convicted of treason for 'exciting the people to rise to rebellion.' He was transported to Yan Diemen's Land. Three years later, he escaped to America.
This is where Wheeler's story begins. He depicts Meagher adrift in Manhattan, making wages by public speaking, practicing law, and starting a newspaperuninspired ventures that fail to provide him a secure living. The Civil War provides opportunity. Meagher raises the Irish Brigade and fights at Richmond, Antietam, Fredericksburg - reaching the rank of brigadier general. When the war ends he is set adrift again, eventually receiving a post as Territorial Secretary and acting Governor of the rough-and-tumble Montana territory.
Wheeler depicts Meagher as a man at his best in conflict, danger, and war - not navigating the domestic burdens of a worka-day life. A clear, straightforward narrative and a compassionate depiction of a great, and greatly flawed , individual make this novel a solid read.
Lisa Ann Verge
BLACKSTONE'S BRIDE
Bronwyn Williams , Harlequin Historicals, 2003, $5.25/C$6.25, pb, 299pp, 0373292678
Eleanor Miller is trapped in the backwoods of North Carolina. Her husband sold their possessions to finance his search for gold on their property. Now that he's dead , his relatives prevent her from leaving, hoping she will marry one of them and keep the potential fortune in the family. Enter Jed Blackstone , who trespasses on Miller land and gets beaten for hi s error. Eleanor hides him in her cabin, with an eye to using him to help her escape once he 's healed up.
The book seems to be set in the late 19 th century, as best I could guess from the context. The beginning half of the book provides plenty of sexual tension , as two strangers coexist in a tiny cabin, trying not to react to furtive glimpses of each other when in a semi-dressed state. I was a bit skeptical about the later consummation scene, however. Jed and Eleanor are extremely tired and very hungry, but after a long day of riding and a freezing dip in a pond, they still find the energy to make passionate love ? But a little fantasy is allowed in romance. And the good
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
characterizations and inventive "meet cute" plot make up for any misgivings. An enjoyable book.
Rather than wait for a rich husband to appear on the horizon Georgiana Gregory flouts convention and leaves her home in Hull for America. With her maid, Kitty she arrives in New York and is introduced to a young man passing himself off as her cousin's husband , Edward Newmarch who, after deserting his wife, had also struck out for America and freedom.
Georgiana's quest to discover Edward's fate and see justice done leads her to the gold fields of California , the country of the Iroquois and back to New York. The vibrant pulse of a new country in the making is vividly drawn. Georgiana's common sense stands her in good stead in the most challenging situations The brief romance Georgiana finds with Lake, a charismatic hero, half Iroquois and half French is so beautifully told it is worth reading this book for that alone Definitely one to curl up with on a wet Sunday afternoon.
Ann Oughton
HUNTING MlDNIGHT
Richard Zimler, Delacorte, 2003, $24.95, hb,499pp,0385336446
Pub. in the UK by Constable & Robinson, 2004,£8.99,pb, 1841197718
Although this remarkable epic novel begins at the very end of the eighteenth century, the great bulk of it is set in the nineteenth century, primarily in Portugal. Chock to the brim with enduring characters, monumental and often chaotic historical events, the brutality of bigotry and slavery and the redemption of love and compassion, this is Zimler at his best.
John is our guide and narrator. We meet him at age 7, in 1798, living in Portugal with his parents - his father a Scotsman and his mother, native Portuguese - and he concludes the book in 1825 in New York. John's life is a see-saw of raw emotions, loving and losing, over and over again. Surrounded by powerful ties he does not understand and not realizing that he has been " protected " from his Jewishness at a time in history when Jews are once again (if not always) abhorred, John is an amazingly complex creation.
When John's father returns from a business trip , a freed slave named Midnight in tow, John's life changes forever. Midnight - a healer, a Bushman with a connection to the eternal, the metaphysical and the real - influences John in a way no
other has or will do again. Later, when John discovers that he has lost Midnight forever because of the treachery of his family, he begins a search for his once and forever friend, a search which John will not let end until the truth is revealed.
The story is, ultimately, about reconciling an unspeakable and horrible family betrayal and faith. Spanning two centuries and three continents, Zimler manages to weave all the elements of historical fact, character and plot development into a seamless fabric. A bit daunting in its length, the pages tum almost by themselves. This is a wonderful and memorable book, a must read.
Ilysa Magnus
19TH/20TH CENTURY
SECOND SIGHT
Meg Henderson, Flamingo 2004, 343pp, 0 00 2261898
This is a family saga following the fortunes of the MacLeod family who emigrate from Scotland to Canada in the 1840s into the late twentieth century. It focuses on the life of Nancy , born in 1900 and her son, Calli, who becomes an airman in the Second World War. Nancy, despite her reluctance to admit it, inherits the family's second sight, and when her son, Calli, is lost after his plane is shot down, is unable to believe he is dead. This leads her to an unexpected discovery.
"Second Sight" is meticulously researched and has an ambitious narrative sweep, taking the reader from Scotland to Canada and back again, through both world wars and much else besides. The McLeod family is a complex unit, with a tendency to repeat the same Christian names in each generation , and I would have welcomed a family tree to help me distinguish the different characters and their relationships
Sadly, the breadth of scope and depth of research tell against the potential drama in this tale. The generations up to Nancy's birth are rushed through ; we are told of births , deaths and marriages rather than shown the feelings of those involved. The accounts of both world wars lose emotional intensity through an over-use of unprocessed facts and figures. The narrative contains very little tension, even in the lon g, unrequited love of Nancy and her cousin, Gil. The dialogue tends to be sttlted and monotonous, with insufficient variation between characters or over time Surely Nancy, a third generation Canadian, would not use as strong a Scottish idiom as her parents and grandparents.
I felt unable to care for these people or become interested in their fate, so the dramatic climax, when Calli is shot down, fell rather flat for me After finishing the
book, I was left with a sense of frustration that Meg Henderson had managed to make so little of such rich material.
Sarah Bower
20 th CENTURY
THE AFFAIR OF THE 39 CUFFLINKS James Anderson, Poisoned Pen Press; 2003, $24 .9 5, hb, 320pp, 1590580982
Murder at Alderley once again! After a gap of over twenty years, this third in the series is another fine throwback to the English country house mysteries of the 1930s, filled with people filled with secrets they wish to be kept hidden; witty (and often cutting) dialogue ; near farcical encounters in the night; and more clues than you can imagine Behind a rather sanguine facade, Inspector Wilkins is quite a detective, and at the _ end he patiently goes through each of the pieces of evidence that brought him to his final conclusion - who did it and how, and how he found out.
It's quite a challenge for an author to produce a period detective novel that's both humorous and a fair play mystery as well, and two out of three is not bad After the explanations are over, it's clear that not even the cleverest of annchair detectives could have worked the solution out on their own. Wilkins has the resources, the reader doesn't , and the reader is not told of the crucial details until too late.
This is almost, but not quite, a great detective novel , and better than 90% of those written today And unless Mr. Anderson can be persuaded to write another, or he has one locked away in a trunk somewhere, I also have the feeling that this may finally be the end of the series. I hope I'm wrong.
Steve Lewis
A CRY FROM THE DARK
Robert Barnard , Allison & Busby 2003, £ 17.99, hb , 260pp, 0749006 I 7X
This crime novel switches between a small Australian outback town in the late I 930s and contemporary London. Bettina Whitelaw, now entering her 80s, is a famous author engaged on writing her memoirs. She revisits her adolescence in the narrow and limited Australian outback, where she grew up an intelligent and observant teenager , leaving after being raped - a crime which was unsolved, although the reader is led to believe that Bettina knew who committed the act. It becomes clear that in London someone is attempting to prevent Bettina from publishing her memoirs, and that the reason lies locked up in her past. The perpetrator is not uncovered through police procedures but by the gradual narrative of long-ago events in Australia. It is a
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
competently told tale, if not a particularly profound work of fiction, with the historical element the strongest both in terms of plot and characters; the harsh landscape and debilitating social milieu of rural Australia described in a living and redolent prose.
Doug Kemp
FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE
Rhys Bowen, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2003, $23.95/C$33.95, hb, 322pp, 0312313004
This third book in the Molly Murphy mystery series shares the vivid atmosphere of early 20 th century New York City contained in the first two books, Murphy's Law (winner of the Agatha award) and Death of Riley (the books are best read in order). Molly Murphy is an immigrant who has not long since arrived from Ireland. She is attempting to make a living as a private investigator, not an easy thing to do when women on their own are unable to respectably or safely go many places in the city, particularly places that might have criminal connections. Molly becomes involved with two cases, one tracking down for a well to do father in Ireland a missing daughter who has run off to the new world, the other connected to the theft of fashion designs in the garment business The plot allows Bowen to highlight the plight of newly arrived immigrants and sweatshop girls, set against a backdrop of a city ruled by Tammany Hall and neighborhood gangs. Bowen 's evocation of the 1901 New York City, along with an engaging writing style and an appealing protagonist , make for a winning book and series.
Pub in the UK by Vintage , 2003, £6.99, pb, 230pp,0099442043
When she hears of the opportunity to serve Gem,an men in Africa, Hanna goes - leaving a past of heartache and sorrow. But when Hanna run s afoul of a German officer, she ends up at Frauen stien, a pathetic Gem,an outpost. When another officer threatens her friend, Hanna reacts , and she and her friend set out on a journey of discovery and revenge. It isn't long before they are joined by others - women and natives - who, for many reasons , want to fight back
Set soon after the tum of the last century, the whole book is a vivid picture of Gem1an society both home and abroad in Africa. Furthennore, the author has researched and included colorful stories and descriptions of native Africans of that time. While the story is essentially fiction , the author includes notes at the conclusion that indicate extensive research into the period and people.
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
The book is basically in two parts understanding Hanna's past and the journey of revenge. The first part of the book is very jumpy and difficult to read. It is also very hard to get into. But perseverance pays off: the second part is very suspenseful and psychologically taut.
Alycia Harris
SNOBBERY WITH VIOLENCE
Marion Chesney, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2003 , $22.95,hb,226pp , 03123045IX
This is the debut novel in veteran author Chesney's new Edwardian mystery series. At its center is the detective duo of Lady Rose Summer, a suffragette sympathizer, and Boer War veteran Captain Harry Cathcart. They meet when he informs her father that the man Lady Rose hopes to marry is not what he seems.
Rose's parents seek to distract her by sending her to a house party. There she once again encounters Captain Cathcart, who has arrived to discreetly investigate a murder. Not one to sit by and observe, Rose joins in the search for the murderer, much to the Captain's distress
Ms. Chesney has crafted a solid mystery, peopled with a fascinating array of characters. Though a little too much time is spent setting things up, once the murder takes place, the pace picks up Interesting period details add welcome touches of authenticity, but from time to time their inclusion seems a little forced. The relationship between Rose and Harry is fraught , especially after an attempt is made on Rose 's life. Yet there are also hints of a blossoming romance between them.
Teresa Basinski Eckford
THE DAMASCENED BLADE
Barbara Cleverly, Constable 2003 , £16.99, hb, 288pp, 1841 196762
The North-West Frontier 1910. A group of British soldiers are ambushed by Pathan tribesmen. One is left at the foot of a ravine, badly wounded. Knowing that the Pathans will torture him a young Highland soldier goes down to help him. During this attempted rescue the soldier kills two tribesmen and the officer they were torturing.
Twelve years later, Detective Joe Sandilands, seconded from Scotland Yard finds himself caught up in the aftermath.
The story gathers momentum until its climax. Th e characters come alive as in Cleverly's previous books featuring Joe Sandilands. A good if easy read
Mairead McKerracher
VICTORY
Stephen Coonts, ed., Forge, 2003 , $27.95/C$38.95, hb, 768pp, 0312874626
Coonts, I believe, is wrong in saying there have been three American wars that have
been the "defining experience of their generation. World War II, World War I, and the American Civil War." He calls Vietnam horrific, but not one of the above, and he should have. Be that as it may, this book is dedicated to the veterans of World War II, their declining numbers and the fading of their memories. Only in fiction now, Coonts claims, can it be described what it was like to survive that war, or "die in the crucible ."
The ten short novels in Victory arc well chosen to prove his point. They consist of in-depth snapshots of WWII, both in Europe and in the Pacific theater. The authors include a veritable "Who's Who" of the best writers of military and techno-thriller fiction today. Every reader of the book will get his money's worth in full.
Among the best in this huge volume are Coonts's own story, a pulp-flavored tale of the air war against the Japanese , complete with the sights and smells of being there in person; Harold Robbins's more than slightly bawdy tale of a Jewish soldier's daring impersonation of an OSS officer in an attempt on Der Fiihrer's life; and Ralph Peters's saga of a German officer's desperate trek back to his wife's side after the end of the war , his mind flooded with memories , kept alive by delusions of honor.
There's not room here to mention all of the entries. Suffice it to say that they all succeed when their stories focus on the characters; less successful when they concentrate on the technical aspects of warfare. While death is ever-present in these tales, the authors are proficient in finding the just right words to describe courage and bravery as well.
Steve Lewis
THE DEVIL'S HANDSHAKE
Murray Davies, Pan 2003, £6.99, pb, 646pp, 0330490796 (First published 2002 by Macmillan)
In January 1943 at SOE headquarters in Baker Street Robin Lusty volunteers to assassinate Hitler. Dropped into Bavaria disguised as a German officer Lusty is forced to kill a suspicious policeman to protect his cover. The ruthless detective, Jager is soon on his trail.
As Lusty draws _c loser to his quarry by winning the confidence of Eva Braun success seems imminent but a change in Allied policy dashes his hopes With the net closing around him Lusty is betrayed by London . This is a gripping yarn of human endurance and survival against all odds. Murray Davies does not waste words. He involves the reader in the action from page one until the very end.
The Fox's Walk takes the reader to Ireland during the First World War, more specifically before and after the Easter Rising of 1916. Alice Moore , eight years old and sent to her grandmother's Irish estate, Ballydavid, by her London parents, is the na1Tator. Narrating both from her eightyear-old self and from her grown-up self, Alice provides a curious perspective, furnishing the reader with an uncanny rendering of what it was like to be a child in a hou se with two old woman, her grandmother and her great-aunt, both mourning the death of her uncle in the war, livin g in a land where the English have an uneasy relationship with the Iri sh , while her grown-up self views the events from a distance that keeps the reader at arm's length. Although part of the Anglo-Irish Protestant class, Alice never seems especially close to her grandmother and great-aunt, instead preferring the company of those at whom her grandmother turns her nose up such as the dramatic Mrs Coughlan and the impoverished and possibly psychic Countess Debussy Indeed, Alice seems more sympathetic to the underdog Irish as we learn that she stayed in Ireland as a school teacher rnther than returnin g to England, although we never hear why.
Alice intersperses her per sona l narrative with the story of Sir Ro ger Casement, sympathizer to the Iri sh nation a lists who was executed for treason after the Easter Rising. Although it is gripping history, it has the effect of splitting th e book in two, half history lesson, half memoir, and it is difficult to reconcile th e halves. I felt as though the grown-up Alice had succee ded in keeping me at a distance , and while I respected her tale, it never moved me.
Ellen Keith
PRAIRIE NOCTURNE
Ivan Doig , Scribner, 2003, $26 / C$41, hb, 365pp,0743201353
Susan Duff and Wesley Williamson sha re a past romance and the land sca pe of their youth. By 1924, ten years ha ve smoothed the rou g her edges from their awkward break-up. So when Wes seeks Susan's assistance to help out a nother old friend, she sees it as an oppo rtunity to both make money and complete her unfinished operetta in th e familiar se ttin g of the Two Medicine country of rural Montana.
The project is Montgom ery Rathbun, a ranch hand at the Williamson family's enormous ranch, the Double W. Monty , who is black, has a promising voice, the type that any music teacher would love to train. The y settle into their roles as teacher and s tudent , appropriately chaperoned by
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
another ranch hand. But they don ' t escape the harsh eye of prejudice. Courting scandal is nothing new to Susan- But this time the price is higher than ever before.
