Historical Novels Review, Issue 60 (May 2012)

A PUBLICATION OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW incorporating SOLANDER

ISSUE 60, MAY 2012

Titanic Tales

The Titanic’s Legacy to Historical Fiction living history: choices & consequences an interview with lisa see the spy who went out into the cold eva stachniak’s take on catherine the great planted thick with rumour hilary mantel’s bring up the bodies perseverance & quiet courage susan higginbotham’s her highness the traitor

a chronicler of people’s stories an interview with gabrielle kimm ALSO IN THIS ISSUE editor’s message | historical fiction market news | red pencil | new voices

Historical Novels R eview

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Jessica Brockmole 14413 Worthington Drive Granger, IN 46530 USA <jabrockmole@hotmail.com>

ISSN: 1471-7492 | © 2012 The Historical Novel Society

pub lis h er

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Richard Lee Marine Cottage, The Strand Starcross, Devon EX6 8NY United Kingdom <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org>

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edit o r ial boa r d

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Publisher Coverage: Amazon Publishing, Hachette Book Group, Hyperion, W.W. Norton

Andrea Connell 10011 Beacon Pond Lane Burke, VA 22015 USA <hnsonline@verizon.net>

Publisher Coverage: Bethany House; HarperCollins; Penguin Putnam; Random House (all imprints); university presses; and any North American presses not mentioned below

UK Review Coordinator: Richard Lee Marine Cottage, The Strand Starcross, Devon EX6 8NY United Kingdom <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org> Publisher coverage: UK children’s publishers

Features Coordinator: Lucinda Byatt 13 Park Road Edinburgh, EH6 4LE UK <mail@lucindabyatt.com>

Jane Kessler University Library 119, University at Albany, SUNY 1400 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12222 USA <jkessler@uamail.albany.edu>

Publisher Coverage: Algonquin; FSG; Five Star; IPG; Kensington; and Trafalgar Square

Book Review Editor: Sarah Johnson 6868 Knollcrest Drive Charleston, IL 61920 USA <sljohnson2@eiu.edu>

review s edit o r s , u k

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Publisher Coverage: all self-published, subsidy, and electronically published novels

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

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re v i e ws e d i tors , u s a

Features Editor: Myfanwy Cook 47 Old Exeter Road Tavistock, Devon PL19 OJE UK <myfanwyc@btinternet.com>

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Claire Cowling <clairecowling@talktalk.net>

Publisher Coverage: Birlinn/Polygon; Bloomsbury; Constable & Robinson; Faber & Faber; The History Press; Macmillan (inc. Pan, Picador, Sidgwick & Jackson); Penguin (inc. Allen Lane, Hamish Hamilton, Michael Joseph, Viking); Short Books; Snowbooks; and Transworld (inc. Bantam Press, Black Swan, Corgi, Doubleday)

Alan Fisk Flat 25, Lancaster Court, Lancaster Avenue London SE27 9HU UK <alanfisk@yahoo.com>

Publisher Coverage: Creme de la Crime; Duckworth; HarperCollins UK (inc. Flamingo, Fourth Estate, Voyager); Orion Group (inc. Cassell, Gollancz, Phoenix, Weidenfeld & Nicolson); Piatkus; Picnic Publishing; Quaestor2000; Quercus; Severn House; and all small independent UK publishers not handled by other editors

Elizabeth Hawksley <elizabethhawksley@yahoo.co.uk>

Publisher Coverage: All UK children’s historicals

Edward James 2 Hayman Close Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL53 9FD UK <edward654@btinternet.com>

Publisher Coverage: Arcadia; Atlantic Books; Canongate; Hodder Headline (inc. Coronet, Hodder & Stoughton, NEL, Sceptre); John Murray; and Robert Hale

Doug Kemp Tulip Lodge, Harrowden Road Wellingborough, Northamptonshire NN8 5BD UK <doug.kemp@lineone.net>

Publisher Coverage: Allison & Busby; Little, Brown & Co (inc. Abacus, Virago, Warner); Random House UK (inc. Arrow, Cape, Century, Chatto & Windus, Harvill, Heinemann, Hutchinson, Pimlico, Secker & Warburg, Vintage), Simon & Schuster (inc. Scribner)

