Reviews
ANCIENT & PREHISTORIC
CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR
Jean Auel, Hodder, 2006 (c1980), £6.99, pb, 587pp, 0340839899; Pub. in the US by Bantam, 1984, $7.99, pb, 528pp, 0553250426
I have long wanted to read Jean Auel’s acclaimed novel of Neanderthal society. Offered the opportunity to review the Hodder re-issue, with its strikingly handsome new cover, I accepted with pleasure. The novel opens with Ayla, the heroine, caught in the throes of a terrifying earthquake. All her family dies. She alone survives. Five years old and left to fend for herself, she wanders for days, eventually succumbing to malnutrition and thirst. On the point of death she is rescued by the medicine woman of a Neanderthal clan. Ayla is not Neanderthal and known to the Clan only as one of the Others. The Clan must decide whether to abandon Ayla or adopt her. Their leader chooses the latter, and the novel continues with Ayla’s life growing to maturity.
Along the way, there are traumatic, harrowing events in Ayla’s life: events described with such power, you are left aching with compassion for an outsider, forced by circumstance, to live in an unfamiliar environment. It is to Auel’s credit that the Clan are characterised with great sympathy. The medicine woman, Clan Leader and Clan magician are sensitive, well-rounded characters that you care about. In dramatic contrast, Broud, heir apparent to the Clan Leader Brun, is one of the most hateful characters I’ve encountered in fiction.
The problem with the novel is its length. It is quite simply far too long. The narrative is inundated with repetitive irritating details, one instance of such being the numerous descriptive passages detailing herbs and all their uses. Yet overall I found much to delight, with many nuances lingering long after the pages closed. Neanderthals, in Auel’s vision, were not uncivilised brutes. They were complex, orderly and ultimately doomed to extinction. This is a masterpiece, albeit flawed. Well worth reading.
Fiona Lowe
THE WARRIOR
Judith E. French, Leisure, 2005, $6.99/C$8.99, pb, 358pp, 0843953950
Set in the 4th century BC, The Warrior is the last installment in an historical trilogy. This book focuses on Alexander, who may or may not be the son of Alexander the Great. He sets off to Egypt to wed a princess, the daughter of Ptolemy. But there, palace intrigue abounds; Alexander meets a slave girl, Kiara, who saves his life and draws him into her own schemes. There are also several subplots involving Al-
exander’s family.
Although this book is categorized as “historical,” readers looking for a story which explores the possibility that Alexander the Great’s son was not murdered at an early age, but instead lived, will not find that story here. This Alexander’s lineage is never addressed; Ptolemy himself claims that “whether or not this Alexander is my nephew and heir to my brother’s kingdom isn’t important.”
Historical inaccuracies aside, most of the characters are lightweight and poorly developed (e.g., an eight-year-old girl’s point-ofview voice should be distinct from that of a young man’s, but it isn’t), and the plot farfetched. Ultimately, the many storylines fail to be gripping; for this reader, this is a below average read, and one that may have worked better as a fantasy than a historical.
L.K. Mason
BIBLICAL
SEVEN DAYS TO THE SEA
Rebecca Kohn, Rugged Land, 2006, $24.95/ C$34.95, hb, 395pp, 1590710495; Pub. in the UK by Michael Joseph, 2006, £18.99, hb, 416pp, 071814936X
Moses the Israelite is adopted by an Egyptian princess, but his lofty position cannot save him when he kills an Egyptian for working the enslaved Israelites too hard. Fleeing to the desert, Moses falls in love with Tzipporah, daughter of Sinn’s high priest. At Sinn’s holy mountain, he meets Yahveh, the god of his people, who sends him back to Egypt to rescue the Israelites from oppression. At first the pharaoh refuses to relinquish his labour force, but he orders them to leave his land after Yahveh brings about the death of all firstborn Egyptians. Moses, along with his sister, Miryam, and brother, Aharon, leads the Israelite people away from Egypt, but there are many trials to overcome before they reach the Promised Land, including strained relationships between Moses and Tzipporah, and Tzipporah and Miryam.
This story is told through the eyes of Tzipporah and Miryam, both strong women who want Moses for themselves. To Tzipporah, he represents the saviour who extracted her from a life of nightmares; to Miryam, he is the younger brother she saved so that he might save their people. Kohn imagines what these two women must have been like, and what they must have experienced as the well-known tale of the Exodus unfolded. Their conflicts resemble ours, but their time is vastly removed from the world we live in today. Kohn makes this clear through her wonderful descriptions of landscape, beliefs, meals, clothing and living conditions.
I thoroughly enjoyed this author’s first novel, The Gilded Chamber Seven Days to the Sea only confirms her ability to tell an epic story, and to breathe life into little-known historical women.
Claire Morris
MADMAN
Tracy Groot, Moody, 2006, $12.99, pb, 316pp, 0802463622
A Greek academy in Palestine is missing. Callimachus of Athens, the school’s patron, sends his servant, Tallis, to investigate. The locals are reluctant to talk, but eventually Tallis learns the abandonment is somehow linked to a Dionysian cult. Tallis hates the Dionysians, who were responsible for his brother’s horrible death. Then he learns the equally horrible fates of some of the academy teachers: murder, suicide, and madness. As Tallis tries to find answers and help two teachers-turned-madmen, he comes to the edge of madness himself.
Groot did thorough research, and creates an extremely convincing back-story for the New Testament account of the Gerasene demoniacs. The publisher is promoting it as a Christian novel, but it fits other genres: mystery (why did the school disband?), supernatural thriller (demonic possession), psychological thriller (can Tallis solve the mystery and stay sane himself?), and a straightforward historical novel about 1st century Palestine. I usually don’t care for horror, and the cover art would have made me bypass it in a shop or library. Luckily, reviewing for the HNS opens one’s mind. Tallis and the secondary characters are extremely well-drawn, and I finished it wanting to know more about them. That’s my measure of a superior book.
B.J. Sedlock
THE GREENER SHORE
Morgan Llywelyn, Del Rey, 2006, $24.95, hb, 320pp, 0345477669
Briga, wife of the chief druid, Ainvar, becomes the first true Gael of Ainvar’s tribe. The first to leap upon Hibernia’s beautiful, earthen shore, she also recognizes the necessity of adaptation. This is the focus of this follow-up novel to Llywelyn’s Druids. Ainvar’s Carnute survivors blend with their new neighbors, learning of their victory over a mysterious tribe, the Tuatha De Danann, which evokes fear in spite of their defeat. Initially Ainvar connects with the spirits of this tribe, but unexpected change is afoot for all the characters. Some will receive and nurture gifts of storytelling, crafting tools and jewelry, excelling in warfare, and more. Briga’s druidic powers increase while Ainvar’s briefly surge and then just as quickly wane. The magic of this novel lies, however, in the physical appearance, history, and magic of Eiru, or Ireland as we now know it. The last refuge from the rapacious Romans under Julius Caesar, Eiru’s lush green earth, animals, and spirits promise restoration and renewal to Ainvar’s people as they merge with the local population of Milesians, ancient Firbolgs, and others they will eventually encounter.
Although Briga is purported to be the protagonist of this novel, Ainvar’s narrative voice holds sway over the reader’s attention, a voice that seems frequently confused, if not whining. It is he who comes across as the one seeking to teach his people, before it is too late, the druidic precepts that will guarantee his and their survival; that singular focus provides the
fascinating conflict with the local inhabitants who fear and abhor any druidic connection. But mysticism and magic keep reappearing to remind the reader that spirit prevails, a fact that this author excels in creating and whose haunting, lyrical passages feel so very real and memorable!
Viviane Crystal
BOUDICA: Queen of the Iceni Joseph E. Roesch, Hale, 2006, £18.99/$29.95, hb, 223pp, 0709079583
Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, is first the daughter of a king, then the wife of a king and finally queen in her own right. Beautiful and powerful, she has been blessed with a keen sense of duty to her people and faithfulness to her goddess. Already determined to stand against the onslaught of the Romans, her iron will is strengthened by the rape of her daughters and the beating she receives herself.
Wielding the great sword, Calabrenn, she summons help from an allied force of local tribes and sets out to expel the Romans from her lands. Although early victories give the Britons hope, history tells that Boudica’s revolt was doomed to fail. Boudica faces her destiny with a heroism born of the hope that one day an ancient prophecy will come true and Calabrenn will be lifted again by a mighty king – and his name will be Arthur.
This book is a prime example of the old chestnut “never judge a book by its cover”. Although not the worst example of artistic excess I’ve seen, it is clichéd and makes Boudica look tawdry rather than defiant. This is a shame because Boudica: Queen of the Iceni is actually a rather good read, with plenty of historical authority and absolutely no spiked chariot wheels in sight. Boudica herself emerges as a semi-religious, mystical Queen, with a strong streak of diplomacy and a rigid backbone.
Joseph E. Roesch has obviously taken great pains with his research and his efforts have paid dividends. The setting and characters have a strongly authentic feel, whilst the various religious, social and political beliefs of the 1st century AD have been recreated with great care and an eye for detail.
Not the book I was expecting to read, but all the better for that.
Sara Wilson
BOUDICA: Dreaming the Serpent Spear Manda Scott, Bantam, 2006, £12.99, hb, 511pp, 0593048806; Pub. in Canada by Knopf Canada, 2006, C$25.00, pb, 512pp, 0676978142
In this, the last of the Boudica quartet, the Boudica (“Bringer of Victory”) struggles to recover from a Roman flogging. If her people are to drive the Romans from Britain they must strike while the governor is attacking Mona, the sacred isle. If the Boudica cannot lead them, who will? Her son is headstrong and her brother untrustworthy, being twice a turncoat – to Rome then back again. Meanwhile, her army advances on the Roman capital with a legion on its tail.
Manda Scott has the imaginative empathy of Rosemary Sutcliff and Mary Renault, enabling her to convey a sense of the ‘different-
ness’ of long-lost times. Her descriptive powers, precise and poetic, engage all the senses so that we feel we are there, in British roundhouse or Roman town and her battles ring with bloody authenticity.
The story, however, is a mess. As in the previous novels, there are too many characters with bewilderingly complicated spiritual, emotional and sexual relationships. While the main plot stays close to the record, its power to move the reader is too often blunted by an overabundance of highly-charged scenes and subplots elaborated to the point of incoherence. All this is built on a flimsy foundation of simplistic notions from the one-note ghastliness of Roman imperialism to the fuzzy idealisation of Iron Age culture, one of whose few detailed elements is religion – which Scott recreates as the shamanic dreaming that she herself practises. This is plausible enough, but it becomes tiresome when described at far greater length than is necessary in order to convey religion’s importance in ancient lives.
Scott is a gifted novelist who has made a heartfelt attempt at Boudica, but I cannot help thinking that this overwrought opus conceals a leaner, more memorable work.
Sarah Cuthbertson
3rd CENTURY
EMPIRE OF DRAGONS
Valerio Massimo Manfredi (trans. Christine Feddersen-Manfredi), Macmillan, 2006, £10.00, hb, 397pp, 1405052007
The book begins in Edessa, an outpost of the Eastern Roman Empire in 260 AD. Metellus and his men faithfully serve the emperor, Valerian, but even they cannot save him from a trap laid by the Persian king, Shapur I. Captured, they serve their time in the mines before escaping and travelling much further east than they could imagine – to China. Here they become involved in a dynamic clash that costs some their lives.
The premise of the book promises much: the clash of cultures of two great empires. But it does not live up to the concept. This is due, in the main, to the quality of the storytelling. The tale is essentially a light read and is told in light brush strokes so that the reader does not really care what happens to the characters. The dialogue is clunky and the characterisation minimal though the occasional vivid picture does emerge. This book is a fast-paced adventure story with ingenious weaponry and heroic fighting techniques very much to the fore.
S. Garside-Neville
5th CENTURY
THE CRYSTAL CAVE
Mary Stewart, Hodder, 2006 (c1970), £6.99, pb, 464pp, 034089929; Pub. in the US by Eos, 2003, $14.95, pb, 512pp, 0060548258
Merlin is one of the most enigmatic figures in British lore. Was he a god, a man, or was Merlin the title given to a powerful shamanic figurehead? Mary Stewart’s 1970 classic is no young adult sword and sorcery caper but
a serious fictional exploration of the Matter of Britain. She delves into Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, ferrets out the clues concerning Merlin, and proceeds to transform him from a cipher into living flesh and blood.
The bastard son of the Princess of South Wales, Merlin Emrys grows up an outcast, left to believe his father is the Prince of Darkness himself. After finding a secret mentor, he sets off on a quest of discovery as heroic as any in Arthurian legend, rising from scapegoat to a magician powerful enough to command kings. After exile in Brittany, he returns to Britain to outwit Vortigern, aiding Ambrosius in his bid to become High King. Later Merlin stands by Ambrosius’s successor, Uther Pendragon. The novel reaches its climax with Merlin’s bittersweet sleight of hand, in which he unites Uther with Igraine, wife of the Duke of Cornwall, for one fateful night of passion which will bring forth the infant Arthur – at a terrible price.
This is an arresting portrait of 5th century Britain. Merlin, a celibate intellectual in a warrior culture, is a mercurial figure, who loves no woman and is beholden to no man, and manages to be both pagan and Christian. His “magic” owes as much to mathematics and engineering as to the hand of the gods. This book left me thoroughly enchanted.
Mary Sharratt
7th CENTURY
MASTER OF SOULS
Peter Tremayne, Headline, 2005, £6.99, pb, 421pp, 0755302281; To be pub. in the US by Minotaur in Nov. 2006, $25.95, hb, 288pp, 0312348320
This is the 16th mystery for Sister Fidelma. On a bitter winter’s night, a ship is driven by wreckers onto a rocky shore, the crew butchered and the cargo stolen; only one man escapes. The following morning, an abbess leading a pilgrimage is killed and the young nuns accompanying her are abducted. In the nearby Abbey of Ard Fhearta, a scholar is brutally murdered.
Fidelma, sister to the King of Cashel, is sent to investigate the crimes and arrives at the Abbey with Eadulf, her husband. But this is the land of the Uí Fidgente, enemies to Cashel, and Fidelma gets a hostile reception. Her questions are met with lies, evasions and veiled threats. Convinced that the three crimes are connected, Fidelma and Eadulf leave the abbey to follow the trail of the kidnapped nuns. But here is even greater danger. A band of warriors is inflicting death and destruction on the countryside. Their leader is a mysterious figure known only as the Master of Souls, believed by the people to be Uaman, the Leper, returned from the dead to wreak vengeance on the local community. But is he responsible for the recent crimes?
I have read most of the Fidelma mysteries, and Master of Souls is as fresh as the earlier books. I did not guess the ending so enjoyed it right to the last page. Peter Tremayne breathes life into 7th century Ireland with his portrayal
of people whose lives are shaped by its harsh landscape, its ancient Brehon laws, and the divisions that beset the early Church. His characters, as always, are well drawn and varied. Fidelma fans will enjoy this book.
Celia Ellis
9th CENTURY
THE SERPENT DREAMER
Cecelia Holland, Forge, 2005, $24.95/C$33.95, hb, 335pp, 0765305577
Against the turbulent backdrop of the Viking invasion of Ireland in the 9th century, Holland, a prestigious and prodigious writer of historical fiction, has created a concept of a five-part series featuring Corban Loosestrife. I read and reviewed both The Soul Thief and The Witches’ Kitchen for this publication. The characters and plots were enthralling. The coalescence of historical fact and fantastical elements was craftily done by Holland.
Not so here in this third of the series. Although I understand that Holland’s concept for the series is to place Corban in a place and time where he will ultimately play a pivotal role in history, I got lost here – and I didn’t enjoy getting lost. I don’t get the feeling that Corban did either. He is the proverbial fish out of water.
Corban has now “relocated” to pre-colonized America, a strange, bloody land filled to the brim with warring native tribes, cultures and languages he cannot understand. With native “wife” in tow, Corban is led on a mystical journey to confront an approaching army his sister’s daughter has envisioned – a quest that will change the world he has come to know.
I am not ordinarily a big fan of prehistoric fiction, although I’ve read my share and will acknowledge a masterful piece of storytelling. Judith Tarr does a remarkable job of recounting prehistory in White Mare’s Daughter and other novels. Anna Lee Waldo has written engaging books about pre-colonized America. This book is simply not in that league. As incomprehensible as his life appears to Corban, it was equally incomprehensible to me.
Ilysa Magnus
12th CENTURY
CHAINS OF FOLLY
Roberta Gellis, Five Star, 2006, $25.95, hb, 319 pp, 1594144729
Chains of Folly is the 4th Magdalene la Batarde mystery. Set in 1139 CE, the story plays out against the backdrop of civil war between Stephen and Matilda. A murdered whore is found in the Bishop of Winchester’s bedchamber. The whore carries a letter tying Winchester to Stephen’s enemy, Robert of Gloucester. Is Henry of Winchester a traitor to his king as well as a traitor to his own brother, King Stephen?
The stakes are high as Henry orders his knight, Sir Bellamy of Itchen, to find who killed the prostitute and who placed her in his bedchamber. Sir Bellamy, “Bell,” is also instructed to seek assistance from Magdalene,
his estranged lover, who is also mistress of the Old Priory Guesthouse, a genteel and cheerful house of ill repute. Political skullduggery, prostitution, opium selling, a brother’s love, thwarted greed, and social climbing create the thorny maze through which they navigate to clear Winchester’s name.
This is a wonderful medieval mystery. The rich historical information slides in so naturally the reader isn’t aware of having learned it. The action is great; the characters are true. There is romance and gentle humor – all the ingredients for an enjoyable and profitable weekend of reading.
Lucille Cormier
DESIREE
Roberta Gellis, Harlequin Signature Select, 2005, $5.99/C$6.99, pb, 358pp, 0373836414
This novel is part of the Roselynde Chronicles. When both of Desiree of Exceat’s parents die, she is alone and vulnerable to ruthless suitors who want her holdings. She marries Frewyn of Polegate, a man old enough to be her grandfather, but he is gentle and kind and has her best interests at heart. But several years later, Frewyn lies dying at the same time as France threatens to invade England. Alex Baudoin is made castellan of Desiree’s land to protect them from the invasion. Frewyn and Desiree genuinely trust him. But Alex’s villainous brother is jealous of Alex’s good fortune and shows up with murder on his mind.
Roberta Gellis once again writes a story that draws you into the 12th century. She skillfully weaves historical facts of the times into a fictional romantic tale. The beloved characters from her novel Roselynde reappear in this story. This book features a snippet from Roselynde and a medieval recipe for frumenty, a popular dish in the Middle Ages. As with other Gellis novels, I enjoyed this one especially for its accurate details of the times and the vivid descriptions of life during this turbulent era.
Mirella Patzer
ROSELYNDE
Roberta Gellis, Harlequin Signature Select, 2005 (c1978), $4.99/C$5.99, pb, 512pp, 0373836554
In 12th century England, King Richard I has ascended the throne of England. Lady Alinor Devaux is the heiress and ruler of a vast estate. The dowager queen charges Sir Simon Lemagne, a trustworthy but poor, landless knight, with wardship of Alinor to protect her and her holdings from unscrupulous suitors. Simon is a clever, experienced knight, many years her elder and dedicated and faithful to the king and dowager queen.
Simon and Alinor’s mutual respect for each other soon blossoms into love. Simon has a difficult time accepting his feelings for Alinor, due to their age difference. Alinor does everything she can to win her hero and convince him that she truly loves him. Finally, Simon succumbs to his feelings, but must earn the right and win the king and queen’s permission to wed Alinor.
Impeccably researched and accurate, Roberta Gellis is a master of the medieval period.
The book is full of vibrant details of the time as it follows King Richard I to the Holy Land during the Crusades. Published first in 1978 and 1983, this version comes complete with two bonus features and a medieval recipe.
Mirella Patzer
13th CENTURY
THE UNWILLING BRIDE
Margaret Moore, HQN, 2005, $5.99/C$6.99, pb, 377pp, 037311650
After suffering for years under the care of “Wicked William,” the Lord of Tregellas, Lady Constance expects little better of his estranged son, Merrick, to whom she had been betrothed as young girl. Expecting the obnoxious boy who had often teased and taunted her to have turned into an obnoxious knight, Constance plots to do everything in her power to force Merrick to break their betrothal. However, her plans go awry the moment Merrick returns. The handsome and brooding man couldn’t possibly be the same spoiled little boy who left Tregellas years before to foster at another estate.
Castle intrigue ensues with a cast of likable supporting characters who will no doubt appear in sequels. The hero struggles with a dark secret from his past while trying to build a relationship of mutual respect with his new bride and convince the villagers of Tregellas that he is one son who has not inherited the sins of his father. This enjoyable new romance, set in Oxfordshire in 1228, sparkles with wit, passion, and surprises.
Debra Rodensky
RELICS
Pip Vaughan-Hughes, Orion, 2006, £9.99, hb, 288pp, 0752868616
In 1235, Brother Petroc is a novice monk in an English cathedral city. Naïve and devout, he stumbles into a trap set by a vicious Knight Templar in the service of the corrupt bishop. Falsely accused of murder and the theft of a precious relic, Petroc flees to his former abbey home on Dartmoor. The old librarian, his mentor and teacher from childhood, sends him to a French sea-captain to join his mysterious crew of traders, smugglers, pirates and relichunters. In the course of their voyages a fugitive Byzantine princess is rescued. She and Petroc fall in love.
Pursued by the evil knight, also a bitter enemy of the Frenchman, Petroc’s adventures culminate on a Greek island. The islanders’ precious treasure is the relic of a doubtful saint but of such commercial value that men will lie, steal, blaspheme and murder to acquire it.
This is a picturesque tale of strange lands and dark deeds with Petroc as its appealing if overly self-absorbed hero. His journey from rural innocent to killer and blasphemous thief is carefully detailed and he is often a convincing 13th century creation. The overall tone of the novel is modern, however, and the princess totally so, perhaps to attract female readers but she irritated this one. Some judicious editing would not have come amiss; a lot of space is
devoted to getting from places A to B to C. But the action scenes are exciting, the turns of the plot unpredictable and the Knight Templar is a deliciously nasty villain.
Lynn Guest
14th CENTURY
TEMPTATION’S WARRIOR
Gabriella Anderson, Five Star, 2005, $26.95/£17.99, hb, 292pp, 1594144184
Lady Elfreda (Elf to her friends) is a tall, golden, spirited 14th century maiden determined to enter the convent rather than face the terrors of marriage. Payne Dunbyer is a strong, fierce knight completing his final task for the baron who has hired him: abducting Lady Agnes on the eve of her wedding to another man. Unfortunately for Payne, he accidentally kidnaps Elf instead. What follows is a clash of personalities, the task of presenting Lord Coxesbury with the wrong woman, another kidnapping, and a chase through England with Lord Coxesbury in hot pursuit. In addition, Anderson has included tournament fighting, a Robin Hood-like Black Knight, and many other potentially thrilling adventures.
Unfortunately, Anderson glosses over details and provides vague descriptions of the major plot developments, tarnishing any excitement the story might have. While Elf and Payne are on a similar journey to find a place called home, they lack believability, depth, and grow little as characters. The overall result is a predictable, flat, and unoriginal storyline. A tedious romance that leaves little to the imagination, this story is only worth a read if you are looking for light fluff.
Rebecca Roberts
CONDOTTIERE: A Knight’s Tale
Edward John Crockett, Polygon, 2006, £9.99, pb, 272pp, 1904598714
In the aftermath of the Battle of Poitiers, Sir John de Hawkwood, having fallen foul of his commanding officer (Edward the Black Prince) and failed to gain as greatly as he had hoped from the spoils of war, leaves an estate ravaged by the Black Death and a loveless marriage to seek his fortune among the warring states of Italy. By a combination of military skill, good luck and downright cunning, he makes his fortune, his reputation and finds the love of his life in the complex world of Guelph and Ghibelline, ending his life as a hero of the Florentine Republic who was later to merit a mention in Machiavelli’s The Prince. Crockett offers a humane and well-rounded portrait of a man whose historical persona is contradictory. Military genius or a lucky freebooter? Talented commander or an unsophisticated bully? In Crockett’s eyes he is all these and more.
The historical detail is extremely well researched, though sometimes this militates against the novel as Crockett tends to lapse into history textbook mode. Describing the predations of the Black Death, for example, he gives details of the disease’s route through Europe, which is irrelevant to Hawkwood’s perspective. The many battle scenes, drawn with
enough clarity for even this peace-loving reviewer to follow, shift uncomfortably between Hawkwood’s viewpoint and the historian’s overview.
On the other hand, Crockett’s evocation of the sheer discomfort of fighting in armour – the weight, the chafing, the heat – is wonderfully vivid. He is also good on the small details which bring a period to life, such as the types of food eaten, the medicines used and the superstitions to which people adhered.
If you enjoy a military romp, with plenty of sex, though not the subtlest characterisations of women, this is for you.
Sarah Bower
THE BURNING TIME
Robin Morgan, Melville House, 2006, $15.00, pb, 364pp, 193363300X
The Burning Time is a fictionalised account of the true story of the first woman to be tried for witchcraft in Ireland. Lady Alyce Kyteler, a practitioner of The Craft in the early 14th century, finds herself at odds with Bishop Richard de Ledrede, a man insistent on forcing the will of the Church on Ireland’s people. Torn between the two, the people support Kyteler as she fights to save their treasured way of life. What follows is a gripping tale that finds everyone fighting for their very lives.
Wow. I loved almost every bit of this book. The first eighty percent is a fantastic page-turner. Readers are drawn into this gripping story of the Inquisition in Ireland and the struggles the Church faced in the forced conversion of the Irish from the Old Religion to Catholicism. The plot shifts between Lady Alyce and Bishop de Ledrede and keeps the tension at a fever pitch. The characters are well developed and so believable that one can’t help but side with them both.
My only complaint is with the novel’s last section. It is frustrating: the tone, pacing, and characters change so quickly that it’s jarring. It feels as if the energy melts away. This is difficult to explain without divulging the end, but suffice to say, it left me gnashing my teeth.
In spite of this, the book is highly recommended for the story it tells and the way Morgan tells it. With an opening chapter ending with a figure on a horse roaring, ‘Merry Meet, this Samhain Sabbat. You need search for Me no longer. You have met the One you seek,’ readers can’t help but fly through the pages to find out about the One!
Dana Cohlmeyer
running to dozens of editions. I doubt there are many Society members who have not read Katherine. Most of us probably have passages of it engraved on our hearts.
But for those of you who are still Katherine virgins, here is a summary of the plot. In 1366, Katherine Swynford travels to the court of Edward III to be married. There she meets and falls in love with John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and son of the king, himself also married. Through the vicissitudes of war, plague and infidelities both obligatory and voluntary, and despite their families, their love survives. Late in life, they are finally free to marry and legitimise their bastard children. Their eldest son, John, was the grandfather of Henry VII. Oh, and I almost forgot, Katherine’s sister, Philippa, was the wife of one Geoffrey Chaucer.
As her own foreword, reprinted here, attests, Anya Seton researched her story meticulously, and it is no less moving or romantic for its adherence to the facts of these two welldocumented lives. Seton’s direct, unadorned prose both survives the test of time and serves to heighten the poignancy of her tale.
Philippa Gregory contributed a foreword to a previous reissue of Katherine, and if I have any criticism of this well-packaged Hodder Great Reads edition, it is that a foreword by a contemporary historical romancer would have been a welcome inclusion. (Gregory’s foreword is reprinted in the current US edition. –ed.)
Sarah Bower
15th CENTURY
THE BISHOP’S TALE
KATHERINE
Anya Seton, Hodder & Stoughton, 2006 (c1954), £6.99, pb, 575pp, 0340839880; Pub. in the US by Chicago Review Press, 2004, $14.95, pb, 512pp, 155652532X
This assignment is both an absolute joy and something of a challenge. Hodder have re-packaged Anya Seton’s classic under their ‘Hodder Great Reads’ imprint, and what better choice? For Katherine is one of the great reads, indeed, one of the great novels, of the twentieth century. Originally published in 1954, it has become an ur-text of modern historical romance, scarcely ever out of print and
Margaret Frazer, Hale, 2005, £17.99, hb, 224pp, 0709078676; Pub. in the US by Berkley, 1994, $6.50, pb, 208pp, 0425144925 England, 1434. Thomas Chaucer is dying. Administering to his needs is his cousin, Cardinal Bishop Beaufort of Winchester. Thomas dies and the family gathers to pay their respects and attend his funeral at Ewelme Manor. Totally unexpectedly Sir Clement Sharpe also arrives accompanied by his ward, Lady Anne Featherstone, and his nephew, Guy Sharpe. It quickly becomes clear that Sir Clement is neither popular nor welcome. Following the funeral service the mourners gather for the funeral feast. Sister Frevisse, as a member of the family, is seated at the High Table, Sir Clement is half way down the room. Suddenly there is a disturbance. Sir Clement is seen to be somewhat agitated, raises his voice and says ‘But if I’m wrong in this matter, may God strike me down within the hour!’ Within minutes he is struggling for breath, collapses and is carried from the hall. He, too, is dead.
Everyone is convinced that this is, indeed, the hand of God; everyone, that is, but Sister Frevisse, who is not so sure. With her companion, Dame Perpetua, she sets out to prove that this is no Act of God but ordinary, human, murder.
But how? Sir Clement was in full view of everyone in the hall throughout the meal. He
ate and drank the same food and shared his platter and cup with his neighbours – no one else was affected – so how could it have been murder?
This is the latest in a long series of ‘Tales’ by Margaret Frazer, woven around life in the 15th century. Thomas Chaucer and the Bishop of Winchester are real enough and were, indeed, cousins, their mothers being sisters. This then is the setting for another tale of mystery, intrigue, jealousy and ambition, well drawn, well paced and a pleasure to read. (Fourth in series, and the latest available to British readers –ed.)
Marilyn
Sherlock
THE SEMPSTER’S TALE
Margaret Frazer, Berkley Prime Crime, 2006, $24.95/C$35.00, hb, 333pp, 0425207668
It is the summer of 1450. Dame Frevisse must travel to London to select cloth and patterns for church vestments. But Frevisse is also commissioned by her cousin, the Duchess of Suffolk, to receive and carry back “something.” Her contact with the sempster and noted embroiderer, Anne Blakhall, precipitates Frevisse into a maelstrom of murder, political insurrection, and a much tangled web of deceit. Barricaded within a merchant’s house as rebels rage through the streets of London, Frevisse combines forces with the foreign merchant, Daved Weir, to search out the murderer amongst them. Or is Frevisse matching wits with the killer himself?
As with her previous Dame Frevisse mysteries, Margaret Frazer offers a colorful, wonderfully detailed portrait of 15th century life as well as a cold-eyed assessment of human nature. The Sempster’s Tale is first of all a tender, sad love story. It is also a tale of greed, jealousy and corruption. The author does not temper the vileness of the Inquisition’s persecutions or the ignoble behavior of the “nobility.” But, through it all she writes an action-filled and fast-paced murder mystery that keeps you turning pages to the very end. Well worth the read!
Lucille Cormier
UNEASY LIES THE HEAD
Jean Plaidy, Arrow, 2006 (c1982), £6.99, pb, 444pp, 0099492482; Pub. in the US by Putnam, 1984, out of print 1486. The Wars of the Roses are over. The Lancastrian King Henry VII has married the Yorkist princess Elizabeth and united the two warring houses. But will that be enough to ensure peace? Three Yorkist princes remain alive, each with an arguably better claim to the throne than Henry. The country is bankrupt, so economic stability is a priority, but Henry’s parsimony is not popular, nor is his tax-raising. How long will it be before rebellions erupt?
Plaidy weaves the stories of Henry VII, his formidable mother Margaret Beaufort, his dutiful wife Elizabeth of York, his resentful mother-in-law the dowager queen of Yorkist Edward IV, his elder son Arthur, his younger son Henry, and Arthur’s bride Katherine of Aragon through the book to give us the human angle of this turbulent time.
EDITORS’ CHOICE
THE ROSE OF YORK: Crown of Destiny
Sandra Worth, End Table Books, 2006, $14.95, pb, 176pp, 0975126482
In this sequel to the gripping The Rose of York: Love and War, Worth does a beautiful, and succinct, job of retelling the well-worn but no less horrific story of Edward IV’s fall from glory. Here, Worth focuses primarily on the temporarily successful manipulation of the entire Woodville clan to wrest power away from the Plantagenets and the ultimate succession of Richard III to the throne.
Worth does justice to the story. While dosing it heavily with historical fact, she makes it absolutely pulse with human emotion. The Woodvilles are gruesome and hateful people. Richard and Anne, tied from childhood in a bond that knows no bounds of time or space, find each other again after being torn apart by political expedience and pure nastiness. Worth acknowledges the existence of a Kate Haute in Richard’s pre-Anne life – particularly of interest to me after reading and reviewing Anne Easter Smith’s memorable A Rose for the Crown for February’s issue. However, Worth rejects the hypothesis that Richard and Kate had a serious relationship and sloughs over the Kate-Richard affair as a mere dalliance producing two illegitimate children. It’s always fascinating to me how historical novelists employ similar materials and weave their stories so differently.
Crown of Destiny, for all its brevity, is a deep and gripping read. Although it is not necessary to read Love and War beforehand, I feel that it gave me an opportunity to familiarize myself with Worth’s style and to immerse myself immediately into the story. The final installment in this series, Fall from Grace, is due out later this year. I’m going to grab that one as soon as I can.
Originally published in 1982, this is the first in Plaidy’s Tudor series and the author goes to some trouble to elucidate the ramifications of the family tree and the political complexities in a way which engages the reader. It is a tribute to her skill that, in spite of the fact that most of the men are called either Henry, Edward or Richard, and the women Margaret or Elizabeth, I remembered who everyone was. In fact, as a history lesson in who is who and what is at stake, it could hardly be bettered. The characterisation is, perhaps, a touch simplistic, and there is rather too much of the ‘She/he remembered the time when…’, still, it is difficult to see how else one could convey the intricate history of the late fifteenth century.
Elizabeth Hawksley
16th CENTURY
THE HERETIC
Miguel Delibes, Overlook, 2006, $24.95, hb, 352pp, 1585675709
Miguel Delibes’ The Heretic culminates a long and acclaimed literary career. This novel about Reformers in the 16th century has been well received internationally and earned Delibes – at eighty years of age – the Premio Nacional de Narrativa, Spain’s most distinguished literary prize. In many ways, the novel is worthy of such praise. It offers a painstakingly detailed depiction of life in Spain during the final years of Charles V’s reign, in particular life in Delibes’ native city of Valladolid. The author’s keen eye for the nuances of everyday existence, as well as his wealth of knowledge about the city itself and its mercantile affairs, transports the reader back to an era when enterprising men made fortunes from commerce with fleece, and when the Holy Inquisition could, and often did, burn men for
their religious beliefs. Likewise, in the character of Cipriano Salcedo, a “small man with hairy hands” whose earnest quest for solidarity with God leads him into Lutheran doctrine and tragedy, Delibes has constructed a likeable ordinary hero through which to explore the timeless themes of innocence and intolerance. This is complex terrain for any novelist, however, even one as accomplished as Delibes, and unfortunately The Heretic falters in those areas that most often matter to readers of today’s historical fiction: dialogue and action. Written in a direct narrative style that does little to enliven the grave subject matter, with the exception of Salcedo’s odd childhood and his tempestuous marriage to a statuesque but unstable sheep-shearer, there isn’t much in the way of the personal to engage us. Indeed, much as we want to care, once calamity strikes the Protestant conclave of Valladolid, we are left feeling a bit empty and in need of more to sustain us, much like Salcedo himself – which, perhaps, was Delibes’ intention all along.
C.W. Gortner
FACE DOWN BESIDE ST. ANNE’S WELL
Kathy Lynn Emerson, Perseverance Press, 2006, $13.95, pb, 231pp, 1880284820
In 1575 Susanna Appleton, gentlewoman and herbalist, visits the Buxton spa, Derbyshire, one sometimes frequented by Mary, Queen of Scots. Ostensibly there for the healing waters, Susanna’s true purpose is to help her twelve-year-old stepdaughter, Rosamund, investigate the suspicious death of her French governess. The imprisoned Mary Stuart is not a character here, but rumors of plots for her escape swirl through the narrative. Was the Frenchwoman killed because of a conspiracy to aid Queen Mary, or was her death due to the jealousy of one of her many lovers?
Fans of Emerson’s well-crafted series will note that this entry centers on the quick-witted,
Ilysa Magnus
rebellious Rosamund, no longer a child in the background as in previous stories. As her birth mother and stepmother contest their respective claims to custody, all three band together to separate friend from foe and unmask a killer. Historical notes and glossary show Emerson’s research, meticulous but not intrusive. This author brings alive a detailed recreation of the daily life of the Elizabethan gentry. 10th in series.
Nina de Angeli
A LADY RAISED HIGH
Laurien Gardner, Jove, 2006, $6.99/C$9.99, pb, 304pp, 0515140899
When Frances Pierce, the daughter of a country baronet of modest means, impetuously places herself between Anne Boleyn and a group of mud-throwing villagers, she is rewarded with a place among Anne’s ladies. Awed by Anne and utterly loyal to her, Frances benefits when Anne at last becomes queen, but when Anne’s fortunes change, the naïve Frances realizes just how treacherous the dazzling court of Henry VIII can be.
The characterization here is deft. Frances, the narrator, is particularly well realized, as are her family members and fellow villagers. Frances’s self-deprecating, sharply observant, and often droll narration adds a welcome freshness to the very familiar story of the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn. The love story involving Frances, while it does not hold any great surprises for the reader, is charming and touching; it will also be refreshing to those readers who prefer love scenes that stop at the bedroom door.
There are a few problems. Edward III, not Edward II, founded the Order of the Garter. The noblemen who were Anne’s accused lovers were not hanged, as depicted by Gardner, but beheaded, the preferred method of execution for the highborn. Henry VIII and Anne are not rendered quite as vividly as Frances and the other purely fictional characters, though the infant princess Elizabeth makes several memorable appearances, such as this one: “Henry glared at Anne, then at Elizabeth, who glared right back at him.” Moments like these make this a book well worth reading.
Susan Higginbotham
THE SPANISH BRIDE
Laurien Gardner, Jove, 2005, $6.99/C$9.99, pb, 304pp, 0515140279
In 1501, Catherine of Aragon journeys to England to marry Arthur, Prince of Wales. But when Arthur dies just a few months later, Catherine finds herself caught between the machinations of her father, Ferdinand, and Henry Tudor. After eight years of staving off destitution, she is chosen by Henry VIII as his bride. Eighteen years later, Henry decides on divorce, and Catherine is forced to struggle for her queenship, her loved ones, and her life. Her story is told through the eyes of her maid, Estrella, who, in the early days, vacillates between despair and dreams fuelled by the attentions of the extremely eligible Piers Hilsey. In the later period, Estrella is more accepting of life, but she has not lost her courage or her loyalty to Catherine.
While spanning Catherine’s life from her arrival in England to her death in 1536, The Spanish Bride ignores the period when she is queen. Perhaps because this is book one in a series about Henry VIII’s wives? Or is it because the “captive” periods of Catherine’s life are considered more interesting? Whatever the case, I found this omission of nearly two decades a little startling; as a reader not intimately familiar with the historical details, I felt I needed some of them to better understand the later years. Also, the narrative skipped between the earlier and later periods, a device I found jarring for at least half the book.