This novel explores the idea of boundaries. Boundaries cim be physical, such as the fences that separate property. But more often, as seen in this novel, they are more personal. We are held in check by our emotions, by societal pressures, by our moral codes, and sometimes by secrets from the past to which others hold the keys. How we maintain these barriers, or steer around them , reveals our strength and our weakness.
Ivan Doig is a remarkable storyteller. His prose is both rich and restrained He possesses the talent and wit to let wellchosen words and quiet imagery speak volumes as his story moves from the weathered, isolated plains to the vibrant hustle of city life. Using flashback , he gives the reader insight into earlier events that shape his characters ' actions. (This includes events from two previous novels, Dancing at the Ras ca l Fair and English Creek.) This novel will surely be remembered as one of the year's best.
Alice Logsdon
THE LAST MAN IN BERLIN
Gaylord Dold , SotJrcebooks, 2003, $25 / C$40,hb,345pp, !402201249 Harry Wulff is a sirrJ.ple, hard-working detective in early 1930s Berlin. More than anything, Harry wants to do his job and stay out of the political turmoil that rages throughout the city. But the seeming ly random murder of a tran svest ite slowly draws Harry into the quicksand of Nazi hyste ria. He finds that fewer and fewer of his colleagues can be trusted. Then hi s immediate superior is murdered in the same fashion, and suddenly }-larry finds himself up to his neck in politi cal intrigue. Complicating matters is the fact that Harry is in love with a beautifu I (of course) Jewish woman and hence scorned by many of his fellow detectives.
Dold does an @dmirable job of encapsulating Germany's confusing and headlong tumble toward Nazi lunacy into the confines of a mLJrd er investigation. Oddly, though, the zea lou s SA Brown Shirts are mostly portrayed as imbecilic sexual deviants , while Wulff and his few trusted colleagues and friends are portrayed as intelligent and, for the most part , morally upstandin g individuals. A little too black ha t/w hite hat, perhaps. Still, the story is darkly intriguing and especially apropos of today , remi nding us of tJ1e danger of ove rl y fervent nationalism
Spiffy in her shingled bob and kneeskimming skirts, we meet the Honorable Daisy in April 1924 facing her worst fearsa long postponed visit to the neighborhood dentist, a handsome fellow with a fondness for the anesthetic nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas. To Daisy's mingled shock and relief, when she arrives for her appointment the seemingly deserted office conceals the body of a smiling but very dead dentist. Her aching tooth forgotten, Daisy plunges into her eleventh adventure assisting Inspector Fletcher to investigate a suspicious death. Accident, suicide or murder? Suspects in this charming traditional mystery include all of the parties in two intersecting love triangles centering on the swinging dentist.
Fans of the series will note that Daisy's recent ma1Tiage to Fletcher hasn't ended her career as a magazine journalist, but her new life in a village-like suburb of London is complicated by the social strains of gossipy ladies' teas and housekeeping with a very competitive mother-in-law . Purists may cavil at Daisy's frequent interference in her husband's investigations , but her warm, cheerful personality combined with Dunn' s humorous touch and stylish period detail s provide a brisk , enjoyable read Nina de Angeli
BACHELOR LIST
Jane Feather, Bantam, 2004, $6.99 /C$10.99, pb ,343pp,055358618 1
The three Duncan sisters are, secret ly, the writers and publishers of the forwardthinking newspaper, The Mayfair Lady. This new spaper advocates votes for women taxpayers, as well as providing society gossip. However, the spending of their father, Lord Duncan, is beginning to outstrip the family's mea ns, so they come up with some new schemes to sell th e ir paper, including an agony aunt column and a matchmaking service.
Max Ensor , a newly elected Member of Parliament, is determined to help the current government by discovering ways lo disarm those who advocate for votes for women , including those responsible for The Mayfair Lady. Constance, eldest of the Duncan sisters, finds herself powerfully drawn to Max, much as s he despises hi s traditional stance on the ro le of women. The Duncan sisters hold very fotward-thinking views, nol only about women's suffrage, but abou t sex. While I am not sure th ei r free-thinking ways fit well into the period Uust after the tum of the 20 th ce ntury) , the book otherwise is true to the period, and full of historical details. The story of Cons tance and Max's volatile relationship is interwoven with some very engag ing matchmaking attempts
•ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
The tales of the two younger sisters will soon have their own volumes.
Trudi E. Jacobson
PATROL TO THE GOLDEN HORN
Alexander Fullerton, Soho, 2002, $24, hb, 229pp, 1569473129
In the third novel of a nine-volume naval series, we find the protagonist, Nick Everard, in a submarine. Nick has previously commanded a super-dreadnought earning promotions to flag rank and enjoying the speed and excitement of 'destroyer actions .'
But Nick hates submarines. His background is also very different from the rest of the E57 crew, Nick's uncle is a distinguished admiral in the Royal Navy and his father a baronet. But Nick and the E57 crew share a common purpose: their mission As WWI draws to a close, these men must do what no submariners have been able to do in two years: go through the Dardanelles and into the Marmara Sea . Then they must destroy Goeben, a 23,000ton German battle-cruiser, symbol of German power, which is anchored in Constantinople.
Having attended the Royal Naval College and served in battleships, cruisers, and submarines, Alexander Fullerton knows life at sea, and he recreates it with authenticity and vigor. In Patrol to the Golden Horn, Fullerton evokes the warm, oily, claustrophobic atmosphere of the submarine and the psychological, emotional, and physical difficulties its crew must endure, pointing out where and how tension flares up However, he is less interested in his characters than in the submarine itself or in the journey, an adventure full of nets, charges, mines, and thin air. All in all, a good tale colorfully told.
In this bittersweet story, America with its Burma -s have s igns along Route 66 and its "L ittle Brown Jug " also includes gun violence. The journey west for Brady begins in Missouri with a murder/suicide. Suddenly he 's re spons ible for his little niece For Margie, it begins with dreams of Hollywood and the reality of a distant father who barely speaks to her. When Brady meets Margie, they forge a connection. Traveling in the '30s version of a wagon train , a caravan of trucks and cars, they form an ensemble with other families. They camp out at night under the stars in Oklahoma, Rusty, who is blind but a talented musician, likes young Mona , whose father has married a floozy, Cowboy songs drift on the night breeze. Taking a
road trip to California is America's version of the Odyssey.
Garlock doesn't rhapsodize about the scenery. This isn't lyrical writing, but character-based, with a strong narrative drive. Brady, flawed by a mean streak, makes enemies of some drifters. Margie's stubborn pride puts obstacles in the way of her happiness, The engine of the book is the interplay between characters, fueled by the deadly conflict between Brady and the drifter. I kept reading just one more chapter, although the graphic language, sexism and violence repelled me. The author spends too much time with the lowlifes at the expense of her major characters.
Pub in UK by Time Warner International, 2003,£!6.99,hb,416pp,044653062X
A 1930s Oklahoma gas station on the fabled Route 66 is the setting for this romance between the home rooted Leona and traveling man Yates. They're drawn together after Leona's brother-in-law Andy is bitten by a rabid skunk and must travel to Oklahoma City for hospitalization. Yates, beholden to the gentle mechanic for a rescue years before, agrees to take over his duties, including the care of his young daughters and Leona.
Leona e11dures a "fa llen woman" reputation from townsfolk for living with a family headed by her dead sister's husband , The impression is aided and abetted by her own brother, as mean a religious fanatic as one is likely to meet in fiction,
A colorful cast of characters on their way west stop at the station and campground, Attraction between the reticent Yates and big-hearted Leona develops through his care of the station, her young nieces and herself. When her brother is murdered , the plot gallops towards its love-tested conclusion.
Conventional characters, slow pacing and excessive point of view shifts (even the dog gets his chance to comment!) are offset by good command of Depression-era details and heartfelt story, only occasionally marred by anachronisms like characters talking about "re lation s hips" and "a nxiety " and children behaving with what seemed a more modem kind of brattiness, Eileen Charbonneau
In Moscow in 1938 the Beautiful Game (aka football or soccer) is a matter of political interest. But for the players of Spartak it is a
passion and a way oflife. When they are asked to lose the game to Dynamo, the team has a hard choice. The NK.VD - forerunners of the KGB - run Dynamo, and it may be the real game is actually life or death, not football. There's probably not enough football to make this book a love-match for footie fans, Instead Goddard focuses on Spartak, their lives and their dilemmas. Also featured is the horrific Grotsky, manager of Dynamo , who is a cruel brute, though some of his behaviour is explained. The private lives of the characters are expertly contrasted with the deadly dynamics of politics. The Spartak team have a strong group ethos, and there is an overwhelming sense they are living on borrowed time. Many are trapped in the past, but the future is too uncertain to anticipate. Goddard's dialogue is believable , there's an easy stream of consciousness, and the players are suitably raucous. Much is left unresolved at the end of the story, however the last lines are apt.
S Garside-Neville
ROAD WALKERS
Shirley Ann Grau, Louisiana State Univ. Press ,2 003,$17.95,pb,292pp,0807129135
Many books try to describe the life of the marginal and the lost beyond civilization, but Roadwalkers clinches it. The first section plausibly chronicles the genesis of one such group of drifters in the early 20'h century, and their subsequent fate. "They were six children and a mother and a father and they all lived in a house with their grandparents." Then the grandfather is killed, the father and mother run off, the grandmother dies, and the children are left on their own. One or two find places to stay, one drowns in a barrel, and several drift on to become the roadwalkers of the title, a hobo existence bordering on feral. The second part of this narrative tells the story of Charles Tucker , son of a poor farmer, rising to become the manager of an estate. Depredations on the grounds lead him to di scove r the last two of the roadwalker pack , a boy and his youngest sister, called Baby Because Charles is white and Baby black, he searches the black community for a place she can be raised, placing her at an orphan home in New Orleans. We don ' t learn more of Baby/Mary directly, instead the final third follows Mary's daughter. The early life of Nanda and her mother reminded me strongly of Chaco/at, with its motherdaughter bond and the definition as outsider from the places they live. Both women overcome odds of poverty and prejudice and can be admired for their strength and determination, but they are impossible to like, and this part of the book was the least enjoyable. Overall , however , this novel was a pleasure to read.
Mary K Bird-Guilliams
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
VIRGINIA
Jens Christian Grnndal, Canongate, 2003, £9.99, pb, 121pp , 1841954101
This book came with excellent recomm endations and reviews. As it is written by a highly acclaimed Danish author, I was looking forward to reading it. •Ah me! I am not normally put off by the present tense but I couldn't get to grips with the two main characters in the opening chapters. 'She' and 'I' never seem to acquire names and the story is written in a simple reported style which I found remote and distant. The woman describes her life as ' so infinitesimally unimportant' and the whole book read like that for me.
Virginia is described on the cover flap as: 'a sensitive, deeply moving story about intricacies of relationships, written with Grnndal's sympathetic and incomparable perception'. The reader is asked to believe that an incident long ago, the discovery of a British airman, shot down one night and hiding from the Germans in wartime Denmark, has lifelong effects upon the girl and boy She discovered him hiding the morning after he was shot down and brought him food for the one day before he was captured. The boy followed the girl and thinks he may have led the Germans to the shed. I could understand the misplaced guilt of the boy, but after all the Germans were bound to find the boat shed in their search. That the teenage girl should fancy herself in love and ruin the rest of her life thinking about the young aimian daily was not made believable for me by the writer.
Interesting that the title of the book is not the name of the woman but of the shreds of tobacco left in the airman's cigarette case. All very deep and symbolic, yes, but the book would have been better for a little real emotion and some sympathy expressed by the writer for th e characters and what they chose to do with that experience. As it was the reader had two remote and unlikeable characters to struggle with and a book where the theme was more important than the story.
Richard Chandler's family has historically always been important within the village of Chandler's Green but , in the post-war years their in0uence is definitely in decline. I Lis wife and adult children despise him, his friends are deserting him and the family curse of alcoholism threatens to destroy his sanity. Into this turmoil enter Alf and Leena Martindale who appear to know more about Richard's past than he has ever volunteered. All these elements prove to be an explosive mix and, when the inevitabl e crisis finally THE HrSTORlCAL NOVELS REVIEW
arrives the family must rally together if they have any hope of surviving.
It is easy to see why Ruth Hamilton is such a popular novelist. She writes in such an engaging and entertaining style. Her characters are well rounded, colourful and consistent. Her plots flow smoothly and she uses period detail with utmost confidence. Unsurprisingly, the author is considered to be a natural successor to Catherine Cookson and Chandler's Green simply oozes quality from every page.
Out of the blue, G.G. Gilman receives a letter from her girlhood friend Barb Tatum In it Barb proposes they should meet - the two have not seen each other since the end of the summer of 1946 when Barb's mother, Faye, was murdered. The girls are now old women. Like a summons straight from G G.'s past, the letter puts her back into the town where she grew up. Back to living with her beloved grandmother; back to her first summer job at the age of 14 as a reporter for the Gazette. Back to being Gretchen Gilman
Gretchen grapples with her first success as a reporter, intent on following the facts of stories rather than fitting selected details into predetermined conclusions. This brings her to write a sympathetic account of Barb's murdered mother when most of the townspeople prefer to think Faye brought about her own demise, maybe even deserved it.
Lette r from Home is a mystery with a gentle, naive quality. All of Hart 's characters are effortlessly real, right down to the busybody neighbors. A good portrait of small town America in the 1940s Janette King
LEGION OF THE DAMNED /WHEELS OF TERROR/MONTE CASSINO/SS
GE ERAL
Sven Hassel , Cassell Military (re-issue) 2003, £5.99 each, pb , 03043663 15 , 0304366331, 0304366323 030436634X
Never judge a book by its cover. Yet I did When Sven Hassell 's books were first published in English, between 19 57 and 1972, I shunned them without opening them. A German soldier screamed into battle on each cover, with the double 's' of the author's name written like the double lightning flash of the SS insigni a. Ugh! war comics.
Four of the books have now been republished and this time I have read them. Was I right the first time? Well, yes and no. Firstly I discovered that Hassel was never in the SS , despite the lightning flashes He was an unemployed Dane who volunteered
for the German army before the war. If his first book , Legion of the Damned, is genuinely autobiographical, and it is written as autobiography with a depth of feeling that surely cannot be feigned, he tried to desert early in the war and after a spell in prison was sent to a penal battalion - in effect suicide troops. l know such things happened , for I once had a Gem1an colleague who served in a penal battalion as a reward for being a Communist. Hassell has an irritating Jane Austen habit of frequently breaking off the narrative to address the reader, discussing why he has included this or that passage and denouncing Nazism and war. This sits uneasily in a thriller , but then Hassell wrote the book in an Allied prison camp, trying to exonerate himself at the same time as narrating his adventures in the Nazi cause.
The other four books are more polished, but less interesting. The second book, Wheels of Terror, takes up the story of the penal battalion from 1943 , where Legion of the Damned petered out. It is still written in the first person, but the narrator has ceased to be the main character. Instead we follow the adventures of a group of comrades-inarms, three of whom were killed in the first book but are now conveniently resurrected. This loses the drive of the first book and it becomes a se rie s of barrack room tales (indeed the later books use the device of the soldiers exchanging stories around the barrack room stove). Both books are set on the Russian front. Monte Cassino is obviously about the Italian front and for SS General we are at Stalingrad. All the books applaud the valour of the German soldiers and the anti-Nazi element becomes steadily less explicit. [n the last book it is hard to find that we still are talking about a Penal Battalion. The theme here is that a ·group of faithful so ldier s who are forced to execute the officer who has saved them and who has become a scapegoat for the defeat.
The famously graphic combat scenes are just that. They become more graphic as the series progresses until they become repetitive and very unpleasant. This is war , but how much do you want to read about it?
So do read Legion Cl/ the Damned, although perhaps more as lightly fictionalised autobiography than as a novel. You may like the others, but I do not recommend reading them all at once.
