Historical Novels Review

NOVEMBER 2024 ISSUE 110

WOMEN IN THE SHADOWS

Historical women you may have never heard of | More on page 8

FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE ...

India in Children's HF

Recent trends

Page 10

Gleefully Anachronistic

The Formidable Miss Cassidy

Page 12

A Sporting Chance

Football and HF in David Peace's Munichs

Page 12

Into the Storm

Fascism, Science & Social Anxiety

Page 14

Handed a Gift

The Mesmerist & Gilded Age Minneapolis

Page 15

Historical Fiction Market News

Page 1

New Voices Page 4

History & Film

Page 6

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW

ISSN 1471-7492

PUBLISHER

Richard Lee

Marine Cottage, The Strand, Starcross, Devon EX6 8NY UK <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org>

EDITORIAL BOARD

Managing Editor: Bethany Latham

Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University 700 Pelham Road North, Jacksonville, AL 36265-1602 USA <blatham@jsu.edu>

Book Review Editor: Sarah Johnson

Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Avenue, Charleston, IL 61920 USA <sljohnson2@eiu.edu>

Publisher Coverage: Bethany House; Bookouture; HarperCollins, IPG; Penguin Random House US; Severn House; Australian presses; university presses

Features Editor: Lucinda Byatt

13 Park Road, Edinburgh, EH6 4LE UK <textline13@gmail.com>

New Voices Column Editor: Myfanwy Cook

47 Old Exeter Road, Tavistock, Devon PL19 OJE UK <myfanwyc@btinternet.com>

REVIEWS EDITORS, UK

Ben Bergonzi

<bergonziben@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Birlinn/Polygon; Bloomsbury UK; Duckworth Overlook; Faber & Faber; Granta; HarperCollins UK; Head of Zeus; Orenda; Pan Macmillan; Sapere; Simon & Schuster UK; Storm; Swift Press

Alan Fisk

<alan.fisk@alanfisk.com>

Publisher Coverage: Aardvark Bureau; Black and White; Bonnier Zaffre; Crooked Cat; Freight; Gallic; Honno; Karnac; Legend; Pushkin; Oldcastle; Quartet; Saraband; Seren; Serpent’s Tail

Ann Lazim

<annlazim@googlemail.com>

Publisher Coverage: All UK children’s historicals

Aidan Morrissey

<aidankmorrissey@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Allison & Busby; Canelo; Penguin Random House UK; Quercus

Adele Wills

<adele.wills@btinternet.com>

Publisher Coverage: Alma; Atlantic; Canongate; Glagoslav; Hachette UK; Pen & Sword; The History Press

REVIEWS EDITORS, USA

Tracy Barrett

<tracy.t.barrett@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: All North American children's historicals

Kate Braithwaite

<kate.braithwaite@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Poisoned Pen Press; Skyhorse; Sourcebooks; and Soho

Bonnie DeMoss

<bonnie@historicalnovelsociety.org>

Publisher Coverage: North American small presses

Peggy Kurkowski

<pegkurkowski@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Bellevue; Blackstone; Bloomsbury; Casemate; Macmillan (all imprints); Grove/Atlantic; and Simon & Schuster (all imprints)

Janice Ottersberg

<jkottersberg@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Amazon Publishing; Europa; Guernica; Hachette; Kensington; Pegasus; and W.W. Norton

REVIEWS EDITORS, INDIE

J. Lynn Else

<jlynn@historicalnovelsociety.org>

Publisher Coverage: all self- and subsidy-published novels

EDITORIAL POLICY & COPYRIGHT

Reviews, articles, and letters may be edited for reasons of space, clarity, and grammatical correctness. We will endeavour to reflect the authors’ intent as closely as possible, and will contact the authors for approval of any major change. We welcome ideas for articles, but have specific requirements to consider. Before submitting material, please contact the editor to discuss whether the proposed article is appropriate for Historical Novels Review

In all cases, the copyright remains with the authors of the articles. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the authors concerned.

MEMBERSHIP DETAILS

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY was formed in 1997 to help promote historical fiction. We are an open society — if you want to get involved, get in touch.

MEMBERSHIP in the Historical Novel Society entitles members to all the year’s publications: four issues of Historical Novels Review, as well as exclusive membership benefits through the Society website. Back issues of Society magazines are also available. For current rates, please see: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/members/join/

HISTORICAL FICTION MARKET NEWS

HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY EDITORIAL UPDATES

The HNS extends thanks to Edward James, who is signing off as a UK reviews editor after an epic 17 years. Taking up this role is Adele Wills, an avid historical fiction reader with considerable experience as a teacher of English literature at the post-16 level and as a writer of theatre reviews. Bonnie DeMoss will be handling submissions from a variety of North American small presses after serving as co-editor of indie reviews. Updated contact details for all editors (and lists of publishers they work with) are on the masthead.

New book reviewers are always welcome. Email Sarah Johnson (sljohnson2@eiu.edu) or send a note via the HNS website requesting the guidelines. Provide details on your writing/reviewing experience, if any, and subject/time period/subgenre preferences. Reviewers get to choose their own books from lists sent out via email by the editors.

NEW BOOKS BY HNS MEMBERS

Congrats to our author members on their new releases! If you’ve written a historical novel or nonfiction work published (or to be published) in July 2024 or after, send the following details to me at sljohnson2@eiu.edu by January 7, 2025: author, title, publisher, release date, and a blurb of one sentence or less. Please shorten your blurbs down to one sentence, as space is limited. Details will appear in the February 2025 issue of HNR. Submissions may be edited.

A tale of industrial espionage, love, and betrayal set against the backdrop of the glittering Gilded Age, Current of Darkness by Robert Brighton (Ashwood Press, Mar. 19) will draw readers in, and hold them under, until its final pages.

Mona Lisa’s Daughter by Belle Ami (Tema Merback, Apr. 15) is a dualtimeline novel that entwines the fates of two remarkable women against the backdrop of the glittering peak of the Renaissance and the darkest depths of World War II.

When Vincent van Gogh commits suicide and his brother Theo falls insane, Sigmund Freud and Julie Forette, the dream collector, pursue the reasons in R. W. Meek’s The Dream Collector, Book II, Sabrine & Vincent van Gogh (Historium Press, Apr. 30).

Set in the Forgotten War of WWII, Janyre Tromp’s Darkness Calls the Tiger (Kregel Publications, May 14) is steeped in true stories and calls forth mountain legends to tell the story of a missionary woman who descends into unrestrained vengeance against the Imperial Japanese army who destroyed the village she loved.

Intrepid heroines, the Welsh sisters Ardath and Gwyn, and their family return to Philadelphia in 1753 to find a raging yellow fever epidemic, the looming French and Indian War, the theft of all their money, and a summons from England for Ardath’s husband James to return and solve a family emergency in Susan Posey’s A Weave of

and

(Great Rock Press, June 3).

In Murder in Mennefer by A.L. Sirois (Fitzroy Books/Regal House, June 18), set 4650 years ago in ancient Egypt’s pre-pyramid 3rd Dynasty, young Imhotep’s father is killed, landing him in the middle of a conspiracy threatening King Djoser’s throne.

Can they find a missing girl and foil a lethal Jacobite plot, before it’s too late? Pamela Belle’s first novel in more than 25 years, A Parcel of Rogues (Pamela Belle Books, June 21), is a historical mystery/ adventure and first in a series set in early Georgian London.

The West in Her Eyes, Janet Hancock’s 2nd novel (Resolute Books, July 12), is a tale of exile, ambition and love in a fictional Russian family, spanning the decade after the 1917 revolution, two continents, and several countries.

A weaver’s daughter with a fascination for colour defies deep-rooted custom and personal tragedy to find a place in Gloucestershire’s 17th century dyeing business in Blue Hawk by Chloe Turner (Deixis Press, July 17).

From the dungeons of the Inquisition to the last days of the Reconquista and the fall of Granada, Colin Falconer’s Converso (Skyview Publishing, July 19) is a sweeping tale of loyalty, betrayal and courage set in medieval Spain.

A 1940s ghost story set in the California wine country, Joie Lesin’s The Passenger (The Wild Rose Press, Aug. 21) tells the tale of family connections, life-changing choices, and love—lost and found.

In The Monmouth Manifesto by James Arnett (FriesenPress, Sept. 12), the hanging of a Patriot by a New Jersey Loyalist leads to an outraged Patriot mob, his trial by court martial for murder, General Washington’s worst decision and an international incident—the Asgill Affair—involving America’s essential ally, the King of France.

In Katherine J. Scott’s From the Ground Up (Glowing Log Books, Sept. 14), Elizabethan stonemason Robert Smythson must rebuild the great house of Longleat and solve a murder in a world where secrets are as deadly as the tools of his trade.

A crumbling castle is under attack while the ailing baron languishes, so the young baroness dons his armor, pretending to be the lord of the land, but as the threats increase, Rosalynde must give into her true nature and become the leader her people need in Lady by LCW Allingham (Mirror World Publishing, Sept. 17).

Beth Kanell’s The Bitter and the Sweet, Winds of Freedom book III (All Things That Matter Press, Sept. 18), is set in Vermont in 1854: fifteenyear-old Almyra Alexander uncovers a network of home-brewed medicines, the mysterious women making them, counterfeiters, and a threat to the local funding of the Abolition movement.

In Richard R. Gayton’s Love in Country (Northampton House, Sept. 20), an LGBTQ war action romance, two Army Rangers fall in love during Vietnam War combat, Tet Offensive 1968; based on the award-winning feature film of the same title, released 2023 on Amazon, Tubi and Dekkoo.

Sometimes death is not the end; a story of greed, grave-robbery, and love, Robert Brighton’s The Phantom of Forest Lawn (Ashwood Press, Oct. 8) will keep you guessing until its explosive end.

In Goodbye Bobby by JJ Harrigan (Bronzewood Books, Oct. 8), Charlie Parnell is mourning and helping his stepdaughter deal with the loss of her mother when an ominous visitor arrives at his door with

a proposition, one they believe could put an end to the Vietnam War.

Harold Emanuel’s Aliyah - A Jewish Family Saga (Palmetto Publishing, Oct. 8) chronicles the tumultuous journey of 16-year-old Lazar Hermanski and his 12-year-old brother, Mendel, as they survive the 1881 Warsaw Christmas Day pogrom, travel to America, and begin their life on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

In Soldiers (Independently published, Oct. 19), the final book in Sandra Chen’s 2nd Continental Light Dragoons series, the War for Independence hinges on the acquisition of intelligence that would decide America’s fate.

Ireland, 1847: As the nation starves and resentment grows, can Quin and Alannah trust the people living on their land? Their story is told in Juliane Weber’s Amid the Oncoming Storm, Book Three in the Irish Fortune Series (Independently published, Oct. 25).

The Immigrant Queen by Peter Taylor-Gooby (Troubador, Oct. 28) tells the true story of Aspasia, a courtesan in Ancient Athens; despite being despised as a woman and hated as a foreigner she became lover of Pericles, a close friend of Socrates, wrote philosophical dialogues and political speeches and was celebrated throughout Attica for her beauty and wit.

In Garden of Shadows (Fauve Press, Oct. 29), second in the Linnea Wren Mysteries series by Amy Marie Turner and set in the late 19th century, Linnea Wren has arrived in Spain, but her once in a lifetime opportunity to work at the famed Alhambra is complicated when she’s forced to solve a politically complex murder.

The Night of the Wolf by Cassandra Clark (Severn House, Oct. 31), trade pb release of the third in the Broken Kingdom trilogy featuring friar sleuth Rodric Chandler, takes place in 1400; rescued from the heretic fires of Westminster, Brother Chandler is entrusted with Chaucer’s last major work and seeks a place of safety.

Beth Ford’s second novel Love Between Times (The Wild Rose Press, Nov. 27), a time slip romance, brings together a modern woman rebuilding her life and a medieval knight stuck in the twenty-first century.

In Ashley E. Sweeney’s The Irish Girl (She Writes Press, Dec. 10), feisty and adventurous 13-year-old Mary Agnes Coyne travels alone from Ireland to the U.S. in 1886 to begin a new life in America; an Irish immigrant’s tale.

Lyn Squire’s Fatally Inferior (Level Best Books, Dec. 12) is an extraordinary tale of retribution set against the furore triggered by Darwin’s theory of evolution.

By teaching school in the Utopian Community of Rugby, Tennessee, William and Lizzie heal from their grief, and she and the women bond as lace knitters in Ae Fond Kiss by Joan Donaldson (Black Rose Writing, Jan. 9, 2025).

In Jeri Westerson’s Rebellious Grace: A King’s Fool Mystery (Severn House, Jan. 7, 2025), Henry VIII’s court jester Will Somers turns reluctant inquisitor once again when a grotesque murder within the palace walls is linked to the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion.

Penny Haw’s latest work of historical fiction, Follow Me to Africa (Sourcebooks Landmark, Feb. 2025), is inspired by the life of paleoanthropologist, Mary Leakey.

The Macbeths you’ve never known: Destined to unite Scotland, they first had to survive childhoods as pawns in a dynastic struggle in Upon the Corner of the Moon: A Tale of the Macbeths by Valerie Nieman (Regal House, Mar. 11, 2025).

In Anne Labouisse Dean’s debut novel, Far Side of Revenge (GladEye Press, April 2025), 10th-century Irish prince, Brian Boru, tells how childhood rivalries with older brother, clan king Mahon, threaten his hopes for lasting peace in their kingdom of Munster, won by turning enemies to friends, not corpses.

In The Secret Ranch by Hillary Tiefer (Histria Books, July 29, 2025), a dual-time novel, an 85-year-old woman reflects upon her experience in the Women’s Army Corps and her work as an enemy code interceptor in Petaluma California during World War II.

NEW PUBLISHING DEALS

Sources include authors and publishers, Publishers Weekly, Publishers Marketplace, The Bookseller, and more. Email me at sljohnson2@eiu. edu to have your publishing deal included. You may also submit news via the Contact Us form on the HNS website.

Cynren Press will bring out Larry Zuckerman’s novel To Save a Life in October 2025. In 1909, a young Jewish woman steals her dowry to flee Russia and an arranged marriage, arriving in New York with guilt, the clothes on her back, and hunger for freedom.

Beautiful Children, by House of Eve author Sadeqa Johnson, telling the story about the “Brown Babies” abandoned in Germany after WWII, sold to Dawn Davis at 37 Ink by Cherise Fisher and Wendy Sherman at Wendy Sherman Associates.

Shylashri Shankar’s Blood Caste, a historical crime thriller set in Victorian India, first in the Murder in the Deccan series and set in 1890s Hyderabad, sold to Kit Nevile, commissioning editor at Canelo Crime, via James Wills at Watson, Little, in a three-book deal. An outcast Brahmin detective teams up with a British expat inspector to solve a series of Jack the Ripper-style killings.

Linda Robertson has signed with Level Best Books for a three-book series exploring murder and political intrigue in interwar England through the eyes of Lady Emmeline “Foxy” Butterschloss, who brings to bear her brilliant codebreaking skills, acquired while working for Naval Intelligence during WWI, as well as her indomitable, often headstrong, will. The first book, The Lusitania Code, scheduled for Dec. 2024, examines two significant efforts to manipulate the 1924 election.

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths, a series opener featuring a timetraveling detective who lands and gets stuck in 1850s London while searching for a serial killer linked to present-day happenings, sold to Jeramie Orton at Pamela Dorman Books, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2025, by Rebecca Carter at Rebecca Carter Literary.

Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi, biographical fiction of the Egyptian queen, beginning at the moment when she becomes Pharaoh; plus another novel, The Queen of Sheba, were acquired by Tricia Harwani at Ballantine, via agent Ginger Clark at Ginger Clark Literary on behalf of Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment.

Creative writing professor (Columbia and NYU) Brianne Baker’s Edmonia, revealing the story of Black sculptor Edmonia Lewis, a talented 19th-century artist, sold to Leticia Gomez at Dafina, in a three-book deal, by Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media Group.

Continuing her Once Upon the East End series of Jewish Regency romances, Felicia Grossman’s Seduce Me in Secret and Dream of Me Until Dawn, reinterpretations of Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty, sold to Sam Brody at Forever for publication in 2025 and 2026, by Rebecca Podos at Rees Literary Agency.

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar, a cozy mystery starring the character from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and set two years later, pitched as “exploring the darker side of the British Empire and the human cost of colonial power,” sold to Rakesh Satyal at Harper Via, to Cat Camacho at HQ, and to Roberta Ivers at Harper Australia, by Danielle Binks and Jacinta di Mase at Jacinta di Mase Management.

Danielle Giles’ debut novel Mere, set amid a crumbling convent in 10th-century Norfolk as a young servant boy vanishes on the marsh, his disappearance blamed on a devil’s curse, was acquired by Mantle as its lead fiction debut title for spring 2025; publishing director Madeleine O’Shea bought UK/Commonwealth rights (excl. Canada) via Jessica Lee at A. M. Heath.

Susanna Porter at Ballantine, Meredith Pal at Penguin Canada, and Clare Hey at Simon & Schuster UK acquired Linda Wilgus’s The Sea Child, set in Napoleonic-era Cornwall as seafaring smugglers take shelter in a young widow’s coastal home, via agent Madeleine Milburn at her own agency.

Rachel Louise Driscoll’s The House of Two Sisters, gothic fiction about a young British Egyptologist along the Nile in Victorian times who investigates a potential family curse, sold to Wendy Wong at Ballantine for summer 2025 release, by Catherine Wood at Penguin Random House UK. Under the title Nephthys, the novel will appear from the Harvill Secker imprint of PRH UK next February.

The Spanish Daughter author Lorena Hughes’ novel The Night the Radio Died, in which a photojournalist in 1957 Ecuador searches for the truth about her parents’ apparent deaths eight years before, sold to Kensington’s Norma Perez-Hernandez (with Leticia Gomez editing), via Rachel Brooks at BookEnds.

OTHER NEW & FORTHCOMING TITLES

For forthcoming novels through late 2025, please see our guides, compiled by Fiona Sheppard:

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/guides/forthcoming-historicalnovels/

COMPILED

BY SARAH JOHNSON

Sarah Johnson is Book Review Editor of HNR, a librarian, readers’ advisor, and author of reference books. She reviews for Booklist and CHOICE and blogs about historical novels at readingthepast.com. Her latest book is Historical Fiction II: A Guide to the Genre

NEW VOICES

With their debuts, Tammy Armstrong, Fiona Britton, Rosa Kwon Easton & Anna Rasche take their readers into unexplored corners of the past.

Rosa Kwon Easton’s novel White Mulberry (Lake Union, 2024) is set in Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1930s. The original idea for the story and the central character, Miyoung, “came from some faded documents I found on my father’s desk some twenty years ago,” she says. “They were my grandmother’s, or ‘Halmeoni’s,’ old Japanese nursing and midwife certificates, dating from the late 1930s. I knew about Japan’s colonization of Korea and that my father was born in Japan, but what I didn’t know was that Halmeoni was a single mother raising a son alone in an unwelcoming country. Even though Halmeoni was reluctant to share her story at first, she eventually opened up, and White Mulberry was born.”

Easton’s research included recording interviews with her grandmother and father and taking numerous trips to Korea and Japan. “I had the opportunity to speak with my extended Korean family in Japan, and realized their struggles were similar to what I experienced growing up as a Korean immigrant in the US. I was moved by their challenges to be themselves in Japanese society, even as third-generation Koreans. Some still kept their Korean names, others passed as Japanese and intermarried with Japanese, and many continued to live as outsiders in the only country they knew and the land they called home.”

Hearing her relatives’ stories, and reflecting on her own, raised questions. “What happens to the self when you leave someplace, and what ‘self’ do you meet in the new? What ‘self’ do you sacrifice? I explored these questions in what eventually became my novel of a spirited Korean girl coming of age in Japan-occupied Korea who goes to Japan in search of a better future, only to face racial persecution, heartbreaking loss, and a choice that will change her life—and the lives of those she loves—forever.”

Easton explains: “In real life, Halmeoni learned to be herself and triumphed over poverty and a patriarchal, racist society designed to

break her. I wanted to lift up Halmeoni’s story of resilience and shine a light on this little-known period of Korean and Japanese history through fiction. Given that our gender, race, and identity are still being challenged today, Halmeoni’s courage to save her family from racial injustice despite grave danger is especially timely and inspiring.”

Tammy Armstrong has “always been drawn to animal stories,” she reveals. “Animals have a way of troubling a narrative, refusing to act how we expect, while possessing inner lives we know little about. After finishing my Ph.D. in literature and critical animal studies, I wanted to write a creaturely novel that celebrated these wonderful mysteries and contradictions. In particular, I wanted to dissolve the distance between humans and animals.”

The initial inspiration for Armstrong’s Pearly Everlasting (Harper/ HarperAvenue, 2024) “came while visiting my mother in Maine,” she continues, “after she gave me a magazine article she thought I’d enjoy. It was an excerpt from William Underwood’s early 19th-century memoir, Wild Brother. Underwood, a New England photographer, had heard rumours about a woman nursing an orphan black bear cub alongside her own newborn daughter in a lumber camp. With much difficulty, he traveled through Maine’s deep, wintery woods, eventually meeting this peculiar family. Before I’d finished reading the excerpt, I knew this was my story. While the yearling was sent to an animal sanctuary in Underwood’s telling, Pearly Everlasting explores what might have happened had a bear and a girl been allowed to grow up together as siblings. It is a story that looks at love in all its myriad forms, including our relationships with animals and landscape.”

For Armstrong, place is an important ingredient in her writing. “It is, in many ways, a character itself. I grew up in rural New Brunswick, so setting Pearly Everlasting down in its woods during the Depression era was a natural choice.”

Her family had “worked in lumber camps during the Dirty Thirties, and they valued storytelling, often recollecting—around my grandparents’ kitchen table—their time in the felling grounds. Funny stories, superstitious stories, old stories with new embellishments. All these experiences became touchstones for my interpretation of those years. My region’s also a very old part of Canada, rich with ghost stories, which lends itself well to the gothic elements in Pearly Everlasting.”

In the end, Armstrong “wanted Pearly Everlasting to highlight New Brunswick’s landscape and spirit, to capture a particular time—its struggles and hardscrabble years—while celebrating simple joys, love, and unconventional families.”

Anna Rasche’s inspiration for The Stone Witch of Florence (Park Row/ Legend Press, 2024) “struck back in 2014, when I was conducting research for a paper entitled ‘Uses of Precious Red Coral in Renaissance Italy,’” she states. “I’d enrolled in graduate school after many years working as a gemologist and historian for estate jewelry dealers, and was intrigued by the bright red, branchy material that popped up in all sorts of art historical contexts.”

During the course of her research, Rasche says, “I found myself engrossed by sources that fell way outside the parameters of my school paper. The thirteenth-century lapidary of Albertus Magnus. A collection of magical rings donated to the British Museum. A Victorian tome on the ‘ancient and widespread’ belief in the evil eye.

Tammy Armstrong

Flora Britton

Anna Rasche

Rosa Kwon Easton

© Natural Studio NYC

© Karin Fuire

I learned that for a very, very, long time, coral has been ascribed with all sorts of magical and medicinal powers, including the ability to protect its wearer from disease and misfortune.”

Rasche could imagine “a woman who wore just such a coral amulet. My mind connected her to the Black Death and Florence—a setting that would provide the ultimate test of the coral’s magic… I imagined empty streets, my heroine the only one brave enough to venture through infected districts. The concept excited me. I would definitely read that book! But nobody had written it yet…”

It was about the same time that Rasche received a critique from a professor. “He said my writing was ‘delightfully breezy, but most prefer a more sober approach.’ Maybe this was a sign I ought to try my hand at fiction? I took the subway up to The Cloisters, thinking that immersing myself in a medieval setting (or at least, the closest thing you can get to one in New York City) would bring clarity. Walking through the stone passageways, past the gilded reliquaries, I got that allover tingly feeling I’m sure HNS members are familiar with. It happens when you visit an old place, or view an object, or read an antique text and you know that somehow you are connected to it, maybe just a little bit more than everyone else. I decided to write the book.”

Violet Kelly and the Jade Owl (Allen & Unwin, 2024) by Fiona Britton has been described as a “funny, playful, out-of-the-box debut historical crime caper”. The novel has already been shortlisted for the Best Debut Fiction, Danger Awards for Crime Writing in 2024 in Australia and Best Debut Crime Fiction, Ned Kelly Awards. Her own rich working experience—including toy shop assistant, chip fryer, clown doctor, aerialist, hula hooper, stilt walker, and editor— have all provided her with more than just research into the past and have undoubtedly helped to shape her fear-free female characters. However, as Britton points out, “Violet Kelly and the Jade Owl is, above all, a story in which loyalty, friendship and courage wins the day… with a few laws broken, and a few rules of decorum bent along the way. And it draws on the rich, raucous history of its setting.”

Regarding the backdrop for the novel, she says, “Sydney in the 1930s is a well-documented time of marvellous sleaze, drama and lawlessness. Local historians refer to it as the ‘Razor Gangs’ era. Colourful low-life characters carried blades to settle fights rather than risk penalties for carrying guns.”

The result was, Britton says: “Blood-soaked alley-way clashes. infamous slashings, as rival gangs sought to dominate the local ‘sly grog’ and prostitution trade. Glorious debauchery followed by bitter endings… What crime writer wouldn’t be drawn to this wild moment of mayhem?

“To make matters better (well, in this writer’s view), the crime scene in Sydney at this time was dominated by two very fearsome women, Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh. As these two tussled for street glory, they left behind a trail littered with the bodies of scorned lovers, rival upstarts and unlucky go-betweens. Never before, or since, has inner-city Sydney’s fate been decide by two such infamous, terrifying and cunning women.”

The upshot for Britton was that “it made sense to create a very feminist story of luck, pluck and survival against this backdrop. Violet Kelly herself is a creature of the inner-city Sydney slums, and she succeeds in this world thanks to a dazzling brain, legs up to her ears and the determined patronage of another survivor of the streets, her beloved Madame (rhymes-with-alarm). The world they create is an antidote to the reality they might otherwise face.”

However, “At La Maison des Fleurs, located just a suburb away from the dark streets of Darlinghurst, the working girls refuse the future they might otherwise have been destined. They are cared for, educated, cultivated and given agency. From the comfort of her champagne-soaked boudoir, Violet Kelly connives to save another young woman, Shen, from being trafficked as a ‘blood prize’. This is a story in which young women triumph over the limitations of a world that wishes to send them, post haste, back to the gutter.”

Finding intriguing, sometimes humorous and often poignant and unusual connections with history has enabled Armstrong, Britton, Easton, and Rasche to provide glimpses into aspects of the past which could easily have remained hidden and unexplored, and to share them with their readers.

WRITTEN BY MYFANWY COOK

Myfanwy Cook is an Associate University Fellow. She is constantly inspired and filled with admiration for those who take part in the writing workshops on historical fiction that she designs and facilitates and by the creativity and dedication of debut novelists to their craft.

HISTORY & FILM

Politics & Protest: Medium Cool (1969) & Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

The Democratic National Convention set in Chicago August 19-22 this year could not help but recall the turmoil in the city on August 26-29, 1968.

• A sitting president drops his bid for a second term. In a letter on July 21, Joe Biden acknowledged that it was “in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” On March 31, 1968, Lyndon Johnson told the nation: “I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”

• A divisive war intensifies overseas. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked and killed 1139 Israelis and took 251 hostages. During the Tet Offensive in early 1968, massive numbers of military and civilians were killed or wounded: between 32,000 and 45,000 People’s Army of Vietnam/ Viet Cong, 10,000 South Vietnamese, and 8000 US troops.

• Shots are fired at a presidential candidate. On July 13 a gunman shot and killed one and wounded two other spectators and injured Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968, after winning the California primary.

• Protestors demonstrate. The Coalition to March on DNC and US Palestinian Community Network expected thousands of protestors in Chicago over the 2024 four-day convention. The National Mobilization Committee to End War in Vietnam (MOBE), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and the Youth International Party (Yippies) drew between 9000 and 10,000 demonstrators in 1968. 1,2

Many have forgotten about Chicago and the summer of 1968. Many have no idea who the Chicago 7 were and what happened to them the following year.

An Internet search of 1968 reportage returns: indelible images of journalists being forcibly ejected from the convention floor, live television coverage of the 17-minute melee known as the Battle for Michigan Avenue, police pushing protestors through plate-glass windows and beating them as they lay on broken glass on August 28, and the prosecution of protest leaders called the Trial of the Chicago 7, beginning in March 1969, lasting nearly five months, calling more

than 50 witnesses, and handcuffing and gagging a Black man while he sat at the defense table during testimony.

The two films do more than observe; they provide context and perspective, blending history, cinematography, and drama to capture that point in time and reflect on today. Medium Cool (1969), re-released in 35 mm in 2024, incorporates footage of policeprotestor interactions over the course of the 1968 convention. Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) relies on courtroom testimony to reveal the leaders of protest movements who were prosecuted in federal court for actions they took in Chicago: Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner, as well as Black Panther Bobby Seale.

PROTEST

Medium Cool took its name and inspiration from Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian communications scholar who coined the phrase “the medium is the message” in 1964. McLuhan called television a “cool medium” that involves people in what they see but doesn’t require viewers to engage, turning viewers into spectators who move from news segments to paid commercials and back again.3

The film follows news cameraman John Cassellis, played by Robert Forster, as he’s swept up by events at DNC 1968: staged wargame preparations by Illinois Army National Guard, actual faceoffs between police and protestors, emergency care of wounded individuals, and even scenes of votes tallied by DNC delegates.

Although scripted, the film is intentionally disjointed as it slips between documentary and drama, using only natural sound, few artificial lights, and no sets, placing fictional characters in actual situations and real people in fictional ones.4

In 1968 Haskell Wexler was a well-known cinematographer. He’d received the Academy Award for cinematography for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 1966 and had produced documentaries on Freedom Riders (The Bus) in 1965 and Chicago (The Living City) in 1953.5

When he came to Chicago in the summer of 1968 as the writer, director, and cinematographer of Medium Cool, he didn’t know what he would find. In 2015 at age 91, he explained in an interview upon the Criterion Collection's release of a restored 4K digital transfer of the film: “I knew there would be demonstrations and that the police would suppress them. But I didn’t build the story or the script around that. It just sort of unfolded before me.”6

During six weeks of filming, Wexler capitalized on media access. He and his actors were considered to be part of a news crew and so were able to move in and out of the action. Before arriving in Chicago, Wexler had received permission to shoot National Guard troops in Fort Ripley, Minnesota, as they engaged in pre-convention “practice riots,” wearing jewelry with peace signs and “Flower Power” shirts, carrying “Draft Beer not Students” signs, marching arm-in-arm and singing We Shall Overcome. He also had credentials to film Democratic Party delegates on the convention floor.

The result was considered to be a radical, experimental film, one known as guerilla-style, vérité filmmaking for handheld camera sequences, and one that had a frighteningly real consequence—a canister of tear gas bounced off Wexler’s camera and exploded, sending the man to the ground and permanently diminishing his eyesight.7

PROSECUTION

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin first heard about the Chicago 7 and their trial for conspiracy to cross state lines to incite riots in 2007 when Steven Spielberg asked him to write the screenplay for a film he would direct. Because of budget cuts and a strike by the Writers Guild that year, Spielberg dropped out of the project. More than ten years later, Sorkin took the helm as both writer and director.8

The project was a natural fit for Sorkin, involving courtroom dramatics a la A Few Good Men, real stories of real people in complicated times like his biopics of Steve Jobs and The Social Network’s Mark Zuckerberg, thorny social and political themes and the way people learn about them, think The West Wing and The Newsroom.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 centers on courtroom theatrics, the intended peaceful demonstrations that turned violent, and the personalities, differences, and rivalries between two principal defendants: the intellectual and restrained Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), and the flamboyant, in-your-face Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen).

The film has been criticized for playing fast and loose with fact and the portrayals of those involved. David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), did not punch a courtroom guard. Prosecutor Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Leavitt), was not sympathetic to the defendants. Chicago Leader of the Black Panther Party Fred Hampton did not sit behind fellow Panther Bobby Seale and offer advice during the trial.

Parts of the script conflate timelines. In the film, Seale is told that Hampton was shot to death by Chicago police while he was seated at the defense table. In reality, Hampton was shot in December 1969, months after Seale’s case had been severed and he was sentenced to jail on 16 counts of contempt of court.

Yet Sorkin’s vision earned praise from an antiwar protestor who was on the streets of Chicago in 1968 and followed the trial of the Chicago 7 as it was happening. Robert Levering welcomed the film’s humanization of the antiwar movement and shift away from Hollywood Vietnamera features that highlighted war scenes, or depicted antiwar activists as hostile to returning vets or self-serving draft dodgers.9

TODAY & YESTERDAY

Medium Cool fit right in with so-called 60s rebel films like Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy that delved into counterculture, taking stories off the back lot and out of the film studio and into actual settings. But it was roundly criticized for lacking cohesion, failing to make plot connections, or including discrepancies, such as Cassellis mysteriously appearing to cover proceedings at the DNC after he had been fired from his TV news job.

Fragmentation was actually the point. In keeping with the cool medium of television, the film captures images as they occur without providing background, point of view, or explanation. As Wexler himself noted, the cameraman influences “reality” by choosing which image to take, and the video presents a highly selective view of what’s happening—the action directly in front of the camera lens.10

The film’s message is spot-on today. “Medium Cool offers us a thoughtful examination of our position as spectators of and performers for an ever-present media. The film is more relevant now than ever, in our YouTube, cell-phone-camera age where nothing goes undocumented,” wrote Brett McCracken in 2015.11

And it turns an inquiring eye on viewers. At the end, a TV cameraman turns his camera away from the scene of an auto accident toward the screen as if to challenge the audience: what do you think? What are you doing while the protestors of 1968 chant, “the whole world is watching”?

The Trial of the Chicago 7 takes a different approach. It is highly

polished, carefully scripted, driven by dialogue—so much so that the historical liberties it takes worry some critics who believe viewers may take this version of events as gospel fact, when it alters time, testimony, and the personalities of characters. 12

Yet its dramatization carries messages with contemporary relevance. The tension and threat of violence are present today just as they were in 1968. As Aaron Sorkin told an interviewer for WBEZ TV Chicago in 2015: The film “is chillingly relevant when, suddenly, Donald Trump at rallies, you know, when a protestor in back would shout something and he’d be getting dragged out, and Trump would start reminiscing about the good old days when we’d carry that guy out of here on a stretcher and I’d like to punch him right in the face and beat the crap out of him—when protest was being demonized….”13

And the film gives the final context—the why. At the end, when Eddie Redmayne stands to make a statement to the court on behalf of all defendants, he starts to read the names of nearly 5000 GIs who recently died in Vietnam. Though the incident did not happen when and how it’s depicted, the scene illustrates the reason protestors had gathered—to stop the war in Vietnam, save lives, and change government policy while the whole world was watching.

REFERENCES

1. Mark Rivera and Chuck Goudie, Chicago DNC 2024, WLS-TV, various dates.

2. History.com editors: 1968 Democratic Convention, May 3, 2024.

3. McLuhan Organization: The Medium Is the Message, August 17, 2023; McLuhan, Marshall: Understanding Media, McGraw Hill, 1964; CreativeSpace Publishing, 2016.

4. Brett McCracken: Haskell Wexler Medium Cool and the Unscripted Drama of 1968.

5. IMBD: Haskell Wexler (1922-2015).

6. TimeOut: Haskell Wexler on the Criterion Collection Release of Medium Cool Interview, 2015.

7. McCracken.

8. Andrew R. Chow: The Trial of the Chicago 7 Is a Riveting Movie, But the True Story Is Even More Dramatic, TIME, October 16, 2020.

9. Robert Levering: Why the Trial of the Chicago 7 deserves praise from an antiwar protestor who was there. Waging Nonviolence, October 30, 2020.

10. Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago laced through the life of renowned cinematographer Haskell Wexler, July 7, 2024.

11. McCracken.

12. Jeremy Kagan: How ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ gets history wrong. Forward, October 26, 2020.

13. Terry Gross, Sam Sanders: In “Chicago 7” Aaron Sorkin Sees Chilling Parallels between 1968 and today, WBEZ Chicago, November 21, 2020.

WRITTEN

BY K.M. SANDRICK

K. M. Sandrick is a reviewer for HNR and was one of the first-round judges in the HNS 2024 First Chapters Contest. She is author of the historical novel The Pear Tree, recipient of Chanticleer International Book Awards’ 2018 Goethe Award for Late Historical Fiction.

WOMEN IN THE SHADOWS

Three historical women you may never have heard of are given center stage

Three novels were published this year with, at their centre, a female protagonist who is an actual figure from history you may never have heard of. All three women were Italian, from the city states of Florence, Rome and Venice. Two were orphans, brought up in ostensibly charitable foundations in Venice and Florence; the third, from the cadet branch of a noble family, was the wife of a Roman sculptor’s assistant; that sculptor was Gianlorenzo Bernini, and she was his mistress. All three have their place in history due to their connection to men more powerful and well-known than they, and all three were exploited, thwarted or physically harmed by this power dynamic. In all three novels – Rachel Blakemore’s Costanza (Dialogue), Harriet Constable’s The Instrumentalist (Bloomsbury) and my own The Maiden of Florence (Fairlight) – the narrative is firmly in the point of view of their central characters.

We only know what one of them looked like, thanks to Gianlorenzo Bernini’s marble bust of Costanza, now housed in the Bargello in Florence. It depicts a somewhat dishevelled woman, her mouth slightly parted, her eyes alert. Some commentators have opined

that this is in fact the portrait of a woman who has just had sex. Convinced that she had done just that with his brother Luigi, in 1638 Bernini sent a servant to slash her face with a knife. Costanza recovered, though she was subsequently imprisoned for adultery, released only to be entrusted to her husband. She lived until her late fifties, achieving significant success as an art dealer.

Anna Maria della Pietà, the protagonist of The Instrumentalist, was consigned in 1696 to the Venetian orphanage which gave her the only surname she ever possessed. Due to a long musical tradition, most known to us through the tenure of Antonio Vivaldi as maestro di violino, female children with musical talent would be trained as singers or instrumentalists, to entertain benefactors at fund-raising concerts (much as Händel did with the children of the Coram Foundation in London); those not so gifted worked as lace-makers or were indentured as servants – or married off to a stranger, a fate Anna Maria puts all she has into avoiding. Vivaldi’s compositorial output whilst at the Pietà was prodigious. But was it all his? Nothing survives that can be definitively ascribed to Anna Maria, yet she was known in her lifetime (passed entirely within the Pietà) as an accomplished violinist as well as adept with four other stringed instruments, plus the oboe and the harpsichord. Vivaldi wrote work specifically for her to perform, she obtained coveted and competitive titles within the orphanage’s musical hierarchy and ultimately taught the younger girls. Constable quotes in her endnotes a heartsore letter from another orphan, Lavinia, whose cantatas, concertos and other works had to be composed in Vivaldi’s style: “You must understand … that I could not do otherwise … they would not take me seriously, they would never let me compose. The music of others is like words addressed to me; I must answer and hear the sound of my own voice. And the more I hear that voice, the more I realise that the songs and sounds which are mine are different… Woe betide me should they find out.” In The Instrumentalist, a core theme is the perceived threat to Vivaldi’s musical dominance posed by Anna Maria’s talent.

Giulia Albizzi, protagonist of The Maiden of Florence, was the illegitimate child of a noble Florentine family whose fortunes were on the wane, brought up in a Dominican-run orphanage under pretty much conventual conditions. In 1564 she was removed from there on the orders of the Medici Grand-Duke, Francesco, and taken to Venice incognito. She was to serve as a test of the virility of Vincenzo Gonzaga, heir to the Duchy of Mantua, a condition of his marriage to his cousin, Eleonora de’ Medici. The rationale behind this was that his first marriage, to a Farnese princess, had been annulled for non-consummation. Though a slew of physicians had attested to Margherita Farnese’s malformation, an “obdurate hymen”, Eleonora’s stepmother had reasons for wishing to humiliate the Gonzaga family by bringing into question Vincenzo’s capabilities as a bridegroom. What happened next, a twenty year-old’s first sexual experience under semi-public conditions, is recorded in eye-watering detail in the correspondence Francesco’s minister sent back to Florence. Giulia was rewarded, or rather the husband subsequently chosen for her was, with a sizeable dowry, but once her purpose was fulfilled, she disappears from history. My novel reconstructs the “Congress of Venice” and then tells the unknown story of the marriage of two people very much pawns in the hands of their rulers.

THE MUSIC OF OTHERS is like words addressed to me; I must answer and hear the sound of my own voice.

What is striking about two of these stories is that their authors discovered them accidentally. In Constable’s case, she was on holiday in California and chanced on a book about Venetian orphanages which mentioned Vivaldi’s role at the Pietà, teaching exclusively women and girls, some of whom “went on to become some of the greatest musicians of the 18th century… I was surprised, and mildly enraged, that I’d never heard about this.” In my own case, I’d accompanied my son to a medical appointment, we were late, and I’d gone out without a book. Reduced to riffling through the gossip magazines, I found a clinical journal, dedicated to erectile dysfunction. It had a tiny historical column giving the bare bones of Giulia’s story, but describing it as Decameronesque. That really annoyed me; this was a real girl, not a character in a fable. I had to write her story.

Constable’s family background and her own musical upbringing inspired her to give Anna Maria the gift of synesthesia, the ability to see music as colours: “I wanted her to be able to grab [the notes] and tug them to the page as she composes…” My own first academic formation was in Renaissance history of art. Vincenzo Gonzaga was long known to me as the foremost collector of his time: after his death a significant part of his collection was acquired by Charles I of England, only for it to be substantially dispersed in the Cromwellian period. He was also the original of ‘The Duke’ in Verdi’s Rigoletto. But when I was an undergraduate, the History of Art was overwhelmingly the study of male artists. The few exceptions were defined in relation to those men or by life events not related to their talent. Thus, Artemisia Gentileschi’s fame (or notoriety might be the better word) for long rested on the facts of her rape by another artist, more than on her talent as a painter, one which outstripped that of her father Orazio, her teacher. Gwen John was often mentioned primarily as “the sister of Augustus John,” for he had a greater talent for what we’d now call taking up air time. Both John and the sculptor Camille Claudel were for too long in the hulking shadow of Auguste Rodin, the lover of both. Two recent books, reviewed for Historical Novels Review, seek to give Gentileschi and John their rightful place as artists: Elizabeth Fremantle’s Disobedient (Michael Joseph, 2023) and Maggie Humm’s Radical Woman: Gwen John and Rodin (Edward Everett Root, 2023) My protagonist Giulia Albizzi was not an artist but a much humbler figure who would not even have been taught to read and write in the orphanage.

The prompt to write about Costanza is a different one: specifically the 2021 kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer. As Blakemore puts it, “Every day, remarkable, curious, clever, brilliant women are hurt and killed at the hands of men [yet] when I first heard Costanza Piccolomini’s story she was not named… we must name these women, and name the violence against them.”

In all three books a sense of place is crucial. Constable spent a month in Venice, a city because of its geography substantially unchanged. I live a train journey from Florence, but the challenge there was to see past the 19th-century depredations that swept away substantial parts of the medieval city, notably around the presentday Piazza della Repubblica. Thus I came to rely on the closest we have to Renaissance interiors, notably the Palazzo Davanzati and the Museo Horne (readers who have been there will recognise the

former, though I shifted the location). Blakemore accompanies her readers through the streets of Rome with Costanza, a smaller and somehow more teeming city than at the present day, and one where everyone seems to know everyone else’s business and is prepared to use this in furtherance of self-interest or revenge.

In all three novels there is a sense that the author wants to get justice for her protagonist. Blakemore explicitly stated to me that her book is not just about violence to an historical figure but also about the victims of acid attacks worldwide, the multiple rapes of the drugged Gisèle Pélicot, the death by burning of Rebecca Cheptegei and the rape and murder of an Indian doctor within the walls of her medical college, a few examples from a shamefully long list. As Blakemore adds, “I wanted to erase the male gaze, and instead see them through the female gaze.” All three books help immerse the reader in a vanished age, but they do something more. They resonate with all readers who have been told to “move on” from unwanted sexual attention of all degrees of severity, any woman who has witnessed a work idea appropriated by a male colleague, any woman who has in some way been told to “know her place” or been told that the exercise of her talent, or simply her aspirations, is somehow not feminine.

WRITTEN

KATHERINE MEZZACAPPA

Katherine Mezzacappa is an Irish writer living in Italy. Her latest novel, The Ballad of Mary Kearney, will be published in January 2025 by Addison & Highsmith. Writing as Katie Hutton, she has published four historical novels with Zaffre Books.

INDIA IN CHILDREN'S HF

Ann Lazim examines some recent trends in children's historical fiction

There has been an increase in UK children’s publishing in books that are set in India and also some that feature characters of Indian/ South Asian heritage in a UK historical setting. This includes a recent mini trend in historical fantasy novels that are set in a 19th century “alternate colonial India”. I set out to explore the possible reasons for its emergence within the context of current children’s literature that links India and Britain.

Only a few years ago, there were few UK-published children’s books by South Asian heritage authors. Exceptions included novels by Jamila Gavin, particularly her Surya trilogy, set at the time of partition, available in new editions to mark the 30th anniversary of The Wheel of Surya (Methuen, 1992; Farshore, 2022). The pain of partition has also been addressed more recently in a short novel, Torn Apart by Swapna Haddow (Scholastic, 2021), that focuses on two boys, one Hindu and one Muslim, who meet briefly at the height of the chaos caused by the manner of the British withdrawal from India, dividing the country in two and using an arbitrarily drawn line to do so. Following a dearth of children’s fiction about this significant subject, Hiba Noor Khan’s The Line They Drew Through Us (Andersen Press,

2025) is soon to be published. Speaking of her forthcoming book in a recent interview, Hiba says of the theme of partition: “It is something that if I had understood in a deeper sense when I was young would have been very empowering and important for me to learn about me, as well as everyone around me learning about it.”1 Her previous novel Safiyyah’s War (Andersen Press, 2023), relating how Muslims in Paris helped their neighbours escape Nazi persecution during World War Two, received many plaudits.

Bali Rai’s early novels were mostly set in modern multicultural Britain, although his City of Ghosts (Doubleday, 2009) focuses on the Amritsar massacre in 1919. At SAILFest2, a recent conference of South Asian heritage children’s authors, Bali said that he thought the lack of interest in City of Ghosts when it was first published meant that it had been the “wrong” time for a brown person to write this book in terms of what mainstream publishing expected and revealed that he is now writing a sequel. Bali Rai’s writing has also played a role in highlighting previously lesser-known people of colour in history and their experiences with books about Indian soldiers in both World Wars and The Royal Rebel about the suffragette Princess Sophia Duleep Singh (Barrington Stoke, 2021).

Sufiya Ahmed has also written about the latter, and the producers of the 2023 Reflecting Realities report3 had this to say about her work within the wider context of their research on the “production of historical fiction that reimagines, reframes and counteracts the traditional erasure or marginalisation of the presence and perspective of racially minoritised figures and communities”: “The review team gained important insights from Sufiya Ahmed’s invaluable contribution to this genre through Rosie Raja: Churchill’s Spy (Bloomsbury, 2022). Ahmed has been steadfast in her commitment to shining a light on South Asian female figures, both imagined as in the case of Rosie and real life as featured in her title My Story: Princess Sophia Duleep Singh (Scholastic, 2022).”

The findings of the Reflecting Realities research have influenced an increase in ethnic minority characters in children’s books, although the representation of Asian characters is still low in comparison with their percentage in the population. The reimagining and reframing mentioned above is also linked to the re-examination of history, especially colonialism, going on more widely in society. The publication of books that address colonialism goes wider than India, but there is a strong link due to the connections with the British Empire. Notable attempts to explain the colonial past to children in accessible ways have been made by Sathnam Sanghera’s Stolen History: The Truth About the British Empire and How It Shaped Us (Puffin, 2013), published in the wake of his bestselling book for adults, Empireland (Viking, 2021), and Shelina Janmohamed’s Story of Now: Let’s Talk about the British Empire (Welbeck, 2023).