I did enjoy this novel, especially the period detail – hunts and clothes and ceremony – which was worked deftly into the action. More than just another tale of Henry VIII’s first wife, The Spanish Bride shows the lifealtering experiences faced by 16th century women shipped off to a foreign land.
Claire Morris
THE FATAL FASHIONE
Karen Harper, St. Martin’s Press, 2005, $23.95/C$31.95, hb, 283pp, 0312338856
The continued popularity of Elizabethan England as a topic of interest and an attractive setting for novels is thoroughly substantiated with this series. The Fatal Fashione is the eighth adventure for Harper’s Queen Elizabeth. Events take place in the year 1566, when Elizabeth is fending off the efforts of Parliament to force her to wed and produce
THE MAN WHO WAS LOVED
an heir. Still consolidating her power, she is a young, vigorous woman who daily proves her devotion to England and her fitness to be the monarch.
Having not read the earlier books, this reader guesses that the fictional orbiting characters had previous escapades, but this did not interfere with my enjoyment of the action. The actual historical figures are quite meticulously woven into the plot with believable dialogue and behavior that agrees with the written records of the period. Laundry starch, the necessary ingredient to deliver those unbelievable ruffs, was the object of envy on the part of those who wanted the lucrative business, and of censure by the rising Puritans for its immorality. It is the “fatal fashione” of the title, as is clear when a young, female entrepreneur is murdered in a vat of the stuff. Since Elizabeth had taken a personal interest in this newly emerging venture, she becomes involved. Even as well written as this is, I had just a little difficulty seeing Elizabeth plunging into risky acts to save some of the lowest of her subjects, but this small quibble hardly interfered with my overall enjoyment of the story.
Mary K. Bird-Guilliams
WINGS OF MORNING
Kathleen Morgan, Revell, 2006, $12.99, pb, 286pp, 0800759648
Regan MacLaren loves her husband, but an argument on their wedding night results in his departure, and the next day she finds her-
EDITORS’ CHOICE
Kay MacCauley, Telegram, 2006, £8.99, pb, 392pp, 1846590027
There’s something about Venice that defies conventional description and so does this enigmatic novel. Not so much a novel, it’s more a literary evocation of the continual shifting relationship between love, life and death. Kay MacCauley has the power to draw us into a different world and keep us enthralled.
There is a narrative of sorts. We first meet Marin, as an abandoned infant, drifting between life and death in a Venice orphanage. He is then ‘rescued’ by one of the nuns who believes he’s her own dead child re-incarnated and so begins Marin’s strange life. He grows into a beautiful youth but who exactly is he? Just as Death is portrayed as a genial shape-shifter who pushes his stinking handcart through the alleys and piazzas of the city, so Marin is not his own person but someone who reminds everyone he meets of someone they once loved and lost. When plague comes to the city and dead fish wash up to shore in their hundreds, the citizens seek a saviour. Could he be Marin? Yet he himself feels adrift from humanity, adrift from his own identity as he observes the comings and goings of those around him; fishermen, spice merchants, jugglers, beggars, rich, poor, sacred and profane. Sometimes he is destitute. At others he lives in luxury. But wherever he is and whatever he does, danger is never far away. Things can change as quickly as the rising tides.
MacCauley writes like a profane angel. Sensuous and evocative, 16th century Venice, with its decadent beauty and decay, soon gets under the skin. If I had any criticism it is its richness that threatens mental indigestion. But then this is a novel to savour and not gobble up. Whether it means something or nothing at all matters not. Let it surround you and draw you to your own conclusions.
This is a stunning debut by a new writer and a new literary publisher. I expect more great things from both in the future.
Sally Zigmond
self a widow. Her brother-in-law claims Iain Campbell shot Roddy in the back, and Walter convinces Regan they must right this wrong. Regan has second thoughts and sets off to stop Walter.
The Scottish Highlands in 1566 are a dangerous place for a woman riding alone during a storm. When her horse spooks, she hits her head and is dragged far from home. On regaining consciousness, she finds herself under the care of Iain Campbell and his mother. But Regan doesn’t realize he’s her enemy; she doesn’t know who she is. As she struggles to remember, she falls in love with Iain. Intrigues and political struggles soon intrude into the Highlands, complicating and endangering Regan’s life.
Morgan weaves a charming tale that seamlessly intertwines clan life with romance and the struggle to heed God’s wishes. History, however, plays a minor role, and as a result, the story could easily take place in another time without endangering the storyline.
Cindy Vallar
17th CENTURY
SHADOWS ON THE ROCK
Willa Cather (historical essay and explanatory notes by John J. Murphy and David Stouck, textual editing by Frederick M. Link), Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2006, $75.00, 682pp, 0803215320
This gratifying novel sprang from Willa Cather’s enraptured discovery of Québec City in 1928 during an unexpected stopover with her companion, Edith Lewis. The story chronicles 17th century French apothecary Euclide Auclair and his daughter, Cécile, as they minister to missionaries, trappers, and homesick French immigrants seeking cures but craving the French ambiance of Auclair’s shop. Before her early death, Cécile’s mother instructed her daughter in the “French way” of homemaking, re-creating a civilized environment for her father. Canadian-born Cécile, educated by the stalwart Ursuline sisters followed the rules of her Catholic religion which is deeply woven into the settlement of what the Indians named “Kebec”— “a beautiful town in rising tiers on a splendid lonely rock.” In October, the last ships from France arrived with replenishments and mail for the colonists before they settled in for the long hard winter. One such winter, Euclide’s good friend, the intrepid and driven Pierre Charron arrives, regaling Cécile with his trapping adventures and influencing both their lives.
These rough early days in Canada are portrayed vividly and sensitively by Cather with a true French Catholic atmosphere. Her accurate portrayal of the French experience won her praise when a French reviewer commended her uniqueness as “a deeply rooted American able to glorify France.” The explanatory notes provide translations of the occasional French peppered throughout the pages, and a brilliant historical essay enriches the reader’s understanding of the period. Photographs of Cather
and the actual historical characters embellish this richly readable, MLA-approved edition of one of Cather’s finer novels.
Tess Allegra
1610: A Sundial in a Grave
Mary Gentle, HarperCollins/Perennial, 2005, $14.95, pb, 676pp, 0380820412; Pub. in the UK by Gollancz, 2004, £8.99, pb, 720pp, 057507552X
“It’s about sex, cruelty, and forgiveness.” Thus does Mary Gentle commence her marvelously inventive novel of espionage, assassination, and precognitive mayhem in the early 17th century. Published in the UK in 2004, with this trade paperback edition issued in the US last year to little fanfare, this is one of those rare novels that leaves one in awe at its sheer spectacle, and makes one wonder how such talent has not garnered more recognition. The answer to the latter is obvious: This book requires the reader to pay attention, a quality today’s entertainment media has weaned us away from.
The year, of course, is 1610. Valentin Rochefort, a middle-aged duelist and expert spymaster for Henry IV of France’s head minister, finds himself quite without warning plunged into a labyrinthine plot to murder the beloved French monarch, one that ends with a price on Rochefort’s head and his enforced escape to Stuart England, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a perplexing enemy/love interest at his side. Here, he becomes embroiled once again in a treasonous snare; this time, masterminded by a fervent and frighteningly prophetic mathematician, one of the last surviving disciples of the heretic Italian conjuror, Bruno.
Toss into the mix a riotous depiction of an aging James I, a shipwrecked samurai with a secret, and an unexpected erotic twist, and you have an action-laced, multi-layered novel à la Dumas, detailing with wit and verve everything from obscure formulae to the intricacies of Renaissance swordplay, and the oft-bewildering consequences of human passion. Not for the prim or the indolent, 1610 will delight those seeking a vivid recreation of a tumultuous age, unusual and refreshingly authentic characters, and a plot that flows from the breathtaking to the sublime, without apology or sentimentality.
C.W. Gortner
VIRGIN EARTH
Philippa Gregory, Touchstone, 2006, $16.00, pb, 672pp, 0743272536; Pub. in the UK by HarperCollins, 2000, £7.99, pb, 576pp, 0006511767
Charles I is on the verge of plunging England into civil war, and John Tradescant, royal gardener, flees the grief of his wife’s death to collect exotic plants and rarities in the new world of the Virginia colony. His guide is Suckahanna, a young Powhatan girl. After promising to marry her, Tradescant returns to England to discover that his father has died and has put forth the efficient Hester Pooks as a wife capable of guarding his children and the
rarities collection which is a major part of their livelihood. John marries Hester but dreams of Suckahanna, eventually returning to Virginia to start a plantation, find Suckahanna, and escape being pulled into the civil war. His loyalties remain torn, and when the Powhatan go to war against the settlers, John must choose which world he will call his own.
This novel is the sequel to Earthly Joys, the story of John’s father, but it is easily read by itself. The novel is rich in period detail, completely convincing in atmosphere and characterization, and extremely well written. The descriptions of Tradescant’s work with plants are especially vivid. Gregory expertly contrasts the harshness of life in the new world with the comfort of life in England, but at the same time, shows that the political situation in England makes it a far from safe place. Unfortunately, the vacillation and sometimes downright stupidity of Tradescant’s character doesn’t inspire much sympathy, though it does make him seem convincingly human. His penchant for abandoning those he purportedly loves may lead the reader to lose all compassion for him; it is much easier to identify with the steady Hester Pooks or even John’s misguided son. The story also runs a little long, but overall it is an absorbing read that will immerse the reader in the period.
Bethany Skaggs
THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE
Edward Marston, Allison & Busby, 2006, £18.99/$25.95, hb, 253pp, 0749082852
Christopher Redmayne is feeling pleased with himself; his latest architectural project is finished and its merchant owner, Francis Polegate, is thrilled with it. He is invited along with his sweetheart, Susan Cheever, her father and various other assorted friends of Polegate’s to a housewarming party, but the celebration turns to tragedy when Polegate’s brother-inlaw is killed. It looks as though the intended victim was actually firebrand politician Sir Julius Cheever, and Christopher is naturally keen to find out whodunit before Susan’s father is also murdered. It is time once again to enlist the help of his unlikely friend, the Puritan constable Jonathan Bale, and perhaps a little help too (or hindrance) from his ne’er-do-well brother Henry.
This is the fifth outing after a three-year break for the mismatched sleuths, and as usual Marston has written a sparkling tale seasoned with humour and period knowledge. To its detriment it is rather obvious that Edward Marston is a writer of radio plays (all those lines of dialogue), but there is a convincing ambience of a time when the Civil War was only a few years in the past. I think my favourite feature of this series has to be the similarity between the characters and the scrapes they get into (both amorous and bloody) with plays popular at the time. This is a period that few historical writers choose to portray, and reading this I wonder why, as there is so much to write about.
Rachel A. Hyde
VAN RIJN
Sarah Miano, Picador, 2006, £12.99, 400pp, 0330411802
The subject of Sarah Miano’s second novel is Rembrandt van Rijn. This is by no means a conventional fictional biography of the renowned eccentric artist. The story is in the form of a journal in which Rembrandt enters his private thoughts and memories, combined with biographical fragments gathered by a youthful admirer, one Peter Blaeu. Peter’s infatuation with Clara de Geest, a distant relation of the painter, is another main element of the plot. Interspersed with these strands are very brief verse and short story cameos that touch on Rembrandt’s life in various aspects, some only marginally. This mélange works well, if only because the historical milieu and knowledge of Dutch art and Rembrandt’s painting techniques are excellent. There is a considerable body of historical learning thrown in, but none of it is gratuitous or unnecessary to the story.
The author clearly has an intimate knowledge and sympathy with the streets and canals of 17th century Amsterdam, and the narrative describes the bustling odorous and very often harsh life of those days. Just one criticism of the typography – the parts of Rembrandt’s journal, which accounts for about half of the book, are written in italics; long passages in this small point are not easy on the eye.
Doug Kemp
THE LAST WITCHFINDER
James Morrow, Morrow, 2006, $25.95/ C$34.95, hb, 544pp, 0060821795; Pub. in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006, £12.99, hb, 496pp, 0297852582
Jennet Stearne’s childhood wasn’t typical, but it was happy, or at least it began that way. Her home life morally focused on her family’s commitment to the eradication of sorcery, with Jennet’s father as witchfinder and her Aunt Isobel as philosopher and scientist. When Isobel’s experiments make it appear she could be practicing the occult, she is tried and sentenced to death as a witch. She entreats Jennet to formulate an argumentum grande to refute the Parliamentary Witchcraft Act of 1604 and prevent the future torture of innocent souls. Set largely between 1688 and 1725, The Last Witchfinder follows Jennet’s search for this logical argument, from Salem, to a Nimacook village, to Philadelphia, then back to Philadelphia again via London and a notso-deserted island. The promise made to her aunt shapes Jennet’s life, just as the pursuit of Cleansing comes to define her brother’s existence. Along the way she finds time to marry an Indian brave, then a postman, and to have an intellectual and passionate relationship with a certain young printer, Ben Franklin. Even as James Morrow’s main character points out the impossibility of the existence of witches, the author conveys the subtle parallels between aspects of the natural laws of science and the (perceived) demonic world. How easy it must have been for strongly devout people to believe in – and fear – the existence of unholy spirits.
PURITY OF BLOOD
EDITORS’ CHOICE
Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Putnam, 2006, $23.95, hb, 288pp, 0399153209; Pub. in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006, £9.99, pb, 288pp, 0297848631
Diego Alatriste survives in the Spain of 1623 by taking commissions as a sword for hire while maintaining a firm sense of honor. This is the second of the series to appear in English, all featuring clashes of swords, daggers when at close quarters, and pistols when there is time to light the wick. Between fights, we have wonderful tableaux like the Prado Gardens, where women sell jars of fruit, lovers carry out assignations, and dandies display the wealth of the Empire. Another scene takes us to the enthusiastic crowd at an auto-da-fé on the Plaza Mayor.
The narrator, Iñigo Balboa, thirteen at the time of the action, looks back from the perspective of an old man, complaining that his country has been going steadily downhill. After being involved in a raid on a convent, young Iñigo falls into the hands of the Spanish Inquisition, incriminated by the woman he loves, the impossibly beautiful and consistently treacherous Angélica de Alqézar. Even as an old man, he continues to love her even though he knows that she is in hell “where she is surely a bright flame today.”
The translation by Margaret Sayers Peden preserves the flavor of the original by leaving some period words untranslated but glossed so that the reader understands them. A word like rúa is explained as a stylized social parade. Poems and pieces of poems appear frequently, a challenge that Peden meets with faithful verse translations that read well, often of works by Francisco de Quevedo, who appears as a friend of the captain. At least three more of these novels have appeared in Spanish, and all are scheduled to be translated eventually. The series is superb already and getting better.
An unlikely device is Morrow’s inspired choice of narrators: Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica. It’s a tribute to the author’s narrative strength that he can make the notion of one book authoring another an intriguing possibility, one that’s no more implausible than witchcraft itself. A fascinating and compelling book.
Janette King
THE VANISHING POINT
Mary Sharratt, Houghton Mifflin, 2006, $12.95/C$17.95, pb, 384pp, 0618462333
The vanishing point: where a ship disappears over the horizon. Trained as a physician by her father, Hannah Powers must practice in secret, hampered by the restrictions on women in 17th-century England. Hannah’s other passion is her older sister, May. May’s wanton behavior has ruined local marriage prospects, and she’s forced by her father to wed a distant cousin in Maryland. When their father dies, Hannah sails to far-off Maryland to join her. On a remote plantation, Hannah is heartbroken to learn that her sister has died in childbirth along with her baby. She soon finds herself falling in love with May’s reclusive husband, Gabriel. After hearing rumors of murder that involve Gabriel, she’s plagued by doubts over her sister’s death. Apparently, their marriage was miserable, and May did nothing to curb her loose ways. Caught up in this dangerous liaison, Hannah struggles to survive and is determined to uncover the truth about May’s fate.
Sharratt’s description of frontier life is so sharp, you can feel and taste it with the charac-
James Hawking
ters. The story alternates between each sister’s tale, and the two vibrant women are sympathetic and interesting. I was disappointed that Hannah’s skills as a surgeon are kept in the background, but that detracted little from my enjoyment of the book.
Diane Scott Lewis
18TH CENTURY
PASSAROLA RISING
Azhar Abidi, Viking, 2006, $21.95, hb, 244pp, 0670034657
Father Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão was a pioneer in 18th-century aviation. His flying ship, the Passarola, never succeeded in transporting humans, but what if it had truly flown? Azhar Abidi uses the inspiration of Bartolomeu to create a fantastical tale of the Brazilian-born priest and his airship (set roughly twenty years after the real Lourenço demonstrated a flying model in Lisbon), narrated through the eyes of Bartolomeu’s brother and traveling companion, Alexandre. Of course, both brothers succeed in getting into a great deal of trouble in Portugal; Alexandre takes the ship for a spin with the niece of Bartolomeu’s patron, and Cardinal Conti and the Inquisition in Lisbon pursue the brothers on charges of sorcery. The brothers escape to the court of France’s Louis XV and meet the king, Voltaire, and other luminaries. Unfortunately, their stay is short, once Louis decides that the ship would be useful for his military maneuvers in Poland. Their adventures take them through several hardships; as Bartolomeu is
consumed with his dream, Alexandre finds himself turning to more ordinary pleasures, like home and family.
Abidi writes his tale with an 18th-century picaresque flavor. Except for his enjoyable detailing of the science of flight (which recalls Poe’s “The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal”), the novel has its roots in fantasies like Candide or Gulliver’s Travels, with the brothers moving from one episodic adventure to another, making observations, and moving on to their next foreign experience. Like most of these literary fantasies, Passarola Rising keeps the reader at a distance, despite its first-person narration. The novel is like a pantomime or fable. It amuses and even provokes thought, but the reader has very little engagement with Bartolomeu or Alexandre; they and the Passarola serve as a vehicle to the episodes.
Andrea Bell
THE REAPER
Michael Aye, Broadsides Press, 2005, $16.95, pb, 200pp, 0972630341
The year is 1775. As the book opens, Captain Gilbert Anthony’s dying father, the famous “Fighting James Anthony,” retired Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy, tells him that he has a half-brother named Gabriel. Upon his father’s death, Captain Anthony visits his mother, who had been separated from his father, and finds her delirious and living under the delusion that her husband is still alive. He decides it best not to tell her about Gabriel, born from the womb of another woman.
Given command of the fourth-rate Drakkar, Captain Anthony is ordered to the Caribbean to capture pirates, led by the infamous blacksailed ship, the Reaper. The pirates are harassing British shipping by attacking mail ships sailing back to England. Captain Anthony requests the British admiralty assign Gabriel, an experienced sailor, to accompany him and serve as his senior midshipman.
If you enjoy seafaring adventures of the British navy like those written by Alexander Kent and Dudley Pope, you’ll become immersed in the trials, tribulations and love interests of Captain Gilbert Anthony. The author is a retired American naval officer, and in future installments of “The Fighting Anthonys” series, it should be fascinating to see how he writes about a British protagonist fighting the American colonists during the American Revolution. This could also present quite a challenge for him.
I look forward to the next volume in the series. Aye does a good job fleshing out his characters and telling his story.
Jeff Westerhoff
midshipman of the Rattle-Snake under his cousin, Captain Billy Trimble, who can usually be found below deck in a drunken stupor. Matty is constantly torn between his loyalty to “Cousin Billy” and the sarcastic second-incommand, Lt. Peter Wickett, who tries to run a proper ship of the line. Assigned to protect merchant ships, the Rattle-Snake becomes involved in the civil war on the French island of San Domingo. Attacked by longboats, Matty is captured, befriends the leader, and is allowed to escape back to his ship. Upon his return, Matty is forced to choose sides in the ongoing struggle for command of the Rattle-Snake
Most of the novel’s action centers on the interaction between Matty and his shipmates. Campbell does a fine job presenting the politics and social complications of the new country of America. He also details how these factors affect the main characters and their interactions with the British and French they encounter in the Caribbean.
I enjoyed this novel and anxiously await the next entry in Campbell’s series of books about Matty Graves. His combination of historical accuracy, characterization and human drama is captivating, and the story is fast-paced.
Jeff Westerhoff
SURRENDER
Pamela Clare, Leisure, 2006, $6.99/C$8.99, pb, 355pp, 0843954884
Set in Albany, New York, in 1755, Clare begins her trilogy with this wonderful story. Blackmailed into serving the wily Lord William Wentworth and the hated British Crown, Iain MacKinnon and his two brothers lead a company of Rangers against the French and Abenaki. Skilled at fighting in the manner of his Highlander ancestors as well as his adopted Muhheconneok family, Iain disregards his orders to gather intelligence and avoid the enemy when he stumbles across the only survivor of a French and Abenaki massacre. By rescuing the lovely Annie Burns, Iain puts the lives of his Rangers and his brothers at risk, but Iain never regrets his decision. Annie Burns – lovely, strong, and mysterious – quickly captures his war-worn heart.
Annie, however, has a very good reason for remaining mysterious. Born Lady Anne Burness Campbell, Annie finds herself caught between the man she loves, who would surely turn his heart from her if he were to find to discover she was the niece of a wealthy Argyll Campbell, and Lord Wentworth, who might remember her and inform her murderous uncle of her location.
Pamela Clare weaves a sensual love story starring the MacKinnon brothers with just enough intrigue to keep the story exciting.
Debra Rodensky
lines were drawn on both sides of the Atlantic almost immediately upon the original enactment of the Stamp Act, and the repeal of that act left a trail of bitterness and animosity that would continue to fester.
Jack Frake and Hugh Kenrick continue to run their plantations while working both from within and outside the political system to bring about changes to Parliament’s chokehold on the Colonies. Jack is already convinced nothing short of war will ensure real change, while Hugh hopes that a solution will be found that will bring some political autonomy to the colonies while still preserving the bonds with England.
In-depth study of the turmoil surrounding the Stamp Act can be terribly dry and tedious. But Cline’s uncanny ability to tell a story makes it enjoyable and fast paced. This is the way to study history. This is the way to get a real feel for the emotions and divided loyalties that raged in the pre-Revolution years. U.S. History classes always paint the Revolution with a patriotic brush. There’s never any question whether it was the right thing to do or even consideration of the other side’s point of view. Cline gives us the opportunity to see the events from both sides, to see that the colonies leaving the empire was the modern-day equivalent of Alaska and Hawaii leaving the United States. Readers of his series will be treated to a great story as well as gain a deep insight into the forces that led to the American Revolution.
Mark F. Johnson
REBELS, TURN OUT YOUR DEAD
Michael Drinkard, Harcourt, 2006, $24.00, hb, 272pp, 0151011192
Salt, a Yankee hemp farmer, lives in New York with his wife, a teenage son and his Tory father-in-law. The American Revolution comes to their home when Salt’s son shoots a British army officer. Salt is forced to leave his family and his son joins the British army stationed near the Salt farm.
“Rebels, turn out your dead” is the command given on board the prison ships in New York harbor to order the rebel prisoners, kept below deck in a squalid environment, to remove the bodies of the dead. The story revolves around Salt, his wife Molly and several British officers who make life difficult for the Salt family. The book is based upon actual events. The story subtly explains the value of liberty and how war can change an individual’s beliefs in men’s treatment of other men.
NO QUARTER
Broos Campbell, McBooks, 2006, $23.95, hb, 227pp, 1590131039
It is 1799, and the young American navy is faced with challenges on the high seas – both from Great Britain, who tries to impress sailors from American ships, and from the country’s quasi-war with France. The protagonist, seventeen-year-old Matty Graves, serves as
SPARROWHAWK BOOK FIVE: REVOLUTION
Edward Cline, MacAdam/Cage, 2005, $24.00/ C$29.50, hb, 320pp, 1596921544
This fifth book of six in the series picks up in June of 1765 and follows the debate and turmoil surrounding the Stamp Act until its repeal in March of the following year. Battle
I enjoyed the story and found the characters of Salt and the British officer, William Cunningham, most intriguing. Salt learns how to survive during his imprisonment on board a British prison ship docked in New York harbor. Dependent on smoking hemp to escape what he considers a routine life of farming, his character evolves as the story progresses. The British officer, Cunningham, is the antagonist in the novel, and wants to achieve faster advancement in the British army. He has no compassion for the rebel soldiers. Molly, his wife, is forced to manage the hemp farm alone. A local magistrate and a British officer want
EDITORS’ CHOICE
THE WIDOW’S WAR
Sally Gunning, Morrow, 2006, $24.95/C$32.95, hb, 303pp, 0060791578
As a whaler’s wife living on Cape Cod in 1761, Lyddie Berry always knew the dangers. One windy January afternoon, when her cousins deliver the tragic news about Edward, Lyddie gathers her strength. She moves in with her daughter’s family, as society dictates she should, but her new life quickly becomes intolerable. Her money no longer her own, her belongings divided without her permission, Lyddie faces a bleak, lengthy widowhood with little more than knitting pins and chores for company. When Lyddie refuses to relinquish her freedom by deeding her house to her hostile son-in-law, her battle for autonomy begins in earnest. She moves back to her former home, the third of it she’s entitled to, even though it makes her the village embarrassment. Her only allies are her husband’s kindly lawyer, Eben Freeman, and her Indian neighbor, Sam Cowett. Each has his own plans for her. As she continues to break society’s rules, Lyddie falls ever deeper into disrepute. Eventually she must decide whether her supposed freedom is worth the shame.
I find it hard to describe this beautifully written work without delving into cliché. Though the bare-bones storyline may make it seem anachronistic, Lyddie belongs fully to her time even as she searches for her place within it. If you’ve ever been curious about the powerful strictures that controlled women’s lives in early America, or even if you haven’t, I urge you to read this book. Gripping, romantic, historically sound, and completely satisfying, The Widow’s War is a standout. I’ll be surprised if I read a better historical novel this year.
to “help” her survive alone without her husband. This is a very good character study of how people must cope with life when change is forced upon them through war.
Jeff Westerhoff
DEATH DU JOUR
Lou Jane Temple, Berkley Prime Crime, 2006, $22.95/C$32.00, hb, 264pp, 0425208060
What a great idea, a mystery series during the French Revolution when restaurants began, chefs to the aristocrats finding themselves suddenly without employers. Food mysteries are eternally popular, as are history-mysteries, so this combination by a popular author/professional caterer should succeed.
Eighteen-year-old Fanny Delarue is souschef in a home in the Place Royale a year after the fall of the Bastille. Revolutionaries have removed the king from Versailles and brought him to the capital. The queen, with him, also suffered the attack of the March of the Women in which Fanny’s mother participated. And during which event a horde of jewelry disappeared. Then people in the Place Royale begin to die, starting with the chef of a neighboring kitchen.
Many details thrill the historical reader, for instance how Fanny buys lettuce at Les Halles in a box of sand, still growing for maximum freshness. However, a few quibbles keep me from enjoying the book perfectly. In particular, nothing should be more integral to the foodhistory-mystery than a perfect sense of the food and its seasons. So we have strawberries in November? And zucchini jumps out like beauty patches among the Parisian mob.
Ann Chamberlin
Sarah Johnson
19th CENTURY
STOLEN WATERS
Beth Andrews, Hale, 2005, £18.99/$29.99, hb, 224pp, 0709079928
Set in the declining days of the Regency, the tainted hint of decadent decline is startlingly
evident in this most unusual Regency novel. The language is as exultantly rich and luxurious as its exotic setting, almost overbearingly so. Do passions really burn this hot, coolerheaded readers might ponder? Maria Alvarez, Spanish refugee of the Napoleonic Wars, finds herself cast adrift on a West Indies island, companion to a rich plantation owner’s new wife. Matthew Romford, in plucking his wife Sarah, admired flower of Bath society, transplants her to his sugar plantation, New Moon. A marriage of convenience on his part, he did not reckon on the unsettling presence of his wife’s Spanish companion. Passions bloom – not always in expected places – and the result? You must discover for yourself.
Does this Regency with a difference go too far? The characters are curiously unsympathetic. At times the novel over-stretches itself to include, albeit faintly, the familiar conventions of a Regency. Often it reads more like a fervent and somewhat lurid saga than a pleasurable concoction of wit and sophistication. The narrative is most persuasive when it fixes upon the perilous qualities of West Indies life at this period.
Fiona Lowe
PENELOPE AND PRINCE CHARMING
Jennifer Ashley, Leisure, 2006, $6.99/C$8.99, pb, 373pp, 0843956062
One fine day, Penelope Trask is walking to the village with her friend when a mad horseman gallops up to them. He asks the way to Ashborn Manor, which just happens to be Penelope’s home. This tall, dark, handsome and foreign gentleman turns out to be Damien, Prince of Nvengaria. He’s come to propose marriage to Penelope’s mother, the long-lost descendant of a Nvengarian princess, in order to fulfill a prophecy and return to Nvengaria
EDITORS’ CHOICE
INTOXICATED: A Novel of Money, Madness and the Invention of the World’s Favorite Soft Drink
John Barlow, Morrow, 2006, $24.95/C$32.95, hb, 354pp, 0060591765
Yorkshire, 1869. En route from France by train, Isaac Brookes nearly kicks a bunch of smelly rags out the door of his compartment only to find a hunchback dwarf within its folds. Enter Rodrigo Vermillion, con artist and inexhaustible devisor of marketing ploys. This bizarre synchronicity launches these two disparate men on an adventure that will revolutionize the world. And will give Victorians a new alternative to alcohol and tea: Rhubarilla!
This effervescent tale of the madness runs in parallel lines of reality and the surreal. Isaac’s weird encounter with the charismatic Rodrigo inspires him to retire from his wool factory in France and return to England, where he reunites with his two dysfunctional sons and kind but ailing wife, Sarah. As this strange family begins to fall apart fueled in part by drink, they also unite in a common goal: to discover the perfect soft drink. Obsessed with rhubarb as a main ingredient, they experiment with nuts and spices to cover the taste adding extract of coca-leaf to give it a “twist.” However, their success only explodes with the rise of the Temperance Movement, which puts Rhubarilla in top demand in Yorkshire and over in the United States.
Beneath the madcap tone of this exuberant tale runs a thread of life’s truths and families’ woes all bottled up in bizarre fashion. A great historical spoof from a highly imaginative writer. Tess Allegra
by mid-summer’s day so that he can claim his right to rule. As if having to travel so far to find the widowed Mrs. Trask isn’t obstacle enough, she turns out to be a good twenty years his senior and her heart is engaged elsewhere.
Undaunted, Mrs. Trask seizes the opportunity to unload her daughter, Penelope, who has been jilted twice by suitors. She passes the silver ring, proof of her royal Nvengarian descent, on to Penelope so Damien can marry her. However, there is still a lot to overcome, chiefly Penelope’s reluctance, the Prince Regent’s well-intentioned interference, assassins, curses, and black magic.
This is a very witty combination of Regency-fantasy-Ruritanian romantic fairy tale and a slightly satiric tongue-in-cheek wisdom. It is intelligent and fun to read.
Audrey Braver
NORTH
BY NORTHANGER (OR, THE SHADES OF PEMBERLEY)
Carrie Bebris, Forge, 2006, $22.95, hb, 320pp, 076531410X
This is the third in a series featuring Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy from the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice. The couple is newly married and awaiting the birth of their first child at Pemberley, the Darcy ancestral estate. Elizabeth finds a letter from Darcy’s dead mother addressed to “Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy.” The letter urges her to find a missing family heirloom. Then the Darcys receive an invitation to Northanger Abbey from Captain Tilney (of Austen’s Northanger Abbey). Mrs. Darcy and Mrs. Tilney had been close friends, and the Captain wishes to continue the association. However, upon traveling to Northanger Abbey, the Darcys receive a strange and unwelcoming reception and are accused of robbery. Darcy must clear his name before the baby’s birth.
As an ardent Jane Austen fan, I was happy to meet some of her most memorable characters again. This story’s strength is the credible job the author does in bringing them back to life, especially the vexing Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the caddish Colonel Wickham and his silly wife, Lydia. The mystery was not particularly riveting or difficult to solve, but this did not detract from my enjoyment. Overall, a very pleasant read.
Jane Kessler
FOLLOW YOUR HEART
Rosanne Bittner, Steeple Hill, 2005, $5.99/ C$6.99, pb, 328pp, 037381125X
In 1873, the Union Pacific Railroad faces bankruptcy because of shady investments and greedy investors. Jude Kingman, eldest son of the incredibly wealthy owner of the railroad, is tasked with saving the Union Pacific by recouping the money from innocent landowners along the railway route or by seizing their land and forcing them from their homes. In Plum Creek, Nebraska, Jude walks a thin line as he struggles to fulfill his father’s wishes while being as fair as possible to the landowners. He is smitten by Ingrid Svensson, the daughter of a poor Swedish immigrant, but she and her family and neighbors see him as their enemy.
THE PALE BLUE
EYE
EDITORS’ CHOICE
Louis Bayard, John Murray, 2006, £14.99, hb, 415pp, 0719567033; Pub. in the North America by HarperCollins, 2006, $24.95/C$32.95, hb, 411pp, 0060733977
‘April 19, 1831. In two or three hours… I’ll be dead.’ What an opening!
Gus Landor is a New York City police constable living in retirement in New York State, alone since the death of his daughter. When a cadet is found hanged at the nearby West Point Military Academy, Landor is called in to solve the case. But no sooner has he begun his investigation than the corpse vanishes, only to reappear with the heart expertly cut out. Landor acquires an assistant in the form of cadet Edgar Allan Poe, who shows a flair for detective work and who relishes the menacing atmosphere surrounding an increasingly macabre sequence of events.
This is crime fiction of a high order. The detectives are an intriguingly odd couple, Poe being a callow romantic while the more prosaic Landor comes across as an appealing sleuth, perceptive, intelligent, wryly humorous – and haunted by a mysterious tragedy. Bayard has captured the elegant writing style of the period without compromising his mastery of pace and tension as the mystery deepens. And just when the case appears to be resolved there’s a shocking twist that I, for one, didn’t see coming.
I’m not a big fan of detective fiction, but if there were more crime novels as thrilling and satisfying as this, I’d rapidly be converted!
Amid shootings, murder, and personal tragedies, Ingrid begins to see the good in Jude, but the difference in their social status stands in their way. With Ingrid’s undying faith and love, Jude uncovers the painful secrets of his cold-hearted, socially conscious family.
This is a heartwarming, inspirational story that brings to life the strong social values and morals of the Victorian era. The novel accurately depicts many of the difficulties facing immigrants who came to the new world to eke out a living on the American plains with little more than hard work and their undying faith in God.
Mirella Patzer
MRS.
JEFFRIES & THE SILENT KNIGHT
Emily Brightwell, Berkley Prime Crime, 2005, $22.95/C$32.00, hb, 234pp, 0425205584
The latest offering in Emily Brightwell’s series of Mrs. Jeffries mysteries finds Inspector Witherspoon being summoned to Richmond to investigate the murder of a baronet found face down in a frozen fountain with his skull bashed in. Readers of this series are well aware that the Inspector’s (unbeknownst to him) secret weapon is his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries, and her cadre of loyal co-workers intent on solving mysteries. As she and her staff fan out across London to follow up leads, Mrs. Jeffries finds time to surreptitiously feed their findings back to the Inspector so that he continues to amaze everyone with his crime-solving abilities.
This intriguing Victorian mystery rife with below-stairs humor is entertaining and recommended. The only complaint would be too many people to keep track of – sometimes flipping back and forth was the only way to keep certain things straight. In spite of that, the
Sarah Cuthbertson
book is still charming. Rainy day? Grab a pot of tea, a plate of biscuits and Mrs. Jeffries & the Silent Knight.
Dana Cohlmeyer
THREE LITTLE SECRETS
Liz Carlyle, Pocket Star, 2005, $6.99/C$9.50, pb, 384pp, 074349612; Pub in the UK by Piatkus, 2006, £18.99, hb, 300pp, 0749907649
Three Little Secrets completes the Regency trilogy from best-selling author Liz Carlyle, explaining what has made Merrick MacLachlan, the brilliant architect, so cold-hearted. Once, he fell in love with a seventeen-year-old beauty whose father had more ambitious plans for her than a poor Scottish student. Merrick seduced her and convinced her to elope. The father put a short, violent end to the marriage, whipping Merrick and leaving him for dead. Twelve years later, Merrick still bears the scars.
Madeleine Bessett remarried quickly. Her father told her he purchased an annulment from Merrick, who had wanted her only for her wealth. Now, newly widowed, she comes to London seeking help for her son. His melancholy and strange visions make her fear for his sanity. She buys a house without realizing it is one Merrick has built. Their lives come crashing together once more.
This book is the darkest of the three. The storyline is interesting although it follows a very similar trajectory to Two Little Lies. The love story is passionate, meaning the proud lovers hide their true feelings, spit venom at one another, and rely on sex to resolve their difficulties. However, if you’ve enjoyed the first two books, it’s worth finishing up the trilogy.
Sue Asher
THE BLAZE OF NOON
Tim Champlin, Five Star, 2006, $25.95, hb, 232pp, 1594141525
It is 1878. Dan Mora, a fifty-eight-year-old prospector, and his unlikely comrade, Quanto, a Tarahumara Indian, discover more than gold in the desert of the southwestern United States. However, Champlin’s true protagonist is really the hot, dry desert landscape, where the only living predators are the Apache Indians. In the middle of this bleak, desolate land, Champlin interweaves the stories of several characters, including a love interest, desperate escaped convicts, and a Mexican psychopath. Eventually, Mora must make moral decisions about his life and those of his friends.
The descriptions of the desert and its effect on the characters are compelling. Champlin describes in great detail how they try to stay alive as they wander through the desert with little water available, the sun beating down upon their heads. If you enjoy books written about the American West in the late 1800s, you’ll appreciate Tim Champlin’s writing style. He places engaging characters in a setting that few men are able to survive.
Jeff Westerhoff
RACHEL’S STORY: A Southern Girl in Pre-Civil War Boston
Marian Coe, High Country, 2006, $16.95, pb, 260pp, 1932158642.
Doubly abandoned after her mother’s death and her Cherokee father’s departure from South Carolina in search of work, young Rachel Barrett must seek out her maternal relatives in faraway Boston. Delivered by her teacher to the household of the socially prominent Hyatts, the girl confronts the family and the life her unstable mother fled long ago. Alienated and uncomfortable, the questing Rachel refuses to be educated at a young ladies’ academy with her cousin, instead seeking her own teacher –bookshop owner Elizabeth Peabody. Through her mentor, she becomes acquainted with the leading thinkers and writer in Boston and Concord – Hawthorne, Holmes, Louisa Alcott, and eventually her great idol, the elusive Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Rachel also encounters Gage Randall, a young man who has Southern connections himself. Conflicted over his political sympathies and his feelings for Rachel, he is bitterly divided from his brother Alex. A desperate and damaging situation forces him into protecting Rachel, but in response he cuts himself off from her emotionally. Her consolation comes from friends among the great and the good, her intellectual pursuits (she delves into transcendentalism), and a nursing stint in Washington where again she encounters Louisa May Alcott and yet another luminary, Walt Whitman. Coe has clearly done her research, yet fails to infuse her characters with forceful personalities: for most of the book Rachel appears excessively reliant on mentoring and tutoring. She and her friends talk at one another, dropping names and spouting literary hearsay. The writing style is readable, and the tale clips along, covering many years – albeit in an episodic and incidental fashion.