Ed,,.,ard James
ABSOLUTE FRIENDS
John le Carre, Hodder & Stoughton, 2004, £ 18 .99, hb , 382pp, 0340832878 (UK)/ Little, Brown , 2004, $26.95, hb , 400pp, 03 1600064 7 (US)
Ted Mundy is a tour guide al the ca tie of mad King Ludwig of Bavaria when his old friend Sasha reappears unexpectedly, sparking off memories of their shared past
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
and projecting them both into a deadly adventure in the so-called War on Terror. Although the main story is extremely topical, the interest for historical fiction readers lies mainly in the long but integral sections portraying the events that form Ted and Sasha and lead them to their fateful reunion. Ted was born in 1947 in newlyindependent Pakistan, the son of a British army officer with a shameful secret which blights Ted's youth. Sent back to England, Ted succeeds in winning a place at Oxford. Sasha is the son of an East Gcrnian Lutheran pastor who fled with his family to the West when Germany was split up after WWII. Ted and Sasha meet as students in riot-tom Berlin m the 1960s and as a result both become Cold War spies. It isn't hard to see why a strong friendship is formed. Both men arc the victims of massive political and social upheavals, both arc estranged from their fathers, both are idealistic and intelligent. Le Carre's immense gifts of storytelling, psychological insight and creation of authentic atmosphere are all brought into full play here, and if the present-day continuation of Ted and Sasha's story is really a vehicle for le CaiTe's forthright and passionate views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the role of Bush and Blair in the war on terror, the polemic never weakens the thought-provoking twists and suspense of the novel.
Sarah Cuthbertson
CATCHING KATIE
Robm Lee Hatcher, Tyndale House, 2004, $9.99,pb,368pp,0842360999
Headstrong and different is how the people of l lomestead , Idaho , re member the young Katie Jones. Now Katie has returned to her hometown after an east coast education that included an introduction to the women's suffrage movement. Hoping to emulate Susan 8. Anthony, Katie has decided to devote her life to the cause. In 1916, Idaho women had already won the right to vote. Katie wants them to use their votes to help enfranchise their sisters. Iler best friend Benjie Rafferty, who owns the local newspaper, provides her a forum to express her views. Predictably , Katie's message and manner stir things up in the sleepy little town. Predictably, the childhood friendship ripens to love Will following her heart compromise Katie's ideal s? Fans of Christian hi storica l romance will enjoy this touchin g love story and its adept characterizations However , those unacquainted with the genre may find the religious clements heavy-handed.
Sue Asher
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
THE CHIMNEY TREE
Helaine Helmreich, Toby Press, 2003, $19 .95, hb, 506pp, I 592640311. ln 1935, a young Jewish girl enters into an unfortunate relationship with a local boy in a rural town in Poland. They secretly meet at a hollowed-out tree referred to as the Chimney Tree And thus begins the story of Miriam that will continue across a World War, three continents, and 36 years. Disgraced in the eyes of her family and her community when her liaison is discovered, Miriam is hastily married off to a Hasidic scholar from a remote village. Fleeing her new husband's insanity and viciousness, she m akes her way to Warsaw, where she eventually finds happiness in the form of a beloved husband and child. The grim realities of war intrude, and a pregnant Miriam is separated from her new family. To tell any more of the story would spoil the discovery of the reader, but the events related here make up less than the first half of the novel.
The author, who heard many stories from Holocaust survivors and their children while she was growing up , has crafted a compelling story with the ring of authenticity and a wealth of historical detail. Unfortunately, her writing, while sufficient to the task, contains a distance between the storyteller and the story, which repeatedly lessens the emotional impact of the events. It is a major flaw in a novel which is otherwise compelling both in story and in sense of pl/;lce. The novel takes the characters not only into Poland durin g the war, but also into the Jewi s h communities of Russia, Brooklyn (New York), and in the promised land of Israel.
Originally publi s hed in 2000 by the University Press of Colorado, this edition was substantially revi se d by the author, who also expanded the ending.
In 19R7, Margaret and John Gutterson return to their family home in Iowa searching for clues to their aged parents' mysterious disappearance. While rummaging in the attic, they discover an old metal milk box Inside a re copies of letters send b y their mother Ruth primarily to Mrs. Lindbergh, wife of Charles the famous aviator. As they read the letters, Margaret and John discover the story of their parents' life and the shared passion that brought them together and sustained them for ti fly years.
Kathleen Hughes ' first novel is remarkable. About one-third of the story moves back and forth in time, but it does not distract the reader. In fact, it is just enough to sustain a tension that haunts the novel but never overwhelms it. The prose seems flat at
first, like Iowa itself, but the reader discovers a subtle richness in character development, and it adds a reassuring rhythm and mood that creates a stunning contrast to the surprising ending. This wonderful novel captures, in emotion and detail, not only the early years of twentieth century aviation, but also a sense of the beauty of rural Iowa as a setting to a story of enduring love
Gerald T Burke
HAVANA
Stephen Hunter, Simon & Schuster, 2003, $24.95/C$37.50, hb, 400pp, 0743238087 Pub in UK by Century, 2004, £ 17 .99, hb , 4l6pp , 1844l3606X
The redoubtable policeman and World War JI Marine Corps veteran Earl Swagger leaves his native Arkansas for the dangerous and unpredictable world of pre-Communist Cuba in this latest chronicle of Swagger's career. Recruited to guard a politician, Swagger quickly is caught up in a world of CIA and Soviet intrigue. Charged by the CIA with killing a young insurgent named Fidel Castro, Swagger finds an unlikely compatriot in a Soviet agent as he struggles to maintain his rigid ethical standards in a violent and morally barren Cuba on the brink of revolution. A tough and gritty view of a world of double-dealing and betrayal. John R Vallely
CONFESSION IN MOSCOW
Michael Johansen, Breakwater (Canada), 2003, C$ l 9.95, pb , I 550811975
Books 208pp,
From the beginning , the reader is caught up in the tale of Mathias Finne as he confesses in a Moscow police station to a fifty-year-old murder , which he says took place when he was a boy of thirteen in Bornholm , Denmark, during the final stages of World War II. Young Mathias is ensnared into the underground resistance by his first love , Lise, which complicates his life since his father is a known Nazi collaborator. Trust, betrayal , and intensely maze-like manipulations gather forces to create an intriguing , well-blended, and focused ending.
The weakest cJrnracter is the Moscow police investigator, who for reasons unknown, follows up the elderly Mathias ' tale while acting uninterested , bored and jaded. Still one minute flaw doesn't make a gem worthless. Johansen has managed to define the conflict between war, love, and the overall confusion of adolescence during wartime. Confession in Moscow is worth reading for the child's perspective, Denmark's small island contribution, and the marvelous story within.
Wendy Zollo
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
ME AND ORSON WELLES
Robert Kaplow, MacAdam/Cage, 2003, $18.95, hb, 270pp, 1931561494
Only 35 pages into this lyrical and magical one-week interlude in 17-year-old Richard Samuel's life, even he recognizes the fact that he's "the luckiest bastard on the face of the earth." Recruited by chance to be an actor in Orson Welles' stage production of Julius Caesar, Richard, still a high school student in suburban New Jersey, must sneak out of classes and lie to his mother to become a part of history: opening night for The Mercury Theatre: New York City, November 11, 1937. On the stage with Orson Welles, John Houseman, Joseph Cotten, and George Coulouris, madly in love with Sonja Jones, Orson Welles' personal assistant, what flame could burn brighter than young Richard's, if only for a week?
The show itself is Orson Welles ' pet project. Whenever there's a need for it, he's creative on the spot. As we watch him slide the pieces of the play into position, this convincing portrayal of actor-producerdirector Orson Welles , towering over everyone in a three-mile radius , is a gem to behold. The man, then only 22 years old himself, was a genius, and Robert Kaplow does the near impossible: he brings him back to life.
His was a flawed genius , we know that now. It was a conclusion that became more and more obvious as his career went on. Kaplow suggests that it was clear from the beginning. Orson Welles was a gigantic talent , but only that. From page 181, human virtues, virtually none: "generosity, decency, loyalty whatever all missing."
Richard's life intersects that of Mr. Welles only briefly, and perhaps luckily so. This beguiling coming-of-age tale is also one of the funniest and most warm-hearted stories I've read in a 'long while This one's a keeper. Don't miss it.
Noah Locke is an itinerant fishennan on a v1s1t to a orth Carolina community in the summer of 1948 An army veteran who participated in the liberation of Dachau concentration camp , the young man soon becomes the talk of the valley for hi s fishing skills. His quiet unassuming nature draws him to both the talkative general store owner who resembles a lost comrade , and a young widow whose husband died under mysterious circumstances. Over the week of his stay he works his way into hearts, participates in the search of a missing boy, and finds the key to the cause of the Eleanor
Cunningham's husband's death. By the time he leaves, he has changed lives.
Although sometimes burdened by its passive voice and phase-heavy sentences, Kay's sweet-natured hero and mostly benign Southern community yields colorful images and stories. The fishing fable is heartfelt and touching.
Eileen
Charbonneau
EMMA'S GIFT
Leisha Kelly, Fleming H. Revell, 2003, $12.99,pb,314pp,0800758579
Kelly's first book and its sequel tell of the struggles of the Wortham family in the Great Depression. When Sam loses his job in Pennsylvania, they hitchhike to Illinois to find work. But they become stranded in a small town short of their goal, when they learn the promised job is not forthcoming after all.
Utterly destitute and with a storm approaching, they take shelter m a seemingly abandoned house. Julia is determined to remain there instead of moving on. They later discover the house's owner is still alive. Emma Graham is an elderly widow who lost a leg and cannot live alone. She strikes a bargain with the Worthams: if they take her to live with them, they can stay on the farm.
Emma becomes like a grandmother to Robert and Sarah, and all the Worthams come to love her. But conflict arises when suspicious neignbors think the Worthams are taking advantage of Emma. And Albert, her nephew from Chicago, is alarmed when Emma expresses a wish to disinherit him and leave the farm to the Worthams.
These are quiet books, concerned with domestic matters, such as the city-bred Wonhams learning to run a farm , how people "made do " during the Depression when no one had much cash, and how best to help a grieving neighbor family. The characters are well-rounded. Kelly believably portrays the many varieties of grief that are possible in a large family after a death.
The inspirational element is strong in these novels. Sam and Julia pray about whether they are doing the right thing for their family. Emma persuades them to take her to church , where they fear the congregation will reject them as opportunistic strangers And two tragic death s on the same day in the second book cau se many characters to question their faith C hristian fiction fans will enjoy both books .
B.J. Sedlock
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
THE ROMANCE OF ELEANOR GRAY
Raymond Kennedy, Univ. Press of New England, 2003, $24.95, hb, 243pp, 1584652918
When twenty-year-old Eleanor Gray takes her first position as teacher in western Massachusetts's East Becket, she considered it to be an "adventure among the familiar." Her two years at Norn1al School and experience in the city of Fall River prepared her to be a role model to the community as well as to her students. But Eleanor never expected to become involved in a clandestine relationship with a troubled girl. After eavesdropping on the ethereally beautiful sixteen-year-old Evangeline and then on other members of the boarding house, Eleanor determines that Evangeline is pregnant and quietly decides to take Evangeline's side in the matter, shocking for the year 1910. Because Evangeline is from the up-country, northerners raised on misfortune and wary of strangers, she is considered an outsider in East Becket. As Evangeline accepts Eleanor's assistance , their relationship changes and Eleanor finds herself in the throes ofobsession.
Eleanor is at times unlikeable because she thinks so highly of herself that she is occasionally moved to tears by her own eloquence. Her attitude towards the residents of East Becket borders on condescending, but everyone politely encourages her wittiness by frequently complementing her sophistication. Evangeline makes few actual appearances in the novel, but her presence is continually felt, as Eleanor's every thought involves the girl. As this novel slowly builds to a crescendo, it gives the reader an opportunity to explore the areas of isolation , love, and obsession Suzanne J Sprague
A SINFUL SAFARI
Michael Kilian, Berkley Prune Crime , 2003 , $6 99 / C$9.99 , pb, 287pp, 0425191087 Bedford Green , an art gallery owner in 1920s Greenwich Vill age , reluctantly agrees to accompany his beautiful assistant Sloane Smith on an African safari Sloane hopes to prevent her rich uncle ' s new gold-digger 1,1,ifc , Georgia, from making a fool of herself amongst the Briti s h aristocracy in Kenya. No such luck. Not lon g after a tipsy Georgia causes a scandal by helping the Prince of Wales destroy all of the gramophone records in a club during a party , she is found shot to death in the aims of her marned lover Though Bedford would just as soon escape from this all-too-sinful <;afari , he stays to clear Sloane's uncle from a murder accu sation . There's name dropping aplenty, as Karen Blixen , Denys Finch Hatton , Beryl Markham, and Thelma Furness play minor roles in the story. The author touches lightly on sensitive issues like big game hunting and race relations Despite an over-
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
abundance of secondary characters, many of whom don't feel distinct, Kilian's novel is as chatty and entertaining as a Sunday morning gossip column
Sarah Johnson
THE GAME
Laurie R. King, Bantam, 2004, $23.95/C$35.95, hb, 368pp, 0553801945 Pub. in the UK by Allison & Busby, 2004, £17.99, hb, 256pp, 0749006781
Off Sherlock Holmes and his feisty wife, Mary Russell, go, this time to India in 1924. In this newest instalment in King 's marvelous series, the couple is locked in a battle with powers of great evil which may well shape the course of future world events. And no one is who they appear to be.
Remember Kipling's Kim? Well, he grew up. became a world-class spy, and has disappeared in the Indian wilderness. Where will Holmes and Russell find Kim ? Has he turned tail and become a traitor , as many suspect?
This is the best to date in the Holmes / Russell series. Holmes, older, even wiser than before, remains superbly talented - as a magician, among other things - and can hide in plain sight as no one else can Russell , his junior by many years, has matured into an equal partner to her famous husband and has developed great insight and perseverance The "secondary" characters are fleshed out beautifull y, and all play significant roles in the resolution of the plot. Even the Indian wilderness has a soul of its own in King's novel - daunting, mysterious, wann, inviting and ferocious. Read it. l can't imagine that it could be more fun. Ilysa Magnus
THE TAKING
J.D. Landis, Ballantine, 2003, $24.95 / C$35.95, hb, 384pp, 034545006X In 1938, the Swift River Valley m Massac husetts is slated to be flooded m order to create a reservoir. Its residents are evicted, their homes tom down , even their dead exhumed. Into this doomed world comes 17-year-old Sarianna Renway , a girl who identifies more with the dead poet Emily Dickinson than with her own contemporaries. Disenchanted with college Ii fe, a lone and adrift , she hopes to find he rself among the lost. Sarianna has taken a job as tutor to the eleven-year-old son of Reverend Jeremy Treat and his young wife Una. Reverend Treat, more passionate than compassionate, is determined to offer what so lace he can to the dispossessed of the valley. The symbolism of the coming flood provides fodder for his fiery sermons. Una , hi s child-like wife, welcomes the tutor as more than a friend, more than a sister, in fact, as another self. The romantic-minded
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Sarianna is quite willing to assume Una's identity. In this way she will become lover to Una's husband, and wife to Una's longlost - perhaps dead? - lover. This much is foretold in the prologue, but the hows and whys are much more complex.
In extraordinarily lush and dreamy prose, Sarianna narrates how she became caught up in the obsessive eternal love between Una Treat and Ethan Vear, whose gravestone states he died by his own hand on the day of Una's marriage. Billed as a literary gothic historical novel, The Taking is a leisurely book, laden with symbolism and digression, yet it remains compelling until the last ghost is laid to rest.
It is l 9 l 4and even the remote community living in the Scottish Hebrides will not remain unaffected by the harsh realities of the Great War. Kirsty McLeod has just found love with Murdo , a young man who has promised to take her to the promised land of America, but tragedy looms when he is called up to fight. The villagers arrange a Road Dance as a grand send off for their brave lads and, as _ the dancers twirl to the rhythm of the music, Kirsty leaves the ball for a breath of fresh air. Once outside she is attacked and raped by an unknown assailant.
In such a judgemental society, Kirsty knows that she must keep her resulting pregnancy a secret from everyone, even those she loves the most. Then one terrible day she learns that Murdo will never come home and her answer to her problem is both horrible and inevitable. This beautifully constructed novel has taken a potentially horrifying subject and turned it into a perceptive story about love and loss. John MacKay evokes a strong sense of time and place, as well as recreating the claustrophobic environment of small island life. As a study of human nature , it cannot be faulted in any respect.