The Asian diaspora that followed the end of the British Empire has gradually resulted in more authors of South Asian heritage – some of whom were born in the UK or came when they were young children, some of whom are second or third generation. A number of them had previous professional careers in medicine, the law or engineering before becoming children’s authors.

Against this background, I became aware of the role of historical fantasy when two books came to my notice almost simultaneously –The Destiny of Minou Moonshine by Gita Ralleigh (Zephyr, 2023) and

THE REIMAGINING and reframing is also linked to the re-examination of history, especially colonialism, going on more widely in society.

City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak (Puffin, 2023). In The Destiny of Minou Moonshine Minou is a foundling who lives with her adopted grandmother in Moonlally, formerly a queendom, but now ruled by an autocratic general. The place names are invented, although the map of “Indica” at the beginning of the book clearly suggests the shape of southern India, and connections with India are evoked in several ways. The division and power imbalance between Blacktowners and Whitetowners is highly suggestive of the colonial connections between Europe and India. There is an airship named Napoleon, and while the date is never mentioned, the inclusion of this invention suggests a time frame of the 1850s onwards, and there are details that enable readers to draw parallels with historical events if they wish. Gita has gone on to publish The Voyage of Sam Singh (Zephyr, 2024) which takes place in the same alternate world (see review by Louise Tree in HNR August 2024). In a conversation I had with Gita about her work, we talked about how attitudes towards colonialism in children’s literature have changed and the importance of children knowing about this as a part of British history.

She started writing The Destiny of Minou Moonshine in 2016 but, disheartened by increased racism in Britain associated with Brexit, she abandoned it until encouraged by her agent to go back to it. Her own reading of fiction featuring India and the British Empire included Rudyard Kipling’s Kim and Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone and, of more recent vintage, Philip Pullman’s The Ruby in the Smoke (1987) gave her a double perspective of reading about India through British eyes. In writing an “alternate” history, using snippets from real history mixed with fantasy, she drew inspiration from the work of Joan Aiken. Gita believes that crossing boundaries in this way is more allowed in children’s fiction.

Like a number of authors of colour who started writing because their childhood selves and their own children could not find themselves in a book, this was part of Gita’s motivation. She wanted to write a colonial adventure centring a child of colour. This was also behind the creation of Nazneen Ahmed Pathak’s City of Stolen Magic which is explicitly set in 1855 (reviewed by Marion Rose, HNR February 2024).4 Speaking at the inaugural SAILFest, Nazneen said that she wrote the book so that her own child could see themselves in a story. As a child she rewrote classics like The Secret Garden and The Little Princess in her head with South Asian girls as the main characters. But until she was in her thirties, she “had no idea how colonialism had been responsible for establishing the migrant community I am part of”. Both Gita and Nazneen believe that the fantasy element gives their characters agency, and Nazneen says that writing about history through the eyes of fantasy allows for the realm of the possible, such as magical children bringing down the British Empire. She plans further stories about the characters in City of Stolen Magic

The creation of stories connecting India and Britain in an alternative 19th-century world continues. Jasbinder Bilan’s first novels had contemporary settings with an element of magic. However, her latest novel Nush and the Stolen Emerald (Chicken House, 2024) has a 19th-century colonial India setting (also reviewed in HNR, August). Piu DasGupta’s Secrets of the Snakestone (Nosy Crow, 2024) features a central character Zélie Dutta, who is from Calcutta working as a maid in Paris during the Belle Époque in 1895.

The increase in children’s fiction that challenges earlier narratives about the colonial relationship between India and Britain and

gives voice to writers of South Asian heritage is to be welcomed. It is important that it continues and is not seen only as a temporary trend. The way in which writers are working collectively to support and promote each other’s work is a very positive development and many of them believe that their stories have parallels with what is happening in the world today, that historical novels are often about now rather than then.

REFERENCES

1. Rob Green, “Seeking truth in the hidden depths of life”, Pen & inc. Autumn/Winter 2024, pp. 9-11

2. SAILFest is a new group bringing together UK-based South Asian heritage creatives of children’s literature. They held their inaugural conference on 6 September 2024. https://www.sailfest.org.uk

3. Reflecting Realities is a research project based at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education in London which has produced annual reports about diversity in UK children’s literature since 2018: https:// clpe.org.uk/research/reflecting-realities

4. This interview about Nazneen’s book and how she came to write it is very informative: https://easterneye.biz/nazneen-ahmed-pathaktelling-stories-of-a-history-we-need-to-know-and-talk-about/

WRITTEN BY ANN LAZIM

Ann Lazim is UK Children’s & YA Reviews Editor for HNR. A retired children’s and education librarian, she is involved in IBBY (International Board of Books for Young People) and a jury member for NEEV Children’s Book Award, India.

GLEEFULLY ANACHRONISTIC

BY SARAH BOWER

Sarah Bower Talks to Meihan Boey about The Formidable Miss Cassidy

I worked with Singaporean writer and graphic artist Meihan Boey when she came to Norwich on a research residency at the National Centre for Writing funded by the National Arts Council of Singapore, and was immediately entranced by her heroine, the feisty Miss Cassidy.

Mei describes her fictional world as “gleefully anachronistic”. It is a complex and multi-layered blend of history and mythology. “It is based on real, historical colonial Singapore,” she told me, “but because the primary purpose of the story is to carry the odd, interesting and casually terrifying aspects of the mixed-up culture of Singapore, there are background details and character traits which would have been impossible in the [1890s], but show up in the book anyway. The two fathers in the story, Captain Bendemeer and Mr Kay, for example, hold very modern views about their daughters’ actions that even Asian fathers today don’t always accept.”

Singapore is an economic and cultural crossroads. By the 1890s, Mei explained, Singapore had absorbed seventy years of migrants (the British arrived in 1819) from all over the world. Chinese and Indian migrants alone would have accounted for over twenty different dialect groups and as many variations of religious belief, and this is before you consider the many different peoples who had been on the islands for hundreds of years prior to the imperial period. Mei describes the complexity of cultures and languages in Singapore today as “staggering”. Although writing a novel grounded in “real” history, Mei told me she was anxious not to underplay the influence of belief in the supernatural. “It is deeply ingrained in our culture, across pretty much all races and religions, that the unseen world is absolutely real and present in everyday life. It’s perfectly ordinary here, for example, for a Catholic Eurasian person to respectfully step around a makeshift altar at the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival ‘just in case’.” This sets the scene for the arrival of Scots governess Miss Cassidy, who has arrived from India in mysterious circumstances, to oversee the education of Sarah Jane Bendemeer, last surviving child of Captain James Bendemeer, an East India Company man.

While magic has its place, so does old-fashioned sleuthing, and Miss Cassidy quickly takes on something of a Miss Marple role as she sets about discovering why Sarah-Jane’s mother and all her siblings have unexpectedly and tragically died. Reviewers have also likened the redoubtable governess to Mary Poppins with elements of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mei herself says she was inspired by Mary Poppins (not the film but the book, in which she is “a much more ambiguous figure than the… Julie Andrews version”) but also by Jane Eyre, whom she sees as more “fiery” than “humble and lovelorn”. Bendemeer House becomes her Thornfield Hall, and the madwoman in the attic is transformed into a pontianak1 in the garden, and without wanting to give anything away, I will say look out for Mr Kay, who might just have an aura of Rochester about him.

“One element of this relationship,” says Mei, “deals with physical touch. This novel was written during the peak of the Covid pandemic,

when touch was a touchy subject, so to speak! So it became an exploration of ways in which a relationship might develop, if physical touch was not permitted. In the case of Mr Kay and Miss Cassidy, and the time this is set in, there are multiple barriers to physical touch – social status, gender, racial/miscegenation laws… So, while they form a bond, the only time one touches the other is during a moment of extreme stress towards the end.” Mei has also drawn on her own life to create her characters. Mui Ee, for example, is based on her grandmother: “…she kills a chicken by swinging it sharply so its neck breaks cleanly – this is an actual memory of how my grandmother killed chickens.”

I put it to Mei that a novel so multi-layered and action-packed required careful and detailed plotting. She deflected my question by quoting Neil Gaiman, who has described writing a novel as “like the process of throwing mud at a wall and seeing what shape it makes.” “My mud’s probably much less well-shaped than Mr Gaiman’s, but that’s about the gist of it!” she said. She did, however, admit that her work as a comic artist (she is vice-president of the Association of Comic Artists in Singapore) influences her plotting process: “The whole novel is actually plotted very much as if it is a comic, manga or anime. In visual storytelling, tight, episodic plotting is necessary; the visual aspect must capture the essence of the story, so the details of very small things are important. So, the episodic nature of the chapters, which mostly end on a plot point to be resolved, and the detail of little things like the colour of a teacup, are all aspects of visual storytelling translated to prose.”

The Formidable Miss Cassidy is the first in a projected trilogy of books and the first to be published in England (Pushkin ONE, 2024), so I asked Mei about her plans for the next two books. The second, The Enigmatic Miss Ingram, was published in Singapore in 2023 and has been bought by Pushkin ONE for publication in the UK, date to be confirmed. Mei has just submitted the manuscript for the third book to her Singapore publishers. She also told me that, although nothing is yet confirmed, Miss Cassidy may be appearing in American bookstores in the not-too-distant future.

It was an absolute pleasure to catch up with Mei for this conversation and to be re-united with the truly formidable and entirely spellbinding Miss Cassidy.

Sarah Bower has published three historical novels, the most recent of which, Lines and Shadows, was published in 2023. She is currently working on a novel about pioneering balloon flight in Paris in the 1780s. She is quite certain the Paris Olympic flame was designed with her in mind.

Notes:

1. In Malay mythology a Pontianak is a spirit associated with death in childbirth. She is said to reside in banana trees.

A SPORTING CHANCE

BY DOUGLAS KEMP

Football and Historical Fiction in David Peace’s New Novel, Munichs

Despite being the world’s most popular sport, football (soccer) has not been a successful or popular subject for fiction, and has certainly not held much appeal for writers of historical fiction. Other established sports such as cricket or baseball do have a comparatively rich literature. David Peace, an English writer from Yorkshire, has challenged this deficit, and has published among his other works, three novels about British football: The Damned Utd. (which was made into a film) and dealt with the tumultuous 44-day reign of Brian Clough as manager of Leeds United in 1974; Red or Dead, which had the iconic 1960s and 1970s Liverpool FC manager Bill Shankly as its subject; and now, Munichs (Faber/WW Norton, 2024), which has as its subject the 1958 disaster at Munich airport with the plane crash carrying the Manchester United squad home after a European Cup match in Belgrade.

David spoke about the appeal of British football culture to him as a writer: “For me, the history of British football plays a great part in the history of the working class, and it is a history that is filled with so many great narratives and characters. And so, for example, I could have written about Herbert Chapman or Stan Cullis or Bill Nicholson or Jock Stein. Like Matt Busby and Jimmy Murphy in Munichs, or Bill Shankly and Brian Clough in Red or Dead and The Damned Utd., these were all men who came from very poor backgrounds, often with little formal education, and, Clough aside, who also served in the War or a reserved occupation, but who succeeded in football not only through their physical abilities and strengths, but through the power of their intellect and character. And, most importantly, they would not allow themselves to be constrained by the strictures of the class and time into which they were born. So, for me, these men are not only fascinating and complex characters, but inspiring ones, too.”

Academic discourse has analysed at some length why football has been neglected by the arts and literature despite its central role in society. For David, the reason is quite straightforward: “for most of the twentieth century, football was a working-class pursuit, and there persists, even to this day, a belief in publishing and the wider media that working class men don’t read books. Or, if they do, certainly not novels.”

The Munich disaster and the aftermath is still emotionally raw for many, particularly supporters of Manchester United, and even though the main participants have now died, David spoke about what he wanted to achieve in a work of historical fiction and how he approached the subject. “My overriding preoccupation is always to get the historical record and context as correct and as accurate as I can, in order then to try to take the reader back to that time and place and to make the events

of the novel a ‘lived experience’ for the reader. This is the reason I do what I do. And I don’t believe I need to invent characters in order to do that and, furthermore, such characters would then distort or even destroy the accuracy of what I am trying to do. In the case of Munichs, distorting or perverting the historical record and context would also be insulting and disrespectful to the Dead and to the Survivors, and their families, and all those who were affected by the disaster and which is the very opposite of what I am trying to achieve in writing this novel. Manchester United supporters need no reminding of the terrible event of February 6, 1958, but I hope the novel helps reestablish the Munich Air Disaster as a national tragedy, and one that affected millions of people, regardless of who you supported, where you were from, or whether you were even interested in football or not.”

David Peace’s football novels are not structured as conventional narratives – there is much interior monologue from the characters, and his prose can have an incantatory, almost mesmeric rhythm, reflecting the often-repetitive nature of our thoughts and actions. There are some dialects employed in the text of Munichs, and David explained that he “very much wanted Munichs to be a polyphonic novel, again to reflect the extent of the tragedy, and so it was very important then to have a multitude of different and distinct voices within the text. The particular challenge was how to then do that while retaining an overall third-person narrative point of view. However, a great inspiration and help here came from Gogol and his use of the ‘skaz’ narrator, from the Russian ‘skazat’, meaning ‘to tell’ which, in short, is a third-person narrative voice that takes on the persona of the character the narrator is talking about.

“Having found that form, the biggest challenge was then to try to get the voices as accurate to both the place and the time as I could, and that involved a lot of listening and reading of other texts –books, films and music – from the period. Even then, the section set in Dublin was especially daunting, and so I was lucky to have a friend in Andrew Fitzsimons, a wonderfully gifted poet and academic, who kindly read an early draft and made some very, very wise and helpful suggestions.”

After three novels about football, David said that “there are other football subjects that do appeal, though having been burnt over my plans for a Boycott book, I’ll keep my big mouth shut for now, at least.” This refers to a publicised planned novel about the Yorkshire cricket player Geoffrey Boycott who then, with the assistance of a professional writer, drafted his own story that owed much to David Peace’s identifiable fictional style. As a supporter of Leicester City, I

would be fascinated to discover what David could make of that miraculous and still-hardly believable Premier League win in 2015-16. He agreed that “it really is one of the greatest footballing stories there is and one, moreover, that continues to give hope to that vast majority of football supporters who don’t follow the ‘Big Six’: but who continue to dream, in my case that Huddersfield Town are but four seasons from Europe!”

Douglas Kemp was an HNR reviews editor from 2008 to 2024.

INTO THE STORM

BY LOUISE TREE

Fascism, Science, and Social Anxiety

In 1936, a group of London schoolboys were taken to Germany for a hiking holiday. Five boys did not survive the climb up the Schauinsland mountain. Lost in heavy snowfall, they ascended the highest precipice, and it later appeared that their teacher had waved away storm reports. This tragedy is the inspiration for Sarah Day’s second novel, Night Climbing (Legend Press, 2024), which follows her award-winning Mussolini’s Island (Tinder Press, 2017). Day says the research for her first book began her fascination with the rise of fascism, leaving her feeling “there was more to explore. It’s tempting to think the war sprang out of nowhere in 1939”; but the “social anxieties” of this period, when propaganda and fear forced social schism, “feel relevant to our own times”.

Day has said that she prefers to work with real historical events, but she stresses that Night Climbing is inspired by the hiking tragedy but is not based on it. Set in London and the Black Forest, the story is told from the perspective of fictional characters: Sylvia, who is searching for her missing son, Cyril; Keith, an imagined version of the boys’ schoolteacher; and Hilde, who helps in their rescue efforts, but soon finds that the reach of Nazi ideology has extended to her remote village of Hofsgrund. Day shows how the villagers’ response to the disaster is in stark contrast to the way in which the Hitler Youth take control of the situation for political purposes, their belated involvement a performance of Anglo-German friendship in the atmosphere of pre-war tension.

Fictionalising real history is a novelist’s challenge. Day’s advice is “to accept that however closely you’re intending to stick to true events, you are always, in some way, fictionalising them. Even a novel based on a real historical figure can’t possibly know what was happening inside that person’s head, or those of the people around them. Writing a novel is an imaginative leap, and should never be read as a piece of reportage or historical evidence. That said, I think it’s important at the outset to set yourself rules and try to stick to them. Some writers prefer to not include any facts in their story which aren’t taken from historical records, and others are more comfortable allowing themselves more freedom. Being clear about why you’re telling the story you’ve chosen can really help – if it’s to cast light on a specific historical figure, it may be important to stick to the facts you can find about their life. If it’s to explore a particular theme or time period, perhaps you can have a little more license.”

The tragedy of the lost boys allows Day to explore themes important to her. Sylvia gets a cleaning job at the Galton Laboratory for eugenics research at University College London. Fuelled by eugenics, a policy of forcible sterilisation was implemented in Hitler’s Germany for ‘defective women’, but Day shows how it was an idea being picked up by some groups in the UK: Sylvia’s women’s group, a seemingly benign group of volunteers, also campaigns for selective sterilisation.

Day explains that she “chose to focus specifically on the research happening at the Galton Laboratory because we like to think Britain was so far away from what was happening in Germany, but it’s very clear that, despite the consequences being very different, there were a lot of parallels. Researchers were fascinated by the possibility that we might be able to identify biological markers for any and all conditions deemed to be problematic – from debilitating diseases to social challenges. Many (though by no means all) of those scientists were also heavily involved in advocacy groups like the Eugenics Society. It’s impossible to separate the social and the scientific aspects of their work, and that remains true of science today.”

Day studied for a Masters in the History and Philosophy of Science, and she says that “the interaction between science and the wider society is something that is easily forgotten”; but that scientists are “as much a part of the complex networks of politics, economics and society as the rest of us are. Nowhere is that more evident than in the genetic research that was happening in the early 20th century.” Policy decisions in our own times also show us how “science can be appropriated and manipulated by those with other agendas” and we “see how science and social attitudes are inextricably linked”.

Sylvia dreams of being a scientist, and there is pathos in the way fate hands her a job as a cleaner at the Galton Laborator y. Almost as invisible as historical charwomen, Day points out, are the real female scientists at the laboratories in this period: “For their male counterparts, I could find photographs, short biographies, entire archives of correspondence, but these women were just names.”

This is an example, she says, of how it is often necessary, “when searching for women’s stories in historical records, to ‘read between the lines’”. But the women scientists at Galton are now being brought into the light by a group of contemporary MA students at UCL. Day says that “there is some brilliant research out there about women’s experiences of the 1930s and fascism – the trick is knowing where to look, sifting what you find” and how “exciting” it is when you do find artefacts from their lives. We see the challenges professional women faced in the character of Kit, a journalist who joins Sylvia’s quest to find the truth of what has happened to her son.

Day’s work also continues to explore the ways in which social groups can be politically coerced, of how they might resist, and the consequences of resistance. Day’s characters are sidelined, judged to be ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’ based on their gender, physical and mental health, their poverty. She exposes the stories outsiders sometimes need to tell themselves and others to avoid social shame, and of the redemption they might find. Night Climbing questions the complex connections between science and social attitudes, and Day is sure that “whatever time period and subject matter future books take me to, those themes will always be there.” As readers of Sarah Day, we will be there with her too.

Louise Tree is a review and feature writer for HNR and is at work on a novel set in wartime London.

I THINK IF A WRITER can get her hands on the diary of a remarkable woman from the past, she’s been handed a real gift.

HANDED A GIFT

BY BETHANY LATHAM

A Tale of Gilded Age Minneapolis

Novelist Caroline Woods is always searching for little-known historical tales centered around women who rose above the constraints of their day – especially if they did so to help other women. But she’s also been drawn to scary stories since she was a child, particularly if they contain aspects of the supernatural. With The Mesmerist (Doubleday, 2024), she’s crafted a tale that incorporates all these elements.

The Mesmerist is set in 1890s Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the germ of the story began with a desire to focus on the Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers, a Minneapolis charity that existed during this time period. Woods decided early on that this would be her setting.

“The defining characteristic of the Bethany Home, for me, was that it treated unwed mothers with dignity and respect, which seemed unusual for its time and worth celebrating,” Woods notes. Novelists often attempt to conflate historical events and situations to the present day, sometimes with alarming ineptitude, in their search for resonance with a contemporary audience. Yet the Bethany Home and its inhabitants, with their universal struggles that individuals in their position still face in the modern world, are effortlessly relatable. “Reading historical fiction,” Woods says, “can help give us insight into many issues we still fight for today—for example, the Sisterhood of Bethany recognized the need to provide prenatal and postnatal care, childcare, and job training to unwed mothers if those women were to have any chance at self-reliance and a secure future.”

The Mesmerist begins when one such woman, little more than a child, stumbles upon the Bethany Home. Nameless and dubbed Faith, she has been traumatized in a way she won’t explain, the only clue to her origins the tattered purple silk she wears with the name of an exclusive dressmaker upon its label. The inhabitants of the Bethany Home find her strange. She’s treated as a pariah by many of the young women, who accuse her of mesmerizing them. Her roommate, May, sees this as nonsense, and forms a tentative friendship with the mute young woman. May seems to have good fortune on her side. Her pregnancy past, her time at the home is almost up, and she has formed an attachment with a well-to-do young man whom she hopes will serve as her Prince Charming, offering elevation to marriage and respectability. Yet this young man doesn’t know May’s background, and she’s terrified of what will happen to her prospects if he finds out. While Faith is one mystery, others also quickly present themselves: a madam has gone missing, counterfeit greenbacks are flooding Minneapolis, and this is just the tip of an iceberg of violence.

As much as she was drawn to the Bethany Home and its work, Woods admits, “That didn’t provide the conflict necessary to sustain an entire novel, let alone a historical mystery! So I did some digging into Minneapolis history and very quickly came across the case of

Harry Hayward. His crimes were sensationalized in their time but seemed largely unknown outside of Minnesota. It was surprising to me, considering he predates the much more famous H. H. Holmes, of The Devil in the White City.”

It was the addition of the true crime element with the Harry Hayward case that provided the biggest challenge in adapting the factual to the fictional. “The true crime that inspired this novel happened on a very specific timeline, of course, and I had to fit that with the character arcs of three different women,” Woods says. “Also, I wanted them to be tied in various ways to the crime, and to help solve it, but I had to make sure I wasn’t rewriting history. My characters act in the shadows. I tried to make it clear the police were the ones who caught the bad guy (which they did, and rather quickly). In my version, they’ve also received some back-channel nudges and help from a plucky group of women.”

In order to successfully marry the historical with the invented in her work, Woods uses a multi-pronged approach to research. She explains: “I read nonfiction books about the time and place I’m writing about, I visit as many locations in the book that still exist as possible, I read fiction written in that time period (for this one I reread The Awakening by Kate Chopin), and I visit city archives to view things like blueprints, trial transcripts, and streetcar maps.” But the most helpful boon to her research were the words of the historical woman who appears as one of the major characters in the novel— the complete journals and correspondence of the Quaker Abby Swift Mendenhall. “Abby is one of my point-of-view characters in The Mesmerist,” says Woods. “She was treasurer of the Bethany Home and one of its founders, and I learned through her journals that she was at the home nearly every day. She became emotionally invested in the women at the home, who became like her daughters. She’d roam the city looking for one of them if she felt the girl was in trouble; she’d even let them spend the night at her home if they needed to. Her personality really shone through in the journals, too. She was often doubting herself and her faith, and she seemed really caged in by marriage and domesticity. It was only after she founded the Bethany Home, when she was in her fifties, that she seemed to find her calling and sort of come to life.”

Citing favorite novels such as Ariel Lawhon’s The Frozen River, which is also based on journals written by a historical woman, Woods expounds, “I think if a writer can get her hands on the diary of a remarkable woman from the past, she’s been handed a real gift.”

As integral as she is to the story, it isn’t Mendenhall who ultimately fought her way through the pages to become Woods’ favorite character. Admitting that her feelings on the matter go back and forth, Woods finally settles on the fictional Faith. “She’s the one everyone believes to be a Mesmerist, and I enjoyed considering how she might view her own power: whether or not she really believes it’s a form of magic, how she comes to embrace her own strangeness and use it to her advantage. I like that by the end of the book, even after all she’s been through, she hasn’t lost her belief that she can make a difference in other people’s lives.”

Bethany Latham is a librarian, professor, and HNR’s Managing Editor.

REVIEWS

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES

Due to an ever-increasing number of books for review and space constraints within HNR, some selected fiction reviews and all nonfiction reviews are now published as online exclusives. To view these reviews and much more, please visit www.historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews

ANCIENT HISTORY

A SONG TO DROWN RIVERS

Ann Liang, Tor, 2024, £22.00, hb, 336pp, 9781035050390 / St. Martin’s, 2024, $32.00, hb, 336pp, 9781250289469

Two and a half thousand years ago, a Chinese peasant sends her daughter to the river to wash silk. There is a problem: the girl is beautiful; dangerously beautiful. Her mother veils her. Despite her mother’s precautions, danger finds Xishi. There’s a fight. Blood is shed. But Xishi embraces it, steeled by the resolve to avenge her sister, massacred by the invading Wu army. Hence, Fanli, mysterious and compelling advisor to the King of Yue, recruits Xishi as a secret weapon. Her mission is to become a live Trojan Horse: gifted as a concubine to the enemy king. Once in his palace, she will work to overthrow the Kingdom of Wu.

So opens a book in which achingly beautiful scenes of flowers, landscapes and lovers are contrasted with visceral brutality. Both have a timeless quality: the images reminiscent of classical Chinese scrolls, the violence straight from today’s news.

The story is based on a legend which tells of Xishi’s role in a war between rival Chinese states in the 5th century BC. The power of this book lies in the realisation of these mythical characters. In the author’s hands, they become physical bodies with desires, fears and uncertainties. Xishi’s passion, of course, falls where it should not, and the despair of the lovers is electric. These people may have lived thousands of years ago, but their distress is as real as any endured today. For this reason, this book comes with a health warning to those

who might be triggered by trauma, grief or bloodshed. But as a work of beauty and as a powerful indictment of the suffering caused by war, it comes highly recommended.

Helen Johnson

CLASSICAL

CLEOPATRA & JULIUS

Joanna Courtney, Piatkus, 2024, £9.99, pb, 365pp, 9780349432977

Cleopatra is best-known for her relationship with Mark Antony because that love affair has taken centre-stage in representations such as Shakespeare’s play or HBO’s television series, Rome. However, Cleopatra also had a long relationship with Julius Caesar and a son, Caesarion, by him. She was staying at Caesar’s villa near Rome at the time of his assassination. The novel focuses on the affair with Caesar but also aims to show more of the Egyptian queen than her ability to seduce Romans.

Courtney points out that Cleopatra is nearer the iPhone, in time, than she is to the building of the pyramids. Giza was built in 2,500 BC and Cleopatra took the throne in 52 BC. The descriptions of the two great cities of Alexandria and Rome are vivid: substantial research clearly underpins this book. Nevertheless, I missed a sense of distance in time and of alien cultures. There are some wonderfully described scenes, such as Cleopatra and her father deliberately greeted by Cato as he sits on the latrine, and Cleopatra’s father climbing a ladder over a villa wall to enter a Roman party to avoid crossing the line around Rome that cannot be traversed by a royal.

The story is primarily told from the women’s point of view. Cleopatra is fourteen at the beginning of the novel, and her voice initially feels naïve and a little cloying. The plot thickens once Cleopatra becomes queen and her political manoeuvrings are enacted. The author’s portraits of the Roman players— Brutus, Servilia, Porcia, Cato, Pompey— and the depiction of their interactions with Cleopatra are potent. Courtney effectively portrays a complex weave of the erotic and the political in Cleopatra’s relationship with Caesar.

Tracey Warr

THE LAST SONG OF PENELOPE

Claire North, Orbit, 2024, £20.00, hb, 388pp, 9780356516110 / Redhook, 2024, $30.00, hb, 400pp, 9780316444101

In the third and final part of the Songs of Penelope series, Claire North takes us to the Greek island of Ithaca for the return of the wandering hero king, Odysseus, disguised as a beggar. This section of the ancient myth, as told by Homer, has always been the most

difficult for me, as a former classical scholar. The reunion with his wife and son was bound to be tricky, Odysseus having been away from the island for twenty years – ten years at Troy and the rest of the time finding his way home while battling with monsters and enchantment. But the ruthless slaughter of Penelope’s maids by the hero because of their supposed collusion with the suitors is troubling, to say the least.

North’s interpretation of these events is nothing short of brilliant – and heartbreaking. Penelope’s sense of outrage at the act and her anger at her ‘macho’ husband and young adult son drive the narrative of a couple who are no longer lovers but strangers.

In North’s version of the myth, Penelope has sagely ruled the island in her husband’s absence, despite being beset by suitors who are eating her out of house and home. Her wisdom and cunning, along with her maids and other women – who are so forgotten in the traditional retelling of the myths – give her the strength to carry on.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, narrates the story, enabling us to get inside the heads of the characters. In the hands of less accomplished writers, this could be a confusing mess, but North is at the top of her game. The result is a masterpiece, a must for anyone who loves not only novels in a classical setting but a story which is beautifully written, visceral, unflinching and with a powerful insight into the age-old perceptions of the sexes.

Margery Hookings

THE LONGEST EXILE

Tana Rebellis, Little Piggy Publishing, 2024, $16.99, pb, 369pp, 9798990635616

Being the granddaughter of the great Augustus should come with benefits, right? Not so for the protagonist of Ms. Rebellis’s novel. Instead, Julia finds herself exiled by her grandfather for the crime of having become pregnant by her lover. Seeing as Julia’s hubby was executed for treason a year ago, there is no way to pass off the child as legitimate, and so poor Julia is sent off to an unwelcoming Adriatic island.

With Julia go four guards charged with the dual duty of keeping her safe and also stopping her from escaping. Not that Julia has any idea how to escape—but there are others who have an interest in saving her and her unborn child from this rocky, barren island.

Ms Rebellis has written a gripping story about Julia, a protagonist who grows from spoiled princess to a young woman marked by tragedy. And there is a lot of tragedy in Julia’s life, mitigated somewhat by the presence of

one Titus. Other than through the viewpoint of Julia, the story also unfolds through the eyes of Julia’s younger brother Agrippa Posthumous and Julia’s mother—another exile—Julia Prima. And lurking in the background is Livia, Augustus’s third wife, who will do anything to ensure her son, Tiberius, becomes the next emperor.

It is evident Ms Rebellis knows her period— which is also why she can allow herself to add a little alternate history twist to the plot. She does not shy away from the violence and the conspiracies that marked the last years of Augustus’s reign, causing this reader some moments of intense discomfort. All in all, The Longest Exile is a well-written, interesting read.

Anna Belfrage

DAUGHTERS OF BRONZE

A. D. Rhine, Dutton, 2024, $22.00/C$27.99, pb, 512pp, 9780593474808

In Daughters of Bronze, A. D. Rhine (Ashlee Cowles and Danielle Stinson) continues their feminist retelling of The Iliad, focusing on four women: Rhea, Andromache, Helen, and Cassandra. This novel weaves their stories together in a vibrant tapestry that challenges the traditional male-dominated narrative.

Helen, often blamed for the Trojan War, is portrayed as a victim of Paris, who took her against her will. Rhine gives Helen a powerful voice, exploring themes of female agency and resilience. Andromache, usually seen only as Hector’s wife and Astyanax’s mother, is depicted as a complex character, fiercely protecting her family and city. Her story delves into motherhood, duty, and honor.

Cassandra, the seer cursed to be ignored, is shown as a character of heartbreaking vision. Her voice is repeatedly silenced, often by other women, yet she remains devoted to the truth. Her story highlights the consequences of ignoring or marginalizing women. Rhea, a refugee turned spy for Troy, plays a crucial role in the war. She and other brave women work to undermine the Greeks, risking their lives and highlighting the invisibility of women in historical narratives. If Helen, Andromache, and Cassandra are the warp of this story, Rhea is the weft that binds them together.

I somehow missed that this was a sequel, but it didn’t matter. The narrative is tight, and anyone familiar with The Iliad can jump right in. However, some backstory from the first installment, Horses of Fire, might further enhance the reading experience. This second novel in Rhine’s duology celebrates female strength, resilience, sacrifice, and agency, offering a fresh take on the impact of women’s voices in history. It’s a must-read for fans of feminist literature and those seeking a more inclusive take on classic tales.

Kristen McQuinn

THE HEIR OF VENUS

Laura Shepperson, Alcove Press, 2024, $18.99/ C$24.99, pb, 288pp, 9781639108435 / Sphere, 2024, £20.00, hb, 352pp, 9781408725450

I cannot begin to count how many

mythological retellings I’ve read which recount, at least in part, the Trojan War. The characters and story are popular to this day, with new spins and versions released all the time. While fresh perspectives are always appreciated, the outcome is always the same. Even those who aren’t Greek mythology enthusiasts probably know what to expect. So why read such works at all if the ending is inevitable?

Laura Shepperson’s newest novel The Heir of Venus is a golden example why these retellings remain prevalent in our day and age. Not only are lesser-known and -appreciated characters such as Lavinia, Creusa, and Dido recovering their voices, but the events from such classic tales as Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s Iliad are delivered in exactly the way to clench a reader’s heart and cinch their interest.

Taking place in the ancient land where Rome would be founded, The Heir of Venus follows the three women mentioned above on their separate journeys to reconcile the question of who the famed hero Aeneas really is with their own fates. From tragedy to new beginnings and second chances, the souls of these women brought tears to my eyes. Told through stunning prose and evocative character interactions, Shepperson’s new work deserves a spot on the bookshelf of any reader of Greek and Roman myths. Best of all, the reader gets to decide for themselves: is the Aeneas we’ve all heard about the victim of the gods’ will, or the arbiter of misery to any lover who crosses his path? Fans of tales of old as well as Trojan empathizers will adore this immediately empowering and heartfelt take on a story filled with political intrigue, romance, action, and self-discovery.

Ellaura

Shoop

4TH CENTURY

HYPATIA: In Her Own Words

Lukman Clark, Six Sticks Productions, 2024, $22.95, pb, 268pp, 9780978875244

A historical thriller with high stakes, deadly consequences and secret knowledge, this story is presented as the long-lost autobiography of famous philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, who lived in late 4th- and early 5th-century Egypt. It is structured as written on five scrolls, each one presenting a different aspect of Hypatia’s life, from her youthful exploits with her sister and father to her unusual, and oftentimes controversial, teachings and finally, her gruesome death at the hands of a Christian mob, which led to her legendary martyr status.

In her own words, Hypatia corrects misconceptions that have grown up around her and sheds light on a personal life that history could not capture. One of the most interesting things about this book is that it delves into lesser discussed aspects of Hypatia’s life, including her close relationship with her sister, her pagan faith, and her race and sexuality. Presenting her as bisexual is particularly controversial because she is

known for her virginity (or at least not being married). Some of the story choices strain credulity and the worldbuilding would benefit from more showing and less telling, but overall, this is an imaginative retelling of a woman we know so little about.

Nicole Evelina

6TH CENTURY

THE SHADOWED LAND

Signe Pike, Atria, 2024, $28.99/C$38.99, hb, 400pp, 9781501191480

The third novel in The Lost Queen series follows the conflicts between the quarrelsome tribes in Scotland during the sixth century. Despite their defeat of the Angles at the Battle of the Caledonian Wood in 580, the kingdoms of the Celtic Britons remain under threat from hostile neighbors, riven internally by political rivalries and destabilized by a culture that prizes revenge for offenses, no matter how old.

As the point of view shifts between the main characters, the challenges each confronts are exposed. Queen Languoreth and her twin brother Lailoken return to Strathclyde, where they struggle to maintain peace between fanatical Christians and followers of the Old Way; her daughter Angharad travels to Pictland to train to become a Druid weather worker; Artúr is summoned to Dalriada where he learns that his father Aedan, King of the Scots, has arranged a dynastic marriage for him to Vanora, a Pictish princess (Guinevere).

The turbulence and uncertainty of a harsh era are vividly portrayed, especially their impact upon vulnerable people like women, captives, and outsiders. Leaders like Languoreth and Artúr try to preserve peace and build alliances; healers like Angharad diligently treat the injured, friend and foe alike; but their efforts to help others are inevitably swept aside by the ruthless violence unleashed by ambitious warlords.

The skillful integration of elements from Arthurian and Celtic traditions, such as the old hag from the kingship myth, will appeal to scholarly readers; the plausible recreation of a violent Dark Age world will satisfy those looking for historical authenticity; the warning against destructive impulses will resonate with those seeking relevance to conditions in the modern world; and the hope offered by the Arthurian legend will inspire those who struggle against the rising tide of darkness. Highly recommended.

Ray Thompson

7TH CENTURY

LET THESE THINGS BE WRITTEN

Fiona Whyte, Lightning Books, 2024, £9.99, pb, 380pp, 9781785633362

AD 675, Lindisfarne, a monastery on an island on the north-east coast of Britain. A seven-year-old child, Wilfrid, is sent as an

‘oblate’: a gift; an offering. Why would parents offer their child? For prestige? The monastery is under the patronage of Ecgfrith, both king of Northumbria and High King of Britain. To dispose of an unwanted child? To expiate sin? Whose sin?

Wilfrid doesn’t know. He only knows that he misses his mother and, under the monkish regime, is constantly hungry. He can’t ask questions: by day he must work. By night, the Great Silence rules. But, clumsy and tonguetied, he senses that he is outcast, unwanted. The boy slips away and is mesmerised by an enigmatic figure, standing alone for hours on the beach, arms outstretched, oblivious to wind and waves. Thus, we meet Saint Cuthbert, still an icon of the North-East to this day.

This story, closely based on contemporary accounts of Cuthbert, is brought to life by the sufferings of the lonely, guilt-ridden child, who is comforted by Cuthbert’s magnetic presence. Wilfrid grows up, becomes embroiled in politics, and eventually understands his life. The author cleverly portrays inner lives, enabling interpretation through the demons Cuthbert battled, but also as witness to trauma and anxiety.

Whyte brings an era to life, to revive a man who never really died. Cuthbert inspired devotion not only in life, but also in death. His cult lives on today, with an annual parade in Durham, where the World Heritage site was founded around Cuthbert’s shrine. Recommended for those interested in the mindset of the Anglo-Saxon era, the influence of religion on inner lives and mental health, and redemption.

Helen Johnson

9TH CENTURY

SWORD OF THE SAXONS

Steven A. McKay, Canelo, 2024, £10.99, pb, 375pp, 9781804366127

In AD 878, Alfred has been king of Wessex for only seven years when he’s chased out of his stronghold of Cippanhamme (Chippenham) by the Danes, led by the ruthless Guthrum. Alfred, with his family and loyal followers, must live off the land as his kingdom is torn apart.

Though plagued with doubts, Alfred, accompanied by the fierce warrior Ealdorman Wulfric and his spiritual guide Oswald the priest, rallies his forces and outmanoeuvres the invaders. His ultimate triumph is not in battle, however; it’s his conversion of the pagans into Christians. Yet every win of Alfred’s is countered by a setback. After he regains his lands, he begins a programme to educate the masses, but he’s thwarted by more attacks.

Alfred’s reputation for offering Christian mercy becomes a weakness that threatens his entire kingdom when he’s played for a fool. When Lundenwic (London) becomes the focus of the clashing armies, Alfred forges ahead into battle. His followers wonder if his charitable acts of faith will result in his death, allowing the Danes to overrun the country, or

will he follow their advice to exterminate their enemies and end the attacks once and for all?

In his second instalment about the Vikings and Saxons, McKay brings light and humour to readers of Dark Age fiction. McKay uses more modern-day language in historic settings. For some readers, this contemporary approach provides an uplifting reading experience. For other readers, it won’t be as appealing. The book portrays one bleak and hard-fought battle after another, and occasionally some plot points are unnecessarily re-discussed. Yet readers feel as if they’re in Alfred’s band of merry men, which makes this novel feel like a Dark Age beach read.

Kelly Urgan

CATAN

Klaus Teuber, trans. Lisa Reinhardt, Blackstone, 2024, $29.99, hb, 584pp, 9798212644938

Based upon the popular board game, Catan is an epic filled with action, romance, duels, and rumors of magic.

In Norway in the year 860, three halfbrothers start upon a tragic and wondrous journey filled with twists and turns. It is not a road they purposefully set upon. Thorolf only wanted to rescue his beloved Asla from a miserable arranged marriage set up by her power-hungry father, Halldor. The extent of Halldor’s wrath is mightier than any of them could have feared. Chased from their homeland after seeing villages pillaged and realms crumpled under Halldor’s boot, the brothers and their allies have no choice but to flee, setting off on a marvelous journey which will lead to a whole new land to cultivate.

Filled with a nuanced cast of characters, fans of the game Catan will not be disappointed. The chapters are long and on appearance alone arduous, but Teuber’s writing fills one with a sense of urgency. Teuber brilliantly shows the hardships of starting a new settlement with flair and knowledge that puts readers right in the center of the action. Emotions are tested and shown with straightforward language, and the story rolls at a varied pace to create suspense.

A story filled with love, loyalty, and perseverance, the novel Catan is not just a tiein to the classic and beloved board game, it is an adventure all its own.

Ellaura Shoop

11TH CENTURY

LOVE’S KNIFE

Tracey Warr, Meanda Books, 2024, £10.99/$13.95, pb, 358pp, 9781739425777

Set in Tolosa, Occitania, in 1093, Love’s Knife features three girls on the cusp of womanhood: Lady Philippa, who should inherit Tolosa, as her only brother has died; her childhood friend and servant-of-sorts Anna, who is deaf; and Beatriz, a trobairitz—a female troubadour in the Occitan spelling. Beatriz possesses a beautiful voice and plays the violin-like vielle, but, unlike Lady Philippa and Anna, hasn’t

mastered reading, writing, or notating music. Taken under the wing of the much older troubadour Imbert when just thirteen, she sang and composed songs in her head throughout Occitania—which encompasses the southern third of France and parts of Spain and Italy. Thus Beatriz is the most worldly of the three friends and now settled in Tolosa.

The prologue opens with a murder; then the story moves back three months. The following chapters illuminate court and church machinations, details of medieval life, and the three women’s characters and relationships. After the murder, tension builds, accusations and lies proliferate, and each of them faces danger and prejudice in this patriarchal world. To protect themselves, they must solve this murder, and Beatriz becomes the primary sleuth with her two friends’ help. Who can they trust in Chateau Narbonnais? Beatriz isn’t even certain of Lady Philippa’s giant, tattooed Norman-Sicilian guard Roger, but the two of them end up traveling together thorough much of Occitania, following up clues.

Complications of love, inheritance, and ambition, both secular and religious, enrich the story. Tracey Warr’s portrayal of Anna and how disability was treated in medieval times, and her vivid, descriptive style make Love’s Knife a compelling read. The three solve the mystery, but loose ends remain. A second Trobairitz Sleuth mystery is promised, and there is a useful historical note.

Jinny Webber

14TH CENTURY

ELEANORE OF AVIGNON

Elizabeth DeLozier, Dutton, 2024, $29.00/ C$39.00, hb, 320pp, 9780593475034

The Provençal city of Avignon in 1347-48 is rife with tension and drama, with the Catholic popes in residence, Queen Joanna of Naples seeking exoneration from her first husband’s murder, the arrival of the plague, and a stressed-out, decimated populace looking for someone to blame. In her debut, DeLozier takes full advantage of her setting’s potential with her exciting story. It’s a quest novel in a sense, encompassing a young woman’s mission to fulfill her calling as a healer while holding her family together in a perilous time.

Eleanore (Elea) and Margot Blanchet are the twin daughters of a papal notary and his late spouse, a talented midwife. One day while seeking herbal remedies outside the city gates, Elea runs into Guy “Guigo” de Chauliac, a man of modest birth who rose to become Pope Clement’s personal physician. Through a combination of chance and clever negotiations, Elea becomes Guigo’s apprentice and, later, midwife to the expectant Queen Joanna while the deadly pestilence rages through the city. As Guigo and Elea pore over medical texts and tend to patients, desperate to discover a cure, she strives to juggle her multiple responsibilities.

As with other novels where invented characters play big roles in the lives of real

people, some plot elements may raise eyebrows, and Elea, while courageous and resourceful, takes some careless risks. The pacing never flags; DeLozier paints the atmosphere clearly without weighty exposition, and the novel’s historical scaffolding shines, especially the details on the two types of plague and their symptoms (as was documented by the real Chauliac, an eminent medieval surgeon). Elea faces personal danger in the form of a fanatical priest who once targeted her late mother, raising the stakes even higher. An entertaining novel about a woman’s strength and selflessness, unfair prejudice, and the sisterly bond.

Sarah Johnson

THE SECRETS OF MORGARTEN

L. S. Mangos, Mana Publishing, 2023, $14.99, pb, 371pp, 9783952592717

A handsome knight on the run with a secret mission, a charming tracker with a famous father and a position of pacifism, and a beautiful young weaver who finds her heart torn between these two men. It’s 1315, and Magda, a skilled weaver, lives under threat from the greedy Habsburgs hoping to invade her home, which sits at the border of the Confederation Helvetica. She meets Sébastien, on the run since all Knights Templar have been declared heretics. However, Sébastien’s arrival threatens the budding romantic feelings she’s developing for Walter, son of the infamous Wilhelm Tell, who delivers messages to Magda’s father. When Habsburg soldiers begin stirring up trouble, Magda, Walter, and Sébastien will need to trust each other in order to survive what’s to come.

There are some minor errors in the book. There appeared to be a name mix-up as Magda is once referred to as Martha. There are also a few missing quotation marks, plus a few instances where characters are identified by name before being introduced. The narration deftly switches between Magda, Sébastien, and Walter as it moves between political tension and personal relationships. The historical details and its landscape are wellexplored. While the characters are somewhat predictable, they have enough depth to stay interesting. They also have enough secrets and ulterior motives to keep readers guessing what’s coming next. I enjoyed the layers of side stories and characters, particularly that of Switzerland’s folk hero Wilhelm Tell and the potential aftereffects of his legendary crossbow skills.

J. Lynn Else

LIES OF THE FLESH

F. J. Watson, Polygon, 2024, £9.99, pb, 336pp, 9781846976742

Lies of the Flesh is set during the 14th-century border wars between England and Scotland. Fran Hilton has become lord of the manor following his father’s death and is trying to get to grips with his new responsibilities. And the local community is struggling with the loss or

injury of many of the men who fought at the recent Battle of Bannockburn. Matters are not improved by the terrifying appearance of a revenant, or undead spirit, who is roaming the hills and intent on revenge.

The activities of the revenant prompt revelations about some of the dark deeds of the battle, but Fran is convinced that things are not as they seem. Together with a small group of loyal servants, he tries to confront the troubled spirit and to uncover the truth. But at the same time, he is harbouring a secret of his own which could have terrible consequences if disclosed.

Lies of the Flesh has a number of compelling themes, including the quest for the truth, the constraints of gender roles, and the treatment of medieval women. It is meticulously researched and gives a good insight into the realities of life in a northern English village at the time. Unfortunately, there were no real surprises in the story, and I never felt fully engaged with the characters or their situation. However, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in this period of history.

Karen Warren

15TH CENTURY

THE KNIGHT’S REDEMPTION

Ethan Bale, Canelo, 2024, £10.99, pb, 384pp, 9781800329720

The concluding story of the fictional Sir John Hawker as he fights his way through 15thcentury Europe. This final book in The Swords of the White Rose trilogy follows Hawker from the streets and canals of Venice, where he must attempt to right a wrong, to the bloody battleground at Stoke Field, the definitive battle in the Roses’ wars. Followed by a small band of seemingly loyal followers, Hawker faces struggles and betrayals as he moves across Europe, where loyalties are tested and lives are lost.