Margaret Barr
NO GREATER COURAGE: A Novel of the Battle of Fredericksburg
Richard Croker, Morrow, 2006, $25.95/ C$34.95, hb, 432pp, 0060559106
Richard Croker’s talents as a Civil War novelist were first displayed in his well received To Make Men Free: A Novel of the Battle of Antietam. A similar formula is at work in this story of the Union disaster at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862. Here, the Union forces commanded by the incompetent Ambrose Burnside attacked impregnable positions held by Confederate troops under Robert E. Lee. Croker’s narrative is told throughout the voices of dozens of historical figures (Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ambrose Burnside, Salmon Chase, William Seward, Joshua Chamberlain, et al) and a smaller number of fictional creations. All are presented in a manner which easily fits the storyline. Historical figures can sometimes sound as if they are reading directly from their published memoirs years after the event, but Croker has an imaginative way of placing them in their natural surroundings that should satisfy the most astute historical fiction critic. The fictional characters, especially the Irish Brigade soldiers Stretchbok and McCarter, stand in as examples of the nameless enlisted men from both armies.
John R. Vallely
THE RIVER GIRL
Tania Crosse, Pan, 2006, £5.99, pb, 531pp, 0330431951
On the death of her father, Elizabeth Thornton and her mother are forced to move in with her uncle on his humble tenant farm. This turns out to be a mixed blessing when her uncle develops an unpleasant obsession for the young Elizabeth. Elizabeth learns all she can about nursing and medicine and, with the help of the local doctor, secures a good post as nurse to local bigwig Josiah Pencarrow.
During this time Elizabeth encounters Josiah’s estranged son, Richard, and her life changes forever; she can put the horrors of life with her uncle behind her. Or so she thinks. Money troubles and the vengeance of a frustrated suitor threaten her new-found happiness almost from the outset, but she and Richard are strong-willed, resourceful and determined to thwart their enemies.
Set amongst the mining and farming communities of the Tavy Valley, Dartmoor, The River Girl is never less than entertaining. It is a classic romantic saga, full of drama and intrigue. Elizabeth and Richard are flawed enough to be convincing yet warm enough to be charming. There is a strong sense of history – both social and political – to satisfy the reader and the plot fairly races along.
Sara Wilson
MRS. HUDSON AND THE MALABAR ROSE
Martin Davies, Berkley Prime Crime, 2005, $14.00/C$20.00, pb, 326pp, 0425202828
In this second in the series, Sherlock Holmes’s housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, finds herself once again helping that most logical of minds
solve another mystery. Londoners are anticipating an amazing day that will see both the unveiling of the Malabar Rose, a rare ruby, and the first appearance in Britain of that magician and illusionist extraordinaire, the Great Salmanazar. When a representative of the Home Secretary appears at Baker Street to ask for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson’s help in guarding the stone, Mrs. Hudson and her helper, Flotsam, find themselves drawn into the effort as well.
Inspired by his father wondering “what life must have been like for Sherlock Holmes’s housekeeper,” Davies gives readers a different vantage point from which to examine the much-visited Holmes and Watson. Using such a clever twist works well, as it feels like the reader gets two books in one – the first being a proper Holmesian mystery, the second being Mrs. Hudson and Flotsam ferreting out a seemingly unconnected missing husband. Fans of witty, well-written mysteries should devour this one!
Dana Cohlmeyer
THE LITTLE BALLOONIST
Linda Donn, Dutton, 2006, $21.95, hb, 207pp, 0525949283
In her imaginative and lyrical tale, Domm creates a fictional history and heritage for the first female aeronaut, whose true fame and fate were chronicled in her day. When young Sophie Armant’s working-class parents make good their promise to marry her off to the much older Jean-Pierre Blanchard, she is separated from André, the youth who loves her, and whose talents as a healer are remarkable. She sets aside all dreams of marrying her friend and leaves her secluded, impoverished home. On making her first balloon ascent at her husband’s side, she discovers a new kind of love.
Blanchard is quick to take advantage of his lovely wife’s fondness for solo flying – and her popularity with Napoleon Bonaparte. Together they travel throughout France and the expanding empire, Sophie’s fame expanding like Jean-Pierre’s silk gas-filled balloons. Theirs is hardly a secure existence – accidents result in tragedy – but Sophie’s stalwart mother maintains a supportive presence. Her enthusiasm for flying and her skills of observation when aloft are helpful to scientists, who rely on her to aid their understanding of the clouds and what lies above them. Goethe, another of her admirers, becomes a friend and confidant.
By the time Sophie and André are reunited, the Emperor’s affections for her have reached a point of combustion, and her reputation is at risk. The healer, too, has earned fame – and is jealous of the would-be imperious lover who, enamored by her courage, designates her France’s official aeronaute. Sophie chooses a fresh, untried path, and in so doing finds unimagined, earthbound joys.
Light in style, with delightful characterizations and a wealth of period atmosphere, The Little Balloonist is an enchanting, entertaining read.
Margaret Barr
THE RAFT
Arabella Edge, Picador, 2006, £12.99, hb, 320pp, 0330418475
In 1818, under the command of an arrogant and incompetent captain, the Medusa ran aground on a sandbank while en route to Senegal. One hundred and fifty crewmen were loaded on to a makeshift raft and abandoned.
When the news of the loss of a seaworthy ship in good weather reached France, it provoked a major scandal. The plight of the men on the raft was incidental. The young, celebrated artist, Theodore Gericault, outraged at the reaction, decided to paint what became The Raft of the Medusa to bring home to the government and public alike the shameful horror of the affair.
Arabella Edge writes at length about Gericault’s personal life which, I thought, detracted from her vivid disturbing descriptions of the hell of the raft. Gericault’s finished painting was regarded as a repulsive representation of a heap of corpses, unworthy to be considered as art. This would have made a strong ending to the novel, but it continues with a flat account of Gericault’s life, which I thought was irrelevant to the story of The Raft.
Ruth Nash
COURAGE ON LITTLE ROUND TOP
Thomas M. Eishen, Skyward, 2005, $16.95, pb, 1881554384
The struggle for Little Round Top during the second day of the climactic Battle of Gettysburg has captured readers’ attention ever since Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize winning Killer Angels introduced it to the general public in 1974. Little Round Top was an otherwise unremarkable hill that anchored the Union left flank. It was held by a Union unit that included the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. His brilliant defense against Confederate forces featured a desperate bayonet charge that is the centerpiece of the combat. Eishen’s recreation tells the story through the eyes of soldiers from both the 20th Maine and their principal opponent, the 15th Alabama. Numerous fictional characters narrate the drama as they stand beside historical figures. The author has certainly does his homework. The battle scenes, the historical events of Little Round Top and Gettysburg, and the 19th century vocabulary all ring true. It is a refreshing retelling of a saga that will be enjoyed by battle buffs as well as those who delight in historical fiction.
John R. Vallely
FATAL AS A FALLEN WOMAN
Kathy Lynn Emerson, Pemberley Press, 2005, $24.95/C$33.95, hb, 274pp, 0970272790
Second in the Diana Spaulding mystery series, the novel continues the adventures of that 19th-century journalist. She has quit her job at the Independent Intelligencer with the intention of accepting Ben Northcote’s proposal when her editor tells her that not only has her estranged father been killed in a hotel in Denver, but her equally estranged mother, now divorced from her father, has been accused of the crime. Although her parents had disowned her
six years earlier when she married gambling, ne’er-do-well actor Evan Spaulding, she goes to Denver to help her mother. She finds a city from which she had previously been sheltered, full of gambling halls and brothels, and to her consternation, her mother is the owner of one of those brothels! But, to her credit, she takes that in stride and moves in, living and dining with “the girls” as she unravels the mystery of her father’s murder.
Although some twists and characters’ intentions are telegraphed to the reader before Diana picks up on them, this is another engaging book in this series. Emerson vividly depicts 19th-century life in the West: a thin veneer of respectability with a large dose of lawlessness underneath. Diana faces the usual struggles of a woman in that time and proves her mettle. Bring on the third in this series; I eagerly await it.
Ellen Keith
A SUDDEN COUNTRY
Karen Fisher, Random House, 2005, $24.95/ C$34.95, hb, 366pp, 1400063221
A story of survival, A Sudden Country is a fictionalized chronicle of real events on the 1847 Oregon migration. Former Hudson’s Bay trader James MacLaren, travelling alone, mourns the loss of his children to smallpox and of his wife to another man. He’s collected a few tattered remnants of his life but doubts his soul will ever mend. Lucy Mitchell has also suffered a loss – widowed with children, she’d tried to rebuild her life by remarrying, finding herself now with Israel – her new husband – and her family in a wagon train headed west toward a new, uncertain life. Lucy and
MacLaren are drawn to each other...
Working from personal accounts of an ancestor, Emma Mitchell (Lucy’s daughter), first-time author Karen Fisher has personalized this account of western migration. Her narrative wraps the reader in detail; the story cannot help but come alive. The freshness of Fisher’s prose leads to beautiful moments on the page. Of MacLaren, she writes: “...looking back it seemed he’d found, with his wife and children, some fulcrum of the heart he’d never noticed, but it had put a power in his smallest task.” Captivating and bittersweet, this novel is filled with unexpected lyrical treats.
Janette
King
A BODY IN BERKELEY SQUARE
Ashley Gardner, Berkley Prime Crime, 2005, $7.99/$10.99, pb, 252pp, 0425207285
A member of the ton is found stabbed to death at an elegant ball at a mansion in Berkeley Square. Captain Lacey, late of the Peninsular Wars and with a very good nose for detection, is contacted immediately. The prime suspect, who has been taken to Bow Street to be queried by a magistrate, is his former commanding officer, Lord Brandon. Lord Brandon’s knife was used to kill the victim, and Brandon infuriatingly refuses to provide Lacey with any answers or assistance. However, Lacey is determined to find out what really happened. He doesn’t believe Lord Brandon committed the murder, and his deep regard for Brandon’s wife Louisa also spurs him on.
This fifth entry is a fine addition to Gardner’s Regency-set series. While the mores of the ton provide the historical setting, Lacey moves fluidly between upper society (with
EDITORS’ CHOICE
THE BOOK ABOUT BLANCHE AND MARIE
Per Olov Enquist (trans. Tiina Nunnally), Overlook, 2006, $24.95/C$33.00, hb, 224pp, 1585676683; To be pub. in the UK as The Story of Blanche and Marie, Harvill Secker, Oct. 2006, £16.99, hb, 288pp, 1843432331
Set in Paris during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this quiet novel is a work of art. With every word, every phrase, the author draws you deeper and deeper into the world of Blanche Wittman and Marie Sklodowska Curie. Blanche was a young woman who first spent more than a decade in the Salpêtrière Hospital, where she served as a public model for Professor J.M. Charcot’s demonstrations of techniques to cure women of hysteria by hypnosis. After the professor’s death, she became Marie’s assistant in her lab, and fell victim to the radiation, resulting in multiple amputations.The novel centres on notebooks belonging to Blanche, in which she explores the nature of love through her own and Marie’s experiences. But there is so much more. The author himself appears to be narrating much of the story, so we learn about his own life as well. He circles back to certain themes and incidents, slowly building to the resolution of a question raised in the mind of the reader early on. We meet a cast of interesting characters and become part of their world. The story starts slowly enough, with the death of Blanche, then flashes back, with the aid of the notebooks, to tell how she came to live in an apartment with Madame Curie. From there the reader journeys through the hearts and souls of these women, neither of whom was lucky in love for more than a short time. Despite the pervading sadness, the narrative seduces the reader and celebrates the lives of two very unique women and their friendship. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Teresa Basinski Eckford
thanks to several of his friends) and the lower class, providing interest and energy. I recommend reading this series in order. Understanding Lacey’s developing relationships with a number of key characters provides depth and richness to the events connected to the murder. Previous entries in the series are: The Hanover Square Affair, A Regimental Murder, The Glass House, and The Sudbury School Murders. Trudi E. Jacobson
THE MYSTERIOUS MISS M
Diane Gaston, Harlequin Historicals, 2005, $5.50/C$6.50, pb, 299pp, 0373293771
Lt. Devlin Steele can hardly believe his good fortune when he gambles and wins a night with the Mysterious Miss M, a lovely young prostitute whose extraordinary sensuality gives Steele one last unforgettable night in England before heading off to war. Three years later, Steele returns to the same gaming hall and once again wins the Mysterious Miss M. Only this time he wins her freedom – and that of her three-year-old child.
As the younger brother of a Marquess who controls the family fortune, Devlin can hardly support himself. Yet he’s determined to care for his new charges, even if it means marrying a “proper” lady so he may inherit his share. Miss M tries to help in her unique way, but her child comes first in her life.
The hero and heroine of this story bring a freshness to a tale that has been told before. Diane Gaston makes no excuses for her characters’ flawed ways. They are responsible for their own downfall. It’s their ability to rise to any occasion that makes them attractive and had this reader cheering for them.
Debra Rodensky
STANDING TALL
Sharon Gillenwater, Steeple Hill, 2005, $5.99/ C$6.99, pb, 346pp, 0373811268
In 1884, Sheriff Ransom Starr is pushed off a balcony while on patrol. He lands, horribly injured, in the dusty street below. Lily and Matt Chastain, two young people on a mission to catch their father’s killer, admit causing the horrible accident. To ease her conscience, Lily decides to care for Ransom herself. Soon they develop a mutual attraction, but with revenge on her mind, Lily has no time for love. Can Ransom convince her otherwise?
Standing Tall has all the classic western elements: evil outlaws, larger-than-life heroes, and beautiful, flawed heroines. Despite the stated West Texas setting, the story could take place in any Old West town, but to her credit, Gillenwater doesn’t neglect life’s unpleasant realities. Unusually for a romance, the hero’s viewpoint drives the novel. But although Ransom’s feelings ring true, he seems too perfect to be real, and I preferred the fiery, vengeful Lily to the soft-hearted, forgiving one. Moreover, their story isn’t halfway as interesting as the blossoming love between two secondary characters, Ransom’s deputy and a rich man’s pregnant mistress. Though somewhat clichéd, this compelling subplot saved the book from becoming your average Christian romance.
Sarah Johnson
LONE STAR LITERATURE: From the Red River to the Rio Grande Don Graham, editor, W.W. Norton, 2006, $19.95, pb, 733pp, 0393050432
So much of the history of the American West is represented in Texas. From the struggles of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie at the Alamo in 1836, to the creation and exploits of the Texas Rangers, to the cattle drives and the beginning of the ranching era in the 1880s, to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the history of Texas provided material for writers. But from this history, authors of books and newspaper articles have created certain myths and stereotypes of Texas and its people. In the anthology, Graham “provides through fiction, autobiography, and a few discursive essays an overview of the diversity, excellence, and characteristic tropes of Texas writing.”
The book is divided into four sections, The West, The South, The Border, and Town and City. In each section, Graham has included authors whose writings have left an impact on western literature and historiography. Andy Adams, a cowboy who wrote about his life on the trail in the 1880s, represents the cattle drive. Walter Prescott Webb, a scholar who accurately described the arid environment and struggle for survival, represents the reality of the Plains. And Dorothy Scarborough, who never adjusted to western life, sadly portrays the life of a pioneer woman in a dry windy land.
The anthology also includes selections from present-day authors like Larry McMurtry’s The Last Picture Show, Elmer Kelton, North of the Big River, and Billy Lee Branner, The Gay Place.
Lone Star Literature is a wonderful anthology that readers of western literature should have on their shelves.
Sue Schrems
CALL TO ARMS
Livia Hallam with James Reasoner, Cumberland House, 2005, $24.95, hb, 351pp, 1581824793
Call to Arms is the first volume in an oldfashioned Civil War saga, the Palmetto trilogy. Allard Tyler and his friend Robert Gilmore are cadets in early 1861 at The Citadel, a stillextant military academy in Charleston, South Carolina. They must decide whether to resign and join Confederate service now, or wait until they graduate. Tyler’s wealthy shipbuilding father wants him to serve the Cause by building ships rather than sailing them in the Navy, which he feels is his true calling. His sweetheart Diana Pinckston doesn’t understand his desire to throw himself into the action. Matters are decided for them once Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor is shelled.
I call it “old-fashioned” because sagas don’t seem to be as popular as they once were. Also, the authors seem to be hanging on to Gone With The Wind-era notions of subservient depictions of slaves. For example, a Tyler female slave develops a crush on Robert, who treats her kindly, saying he’s “the best man I ever knowed.” Despite a few passages reading like dropped-in history lessons, the authors are
skilled in creating multiple cliff-hangers that will compel Civil War and family saga fans to buy the next volume to find out what happens.
B.J. Sedlock
THE PRIEST’S MADONNA
Amy Hassinger, Putnam, 2006, $23.95/$33.00/£14.99, hb, 336pp, 0399153179
In 1877, nine-year-old Marie Dernanaud meets Bérenger Saunière on the eve of the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, at the saint’s shrine at the grotto of Sainte Baume in the hills of Provence. Some years later, Bérenger is appointed the priest at Rennes-le-Château, her family’s tiny village at the foothills of the Pyrenees. As the years pass, Marie becomes Bérenger’s housekeeper; many believe she is also his lover. But Marie, who has religious misgivings, cannot accept the Catholic faith as wholly as the priest does. Madame, the mayor’s wife, appreciates her intelligence, and when Marie expresses an interest in the Cathars and other local history, Madame grants Marie the use of her library.
Marie and Bérenger were historical personages; he really was her village priest. Bérenger had amassed a huge fortune for which there was no explanation, and local rumor said he had discovered a treasure of the Knights Templar buried under his church.
Hassinger provides some of the flavor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, although most of the storyline concerns dogma and faith, or the lack of it. Intertwined with Marie’s tale is a subplot involving Jesus Christ and his relationship with Mary Magdalene, one of his followers. The author embraces the theory that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married, and that they had a child who Mary brought to France when she fled Jerusalem. In her themes of faith and doubt, the forbidden love between a woman and a holy man, and the search for meaning, Hassinger parallels the lives of the two women. This novel is very well written; Marie is an appealing character, more so because she strives for independent thinking in an era of conformity.
Lorraine Gelly
DEATH ON THE LADIES MILE
Diana Haviland, Five Star, 2006, $25.95, hb, 347pp, 159414351X
The Ladies Mile, stretching from 8th to 23rd Street in 1880s New York City, housed the shops and restaurants frequented by the city’s richest women. When a young brideto-be in her wedding dress is found brutally murdered, private investigator Ross Buchanan is hired to find the killer. Amanda Whitney, an independent society reporter, both helps and hinders him in his task. When two more bodies are found wearing the same attire, we get to visit two parallel worlds. Amanda introduces us to the realm of the wealthy, with their focus on social events, luxurious clothes, and the rarefied atmosphere in which they live. Ross gives voice to the squalor and misery of the city’s poorest, who are trying desperately to eke out a living. Haviland captures both
worlds extremely well while weaving a good mystery filled with surprising turnarounds and convincing characters. She is particularly adept at describing the surroundings, whether outdoors or indoors, and manages to capture the sensibilities of the era. This is a captivating book, and I will be on the lookout for future volumes of the Gaslight and Shadows mystery series.
Nicole Leclerc
HOLMES ON THE RANGE
Steve Hockensmith, St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2006, $22.95/$30.95C, hb, 294pp, 0312347804
When a writer mixes genres, such as a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery and a Western, you hold your breath. Can two such disparate styles of storytelling mix without a jarring clash? Steve Hockensmith gives us reason to exhale and relax. The first-time novelist writes a great Western and does equal justice to Holmes between the covers of his new book. His main characters, brothers Gustav and Otto Amlingmeyer, are cowboys to the tips of their worn-out boots. Yet Gustav’s fascination with the deductions of Sherlock Holmes, as told in a popular magazine, convinces him to imitate his hero. His brother Otto soon becomes his Watson. Hockensmith gives the detecting duo not one but two murders to solve, and a cast of suspects that fill their Montana ranch. We have a villainous ranch boss, a class-conscious British aristocrat and an escaped convict who’s also a cannibal.
The plot would make Arthur Conan Doyle smile in recognition. Hockensmith gives us enough clues to think the solution is just beyond our grasp. Yet the story as told by Otto has a true Western voice. The brothers seem real as does their affection for each other. To top it all off, Otto has a great sense of humor that he shares with us on every page. Western lovers and Sherlock Holmes lovers alike will enjoy this new novel.
Chuck Curtis
LADY OF SIN
Madeline Hunter, Dell, 2006, $6.99, pb, 432pp, 0553587315
In an effort to throw off the lethargy that had plagued her since her husband’s death, Charlotte Mardenford had attended an orgy while wearing a mask. While there she had a sexual encounter with Nathaniel Knightridge, a man with whom she had clashed on previous occasions. Nathaniel, an aristocrat and a lawyer, is haunted by the death sentence received by a young boy he defended. Charlotte doesn’t know if Nathaniel recognized her at the orgy, and is surprised by the passionate and emotional connection she feels to him. Then Charlotte’s late husband’s family is threatened by blackmail and the possible existence of a child who would have a claim to the title currently held by her brother-in-law. Nathaniel vows to investigate for the boy’s sake, and he and Charlotte are drawn together in their search for the truth.
The mystery surrounding the boy’s identity
was enjoyable, as was the romance between Charlotte and Nathaniel. Although this story is set in 19th century England and Charlotte is ostensibly involved in the campaign to reform women’s rights, it is not central to the plot and only merits a few pages in the whole book; this disappointed me somewhat. Overall, an enjoyable read.
Jane Kessler
PRIDE OF LANCASHIRE
Anna Jacobs, Hodder, 2006, £6.99, pb, 519pp, 0340840722
The dirt-poor Prestons have few prospects but many children. Carrie works tirelessly to feed and clothe her siblings, since her father is a drunk and her mother feckless. Eli Beckett is a young man with a great ambition. His uncle’s pub, The Dragon, is little more than a drinking den, but Eli hopes that, with the addition of a music room, it could become a major entertainment venue in the area. There’s just one problem – his uncle’s indecisiveness.
When the Prestons reach their lowest ebb, Eli and his cousin, Joanna, step in with the offer of a job for Carrie – a job that could lift her out of the gutter and into the bright lights of the embryo Music Hall. If only the avariciousness and spite of a certain influential local can be overcome.
Pride of Lancashire is a superior saga set amongst the mill towns of Lancashire in the mid-19th century – an era which saw the birth of the Music Hall and its rapid spread in popularity. This alone makes for an interesting and novel backdrop. Add to this an array of wellrounded characters, a likeable hero and plenty of intrigue, and the result is an appealing read that is bound to satisfy Anna Jacobs’s many fans.
Sara Wilson
THE EGYPTIAN COFFIN
Jane Jakeman, Berkley Prime Crime, 2005, $13.00, pb, 263pp, 042520541X; Pub. in the UK by Headline, 1997, out of print
The Egyptian Coffin is the second book in Jane Jakeman’s mystery series set in the 1830s, featuring the enigmatic, reclusive Lord Ambrose Malfine. Ambrose, who was severely wounded and disfigured while fighting for Greek independence, lives in his crumbling mansion in England’s West Country with Elisabeth, a former governess whom he loves but feels he cannot marry. Lilian Westmorland, the daughter of Ambrose’s late friend, is sent to Egypt by her uncle to recover after a riding accident. When a servant girl is found murdered on the grounds of the Westmorland estate, Ambrose suspects that Lilian may be in danger, and follows her to Egypt. While a smallpox epidemic rages in Cairo, they track down the villain who caused her troubles.
I would describe this book as a novel of suspense rather than a mystery; we know who the villain is almost as soon as he is introduced, but we don’t know the full extent of his villainy until the end. Jakeman’s descriptions of 1830s Cairo are a pleasure to read, and are sure to appeal to fans of Elizabeth Peters. Ambrose
is a fascinating hero who reminded me of Charlotte Bronte’s Mr. Rochester. Vicki Kondelik
FOOL’S GOLD
Jane Jakeman, Berkley Prime Crime, 2006, $13.00, pb, 256pp, 0425207773; Pub. in the UK by Headline, 1998, out of print
The third title in Jane Jakeman’s Lord Ambrose mysteries finds Ambrose Malfine, Lord of the Malfine estate in the West Country of England, swept once again into dire circumstances. Ambrose treasures his solitude but treasures Elisabeth Anstruther more. He is, then, shaken when in May 1833 Elisabeth refuses his proposal of marriage and informs him she has accepted a position as companion to Clara Jesmond, who lives in isolation with her husband thirty miles away. Soon Elisabeth writes to Ambrose of tragedy at Jesmond Place. A young doctor has died in bed: evidence points to poisoning.
Smarting from Elisabeth’s rebuff, Ambrose will not hasten after her, yet he knows she will not abandon her duties. Thinking of poison, of traps, and of death, he abandons his pride and rides to Jesmond, a place as dark and brooding as Ambrose himself.
Jakeman’s elegant prose creates a fine, somber atmosphere. The plot is thin (the title reveals too much), and a twist involving a will closely echoes George Eliot’s Middlemarch. A gratifying subplot involves Ambrose’s manservant, Belos, who quits Malfine to pursue love interests of his own. Surely we will read more of this likable thespian, whose vocabulary runs to terms like “crepuscular chapeau” for “black bonnet.”
Alana White
FORGOTTEN FACES
Jeannie Johnson, Orion, 2006, £17.99/$29.95, hb, 250pp, 0752853449
This is the third volume in a thoroughly enjoyable saga in which the story of the Strong family is told against the background of the sugar trade from Barbados and the changes affecting Bristol in the early 19th century. However, close ties between individual family members are not always what they seem and even the most dominant characters have terrible secrets to hide. What is particularly enjoyable about Johnson’s writing is the wealth of detail she introduces: there are few areas of everyday life in the early 19th century that she has not researched thoroughly, from dogs to horses, china, fashion, and sanitary arrangements, to name a few. Moreover, as in the previous books, she also tackles topics of particular interest to Bristol in the age of Brunel, such as the relocation of the sugar refineries from the city docks to Avonmouth, where larger cargo ships could berth more easily.
Another topic that lies at the heart of this book is the conditions in the workhouse, the last desperate refuge for the destitute and a place to dump unwanted babies. The description of the workhouse known as St Peter’s Hospital appears to be based on factual documents, and conditions were truly appalling
prior to the Poor Law Amendment act. One of the book’s most interesting themes is race and immigration, and Max Strong’s brave words resonate clearly to our modern society: “These islands have given shelter to people from all over the world since ancient times”. But not everyone agreed and, at the time, mixed blood was seen by many as social blot. Clever plotting and sensitive characterisation make this a great read.
Lucinda Byatt
BRUSH COUNTRY
Elmer Kelton, Forge, 2006, $24.95/C$33.95, hb, 384pp, 0765310198
Set in Texas after the American Civil War, Brush Country is an omnibus of two classic novels written in the 1960s by Elmer Kelton. True West Magazine recently named Mr. Kelton the “Best Living Western Novelist.”
The first novel, Barbed Wire, features protagonist Doug Monahan. He and his crew are hired to protect farmers and ranchers by fencing in their land on the open range. He meets opposition from Captain Andrew Rinehart, who originally settled the area, and his foreman, Archer Spann. They want to keep the range open for their cattle so that water is not off limits or blocked from access. Because of his power and influence, Reinhart wages a war against a local farmer who hires Monahan to fence in his property to protect his livestock and farmland from longhorn cattle that wander onto his land.
The second novel, Llano River, is also set in the brush country of Texas. The protagonist, Dundee, a former cowboy who worked for Doug Monahan’s fencing crew, wanders
GATES OF PARADISE
into a small western town tired and looking for work. Rancher John Titus hires Dundee to find out who’s stealing his cattle. One problem – Dundee must ride into a territory around the town of Runaway where cattle rustlers are known to live. Other men have tried and failed to locate the rustlers of Titus’ cattle, losing their lives in the process. Dundee eventually meets the leader, Blue Roan Hardesty, and his gang of rustlers. He also befriends a local rancher and his sister, who warn him of the danger of facing the outlaws alone. Dundee knows how to use a gun and is determined to bring the cattle rustlers to justice, with or without help from the local citizens.
Elmer Kelton is an award winning western writer. If you enjoy reading Western historical novels, I recommend Brush Country for believable storytelling and page-turning action.
Jeff Westerhoff
THE EMPRESS OF INDIA
Michael Kurland, Minotaur, 2006, $24.95/ C$33.95, hb, 310pp, 0312291442
On and off over a period of nearly thirty years, Kurland has been chronicling the adventures of Sherlock Holmes’s most notorious nemesis, James Moriarty. In the process his primary intents seems to have been to clean some of the tarnish off the good (or not so good) professor’s reputation. Not that Holmes was entirely mistaken about him, but could it just possibly be that Moriarty was not responsible for all of the crimes Holmes suspected him of committing?
Take this latest case, for example. When a fortune in gold is known to be on its way to the Bank of England from India, and Moriarty is
EDITORS’ CHOICE
Beryl Kingston, Allison & Busby, 2006, £18.99, hb, 255pp, 0749082429
In 1800 the poet William Blake and his wife, Catherine, move from London to the tiny rural community of Felpham, in Sussex. There they live until 1803, with William working all hours as an engraver whilst trying to find time for his poetry. Great favourites in the village, the locals are shocked when William is charged with sedition after forcefully ejecting a soldier from his garden. In spite of aristocratic intimidation young Johnnie Boniface, along with his beloved Betsy, rally together nine witnesses in support of William and one day in 1804 they crowd into the court in Chichester to give their evidence.
Nearly 50 years later Alexander Gilchrist arrives in the village intent on uncovering the truth behind the incident for his proposed biography of William Blake. Unaccountably, he meets a wall of resistance from the locals who remember the “mad” poet, made all the more peculiar because of the respect and fondness the elder villagers obviously had for the hard-working Blakes.
Told partly in flashback and partly in epistolary chapters, Gates of Paradise focuses on the three years the Blakes resided in Felpham and on the dramatic events leading up to the sedition charge. Beryl Kingston writes with such a lovely light-handed touch it is impossible not to warm to her novels. There are some great character studies, whether of the more eccentric or the more conventional locals, and a terrific mix of mystery and romance.
Although I’m not usually a fan of dialect rendered phonetically in dialogue it would be petty to hold this against such a charming and kind-hearted novel.
Sara Wilson
known to be on the way to Calcutta, what other reason could he have other than the most obvious one? Wrong. Admittedly he has nefarious intent, but the gold is not why he is there.
While Holmes himself has mysteriously disappeared, swept away in a London sewer, Thuggees seem to have re-emerged as an evil force in India, and Dr. Pin Dok Low and his gang of unsavory associates really do have gold on their minds.
While Kurland is not terribly convincing when writing in the mode of Doyle, when he is left to tell his own rollicking story, what a glorious romp of a tale it is! His quick breezy style, interspersed with small jabs of wry humor, makes this particular caper move along in fine smile-provoking fashion. That there is also a locked room mystery to be solved is only the frosting on the cake.
Steve Lewis
WHEN THE STORM BREAKS
Bonnie Leon, Revell, 2006, $12.99, pb, 304pp, 0800758986
In the conclusion of Leon’s Queensland Chronicles (The Heart of Thornton Creek, For the Love of the Land), this time a terrible drought and fire has descended on the Thornton family, devastating both the land and its plucky couple, Daniel and Rebecca. Where to go for help when the bank refuses a loan? To a shady, unprincipled and murderous American named Marshall, though Daniel’s been warned away.
The first chapter ends with a lie that sets new, man-made disasters upon the family and their staff. As violence escalates, Rebecca and their children go to her family in Boston, where she wards off advances and finds the friendly loan that she thinks will get their land back into their care. But their creditor now wants the station. A gunfight will decide who gets Douloo.
Though clearly and competently written, the trials of the family are set pieces and wrought with much worrying, premonitions, and repetition. Daniel’s reaction when a “blackfella” worker is hanged as a consequence of his unpaid debt might cause offence in even Christian readers: “I should have told him about Jesus.”
Eileen Charbonneau
DEAD FALL
Joan Lock, Severn House, 2005, £18.99/$27.95, hb, 200pp, 0727862448
Set against the backdrop of the Victorian theatre in London, this murder mystery is another in the Inspector Best Series. An outing to the Princess’s theatre for Best and his wife turns out to be even more dramatic than they’d anticipated. “The Lights o’ London” is a hit production acclaimed for its realistic crowd scenes. It is during one of these that a ‘supernumerary’ is murdered on stage. The chestnut seller is only the first victim.
Best and his colleague Smith while trying to solve their current case identify that the actress, who has been selected to stand in at short notice to play the part of Shakespeare Jarvis, may be in great danger.
A solid plot and a varied assortment of characters make this an entertaining read. The characters are believable, but even more so is the setting. The intricate, well-researched detail conjures up the acrid smell, the heat, and the behind the curtain life of the late Victorian theatre as it transformed itself into a respectable art form. In particular, the description of the skilled work of Mr. Houghton, Property Master, conjures up a vivid impression of the Victorian theatre.
Myfanwy Cook
DEAD LOSS
Joan Lock, Severn House, 2006, £18.99/$27.95, hb, 185pp, 0727863118
London in the 1880s is on high alert. Fenian extremists are planting bombs with devastating effect. Criminals move in and out of the country with apparent ease. Other nations seem less than ready to co-operate and beleaguered Metropolitan Police find themselves working more like the secret service than crime solvers. Inspector Best is given the task of befriending an Irish print worker who may or may not be a Fenian sympathiser who could lead him to the perpetrators. However, sitting and waiting is anathema to an active police officer and he is soon distracted from this important work when he suspects a female fraudster is at work. Soon he is investigating both a vicious murder and a suspicious disappearance. Are the Fenians involved and will his pursuit of the fraudsters compromise his surveillance work?
This is a highly enjoyable read. Inspector Best and his wife are engaging characters and the plot has many twists and turns. The author’s research is impeccable. She is highly knowledgeable about the London police at the time, the Fenian campaign, the devastation of the French vineyards by phylloxera, not to mention the railways and the topography of Victorian London. If I have any criticism it is that she often finds herself unable to let go of her research. She often gives us more background detail than is necessary for this kind of novel. I realise this is an occupation hazard for historical novelists, but I wish her editors had been a little more robust. This would have prevented what could have been a heart-in-mouth thriller becoming just that bit too sedate.
Sally Zigmond
the starving, hunted Cheyenne. Understandably, before Zach and Caroline give way to passion, there are difficulties to overcome. The author has researched the Indian wars to provide setting, and uses a few Cheyenne customs for window dressing. Neither characters nor dialogue belong to the period, but that won’t matter to staunch fans of the genre.
Juliet Waldron
COMPANY OF SPEARS
Allan Mallinson, Bantam, 2006, £17.99, hb, 369pp, 0593053419
This is the eighth Matthew Hervey military adventure, set in 1827. After a considerable time in the Hounslow Barracks, from where he deals with various personal matters, he goes to the Cape Colony where the settlers are being harassed by the displaced natives, in particular the Zulus.
The army and cavalry details could be dry and mere decoration to the story but the author incorporates them in such a way that the pace never flags. Whether it is routine drilling, supporting the civil authorities against potential insurrection, veterinary concerns or real battles, the reader feels involved. Fans of Hervey will relish this book.
In this book, an intriguing new character, Edward Fairbrother, the son of an Englishman and a West Indian slave, plays a significant role, and I hope we shall see more of him in the future.
My only quibble with this book is the difficulty of reading the end papers, antiqued maps of the Cape Colony on a dark background, so that it was difficult to follow the events in the Cape.
Marina Oliver
SALISBURY: Civil War Death Camp in North Carolina
Richard Masterson, Burd Street, 2005, $14.95, pb, 208pp, 1572493763
THE BONAPARTE PLOT
Hugh McLeave, Hale, 2005, £18.99/$29.95, hb, 224pp, 0709079443
In 1803 it seems nothing can stop Napoleon Bonaparte from invading and conquering England. So, Prime Minister William Pitt creates a plan to thwart his deadly enemy. He recruits and finances a French royalist general, George Cadoudal, giving him the order to kidnap or kill Bonaparte and restore the Bourbon monarchy.
But Bonaparte proves that he is a master tactician and no mean detective when he unravels the murder plot and constructs his own ruthless scheme that will cost many lives.
The novel is impeccably researched and historically accurate, but unfortunately the book is so overburdened with facts, names and dates it is difficult to become involved with any of the protagonists. This book lacks pace and tension. However for someone wishing to learn about the attempt on Bonaparte’s life it would be an excellent read as it is more faction than fiction.
Fenella Miller
TELEGRAPH DAYS
Larry McMurtry, Simon & Schuster, $25.00, hb, 289pp, 0743250788
HOPE’S
CAPTIVE
Kate Lyon, Leisure, $5.95/C$7.99, £5.99, AU$14.95, pb, 373pp, 2939800599
Soon after the Civil War, Zach McCallister’s wife runs off with another man, taking his son with her out West. She and her lover are killed by rampaging Indians, who kidnap the child. When Zach meets Caroline, they are both looking for the Cheyenne. Zach believes they are the tribe that has his child. Caroline, an ex-captive, wants to take medicine to her beloved Cheyenne family, recently broken out of their reservation. (Caroline’s initial abductors were Kiowa who raped and mutilated her.) Rescued by the Cheyenne, Caroline has been released to her white family. Predictably, there is no welcome, so she is now traveling across the prairie with a wagon load of supplies for
Though packaged and titled (oddly) like a non-fiction book, Salisbury is a novel based on the Civil War experiences of the author’s great-grandfather-in-law. As a young man, James Reed enlists, against his father’s will, with the 21st New York Volunteers. He sees action at Bull Run and Fredericksburg before completing his tour of duty. Restless and adrift at home, he re-enlists in 1864. During the siege of Petersburg, he is captured by the Confederates and sent to Libby Prison, later to be transferred to Salisbury. There, he is reunited with comrades from his company, and makes alliances with a group of free black soldiers. Together they struggle to survive the meager rations, bad water, lack of sanitation, and the sickness that inevitably follow. Though the first half of the book is marred by the author’s passionate but awkward prose, once in Salisbury, Masterson is at his best. The phrasing untangles, allowing the characters a chance to come alive, and the plot to unfurl. Clearly a master of Civil War history, Masterson has penned a flawed but harrowing story about the inhumanity of war.
Lisa Ann Verge
From Pulitzer- and Oscar-winning writer Larry McMurtry comes his latest picaresque about life on the American frontier. Our heroine is Nellie Courtwright, a blunt-talking, no-nonsense, “organized” girl who brings the same hardheaded reasoning to both business and pleasure, as quick with a pen as she is with her tongue. After burying their father (who has hanged himself), she and her brother Jackson arrive at the quintessential Western town of Rita Blanca to seek their fortunes. Fortune quickly bears down on them in the form of the Yazees, a band of desperados with a penchant for collecting the ears of their victims. Jackson’s heroic action saves the town and becomes the stuff of legend—a legend which his sister Nellie is quick to capitalize on. Her adventures lead her from state to state, and into contact with just about every iconic figure of the American west (Buffalo Bill Cody, General George Custer, Wyatt Earp and his brothers, and the list goes on). At times Nellie’s timing stretches credibility (such as when she arrives in Tombstone, Arizona just in time to witness the gunfight at the O.K. Corral), as does her flatly emotionless reaction to everything from death to fortune to “copulation,” which she pursues with gusto. But Nellie isn’t meant to be a realistic heroine—her experiences and personality, like those of the famous characters she encounters, are larger than life. While this book doesn’t have what you might call a plot, Nellie’s wanderings and desires make for an entertaining read, and mirror the development of the West itself.