The Road Dance is sensitively handled throughout and, all-in-all, is an astonishingly assured debut from an extremely promising new author.
Sara Wilson
THE DAUGHTER
Pavlos Matesis translated from the Greek by Fred A. Reed, Arcadia, 2002, £11.99, pb , 214pp, 1900850710
Raraou is an actress looking back on her life in rural Greece during the Second World War. Her father was a tripe washer who went off to war in 1940 and her mother, Meskaris Asimina, took a young [talian soldier as her lover and protector to stop her children from starving during the Occupation. Raraou, the eponymous
daughter, relates the events leading to this dangerous situation and recalls the terrible consequences at the end of the war when Meskaris is accused of collaboration.
As she tells her story, Raraou conjures up the colourful characters of her childhood. There is the eccentric Mrs Kanello who totes hand grenades around in her shopping basket; Mlle Salome who knits enormous underpants for the partisans and hoards lipsticks; and Mrs Fanny, mother of the beautiful but ill fated Aphrodite, who howls in her sleep.
Pavlos Matesis narrates his novel in a strong conversational style, with no formal chapter divisions , often making convoluted and perceptive digressions along the way. This is a poetic book where small commonplace incidents are described in poignant detail and, as a result, have far greater depth and significance than n01mal. Inevitably, this book has been likened to the hugely successful Captain Corelli 's Mandolin, but The Daughter deserves so much more than a pallid comparison. It is a powerful insight into life under an occupying force , when not all enemies are bad people and not all allies are good.
Set against the backdrop of WWII this story follows the lives of Annie Webster and her family as they struggle to adjust to life in war-tom Britain. Opening with the declaration of war and ending with its conclusion, Matthews explores many facets of the civilians' involvement together with the actions of the forces further afield. Annie plays an important part in the war effort and is drawn upon to take greater risks than she ever expected.
Refreshingly , Matthews focuses on the part women played in the war effort, not only in the home but also as members of the forces. Her female characters are strong and determined, although this is slightly undermined by their accompanying good looks and 'feminine virtues'.
If you like heroes and heroines who save the day then this book is for you. Matthews adds a sprinkling of tragedies that are, on the whole lost in a sea of golden nostalgia which might overwhelm the more cynical reader.
Retired Sheriff John LeBrun of Brunswick, Georgia has established a certain reputation
ISSUE 27 , FEB 2004
among the movers and shakers of New York commerce. After solving a murder on Jekyl Island where many of the robber barons have vacation homes, John is whisked to New York by none other than J .P. Morgan to help solve another murder. The rich and famous of the day don't like their private lives held up to the mirror of society. When one of their own club members is murdered in the c lub and another member framed for the murder, they get a little testy. Thus in the summer of 1906, John finds himself moving among the powerful rich, few of whom he has any respect for, investigating them and their private lives yet again.
An engaging character, John is a selfeducated man, who matured in the South after the Civil War , in which he served while still in his teens. Now retired, he is young enough at 59 to want something new in his life. His interest in varied subjects leads the reader through the streets of the great city. Using John as a guide, the author shows us life at the tum of the 20th century through the unusual people he encounters and the many neighborhoods he explores. The author has done a great deal of research and knows his subject matter well. From a slow start, the book built up suspense and delivers a knockout twist at the end.
Lorraine Gelly
THE TWO POU D TRAM
William Newton, Bloomsbury 2003, £ I 2.99, hb, l 86pp, 0747566976 Brothers, Wilfred and Duncan only see their parents on Wednesdays for lunch. When their mother drives off in her Hispano-Suiza for the last time and their father resorts to collecting lady friends the boys decide that it is time to follow their own dream: to own a tram. They run away, acquire a tram along with Homer the horse and Tiger, the dog companion, as part of the bargain.
WWII is about to commence and the brothers have many adventures along the way. Duncan, a dab hand with his catapult, is hailed as a national hero when it seems that, single-handed, he was responsible for bringing down a Gemrnn plane King George VI presents the medal in person.
William Newton's first novel is about a very special relationship between two brothers and how they enhanced the lives of all who came into contact with them. It is nothing short of brilliant.
Ann Oughton
SOUMCHI
Amos Oz (trans. Amos Oz & Penelope Farmer), Toby Press, $7.95 /C$ I6.95, pb, 53 pp, 1592640389
Soumchi should be considered the definition of a novella. It's 53 pages of compact,
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
dazzling brilliance. It is a simple story which conveys boundless meanings both modest and diverse, set in Jerus~lem directly after WWII . Eleven year old Soumchi is given a bicycle which sets off a chain of events as he exchanges one possession for another, each almost like a shining icon with its own specific meaning. Oz shows a remarkable ability to stay true to his character and expand him fully into a multi-faceted jewel. Soumchi is a concise read which enhances each person's view on life, possessions, and how tender life and far-reaching imagination can be at such a sensitive age.
Wendy Zollo
MACADAM DREAMS
Gisele Pineau (trans. C. Dickson), Univ of Nebraska Press, 2003, $20, pb, 2 l 5pp, 0803287739
For Eliette, life's memories begin sometime after the great cyclone of 1928 during which she was injured. Though she doesn't remember the storm, the story has been related to her often by her mother. On the eve of another great cyclone (Hugo), the events of the day before the 1928 storm interest Eliette. A survivor, Eliette's one regret in life is that she was never able to have children.
For her neighbor, Rosette, motherhood isn't a problem. Pregnant while still under her mother's roof, she's thrown out to join the child's no-good father. Now a mother of three, Rosette makes the dreadful discovery that her mother may have been right all along.
Set in Guadeloupe, Macadam Dreams is a stream-of-consciousness narrative predominantly told by the characters Eliette and Rosette. Unfolding in spiral fashion, the events of the two women's lives (and of the violently ruined lives of several other women of their village) are intercut, examined and re-examined. Ultimately they weave a tale that is an all too common one for impoverished women in Guadeloupe.
Macadam Dreams is a finely executed novel rich in details. Brilliant.
Janette King
DANGEROUS SEA
David Roberts , Constable 2003 , £ 16.99, hb, 288pp, 1841195723
This is the fourth book of the adventures of Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Brown set in the political upheavals of the 1930s.
In 193 7 war with Gemrnny seems unavoidable, the economist Lord Benyon is sailing to America on the Queen Mary to persuade President Roosevelt to support England with money and arms. There are powerful forces that will stop at nothing to prevent Benyon from meeting with the President. Verity Browne is also on board. She has been asked by the British
Communist Party to li aise with sympathisers in America.
The other passengers are an explosive mix of personalities and it is not long before murder strikes. Somehow, Edward and Verity must sort out the wolves from the lambs and try to do it during the few days of an Atlantic crossing.
This keeps up the high standard set in the first three books A couple of niggles: I doubt whether anti-inflammatory drugs as such would have been available in 1937 I also wonder whether rape victims would have had any psychological help at that time. Apart from these points, a great read
This sequel to Worthy's Town takes the reader back to Old Kane, Illinois, postWorld War II. Cappy Giberson has graduated from college with a degree in journalism and come home to Old Kane just as his natural father, Drayton Hunt, returns to town after being released from jail. Unable to find a full-time job as a reporter, Cappy writes human interest pieces based on stories in Old Kane as a freelancer for the St Louis Post-Dispatch. Continuing to provide their share of human interest are Cappy's grandfather Worthy and his best friend Bum, while Bum's daughter Oleeta supplies the romantic interest. Although Worthy and Bum are the lovable comic relief, Rolens has matured her characters in this sequel, as Drayton 's attempts at rehabilitation and a reconciliation with Cappy make him more sympathetic and fleshed out than he had been in Worthy's Town.
Once again, Rolens skilfully evokes small-town life in an earlier era. There is an undercurrent of melancholy in Old Kane as Worthy and his contemporaries grow older and there are fewer job opportunities in town, but it is still a place to be viewed with' affection. Reading the first book isn't necessary to enjoy the sequel on its own merits, but having enjoyed the former, I looked forward to this instalment. I hope Rolens revisits these characters a third time Ellen Keith
KING OF ODESSA
Robert A. Rosenstone, North"' cstern Univ Press , 2003, $24.95, hb , 240pp, 0810 I I 9927
Very little is known about the period 111 Isaac Babel's life from August to November 1936, when he took his last trip to the city of his birth. Odessa is the setting for many of Babel's stories , including those of Benya Krik, the Jewish gangster. Rosenstone's first novel, written as if in the first person by Babel himself, illuminates these months. It
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describes an engaging mix of women and writing, set against a background of Odessa's Jewish culture and the emerging Soviet system, strongly flavored by the paranoia generated by Stalin and his henchmen The letters that are included, from Babel's estranged wife, his sister, mother, and former lovers , satisfyingly widen the viewpoint and the action. Babel is desperate to return to Paris to see his beloved young daughter, but finds it harder to leave his homeland than it has been in the past. He meets a rather enigmatic young actress, who helps him to pass the time while he undergoes treatment for his asthma and tries to start writing again. He also meets a mysterious woman whom he dubs "Po tato Face," who asks him to embark on a dangerous mission. The story is riveting, and the sense of period and place is extraordinary. I plan to hunt up a collection of the Benya Krik stories immediately-my appetite has been whetted.
Trudi E. Jacobson
A HIGHER JUSTICE
James Scott Bell , Bethany Hou se, 2003, $12.99,pb,303pp,0764226460
Kit Shannon, a Los Angeles lawyer , challenges the politicians and corporate tycoons vying for monopoly of the electric trolley system that was to transform California in the late 1800s and early 1900s . The accidental death of a young widow's only so n elicits Kit's investigative instincts to discover what will truly bring high e r justice to both the innocent and gui lty. Kit confronts Stanton Eames, owner of the Los Angeles Electric Trolley Linc, about his company's responsibility to compensate for the death of young Sammy Franklin and not to hire young , orphan boys to deliver beer. Orphanages of that time were financially dependent on large companies for survival; both simple requests evolve into a lifethreatening respon se.
Bell clearly knows how to intricately craft a riveting, investigative mystery. Kit's formidable trial sk ills , pitted against the public prosecutor's competitive proficiency, accurate ly reflect the progres s of legal precedence in its early American hi story and add to the excitement of the conflicts being judged. A fine literary touch is added by the interest and journalistic coverage of the then highly popular writer, Jack London.
Threading through Kit's journey is a deep faith derived from her association \,\,ith the Bible In stitute of Los Angeles. Co nflictin g between traditional fait h and that accommodating itself to the lapses of a rapidly changing and progr essive world, this movement later took on a negative connotation. Kit's behavior exemplifies the earlier positive, inspiring belief in practice that permeates this superb novel.
Viv1ane Crystal
THI:, HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
I'LL WATCH THE MOON
Ann Tatlock, Bethany House, 2003, $12.99, pb,399pp,0764226630
"I want to tell you the story of my mother and a man named Josef. lt's a love story but it's not a romance ." So begins this heartwarming story about Nova Tierney and her family. It is 1948, and polio is a constant threat to post-war America Nova, her mom and brother are living in a boarding house run by her aunt. Nova's brother is her best friend and mentor. Her mother seems distant and depressed. If only Nova had a father, she feels that everything would be all right. One of Nova's candidates for father is Josef. He's a boarder in her aunt's house, a kind man with an interesting past.
Nova learns through observation about each of the boarders she lives with. Although they lead separate and very different lives, they all help each other through the hard times, and each of them becomes valued by Nova as she gets to know them better.
Nova's childhood memories are sweet and tender, yet honest and compelling. Ms. Tatlock has woven a rich tapestry of subtly drawn images that entice the reader into this story of love, sacrifice and redemption A well-crafted story by a gifted author.
This novel, which is not a part of Todd 's successful Ian Rutledge series, is set durin g WWI. Francesca Hatton has returned from doing war work in London to her Devon home when her gra ndfather is on his deathbed Losing her grandfather, who had raised her, means she is alone in the world. The five cousins she was brought up with have all died in action. Several people unknown to Francesca tum up for her grandfather's funeral, all disturbing in their own right. Francesca soon realizes she knew little about her grandfather. The claims and accusations made by each of the se mysterious visitors lead Francesca to seek out the truth about her gra ndfather and her family, disturbing as it might be.
The incredible toll taken by th e war is extremely evident in The Murder Stone. We get glimpses of each of Francesca's cousins, and all are people we would like to have gotten to know better. In addition, other key characters in the novel ha ve been bruised by the war, both ph ysically and mentally. The atmosphere of the novel is dark , almost gothic at times . Todd knows his period well and conveys it very effectively to the reader. I found thi s lo be a very engaging and moving book.
Trudi E. Jacobson
LUCIA, LUCIA
Adriana Trigiani, Random House , 2003, $24.95,hb,263pp, 1400060052
Pub in the UK by Simon & Schuster, 2003, £12,pb,352pp,0743239261
Lucia Sartori , treasured daughter of a hardworking Italian family who owned the Groceria where service came first and customers followed, is in her seventies when the novel opens. Elderly and vivacious , she swoops into the Greenwich Village apartment with the "chic look of New York's ladies who stay in the moment." Inviting a young playwright to tea to dispose of some of her elegant clutter, she explains the multitude of boxes from "B Altman ," the formerly famous department store that was the height of elegance in 1950s New York.
Lucia's skill with a needle had landed her a fine job in the couturier section of B. Altman's, and Lucia adored her job for the wealthy uptown women who personified gracious living But she lived in a time when girls lived at home till they married Lucia refuses to quit her job , and thus severs her engagement with childhood sweetheart, Dante DiMartino , much to her parents' chagrin. Later, Lucia meets the tall, handsome and urbane John Talbot, who epitomizes elegant living , and she is smitten. He applauds her career and they pl an to marry, despite her father's concern about this "outsider" who wants to take away his only daughter.
While absorbed in wedding plans , buying items for the house they are building, and seeing her limitless future, life shows its darker side when Papa Sartori becomes ill. Through it all, Lucia learn s that family is always with us when everything else fails. This novel is filled with people who seem so real , you see them going about their lives after the book's last page is turned. A delightful read.
Tess Allegra
MOON TIDE
Dawn Clifton Tripp, Random House, 2003, $24.95 / C$37.95, hb , 285pp, 0375508449 If you enjoy reading stories of a place rather than of people, then this first novel is for you. But it is melancholy, and it doe s spend a preponderant amount of time covering a hurric ane and its fall-out. This of course is so the read er might fully understand how the place-a Massachusetts fishing townsuffers and c hanges. It seems clear that the author lo ves thi s place , and wants to convey this lo ve to others.
She does follow the lives of some characters more than others, including Elizabeth, an Irish immigrant , her otherworldly granddaughter Eve, and the practical Maggie , who emigrated from the Caribbean to live in Elizabeth's root cellar and care for roosters. And she provides
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
fascinating detail of life during the early decades of the 20 th century, telling me that she knows her subject matter. Her use of language should be the envy of all writers: it is lyrical and original. The novel is fairly easy to read, despite the fact that there are at least ten point-of-view characters. But there is very little dialogue, and the lengthy narrative surrounding the storm of 1938 failed to move me. All the characters seemed to find life a chore. Perhaps life was hard then, but surely there were moments of joy, laughter, pleasure? I think it is probably a great book, but I won't be going back to it. Claire Morris
NO ANGEL
Penny Vincenzi, The Overlook Press, 2003, $26.95/C$39.48, hb, 640pp, 1585674818 Pub. in UK by Orion, 2001, £6.99, pb , 608pp,0752843109
No Angel is the first volume in Vincenzi's Spoils of Time trilogy (all three volumes have been published in the UK) and introduces the Lytton family and their publishing house in the years before , during , and after the First World War. Lady Celia is the ostensible protagonist of the story, forcing her parents to allow her to marry her love , Oliver Lytton, by becoming pregnant. Celia's desire to get what she wants drives the story again and again as she seeks to get a job at her husband's publishing company, takes young Barty Miller from her povertystricken family in order to give the girl a better life, and faces the consequences as a result of these decisions.