Any book endorsed by Bernard Cornwell must be good, and this is certainly no exception. Ethan Bale brings Hawker to life with all his talents, faults and idiosyncrasies. This is a wonderfully researched novel filled with just the right amount of detail to keep the pages turning. Side characters like the young Jack Perry, Ellingham, Jacob and the duplicitous Gaston are all fully formed, believable and grounded in time and place.

The joy of a good historical novel is to be immersed in the world the writer creates, and this is a novel of the highest quality in that respect also. Informative with emotional highs and lows, the author captures the balance of this perfectly. Descriptions of fights and battles are extremely well done and authentic.

Although this novel stands alone, I feel compelled to go back to the first two books in the series, as I have been left hungry for more.

Aidan K. Morrissey

16TH CENTURY

GRANADA

Radwa Ashour, trans. Kay Heikkinen, Hoopoe, 2024, $19.95/£14.99, pb, 486pp, 9781649033765

Swirling imagery of a bygone era illuminates this epic story of the waning days of Muslim power in 16th-century Spain through the experiences of one family. It begins with a bookseller, Abu Jaafar, witnessing the surrender of Granada in 1492 to the Catholic monarchs, which is then followed by book burnings, forced religious conversions, deportations, and punishments for not following the new decrees. Life becomes fraught for all Muslims with especial peril for his granddaughter Salima, who secretly studies and practices Arabic medicine. The rich sights, sounds, and smells of Arab Granada are commemorated in vivid descriptions of the colors of flowers, the trilling of women, and the scents of herbs and cooking oils as their lives change in dramatic and often violent ways.

For four succeeding generations of this family, daily life plays out in cycles of fear and terror, but it also includes no small measure of hope as well. Maryama, widow of the bookseller’s grandson, and Ari, her own orphaned grandson, carry the family story forward through the 1500s. They both experience people marrying, babies being born, craftsmen working, and farmers cultivating crops. However, they also experience forced expulsions, diminishing knowledge of the Arabic language, and ongoing calls for rebellion. Despair and betrayal grow; hope flickers. Eight centuries of Arab culture in Spain end with a massive deportation of the remaining Arabs to North Africa in 1609.

This book is a lament for a lost culture, brought to life by characters with all their human foibles and graces in a time of extreme upheaval. Highly recommended for any reader seeking a deeper understanding of Arab culture past and present through powerfully emotional and moving family stories.

Karen Bordonaro

TRY BEFORE YOU TRUST

Constance Briones, Historium Press, 2024, $14.99, pb, 274pp, 9781962465540

London in the early autumn of 1567, and Isabella Whitney, aged 18, arrives at the substantial London home of the widowed Lady Bramwell. As a gentlewoman herself, she is to work there for a year as a general maidservant, the intention being to learn the skills necessary to allow her to take up an influential role in a large house. Isabella’s personal priority, however, is to gain access to Bramwell House’s library, as she has a passion for books and learning. Lady Bramwell’s favourite nephew, Robert Barrington, makes himself known to Isabella. It is a familiar tale of (male) perfidy and society’s double standards and expectations of what a genteel female should be and do, which is certainly not to write and desire to have published poetry

in a patriarchal society that generally treats women as third-class members.

This is a fictionalised biography, as Isabella existed and was indeed a writer, but very little is known about her life. Constance Briones has woven a background and invented many characters and events to fill in the gaps and conceptualise her writing life. The context is historically authentic and very well researched. But the dialogue and delivery are rather wooden and remind me a little of the flat, mock-archaic historical fiction conversations of Walter Scott or William Harrison Ainsworth. There are also a few proofing errors, and just to note that a British speaker would not refer to the ground floor in a building as the “first floor.” Briones also needs to keep the tenses consistent within sentences and paragraphs as they vary between past and present. Overall though, this is good historical fiction that sends the reader back to the life, culture and milieu of 16th-century London.

Douglas Kemp

THE DARTINGTON BRIDE

Rosemary Griggs, Troubador, 2024, £11.99/$14.99, pb, 288pp, 9781805142997

In 1559, the French king, Henri II, died of injuries incurred during a tournament. The person responsible for these injuries was Gabriel de Lorges, the future Count of Montgomery. At the time, the protagonist of The Dartington Bride, Gabriel’s daughter Roberda, was around six. For some weeks, her existence went topsy-turvy as the family awaited news as to her father’s fate.

Roberda’s childhood is filled with turmoil: while her father was pardoned for Henri II, he then embraces the cause of Protestantism, which effectively has his entire family exposed to the dark and bloody underbelly of war. Despite all this unrest, Roberda’s parents manage to arrange good marriages for their children— marriages that would also benefit their cause. Roberda is to wed Gawen Champernowne, son of the Vice Admiral of the Fleet to the West and heir to the Dartington estate in Devon.

The Roberda-Gawen union is mostly a bed of thorns. Gawen dislikes Roberda on sight and resents being forced to wed her. Ultimately, this will lead to personal disaster, but how and why I leave for future readers to discover for themselves.

Ms Griggs manages her cast skilfully. Other than Roberda, her family members play central roles, as do real-life historical figures like Queen Elizabeth, Anne Cecil, and Walter Raleigh. It is evident Ms Griggs has not only done her research but is also invested in her protagonists. Initially, I found it hard to relate to Roberda. The child was surprisingly impolite and disrespectful of her elders – not a behaviour I would have thought was tolerated in the 16th century. But as the story progressed, she grew on me, and by the last, gripping chapters I was firmly rooting for her. All in all, Ms Griggs has delivered an enjoyable read.

Anna Belfrage

THE BOOK OF DAYS

Francesca Kay, Swift Press, 2024, £16.99, hb, 281pp, 9781800753495

This literary gem recounts the story of a rural manor estate in Tudor England in 1546, where the fallout of King Henry’s Great Matter still resounds through Catholic communities. Medieval lives are dictated by Christian feast days—Easter, All Souls, Advent, Candlemas and more—and the seasons around which the villagers must construct their farming livelihood. Kay tells of suspicious times in a difficult era of religious strife, when speaking out of turn meant dire consequences.

Central to the story is Alice, Sir Richard’s young second wife; his daughter by his first marriage; his nephews; the elderly priest; a newly-hired young chantry priest; and other secondary characters, all drawn with consummate skill and around whom unspoken tension swirls. From his deathbed, Sir Richard directs a chantry chapel to be added to the old church to house an alabaster carved-effigy tomb dedicated to his immortal soul and those of his deceased wife, deceased children, and his present family. This presents a quandary for Alice, who refuses to have the remains of her baby daughter moved from where she is buried—sheltered under soil, flora and sky, rather than weighted down by stone.

The novel delves into religious conflict through the experiences of one family over the course of a year. Descriptions of the building of the chantry and alabaster carving glow with meticulous detail: stonework tracery windows set with vivid stained-glass scenes, religious artwork, colours mirroring the vibrancy of the natural world. Set at the cusp of a new age, Kay’s use of the calendar rotation as the narrative device allows us to witness the routine lives of Everyman, set against the broader context of human squabbles dimmed by the inevitability of time. Recommended to readers of iconic religious fiction, such as Claire Gilbert’s I, Julian

Fiona Alison

THE QUEEN’S AVENGER

Anna Legat, Sharpe Books, 2024, £8.99, pb, 202pp, 9798325133541

The Queen’s Avenger is a powerful tale set between the years of widow Mary Stewart’s arrival from France as Queen of Scotland and her escape to England from her island prison on Loch Leven. It is based on the true story about this ill-fated queen, which entranced me as a teenager and still does despite many retellings.

This time the author has used a fictional Bavarian abbot to tell it after he dies, leaving his manuscripts describing his part in the betrayals of Mary of Scotland. The result is a thrilling ‘now’ and ‘then’ story, though ‘now’ is the late 1590s. But that distance provides insight. The abbot’s secret writings are discovered by the monk Gunther, whose discovery places him in grave danger.

The novel, through the discovery of these papers, explores Catholic Mary’s conflict with

many of her earls and clergy over Calvinism, her marriage to Darnley, the strange nature of this union, betrayal by those close to her, the murder of Rizzio, and both Darnley and Bothwell’s involvement in her fate. It is a thoroughly researched novel, and because of the imaginary Gunther and his clandestine discovery of a mysterious set of codices, I was pleased to see an Author Note explaining the novel’s research.

Both Gunther’s story and the story that the manuscripts tell make for tense, colourful and engaging reading. Many scenes really are incredibly vivid, in particular Mary’s imprisonment on Loch Leven and her escape. Characters just leap from the page, all fabulous recreations. This is an old story of betrayal, and Legat’s telling is informative and refreshing. She deals with religion and politics using a confident yet light pen. Any lover of Elizabethan thrillers will enjoy this novel, which is vivid, strong and faithful to known history.

Carol McGrath

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT LUISA

Erika Rummel, Dundurn Press, 2024, $19.99/ C$26.99, pb, 312pp, 9781459752771

Reimagined voices in the life and times of Luisa Abrego in 16th-century Spain come astonishingly to life in this novel of historical fiction. It offers readers an imagined backstory to a real woman’s existence during the course of one decade that took her from Spain to Mexico and then back again. The voices are the fictional narrations of individual characters who have come into contact with her. They relate her story in chronological order, but through distinct voices as events occur.

Luisa is an enslaved woman of mixed race who toils in the household of a nobleman in Seville. Pregnant by her master, she is freed after his death, and she marries a white man. They travel to Mexico for a better future, but she leaves her son behind in the care of nuns. In Mexico, an act of self-defense on her part ends in a man’s death that leaves her wracked with guilt. Further complications arise when the Inquisition also comes to Mexico, and she turns herself in because an earlier marriage vow with another man makes her believe that she is a bigamist. Simultaneously, her husband is involved in a mining accident.

Offering readers a glimpse into another era, the voices of the characters surrounding Luisa still sound completely human in the various ways that they view her and the world. Some sound controlling, others philosophical;

some are focused on status and money, and some are amusing, but they all ring true to human nature. Highly recommended for its fascinating insights into 16th-century Spanish culture, its characterization of Luisa, and the unique way in which the story is framed.

Karen Bordonaro

THE SCHOOLMASTER

Jessica Tvordi, Garden Scriptorium, 2024, $12.99/£11.99, pb, 328pp, 9798990371613

The schoolmaster, or preceptor as they were commonly known at the time, is Peter Young who, along with George Buchanan, was tutor to James VI of Scotland (later James I of England). Young is a lesser-known yet key member of the Scottish court during James’s long minority, and the story covers the period 1570 to 1583, when the king is aged between four and seventeen.

James has inherited the throne after his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, fled to England. Inevitably he’s at the center of ongoing power and religious battles between rival groups of nobles trying to control him and thus the country – he’s even kidnapped at one point. Peter Young, as his tutor, is a place of calm and kindly reason especially as a counterbalance to the king’s other tutor, Buchanan, who does not spare the rod, even on a king.

Young manages the perils of court life, remaining respected by all and never losing the king’s affection, even when he is drawn into the kidnapping plot. Tvordi gives a real sense of who Young was and skillfully walks the tightrope of the controversy over whether the lonely boy king indeed became the lover of his French cousin, who he had made Duke of Lennox. This reader would have appreciated a little more sense of James at times and what he was like to teach, and Buchanan is shown in a kindlier light then he perhaps deserves, but these are minor quibbles. The Schoolmaster is impeccably researched historical fiction which gives great insight into the period and into the honest, exceptionally clever and caring person Peter Young is said to have been. All in all, an absorbing read.

V. E. H. Masters

CITY OF SILK

Glennis Virgo, Allison & Busby, 2024, £22.00/$28.00, hb, 311pp, 9780749031893

City of Silk is a novel about ambition, friendship and revenge. It follows the struggles of a young seamstress, Elena Morandi, in her aim to become a tailor in 16th-century Bologna (an occupation barred to women).

Elena, who suffered growing up in the Barracano orphanage, is horrified when she discovers her mistress has arranged a marriage for her after three years of service, part of the contract of taking her on after she left the Barracano. So Elena runs away, determined to become a tailor creating men’s clothing, rather than a seamstress restricted to sewing women’s clothing. In doing so, she learns about friendship and realises just

how dominant Antonio della Fontana is in Bologna (the man who abused his position as a benefactor of the Barracano).

City of Silk immerses the reader in the experience of life in 16th-century Bologna, with acutely observed historical details, especially regarding tailors’ workshops, which ground the story in a strong sense of place and time. Imagery relating to fabric and sewing are woven subtly into this beautifully written novel.

Elena is an engaging narrator, who is very human; she makes mistakes, has a temper and can be impulsive at times. The secondary characters are equally well drawn. The plot gradually builds in momentum throughout the novel to reach a satisfying conclusion. A very enjoyable read; I look forward to reading more from this author.

Serena Press

17TH CENTURY

THE PRISONER OF MEASHAM HALL

Anna Abney, Duckworth, 2024, £9.99, pb, 304pp, 9780715655344

This, the third book in the Measham Hall series, is set in 1690, as King James II attempts to recover his realm from the government loyal to King William and Queen Mary. It is a story with two strands. One is the story of Sir William Hawthorne, master of Measham Hall, who needs to hire a new steward following the death of the previous trusted family retainer. But matters are complicated by the fact that Sir William has a secret which can’t be broadcast to the world. Keeping it from someone who has access to all aspects of life at Measham, in the way the new steward must, would be impossible. Then a near perfect candidate appears, and Sir William is very happy with his choice, but this coincides with an outbreak of chaos at Measham.

Meanwhile Sir William’s son, Nicholas, is in Ireland with the Jacobite army, compelled to be there, so as to keep Sir William’s secret. He faces great danger being an effective double agent and has conflicted loyalties which complicate his situation, especially when he meets the fiery Una, who makes him challenge where he really stands in the conflict. The story threads eventually weave together in a shocking denouement which also sets the scene for another potential chapter of the family saga in a future book.

There is a lot to enjoy in this novel, and for those who, unlike me, have read and enjoyed the first two books in the series, I suspect it would carry a lot of power. References to past events make it easy enough to follow, but knowing the characters better would have deepened my reading pleasure. A good read, but I’d suggest starting with the first book to enjoy it to the full.

Eleanor Swift-Hook

COSTANZA

Rachel Blackmore, Renegade, 2024, £20.00, hb, 418pp, 9780349131092

She has gazed out at viewers for nearly four centuries: eyes wide, lips parted, hair unkempt, expression determined and sensual. The marble portrait of Costanza Piccolomini, onetime mistress of Baroque master Gianlorenzo Bernini, appears so lifelike it could almost speak, but as Rachel Blackmore reminds us in her exceptional debut novel, the real woman deserves a voice that stands independently of the male regard.

In 1630s Rome, Costanza runs a respectable household as the wife of artisan Matteo Bonucelli, a kind but less-than-amorous man. Matteo’s new commission for St. Peter’s Basilica brings the couple into the company of its chief architect, “Il Cavaliere” himself. Attracted by her boldness, Bernini offers to tutor Costanza in art interpretation, events that soon see them tumbling into an affair, a situation her husband—whose interests lie elsewhere—willingly tolerates. Heady with passion and her new elevated position in society, Costanza sets aside the warnings from Bernini’s old rival and her childhood best friend. Her first encounter with the marble bust Bernini surreptitiously crafts in her image is a masterly scene, showcasing the author’s descriptive prowess alongside Costanza’s realization about her lover’s character, how he views her, and what it means for her reputation.

History records the terrible harm that Bernini inflicted on Costanza, foreshadowed in the chilling prologue, but here the narrative is all hers, revealing in intimate fashion how she reacts to this shocking betrayal and endures a painful loss of pride before gaining sufficient wisdom to come into her own. This novel serves as a necessary corrective to the historical tendency to glorify talented but violent men while leaving their victims as footnotes. Costanza proves especially powerful since it’s based in fact, and because Blackmore carefully exposes the power differential between the sexes from multiple angles.

Sarah Johnson

THE KEYS OF HELL AND DEATH

Charles Cordell, Myrmidon, 2024, £8.99, pb, 384pp, 9781910183335

Cordell’s sequel to God’s Vindictive Wrath, part of the Divided Kingdom series, is set during the English Civil War and explores the conflicting emotions of English citizens divided by religion and royal rule, and the appropriate place for parliamentary government. The conflict parallels the symbolic place of royalty in modern democracies, and the will of the people to choose their elected officials.

Beginning at the battle of Lansdown Hill, characters arrive from the previous book, and pitting brothers Francis and Ralph Reeve against each other, the novel shows the national thinking in microcosm, reducing

the larger conflict to a more manageable level. A former soldier himself, Cordell writes with pinpoint accuracy, but I found myself stumbling over encyclopaedic detail; minuteby-minute action throughout known battles, coming one on top of the other for the first 40 percent of the novel. This felt overwhelming and pushed the telling to the forefront, leaving showing far behind. Brief sojourns into character background, lifestyle and belief systems are fascinating until so much detail is added that the reader is distanced from the events. Hence, I found it difficult to engage with the characters, and the novel needs a strong edit – repetitive mentions of shortages of food, shot, powder, etc., and belief in Godordained purposes, belabour points well made early on in the novel. However, Cordell expertly captures the horror, fear, and hopeless futility of war, whilst imbuing his characters with strong patriotic duty.

This is a well-informed novel delving into historic battles from a unique perspective, and it definitely belongs on the shelf of any English Civil War aficionado who values the kind of detailed historical accuracy worthy of nonfiction. Cordell’s author notes are a vividly rendered clarification of the broader European context.

Fiona Alison

THE STARRE, THE MOONE, THE SUNNE

Ron Destro, Independently published, 2023, $16.99/C$22.99/£14.99, pb, 276pp, 9780645807714

When young Nicholas’s printer father is arrested and held for execution in the dead of night, it kicks off a decades-long mystery, the secrets of which powerful people are willing to kill in order to protect.

The only clues? A star, a moon, and a sun inked on the condemned man’s hand. When Nicholas comes of an age to ask dangerous questions, arsonists destroy the family print shop, but, undeterred, Nicholas assembles a team of unlikely allies to help him solve the mystery of his father’s death, as well as his role in an even greater story—who was the real William Shakespeare?

In his novel, narrated in true Shakespearean style by an omniscient fool, Destro employs a complex structure of stories within stories, mysteries within mysteries, somewhat reminiscent of the Canterbury Tales. He weaves together a rich tapestry of historical and fictional characters and events to provide inspiration for the Bard’s classic works, which Shakespeare scholars and aficionados

will especially appreciate. The story leans into and explores one of the more popular anti-Stratfordian theories in a compellingly believable tale of illicit lovers, secret babies, hidden identities, shifting allegiances, and court intrigue. Destro’s extensive background in the subject matter is not only evident in the story details, but in the deliciously crafted prose featuring wordplay that would make the real Shakespeare proud—whomever he may be.

Rose Prendeville

TEACH THE CHILDREN TO PRAY

Rebecca Harwick, Kastanien Press, 2024, $32.99, hb, 428pp, 9783910998025

Josefine Dorn lives with her parents in Ellwangen, a 17th-century town, part of what will one day be Germany. When the accusations of witchcraft start and begin to spread, the town is decimated as the crazed residents murder many of their own people. Josefine’s mother is a skilled interpreter of dreams, and when she is eventually accused of being a witch, she kills herself. Josefine takes to the road with her father, fleeing the murderous townspeople just as the Thirty Years’ War is beginning. As they struggle to survive, misunderstandings and persecution continue to follow them. Desolate and starving, Josefine’s father decides to join the Catholic League Army.

This book is so beautifully written. Harwick manages to convey the horror and cruelty of witch trials and war in a very lyrical way. For example, this description of an army on the march: “It is a beast with many thousands of legs, dragging its stomach across the earth, maw open wide. It devours whatever comes before and shits out desolation.” We follow the main character, Josefine, from childhood, and watch as she becomes a woman in a very unsettling and violent time. There are many biblical analogies, especially to Job, but also to Ruth and even to demons. “Grief was that devil in the Bible that calls itself Legion. It possessed me in a thousand forms.” Josefine experiences love and loss, including a love that is forbidden in those times. There are some outcomes that seem more contemporary than one would find in the 17th century, but the writing is absolutely sublime. This novel contains sexual situations and violence.

Bonnie DeMoss

A POISONER’S TALE

Cathryn Kemp, Bantam, 2024, £16.99, hb, 387pp, 9781787637092 / Union Square, 2025, $18.99, pb, 377pp, 9781454957461

Cathryn Kemp states that her novel ‘is dedicated to every woman who knows how it feels when his key turns in the lock’. This extraordinary narrative of a woman undertaking to champion the cause of her oppressed, exploited ‘sisters’, dispatching their abusive husbands to a well-deserved hell via a subtle poison, forms an absolute page-turner. Giulia Tofana offers her inherited skills as an apothecary to help all women through their

trials and tribulations in 17th-century Rome. However, the papal obsession with purging the city of witches and heretics means that Giulia’s work is bound to be discovered. She gambles that her poison is undetectable but has not reckoned with the fears and jealousies that can lead to betrayal.

Whilst the opening shows us the inevitable, shocking ending, it is Giulia’s journey that absorbs us: Kemp never puts a foot wrong in her evocation of time, place, attitudes and beliefs. A modern reader will despair at recognising familiar misogyny and domestic violence, aghast and outraged at the fate of Giulia, her daughter, and close friends. Kemp shows us a sensual world of Catholicism at its arrogant worst – a dark place, where danger lurks in the corners of piazzas and behind the walls of palazzos. There’s a fascinating dual narrative – the voices of Giulia and her nemesis, Pope Alessandro VII, both caught up in the swirling corruption and debauchery of Rome on the edge of decline.

A vengeful serial murderer? Or a courageous woman prepared to sacrifice all to call men to account? Either way, Kemp takes her character from legend and makes us live with her as she moves from teenage victim of rape to condemned witch on the scaffold. This is not an easy read, but it’s an important one in the genre of historical fiction.

Jan Middleton

FIND ME IN THE STARS

Jules Larimore, Mystic Lore Books, 2024, $16.99, pb, 348pp, 9798986448855

In this second book of the Cevénoles Sagas, Amelia Auvrey and Jehan BonDurant part ways, although they are very much in love. Amelia wants to further her healing work in the Cévennes Mountains of Languedoc, France, and Jehan longs to search for his Eden, a place he can worship freely after fleeing the persecution of the Huguenots by Louis XIV. Striking out on his own, Jehan escapes to the Swiss Cantons, hoping this will be his place of peace. When their exchange of letters is inexplicably interrupted, both of them experience doubt and despair. In addition, Amelia is falsely accused of witchcraft.

This is a gorgeously written novel, and the author’s excellent descriptive writing transports the reader to every scene, such as “Leaves tinted by the colors of oncoming Autumn ripped from the trees and swirled around her. The veil she wore fluttered like a bird in a storm, its tiny embroidered stars dancing on a sea of azure silk.” The love between Amelia and Jehan absolutely pours from every page; for example, “The body’s sight can sometimes forget, but my soul remembers yours forever.”

The politics of late 17th-century France and the treatment of the Huguenots are well researched. The challenges faced by the couple while they are apart are as riveting as they are heartbreaking. Jehan’s journey includes not just a search for a new land, but a search of his soul, as he struggles with doubt, temptation, and confusion. Amelia battles

despair and betrayal as she continually longs for Jehan. The conclusion is a promise of another adventure, and I am looking forward to reading it. Although part of a series, this book can be read as a standalone. Highly recommended.

Bonnie DeMoss

AN AGE OF WINTERS

Gemma Liviero, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 331pp, 9781662520617 In 1625 the Franconian village of Eisbach, already ravaged by plague and famine, is in the grip of the Little Ice Age during the Würzburg witch hunt and trials. The widow

Katarin Jaspers is housekeeper for Reverend Felix Stern, an austere, unlikable man, who has a mental breakdown while investigating the mysterious deaths of young children in the village. Reverend Zacharias Engel is assigned to replace Stern and continue the investigations. Engel’s dress and demeanor commands respect and esteem from the villagers, especially Katarin. He is revered as their protector as he works to root out the source of evil. But the prince-bishop, Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg, feels his authority threatened as Engel methodically investigates. More murders fuel more unsubstantiated accusations, and Ehrenberg interferes to order more innocent people arrested, tortured, and hanged or burned.

Katarin sees Engel as a complex man who protects his thoughts and possibly some secrets as he disappears for days, but she is blinded by her attraction to him even though she covertly follows him and sees nothing amiss. She is jealous and suspicious of the beautiful Margaretha, who attracts his eye. With each execution, new hope arises that evil has been destroyed. But the murders continue and the problem remains unresolved.

Liviero brilliantly creates an atmosphere of fear, suspicion, and helplessness for villagers locked in an icy landscape, fearful of a slip of the tongue and the knock on the door to be arrested. Fabricated evidence or hearsay, always taken as fact, is a death sentence; torture exorcises the devil and reveals the ‘truth’ of sorcery and murderous acts. Who is committing these heinous murders in the village? This question – along with characters, both malicious and blameless – keep the pages turning to an unforgettable ending. This book will disquiet and unsettle you in the best way as only a deft writer can.

Janice Ottersberg

BLACK WOOD WOMEN

Michael Stewart, HQ, 2024, £18.99, hb, 334pp, 9780008696306

England 1649. Having fled Cromwell’s murderous foray into Ireland, little Caragh O’Fealin and her parents narrowly survive an open-boat sea crossing to England where, as a debt repayment, they get land enough in Yorkshire to build a small house. Now a teenager, Caragh has become Kate, disguising her heritage, as does Ma, behind an English accent. But Da’s stumbling over some pronunciation, plus ongoing anti-Catholic/ Irish hatred, lead to hideous consequences from which, somewhat fortuitously, Caragh is allowed to escape. On the run once again, she faces perilous encounters alone. Nearing starvation, she is taken in by a group of women living deep in a marshy forest who survive on nature’s bounty; they’ve been called witches, they rename her Rowan. Adding some carnivore spice to this mix, a grizzled ravenous pregnant wolf prowls that same countryside, as eventually do the hunters. As tough as Caragh and the wolf may have become, all their cunning will be required to survive.

With more than a smattering of old English words to give contemporary authenticity, this story strides purposefully along despite occasional repetition. Well- imagined settings provide valid backdrops to events fictional and real; for example, the contemporary treatment of heretics, witches and animals. Throughout is an affirmation of ‘green’ living – respecting and understanding life, death, the land and its myriad creatures (the wolf’s tale is told most poignantly), knowing healing plants and hedgerow foods – emphasising that which now is mostly forgotten. An interesting story of three religions: Protestant, Catholic and Nature.

Simon Rickman

18TH CENTURY

A PARCEL OF ROGUES

Pamela Belle, Pamela Belle Books, 2024, £10.99, pb, 495pp, 9781068678417

Modest merchant Sam Jessop comes to 1715 London seeking his runaway daughter and is told to consult the taciturn Andre Dark, which sets into motion a plot that combines a road trip, spy novel, rags-to-riches tale, and love story against the backdrop of Jacobite efforts to overthrow the new Hanoverian king. Dark, an artist, produces a sketch that leads him to actress and courtesan Poll Paradice, who then leads the two men on a merry chase to Bristol, where it is discovered that Mary Jessop has absconded with a Jacobite leader inciting rebellion in the West Countries, who also happens to be Poll’s ex-lover.

The initial adventure story with its ensemble cast in the second half becomes Poll’s story as she returns to London, opens a coffeehouse, and tries not to pine for Dark, whose spying interrupts their would-be affair. This is the only place where the pace slows, with pauses for entertaining sketches of an aged former

mistress of Charles II and the transformation of street urchin Gin. The climax is delightfully gripping, with a prison break, assassination attempt, betrayal, and exploding skyrockets, and a partnership that lays the ground for future books.

While the action and language evoke the best 18th-century English novels, with shades of Fielding’s Tom Jones, the incredible details of time and place make this novel rise above. My favorite character, after Gin, is London itself: Belle’s characterization of a sprawling, busy, vice- ridden city is faultless, and her descriptions feel real enough to touch. Her characters are familiar types but brought to vivid life, particularly Poll with her canny charm and competence. Belle’s return to historical fiction is perfect for readers who want a delightful picaresque with romantic undertones and authentic period dress. Recommended.

Misty Urban

THE VOW

Jude Berman, She Writes Press, 2024, $17.99, pb, 368pp, 9781647427887

The Vow is a fictionalized autobiography of Angelica Kauffman, a Neoclassical artist who carved out a successful career as a portraitist and history painter in a primarily male-dominated profession. Although she got her start in Venice during the 1760s— barely making ends meet by painting reproductions—a chance encounter with an English noblewoman takes her to London, where she undertakes a number of portrait commissions for the nobility and Queen Charlotte. Together with Sir Joshua Reynolds and other artists of the period, she becomes one of the founding members of the Royal Academy. But a shadow darkens Angelica’s personal life when a mysterious Swedish man masquerading as a count cons himself into her life. Despite her resolve to devote herself to art, and never marry, she takes a most precipitous plunge. Her return to Italy lands her in Rome, where she joins a group of intellectuals that includes Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Their brief connection seems to take on a spiritual significance for Angelica that lasts for the remainder of her life as she contemplates the meaning of love, rejection, betrayal, freedom and the soul.

Author Berman’s background in art comes shining through in lyrical descriptions of Angelica’s creative process and her use of color and composition. An illuminating picture of the 18th-century art world and the role of women also emerges. However, elements of a daytime soap opera begin to creep into the final chapters of the novel, which concludes with Kauffman’s experiences in the afterlife. Readers may question this approach in the portrayal of a woman who overcame obstacles; Kauffman’s paintings can be found in museums and collections all over the world.

Deborah Cay Wilding

HER OWN WAR

Debra Borchert, Le Vin Press, 2024, $19.99, pb, 448pp, 9798989993116

This is the third novel in Borchert’s Château de Verzat series, set in a beautiful château and vineyard in the Loire Valley at the time of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. As the novel begins, in 1797, the heroine, Geneviève, has married Louis, a nobleman she saved from the guillotine, and she runs the vineyard, which produces the finest wine in France. After someone denounces her, she is imprisoned in an insane asylum for impersonating a man. Afraid that Geneviève will give birth to their child in a prison cell, Louis makes a deal with one of the leaders of the French government: Geneviève will be released, but in exchange, Louis has to join Bonaparte’s army in Egypt, fighting for a man he hates and a cause he doesn’t believe in. As Louis tries to keep his men as safe as possible, Geneviève fights her own war at the château, spying for the royalists against the revolutionaries who would confiscate the vineyard, all the while hoping Louis will come home to her.

This is a wonderful addition to an outstanding series with its courageous, resilient, yet vulnerable heroine, who would give anything to protect the people she loves, but who has doubts as to her own abilities and whether or not she’s doing the right thing. Louis is a sympathetic hero, devoted to Geneviève, and longing to stay true to his code of honor while faced with a cruel commanding officer amid the heat and sands of Egypt. Alternating chapters are told from Geneviève’s point of view, in first person, and Louis’s in third person. Both stories hold the reader’s attention and make you want to keep reading. I highly recommend the whole series. To get to know the characters, it is probably best to start at the beginning.

Vicki Kondelik

THE INSTRUMENTALIST

Harriet Constable, Simon & Schuster, 2024, $28.99/C$37.95, hb, 336pp, 9781668035825 / Bloomsbury, 2024, £16.99, hb, 336pp, 9781526672568

In 1696, a Venetian sex worker deposits her newborn in a small hole in the wall of the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage where nuns shelter unwanted girls who may otherwise have been drowned in the canals. The Pietà has a music school, and the baby, named Anna Maria, grows up to become its orchestra’s star violinist under the tutelage of maestro Antonio Vivaldi. Constable’s debut is a passionate

reimagining of Anna Maria’s story—and much of it must necessarily be reimagined. As with other artistic women from history, her work remains shadowy, and although Vivaldi wrote concertos for her, her specific contributions to his oeuvre are unknown.

Anna Maria burns with ambition. At eight, she knows she’s “destined for greatness,” and insists that her teacher guide her in honing her ferocious talents. She develops close friendships with other girls but casts them aside; her music demands full attention. In short, she’s a diva-in-training, and Constable urges readers to consider not only what it takes for women to succeed in a repressive era, but also what this single-minded drive takes away from them. Anna Maria is a synesthete who sees music in color, and these passages (“it trembles and fragments before her eyes… a thousand shades of gold and auburn and maroon”) immerse the reader in swirls of brilliant sound and images.

As Anna Maria uses Vivaldi (who’s never named as such) to pursue her goals, her teacher is also using her. “I am a composer. Instrumentalists are forgotten,” he tells her, and her original compositions are stolen and subsumed into his. The story overrelies on binary extremes such as this, and her petulance and self-entitlement feel very modern. Fortunately, the concluding chapters show greater emotional subtlety. You may come away from this novel unsure if you’ve met the real Anna Maria, but it has a sweep and urgency that’s hard to resist.

Sarah Johnson

LOVE’S WINDING ROAD

Susan F. Craft, Wild Heart Books, 2024, $15.95, pb, 266pp, 9781942265894

Starting from colonial Philadelphia in 1753, Rose Jackson and her Scots-Irish immigrant family join a small wagon train heading south to hopefully settle in South Carolina. In these pre-Revolutionary days, even the Atlantic states are still filled with wilderness and danger for homesteaders. Rose enjoys the company of her family and fellow travelers and is especially intrigued by their guide/scout Daniel Fordham, who the wagon master strongly depends upon. Their trip is as precarious as advertised as Rose gets taken by a group of hostile Indians only to be rescued later by Daniel. The two become even closer as Rose’s family feels it is only honorable for her and Daniel to be married, based on the nature of her rescue. As they proceed further and come to Daniel’s home territory, even more danger ensues, and Rose remains perplexed at Daniel’s strange reticence to fully manifest his love for her.

First in a three-book romance series, this novel also features stirring action/adventure passages as well as providing insight into the infant colonies. It happily exceeded my expectations. Recommended.

Thomas J. Howley

LADY AT THE LODGE

Graham Ley, Sapere, 2023, $10.99/ C$12.99/£9.99, pb, 248pp, 9780854951475

The third in Ley’s Wentworth family saga, set in 1796, begins as rumours of a French naval attack on England are whispered through Parliament and the Secretary of War puts his spies on alert. Sempronie Wentworth has reluctantly relinquished her beloved Brittany estate to her cousin Laurent Guèvremont, and negotiated for the orphan boy, Gilles (who she suspects is Guèvremont’s son), to remain at Kergohan, where he was raised. Sempronie’s daughter Amelia and her best friend Arabella, Justin Wentworth’s expectant wife, both get caught up again with the scoundrel Tregothen, who everyone thought would never return to England. Justin’s best friend, Eugène Picaud returns from a mission in France just in time to aid the two women. And the saga’s requisite villain, Guèvremont’s crafty steward Le Guinec, knows well how to play both sides against the middle.

Ley’s writing is both charming and archaic in its phrasing and use of dialogue. His characters are multi-faceted, the settings reliably authentic and his research recognisably thorough. The snag for a first reader is that this is not a standalone, and there are so many characters it requires a lot of exposition to get them into place, although once I got there I was quite swept into the times. I cannot fault the writing, but the saga needs to be read from the beginning, book one being The Baron Returns and book two, Heir to the Manor.

Fiona Alison

SEABORNE

Nuala O’Connor, New Island Books, 2024, £14.99, pb, 288pp, 9781848408920

With the recent interest in novels with strong female leads, Nuala O’Connor throws her literary expertise into the mix with a fresh interpretation of Anne Bonny, a legendary young woman who grabbed life by the horns three hundred years ago. Pulling at the tentative threads of what is known about Anne, which isn’t much, O’Connor has altered some knowns to suit her narrative – James Bonny is renamed Gabriel here.

On the coast of Ireland, six-year-old Anne Coleman is already dreaming of open seas and endless skies. When her family relocates to a plantation in the Carolinas, house slave Bedelia becomes Anne’s best friend, confidante and lover. Anne’s marriage to Gabriel Bonny is a means to an end. With her father pressing a suitable marriage upon her, the three flee to Nassau, where Anne soon chafes at Bonny’s lordship over her, and Bedelia finds companionship elsewhere. Anne falls for Captain ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham, who offers the world to her. Most of what we know about her life comes from 1721 court transcripts, according to the author’s scrupulous research. Nuala O’Connor has crafted a vibrant and tragic tale, tugging our imagination into a world where Anne truly blossoms. Using archaic dramatic dialogue and playing loosely

with the few known facts, two aspects of Anne’s personality form the backbone around which the author crafts her narrative—her supposed bisexuality and propensity for cross-dressing; and her ruthless manipulation of others to achieve her own ends. Hence, the majority of the novel is about relationships and how they do or do not benefit Anne. In this context she’s a force to be reckoned with and isn’t particularly likeable, but is admirably loyal to Rackham and his crew, even as they fail her, and there are some poignant scenes. A great addition to the bookshelf of any reader interested in the Golden Age of Piracy.

Fiona Alison

THE SHADOW KEY

Susan Stokes-Chapman, Harper, 2024, $30.00/C$37.00, hb, 464pp, 9780063396227 / Harvill Secker, 2024, £16.99, hb, 464pp, 9781787302907

Henry Talbot accepts the vacant post of physician at Penhelyg, an estate in Wales. He has lost his status as a respected London physician and now must accept this humble position. The 18th century is the age of enlightenment, and Henry is a man of science, so facing the superstitions and legends in this small country village becomes his biggest challenge. Heiress Linette Tresilian runs Penhelyg. She is strong-minded and pragmatic, scandalously wearing her deceased father’s clothes. Devoted to her tenants, she works tirelessly on their behalf, trying to make amends for the past misdeeds of her ancestors. Linette’s uncle Lord Julian Tresilian, a shadowy and sinister character, and her mother Lady Gwen, lost to madness, both play significant roles.

At Penhelyg, Henry is faced with hostile servants and villagers, his life threatened, his gatehouse cottage vandalized beyond repair, a mysterious vial containing poison, the strange death of the former doctor, the odd behaviors of Lord Julian and Lady Gwen, and more. Henry and Linette team up to find answers to these numerous mysteries. They come across a library of ancient texts, secret symbols, cryptic pictograms, coded messages, secret societies, hidden passages, clandestine ancient rituals, sacrificial ceremonies, bizarre costumes, and so on. The novel is cluttered with so much going on, but it isn’t hard to follow.

Many appealing characters will draw you in along with atmospheric and rich, descriptive nature writing of the Welsh countryside. As the novel progresses, it slides into bizarre, unbelievable territory. But after reading the Author’s Note, I gained a new appreciation for what the author has written. She acknowledges that this world of the occult is unbelievable but true; the history and how people fell into these beliefs are interesting. Her research was extensive and impressive. Readers who love all things around secret societies, cryptic signs, and the occult will sink in and enjoy.

Janice Ottersberg

SILENCE

Julia Park Tracey, Sibylline Press, 2024, $18.00, pb, 272pp, 9781736795491

Silence Marsh is a Separatist woman in an 18th-century Massachusetts community who recounts her difficult and powerful story in this intense novel. Her life moves from happiness and security to abysmal loss when, in a short time, she loses her mother, her adored husband, and her baby. Overwhelmed with grief, she dares to question God and is severely punished and persecuted by her religious community, who condemn her as a blasphemer. Among her punishments is a year-long sentence to silence.

Tracey describes Silence’s journey of despair, alienation, loneliness, and physical and psychological weakness in careful detail, building an intimate portrait of her heroine during this year of solitude. She likewise paints a detailed portrait of this religious community with its strict observances and frightening superstitions, among them looming suspicions of witchcraft. Silence’s only friend is a young girl to whom she teaches the art of beekeeping. This friendship provides some respite to the widow—and to the novel, which at times becomes difficult to read.

Another thread in this plot is the development of Silence’s friendship with a Boston doctor, Daniel Greenleaf, and his mother, a wise medicine woman herself. Unlike the popular physicians of the time, Mistress Greenleaf, and especially her son, prescribe fresh air, long walks, healing herbs, and reading to mend the broken widow. The development of this subplot brings welcome relief. Silence speaks for all women who have faced prejudice and censure in any society, whether at the hands of a patriarchal authority or from similarly threatened, but deluded women. It is a heavy novel to read, but still an enlightening experience.

Joanne Vickers

19TH CENTURY

THE GRATEFUL WATER

Juliana Adelman, New Island Books, 2024, £14.99, pb, 312pp, 9781848409248

sure, but he desperately needs a promotion, so he chases vague leads and makes chance connections. One of these is Anne Mulhall who lives with her aunt since her mother’s death and father’s remarriage. A vulnerable young woman with no marriageable prospects, she is befriended by Rose Doyle, a servant in her aunt’s house, and Denis’ wife. As Anne’s and Rose’s stories intertwine, the women protect each other and fight for recognition and independence in a world where there is little hope of either.

Set during three sweltering weeks in August 1866, The Grateful Water is a superbly dark gothic-style crime thriller, set in a squalid Dublin. Tagged as “sticky with blood”, the clever premise draws the theme of infanticide into a larger and more relevant framework without using over-much exposition. Adelman is pointedly outspoken in her graphic descriptive phrasing, and her condemnation of certain aspects of 19th-century life. She writes with refreshing honesty, displaying a sordid picture of women’s desperation and misogynistic control in a world where men are not culpable for any part of the creation of unwanted offspring. Readers and Dubliners alike are unable to escape the fetid air and stink of life itself in this exceptional story, as the river pulls us temporarily into unexpected currents before sending us on our way. Peakin has secrets he does not wish exposed but fights for the moral high ground, thereby aiding Adelman in bringing a very dark story to a satisfying conclusion.

Fiona Alison

YORÙBÁ BOY RUNNING

Biyi Bándélé, Harper, 2024, $26.99, hb, 288pp, 9780063417083 / Hamish Hamilton, 2024, £18.99, hb, 288pp, 9780241562697

Essentially, this is the story of Samuel Àjàyí Crowther, the first African Bishop in West Africa, but it doesn’t follow any traditional route for biographical historical fiction. Its complexities require close attention by the reader.

Where once the Liffey flowed unhindered through pristine Irish countryside, Adelman’s mid-19th-century Liffey is a foul and stinking brown sludge, carrying the detritus of Dublin in its greasy flow. Denis Doyle, a local butcher, sees the body of a newborn stuck in the mud under the bridge, and reports his finding to the police. The coroner rules murder; Detective Peakin isn’t so

In 1821, Àjàyí is thirteen, living a normal life in Òsogùn, when Malian slavetraders storm into his village and carry him and his family off to the barracoons on Eko Island (Lagos) to await shipment to Brazil. Rescued by the Royal Navy, he is set free and returned to Sierra Leone. Àjàyí’s intelligence and language facility come to the attention of missionaries, and he embarks on an astonishing career in the church, meeting Queen Victoria and being ordained as Bishop.

This is not just a magnificent saga of

one man’s triumph over adversity, it is also an exploration of West African history; of a greedy, rapacious king and his cronies who collude with Europeans in selling their own people and another king who falls victim to gunboat diplomacy. Late in life, Àjàyí himself is targeted by an increasingly bigoted church.

Yet there are so many more layers to this remarkable and original novel with its farce, wit, and lyrical perception of humanity: “… Banter was considered serious business. Every child knew, from mother’s milk, that what comes after six is more than seven; that a judicious whisper speaks louder than ten big drums. Outsiders often would key into an exuberant exchange, unaware that it was less than half the story, that the meaning of the exchange was complete only when taken together with the other, entirely unspoken, conversation going on beneath the fireworks … the tonal peculiarity of the language was another minefield: the same word could mean utter chaos … or it could mean the exact opposite, complete tranquillity.”

Marina Maxwell

SO TRUE A LOVE

Joanna Barker, Shadow Mountain, 2024, $16.99/C$22.50, pb, 256pp, 9781639932948

So True a Love, set in London in 1803, brings Verity Travers, sister of Jack Travers from the author’s prior book, to center stage. She is the daughter of an actress and a long-dead father, or so she says. Jack taught Verity the skills of a thief-taker (a PI), though a mysterious event caused her to give up all clients. After a night at the theater with her dearest friend Elizabeth and her parents, they are robbed and injured. Elizabeth’s parents are titled, and she is engaged to Lord Blakely, an earl. Verity’s friendship with Elizabeth is her entry into the ton. After the robbery Elizabeth asks Verity to help her find her stolen reticule (handbag), which hides a secret letter that could destroy her. Enter a new Bow Street runner (detective), Mr. Denning. Denning is a delicious prospect. The sparring of Verity and Mr. Denning is crisp with underlying respect and growing attraction, but can they collaborate to save Elizabeth?

The story is told in first person and propelled by dialogue. The one element that feels off is the willingness of Verity to make a two-day trip alone with Mr. Denning, though it allows the romance element of the story to blossom. Verity realistically grapples with her own fears as she works to help Elizabeth. The tension driving the plot is the nature of the dire threat to Elizabeth’s future; can she keep her secret from destroying her family? The reader, like Verity, is in the dark. For those who relish Regency romances of the respectable sort, Joanna Barker delivers again.

Catherine Mathis

NOT QUITE A SCANDAL

Bliss Bennet, Independently published, 2024, $14.95/C$17.95/£10.95, pb, 387pp, 9781737845546

The Regency romance world is chock full of aristocrats. What sets Not Quite a Scandal apart is its exploration of aristocratic expectations clashing against the more egalitarian Quaker social construct. Bathsheba Honeychurch is on a mission to make the world a more just place. She’s convinced that her Quaker teacher’s abolitionist pamphlets will do the trick, and she is planning on spreading the word worldwide herself. Her fiancé, Ash, the boy next door who she promised to look after, is a kind and openhearted man, who will absolutely let Bathsheba pursue missionary work after their marriage, because well, she told him so. But when Ash becomes the Earl of Silliman—a reversal of fortunes for both Ash and the man who’d thought he would become the earl—circumstances change for everyone. Bathsheba must charge to London to make sure Ash doesn’t compromise his Quaker upbringing and discard her in the process. As Ash learns more of his estranged family, and the aristocratic world, he moves further away from Bathsheba and the Quaker beliefs. Bathsheba isn’t about to let him go, and finds herself tangling with Noel, the man who thought he’d become the earl, as he blocks Bathsheba’s attempts to disrupt Ash’s new life. This is a refreshing take on the typical Regency romance, and though Bathsheba’s initial self-righteous selfishness is a bit grating, Noel, the discarded earl, is a grumpy foil for Bathsheba’s naïve worldview. The research is impeccable, and it was delightful to learn more about the Quaker culture. Second in a series.

Katie Stine

THE SEAFORTH HEIRESS

Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard, Black Rose Writing, 2024, $22.95/£16.95, pb, 300pp, 9781685134761

Bernard’s series Historic Women of the Highlands continues with the life of Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie, the last of the Seaforth family, who were plagued with the curse of the Brahan Seer, a legendary 17th-century Scottish soothsayer whose final prophecy predicted the doom of the House of Seaforth. Whether these mythical tales are fact or fiction is downplayed in Bernard’s novel but acts as a segue way into Mary’s character, a genteelly outspoken, learned woman who exercised a lot of freedom for a 19th-century heiress. Historical gaps have been expertly filled with credible musings on the colonial times in which Mary lived, the influence of her family, and her need to fulfill her legacy.

In 1803, Mary’s father, Lord Seaforth, was the Crown-appointed governor of the British colony of Barbados. One friend who visited often was Sir Samuel Hood, an older man Mary fell in love with and married. Their life together was for the most part a good one, spent partly in London and partly in Madras, India, when Hood was posted there by Naval Command.

Long absences due to his career only seem to have made the heart grow stronger, although there were no children of the marriage.

As I discovered when reading Sisters of Castle Leod, Bernard’s ability to tell a story is graceful and simple, allowing a smoothly flowing narrative to carry the events. Researched details are evident in descriptive sections which feel spot on and never overstep the mark, including Barbadian and Indian locations that are easy to imagine and feel. Mary’s character, her kindness, her search for knowledge, and her strong sense of social and family duty make her an engaging protagonist, and we learn a lot through her eyes. The novel brings Mary Mackenzie and the mythical pull of the Scottish Highlands back into the well-deserved spotlight.