Val Perry
THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE WORLD
Karen Mercury, Medallion, 2006, $9.99, pb, 400pp, 1932815449
This fast-moving novel focuses on Delphine Chambliss, who, in 1866, travels to Ab-
yssinia from the United States. As she searches for her French poet fiancé, she is caught up in looting by the soldiers of Emperor Tewodros. Among them is Ravinger Howland, a Bostonian adventurer who has become the Emperor’s right-hand man. Ravi finds himself drawn to Delphine, but the Emperor decides she is the Queen of Sheba, while he himself is Solomon. At the same time, he is unable to pull all of Ethiopia under his control, and his increasingly erratic behaviour proves dangerous – especially to those close to him.
There were a couple of transitions in the storyline that I questioned, such as when Delphine moves in with the quirky Kasper Nagel, a preacher she has only just met. And the frequent reference to specific body muscles – deltoid, pectoral, etc. – made me feel like I needed a medical dictionary at my side. But the author does a number of things well: her pace is excellent, as is her ability to keep the action varied (white-hot love scenes, anyone?). She unravels backstory throughout the novel, revealing what the reader needs to know at just the right moment. Her descriptions of Abyssinia, of life at the nomadic court, and of the characters and their actions are fascinating and evocative. Finally, she tempers the tragic elements of this story with humour, presenting a life-like picture of a pivotal time in Ethiopia’s history.
Claire Morris
LILAC SPRING
Ruth Axtell Morren, Steeple Hill, 2005, $12.95/C$15.95, pb, 294pp, 037378550X
Full-grown and fashionable after two years at school and her travels abroad, Cherish Winslow returns to her father’s shipbuilding business determined to prove that despite being a lady, she can assist his company. She is also determined to show her father’s handsome apprentice, Silas van der Zee, that she has become a desirable and lovable woman.
Silas does love Cherish, but is torn between propriety of their respective classes, and his passion for his childhood friend. When Mr. Winslow catches them in a stolen kiss, their love for one another is ultimately tested. Guided by their faith, Cherish and Silas must overcome the struggles that keep them apart.
Morren’s descriptions of life in 19th-century Maine are vivid and realistic. Silas and Cherish are both lively, engaging characters trying to follow their hearts and their beliefs. It is interesting to watch them grow in their faith and trust in God while fighting for their love. Although it has a predictable plot, Lilac Spring is a gentle, sweet story, spiced with just the right amount of inspiration and romance.
Rebecca Roberts
with the opportunity she needs. With his help she stows away on the Morning Star, the same vessel that her 13-year-old son has joined as a cabin boy. Following a vicious attack by a crew member, Emma is nursed back to health by Charles Witton. However when the ship reaches Cape Town more disaster awaits her and her new found happiness is shattered.
This is a well-written and interesting book which has been impeccably researched. The vivid descriptions of Victorian Whitby, and ship board life, bring the places alive. The author makes you feel as though you are walking through the streets and can actually smell the fish entrails and the body odours of the poor folk you pass. The ship-board scenes make the reader understand what it is that draws men to the sea despite its dangers. In this book the characters seem less important than the sea, the ship and the places. It is like looking through a window into the past – catching glimpses of emotions and events but remaining outside, not becoming involved. Sea Dust is a love story, but not between the main characters, but a romance of the sea and tall sailing ships. This novel will appeal to anyone who has an interest in things maritime and a love of the past.
Fenella Miller
SPEAK RIGHT ON: DRED SCOTT
Mary E. Neighbour, Toby, 2006, $24.95/ C$32.95/£14.99, hb, 352pp, 159264144X
Neighbour takes the few known facts about Dred Scott and fleshes them out into a biographical novel. Dred, descendant of griots (storytellers and oral historians), is raised by his grandmother as a “big house” servant. He witnesses slavery’s many injustices, such as his mentor, the blacksmith, being whipped to death. Dred is separated from Gran when his master, Peter Blow, moves to Missouri. After Blow’s death, Dred is sold to an army doctor, who takes him to his new post in Wisconsin Territory. There he meets Harriet, the slave of another officer, and they marry and have two daughters. Dred lives in constant worry about his family being sold off, especially when the doctor dies. Back in St. Louis, the doctor’s widow hires them out as day laborers, supposedly keeping the money they earn as payment towards their eventual freedom. But the promise is not kept.
Dred learns from a preacher that there have been other cases in which a slave is taken north to a free state, and as a result, declared legally free. Helped by Blow’s sons, Dred files a lawsuit to gain his family’s freedom. The incendiary political fallout of the 1857 Supreme Court decision was a major cause of the American Civil War, assuring the obscure slave a prominent place in U.S. history.
to give dimension to an important man most people know only as a name they were forced to memorize in history class.
B.J. Sedlock
DARK ASSASSIN
Anne Perry, Headline, 2006, £19.99, hb, 281pp, 0755320581; Pub. in the US by Ballantine, 2006, $25.95/C$35.95, hb, 308pp, 0345469291
While on boat patrol with the Thames River Police, Inspector William Monk watches helplessly as Mary Havilland falls to her death off Waterloo Bridge, dragging her fiancé with her. Was this suicide – or murder, in which the victim took her killer into the river with her? Investigating the incident, Monk and his wife Hester discover that Mary’s father was an engineer at the Argyll Construction Company and died in mysterious circumstances two months earlier. Mary was convinced her father was murdered because he knew too much about a major disaster about to happen in the tunnels where London’s desperately needed new sewer system is being built. Her fiancé, Toby Argyll, was the brother of the construction company’s owner. William and Hester Monk race against time to uncover the sinister forces connecting the three deaths and to hopefully prevent a catastrophe in the tunnel which could kill thousands.
This latest book in the William Monk Victorian Mystery series can be read as a standalone novel. Atmospheric and elegantly written, the story probes the seamy underside of Victorian London, taking the reader on a tour of rat-infested tunnels and sewers, and exploring themes of corruption and family betrayal that are as relevant today as they were in the period. The characters are wonderfully nuanced and Perry has a keen ear for dialect. In places, though, I found the plot slow-moving and the deus ex machina ending seemed a contrivance that a writer of Perry’s talent could have easily done without.
Mary Sharratt
THE PATTERN OF HER HEART
Tracie Peterson & Judith Miller, Bethany House, 2006, $12.99, pb, 381pp, 076422896X
SEA DUST
Margaret Muir, Hale, 2005, £18.00/$33.25, hb, 224pp, 0709079893
After the death of her child, Emma’s life is in ruins. In order to survive she must escape from her brutal husband and bury the guilt from her past. A chance encounter with a French seaman on Whitby cliffs provides her
The book concentrates on Dred’s life in slavery; only the last 50 pages concern the famous court case. Since some of the case’s paperwork has disappeared, and there is a lack of documentation about slaves in general, Neighbour had latitude to imagine what Dred’s life might have been like. While Speak Right On isn’t a super-compelling read, it does serve
The plague strikes Jasmine Houston’s father and relatives, leaving her and her brother the sole owners of a southern plantation, The Willows. Jasmine and Nolan, ardent abolitionists, want to make this plantation prosper while at the same time find a way to free the slaves her father had used to prosper. However, a disastrous event will conspire to force this young couple to make some critical decisions for slaves who wouldn’t have the economic means to survive if they were freed. This novel offers a clear portrait not only of the anti-slavery issue in pre-Civil War America but also of the religious climate and economic problems of both free and slave people whose Northern and Southern beliefs and businesses were inextricably linked. Faith is the element these authors choose as the appropriate response to any worldly challenge. This novel’s plot and resolution don’t lag, despite its predictability.
Viviane Crystal
RIFLING PARADISE
Jem Poster, Sceptre, 2006, £12.99, hb, 320pp, 0340822945
Charles Redbourne, middle-aged dilettante, leaves his English country estate in disgrace after his callous treatment of a discarded male love interest drives the young man to suicide. Redbourne begs travelling money from his proverbial rich uncle and seeks his fortune in Australia, where he dreams of making his mark as a naturalist. Upon his arrival in the lush new world, he finds himself enchanted by his host’s strong-willed and artistic daughter, Nell. Yet when the girl reveals to him that she is suffering heinous abuse, he fails to protect her, embarking instead on a wilderness expedition on which he hopes to discover a new species of bird. Here the novel enters territory redolent of Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Heart of Darkness, depicting European intruders barging into a savage paradise that serves as the crucible, mercilessly stripping away all pretence of upper class sophistication and ‘civilisation,’ until the characters are utterly exposed and defenseless. His traveling companion, reduced to his most bestial nature, maltreats their half-Aboriginal child-porter. Again Redbourne fails to protect the victim. Nemesis comes in the form of brutal disaster, leaving Redbourne feeling quite sorry for himself.
The writing is hypnotic and lyrical in places, yet for me, it was not enough to redeem a book with such a selfish, unappealing protagonist. Mary Sharratt
NAPOLEON’S EXILE
Patrick Rambaud, Grove, 2005, $23.00, hb, 352pp, 0802118287; Pub. in the UK as The Exile, Picador, 2005, £16.99, hb, 384pp, 033048902X
Patrick Rambaud closes out his trilogy of Napoleon with a tale of the Emperor in exile on the island of Elba. Earlier novels include The Battle and The Retreat, which showed Napoleonic military and political action from the standpoints of both commanders and helpless victims. Here, the author presents the Elba experience through the eyes of Octave Senecal, as devoted a servant as any monarch could wish for. Senecal is an agent of Napoleon’s who plays the role of double agent and reporter. Day-by-day events in the life of a former world colossus now turned petty prince of an obscure island occupy much of the novel. Rambaud introduces all of the significant French, Allied, and local characters whose fate is tied to that of the somewhat bourgeoisie-appearing one-time Emperor. Tension mounts as the reader awaits the description of the escape and voyage towards the Hundred Days, but the author keeps the account relatively low key. The Napoleon that emerges is a rather sad, even pathetic, chubby man who is unable to accept that he no longer dominates European affairs. As in introduction to his life on Elba, Rambaud has done a marvelous job. While the reader may regret the trilogy did not end with Waterloo, the down-sized and desperate Napoleon of these pages does ring true.
John R. Vallely
AN IMPERFECT LENS
Anne Roiphe, Shaye Areheart, 2006, $25.00/ C$35.00, hb, 296pp, 1400082110
In 1883 an epidemic of cholera struck Alexandria, Egypt. Several scientists who work in Louis Pasteur’s laboratory in Paris arrive quickly on the scene, as does Robert Koch of Germany, recent discoverer of the cause of tuberculosis. They set up labs and begin the hunt for the organism that causes so much misery. Roiphe casts her eye on conditions in the streets of Alexandria, and readers are able to envisage the cholera microbe making its way from a dirty hand to a drinking glass, from dirty water to a flavored ice which looks so appealing on a hot day. Even the well-to-do, who know that they should be very vigilant about sanitation, sometimes fail disastrously, often through the smallest slip. The horrors of cholera’s effects on the body are vividly described.
Louis Thuillier, one of the French scientists, soon meets the daughter of a Jewish doctor, and their relationship, along with her growing interest in the experiments in the lab, provide a glimpse into the long-established, but not terribly secure, Jewish community of Alexandria. The British have just taken control from the French, and politics enters the picture, with far-reaching ramifications.
An Imperfect Lens hurls the reader into the midst of the cholera epidemic, deftly providing us with enough of the picture to see the terrible toll taken on inhabitants of the city, while allowing us to meet some engaging characters.
Trudi E. Jacobson
DREAMS
TO
DUST:
A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush
Sheldon Russell, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 2006, $26.95, hb, 283pp, 0806137215
In April 1889, men, women and children – red, white and black – gathered at the starting line and raced to claim the land being offered by the federal government in the great Oklahoma land run. Overnight, towns rose up out of the scrub oak and prairie grasses; homesteaders, merchants, bankers and opportunists either made a fortune or sold out cheap, many returning home with broken dreams. Sheldon Russell portrays through his fictional characters the beginning of settlement in present-day Oklahoma. Centering his story on the state’s first capital, Guthrie, Russell describes what life must have been like for the people who were the first to develop the land. The author introduces the entrepreneur who had the foresight to ship railcars loaded with lumber, anticipating all the new construction. Russell then introduces the man who carried typesetting and a newspaper press to start the first newspaper, as well as the architect who carried his plans in a satchel, hoping to be the first to design the buildings of the growing capital city. Around these characters, he crafts a realistic story of the beginning of a western community, shaped out of the desires of those looking for opportunity and wealth.
Dreams to Dust is an accurate historical account and true to the requirement of what constitutes historical fiction. It is also a very good read.
Sue Schrems
FINDING ANNA
Christine Schaub, Bethany House, 2005, $12.99, pb, 316pp, 0764200593
“Saved. Alone.” These two heartbreaking words, telegraphed to businessman Gates Spafford as he waited for news of his wife and four daughters after their ship sank off the coast of Newfoundland, expose the sorrow and passion behind the lyrics of the well-known hymn “It Is Well with My Soul.” The faith that led Spafford to pen his poem, in defiance of the loss of his family, seems even more amazing in light of the tragedy he had already endured.
Finding Anna begins with the Spafford family fleeing the Chicago Fire of 1871, a hellish inferno that swept through the city and left over 100,000 people homeless. Amid scenes of horror that seem hauntingly familiar after our recent national tragedies, Gates and his wife, Anna, shed their self-sufficiency and cry out to God in their need. Yet throughout the following months, while Anna cares for the refugees sheltered in their home and Gates lends his energies to rebuilding the city, a more insidious calamity nearly destroys their family.
Although the opening is weak and somewhat confusing, the writing improves as the novel progresses. All in all, Finding Anna is a satisfying debut for Straub’s Music of the Heart series.
Nancy J. Attwell
OUTLAW’S BRAT
Lee Scofield, Five Star, 2006, $26.95, 252pp, hb, 1594144540
This short romance, set in Wyoming some years after the Civil War, tells the story of Mattie Adams. Mattie, with her Aunt Elizabeth, has returned to Wayside Station after six years in St. Louis because local rancher Will McCarthy has written with news that her mother may be alive. Years earlier, Will had found Mattie in the mountains, following her escape from the notorious Dorsey gang, with whom she and her mother had been living. Believing her mother was shot during their escape, Mattie now hopes to find her and bring her home.
The romance between Mattie and Will develops quickly. Sparks fly off the page whenever they interact. While this sexual tension builds, their actions remain sweetly chaste throughout. But there is a troubling lack of character development. Mattie’s background unfolds in some detail, while Will’s is largely ignored. Coupled with some continuity flaws, and an unexplained gap in the plot dealing with the mother’s whereabouts, this all adds up to an uneven reading experience.
Alice Logsdon
AMETHYST
Lauraine Snelling, Bethany House, 2005, $12.99, pb, 320pp, 0764200542
Amethyst O’Shaunasy is commanded by her abusive father to go to the Dakota Territory in 1886 and bring her late brother’s son home to Pennsylvania. Once there, she discovers that Joel is not her nephew after all. She decides not to return home, takes a job at a boardinghouse, and becomes involved in the townsfolks’ lives. Severe blizzards kill most of
the livestock and some of the human residents. The hardships they share lead her to have feelings for ex-Army officer Jeremiah McHenry. Should she become a partner in a beauty products business in Chicago, or remain in Medora and marry McHenry?
Amethyst’s opening sentence is bad enough to be an entry in the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest: “Her father’s words itched worse than a burr in her camisole.” That conjures the mental image of a woman in her underwear, frantically pawing at herself, which doesn’t fit what the book purports to be, a serious Christian historical romance. Snelling compounds matters with even more bad analogies: “his heart chuckled,” “thirst rampaged through her like marauding foxes,” and “hair that insisted on partying with the wind.” Volume 4 of Dakotah Treasures contains many references to earlier volumes, confusing the uninitiated. Not recommended.
B.J. Sedlock
IN MILADY’S CHAMBER
Sheri Cobb South, Five Star, 2006, $25.95/£17.99, hb, 234pp, 1594143706
South has moved from writing charming Regencies to a mystery set during the Regency. Lady Fieldhurst and her husband don’t have a very close marriage. Although she is used to attending social events without him, she has stayed faithful. On the night she changes her mind, she and Lord Rupert find their entry to her chamber blocked – by her husband’s dead body. A Bow Street Runner, John Pickett, is called in to solve the crime. He is young and idealistic and romantic, and also bright. He is absolutely opposed to general opinion that Lady Fieldhurst is the prime suspect. While the story was engaging, with plenty of suspicious activities and characters, I was disappointed with aspects of the plot that didn’t seem to ring true. Would Lady Fieldhurst be entertaining callers within days of her husband’s murder? Would she and a Bow Street Runner have a relationship as close as the author portrays? And would the Runner be able to interview servants without their employer’s permission? A wife without the husband wanting to be present? While I am not an expert on the period, each of these situations seemed a bit off, and jarred me out of the story.
Trudi E. Jacobson
CLOSE RELATIONS
Michael Taylor, Hodder & Stoughton, 2005, £18.99, hb, 538pp, 0340830581
Although he is only the son of a humble lockkeeper, Algie Stokes dreams of starting his own business manufacturing bicycles. When he falls in love with Marigold Bingham, his ambitions become more pressing as he longs to earn enough money to marry her and remove her from the poverty and back-breaking labour on board her family’s canal boat. Then a series of events conspire to split up the lovers, and Marigold leaves Algie unaware that she is carrying his child.
Algie falls into the sympathetic arms of his employer’s wife, the lovely Aurelia. Aurelia is lonely in her unhappy marriage and willing to
risk everything to be with Algie, even though she knows he still loves Marigold. Events come to a head when Algie is sacked and Aurelia decides to leave her husband for good.
With his business plans underway and a good woman at his side, Algie’s life is almost complete. But elsewhere Marigold still loves Algie and, even on the verge of childbirth, is searching for his whereabouts. In the end it is Aurelia who holds the key to the couple’s happiness – even at the expense of her own.
Once again Michael Taylor has produced a winning formula. He writes so fluently and vividly that it is no wonder he has attracted such a large following. Romantic sagas have traditionally been the province of female writers, but Michael Taylor convincingly breaks the mould. He is a born storyteller with a great sense of history and a talent for writing interesting characters and memorable prose.
Sara Wilson
TATTYCORAM
Audrey Thomas, Goose Lane Editions, 2005, C$29.95, hb, 203pp, 0864924213
As a baby, Harriet Coram is dropped off at a foundling home in mid-19th century England. She goes on “loan” to a loving foster country family until she is five, but later, she sorrowfully returns to the foundling home to train in domestic duty. When young, headstrong Harriet is hired as a household maid for the illustrious Mr. Charles Dickens, she has a difficult time adjusting to a thorny relationship with Mrs. Dickens’s sister, Miss Georgina, who taunts her and nicknames her “Tattycoram” after the foundling home’s uniform. Throughout, Harriet is torn between serving the rich in their lavish settings and choosing the freedom of a poverty-filled country life with her foster family.
Charles Dickens becomes Harriet’s mentor, but thirty years later someone from her past challenges her to confront Mr. Dickens about his unflattering portrayal of her in one of his books. Harriet must decide whether Charles Dickens’s fame gives him the right to expose her character in an unflattering light.
Audrey Thomas writes this well-researched short novel in a first-person narrative with a historical peek at life within the Dickens home and in mid-19th century London. The portrayal and language of the characters are true to form, with the exception of the antagonist, Miss Georgina; she sounds much older than a twelve-year-old and is malicious beyond her years. Also, Dickens’s betrayal, the main plotline, is introduced at the end of the story and seems like a minor incident compared to all of Harriet’s other trials and tribulations growing up as a child of shame. Overall, a very quick, sweet book to read.
Nancy Flinn Ludwin
boat as it plies the rivers of mid-America in 1898. Then the showboat lands at Moss Hollow, Kentucky, and, after the evening performance, a dead body greets the departing audience. The Sheriff insists the showboat stay at Moss Hollow until he solves the crime. Without new towns in which to perform, Gwen soon faces financial insolvency. On top of everything else, the local preacher begins a romantic pursuit of Gwen, but her heart belongs to the handsome captain of the Jubilee Palace, Carson Stockwell.
Thomason creates a cast of memorable characters that seem as real as the person next door. But she does much more than that. In the middle of the story, when many other writers let the narrative sag a bit, she springs a surprise that energizes the story and rockets it to the end.
Grave Review is the second in the Jubilee Showboat Mysteries.
Chuck Curtis
THE BLIGHTED CLIFFS
Edwin Thomas, St. Martin’s Press, 2005, $14.95, pb, 304pp, 03123251268; Pub. in the UK by Bantam, 2004, £6.99, pb, 352pp, 0553815148
Poor Lieutenant Jerrold! For one who prefers a life of self-indulgence over danger, he does receive more than his share of hard knocks: he stumbles across not one, but two, corpses, and is accused of murdering one of them; twice he is clapped in irons and threatened with hanging by a harsh magistrate; he is savagely beaten and later captured by ruthless smugglers; in combat against the French, he is knocked senseless when he boards a frigate and later forced to jump into the sea from a flaming balloon. Even his quieter moments are marred by (understandable) anxiety and fierce hangovers. Obviously he is not a fast learner, but he is a survivor, thanks more to the timely assistance of others than to his own resourcefulness.
This is “Book One of the Reluctant Adventures of Lieutenant Martin Jerrold,” set in Dover during the Napoleonic Wars, and lovers of fast-paced adventure and plentiful irony will not be disappointed, as the “reluctant hero” lurches from one misstep to another. The combination of mystery, nautical adventure, and smugglers’ tale does make for a congested plot line, but Jerrold’s cynical point of view and the author’s historical knowledge offer a refreshing insight into English society during this era.
Ray Thompson
GRAVE REVIEW
Cynthia Thomason, Five Star, 2005, $25.95, hb, 265pp, 1594142963
Gwen Barrow, the heroine of this novel, is easy to like. Although only in her twenties, Gwen successfully takes on most of the responsibilities for running her family’s show-
WAR AND PEACE
Leo Tolstoy (trans. Anthony Briggs), Viking, 2005, $40.00/C$50.00, hb, 1412pp, 067003469X; Pub. in the UK by Penguin Classics, 2005, £19.99, hb, 1408pp, 0713998334
Arguably the greatest literary masterpiece, War and Peace is an amazing blend of philosophy, history, spirituality and love told through two families, the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys. The Rostovs personify the Russian spirit. Count Rostov, a generous, kind spendthrift, can deny his family nothing. His countess is
a warm, loving, overindulged woman. These characteristics are reflected in their children, while the austere Bolkonskys are duty bound. As normal human beings do, the three main characters grow, expand, and change over the course of fifteen years (1805-1820) beginning when Natasha Rostov is a young girl. It is a joy to watch her evolve into a beautiful, mature woman who loves two men: Prince Andrey Bolkonsky, an elegant, aristocratic army officer, and his friend, Count Pierre Bezukhov, a bear of a man who seeks answers to life in Freemasonry, mysticism, and superstition, and finally finding them in the philosophy of Platon Karatayev, an illiterate peasant soldier. Andrey and Pierre argue the plight of the peasants, the rights of the aristocracy, and the merits of war, mirroring Tolstoy’s own reflections. The main focus is Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and his ignominious retreat.
Reading War and Peace isn’t casual commuter fare. There are hundreds of characters and voluminous historical notes. Far from a groan, it deserves to be approached as a lavish feast with many varied courses. It has everything: multidimensional characters, descriptive battle scenes, social significance, and political maneuverings told from the perspective of hindsight. Anthony Briggs’s new translation is, perhaps, a purer version than we have seen heretofore, comparing favorably with the seventy-five-year-old Maud translation that had the benefit of Tolstoy’s input. There are some convoluted sentences better suited to the nineteenth century than the twenty-first. However, Briggs has managed to keep the narrative interesting, free-flowing, and easy to read.
Audrey Braver
PECKER’S REVENGE AND OTHER STORIES FROM THE FRONTIER’S EDGE
Lori Van Pelt, Univ. of New Mexico Press, 2005, $18.95, pb, 224pp, 0826334938
Lori Van Pelt’s short western stories have won awards, been printed in anthologies and read at the Autry Museum. Pecker’s Revenge is her first collection of short fiction.
Several stories in this collection follow one of two patterns: 1) the first half tells a fictionalized version of a legend or piece of history from the American West, then jumps ahead to a modern-day tour guide or teacher giving exposition (“And that’s the story of [whatever].”) Or 2) the story begins in the middle of the action, and then jumps immediately to exposition about what has led up to this moment (sometimes about what happened before that as well). Van Pelt works hard to establish a sense of place, with mixed results. Ironically, the stories that are most successful at evoking believable characters and emotion are set in the present day (“The Apology Tree,” “The Upholsterer’s Apprentice”), with glimpses of the historical back-story shown through diary entries, local color and the like. The stories themselves are heavily plot-driven, as short stories usually are, but some have more story to them than others. Some are engaging, some suspenseful; others attempt suspense and gritty realism but end up dull and/or anticlimactic.
At least one story’s title gives away the ending (“Lover’s Leap”—does anyone not know?). A few have author’s notes at the end, though these don’t really seem to add any information or insight to the story in question.
There’s a lot of “telling” of action and emotion, rather than “showing,” and many of the characters fit easily into the familiar Western archetypes. The best story in the collection is “Prairie Music,” a haunting tale that stays with the reader after some of the others fade. Though there’s much here that is good, the collection is uneven at best.
Val Perry
THE WOMAN OUTSIDE
Sarah Vern, Hale, 2006, £18.99/$29.95, hb, 207pp, 0709079168
Following on from The Witching Woman, Sarah Vern’s debut novel, The Woman Outside, continues the story of Alexander McNair and Mhairi-Anne Graham’s love affair. Although recently married to Victoria and now the father of a young son, Alexander cannot forget Mhairi-Anne. Outwardly content the McNairs live like strangers rather than lovers. Victoria’s hopes are raised when she discovers her pregnancy, but she is hiding a great secret that threatens everything she’s worked for.
Matters come to a head when Mhairi-Anne’s engagement to Alexander’s uncle, James, is announced. Alexander battles jealousy and Mhairi-Anne has more interest in his marriage and his son than Alexander realises.
Although it could be read as a stand alone novel, The Woman Outside does work more completely as part of a series. That aside, second novels are notoriously difficult to write and the author has done well to avoid the trap of repeating vast tracts of its predecessor’s plot.
Once again Sarah Vern delivers more than a romantic saga. Those strongly Victorian values of family loyalty and duty lie at its heart, but it’s her subtle character studies that underpin a story full of emotion and intrigue. A welcome sequel and hopefully the beginning of a follow-up series.
Sara Wilson
TROUBLESOME CREEK
Jan Watson, Tyndale House, 2005, $12.99, pb, 370pp, 1414304471
This inspirational coming-of-age story, set in the hills of Kentucky in the late 1800s, is full of folklore and common-day activities of Kentucky mountain people. Laura Grace “Copper” Brown is born the only child of a young, hopelessly in love couple. Soon after her birth, Copper’s mother dies. Her aunt, Grace, comes to help her grieving father take care of Copper. Despite Grace’s love for Lexington and city life, she agrees to stay and marry Will, Copper’s father, leaving behind those things she loves. Grace dreams of Copper going to Lexington to be educated, but Copper never wants to leave her mountains. One special friend Copper makes, Remy, is a young albino girl who lives wild in a cave in the mountains. Remy doesn’t associate with or trust other people, but somehow she and Copper form a
special bond of friendship. Although Remy is a young girl, Copper learns she is wise in ways most adults are not. As Copper watches her friends and family face the physical challenges the land offers, she uses the lessons she learns to help her face the emotional challenges of growing up and learning her destiny.
This, Jan Watson’s first novel, won the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writer’s Guild “Operation First Novel” competition in 2004. It is a comfortable read, with interesting descriptions of life in the Kentucky hills, and characters that are endearingly human. Some of them seem common and simple when introduced, but as the story unfolds, each character’s true worth is revealed.
Nan Curnutt
THE DIAMOND FRONTIER
John Wilcox, Headline, 2006, £19.99, hb, 309pp, 0755308963
The year is 1880. Simon Fonthill and his sidekick, “352” Jenkins, are preparing to leave India and return to England when they receive a plea for help from an old friend, who has been kidnapped and is being held captive in Kimberley, the centre of South Africa’s new Diamond Frontier. It is a plea which both men cannot ignore, and the intrepid pair return to South Africa to rescue her. However colonial politics interferes with their plans. Upon arrival at Durban both men find themselves summoned to the headquarters of Sir Garnet Wolseley. Wolseley is keen to enlist their services as scouts in a forthcoming campaign against the bePedi, a tribe living in the northeastern part of the Transvaal. It is planned to be a short, decisive campaign against what is acknowledged to be a courageous and well armed foe, as a demonstration of military power for the Boers who are agitating for an independent state. In exchange for horses and rifles Fonthill agrees that he and “352” will act as scouts once they have carried out their rescue mission. Both rescue and military campaign become inextricably linked as Nandi’s captor takes her to the township of the bePedi chief, Sekukuni. Fans of Fonthill will be pleased to know that his old enemy Colonel Covington follows him back to South East Africa, as well as Miss Alice Griffith, who is reporting the campaign for the Morning Post. This is the third book in the series, and fans of Simon Fonthill well know what to expect. If you like Wilbur Smith or Bernard Cornwell, then you will enjoy this novel. This is the second Simon Fonthill novel I have reviewed, and I have become a firm fan.
Mike Ashworth
A SEASON OF FIRE AND ICE
Lloyd Zimpel, Unbridled, 2006, $23.95, hb, 230pp, 1932961194
Zimpel conveys a strong sense of place in a novel based partly on his grandparents’ lives and pioneer journals. Praeger, the narrator, is the father of a large family of sons in 1880s Dakota Territory. He and his neighbors are jealous of a new settler who seems to have more than his share of luck. Biedermann discovers a well on his property and so escapes
GÖTZ AND MEYER
EDITORS’ CHOICE
David Albahari (trans. Ellen Elias-Bursac), Harcourt, 2005, $23.00, hb, 169pp, 0151011419; Pub in the UK by Vintage, 2005, £6.99, pb, 144pp, 0099461730
It is rare that a slim book can wield such emotional impact, but Götz and Meyer is small in page-length alone; the weight of its contents is heavy and heartbreaking. Götz and Meyer are two German SS noncommissioned officers who were assigned to drive a truck in which, over a period of weeks, they gassed to death 5,000 Jewish inmates of a Belgrade concentration camp. The nameless narrator of this story is a Jewish teacher in post-Cold War Belgrade; he imagines the lives of Götz and Meyer in an effort to come to terms with the murder of many of his relatives. Who were these two men, and what did they think of, if ever they thought of, the task assigned them?
the outside world, and in fact, what unravels is his particular fascination with Frances – who may be tempted to leave.
Garner is the most nonlinear of tales, starting with Frances’s death, then dipping back again into her life, alternating narrators without allowing insight into any of them. I found this book to be incredibly opaque. Allio hints at what lies beneath the surface of Garner, but even at the conclusion, it remains tantalizingly beyond reach. I read and reread, hoping to discover what really happened to Frances, but in the end, I was frustrated. The prose defeated me with its archness and self-conscious uses of parentheses (forgive my use, but imagine if this entire review was parenthesized). By the conclusion, I felt as though this book did not want to be known but wanted to be “literary” (with no apologies for the quotation marks, but you can see how the parentheses have left their mark).
Ellen Keith
EVERY MOTHER’S SON
Lyn Andrews, Headline, 2006, £19.99, hb, 314pp, 0755308417
L.K. Mason
As the narrator delves into the past, his obsession with discovering the truths of the lives lost in Belgrade begins to take its toll on his own health. The anonymous narrator re-creates the daily routines of the officers and the victims, holds imaginary conversations with Götz and Meyer, and wonders at who his family members were. Serbian novelist Albahari’s stream of consciousness narrative is a tale begun in a detached voice, dispassionately describing the gassing of the Jews; this voice grows more involved and consumed with the past as the story progresses. The narrator’s efforts to understand are painfully honest: “There is no comfort in death, the woman I met at the Jewish Historical Museum said, especially not in a death that someone else chooses for you. I wasn’t thinking of them, I shouted, but of myself, because those small consolations are the only weapons with which I can stand up to the meaningless and horrible void filling the faces of Götz and Meyer.” Haunting, lyrical, stunningly moving, and devastating. Highly recommended.
the worst of a drought. A plague of grasshoppers strips Praeger’s land bare, but largely bypasses Biedermann’s. The newcomer’s blunt manner and unruly dogs do little to smooth things over. Praeger’s young twins idolize Biedermann, but son Harris, goaded by jealousy, is suspected of poisoning the dogs and setting fire to Biedermann’s barn. The resulting tragedy is the sort that can set families and neighbors against each other for generations.
The author incorporates some vivid, senseevoking descriptions into his story. The sky is a “slate dome,” the wind “a fierce, bucketing blast,” and “the air snapped in Harris’ nostrils.” The point of view alternates between extracts of Praeger’s journal and third-person “inter-leaf” intervening chapters. The characters weren’t exactly endearing, yet I was compelled to find out what would happen nonetheless. Readers of this book will intensely experience the anguish of the 19th century high plains farmer, constantly in danger of being frozen, burned, or eaten out of a living.
B.J. Sedlock
20th CENTURY
MURDER ON THE OCEANIC
Conrad Allen, St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2006, $23.95/C$31.95, hb, 280pp, 0312342853
It is always with joyful anticipation that I set sail on a pre-WWI liner with ship detectives George P. Dillman and Genevieve Masefield, and I have yet to be disappointed. Conrad Allen has the knack of describing each ship with its own history and personality, while convey-
ing the luxury and elegance of these grand vessels and the laid-back and slightly decadent lifestyle aboard them. Allen also excels in mixing fictional and real life characters.
In this outing, the story centers around the notoriously rich J.P. Morgan, who is the victim of nasty crimes. Several first-class passengers also suffer from various thefts, keeping the ship’s detectives quite busy while wondering whether all those crimes are related. George and Genevieve introduce us to a variety of colorful characters: a painter of loose morals, his wife and his model, a renowned couturier, a diplomat and his betrothed, two journalist sisters, among others. Even the staff is well-depicted and plays a vital part in the story.
The mystery fits well with the setting: muted violence, slow sleuthing, smooth writing. In short, this is a welcome escape to a genteel world.
Nicole Leclerc
GARNER
Kirstin Allio, Coffee House Press, 2005, $14.95, pb, 222pp, 1566891752
In Garner, New Hampshire, in 1925, postman Willard Heald discovers the body of Frances Giddens in a stream. Frances is the ostensible and elusive heroine of Garner, attracting both natives and summer visitors who board at her family’s home. Heald fancies himself the town chronicler, and fragments of his writings pepper his narrative. He sets up Garner as a cold New England town that does not welcome outsiders, and yet boarders come every summer and a wealthy New York couple buys a farm there. It is Heald who does not welcome
Molly Keegan and Bernie O’Sullivan have been friends since their infancy. As girls they fled Ireland to find a new life in Liverpool. And now, as young women, they are ready to marry their sweethearts and start to enjoy the fruits of the life they have worked so hard to establish. But as Hitler’s armies advance across Europe it seems all their dreams are about to be destroyed.
Nightly bombing tears the city apart, and every day Molly and Bernie find it more of a struggle to feed their families. Both women know that as wives and mothers they face possible tragedy and heartbreak but they also know that their enduring friendship, and the love of their respective husbands and sons, will give them the strength to continue and eventually find the peace and contentment they deserve.
This heart-warming story of two Irish girls is vividly portrayed in this well written Liverpool saga. The vivid descriptions of the devastation that the city incurred at the hands of the German bombers and the hardships the population faced with stoicism are a feature of this novel. Rural Ireland, with its peat fires and abundance of diary food, are a stark contrast to life in war-torn Liverpool.
The soul searching that Molly and Bernie are faced with before they feel ready to marry and give up their hard won independence is carefully done. The portrayal of both the younger sisters, and Aunt Augusta, minor but vital members of the cast, is well done. Lyn Andrews’ many fans will not be disappointed with this latest offering.
Fenella Miller
MARK OF THE LION
Suzanne Arruda, New American Library, 2006, $23.95/C$33.00, hb, 340pp, 0451217489
American Jade del Cameron served as an ambulance driver in France in the Great War and saw her love, pilot David Worthy, get shot down. She vowed to fulfill his dying wish that she find his unknown half-brother. That vow
takes her to Nairobi in 1919, where David’s father had died in 1915, presumably of a hyena attack in his hotel. She infiltrates the Happy Valley set, where she makes friends and raises a few suspicions. Her ostensible reason for being there is as a journalist for the magazine The Traveler. It is in that guise that she proposes a safari to Tsavo, and it is on safari that all secrets are revealed.
Arruda blends mysticism (the villain takes the form of an animal to kill his victims) with near-caricature. Jade is almost too good to be believed – killing hyenas, fixing cars, standing up for natives against arrogant expatriates – all things a proper young woman does not do. The arrogant expatriates themselves are broadly drawn, but that characterization is probably not far off the mark. The villain is so villainous as not to appear out of place in a penny dreadful, and the mystical bent feels illfitting on this particular character. Still, Jade’s friends are drawn sympathetically, and Jade’s nightmares about the war give her a humanity that her other Superwoman skills belie. If this is the first in a series, I’ll happily read the second.
Ellen Keith
FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE
Margaret Bacon, Severn House, 2005, £18.99/$29.95, hb, 218pp, 0727862332
This novel, by an author new to me, set in fictitious Yorkshire towns in World War Two and beyond is a nostalgic breath of fresh air.
After a family tragedy, tension tightens further as three girls witness the break-up of their parents’ marriage. Margaret Bacon details well their inner thoughts as they come to terms with what life’s all about.
I nevertheless felt the writing was somewhat pedestrian and, unfortunately, there were quite a few historical inaccuracies. Could a teenager really earn five pounds a week in the late 1940s? George VI could not convert to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed as he was the Defender of the Protestant Faith. Sometimes the teenage girls speak like old women. But, all the same, I enjoyed it, especially a romantic episode under a tarpaulin in the punt and there’s a lovely description of the long, hard winter of 1947.
Geoffrey Harfield
STRIVERS ROW
Kevin Baker, HarperCollins, 2006, $26.95/ C$39.50, hb, 547pp, 0060195835
Last of his “City of Fire” series, Kevin Baker’s conflagration this time is the Harlem riots of 1943. His double protagonists are opposites in every way, including one fictional (Jonah Dove, grandson of a central character in Paradise Alley) and the other, a speculation on the formative years of Malcolm X.
When Jonah Dove, a fair-skinned minister of a black Harlem church, is harassed by some drunken bigots on a train, sandwich seller Malcolm Little performs a tour-de-force rescue. Soon both protagonists enter the novel’s third gem of characterization – Harlem itself. Harlem’s a community alive with music, culture, and work, but also poverty, rationing, and
both military and police on streets teeming with life, hostility, and racism. Jonah lives on the Strivers Row of the title, an elite community that he insists is “better than any upper-class white neighborhood, because it’s not segregated by class,” but even he begins to compare his Harlem to a self-made Warsaw ghetto.
Strivers Row brims with the life and contradictions of its characters and setting. The strong narrative drive makes room for the mystical, transcendent and visceral, making a rich and compelling reading experience. Highly recommended.
Eileen Charbonneau
A WOMAN OF CAIRO
Noel Barber, Hodder, 2006 (c1984), £6.99, pb, 672pp, 0340839910
Set in Cairo in 1919-1953, this book paints a portrait of Egypt in the days when it was a British Protectorate—a colony in all but name. The author was a chief foreign correspondent for the Daily Mail and lived in Cairo, where he met Nasser, Sadat, and King Farouk, all of whom appear in the book. However, the lives of Egyptians and their struggle for independence take a backseat to the glittering excesses of the British elite.