This is a meaty family saga in which Vincenzi pays equal attention to the other characters. Oliver's sister, LM, is a workaholic with a secret private life. His brother Robert moves to New York and rather than disappearing, has a story of his own. Even Celia's mother. Lady Beckenham, who could have been a cardboard character, reveals a sense of humor and surpris ing sympathy towards her daughter. The author is also adept at drawing a picture of England pre- and postGreat War. Fabianism brings Celia into the Millers' lives, while socia li sm brings LM's lover into hers. The ups and downs of the publishing business are just as fascinating as Celia introduces new series and discovers new authors, most notably Sebastian Brooke, who plays a major role in her personal life as well.
Vincenzi's books have been bestsellers in the UK for years, deservedly so. [ look forward to the next two books in the trilogy.
Ellen Keith 1 THE LEADER
Guy Walters, Headline, 2003, £18.99, hb, 576pp,0755300572
The year is 1937 and the United Kingdom is in chaos because its head of state has chosen to marry a commoner and an American
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
divorcee to boot. The prime minister and the other party leaders have all advised against this and have decided that they will not accept the King's invitation to form a government if the prime minister resigns. Stanley Baldwin resigns to try to force the King's hand to call off the wedding. The king refuses to give in and calls on Winston Churchill to form a government. He is unable to do so and as a last resort the king calls on Sir Oswald Mosley (The Leader) whose Blackshirts have been the instigators of unrest throughout the country. Mosley's first actions are to obtain support for an Emergency Powers Bill which would allow him to govern by decree and to then dissolve parliament.
This all seems to be based on the happenings in Germany which resulted in the appointment of Hitler as chancellor. The difference is that in Germany the process took ten years, whereas in the book it is completed in only a few months.
Captain Armstrong, a World War I hero, gathers support for opposition to the dictator. His actions arouse the interest of the secret police, who finally arrest him for treason and hold him with other internees on the Isle of Man. He escapes, makes his way to London and contacts a communist cell hiding in a disused warehouse in the East End. He enlists their support in a plan to kill Mosley and take over the government with the help of his contacts throughout the country.
I found the story less than convincing and the characters much too stereotyped. One could identify the secret police because they all wear snap brim hats and ill fitting suits. The hero is a war veteran with a heaii of gold and an expert in all matters concerning undercover work, including the design and manufacture of an exploding hassock to be used to kill Mosley. The final chapter descends into farce when Mosley is chased down Whitehall by our hero, both men on horseback and armed with swords whilst the body guards apparently stand by and watch.
John Farrar
SHADOWS OF GLORY
William Woodruff, Abacus 2003, £6.99, pb, 358pp,034911689X
When Sir George Kemp returns to his old university to celebrate the launch of a new barge, he notices a photograph on the wall: the 1939 rowing team, of whom he ' d been the cox. These are the nine young men for whom the dreaming spires gave way to the horrors of war. The author of The Road to Nab End and Beyond Nab End weaves all their individual experiences together in a highly readable and fascinating story of life and death six ty years ago.
Val Whitmarsh
THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY
Margaret Blair Young and Darius Aidan Gray , Deseret, 2003, $21.95, hb, 464pp, 1570089043
The third and final volume of the Stand on the Promises trilogy covers the period from the 1890s to the present. The saga of the early black Mormon pioneers continues in this novel. The story depicts the lives of the descendants of the original pioneers as they struggle against the fortunes of the twentieth century, including war and poverty. But beyond the challenges facing many people, they have to content with blatant racism, still a common blight in parts of the United States. In addition, they have to contend with relentless bigotry because of their choice of faith.
Margaret Blair Young and Darius Aidan Gray create fascinating tales of personal challenges and enduring determination. While the characters are fictional, they are firmly rooted in real people. The historical detail is plentiful , and each chapter has endnotes that are interesting and instructive, although it may distract some readers from the fictional narrative. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring a little known, yet fascinating aspect of twentieth century American history. If the first two volumes are as carefully researched and written as this novel, they too would be worth exploring.
Gerald T. Burke
THE MANUSCRIPT
Eva Zeller (trans. Nadia Lawrence), Trafalgar Square, 2003, $12, pb, l 52pp, 0099284081
Pub. in the UK by Vintage, 2001 (out of print)
The Manuscript is a love story of two individuals with a common difficulty: they each lack the ability to communicate to each other the tragedies of war encountered by their families and selves. Zeller, however, is able to skilfully utilize alternative mechanisms to let the reader understand the commonality of their pasts through the manuscript and dialogues with other characters.
Jacob, a child during the Holocaust, was hidden in Berlin during World War II and throughout his adult life carries the emotional scars of this tragedy. In 1945, Bea's mother was deported to Siberia and died under the cruel treatment of the Russians. Only through a long-lost manuscript, written by a woman who was with Bea's mother, does Bea learn that her Gennan mother was a victim. Bea and Jacob struggle with the tensions of the past and stubbornly refuse to share these experiences? Bea does not show the manuscript to Jacob, while Jacob will not recount his wartime experiences with Bea. Yet it is vital for them to share their heritage in order to find true love.
Carol Anne Germain
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
VANCOUVER
David Cruise and Alison Griffiths, HarperCollins, 2003, $29.95/C$37.95, 768pp,hb,0060l97870
This sweeping novel of Vancouver, British Columbia, opens in the Alaskan ice age with Tooke, a Siberian of African descent, setting out across the Bering Strait to search the origins of his people. His stories inspire his grandson, Manto , to continue the quest south. The novel then skips across the millennia like a stone, pausing in selected centuries to introduce the travelers who fought and plotted their way up the Pacific coast to establish the unique society that is Vancouver. Although Balboa mapped the great ocean for his native Spain, the Pacific coast area becomes diversified by Scots who trap and trade and bring a severe brand of Christianity to the pagan "new world." The Chinese enter through San Francisco, bringing their culture and their opium, learning of prejudice firsthand from the white settlers who form the Asiatic Exclusion League attempting to forbid immigrants from the Far East to settle in America. Their efforts fail, and immigrants such as Soon Chong, a Chinaman who speaks English, an d Nanak Singh, a Sikh, pursue their dreams, aided by a colorful character named Warbu1ion Pike who emigrated from Great Britain.
The novel culminates in 2003 wi th discontented native Ellie Nesbitt breaking her vow to leave Vancouver after discovering her own nati ve heritage through an unusual talisman, memorie s of her grandmo ther' s s tories , and an Indian rock star. Vancouver is filled to the brim with tribal and personal conflicts, natural disa ste rs , and people who are real enough to step off the page. Although the novel's random time jumps preclud e a seamless read , the characters met along the way make thi s reading journey well worth the trip.
Pub. in the UK by Pan , 2002 , £6.99, pb, 440pp,0330489666
Set in Cornwall in 1886 and I 986, Where the Light R emains weaves together the stor ie s of two women, their marriages and their personal voyages.
1886: in a turbulent new marriage, Claira, a talented violinist, struggles to balance her creative drive against the co nformist expectations of her husband , Munro, a farmer and conservative Methodist, who is both enchanted by and
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
fearful of his wife's passion and talent. Meeting the famous painter, Elizabeth Armstrong, who creates a portrait of her holding her violin, inspires Claira to bring her husband into her once private musical sphere.
1986: Clair, a painter, and her husband Howard, a successful businessman, have moved from bustling London to the same farmhouse that belonged to Claira and Munro a centu,y earlier. Clair has fallen in love with her new home , while Howard feels the pull of the city and another woman. As her own creativity develops , Clair makes a discovery that changes her as a woman and an a1iist.
After an agonizingly slow start, I was intensely drawn into this powerful novel. I was impressed at the author's ability to mesh to separate timelines so fluidly. The characters were flesh and blood human beings, with marital challenges that many of us may recognize. The novel is beautifully written, steeped in colorful detail, which is evocative of the artistic theme of the story. The book is divided into short chapters, which I found very effective in drawing and retaining my attention to the juxtaposed stories.
All in all, this was a lovely story and a worthwhile read.
Andrea Connell
THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM
Marek Halter, Toby Press, 2003, $14.95 /C$19.95, pb, 797pp, 1592640397
The Book of Abraham begins with the de structio n of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD as Abraham the Temple scribe and his family prepare to flee to Egypt. It ends in 1942 with diary entries written by a descendant, th e printer Abraham, during his last days in the War saw Ghetto. In between is a marvelous story of one Jewish family's migration through the ages , told 111 generational episodes that describe and parallel experiences of Jews throughout hi story. Both Sephardim and Ashkenazim are included The chain of events that connect the various generations are told with intelligence, love, and a true empathy for the struggles and accomplishments of the Jewish community. This is a work of fiction in which the author uses his family's name and its multi-generational occupation as printers for in spiration
In The Book of Abraham, Marek Halter has produced a powerful masterpiece Beautifully written, the story moves from chapter to chapter, country to country , with the grace of a symphony by Mozart. Lowell Bair deserves mention for his excellent translation. This is a new edition of a classic best-seller and dese rves to be on everyone's "mus t read " list.
Audrey Braver
THE WIN D OF THE KHAZARS
Marek Halter, Toby Press, 2003 , $19.95, hb, 316pp, 1592640281
Half historica l nove l, half political thriller, Halter's novel (translated into English for the first time) creates disturbing parallels between the !O'h century and today. The Jewish kingdom of Khazaria flourished a millennium ago in Eastern Europe but disappeared soon afterward, leaving little trace of its existence. Its inhabitants, the Khazars, were a non-Semitic people who adopted Judaism in order to preserve a buffer zone between their neare s t neighbors , the Byzantines and the Russians
When a mysterious man presents modem-day writer Marc Sofer with an ancient coin supposedly of Khazar origin, Sofer pays a visit to the Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan to validate its authenticity. He also inve stigates claims that the "New Khazars, " a modem terrorist group, are blowing up oil wells in Eastern Europe.
Back in the IO 'h century, Isaac be n Eliezer journeys from Andalusia to Khazaria to deliver a message from the rabbi of the Sephardic Jews to Joseph, Khagan (ruler) of the Khazars. Delighting in the fact that a Jewish kingdom really exists, the rabbi wishes to know whether Khazaria is the fabled land that Jews around the world have been hoping to find Upon arrival, Isaac falls instantly in love with Princess Attex, the Khagan's sister, at the same time that a Byzantine emissary proposes a marriage alliance with her.
The modem part of the tale is an exciting political thriller with international implication s, hampered only by a very literal translation. Exclamation points are inse1ied at odd places in the story, which creates an inappropriately melodramatic tone Still, the novel makes fascinating rea ding , especially for readers wanting to learn more about an era and locale far different from our own.
Sarah Johnson
THE SALT ROADS
Nalo Hopkinson, Warner , 2003 , $22.95, hb , 400pp,0446533025
Pub. in the UK by Time Warner International , 200( £ 17.99 It takes a powerful author to tie together the stories of a Nubian prostitute in ancient Jerusalem, a black showgirl in I 9th-cenrury Pari s, and a slave on the island of Saint Domingue (now known as Haiti) using the observations and thoughts of an AfroCaribbean goddess. Fortunately, Nalo Hopkinson (award-winning author of Brown Girl in th e Ring, Skin Folk and Midnight Robber) not only succeeds, but gloriously succeeds.
On a moonless night, three slave women bury a stillborn child with song and prayer
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
and a new life is reborn. Ezili's struggles to understand the physical world to which she has been brought take her into the minds and bodies of three women from very different cultures, each possessing their own strengths and weaknesses, and each illuminating in a different way what it is to be female and • black. There is lusty and sensual Jeanne Duval, mistress of the bohemian poet Charles Baudelaire, who fights to define her place in society, and ultimately herself. Mer is a slave and healer on the island of Saint Domingue who struggles to learn what the goddess wishes of her, and to keep the men, women, and children around her alive within the unimaginable cruelty that is slavery. Thais (also known as Meritet, or Mary) is a whore in Alexandria in 345 CE who heads to Jerusalem in search of a different life, and ends up in the pages of history of St. Mary of Egypt. The reader joins the goddess on her journey of exploration and understanding of how the lives of these three women come together to provide a common narrative. Hopkinson's writing is compelling and vivid, rich with historical description, characters and sense of place. An extraordinary novel, truly epic in scope.
Tracey Callison
RIVER OF FIRE
Qurratulain Hyder, New Directions, 2003, $ I 4.95 / C$22.50, tpb , 428pp, 081 1215334 Pub in the UK by Kali for Women, 1998, £14.99,hb,428pp , 8!8670602X
Originally published 111 1959 as Aag ka Darya; English edition "transcreated from the original Urdu by the author."
A sweeping saga that covers over two thousand years, River of Fire weaves the lives and fates of several recurring characters into a glorious tapestry of India's history. As you can imagine, this makes the book difficult, if not impossible , to summarize in any way that will make much sense. Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians; Indians and Britons; men and women - all dance across the stage of history in a glorious pageant of love and war, creation and destruction and renewal. Although it may sound chaotic, somehow the text winds seamlessly from the wanderings of a Buddhist monk (circa 300 BC) through the empire of the Great Moguls and then that of the English Raj, down to Partition and its aftermath.
Brilliant and thought-provoking, my only caveat is that readers not familiar with India's history may find some of the leaps of time hard to follow. But don't let that stop you; this book is fascinating' India Edghill
" Venice both liquid and solid, both air and stone combines all the elements crucial to make our imaginations ignite and tum fantasies into realities."(8) Thus a famous actress and former Venetian resident seductively introduces the city renowned for engaging the im agination of such great artists as Byron, Browning, Joyce, Ruskin, Turner, Tintoretto, Mahler, Stravinsky, and Shakespeare.
Jessica Pruitt arrives as one judge of the yearly Venice Film Festival, prepared to acclaim or defame the current crop of socalled brilliant films. Venice mesmerizes Jessica with its uniquely proud and painful history of romance, disease, and war that weaves into her own personal history of lost maternal love, failed marriages, and mature philosophy about relationships between individuals and nations. All contribute to her preparation to play Jessica in a new play entitled Shylock's Daughter.
Jessica contrasts the exquisite mystique of this Serenissima, its beloved Adriatic Sea, connected canals, pigeons, bells, gondoliers, art, music, and theatre now surrounded by glamorous actors, actresses, producers, devouring paparazzi, and vying politics of a contest that celebrates the peiverse rather than mainstream. Jessica becomes ill and descends into a febrile dream about living in sixteenth century Venice where she meets William Shakespeare and his mentor, Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, who have escaped the plague of England to seek shelter and inspiration. In the middle of the Jewish ghetto, a place of restriction yet shelter for Jews during an extremely anti-Semitic period, Will and Jessica begin a highly erotic romance. Jessica and Will struggle with their opponents, Jessica's long-denounced but naturally angry father (Shylock] and Will's increasingly possessive patron.
What is their fate and what will they generate in this creative environment? This captivating story briefly scans the history but still holds the reader's fascination and leaves a haunting contemplation in its Venetian wake. (Originally published under the title Serenissima.)
Viviane Crystal
TUR ING BONES
Lee Martin, Univ. of Nebraska Pre s s. 2003, $28~5,hb , l94pp , 08032323l4
The title refers to a ritual in which celebrants exhume and dance with the bones of their ancestors, a Day of the Dead celebration. Many of us possess family trees , but the names and the dates-the bones - · are all we have. Mr. Martin has thoroughly fle s hed his ancestral bones, imagining the humble , illiterate farmers who migrated in the early
1700s from the Rhineland to England, Ireland, and on to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The story follows marriages and continuing migrations, into Kentucky and then across the Ohio River, suiviving times of cholera, bad haivests and even a prison camp stint, seived by an ancestral soldier who fought in the Civil War. During the 19•h century, the author's wandering family came to rest upon 80 acres in Illinois. The past is the warp; Mr. Martin's life struggle, as the emotionally disconnected inheritor of his father's land, the woof. His melancholy portrayal of the demise of the long revered institution of America's family farm is no small part of the story.