SNOW ON MAGNOLIAS

Betty Bolté, Mystic Owl, 2024, $14.99, pb, 214pp, 9798986045054

Fearful he wouldn’t survive the Civil War, Bryce Day made the worst mistake of his life. He sent a message to his true love, the smart and entrepreneurial Magnolia “Lia” Merryweather, freeing her from her commitment to wait for him. Now that the war is over, and Christmas is only a month away, he is heading back to Alabama to see her. He can only hope she will forgive him and take him back four years after ending things. Lia has spent the war living with her parents and siblings, raising horses, and harboring a secret she is sure would destroy her relationship with her family. The last person she wants to see is Bryce, and she is in no mood for a reconciliation. To complicate matters, she’s gained the attention of a new suitor, Dylan. Perhaps she should start fresh with him, but a piece of her heart still belongs to Bryce. Should she move on and see what life with Dylan has to offer, or hear Bryce out and see if they can rekindle their romance?

The strong family ties and warm bond between Lia and her brother and sisters draw the reader in and are the highlight of this story. Also interesting is Bryce’s struggle as a former Union soldier returning to a community that, even after the war, still predominately supports the Confederacy. The novel is slightly hindered by its short length, as there isn’t enough time to fully explore the characters’ motivations and pasts, particularly Bryce and Lia’s relationship before the war. Still, fans of second chance romances will find this one worth reading, and the Christmas backdrop makes it one to put on a holiday reading list.

Janice Derr

A PROFITABLE WIFE

Kat Christensen, Historium Press, 2023, $2.99, ebook, 322pp, 9781962465199

In 1812 New York, Easter Hackley is born to a white man and a Native American (Algonquin) woman. She grows up as America is growing. She marries young and accompanies her husband Will to Ohio, looking for land to

Fiona Alison

homestead. As Easter and her family survive on the land, America is struggling. Andrew Jackson has come up with a plan to relocate the “natives.” Congressman David Crockett is horrified, and he joins with John Ross, the son of a white man and a Cherokee woman, to try and stop the removal. As Easter’s family continues to grow, so does America, and with that growth comes the good and the bad.

Easter is described as an amazing woman, and she definitely knows how to survive on the land better than most of the other female pioneers. She provides well for her family by using the skills her Algonquin mother taught her, fighting against great odds and extreme circumstances.

Easter’s story is entertaining, but this book also tells the story of America through the points of view of a large cast of characters, including Davy Crockett. Some of views become almost separate stories unto themselves, as they are not closely tied or tied at all to Easter. This makes the novel less cohesive, but still interesting and informative.

In this novel, Easter is the daughter of an Algonquin woman, Sooleawa. Sooleawa is fictionalized, but it is hard to reconcile the fact that Easter is portrayed as half Native American and still supported Andrew Jackson and willingly took over land in Ohio from which Native Americans had been “cleared.” This makes her appear much less remarkable than she is otherwise portrayed.

Bonnie DeMoss

ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND TREACHERY

Celeste Connally, Minotaur, 2024, $28.00/ C$37.00, hb, 320pp, 9781250867605

This is the second book in Celeste Connally’s Regency mystery series featuring Lady Petra Forsyth, an unconventional noblewoman who declares her intention never to marry, after the death of her fiancé in an accident. At the beginning of this novel, Petra finds evidence that her fiancé was murdered and that her childhood playmate and current lover, Duncan Shawcross, was responsible for his death. But before she can confront Duncan, he disappears, giving no indication of his whereabouts. As London celebrates Wellington’s victory at Waterloo, Queen Charlotte asks Petra to investigate the murder of the matron of an orphanage for girls, several of whom are the illegitimate daughters of aristocrats. A note threatening the Queen was found with the matron’s body. Petra discovers ties between the orphanage and a radical group planning to bring down the monarchy and kill members of the royal family. She also learns she only has three days to stop the attack, and that Duncan may be involved with the group.

This is an excellent addition to the world of Regency mysteries. Petra is an exceptionally strong heroine, who refuses to play by the rules of a society that does not give women the same rights as men. She is a skilled horseback rider, fights well with a dagger, and carries a

set of lockpicks that come in handy more than once. She shares the radical group’s desire to reform society, especially where women’s rights are concerned, but is opposed to the violent means they want to use to bring about change. I also enjoyed reading about her group of friends, including her best friend Lady Caroline (who can shoot a bow and arrow better than anyone in England), Lottie the dog trainer, and Frances the apothecary. I look forward to more of Petra’s adventures. Highly recommended.

Vicki Kondelik

COMANCHE IS NOT MY NAME

William Fagus, Fagus Press, 2023, $11.99, pb, 392pp, 9781738488902

Novels with animal narrators present numerous problems, not least of which is the need to use human language to convey the creature’s story. I was intrigued, therefore, that William Fagus has chosen a horse for his narrative point of view. It proved to be a fascinating and very successful choice.

The novel is set in America of the 1860s and follows the adventures of our equine hero from his wild birth on the Great Plains, to his capture by a Comanche tribe and his subsequent encounter with the ‘taibo’ (the white men) – gold diggers, settlers and the US cavalry. The narrative suspense builds towards the Battle of the Little Bighorn (our narrator repeatedly claims he is the last living survivor of that battle).

There are evocative descriptions of the American scenery: the vast, arid plains of the llano, the grasslands of the prairies and the colder, less hospitable northern landscape. Details about the Comanche lifestyle are absolutely fascinating and meticulously researched. The viewpoint is neither partisan nor critical. Our narrator just largely observes and comments, often hilariously, although there is a sense of the author’s perspective too. But it is also undeniably brutal at times: details of Indian raids, battles and hunting forays are unflinchingly depicted. There are rugged descriptions of the harsh trials of the early settlers and the lifestyle for man and horse in the US Cavalry. The range of characters we encounter is sympathetic, villainous and comic by turn.

The first-person narrative voice is well realised: a comic mix of Texan inflections, colloquialisms, Comanche words and elevated vocabulary. How this glorious linguistic hotchpotch emanates from the thoughts of a horse is never fully explained but ultimately doesn’t matter – we should simply give ourselves up to a colourful, original and totally enjoyable ride.

Adele Wills

A DEBUTANTE’S DESIRE

Felicity George, Orion, 2024, £10.99, pb, 467pp, 9781398718845

The cover of this novel, set in 1816, teasingly

says ‘Not all ladies are in the market for marriage’, but this debutante, Georgiana Bailey, is in fact motivated by an urgent need to seek funds for Monica House, a charity home for women whom men have used and discarded. To provide a school for the women’s children, and a garden where they can play, is Georgiana’s chief preoccupation as the book begins. She tours refined soirees seeking subscriptions from the well-heeled. Of these none is wealthier than financier John Tyrold, besieged by mothers eager to bring their unmarried daughters into close proximity to him, the most eligible of bachelors. He initially spurns Georgiana’s approach for donations, but then his young ward, Flora, goes missing without trace. Georgiana has a chequered past by which she has contacts in the demimonde into which Tyrold fears Flora has disappeared.

The book is essentially a search for a missing person amongst the high and low society of Regency London (Tyrold has an investigator on his payroll who rejoices in the name of Starmer), but Tyrold and Georgiana find a growing sexual attraction develops after their initial frostiness and distance. This relationship evolves with some enjoyable humour and empathy with both leading characters. Georgiana, clever, talented and sexually uninhibited, is developed to reveal more about her backstory and how and why she became so focused on helping ‘unfortunate’ women. Plotting does rather rely on coincidences. I did have the sense that the suspense element, the search, was rather underplayed compared to the developing relationship. For me, the author achieved a better balance of jeopardy and sex in her previous book. Still, this longer work is ambitious in its alternating points of view. Both emotionally and sensually, this is a good escapist read.

Ben Bergonzi

A CAPITAL CHRISTMAS

Sarah Hendess, Wild Rose Press, 2024, $15.99, pb, 200pp, 9781509256457

This sweet Christmas tale unfolds in the charged atmosphere of Washington, DC in 1859. John Brown has just conducted his raid, and the city is seething with hostility between abolitionists and slaveholder supporters. Dreading violence and still hoping for peace, many people in this story are still trying to be their best selves and live lives with meaning for themselves and others.

Fiona Ellicott, one such person, is the librarian at the Smithsonian Institution, the first woman to hold this position. She and her assistant Nicole are breaking new ground by working together as professional career women. Nicole, however, is preparing to leave her job to get married, because only unmarried women are considered suitable for career positions. Onto this stage comes Caleb Fox, a Quaker man who runs a local orphanage and is its head teacher. Fiona, an intelligent and compassionate woman, finds herself attracted to Caleb, his beliefs, and to the children under his care at the orphanage.

One thing leads to another, and she is soon making arrangements for the children to give a Christmas concert at the Smithsonian. Also looming is the decision that Fiona will have to make concerning her own career and marriage.

This gentle tale shines a light on women’s roles, the beliefs of Quakers, and how ordinary people went about their lives in the swampy, disease-ridden city of Washington in the mid19th century, all while teetering on the edge of war. Hope in the promise of Christmas finds a new outlet in this telling. Recommended for anyone looking for an uplifting read during the winter holidays.

Karen Bordonaro

SEASON OF THE SWAMP

Yuri Herrera, trans. Lisa Dillman, Graywolf, 2024, $26.00/C$30.00, hb, 160pp, 9781644453070

A beautifully haunting read, Season of the Swamp still has me in its enthralling grip. It follows the immigrant exile Benito Juárez during his stay in New Orleans as he works on a plan to overthrow the tyrant who has Mexico in his clutches. Benito would become one of the first Indigenous leaders of the post-colonial Americas to hold office, but in the story, he is an unknown outcast, invisible and anonymous as the cigar wrapper sticking to a merchant’s boot.

The year is 1853, and Benito is lost among a city wrestling with the ever-present swamp to keep afloat. He is nameless and faceless to most everyone he passes. Luckily, despite the fever, drugs, mosquitoes, fire, and crimes sweeping the city, Benito always has one ear to the wind. No matter what he must contend with, the exile is determined to return home with a plan to free his country. If he survives the streets crawling with plague, the mysterious women, and the cop tailing him, then maybe he will succeed.

Sporting stunning prose and melodious details, readers are transported to 19th-century Louisiana in a harrowing and heartfelt tale of a mob-less leader searching for direction in the searing heat. Benito’s spirit is one the reader will root for. With such a protagonist to learn alongside, readers will delight in finding this novel. Benito may be far from home, but Herrera’s words for him have found a home in my mind and soul.

Ellaura Shoop

EARLS TRIP

Jenny Holiday, Kensington, 2024, $17.95, pb, 336pp, 9781496745071

Archie, the Earl of Harcourt, finds his 1821 vacation with his two best friends diverted to rescuing a neighbor’s daughters, Clementine and Olive Morgan, from a failed elopement. At the ramshackle castle they’ve rented, Archie finds that reconnecting with Clem, his childhood friend, reawakens a part of him that went dormant when he acquired the earldom. But Clem is a woman who prefers the outdoors, and she doesn’t want to be bridled with marriage. She does want to know pleasure, however, and asks Archie to demonstrate. Passion and shared confessions bring them together, but when it’s time to return to London, both wonder if their affair can continue.

It’s a joy to see characters being truly kind to one another, and Holiday creates an entertaining cast of characters with their own eccentricities and vulnerabilities. The two leads are relatable and modern in their sensibilities, including the issue of Clem’s vegetarianism, which becomes the focus of the book for a stretch. At this point it’s hard to take a fresh angle on any of the Regency novel’s beloved tropes, but Holiday’s humor and her prose make this eminently readable. Romance readers will delight in this first in a series. Misty Urban

AT THE FALL LINE

Jean Huets, Circling Rivers, 2024, $19.99, pb, 314pp, 9781939530301

Huets writes a compelling novel set in 1869 Virginia. Its protagonist is Major Louis Bondurant, a wounded Union Army veteran who has returned to the home and the people he loves. Louis works as a quarry foreman, but he is determined to recover the fortunes of his family in the economically devastated South. He is a complicated man who lives a complicated life; readers will be engrossed in his story. The plot is a rich confection of every experience and emotion of humankind: love, hate, jealousy, humility, kindness, treachery, lust, sorrow, joy, depression, regret. The characters who embody these experiences and emotions are complicated; they include his friend Rob, abookstore owner and reliable source of sound advice; Branden, a sympathetic, consumptive friend from childhood; the alluring Mrs. Valentina Termey, a painter who haunts his life; his cousin Richard Poindexter, a man dedicated to his downfall; Moses Kohen, his sympathetic lawyer; even his unusual dog Lizzie and horse Nella. The action is fast-paced and engrossing.

A fall line is a geographical area where coastal land and piedmont area meet, a point of contrasts. This novel metaphorically embodies this difficult dichotomy in its theme and its characters, its physical and psychological descriptions. Once started, this is a book that readers will not want to put down, but they will also want to read it a second time.

Joanne

Vickers

THE SPARKLER

Alan Humm, Vine Leaves Press, 2024, £12.99/$17.99, pb, 264pp, 9783988320636

It is probably true that many people base their view of Charles Dickens, the man, on his relationship with the characters he created in his writing, on their loves and hates, failures and disasters, their fears, ambitions, expectations, achievements and on the celebrations of their various and sometimes happy resolutions.

In The Sparkler we meet a very different man. This Dickens is self-indulgent, immoral and even downright dishonest. He remains conspicuously lacking in any sort of sense of responsibility for his effect on those close to him or who seem to have an importance to him.

He remains unaware that his association with Mary, his sister-in-law, places his wife in a curious, almost platonic, role while his undeveloped relationship with Mary herself will soon become, for many readers. the most interesting, moving, challenging, yet never explored, aspect of this novel. And this Dickens seems to spend worryingly little of his time actually writing.

Nevertheless, The Sparkler is a fascinating piece of work. The prose glitters, wittily and as brightly as the gemstones in the necklace that gives this novel its title. Some readers might wish the author had used the words “as if” or “as though” rather than “like,” but that is neither here nor there.

So, hey! Forget about the Dickens you thought you knew and enjoy meeting this new one.

Julia Stoneham

THE PECULIAR GARDEN OF HARRIET HUNT

Chelsea Iversen, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2024, $16.99, pb, 320pp, 9781728275819

This Victorian gothic, set in 1860s London, is the story of Harriet Hunt, a frightened young woman, who has been abused by her father all her life. Now that he has finally disappeared from her life, she must confront her fears as she comes of age, alone in a bleak, debt-ridden house. The peaceful idyll of her garden is her only solace. She tends it as she would a child— with affection and understanding, as it wraps her in its comforting embrace. Harriet is locally considered an oddity, and is entirely friendless, except for her beloved cousin Eunice, who begs her to move to Durham with her and her husband, but Harriet’s garden holds a particular secret which she must uphold.

With her father’s disappearance, the persistent enquiries of a police inspector, who is suspicious that she doesn’t appear to miss her father, or have an income to support herself, become troublesome. When Harriet meets Christian Comstock, a well-respected man who hurriedly offers companionship in marriage, she is enchanted by his kindness and, surprised as she is that anyone would want her for a wife, she knows the proper life of a married woman will satisfy the inspector. This unearthly story flows with an elemental

eeriness in which the reader connects with the character of the garden— its twisting ivy vines, low hanging branches, nodding roses and soft moss beds engaging enough to carry a lot of the action. The first half of the novel is a little protracted, as not much seems to happen, but the plot speeds up satisfactorily. How will the magical garden react if Harriet is unable to keep her anger and fear in check? In this tale of female rage and patriarchal control, what is it capable of? I’ll leave it to readers to decide.

Fiona Alison

NOVICE THREADS

Nancy Jardine, Ocelot Press, 2024, $16.00, pb, 384pp, 9781739696429

1840s Scotland comes vividly to life in this novel about two young girls (“almostsisters”) who grow up in this time and place. Margaret and Jessie both live in the same small town but in somewhat different economic circumstances. Margaret’s father, a tailor, and her mother, a seamstress, can afford to send Margaret to school. Jessie, on the other hand, lives with her single mother and grandmother on the very edge of dire poverty. After Jessie suffers family losses, she becomes a servant to a wealthy family in Edinburgh. Margaret then comes to join her when this family needs a tutor for their daughter. Years working together in this environment pull the girls even closer as changes in their employers’ family intersect with growing knowledge about their own personal family histories.

The prescribed roles for women in Victorian Scotland are writ large in this novel. Expectations for marriage and children are paramount, yet financial needs dictate which paths a woman may travel. Many young women worked in the local mills due to few other choices for employment for money needed to support a family. Seamstress skills in sewing clothes appear to accompany all the possible paths that a girl could choose or be forced into as well. In following Margaret and Jessie in gaining needed employment through domestic service and tutoring beyond the mills, the reader is drawn into this world of need and expectations. Readers curious about how people lived in the mid-19th century in Scotland will find much to relish in this engaging novel.

Karen Bordonaro

MURDER IN HIGHBURY

Vanessa Kelly, Kensington, 2024, $27.00/ C$37.00/£25.00, hb, 400pp, 9781496745972

This novel introduces a new amateur sleuth, Jane Austen’s exasperatingly lovable Emma Woodhouse – now Mrs. Knightley. When she and her friend Harriet Martin go to arrange flowers in the church, the last thing they expect to see is a dead body by the altar. To their horror, the dead woman is the vicar’s wife – a woman not over-popular in Highbury. Turning from matchmaking (in Austen’s Emma) to detecting, Emma turns her wit and charm to discovering the murderer. With little

help from the authorities, Emma (against the wishes of her husband George Knightley) delves into the circumstances surrounding the dead woman’s life. There are plenty of suspects: Could it be the scatterbrained Miss Bates? The farmer with a grudge against the vicar? The mysterious poultry thief? Or could it be someone else, someone right under Emma’s clever nose?

Highbury in 1815 is a charming locale, and the author’s love of Emma and her surroundings shines through clearly. The entire cast of characters from Austen’s Emma is here – Emma’s hypochondriac father is just as irritating as ever! – and they all sound very much like their Austen selves. This is a sprightly, engrossing mystery, sprinkled with wit and charm. Murder in Highbury should appeal to fans of Austen, Regency romances, and mysteries. Recommended.

India Edghill

THE SPECIMENS

Mairi Kidd, Black & White, 2024, £16.99, hb, 288pp, 9781785306365

Set from 1819 to 1829, this grim-dark historical weaves fiction through the historical events of the Burke and Hare murder spree, spotlighting some of the more salacious and unseemly aspects of 19th-century society— grave-robbing and medical experimentation— in a gripping tale of murder and mayhem.

Dr. Robert Knox marries his servant girl, Susan, in an unsavoury, clandestine ceremony. He beds and impregnates her and ensconces her in his remote house near Leith. Held there as a virtual prisoner, Susan gives birth several times overseen by an accoucheur (male midwife) of Knox’s choosing. The births are graphic and brutal, but throughout dire events, Susan courageously manages to befriend her keeper, who confines her closely within the house under Knox’s instructions. The Knox relationship is an odd mix of kindness and indulgence posed against cruelty and desertion, and all the creepier for its peculiarity. A dollhouse is an inspired addition to Susan’s already darkly gothic life.

Meanwhile Helen MacDougal, an abused widow, befriends William Burke and sets up a common-law household with him in a rooming house, along with Burke’s friend and drinking buddy, William Hare. Burke admits to coming into money by nefarious means, but Helen is unaware it’s the ill-gotten gains of supplying corpses to the anatomist Dr Knox.

Burke’s befriending of Hare and his loathsome wife, Margaret, is the crux of Kidd’s story. A few of the historical victims of the murder spree are introduced quite late in the book, supplied with short histories, whereby these destitute itinerants become identifiably fleshed-out characters. The main cast is for the most part sympathetic (with notable exceptions), made possible by Kidd’s attention to her narrative structure and backstories as she interconnects both story strands. I read this in two sittings, barely coming up for air.

A thought-provoking novel, which carries a wealth of information about the time period.

Fiona Alison

BATTLE ANNIE

Trish MacEnulty, Prism Light Press, 2024, $15.99, pb, 211pp, 9798990938205

In 1890, during a strike against the New York Central Railroad, Annie Walsh, as head gopher of the Battle Row Ladies Social and Athletic Club, negotiates with railroad tycoon Louis Webb for compensation to break the strike. The women are organized brick-hurlers, and they hurl for the highest bidder. Annie is a reliable contract employee, on good, if not friendly, terms with Webb and his wealthy cohorts. To save her strength during the hurl, she tips a young guttersnipe to supply her with bricks. Cora is part of the Nobodies, orphaned children who sleep rough, scrounge food and survive selling matches, flowers, newspapers, or, in the case of the youngest, just begging. Cora knows a good thing when she sees it in Annie! Eugene Debs, a renowned socialist, entices Annie into his camp, paying her to support the strike. But inevitably, Annie runs afoul of Webb and he accuses her of murder in retaliation. With Debs’ help, and a price on her head, she does a runner with Cora to Baltimore, where she spends four years capably running a millinery shop, and learning how to speak proper-like. But nothing lasts forever, and when her real identity is tipped to a Pinkerton, she’s sent to jail. At this juncture the story becomes Cora’s and whether she values Annie’s friendship enough to save her. Life on the street is about first taking care of number one, and Cora must find her own life path.

Little is known about Annie Walsh, and MacEnulty has crafted an interesting tale based around the New York gangs prevalent at the time, particularly the women gophers who were rough, tough, hardy women, many of Irish descent. This capably written story is mostly fictionalized with a few historical characters and is brought to a neat conclusion.

Fiona Alison

THE MUSE OF MAIDEN LANE

Mimi Matthews, Berkley, 2024, $19.00/ C$25.99, pb, 384pp, 9780593639276

I confess: I’ve been waiting for this book. Stella’s meeting with the outspoken artist in Book 3 of the Belles of London series, The Lily of Ludgate Hill, was electrifying. Book 4 opens with Stella fleeing the ball at a house party because she’s done something outrageous and dyed her silver hair auburn, and this gentleman, Teddy Hayes, will know it. Teddy tracks her down with a yet more scandalous request: he wants to sketch her. Teddy knows how it feels to draw scrutiny from others: no one around him can see beyond the wheeled chair he uses, save Stella. Teddy’s vulnerabilities and ambition lure Stella out from under the thumb of her disapproving

brother, and when Teddy proposed a marriage of mutual convenience, I actually cheered.

Matthews develops dimensional characters, and fans will enjoy seeing the return of couples from previous series; Teddy himself first appears in A Convenient Fiction. Matthews gently tilts tropes to suit her characters’ circumstances and is particularly interested in the restrictions on women of the Victorian age. Stella and Teddy’s romance is soulful and sweetly satisfying as each supplies what the other needs to thrive. Readers will love this gentle, uplifting conclusion to the series, along with the faultless prose.

Misty Urban

PRIDE AND PERJURY

Alice McVeigh, Warleigh Hall Press, 2024, $13.99/£11.99, pb, 326pp, 9781738546114

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen fans might secretly wish for undiscovered chapters in the lives and courtships of her heroines. Alice McVeigh offers this in short stories of Jane Bennet’s other admirers, granular detail of Miss Bingley angling for Mr. Darcy and Lydia’s for Wickham. We get downstairs takes on the Bennet household, and inventions of the matrimonial adventures of Anne de Bourgh, and Susan, an older aunt.

There are risks with this effort. First, most readers know Austen’s plots and resent alternative endings, thus eliminating suspense. Second, the subtle wit of Austen’s prose is nearly inimitable. McVeigh’s scenes can be charming, but they aren’t Austen’s. Third, much of her focus is on Austen’s foil characters who tend to be silly (Lydia), slimy (Wickham), or mildly pathetic (Anne). Time with them can get tiresome. However, beneath the flirting, hat trimming, and courting dances was the agonizing truth of the early 1800s—respectable life required marriage, youth was fleeting, and many faced sacrificing love and happiness for salvation from penury, loneliness or disgrace. McVeigh shows us the desperate machinations of those not blessed with beauty, wit, family connections, or an appetizing dowry.

Pamela Schoenewaldt

THEM WITHOUT PAIN

Chris Nickson, Severn House, 2024, $29.99/£21.99, hb, 224pp, 9781448314409

The historic tale of Arthur Mangey, a talented silversmith accused of coin-clipping and hanged in 1696, has elicited this excellent crime thriller, set in 1825 Leeds. Thief-taker Simon Westow, and assistants Jane Truscott and young Sally, have their wits tested by solving the novel’s multiple crimes. Four silver cups made by Mangey are stolen by a valet, his body then found inside a secret room when the buildings of Middle Row are demolished. Jane is sent to Mangey-expert, historian Armistead, to research background, but another murder takes place and a third follows in quick succession. Meanwhile, a parallel story runs alongside: one of gruesome murders and beatings. Sally and Jane follow instruction

from Westow regarding the silver cups’ crimes, whilst nursing personal vengeance against the other killer.

Despite having not met any of these characters before, I found them easy to fall in with. Jane and Sally are both strong characters, watching each other’s back, working simultaneously with and apart from Westow. Jane’s backstory, which had her taking a sojourn from thief-taker work, is woven in, but the reader can surmise a lot from a little. Now she is faced with the decision to go back to the work, or leave it behind. Sally is a child, but one whose character and lethal strength you can’t help but admire. Nineteenth-century Leeds is a dangerous place; knives are the weapon of choice, and everyone carries one— Westow secretes three about his person. In this episode, we catch glimpses of Westow’s more vulnerable nature, which may take the next book in some intriguing directions. This is a complex multiple-murder mystery set in smoke-filled, murky mid-industrial revolution Leeds; an atmospheric tale made even more so by Nickson’s obvious research on knife-fights, and his evident love and respect for his home town.

Fiona Alison

THE SHADOW OF AN ARTIST

George Owen, Olympia Publishers, 2024, £9.99, pb, 236pp, 9781804398371

The Shadow of an Artist portrays the life of French modernist painter Édouard Manet, told from the perspective of his friend, Julian Mercier. The ruse of the novel is that Mercier’s great-grandson takes possession of a trunk containing Mercier’s draft novel and Manet’s diary, and is able to produce this book.

The novel follows Manet as he rejects a traditional career and chooses to embed himself in the world of art. He soon develops a distinctive style as a painter of modern life, often choosing lower-class people as his models. As readers, we’re there when Manet chooses his models, gets embroiled in disagreements, creates his most famous works, and experiences rejection from the Paris Salon. Towards the end of the book, we’re with Manet when he is finally accepted by the art establishment but descends into ill health. Along the way, we meet many well-known artists and writers, including Picasso, Zola, Monet, and Baudelaire.

Manet is a promising protagonist for a historical novel, but The Shadow of an Artist would benefit from more attention to writing craft. The book is a series of disparate scenes and historical references, rather than a cohesive story. While it’s told from the perspective of Julian Mercier, he remains a background figure who is not developed as a character with agency. The book offers a broad overview of events between 1848 and 1883, but in providing this breadth it sacrifices both depth and detail. The extensive dialogue is wooden in places. I was bothered by shifts in

point of view and some slips at the sentence level.

Judy Gregory

THE BIRDS OF DOG

Ann B. Parson, Luminare Press, 2023, $20.00/ C$27.99/£16.99, pb, 210pp, 9798886792744

“The sun was out, and the sciences were popping!” In a modified epistolary format, Parson recounts three related stories, connected by narrator, place, and theme. In 1838, real-life American naturalist Charles Pickering set off from his family home in Boston to explore the world and collect specimens for scientific research. The first part of Parson’s novel follows Pickering’s expedition while also relating the mid-century strides in technology and scientific research through letters written to Charles from his fictional cousin Catherine, as she discovers her own conservationist sensibilities and begins a courtship with reallife inventor James Cutting. Part two explores Cutting’s work establishing the first aquarium in Boston in the lead-up to the Civil War, and part three, the 1895 establishment of an Audubon Society for the protection of Boston’s declining bird population.

Meticulously researched and end-noted, the stories and anecdotes provide a stroll through 19th-century Boston ephemera during a time when scientific knowledge was advancing faster than human empathy seemed able to keep up. Peppered with cameos from transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau, affectionately dubbed Hank the Crank, naturalists Audubon and Agassiz, and hoaxers Barnum and Bailey, Parson’s novel brings to life these renowned men without shying away from their less-noble tendencies as she explores the juxtaposition of human ingenuity against its own hubris and short-sightedness. From story to story, Parson catalogs the life-changing inventions which emerged throughout the 19th century and demonstrates the relentless pursuit of knowledge, of fashion, and of wealth, while reflecting on our collective responsibility to protect the natural world from ourselves— themes which may have been emerging one hundred and eighty years ago, but which still deeply resonate today.

Rose Prendeville

MURDER AT KING’S CROSSING

Andrea Penrose, Kensington, 2024, $27.00/ C$37.00/£25.00, hb, 361pp, 9781496739964

This Wrexford and Sloane Regency mystery, eighth in the series, entangles the exhilarating family of the Earl of Wrexford and his (secret editorial cartoonist) wife Lady Charlotte (née Sloane)—and their adopted sons, those scamps! —with another Penrose exploration of how science and technology galloped forward at the time. Of course, a murder takes place— this time of someone clutching an invitation to the wedding that Wrex and Charlotte host for their friends Christopher Sheffield and Lady Cordelia Mansfield. The victim is an engineer

rumored to have a radical new design for bridges, but how did he lay hands on the invitation, and why?

The Weasels—those adopted sons—not only have permission for the sleuthing this time, but also grow in number. Lady Charlotte explains, “Ours is an unconventional family… What binds us together is love.” That love is for each other, but also for the friends whose lives are being upended by inventions and discoveries.

Value is at the heart of the crime. It takes an insightful entrepreneur like the Earl of Wrexford to see why: “If someone has come up with an innovation that allows bridges to span wider distances … all sorts of new routes are possible, changing the time it takes to travel—which in turn would have great economic implications.” He adds, “I, for one, can’t begin to put a price on what that patent would be worth.”

So, there’s motive. Investigating means and opportunity will put Charlotte’s family-ofchoice at risk. As Wrex tells the boys, “M’lady has given us strict orders that at the first sign of trouble you are to blow the whistle and then scarper.” Did he really think the boys would do that, though?

Beth Kanell

HOLMES AND MORIARTY

Gareth Rubin, Simon & Schuster UK, 2024, £18.99, hb, 352pp, 9781398514539

December 1889. Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr Watson are intrigued when fledgling actor George Reynolds approaches them with the strange story that his performances as the title character in a third-rate production of Richard III are always attended by the same small pool of theatregoers in various unconvincing disguises.

Meanwhile, Holmes’s nemesis Professor Moriarty and his side-kick Moran find themselves in the middle of a turf war between rival gangs and framed for a crime they didn’t commit. Someone seems determined to force Holmes and Moriarty to work together to defeat a greater evil – but can Moriarty really be trusted?

This addition to the Sherlock Holmes canon has been authorised by the Conan Doyle estate and ticks many boxes. Holmes, Watson and Moriarty are recognisably themselves, as is Sherlock’s brother Mycroft. There are the requisite powers of observation and instant deductions about strangers. The historical details are mostly well-researched, and it is easy to distinguish between the two narrators – Watson and Moran – without needing tags at the top of the chapters.

And yet I found the plot so far-fetched that I struggled to suspend my disbelief. The pacing flags, too, in the third quarter of the book, so I found myself pondering on minor details like – why would a full goblet of Communion wine be standing on an altar if there is no religious service taking place? I’m also not sure why Moran sounds so working-class in his use of slang, when he boasts of having

been to Eton and Oxford and having attained the rank of colonel in an era when there was relatively little armed conflict to speed up the rate of promotion. I’m sure there will be plenty of readers who will love this book, but unfortunately I’m not one of them.

Jasmina Svenne

THREADBARE

Jane Loeb Rubin, Level Best/Historia, 2024, $18.95, pb, 358pp, 9781685125813

Threadbare takes the reader to 19thcentury New York City. The Lower East Side is changing as farmers lose their land and move north to New Jersey and Long Island. Large and poorly constructed tenement buildings are built in their place to house the growing number of European immigrant families. Tillie Isaacson, the protagonist, and her German Jewish family live on a farm in the Lower East Side. When Tillie is fourteen, her mother, Mathilda, dies of breast cancer in Bellevue Hospital. Shortly before her death, she tells Tillie that the “circle of family is what binds us together forever.” This message resonates with Tillie and helps guide her as she faces the many challenges she and her growing family must endure to survive as new immigrants in America.

The author’s ancestors emigrated from Germany in 1866, and Ms. Rubin has created a story built on their experiences as immigrants. She has created enduring characters with both resilience and warmth. Tillie is headstrong and, as a result, is impulsive, making quick decisions. On the other hand, she takes over the care of her younger sister, Hannah, and wisely supports her education. The author enriches her writing with metaphors and similes. The story moves at a fast pace with suspense.

This story would appeal to a young woman facing the demands of both a family and career. The protagonist is forced to handle discrimination in her workplace not unlike situations found in the 21st century.

Frances E. Stephenson

THE AMERICAN DAUGHTERS

Maurice Carlos Ruffin, One World, 2024, $28.00, hb, 304pp, 9780593729397 / Dialogue Books, 2024, £22.00, hb, 304pp, 9780349704913

Enslaved on John du Marche’s plantation in the years before the Civil War, Ady and her mother, Sanite, survive inhumane treatment through strength of spirit and fierce devotion to each other. When they manage to escape, Sanite teaches her young daughter to survive in the woods and to kill, if necessary. The two are captured, returned to bondage, then separated for good, and Ady is transferred to du Marche’s townhouse in New Orleans, a city that becomes her “open-air penitentiary.” On one of her errands for the household, she stumbles upon the Mockingbird Inn, run by a free woman of color named Lenore.

The Mockingbird turns out to be a cover

for a network of spies called The Daughters— Black women, many enslaved, who work behind the scenes to gather information for abolitionist forces and, after war erupts, the Union. The women employ the code phrase “for our mothers” to reveal themselves to each other. When du Marche, now a high-ranking rebel officer, learns about the subterfuge, he seeks revenge against Ady with a plan to separate her from Lenore forever. In return, Ady and Lenore plot to crush him—and Confederate power—in the city.

Ruffin’s novel is both harrowing and thrilling, set against a vibrant New Orleans and teeming with memorable characters. Ady and Lenore’s burgeoning love story serves as a backdrop to the intense action scenes. Woven throughout the narrative are documents from Ady’s ancestors, ending with an epilogue dated 2172 that imagines which parts of a novel called The American Daughters—based on Ady’s journal—are factual. The conclusion reminds us how far the country still has to travel to reckon with the stain of slavery’s history.

Paula Martinac

MADEMOISELLE EIFFEL

Aimie K. Runyan, William Morrow, 2024, $18.99/C$23.99, pb, 368pp, 9780063329287 Paris, late 1800s. The titular character is Claire, the oldest child of engineer and architect Gustave Eiffel. Her mother dies when she is fourteen, so Claire takes on the burden of raising her four younger siblings, running a busy household, and helping her father in his work. She excels in all she does but laments the loss of her dream of being an artist in her own right. Being in her father’s, then husband’s, shadow is difficult for her. The story takes us through the building of the famous tower, and Eiffel’s disastrous connection to the Panama Canal.

With Eiffel’s daughter as the protagonist, it shouldn’t be a surprise that most of the action occurs “off-screen,” as Claire was only tangentially involved in her father’s work. Readers mostly learn about events through conversations and Claire’s memories. Conflict comes from the many arguments Claire has with other characters, but there is little suspense to the novel, and I found much of the dialog awkward and unrealistic. With Claire as our narrator, we learn about her thoughts, emotions, and desires, but the other characters are one-dimensional: the rude and demanding grandmother, the profligate son, the hard-working father, the artistic best friend. What Runyan is good at are the details involving food, clothing, and household furnishings, which help to bring the setting to life.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt

THE IRISH GIRL

Ashley E. Sweeney, She Writes Press, 2024, $18.99, pb, 344pp, 9781647427764

Opening in Galway, Western Ireland in

May 1886, this novel follows the story of Mary Agnes Coyne as she emigrates to America. It follows her throughout her teenage years, from starving child to widowhood. While it is fiction, the author relies extensively on oral history and memorabilia from her grandmother, whose mother’s story this is.

We meet Mary Agnes as an unloved child in a large family, being sexually abused by her brother. She finds refuge in the home of her grandparents, Festus the fisherman and Grace, his wife, who provide her with some education and the money to cross the Atlantic.

The crossing holds enough horrors for a lifetime, but worse is the arrival in New York, where her beautiful auburn hair is shorn to the scalp by the immigration barber. However, she finds help and support from Irish families almost as poor as her own, to carry her forward to her aunt in Chicago.

From there, her life takes many twists as she travels to Colorado Springs and eventually even further. However, the novel’s strength lies in its deep, emotionally charged descriptions of Irish immigrants’ quest to become established in America. It brings to life the extreme poverty in New York tenements (still better than poverty in rural Ireland at the time) and the contempt shown to the Irish. Support comes from other Irish families even as they themselves lack food.

The selection and portrayal of details and the emotion they generate drive home the immediacy of the immigrant experience. The author shares encounters, perceptions and feelings of one young woman facing exceptional difficulties. She makes us feel part of that life and those times.

Valerie Adolph

INNOCENTS AT HOME

Linda Ulleseit, Legacy Books, 2024, $17.95, pb, 322pp, 9798218421724

Innocents at Home presents an intriguing narrative by exploring the lives of two women who traveled with Mark Twain on his famous steamship voyage to the Holy Land, a journey chronicled in Twain’s best-selling travel book, Innocents Abroad. The novel focuses on Nina Churchman Larrowe and Emmeline (Emma) Beach, both connected to the author Linda Ulleseit. These affluent women return from their voyage to face the challenges of resuming their lives. Using a dual point-of-view narrative, Ulleseit explores their respective paths: Nina’s attempts to establish herself as an elocution coach and actress, and Emma’s journey as an artist and her marriage to painter Gerald Thayer. Each chapter begins with a Mark Twain quote, and through letters exchanged between the women, the novel delves into their struggles with their unconventional choices. While both storylines are engaging, Emma’s is particularly compelling, and one might wish the author had explored her experiences as a woman artist in the late 1800s more deeply. The novel also lacks sufficient historical context; the backdrop of post-Civil War America and the significance of Emma’s family’s involvement

in the Underground Railroad are only lightly touched upon. Additionally, although Twain’s Innocents Abroad plays a background role, there is minimal discussion of its content, despite claims that Twain’s criticism led to Nina’s divorce—a detail not supported by the actual text. The narrative often relies on summary rather than immersive scenes, covering historical events quickly rather than allowing readers to fully experience them. This approach provides a broad historical overview but misses opportunities to engage deeply with the characters’ lived experiences. Overall, an enjoyable read but one that has the potential to be more.

Suzanne Uttaro Samuels

THE GRAYS OF TRUTH

Sharon Virts, Flashpoint, 2024, $18.95, pb, 368pp, 9781959411727

Madness and murder abound in this tale based on a true story, which fittingly takes place in Baltimore, where Edgar Allan Poe crafted his tales of horror. The year is 1867, and Jane Gray Wharton, a former nurse during the Civil War, is trapped in an unhappy marriage with the brother of the man who jilted her 25 years earlier. Those who were enslaved in the South may have been emancipated, but women (even or especially those in the ruling class) remain subject to the whims and rule of their husbands.

One woman, however, may have figured out a way to wrest some control from the men. Visitors to the house of Ellen Wharton, Jane’s sister-in-law and the woman who married Jane’s former fiancé, mysteriously sicken and die—including a respected general and Jane’s miserable excuse for a husband, and her daughter. It is up to Jane, an avid chemist, to uncover the truth behind the mysterious deaths, however her own delusions make her question her judgment.

Virts’ research into the nascent science of chemistry and her detailed explanation of forensics help make this a fascinating historical true-crime story. In the beginning, the numerous characters and their relationships are somewhat confusing; however, as the story moves forward, the stakes become clearer, and the conclusion offers a satisfactory surprise.

Trish MacEnulty

DAUGHTER OF STRANGERS

Maybelle Wallis, Poolbeg, 2024, £10.99, pb, 318pp, 9781781996898

Manhattan, 1854: Whilst most of the third volume of Wallis’s Doughty trilogy is set in New York, it opens five years earlier with an eviction in County Cork during the famine; a family is turned out in the cold and their home is torched.

Orla, the only survivor of this calamity, is the daughter of strangers of the title. Adopted by William Doughty, late of Dublin Fever Hospital and now a pathologist in New York, and his wife Jane, and now on the cusp of adolescence, Orla is showing significant talent as a singer,

but with it all the signs of what we would now call PTSD.

An attempt to board her in a Ladies’ Seminary, where she will be taught by the Doughtys’ friend Anna, has dramatically unforeseen consequences, linked all the way back to that terrible day of the eviction. Anna is admired by Joseph, now a colleague of William’s, but who also has a history, a past with Young Ireland that compelled him to flee his native country, and which poses a significant obstacle to his wooing of Anna.

When Joseph realises that a corpse under his dissecting knife is a murder victim, and was an Irish doctor like himself, the two threads of the story begin to entwine, putting Joseph’s life in danger.

Daughter of Strangers is a love story, an elegant and keenly-plotted thriller and an utterly convincing view into mid-19th-century medicine. Wallis’s research is impressive without weighing the narrative down. Instead, sensory detail enriches her prose, be it in the hissing of gas lights in a glittering opera house, the texture of clothing or the handling of medical instruments. Read the rest of the trilogy, in which each volume works as a standalone, but this is her best novel yet.

Katherine Mezzacappa

NATE THE TEXAS STORY

Mark Warren, Wolfpack Publishing, 2024, $12.99, pb, 370pp, 9781639775330

Round Rock, Texas, 1871. Nathan Champion may be the fourth-oldest of former sheriff Jack Champion’s ten offspring, but he is the most memorable. At fourteen, Nate has the muscle to stand up to the school bully when he won’t listen to reason. Like any Texan, he can use a gun but chooses not to as his daddy taught him. Girls like his good looks and his quiet confidence, but he has no time for them in his life. Above all, if given a chore to do, his family and friends know that “Nate don’t know quit.” Nate’s real strength is the patience he shows in training horses. He knows the task is not to “break” a wild horse but to encourage it to trust you. He has learned this skill at the Champion ranch and that of his Aunt Hattie and Uncle George. They have just returned from driving fourteen of their horses to sell in Kansas and tell tales of meeting Wild Bill Hickok, igniting his imagination. Nate’s reputation leads to paid work at other ranches, and with his savings he buys a saddle for his bay, Peaches. The peace is broken, however, when the outlaw Sam Bass targets the bank in Round Rock and recruits one of Nate’s friends and one of his enemies for his gang, which puts Nate’s life in danger. Warren’s evocative prose paints the Old West in brilliant shades, and his similes and metaphors add to the flavor. This is book one of a duology that takes Nate to age 21 when he decides to leave Texas and take his skills on the trail to Wyoming. His father is proud of the man he has become and trusts that he can take care of himself whatever the future holds.

Tom Vallar

A CURE FOR SORROW

Jen Wheeler, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 431pp, 9781662517143

A Cure for Sorrow follows three turbulent years, 1886-1888, in the life of Nora Harris, a young medical student living in a substantial townhouse in New York City and mentored by her surgeon father. Nora falls in love with another medical student, Euan Colquhoun, who comes from a less privileged background and spent his childhood on a farmstead in upstate New York. When Euan suffers a terrible accident, Nora falls into despair and ends her studies. Only letters from Malcolm, Euan’s older brother who works on the farmstead, bring her solace. She decides to visit Malcolm on the farm, where she grows close to him and encounters a peculiar cast of characters who also live there, including his sisters-in-law, twin nieces, and a stepbrother. She finds one of the sisters-inlaw uncongenial and finds the stepbrother frightening. A variety of what today might be called neurodivergent behavior and mental health issues seem to plague the household. Interactions between the characters, involving several violent events, drive the action of the novel to a bloody denouement.

Wheeler excels at portraying the spinetingling sensations of the farmstead, with its sinister pond, ghostly cellar, ominous woods, eerie graveyard, and injured animals. She excels too at dialogue, with word choices suitable for the era. She crafts numerous love scenes with more explicit, vivid action than typical in most Gilded-Age historic fiction. Readers should be aware that Nora Harris is an enigmatic and fascinating protagonist, but not a likeable one, and that the second half of the story centers around curses and supernatural phenomena.

Marlie Wasserman

20TH CENTURY

RUNNING IN THE SHADOWS

Skye Alexander, Level Best/Historia, 2024, $16.95/£13.99, pb, 198pp, 9781685127060

Running in the Shadows transports readers to the excesses of 1920s USA, with multiday house parties, glittering fashion, alcohol that can be served and consumed but not sold or transported, and plenty of intrigue. It opens with jazz singer Lizzie Crane dipping a glass into a three-tier champagne fountain supported by three human-sized marble nymphs, and ends with a scene from an Edward Hopper painting.

Lizzie and her band The Troubadours have been engaged to entertain guests at a spring equinox party in Salem, Massachusetts, held at the mansion of art collector and suspected art thief Isaac Roman. But on the first evening, Lizzie is upstaged when a naked woman on horseback rides through the crowd and sweeps away the talented artist Sebastian Amery. The next morning, it’s Lizzie who discovers Amery’s body tied in a tree, driven

through with arrows. Lizzie and her business partner, pianist Sidney Somerset, are suspects in the murder, along with the young woman who spirited the artist away from the party. Lizzie sets out to prove her innocence and solve the case. Her search takes her to Amery’s studio, galleries, libraries, and art dealers in Salem and Boston, and introduces her to the world of art fraud.

This is the fourth book in the Lizzie Crane mystery series, and readers of the previous books will find themselves in familiar territory. Running in the Shadows is a stand-alone novel with sufficient backstory for new readers. It’s full of evocative description about art, furniture, and fashion, which transports you to the setting but is perhaps a little overdone in places. The final chapters provide a satisfying resolution to the mystery.

Judy Gregory

WARTIME IN THE DALES

Diane Allen, Pan, 2024, £8.99, pb, 309pp, 9781529093070

The story opens in Liverpool in September 1939, when two families make the decision to allow their daughters, Maggie and Lizzie, to be evacuated. They end up in the Yorkshire Dales, where Maggie is sent to live with an apparently wealthy family at Hawith Hall; there with her is another evacuee, a fellow Liverpudlian named Archie. While Archie lands on his feet after making friends with the man who farms the estate, Maggie is neglected by Lord and Lady Bradley and their servants, who are distracted not just by the outbreak of war but by the family’s financial worries and various scandals involving infidelity and a possible murder. Lizzie is even worse off, having been sent to live with the cruel vicar and his wife. When Maggie and Lizzie meet a couple who live on a canal barge, they find they have a much-needed link to Liverpool and home.

Fans of Diane Allen will probably love this novel, but other readers may struggle to get along with it at first. The narrative jumps back and forth between the thoughts of the entire cast of characters – even those who make only the briefest of appearances. Many of them are extremely verbose, with a tendency to ask a question but then carry on talking without waiting for an answer. Those familiar with the conventions of how to address or refer to members of the nobility may also be put off by the incorrect usage here and there. If you can get past all that, this is otherwise a fairly undemanding and entertaining read.

Sarah Dronfield

story of Frank Meyer, famed American plant explorer, Alsup begins her story with Meyer’s actual disappearance from a passenger ship en route to Shanghai in June 1918. Newly promoted Vice Consul Samuel Sokobin (also a historical figure) is charged with investigating his disappearance and dutifully packs a bag and heads upriver in the company of his Chinese interpreter, Mr. Lin. What follows is a hazy, dream-like journey between memory and reality, as Sokobin veers from thoughts of his missing-in-action pilot brother, Ethan, to navigating the curious mysteries of Meyer’s vanishing: did he fall overboard, or did someone engineer it? Through a gauntlet of interviews with porters, boatmen—and even Sokobin’s old college friend, Arthur Chase— the vice consul and the “preternaturally reserved” Lin find a shared bond that breaks down the walls of cultural isolation: they each have a brother serving in the war… and each of those brothers is “much better looking,” as Lin quips to Sokobin’s delight.