At the centre of the narrative is Mark Holt, barrister and diplomat’s son, who leads an action-packed life, to say the least. In between escorting ingénues to midnight picnics at the Pyramids, bedding any number of insatiable women of various hues, and asking his Nubian manservant to top up his ever-present champagne glass, Mark battles assassins, Nazis, and corrupt officials. He even saves a helpless female from a madman in a wheelchair. (He sagely advises her to flee by running down a flight of stairs!)
The title and very feminine cover of this book are misleading, as this is pure male fantasy—James Bond with a Merchant Ivory backdrop. The characters are predictably onedimensional. Barber is at his best when describing the beauty and mystery of the Egypt he knew and loved so well. However, the exoticism of setting is not enough to sustain a novel of 672 pages when the characters are so thinly drawn and the plot is just one unlikely contrivance after another. Those who love quality historical fiction are advised to steer clear.
Mary Sharratt
BLUE MAN FALLING
Frank Barnard, Headline Review, 2006. £19.99, hb, 376pp, 0755325532
Blue Man Falling is set during the Battle of France in 1939-40. It follows the fortunes of two RAF pilots, an Englishman, Kit Curtis, and an American, Ossie Wolf. The book opens at May 1940 with the German advance, bringing with it the horrors of total war, before regressing back to October 1939 and the uncertain pleasures of the “phony war,” with leave in Paris and the occasional foray against mainly unsupported enemy bombers. Fighting for different reasons, the two men soon clash. Curtis dreams of fighting a gallant enemy and personal glory, and is shocked by the fighting
tactics of the American who with experience of combat in the Spanish Civil War has darker motives. As the war progresses both men become involved, not only with the Fifth Column which is actively assisting the German invaders, but also the impoverished Russian Countess Dubretskov who uses both men for her own ends. As the book returns to 1940 both men find common cause, not only in survival, but to the ideals they find they hold in common. However, don’t be dismayed; this is no “Boys Own” story of derring-do. The descriptions of air combat are powerful, and Mr. Barnard paints a graphic picture of what it must have been like in France during that period, not only for the pilots, but for the civilian population as well. Recommended.
Mike Ashworth
ARTHUR & GEORGE
Julian Barnes, Jonathan Cape, 2005, £10.99, pb, 360pp, 0224078771; Pub. in the US by Knopf, 2006, $24.95, hb, 386pp, 030726310X I should perhaps point out that as Julian Barnes is one of my favourite contemporary prose writers, I approached his new novel in a spirit of confident anticipation. And indeed, his precise, measured and elegant writing did not disappoint. Fictional and television portrayals of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the Arthur of the title) seem to be a crowded field in recent years, but this is excellent historical fiction, with a story that both carries the reader along while the narrative is impeccably delivered and the historical context is sound.
The novel is founded on historical events: the George Edalji case in the early years of the 20th century. Edalji, a solicitor in his twenties, was found guilty of, and served a three year prison sentence for, cruelly mutilating farm animals in Great Wyrley, near Birmingham. On meeting Edalji after his release, Doyle was convinced of his complete innocence and invigorated the existing campaign to exonerate the wronged man. But it is the wider lives of these two men, their background and differing characters (indeed, they only meet in the final third of the novel) that is the essence of the book. Edalji is a quiet, unobtrusive, conscientious and reflective man, while Doyle, the world-famous writer, is assertive and thunderously direct. AC Doyle is successful in his campaign for George, but the reader is ultimately left to reflect whether it is Edalji who more understands the nature of the human condition, while the much-feted Doyle was later to be naively whirled off into the enthusiastic world of blissful spiritualism.
An excellent novel, and a good start if you have yet to read any of the novels of Julian Barnes.
Doug Kemp
OUT OF THE BLUE
Charlotte Bingham, Bantam, 2006, £12.99, hb, 352pp, 0593054407
Florence, who has recently lost both her husband and her son, finds a strange young man dressed rather oddly sleeping in her summerhouse. It seems at first as though he has dropped in from a previous century with his
clothes, his speech and his reactions to modern life. She befriends him, much to the disgust of her daughter, Amadea, who is feeling sore when a relationship ends and enlists a variety of friends to try and unravel the mystery.
In some way the stranger is connected with nearby Harlington Hall, and Florence has friends there who can help discover more about him.
I’m a fan of Charlotte Bingham’s books but was somewhat dismayed to find that this one seemed rather slow at first with too much discussion before anyone got around to doing something. However, once the action really started the story improved, and by the end it was as difficult to put down as most of her books.
Marina Oliver
THE KILLINGS OF STANLEY KETCHEL
James Carlos Blake, Morrow, 2005, $25.95/ C$34.95, hb, 312pp, 0060554363
Stanley Ketchel was a complex man. To women he was a handsome and generous lover; to men he was the man they secretly wanted to be. From his drunkard father, Stanley learned violence and brutality, and from his gentle mother, he learned to appreciate music and women. At fifteen, Stanley ran away. He lived the hobo life until at seventeen he got a job as a saloon bouncer. From saloon bouncer to prizefighter was an easy transition. Rising in the profession to Middleweight Champion, it became Stanley’s dream to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Jack Johnson, The Great White Hope. Although their only match ended in defeat for Stanley, his persistence for a rematch resulted in a lifelong friendship with Johnson. Of all the women in Stanley’s life, there was only one true love from whose death he never recovered. At twenty-seven Stanley was murdered. The sports world mourned along with his family and friends.
In his quirky narrative style, Blake has written a brilliantly moving novel, respectful and sympathetic. Stanley Ketchel lived life outside the ring with the same exuberance that he brought to his matches inside. Blake’s admiration of Ketchel, warts and all, is clearly expressed.
Audrey Braver
viewing the leader of a city gang.
We meet a new character in this book, Sabella Goodwin, a police matron. The author includes a historical note that explains that Goodwin was actually hired by the NYPD in 1896 as one of the first police matrons, and was so successful in undercover investigations that she was made a full detective by 1910. The descriptions of New York and in particular how to traverse the city (Molly takes a variety of forms of transportation) are vivid and engaging.
Trudi E. Jacobson
THE RAINBOW YEARS
Rita Bradshaw, Headline, 2006, £19.99, hb, 340pp, 0755327101
Bess Shawe’s seduction by a married man who dies in the Great War leaves her pregnant and bereft, but her baby daughter, Amy, brings her great joy. Although she’s destined to be both beautiful and compassionate, the stigma of Amy’s past is hard to escape. When marriage offers her the chance of freedom, Amy accepts with barely a thought, only to discover her husband is not the paragon of her dreams.
Once again Amy has to run away and the outbreak of World War Two provides her with the opportunity to serve her country and hide from her past at the same time. Never does she expect to fall in love and, just when she allows herself to believe that happiness is possible, her past catches up with her, pulling her away from her new life.
The Rainbow Years is just what a romantic saga should be – a classic tear-jerker. Of course having the two wars as the background helps provide drama and heart-rending a-plenty, but Rita Bradshaw doesn’t rely on this alone. She gives her novel a real heart and soul, creating her characters with obvious compassion and care whatever their faults. Without doubt a crowd-pleaser.
Sara Wilson
TAKING CARE OF CLEO
Bill Broder, Handsel Books, 2006, $24.95, hb, 360pp, 1590512138
better life. However, her expected role is to marry and continue to care for Cleo. Cleo, more self-sufficient than people give her credit for, is the only one actually focusing on her passions and obtaining what she desires from life. While everyone is busy worrying about Cleo and sometimes pitying her, she is actually content in her private world.
The dynamics between the members of the immediate and summer-vacationing extended family feel real, placing the reader right into Prohibition society. Romantic scenarios add another facet to their relationships without feeling contrived. Despite the somber-sounding subject, this novel begs to be quickly read and leaves one with an unexpected sense of hope.
Suzanne J. Sprague
POISONED PALMS: The Murder of Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford
Dorothea N. Buckingham, Island Heritage, 2005, $7.99, pb, 366pp, 025598242632
Hattie Lehua is a half-Hawaiian bookkeeper at the Palms Hotel in Waikiki in 1905. She is a bright, reliable young woman who dreams of attaining a higher position within the hotel. When an opportunity to act as Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford’s assistant arises during the matron’s visit to Hawaii, Hattie takes the temporary position; a letter of recommendation from “the Mother of Stanford University” would be a great asset to her career. When Mrs. Stanford dies at the Palms, it appears that she may have been poisoned, but what is the truth?
Hattie is caught up in events, and attempts to solve the mystery surrounding her benefactress and new friend. Was Mrs. Stanford’s death a plot to control the fate of Stanford University? Was it part of a plan to annex Hawaii to California? A Royalist plot, to restore Queen Lili’uokalani to the Hawaiian throne? A jealous impulse from her controlling traveling companion? Was she even really poisoned?
OH DANNY BOY
Rhys Bowen, St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2006, $23.95/C$31.95, hb, 320pp, 9780312328177
This fifth installment in the Molly Murphy series is set in New York City just at the turn of the 20th century. We see a bit less of Daniel Sullivan, the police captain with whom Molly has had a tumultuous relationship, because he has been jailed in the dreaded Tombs for a accepting a bribe. However, he isn’t guilty, and he asks Molly to see if she can help him, with the assistance of Gentleman Jack Brady, the prizefighter. Gentleman Jack has fallen on hard times, and Daniel had been trying to arrange a match for his comeback. However, Jack disappears on the first mission Molly assigns him, and she is left to work on her own, including doing such terrifying things as inter-
Eighteen-year-old Rebecca Bearwald comes from the only Jewish family in a northern Michigan resort town during the Prohibition era. Her father owns a dry goods store that employs her mother, a frustrated former Detroit debutante. Her older and only sibling, Cleo, is autistic, and the family depends upon Rebecca to manage her. Cleo rarely speaks, but when she does, she is insistent. Cleo also has an affinity for boats and a talent for boat repair, so when she finds a wrecked boat lost by members of Detroit’s Purple Gang, she demands that Rebecca help her hide and restore it, funding the project with the sales of bootlegged liquor found with the boat. Meanwhile, their unhappy mother insinuates to her snobby Detroit sister-in-law that Mr. Bearwald’s business involves a “far-flung empire,” causing a misunderstanding that nearly has tragic results.
Broder does an amazing job of telling the story through the eyes of Rebecca, who desperately yearns for a college education and a
Buckingham has clearly done a tremendous amount of research on the history of Hawaii and the Stanford case, and imagines her own theory on what could have happened, providing the reader with an interesting dose of historical knowledge along the way.
Andrea Bell
LIPSHITZ SIX, OR TWO ANGRY BLONDES
T. Cooper, Dutton, 2006, $24.95, hb, 416pp, 052594933X
“How do you lose a child?” is the opening line of this unusual and intriguing novel. Reuven Lipshitz, the young, blond son of Esther and Hersh, is lost to his family at the gates of Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century. These new Russian Jewish immigrants face their first tragedy in America; just like in the old country, they will face many more. The child remains lost, yet the family is able to move on to Amarillo, Texas, to pursue a richer life.
The novel’s first half focuses on Esther’s struggle with this dilemma, which morphs into her belief that Reuven has grown up to become Charles Lindbergh. Her obsession with this idea is extensive, and the reader bears witness
HOUSE OF ORPHANS
EDITORS’ CHOICE
Helen Dunmore, Figtree, 2006, £17.99, hb, 330pp, 0670914517
Set in Finland in 1901, House of Orphans tells the stories of Eeva and Lauri, childhood friends separated by death and politics. Eeva grows up in an orphanage and is sent to work for a doctor, Thomas, who becomes obsessed with her. Lauri, influenced by the ideologue, Sasha, becomes involved in resistance to Russian rule and ultimately in a plot to assassinate the governor. It is a novel of obsessions, both personal and ideological showing how freedom fighters – or terrorists, depending on your viewpoint – become politicised by their personal experience rather than by nebulous theories.
As you would expect of Helen Dunmore, the prose is exquisite, full of wonderfully sensuous descriptions of food and gardens, children’s chubby calves encased in stout boots, a woman giving birth in a sauna, a silk patchwork quilt and enough different ways of describing snow to compete with the Inuit. The story begins at a leisurely pace building layer upon layer of minutely observed feelings and experiences in the way you might stack crepes or fold filo pastry. You are seduced almost without noticing, drawn into a world of brutal contrasts between duty and desire, love and politics, youth and age.
This is a wonderful novel, sharply observed with every word made to count and every image constructed to make the reader think; as much a parable for today as an account of an historical period. Highly recommended.
to an enormous rift growing between Esther and her family – who are unable to identify with her fixation. The second half, which fast forwards to 2002, highlights T. Cooper (yes, the same name as the author) who is a descendant of Esther. This would-be novelist finds work as an Eminem impersonator (yes, there are Eminem impersonators) who encounters an identity crisis similar to his ancestor.
The narratives are interspersed with letters, newspaper clippings, handwritten memos, and telegram messages (to C. Lindbergh), which help develop and enhance the story. The author provides an intriguing, sometimes bizarre family saga, which most of us can at one time or another relate to!
Carol Anne Germain
TO SERVE THEM ALL MY DAYS
R.F. Delderfield, Hodder, 2006 (c1972), £7.99, pb, 662pp, 9780340839904; Pub. in the US by Simon & Schuster, 1972, out of print
In 1918 miner’s son David Powlett Jones returns to England from the trenches. Shellshocked, physically and emotionally damaged by his experiences, he takes up a position as a history master at Bamyfylde, a school buried in the Devonshire countryside. The novel plots the course of David’s recovery, his effect on the school and the effect that the other masters, the pupils and the fabric of the school have on him. It explores the changing political, social and educational climate of the period between the wars both in intimate and broad scope. David has to cope with a deep personal tragedy, and face up to a serious conflict of personalities when there is change at the top. World War II also challenges him as he has to come to terms with seeing his pupils go off to fight and perhaps die as so many young men died in the war he fought before coming to Bamfylde.
Sarah Bower
This is a gentle meander of a novel that occasionally becomes a plod. Anyone who is a teacher will absolutely long for the kind of pupils who populate the pages. Even the delinquent ones are thoroughly good eggs underneath while David Powlett Jones is an absolute saint who can set any troubled child on the right path, including the bed-wetters and illicit pipe smokers! However, that’s not to sneer. It’s a genuinely warm, comforting novel. Curl up under a quilt with lashings of cocoa and enjoy!
Susan Hicks
THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER
Robb Forman Dew, Little, Brown, 2005, $24.95/C$33.95/£17.99, hb, 327pp, 0316890049
The Truth of the Matter continues the story of the Scofield family of Washburn, Ohio, whom we first met in The Evidence Against Her. In the earlier novel, we were introduced to the eldest Scofields, who built the three houses that are to become their homestead, and to Agnes and those of the next generation, including Warren Scofield, whom Agnes marries. In this new book, Agnes, who is the mother of grown children and soon becomes a grandmother, has become the standard bearer of the Scofield families. The time period ranges from just before WWII to a few years afterward, with some flashbacks to earlier times. Agnes’s children all leave for military service or for jobs during the war, but shortly after it ends, they and their families return, filling the house: something Agnes thought she looked forward to.
Agnes, both as a young girl in her own family, and now as a mother with her children, seems not quite to fit in. She is always striving to be the best she can be, but is amazed to
find that others don’t see her and her actions the way she herself views them. I found her to be a more sympathetic character when she was young and finding her way in the world. In this book, she comes across as less likable, more contriving. However, readers of The Evidence Against Her will find the continuing story of the family interesting. While the effects of the war are at times seen obliquely, small but telling details give excellent insights into the period.
Trudi E. Jacobson
OKSANA
Susan K. Downs and Susan May Warren, Barbour, 2005, $12.95, pb, 286pp, 1593103492
In 1917, the deposed Tsar Nicholas II has an encounter with Anton Klassen, a Mennonite merchant from the Ukraine. He entrusts Anton with a mission: to protect a servant named Oksana. Anton does not know that Oksana is really the tsar’s oldest daughter, Olga. Meanwhile, the real chambermaid Oksana takes Olga’s place with the imperial family. Anton and Olga go to his house in Petrograd, but when his workforce is conscripted by the revolutionaries, they agree to a marriage of convenience and live among his family in the Ukraine. But although their marriage is, at first, in name only, they cannot deny their feelings for each other.
Oksana is an entertaining read, but it turns into a formulaic romance (without the explicit sex). The premise on which the novel is based is implausible. The authors make several factual errors and seem to be unaware that women could not inherit the throne of Russia at the time of Nicholas II. Also, they introduce a villain, whose motive is not entirely clear, only to have him disappear for many pages in the central section of the book. Although the love story is compelling at times, I cannot recommend this novel.
Vicki Kondelik
THE SHAPE OF SAND
Marjorie Eccles, Minotaur, 2006, $23.95, hb, 288 pp, 12352328
In 1910, Harriet Jardine and her siblings left their country manor after their mother’s disappearance and their father’s suicide. From an idyllic and perfect life they were dispersed from their home amidst scandal and speculation. Now after 40 years and two world wars, a horrific discovery is made; a body is found in a wall. All the years of speculation about their mother, Beatrice, are over. The body is hers, and theirs the realization that she never left Charnley.
The storyline moves from the pre-WWI era to the mid ‘40s as Harriet and her sisters and newly found nephew try to solve the mystery of Beatrice’s death. The reader takes a journey from tea on the lawn; house parties; even a cruise down the Nile, to post-war England and its deprivations. The characters are wonderful and the book is filled with vivid details of their lives and the changes that time has made.
Eccles is the author of over twenty books, and this one is one of the best. It is beautifully written and hard to forget.
Lorraine Gelly
THE FIRST CASUALTY
Ben Elton, Bantam, £17.99, hb, 381pp, 0593051114
EDITORS’ CHOICE
In 1917 England was not only fighting the Great War in France but was also witnessing a period of industrial unrest at home. Socialism was rising not only in the country but also amongst the soldiers at the front. The French army had mutinied after Verdun, and the Allies were awaiting the arrival of the Americans, who were slow in committing themselves to the cause of halting the German advance.
In a Europe gone mad, it was only Inspector Douglas Kingsley of Scotland Yard who disapproved of the War, believing it to be destroying the very Britain being fought for. Imprisoned for his conscientious objection and labeled a coward, he is wanted dead by every criminal he jailed. Surprisingly released, he is sent to France during the third battle for Ypres to investigate the murder of a national hero. He finds himself conducting his enquiries through the hell of battle, where witnesses to the crime are quite literally disappearing into the mud of Flanders.
Ben Elton writes a flawless story of intellectual arrogance facing its worst nightmare whilst attempting to define a semblance of justice in the face of unimaginable daily slaughter. It seems unbelievable to us now what millions of men and a few women experienced during the years 1914-18, but Elton, through careful research, graphically reconstructs the horrors of the Western Front with an earthy eloquence.
IN THE DARK STREETS SHINING
Pamela Evans, Headline, 2006, £19.99, hb, 342pp, 0755321480
This is a warm, enjoyable story of life in war-torn England. Rose has lost her beloved husband to the war, but she is determined to carry on as best she can, delivering the post to the dark streets of London even though her heart feels dead inside. Then, after a raid one morning she discovers a small boy crying in the ruins of his home. His mother is dead and as far as he is concerned he has no other family. Rose takes him home and her own family takes him to their hearts. Although it is difficult for him to settle at first, Rose has begun to love him when the father he never knew turns up to claim him.
She is very upset when Joe takes his son off to the pub that his father runs with the help of his fiancée Hazel. However, Joe is pleased when Rose decides to visit the lad and makes her welcome, but Hazel immediately hates her. All she wants is to be rid of the child she immediately dislikes. Amongst the hardships of life in wartime England, the personal tragedies and all the trials of family life, Joe and Rose learn to like each other very well – but Joe is promised to another woman. Is there any way that they can find happiness together?
The characters themselves are what this book is all about, natural, human and sometimes selfish or brutal, they give you an insight into the times. Well worth reading.
Linda Sole
THE
TRUTH ABOUT SASCHA KNISCH
Aris Fioretos, Jonathan Cape, 2006, £12.99, pb, 320pp, 022407685X
Set in the oppressively hot summer of 1928 Berlin, this is a fascinating, though often obscure novel. The eponymous Sascha is
an occasional cross-dresser with an intimate friendship with Dora, a similarly part-time prostitute. There are multiple time changes throughout the novel, but the essence of the story concerns the apparent murder of Dora by an unknown visitor, while Sascha is hiding in her closet in her flat (whilst also enjoying the proximity of her hanging clothes!) and the subsequent requirement for Sascha to exonerate himself from police suspicion and find out who did it. Unfortunately for the reader, however, Sascha is the archetypal unreliable narrator, and leads us down various blind alleys flinging in our direction a variety of red herrings along the way. The other major theme of the novel is a wide variety of (then) legally dubious theories of sexual-culture and research in decadent Weimar Germany, which emerges, according to Sascha, as the key to the mystery. The reader is shown sufficient glimpses of the emerging nationalist and intolerant right-wing movement in Berlin that was soon in the following decade to sweep off the streets those such as Sascha and others involved in what it considered as perverted and decidedly un-German activities.
Such is the overall fog of the plot that at the end the reader is not totally sure what happened and who was responsible, though the epilogue either solves the conundrum or just adds another possible interpretation. The story demands effort and certainly there is no clear conclusion, but I enjoyed the ride.
Doug Kemp
astasia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and the only survivor of the massacre of the Russian royal family in 1918. This highly imaginative version of the story begins in 1922, when “Prince” Nick, a shady Berlin nightclub owner, rescues Anna from an insane asylum, hoping to get a share in the Romanov fortune once Anna is recognized as Anastasia. His secretary, Esther Solomonova, a young Russian Jewish woman, becomes Anna’s companion. A serial killer threatens both Anna and Esther and then kills a nightclub employee. Inspector Schmidt, an honest, hardworking policeman, discovers that the murderer has ties to the rising Nazi party, and is determined to catch him, in spite of opposition from his colleagues, many of whom are throwing in their lot with the Nazis. Schmidt and Esther join forces to hunt for the killer and to protect Anna, and soon they become attracted to each other.
Franklin gives us a vivid picture of Berlin in the 1920s, a city suffering from horrible inflation, poverty, and unemployment. Her depiction of the Nazis’ rise to power is truly chilling, as former friends of Schmidt join the new party. People who know Anna Anderson’s story will probably complain about inaccuracy, but the author admits that she has taken many liberties. And – I do not want to give away too much – there is a wonderful surprise at the end.
Vicki Kondelik
THE BERLIN CONSPIRACY
Tom Gabbay, Morrow, 2006, $24.95/C$32.95, hb, 294pp, 0060787856
Set in Berlin in 1963, with flashbacks to the post-WWI years, this story follows JFK’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” visit to the besieged city of Berlin. A mysterious contact from East Berlin has requested a meeting with a retired CIA agent. No one knows why this particular ex-agent was chosen, least of all the agent himself. Bored with his life, the agent decides to go along just to experience one last taste of the spy game. Once there he runs smack into bureaucratic incompetence, vicious backstabbing, divided loyalties, and deep-seated but twisted patriotism. In other words, business as usual for the CIA.
JFK conspiracy theorists will find plenty of familiar fodder in this thriller. Most readers will recognize Aleks Kovinski, a Polish national living in Berlin, as Lee Harvey Oswald, right down to the picture of him holding the supposed murder weapon. Still, the author finds a way to draw you in and keep you guessing. The protagonist, despite all his past experience, occasionally seemed a bit slow on the uptake. But there are a few twists which will blindside you as well. All in all, a good quick read.
Mark F. Johnson
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
CITY OF SHADOWS
Ariana Franklin, Morrow, 2006, $24.95, hb, 422pp, 0060817267
Ariana Franklin has written an intriguing, fast-paced thriller based on the life of Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed to be An-
June Gadsby, Hale, 2005, £18.99, hb, 224pp, 0709079869
It’s 1900 and Blodwen Evans has lived a long life in Patagonia, far away from her Welsh birthplace, but recently she has felt the need for family around her. More especially
Gwen Sly
she hopes that a young nephew will catch the eye of her protégée Gwyneth Johns. With this in mind she writes an invitation home and then sits back to await events.
Wily and amoral Matt Riley is hardly what she is expecting. But he brings with him a sweet young wife and two friends, brothers Rob and Davy. Gwyneth agrees to teach them to be cowboys but although Rob and Davy are keen to learn, Matt is trouble from the start. Disaster threatens unless Rob can stop Matt from destroying their lives.
The Patagonian Andes give an original twist to what might otherwise be a run-of-the-mill saga. In fact the setting is the real star of the novel and June Gadsby must be congratulated on her panoramic descriptions and fascinating recreation of the pioneering communities. The inhabitants of the towns around the Valdes Peninsular are almost more Welsh and more Victorian than the friends and families they left behind, providing an even greater contrast to the exotic gauchos and Spaniards they mix with.
Sara Wilson
TROUBLED MIDNIGHT
John Gardner, St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2006, $23.95/C$31.95, hb, 254pp, 0312337213
John Gardner’s latest novel is a wealth of information about the British Homefront circa 1943 as well as a wartime spy thriller. Troubled Midnight is the fourth in his series about Scotland Yard’s Woman Detective Sergeant Suzie
THE HOUSE OF SCORTA
Mountford. When the commander of a glider pilot regiment is murdered, possibly during an interrogation, Suzie is recruited by the “Funnies,” as the intelligence services are known, to help find his killer and keep the secrets of the D-Day invasion under wraps.
In the author’s note that precedes Troubled Midnight, Gardner admits the premise of the book has already been used, but: “It’s a good premise and a starting point for the ingredients—the characters.” The killer’s identity will keep fans of the genre guessing until the end. And Gardner’s widespread pop culture references give his readers a real flavor of English life in the middle years of World War II.
Lessa J. Scherrer
WEST BOUND: Stories of Providence
Robert Franklin Gish, Univ. of New Mexico, 2005, $15.95, pb, 135pp, 0975348647
Robert Gish writes a compelling and delightful collection of short stories that will make you frown, smile, and laugh out loud. These stories are set in the west between 1920 and 1980. The first two sections contain tales of J.J., his wife, Naomi, and son, Otis, who venture out west in search of a good climate to cure J.J.’s tuberculosis. The latter part contains an array of random short stories that are as well-constructed as the early essays. Vehicle accidents are a recurring thread – sometimes observed, sometimes experienced, yet these tend to be on the periphery of the pieces.
Gish’s talent lies in his ability to present
EDITORS’ CHOICE
Laurent Gaudé, MacAdam/Cage, 2006, $23.00, hb, 285pp, 1596921595
Awarded France’s most prestigious literary prize, Le Prix Goncourt 2004, this novel has sold over 400,000 copies. After reading it, you will understand why. Each page mesmerizes, evoking deep emotion.
In 1870 in southern Italy, an ex-convict rides into town on the back of a donkey, knowing the villagers will kill him to avenge the crimes he committed against them. There he rapes the woman he has longed to bed during his years in prison. But he has the wrong woman. Rocco Scorta is the bastard product of their union, a villain whose crimes rival those of his murdered father.
Rocco marries a mute, a woman who can never speak or reveal his unlawful activities. The Mute bears him three children, Giuseppe, Carmela, and Domenico. Doomed from birth, the three, along with Raffaele, their brother at heart, are blessed with pride and a belief in their own potential. Together, they open a little tobacco shop and settle into a tumultuous life where true happiness eludes them. As the next generation is born, the family battles the malevolent legacy of their past and struggles to overcome the hardships of the present.
Inspired by his love for Italy and stories of his wife’s family, Laurent Gaudé paints a vivid picture of life in a poor Italian village. He writes in an evocative prose, rich in quality and simplicity. He infuses his characters with villainous deeds and the burden of undisclosed lies. The pace is fast, and the characters always shock the reader by doing the unexpected. They are rash and make mistakes for which they suffer, yet they are endearing and believably unique.
Books such as this are rare. Laurent Gaudé is a skilful writer who pushes the story into unpredictable twists and turns that will keep you enthralled to the very end.
Mirella Patzer
a wide range of experiences, from J.J.’s turbulent incident in the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, race riots to Otis’s outrageous adventures in the rodeo. Each provides wonderful insight into the characters, such as Naomi’s survival strategies with J.J.’s nervous sickness and Otis’s intrigue with Mrs. Romeo. These personal perspectives provide the reader with both warm-hearted and heart-wrenching experiences. I highly recommend this set, for there is something for everyone.
Carol Anne Germain
THE LAST FULL MEASURE
Hal Glatzer, Perseverance Press, 2006, $13.95, pb, 291pp, 1880284847
Number three in the continuing mysterysolving adventures of itinerant 1940s swing band musician Katy Green is measurably better than number two, A Fugue in Hell’s Kitchen (2004), but still not nearly as fine as number one, Too Dead to Swing (2002). The setting of Katy’s latest adventure is an ocean liner headed for Hawai’i in December, 1941, and right away you know what that means. As part of an all-girl group hired to entertain the passengers, you might think impending events would be trouble enough, but not so.
There is a murder on board, but one with no real suspects, so once in Hawai’i, there is nothing to forestall a side journey to locate a treasure buried by native Hawai’ians during a failed insurrection against the haoles in control of the islands many years before.
This recitation of historical events requires a couple of short lectures, which, while necessary, also slows the action to a crawl. Soon enough it is back to the still-unsolved murder, committed by one of the dumbest villains in print, magnified by two events having probabilities of say, one in a million each. Other than that, the travelogue and the on-board camaraderie are nicely done and may be in themselves worth the price of admission. The author knows his music, and it shows.
Steve Lewis
DOPE
Sara Gran, Putnam, 2006, $21.95/C$31.00, hb, 256pp, 0399153454; Pub. in UK by by Atlantic, 2006, £7.99, pb, 256pp, 1843544822
Dope is a taut mystery set in New York in the 1950s: not the New York of glittering nightclubs and Broadway shows, but the New York of sleazy dance halls and dope dealers. Josephine Flannigan is a recovering junkie living off what she makes by shoplifting when she is offered a cool thousand bucks to find a Barnard college student who has succumbed to heroin addiction just as Josephine once did. This is one job that Josephine is good at because she knows how a dope addict thinks, where she would go, from whom she would score. Searching for Nadine takes her into the dark places she used to go and tests her sobriety.
Gran excels at painting this seamier side of New York and shows how Josephine’s focus at staying clean parallels her previous focus on scoring a hit. Her world has been reduced to keeping off the drugs, but this job gives her
purpose. She offers few excuses for her addiction and refrains from self-pity, so it is all the more heartrending at when she discovers that her good intentions and sobriety have counted for nothing – there can be no redemption. A sobering, in every sense of the word, story.
Ellen Keith
PENUMBRA
Carolyn Haines, St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2006, $23.95/C$31.95, hb, 288pp, 0312351607
In the 1950s in Drexel, Mississippi, it is difficult, if not nigh onto impossible, for a woman like Jade Dupree to live in her own skin – skin that could pass as white, but in Drexel, makes her as black as any full-blood Negro in the state. It doesn’t matter that her mother is a wealthy white woman. Jade will never receive treatment equal to that her mother receives.
When Jade’s half-sister, Marlena – wife of a wealthy local businessman -- is attacked and almost killed, and her daughter goes missing, the entire town is up in arms. What kind of people are prowling around Drexel? And what was Marlena doing in a secluded wooded spot with her child? Marlena’s attack is just the first in a series of horrible doings in Drexel.
The town sheriff, Frank, wants to know what’s going on – and he desperately wants to find Marlena’s daughter. On his way to uncovering a nasty mess of interwoven, sick and destructive relationships, he and Jade begin a forbidden love affair – one that might be overlooked in New Orleans but not in Drexel.
Haines has created a cast of wonderful characters, each finely honed to a sharp point. The steamy woods and overgrown kudzu almost reach out from the pages to grab you. The terror that Jade feels knowing that she has no choice but to follow her heart and be with Frank is palpable. This is a world not so far removed from ours, but yet strange and distasteful. Haines has hit it right on.
Ilysa Magnus
THE NIGHTINGALE’S NEST
Sarah Harrison, Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, £18.99, hb, 454pp, 0340828552
Married and widowed by the Great War in less than a week, Pamela Griffe evolves into a composed and controlled young woman, drably dressed and introspective. Then she goes to work for the happily chaotic Jarvises and is introduced into a world of colour, noise and art. She is also introduced to John Ashe, a cruel and enigmatic character, as disfigured on the inside as he is scarred on the outside. Fascinated by her new life, Pamela is drawn to Suzannah Murchie, a talented artist and loner – unknown and unknowable.
When she also begins to work for Ashe, Pamela learns more than she wishes about the seedy underbelly of his various businesses. And that’s when she begins a plan to turn things to her advantage and at the same time exact a kind of revenge. But if this is revenge then it wears the sweet face of charity and that in itself is redeeming.
Sarah Harrison has written many best selling novels and The Nightingale’s Nest demonstrates why. Her characters are superbly
well-developed, with all the facets and contradictions of real living, breathing people. This is especially case with the main character of Pamela, who is as fully rounded a fictional character as I have come across in a long time.
The only criticism (and it is a minor one) is that I wasn’t always convinced by the 1920s setting. The story could have been taking place any time from the ‘20s to the late ‘60s, and would have worked equally well – for me it didn’t always “feel” like the 1920s. That aside, it was an exciting and revealing read.
Sara Wilson
THE BELLS OF BURRACOMBE
Lilian Harry, Orion, 2006, £12.99, hb, 289pp, 0752867199
The village of Burracombe on the edge of Dartmoor is the setting for the first in Lilian Harry’s Devon series. The villagers are hoping to organize their own celebration as their contribution to the 1951 Festival of Britain. The story charts the personal tragedies and hopes of those who live in this rural farming community, and their attempts to adjust to the changes caused by the war.
The novel opens with the arrival of Stella Simons, a young teacher. She was orphaned as a child and separated from her sister Muriel. Her quest to trace Muriel with the help of Luke, burdened with his experiences as a war artist and a love he can’t forget, are only two of the threads in this tapestry of village life.
The characters are engaging. Dottie Friend, who does everything in the village from cooking to making clothes, and Shirley Culliford, the bright primary school girl from the village’s ‘problem family’, are the most colourful examples. Lilian Harry has recreated the spirit of the period by sprinkling historical details throughout, and even uses local names such as Tozer. Her hands-on experience as a bell-ringer is clear in the humorous account of the competitiveness of the local bell-ringers.
Myfanwy Cook
AUGUSTA LOCKE
William Haywood Henderson, Viking, 2006, $24.95, hb, 421pp, 0670034916
Augusta Locke feels like a novel in two parts. Augusta (“Gussie”) is born to a Minnesota trapper in 1903, a wild creature who looks nothing like her parents. After a confrontation with her father, Gussie and her mother are abandoned. The two women move west to Greeley, Colorado, where Gussie’s mother attracts a new husband. Unable to fit into the new lifestyle expected of her, Gussie runs away and has an encounter with Jack Fisher, a young soldier headed off to war. Gussie finds her way to work on a Wyoming road crew, disguised as a boy, but after a short time, she discovers she is pregnant, and has a daughter, Anne. She becomes a supply runner, taking Anne on the road with her, but eventually, she loses Anne to the wider world. After decades, Gussie settles down alone and reconnects with Jack, her grandson, and great-granddaughter. Nearly three-quarters of the novel are concerned with the time from Gussie’s childhood through Anne’s girlhood. Time flows slowly,
and Henderson does a wonderful job recreating a sense of the loneliness in both Gussie and the breathtaking landscapes. The reader can see Wyoming, Colorado, and Minnesota through Henderson’s prose. A large amount of time is devoted to fascinating supporting characters (like Mrs. Shayd, who covets baby Anne), and the reader gets to follow Gussie as she views everything in dazzling detail: a new dress, storms, birds, roads. As Anne becomes an adolescent and runs off, the book speeds up and encompasses roughly sixty years that zoom by in a blur. Events seem rushed, like the author ran out of patience. Many of the episodes are still engaging, but the change in pace is jarring. I am sad to think what more could have been told in those sixty years.
Andrea Bell
THE LIGHTHORSEMAN
Marjorie Jones, Medallion, 2006, $6.99, pb, 223pp, 1932815457
Beginning in the midst of the war-ravaged lives in battle of two Australian brothers, The Lighthorseman then shifts from WWI to the home-front battles of the bitter, guilt-ridden and alcoholic survivor, Dale Winters, the elder who had promised to keep his younger brother safe. Dale punishes himself by giving up the great passion of his life – horses. He also punishes the new American immigrant heiress to half of his sheep station, who has been fed stories of the brothers’ adventures by their foster father. It’s a good thing that love is blind and that Emily Castle has got classic spunk, or their romance would be doomed.
Despite its gritty opening, The Lighthorseman soon becomes a rescue romance, complete with the ranch wagered on a horse race that Emily conveniently becomes unable to ride. Though leaning hard on conventions that have become clichés (lots of eyes shooting daggers, blood boiling, and butterflies in stomach before things become as right as rain), this did not bother me as much as the character of Blue, a too frequently used cliché of a mystic aboriginal with the “sight” who concentrates his power and concern only toward his beloved master’s destiny.
Eileen Charbonneau
FRIENDS AND FAMILIES
Margaret Kaine, Hodder, 2005, £6.99, pb, 452pp, 0340828293
Josie and Georgina live in the same street, but while Georgina is the only child of William, a rich builder, and lives in the ‘big house’, Josie lives with three older brothers in one of the small terrace houses owned by William. Despite this, the girls become fast friends, and this friendship survives even when Georgina is sent away to school.
When Georgina falls in love with Dominic, who abruptly deserts her, and Josie with Nick, who is only a market trader, and can’t give her the wealthy life she craves, their friendship sustains them.
The author brings to life with great skill the emotions of young girls growing up in the 1950s. She traces their very different teenage years, their studies, first jobs, and first loves,
with unsentimental understanding. This is a compelling love story, set firmly in the Potteries, and Margaret Kaine moves with ease between the two different worlds. A cast of minor characters, each well-drawn, surround the girls. It’s a feel-good book.
Marina Oliver
THE LAST JEW
Yoram Kaniuk (trans. from the Hebrew by Barbara Harshav), Grove, 2006, $24.00, hb, 522pp, 0802118119
If you’re looking for linear narrative, traditional formatting of dialogue and punctuation, and an Aristotelian plot pattern (rising action-climax-falling action-conclusion), this book probably won’t satisfy. If, on the other hand, you’re interested in experimental fiction where the fragmented and fuzzy narrative serves a deliberate purpose, The Last Jew is a very successful example to choose.
Ebenezer Schneerson has come out of the Nazi concentration camps with no memory of his family or past. Strangely, he still has vast knowledge of Einstein’s theory of relativity, Yiddish poetry, the teachings of the Talmud, and the oral histories of entire families. This repository of knowledge earns him the title of “The Last Jew,” and incites others—including a German writer, a Jewish teacher and a fellow Shoah (Holocaust) survivor—to try to profit from Schneerson’s bizarre talent. The narrative also shifts (often without warning) to the stories of others: Schneerson’s son, Boaz, a shell-shocked Hemingwayesque figure; Schneerson’s mother, Rebecca; Teacher Henkin, still mourning his son who was killed in the 1948 War of Independence. Together these voices blend into an impressionistic picture that the reader can begin to understand only after scrutiny from a distance.