Juliet Waldron
THE MARGARET-GHOST
Barbara Novak , George Braziller, 2003, $19.95 / C$30.00, hb, I90pp, 0807615242 Novak relates the life of Margaret Fuller, New England feminist and contemporary of Emerson and Thoreau, through Angelica Bookbinder, a professor writing a book on Fuller, a book that is essential for her to get tenure at a small Boston college Bookbinder wants the book to be more than an intellectual history of Fuller- she wants to explore Fuller's amative (opposite sex) and adhesive (same sex) attachments as well, as Fuller was one who "loved not wisely but too well." Her would-be biographer thinks this book out loud, so it consists of many rhetorical questions such as "Intimate? What was intimacy for her?" as well as devices such as outlines and lists. This stylistic affectation overshadows Fuller and her accomplishments , not to mention the fact that, for a college professor, Bookbinder behaves like an idiot in both her personal and professional life. Looking for first-hand understanding of Fuller's adhesive relationships, she encourages the advances of the lesbian professor in her department , wondering if she can "participate and learn by doing." She also starts up a rt!lationship with a male Haivard professor whom she meets at the library. When she di s covers he ' s cheating on her with a woman she dubs "the Baywatch girl ," rather than becom111g outraged, she instead seeks to change herself so she more resembles said Baywatch girl I Finding my self unable to respect Bookbinder made it equally difficult to take an interest in Fuller as viewed through her biographer's eyes Fuller led a very interesting life and achieved more than she was recognized for in her lifetime, but this book isn ' t the place to learn that.
Ellen Keith
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVfEW
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
TIMESLIP
IN TIME OF WAR
Allen Appel, Carroll & Graf 2003
$25.00/C$37.50, hb, 372pp, 0786/11620 Fourth volume of the Alex Balfour novels (Time After Time, Twice Upon a Time, Till the End of Time), our contemporary hero now finds himself inexplicably in Civil ~a~- ravaged Maryland. He's soon joined in time but not place by pregnant girlfriend Molly Glenn, who was supposed to have died in the last novel, but, of course, anything can happen when one time travels.
Alex, wounded in battle, witnesses a murder he determines to solve before beginning his recovery in a Washington hospital. There his luck changes as he wakes up with Ambrose Bierce convalescing beside him and Walt Whitman bringing him the newspaper. Molly arrives to become the belle of a Washington whorehouse for her unconventional views on attitudes about the future of America and a woman's place in 1t. Alex finds himself in trouble with the Secret Service, imprisoned (with Sidney Lanier as tentmate this time) then involved in a scheme with his nefarious father to keep Abraham Lincoln from being assassinated. Appel's novel is a ripping yam, peppered with the sights, sounds and smells of the era. The somewhat bland hero is outshined by his feisty mate this time out. The devices used to keep the lovers apart become strained. Bringing in the stop-theassassination plot frays its shopworn edges, ~!though the alternative subsequent history 1s a compelling look at what might have been. The core mystery is solved with the feel of an afterthought. This page-turner family saga, thanks to the disappearing next generation , promises new adventure and intrigue for the Balfour/ Glenns' past, present, and future.
Eileen Charbonneau
CLOVEN
Sally Spedding, Pan 2003 , £6.99 , pb, 400pp, 0330486969
Si:rn Richards is the mute and crippled daughter of a Welsh cattle breeder. Loved by her father and disliked by her brother, Tomos. [n 1830 Sian is taken by the reluctant Tomos on a cattle dri ve to London where her father hopes she will be cured. ' They enter an area where cholera is raging and are forced by local hostility to a road that leads to a bog where the majority of the herd is lost. Sian runs away with her dog tryrng to get back home She encounters all kind of danger, from a Madame dealing in child prostitution to the thoughtless cruelty of the destitute. She eventually ends up at Tripp's cottage.
Switching to the present, Ivan Browning, a pottery teacher buys Tripp's cottage and is haunted by the events of 1830. As well as ghosts he faces real danger from local criminals.
I did not care for this book . I found it depressing and the constant changing of period disruptive. ]f you like creepy, atmospheric stories this will appeal. It is well written with good, strong characters. Mairead McKerracher
HISTORICAL FANTASY
1610: A SUNDIAL IN AGRA VE
Mary Gentle, Gollancz, 2003, £12.99, pb, 594pp,0575072512
In the press release, this novel is said to be ideal for all fans of Mary Gentle's bestselling novel Ash, for readers of alternate history, and anyone who enjoys swashbuckling heroic fantasy. It's also id~al for anyone who enjoys a long, leisurely novel that takes the reader on a journey through seventeenth century history as it might have been, if a few people who wanted to change the course of history had had their way.
Advenrurer, spy and sword-fighter Valentin Rochefort is not only responsible for the death of Henri IV of France, but also absurdly infatuated with Dariole, an adventurer in the same buccaneering mould as Rochefort himself. But Dariole has an agenda that includes killing the English astrologer and mathematician Robert Fludd whom Rochefort needs to keep alive. '
A plot to kill James I needs to be foiled. A Samurai warrior whom Rochefort and Dariole saved from drowning on a French beach needs to get home to Japan to report to the Shogun. The novel weaves all these disparate strands together to form an entertaining story in the 'quest' tradition of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones.
The novel contains lots of sex , violence and cruelty. so it ' s not for anyone looking for a quiet , traditional , boy-meets-girl romantic read All the same , it's romantic m the broades t sense and will more than satisfy anyone who likes a story about diffe rent kind s of love. It examines the ties that bind us to each other, it discusses the nature of love, and it shows us what people will do for those they love - especially for those they love to distraction, as Rochefort loves the person who is dearest to him.
This is an inventive, entertaining, imaginative story.
Elements from the Finnish epic Kalevala and Saami shamanism combine with Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale in this charming novel by Canadian writer Kernaghan. In I 91h century Copenhagen, Kai, a kind and clever young man much taken with scientific thought and progress, 1s fnends with Gerda, a proper young girl with romantic tendencies. When the Baroness Aurore, a distant cousin of Kai's and a learned natural philosopher, asks him to come away with her to be her assistant it is a sign of the growing distance betwe,en him and Gerda. When he neither writes to his family nor returns when expected, Gerda sets out on a journey to find him. She is captured by a woodlands robber whose daughter Ritva takes her in out of curiosity. Ritva is fighting against taking up the mantle of her shaman mother's power and eventually guides and accompanies Gerda in her search for Kai, who they find out is now being kept in the palace of the Northern Enchantress. As the two girls continue their quest, they come to a greater understandino of where their own power and choices Ii; The cold and wintry landscape of their travels to the Enchantress's palace through Sweden and the Arctic are beautifully described. Recommended for all ages.
The author of Queen of Camelot and Grail Prince rerurns to the Arthurian mythos with this retelling of the story of Tristan and Essy lt e. Tristan, son of the slain king of Lyonesse Meliodas, is a brilliant young fighter in the army of his uncle Mark current king of Cornwall and Lyonesse'. Although Tristan desires nothing more than to serve his uncle, Mark is convinced that Tristan poses a threat to his rule, and sends him to Wales, land of the enemy, to retrieve his uncle's betrothed bride Essylte. Unfortunately, her mother , Queen of Wales, is determined that the match should not happen and creates a potion which will force Tristan and Essylte to betray themselves with each other, which they do. Caught between conflicting loyalties, the lovers begin a desperate series of deceptions and betrayals that will eventually destroy the lives of nearly everyone around them.
McKenzie does an excellent job of portraying the obsessive passion between the two lo vers as one decision after another leads them down an inexorable path towards betrayal and despair. She brings to life the characters around the two, such as Branwen ,
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
Lancelot and lseulte of the White Hands. Also brought to life is the political struggle for the rulership of Britain, which interacts with the characters and motivations in ways that make the outcome even more inescapable. A fine addition to the canon.
This is the second instalment in Tarr's historical fantasy series set in Jerusalem with Richard the Lionheart and his halfsister, Sioned, the focal characters. At the dawn of the 13th century, Richard, the King of Jerusalem, has grown in wisdom and power after destroying the Old Man of the Mountain, Sinan, with the help of his sister, Sioned who, with her Wei h Sight and the demonic powers of the Devil's Brood of Anjou, can control an army of jinn. As it becomes apparent that Sinan, the Undead, has returned in full force, strengthening with the death of each of his victims, Richard, Sioned and her sorcerer husband, Ahmad, confront the terrible truth that Sinan wants Jerusalem and then the rest of the worldfor himself.
But the only way that Sinan can finally be defeated is if the Ark of the Covenant is returned from its hiding place, somewhere in the world, to the Temple in Jerusalem. And the only way that the Ark can be returned is if it s historical protectors, the Jews, assist in the return. It is interesting to watch Tarr as she maneuvers the Jewish, Christians and Muslims into cooperating to save Jerusalem, fighting against their ageold grievances and prejudices to join together for the greater good.
I am typically not a big fan of alternative history. However, Tarr is such a talented writer and the characters and plot are so carefully constructed that I was sucked in immediately and played like a fiddle. This is a wonderful, enjoyable read. You just have to suspend your disbelief and let Tarr carry you along.
The UK is under German occupation during the early years of WWII. Nick Penny is obliged to use his German language skills as translator in the Western regional offices of the Wehrmacht whilst becoming involved in the nascent English resistance movement.
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
He treads an impossibly fine line as society is divided between those who resist and the others who use the opportunity to make money and seek personal advancement from the German forces.
The author deploys a sound knowledge of the structure and policies of the German military machine, particularly the tensions between the Army and the SS. As conditions deteriorated the occupation became steadily more brutal. The violence quotient inexorably increases climaxing in Adolph Hitler's visit to London to oversee the sham coronation of Edward and Wallis.
The historical context is good and the plot imaginative and absorbing: but the book is essentially one old familiar cliche followed by another and the main characters are stock figures from any WWII film or book. A good exciting if undemanding read. Doug Kemp
NON-FICTION
THE REAL MIDDLE EARTH
Professor Brian Bates, Pan 2003, £7.99, pb, 290pp,0330491709
The latest historical and archaeological research has discovered that from the Celts through Anglo-Saxons and Vikings there arose, two thousand years ago, a largely forgotten civilisation. How these people thought and made sense of their world, so very different from ours today, is explored and explained in fascinating detail.
Ann Oughton
EVE: Sex, Childbirth and Motherhood through the Ages
The royalties of this book will go to the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity which is a good enough reason to buy it. However, it is useful for historical novelists for the succinct overview it gives to what was, until fairly recently, a life-threatening process for mother and child. I defy anyone to read this book without wincing. What with holding women upside down when labour was prolonged, drinking mouse dung diluted with rainwater and asses milk to prevent sore breasts, not to mention hanging swaddled new-borns from walls to prevent being eaten by animals, it's a wonder any survived. Although this is a brief summary, the notes list further reading. A fascinating read
First published in 1922 , this is an account of the gallant but disastrous 1912 Scott expedition to the South Pole. The author, one of the youngest on the team, was with the rescue party that eventually found the frozen bodies of Scott and the three men who died with him. He uses his and other team members' diaries to produce a masterpiece of travel writing.
Val Whitmarsh
PATSY
Tim Coates, Bloomsbury 2003, £ I 6.99, hb, 260pp,0747560811
'On the matter of Second Lieutenant Patrick Barrett, no more will be said.' Army Courts Enquiry Act 1916. However, Tim Coates ignores this directive and gives us the true account of a scandal and cover-up that threatened to unseat the Government in power during WWI.
Coates' mannered writing interweaving documented evidence with reproduced conversations reveals the story of the some time mistress of Edward, Prince of Wales, Mary Cornwallis-West, who captivated a young sergeant and through her influence obtained his promotion.
Gwen Sly
BILLY RUFFIAN
David Cordingly, Bloomsbury 2003, £16.99, hb,307pp,0747565376
This book guides us through the processes of building, working and fighting a great battleship. She was valiant in war- and had greatness thrust upon her when Napoleon surrendered to England on her deck.
The illustrations and maps are la vish, extensive and pertinent. This is as complete a single naval background book as you could find anywhere . David Cordingly is the master and commander of his subject.
Paul F Brunyee
MY FATHER'S WAR
Adriaan van Dis, Heinemann 2004 ( first pub. Amsterdam 1994), £12.99, hb, 309 pp, 0434010472
The author 1,1,as born in Holland shortly after the Second World War, to a Dutch mother and Indonesian father. In middle-age he begins to investigate his family's past and discovers the truth about the wartime hardships they suffered in Japanese internment camps but had never been willing to discuss, and begins to understand and forgive his upbringing.
The aim of this excellent biography is to restore the reputation of one of the most represented women in history. As compelling as a page-turning novel and full of colour and insight, this biography goes a long way in shedding light on a strong and fascinating woman.
Sally Zigmond
MA RIAN NE IN CHAINS
Robert Gildea, Pan 2003, £8.99, pb, 524pp, 0330488651
The author studies the regions around Nantes, Angers and Tours during the German Occupation from I 940-1944. He explores the historical myths of resistance and collaboration from a local perspective using documentary sources and interviews with survivors. Gildea shows how French men and women adapted comfortably to the initially benign occupation. A coherently argued, well-researched and thoughtprovoking study.
The Roman army built and sustained a vast Empire for nearly a millennium. But what of the generals who commanded that army? Historian and Roman military expert Adrian Goldsworthy recognizes that military leadership is all-important. In this erudite, insightful and highly readable account he gives us a history of the Roman Empire through the characters, backgrounds and campaigns of its greatest generals, whose successes seem all the more remarkabl e to us when we consider that these men were primarily politicians for whom military service was a step toward high office in Rome and who achieved top army commands through family background and political connections rather than formal training.
Sarah Cuthbertson
IHMMLER 'S CRUSADE
Christopher Hale, Bantam 2003, £20.00, hb , 422pp,0593049527
On the eve of WWII a Nazi expedition was sent by Heinrich Himmler to discover the origins of the Aryan race in the mountains of Tibet. Himmler's Crusade is a thought provoking account of Nazi ideology and their obsession with racial purity that would eventually culminate in the Final Solution
Therese was only fourteen when she personally implored the Pope to allow her to become a nun. Once in a convent, she experienced so many apparitions that her Prioress ordered her to write about it. This book became The Story of a Soul. She always said she would die young and when tuberculosis overwhelmed her in 1897, pilgrims soon flocked to her grave. She was beatified shortly afterwards - the fastest in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. This compact, but comprehensive, account is a powerful study of a remarkable life.
Sally Zigmond
CAPTAIN COOK
Tony Horwitz, Bloomsbury 2002, £7.99. pb, 480pp.0747564558
The author visits the places Captain Cook discovered and compares and contrasts what was reported in the I 8th century with what these places have now becom e. After a week sailing as a deckhand on the Endeavour, Australian built replica of Cook's first ship, he set off on more modem transport. lnformative, funny, thought-provoking; it's an excellent read.
Marina Oliver
A BRIEF HlSTORY OF BRITlSH SEAPOWER
David Howarth, Robinson 2003, £9.99, pb, 464pp, I 841197920 ( First published 1974 as Sovereign of the Seas)
This book covers the period from 5th century AD to 1945 so, disappointingly, nothing is said about the Classis Britannica, the Roman British fleet. Since the book was first published there have been some major excavations and research which renders some chapters out of date. A brief update in the form of a postscript by Margaret Rule about the Marie Rose is included.
S. Garside-Neville
MfCHAELANGELO AND THE POPE'S CEIUNG
Ross King , Pimlico 2002 , £9.99 , pb, 37lpp, 0712667687
In 1508 Pope Julius 11 commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This book tells of the events of the next four years to 1512 when the work was finally finished.
Although this is not a novel , but an almost day-by-day account of how the ceiling was painted and the frequent arguments Michelangelo had with the Pope over the designs and money, it is, nevertheless, an eminently readable book. Woven into it, almost as a backdrop, are the other events of the early 16 th century, the other artists he came into contact with -
Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael as well as the Dominican friar, Girolamo Savonarola. If you have read Irving Stone's The Agony and the Ecstasy, or watched Charlton Heston's portrayal of the artist in the film of the same name and don't want your illusions shattered, then this book is not for you, but I found it totally fascinating.
Marilyn Sherlock
DARK LOVER: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino
Emily W. Leider, Faber & Faber 2003, £20.00,hb,498pp,0571218180
The cult of celebrity is no new phenomenon as this story of the screen's first darkskinned romantic hero vividly illustrates. It also details the history of the days of the early cinema. A filmography, detailed notes and sources make this a useful re ference tool for anyone researching this period of American movie history.