Alsup’s imagination is impressive as she spins a complete world around Sokobin— including a fictional flashback between Sokobin and Meyer—that takes key facts from the official records and weaves a multilayered story abounding in weighty themes: antiSemitism, racism, and the clash of foreign cultures. Alsup’s deft and descriptive prose delivers up a heaving, bustling, and vibrant China that Sokobin cannot seem to escape after several years in diplomatic service. Could it be that “China is very old and full of ghosts,” as he recalls his college professor intoning?

Foreign Seed is an exceptionally written and beautiful story that deserves a wide readership.

Peggy Kurkowski

PEARLY EVERLASTING

Tammy Armstrong, Harper, 2024, $28.99, hb, 352pp, 9780063396142 / HarperAvenue, 2024, C$24.99, pb, 352pp, 9781443471138

FOREIGN SEED

Allison Alsup, Keylight Books, 2024, $30.99, hb, 272pp, 9781684429967

An American diplomat stationed in Nanking, China, sets off to find and retrieve a missing fellow countryman in this elegantly told tale of love, loss, and acceptance loosely based on actual events. Inspired by the life

Pearly Everlasting Hazen is born in a cabin on Greenlaw Mountain in 1920, and grows up in remote logging camps, alongside a black bear she names Bruno (Brunnie), which her father rescued when abandoned as a newborn. As Brunnie grows to adulthood, greed inserts itself in the form of a cruel camp overseer who sells him to the Outside. Bereft without her brother, Pearly sets off to find him. Occasional logging-camp visitors Song-catcher and her companion, Ebony, collect stories and write articles about the remote mountain dwellers, and Pearly heads to their Smoke River home for help. Her short sojourn with them is poignant, heart-breaking

and delightfully humorous. When Pearly feels it’s safe to find her way home again, her adventures with Brunnie prove more arduous and dangerous than she anticipated, as she is tested to the extreme. Brunnie is, after all, a bear!

Armstrong’s language is reminiscent of her poetic roots, yet highly colloquial, using unusual grammatical phrasing—‘dinnering out.’; ‘It queered things.’; ‘Howlish March and still storm-stayed.’; ‘mossed-up blowdown.’ — and unfamiliar words (shagamaw, wampus, wanigans, peavey, kinnikinnick). Snow? In March there are three kinds: Smelt, Robin and Grass. Many descriptive passages are understandably based on colour and weather, which plays such a vital role, and Armstrong’s skill at this is evident.

The story is based on an orphan bear suckled alongside a newborn human at a Maine lumber camp in 1903, and Armstrong’s eclectic cast opened their arms and lives to me in this barren, unforgiving world, introducing an uncomplaining, dirt-poor family eking out a living in Depression-era New Brunswick. This is a deeply felt tale about our connections with the natural world, in which kindness and meanspiritedness walk side-by-side. Ultimately, a story of a courageous young woman, of hope, of family and belonging, written with obvious affection and tenderness.

Fiona Alison

SECRETS OF THE WATCH HOUSE

Jenny Ashcroft, HQ, 2024, £9.99, pb, 480pp, 9780008469092

Shades of Manderley hover over this story set in the 1930s. Desperately longing for a new life following her father’s disgrace and shameful death, Violet Ellis accepts the offer of a position as secretary to widower James Atherton, although many suspect him of having had a hand in the death of his late wife, Elizabeth.

Violet is taken by James to his home, the Watch House, on the remote Cornish island of Aoife’s Bay. Her presence is resented by his housekeeper, Mrs Hamilton, and questioned by the disparate residents of the island, most of whom nurse their own grievances. Anonymous letters add to the unsettling environment. Violet lacks allies and increasingly feels she is being spied upon.

Despite her mounting unease, her attraction to James grows. Gradually he gains her trust and finally confides in her about his marriage. But this new closeness brings its own dangers. Through a judicious mix of points of view and with flashbacks, Jenny Ashcroft cleverly ratchets up the tension until the final explosive denouement.

Catherine Kullmann

THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE

Vanessa Beaumont, Magpie, 2024, £20.00, hb, 452pp, 9780861547777

1920s England. Heiress Jean Buckman wants for nothing. As daughter of the American ambassador to Britain and his super-wealthy socialite wife, she is thrust into the whirl of the debutantes’ social season. Despite finding the process tedious and unfulfilling, she nevertheless accepts aristocrat Edward Warre’s proposal. But their passionless marriage becomes similar, he away drinking with his hunting parties, she at home, the dutiful wife.

A year passes and still no heir. Mother suggests a tonic for her; visit friends living on the Côte D’Azur and buy herself a bolt hole villa. This she does and, while socialising there, meets sensitive David, with whom she can open up completely, the opposite of repressed Edward. These French Riviera sojourns provide not only levels of freedom and happiness unattainable in her English life but also pregnancy, with dire consequences way beyond reasonable foresight.

Perceiving the truth, Edward makes Jean’s life even more miserable, keeping her affair confidential while rejecting the child. A second birth furthers Jean’s determination to defy tradition, resist conformity, protect her children. Then war, as it does, changes everything.

This enthralling tale of motherhood and progeniture should not be rushed, the better to savour Beaumont’s trim, detailed prose with its intriguing chapter ends and fine visual similes - “pain came and went like a lighthouse beam”. Her close examination of conflicts between duty and self-determination presents family turmoil, secrets and lies, all at their very best, but especially spotlights true love. Simply excellent.

Simon Rickman

WHEN WE CHASED THE LIGHT

Emily Bleeker, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 363pp, 9781662517075

1998, Beverly Hills, California: Setting the stage for the story to follow, Christie’s, the famed British auction house, issues a press release announcing the sale of legendary Hollywood star Vivian Snow’s personal belongings. The auction features a series of handwritten postcards sent to her by Antonio Trombello, a Catholic priest and former Italian POW. This collection, comprised of over six decades of correspondence, provides clues into

Snow’s unusual relationship with Trombello, her lifelong advisor, friend, and possible lover. 1940s, USA and Europe: While working at Camp Atterbury as an Italian POW interpreter, Vivian (Santini) Snow develops a friendship with Father Antonio Trombello, one of the captives. To further her entertainment career and support her family, she successfully auditions for the USO and performs at military camps throughout the US and Europe. While on tour, Vivian meets and secretly marries Corporal Tom Highward, leaving behind her disabled father, institutionalized mother, and Aria, her fifteen-year-old sister. When Vivian’s husband inexplicably vanishes, unexpected, dramatic events unfold. Considered a suspect in his disappearance, and as she rises from showgirl to Hollywood stardom, she turns to Trombello, the only one who can provide the support and understanding she needs to face her guiltridden past and uncertain future.

Written in first person, Bleeker’s compelling, heart-wrenching sequel to When We Were Enemies masterfully portrays Vivian Snow’s complex personality. Her tumultuous life, often influenced by her Italian immigrant family background and Hollywood’s powerful studio structure, is vividly revealed through well-developed characters, tension-filled scenes, and engaging dialogue. The author’s incorporation of Trombello’s postcard entries from the prologue to the epilogue creates subtle intrigue, enhancing the mysterious bond between Snow and Trombello. This characterdriven narrative offers in-depth character exploration, romance, and unique behind-thescene perspectives into WWII, as well as the untold risks of celebrity life. A worthwhile read!

Marcy McNally

THE FABLED EARTH

Kimberly Brock, Harper Muse, 2024, $28.99/ C$35.99/£14.99, hb, 400pp, 9781400234226

In 1959, Frances Flood arrives on Georgia’s Cumberland Island at the behest of her recently deceased mother, Joanna Burton. She has lived her life in the shadow of family secrets, and by fulfilling her mother’s dying wish to commission a painting from the reclusive artist, Cleo Woodbine, she hopes to put to rest questions about her own origins, and discover why Cleo has kept Joanna’s heirloom pearl necklace since the terrible events at Plum Orchard in 1932. As a folklore researcher, Frances is fascinated by the mystery of the siren-sighting in the East River, and how that connects to the two boys who drowned that fateful night.

Seen from the point of view of three women, Frances, Cleo and Audrey, a young widow

who runs the local inn, Brock weaves her saga through the myths and legends of the 1930s, the rapidly changing times, and the chancy randomness of life. On the eve of a predicted mega-storm, the island is ushering out old ways to make way for a new world, one which Cleo has shunned for thirty years. Her patronage from the Carnegie family in 1932, to reside permanently at Kingdom Come studio to pursue her art, means she must now face her culpability in Joanna’s fate, as it was Cleo who was tasked with chaperoning the young ingenue to ensure her safety at Plum Orchard. This poignant tale is wonderfully redolent of a bygone era, with its timeless setting in which the waves of history come crashing upon Cleo’s quiet shore, in the wake of Joanna’s death. As Cumberland past and present comes alive for Frances, she begins to rewrite her own story about who she really is. This engaging novel sent me searching for more information about the Carnegies, Cumberland, and its historic houses and stately ruins; always a good sign of a fulfilling read.

Fiona Alison

THE WHISPER SISTER

Jennifer S. Brown, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 429pp, 9781662521232

In flapper-speak, a “whisper sister” was a female barkeep during Prohibition, a daring woman who kept booze flowing for eager customers in underground establishments.

A more unlikely career choice could hardly be imagined for ten-year-old

Malka Soffer when she arrives at Ellis Island in 1920 with her Mama and older brother, having traveled from Ukraine to join her father in New York after a long separation. Her Papa seems barely recognizable without his long beard and yarmulke, and at school she gets a new American name: Minnie. Remarkably, her story of transformation, assimilation, and blood and chosen family never loses its believability through many sudden plot twists.

As with her debut, Modern Girls, Brown has a confident hand with character, and Minnie has vulnerabilities and a deep emotional strength. Young Minnie soon learns that her Papa has mysterious sources of power through connections to organized crime (though that phrase is never uttered), and when he buys a soda shop, she gleans it’s a front for a bar. She’s right – and rapidly falls in love with the unprepossessing joint on Baxter Street. Some years later, awful circumstances compel her to take over the place herself, leading her ever

deeper into excitement and danger, to her brother Max’s dismay.

Minnie’s two spheres of existence feel immediate and real: the strong Jewish traditions her Yiddish-speaking Mama upholds at home, versus the alluring world of the speakeasy, where Minnie crafts original drinks and socializes with an affable trio of regulars. Brown pulls no punches in illustrating the era’s prejudices and violence, which was brutal and often premeditated. The prologue generates instant intrigue with a magnificent (and suspenseful) opening scene that repeats later on. A bravura performance, led by an original heroine who takes risks in bending rules.

Sarah Johnson

THE WOMAN WHO WENT OVER NIAGARA FALLS IN A BARREL (UK) / QUEEN OF THE MIST (US/CANADA)

Caroline Cauchi, One More Chapter, 2024, £9.99, pb, 401pp, 9780008524548 / $18.00/ C$25.99, pb, 416pp, 9780008715250

This novel retells the true story of Annie Edson Taylor who, as a sixty-three-year-old debut ’stunter’, went over Niagara Falls in a pickle barrel in 1901 and was the first to survive the fall. This is Annie’s story reimagined in a button-holing, fast-paced and often comedic first-person narration. Cauchi’s Annie insists on acting wild and not disappearing from society just because she is in her sixties and poor. Annie’s stunt is framed as an act of catharsis for her grief over the loss of her husband at Gettysburg and of her infant son. Annie Edson Taylor’s stated motivation for the stunt was to make money to support two friends. Cauchi reconstructs these friends as the fictional Mrs. Lapointe, terminally ill and running a boarding house which never breaks even; and Matilda, who arrives at the boarding house with her baby. They form a community of women who have been made destitute by intolerable domestic circumstances, rescued and homed by Mrs. Lapointe, actively assisted by Annie. Compassion and the sanctity of homeliness are strong themes in Cauchi’s version of Annie’s story, a sanctity emphasised by the plight of the boarding house women. Annie is inspired by indigenous folktales where women trapped by circumstance find a kind of freedom in self-determined action, even if this proves fatal. Cauchi shows us the social situation of women who could be legally and economically ineffective, even against villains, without male supporters. The pace naturally slows after the lead-up to Annie’s stunt detailing the technical requirements, and the climactic fall. Then the story becomes one of struggle to maintain ownership of her achievement in a society which does not take even strong women seriously. Cauchi takes us on an enjoyable ride of a tale, told from the heart.

Louise Tree

SHY CREATURES

Clare Chambers, Mariner, 2024, $30.00/ C$37.00, hb, 400pp, 9780063258228 / W&N, 2024, £20.00, hb, 400pp, 9781399602556

Set in a 1960s London psychiatric hospital, Shy Creatures is the story of Helen, a thirtysomething unmarried art therapist who becomes involved in helping a mysterious new patient. William Tapping has spent more than twenty years living a hidden life in his aunts’ house. When he arrives at the hospital, his hair and beard haven’t been cut for years and he won’t speak. Helen sees William is a talented artist, and, with her interest piqued, she gradually uncovers the story of William’s past.

As the novel moves forward with Helen’s story, it moves gradually backwards in time, with chapters describing William’s life back through the decades to the incident in 1938 after which he lived hidden from the world. It’s an interesting and effective structure, and in William’s reverse timeline, his aunts, the three Tapping sisters, are both entertaining and enjoyable to encounter. The mystery of the past works toward resolution in parallel with Helen’s efforts to help William, as well as deal with issues in her own life, not least her relationship with a married man and coworker.

Shy Creatures is a gently told story which nevertheless doesn’t pull its punches over the challenges the characters face. Gothic touches – a dead magpie in the fridge, post-war/wartime privation, the perils of boys’ boarding schools, dead chickens, sexual misconduct, and of course the psychiatric hospital settings – give the story an ominous undercurrent and tension that kept me turning the pages toward a satisfying conclusion.

Kate Braithwaite

THE SECRET WAR OF JULIA CHILD

Diana R. Chambers, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2024, $17.99/C$26.99, pb, 400pp, 9781464219047

Before Julia Child was Julia Child, she was Julia McWilliams, who served in the OSS (predecessor of the CIA) in the Far East during World War II. Afterwards she always claimed she was just a file clerk, but in Diana R. Chambers’ exciting new novel, she is an active secret agent whose adventures help win the war in Asia. Although Chambers emphatically declares this is a work of fiction, she has done extensive research on the places and the times and produces a convincing picture of wartime

Washington, DC; India; Burma (Myanmar); Ceylon (Sri Lanka); and China, where Julia Child did indeed operate. Did she really work with the famous Wild Bill Donovan? Yes, he was certainly her boss. Did she really encrypt messages, unmask moles, swim ashore from a shipwreck in the Bay of Bengal, survive by “drinking” fish caught with her bare hands, outwit Japanese soldiers while sneaking through the jungle, survive a plane crash in the Himalayas, and uncover Army thievery in China?

Perhaps not, but these exploits, based on actual wartime events, make thrilling reading. What is true is that she met her husband, Paul Child, during her service in Asia, where he was a mapmaker for the OSS while she was a “file clerk.”

Chambers paints an interesting, complex portrait of Paul Child along with a scintillating one of intrepid, 30-year-old Julia, six foot two and afraid she’ll be single and underemployed forever. We know better, of course, but Chambers successfully creates suspense, drama, conflict, and a happy ending for her— well before Julia discovered the art of French cooking, and the rest became not enjoyable fiction but delightful cultural history.

Susan Lowell

THE JEWEL OF THE BLUES

Monica Chenault-Kilgore, Graydon House, 2024, $18.99, pb, 384pp, 9781525805066

In the early 20th century, Lucille Love, the “Little Girl with the Big Voice,” comes of age in the face of racial prejudices and hardscrabble poverty. Musical talent propels the Love family onto the sawdust revival trail in Southern US states, singing Gospel hymns at churches and healing crusades. Lucille’s talent shines bright, and she joins with her manager, Marcus, to break away from her parents and her strict religious upbringing. After joining up with three talented musicians, she relaunches her career as Miss Lucille’s Black Troubadours. Lucille, Marcus and the musicians are drawn with depth, and many scenes are memorable as they experience the highs of performing and the lows of existing as impoverished, hand-tomouth entertainers. The writing shines when Lucille “sings with grace” and “swings those hips” and comes alive on stage. The reader is immersed in vivid period detail like pomade and fancy hairstyles, gold-beaded costumes, rhinestone bracelets, feathers and klieg lights. But Lucille’s musical career is threatened by a family secret. In the first scene of the book, Lucille’s father serendipitously comes upon a dying bank robber and faces an impossible choice. His decision comes back to threaten Lucille years later. The story of the robbery starts the book strongly, but its resolution seems somewhat undeveloped. The Jewel of the Blues is author Chenault-Kilgore’s second historical novel and will be relished by her readers who are interested in the early 20th century jazz era.

THE LIBERTY SCARF

J’nell Ciesielski, Rachel McMillan and Aimie K. Runyan, Harper Muse, 2024, $18.99/C$23.99, pb, 368pp, 9781400246700

Here’s a novel like a silk scarf—light, attractive, shape-shifting.

The Liberty Scarf weaves together three romantic stories set during World War I. It’s the work of three collaborating authors, and each story centers around a young woman: a British textile designer, a French-Canadian telephone operator, and a Belgian nurse. Their lives are linked by a beautiful scarf produced by the glamorous Liberty of London. Scarves serve various purposes in the novel, both practical and decorative, and they also symbolize love, joy, strength, creativity, and healing. Ultimately the three plots tie up together in a satisfying, if bittersweet, fairytale ending.

Each subplot is also a wartime love story: artistic Iris meets Rex, a charming disabled officer; prickly, defensive Geneviève encounters Maxime, a dashing pilot; and Clara, a born storyteller, nurses Roman, a violinist, back to health. Each young man risks his life in some branch of the military, while each young woman also contributes. Meanwhile the Liberty scarf passes dramatically from one person to another, changing all six lives.

The novel is a workmanlike book that moves smoothly from story to story and incorporates many colorful bits of World War I history (and the occasional anachronism: there were no Jeeps till 1940). Sometimes the various plot twists are telegraphed well ahead of time, and the text displays some distracting writing habits, particularly in diction. There is also one truly perplexing simile: a cup of coffee is “as precious as a grenade with a pulled pin.”

But altogether the scarf is an intriguing literary concept, and The Liberty Scarf is a pleasant, romantic addition to a shelf of World War I fiction.

Susan Lowell

DAUGHTER OF RUINS

Yvette Manessis Corporon, Harper Muse, 2024, $18.99/C$23.99, pb, 400pp, 9781400236114

Brodie Curtis

This story of Demitra, a girl growing to maturity in a small Greek village in the mid20th century, has depth and imagery far beyond the obvious. Two other women of significance in Demitra’s story are her mother, Maria, who was forced to leave Greece in 1921 to become the picture bride of a man in America; and Elena, who becomes a prostitute used by the invading soldiers of WW2. Raised by an apparently uncaring father, Demitra is expected to marry

in 1943, but the young man selected for her is clearly inappropriate. To avoid scandal in the village, she goes to work for extended family in Corfu, where she meets the love of her life.

While most of the novel centers on Demitra’s love and longing, the emotional lives of Maria and Elena are also portrayed in sensitive and sensuous detail. The unity of the three stories emphasizes the novel’s theme of the strength of women and the power of their friendships to create healing and change.

While this can be read as a beautifully written and enthralling story, it carries within it the ancient Greek characters and myths, seen through a more modern lens and interpretation. The novel is full of action and movement, but always with emotional undertones and motives. The author reveals with great clarity the landscape of rural Greece, the inherited beliefs and narrow-mindedness of the old Greek villagers, the seascapes of Corfu, and the intensity of women’s loyalties. All three women are very much the daughters of their environment.

This is a powerful and very readable novel. Throughout the pages the reader is intensely aware of the author’s knowledge of, and commitment to, Greek mythology.

Valerie Adolph

THE PATH BENEATH HER FEET

Janis Robinson Daly, Black Rose Writing, 2024, $24.95, pb, 358pp, 9781685134723

Dr. Eliza Edwards continues to “care for the defenseless and the powerless” in The Path Beneath Her Feet, the sequel to The Unlocked Path. After the closing of her practice during the Depression, Eliza dutifully follows “the path beneath her feet” to a treatment center for polio victims in Warm Springs, Georgia, and the need for medical care in the hills of Appalachia.

Eliza faces decisions regarding her family, career, and duty to her country. The worries and complexities of women as mothers and doctors of the 1930s and 1940s are authentically portrayed as Eliza takes on the challenge of becoming a therapist for a pregnant Black polio patient. Daly deftly reveals prejudice at the treatment center in Warm Springs through actions and dialogue typical of the times. Eliza’s determination and belief in her convictions are conveyed through Robinson’s handling of these tenuous social and personal situations.

Eliza’s career path leads her to Tennessee, where discerning character development and dialogue demonstrate tenacity and wisdom through Eliza’s quiet advice to gain desperately needed trust from the community. Robinson highlights the amazing work of women doctors of the American Women’s Hospitals and the building of maternity shelters in Appalachia, with an impact much like the pack horse librarians. Eliza decides whether to place responsibilities over personal satisfaction reflecting the theme of family priorities. The plot is filled with suspense and Eliza’s maternal

anxiety as war looms and her sons are in harm’s way.

Follow Eliza’s path through the 1940s: Roosevelt in the Oval Office, the First Lady and Glenn Miller on the radio, Life magazine on the coffee table, and Jimmy Stewart on the big screen. The Path Beneath Her Feet, packed with emotion and history, brings the challenges and adversities of women in medicine clearly into focus.

Dorothy Schwab

NIGHT CLIMBING

Sarah Day, Legend Press, 2024, £9.99, pb, 356pp, 9781915643124

In the spring of 1936, murmurings across Europe indicate the potential for another conflict with Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. Local communities see Nazi beliefs spreading into every aspect, including the growth of the Hitler Youth, where children and teenagers are enrolled, indoctrinated, and trained.

A small community in the mountains, Hofsgrund is increasingly feeling these changes impact upon them. Hilde and her younger sister Anna become the focus of the Party when Hilde takes a stand against the facts surrounding a mountain rescue one stormy night.

Sylvia Clayton’s 11-year-old son, Cyril, and his classmates are led by their teacher, Keith Hughes, on a walking holiday to include climbing the Schauninsland peak. Hughes sets out with the boys on the climb while disregarding warnings of an impending snowstorm. The culmination of their German experience is thwarted when the horrendous weather fragments the group. Two boys raise the alarm in the settlement of Hofsgrund, and the villagers immediately mount a search to rescue the remainder. All the party are recovered, including four deceased boys, except for young Cyril. His mother, Sylvia, desperate for news of him, questions how this tragedy occurred, but she is stymied at every turn by closed ranks. Desperate to find her child, Sylvia seeks funding to travel across to see what’s happening with the search.

This story takes inspiration from two women in real life. Sadly, the lack of commitment from Cyril’s school or the authorities in Germany to find the boy left this reader disappointed. It’s possible the author interpreted the aloofness and secrecy within the Nazi regime as a reason for this on their part. The school governors, however, also appear to have closed ranks and avoided pursuing further investigation. Whilst the storyline is engaging in its subject, the abrupt ending is unsatisfactory.

Cathy Kemp

THE PROPAGANDIST

Cécile Desprairies, trans. Natasha Lehrer, New Vessel Press, 2024, $17.95, pb, 208pp, 9781954404267

In the 1960s, when she is six or seven years old, Coline begins paying attention to her mother Lucie’s regular morning gatherings or rituals in their Paris apartment. While female

relatives share beauty secrets and the latest gossip, they gradually slip back in time to the Nazi Occupation of France. Recalling “the bastards,” the ones who “condemned” the leader of Vichy France Marshal Pétain, the ones who “murdered” the Nazi collaborator Philippe Henriot, the women are bound together by their collective memories and the need to keep them hidden from others.

The Propagandist is an autobiographical novel by Desprairies, a historian who specializes in Germanic civilization and author of several historical accounts of the Vichy period. The book traces Lucie and other relatives who create and disseminate Nazi propaganda, design posters and write antiSemitic slogans, and organize a 1941 exhibit that portrays Jews as interlopers and threats. It describes Lucie’s love affair with Friedrich and her wish to work alongside him as he explores the laws of nature that determine race and relegate Jews to the status of tubercular bacilli. It continues into the postwar years when Lucie cautions relatives to burn all records, stop talking about the past, be careful about words, and speak about Italy, not Germany.

The novel is written in a straightforward manner that recites facts as Lucie observes them: “What does it matter if something is true or false if you believe it to be true. Who has right on their side?” The dispassionate narrator Coline leaves conclusions—and emotion—to the reader. Extraordinary.

M. Sandrick

PARALLEL LIVES

Maryam Diener, Quadrant Books, 2024, £12.00, pb, 120pp, 9781738459841

London, 1934. Around Belsize Park’s Isokon building, with passages in prewar Vienna, Diener interweaves the lives of two historical figures: Bauhaus-trained photographer Edith Tudor-Hart and the writer Ursula Kuczynski. The author clarifies that there is no record that the two ever met, yet they could easily have passed each other on the street or in the corridors of the Isokon, for they certainly moved in the same radical circles.

The flats were an experiment in urban living, home at various times to Walter Gropius, László Moholy-Nagy, Marcel Breuer, Arnold Deutsch – Agatha Christie came later. TudorHart and Kuczynski were notably spies for Moscow. Whether one empathises with what they did or not, they and their circle did seem to be motivated by ideological ideals, a belief that they could create a better world. Kim Philby joined this circle via his first wife Litzi Friedmann, but his handlers’ demand that he assume the role of a right-wing establishment sympathiser (the latter requirement enabled by the fact that Philby was indeed privileged) ultimately destroyed the marriage.

Personal sacrifice for a greater ideal is a recurring theme of the book; Tudor-Hart was obliged to leave her toddler son with relatives while she went for training in Moscow. The intimate lives of this circle were unconventional to the degree that amongst themselves that

unconventionality appears as a convention in itself. Sometimes the narrative reads like a history book without the footnotes, but it is accessible reading, with the point of view firmly with these two women. The small volume is beautifully produced: one of TudorHart’s photographs of the Isokon Building is tipped in before the title page, and the texture and design of the binding recalls Gollancz editions from the 1930s.

Katherine Mezzacappa

THE BALLAD OF FALLING ROCK

Jordan Dotson, BHC Press, 2024, $30.00, hb, 368pp, 9781643973647

Saul Crabtree may have sold his soul to the devil for a voice that brings anyone who hears it to tears, or the devil may just have taken an interest in him. Or not. However, he comes by it, this Appalachian preacher’s son is blessed or cursed with a voice that shifts emotions and sometimes even the weather. His grandson inherits it along with the mystery of Saul’s life in this novel that moves from 1938 through the Eighties.

Some of the best and most powerful chapters take place in the Catawba tuberculosis sanitorium, early in the narrative when the only treatment available is fresh air and/or the removal of the damaged lung.

Dotson’s language is at times lyrical and at times too much so, overwrought with imagery that could have used pruning by an editor. The elements of magical realism add an otherworldly overlay that seems right, but some of the more mundane logistics give pause: anyone who has ever had a newborn will question the believability of one disappearing with its mad father into a disintegrating house where the two will remain alone and unseen until the child is a feral four-year old. How on earth did he feed it?

The narrative is intercut with a Native American legend about an Indian named Falling Rock that doesn’t quite overcome its connection to the ubiquitous road sign. It mirrors the story of the Crabtree men but doesn’t really add anything. This is a novel about the fearsome power of love, and in many ways it is magical and heart-wrenching, but it just misses.

Amanda Cockrell

WHITE MULBERRY

Rosa Kwon Easton, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 331pp, 9781662519697

In 1928, Korea is choking under the iron heel of the Japanese occupation. A village girl from an impoverished family has few choices. But one girl, eleven-year-old Miyoung, is different. She was born in the Year of the Dragon; she has dreams, and she will fight for them. White Mulberry is the story of her remarkable life.

It is also a story rich with social and political commentary, told through Miyoung’s eyes as she grows into a woman, finds a professional calling, and navigates the complexities of

immigration, love, marriage, and family in turbulent times. The story begins with her mother acquiescing with alacrity to a marriage offer for Miyoung’s elder sister. Miyoung hopes for a better future, one in which she can study “like the boys”. Perhaps she can even marry by choice? The precocious girl finds a guardian angel in a teacher who steers her forward and introduces her to Christianity.

As fate will have it, Miyoung must follow her sister into Japan. Her mother insists that this is the path to a better future: “At the end of hardship comes happiness.” In pre-World War II Japan, Miyoung is in an increasingly strident society where xenophobia dictates that she must efface her Korean origins in public.

Miyoung’s grit is tested through many twists as she struggles to realise her aim of carving out a life of dignity. A flashpoint arrives when she is issued a draft letter calling on her to report for war duties. She must choose between the straight and narrow, and the crooked but familial.

The author’s original voice is only slightly marred by a few clichés and the sweeping narrative by an ending which is too facile. Though comparisons to Pachinko are inevitable, this is a unique historical novel with many well-knit threads.

K. Kulshreshth

HEMLOCK BAY

Martin Edwards, Aries, 2024, £22.00, hb, 384pp, 9781035909803

Martin Edwards writes ‘Golden Age’ detective novels set in the 1930s and as far as possible written as if we were still in the 1930s. He has even revived the Cluefinder, a Golden Age trope once long-forgotten (a list of clues to the identity of the murderer added at the end of the book). The only possible anachronism is that the LGBTQ element would have been less overt in a 1930s novel.

This is the fifth in Edwards’ Rachel Savernake series featuring an eccentric amateur criminologist helping the slow-witted police to solve homicides. Hemlock Bay is a Lancashire seaside resort near Blackpool, typical of the new post-WW1 holiday developments and is wholly believable, except that it has an exceptional number of guests who have a motive for murder. This is very much ‘cosy crime’. We don’t feel anything for the victims, but this is a game between author and reader. It is played by the rules, and if you like ‘Golden Age’ novels you’ll love it.

Edward James

THE FRENCH WINEMAKER’S DAUGHTER

Loretta Ellsworth, Harper Paperbacks, 2024, $18.99/C$23.99, pb, 288pp, 9780063371811

In 1942 at a small Jewish family winery in France, seven-year-old Martine hides from the Nazis. A note pinned to her gives an aunt’s address in Paris, and Martine holds a bottle of wine that Papa claims is her birthright. But after Papa is taken away, Martine hears more

Nazis in the wine cellar and races for her life, dropping the precious bottle. A neighbor puts her on the train, but when Martine arrives in Paris, her aunt cannot be found. Martine roams the streets, not knowing who to trust. Some say she died at the hands of the Nazis.

In 1990 at Hôtel Drouot in Paris, an American female airline pilot, Charlotte, attends an auction with her French boyfriend Henri. He’s the highest bidder on a box of wine from the German occupation of WWII. Henri celebrates with Charlotte in a night of romance then jilts her, leaving her one inferiorlooking bottle from the box. When she cleans it, Charlotte’s curiosity is piqued, sending her searching French wineries to find the truth of its history.

Loretta Ellsworth convincingly captures the terrifying experiences of war from a child’s perspective, the kindness of strangers, loyalty of family, and descriptions of France from the past. As a female pilot, I enjoyed Charlotte’s point of view and found her character wellresearched.

This unputdownable novel immersed me in the beauty of resilience, honor, and the lovely French culture. Part mystery, part romance, this haunting story connects two timelines and two women from drastically different backgrounds through one bottle of wine. A captivating story of serendipity. Very much recommended.

Genetta Adair

CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN

Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, HarperCollins, 2024, £8.99, pb, 384pp, 9780008556495 / William Morrow, 2024, $18.99/C$24.99, pb, 384pp, 9780063276215

This delightful seasonal novel begins in 1952 with Queen Elizabeth II, not long after her father’s untimely death. Although it takes place mostly at Sandringham, it spotlights an unusual romance, and flips back and forth between 1945, when Olive Carter and Jack Devereux were part of a post-war gathering of friends, and the early 1950s Christmases when the two become reacquainted. The intervening seven years have not been easy, and Jack and Olive relate their stories in alternating chapters, with an occasional sojourn into the musings of the queen, and her attempts to soften her vocal tone in her speech. Single mum Olive is a BBC radio reporter assigned to Sandringham as royal correspondent in 1952, when her male boss succumbs to an illness caused by the smog. Jack, a wannabe chef, tragically loses his wife to a vehicular accident in the same deadly smog, and is persuaded by a best friend to take a position in the royal kitchens of Buckingham Palace.

This is a tender story which covers five Christmases, immersing readers in the upstairs/downstairs day-to-day of great houses, the stunning venue of Sandringham, world travel undertaken by the queen and Philip, and of course, the queen’s Christmas addresses to the nation, which have become

an anticipated tradition in British life. Themes will resonate strongly with women, even today; single motherhood, lack of recognition in the workplace, belittlement of ability, and other issues of relevance such as the balance of motherhood with profession. Olive’s situation as a single mother is gently offset by the queen’s long absences from her children, and sometimes from her beloved Philip, although this might seem a difficult comparison. Her loyalty to country over loyalty to family is compassionately dealt with. Any reader of heartwarming and poignant romance stories will enjoy this offering from Gaynor and Webb.

Fiona Alison

LOVE IN COUNTRY

Richard Gayton, Northampton House, 2024, $19.95, pb, 223pp, 9781950668335

Gayton’s outstanding tribute to the gay and bisexual military personnel of the Vietnam War is an in-depth novelisation of his 2023 awardwinning film of the same name. In 1968, five young men of 18 and 19 years old enlist to fight for their country. Enlisting rather than being drafted becomes increasingly poignant as the realisation of what they are doing hits home, when they’re back ‘in country’ for their second tour after R&R in Bangkok. Ian, a natural leader with a sixth sense for enemy tactics, saves his squad more than once. Reese’s innate sense tells him his love for Ian is wrong, but his PTSD and night terrors blur the lines between what’s illegal and what comes so naturally to Ian. The other three observe with dispassionate reactions. During Tet, their leave is cancelled, and the five-man squad is sent to rendezvous with a deranged opium-addicted captain who scuppers the mission orders and lands them in extreme danger.

This is a powerful, deeply moving novel in which my heart was wholly bound up with Ian, Reese, Doc, Thumper and Burd. Every moment of their forays into the jungle is captured frameby-frame with precise clarity and compassion: the constant danger, the rapid-fire decision making, the nightmarish chaos of it all, and the extraordinary courage of the squad. Gayton’s intense emotional investment speaks with authority throughout this short novel, which feels impeccably researched. The printed word has always been infinitely more powerful than film for me, but there are scenes I didn’t want to imagine further. Every gorgeous, ghastly nuance of those who lived, loved and died ‘in country,’ and the cruel irony of the green military machine which deployed them, is boldly captured here. As I turned the last

pages, I knew I was not ready to say goodbye to these courageous young men.

Fiona Alison

THE HAUNTING OF MOSCOW HOUSE

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, Berkley, 2024, $29.00/C$39.00, hb, 383pp, 9780593547007 Summer 1921. Sisters Irina and Lili Goliteva are ‘former people’ in post-Revolutionary Russia: surviving members of an aristocratic family whose property has been seized. The girls, along with their aunt, grandmother, and two young cousins, live in the attic of Moscow House while the rest of the mansion is in the hands of soldiers. Although ten years apart in age, and not always close, the sisters come together in trying to support the family by starting work with the American Relief Administration. This might mean that the sisters’ fortune is changing, but ghostly disturbances are underway at home in Moscow House, and it seems that a reckoning is coming.

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore is a talented writer with an in-depth knowledge of Russian history and folklore that shines in these pages. Her writing is lush and descriptive, and the sense of the era is excellently conveyed. Her sisters are engaging, rounded characters, each with a side story of romance playing out amidst the mayhem. It’s the amount of mayhem, however, that threatens to overwhelm their story. There’s an evil doll, there’s seeping mold, and lingering scents belonging to dead relatives. Someone has been dabbling in the occult, unleashing impish forces the sisters struggle to understand or contain. Then there’s the fairy-tale elements, and referencing of Russian folktales, all deliciously described – but sometimes to the detriment of the story’s pace. Add in the ‘real-life’ story of the experiences of the Russian population, and the sum of the parts of this novel might have been better treated separately. Not to say it’s not an enjoyable read, but there really is a lot going on here.

Kate Braithwaite

A PARTICULAR MAN

Lesley Glaister, Bloodhound Books, 2024, £9.99/$16.99, pb, 384pp, 9781916978942

England in the autumn of 1945. Despite the victory in the War, life in Britain remains dull, austere and flat. The firmly middle-class Everett family in Suffolk suffers heartache when the son of the family, Edgar, is confirmed to have died as a POW in the Far East. When a former fellow prisoner, Lennie Starling, who was close friends in the jungle with Edgar, arrives unannounced at their comfortable house, events take an interesting turn.

The narrative is driven by Starling, Clementine Everett (mother), and Aida Everett, the headstrong daughter. There is infidelity, deception and misunderstanding aplenty as the characters attempt to find their way ahead out of the end of the war and a

victory that somehow feels like defeat amidst the bereavement and general unhappiness. This is highly capable historical fiction that is both set firmly in the times and a very absorbing narrative. The main characters, vibrant and credible creations, are well developed by Glaister to thrive in the mind of the reader. She has an arch humour and wry observation that reminds me of Kate Atkinson. The historical sentiment is good, with the dominating ambience of austerity and mourning mixed with the relief following the conclusion of hostilities and the expectations of recovery both in material and mental terms, constructing a charged cocktail of emotions for the main players in this excellent novel.

Douglas Kemp

PEGGY

Rebecca Godfrey with Leslie Jamison, Random House, 2024, $29.00, hb, 384pp, 9780385538282 / John Murray, 2024, £18.99, hb, 320pp, 9781473605749

Many readers know the first and last chapters of Peggy Guggenheim’s life—that she was born into the wealthy Guggenheim family and that she established a gallery in Venice, open to the public today. They will have little idea of the trials and joys along the way. Rebecca Godfrey, with the help of Leslie Jamison, has filled in those gaps, imagining a captivating life and rendering it in the form of an autobiography.

Until Peggy opens a gallery, she leads the life of a poor little rich girl, growing up with a preoccupied mother and a distant father. At an early age, she foresees tragedies, which turn out to be the death of her father on the Titanic and less well-known sorrows. She marries Laurence Vail, who abuses her mind and body, staying with him too long, then takes on a succession of lovers. Godfrey captures the settings of Peggy’s life, including New York’s Upper East Side, Paris, the French Riviera, and Venice. In these locations, Peggy encounters famous characters, most prominently Emma Goldman, Samuel Beckett, and Man Ray. Godfrey does not attempt to document every year of Peggy’s life, but rather concentrates, wisely, on key events that shaped her personality. Tragically, Godfrey died after completing a draft of the first two-thirds of the novel and detailed notes for the final third. Leslie Jamison deftly completed Godfrey’s work. As a result, the last years of Peggy’s life are more of a sketch than a complete story. That does not diminish the power of the book.

As a reader, I found it hard to like Peggy or to fully understand her transition from victim to entrepreneur, but I found her consistently intriguing. The evocative writing and interior dialog pulled me into her story, holding my attention until the end.

Marlie Wasserman

LEAVING FATHERLAND

Matt Graydon, Cranthorpe Millner, 2024, £12.99, pb, 378pp, 9781803782096

Oskar Bachmann is a bookish adolescent in late 1920s Germany. But domestic life in his small hometown just south of Berlin is dominated by a brutal and violent Nazisupporting father, making life deeply unpleasant. As Germany descends into violent and hate-driven catastrophe, Oskar trains as a psychologist and attempts to understand both what is happening to his people and the hatred that his father had for him – his second son. Oskar has to make some tough decisions as his career takes him along on the horrendous rollercoaster that is the German-caused advent of global conflict. All the while, though, he is searching to understand his family and himself, and uncovers some surprising knowledge of the past as Germany’s endgame approaches.

The historical context is excellent – well researched with impressive topographical, cultural and military details of the area and times in 1930s and wartime Germany. While the narrative is capable, the pace and structure of the novel, however, are a little unusual. Oskar makes some fairly momentous life-changing decisions, but these are just mentioned in passing while other elements of his life are examined in great forensic detail. New developments are tipped upon the reader, and the plot and context are disjointed at times and scoot around from place to place, leaving me feeling a little disoriented. These do not assist in a seamless reading experience, and I believe the novel would be assisted by further editorial intervention which would address this occasional lack of coherence.

Douglas Kemp

COURAGE FOR THE CABINET GIRL

Molly Green, Avon, 2024, £8.99/$18.99/ C$23.99, pb, 421pp, 9780008679545

The novel opens in August 1939, when nineteen-year-old Katie Valentine is left a legacy from her aunt, on the proviso that she will leave her job looking after greyhounds at a race track and do a secretarial course. As a result, Katie is able to get a job at the War Office in Whitehall and is then transferred to the Cabinet War Rooms in the basement. She is determined to do what she can to use her skills to help the war effort and progress within the War Rooms to get as close as possible to the running of the war. The plot really gets going, approximately one hundred pages into the novel, with the introduction of the love interest, Wing Commander Baxter Edwards, who is a charming and appealing romantic lead.

The reader gets a good sense of the claustrophobia and intensity of working in the Cabinet War Rooms, with a lot of people in close proximity, and the dominance of Winston Churchill. There are some moments of heightened tension, usually swiftly resolved within a chapter or two rather than developed

throughout the book. There is quite a bit of author exposition referencing the key events of WW2 and how the war progressed up until the midpoint. The ending, when it comes, is rather abrupt but does tie all loose ends together.

Overall, the development of the relationship between Katie and Baxter is at the heart of this novel and makes it a pleasant read, especially if you like a WW2-themed romance.

Serena Press

THE RIVER KNOWS MY NAME

Mortada Gzar, trans. Luke Leafgren, Amazon Crossing, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 207pp, 9781542038973

In early 20th-century Basra, Iraq, fifteenyear-old Charlotte lives with her father, a doctor and missionary from Seattle. While they reside comfortably in a hospital’s annex, Charlotte is restless. Feeling confined, she escapes one day and embarks on a bold journey to explore the fascinating countryside. In her bag, she includes her father’s gospels and a statue of the baby Jesus. Her alarmed father searches frantically for her; he also disappears. Charlotte is assisted in her expedition to find her individuality by two women—the mission’s Sister Baghdadli and a guide, Shathra.

Mortada Gzar is an accomplished author. His memoir I’m in Seattle, Where Are You? was long-listed for the PEN Translation Prize. In this novel, Gzar vividly brings to life the era in Iraq before WWI, when the country was under Ottoman control. The lives of the populace, their culture, religion, and the harsh living conditions along the river are aptly narrated through Charlotte’s eyes. Gzar skillfully uses the two other major characters, Baghdadli and Shathra, to support Charlotte in living through her encounters and experiencing life in her self-exploration. Gzar does not shy away from unfolding the norms of that era, such as religious differences, gender-based violence, and rape, that some readers might find unpleasant. The novel, written originally in Arabic, has a not-uncommon lyrical style and some use of magic realism. The English translation has maintained these aspects of the original superbly. Most readers would be delighted to read this novel about Charlotte’s adventures in the Iraqi wonderland and gain insight into that region’s history.

Waheed Rabbani

THE WEST IN HER EYES

Janet Hancock, Resolute Books, 2024, £9.99, pb, 464pp, 9781915981677

Summer 1918: twenty-year-old Esther’s dream of studying the piano at the conservatory in St. Petersburg, 2000 miles from her family’s home in Baku by the Caspian Sea, is disrupted by the civil war. The family, rich from oil proceeds, has to flee the country to escape certain death by the Bolsheviks.

The family stops for a while in Teheran, and Esther meets two people who change her life forever. One is Anahid, a young woman who

had been taken from her home in Anatolia and forced to become one of the wives in Mirza Khan’s harem. In Teheran, Esther is also befriended by a Turk, Captain Kemal, who takes an interest in her story and offers to help the family across the rough terrain to Constantinople. He asks Esther to marry him, explaining that the tribal chiefs of the hostile land they will have to travel through will show more respect and leniency if Kemal is travelling with his wife and her family.

The story extends from Russia through Anatolia, Persia and ultimately France. At every step the reader is there: walking in the characters’ boots, smelling the fragrances and odours, touching the silk and the shit, hearing the song and the screams, seeing the exotic colours and the depressing drabness, and feeling the ecstasy of passion and the emptiness of hunger and despair.

The different loves that are threaded throughout the story—of individuals, family, and country—are those that lead to unbreakable bonds and enormous sacrifices but also unimaginable cruelty. The writing is exquisite, the descriptions of character, place and emotion are sublime, and I can promise you that this book will stay with you in head and heart for a very long time. Highly recommended.

Marilyn Pemberton

CAST ASIDE

John W. Harding, BearManor Media, 2023, $38.00, hb, 286pp, 9798887712932

In 1924, actor Francis X. Bushman is trying to come back from a tarnished image and a five-year “blacklist” after having an affair with a co-star while married. He enlists the help of a newspaper reporter, Lewis Tremayne, in order to portray himself as a changed man. The backdrop of this transformation is in Italy, where Bushman has begun work on the filming of Ben-Hur. The biggest challenge in revamping Bushman’s image is the fact that Bushman has no intention of changing, and the job is complicated even further when Tremayne falls for Bushman’s latest fling.

This is a fascinating look into the life of Francis X. Bushman, who played Messala in the 1925 silent film Ben-Hur, and the controversies surrounding the movie while it was filming in Italy. The author does a great job of portraying the flamboyant Bushman, whose selfish, partying ways did not sit well with American viewers in those days. The novel is written from the perspective of the reporter, Tremayne, and this viewpoint serves the novel well as we see all of Bushman’s faults and hypocrisies, as well as the cutthroat nature of Hollywood studios at that time. But the novel goes much deeper: Early 20th-century Italian politics, Hollywood politics, and criminal conspiracies are also involved, and the way Tremayne finds himself in the middle of everything is intriguing. The meaning of the title, Cast Aside, is shown in many ways, which will be interesting for the reader to discover. This novel is well written and recommended to fans of historical fiction

about filmmaking, Mussolini’s Italy, and Hollywood.

Bonnie DeMoss

THE SILKEN KNOT

Liz Harris, Heywood Press, 2024, $11.99/£9.99, pb, 338pp, 9781913687434

The second in the Three Sisters family saga explores Iris Hammond, a more forthright and less traditional sister than Rose, of the previous book. In 1947, Iris accepts a proposal of marriage from widowed single father, Pierre Rousseau. The couple have never met, and they move straight to Dinan, Brittany, where Pierre has relocated his haberdashery business so that his daughter Danielle can be near her grandparents. Iris is a single mother who makes no apologies for having had a relationship outside of marriage, but Pierre is content to offer his home to her and baby Grace, who Danielle immediately falls in love with. The new Rousseau marriage gets off to a rocky start. Pierre is an upstanding moral Catholic, and Iris feels she can’t compare to his previous wife or have relations with someone who considers her second-best. But there are outside forces at work which threaten to split them apart, and not everyone is as they seem.

Harris’s portrayal of the dynamic Iris and her gentlemanly Pierre is well-wrought. They are genuine people who gradually find enough common ground to form a solid friendship and a stable home for Danielle. Character interplay works well, and the history of the Dinan/Lanvallay/Léhon area is told in compelling detail. My difficulty lay with the dialogue which is too practiced, overthought and a bit too perfect at times –particularly in Pierre’s relating of local history and Iris’s psychological assessments of their relationship. The information relayed is spoton, but the emotion is lacking. I could do without chapter headings like ‘later that day’ or ‘the following morning’, because it is easy to follow what’s going on. Otherwise, a welltold, inspiring post-war saga about generosity of spirit and the shape of forgiveness.