The disjointed and often overwhelming nature of the prose itself (pages are often solid blocks of enormously long sentences, with no paragraph or chapter breaks) is certainly not an issue of translation: Harshav does well at conveying the confused and tortured storytelling that mirrors the sentiments of the characters and their political climate. Not a light read, though ultimately worth the effort for those interested in an insider’s view of Jewish culture and the founding of the state of Israel.
Val Perry
WEDDING ROWS
Kate Kingsbury, Berkley Prime Crime, 2006, $6.99, pb, 208pp, 0425208044
World War II rationing makes a wedding difficult, but the residents of the small English village of Sitting Marsh pool their resources to give the bride and groom a traditional sendoff. Unfortunately, no one can find the knife to cut the cake until after the reception, when it’s discovered embedded in the chest of a dead wedding guest. Lady Elizabeth Hartleigh Compton, lady of the manor and amateur sleuth, must solve the murder and subsequent kidnappings.
This mystery, which is the next to last in the
Manor House series, is an entertaining little bit of fun, and is as well-written as the others in the series. Though some of the secondary characters are rather two-dimensional, the main characters are well-drawn and Kingsbury’s setting is perfect. There are more than enough suspects to keep the reader guessing about the identity of the murderer, and there’s also a bit of humor thrown in. The relationship between Lady Elizabeth and her love interest, American Air Force Captain Earl Monroe, adds a depth to the story and will have readers coming back for the next and final installment in the series to see how things play out between them.
Bethany Skaggs
MURDER IN BYZANTIUM
Julia Kristeva, Columbia Univ. Press, 2006, $29.50/£19.50, hb, 249pp, 0231136366
Kristeva’s third mystery featuring French journalist Stephanie Delacour and chief detective Northrop Rilsky is set primarily in fictional Santa Varvara, somewhere in Eastern Europe. The story begins with Delacour’s arrival from Paris to cover the murders of several New Pantheon cult leaders, murders that bear the mark of a deranged serial killer. The investigation is complicated by the disappearance of Rilsky’s scholarly uncle, Sebastien Chrest-Jones, who may be connected to the New Pantheon murders. Piecing together Chrest-Jones’s historical research on the First Crusade and the Byzantine princess-historian, Anna Comnena, they trace his whereabouts. Chrest-Jones is indeed involved in the New Pantheon murders, but in a totally unexpected way.
Kristeva’s approach to writing mystery fiction is unique in that she provides comparatively little action or description. Rather, the story moves forward via extensive monologue and stream-of-consciousness passages. And since none of the characters is any too sane, the experience of being in their minds, as it were, for such an amount of time is rather like going down the rabbit hole with Alice.
Murder in Byzantium has a bit of something for everyone – linguists, political pundits, social commentators and historians, especially historians of the First Crusade. Chrest-Jones’s tale of the first Chrest – a French crusader – and Anna Comnena is a historical novella in its own right.
Lucille Cormier
THE LIGHTNING KEEPER
Starling Lawrence, HarperCollins, 2006, $26.95/C$36.95, hb, 416pp, 0060825243; To be pub. in the UK by Doubleday, August 2006, £12.99, hb, 432pp, 0385601115
The Lightning Keeper is the continuation of an earlier novel by Lawrence, Montenegro, which explains why the background of the young man from that country is so rich and detailed, appearing in this second book only as letters from his family and his memories. Otherwise, the story in The Lightning Keeper is entirely self-contained and all but the first section take place in the United States.
In 1908, Toma meets Harriet in Italy, a
young American girl on holiday. The immediate flash of passion between them is met, literally, by cold water from her mother. Six years later, they meet again in New York where he is the poorest of immigrants, but full of creative intelligence and vitality. To work for her father, he follows her to Beecher’s Bridge, the town of failing factories, dashed hopes and discouraged townspeople. There, on a bare dome of a mountain, the lightning strikes more often than is normal due to the magnetite in the rock. This is where the Lightning Tower will be built, which is still known today as Peacock’s Folly.
The background of the utilization of electricity into a workable force (for the good of mankind and tremendous profit and glory) is reminiscent of Lauren Belfer’s City of Light. The mechanics and patents and stupendous failures are told in great detail, aided by historical photographs and quotes. The personal story of love between classes is seemingly doomed, but the author allows us to rest in our happy ending if we wish. The book has some terrific action scenes and was more interesting as it went along.
Mary K. Bird-Guilliams
SCHOOL STORY
Iain Mackenzie-Blair, Three Cats Press, 2005, £14.99, hb, 500pp, 0945763017
The theme of this book is the corruption of innocence. The setting is a public school in Devon during the Second World War. The book follows a group of seven boys from the day they arrive at the school to their final year.
It is told from the viewpoint of Christopher Angus, the most sensitive and thoughtful of the group. The first section describes in detail how he overcame his fear of being beaten. The second section charts the sexual development of the boys and how minors were initiated into various acts with their seniors. This part contains a mini biology lesson, given by one of the less conventional masters, on what masturbation really entails. In the third section the bullied become the bullies resulting in the manslaughter of a younger boy – an act which is covered up and regarded as an accident. Most of the group could live with this, but it haunts Angus for the rest of his life.
Then in the final three pages we see the point of the whole book. Here we are given a brief summary of the future careers of the group. They all go on to become important men in education, commerce, law and medicine. And this is the point the author is trying to make –– that this is the background of many of the leaders of the country in the last part of the twentieth century.
The question must be asked. Do we really need books like this saga of sex and sadism? Sadly I think that we do. We need to be informed so that we can protect the vulnerable. Especially as such things are still happening, although not in the schools, thank goodness. But consider the various leaks in the press about initiation rites in the Army.
Mary Moffat
THE WOMAN WHO WAITED
Andreï Makine (trans. Geoffrey Strachan), Arcade, 2006, $24.00/C$32.95, hb, 182pp, 1559707747; Pub. in the UK by Sceptre, 2006, £12.99, hb, 0340837365
When Vera’s fiancé left in one of the last call-ups of men for the Soviet Army in 1945, she vowed she would wait for him forever. It is now 1975, and she is still waiting when he arrives in the small settlement, Mirnoe, in the far northern forests to collect folk traditions. The narrator, whose life in Leningrad we glimpse only briefly, is part of an intellectual and artistic group, one that is tentatively exploring the seemingly loosening boundaries of the time. As the narrator puts it, May ’68 has only now made its way to Russia. This group has its own perceptions of the kolkhozniks, or members of the farm collectives, and the narrator is ready, upon his arrival in Mirnoe, to write a satire of the drunkenness and backwardness in the kolkhozes. However, throughout his time in the village, he constantly runs into evidence that his preconceptions are unsound and do an injustice to the people amongst whom he is living.
Vera is an enigmatic figure to the narrator, but one who attracts him strongly. She is a resilient survivor, one who has made a place for herself in the area, despite her long wait for her fiancé. Through Vera and other much older women who remain in Mirnoe, the reader strongly feels the effect that the war had on these people, the conditions that ensued because so few men returned from the war. The book has a quiet serenity that envelops readers in the life of these resolute women in a forgotten place.
Trudi E. Jacobson
ONE STEP AT A TIME
Beryl Matthews, Penguin, 2006, £6.99, pb, 544pp, 014101959X
Amy Carter at 14 lived in rented rooms in Wapping, her mother suffering from TB and her father a merchant seaman often away at sea. Amy’s time was taken up with housework and caring for her mother, schooling was sporadic and, being unable to read and write, she was frequently bullied. (In 1934 dyslexia had not been discovered as a condition).
In One Step at a Time, Beryl Matthews writes of a London before the Second World War, capturing a frequently gentler era as people had more time for each other. When war breaks out, capturing the atmosphere surrounding the events of the Battle of Britain, Dunkirk and the Blitz, she describes in detail how it affects her well-drawn and human characters.
This is an uplifting story of hope, determination, achievement and success and follows Amy from the lonely child who is left with no one to the finding of happiness beyond her wildest dreams. But this is Britain’s darkest hour when the country needs its young people – can they all survive?
Absorbing and moving, Matthews embroiders her story well.
Gwen Sly
A GAME OF SOLDIERS
Stephen Miller, HarperCollins, 2006, £12.99, pb, 456pp, 0007191200
1914 is a great attraction for alternative historians. Whereas other conflicts, notably the Second World War, loomed over the horizon well before the actual combat, the First World War seemed to come from a clear blue sky. What if Princip had missed the Archduke, or if he had simply decided to stay at his café table and order another slivowitz?
A Game of Soldiers is not really an alternative history of 1914, despite the blurb on the cover. The Archduke still gets shot, despite the best efforts of the book’s hero, and the war still breaks out. It is really an alternative explanation of 1914, involving an internal Russian conspiracy to overthrow the Tsar (as in John Buchan’s Thirty-nine Steps). The story is set almost entirely in St Petersburg and the hero is an honest Tsarist policeman whose worst enemies are his own corrupt superiors, almost identical to the setting and plot of every Boris Akunin novel. However, Miller is American, not Russian, and he writes in short sentences, striving after gritty realism rather than a witty Belle Epoch pastiche. It is very authentic. Miller must know more about 1914 St. Petersburg than anybody else alive, based on a vast range of sources which he cites at the end of the book.
The Miller and Akunin novels are equally violent and implausible. I prefer the lighter, tongue-in-cheek style of Akunin, but if you want something longer, tougher and more cynical then Miller gives it.
Ed James
CLOTH GIRL
THE GYPSY MADONNA
Santa Montefiore, Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, hb, £12.99, 355pp, 0340830905
During the occupation of France in the Second World War, “horizontal” collaboration with the German occupying forces resulted in ostracism for the women involved. Mischa was the bastard offspring of one such alliance, whose earliest memory was of the retribution exacted by the local townspeople on his mother in front of the whole town, including Père Abel-Louis. The effect of this episode on the infant, Mischa, resulted in his loss of speech. This only reinforced his isolation from the majority within the local community.
Fortunately for both Mischa and his mother, a handsome stranger who goes by the name of “Coyote” arrives in Mauriac and within a short period they depart with surprising speed for a new life together in America. “Coyote” turns out to be a very wily individual, and though he is instrumental in helping the young Mischa recover his voice and get started on a new life, he is not one to dwell in one place for long. Mischa’s mother cannot bring herself to acknowledge that he has left them for good and continues to lay his place at the table.
Mystery surrounds the various characters within this story and the acquisition of an unknown Titian—The Gypsy Madonna. The bequeathing of this work of art to the Metropolitan Museum on his mother’s death confuses him. Mischa’s journey to retrace his history, enabling him to understand better his life and his true self, eventually exposes those unknowns from his early life.
The plot is capably executed, but not par-
EDITORS’ CHOICE
Marilyn Heward Mills, Time Warner, 2006, £14.99, 480pp, hb, 0316731889
In the mid-1930s, naïve bride Audrey Turton travels to Ghana to join her colonial officer husband. At the same time, fourteen-year-old Matilda becomes the second wife of Robert Bannerman, a Cambridge-educated black lawyer. It is only when the two women’s lives become intertwined that either is able to come to terms with her changed circumstances.
In this long and leisurely paced debut novel, Marilyn Heward Mills vividly recreates colonial Ghana in the years leading up to independence, contrasting the vibrant life of the Ghanaians with the suffocating formality of the colonial social round – club, cricket, Christmas pantomimes. Though Matilda comes from a large, traditional family, whose women dress in the bright cotton robes, or cloths, which give the book its title, her marriage to Robert removes her to a world which straddles these two, and the abiding enmity of Julie, Robert’s first wife, a black woman educated in England and presented at Court, who has abandoned traditional dress to become a “frock girl”.
Matilda is deeply rooted in her background, and Mills dwells lovingly on the rich rituals of traditional cooking and dress-making, as well as Ghanaian ceremonies such as the door knocking betrothal ceremony and the outdooring of new babies. Matilda establishes her place in Robert’s heart by cooking for him, in contrast to Julie, whose western aspirations have removed her from the kitchen. But in spite of her pride in her identity, Matilda only finds true happiness in love with a white colonial administrator, and liberation from emotional dependence on a man through her friendship with Audrey, who teaches her English. Audrey, in turn, learns self-reliance from Matilda’s example in carving out a place for herself in Robert’s home.
Though slow to get started, this is a charming, optimistic tale of two women emancipating themselves against the background of a country emerging from colonial domination. Sarah Bower
ticularly period-dependent. This is essentially romantic rather than historical fiction and is a non-challenging light read.
Cathy Kemp
THE HIGH CALLING, 1940
Gilbert Morris, Bethany House, 2006, $12.99, pb, 318pp, 0764228250
Gilbert Morris is a prolific writer of Christian fiction, and this latest volume in the House of Winslow series is set in the 1940s. Katherine Winslow has just finished nursing school and begins to date, while trying to figure out God’s purpose for her life. She rejects marriage and the traditional pursuits of young women. Instead, she follows a path she believes would be in God’s design: she applies to missionary societies and is eventually sent to England, where the European war is starting to escalate. In the end, Katherine discovers that her “high calling” was not what she thought it would be.
In this series, Morris creates stories about the forces and people who shaped America. He follows the Winslow family from those who arrived in America on the Mayflower through the most important moments in American history. Each book portrays the spiritual journeys and life experiences of the characters down through the generations of the Winslow family.
Sue Schrems
THE DEADLY EMBRACE
Robert J. Mrazek, Viking, 2006, $24.95/ C$35.00, hb, 274pp, 0670034789
This exciting thriller is set in the months leading up to D-Day. Second Lieutenant Liza Marantz, who was studying forensic medicine before she enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps, has been posted to Military Security Command in London. She is assigned to censor the personal letters of those who have the security clearance to know about the Allied invasion plan. However, her superior officer was a New York City homicide policeman for 14 years, and when several suspicious murders take place, she and Major Taggart quickly become involved. The victims may have leaked information about the coming invasion, and their job is to ensure the details remain top secret.
The author paints a picture of London in which the Luftwaffe is bombing the city almost nightly (this is the time of the Baby Blitz). Both Marantz and Taggart feel the effects of the bombing very directly. In addition, readers get a sense of the deprivations of the period. A scene at a phenomenal country estate provides a stark counterpoint to the dreariness of most people’s lives. The characters, both main and secondary, are well developed. Marantz and Taggart are both very likable, and I fervently hope that they will be involved in another adventure before the war ends!
Trudi E. Jacobson
Technically not a historical novel, but fascinating nonetheless, Némirovsky’s long-lost...
SUITE FRANÇAISE
EDITORS’ CHOICE
Irène Némirovsky, Knopf, 2006, $25.00/$34.95, hb, 401pp, 0676977707; Pub. in the UK by Chatto & Windus, 2006, £16.99, hb, 416pp, 0701178965
Suite Française, an unfinished five-part epic that boldly illustrates the effect of the WWII German occupation on the ordinary people of France, really consists of three stories.
The first, “Storm in June,” portrays a handful of Parisians of different social classes (their characters intimately drawn) fleeing the city before the advancing German army. There’s lots of easy drama possible amid the horrors of a panicked mob, but this skilled author focuses on the intimate instead—the senseless struggle to maintain routines, and the small gestures of cruelty that are somehow more terrifying than bombs. The second story, “Dolce,” chronicles life in an occupied provincial village—with a sharp eye not only toward the simmering jealousies among town and farm people, aristocrats and bourgeoisie, but also on the nature of young women so long bereft of male company, and the tentative ease that grows between co-habitants, even if they are victor and vanquished. These are the only sections of the five-part project Irène Némirovsky completed, before the war touched home.
Thus, we have the third tale: Descended from a Russian Jewish family, Irène Némirovsky lived in France as a successful novelist when the Nazis invaded. In 1942, while writing this novel, she was arrested and sent to Auschwitz. Her Catholic husband tried to help her, but his efforts (achingly chronicled in an Appendix) led to his own execution. Their two young daughters went into hiding, dragging along a suitcase full of their mother’s papers. Decades later, one of the daughters opened that suitcase to discover Suite Française.
It’s a tragic story, all the more so because of the brilliance of the novel. Némirovsky was a master storyteller. Suite Française was her War and Peace: intimate, sharp-eyed, honest and compelling. It belongs on the shelf right next to The Diary of Anne Frank. Lisa Ann Verge
ries concerns the racial politics of Chicago in 1969. In the background of the novel, we become aware of events such as the action by Students for a Democratic Society from which the book takes its name, the Chicago Conspiracy Trial stemming from the 1968 Democratic National Convention and that year’s baseball world series. Investigating skeletons in an old house leads back to the 1919 race riot and the early days of the Capone mob.
The main action concerns black private detective Dalton (under the name of Bill Grimshaw), his informally adopted son, and the white heiress who is his employer and his emotional interest. Dalton’s lack of knowledge of Chicago history is solved when he meets with that most wonderful of treasures, a reference librarian who is also an expert. Dalton discovers corruption and racism that permeate the system.
The portrayal of still controversial events like the shooting of Black Panther Fred Hampton is among the reasons that this novel is more effective as recent history than as mystery.
James Hawking
DAYS OF RAGE
Kris Nelscott, Minotaur, 2006, 24.95, hb, 336pp, 0312325290
This latest entry in the Smokey Dalton se-
RICHARD TEMPLE
Patrick O’Brian, Norton, 2006, $24.95, hb, 256pp, 0393061876; Pub in the UK by HarperCollins, 2005, £16.99, hb, 256pp, 0007214987
The novel opens with the protagonist, Richard Temple, enduring repeated sessions of torture at the hands of Nazi interrogators. It is the Second World War, and he has been captured in southern France while crossing the Spanish border. In his half-delusional state, he begins a review of his life. He recalls: his unhappy childhood and early education in the late teens and 1920s in England; his talent and development as a painter; his poverty stricken life as a struggling artist in 1930s London; his involvement with the world of art forgery; his failed affair with a beautiful woman; and his subsequent entry into the murky realm of espionage, which led to his capture.
O’Brian’s talent for character development and attention to detail are clearly evident in this novel, first published in 1962. He verbally paints a rich tapestry of the time period and creates a narrative atmosphere that captures the psychological landscape of the protagonist. Fans of the Aubrey-Maturin series will find this earlier novel revealing and compelling. Gerald T. Burke
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
Lynda Page, Headline, 2006, £19.99, hb, 311pp, 0755308840
Chas works as a cabbie so as to be near his widowed mother. He’s shy and always willing to help others. Harriet realises just in time that
she can’t marry Jeremy, a rising young solicitor, so she resigns her job with him and starts to work for the taxi firm, where the boss is ill, and his wife cannot cope.
As she sorts out the confusion in the office and solves a few mysteries, she and Chas get to know one another, but he is too modest to realise that her feelings are getting warmer.
This book, though overburdened with preliminary explanation in the first chapters, was intricately plotted, with some neat twists, but I wasn’t totally convinced by the reticence of the main characters. It is, after all, the swinging sixties. I was also irritated by almost all the characters making speeches, sometimes over a page long, instead of the more normal to and fro of conversation. This sounded unnatural, and spoilt, for me, what was otherwise an interesting story with an unusual background.
Marina Oliver
DEATH ON THE LIZARD
Robin Paige, Berkley Prime Crime, 2006, $24.95/C$35.00, hb, 328pp, 042520779X
Death on the Lizard is the twelfth Lord and Lady Sheridan mystery by Robin Paige (the husband-and-wife team of Susan Wittig Albert and Bill Albert). In 1903, Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the wireless telegraph, asks Lord Charles Sheridan, a wireless enthusiast himself, to investigate the suspicious deaths of two telegraph operators at Marconi stations on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. The second victim had been working on a new invention: a device to tune out interference from competing telegraph signals. When the device and the inventor’s notebook describing it are stolen, Charles realizes that the operators did not die by accident, as had been thought. Meanwhile, his American wife, Kate, goes to Cornwall to visit the grieving Lady Loveday, whose tenyear-old daughter has drowned. She soon discovers that the child’s death may have been linked to the murders at the Marconi station.
I have always enjoyed this series, and this volume is no exception. The authors’ descriptions of the new technology, the competition between various telegraph companies, and the Cornwall villagers’ fears that the wireless will disrupt their lives are all very compelling, and it is easy to draw parallels with today’s technology, especially cell phones and the Internet.
Vicki Kondelik
THE SUMMER SNOW
Rebecca Pawel, Soho, 2005, $23.00, hb, 320 pp, 1569474087
In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, Carlos Tejada travels home to Granada to investigate his great-aunt’s death. Accompanying him are his wife, Elena, and their young son. Almost immediately, the journey sours. Carlos, a lieutenant in the Fascist regime’s Guardia Civil, belongs to the landed gentry and is one of the “winners” in the brutal civil war previously depicted in Pawel’s stunning series debut, Death of A Nationalist. Carlos’s mother detests his Communist wife; few in his family respect his military career. Still, there is a murder to solve, and he sets out to investi-
gate, growing increasingly uneasy as evidence points at family members.
This fourth book in the Carlos Tejada series rings with humanity and the nature of truth. Am I a bad man? Carlos asks. Yes. Often. He has the power of life and death at hand, and seldom hesitates to use it. It is those moments when he does hesitate that keep this series compelling. Regrettably, while character and setting remain Pawel’s main strength, soft storylines plague the later books. Pawel’s writing is so fine, however, that it demands attention.
One can only hope that with time, her novels will satisfy on every level.
Alana White
TRUMPET MORNING
Maureen Peters, Hale, 2006, £18.99/$29.95, hb, 224pp, 0709079907
Taid Petrie is a Revivalist preacher with a tendency to blow his trumpet on the beach at every opportunity and announce that he is ready to face God. It’s an amusing image and even more so seen through the eyes of his mortified granddaughter Nell – it also sets the tone for the whole novel. Humour and irony abound within this eccentric and proud Welsh family. They may be poor, they may row fiercely, they may routinely embarrass each other, but their love and loyalty invisibly bind them together.
Living within a small farming community on Anglesey on the eve of World War Two means that tough times are ahead. Taid and Nain are the bedrock of the family, but numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins make up Nell’s large extended family. At eleven Nell is just on the borderland between child and adult. Between school studies, amateur dramatics, chapel and trips out with her aunts she still finds time to idolise her young uncle Guto and his fiancée, Olive.
Trumpet Morning is a delight – witty and heartbreaking by turns. Maureen Peters writes with such a light touch that it’s easy to get caught up in the trials and tribulations of the extraordinary Petrie family. The ending leaves the way clear for a sequel – let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long for its arrival.
Sara Wilson
MASSACRE RIVER
René Philoctète, trans. by Linda Coverdale, New Directions, 2005, $22.95/C$32.00, hb, 214pp, 0811215857
The 1937 program of ethnic cleansing of Haitians ordered by the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo gets little mention in the history of genocides. Nonetheless, in what is now called El Corte, the Harvest, Dominican military and civilian authorities decapitated or mutilated by machete over 20,000 Haitians—from infants to the elderly—who lived on the Dominican side of the Massacre River, the natural border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Massacre River is the story of that pogrom.
Elias Pina is one of the many villages along the Massacre River where generations of Haitians and Dominicans have lived and worked together. After two centuries of intermarriage its people have become “a blended population” where young couples like Adele, of Hai-
tian heritage, and Pedro Brito, of Dominican ancestry, fall in love, marry, and raise their families. When the reign of terror arrives in Elias Pina, Pedro attempts to save Adele from the slicing blade of the machete. That heartbreaking effort is the theme that flows through Massacre River
But Massacre River is not a historical thriller, nor is it a tragic love story, nor is it the chronicle of a holocaust. It is a dance poem, a surreal danse macabre set to the merengue, staged in the passionate, vivid colors of the Caribbean. Extraordinarily rich in symbol and imagery, powerful in its emotion, Massacre River does not tell you what happened in Elias Pina in 1937. Rather, it puts you in the soul of its people. René Philoctète here reveals himself as a poet of the highest caliber whose work must be treasured and preserved.
Lucille Cormier
BLOOD MOON OVER BRITAIN
Morag McKendrick Pippin, Leisure, 2005, $5.99/C$7.99/£5.99, pb, 325pp, 0843955821
Cicely Winterbourne is working at Bletchley Park in 1942 when two men she works with seem to commit suicide. She has her doubts that they truly are suicides, as does a member of Special Branch who comes to investigate one of the deaths. Cicely is beautiful, accomplished, and strong. Alistair Fielding is a handsome and dashing war hero and has a lovely Scottish accent. They feel an attraction almost immediately. However, it is complicated by the unknown persons who seem to be on Cecily’s trail, and on their trail once they team up to dash away from London. You see, code breaking has suffered a setback as the Germans added another rotor to their encryption machine, and Cicely seems to be involved somehow. Add to this unusual characters (a flat mate named Monetary, an 86-year-old woman they meet on a train who spins yarn from her two Angora bunnies, a mysterious man of Greek extraction), lots of action, lots of ‘40s slang (there is a glossary at the end of the book), vivid descriptions of wartime privations and conditions, and some really bad guys and you get a book that draws you in if you aren’t too concerned about well developed, rather than stereotypical, characters.
Trudi E. Jacobson
KNIFE EDGE (The Royal Marines Saga #5) Douglas Reeman, Arrow, 2006, £6.99/ C$11.95, pb, 318pp, 0099436299; Pub. in the US by McBooks, 2005, $15.95, pb, 304pp, 1590130995
Towards the end of the 20th century Lieutenant Ross Blackwood contemplates the bleak future of the Royal Marines as they are compelled to engage in outbreaks of vicious conflict which seem to have no good end. Only family tradition and loyalty to his father’s memory maintains him in one of the toughest careers, physically and mentally demanding to the uttermost.
From Malaysia, beautiful but deadly with its guerrilla forces and their elusive leaders, to the intractable, seeming never ending hostilities of Northern Ireland, Ross survives a hard
and slippery learning curve. Politicians debate more cuts in Services already bled almost white... But the year is now 1982. His greatest challenge lies ahead and his wedding to the woman he has loved for more than ten years must await the outcome.
This book makes no concessions to a reader’s ignorance: so many men and their ranks to remember. Soon I was loving it. Courage, loyalty, comradeship and tolerance, these old fashioned virtues refuse to go out of fashion. The writer is in control of his subject, his style is engaging, including its original but unforced metaphors. The scenes before, during and after the Marines go into action are tense, horrific and moving. It is hard to believe that the author was not there, witnessing Lieutenant (later Major) Ross Blackwood’s hair-raising yet disciplined adventures. He has given men and boys, and tomboys of all ages, plenty to enjoy.
Nancy Henshaw
MOHR
Frederick Reuss, Unbridled Books, 2006, $25.95, hb, 320pp, 1932961178
Using the innovative format of speculative fiction based on a newly-discovered cache of fifty 1920s and ´30s vintage family photographs from playwright Max Mohr, novelist (Horace Afoot, The Wasties) Reuss weaves a story of loss and longing, switching between Mohr, a German Jew who exiled himself to Shanghai, and his wife Kathe and daughter Eva still in Germany as the Nazis are coming to full power. Practicing as a physician, Mohr, after a trip to Mt. Fuji with his mistress, finds himself serving in the heat of battle as China is invaded by the Japanese. Back home, Kathe is faced with dwindling resources and a growing daughter who wants to know when her father will send for them, even as she relishes her mother’s enchanting stories of the past.
Told with skill and beauty and haunted by the duo-toned photographs, Reuss captures the distanced writer bounding between heroics and fatalism, his spirited wife and child and their lives both separate and apart, during a time of the world gone mad.
Eileen Charbonneau
THE LOST ART OF KEEPING SECRETS
Eva Rice, Dutton, 2006, $24.95/C$35, hb, 352pp, 0525949313; Pub. in UK by Headline, 2005, £6.99, pb, 352pp, 0755325508 Rice, daughter of lyricist Tim Rice, has created a brilliant portrait of post-World War II London and of a specific sort of set, the shabby genteel. In 1954, Penelope Wallace is made an instant friend of Charlotte Ferris, a vivacious girl who works as a secretary to her Aunt Clare and co-conspirator to her magician cousin Harry. Penelope, her brother Inigo, and their mother, Talitha, live in decayed grandeur in their estate Milton Magna, which they cannot afford to keep up. Penelope is charmed by Charlotte’s insouciance and enlisted by Harry to pose as his girlfriend in hopes of making his ex jealous. And that, in a nutshell, is the essence of the plot.
What Rice does so well is create characters
that may appear to be stereotypes but end up as entirely something else. Talitha is perceived by her children to have been a child bride who lost her husband in the war and is totally unprepared to face reality when in fact she reveals quite unexpected strengths. Charlotte, who looks as though she doesn’t have a care in the world, has quite deep feelings and fears. And Penelope and Harry, who only play at being a couple – well, you can imagine how that turns out.
Also accurately captured is postwar London, when rationing was lifted and rich Americans were seen as saviors. Elvis is introduced by an American uncle, but it is Johnnie Ray who drives the girls wild. I would love to have seen the London that Rice depicts with Penelope, Charlotte, and Harry as my companions.
Ellen Keith
WINTER IN MADRID
C.J. Sansom, Macmillan, 2006, £16.99, hb, 534pp, 1405005467
Having no previous knowledge of Sansom’s prior success, both critically and commercially, with crime novels set in Tudor times, it was with innocence that I embarked on this novel. What a real pleasure it was to find that partway through it became one of those enjoyable experiences where every opportunity is taken to learn what happens next.
Of the three main male characters, we are brought most closely to associate with Harry Brett, a soldier recovering from shell-shock subsequent to his experiences at Dunkirk, who has been recruited by Whitehall to act as interpreter/spy attached to the British Embassy in Madrid. As an ex-public schoolboy, Harry is reluctant to ingratiate himself with his former school mate, Sandy Forsyth, and to report back on his involvement in suspect transactions. The third character, Bernie Piper, linked to the others by the commonality of their shared public school, is a communist who travelled to Spain to join the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War and found himself imprisoned in a concentration camp.
The ex-Red Cross nurse, Barbara Clare, is on a mission to find her Communist lover, Bernie, and lives with Sandy and his girlfriend/ wife, thereby satisfying her need for protection and his need to dominate.
Sansom’s use of his characters’ past experiences, depicted in scenes moving between the past and present, gives the reader the knowledge to understand more readily the choices a character makes in a fictional though authentic context.
Cathy Kemp
comes undone for Rhoda: two family members die, and Rhoda finds herself raising two daughters alone. To make matters more difficult, Rhoda does not really get along with either of her daughters: she and Suzanne are always at war, and she has difficulty relating to Claire’s wish to blend in and have a normal life. The novel sees Rhoda through to a final, lingering tragedy in 1960.
Household Words may not sound actionpacked, but it is brilliantly written with remarkable perception. The reader may find Rhoda unsympathetic compared to her daughters at least some of the time, but each character is so discerningly depicted, and each moment seems so real, that it is hard to put the novel down—it could be about people we know. This new edition (the book was originally published in 1980) includes a brief introduction by Mona Simpson.
Andrea Bell
THE COUNTESS AND THE MINER
Olga Sinclair, Hale, 2005, hb, £18.99, 222pp, 0709078749
The peasant girl Irena is sent to Scotland for an arranged marriage to a miner employed by Lord Eveson, the husband of her fellow Lithuanian, Countess Anastasia. Days before her wedding Eveson rapes Irena, and she fears her child is his, and is afraid her husband, Duncan, will reject him. It’s the eve of WWI, Anastasia is caught in Russia and Duncan, serving there, vanishes. Irena is determined to find him.
The author creates vivid pictures of the perils of mining, the closeness of the small Lithuanian community, and the horrors of Russia just after the revolution. There are a variety of interesting characters, the plot is unusual, and highlights the struggles of poor immigrants far from home.
Marina Oliver
WAR & PIECES
Miles Spence, Hazard Press (NZ), 2005, NZ$29.99, 262pp, pb, 1877270652
The author joined the Royal New Zealand Navy, aged eighteen, in 1941, and I suspect that this novel is based on real incidents in his life. It is illustrated with excellent sketches made during his years in the service. The protagonist, John, spends his initial training at the Devonport naval base, and it is here, with men from a variety of backgrounds, that he learns to be a sailor. We share with him the pangs of first love and his desperation to bed a girl before being sent off to face death.
HOUSEHOLD WORDS
Joan Silber, Norton, 2005, $13.95, pb, 340pp, 0393328236
Rhoda Taber is a pregnant, suburban, Jewish housewife in New Jersey in 1940. She doesn’t always feel like she fits in, but her husband, Leonard, is a good man, and life is pretty decent. As WWII progresses, Rhoda and Leonard have two daughters, Suzanne and Claire; Rhoda isn’t always an ideal mother, but the couple is fairly happy. In a short time, life
When he is sent to the Solomon Islands he meets US servicemen and experiences the thrill of jazz for the first time. Malaria nearly kills him and earns him a spell of home duty. Stationed on a ‘rock’ off the coast of New Zealand, he practices his clarinet. Then it’s off to the Philippines until the atom bomb puts an end to hostilities.
As a slice of New Zealand wartime history, this book is well worth reading, but it fails as a novel. Characters pop up and then disappear; we never learn what happened to most of them. At times John’s war appears to have consisted of illegal grog, mosquitoes, and jazz sessions,
although the numerous sketches, included in the book, show an entirely different aspect of life in the Pacific war zone.
Kath O’Sullivan
OUT THERE IN THE DARK
Wesley Strick, St. Martin’s Press, 2006, $24.95/C$33.95, hb, 323pp, 0312343817
Harley Hayden was a bit player in Hollywood in the early ´40s. When the U.S. went to war, many of the male stars were drafted. Harley, with his extreme nearsightedness, was 4F – not qualified for service. That didn’t sound glamorous, so the studio hacks made up a tale about him injuring himself when he was a collegiate wrestler. Harley declares himself a patriot, and when he realizes that the director of his new film is not really named Derek Sykes but is really a German filmmaker named Dieter Seife, Harley wants to have him investigated.
A crooked cop named Roarke, who has done favors for Hollywood bosses in the past, is hired by Harley to get the goods on the director. When Harley has what he believes to be incriminating evidence, he takes it to the studio head and gets the German fired, reflecting the attitude of the times. The main character, never a leading man, utilizes his charm and good looks to become a politician and ultimately rises to a high office. That sounds like a familiar storyline.
Strick, a screenwriter by trade, may be forgiven for thinking that everyone is enthralled with Hollywood’s past and its stars. Movie buffs will certainly appreciate the historical Hollywood details. The book is well written; as a scriptwriter, Strick’s dialogue is right on target, his descriptions crisp. I’m sure that there are a lot of real people who inspired his other characters, but I didn’t recognize them except for the stereotyped Harley. An enjoyable, but not inspiring, read.
Lorraine Gelly
THE HADASSAH COVENANT
Tommy Tenney & Mark Andrew Olsen, Bethany House, 2005, $19.99, hb, 349pp, 076422736X
Set largely in the present day, this novel imagines how peace in the Middle East could come about. A raid in Iraq by US allies uncovers some ancient documents, which prove to be letters written by Hadassah, known to history as Esther, Queen of Persia. These letters hint that Mordecai, leader of exiled Jews in Persia at that time, fathered children. In contemporary times, Hadassah, wife of the Israeli Prime Minister, and Ari Meyer, a Mossad agent with many secrets, work feverishly to discover if this was really the case. If Mordecai’s descendants live, then a new leader could save Iraqi Jews from destruction. But as Hadassah and Ari search for the truth, a group dedicated to eliminating remaining Jewish families from Iraq mirrors Haman’s plan to destroy all Jews in Esther’s time, twenty-three hundred years before. Can the 21st-century Hadassah act to save her people?
Written thriller-style, this novel offers realistic descriptions of the intrigues of Esther’s
time. However, the “as you know” device used to transfer between past and present made me wonder why the writer of the letters would then include the “known” information. That said the pages turned easily, offering a creative “what if” sequel to an oft-explored Biblical tale.
Claire Morris
A LONG SHADOW
Charles Todd, Morrow, 2006, $23.95/C$32.50, hb, 342pp, 9780060786717
Eighth in the Inspector Ian Routledge series, this installment finds the Scotland Yard inspector (and veteran of the Great War) in the village of Dudlington in 1920 investigating the bow-and-arrow shooting of the village constable and re-opening old wounds by questioning if this case is connected to the disappearance of a local girl three years ago. Not only is Rutledge less than welcome as an outsider but he is also being stalked by someone who leaves him elaborately inscribed cartridge casings. Heretofore, his most vivid reminder of the war had come from his own conscience, in the voice of Hamish, a Scottish soldier whose execution for desertion he had ordered. Now he must contend with another’s idea of the punishment he deserves.
As this is now Routledge’s eighth appearance, it is also Hamish’s eighth appearance and although a voice distinct from Routledge’s, it is impossible to imagine them apart. Although serving as Routledge’s tormentor, he is also his protector. A new character, a medium, is introduced, and she proves to be compelling enough that I hope for her reappearance in future books. The mystery itself involves that age-old British issue, class, with a bit of a twist. Todd (a mother-son writing team) has provided another reason to hope for a ninth in the series.
Ellen Keith
ORDINARY HEROES
Scott Turow, Picador, 2006, £16.99, hb, 320pp, 0330441310; Pub. in the US by Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2005, $25.00, hb, 384pp, 0374184216
Stewart Dubinsky’s father never spoke of his experiences during WWII. After his death Stewart sorts through his deceased father’s papers and discovers that David Dubin (sensitive about his Jewish origins, he dropped the last syllable from his name, but his son reinstated it) had been the subject of a court martial and imprisoned. David’s story is told in flashback as Stewart reads his journal written whilst in prison.
As a young idealistic lawyer during the last months of the war, David Dubin was sent to the front to apprehend an American hero, Robert Martin, who had gone local and stopped obeying orders. Caught up in the battle David is angered by the senseless killing and the futility of war. When he witnesses at first hand the horrors of Balingen concentration camp, his outlook is changed forever. In the end Stewart discovers the father that he never knew as well as the secret he took to the grave.
David Dubin’s story emerges gradually
through his journal, and these sections are so compelling that it is hard to believe that this is a work of fiction and not an autobiography. Scott Turow lists his sources in detail, explaining that he used some of his own father’s experiences of WWII as background. The result is an intensely personal, moving account that is totally engrossing.
Ann Oughton
THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD
Justin Tussing, HarperCollins, 2006, $24.95, hb, 352pp, 0060815337; Pub. in UK by Fourth Estate, 2006, £10.99, pb, 0007221908
Rebellion and novelty were the hallmarks of American youth in the early 1970s, a period Justin Tussing brilliantly brings to focus in this well-written novel. Thomas Mahey, a seventeen-year-old, introverted teenager, breaks out of his shell and becomes romantically involved with his twenty-five-year-old teacher, Alice Lowe, and an older, mysterious anarchist, Shiloh Tanager. Off they travel to join a group dedicated to living freely and fully. The progression of their relationship, like most political and psychological events of those years, is anything but simple. The reader will discover that there are singular, haunting secrets that foster the rage of the oddest revolutionaries. Such characters catalyze other more sedate people into seeking novelty, a quest which often lacked foresight about consequences. The redeeming factor in this novel is the deep care these three characters develop for each other despite the shocking and even mundane events that threaten their connection.