Ilysa Magnus 5430 Netherland Avenue #C41 Bronx, NY 10471 USA <goodlaw2@optonline.net>

Publisher Coverage: Dorchester; Grove/Atlantic; Minotaur Books; Picador USA; Poisoned Pen Press; Soho Press; St Martin’s Press; and Tor/Forge

Tamela McCann 5265 Village Terrace Nashville, TN 37211 USA <jjmmccann@aol.com>

Publisher Coverage: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Simon & Schuster, including children’s divisions of both

Ann Pedtke 38-13 52nd Street Sunnyside, NY 11104 USA

Publisher coverage: US/Canadian children’s publishers (except S&S, HMH)

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confe re nce s

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The Society organizes annual conferences in the UK and biennial conferences in the US. Contact Richard Lee (UK) or Ann Chamberlin <annchamberlin@annchamberlin.com> (USA).

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m e m be rs h i p d e ta i l s

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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, contact: Lois Bennett 19, The Grange, Banbridge County Down BT32 3HW UK <lois@loisbennett.co.uk>

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e d i tori a l pol i cy

Georgine Olson 400 Dark Star Court Fairbanks, AK 99709 USA <georgine@mosquitonet.com>

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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.

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copy ri g h t

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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.

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY was formed in 1997 to help promote historical fiction. All staff and contributors are volunteers and work unpaid. We are an open society — if you want to get involved, get in touch.

HNS WEBSITE: www.historicalnovelsociety.org EMAIL NEWSLETTER. Read news and reviews: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HNSNewsletter

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Historical Novels R eview I s s u e 6 0 , Ma y 2012 | I SSN 1471-7492

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ed itor ia l j en n y ba r de n

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histor ic a l fic tion market n ews s ar a h joh nson

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n ew voic e s p r of ile s of debut his torical f iction authors l o rr a in e ba te ma n & paul cole, peter j am es cottrel l , ge n e v ie ve gr a h a m, alex g recian , lois leveen & t ay lor polite s | my f anw y cook

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r ed pe nc il to m be h r ’s b lo o d brothers | cin dy vallar

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TI TANI C TA L E S the ti ta ni c’s leg ac y to hf | by am an da gra nge & m y f anw y co o k

11 liv ing his tor y: choices & con s e qu ences a n int er v ie w with li s a s ee | by deborah s cho enema n 13 the s p y who went out into t he co l d ev a s t a ch nia k’s th e w hite palace | by wan da w ypo rsk a 14 p lanted thick with ru mo u r an int e r v ie w with hilar y mantel | b y lucin da bya tt 15 p ers everan ce & quiet co u ra ge s us an h igginbotham ’s her highness the trait or | by myf anwy co o k 16

a chron icler of peop le’s sto ries a n int e r v ie w with g abrielle kim m | by j oan na si mm

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book r e v ie ws e d ito rs’ c h oic e & m ore

THE 2012 UK HNS CONFERENCE

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remember the innocuous question which began my involvement with the London Conference; it was put by Richard Lee, well over a year ago in his usual mild and charming way. He’d attended an event which I’d had a hand in organising, and I guess something about that must have prompted him to raise the subject of the next UK HNS Conference, which then seemed no more than a distant dream. In October 2010 I’d been mightily impressed by the quality of speakers at the HNS Manchester Conference; Richard wanted to put on a show with such a highprofile cast in London — in Jubilee and Olympic year (but he was sure it could be squeezed in) — maybe with more elements and for longer — maybe featuring booksellers as well as editors — appealing to readers as well as writers — maybe, maybe... The HNS was undergoing a revitalisation, he said; there would be a new website featuring the most comprehensive online review database of HF in the world; more regional chapters; a new international award... Such is the stuff that dreams are made of. I was hooked. Would I like to help with the conference? You bet!

And it’s happened. Thanks to Richard’s vision, and the fantastic committee of sixteen, from “maybe” we now have a conference in prospect featuring some of the biggest names in the genre: Bernard Cornwell and Philippa Gregory; Margaret George and the chair of the Society of Authors, Lindsey Davis. From Diana Gabaldon to Sarah Dunant, CW Gortner to Daisy Goodwin, Elizabeth Chadwick to Harry Sidebottom; right across the spectrum of HF, the most fabulous authors and publishing industry leaders are coming to HNSLondon12. Take a look at what’s on offer at the University of Westminster, Regent Street, over the last weekend of September, and I can guarantee you’ ll find it hard to resist: http://www.hns-conference.org. uk.