Ann Oughton
WORLD WAR I: The Mammoth Book of How it Happened
Jon E. Lewis (ed), Robinson 2003, £7.99, pb, 487pp, 184119803X
Over 180 first-hand accounts from all the nations involved in this 'war to end all wars' detail how the effects of the Great War have shaped the modem world. From the slaughter in the trenches to the machinations in the staff rooms of the top brass, every aspect is covered allowing the reader to make their own judgements on the rights or wrongs of the conflict.
Ann Oughton
THE
PLAGUE RACE
Edward Ma1Tiott, Picador 2003, £7.99, pb, 288pp,0330481396
The Swiss-French scientist, Alexandre Yersin was the first to isolate the bacillus that causes bubonic plague and the route by which it is transmitted to humans. The book also conside rs the peculiar horror with which the disease has for centuries been regarded: even today, when it is treatable with antib ioti cs.
Ann Lyon
WORLD WAR I IN COLOUR
Charles Messenger, Ebury Press 2003, £20.00, hb, 224pp, 0091897823
Until now, World War I has only been seen in black and white images, but now computer technology has been used to recast archive footage in colour. Brought out to support a TV se ri es of the same name, this book radically alters the way we view history and brings the horror more dramatically to life.
Sara Wilson
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
GANGLAND: THE EARLY YEARS.
The Gangs of New York, London and Paris
James Morton, Time Warner 2003, hb, £18.99, 518pp,0316859362
This book on criminals in the 19th and 20 th century charts their violent, dangerous and • daring exploits as they moved between London and New York and across Europe, sometimes ending up in prison and poverty, sometimes becoming millionaires and members of society. Here is Dr Tumblety (was he Jack the Ripper?) and Adam Worth, the man who became the model for Conan Doyle's Moriarty. Here, too, are the forces 1 for good ranged against them - the Pinkerton Agency, Alphonse Bertillon's methods of identification, and what became known as the 'Third Degree'. A racy, intriguing read.
Val Whitmarsh
A RHYMING HrSTORY OF BRITAIN
55 BC-AD J966
James Muirden, Constable 2003, £9.99, hb, 214pp, 1841196320
Pure doggerel, this entertaining romp through history palls after a while but the quirky illustrations add zest to a selfindulgent piece of fun.
Ann Oughton
NAPOLEO IN RUSSIA
Alan Palmer, Robinson 2003, £7.99, pb, 320pp, 1841 19634 7
This book deals with one of the great military misadventures of all time. Relying almost entirely on the writings of participants and other contemporaries is a technique which can lead to stodgy writing but Mr Palmer moves seamlessly between Sergeant Bourgogne of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, General Sir Henry Wilson, the British representative at Russian Headquarters and other individuals who make a brief appearance.
Ann Lyon
A
THO USA D YEARS OVER A HOT STOVE
Laura Schcnone, Norton, 2003, $35/C$52.50, hb, 412pp, 0393016714
Subtitled '·A llistory of American Women Told Through Food, Recipes, and Remembrances," Schenone examines the foods and food-related traditions of native Americans, early immigrants to New England as well as later immigrant groups, slaves, and pioneers to the West. She also probes changes brought about by early professional cookbook writers and new technologies for cooking. This handsome volume is studded with evocative pictures and period recipes
Trudi E. Jacobson
THE IJISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
TILT: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa
Nicholas Shrady, Simon & Schuster, 2003, $2 l.95/C$34.95, hb, 161 pp, 0743229266
Pub in UK by Simon & Schuster, 2003, £12.99,hb,256pp,0743231694
This book, which cleverly physically tilts in the manner of its subject, is a lucid and engaging history of the famous tower, including a number of efforts to correct its lean. The author deftly sketches the fluctuating fortunes of Pisa over time, which played such a role in the construction of the tower and the other buildings in Pisa's Campo dei Miracoli. Highly recommended!
Trudi E. Jacobson
THE EMPRESS OF PLEASURE: The Life and Adventures of Teresa CornelysQueen of Masquerades and Casanova's Lover
Teresa Comelys arrived in England in 1759. A poverty stricken single mother she rose to become the owner of London's most celebrated salon, Carlisle House. She ended her days in the Fleet prison. This amazing rags to riches and back to rags story revives the memory of one who was, in her day, the most famous woman in England
By the time she was fifteen Harriette Wilson was the most sought after courtesan in England. When the Duke of Argyle refused her an annuity she wreaked revenge on all her former lovers, including the King, by publishing her memoirs.
Ann Oughton
CHILDREN'S
REMEMBRANCE
Theresa Breslin , Doubleday, 2002, £ l 0.99, hb, 303 pp, ISBN 0385602049
This book tells the story of five young people from a Scottish village and how the First World War affected their lives Francis and Charlotte are the children of the local gentry; Maggie, John Malcolm and Alex those of the village shopkeeper. The story opens with fifteen-year-old Charlotte explaining to her mother why she feels she must go to train as a nurse rather than content herself with more ladylike war work. It is the beginning of an upheaval which will engulf the entire community as the war absorbs more young lives and the old social order begins to break down.
Romance and friendship bind the two families, but the war forces them apart. Maggie goes to work first in a munitions factory, then as a nurse with Charlotte in France. Her two brothers are eager to join up , but Charlotte's brother, the older and more thoughtful Francis, is against the war and at first refuses to go. All of them experience the horrors of war: the young men in the trenches and on the battlefield, and the girls through their experiences of nursing The ending, in which the loss and change to the lives of everyone in the village becomes clear, is very moving. Theresa Breslin has done a great deal of research, but it is all blended into the narrative and never intrudes. This is a quiet book, written in clear, precise prose with no unnecessary drama; Theresa Breslin allows her characters and story to speak for themselves. It has great strength and dignity and is all the more powerful as a result. I cannot praise it too highly.
Ann Turnbull
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD,
Maurine F Dahlberg, Floris Books, 2003, £4.99, pb, 205 pp. lSBN 0-86315-426-3 Twelve-year-old Gilly's mother is dead and when her father goes to look for gold in the Rocky Mountains she is sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Virginia. Gilly misses her father and her home in Missouri. I !er father has brought her up to believe that slavery is wrong and she is shocked to discover that not only does her Uncle Henry keep slaves but his friend and neighbour , Mr Craikey, keeps bloodhounds to hunt down escaped slaves.
Gilly's aunt is strict with her and makes her work hard. There is much detail about domestic detail such as how to chum butter and make soap - both soft soap and hard soap. But despite her work Gilly starts to notice several strange things. Food keeps disappearing. And the doctor leaves notes for Aunt Laura about herbs and remedies. This is something about which young Gilly knows a great deal and she knows that the doctor's messages do not make sense.
Then Gilly finds out the truth. The farm is a station on the underground railroad and in a tlmlling climax Gilly finds herself guiding two escaped slaves to the river to a rendezvous with a boat while being pursued by men with guns and bloodhounds.
This book has a good fast paced story with enough authentic detail to give a realistic impression of America in 1859. But it is also a rites of passage story. At the beginning Gilly 1s full of childish plans to run away and walk to the Rockies She also throws tantrums. But by the end of the story she has learnt to control her temper. Above all she comes to realise that she has much to learn about people. She learns that people are not always what they seem and that she
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
should try to look beyond the front they present to the world.
This book gives a vivid picture of pre Civil War America. The complex ideas of the time are explored against a background of domestic detail with a hint of mystery leading up to a thrilling climax, all set alongside the story of a young girl growing up. A worthy read indeed.
11+
Mary Moffat
A GATHERING LIGHT
Jennifer Donnelly, Bloomsbury, 2003, £12.99, hb, 389pp, ISBN 0747563047
On July 12 , 1906, Grace Brown's body was recovered after a boating accident in the Adirondack Mountains. The body of her lover Chester was never found. So much is true.
Jennifer Donnelly has Grace give the fictional sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey a bundle of letters to bum. They reveal a young, frightened and pregnant Grace, begging her lover to marry her, and Mattie gradually realizes that Chester probably murdered her
Mattie has a hard life. Eldest daughter of a poor farmer, she promised on her mother's deathbed to stay and bring up her younger sisters. She long s to write and, with th e support of her teacher, she wins a scholarship to study in New York. Her father forbids it; like many girls of the period , Mattie is expected to sacrifice herself for her family's welfare.
This is a coming-of-age novel, and Mattie must decide whether to break her promises to Grace and to her motherpromises that should not have been extracted in the first place Will Mattie marry the handsome Royal Loomis -she finds him very sexually attractive - and end up stuck in a life of grinding drudgery like her mother? Will she defy her father and get to New York somehow? Will she go against Grace's instructions, give the police her letters -and precipitate a murder hunt ?
Jennifer Donnelly is interested in how women hi sto rically have been expected to stifle their talents, and the threat s from family a nd socie ty which enforced that. But it is also about Mattie's gradual understandi ng of how sexual de sire can threaten female aspirations as well.
Personally, I think it is an adult hook , but teenage gir ls, who are beginning to understand th e above dichotomy, and who prefer bleak realism to th e cosy world of, for examp le, Louisa May Alcott, might enjoy it as well.
Elizabeth Hawksley
DEADLY SKIES
J. Eldridge, Puffin (Warpath), 1999 , £3.99, pb , 13 lpp. ISBN 0140389830 August 1940. Britain stands alone against the might of the Nazis. Across the Channel,
THE HISTORJCAL NOVELS REVIEW
the German army is preparing to invade, but first the Luftwaffe must knock out the RAF. The Battle of Britain is about to begin.
Nineteen-year-old John Smith is a fighter pilot and we follow him and his Spitfire during the crucial two months that decided Britain's future. John is no cardboard cut-out hero: the dog-tiredness, the near fatal mistakes, the moments of doubt are all there. He has a difficult relationship with his father, a retired am1y colonel, who despises the RAF and thinks that John has taken the easy option. Then John's brother Edward, who is with the Fusiliers , going missing, and the resulting family tensions reach breaking point.
I was gripped by the book. As well as an engrossing story, Eldridge gets the background across superbly. We learn about fighters and bombers, the radar system, the tactics of dogfights, and well as experiencing a bombing raid on London, when John and his family shelter in the Underground. But there are more subtle things, too: the carefully cultivated sang-froid of the young men; the stiff upper lip , which protects John's flying companions from hearing about his problems at home, virtues which nowadays tend to be seen as psychologically suspect, all add to that elusive quality, 'the spirit of the tinles'. Unlike the Scholastic My Story series, Eldridge does it without rubbing one's face in facts - it all emerges naturally from the story
For those who want to know more , there are plans of the Spitfire's cockpit, photos of the main aeroplanes with their specifications, and maps. Mainly aimed at nine plus boys , I'm sure that girls would enjoy it as well. Highly recommended Elizabeth Hawksley
I liked the story in 'Deadly Skies,' but I found most of the facts tedious and confusing: the maps and cockpits bits , for example. There was too much information to take in , and it wasn't necessary. However, I did find the kit list interesting.
The start of the story was difficult to get into as there wasn't a good hook , but by the end of the first chapter I was enjoying it. Halfway through the story there were some aeroplane description pages, which were useful , but would have been better at the beginni11g, so you don't have to guess the first half.
I think thi s book would appeal to boys of 9-11. I would g ive it 6 out of 10.
Lucy Beggs, aged I I
THE LOAD OF UNICORN , Cynthia Hamett, Mammoth , 2001, £4.99, pb, 249 pp ISBN 0-7497-4696-3
This book was first published in 1959. It has been out of print and it is now good to see that it is being reprinted by Egmont Children's Books under their Mammoth Classics imprint. This book is about
William Caxton, his pnntmg press and a young apprentice. One may expect such a book to be interesting. But exciting? Perhaps not.
Anyone thinking that would be quite wrong because Cynthia Hamett has woven a thrilling story out of the work of the early printers. Trickery, piracy, capture by outlaws, even a touch of political intrigue and treason. It's all there.
Benedict's (Bendy's) father used to have a scrivener's shop (where scribes copied out books by hand) but when his wife died he made over the shop to his two older sonsBendy's half brothers. They are harsh and severe and unkind to him and Bendy's father agrees that he should be apprenticed to William Caxton - much to the fury of the brothers whose hatred of printing is almost an obsession. They claim that printing will put scriveners out of business.
They even find a way of stopping Caxton getting the paper he has paid for. But in trying to steal Caxton's paper the brothers have unwittingly got themselves mixed up with scoundrels and traitors. Bendy learns about this but he cannot tell anyone because he knows no one would believe him.
Then Bendy gets involved in another adventure. He is sent by Caxton to recover a lost manuscript about the stories of King Arthur. This results on him being set upon and captured by outlaws in a remote forest near Coventry.
Thi s is an exciting story which also includes a great deal of detail about the London of the time, the work of scriveners and, of course, Caxton's printing press. Detail which is made all the more interesting as the book was written before the current obsession of editors with pace. Cynthia Hamett's own illustrations add much to her text.
Every time I reread this book I can't help thinking that it is relevant to the present day. As Bendy's father says about printing, 'Jfbooks spawn like fishes more people will learn to read. It will turn the craft of books up s ide down: it may well tum the world upside down.'
I feel that something similar could be said today about computers, the internet and the new technology of print-on-demand l have always thought that 'A Load of Unicorn' is the best of Cynthia Barnett's books and I am really glad to see it back in print. 11 +
This is Book 3 in a quartet of novels about the lives of the four Purcell sisters.
Julia's story begins in 1910 when she is fifteen. Her elder sister Frances is a painter, determined to go to the Slade to study art. Julia 's own a1iistic ability is held back by
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
her fear of comparison with her more gifted and ambitious sister. As the First World War approaches, Julia and Geoffrey, the shyest of the neighbouring Mackenzie brothers , begin to fall in love In 1914 the Mackenzies join up, and Julia trains as a nurse and goes to work in France. While on leave there she meets up with Geoffrey and their relationship deepens. But Julia's life is about to change.
The storytelling is full of the atmosphere and detail of everyday life: the pre-war picnics , walks in the Quantock hills , the servants who were kept even by the relatively poor Purcell family; and later, the upheaval of war with its effect on family, friends and villagers.
This is a long , se rious and thoughtful book, perhaps more adult than teenage (although there is nothing in it which is unsuitable for young readers). The emotions, paiiicularly in the last part of the book when Julia is in her late thirties, are complex and subtle. It is a real and rounded portrait of a girl growing into a woman and coming, after time , to understand her past and look forward to the challenge of the future.
I found the first chapter slightly confusing as there were so many characters introduced all at once, and would guess that the books are better read in the correct order. Suitable for 12 + but adults should not miss the pleasure of reading this.
Ann Turnbull
THE DOLPHINS OF LAURENTUM, Caroline Lawrence, Dolphin, 2003, £4.99, pb, 2 I4pp, ISBN 1842550241
It is October AD79 at Ostia, near Rome. Four friends, Flavia Gemina, a sea-captain's daughter , Nubia, Flavia 's freed s lave, Jonathan and Lupus, the boy who had hi s tongue cut out, have a very comfortable life in Ostia but things are about to change. Flavia's father returns hom e after a disastrous voyage and cannot pay hi s debts. Their home is forfeit. They a re befriended by Plin y the Younger and go to live at his seasi de villa at Laurentum.
The story is full of action as well as having unsolved mysteries along the way. Why did Lupus lo se his tongu e? Who was Venalicius? The qu es tions keep you guessing until the end of the story.
Set just after Vesuvius erupted , the book gives a good in s ight into what life was like in ancient Rome. There is a useful glossary at the back which exp lains very clearly some of the words used. I enjoyed reading it very much.