Tussing has a terrific handle on the pulse of youthful ideas, challenges, dreams, and possibilities, not limited to the ‘70s. Whether a reader lived in that time or not, this story will attract, confuse, and ultimately disturb one’s typical ideas of what constitutes “normal” life. These are not twisted characters but caring, decent human beings seeking to create an uncomplicated community in a complicated set of circumstances that each fails to realize have accompanied them on this journey. While the story lags a bit toward the end, its youthful energy carries the reader through the majority of this evolving utopian dream. This is clearly a refreshing, talented writer to watch in the future.
Viviane Crystal
THE NIGHT WATCH
Sarah Waters, Virago, 2006, £16.99, hb, 440pp, 1405501413; Pub. in the US by Riverhead, 2006, $25.95, hb, 464pp, 159448905X
I must admit to an instinctive lack of sympathy for this book. First, I am wary of books from an organisation which only publishes books by women. More fundamentally, having a grandfather who worked his passage from British Columbia to join up in 1914 and a father disappointed to be still under age for service in 1945, I am impatient towards a book set in wartime in which no central character is in the Forces or has any desire to be. Indeed, one resorts to desperate measures to avoid call-up. Third, with the self-righteousness of the lifelong non-smoker, I have little empathy
for characters who are constantly lighting up. And that was all without the author’s reputation for explicit lesbian bed scenes. However, The Night Watch has plenty to interest.
The book opens in 1947, when the four main characters, three women and a man, are living somewhat aimless lives in the aftermath of conflict. There is a sense that something strange is going on in relation to Duncan, who, apparently able-bodied and in full possession of his mental faculties, works in a sheltered workshop for disabled people. Duncan spent much of the war in prison; we assume that this was as a conscientious objector, but begin to wonder. The scene then shifts to the early months of 1944, to the now largely forgotten ‘Little Blitz’, in which Kay finds purpose in driving an ambulance, Vivien works in a typing pool at the Ministry of Food and Helen also has some vague clerical job. All four lives intertwine; more questions develop in the minds of readers. It is only when the scene shifts again to 1941, that the secret at the heart of the book is finally revealed.
Worth reading? Yes.
THE ICE SOLDIER
Ann Lyon
Paul Watkins, Faber & Faber, £12.99, hb, 259pp, 0571227422; Pub. in the US by Holt, $25.00, hb, 352pp, 0805078673
William Bromley survived a secret WWII operation in the Italian Alps that killed most of his comrades, but the experience has left deep scars. Now that the war is over and, retired from mountaineering, the man known as ‘Auntie’ is drifting through life unable to lift himself out of his guilty depression – even though he carries no blame for the disaster.
Another mission beckons and, almost against his will, William finds himself agreeing to undertake the most bizarre trip of his life accompanied only by his old climbing friend, Stanley. It is a trip that sees them improbably dragging a coffin up an almost impenetrable peak. If that were not enough, Stanley is also fighting his own demons, and the expedition forces the two men to confront their pasts if they are to stand a chance of laying the ghosts of their former selves.
This is a thought-provoking read, by turns deeply serious and blackly humorous. It takes a good look at the lives of those who have been damaged by war yet who have to go on living ordinary lives. It demonstrates just what guilt can do to the souls of good men. It also looks at the nature of truth, the reasons why we lie to others and why we lie to ourselves.
Paul Watkins has delivered a fast-paced action story with plenty of excitement and thrills along the way. The Ice Soldier is by no means a Boy’s Own story, rather an adventure story for grownups.
Sara Wilson
MULTI-PERIOD
THE NIGHT JOURNAL
Elizabeth Crook, Viking, 2006, $24.95, hb, 454pp, 0670034770
“A noctuary,” a character explains to pro-
tagonist Meg Mabry toward the end of Elizabeth Crook’s third novel, “...it is a diary, like the others. Except that it reveals the nighttime of her soul.”
“The others” are the turn-of-the-20th-century journals of Harvey Girl Hannah Bass, edited with devotion by her daughter Claudia (“Bassie”) and published posthumously to worldwide acclaim. Meg has devoted her life to avoiding her great-grandmother’s famous journals, even while living in the same house as grandmother Bassie worked on them.
Then Bassie gets a call from the park ranger in charge of the New Mexico monument that was once her home. They want to demolish Dog Hill to make way for an enlarged visitor center. Bassie insists Meg accompany her to New Mexico to reclaim the bones of her mother’s dogs, buried on that hill, before the bulldozers defile them. Dragged to the family homestead against her will, Meg finally breaks down and begins to read Hannah’s journals. But the grave holds more than dog bones, and the subsequent investigation might mean the end of her great-grandmother’s legacy.
Meg’s and Hannah’s parallel journeys form the bulk of Crook’s story. The setting is beautifully and meticulously drawn, vast as the New Mexico sky. Her narrators’ voices are distinct – Meg’s bitter, rebellious rootlessness, Bassie’s militant intellectualism, Hannah’s naiveté and adventurous spirit, her husband Elliot’s longing for a home and family he can hardly force himself to visit – and they all come through the story in subtle and authentic ways. Ultimately, The Night Journal is both a mystery and a story of mothers and daughters, that classic conflict as unique as it is universal. Crook shows us that only by making peace with the past can a woman move confidently into the future.
Lessa J. Scherrer
THE PLEASURE GARDEN
Caroline Davison, Piatkus, 2006, £6.99, pb, 320pp, 0749936738
Ruby is an artist who falls asleep in the gardens of beautiful Oakstead House and finds herself in a waking dream that soon becomes a nightmare. At first she and Ben, the house’s owner, fall deeply in love, but soon she finds herself attracted almost against her will to the enigmatic George. Meanwhile Ben is intrigued by the possibility that the 18th-century temple in the grounds is harbouring a great secret. And what about Charlie, the cynical hedonist? Before long, past and present become inextricably confused as the past seeks to impose its evil on the present.
This novel is steeped in romance, myth, sexuality, fertility and secrets with a dash of history which makes for a heady, page-turning mix. It’s the perfect book to take into the garden on those lazy summer evenings as you drift in and out of sleep to the scent of roses and the fluttering of butterflies on the breeze. A pleasurable midsummer night’s dream.
Sally Zigmond
In 1860, fifteen-year-old Frances Boullet received a forty-volume diary set. Over the years, she recorded the history of her family and her observations of society in all but one, which was reserved to leave an account of her years “recollected in decoupage” and assembled in her 90th year. In 1977, Elizabeth Harding Dumont revisits her childhood memories in Tarragona, Florida, and impulsively buys Frances Boullet’s old house, now in decrepit condition. Harding finds the diary in a hidden vodun sanctuary in the house and secretly reads it throughout the summer-long restoration. Upon completion, Harding sells the house, taking the diary with her. By 1993, the Boullet house houses the Haitian Gallery of Art, with the vodun sanctuary as part of the exhibit. Harding elects to return the diary via Jael Juba, a friend she has mentored for many years and the narrator of this novel.
The entries from Frances Boullet’s diary provide the historical substance by exploring Florida’s history of conflicts between the Spanish, French, English, Native Americans, and the slaves as well as the political situation in Haiti. Boullet’s family lineage of traders and interpreters gave her a perspective unique for the time period. The diary, assembled in a more logical than chronological order, is interspersed with entries from Frances’s final year. Also intermingled is Jael’s introspection on Harding’s path and on her own need for direction, which, unfortunately, is not as engaging in comparison to Boullet’s diary.
This experimental, literary novel provides an entertaining story, but be prepared to work for it. The non-linear, multi-formatted conveyance of the women’s stories requires a sharp cognitive ability to follow all the characters and relationships that take place during three distinct time periods.
Suzanne J. Sprague
ROSETTA
Barbara Ewing, Time Warner, 2006, £15.99, hb, 0316731811
As a child, Rose Hall is fascinated with language and stories. When her father reveals that she was named for the port of Rosetta, in Egypt, her interest in the ancient Egyptians and their hieroglyphs is ignited. Rose marries Harry Fallon, scion of a wealthy banking family with aspirations to join the aristocracy. Harry’s death in Egypt reveals the web of lies, immorality and corruption lying beneath the surface of the Fallon family. A young, childless widow, Rose sets out to discover the truth about what happened to her husband and to free herself from the ambitions of his ruthless brother. Her journey takes her to the Rosetta Stone, to Rosetta itself, and to a child who shows her the true meaning of love.
HEARING BY JAEL
Joyce Elbrecht and Lydia Fakundiny, Terrace Books, 2005, $24.95, hb, 307pp, 0299213005
Ewing’s novel has a complex, wide-ranging plot in which she has nevertheless found room for reflections on the attractions of power, sexuality, the social role of women and the mass hysteria which can be engendered by the death of a loved public figure which have a strong modern resonance. In her account of the death of Princess Charlotte, for example, the parallels with the death of Princess Diana and the
Is this the next Da Vinci Code? Two reviewers weigh in...
THE LAST TEMPLAR
Raymond Khoury, Dutton, 2006, $24.95/C$35.00, hb, 400pp, 0525949410
The hugely successful Da Vinci Code has resulted in a cottage industry of thrillers depicting various conspiracies surrounding the founding and early growth of Christianity. Raymond Khoury has taken a sabbatical from his film and television work to offer his first novel to those captivated by the Da Vinci Code formula. The Knights Templar occupy center stage as an ancient prototype of the Waffen SS, cold hearted, amoral, cut throat killers committed to protecting the shaky foundations of the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity.
The novel begins with a thoroughly implausible storming of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art by four mounted knights wearing Templar regalia. They slaughter dozens as they steal a critical Christian artifact from an exhibit. Tess Chaykin, an archaeologist who could easily qualify as Indiana Jones’s sister, witnesses the theft and is quickly caught up in the investigation. She works with the least likely FBI officer who has ever been portrayed in fiction. The agent and archaeologist are soon operating as a team, searching both new and old worlds for clues as to the secret behind the Templar’s crime. High Church officials dispatch a homicidal priest to thwart our duo in their totally unrealistic search for answers. Question to pose to Mr. Khoury: How can he believe a senior FBI agent in charge of a terrorist investigation would cast aside all of his responsibilities and hop on an airplane with a young woman with no training in such work — and never communicate with his superiors about his plans?
John R. Vallely
Pub. in the UK by Orion, 2006, £6.99, pb, 439pp, 0752880705.
1291: As the crusader stronghold of Acre falls, the Falcon Temple sets sail, carrying a small band of Templar knights and a mysterious chest. The ship vanishes without a trace. Present day New York: The opening of an exhibition of artefacts from the Vatican at the Metropolitan Museum is disrupted by a bizarre invasion of robbers on horseback, dressed as Templars. Among the items they steal is a mediaeval decoder. For FBI agent, Sean Reilly, and archaeologist, Tess Chaykin, this is the beginning of an adventure which will take them to three continents as well as the heart of their own beliefs and loyalties as they attempt to track down the secret of the Falcon Temple
Yes, folks, you’ve guessed it, we’re in Dan Brown territory. But where Brown’s characters have the substance of cardboard, Khoury’s are, if not immortal, at least well rounded enough to make the reader care what happens to them. His plot, though it has even more twists and turns than The Da Vinci Code, also has a considerable philosophical hinterland. This is not subtly woven into the text, but laid out in a series of long set-piece speeches towards the climax of the novel where they tend to slow the action just when you can hardly wait to find out what will happen next. Nevertheless, it is there, for which I was grateful.
Raymond Khoury’s credentials are impeccable. He is a script writer for both Spooks and Waking the Dead. He is far from being a great stylist but he can tell a ripping yarn. I really enjoyed this book. It is fabulous hokum and highly recommended for the beach.
Sarah Bower
public response to it, are made explicit in Ewing’s language and imagery. Her sense of period is assured, though I did at times wonder if I had strayed into parodies of Georgette Heyer or Jane Austen.
This is the story of a group of women and how they create a space for themselves in a world dominated by a pretty useless set of men. Though I tend to find this kind of misandry formulaic, and I struggled to disregard Ewing’s irritating tendency to string every sentence together with more ‘ands’ than even Ernest Hemingway could shake a stick at, this is a well researched and engaging novel.
Sarah Bower
WHITE BLOOD
James Fleming, Jonathan Cape, 2006, £12.99, pb, 360pp, 0224078399
This novel reads like a memoir. Born in 1889, Charlie Doig had an English father and a Russian mother. He tells us of his years at an English boarding school, where he learnt to fend for himself, and of working as a naturalist in Burma and Russian Turkestan, assistant to a renowned German. All this is necessary backdrop to the main drama: his return to his mother’s family home near Smolensk, and his love for his cousin Elizaveta, although sentences like “that was where it all started, in the spring of 1915” and, later, “I write of the way in which we found them, both the dead and the single living person” made me feel I was not experiencing events with Charlie as they happened. Nonetheless, this is a tense and absorbing read. At first, Charlie’s Russian relatives in the Pink House, a mile through the forest from the village, are untouched by the war. After the Tsar’s abdication in 1917, however, the old certainties no longer hold. What follows is a harrowing tale of obsession and revenge. I was steeling myself for a barbaric dénouement when events took a different turn. The end left me wondering what really did happen to Charlie. Very atmospheric, with a tremendous feeling of place and time, and some moving prose: I was particularly struck by the metaphor of the sun “crouched, a vast battered eye half closed by the afternoon shadows” as the revolution encroaches on the Pink House.
Janet Hancock
MURDER, ANCIENT AND MODERN
Edward Marston, Crippen & Landru, 2005, $18.00, pb, 264pp, 1932009396
In this uneven collection of short stories, Marston explores murder throughout the ages, from ancient Roman provinces to contemporary England. Perhaps Marston, who is known for his Elizabethan mystery series, is out of his element in the short story medium, but many of the stories seem flawed in one way or another. Marston has been noted in the past for his character development, but this requires more than usual skill in the truncated format necessitated by the short story, and in some of these offerings, Marston fails to imbue his waxwork characters with life. Other stories have more well developed characterization, such as the story about acquaintances out pleasure boating, but the motive for the crime seems laugh-
ably implausible. Still other stories have decent characterization and motive, but the crime itself is barely explored before a token, heretofore unmet villain is hauled onto the page so the reader can be fed an abbreviated sentence or two about why this villain hated the protagonist and felt the need to commit his crime. Marston also seems to have difficulty conjuring a convincing historical atmosphere for some of the earlier stories, although he does do better with those set from the Victorian period onward. There are elements of humor in some of the stories, particularly in the story of a frustrated author’s first (and last) meeting with a less than sympathetic publisher, and most of the stories are interesting enough to hold the reader’s attention. Overall, however, this collection is not one of Marston’s better efforts, and readers would probably do better to stick with his mystery series.
Bethany Skaggs
THE HOLDING
Merilyn Simonds, Norton, 2005, $23.95, hb, 314pp, 0393060616
There are two plots threads to this novel: one, featuring Margaret MacBayne, takes place in the mid 1800s, while the second, Alyson Thomson’s story, is set in the early 1990s. Both live on the same plot of land in Ontario— it is true wilderness when Margaret and her family come from Scotland to stake a claim on three connecting plots. In Alyson’s time, it has more of the trappings of civilization, but it still remote. Margaret’s father, a fisherman, determines that the family, which includes three elder sons, must move to Canada in order to seek a better life. Alyson has moved to the same location with her partner, looking for a place they can live and work outside of the stresses of their urban life.
Margaret has left a very short recounting of her life on a few empty pages at the end of a cookery book. Her segments of the story include brief passages from this biography, often haunting in their understatement. These excerpts from her account are filled out with evocative details of the family’s travails and her daily life. Alyson’s story connects with Margaret’s in ways that go beyond the land on which they live. They are both gardeners: Margaret becomes an expert on herbs and simples, Alyson begins by growing herbs for sale as a means to earning a livelihood. Both suffer grievous losses, and have to determine how to come through them as best they can.
The Holding is a wonder of a book. The two intertwining stories compliment each other beautifully. I was enthralled with Margaret’s and Alyson’s stories. The suspenseful situations had me reading at a gallop, while all the time I was trying to slow down, to savor the book. I recommend it very highly and will be rereading it myself very soon.
Trudi E. Jacobson
THE MASQUE OF THE BLACK TULIP
Lauren Willig, Dutton, 2006, $24.95/$30.00, hb, 384pp, 0525949208
Willig’s breezy second offering in her series of Napoleonic-era spy romances features
the intrepid and amusing Henrietta Uppington, closely guarding the secret identity of The Pink Carnation, an English spy operating in Paris. As modern-day researcher Eloise Kelly roots through Colin Selwick’s manor house, she learns of Henrietta’s adventures unmasking the infamous and dangerous Black Tulip, at large in England.
While she and family friend Miles Dorrington pursue the mysterious French spy, they also discover a mutual attraction. Miles, more dismayed by this development than Henrietta, fears her brother (the spymaster called the Purple Gentian, contently wed and dwelling in the country) will disapprove. The chief suspect appears to harbor a sinister interest in Henrietta, which unsettles Miles and reinforces his desire to protect the self-reliant young lady. Henrietta, more concerned about her friend the Pink Carnation than her own safety, tumbles into difficulty with no apparent escape.
Eloise traces these developments with intense interest, while coping with the stereotypical rural characters that people Colin’s English countryside. The humor is occasionally overdone and historical mistakes periodically occur, but the dual tale is lively and engaging, and its mystery is satisfactorily resolved.
Margaret Barr
TIME-SLIP
THE CYMRY RING
Michael Allen Dymmoch, Five Star, 2006, $26.95, hb, 320pp, 159414429X
Ian Carreg is a rumpled, fiftyish British police detective, recently widowed, content
THE WORLD TO COME
to end his career soon and care for his family. His world turns upside down when he’s asked to apprehend Jemma Henderson, an American woman convicted of murder. Suddenly, after a loud explosion, he finds himself following her into 3rd-century Britain. Convinced that it is an elaborate charade, he decides to get to the bottom of things by investigating her and his incredible situation.
Dymmoch has a real talent for filling a strange setting with convincing characters, and the world she paints remains vivid in our minds long after the book is finished. The story is compelling and well balanced between the characters’ adventures and day-to-day life. You will care for the people and want to know about their fate, especially that of the displaced pair and their complex relationship. Readers with a penchant for science fiction will be disappointed because the time machine mentioned serves mainly as an excuse to send contemporary people back in time. On the other hand, those who crave a glimpse at how the early Brits lived will purr in pleasure throughout this well-written book.
Nicole Leclerc
BY A LADY: Being the Adventures of an Enlightened American in Jane Austen’s England
Amanda Elyot, Three Rivers, 2006, $14.95/ C$21.00, pb, 384pp, 1400097991
This time travel novel tells the tale of C.J. Welles, a New York City actress who is transported back to 1801 England when she steps backstage during an audition for a play about Jane Austen. There she meets with misfortune,
EDITORS’ CHOICE
Dara Horn, Norton, 2006, $24.95/C$35.00, hb, 314pp, 0393051072
The World to Come is, quite simply, one of the best novels I have read in a long time. At the heart of the book is the story of the Ziskind twins, Ben and Sara. Ben, a former child prodigy, now writes questions for a quiz show and feels lonely after his wife of less than a year has left him. Sara, an artist, married to Ben’s Russian bar mitzvah “twin,” is expecting her first child. At a singles’ cocktail hour in a New York museum, Ben steals a Chagall painting which, he is certain, used to belong to his family. He persuades Sara to make a forgery that will convince the experts, so that he can send it to the museum in place of the original. Meanwhile, he discovers evidence that the “original” painting may have been a forgery itself.
In 1920s Russia, Boris, who will eventually become the grandfather of the Ziskinds, grows up in a Jewish orphanage where Chagall teaches art. His encounter with Chagall and his housemate, the Yiddish author Der Nister, sets in motion the story of the painting which will eventually belong to the Ziskinds. We follow Der Nister’s life in Soviet Russia, as his friend Chagall becomes world-famous while his own work is forgotten. Another thread tells of the horrifying experiences of the Ziskind twins’ father in the Vietnam War. The whole last chapter is an extended fable set in the “world to come,” a paradise inhabited by those not yet born and those who have died. Horn also retells various Yiddish stories throughout the book. But it is impossible to do justice to this multi-layered novel in such a short space. Horn tells a beautifully-written story which joins the threads into a seamless whole and which will stay with you long after you have finished.
Vicki Kondelik
from which she is rescued by a widowed countess who claims her as her niece. Throw in a handsome nobleman, his snobby aunt, and an appearance or two by Miss Austen herself, and the stage is set for romance and adventure.
While there is much to enjoy in this novel, including a tour of Georgian Bath and glimpses of future characters from Austen novels, I found the execution a little wanting. The point of view bounces from head to head, so often that at times I wasn’t sure who was telling the story. Add to that some kitchen sink plotting, more telling than showing, and a variety of historical inaccuracies. The latter were particularly frustrating, especially when the hero tells of his wife being sent to the Bastille in the 1790s – a little difficult, since it was destroyed during the summer of 1789.
C.J.’s hero, the Earl of Darlington, is likable enough, and it’s easy to understand their mutual attraction. The romance storyline works quite well, with enough believable conflict to make the reader root for the pair.
Despite its problems, I expect many readers will enjoy the world the author creates and appreciate the fish-out-of-water adventures of the 21st century heroine coping with early 19th century surroundings and attitudes. The story moves along at a good clip, the supporting cast is well-drawn, and there’s a fun twist at the end.
Teresa Basinski Eckford
ASK A SHADOW TO DANCE
Linda George, Five Star, 2005, $26.95, hb, 298pp, 1594143673
Dr. David Stewart meets a mysterious beauty in black on the deck of the riverboat Memphis Queen III. But every time he tries to ask Lisette to dance, she disappears. Then he finds a newspaper article about the disappearance of the Cajun Star in 1885, listing both his and Lisette’s names among the missing/presumed dead. With the help of his brother, Joe, and a time portal in Memphis’s famed Peabody Hotel, David manages to go back in time to save Lisette from an unscrupulous, abusive stepson who is determined to inherit everything his father left behind, including his wife.
Time travel novels nearly always seem forced, as the protagonist spends pages being convinced of what the reader already knows— there’s something funny going on. Once over the skeptic’s hurdle, though, George’s novel really takes off. She shows us genuine affection between David and Lisette and handles confrontations between the pair and the evil stepson with a deft hand. This story will appeal to romance fans as well as those who love Memphis, riverboats, the Peabody Hotel, or the powers of the subconscious mind.
Lessa J. Scherrer
ALTERNATE HISTORY
THE SECRET TRIAL OF ROBERT E. LEE
Thomas Fleming, Forge, 2006, $24.95/ C$33.95, hb, 336pp, 0765313529
In April 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia. The South, after four bloody years, is in shambles. Still, a vindictive, influential sect of Northerners is bent on inflicting more humiliation. Led by the ruthless Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, they press for the trial of Lee on charges of treason, with the intention of executing him. A secret military tribunal is assembled, including John Singleton Mosby, William Farrar Smith, Oliver O. Howard, George Gordon Meade, and Ambrose Burnside. To add insult to injury, the trial is conducted in Lee’s former home in Appomattox which the United States Government confiscated during the war. As a protégé to Dana, a young Irish reporter, Jeremiah O’Brien, is allowed to attend and take notes so he can write a book about Lee’s treasonous behavior. To complicate the situation, Jeremiah has fallen in love with Sophia Carroll, a southern belle who was forced to spy for the North during the war, but is fiercely loyal to Lee. As the trial progresses, relationships become strained, and duty and honor become the real characters that take center stage.
Eminent historian and novelist Thomas Fleming has crafted a compelling fictional account of “what if” history. Civil War fans will find this especially intriguing.
Gerald T. Burke
HISTORICAL FANTASY
KING’S BLOOD
Judith Tarr, Roc, 2005, $16.00/C$23.00, pb, 376 pp, 0451460456
In this sequel to Rite of Conquest, the talented Judith Tarr follows the saga of the brood of William the Conqueror (who dies early, and grotesquely, in this second installment). Of William’s three sons, the one least able to rule, and the one who most wants to rule – and in his own way – is his eldest, “Red William.” Among William and Mathilda’s children, William is the one whose distaste for and rejection of magic, a crucial part of his parents’ legacy, plays a critical part in his reign. On the other hand, Henry, the youngest of the three and the one who is the least “regal,” has a deep and abiding understanding of and respect for the magic that permeates the land. While William embraces his life of luxury and pleasure, Henry sees the land weakening and beginning to die. Only the blood of a king – the greatest sacrifice – will heal the land.
Tarr is a magician. Yes, we all know the historical accounts of William Rufus and his “accident” in the forest, and the passing of the crown to Henry I upon William’s untimely death, but Tarr tells the story in such a personal, fantastical way that I forgot how embellished Tarr’s history is.
This is a worthy sequel to Rite of Conquest Although this book can stand alone, I personally believe that it’s best read after its predecessor for the flavor, the texture, and the sheer
flights of fancy and imagination that are truly hallmarks of a Tarr historical fantasy novel.
Ilysa Magnus
CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULT
YOUNG ZORRO: The Iron Brand
Jan Adkins, HarperCollins, 2005, $15.99/ C$21.99, hb, 238pp, 0060839457; Pub. in UK by HarperCollins Children’s, 2005, £5.99, pb, 288pp, 0007221673
Set in early 19th-century Spanish California, Diego de la Vega (the young Zorro) and his “brother,” Bernardo, are the central characters of this rousing adventure-mystery inspired by Isabel Allende’s novel Zorro. Though the legendary figure is never actually mentioned in the story itself, Adkins cleverly and quickly links the two in the opening chapter.
The Rancho’s cattle are being stolen. The Pueblo’s skilled craftsmen are going missing. Naturally our adolescent heroes find themselves in the thick of the mystery, stumbling into various skirmishes and scuffles along the way, dealing with the Robin Hood-style bandit El Chollo, wild bears, slave-traders and even the precarious battle of a youth’s first formal fiesta and flush of fancy.
The secondary characters are lively and fresh, especially Trinidad, “a half-wild homeless girl,” whom both Diego and “Bernie” find both compelling and annoying. I found her to be a remarkably joyful individual, carefully and lovingly crafted. The tale is well plotted and spirited, making for an altogether vibrant and pleasant read that was also good fun. (It also passed the “grab me” test. Both my sons fought over it. The youngest but slowest reader won. Current feedback – cool!) Ages 8-12. Wendy Zollo
THE BURIED CROSS
Cherith Baldry, Oxford Univ. Press, 2004, £4.99, pb, 214pp, 0192753622
Glastonbury 1190. Fire has destroyed Glastonbury’s famous cathedral. Among those affected are Hereward and Gwyneth Mason, aged 12 and 13. Their father, innkeeper of the Crown, relies on visiting pilgrims for his livelihood and the future is looking grim. Then two ancient skeletons are discovered in the cathedral ruins, together with a cross proclaiming them to be King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. For Abbot Henry it is a miracle; the bones should bring back the visitors.
In spite of the abbot’s top security, the skeletons and cross disappear. Father Godfrey, visiting from the rival cathedral of Wells, is a prime suspect. But the travelling merchant Wasim Kharab’s behaviour needs explaining, too. And what about the surly shopkeeper Rhys Freeman? Hereward and Gwyneth are determined to solve the mystery.
This is the first in the Abbey Mysteries series and the author emphasises the importance of holy relics to the mediaeval mind, not to mention their economic benefits: all the citizens of Glastonbury rely on the cathedral in
one way or another. The story also examines the wider context: Henry II, who financially supported the re-building of the cathedral, has died. His son, King Richard, switches the money to support the crusades. The king’s exiled cousin, Henry of Truro, is another cause for concern: there are rumours of his return to nearby Wales. In this book, Henry is just a lurking presence, but the children will surely be involved in foiling his plots in a future book.
Caveats: the style is somewhat pedestrian; Hereward and Gwyneth behave like 21st century children – interrupting the abbey brothers in a very un-twelfth century way; and surely no respectable girl in 1190 would run about the town and countryside as Gwyneth does. For 9 plus.
Elizabeth Hawksley
If you want tension, drama, plot, suspicion and action, this is the book for you. Gweneth and Hereward are both strong characters and well-drawn. The plot is very original and strings you along. You suspect lots of people such as Godfrey de Massard, Rhys Freeman and any number of monks. I liked this book because it had a bit of everything and gave me lots to think about.
Medieval Glastonbury comes across very strongly. I would make the book better firstly by explaining what a few of the olden words meant and also by not changing the suspects every chapter. But I thoroughly enjoyed the book and highly recommend it. 8/10.
Rachel Beggs, age 11
GERONIMO
Joseph Bruchac, Scholastic, 2006, $16.99/ C$21.99, hb, 370pp, 0439353602
Geronimo is described as “suitable for ages 12 and up.” As I fit into the “and up” part, I find myself wondering how such a moving, beautifully written, and thoroughly researched historical ends up ghettoized in Young Adult. The true story of this famous Apache fighter is no longer well known, although every kid threatening a cannonball knows how effective at clearing the pool yelling his name is. There is a reason for that, as Geronimo was a brilliant strategist who frequently caught his better armed enemies flat-footed. This story, however, begins after the fighting, while the Chiricahua Apache are captives of the U.S. Government, taking a long train ride into exile. The narrator is a grandson of the celebrated old man, who shares his family story while enduring the long and painful diaspora to “camps” in Florida and Alabama. Joseph Bruchac, author of 70 books and of Abenaki descent, is eminently qualified to help us see these events through Native eyes. The extensive bibliography would be useful to any writer interested in learning more about the Apache and the American government’s Indian Policy.
Juliet Waldron
1416914773
In 1805, Sam Robbins, an eleven-year-old farm boy, is press-ganged into the Navy and finds himself on board Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory. There, he must cope with rats, disgusting food, and a sadistic officer who is waiting for the chance to have him flogged. But there is kindness and fellowship on board as well as cruelty and hardship. Sam eventually becomes a ‘powder-monkey’, carrying gunpowder to fire the cannons and one of the ship’s most dangerous jobs. Meanwhile, Nelson is searching for the French Navy, a chase which will end in the bloody and decisive battle of Trafalgar where Sam has a pivotal part to play.
Sam’s story is intertwined with that of the 21st century Molly Jennings, who must leave her beloved London for the USA when her widowed mother marries an American. Like Sam, she too struggles against home-sickness and an alien lifestyle. Then she finds an old copy of Robert Southey’s Life of Nelson. Behind its split cover she discovers a hidden message and a precious relic of Nelson’s funeral, a scrap of the Victory’s flag, which once belonged to Sam. Gradually, Molly realizes that Sam is trying to tell her something.
Victory has obviously been published in the slip-stream of the Trafalgar bi-centenary. I found it unputdownable. Susan Cooper has the gift of transporting her readers back in time to the sights, sounds and smells of life on board ship in Nelson’s navy and we become totally involved in Sam and Molly’s lives. The opening account of Nelson’s funeral moved me to tears ––on page 2! An author who can do that is good indeed. The history is impeccable, the writing top quality and the story-telling compelling. What more could one ask? Highly recommended. 11 plus.
Elizabeth Hawksley
This is a fabulous book. It has loads of action as well as excitement, thoughtfulness and sadness. Molly and Sam’s characters are very well done. Although there are no descriptions of them, the way they act gives you a very good idea of what they’re like. They don’t know each other because they live in different centuries, but they are connected by one man, Lord Nelson. However, later in the book you find out that Sam is Molly’s great, great, great, great, great grandfather, and that is a surprise. It has a very original plot and a beautiful ending where Molly takes her piece of Lord Nelson’s flag, puts it into the sea, and says, ‘To Daddy and to Sam Robbins’.
The book appeals to both boys and girls and is for 11-13 years as it has some very difficult words in it. If I could change anything it would be the blurb because it gives away part of the plot. A fantastic book and I highly recommend it.
Rachel Beggs, age 11
VICTORY
Susan Cooper, Bodley Head, March 2006, £8.99, hb, 262pp, 0370328914; Pub. in the US by Margaret K. McElderry, 2006, $16.95, hb,
SHIP’S ANGEL
Bridget Crowley, Hodder Children’s Books, 2004, £5.99/$9.99, pb, 202pp, 0340881550
Bridget Crowley has yet again dazzled us with another brilliant story – the sequel of the critically acclaimed Feast of Fools. We still
remain with the same character, John, who is crippled because the statue of an angel fell on his leg when he was a child. However, in this sequel John is different: more grown-up and not at all childlike. During the story he meets a girl named Christina and he develops a close relationship with her. Unlike the previous book, Ship’s Angel is set upon a ship and in distant lands and seas. John is onboard the Esperance. However when the ship gets chased and boarded by pirates John and all the crew are forced onto the nearest land. Here, he discovers that life is a bit more menacing than he is used to. He becomes separated from most of his friends, including Christina. Then, a murder happens. John takes on the role of investigating who the murderer is. He is caught up in an intrigue that could see him sent to the gallows. But does he end up going there? Let yourself be captured by this villainous tale and imagine what life would be like in the medieval times, during a murder hunt!
Emily
Granozio, age 15
THE QUEEN’S SOPRANO
Carol Dines, Harcourt, 2006, $17.00, hb, 336pp, 0152054774
Based on a true story, The Queen’s Soprano tells the story of seventeen-year-old Angelica Voglia, who must flee to the court of Queen Christina when Pope Innocent XI forbids women to sing in public. Angelica has the voice of an angel and a mother determined to use her voice to marry her off to a wealthy nobleman. Queen Christina, like many of us, loves music and enjoys having Angelica and her other singers in her court to sing for her at her whim. She certainly disagrees with the Pope that Angelica’s voice is the “devil’s breath.” Angelica comes to realize that the queen is right in believing that the two of them are alike, both “born into lives that separate us from other people” and both carrying the burden of those gifts. Carol Dines, the author of two other young adult novels, Talk To Me and Best Friends Tell the Best Lies, succeeds in her first historical novel in her portrayal of 17thcentury Rome. Interspersed with Italian, The Queen’s Soprano captures the tone and politics of the city. Dines has created a work that will speak to both young adult and adult readers interested in baroque-era Italy. Age 14 and up Nancy Castaldo
URSULA’S MAIDEN
ARMY
Philip Griffin, Beagle Bay, 2006, $14.95, pb, 287pp, 0974961019
This novel for young adults is based upon the legend of St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgin martyrs of Cologne, and, despite attempts to update the story by transforming them into a disciplined legion of women soldiers, it preserves many aspects of its sources.
Here Ursula is a princess who, along with other royal and aristocratic ladies, raises and trains a legion of women to protect Britain while the men are away fighting on the continent. Eventually, they sail to meet and marry the men, then return together, but most of the Britons are slain in the wars that destroyed the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century.
Ursula and the remains of her legion fall in battle against the Huns.
That the author should freely adapt material that has been imaginatively expanded throughout the Middle Ages is only fitting, though the plot does ramble as a result. More problematic, however, is the treatment of character, which adheres to the idealization and sentimentality of the medieval pious romances. If this improbable tale were to succeed, the reader would need to care deeply for its female heroes. Despite attempts to humanize them, they remain irritatingly virtuous, their characters unchanged by the experience of military warfare.
Ray Thompson
YOUR EYES IN STARS
M.E. Kerr, HarperCollins, 2006, $15.95/ C$21.99, hb, 229pp, 0060756829
Young Jessie and Elisa are firm yet unlikely friends living in upstate New York in 1934. Jessie, the daughter of the region’s prison warden, chatty, tomboyish, the collector of wanted posters of famous criminals and tall-tales is the extreme opposite of her German friend Elisa, who emits elegance and assurance with her foreign culture and many languages. They both swoon over Slater Carr, the prison’s new inmate who can play the bugle and trumpet like no other and becomes Jessie’s father’s special undertaking and whose actions are the catalyst on which the story is woven in a very intriguing way.
What is especially compelling is the way Kerr uses her secondary characters (Seth, Jessie’s brother, testing his relationship with their father, her mother’s coolness, a friend’s pacifism), and the way she fully observes and senses what Jessie and Elisa are thinking and misunderstanding as young adolescents – including the common and uncommon events that occur in their lives. In every respect she merges thoughts and actions to a satisfactory conclusion.
My only gripe was with the ending, which was abrupt and harried, a troubling departure from the effective tone and pace of the entire book. Its explanations about the Holocaust were weak, ineffective and shallow and could have been delivered with more clout from this award-winning author. Young adult.
Wendy Zollo
AFTERSHOCKS
William Lavender, Harcourt Children’s, 2006, $17, pb, 344pp, 0152058826
The aftershocks of this young adult novel are less about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake than the ramifications of an adulterous affair. Jessie Wainwright is a fourteen-yearold girl who is different from many of her peers—she dreams of becoming a doctor, like her father, who has pinned those hopes on her much less academic brother. Struggling against society’s expectations, she is faced with a monstrous situation when she spies her father sneaking up the servants’ stairs to frolic with the lovely Chinese housemaid—a sweet girl who has become Jessie’s friend. Soon the housemaid quits her position and disap-
pears into the city’s thriving and dangerous Chinatown. Jessie spends the next three years searching for her and the little sister her father so carelessly sired. The situation is unpleasant and awkward, yet young readers will easily identify with Jessie, whose thinking, attitudes, and solutions are very modern for the times. Overall, Aftershocks is a quick read, and a deft portrait of a city undergoing seismic physical and societal changes. Age 12 and up.
Lisa Ann Verge
HE WILL GO FEARLESS
Laurie Lawlor, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006, $15.95, hb, 210pp, 9780689865794
Fifteen-year-old Billy needs to go fearless to make it through the adventures that are in store for him—and he does! This young man is on a quest to find his father, who lives across the country in Virginia City. After running away from home, Billy treks through the Wild West in the early days after the Civil War. He encounters scoundrels, Indians and harsh working conditions as an ox driver. Through these trials and tribulations, the reader will grow to really like Billy and many of the characters surrounding him. The author provides dramatic images of the new West that immensely enhance the story. This coming-of-age historical novel is a treat for the young reader, and many a grown-up will appreciate this afternoon read as well. A sequel is certainly in order. Ages 912.
Carol Anne Germain
A SUMMER OF KINGS
Han Nolan, Harcourt, 2006, $17.00, hb, 352pp, 0152051082
Han Nolan is author of If I Should Die Before I Wake (1994); the National Book Award finalist Send Me Down a Miracle (1996); the National Book Award winner Dancing on the Edge (1997); A Face in Every Window (1999); and Born Blue (2001). In A Summer of Kings, Nolan writes a powerful coming-of-age story set in 1963, during the turbulent period of the civil rights movement. Fourteen-year-old Esther Young is looking for some excitement in her life, and she finds it when King-Roy Johnson arrives to stay with her family in Westchester County, New York. Johnson is the son of her mother’s friend and is sent north for his own safety after he is suspected of murdering a white fireman who turned the hose on him and his sister during a protest march. He is wary of white people and feels betrayed by the nonviolent teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. During the summer, Esther and King-Roy develop a friendship and discover the true nature of integrity.
Nolan again enters the arena of historical fiction with a winner. Her writing is well paced, and even those who don’t often read historical fiction will connect with Esther’s story. She presents us with a tale that will lead us to think about our own relationships and our own view of race relations. Above all it’s a great read. Age 12 and up.
Nancy Castaldo
THE EDGE OF THE CLOUD
K. M. Peyton, Oxford Univ. Press, 1969/1999, 182pp, pb, £5.99, 0192750232
In this, the second of K.M. Peyton’s Flambards series, Will and Christina have eloped together, and arrive on Christina’s aunt’s house penniless and jobless. Will sets about making his dream of recognition from designing and piloting aeroplanes come true. However, Christina is sceptical about this reasonably new invention, and she is terrified every time Will takes off. She finds work near Will’s work place, but faces opposition from many people who frown upon the idea of a young girl working for a living in the early twentieth century. Will Christina be able to trust the man she loves enough to fly them both in his aeroplane?