Fiona Alison

PRECIPICE

Robert Harris, Harper, 2024, $30.00, hb, 445pp, 9780063248052 / Hutchinson Heinemann, 2024, £22.00, hb, 464pp, 9781529152821

From its opening scene of a frivolous death during a late-night pleasure boat excursion of reckless young aristocrats on the Thames before WWI begins, to its ending in 1915, Precipice maintains the tension and depth we expect from the masterful Robert Harris. Letters between Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and his much younger beloved, Venetia Stanley, form the backbone of the story, set against the politics, war fever, and class attitudes of the era. The young policeman on duty the night of the fatal boat accident, Paul Deemer, is soon promoted to intelligence officer, investigating German spies on English soil. Then comes his special assignment: monitoring that correspondence after it’s discovered that

Asquith shares political and military secrets with Venetia, making this clever woman the second most informed person in the country. Many letters a day are exchanged, involving Deemer in what he regards as a serialized novel and evoking his own emotions in a secret, dangerous ménage à trois. Asquith burned Venetia’s letters, but his still exist and, as Harris says in his acknowledgements, inspired this book.

Asquith, called “Prime” by Venetia, is reluctant to lead England into war. “All across Europe, he thought – everyone moving into position, everything tending in the same direction, towards the precipice. The world had gone mad.” Suspense builds as men of all classes enlist in the armed forces, little knowing what they’re getting into. Against the organized German forces, British leaders respond with at-times haphazard strategic planning, such as the disastrous foray into the Dardanelles.

Precipice depicts the most shocking war to date, with descriptions that bring us into the historic moment and the intimate lives of Asquith, Venetia, and Deemer in England on the brink of a catastrophe that will change society and politics forever. Highly recommended.

Jinny Webber

THE SECRET HOTEL IN BERLIN

Catherine Hokin, Bookouture, 2024, $10.99/£8.99, pb, 322pp, 9781837900053

In this dual-timeline novel, two young women are drawn into the orbit of the Edel Hotel in Berlin. Lili, a young florist, relocates to Berlin after seeing the murder of her father on the steps of his Leipzig synagogue near the beginning of World War II. She hides her Jewish identity even as she falls in love and marries the son of the Edel’s owner and becomes— quite unwillingly—a hostess to Hitler and his associates. Torn between working to save her people, which might mean sacrificing her daughter, she helps Jews escape by temporarily hiding them in the Edel’s cellars. Then she is asked to do more.

In 1990 Luci arrives in a newly united city tasked with buying an old hotel in East Berlin that can be gloriously renovated to the elegance of bygone days. She selects the Edel and works with Lili’s grandson on its renovation. The two of them believe Lili collaborated with Hitler until they uncover Lili’s diary. Then they work together to restore

the truth of her character and anti-Nazi sentiments.

The magic of the Edel permeates the story as each of the women comes to terms with her past actions and bravely changes course to be true to herself and live her life honestly. The author builds tension on the very first page and only increases the intensity as the stories unfold. The readers will root for Lili throughout, although they know there is a strong chance her story will not end happily.

Lorelei R. Brush

THE END AND THE BEGINNING

K. J. Holdom, Simon & Schuster Canada, 2024, C$24.99, pb, 336pp, 9781668045398 / Simon & Schuster, 2024, $13.99, ebook, 336pp, B0CV27P1LW

The End and the Beginning is set in Germany during the brutal final months of World War II, between January and May 1945. In this period, 1.1 million Wehrmacht soldiers perished—over a third of all German military casualties— while hundreds of thousands of civilians died from Allied bombing and the brutal “final phase” in concentration and prison camps. Millions more were displaced.

Into this landscape, Holdom thrusts Marguerite, a French woman living in Saarland, on the border of Germany and France, and her thirteen-year-old son, Max, who is conscripted into the Hitler Youth to serve in the Volkssturm, Himmler’s Home Guard. Through them, we experience the last days of the Nazi regime: a countdown to “Hour Zero” and the “turning of the page” to the post-Nazi era.

Holdom skillfully portrays the immense cost of this fresh start to the German people, many of whom had supported or been complicit in Nazi rule. She delves into the complexities of the choices they faced, particularly as the war reached their towns and villages, and public sentiment swung between false hopes of victory and an almost overwhelming fear of defeat.

While many novels focus on World War II, few explore these final days, perhaps because of the atrocities that preceded them. However, Holdom draws readers into Marguerite and Max’s story so deeply that we stay with them as their world collapses. By narrowing the focus to these two characters and compressing the timeline, Holdom highlights the human cost of war and displacement, themes that remain relevant today.

Suzanne

Uttaro Samuels

THE GOOD WOMEN OF FUDI

Liu Hong, Scribe UK, 2024, £14.99/$18.00, pb, 336pp, 9781915590572

Aboard ship, en route to the small Chinese town of Fudi, two men strike up a friendship. Charles is an ‘ocean man’ (foreigner), recently bereaved, somewhat critical of his European roots, and looking for a different

life. An elegant Japanese man is returning home from studying medicine abroad and eager to see his best friend, a young woman named Jiali. But Jiali has married Yanbu, who, coincidentally, is a colleague of Charles. As Charles’s feelings are marginally stirred by the attractive Japanese man, he discovers he is actually Wu Fang, a Chinese woman. Jiali and Wu Fang, high-spirited, intellectual Hakka women with unbound feet, have been friends since childhood, learning martial arts and sword-fighting, both dressing as men. Both have eschewed marriage until now.

The novel is unique for its characterisations and how Liu Hong carries an intricate story about the fluid paths of attraction as it crosses cultural divides. Her style is refined, thoughtful, and free from judgement. The revolutionary Wu Fang and more traditional Jiali are remarkable characters not confused by their gender in the least. They are genteel ladies who enjoy dressing as men because they can, and who learn to physically protect themselves because it empowers them. The men are, for the most part, equally accepting and in awe of the women.

Reminiscences of Twelfth Night mix-ups and the conventions of medieval courtly love edge their way in. Jiali, a brilliant poet, marries Yanbu because he penned magnificent reciprocating couplets during their courtship, but on their wedding day he does not reply in kind. This calls into question the basis of their love-match. Chinese culture and custom run deeply through Liu Hong’s narrative; the complexity of love contrasted with the complications of following and/or dodging social convention. Drawn against a backdrop of rising political tension towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, I found Liu Hong’s novel a surprisingly moving experience.

Fiona Alison

SLEEPING IN THE SUN

Joanne Howard, She Writes Press, 2024, $17.99/C$24.99, pb, 288pp, 9781647427986

Twelve-yearold Gene Hinton is the youngest of four brothers in 1930s India.

Gene’s American Baptist missionary parents arrived in Bengal twenty years before.

The family lives in a large mission house and takes in boarders.

Arthur, a native of India, has served the Hintons from soon after they arrived. Gene and Arthur have formed a special bond.

An imperious British judge from a city near the faraway mountains, “Uncle” Ellis, suddenly arrives at the mission house. Ellis has been a family friend for many years but

now provides scant details about why and for how long he must stay. He brings with him six Afghan armed guards in full uniform. Gene and Arthur wonder about Ellis, but the other boys and their mother seem delighted by his sudden visit. Soon after Ellis’s arrival, a beautiful young Indian woman begs to stay for the duration of her pregnancy. A pet monkey clambers around the house. A stray dog befriends Arthur and then Ellis. A leopard prowls the nearby forest.

Struggles for power erupt. Local Indians riot against British rule. As life for non-natives becomes more dangerous, the Hintons consider going back to America. Arthur chafes at his abject poverty. Without the Hintons, he owns nothing and has no purpose. Gene tries to get out from under his constantly mocking brothers. Ellis asserts cruel control over every person and animal around him.

This debut novel pulls readers into every character, every animal, every setting, every plotline. The heat, dust, insects, and monsoons frame the seething tensions in the house. How long will the Hintons stay? What will become of Arthur? Who is Ellis and why did he flee his judge post? The ending takes one’s breath away, and its impact will linger long after the last page. Highly recommended.

G. J. Berger

THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY

Anna Lee Huber, Kensington, 2024, $17.95/ C$24.95/£16.99, pb, 384pp, 9781496740076

This seventh Verity Kent novel takes place in Ireland’s 1920 summer. Retired British spies, Verity and her war-hero husband, Sidney, have been summoned to search for another spy, Alec, suddenly missing in Dublin. Alec and Verity have quite a shared past.

Sidney pretends to be an English gentleman interested in fancy cars and Irish horses. Dublin’s British society opens its doors to them. At one of the social events, an important official asks Verity to investigate the suicide of the young daughter of a magistrate. While Verity and Sidney learn what they can about Alec and the dead woman, they hear of a third problem. An old nemesis, Navy Intelligence officer Lord Ardmore, arrives in Dublin with a suspected stash of poisonous gas cannisters.

Verity and Sydney soon notice they are being watched and can trust only themselves. The Irish are in full rebellion against the imperious Brits. Strikes, arson, looting, and murder take place daily. The local police don’t investigate serious crimes, and many may be part of Sinn Fein. British officials in Ireland play to both sides.

Is Alec dead or a traitor? Did the young girl take her own life, or did someone kill her for dating a Brit? What is Ardmore up to and for whom? This novel is told in Verity’s voice, allowing readers to know her every fear or regret, every clever ploy and genius plan. Though in parts a bit long and too detailed, the 1920s British/Irish history blends well with the mysteries of Alec’s disappearance, the

dead girl, and stolen gas canisters. Surprising resolutions do not fully unfold until the last page. This story can stand alone but might be more appreciated after reading several earlier Verity Kent adventures. Recommended.

G. J. Berger

INTO THE CAULDRON

Lee Jackson, Severn River, 2024, $21.99/ C$28.95, pb, 484pp, 9781648755972

In the immediate aftermath of D-Day 1944, the Littlefield siblings are still scattered – each fighting the enemy on unique battlegrounds. War-weary yet defiant, they face inner and outer turmoil to best the Axis countries to finally reach an Allied victory.

Jeremy takes on a near-impossible task to lead refugees through the dangerous Vercors Mountains, while his brother Lance is determined to liberate Paris from the Wehrmacht. Claire leads a team of decryptors at Bletchley Park, providing vital intelligence to the military on the ground. Pilot Josh must pull from his innermost strength and courage in a pivotal sea attack far from home. Their mother, the Dame of Sark, fights loneliness and starvation without her family on Germanoccupied Sark Island.

This 7th instalment in the After Dunkirk Series will not disappoint readers with its ongoing war tension. Jackson has done an excellent job of introducing the main characters without the detailed duplication found in many series. His military research shines through in every battle scene, keeping the reader turning the page – to find yet another cliff-hanger as another sibling’s story takes center stage. Masterful!

The reader would connect better with the characters’ temperaments and motivations with more realistic dialogue. At times it is a bit stilted or forced for the wartime setting and time period. The descriptions are rich and evocative; seeing them through the eyes of the main characters would bring them even more to life.

Overall, I loved the book and found myself drawn into wartime history that I had never read or researched before. The momentum builds at a great pace, and Jackson’s writing style is engaging and meticulous. Readers will finish hungry for the next book in the series.

Deb Stratas

UNTETHERED

Angela Jackson-Brown, Harper Muse, 2024, $18.99/C$23.99, pb, 347pp, 9781400241132

In 1967 small-town Alabama, Katia Daniels directs a care home for Black boys, removed from or abandoned by their often drug-addicted parents. Recently back at her job after a hysterectomy, she cares deeply for the traumatized boys. The surgery ended her dream of having her own children, but aside from her job, it also removed her agency. Katia is constantly in tears, flowing, flooding and streaming, as are many of the other characters.

She and her mother, and brother Marcus, just back from duty in Vietnam, deal with his PTSD and brother Aaron’s MIA status as told from Katia’s point of view.

But throughout, the reader is told the plot; even when a scene contains extreme tension or danger, it is told to us in a phone call or to Katia as she remains outside the action. The effect for the reader is diminished by this telling of a moving story set in an interesting time and place, since rather than taking us into the scenes, those scenes are dodged. The loss of agency by the protagonist may be reflected in the title, but the novel would be much stronger if we were shown the drama and raw reactions provoked by the extreme circumstances the characters face.

Constance Emmett

MARCH ROARS

Maureen Jennings, Cormorant Books, 2024, C$24.95, pb, 318pp, 9781770867246

1937 Toronto, Canada. On a roaring cold March morning, a Private Investigator, Charlotte Frayne, receives a strange letter. The letter from Mrs. Brodie, who lives in the Toronto House of Industry (a public charity for the needy), wishes to engage Charlotte’s services to rectify a “matter of grave injustice” and visit her as soon as possible. Earlier, Charlotte had read in the newspapers about the arrest and sentencing of two Black teenagers for robbery. But Mrs. Brodie believes them to be innocent, for at the time of the crime, she’d seen two white men behaving shiftily. Charlotte is already investigating another robbery of expensive jewelry reported by an affluent lady from her mansion. Charlotte works diligently on both cases and seeks the help of her friend, Detective Jack Murdoch. Together, they unravel the clues and follow the leads to discover several other “injustices.”

Maureen Jennings is the award-winning author of numerous crime, mystery, and historical fiction series. She is best known for her Detective (William) Murdoch Mysteries, which have been made into TV shows and have received worldwide acclaim. Although this novel is the fourth book in Jennings’ Paradise Café series, it is virtually a standalone. Jennings has done a remarkable job transporting us to the novel’s settings in pre-WWII Toronto. Her attention to detail shows in the writing; even a map of Depression-era Toronto is included on her website. Learning about Charlotte’s personal problems, independent of her cases, is interesting. Her dealing with the grumpiness of her grandfather, her eccentric boss, and her fiancé are sometimes hilarious. The use of the Paradise Café as a meeting point for the characters, away from business offices, is imaginative and assists in linking the plot points. While reading, Jennings’ fans will be thrilled when former detective William Murdoch makes a cameo appearance. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani

THE PARIS PEACEMAKERS

Flora Johnston, Allison & Busby, 2024, £22.00/$28.00, hb, 426pp, 9780749031220

Europe in 1919 is trying to heal, and so are two sisters, Corran and Stella. What does Corran’s specialty, the Greek and Latin classics she learned at Cambridge, even mean, now?

Corran is going to Dieppe, to teach at a YMCA education centre for the troops. Stella and her Irish friend Lily experience the spontaneous celebration outside Buckingham Palace, the crowd baying for King George to share in their joy. In the crowd they meet American soldiers.

Stella is in Paris, among ‘the chic and the shattered’, here to work as a typist for international peace. She wants to ‘get the years back’ that war has stolen from them all. Their dead brother Jack is a subject neither sister wants to acknowledge. Corran’s fiancé Rob is a surgeon, clearing casualties in France. As well as catastrophic injuries, they face an outbreak of influenza.

The focus of this novel is both sad and uplifting. The damage and the desolation of war are well portrayed; we sense the characters striving to heave themselves and their world out of ruin. Even the Germans are helping. The descriptions of grief for Jack are emotional, the descriptions of wounds and amputations harrowing. Rob’s work is not only physically demanding, it requires huge strength of character—the mission to regain ‘dignity and self-belief after all they’ve been through’. At clubs playing American music, people are dancing ‘with a frenzy that was surely only this side of fun’.

The parallels with the Odyssey are gorgeous and remind us of the relentless march of history. I found courage in this story, the courage to create a new world out of a destroyed one. This may be a work of fiction, but we must never forget that all this really happened, as our world slides into relentless repeat.

Susie Helme

THE GENIZAH

Wayne Karlin, Publerati, 2024, $19.99, pb, 296pp, 9798986617824

In 1941, the extended family of Karlin’s mother were murdered by the Nazis in her hometown of Kolno, Poland. In modern day America, Karlin and two close friends discover a hiding place in the wall of their New York City apartment: it is a genizah, or a “tomb for holy books.” Between these two realities, Karlin steps back to ponder “what if?” and in the process pens a powerful and deeply unsettling story of what would have happened if his grandmother, mother, and uncle had not immigrated to America but rather ended “as lines in a list of murders.”

Karlin dares to think the unthinkable and pulls the readers deep into a fever dream of poetry, nightmare, and bottomless despair. The Genizah does not make for light reading, but its truths are undeniable. Twenty-three members of Karlin’s extended family perished

in Kolno. In telling their stories, as well as his created vision of alternate endings for his own parents, he follows the Jewish Passover tradition that admonishes Jews not to tell the story of slavery and liberation “as if it happened to those old Jews,” but rather as if it is happening to them now. Thus, Karlin imagines a history that ends differently, where his parents, grandmother, and uncle do not survive. In experimental, written-as-spoken prose, he conjures up a close-knit Jewish family navigating the anti-Semitism of their Polish neighbors while not believing cultured Germans would come to obliterate them wholesale.

The Genizah is not for the faint of heart— Karlin captures the evil of Jewish genocide in truly horrific displays, but also explains throughout how grief reminds people “of what needed to be suffered in order to be saved.”

Peggy Kurkowski

BETRAYAL AT BLACKTHORN PARK

Julia Kelly, Minotaur, 2024, $28.00/ C$37.00/£23.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250865519

In November of 1940, Blackthorn Park is anticipating a visit from Prime Minister Winston Churchill, which means everything must be ship-shape. But the Special Operations Executive (SOE) has been notified of possible theft at this clandestine weapons research, development and manufacturing facility, and the head of operations sends in Evelyne Redfern, just returned from a rigorous training session. It is her first mission as a fully-fledged agent; a one-night reconnaissance mission, in which she is tasked to look around but not do any formal interviewing and report back the following evening. Her partner, David Poole, has been reassigned as her handler, a stinging rebuke after their last foray together, but instead of everything being as it should be at Blackthorn, Evelyne walks straight in on the suspicious death of the chief engineer, Sir Nigel Balram. Poole immediately resigns as her handler—the work does not suit him—and together they uncover strange goings-on at the base, including newly developed barnacle bombs with faulty timers.

Kelly has created an ambience true to the times with two protagonists who work side-by-side without interference from personal feelings. The attraction is there but hums along quietly in the background. The interwoven previous history is so subtle as to barely be noticeable, but we learn more about Evelyne, her emotional struggle with necessary dishonesty to her best friend Moira, and her eagerness to prove herself in her new career. Written in a crisp straightforward manner which perfectly suits the procedural way in which Evelyne and David conduct their investigation, this is the second standalone novel in an excellent series. It ticks all the right boxes for a WWII SOE murder mystery.

Fiona Alison

THE STARLETS

Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne, Harper Muse, 2024, $18.99/C$23.99/£10.99, pb, 336pp, 9781400240661

It’s 1958, and Apex Pictures is producing A Thousand Ships, an epic about the Trojan War being shot on location on an Italian island. Vivienne Rhodes thinks she’s playing Helen of Troy, only to find she’s playing Cassandra and her rival Lottie Lawrence is to play Helen. Vivienne is furious, but is talked into taking the lesser role. But there’s more going on than filming – Vivienne and Lottie stumble onto a drug smuggling scheme using film props to hide the drugs. And so starts a chase across Europe, from Monaco to the set of Ben Hur in Rome. Vivienne and Lottie don’t outrun the smugglers, and are hauled back to the set of A Thousand Ships. There they are held hostage, and do their best to thwart the murderous smugglers in an explosive climax.

The Starlets is a good read; its background is solid and the storyline engrossing. Vivienne and Lottie are appealing heroines, and their journey from bitter rivals to fast friends is satisfying. The settings are vivid, especially the movie locations, and the breakneck flight from the bad guys is exciting. A great way to spend a couple of hours.

India Edghill

FLORIDA GIRLS

L. L. Kirchner, Lila Books, 2024, $19.99, pb, 414pp, 9798985815245

It’s October 1944, and 18-year-old Thelma Miles finds herself in St. Petersburg, Florida – stranded after her bus to Miami leaves without her because she’s trying to help a lost child. Thelma has $16.75 to her name, no job, no family, and bad memories to escape. She’s desperate to start a new life. Opportunity comes knocking when Thelma is selected to join the Florida Girls – a troupe of girls sponsored by St Petersburg’s Sun City Emporium that will model swimsuits and perform a singing and dancing routine to raise money for war bonds (and to line their sponsors’ pockets). The troupe will tour cities between St Petersburg and Los Angeles, where they’ll compete for a movie contract. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems, and Thelma suddenly finds herself moving in a world of glamour and intrigue with mafia connections, money laundering, spies, secrets, and plenty of bad behaviour.

This is a book about a young woman’s strength and determination as she learns to work with an equally determined and secretive sponsor amid a network of complex connections. At times, I got lost in the plot. There are many characters and a lot of small events, and it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of who is doing what. Some key plot points just seem to ‘happen’ with little explanation, description, or follow through. I found it difficult to believe that an 18-yearold could play on near-equal terms with a mafia boss. That being said, Thelma Miles is

a likeable character, and it’s fun to spend time in her company.

Florida Girls is L. L. Kirchner’s debut novel and the first book in the Queenpin Chronicles trilogy, which will follow the adventures of Thelma Miles and her sponsor Kathleen Young. Judy Gregory

WOMEN’S HOTEL

Daniel M. Lavery, HarperVia, 2024, $28.99/ C$35.99, hb, 272pp, 9780063343535

You might think as you begin reading that you have in your hands a Wodehousian comedy of manners, but you soon realize you are being drawn into a series of quiet but devastatingly poignant lives –as if Tolstoy or Naipaul or Austen had put a specific slice of middle-class single womanhood in the mid-20th century under a microscope.

Katherine, Lucianne, Pauline, and dozens of other women are tenants in a mid-range residential hotel for women in 1967 New York – some stay for a year or two, some have been there for decades. What some might consider lives of “quiet desperation” – isolated, separated from families, short on cash – others might consider lives of complete freedom from the constrained social roles of the time. Our omniscient narrator, a wry and nonjudgmental voice, moves from woman to woman as they justify and then question the decisions that led them to this liminal state of being – not quite “at home,” but not rootless, either.

Manhattan rhythms only occasionally intrude on the stasis of the venerable Beidermeier Hotel (and when they do, the results are often hilarious), but the inner lives of the tenants are never boring. Katherine in particular, a recovering alcoholic who treasures the secure uneventfulness of her life but also finds herself drawn further and further into the eccentricities of her co-tenants, is an intricately drawn character, and a tolerant guide to this extremely brief moment in time. A few years earlier, and the Beidermeier’s inhabitants would have had no means to live independently; a handful of years later, women like Katherine would have careers, sexual independence, and the income to afford apartment life. Lavery, a bestselling essayist and former “Dear Prudence” advice columnist for Slate.com, offers in his debut novel a dreamlike, richly detailed glimpse into lives that are ordinary but no less fascinating for being so.

Kristen McDermott

THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN

Lynda Cohen Loigman, St. Martin’s, 2024, $29.00, hb, 320pp, 9781250278104

The distance between 1922 and 1987 in terms of women’s lives and careers is the backdrop of Lynda Cohen Loigman’s romance between two smart people: Augusta Stern, determined to become a pharmacist like her father (although desperate to save more people, perhaps with her great-aunt Esther’s “recipes”), and Irving Rivkin, the long-ago delivery boy from her father’s Brooklyn drugstore. As she relocates to a Florida senior living community, the last thing eighty-year-old Augusta expects is to run into Irving. And it is the last thing she would have said she would put up with, too: Irving left her for someone else, even though she was sure they would be married in their youth.

Flashbacks carry her tale from the pain of growing up and being disappointed, to the anger of an unforgiving and lonely life. From the start of the novel, it is clear the biggest barriers to Augusta’s happiness are her own self-imposed rules and certainties. Shouldn’t her great-aunt’s mystical elixir have made everything work out? Even Augusta’s sister believed that would happen: “One day, either with or without Esther’s recipes, you’ll decide what you want and who you’re meant to be.”

Augusta’s decisions have not made her happy overall. It is hard to air out the sourness and anger that have accumulated. Can she open to love now? As one of her new friends at the senior community urges, “Your father was able to experience that joy … with the woman he loved. Now that your working days are behind you, don’t you think you deserve the same?”

The sweet romance of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is good fit for beach reading with its long meander through life’s decisions and magical second chances.

Beth Kanell

THE NIGHT IN VENICE

A. J. Martin, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2024, £22.00, hb, 328pp, 9781399608022

More usually known as novelist Andrew Martin, the author has written an utterly beguiling story set in Edwardian England and Venice. It is 1911, and 14-year-old orphan Monica is taken from her home in north London to Venice for a brief holiday by her guardian, Miss Rose Driscoll. Monica is amusing, wry, intelligent and feisty, with a captivating character and voice, though she is a troubled and obviously “difficult” adolescent, which is perhaps not surprising as she has been effectively orphaned twice with the death of both parents and then her uncle Leo, who was her previous legal guardian.

Monica is always willing to speak her mind and challenge the conventions of conservative, fastidious Edwardian society. Rose Driscoll, who Monica refers to just by her family name throughout the novel, is rather a dry and stern bluestocking, with a weakness for alcohol.

Their relationship is fraught and comes to a head on their arrival in Venice.

The historical context is superb, evoking the splendid atmosphere of life for an adolescent girl in the early years of the 20th century, illuminating the fences and ceilings that society imposed upon females of those days. The language, customs and conventions of the times are accurate and convincing, though would Monica refer to an “old-age pension” back in 1911? The novel is narrated from the perspective of Monica in a sardonic and amused tone. She is a fascinating and lovable creation and, without giving anything away about the ending, if ever a story demands a sequel (and one that needs to be written and published quite soon, please) it is this one.

Douglas Kemp

THE BOOKLOVER’S LIBRARY

Madeline Martin, Hanover Square Press, 2024, $18.99, pb, 432pp, 9781335000392

Emma Taylor’s life has revolved around keeping her daughter Olivia safe. Her father had raised her as a single parent until his bookshop and their home above it burned to the ground and he perished. Her widow’s pension is stretched when rationing begins in 1939 in Nottingham, England, but strictures prevent her from seeking work. If Emma agrees to pass Olivia off as her sister, the manageress of a lending library will permit her a job shelving books and helping patrons. This forces Olivia to become a latchkey child with increasing dependence on their landlady.

Emma is a natural at leading patrons with fee-based memberships to new books to occupy their time, though those patrons are a quirky lot. When the bombing comes closer to home, Emma must come to grips that Olivia is safer away from her, which breaks her heart. Communicating through letters, Emma encourages Olivia to turn to some favorite stories she enjoyed growing up with her father. While studying has never been Olivia’s strong suit, she finds comfort in that connection and picturing herself as Anne of Green Gables.

Martin’s talent shines as she develops characters both lovable and devilish amid the early days of WWII England. She was able to research at a functioning lending library in Nottingham and, as in her other novels, depictions of the devastating effects of war on everyday people ring true. The tension ratchets up as the bombs fall, and the bonds of mother and daughter against the world are strengthened with their renewed love of reading and Emma’s ability to trust others. This is a feel-good story for book-lovers of all ages.

Tom Vallar

THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY

Edward McSweegan, Wild Rose Press, 2024, $18.99/C$25.49, pb, 324pp, 9781509254316

David Enders returns home to Connecticut three years after serving as a pilot for France in World War I. What awaits him is

an unsympathetic father, a mother who is consumed with the care of his comatose sister, a brother interested mostly in making money, and a job he doesn’t want at his father’s bank. His nights consist of drinking at speakeasies and eventually falling into unpleasant dreams of the horrors of war. When a construction job comes up in the coastal town of Old Lyme, he takes it immediately. There he discovers a colony of artists, and among them the beautiful Karen, with whom he begins a relationship.

This is a well-written story that shows what it could be like for any military member to come home after fighting in a war, although this is from a pilot’s perspective. Enders’ problems dealing with the agony of battle are revealed to the reader immediately, and it is easy to see that he is still struggling with the horrors he has experienced. The way the author has Enders slowly opening up to life again is expertly done. When he does embrace a part of his past that he has set aside, the reader can see a crack in the wall he has built around himself. There are some flashbacks to the war, and events in France afterward, and there are other problems in the present. Enders’ employer is nice to him but proves to be a racist who wants to sell land only to certain people. There are also other reminders that evil exists even after the battle is over. This is a look at a post-war journey that will touch the heart. Highly recommended.

Bonnie DeMoss

THE CHRISTMAS STOCKING MURDERS

Denzil Meyrick, Bantam, 2024, £16.99, hb, 358pp, 9780857506399

The Christmas Stocking Murders is, as the title suggests, a cozy crime mystery for the Christmas season. It’s reviewed here as historical fiction because it is set in 1953, but the historical element is minimal.

The book has a sort of vaguely 1950s feel to it but little real understanding of the day-to-day drabness of the period. There are occasional references to rationing, but nobody ever has to produce ration coupons for anything, though they were a miserable daily reminder of wartime restrictions. Sugar and sweets had just been taken off the ration, but when people are enjoying Christmas cheer nobody remarks on how, only a few months earlier, their sugar would have been limited by government order. At one point, someone needs a phone line reconnecting, and it is done overnight. Even in the 1960s, getting a phone line connected could take weeks. Life was different in those days.

Once you accept that period detail isn’t the book’s strong point, does it work as a mystery? It’s not Agatha Christie. It aims for characterdriven amusement rather than offering a problem to work out. Our policeman hero, his overweight boss, his embarrassing father, and his father’s unlikely girlfriend are all trapped in a Yorkshire fishing village cut off by snow. (December 1953 was unusually mild, but let

that pass.) People are murdered. There is smuggling. The mafia are involved. Lots of short sentences. Whimsical humour. That sort of thing.

If this aspect is something you enjoy, this is an ideal Christmas gift. I didn’t laugh out loud, but I chuckled a few times. If jokes involving fat men getting stuck climbing through windows don’t appeal, it’s probably not for you. If they do, then Christmas has come early.

Tom Williams

A GOLDEN LIFE

Ginny Kubitz Moyer, She Writes Press, 2024, $17.95, pb, 322pp, 9781647427221

Twenty-five-year-old Frances Healey arrives in Hollywood in 1938, newly hired as secretary to Lawrence Merrill, a producer at VistaGlen Studios. The studio is preparing to film the story of a legendary actress who began dancing for miners as a six-year-old, pushed by her ambitious mother. Kitty Ridley worked her way up to play Shakespearean roles, her favorite being Juliet, who she played until she was 30 to never-diminishing applause. Kitty, now 90 years old, writes a letter refusing to grant permission to the filmmakers. Its script is based on a biography full of lies which, if she hadn’t been living in France, she would have denied permission to publish, but she’s denying them now. The ingenue actress Belinda Vail, romantically involved with Merrill, is thrilled to be signed to play Kitty, her first substantial role. This film must be made!

Kitty’s refusal sends Merrill and Frances to the Napa Valley to convince Kitty to change her mind. Being away from Hollywood and befriending Kitty pushes Frances to confront her painful past, shifting her sense of herself and her possibilities and creating new emotional dynamics.

A Golden Life depicts an intriguing range of characters from Kitty Ridley herself, to Merrill’s precocious daughter Sally, to the Ventimiglia family who house Kitty in Napa. The novel explores how movies affect our lives; acting as a craft and a behavior; the challenges of telling the truth about anyone’s life, especially in a movie; and stage-acting vs. film acting. Frances makes an engaging heroine, and Moyer’s descriptive style and clever plotting add to the book’s appeal. Recommended.

Jinny Webber

THE BISHOP’S VILLA

Sacha Naspini, trans. Clarissa Botsford, Europa, 2024, $28.00/C$42.95, hb, 224pp, 9798889660521

The small, secluded village of Le Case in Tuscany is “a nowhere town lost in some nowhere mountains”. Here the villagers wait out WWII, struggling to put food on the table. It is November 1943, and a severe winter is ahead. The Italian Fascist regime has rented the seminary from the bishop for the purpose of detaining the Jewish population, and the Resistance is active with the partisans hiding in the mountains nearby. René, the village shoemaker, lives in the same building as his

long-time friend Anna. He lives a solitary life, too timid to declare his love for Anna out of fear of rejection. The widow Anna is grieving her son, who was executed by the Wehrmacht. Grief and the desire to fight back now define her days.

Anna, always there at the end of René’s day to drop in on, is suddenly gone. Her letter left behind asks him to make her home appear lived in, to hide her absence while she is away. She has joined the partisans in the mountains. He shouldn’t be surprised; she seemed to know more than she should about their activities. As for René, he just wants to put his head down and mind his own business, but inevitably circumstances will push him beyond his quiet, comfortable life.

This literary novel is centered on the village characters who find themselves dealing with daily hardships because of the war. Some are actively resisting; others just want to get through another day. Like many of Naspini’s characters, René’s life is small, lonely, and isolated, but meaningful human connections come his way. In a surprising turn, Naspini shows us that no matter how small an act of resistance, it does make a difference. A distressing yet heart-warming novel.

Janice Ottersberg

THE COLONY CLUB

Shelley Noble, William Morrow, 2024, $18.99/ C$23.99, pb, 368pp, 9780063252486

After the first few pages of this 1902-1907 New York City-based historical novel that tracks the dramatic changes in women’s lives at the start of the 20th century, it feels impossible that the story Shelley Noble is spilling out hasn’t been celebrated before now. Each page opens possibilities for a musical or movie, and the three lead characters are irresistible.

Three points of view offer this adventure into women’s lives: that of wealthy matron Daisy Harriman, whose husband mostly encourages her insistence that women should have their own “club” in the city where they can stay when not accompanied by their husbands, and hold lectures, and pursue athletic health; the elegant actress Elsie de Wolfe, whose eye for interior decor far exceeds her dramatic career; and scrappy Nora Bromley, determined to become an architect in honor of her brother, who died young of disease in the city’s tenements. There are some brief flashes to Mrs. Harriman being interviewed in 1963 and reflecting on the women’s accomplishments, but otherwise, Noble applies both lively storytelling and historic accuracy to her tale, one that is most poignant when it’s through Nora’s eyes and heart.

Lively twists like the called-for dog lounge for the club—a quirk that Nora manages to grasp and design for, earning the assignment— and Nora’s surging interest in designing work spaces and hospitals add to the importance and vitality of this narrative. There’s a gentle strand of romance that never interferes with Nora’s determination and growing skills, and

most of all, the swell-told story of this feminist breakthrough gives a compelling version of how far women had already come at that time, as well as how their roles were about to grow.

Beth Kanell

THE EMPRESS OF COOKE COUNTY

Elizabeth Bass Parman, Harper Muse, 2024, $18.99/C$23.99, pb, 304pp, 9781400342594

In the winter of 1966, thirty-eight-year-old Posey Burch Jarvis has had enough of her unglamorous Tennessee smalltown life. Posey styles her hair, clothes and makeup after Jackie Kennedy and pines for the dashing and wealthy doctor, known as CJ, who seduced her at the tender age of nineteen. For too long she’s been married to much older Vern. He owns and runs a secondhand store. They live in a small suburban house with their eighteenyear-old daughter, Callie Jane.

Callie Jane is engaged to her lifelong best friend, Trace. Attractive Callie Jane was her high school valedictorian and almost the state’s spelling bee champ. She now wants much more than Trace or the house and kids that will soon follow. She moves out of the family home and angles to flee to California.

A distant aunt dies and leaves Posey the biggest house in the area with enough money to fix it up. Now Posey can plan in earnest the moves that will allow her to join the upper social circles and win CJ back. Tumblers of gin and the deep need to impress fuel Posey’s every move from start to finish.

Parman superbly teases out the good and bad sides of people. True-to-life secondary characters, Southern customs and foods, buzzing gossip, and a peeping Tom augment the larger themes. The two main plots (Posey’s quests and Callie Jane’s search for her own life) build through clever twists and turns. This novel effectively combines very human foibles, hilarious circumstances, and honest yearnings of the heart, with page-turning endings. Highly recommended.

G. J. Berger

BERLIN DUET

S. W. Perry, Corvus, 2024, £18.99, hb, 436pp, 9781805460619

1938: English spy Harry Taverner spends the night dancing with a married woman, Jewish photographer Anna Cantrell. He is her case officer, and love doesn’t enter the picture. By 1942, the Nazis have invaded North Africa and Vichy France. Anna is hiding from her Austrian Nazi husband. Harry wants her to come in from the cold and escape with her recovering

cocaine-addict mother and her two children. After the war they reunite, as Anna seeks her missing children amid the ruins of Berlin.

In 1989, the elderly Harry witnesses the fall of the Berlin Wall, when he ‘has a turn’. His daughter Elly comes to look after him. In a lucid moment, he looks at one of Anna’s old photographs, recalling the secret that links them. ‘It’s time you knew,’ he says to Elly.

The narrative jumps around in time at first, revealing the pain in people’s pasts bit by bit, building to a crescendo. Anna and her parents are artists, but her younger life is haunted by the toxicity of their relationship. And she enters into another one herself, with Ivo. The couple lives with her mother, Marion, witnessing her dysfunction. The night Anna learns more about her father, Rex, forced to see things by a drunken Marion, is burned into her heart.

As Hitler goes from bad to worse, we feel the fear. The conflict between Ivo’s Naziism and Anna’s Jewishness heats up. The rift logs one injury, then another. The ways in which the Nazi terror plays out within Anna’s family are horrifying. We see it through Anna’s eyes, then Elly’s.

This is S. W. Perry’s first venture into the 20th century, following a series of Elizabethan spy novels. It is beautifully written, encapsulating the most painful of human emotions and the devastating effect world events can have on families.

Susie

Helme

54 MILES

Leonard Pitts, Jr., Agate Bolden, 2024, $19.95/ C$30.50/£14.99, pb, 329pp, 9781572843370

In the aftermath of WWII in Mobile, Alabama, when a white man asks a Black woman to marry him, it fractures the two families. So when their Harlemraised son Adam comes to Selma to register voters in 1965, it starts a journey that will impact every member of those families.

Adam goes missing after the first attempted Selma march, and both his parents come south to search for him. His pastor father goes idealistically--and a bit naively--alongside

other white pastors. His mother never wanted to see the South again, understanding its danger. It’s only her love for her son that drives her to go back there.

Leonard Pitts, Jr., has woven a deeply moving, rich story of Black life in the South during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. The marches from Selma run like rivers throughout the book, culminating in the historic 54-mile march to Montgomery. Pitts brings a keen eye for detail and a talent for developing characters so real you’d swear you knew them.

If you, like me, are a bit too young to remember what the world was like in the South before Civil Rights, this book provides a clear, compelling picture. It’s written for adults but would be suitable for older teens. Readers, parents, and educators should be aware that the language reflects the common derogatory terms of the era.

Lisa Lowe Stauffer

ARNOLD & IGOR

Howard Rappaport, Fomite, 2024, $18.95, pb, 375pp, 9781953236920

To the non-specialist reader, a novel saturated in names, events, terms, and compositions of any period of music history poses a challenge. Add to that history, as Arnold & Igor does, the spectacle of both the dance and art worlds, and the portrayal of avant-garde Austrian Arnold Schoenberg and influential Russian Igor Stravinsky underscored by their intimate lives and loves, controversy and polemics, and the result is a deep immersion into early 20thcentury modernism.

As Romanticism and Wagnerism waned, the so-called long century tipped into 1914, and the chaos of World War I changed everything. When the two titans of music first established themselves—Stravinsky composing for the Paris ballet stage and Schoenberg for Vienna’s symphonic hall—the former’s neoclassicism and the latter’s serialism had not yet swept across the world. But eventually both famous composers landed in Hollywood (“driven into Paradise”), living near each other. Rappaport’s device is to construct a story born of rivalry and collaboration of sorts between them and to insert a 1995 Los Angeles university instructor struggling to complete his opera commission, while also discovering a secret Schoenberg sketchbook with an embedded musical code. Translating that code drives the story of Simon Grafton, a husband and father, perpetually late, guilt-ridden, and fumbling, to restore order to both his private and professional lives.

Simon and the mysterious sketchbook launch a frenzied energy, and thereafter chapters alternate between early and late 20th century, revealing a younger Stravinsky in awe of Schoenberg, who had yet to create his radical twelve-tone theory and philosophy. The fiction weaves intrigue, jealousy, and disruption, including the near-riot reception of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (1913) and Schoenberg’s wife’s affair with the tragic painter Gerstl, thus planting parallel themes that intrude on Simon’s creative mind and

disordered world. The earlier, decadent century, unsurprisingly, captures the reader’s fascination with history.

Christina Nellas Acosta

THE DEVIL HATH A PLEASING SHAPE

Terry Roberts, Turner, 2024, $16.99, pb, 272pp, 9781684420353

Stephen Robbins, physically and mentally scarred, already has a storied history by the time this novel begins in 1924. When a college co-ed is murdered at the famous Grove Park Inn, the hotel’s owner, Benjamin Loftis, seeks Robbins out as a man with a reputation for cracking difficult cases. Since every guest of the Inn is personally approved by the exacting Loftis, finding the killer amongst society’s powerful and elite – especially with a brutal sheriff standing in the way – is a daunting proposition.

Roberts is an award-winner, and a few pages in, it’s easy to see why. Descriptive writing lands the reader squarely in period and geographical setting – one Roberts knows well as a North Carolina native. One has the impression Roberts would excel in writing about anything; his prose is excellent, some passages provoking the reader to stop and admire the elegant efficiency with which he conveys his point. Characterization is particularly strong, and that’s what drives the novel, since the mystery’s resolution won’t come as much of a revelation. This is a propulsive read with great noir atmosphere, third in the “chronicles” of Stephen Robbins. I chose it due to setting, but I’ll be back for future installments no matter where Robbins ends up crimesolving.

Bethany Latham

THE MOONFLOWERS

Abigail Rose-Marie, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 329pp, 9781662522970

“Any story worth telling has more than one storyteller.”

Tig Costello goes to Darren, Kentucky, to paint a portrait of the town benefactor, her grandfather Benjamin Costello, and finds an oddly unwelcoming community, considering that she has been invited by the mayor. Her presence in 1997 revives stories that reach back into the 1930s and ´40s, stories the town would rather not think about. When she decides to interview Eloise Price, the woman who has been imprisoned for the last 50 years for Benjamin’s murder, she begins to untangle those old stories, sorting them into a new portrait that is a far cry from the heroic statue of Benjamin newly erected in the town square. At the heart of it all are a series of missing wives and the women of Whitmore Halls, a now decaying mansion on the hill, to whom desperate women, bruised or pregnant or both, came for help. Eloise is only one of the women who, warming to Tig despite some of the men’s hostility, help her piece together

the story of Darren, Benjamin Costello, and Whitmore Halls.

The present narrative is told in Tig’s voice and the past in Eloise’s, with shorter sections from the others. Rose-Marie gives us an almost tactile sense of this small Kentucky town, not much changed since Benjamin’s day, and of the claustrophobic atmosphere of living in a place where everyone knows everything, even the things they don’t talk about. Tig’s final act of defiance before she leaves probably won’t change anything, but it has changed her, and the reader feels the burden of Tig’s own weight lift with the last sentence.

Amanda Cockrell

THIS CURSED HOUSE

Del Sandeen, Berkley, 2024, $29.00/C$39.00, hb, 384pp, 9780593639528 / Michael Joseph, 2024, £18.99, hb, 400pp, 9780241714515

Sandeen’s Southern gothic horror, set near New Orleans in 1962, vividly swirls with ghosts and Black history, while acknowledging how some passing families may have used skin colour to escape a difficult life, or worse. The white-passing Duchon family, six of them, were cursed a quarter century ago to remain within the plantation boundaries—and every seven years one of them dies. Unemployed Jemma Barker accepts a position as tutor, but in the turmoil of her life in Chicago, she fails to ask essential questions of the matriarch who offers her the job, stunned as she is by the exorbitant $300/week salary. However, it doesn’t take long to understand the real reason she’s there, and that all is not well in this outwardly handsome family. As Jemma, who sees spirits she’d rather not see, prises back layers of history, each new revelation worse than the last, she becomes enmeshed in the Duchon nightmare. To survive she must find allies and most importantly, be true to herself and her heritage.

The concept of bias between white-passing and Black, about which Sandeen doesn’t pause in her condemnation, is at the heart of this evocative novel. The Duchons have no use for brown-skinned Jemma beyond her ability to rid them of a decades-long curse, which becomes ever more complex. Despite claiming to be proud of their ‘coloured’ heritage (Jemma reminds them repeatedly that ‘Negro’ is the term she prefers), their current behaviour and dark aspects of Duchon history belie that claim. I was enchanted by Sandeen’s eminently curious characters, whilst being equally repelled by some of them. Did I want the curse lifted? What does it all mean for Jemma’s future? This vibrant, stirring debut with its occult-imbued, steamy New Orleans setting perfectly offsets ghostly apparitions, bizarre behaviour and preternaturally weird plantation owners. Well worth watching what Sandeen conjures up next!

Fiona

Alison

THE ROYAL STATION MASTER’S DAUGHTERS IN LOVE

Ellee Seymour, Zaffre, 2024, £10.99, pb, 376pp, 9781838776848

This is the final part of a trilogy featuring Beatrice, Ada and Jessie, the daughters of Harry Saward, the stationmaster at Wolferton in Norfolk (which served the royal estate at Sandringham).

The year is 1919, but the impact of the First World War still lingers. Both Ada’s husband, and the fiancé of the Saward girls’ cousin, Maria, suffer from PTSD. Other families are affected by the loss of men from the Sandringham Regiment at Gallipoli in 1915. One such is Kitty Willow, who, with her husband unaccounted for, is unable to claim a widow’s pension, and is forced into the workhouse, along with her six children.

This story has its moments of pathos, jeopardy and romantic sentiment. There are serious issues to address. The author clearly has an affection for her subject matter and has been assisted in her research by descendants of the Saward family. The title is somewhat of a misnomer, however, since the ‘love stories’ of Beatrice and Jessie only come to the fore in the closing chapters. The dominant, and most compelling storylines belong to Kitty and Maria.

Although the salient backstory is filled in, this does not really work as a standalone novel. The multiple plotlines and points of view (and in-scene head-hopping) are distracting and sometimes confusing, especially early in the narrative. For much of the novel, the pace feels very slow and disjointed.

There are too many over-elaborate synonyms for ‘said’. When characters ‘bleat’, ‘warble’ or ‘impassion’, this reviewer was inclined to giggle. Some of these words jar in the context of the scene where they appear. Every dropped aitch does not need to be spelt out. Unfortunately, the book is also atrociously edited. Some sentences feel awkward, description can be repetitious, and there are instances of missing punctuation and speech marks, and characters’ names being mixed up.

Mary Fisk

TROUBLE ISLAND

Sharon Short, Minotaur, 2024, $29.00/ C$39.00, hb, 336pp, 9781250292841

In this atmospheric suspense novel inspired by the author’s own family history, a dangerous group of guests is stranded on a remote island in the middle of Lake Erie in 1932. Trouble Island used to serve as a way station for gangsters on the run between America and Canada, but it is now the home of Rosita, a former singer and the estranged wife of the dangerous bootlegger, Eddie McGee. Rosita’s maid-cum-companion is an accused murderess on the run, who now calls herself Aurelia Escalante. Even though it is freezing winter, Eddie, Rosita’s husband, arrives for a

house party with an ill-assorted collection of guests, including Rosita’s identical cousin, a corrupt cop, a doctor, a famous actor, and a rival gangster who Rosita believes murdered their only son. Shortly after the group arrives, Rosita disappears. When Aurelia discovers Rosita’s body in the water, she realizes she is being set up for a second murder. Then an ice storm cuts Trouble Island off from the rest of civilization, and what begins as a gritty, hardboiled take on gangster life turns into a classic golden age mystery.

Short’s command of the conflicting demands of the two genres can feel uneven. The story’s twists and turns are inventive, but they sometimes feel jarring in conjunction with the unflinching depiction of desperate, abused women in a society that offers them few options. But Trouble Island is well worth reading for the detailed portrait of the criminal underbelly of Depression-era Toledo.