Marilyn Sherlock
P O WER AND ST ONE
Alice Leader, Puffin, 2003, £4 99, pb, 250pp,014131327X
It's the 2nd century AD in Roman Britain. Marcus and Telemachus, two Roman boys, arrive with their mother at Yercovicium (Housesteads), a fort on Hadrian's Wall, where their father, Gaius, is commanding officer of the garrison. The Brigantes, the main local tribe , have been conquered but rebellion lurks menacingly close to the surface and Gaius is worried. As they settle down, the boys get to know two native children - Bran, and his spirited sister Rhiannon, who is determinedly anti-Roman. Their father was killed fighting for Rome and although Rhiannon is bitter, her mother knows that the future is Roman and her people must accept this. Caught between the two cultures is the enigmatic Brigit, whom Gaius has employed as a companion to his wife. Though Brigantian by blood , Brigit has lived in Rome but it soon becomes clear that she feels she belongs to neither culture - until events force her to make a hard choice which has repercussions for all the characters. This is a fascinating story which provides danger and excitement while exploring the timeless themes of culture clash , loyalty and belonging Unfortunately, although the seeds are carefully laid, the plot doesn't begin to take off until well into the second half, which is probably too late for all but the nerdiest 9 to 12-year-olds. As a result , it all seems rather rushed , as if the author, having filled the first half of the novel with earnest conversations in which the characters explain swathes of background and facts to one another, suddenly remembers she's supposed to be tellin g a story and hasn ' t many pages left. I assume from her Acknowledgments that Ms Leader is a teacher. She would better catch the imagination of her readers , I think, if she could suspend the didactic impulse while writing fiction and learn to weave her infom1ation into the fabric of her story.
Sarah Cuthbertson
STOP THE TRAlN
Geraldine McCaughre an, Oxford University Press, £4.99, pb, 2l2pp, ISBN 0192752669 It 's 1893, and for Cissy and her family a new life beckon s on the prairies of Oklahoma. Together with other settlers, they travel to Florence, a town yet to be built , and prepare for business alongside the red rock railroad track, but the railroad company has other ideas. It wants to buy the land for itself, and when the settlers refuse to sell, the railroad boss swears his trains will never stop in Florence again. Without the train there is no way the town can surv iv e. So Cissy , her friends, family and neighbours resolve to stop the train by fair means or foul.
This book is a very tense, fast-moving adventure story, gripping to the last page. It's a feel-good comedy which bas a serious theme I enjoyed reading every minute of this and would certainly enjoy reading it a second or even a third time I loved the way everyone in the town joined forces against the railroad boss - it was quite touching l thought it was truly admirable how the writer made such a first class story from such an old event and captured her readers. Several times I didn ' t want to put the book down because it was so involving and riveting. I would advise anybody above the age of 10 to read it, as not only is the storyline appealing but you also learn about what citizens would have had to go through in those days and how they established new towns and villages.
Sophie Leyland, age 15
SAM'S BAD DAY
David Oakden, Anglia Young Books , 2003, pb , 52 pp,, ISBN 1871173949 1948. ! !-year-old Sam lives in Tomport, a seaside town that is still suffering from the after effects of Wodd War IL The book chronicles the bad day of the title. It starts with Sam letting the hens escape, which results in squashed tomatoes and broken eggs; then he loses two shillings entrusted to him by his mother; but it is the final mishap which turns into the real adventure.
Sam and his friend Eric, who are both Sea Scouts, sneak one last ride in the Scouts' rubber dinghy and are swept out to sea. They manage to climb onto the disused pier, only to find that an old German mine has come adrift and is floating toward s them. Sam's quick thinking avoids disa ster there, bur then the mine floats off towards th e town where the fishing fleet is getting ready to sai l. Hundreds of li ves are at stake. To make matters worse, they find contraband store d on the pier~ and the boa t coming towards them could belong to armed smugglers. Things are getting dangerous.
Fortunately , it a ll works out in the end. The mine is exploded safely by the Royal Engineers and the boys are taken back to dry land by the 'smugglers' , who tum out to be Customs men.
This is a lively, fast-paced tale, not too long, I and a half spaced, and obviously aimed at boys of seven plus embarking on their first independently-read books. The dramatic black and white pictures by Gillian Marklow deserve a mention From a historical point of view it gives a very good idea of everyday life at the time: the fishing industry rationing, and Sam's fearful hope that the Customs men might really be Humphrey Bogart-type gangsters , adds a nice period flavour. Enjoyable.
Elizabeth Hawksley
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
When I saw the cover it really put me off because I thought it was a story for boys. The 'I 948' was useful because I knew it would be about the olden days.
I didn't read the 'Author's Note' at the beginning because these are usually very boring It would have been useful, though , because it explains what a mine is and other important things you wouldn't understand . lt would have encouraged me to read it if it had been called something else like 'Helpful Note' , with some pictures.
There's lots about what life was like then but the book isn't boring like a history book because there are hilarious bits like at the beginning when Sam tries to collect the eggs. The illustrations are good too. The bits at the beginning of each chapter, about the mine, weren't so interesting at first, but after a bit I realised that the plot must be something to do with the mine.
It all got very exciting about halfway through
It's a good adventure story and I thought it was worth reading. I would like to read more books by David Oakden. It would be suitable for 8 to IO year old girls and boys. I'd give the book 7 out of 10.
Rachel Beggs Age 8
PONY IN THE DARK
K.M. Peyton, Young Corgi, 2001,£3.99, pb, 107 pp , ISBN 055254745X
Although at first glance the title suggests that this is the usual pony story it has a rather different slant. It is the tale of a Shetland pony , Storm, and the Scottish boy who saved his life shortly after the Pony's birth on a Croft. The period is , 1 think , Midi 9th century, certainly Victorian.
We follow the lives of the two as they grow and both move to the Mainland , one to be sold and the lad to seek work. Young Tom is disappointed when the pony is sold to a Coal Mining concern, rather than as a pet, as he had hoped However , when he has a chance to visit Storm underground at the coalface, he is slightly less apprehensive as the ponies are well treated considering the re stric ted circumstances of their lives .
Then there is a roof fall at the pit and Storm is badly injured and when brought from the Pit given up for dead Once again Tom , who wa s waiting at the Pithead realise s that there is still a spark of life left in his friend and points that out to the Veterinary who has been called to the scene. A s the pony recovers under Toms' care, the vet realises that Tom will make a valuable assistant and offers him employment.
This is a book with a lot of action and a real feel-good finish which will be enjoyed by many young readers.
This tale, set in WWI I is a real page-turner. Young Rick Weston, of half English, half Italian parentage, and still in his basic training for the army, is picked out to join the Special Operations Executive. He and two other, more experienced men, are dropped into the area of Italy where he spent a lot of his childhood.
His mission is to make contact with his friends and through them meet members of the Resistance movement and arrange for them to be supplied with whatever is necessary to disrupt he Fascists and help the Allied army who are about to invade Italy.
At first, things do not go well and the experienced officer is captured leaving young Rick in charge but after getting the help of the Communist Resistance fighters, he manages to pull off some exciting and spectacular feats.
This book was first published in 1988 but it will still be enjoyed by many who are interested in reading about WWI I because it has a sense of urgency and the characters are so well drawn.
Jan Shaw
CAPTAIN DRAKE'S ORDERS
Karen Wallace, Illustrated by Martin Remphry, Franklyn Watts, 1998, £3 .99, pb , 64 pp, ISBN 074963 121 X
In this edition of the Sparks series, Bobby Cavendish , a youth, keeps a diary upon the good ship Revenge. The tale starts on July 30'h 1588. The captain of the ship is none other than Sir Francis Drake. The book is written to link in with the History National Curriculum.
The delightful ink sketch illu st rations compliment the pace of the action within the story. The character's names, George Flubbins and Dancin ' Jack for example lighten the story as Bobby finds himself helping Captain Drake , to uncover top secret plans of the Spanish Armada.
The description of what was happening at sea, and importantly why, plus the ensuing battle are interwoven carefully, so that the reader receives sound historical knowledge whilst enjoying Bobby's adventure.
The notes at the back of the book give more facts about the war, the Spanish Armada, the English fleet, the guns and gunners, food and the Spanish's ultimate defeat.
This book is an easy read, which should provide the reader with a sound basic knowledge of the events that led to Sir Francis Drake's victory over the Armada. Val Loh
This was an interesting book with some lovely drawings in it.
Kirstie Loh age I 0
GOODBYE MARIANNE
Irene N Watts, Floris Books , 2000, £4.99, pb, 123 pp, ISBN 0863 I 53305 Marianne is an eleven-year-old girl trying to get into her school to take her maths test. Only this is Germany in 1938 and the girl is a Jew She is on a list that forbids her kind entry. Her world, as she knows it, is about to be destroyed by hatred. An Aryan only world ha s descended, where red and white flags donning th e black swastika adorn many a building. There is nothing Marianne, or her parents, can do to stop the evil that has been unleashed in her homeland.
Marianne and her fellow Jews can no longer walk in the streets safely. The police tum a blind eye to acts of violence against her people, even referring to them as vermin - or worse, joining in.
She bravely listens to the horrors her father , who is in hiding , recounts of his treatment at a concentration camp.
When the Gestapo stormtroopers arrive at their flat, Marianne witnesses the destruction of their meagre possessions. They are soon told to vacate the premises, as Jews are not allowed to inhabit the building
This excellently written story is based on true events that led desperate parents to put their children onto 'Kindertransport' in the hope that they would be saved, to live freely in England. The anguish of this action is encapsulated in a touching letter from mother to daughter.
Throughout this , Marianne has a friend, Ernest. The day he turns up dres ed in his uniform as a 'Jung Volk', the boys branch of the Hitler Youth, they almost become enemies. Ernest's father had been unemployed for three years until the Fuhrer provided employment. In a way, Ernest is a victim of the regime too. He gives Marianne a note to say they are not all the same.
'Marianne's Story' is a great insight for our children today. The author's ' Afterword ' points out that the Kindertransport continued until the war started in 1939. One and a half million children, under fifteen , were murdered by the Nazis.
A compulsive, if painful read.
Val Loh
BLOODY TOWER: The Diary of Tilly Middleton, London 1553-59 Valerie Wilding, Scholastic, 2002, £4.99. pb. l 50pp. ISBN 0439981832 This is another book published by Scholastic in the 'My Story' series. The 'author' is Tilly Middleton, daughter of the Physician at the Tower of London and lives with her fami ly in the Tower. Her diary begins with the death of Edward VI and follows events through the nine day reign of Lady Jane Grey, Mary Tudor's reign , and ends with the accession of Elizabeth I.
The story unfolds as seen through the eyes of an ordinary young girl It was a
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
turbulent time but written in bite-size chunks, in diary forn1, it makes for easy reading and I think children will enjoy this book very much. There is a good Historical Note at the end which sums the period up very well and a useful Timeline which would help the reader with the chronology of the period.
I enjoyed this book very much. Marilyn Sherlock
MEMBERS' BOOKS
THE MASTER OF MONKTON MANOR
Valerie Holmes, Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd, 2003, pb, l 80pp, 1843950502 When Megan Clegg is orphaned, she is reluctantly taken in by her uncle, rector of a small parish on the Yorkshire coast, but almost immediately passed onto the handsome local landowner, as maid to his autocratic mother. Megan has a secret up her sleeve, but is prepared to quietly bide her time in her new home and get on with her job. However, nobody around her is what they seem to be and when a Revenue Officer turns up to investigate the death of a young man and suspicions that smugglers are operating in the area, Megan finds her new loyalties put t.i the test.
A well-written, swift-moving sto1y with a satisfactory ending.
Val Whitmarsh
AUDIO UPDATE
The following are latest titles from Isis Publishing. There are no reviews this issue but there are two very interesting titles in prospect for review next issue There will also be a list of the latest releases for 2004. Watch this space!
As you will see below, there is quite a range of titles recently released. For those who are interested in classic children's books , Isis have just released Eve Garnett's The Fami(v from One End Street, read by Julia Sands.
Jt is always worth visiting the Isis website for special offers. Check the website: w\vw.isi s -publishing .co.uk for details.
New Titles released in October, November & December 2003:
Lyn Andrews The House on Lonely Street
Barbara Taylor Bradford Emma's Secret J.L. Carr A Month in the Country
THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW
Barbara Cleverley The Danrnscened Blade
John Connelly Bad Men
Bernard Cornwell Copperhead
Alexandra Connor The Face in the Locket
Gloria Cook Pengarron Pride
Margaret Thomson Davis A Sort of Peace
Elizabeth Elgin A Scent of Lavender
Delia Ellis Better Strangers
Eva Figes Tales of Innocence and Experience
Katie Flynn Down Daisy Street
Ken Follet Hornet Flight
Alexander FullertonFlight to Mons
Anna Gilbert Images of Rose
Tris Gower Spinner's Wharf
John Maclachlan GrayThe Fiend in Human
Joanne Harris Holy Fools
Lilian Harry A Promise to Keep
Meg Hutchinson The Deverell Woman
Anna Jacobs A Pennyworth of Sunshine
Rosalind Laker The Silver Touch
Judith Lennox
Joan Lock
Elizabeth Lord
Claire Lorrimer
Sara MacDonald
Beryl Matthews
Fidelis Morgan
James Nelson
Pamela Oldfield
Claire Rayner
Nicholas Rhea
Candace Robb Middlemere Dead Letters For All the Bright Promise Last Year's Nightingale Sea Music Wings of the Morning The Rival Queens The Maddest Idea Matters of Trust Charing Cross Constable in the Wilderness The Fire in the Flint
Wendy Robertson Honesty's Daughter
Susan Sallis Lydia Fielding
Steven Saylor Arms of Nemesis
Debbie Taylor The Fourth Queen
Nicola Thome The Blackbird's Song
Janet McLeod Trotter A Child of Jarrow
Richard Woodman Dead Man Talking
I f you would like to receive the regular Update brochure from Isis with the full list of new titles, please call (0 I 865) 250 333. This is also available in Large Print. To contact Isis/ Soundings, or to obtain a full catalogue contact the publishers at: Isis Publishing Limited
7 Ccntremead
Osney Mead
Oxford OX2 0ES
Tel: 0 I 865 250 333; E-mail: audiobooks @ isis-publishing.co.uk
Website: www.isis-publishing.co.uk
Geraldine Perriam
HNS BOOK ORDERING SER VICE
UK
Members
The HNS Book Ordering Service can supply any book reviewed in Historical Novels Reviews, including books published abroad. Please contact Sarah Cuthbertson at sarah76cuthbert((vaol.com or 01293 884898 with the title(s) you want and she will give you a quote from the cheapest Internet sou rc e, to include postage and packing. Customers can benefit from discounts on many titles, and will usually pay only UK postage on overseas books. Books will be delivered directly to the customer whenever possible.
Alternatively, the US Reviews Editors will buy books for you in the US to trade for UK titles: please contact Sarah Johnson (cfslnta, eiu.edu). Trudi Jacobson readbks(ivlocalnet.com or Ilysa Magnus (goodlaw2,'a;aol.com). Sarah Cuthbertson can contact them on your behalf if you don't have email.
Overseas Members
The following UK members are interested in trading books with overseas members, including wishlists and secondhand books: Rachel A. Hyde , Meadow Close, Budleigh Salterton, Devon EX9 6JN, Tel: +44 1395 446238, Email: rachelahvde (a) ntlworld com (Rachel will also trade Fantasy & SF). Sarah Cuthbertson (contact details above). Please let Sarah know if you would like to join this list.
ISSUE 27, FEB 2004
FREE BOOK COMPETITION
Spo ns ore d by Cro w n Publis h ers (US)
In Ireland, Isolde's mother lies dying, and the throne of the Emerald Isle awaits her. But while Ireland is her destiny, Isolde is already Queen of Cornwall, trapped in a loveless marriage to its mean-spirited King Mark. Her true love is his nephew, Tristan of Lyonesse, who has never married. Across the sea in France, a young princess who shares Isolde's name enters the story. King Hoel named his daughter in honor of Isolde of Ireland, and young Isolde of France, called Blanche for her white hands, has always been determined to outdo her beautiful namesake. Blanche is of an age to be married, and she has chosen her husband - Tristan ofLyonesse.
To celebrate the publication of Rosalind Miles' second Tristan and Isolde novel , Crown Publishers (v.rww.maidenscrown.com) is offering copies of The Maid of the White Hands to the first five HNS members who write in with the correct answer to the following question:
In Malory's Morte d'Arthur, how did Tristram (Tristan) get his name?
Please send your answer via postcard to
Sarah Johnson, 6868 Knollcrest Dr, Charleston, IL, 61920 , USA , or via email to cfsln @e iu .e du.
This offer is open to US and Canadian members of the HNS only.