The Edge of the Cloud moves away from the horse and hunting-based plot of the previous book in the series, and I found this refreshing having previously read it. The Edge of the Cloud is gripping, and I was eager to found out if Will earned the recognition from his ambitions that he so richly deserved. I found this novel fascinating, especially because, like Will, I have a keen interest in flying.
Charlotte Kemp
PENELOPE BAILEY TAKES THE STAGE Susanna Reich, Marshall Cavendish, 2006, $16.95/C$24.95, hb, 208pp, 0761452877
The back cover describes this novel, dauntingly, as being “about the struggle of 19thcentury women for self-determination.” Fortunately, the book itself is much less pretentious and far more enjoyable than this would suggest.
In 1889, eleven-year-old Penny, an aspiring actress, is aghast when her mother goes to Hawaii to help Penny’s father in his research, leaving Penny in the care of stuffy Aunt Phyllis, a social-climbing San Franciscan who forces Penny to spend the summer taking “comportment lessons” with her bratty female cousins. Penny is soon delighted, however, to find that her aunt’s new neighbor is a Shakespearean actor, and things look even more promising when Penny persuades her teacher to allow the class to perform scenes from Romeo and Juliet. Penny is all set to play Juliet – if she can get around her aunt, who believes that acting is a scandalous profession.
Penny, who narrates the story, is engaging and believable, as are most of the other characters in the story, though it is hard to fathom Penny’s admiration for the teenage Isabelle Grey (modeled after Isadora Duncan), who routinely spouts sentences such as, “May the heartbeat of Mother Ocean stir the blood that runs in your veins.” Even a stage-struck eleven-year-old, one suspects, would find Isabelle a little wearying. Penny wonders at times what turned Aunt Phyllis into such a killjoy, a minor mystery that unfortunately is never solved. All in all, though, this is a book that should be enjoyed by young readers, whether or not they aspire to the stage.
Susan Higginbotham
THE HOUSE OF WINDJAMMER
V. A. Richardson, Bloomsbury, 2004, £5.99, pb, 348pp, 0747564752.; Pub. in the US by Bloomsbury USA, 2003, $17.95, hb, 300pp, 1582348111
Amsterdam 1636, at the height of tulipmania. The merchant-shipping family of Windjammer is facing ruin. Four galleons have been ship-wrecked and there is no money to finish building the Draco. When old Hercules Windjammer dies unexpectedly, the wolves begin to circle. The prestigious Council of Merchants, to which Hercules belonged, withdraws its support; and the unscrupulous money-lender Van Helsen sees his chance for a take-over.
Hercules’ fifteen-year-old son Adam is desperate to raise the money to complete the Draco, at least then he’d have a chance of restoring his family’s fortunes. But who can he trust? His father’s clerk, Gerrit, is up to something, but what? And why does the street urchin Wolfie keep following him? And what about the fire and brimstone preacher, Abner Heems? What Adam discovers about Heems shows him to be a dangerous man. Then Adam meets Van Helsen’s daughter, Jade. She seems sympathetic, but whose side is she really on?
Adam’s one hope for restoring his family’s prosperity is the fabulously valuable tulip bulb –– the Black Pearl –– and too many people know he has it.
This is the first in the Windjammer series and it promises a fast-paced, action-packed read. The historical research is unobtrusive but impressive and we believe in the author’s atmospheric depiction of life in 17th century Amsterdam. Caveats? I wanted to shake Adam for seeming so deliberately obtuse, wilfully fool-hardy and all-too-often stupidly shortsighted –– which is what happens when a book is plot-driven rather than character-driven. And Jade as a first name is 20th century. In the 17th century, it meant either a broken-down horse or a hussy!
Elizabeth Hawksley
This was a very escapist read once you got into it. The beginning drags slightly. However, later it becomes more complex and therefore more gripping, with mysterious characters and moody twists. The negative points are that Adam’s grief at his father’s death isn’t deep enough, the ending with the Black Pearl is predictable, and the outcome with Jade is disappointing, even a little rushed. I would have liked more about the shipwreck at the beginning – as it stands it has little relevance. However, the book is very descriptive and portrayed the characters well, and I liked the sinister feeling of mistrust which hung over certain characters. Overall, it was well-written with a lot of information about trading and shipping in Amsterdam around 1636. Age 11-14. Lucy Beggs, age 14
YANKEE GIRL
Mary Ann Rodman, Usborne, 2005, £4.99, 277pp, pb, 0746067496; Pub. in the US by Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2004, $17.00, 224pp, hb, 0374386617
Yankee Girl is about a young American girl,
Alice, who has just moved to Mississippi from her home in Chicago. At the time during the 1960s, there were still divisions between the South and North of the USA. There were also racially motivated attacks, especially in Mississippi. Alice is finding life in Mississippi difficult, with the threat of an attack on her home from the Ku Klux Klan, her new school being one of the first in the area to accept coloured children and being picked on because she is not the same as the rest of her class. She is confused at why some people are not allowed to speak to others, and why everyone picks on one of the new coloured girls, Valerie. The story travels with Alice through this time, as she has to make some difficult life and social choices, which could affect her life and her parents.
I thought that this book was fantastic, as a reader you share and possibly relate to Alice’s troubles of friendship and growing up. This book is not just a book that reflects on an important event in American history, but is also a book about change and acceptance of other people. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in American history and who enjoys books about moving from childhood to adulthood.
Annemarie
Simmons
BRIND AND THE DOGS OF WAR
Christopher Russell, Penguin, 2005, £4.99, pb, 198pp, 0141318546
Brind is no ordinary boy; he was raised with dogs and has a strong bond with the alpha-male mastiff, Glaive. Their master, Sir Edward, is not a wealthy knight, but he decides to take his pack to the Battle of Crecy along with Brind.
Tullo, his huntsman, who is both cruel to and jealous of Brind’s understanding of the mastiffs, is far from pleased about this. The dogs obey the boy and are loyal to him. It is a journey that will ignite Brind’s imagination, and cause him disgrace, grief and pain. Tullo hopes to discredit him at every opportunity and inflict his vengeance upon the youth.
Brind’s journey and development is aided by a feisty young French girl, Aurelie, whose own life is also in turmoil, and who is living in her own isolation. Tullo even plans to take control of Sir Edward’s estate when the opportunity presents itself.
This unusual story is action packed. The relationships are complex, encompassing love, hate, jealousy, loyalty, betrayal and honour. All the main characters grow and change as the adventure unfolds. It is a story set in a violent age, where harsh justice is ultimately served. The writer engages the reader with his skill of graphically portraying the people, places, and action. This is a very good read and has a satisfying ending.
Val Loh
diaeval mind, relating their primary function as natural history to giving moral examples (the busy bee, the stubborn ass, the faithful dog) and revealing mystical meaning (the phoenix as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection). In this book, Richard Barber gives an easy-to-read English translation of MS Bodley 764, a thirteenth century bestiary notable for the quality of its illustrations, here produced in full, in colour and actual size. He has also kept to the book’s original layout. Barber’s translation vividly captures the charm of the original, as well as its serious purpose, and will be an invaluable resource for readers and writers who aspire to understand how mediaeval men and women viewed the natural world, both actual and fantastical.
Sarah Bower
THE GOAT HUNTER
Billy Barnz, Willson Scott Publishing, 2005, NZ$34.95, pb, 240pp, 0958253579
The back cover blurb suggests: “This is not just another bloody book about the Vietnam War.” And I agree. Barnz paints a picture of the lighter side of a Kiwi Gun Position Officer’s experiences in Nui Dat and other Southern Vietnamese districts. The title refers to Ho Chi Minh, the Northern revolutionary and statesman. His good looks means he’s known as the Old Goat in this tale!
Barnz describes his pre-war army education in Duntroon, Australia, and follows with detailed depictions of the shenanigans that went on behind the scenes in Vietnam – many of which were alcohol-fuelled! Combat and the blood and guts that accompany it aren’t covered, and that’s what makes this book unique. The final chapters cover his return home and the difficulties he faced in resuming a civilian life.
There’s even time for criticism of government reports into Agent Orange. Barnz writes well and possesses a good sense of humour. I enjoyed the introductory chapters and latter parts, but ennui set in when I became bogged down in the middle stages.
If you’re into Vietnamese affairs and enjoy reading about the lives and times of the soldiers that served there, then be my guest and purchase The Goat Hunter
Neil Franklyn
THE GREAT WARBOW: From Hastings to the Mary Rose
Matthew Strickland and Robert Hardy, Sutton Publishing, 2005, £25.00/$44.95, hb, 576pp, 0750931671
NONFICTION
BESTIARY
Richard Barber, Boydell and Brewer, 2006, £14.99/$27.95, pb, 205pp, 1085115753X
Bestiaries give a unique insight into the me-
The authors of The Great Warbow, two scholars of considerable knowledge, have produced what will be for many of us who love the bow, the definitive work on the English longbow. The first section of The Great Warbow gives a fascinating account of the finding and recovery of a store of 15th century longbows and arrows in the wreck of Henry VIII’s flagship Mary Rose. From this beginning, the reader is taken on a journey through history from the evolution of the longbow in the Welsh Marches and Gwent to its demise in late Tudor times. Apart from the development of the bow
itself and its missile the arrow, the book deals with the whole range of English military uses of the weapon, particularly during the Hundred Years’ War. Military historians and battle re-enactment groups will welcome the details given of the development of battle tactics occasioned by the use of the longbow en masse in the field. The book contains a copious index, bibliography, chapter notes and a scientific and technical appendix. For writers of the mediaeval historical novel who wish to portray battles and military affairs realistically in their work, The Great Warbow is not merely a useful work of reference, it is a necessity.
Frank Payton
COURT LADY AND COUNTRY WIFE
Lita-Rose Betcherman, William Morrow, 2005, $26.95/C$36.95, hb, 367pp, 0060762888; Pub. in UK by Wiley, 2005, £19.99, hb, 422pp, 0470015403
Two noble sisters, Lucy and Dorothy Percy, grow up in an aristocratic household odd in one respect – it lacks a father. Henry, Lord Percy, is imprisoned in the Tower, where he has been sent by King James for a never-proven complicity in the Gunpowder Plot. This absence, and their mother’s proud temper, shapes the girls into headstrong, outspoken women, unusual for their class and time. Dorothy becomes the less well off “country wife,” and is the counterpoint to Lucy, who moves to the center of power by marrying a court favorite. During the reign of Charles I, the beautiful, witty Lucy’s star rises as she becomes confidante to Queen Henrietta Maria, lover of the Duke of Buckingham and friend to the Earl of Strafford. Lucy, who was devoted to politics, played a pivotal role in the Civil War, switching from King to Parliament. As a habitual intrigante, she certainly did not own the capacity to understand the true intent of the revolutionary genie she and her moderate allies let out of the bottle, and she would spend several years in the Tower herself after falling afoul of Cromwell.
With an exhaustive bibliography and copious notes, the book takes an intimate look at the behind the scenes influence wielded by these aristocratic members of the “weaker sex.”
Juliet Waldron
ROBBING THE BEES: A Biography of Honey, the Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World Holley Bishop, Simon & Schuster, 2006, £12.99, hb, 324pp, 0743275756; Pub. in the US by Free Press, 2006, $14.00, pb, 336pp, 0743250222
This is a history and biography of bees and their honey. Holley Bishop, a beekeeper who admits that she loves them, gives us an excellent portrait of man’s relationship with the bee. Quoting from ancient and classical manuscripts she tells of the structure of the bee, the different types of housing used through the ages and the methods of harvesting honey. There are recipes, ancient and modern. We are also told of the medicinal properties of honey, with a few recipes included. There is
information on the preparation of wax, from the type that is essential to the bees, to the kind we use. The illustrations are in black and white, showing harvesting, housing and the anatomy of bees. The use of Donald Smiley, a fellow beekeeper, as an anchor man, I felt to be intrusive. He took his bees to places I was unfamiliar with, like the Florida panhandle, to feed on plants I did not know. His view point is American and personally I would have liked more information on European bees and the plants they feed on.
The style of the writing is easy and accessible. I found it a most interesting and informative read.
Mairead McKerracher
THE FIRST AMERICAN ARMY: The Remarkable Story of George Washington and the Men behind America’s Fight for Freedom
Bruce Chadwick, Sourcebooks, 2005, $24.95, hb, 320pp, 1402205056
Through their letters, memoirs and verses, the author presents the lesser-known actors in the American Revolution—teenaged volunteers, raw young officers, doctors, chaplains, husbands, and warrior-poets—whose stories expose appalling fighting and living conditions. Familiar names from history—Washington, Benedict Arnold—appear peripherally and always in relation to the regimental men. Their women also feature in this examination: an amorous bride always eager for her husband to return home on leave, the wife who had serial affairs with her husband’s fellow soldiers, concerned mothers. And in the aftermath of war, the victorious veterans suffer a difficult return to their former lives, their personal economies wrecked by their effort to secure freedom for themselves and their descendants.
Margaret Barr
A NIGHT AT THE MAJESTIC, Proust and the Great Modernist Dinner Party of 1922
Richard Davenport-Hines, Faber & Faber, 2006, £14.99, hb, 329pp, 0571220088
18 May 1922, five of the greatest artists of the twentieth century met for supper at the Hotel Majestic in Paris. It was the first and only time that Joyce, Proust, Picasso, Diaghilev and Stravinsky were in a room together. Each was at the height of his creative powers, and Proust was enjoying the greatest success of his career with his sequence of books, A la Recherche du Temps Perdu. That night at the Majestic signalled the close of an era as well as the beginning of the decline in Proust’s health.
In this, Richard Davenport-Hines paints a vivid picture of the modernist movement in early 20th century Paris, the gossip, intrigue and scandal. Each of the diners come to life, but it is the sympathetic portrayal of Proust, his almost obsessive quest for perfection in his work, and the account of his final days that really make this well researched book such a great read. An extensive list of sources together with an excellent index completes this fine work.
Ann Oughton
AFTER ELIZABETH: The Rise of James of Scotland and the Struggle for the Throne of England
Leanda de Lisle, Ballantine, 2005, $25.95, hb, 334pp, 034545045; Pub. in the UK by HarperPerennial, 2006, £8.99, 384pp, 0007126654
The title says it all here. As Elizabeth I’s health declines, the childless queen refuses to entertain any talk of her succession, a topic that naturally obsesses her courtiers. The resulting intrigues and schemes, both before and after James of Scotland’s ascent to the English throne as James I, are the subject of this book, aimed at a popular audience.
Relying heavily on contemporary accounts, Lisle recounts a complex history in a readable, journalistic style, smoothly giving the background information necessary to understand the complicated series of events surrounding the succession. If the reader still finds it difficult to keep straight those jockeying for power and their supporters, this confusion is more likely the result of the tumultuous times rather than any fault on the author’s part.
After Elizabeth left me with the desire to read more about James I and his contemporaries—surely an indication of success on de Lisle’s part.
Susan Higginbotham
THE
LIFE OF GEORGE BASS, SURGEON AND SAILOR OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT
Miriam Estensen, Allen & Unwin, 2005, AU$49.95/NZ$59.99, hb, 262pp, 1741141303; Pub. in the UK by the National Maritime Museum, £20.00, hb, 296pp, 0948065680
Born in 1771 in Boston, England, George Bass served an apprenticeship as a surgeon and then joined the Royal Navy. Bass’s real passion was the sea, and by the age of twentyfour he was exploring Australia, both ashore and afloat, at every opportunity. A charismatic man, he had no trouble attracting volunteers to join him on these expeditions. He corresponded occasionally with Joseph Banks, sending him carefully recorded details of flora and fauna.
In 1799, having neither fortune nor influential patronage, he bought a small ship and branched out into commerce. About this time he married but, after only four months, he left his wife in England and sailed for Australia. His letters to his ‘Dear Bess’, brief and infrequent but loving, promised her she would be able to join him in his travels soon. This was never to be. Two and a half years later his ship disappeared in the Pacific. It was never discovered what befell the ship or its sailors.
As well as maps of the voyages and an excellent index, there are copious endnotes, an extensive bibliography, a glossary of terms no longer in common use, and a chronology of the main events of Bass’s life.
Christine Ashton
DRESSING RENAISSANCE FLORENCE
Carole Collier Frick, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2005, $25.00, pb, 368pp, 0801882648
If ever a book could be compared to a box of chocolates, this is it. Setting out to harness
the specifics – How many clothes did people own? What did clothing cost? – Frick includes in her spectrum a wide range of 15th-century Florentines, from prosperous textile merchants to female vendors working outside the guilds, selling notions and accessories. It comes complete with a map detailing the location of various guild residences; tables (fur pelts for lining and sleeves); appendices (currency and measures, cloth required for selected garments, in colors like “Apollo’s hair” and “throat of the dove”); a glossary (puzzole is “the dark brown fur of the polecat, which had a purplish gloss to it, used to trim cloaks and overgowns”), and perhaps the handiest index I’ve ever had the pleasure to use (boys {see also clothing, worn by: children}).
One quibble: the cover, depicting as it does a 16th-century tailor, is misleading, since the book’s text centers for the most part on the 1400s. Readers interested in the latter period might, therefore, pass over this excellent resource as I did, several times, before taking the time to explore it.
Alana
White
MEDIEVALISM AND ORIENTALISM
John M. Ganin, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, £37.50/$69.95, hb, 156pp, 1403963207
At last year’s HNS Conference I remember being forcibly struck by Anne Harries’ references to ‘the magic realism of history’. In this collection of essays, John Ganim traces the intertwined histories of Orientalism and the Middle Ages as understood in the post-Renaissance period, showing how both are imagined as exotic other worlds far removed from the modern western present. The early humanists claimed an Eastern heritage for gothic architecture. Seventeenth and 18th century antiquarians traced a link between the Phoenicians and the Druids of ancient Britain. Considering the post-Renaissance concepts of the medieval and the oriental as genre, genealogy and display, Ganim uncovers the roots of our fascination with the idea of the past as ‘another country’, both exotic and challenging our idea of ourselves.
This is a strictly academic treatise, not an easy read but profoundly thought provoking for those of us who read and write historical fiction in helping towards an understanding of our abiding fascination with imagining the past.
Sarah Bower
BORN TO RULE
Julia Gelardi, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2006, $17.95/C$23.95, pb, 457pp, 0312324243; Pub. in the UK by Headline, 2005, £20.00, hb, 480pp, 0755313917
This biography chronicles the tumultuous lives of the five granddaughters of Queen Victoria who became consorts to European ruling monarchs. Maud, Edward VII’s daughter, married her cousin Prince Carl of Denmark, hoping for a quiet life – only to see him chosen as Norway’s next king. Marie of Edinburgh, daughter of Victoria’s son Alfred and his imperial Russian bride, grew up wholly English but came to symbolize the spirit of Romania.
Ena, Princess Beatrice’s only daughter, made a splendid match with Spain’s Alfonso XIII, but their firstborn son’s hemophilia destroyed their marriage. Shy Alix of Hesse, daughter of Princess Alice, married Nicholas, tsarevitch of Russia, for love but was thrust uncomfortably into the spotlight all too soon. And Sophie, daughter of England’s Princess Royal, ascended Greece’s throne with her husband, but false rumors of her German sympathies during WWI caused her untold grief. Gelardi intertwines their stories in chronological fashion. While Marie and Alix (later Empress Alexandra) are fairly well known to many readers, Ena, Maud, and Sophie are not, and it’s fascinating to see how their lives, and those of their adopted countries, impacted one another. The result is an engrossing historical study that reads like the best fiction.
Sarah Johnson
A STRANGE DEATH: Espionage, Betrayal and Vengeance in a Village in old Palestine Hillel Halkin, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2006, £12.99, hb, 388pp, 0297850954
This book may be non-fiction, but it is far from being your usual history book. It is a murder-mystery set in a small town in Israel. The story is told in the first person, not that the author was involved in the murder, which took place in the 1920s, but because he is the sleuth who unravels the mystery.
The action takes place from the 1970s onwards, when the author moves to Zichron, near Haifa, and begins to dig into its past. Sometimes he digs literally, in the local rubbish dump, but mostly the story is told as a series of conversations with the author’s neighbours. They are a colourful lot and their reminiscences are discursive. The murder is incidental to several of the stories. The author wants to tell us about the older inhabitants in his home village and through them we see how older Israelis view their past and interpret the present.
Edward James
REVOLUTION, The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720
Tim Harris, Allen Lane, 2006, £30.00, hb, 622pp, 0713997591
When James II’s second wife gave birth to a son in 1688, he believed the succession was at last secure, but their joy was short lived. James was a devout Catholic, and 98% of his English subjects were Protestants who saw that the future under another Catholic king would continue the tyranny and would lead to persecution of Protestants and the sequestration of their property, even overturn the rule of law. Charles II’s prophecy, ‘My brother will lose his kingdom by his bigotry…’ was to come true. Seven dissatisfied individuals known as the Immortal Seven wrote, inviting William of Orange and his wife, Mary (James’s daughter) to invade England and seize the throne. William entered England with 15,000 troops in October 1688, rescuing England from a popish despot and securing Protestant liberties.
This so called ‘Glorious Revolution’ resulted in thousands of deaths and marked a turning point in British politics that exists to the pres-
ent day. Tim Harris’s expertise in presenting the grand panorama of events and bringing the action and players to life makes for a truly memorable read. Brilliantly researched and written, this is a book that would convert any history phobic.
Ann Oughton
COBBERS, STORIES OF GALLIPOLI 1915
Jim Haynes, ABC Books, 2005, AU$29.95/ NZ$35.00, pb, 373pp, 0733315933
Nationhood. Loyalty. Duty. These are not trivial things, even ninety years later. This book is a compendium of prose and verse on those themes, today the more resonant because of lying politicians. These stories and poems are competently edited, so the reader isn’t distracted. Most of the work is written first-hand by the blokes being shot at. New Zealand is mentioned only two or three times, but Jim Haynes, an Australian author and broadcaster, is careful to write “Australasian” wherever appropriate. Kiwis and Aussies alike respected the Turks and distrusted the British. We have these tales in common.
The Gallipoli campaign (25 April to 19 December 1915) foreshadowed the horror and stupidity of the Somme and Passchendaele. Young men will find the book un-put-downable. Young women who imagine it to be unpick-uppable are mistaken; nationhood, loyalty, and duty are not trivial male-only things. Ken McAllister
THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY
Carola Hicks, Chatto & Windus, 2006, £17.99, hb, 346pp, 0701174633
The Bayeux Tapestry had an exciting history from its beginnings. Created to tell the story of the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest, it is steeped in mystery and intrigue. Was it commissioned by Bishop Odo, or perhaps Harold’s sister, Emma? Who stitched it, where and how?
Then there are the missing years when the tapestry disappeared from the written record and its eventual role in the Nazi propaganda machine – Himmler described it as “Important for our glorious and cultured Germanic history”.
With careful appraisal the Bayeux Tapestry can be used as valuable research tool. Although its account of the Conquest can hardly be said to be impartial, the tapestry does give a flavour of the politics of the era, as well as information about events of the actual day of battle and – perhaps most usefully – an insight into the social history and culture of the 11th century. This book is an all-encompassing history of the tapestry and is a great read into the bargain. Full of interesting facts and valuable details, it would be useful for anyone interested in the Saxon and Norman periods.
Sara Wilson
KING LEOPOLD’S GHOST:
A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa
Adam Hochschild, Pan, 2006, £8.99, pb, 375pp, 0330441981.; Pub. in the US by Mari-
ner, 1999, $15.00, pb, 384pp, 0618001905
In 1897 or1898, Edmund Dane Morel, a British shipping company agent working in Antwerp, noticed discrepancies in the cargoes of his company’s ships. They arrived from the Congo laden with ivory and rubber; when they returned they carried only soldiers and firearms. Realizing that only slave labour could account for this, he resigned from his company and began a one-man crusade against slave labour and started what was to become the first international human rights movement of the 20th century. Between 1880 and 1910 some ten million lives were lost in the Congo. Looming over all was Leopold II, King of the Belgians and sole owner of the only private colony in the world.
This award-winning account of the plunder of the Congo illuminates the charming, cruel personality that was King Leopold II. In contrast, the moving account of the individuals who fought against and suffered under the inhuman regime. Hochschild’s ability to recreate the atmosphere and bring to life the key players in one of the most shocking periods in modern history result in a truly remarkable book that reads more like a novel than an historical record.
Ann Oughton
BURY THE CHAINS: The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery
Adam Hochschild, Pan, 2006, £8.99, pb, 467pp, 0330485814; Pub. in the US by Houghton Mifflin, 2005, $26.95, hb, 486pp, 0618104690
In 1787 a small group of men gathered in a London printing shop to discuss how they might be instrumental in abolishing slavery. Using posters, mass mailings and lapel pins, they managed to get their message across to the British public, succeeding in a countrywide boycott of the main slave-produced commodity – sugar. Although the House of Commons passed the first law banning the trade in slaves in 1792, it would be several years before it took effect, and the owning of slaves continued until the 1830s.
The players in the unfolding drama included John Newton, a former slave ship captain who wrote Amazing Grace, Thomas Clarkson who devoted his life to the cause, and the only survivor of that printing shop meeting who lived to see the whip and chains formally buried in Jamaica.
Once again Hochschild demonstrates absolute mastery of his subject. Not only is this account brilliantly researched, it is written with style and verve by a born storyteller.
Ann Oughton
MEDITERRANEAN WINTER
Robert D. Kaplan, Arrow, 2006, £7.99, pb, 254pp, 0099484404; Pub. in the US by Vintage, 2005, $14.00, pb, 272pp, 0375714332
This book is sub-titled A Journey through History and that describes it exactly. It is an account of Kaplan’s journeys as a young man around the eastern Mediterranean in the 1970s. His discourse ranges over the fall of ancient Carthage in Tunisia, the stimulating mix of Is-
lamic and Western culture in Norman Sicily, to examination of the seeds of recent SerboCroat divisions planted 600 years earlier.
Kaplan is interested in how history forgotten is history doomed to be repeated. For example, he compares 4th century BC Athenians ignoring warnings about Sicilian strength and sending a vast naval force to subdue it - unsuccessfully - to President Johnson’s equally ill-judged dispatch of half-a-million American troops to South Vietnam 1500 years later.
Unlike Patrick Leigh-Fermor, say, or William Dalrymple, Kaplan keeps his youthful self in the background; his journey is erudite and reflective rather than full of his youthful adventures. A fascinating read, but more intellectually than emotionally engaging.
Elizabeth Hawksley
THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS
Ross King, Chatto & Windus, £17.99, hb, 449pp, 0701176830; Pub. in the US as The Judgment of Paris, Walker, 2006, $28.00, hb, 464pp, 0802714668
Nineteenth-century France produced two very different artists, and to each the judgement of Paris meant the difference between triumph and failure. Ernest Meissonier was hugely successful and celebrated, whilst the younger Édouard Manet was struggling to sell his often disparaged efforts. Yet Meissonier once wrote, “Time gives every human being his value. The real worth of man cannot be gauged until he is dead.” They were to prove prophetic words because, more than 100 years since their deaths, it is Manet who is worldrenowned whilst Meissonier languishes in museum storerooms.
Individually their stories are interesting enough, compared and contrasted their careers take on new meaning and that is the brilliance of The Judgement of Paris. Through the lives of these two very different painters Ross King can reflect on and examine the times in which they lived. Fascinating for anyone wanting to know more about mid-19th century Parisian life in general and the artistic movement in particular.
Sara Wilson
THE BIG OYSTER: New York in the World,
A Molluscular History
Mark Kurlansky, Jonathan Cape, 2006, £17.99, hb, 298pp, 0224074334; Pub. in the US as The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, Ballantine, 2006, $23.95, hb, 320pp, 0345476387
This book is on a most unusual theme: the history of New York, as seen in relation to the oyster beds, from Peter Minuit’s first purchase in 1626 of Manhattan and the Ellis Island oyster beds for $34, to the present day. Kurlansky gives us a very detailed account of the oyster and how it is really nature’s sieve for cleaning water. We learn that it was the Indians who first introduced the settlers to the pleasures of eating oysters. We also learn that New York threw the debris from the demolished slums into the bay and ruined the beds.
The gastronomic tastes which the immigrants brought with them brought different ways of cooking, as opposed to eating the oys-
ter raw; many of these recipes are included. We are also told how to shuck and prepare them. The book ends with the court battles to purify the Hudson.
A very easily read book, the illustrations consist of old woodcuts and are most interesting. This is full of information and history. Well worth reading.
Mairead
McKerracher
AMERICAN LEGEND: The Real-Life Adventures of David Crockett
Buddy Levy, Putnam, $24.95/C$35.00, hb, 352pp, 0399152784
This biography of David Crockett provides a very pedestrian view of the adventures of this historical legend. The author highlights the hardships and adventures of Crockett’s life, from his early years of struggle through his later folk hero days. It covers Crockett’s wartime feats as well as his political endeavors.
Levy relies heavily on Crockett’s memoir, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett – by Himself, as his main source. In addition, he consults other primary sources to develop the story with other perspectives. An interesting component of the book is the inclusion of information on theatrical/film representations of this legend. This includes the 1831 play The Lion of the West (the main character was named Nimrod Wildfire), and Billy Bob Thornton’s portrayal of Crockett in The Alamo (2004). This is a good selection for young readers but may disappoint the more serious history/biography enthusiast.
Carol Anne Germain
LOUIS XVIII
Philip Mansel, John Murray, 2005 (c1981), £10.99, pb, 482pp, 0719567092
In a new edition of this classic study, Mansel writes that Louis XVIII was ‘naturally European’, and during his twenty-three years as an exile after escaping in 1791 from the revolution in Paris, Louis XVIII ‘consciously Europeanized his cause’. Louis spent the last seven years of this exile in England, narrowly avoiding being ‘conveniently’ dispatched to Edinburgh. He became the ‘most English’ king of France, and enjoyed enormous popular renown in England: as Mansel writes, ‘The English loved the Bourbons with all the hatred they felt for Bonaparte’. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in French or indeed European 19th-century history, since Mansel’s portrait of Louis XVIII and the Restoration of the French monarchy is a model of political biography and an impressively researched history. Unlike his brothers, Louis XVIII not only brought peace, prosperity and a workable constitution to his ‘divided and devastated country’, but he also lived up to his self-styled role as ‘the future pacifier of Europe’. Louis and Wellington were closely associated, and Louis lavished numerous presents on the latter, including a 102-piece dinner service (‘quelques assiettes’) of Sevres china to convince the Englishman ‘that modern china was just as good as china of the Ancien Regime’. All in all, a fascinating read.
Lucinda Byatt
SCOURGE AND FIRE: Savonarola and Renaissance Italy
Lauro Martines, Jonathan Cape, 2006, £20.00, hb, 327pp, 0224072528
The 15th century is ending. In Florence the Magnificent Lorenzo de’Medici is dead. With survivors of his notorious family expelled from the city, Florentines with famous, ancient names prepare to assert their rights to power. Odd man out is ‘the little friar’: Girolamo Savonarola, dedicated absolutely to the service of God and His Son, incorruptible, a ferociously spellbinding preacher. There is much to enjoy in Scourge and Fire: Lorenzo’s inept son Peiro, who can be relied on never to get anything right; the Pope, Rodrigo Borgia, brilliant, charming and unscrupulous, whose correspondence with Savonarola reveals two men whose minds could never meet. With the Florentine republic restored, ‘the little friar’s’ fate cannot be long deferred. The citizens who yielded their treasures to the bonfire of vanities are suffering from a collapsed economy, plague and the looming presence of the French king’s invading army. Savonarola has made powerful, vicious enemies. Excommunicated, his interrogation is degrading. Even after many centuries a reader hopes that the author is right: records of ‘the little friar’s pitiful admissions under torture have been falsified.
Nancy Henshaw
CIVILIZATION: A New History of the Western World
Roger Osborne, Jonathan Cape, 2006, £20.00, hb, 532pp, 0224062417; To be pub. in the US in Nov. 2006, Pegasus, hb, 544pp, 1933648198
From cave paintings to post 9/11, this book is a treasury.New light on the Mesolithic; illumination of the Dark Ages; the pleasures and comfort of medieval urban living. A cool look at the Medici; Christianity’s yet unhealed, self-inflicted wound; the age of discovery and the despoiling of New Worlds. Revolutions: “Glorious” British; French, American.
The economic watershed of 1750-1800 ushers in the complexities of the Industrial Revolution: Britain’s head start taking home-based workers into the factory, the truly noble aims of the early trade unionists – high wages never compensated for degradation and crushed aspirations. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, immigrants and pioneers are shaping a continent.
The chapter “Towards the Abyss” warns us that the intolerable must be endured. This is humanity: adaptable, hardy, quarrelsome, capable of every extreme, never-endingly astounding. Osborne writes with robust, unsparing clarity of the extraordinary beings at present dominating our planet. The maps are useful, the bibliography extensive. And there is only one short footnote. Readers (especially those who found history tedious at school) are urgently recommended to read this timely, admirable book.
Nancy Henshaw
A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS
Amos Oz, Harcourt, 2006, $16.00, tpb, 538pp, 015603252X; Pub. in the UK by Vintage,
2005, £7.99, pb, 448pp, 0099450038
One potent image conveys the essence of Amos Oz’s life and his relationship with Israel, an image presented by the writer Tchernikhowsky: “…fool who had learned how to advance the king’s pawn two squares, and did so without any hesitation, but after that had no idea at all…not even the names of the pieces, or how they moved, or where, or why. Lost.” Brevity cannot adequately convey the richness of this moving memoir by this lyrical Israeli writer/novelist. Three strands, however, clearly encompass Oz’s story. The first concerns the competitive, European intelligentsia populating Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the suburban kibbutz communities of pre-Independence Israel, the second the literary and political giants stressing reason but frequently denying a haunting emotional connection to history and ideas, and third the causes and effects of the emotional illness and eventual suicide of Oz’s mother. Few authors have managed to weave together so seamlessly the past realities of the intellectual, political, and psychological of pre- and post-Independence Israeli life. That immense, thorough feat alone merits this memoir a global readership! Darkness haunts even the most exhilarating experiences. This, the author implies, is the essence of Israel as well as his own. Freedom is indeed costly!
Viviane Crystal
THE GOODMAN OF PARIS: A Treatise on Moral and Domestic Economy by a Citizen of Paris
Tr. Eileen Power, Boydell and Brewer, 2006, £14.99/$27.95, pb, 256pp, 1843832224
This book of instruction by an older man for his young wife was written around 1393, and Eileen Power’s excellent translation, both clear to the modern English reader yet full of the rhythm and idiom of the original French, was originally published in 1928. An affordable paperback reissue is very welcome to those of us with an interest in the mediaeval way of life. The book covers every aspect of good wifely conduct, from modesty when attending church to the importance of sowing seed at the wane of the Moon. A chapter entitled ‘To restrain your husband gently from his errors’ is just one indication that this husband, though forty years older than his wife, was a compassionate and enlightened man who desired to give his wife guidance, not just for his own benefit but for the benefit of ‘another husband, if you have one, after me.’ It seems to me the man who wrote this book, full of moral tales, recipes, tips on shopping and what to do with ‘young women using foul language’ would have been a hard act to follow, and I hope they were very happy together.
A must for writers and re-enactors, and a fascinating, entertaining read for anyone who has ever run a household.
Sarah Bower
DOGS OF GOD, Columbus, the Inquisition and the Defeat of the Moors
James Reston, Jr., Faber & Faber, 2006, £10.00, hb, 340pp, 0571221262; Pub. in the US by Doubleday, 2005, $27.95, hb, 384pp,
0385508484
In 1492, in an effort to free themselves from the yoke of the Vatican, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain turned to the Dominican priest Tomas de Tourquemada, who insisted that an inquisition would consolidate their majesties’ position of power throughout Spain. Their first victims were the Moors of Granada. When Granada fell Muslims were given the choice of converting to Christianity or face death or banishment. The Jews were given the same ultimatum, resulting in between 800,000 and two million Jews being forced to leave their homes. The horrors of the Inquisition are alleviated somewhat by the pioneering Christopher Columbus and the hope of the creation of a modern empire in the New World.
This is a compelling account of one of the most savage epochs in history, detailing a cruel wave of religious persecution and which has uncomfortable parallels with today.
Ann Oughton
PENGUIN GUIDE TO THE SUPERSTITIONS OF BRITAIN & IRELAND
Steve Roud, Penguin, 2006, £10.99, 532pp, 0140515127
From abracadabra to superstitions surrounding the yew tree, this comprehensive work details many well known as well as the more obscure superstitions that still affect our everyday lives. While it is plain good sense to avoid walking under a ladder, the majority of superstitions have no obvious rhyme or reason. Contrary to popular belief, the origins of most superstitions go back no further than the late 19th century. The earliest record of throwing the bridal bouquet was in 1952.
This is a fascinating book compiled by a Local Studies Librarian, Steve Roud, who has researched British folklore for over thirty years. He discusses what is meant by ‘superstition’ or ‘belief’ and why certain superstitions arose and how they have evolved through time. Many of the quirkier superstitions or sayings offer inspiration for an endless supply of storylines. The cover of this book should carry a serious warning notice because once opened it is impossible to put down.
Ann Oughton
COMPANION TO WOMEN’S HISTORICAL WRITING
Mary Spongberg, Barbara Caine, Ann Curthoys (eds.), Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, £100/$175, hb, 384pp, 1403915083
This book explores ‘the many different ways in which women have researched and written history’ in over 150 entries, from Abolition to World History, with essays ranging from 250-7,500 words with each entry being followed by references and a list of related essays. Topics covered include biographical writing, women worthies, diaries and letterwriting, travelogues and chronicles, kinds of history and types of approaches as well as a range of more conventional kinds of history.
The nine-page section on historical fiction argues that, ‘the most searching historical fictions do not simply assert the priority of fiction over history but work to complicate the rela-
tions between them and to stress the mutually interrogative relations between the narratives of fiction and those of history.’ It includes discussions of women novelists from Delarivier Manley to Toni Morrison via Mary Edgeworth and Georgette Heyer. There is no mention of Dorothy Dunnett, but Mary Stewart’s Arthurian Trilogy, Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time and Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novels for children are all referred to in Popularising the Past. There is a General Bibliography and a thirty-three page index.
This is a fascinating book both by and about women. Well-written, clearly laid out, it is a bit pricey for the individual, perhaps, but a valuable addition to any library.
Jay Dixon
SHOPPING IN THE RENAISSANCE: Consumer Cultures in Italy, 1400-1600
Evelyn Welch, Yale Univ. Press, 2005, $45.00/£30.00, hb, 256pp, 0300107528
Evelyn Welch takes the approach of a cultural historian to explore how men and women purchased goods from 1400 to 1600 in central and northern Italy. Using contemporary documents (family papers, government statutes, auction lists), the author describes the ins and outs of the marketplace and all that word entails: church restrictions, shopping on credit, just measurements, and more.
Although Welch’s writing style, which tends to be murky, can present a challenge, persistent readers will unearth some golden nuggets: for example, Isabella d’Este’s “to do” list in a letter to a Paris-bound member of the Ferrarese court. Desiring a black cloth for a mantle (among other luxury items), the seventeen-year-old Marchioness of Mantua writes, “If it is only as good as those which I see other people wear, I had rather be without it!” Lovely illustrations in color and black and white enliven the text.
Alana White