Erica Obey

THE BURNING OF ROSEMONT ABBEY

Naomi Stephens, Bethany House, 2024, $17.99, pb, 336pp, 9780764242472

The Burning of Rosemont Abbey, following in the well-traveled footsteps of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, is a mystery set in a quaint English village in post-war England. The village of Wilbeth Green is home to all of the vibrant, quirky characters found in all of the best cozy PBS mysteries.

Louisa Everly is a twenty-something socialite who has lost both of her parents and who was raised, with her brother Paul, by her father’s brother, Uncle Archie and his wife, Aunt Agatha. The novel opens with the devastating fire that destroys her father’s old vicarage of Rosemont Abbey. Louisa has fought with her brother Paul the very evening that the abbey burns and that Paul vanishes. Of course, Paul, who despised his uncle and aunt and who has a disreputable reputation in the village, is blamed by everyone for the arson. We know, and Louisa suspects, that there’s more to this story than people want to believe. Even though her relationship with Paul is at its low point, she refuses to believe that Paul could commit such an act of vengeance. To get to the truth, she must form an alliance with Inspector Malcolm Sinclair at risk to her own life.

Author Stephens checks every box in this novel. It is a mystery with many twists and turns. I defy any reader to guess the culprit. Louisa makes a charismatic heroine. And though we can anticipate the sparks ultimately flying between her and the handsome inspector Sinclair, the build-up is not rushed. The elderly Miss Watson and the butler Fernsby are only two of the colorful characters who pop up to enrich the story. In teacher Naomi Stephens, Agatha Christie has found an apt pupil.

Peter Clenott

CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN WINTER

Michael J. Summers, Black Rose Writing, 2024, $21.95, pb, 260pp, 9781685134785

During the post-WWII occupation of Japan, young American sailors and soldiers enjoy vices and good times in devastated Tokyo as its citizens suffer in the aftermath of wartime devastation. Then communist forces advance in Korea, and American soldiers stationed in Tokyo are dropped into the front lines on the Pusan Perimeter.

The tale of those heady then harrowing months unfolds when author Dane interviews US army veteran Jack Pierce five decades later in Manila. Life in occupied Japan and battle scenes are portrayed in flashbacks. Jack’s recollections are wrapped in love stories; his touching, forbidden love in Tokyo with Michiko during occupation, and in Dane’s assessment of his present-day relationship with Lan as he takes meaning from Jack’s story of lost love. Scenes are described with period detail and vivid images that capture Ginza and postwar Tokyo and the Japanese countryside, and the grit and danger of the Pusan Perimeter. Jack’s character is sketched with depth: a gruff exterior that covers intellectual pursuits and artistic sensibilities. Also well-defined are relationships among Jack and his comrades, especially as they collectively face the eve of battle with shades of bravado, testosterone, courage, doubt, and sheer terror.

Once the battle begins, the action ramps up quickly, and emotional responses of soldiers are rendered both collectively, in an omniscient style, and in the deep third-person point of view of Jack and some of his squad members. Portrayal of the shocking savagery of battle and soldiers’ very human fears and coping mechanisms brings to mind James Jones’s The Thin Red Line. A debut author’s terrific work of military fiction, linked wonderfully with a romance that pulls on the heartstrings.

Brodie Curtis

BLOSSOMS ON A POISONED SEA

Mariko Tatsumoto, Northampton House, 2024, $18.95/C$25.95/£14.99, pb, 409pp, 9781950668243

Yuki and Kiyo are fourteen, born on the same day, when they meet on their birthday in 1956, and over the next few years, they fall in love. Yuki’s family are poor Japanese fisher folk from Tsukinoura village, where she dreams of becoming an artist. Kiyo comes from a well-to-do family in Minamata, where his father supervises wastewater disposal at the Chisso chemical factory. At 15, Kiyo, while studying to become a doctor, mentors at the Minamata Hospital, where Dr. Hosokawa is studying patients with the Strange Disease, one of whom is Yuki’s beloved uncle. Over the following year, he watches helplessly as the ghastly progression of the disease and acute suffering eventually cause a horrific death.

Mariko Tatsumoto’s novel is a frank and

impassioned telling of the decades-long fight to force Chisso to accept responsibility for polluting and killing Minamata Bay. The details are appalling, too horrendous to cite here, graphically explained but not gratuitous. The culprit is organic methylmercury (heavy metal). This disquieting novel lays out facts from various standpoints, detailing the general belief, in 1950s Japan, that the disease was contagious and that symptoms were faked by the poor to collect government support. Sufferers were treated with heartbreaking discrimination, much like leprosy victims.

The timeframe of Chisso’s fourteenyear denial is reduced to about five years here. It’s clear the author wants to convey a general understanding of Japanese life and culture; and loyalty to family and the company through Kiyo’s father. Although not written using symbolism, the teenagers are juxtaposed as representatives of rich and poor and individually characterise ‘hope’ and ‘determination’. Yuki’s work-related blunders are a little overworked and stray off-topic; however, many readers will recognise the manipulation, cover-ups, lies and consequent public misunderstandings which will sadly always be spread by the unscrupulous for the sake of profit and greed.

Fiona Alison

RETURN TO THE IRISH BOARDING HOUSE

Sandy Taylor, Bookouture, 2024, $10.99/£8.99, pb, 312pp, 9781835255834

In Dublin, 1956, Mary Kate Barry is mourning the unexpected loss of her husband. Recognizing that Mary Kate is deeply depressed, her best friend, Moira Kent, encourages her to reopen the boarding house for single women whom society scorned—a suggestion that breathes life back into Mary Kate.

Featuring no fewer than eleven pointof-view characters, the book struggles to latch onto a cohesive plot and is instead a series of connected vignettes. Among others are Nell, a pregnant sixteen-year-old from the countryside, Cathy, a young lady who’s pregnant by a married man, and Bridie Toomey, a middle-aged woman who’s hiding a different type of secret. Each character faces challenges, but they’re always resolved within just a few pages. About halfway through, Moira’s adopted daughter, Abby, winds up in peril, and it seems the book is finally getting a throughline of conflict, but this dilemma is also conveniently settled mere pages later.

The novel also struggles with characterization. First, Mary Kate is overly kind with no apparent flaws. More concerning, though, is the use of a developmentally disabled young woman as comic relief. Her naïve and frank observations of the world are, I’m sure, intended to be endearing, but come off as mocking of her disability.

One highlight of the book, however, is the nuanced depiction of Irish nuns. While a group of cruel nuns does play a role in the life of one

of the characters, there are multiple examples of nuns being kind to the young women who come through the boarding house—a depiction often missing in literature of this nature. But overall, it’s not enough to save the book. Readers looking for a story with none of the messiness of real life may enjoy this, but all others will want to take a pass.

Sarah Hendess

THE BERLIN APARTMENT

Bryn Turnbull, MIRA, 2024, $18.99/C$23.99, pb, 352pp, 9780778305453

In August of 1961, Lise Bauer and Uli Neumann are happily planning to become engaged. Uli lives in West Berlin, a citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany. And Lise lives in East Berlin, a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Germany. But Berliners are free to move around any part of the city for school, work, shopping and visiting. Lise attends medical school at a university in West Berlin. Then the barbed wire starts going up.

Uli tries frantically to help Lise escape before the two parts of the city are completely cut off from each other, but just barely fails.

Letters and phone calls are intercepted or bugged, and the barbed wire is gradually reinforced by a concrete wall. The only way Uli and Lise can communicate is via a school friend, Inge. Inge is a Swedish citizen and has access to both sides of Berlin.

Uli, Inge, and their school friends develop a daring plan to dig a tunnel under the wall and bring Lise and several other friends and family members over to West Berlin. But Lise is eight months pregnant. And her brother is an agent of Stasi, the feared East German police. The tragic events of the night of the tunnel escape will reverberate for the next twenty years.

Turnbull puts her readers in the place and time with vivid sensory and psychological detail. We feel the cold dampness of the tunnel as Uli and his friends are digging, the claustrophobia of escaping through the tunnel, and the oppressive burden of constantly being watched in East Berlin. This novel brings light to a little-explored place and time. Turnbull’s plot is tight, the action is well-paced, and the well-developed, nuanced characters face excruciating choices. Recommended.

Kathryn Bashaar

CRAZE

Margaret Vandenburg, Jaded Ibis Press, 2024, $17.99, pb, 253pp, 9781938841293

It’s the roaring ´20s in New York City, and art critic Henrietta “Henri” Adams has landed a new job as a journalist for New World Art magazine, thanks to a letter of introduction from Ernest Hemingway. By day, Henri blends in with her binary-dominated job, wearing skirts and blouses, but at night, she explores the speakeasies of Manhattan as a suited dagger with her cohort, Crystal, a drag queen and expert on all things to do with fashion and underground protocol. Having spent time in Paris, Henri can’t help but compare

the gender-fluid city of love to the queer-crazed Prohibitionera Big Apple. Regardless, she dives into the deep end when she attends the Hamilton Lodge Drag Ball, where her love life suddenly escalates.

Written

and researched masterfully by Margaret Vandenburg, an academic lecturer on gender studies, readers are introduced to a little known but catalytic era in LGBTQIA+ American history. Famous historical icons are brought to life on the page, such as Gladys Bentley, Charles Demuth, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Readers will be intrigued to expand their knowledge of other notable figures, such as Natalie Barney, A’Lelia Walker, and Lady Troubridge. This exciting feminist dip into history entertains as much as it inspires, reminding readers that equality and freedom must be relentlessly insisted upon.

Bonnie Kelso

HILL OF SECRETS

Galina Vromen, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 384pp, 9781662520792

This extremely absorbing story is set in Los Alamos, New Mexico, when the secret project to develop the atomic bomb was going forward. Christine reluctantly leaves her New York art job to follow her scientist husband to New Mexico. Other major characters include Kurt, a Jewish scientist who escaped persecution in Germany, his wife Sarah, and teenage daughter Gertie; and Jimmy, the army technician who is hired to tutor Gertie in math. Jimmy feels shame from his parents’ attitude, who wish he was off fighting overseas instead of what they see as a cushy job at home, plus Jimmy is conflicted over suppressed sexual feelings for his buddy Owen.

Conditions are primitive in the living quarters in Los Alamos: water is scarce in the desert, and no telephones are allowed as part of the secrecy around the project. Christine is bored, not allowed to discuss her husband’s work with him and lacking a job herself. Robert Oppenheimer gives her permission to borrow his horse, and she rides over to visit Maria Martinez, a potter at nearby San Ildefonso Pueblo. Christine has art world connections back in New York, and arranges to help Maria market her pottery. When Christine and Kurt are cast in an amateur play, they discover a spark of attraction between them. But keeping an affair secret in a closed community is far from easy. A near- tragedy and a real one loom over the characters.

Vromen is skilled in keeping the reader interested even when changing points of view with nearly every chapter. Well-developed, sympathetic characters, and learning about

life in a secret government facility made me reluctant to put the book down. The author’s note explains what liberties she took with historical fact, and her extensive bibliography testifies to her research skills. Highly recommended.

B. J. Sedlock

TIME OF THE CHILD

Niall Williams, Bloomsbury, 2024, $28.99/ C$38.99, hb, 304pp, 9781639734207 / Bloomsbury, 2024, £16.99, hb, 304pp, 9781526675163

Christmas 1962 is fast approaching in the fictional Irish village of Faha, and sixty-nineyear-old widower Dr. Jack Troy has no reason to think it will be anything but mundane. His children are grown, and his second lover died without him ever professing his love to her. All he has left in Faha is his eldest daughter, Ronnie, and his never-ending stream of patients.

Then one night, a few weeks before Christmas, a twelve-year-old boy finds an abandoned infant girl and brings her to the Troys. Ronnie names her Noelle, and she and Jack keep the baby hidden for fear officials will take her away to an orphanage. Noelle breathes new life into Jack, who tries to convince Ronnie’s childhood sweetheart to return to Ireland from America, marry Ronnie, and take Noelle back to the States with them— all without the neighbors finding out.

The novel’s pacing is glacial as Williams spends a good deal of time reflecting on the backstories of and relationships between characters, particularly Ronnie and Jack. Readers may find themselves wondering why so much space is devoted to secondary characters, but Williams’s insight into human relationships and the two holiday miracles in the story will keep patient readers emotionally engaged.

Sarah Hendess

A HOPE UNBURIED

Kimberley Woodhouse, Bethany House, 2024, $17.99, pb, 320pp, 9780764241703

Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Dinosaur National Monument, Jensen, Utah, this novel follows Eliza Mills from her childhood to her position as a paleontologist during the time when interest in dinosaur fossils was just heating up.

Eliza was born to privilege. When the book opens, she is living with her wealthy grandparents following the death of her parents. She is tutored at home by a widower with a son her age, Devin Schmitt, who becomes her lifelong best friend. Unusually for a debutante in the period following the first World War, she studies paleontology at the university and is hired at the Carnegie Institute by Andrew Carnegie, because of her skills and the fact that he is a good friend of her grandfather. Carnegie sends her to The National Dinosaur Monument for the summer work with visitors to the dig site.

The book doesn’t seem to know what genre

it wants to be. The topics jump from a woman’s struggle to be accepted in a man’s field, a strongly Christian subplot, publishing scientific research using a man’s name rather than her own, the conflict between creationism and Christianity, workplace sabotage, imposters, discrediting Eliza for personal gain, murder, people with mental health issues that target Eliza in both Utah and Pennsylvania, and the excitement of a dig site. Throw in Devin who has loved Eliza since childhood but who promised her grandfather not to pursue her, and you have a really disjointed and not very believable novel.

Carol Haueter

THE TRADE-OFF

Samantha Greene Woodruff, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 383pp, 9781662516467

A novel opening with the stock market crash of 1929 and first chapter set in 1926 has suspense built in. Chapters begin with the date and Dow Daily Average.

Twins Bea and Jake Abramovitz grow up on New York City’s Lower East Side. Bea’s gift is numbers. She loved the stock market since childhood, playing prediction games with her father. Jake’s strongest traits are personal charm, the ability to sell anything to anyone, and wild get-rich-quick dreams. Practical Bea cautions him as best she can, but she has her own dreams. Determined to become a stockbroker, she discovers the odds are against a woman, even more the daughter of Jewish immigrants. Jake leaves home for richer opportunities in the west, and Bea gets a job at J. P. Morgan in the wire room, where she can see the daily tickers and hone her skills at understanding trends. Her friendship with two other “misfits” at J. P. Morgan helps her become a modern girl in a family with old world values. They introduce her to the jazzy side of the city, and an unexpected romance brings its own delights and challenges.

After Jake returns, the plot expands, as do Bea’s possibilities. Tensions build during the sparkling Twenties, from speakeasies and the Cotton Club to a party that reminds one of Jay Gatsby to fashion and flirtation, underscored by the ever-increasing stock market and prospects of wealth to investors in all walks of life. The market’s incredible rewards outweigh fears of risk, but Bea teeters between the two. She endears herself to us for her family loyalty, knowledge of the market, trail-blazing achievements, and her loves. This richly nuanced story, its fast pace, and Bea’s fiery character make The Trade-Off an exciting read. It includes an outstanding author’s note and discussion questions.

Jinny Webber

actions quite extraordinary. Take, for example, the fate of three Jewish boys, brothers, living in Nazi Berlin shortly before the war begins and the concentration camps open up their maws for all German Jews. They are riding their bicycles one sunny morning when the youngest brother, trying to keep up with his faster, more experienced, siblings, crashes into an old man on his own bicycle. A street car screeches towards them. A crowd of antiJewish Berliners gathers. A policeman wearing beneath his uniform the SA colors of a member of the feared Brownshirts pulls the frightened boys aside. And a decision is made.

Author Wyle’s biographical history centers on the policeman whose decision could have ended the freedom not only of the three brothers but of their entire family. It was a very public decision whose cost could have been almost as disastrous for the unknown enforcer of the law. The Decision is the story of this unknown policeman, a minor cog in the terrifying Nazi regime. His name is Hans, and he grows up in a post-war Germany in a family struggling to survive the economic blows Germany had to endure after WWI. He has two loving parents, an older brother who aspires to be an actor, a younger sister. And a Jewish schoolmate.

Wyle has brought to life a real family experiencing the calamitous changes Germany endured from the end of one war through the rise of Nazism. Heroes are often made from everyday stuff, their moment of profound bravery never recorded. In The Decision, Wyle has placed the wreath on an unknown hero.

Peter Clenott

DISPOSSESSED

Désirée Zamorano, Running Wild, 2024, $19.99, hb, 310pp, 9781960018434

THE DECISION

Karen A. Wyle, Oblique Angles Press, 2024, $16.49, pb, 299pp, 9781955696357

The decision made in this novel may seem to be an innocuous, trivial one. But history and circumstance can make the most mundane of

Dispossessed , a riveting novel about Manuel, a young MexicanAmerican boy whose parents and sister disappear when he is four years old, is set amidst the backdrop of Depression-era Los Angeles. As the novel unfolds, Manuel sees his neighborhood destroyed by real estate speculators and his loved ones subjected to involuntary sterilization. Through it all, Manuel continues to search for his parents and sister while struggling, and often failing, to climb the ladder to American economic success. Manuel’s story is a common one: an estimated two million people of Mexican descent, many of them U.S. citizens, were forcibly repatriated in the 1930s, with another one million during Operation Wetback in the 1950s. Entire neighborhoods were targeted for demolition and “gentrification,” and thousands of Latinas

were forcibly sterilized throughout much of the 20th century. Désirée Zamorano’s deftly-told story puts a face to this story, letting us see firsthand the impact of these practices.

This story is the most satisfying kind of historical fiction: it immerses us in a historical period and allows us to experience what people experienced or endured. Dispossessed is true to the history of the time, but it is no mere recitation of facts and figures. In Zamorano’s hands, we are all Manuel, trying to make sense of unimaginable losses while holding fast to those he loves and keeping his eyes on the future. Dispossessed is set in the past, but it is an important story for our time when demands for the deportation of noncitizens and unequal treatment of immigrants threaten to drive America’s national, state, and local discourse. This book makes a thoughtful and searching contribution to our understanding of what it means to be American, and what the nation owes to each of its residents, especially the most vulnerable.

Suzanne Uttaro Samuels

ANIMALS OF THE ALPINE FRONT

Don Zancanella, Delphinium, 2024, $28.00/£19.99, hb, 320pp, 9781953002402

This novel unfolds mainly through the characters of Teresa, a young Italian girl who leaves her village to work as a domestic servant in a much larger town called Trento. Carlo, a young American teen, had recently moved with his father to Trento when WWI broke out, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted control of the northern section of Italy, where Teresa and Carlo live.

They meet briefly, but Carlo is conscripted into the Austrian army, and Teresa stays behind in the villa where she has been employed, even though the villa’s family has fled to safer realms. No sooner has the family left than Austrian soldiers arrive and commandeer the villa for their quarters.

The plot continues as the brutality of war is depicted in gripping detail, and the reader follows the characters as they seek courage amid the atrocities of war. Teresa and Carlo’s fate will bring them back together, but both of them have undergone a profound transformation.

The plot takes an unusual twist when Leonard Hawksley, a British man whose goal in life is to save mistreated animals, is introduced. Because horses and mules were savagely neglected in WWI, Zancanella introduces Hawksley as an authentic secondary character, and his interaction with Teresa brings the novel to a bittersweet conclusion. This novel was well-researched and written with evocative language to draw the reader into the plot. It is a compelling tale of man vs. man when ordinary people are thrust into the drama and chaos of war.

Linda Harris Sittig

MULTI-PERIOD

MONA LISA’S DAUGHTER

Belle Ami, Tema N. Merback, 2024, $18.95, pb, 460pp, 9781735942391

In 16th-century Florence, Leonardo da Vinci meets Lisa del Giocondo, whose husband has commissioned a portrait of her. They begin a close relationship as Leonardo works on what will become possibly his greatest masterpiece. In 20th-century Florence, a nun, Valentina Amati, becomes the custodian of a box of letters written between Leonardo and Lisa. As the Nazis approach, Valentina tries to safeguard the precious letters, which her convent has protected for 400 years. But as she attempts to prepare for the Nazi threat, Valentina finds that she is also haunted by a relentless demon from her own past who will not stop until all she holds dear is destroyed. Also in 20th-century Italy, Meira and her parents, who are Jewish, are facing persecution from the Nazis.

This dual-timeline novel works on all levels. Both timelines support each other seamlessly, and the storylines and characters are balanced and make sense. The life of Leonardo da Vinci is well researched. The relationship between Leonardo and Lisa is fictional, but fascinating, and the author makes it utterly believable. The reader is also given an intriguing glimpse of the art world during the Florentine Renaissance, and we get to meet Michelangelo and see evidence of his difficult personality. The World War II Florence timeline is just as strong. Valentina is an incredibly brave and resilient woman, and her story is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Meira’s part in this book appears separate at first, but instead it is another layer that makes the complete work even more powerful. I felt transported to both periods of history and enjoyed the incredible stories in each one. Captivating, engrossing, and compelling. Highly recommended.

Bonnie DeMoss

THE WILDES

Louis Bayard, Algonquin, 2024, $29.00/£25.00, hb, 304pp, 9781643755304

Behind the sensational headlines of Oscar Wilde’s affair with Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas is Oscar’s family dealing with the fallout. This “novel in five acts” – a nod to Oscar’s playwriting career – opens in August 1892 with Act One when Oscar, his mother Lady Wilde, his wife Constance, and their sons Cyril and Vyvyan are holidaying in the

Norfolk countryside. Oscar’s friend, the childlike and flamboyant Bosie, joins them. Oscar, a loving and devoted husband and father, and Constance no longer share a bed, but their family life is a source of happiness and contentment for both. Initially, Constance doesn’t pick up on the subtle clues of what is happening between her husband and Bosie, but gradually she begins to put the pieces together, and the foundations of her world begin to falter.

Act Two finds Constance and her sons at a seaside village in Italy five years later, after Oscar’s imprisonment for sodomy and indecency. We look back at the sordid publicity the family endured during and after Oscar’s libel and criminal trials. Act Three focuses on Cyril during WWI and Act Four on Vyvyan after the Great War, both coming to terms with the father they loved and the man pilloried by the world. Returning to the Norfolk countryside of 1892 for Act Five, the family is determined to hold together in the affair’s aftermath, but, as we know, society and the law have a different agenda.

Bayard’s dialogue is witty and lively. His writing infuses the characters’ emotions into the reader, and you become, not a bystander, but a part of Constance’s life, living the implosion of her happy life and feeling her pain. And Oscar who, placed in a different time, wouldn’t have been destroyed this way will make your heart break. This is unarguably one of Bayard’s best novels and a must read.

Janice

Ottersberg

FOR THE LOVE OF MY ENEMY

M. E. Blaustone, Golden Bridges, 2024, $15.99, pb, 302pp, 9798989104093

This story of a young woman in Windsor, California who falls in love with a German POW in a nearby detention camp during WWII, includes a strained father-daughter relationship and questions of identity. In 2011, Adina Ableman, old and dying of cancer, receives a notice: the Windsor Historical Society has something with her name on it. Adina enlists her daughter Talia to accompany her across the country to Windsor without explaining why. Chapter Two shifts to 1944, Adina’s long-secret story. She followed the profession of her mother, who died when she was twelve, into nursing and assisting her father, the only doctor in Windsor. After his beloved wife’s death, Dr. Henry Robbins became demanding and undemonstrative. Adina, ever a dutiful daughter, is urged by her friend Jeanie Mae to act like an adult and join

the WACs with her. Yielding to her father’s insistence, Adina remains behind.

At the beginning of the book, editing problems distract. Sentences are choppy, and clichés and wordiness intrude. In Chapter Six, the plot picks up when Dr. Robbins is asked to treat German prisoners in Camp Windsor, with Adina as his nurse. A POW named Daniel who Adina met by chance, captured her imagination and now she will be inside the camp where he lives. Their forbidden love story and Adina’s discovery of her father’s secret build tension, and we wonder what that mysterious note reveals.

Despite lapses in style, the romance between Adina and Daniel, the interactions of townsfolk with POWs, Adina’s relationship with her father, and the revelation of their family secrets keep us reading. In the end, this is an illuminating story of a little-known aspect of the late days of WWII. Photos of Camp Windsor are included.

Jinny Webber

THE RHINO KEEPER

Jillian Forsberg, History Through Fiction, 2024, $18.95/£14.99, pb, 270pp, 9781963452037 2022, Leiden, the Netherlands. Disillusioned with romance, American history student Andrea Clarkson travels to Leiden to participate in the University’s semesterabroad program. When she finds an old parchment hidden in her antique dorm room desk, little does she know what mysterious and surprising developments this discovery will set into motion. As Andrea and her colleagues uncover intriguing artifacts about an unusual 18th-century event involving an Indian rhinoceros and a Dutch sea captain, they face unexpected, life-threatening professional and personal circumstances.

1740, Calcutta, India. When sea captain Douwe van der Meer is offered the chance to purchase Clara, a baby Indian rhinoceros, and rescue her from certain death due to the value of her horn, little does he realize how life-changing his decision will be. He and Zubin, a native boy and Clara’s caretaker, embark on a European tour to cover the expense of maintaining their precious pet. Royals and peasants alike fall in love with the never-before-seen exotic rhino, who grows to weigh 5,000 pounds while in transit. Yet danger lurks when a priest declares Clara’s popularity a form of idol worship and sets out to destroy Clara and ruin Douwe van der Meer’s reputation.

Forsberg’s thoroughly researched dualtimeline novel is enchanting, and Clara is the story’s superstar. The author’s masterful craftsmanship and endearing characters emotionally connect readers to the story. Tender, intimate scenes and whimsical, humorous exchanges among Douwe, Zubin, and Clara as they travel the European continent further enrich the reading experience. In a story that’s original, poignant, and engaging, Forsberg presents a unique perspective on the bond between man and animal and the

power of friendship and love. By exploring this bond through the lens of historical fiction, this book offers readers a fresh, intriguing take on familiar themes. A wonderful read!

Marcy McNally

ECHOES OF US

Joy Jordan-Lake, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 463pp, 9781662514753

This novel is told through dual timelines, illuminating a lesser-known side of the home front during World War II. In the modern day, sisters Hadley and Kitzie Jacks are two event planners from California who have been hired to coordinate an unusual reunion of three families whose patriarchs became unlikely friends on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, during WWII.

As the sisters do their research for the reunion, one woman’s name and photograph, that of Joannie DuBarry, keeps showing up from all three families. Although Joannie is not a part of any of the reunion families, Hadley and Kitzie begin to piece together the puzzle of how Joannie impacted the lives of the three patriarchs, Will Dobbins from Tennessee, Dov Silverberg from England, and POW Hans Hessler from Germany.

It is not surprising that each patriarch’s life is intertwined with the other two from the war. But now their families are arguing over the operations of the charitable company the men founded together. The chapters switch back and forth on St. Simons from WWII to the present as the characters’ lives intersect with Joannie, a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot), and the linchpin to an unforgettable conclusion to the story.

It is very well-researched, with authentic details expertly woven into the plot, characters, and theme. Even though the book starts slowly, readers will ultimately be delighted with the unfolding plot, pace of action, and surprise ending. Recommended reading.

Linda Harris Sittig

THE SECRET HISTORY OF AUDREY JAMES

Heather Marshall, Hodder, 2024, £9.99, pb, 423pp, 9781529364132 / Simon & Schuster, 2024, C$24.99, pb, 432pp, 9781982170257 / Ballantine, 2025, $18.00, pb, 464pp, 9780593975480

The core story in this book is a plot to assassinate Hitler in 1938. Audrey James is a young Englishwoman studying in Berlin who is drawn into the conspiracy while sheltering her Jewish friend, Ilse. The plot almost succeeds, and there is a lot of collateral damage.

The story is told as a dual time-stream narrative in the familiar pattern of a woman researching the life of another woman at an earlier time in history and drawing courage and inspiration from her subject’s experience. In this case Kate takes a job at the guest house owned by the now aging Audrey at Alnwick in Northumberland and persuades her employer to let her record her secret history before she

dies. The story is intertwined with Kate’s own complicated love life, which I don’t think adds much to the narrative.

There is also a short after-story in which Audrey spends the war years in a women’s prison. It is based on a real-life story (the assassination plot is fictitious) but sits awkwardly with the rest of the book. Nevertheless, the core story well rewards the reader with a strong and suspenseful narrative.

Edward James

THE MAP OF BONES

Kate Mosse, Mantle, 2024, £22.00/$27.99, hb, 462pp, 9781035042159

The Map of Bones is the concluding novel of Kate Mosse’s series The Joubert Family Chronicles, which follows the fortunes of a displaced Huguenot family living at various times in France and Amsterdam. This final volume is set mostly in the 17th century, in the newly settled Cape Colony of South Africa, and seeks to draw together the final threads of the saga.

Following a violent attack, Suzanne Joubert is forced to flee France for Amsterdam but she soon leaves again, compelled by an urge to uncover more of her family’s history and to discover exactly what had happened to her cousin Louise Reydon-Joubert (a female pirate captain and family legend, and the protagonist of the earlier book The Ghost Ship). Suzanne and her grandmother set sail for the Cape, and she embarks on a series of sometimes dangerous (and some might say reckless) adventures in her quest to discover the truth. But it is left to a later researcher –another family member in the 19th century – to bring the whole tale to a conclusion.

In the preface, the author states her belief that “unless women’s stories and testimonies are included alongside those of men in the historical records, it cannot really be called history at all”. Through the character of Suzanne, she shows how elusive those stories may be, but she also demonstrates how the facts may be uncovered by those who are sufficiently determined.

You might need to have read the earlier books in the series fully to appreciate The Map of Bones. However, even as a standalone novel it is a page-turning read, with lots of nail-biting tension and atmospheric detail about the early days of the Cape Colony.

Karen Warren

THE WOMAN IN THE PAINTING

Amanda Roberts, Biddles Books, 2023, £7.99, pb, 288pp, 9781915787910

In 1645 Islip, England, Catherine has been raising her daughter alone for the last two years, ever since the death of her husband, John. She is quite unprepared for the attentions of Thomas Marlow, the son of a titled landowner. Despite her protests, Thomas gives Catherine a ring, a talisman of protection, and their attraction begins to grow. As Catherine faces her feelings

for Thomas and tries to deal with the backlash from both of their families and the whole town, she continues to wear his ring around her neck. In the present day, Hannah finds a ring buried in her yard during a construction project. She is not only intrigued but seems to have a physical connection to it. As she begins to investigate the history of the ring, new people enter her life, and strange things start to happen. Is Hannah in danger? And who can she trust?

The Woman in the Painting is an intriguing dual-timeline novel. The characters come alive, especially Catherine, and the setting in I645 Islip transports the reader to that time and place. The love story between Thomas and Catherine is beautifully told. Themes of love, loss, trust, and starting anew are adeptly woven into this heart-touching story. I felt that the 1645 timeline was stronger and more compelling than the present-day timeline, but the book works well overall. The descriptions of life and customs in 1645 make the whole town spring to life. The novel is well-researched, and the English Civil War is incorporated skillfully into the story. Recommended to fans of romance and British history.

Bonnie DeMoss

PARADISES LOST

Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, trans. Steven Rendall and Addie Leak, Europa, 2024, $30.00/C$45.95, hb, 480pp, 9781609458492 / £14.99, pb, 480pp, 9781787704572

This is the first volume of an ambitious proposed eight-volume history of the world in novel form “as if Yuval Noah Harari had met Alexandre Dumas,” the Publisher’s Note informs us. The author is a Franco-Belgian who includes plays and movies among his credits. Our narrator, Noam, begins by being “reborn” in a cave in the present-day Levant. This storyline views our world from a foreign point of view, that of a specialist in the Neolithic whose knowledge becomes useful to a group of survivalists. This band plans to take over a dying world and outlive the coming Armageddon. Noam knows his stuff because in supernatural ways that may be made clearer in the next volumes, he lives forever, as do others from his origins in the dawn of time.

The main story in this volume takes us back in time to Noam’s origins, “Adam and Eve” and the Flood – when the Black Sea, in a world-altering geological event, tidal-waved into the Mediterranean. Footnotes in Noam’s millennial-spanning voice give us the Harari perspective, including a well-articulated dissection of what it means to be an individual separate from the primeval horde, so to speak. Although they can’t make me believe that this world of individuals developed everything from the ark to metallurgy, it still is worth the ride.

Ann Chamberlin

SIX LIVES

Lavie Tidhar, Apollo, 2024, £20.00, hb, 451pp, 9781804543511

Six Lives gives you what it says on the cover,

six short stories, each centred on a different character (3 men and 3 women, English, Irish, Russian, Italian and Egyptian) set in time from 1855 to 2012. The characters, villains and idealists, tricksters and victims, are all connected in different degrees by blood or circumstance to a fictitious British banking family called Feebes, but it is not a continuous narrative, and there is no attempt to tie up the loose ends.

The work is a tour de force, showcasing the author’s versatility in entering the heads of such disparate characters in such disparate settings in time and place. Each story is beautifully crafted, sometimes light-heated, often tragic. If there is a theme, it is the precariousness of human life and the vanity of human wishes; poverty is bad but wealth seldom brings happiness.

The author is very clever, and you will enjoy each of his six vignettes.

Edward James

THE SKY BENEATH US

Fiona Valpy, Lake Union, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 320pp, 9781662516863

This multi-generational tale of women discovering their own strengths interweaves past and present through the stories of Violet Mackenzie-Grant and Daisy Laverock, her great-grandniece. Violet is determined to forge an independent path as a gardener, and Daisy has long been fascinated by the diary Violet kept in 1927. Daisy has been through a painful divorce, so when her daughters head off to begin their own lives, she plans a trip with her mother to retrace Violet’s steps exploring the fauna of Nepal. But it is 2020, and the pandemic strands Daisy alone in Kathmandu. Forced to improvise at every turn, Daisy continues the journey she planned with her mother. In the process she discovers the hidden strengths she inherited from her great-great aunt – as well as secrets about Himalayan plants that promised to shape the future of medicine.

This book will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Even non-gardeners are sure to enjoy both the well-researched details about Himalayan flora and the behind-the-scenes peek at the workings of an early 20th century botanical garden. It is hard to resist Valpy’s evident love for the way family archives forge connections between generations that have never met. And the book paints a convincing portrait of the unique blend of frustration and fear that characterized the 2020 pandemic. Fans of Kate Morton and Julia Kelly will especially enjoy this journey through both time and space.

Erica Obey

THE STORY COLLECTOR

Evie Woods, One More Chapter, 2024, £9.99/$18.99, pb, 372pp, 9780008707460

Christmas 2010. American artist Sarah isn’t coping well with unresolved grief and a failed marriage. On impulse, instead of flying

home to her family in Boston, she catches a plane to Ireland and winds up staying in a remote cottage and stumbling across a hidden diary. But perhaps she is exactly where she is meant to be?

Christmas 1910. Irish farmer’s daughter Anna jumps at the chance to introduce enthusiastic American scholar Harold to local people, in his quest to translate and record local stories about The Good People – fairies that may be benign or malignant and might be the souls of the dead. But Anna too has a secret story to tell and her interactions with the sinister but attractive Anglo-Irish Hawley twins of Thornwood House threaten to end in tragedy.

This is an engaging story about unsettled grief – not only the two heroines, but also Oran, the single father Sarah befriends, and his mercurial teenage daughter Hazel are suffering different forms of bereavement. The characters, particularly in the modern section of the novel, are well-developed, and elements of Irish history are lightly sketched in. The choice of historical time setting seems apt too, before the First World War marked the beginning of a more modern age. The possibility that magic and the fairies are real is dangled tantalisingly before the reader, but not in a way that might make a sceptic roll their eyes.

If I have a criticism it is that sometimes Anna’s diary, with its measured prose and meticulous adherence to chronology, reads more like an account written several years after the events it describes and lacks the rawness of unprocessed emotion poured instantly onto the page. But all in all, this is a fitting tribute to Irish folklore that might otherwise be forgotten.

Jasmina Svenne

SPECTERS IN THE GLASS HOUSE

Jaime Jo Wright, Bethany House, 2024, $29.99, hb, 368pp, 9780764244094

It’s 1921 and one year into Prohibition. With her family’s brewery company bankrupt, recently orphaned Marian Arnold has one thing left to her name: Müllerian Manor, the family’s summer home. But her secluded quiet is quickly shattered when she finds the body of their milkman dead in her late mother’s glass butterfly house.

Present day: the manor is occupied by an author writing a biography on Marian Arnold and her connection with “The Butterfly Butcher,” an unidentified person who committed a series of murders. When author’s research assistant, Remy, begins finding the butcher’s calling card appearing in the form of dead butterflies and animal bones, she wonders: How could this killer still be around terrorizing victims 100 years later?

Jaime Jo Wright is a master craftswoman of the dual timeline suspense novel. She switches between characters at just the right moment to keep building tension. Nothing is as it

seems, from secret rooms to the questionably motivated side characters. Both women must fight against the stigmas of their respective eras. The author explores the challenges of mental illness, and the topic is portrayed with the utmost sensitivity and grace. Meanwhile, Remy struggles with her faith and questions why God helps some people but not others. The setting details, particularly of the glass butterfly house, are darkly enchanting. Jaime Jo Wright’s novels always deliver on twisty plot threads, engaging characters, and conversations of faith, and this one is certainly no exception. Recommended!

J. Lynn Else

TIMESLIP

O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM

Elizabeth Boyle, Independently published, 2024, $34.99, hb, 614pp, 9781733676595

In the present day, Madeline Drake, a wellknown actress, has just been dumped— both by her boyfriend and her producer, who happen to be the same man. Fuming outside of his luxury home, where she had caught him with the woman who replaced her in his life and his movie, Madeline is picked up by a very unusual Uber driver. In 1907 Bethlehem, Wyoming, the town is abuzz with preparations for Thanksgiving dinner and the all-important drawing to determine who gets to pick out the town’s Christmas tree. When a special visitor arrives, he brings a new guest, a young woman named Madeline. While the townspeople don’t know what to make of their newest resident, some of them have painful secrets of their own. And not everyone is who they seem to be.

This is an enchanting, time-traveling fantasy that is perfect for Christmas. It is full of wishes, Christmas treats, second chances, history, and romance. It is a perfect holiday read, especially for those who love a timetravel and historical fiction mashup. One of the town’s special traditions is the wishing jar, and we get to learn more about some characters and their wishes. The way that some wishes are fulfilled adds great depth to the story. The town and its secrets are captivating, and this is a spellbinding read. Time travel fiction should have a method and rules set by the author, and those requirements are met. The method of time travel is magical, and there is at least one important rule. I greatly enjoyed this beautiful Christmas book full of

holiday miracles that touch the heart. Highly recommended.

Bonnie DeMoss

THE STORY SPINNER

Barbara Erskine, HarperCollins, 2024, £20.00, hb, 512pp, 9780008560904

Wales, present day, and poet Cadi Jones works on a retelling of tales from the Mabinogion, the famous book of Welsh legends. Her cottage overlooks a flower-studded meadow, shimmering in the heat haze. Beyond is a hill, topped by an iron age hill fort, with sparkling views of the Bristol Channel. When she descends back to the village, there are goodies from the cafe/bakery/deli, and gossip from the Post Office. But a property developer disrupts Cadi’s idyll, threatening her meadow. At night she is awoken by tramping feet. Her neighbour’s dog disappears.

So opens a book in which ancient Welsh mythology and the decline of Roman rule in Britain are entwined in a summer romance. All the right ingredients are here. Independent woman of a certain age, check. Supportive friends, check. Drinking of wine, check. Nasty ex, a thoroughly modern Bad Guy, check. Handsome new man, good company, supportive, but not controlling, check.

As Cadi gathers opposition to the development, her Mabinogion work focusses on a local princess, Elen, who married a Roman general, Maximus. Briefly, in 383, Maximus became emperor. Researches and imagination come together as Cadi begins ‘free-writing’ Elen’s story. Or, are there other forces involved? Enter Uncle Meryn. He’s not quite Merlin, but Meryn has surprising talents, including physics professor, part-time mystic, and explainer of the time-shifting wormhole.

Cadi’s story of Elen probes murky times, when the Roman legions departed and history melted into myth. Cadi explores Elen’s life: a life of palaces and soldiers, kings and Druids, jewelled swords, and religious relics. Recommended for those who enjoy mythology, pretty Welsh landscapes, yummy food, and a dash of the spooky, all confected into a readable romance.

Helen Johnson

TIME AND TIDE

J. M. Frey, W by Wattpad, 2024, $18.99, pb, 408pp, 9781998854554

The first few chapters of this time-slip queer romantasy plunge the reader into a chaotic narrative that veers from a time-travel inducing plane crash to a Georgian naval battle to a cringey sex scene. When I reached a description of violent near-rape a quarter of the way in, I almost put the book down, but I’m glad I stayed with it. Frey has crafted a surprising and engrossing comedy of manners featuring a profane, cranky, bisexual Gen-Z heroine thrust into the world that produced Jane Austen and her fictional literary colleague, Margaret Goodenough. Armed only with as much knowledge of the time period as could be gleaned from watching a TV adaptation

of Goodenough’s most famous novel in 2023, Samantha Franklin turns a stubborn will to survive into a heartfelt friendship with the kind and loving family of Margaret and her brother, Captain Fenton Goodenough, the dashing naval officer who rescues Samantha from the wreckage of a crashed airliner in the middle of the Battle of Trafalgar.

To say more would ruin the many twists of the novel’s long and satisfying plot. By the time this eventful story comes to a close, the reader will want more of the complex, bighearted, passionate characters, as well as Frey’s command of the details of daily life in 1806 England. The outlandish plot depends on far too many coincidences, but in that it resembles the gothic novels of the period, and the amusing dialogue between the slangy, plainspoken Sam and her proper English found family keep the story fresh and appealing all the way through.

Kristen McDermott

PUCK AND PREJUDICE

Lia Riley, Avon, 2024, $18.99/C$23.99, pb, 320pp, 9780063412323

Tucker Taylor, a pro hockey player, accidentally travels back in time to Regency England, where he meets Miss Lizzy Wooddash. As fans of the genre will be unsurprised to learn, she turns out to be a friend of Jane Austen. He is anxious to return to his own time, she wants only to secure her own independence, but as they spend time together, their mutual attraction grows.

This is a timeslip novel, but despite the unlikely plot device, what is most striking is how conventional is this Regency Romance. Familiar motifs include the marriage of convenience, the road trip which allows the characters to get better acquainted, the crowded inns which lead to a shared bed, unsympathetic parents, a supportive sisterhood, an intelligent and independent-minded heroine, and a physically impressive hero. Since Tucker is from a later age, a progressive attitude towards women might be expected, but from a professional athlete? Not so much. He, however, is very protective of his younger sister, another favourite strategy to win sympathy for the hero (remember Darcy?).

The relationship to Austen’s novels and the resolution to the protagonists’ conflicting aims add a level of interest that hold the reader’s attention. Recommended.

Ray Thompson

HISTORICAL

FANTASY

DEAD EGYPTIANS

Del Blackwater, Black Rose Writing, 2024, $18.95, pb, 335pp, 9781685134587

Even the title of this book is likely to leave the reader puzzled about the author’s intentions, and the first several chapters are likely to leave the reader even more confused. Dead Egyptians opens by introducing a young Albion Stanley in

what feels like a 19th-century version of a Rick Riordan YA outing, only to shift to graphic queer romantasy a chapter later. Not only is the shift jarring, but many readers may feel the casting of the well-documented sexual and psychic predator Aleister Crowley as a hypnotically alluring seducer sends a very mixed message about Stanley’s sexual preferences. The story then flirts with the issue of colonialism, painting unflattering portraits of historical Egyptologists such as Howard Carter and Flinders Petrie, before settling into a mystical Egyptian myth about Stanley’s quest as a Seer tutored by Imhotep to redress the grievances of the titular dead Egyptians. In fairness, the writer’s done her research and certainly has a vivid imagination. Blackwater’s website cites her experience as a game designer, and the book does have the freewheeling appeal of a late-night D&D session. But any reader who has not made the conscious decision to roll the 20-sided dice with this book is likely to feel disoriented.

Erica Obey

THE VALKYRIE

Kate Heartfield, Harper Voyager, 2024, $30.00, hb, 320pp, 9780008567736 / Harper Voyager, 2024, £9.99, pb, 320pp, 9780008567774

Set in the closing period of the Western Roman Empire and Attila the Hun, Heartfield’s novel is a retelling of a Norse epic about the Valkyrie Brynhild and a Burgundian princess, Gudrun. As is true of many recent mythic retellings, the traditional tale is reconsidered through a feminist lens that grants or restores central roles, motives, and agency to the legendary women.

For example, in one handed-down version of Gudrun and Brynhild’s tale, they squabble over whose husband is braver, a seemingly trivial argument which nonetheless leads to the murder of Brynhild’s husband by Gudrun’s husband. Heartfield banishes such tawdry, passively depicted women and weaves from history and mythology a fallen Valkyrie seeking meaning through acts of justice—including killing a dragon—and a magically-endowed Gaulish princess who sacrifices her own happiness for the good of her people. These two women are flawed and make key mistakes but win the reader’s heart through their underlying motives.

Odin, in contrast, is a selfish god, whose deceptions drive the world toward violence, while the two women protect a city and its people. In the face of destruction and loss, the novel suggests the only meaningful, sustaining constant is love.

Excerpts from the novel’s opening paragraphs offer a taste of its tone and present this theme in Brynhild’s voice: “Like all stories, I have more than one beginning…my father gave me in tribute to his god: the one he called Wotan…I finished my training, took flight…as a Valkyrie, learned to gather the slain… The only beginning that matters came centuries later. My beginning was in you, Gudrun.”

The Valkyrie is an engaging, layered novel that will delight those who enjoy women-centered retellings of myths and history, as well as lovers of Norse traditions.

Judith Starkston

OATHS OF BLOOD

Logan D. Irons, Aethon Books, 2024, $12.99/ C$17.49/£12.99, pb, 390pp, 9798324459864

The Noctis Bellum is a centuries-old conflict waged between the Order (a military group controlled by Uthur Pendragon and his Twelve) and the Hunted (ancient Ulfhednar shapeshifting berserkers), both sides coveting the Black Chalice (Holy Grail). In 1099, at the end of the First Crusade to wrest Jerusalem from Fatimid control, mercenary leader Robert Cutnose hires out to the highest bidder, Tancred de Hauteville, nephew of Bohemond of Antioch. Spilling from the siege tower, his men are first to reach the enclosure of Temple Mount, where Tancred denies them the usual spoils of war. Instead, he offers a huge monetary reward to protect the occupants. While on duty, the mercenaries are brutally massacred by Brother Bors, an Order berserker who rips out Cutnose’s throat, leaves him for dead, and steals the Black Chalice. When he awakens from certain death, Cutnose is under the protection of three ancient Hunted warriors, and in the midst of a dark immortal war to stop the Chalice from leaving the Holy Lands.

This is a traditional good vs evil adventure, heavily grounded in history; a highly imaginative fantasy smoothly incorporating historical figures. But, it isn’t a case of trouncing the baddies and riding off into the sunset to fight another day. The crux of the story is Cutnose’s undying loyalty to Tancred, and his attempts to clear his name when accused of being an unholy demon returned from the dead. His fight for Tancred’s renewed faith in his loyalty and his internal struggles with his recently manifested wolf-spirit are paramount. Irons has masterly control of his narrative; his writing is brutally graphic and action-packed. His vigilant containment of the supernatural story can be likened to Cutnose’s need to reign in his lethal wolf-spirit. Research into the key historical moments of the First Crusade is thorough, and I’m looking forward to book two, Sands of Bone

Fiona Alison

IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS

Crystal King, MIRA, 2024, $30.00/C$37.00, hb, 336pp, 9780778310570

Bomarzo, Italy, 1547-1560. After nearly a century, Ignazio has again found his love. He has discovered that the veil to the Underworld is thin in the woods around Palazzo Orsini, and this will make it easier to always find his Giulia. With his aphrodisiac culinary arts, it doesn’t take Giulia Farnese long to fall under his influence. As the pair walk through the woods, they envision the unusual stones transformed into mythological statues. So, Giulia’s husband brings their vision to life, building The Sacro Bosco – the Sacred Wood. World War II is over, and Julia Lombardi finds herself in Rome bewildered, remembering nothing of her past. As a struggling artist in 1948, Julia cannot turn down an opportunity

to model nude for Salvador Dalí in the Sacro Bosco. Julia, Dalí, his wife Gala, and his assistants, Paolo and Jack, travel to the ancient Palazzo Orsini and its garden of monsters for Dalí’s work. He insists on calling Julia, his muse, Proserpina (Persephone). The handsome and mysterious Ignazio is their host. His dazzling, seductive cuisine wows his guests. Julia is intensely attracted to him yet very fearful. Is he part of the past that she still can’t recall? Something makes her resist the constant pressure to eat the pomegranate seeds served with every meal.

Weaving in the tale of Pluto and Proserpina (Hades and Persephone), King writes a gothic, magical retelling that keeps the reader suspended and poised for something inevitably sinister to happen. As the enigmatic Ignazio and his eerily silent staff attend his guests, we are regaled with decadent, sumptuous details of food that will delight any foodie. Dalí’s wife Gala is a cruel and malicious character, and Dalí, the dreamy, flighty artist, is hopelessly in love with this opportunistic woman. Cleverly mirroring the surreal and bizarre of Dalí’s art, this rich, dark fantasy delivers a delightfully spine-tingling read.

Janice Ottersberg

THE LAND OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

Shauna Lawless, Head of Zeus, 2024, £20.00/$29.99, hb, 559pp, 9781803282725

The Land of the Living and the Dead is the third book in the Gael Song trilogy. I haven’t read the first two books, and wish I had, as the storyline of this finale builds on earlier events. However, Shauna Lawless has helpfully summarised the first two novels on her website.

The book is set in 11th-century Ireland and picks up the story eleven years after the end of the previous novel. Brian Boru is now High King of Ireland, but his hold on power is far from secure. Not only do the mortals, Irish and Viking, Christian and pagan, conspire against him, but two ancient magical races, the Fomorians and the Descendants, also compete for power, old enemies relentlessly seeking each other’s annihilation. As tensions rise, events move inexorably towards the Battle of Clontarf, the bloodiest fight on ancient Irish soil and the culmination of all the political manoeuvres and intrigues.

The setting, with its blend of history, mythology and fantasy, is skilfully evoked, while characters and relationships are sympathetically developed. Each chapter is narrated by a different character which, for

me, created strong echoes of Game of Thrones, while the battle for the High Kingship has parallels with the fight for the Iron Throne. However, Lawless’s universe, while undeniably savage and brutal, ultimately suggests a lifeaffirming optimism that counters George R. R. Martin’s darker nihilism. In her world, love will always be more powerful than ambition, although the balance often feels heartstoppingly precarious.

There is a strong narrative drive throughout the novel, and the final chapters build up to a well-handled climax of drama and surprise. It is certainly an engaging and absorbing read.

Adele Wills

AMERICAN GHOUL

Michelle McGill-Vargas, Blackstone, 2024, $26.99/C$36.99, hb, 350pp, 9798212224567

Traditional themes of friendship, loyalty and trust are severely tested in McGill-Vargas’ vampire fantasy, set just after the Civil War. Lincoln may have emancipated the slaves, but “Vinny” is still on permanent cleaning detail in the saloon and brothel on Miss Tillie’s plantation. Arriving for work one morning, she does not suspect life is about to change in ways she cannot imagine! A sickly girl, cowering in the corner of the saloon, needs help desperately. She says she is a vampire named Simone and then does the one thing no one has ever done for Vinny in all her years of slavery—gives back her real name, Lavinia. This creates an immediate bond of respect and sparks their journey north to the shores of Lake Michigan.

Simone offers Lavinia a new, bondagefree life; Lavinia offers ready-made meals. Soon, Lavinia becomes a vampiric ghoul whereby each is aware of the other’s thoughts and feelings. Lavinia sources Simone’s food and provides a safe place for her to sleep her undead sleep between feedings. Simone protects and respects her friend in return. However, Simone becomes so attached that she is afraid to lose Lavinia, so her answer is to “eat” everyone Lavinia gets close to. This provides moments of amusing commentary and occasional dark humor. The long trail of buried corpses naturally becomes a problem, but the possibility of Simone’s inadvertent creation of another such as herself looms as an even larger one. Lavinia relates her story in matter-of-fact Black vernacular English to an increasingly disbelieving jailkeeper in Tolleston, where she is being held for killing a white woman. The fact that the person she murdered is already dead is inconsequential. I applaud this inventive, daring tale with its wealth of commentary between the lines, as well as an ending to die for.

Fiona Alison

BRINGER OF DUST

J. M. Miro, Flatiron, 2024, $29.99, hb, 608pp, 9781250833839

In Victorian-age Europe in 1883, monstrous and well-concealed evil is perilously afoot

completely under the noses of most of the populace. A group of unique children of varying backgrounds and supernatural powers, known as “talents,” are sometimes guided by adults and scattered around the continent including Scotland, England, Sicily, and France. Since their former residence at the Cairndale Institute outside Edinburgh has been destroyed, they seek haven elsewhere.

But a new threat has arisen from the ashes of the Institute and a new center of evil in the form of the mysterious “Abbess,” who seems to be a uniting and leading figure among the hordes of hideous monsters and mutants hunting them. The children and their few protectors must use their own wits and talents to ensure their world does not become the world of the dead.

This is the second book in a planned trilogy, and readers are strongly advised to read the initial one first to comprehend the plot. It is exceedingly long with a myriad of exotic names, characters, and creatures. The creatures include “glyphics,” “bonebirds and bone witches,” “litches” “keywrasses,” (which are fond of mutilating the locals’ dogs), “drughrs” and more.

I found the novel, billed as a historical fantasy, to be more akin to a never-ending graphic horror/slasher movie where children and others are not only butchered in grisly fashion, but the “urchins” are sometimes themselves the perpetrators. The descriptions of the marauding creatures resemble the monsters in some of the worst of the cheap and cheesy 1950/60s sci-fi films. The first book was a bestseller, for reasons I do not fully understand. Still, there will be fans for this.

Thomas J. Howley

THE GUILD MASTER’S DAUGHTER

Geneva Price, Independently published, 2023, $34.99, hb, 334pp, 9798988346524

New York City, 1816. Faith has Talent—the ability to use a special type of ink which can bring sketches to life. However, her stepfather, Colonel Trumbull, refuses to acknowledge her abilities. He sees it as a perversion for a woman to have such skill. Until he becomes a Guild Master, he decides an arranged marriage is the best way to keep her distracted from developing her latent abilities. But Faith has had a taste of what the Ink can do. When she uncovers her stepfather has deliberately lied to her, she decides to train in secret. With Colonel Trumbull away on business, Faith seeks help from an attractive young painter named Charles Ingram. Now Faith hopes she learns enough to earn her own pen before her stepfather finds out.

Faith is a young girl who’s learning to stand up for herself. I appreciated how her characterization feels true to the time period. The possibilities of imagination run beautifully wild within this story. As Faith begins to observe her world with an artistic eye, the author does a tremendous job of layering the setting with sensory and emotional stimuli. There is a glorious burst of world-building,

artistic expression, and magical discovery. Faith begins to create the world she’s always dreamed of in secret. However, this freedom is balanced on a knife’s edge of being discovered by her stepfather. In her desperation to hold onto this world, called Phantasia, she will make choices that put others in the crossfire and threaten budding relationships. Undercurrents of more subtle themes boil beneath the surface, including stifling social mores, morally-gray choices, forbidden fruits, and secret societies. An exemplarily researched Regency-era fantasy tale about the passionate pursuit of realizing one’s dreams that swept me away with its prose.

J. Lynn Else

THE STONE WITCH OF FLORENCE

Anna Rasche, Park Row, 2024, $30.00/ C$37.00, hb, 368pp, 9780778310457 / Legend Press, 2024, £18.99, pb, 304pp, 9781915643100

In the summer of 1348, the Black Plague is sweeping Italy. An unexpected messenger shows up at Ginevra’s door in Genoa with a message summoning her to Florence – the place from where she was exiled seven years before. Back to 1320, we learn about Ginevra’s special connection to the ancient wisdom inaccessible to others and her healing abilities through stones. Agnesa, the local healer, has taken the young girl in as apprentice, but strictly forbids her to use magic, instead to use herbs, patience, and time for healing. But Ginevra can’t hide her talents, so her punishment is facial disfigurement and exile.

Now back in Florence, the bishop needs her help to catch the thief who is stealing relics and leaving small bottles of holy water in their place. In return, the bishop promises his influence to facilitate Ginevra’s acceptance into the Florentine Guild of Doctors – forbidden to women. Why Ginevra is the only one for the job is unclear. Without the protection of the relics, people are dying in unprecedented numbers. At a loss as to where to begin and no place to stay, Ginevra follows a herd of scraggy goats who have adopted a goose as their leader to the palatial home of Lucia, dying of Plague and abandoned by her husband. Ginevra uses her bloodstones to heal Lucia, and they become friends. The kind-hearted Ginevra is trying to save the dying she meets, as she and Lucia run into an assortment of rogues and scoundrels while tracking down the thief in a city of decaying bodies – all while making use of the gemstones.

Using her interest in medieval lapidaries, “books about the magical and medicinal powers of gems,” the author, a gemologist, combines medieval religion, medicine, and gemstone magic to create this adventurous romp peppered with humor, action, and intrigue. Perfect for lovers of a witchy fantasy.

Janice Ottersberg

LADY MACBETH

Ava Reid, Del Rey, 2024, $28.99/C$38.99, hb, 295pp, 9780593722565 / Del Rey, 2024, £16.99, hb, 320pp, 9781529910476

This is a standalone, early medieval horror fantasy. Roscille of Breizh travels from Brittany to Scotland for an arranged marriage with Macbeth, the Thane of Glammis. He and his men are all pretty much brutal warriors, misogynistic, superstitious, treacherous, and a little dim. Roscille’s serving woman disappears—presumably killed—and the only other women in the castle are three rottenfleshed witches doing spectral laundry while chained in the flooded cellar. They predict great things for Macbeth, and while he obtains rare and valuable jewels and furs demanded by Roscille, he battles to become Thane of Cawdor and, he hopes, King of Scotland. Roscille is a witch, too, and her spooky eyes must be concealed by a veil, lest she drive men mad. Eventually Roscille, quite the schemer although only seventeen, finds an unlikely, fantastical new love and forges an alliance with the witches. Things move along to a bloody conclusion filled with both carnage and triumph.

Those looking for accurate Scottish history or for much connection to Shakespeare’s play should look elsewhere. I couldn’t figure out why the English king Aethelstan was attacking Macbeth, when his reign ended one hundred years before Macbeth’s began. Surely it should have been Harold Harefoot or Harthacanute. And for those who know Macbeth’s wife was not named Roscille, an explanation is given. One nit-pick: doorknobs were not invented until 1878.

Anyway, magic-laced danger is everywhere in this dark story, and virtually every character is someone you would not want to meet in a dark alley. Horror fans will love it, and I highly recommend it to them.

Elizabeth Knowles

THE NATURALIST SOCIETY

Carrie Vaughn, 47North, 2024, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 395pp, 9781662519031

Leaders of academia, scientific expeditions, writers, and thinkers meet regularly in 1877 Manhattan to discuss scientific papers and discoveries and display artifacts gathered by members. The group and its meetings are closed, however, to Beth Stanley, widow of Harold Stanley, who had to put his name on her natural life ornithological surveys, essays, and monographs or they would never have been published. Members also would not look kindly on explorers Brandon West and Anton Torrance if they knew about the pair’s gay relationship. But Beth, Bran, and Anton sidestep the organized scientific community as they explore taxonomic classifications of species, tap into Arcane magical manipulation of energy, and develop friendship and love.

The Naturalist Society is beautifully written. Characters are complex and multidimensional, and observations of fauna and animal behavior are detailed and astute.

Arcanists Beth and Bran magically warm cool tea in a tea cup, freeze liquor in a tumbler, test the earth’s magnetic field to learn how one may leap across distances, and transform water into sparkling light.

Adding historical depth are vignettes that profile leading scientific minds of the era including Charles Darwin, Ben Franklin, and lesser-known individuals such as paleontologist and fossil collector Mary Anning, as well as ill-fated expeditions to the poles. For this reader, however, the story does not take full flight either into a magical realm or to a distant, barren landscape. Characters reside in the 19th century and within the societal constraints of the time, and their actions move step by step as they confront obstacles that interfere with the way they want to live and the work they want to do. Sadly, lacking is arcane magic on a voyage to the South Pole.

K. M. Sandrick

ALTERNATE HISTORY

POWER AND OBSESSION

Catherine McCullagh, Big Sky Publishing, 2024, A$32.99, pb, 538pp, 9781923144088 / $14.99, ebook, 538pp, 9781923144088

McCullagh’s Resistance and Revenge was one of my favorite books of 2023. Unfortunately, this offering falls far short of that standard.

McCullagh again places her characters in an imagined early 1940s England, invaded and occupied by Nazis. Emilia Shaw is recruited for a dangerous resistance mission: to become secretary to the SS general who effectively runs England, and pass information to the resistance. She doesn’t count on developing a friendship with the courtly General Oskar Voigt, nor on falling in love with police officer Brendan O’Connor, who works under Voigt’s command and may also be a secret resister.

McCullagh used imagination and meticulous research to create a very plausible occupied England. But, at 538 pages, this book is bloated. With pages of plodding exposition providing tedious detail on everything from the occupation’s political background to the characters’ clothing. With too many adverbs and meaningless adjectives like “exquisite” and “captivating.” With lengthy sections of dialog where characters explain things they and the reader already know. With numerous clichés and stereotypes. With way too much past perfect tense describing dramatic events that cry out to be immediate scenes.

Worse, Emilia is an enigma. She is pretty, intelligent, brave, resourceful – and insipid. Rule one of a novel is to create a character whose desire drives the story’s action. Emilia’s desire is a mystery. Her parents, brother and fiancé all died in battle or in the Blitz. One would think Emilia would be driven by revenge to join the resistance. Instead, we see her occasionally gazing sadly at photos of her lost loved ones. But we see no rage, no desire for revenge, no reason why she is willing to put

herself in danger. She joined the resistance because she was invited.

The last few chapters tie up some loose ends, but the ending is both implausible and morally unsatisfying.

Kathryn Bashaar

CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULT

DARK FLOOD

Karon Alderman, Orion, 2024, £7.99, pb, 310pp, 9781510109117

It’s the summer holidays, and Archie, Kyle and Deela are hanging out together. The history of the town lies beneath their feet, defunct coal mines running underground. Everyone knows the mine flooded in 1815 and seventy-five men and boys perished. The three friends argue about the point of digging up the past, and all must deal with the absences or the weight of their present family life. Archie takes care of his grandfather while his Mam works. Kyle has a social conscience already formed by cynicism. His friends are his family. Deela has to negotiate her family’s closer control. All three are bullied by the Robson brothers, who live on Archie’s street. Archie’s grandfather taught him to play the fiddle, their most precious possession, but his grandfather has emphysema from a life working the old mines. When he is rushed into hospital, a violent flood and a mysterious boy send Archie on a perilous journey into the mines to relive the past. His friends must try to save him and his grandfather’s fiddle.

This a beautiful, funny and humane book, so evocative of long school holidays during which bored kids with no money lark about in favourite places. A frontispiece map traces these places for the reader; and the end of the book has a glossary for the Newcastle dialect which subtly pervades the dialogue and lifts it off the page. Archie is particularly endearing, and we feel for him and his friends as they respond to the things children have no control over: bullies, parental power, money, the lies that must be told, and the cycle of life and death. His struggle to overcome grief and achieve authentic self-expression is a journey many young people will relate to; but I think every young person would enjoy this.

Louise Tree

TO THE BONE

Alena Bruzas, Rocky Pond Books, 2024, $19.99, hb, 256 pp, 9780593616208

Ellis, a teenage indentured servant living in the Virginia settlement called Jamestown by its English colonizers, narrates this story set in the “Starving Time.” Over the winter of 16091610, all but 60 of the approximately 500 Jamestown settlers died.

Ellis’s father has gone ahead to the colonies, hoping to start a new life and to be joined by his family (Ellis and her then-pregnant mother). After her mother and baby sister die, Ellis follows him, only to find herself working

for an abusive man and his bedridden wife. She learns that her father has probably gone to a different settlement, but communications are practically nonexistent and she has no way to find out if he’s still alive.

As supply ships fail to arrive and a drought intensifies, rations are cut. Relations with the Indigenous population, always uneasy, worsen. Ellis is bolstered by her friendship with two fellow servants: a boy named Rowan, and a girl, Jane, with whom Ellis is falling in love. Ellis is naïve and uneducated, yet she sees the situation more clearly than do her “betters.” She is first bewildered and then horrified by the way the colonizers treat the Indigenous people. She doesn’t understand why the colonizers attempt to live the way they did in England, in this vastly different world.

While Ellis and Rowan are fictional, archaeologists at Jamestown have found the remains of a 14-year-old girl—whom they nicknamed “Jane”—whose bones show signs that she was cannibalized.

This grim tale comes with the warning that it “includes depictions of domestic abuse, cannibalism, and self-harm.” For young adult readers able to navigate those waters, it will be a gripping and unforgettable read. An Author’s Note provides information about the Starving Time and the changes made to history in the text.

Tracy Barrett

A MITZVAH FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON

Rachelle Burk, illus. Chiara Fedele, Creston Books, 2024, $19.99, hb, 32pp, 9781954354302

As Newport, Rhode Island, anticipates a visit from President George Washington, nine-year-old Bella Seixas learns from her father, the leader of Newport’s Hebrew Congregation, that he is preparing a letter thanking the President for supporting the right to religious freedom. Eager to follow his example in practicing the mitzvah of showing gratitude, Bella determines that she and the other children in the congregation will find their own way of thanking the President. But how can Bella and the other youngsters get the President to notice them among the crowds of well-wishers, much less hear their message of gratitude?

Inspired by Washington’s 1790 visit to Newport, during which Moses Seixas read a welcoming letter to the President and subsequently received a gracious reply letter, this is a charming, beautifully illustrated book that reminds us of one of America’s most cherished values—the right to worship freely— and of those who knew that it could not be taken for granted. Ages 7-11.

Susan Higginbotham

IDA, IN LOVE AND IN TROUBLE

Veronica Chambers, Little, Brown, 2024, $18.99, hb, 400pp, 9780316500166

With lyrical writing, Veronica Chambers

illuminates a decade of the exciting life of Ida B. Wells. In 1880s Memphis, Tennessee, Ida belongs to an elite group of educated young Black people born near or after the Emancipation Proclamation. They share a vision of elevating Black people to shape a better future. Ida does so by teaching school and writing bold editorials for nationwide Black newspapers. Although she’s been an orphan since the age of sixteen and lives from paycheck to paycheck, her distinguished school-teaching job ushers her into the middleclass society of a sophisticated Black community. Chambers details the complexities of Ida’s life by showing how she feels responsible to help others yet enjoys society parties, opera, and numerous suitors. Ida joins the Memphis Lyceum, a literary salon where women take the stage, and everyone adores Ida’s literary recitations. Later, when offered a job as the first female correspondent of the American Baptist, Ida writes on the meaning of life for Black Americans. She is known as the Princess of the Press.

After Ida’s friend and two other innocent men are murdered in the first Memphis lynching in decades, the safety of the Black community is violated. Ida’s life turns from fanciful to focused. With the help of editors in other cities, Ida champions a new cause. Chambers crafts a captivating narrative for readers 14 and up about a bold woman with the courage to speak truth. I highly recommend.

Genetta Adair

THEY CALL ME TEACH

Lesa Cline-Ransome, illus. James E. Ransome, Candlewick, 2024, $18.99/C$24.99, hb, 40pp, 9780763681555

From the very first page of James E. Ransome’s art, I was smitten with this story. Lesa ClineRansome has written a lyrical—at times heartthumping—story about a young man in the 19thcentury American South who risks everything to teach other enslaved people how to read. The detail-rich art complements the spare text beautifully.

It’s not a story with a Hollywood happy ending, but one that ends on a determined note. It leaves the reader hopeful but still aware of the dangers that lie ahead. I especially like how the author incorporates various small ways people defied the system, such as gathering information and news to share, and clandestinely helping others with needed paperwork.

understanding, and acting on that knowledge is still relevant today. Ages 5-8.

Lisa Lowe Stauffer

KING ALFRED AND THE ICE COFFIN

Kevin Crossley-Holland, illus. Chris Riddell, Candlewick Studio, 2024, $18.99/C$24.99, hb, 88pp, 9781536238808 / Walker Studio, 2024, £14.99, hb, 88pp, 9781529503333

sometimes to suspend disbelief that Delta could intuit so much.

This book would be an excellent addition to any family or classroom collection. Its theme of freedom being furthered by reading,

Carnegie Medalist Kevin Crossley-Holland and Kate Greenaway Medalist Chris Riddell (Arthur, the Always King) pair up again to tell a tale of the ninthcentury King Alfred the Great. Best known for making peace with invading Vikings and for ruling as the first king of the Anglo-Saxons, Alfred was also a scholar (learning Latin as an adult) and a promoter of literacy and education.

In this lyrical prose poem, Alfred welcomes a sailor named Wulfstan to his court. Wulfstan entertains the king and his courtiers with an account of his travels, including a violent storm at sea, a warm welcome from the inhabitants of the land where they washed up, an exciting horse race, and the funeral of a leader whose body was encased in a coffin made of ice, preserving the corpse during a month-long wake. Alfred is delighted to learn of the customs of other societies. He tells Wulfstan he will include this tale in the history of the area he is writing, and rewards him with a pouch of coins.

Riddell’s illustrations run the emotional gamut: They beautifully capture the drama of the storm and the horse race as well as the serenity of the king’s studies and storytelling around the ice coffin. This engaging tale of a military leader who was also interested in history, language, sociology, and education should help dispel the myth that the early Middle Ages were “dark” and barbarous. An author’s note provides context and tells the reader which parts of the story were add-ons to the historical account. Highly recommended for readers of all ages, particularly those 10 and up.

Tracy Barrett

DELTA AND THE LOST CITY

Anna Fargher, illus. David Dean, Macmillan Children’s, 2024, £7.99, pb, 224pp, 9781529046892

The year is AD 79. Anna Fargher has made an interesting choice in that the story is narrated by Delta, who is a female wolfdog. This leads to many descriptions of scents and sounds and less focus on dialogue. The reader is required

Although the year is mentioned in the synopsis, it is not mentioned in the text until around the last third of the book. This is possibly due again to the choice of narrator because animals do not measure time as humans do. Fargher’s recreation of the terror of Pompeii and the emotions felt by the characters is so vivid it leaps from the page. Anyone who is afraid that this ancient period may seem dry to children need not fear with this narrative.

David Dean’s illustrations in black and white help to heighten the darkness of the city after Vesuvius’s eruption and add an eerie quality.

Rebecca Butler

AGE 16

Rosena Fung, Annick Press, 2024, $24.99/ C$31.99, hb, 160pp, 9781773218335

Sixteen-year-old Roz and her girlfriends contemplate attending the Forever in the Stars Prom at their high school. Roz imagines losing weight and stunning her classmates with her transformation, but her nemesis, the scale, always taunts her into believing that the only way to be beautiful is to be skinny. She finds little support from her mother, Lydia, or her por por (grandmother), who has suddenly appeared from Hong Kong for a surprise visit. What follows is a lot of uncomfortable fat-shaming (and well-crafted humor) as Roz slowly uncovers the family secrets that led to a string of generational struggles.

The stories of these three strong female characters, set in Guangdong in 1954, Hong Kong in 1972, and Toronto in 2000, intertwine seamlessly as we revisit key moments in their youth that led to their present misunderstandings of one another. Fung uses color to help the reader identify each place and time period, alternating between purple, orange and teal palettes, which near the end begin to mix in a satisfying emotional way. Back matter includes historical references and essential resources for eating disorders and mental health support. A fictionalized memoir, this graphic novel is full of heart, culminating in a powerful message for young people who struggle with self-acceptance. Young adult.

Bonnie Kelso

THE GREAT PHOENIX OF LONDON

Lindsay Galvin, illus. Gordy Wright, Chicken House, 2024, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9781915026972

Galvin’s extraordinary novel about the 1666 Great Fire of London, a boy and a phoenix, has all the hallmarks to become a children’s classic. The author mixes a forensic breakdown of the fire over the four days it raged, destroying much of the city, with an imaginative magical twist. It begins in 1664 when a comet, a harbinger of doom, streaks over London. A ball of rock lands near nine-year-old Gil in Pudding Lane and is kept by his family. When the fire breaks out, Gil ends up with the rock in his satchel. As he flees smokechoked streets the ball explodes – revealing the phoenix of myth. The bird bonds with Gil, but a supernatural creature seen at an extraordinary

time causes fear amongst ordinary Londoners.

Worse, Gil’s mother is French, a xenophobic point against him. He is forced to flee a mob, and a man determined to get his hands on the bird. Who is the man, and can the pair get away?

The book, recommended for 9 to 12-year-olds, features real historical characters including King Charles II and diarist Samuel Pepys, along with the imagined Jennet, a boatman’s daughter who befriends Gil.

Among the many things I loved about this book were the illustrations, including maps showing the fire’s spread each day and descriptions of Guild members descending on St Paul’s cathedral to store belongings in what they hoped was the safety of the stone crypt. Bucket chains were formed to throw water from the Thames onto the fire, and there was frantic digging to uncover the underground Fleet River for another water source. The latter two failed, of course. The ending is emotional and stunning.

Kate Pettigrew

CIRCUS MAXIMUS: Return of the Champion

Annelise Gray, Zephyr, 2024, £8.99, pb, 347pp, 9781803281117

This, the last in Annelise Gray’s Circus Maximus Quartet, follows our heroine Dido, who is intent on returning to professional chariot racing, but the odds are stacked against her. She is female, which means that, as far as official chariot racing is concerned – she doesn’t exist.

When Dido’s favourite aging stallion, Porcellus, gives birth to a mare, Dido vows to race her at the Circus Maximus. Her horse’s training will begin when the Dido deems him ready – but there are plenty of horse managers who resent Dido’s skill, and are not averse to lying to get her out of the way. ‘She must be a sorceress,’ they argue, ‘her skill is not natural.’

The imperial family also has their own inheritance problems; and imperial slaves, like Dido’s mother, can no longer rely on the good will of their owners… Is Dido’s luck about to run out?

I had problems with this book. The sections towards the end where Dido is struggling with the imperial family are painfully real in their depiction of emotional betrayal. They reminded me of the Italian writer Primo Levi’s If This Is a Man, an account of his struggles to keep alive in a Nazi death camp. Dido’s experiences were probably very similar: horrifying and deeply distressing. On the one hand, the book is a thrilling read and Annelise Gray is a terrific writer, but I struggled with the descriptions of what happened in a way which felt suitable for a young reader of 10 plus.

Elizabeth Hawksley

THE CURSE OF MADAME PETROVA

Marjolijn Hof, trans. Bill Nagelkerke, illus. Annette Fienieg, Levine Querido, 2024, $18.99, hb, 272pp, 9781646144532

Silke and her twin brother Janis were separated at birth after a dire prophecy by the mysterious Madame Petrova predicted that each would be responsible for the other’s death. Silke grew up on the family estate while Janis was sent into the mountains. Reunited after the death of their parents by their greedy cousins who hope the prophecy will come to fruition so they can inherit the estate, Silke and Janis are forced to make their own fates. They fake their deaths and run away. In the mountains and forests, Silke forages for food and snares rabbits, while Janis carves spoons they hope to sell. Along the way, they encounter dangers possibly as perilous as the prophecy—poachers, a cunning carnival fortune teller who teaches Silke how to read cards, a kindly dancing bear, an inn with soldiers who come and go, and eventually Madame Petrova herself. Not everyone has Silke and Janis’s best interests at heart, but everyone has secrets. Even Silke.

Set in historical Europe, The Curse of Madame Petrova has an engaging fairy-tale feel. Hof places the reader in the setting with beautiful descriptions of a sometimes lovely and sometimes depressed—in other words, realistic— countryside. Black-and-white drawings of the cards Silke learns to read introduce each chapter, and are dark yet whimsical. The characters and the plot, however, feel half-formed. All Janis dreams of is living in the mountains and becoming a woodworker, while Silke yearns to find Madame Petrova. They seem to have little in common except their fear of the cousins, yet their fear is difficult to believe, as the cousins are never shown in scene. The conclusion felt, to this reader, unresolved and unsatisfying. Ages 10 and up.

Meg Wiviott

WHEN WE FLEW AWAY: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary

Alice Hoffman, Scholastic, 2024, $19.99/ C$26.99, hb, 304pp, 9781338856941

The Frank family were German, but after Kristallnacht they fled to Amsterdam to escape the growing persecution of Jews in Germany. They believed that the Netherlands would be a safe haven. Anne was four when they fled, and she frequently spoke in German, especially to her German grandmother.

Anne was ten when Germany invaded in May 1940 and the Netherlands was occupied by German troops. She experienced all the uncertainties of a young girl with an active mind and imagination together with the uncertainties of living within the changing and increasingly oppressive military regime and the fear of death or deportation to a concentration camp.

The author has spent much time reading Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl and other work of and about Anne. This novel is written for

young readers, age 8-11. It covers the time from the lighthearted early spring of 1940, to when the family was forced to leave their home and go into hiding. It is a period of increasing unease and repression seen through the eyes of a young girl who is trying to make sense of her world.

The reader is shown Anne as great fun to be around for some; for others, she’s too talkative, too active, too inquisitive. While her older sister, Margot, is the “good daughter,” quiet and obedient, Anne is portrayed as the difficult one but still the favorite of her father because of their shared love of reading.

The facts of military oppression combined with one young girl’s riot of fears, happiness and imagination are expressed in this novel with great clarity. Each scene and Anne’s perception of it are distinct and well defined, with a simplicity and directness that will appeal to readers of any age. Middle grade.

Valerie Adolph

COMING HOME: A Hopi Resistance Story

Mavasta Honyouti, trans. Marilyn Parra, Levine Querido, 2024, $18.99/£13.99, hb, 40pp, 9781646144570

Honyouti tells the story of his kwa’a (grandfather), who was forced to attend a boarding school when he was a boy. At that time, the US and Canadian governments took Native American children away from their families and made them accept new names and stop speaking their own languages. The story shows the difficulties and problems these children endured at school. After a time, the author’s grandfather returned home without having given up his love of the Hopi language and culture. He became a farmer, taking good care of his plants and of his family.

Coming Home is told in both English and Hopilavayi, the language of the Hopi. The illustrations are traditional Hopi painted wood carvings created by the author, who was taught the craft by his father and grandfather. The images are vibrant and beautiful. End materials and photographs offer information about the Hopi language, the forced confinement and education of Hopi children, the author and translator, and traditional Hopi wood carving. An important story. Ages 6-8.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt

WHERE THE LIBRARY HIDES

Isabel Ibañez, Wednesday Books, 2024, $20.00/C$27.00, hb, 400pp, 9781250822994

Egypt, 1885: Inez’s mother has disappeared after taking everything away from her—the discovery of Cleopatra’s tomb at her uncle’s dig site, the family she believed in, even her cousin Elvira’s life. Now, if Inez wants to stay in Egypt and bring her mother to justice, she must make an impossible choice: return home or marry former rival Whitford Hayes. She’s already fallen for him, but can she trust Whit’s motivations for marrying her? Within a few days, they’re wed. Shortly thereafter, her uncle’s dig site is attacked.

All the artifacts, including Cleopatra’s mummy, are spirited away. But since she’s married, Inez can access her family’s fortune, help her uncle, and search for her mother. However, when Inez goes to the bank, she discovers her accounts have been emptied. Stunned, she realizes only one person would have access to her money: her new husband.

In this second book in the Secrets of the Nile fantasy duology, tension crackles from start to finish. Inez is spirited, outspoken, and not afraid to get her hands dirty. Whit is an Englishman with many secrets. The two are charming together, but their relationship gets complicated by their respective pasts. The majority of this book swirls around this fiery romance. Ibañez does a great job capturing moments with selective imagery and emotional impact so that chapters play out cinematically in the reader’s imagination. The setting details are less immersive than in Book 1, but when those details do pop in, they’re well done. Inez has lived her life trying to meet her parents’ expectations, and this story shows Inez’s growth becoming her own person while also blazing her own path. A captivating story full of surprising twists, feisty characters, and the shadows of Cleopatra. Young adult.

J. Lynn Else

WHAT HAPPENED ON THURSDAY? A Nigerian Civil War Story

Ayo Oyeku, illus. Lydia Mba, Amazon Crossing Kids, 2024, $17.99/C$24.49, hb, 40pp, 9781662504020

From Thursday, July 6, 1967, to Thursday, January 15, 1970, Nigeria was in a civil war. Narrated by a young girl, this story shows how war affects the innocent. Early in the story, we see her normal life, eating breakfast with her family and going to school to learn about how plants grow. As war arrives, the family flees, first by car and then on foot, eventually living in a refugee camp. When the war ends, they return to where their home used to be and try to start a normal life again.

The language is often more poetic than descriptive but matches well with the evocative, colorful, full-page illustrations. The images do an excellent job of showing the noise, damage, and fear of war without being too graphic for children. Endnotes offer more information about the war and about this story’s Nigerian author. Ages 7-9.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt

THE TIME TRAVEL TWINS

James Patterson and Tad Safran, jimmy patterson, 2024, $17.99/C$23.99, hb, 425pp, 9780316447010 / Arrow, 2024, £7.99, pb, 432pp, 9781529120745

Basket, a white girl, and Pew, a Black boy, are twelve-year-old twins, living in a terrible fortresslike orphanage. Oddly, there are no other children there. They long to know something about their parents, and, of course, to get out of the orphanage.

A strange man’s appearance in their room,

by means of a top hat, starts the kids on a timetraveling journey. They land in 1777 Brooklyn, New York, in the middle of the American Revolution. Quickly they discover they are the only ones who can prevent an evil time traveler from changing things so that the American side loses.

This book will resonate with fans of the Lemony Snicket series, with its sometimes dark humor, asides, fancy language, and many, many twists and turns. Although the book is long, its short cliff-hanger chapters propel the reader along quickly.

Several times violence is depicted for humor, including a graphic scene where a torturer has a series of bloody accidents with the devices he’s intending to use on the twins. Also, the historical figures are crafted to be caricatures, which adds to the humor but may be misleading to children. There are occasional sidebars about the actual history and battles. This book is the first in a middle-grade series.

Lisa Lowe Stauffer

LOST AT WINDY RIVER

Trina Rathgeber, illus. Alina Pete, Orca, 2024, $19.95/C$19.95, pb, 96pp, 9781459832268

When thirteen-year-old Ilse is separated from her brothers while routinely checking on winter traps in northern Canada, she must face the toughest challenge of her life: survival. Alone and lost in whiteout conditions, Ilse and her neophyte team of sled dogs flounder, while her brothers and their stronger team of dogs manage to make it to the safety of their home, Windy River Post. A member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, Ilse knows many things about the Land of the Little Sticks, a barren tundra where sparse but tough trees survive the winter. She decides to abandon her sled, free the dogs, and move on foot to stay warm in the subfreezing temperatures. With no food or supplies, she has to rely on the wisdom passed on by her elders to avoid falling through thin ice into lakes buried by snow, and navigate encounters with hungry wolves.

This riveting true story is told by Ilse’s granddaughter, who interviewed Ilse extensively about her 1944 ordeal. It was important to Ilse that the story be told from her own truthful perspective, reclaiming it from Farley Mowat, who included his version in his book People of the Deer. Beautifully illustrated by Alina Pete of Little Pine First Nation and colorist Jillian Dolan, this graphic novel was impossible to set down. The details of the story, found in fascinating side notes about the people, animals, and wilderness, give the reader a well-rounded introduction to the immense beauty of this remote way of life. It delivers a powerful message to young readers about how determination and a thorough

understanding of life’s interconnectedness can make you stronger than you might believe possible. Middle grade.

Bonnie Kelso

EVERYTHING WE NEVER HAD

Randy Ribay, Kokila, 2024, $18.99/C$24.99, hb, 288pp, 9780593461419

As the Covid-19 pandemic makes its way around the world and to his Philadelphia home, Filipino American high-school sophomore Enzo Maghabol doomscrolls through his social media accounts while learning that his temperamental grandfather, Emil, will be moving from assisted living into Enzo’s bedroom to avoid catching the deadly virus. School closes down, isolating Enzo from his social support, and he watches his father, Chris, fight constantly with Emil. But the teenager wants a relationship with his grandfather, and his efforts lead to a greater understanding of his family’s history over four generations, including the traumatic event before Enzo was born that gave him his name.

Filipino American author Ribay uses four separate timelines to tell the story of the Maghabol men. The first is that of immigrant Francisco, Emil’s father, who becomes a labor organizer after experiencing exploitative conditions and deadly racism in the orchards of California’s Central Valley in 1930. Thirtyfive years later, Emil (originally named Emilio) rejects his father’s activism, choosing the path of assimilation and prosperity at any cost. To pay for college, he works at his aunt’s restaurant, which she acquired cheaply in the early 1940s from a Japanese American family sent to an internment camp, a small but revealing detail. Emil marries a white schoolmate and moves to Denver, where in 1983 his son Chris uses a school assignment to learn the family history that his father denied him.

In elegant prose, Ribay explores the theme of fathers seeking to give their sons everything they never had—dignity, economic security, connection, love. The result is a thoughtful and emotionally powerful tale of what it means to be an immigrant, a parent, and a boy coming of age over the past 90 years in the United States. Young adult.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann

MURDER IN MENNEFER

A. L. Sirois, Fitzroy Books, 2024, $17.95, pb, 190pp, 9781646034727

This middle-grade story is steeped in mystery against the backdrop of ancient Egypt. Just as thirteen-year-old Imhotep is ready to embark on a journey to learn more about healing arts, his world is turned upside down. He must delay his dream of becoming a healer and prepare the funeral rites for his father to travel to the Beautiful West in the afterlife. Imhotep’s aspirations and trust in people are shattered when he discovers his father has left the family destitute. So that they can survive, he must labor in an abattoir filled with bloody remains of butchered animals to be served at banquets. He rapidly matures into

adulthood and learns to trust himself as he faces the greatest challenges in his life: investigating his father’s murder and thwarting underground rebels, the Sons of Atum, who threaten to overthrow the royal sovereignty in a coup.

Author A. L. Sirois has masterfully written a coming-of-age story relatable to modern-day readers discovering where they belong in society. The narrative is told from the perspective of Imhotep in his unlikely life journey in which he takes control of his fate and fulfills his dreams despite tragic circumstances. The tale is rich in sensory detail about ancient Egyptian culture, everyday life, and religious beliefs. Each day begins when Lord Re’s chariot lights up the sky. Lord Thoth gives Imhotep signs that he is making the right decisions. The climactic chapters are fast-paced and suspenseful with unexpected twists.

Murder in Mennefer sweeps the reader back to ancient Egypt where a boy must take on the challenges of an adult and overcome family tragedy to follow his dream. Highly recommended.

Linnea Tanner

RISE OF THE SPIDER

Michael P. Spradlin, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2024, $17.99/C$23.99, hb, 160pp, 9781665947206

Book 1 of The Web of the Spider series follows Rolf von Heusen (12) in a small town in Bavaria starting in 1929. Rolf’s mother died of influenza, his oldest brother was killed in the Great War, and his remaining brother, Romer, is fifteen. Their father owns a small factory, but they still struggle financially due to the poor economy, as Germany attempts to pay crippling war reparations. Rolf is mostly interested in playing football until he meets two young men setting up an office in town, who are there to promote the Hitler Youth organization. Rolf and his friend Ansel are wary, but Romer is drawn to the group and secretly attends its meetings, despite his father’s disapproval. Attacks on a friendly Jewish baker and other shopkeepers begin to happen. And then Rolf finds evidence that Romer is participating in the attacks.

Spradlin does a solid job of setting up the story for readers who might not know the historical background, the conditions that allowed the Nazis to rise. His author’s note ponders why Nazism first spread in Bavaria and speaks of how totalitarianism might surface in the present day, and he provides a timeline and glossary. Rolf is a sympathetic young hero, who hopes to find a way to fight against the tide of events, providing a cliffhanger ending that will send readers looking for the next volume in the series. Recommended. Ages 8-12.

B.J. Sedlock

SHADOW CREATURES

Chris Vick, Zephyr, 2024, £8.99, pb, 323pp, 9781837933167

This novel spans a five-year period from 1940 to 1945 in Nazi-occupied Norway. Tove and Liva are sisters. They have an older brother, Hakken. How far will they go to resist the occupiers? In

this gripping novel of the Milorg, the Norwegian Resistance, otherwise known as the Shadow Creatures, we learn how risky and how varied, the means of resistance could be.

Teacher strikes against the Nazification of the curricula and the smuggling of food to prisoners in the labour camps were common. Tove and Liva work in the camps while their brother is involved in two major acts of resistance. The Milorg organises him to deliver messages, hidden in loaves of bread, and to blow up Nazi supply lines. All this is explored from the point of view of each of the sisters, in alternating chapters.

This location of World War Two is less known outside Scandinavia, and Chris Vick shines a light on it expertly and with great humanity and compassion. This will be an excellent addition to school libraries where the period is regularly studied.

Rebecca Butler

THE PRISONER OF BHOPAL

Tim Walker, Andersen Press, 2024, £7.99, pb, 265pp, 9781839133732

Ten-year-old Amil is snatched away from his family to work for Mr Kumar, a printer, due to a debt of honour supposedly owed by his family, but which was previously completely unknown to him. Kumar’s factory is run down and he has had to sell his printing press, so Amil does endless paperfolding and deliveries along with Kumar’s daughter Chunni, who is also exploited. It’s 1984, but the story has a feel of being set in an earlier time, primarily due to the conditions and circumstances in which Amil is held.

In the attic where he is condemned to live, Amil encounters the ghost of his great-grandfather who emerges from a pile of rags and reveals what he did during World War One that has unjustly resulted in punishment for his descendants. He also discovers his inherited gift of knowing which way the wind will blow. Historical parallels are drawn with poisonous gas and its effects during World War One and the more recent disaster in Bhopal, India.

Amil’s Uncle Ravi visits him regularly, keeping a link with his family who have had to move away to become farmers. Ravi works in the pesticide factory which looks like the future for local employment but he knows how dangerous it could be if even a small thing goes wrong. Through Ravi we learn what led to the Bhopal disaster as falling sales of pesticide prompted dismissal of the factory’s safety officers to save money.

The novel builds a picture of life in Bhopal prior to the catastrophe that inspired the author to enquire more deeply and write this novel for young people to raise awareness of how, as he says in an afterword, ‘western companies still put profits before the health and safety of local people.’

Ann Lazim

LOVE OF THE HALFEATEN PEACH

Lee Wind, illus. Jieting Chen, Reycraft Books, 2024, $18.95, hb, 40pp, 9781478881872

Because Yuan will one day become Duke Ling of Wei, he is told to strive for perfection. But is anything perfect? To help his friend, Mi Zi Xia searches the world for something that is perfect. After decades of travel, shown through the pictures of the aging men and Mi Zi Xia’s travels in China, Mi Zi Xia finds a beautiful, delicious peach. He eats half and gives the other half to Yuan, who finishes it. Yuan declares the peach imperfect, but the sharing of the peach perfect. The two men realize they love one another. Love is what is perfect in the world.

The illustrations for this tale, inspired by a true story, are full page and absolutely gorgeous, showcasing 500 BCE China, as well as the emotions of the male characters. The text is short; the font is easy to read and calligraphy-like, matching the Chinese-style art. An important historical story, beautifully presented. Ages 8-12.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt

REBECCA’S PRAYER FOR PRESIDENT LINCOLN

Jane Yolen, illus. Laura Barella, KarBen Publishing, 2024, $19.99, hb, 32pp, 9798765602997

Although Rebecca’s father lost his right hand while fighting for the Union in the American Civil War, he is not bitter, believing that the anti-slavery cause was a righteous one and that Jews, having once been enslaved in Egypt, had a special obligation to uphold the cause of freedom. With the war over at last, Rebecca and her family cheerfully settle into their seats at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El on Saturday, April 15, 1865. There, they are shocked when the cantor begins to chant the Kaddish, the prayer for the dead, and when the rabbi announces President Lincoln’s shooting the evening before and death that morning.

Based on contemporary reports that the congregation of Temple Emanu-El spontaneously recited the Kaddish upon hearing the dreadful news of Lincoln’s assassination and death, this is a moving, somber story. Lincoln buffs will wonder why the President and First Lady are depicted by the artist as attending a play that appears to be something other than the drawing-room comedy Our American Cousin, but otherwise the illustrations complement the text beautifully. Ages 6 to 11.

Susan Higginbotham

CONFERENCES

The Society organizes biennial conferences in the UK, North America, and Australasia. Contact Richard Lee <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org> (UK), Jenny Quinlan <jennyq@historicaleditorial.com> (North America), or Elisabeth Storrs <contact@hnsa.org.au> (Australasia).

Historical Novels Review | Issue 110 (November 2024)

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW

WOMEN IN THE SHADOWS

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW

PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL BOARD

REVIEWS EDITORS, UK

REVIEWS EDITORS, USA

REVIEWS EDITORS, INDIE

EDITORIAL POLICY & COPYRIGHT

MEMBERSHIP DETAILS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HISTORICAL FICTION MARKET NEWS

HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY EDITORIAL UPDATES

NEW BOOKS BY HNS MEMBERS

NEW PUBLISHING DEALS

OTHER NEW & FORTHCOMING TITLES

COMPILED

NEW VOICES

WRITTEN BY MYFANWY COOK

HISTORY & FILM

Politics & Protest: Medium Cool (1969) & Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

PROTEST

PROSECUTION

TODAY & YESTERDAY

REFERENCES

WRITTEN

WOMEN IN THE SHADOWS

INDIA IN CHILDREN'S HF

REFERENCES

GLEEFULLY ANACHRONISTIC

A SPORTING CHANCE

Football and Historical Fiction in David Peace’s New Novel, Munichs

INTO THE STORM

Fascism, Science, and Social Anxiety

HANDED A GIFT

A Tale of Gilded Age Minneapolis

REVIEWS

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES

ANCIENT HISTORY

A SONG TO DROWN RIVERS

CLASSICAL

CLEOPATRA & JULIUS

THE LAST SONG OF PENELOPE

THE LONGEST EXILE

DAUGHTERS OF BRONZE

THE HEIR OF VENUS

4TH CENTURY

HYPATIA: In Her Own Words

6TH CENTURY

THE SHADOWED LAND

7TH CENTURY

LET THESE THINGS BE WRITTEN

9TH CENTURY

SWORD OF THE SAXONS

CATAN

11TH CENTURY

LOVE’S KNIFE

14TH CENTURY

ELEANORE OF AVIGNON

THE SECRETS OF MORGARTEN

LIES OF THE FLESH

15TH CENTURY

THE KNIGHT’S REDEMPTION

16TH CENTURY

GRANADA

TRY BEFORE YOU TRUST

THE DARTINGTON BRIDE

THE BOOK OF DAYS

THE QUEEN’S AVENGER

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT LUISA

THE SCHOOLMASTER

CITY OF SILK

17TH CENTURY

THE PRISONER OF MEASHAM HALL

COSTANZA

THE KEYS OF HELL AND DEATH

THE STARRE, THE MOONE, THE SUNNE

TEACH THE CHILDREN TO PRAY

A POISONER’S TALE