On behalf of everyone involved in HNSLondon12, we look forward to giving you a warm welcome. See you there!

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HNR The

JENNY BARDEN is an artist-turned-lawyer-turnedwriter whose debut novel is scheduled to be published by Ebury Press in September 2012. She is the Co-ordinator for the upcoming HNS London Conference, has previously organised “Get Writing” Conferences at the University of Hertfordshire, and moderated the Reader Awards for the UK’s inaugural Festival of Romance. More about Jenny can be found at www.jennybarden.com and Twitter @jennywilldoit

HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Columns | 1

H I STO R I C AL FICTION MAR K ET NE W S

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ould you like your latest publishing deal to appear here? Email me at sljohnson2@eiu.edu.

HNS updates The HNR is seeking UK-based book reviewers. We also need volunteers to upload and categorize reviews for our new website. Interested in either? Please email me!

The HNS website has been completely overhauled. It now has a wealth of material from the magazines, as well as new content.

As a member you have exclusive benefits through the site and, if you wish, may also post a profile with links on the site. The site as a whole received 7,500 visits and 38,000 page views in its first week alone, so log on to http://historicalnovelsociety.org today and see the changes.

Short story competition The Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Sussex, is running a historical short story competition. 1st prize £1000, with publication in Sussex Life Magazine; 2nd and 3rd prizes £250. Judges include bestselling authors Kate Mosse and Emma Darwin. Deadline 22 June. For details: http://www. wealddown.co.uk/News/Latest-News/ New publishing deals Sources include author and publisher submissions, Publishers Marketplace, Booktrade.info, Publishers Weekly, The Bookseller, and more.

RNA historical award winner Christina Courtenay’s (see Highland Storms, this issue) first time-slip novel, The Silent Touch of Shadows, sold to independent UK publisher Choc Lit for July 2012 publication. A professional genealogist, after being harassed by a ghostly presence, decides to do some research on her own family tree and uncovers a 600-year-old love story.

Kim Rendfeld’s debut novel, The Cross and the Dragon, a love story with a twist set in the earlier years of Charlemagne’s reign, will be published by Fireship Press.

Emma Mitchell of Hutchinson acquired Jenny Mayhew’s debut mystery The Wolf Man of Hindelheim, in which a baby girl in pre-WWII Germany goes missing from the village doctor’s home, from Louise Lamont at AP Watt, for March 2013 publication.

Illuminations by Mary Sharratt, fiction about the life of 12th visionary abbess, composer, polymath, and powerfrau 2 | Columns | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

Hildegard von Bingen, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on October 9, 2012, to coincide with the Vatican’s canonization of Hildegard and her elevation to Doctor of the Church.

Rosie Thomas’s The Kashmir Shawl, an Editors’ Choice this issue, and winner of the 2012 RNA Epic Romantic Novel Award, sold to Stephanie Gorton on behalf of Peter Mayer at Overlook by Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown.

The Prodigal by S.K. (Susan) Keogh, a high-seas tale of rescue and revenge set in the late 17th century, sold to Fireship Press.

Jean Burnett’s debut novel The Bad Miss Bennet chronicling the further adventures of Lydia Bennet from Pride and Prejudice as she goes elegantly to the bad following Captain Wickham’s death, will appear from Little Brown in Oct. 2012. US rights to Pegasus for Sept. 2012 publication.

Rachel Urquhart’s debut The Visionist, the story of a 15-yearold girl who finds refuge in an 1840s Shaker settlement after her abusive father’s death, sold to Reagan Arthur at Reagan Arthur Books, in a pre-empt, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor. UK/Commonwealth rights to Jessica Leeke at Simon & Schuster UK. Lynne Missen, publishing director at Penguin Canada’s Young Readers Group, has commissioned two YA novels by Sandra Gulland, the first to be written from the viewpoint of Hortense de Beauharnais, via Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.

In the US the books will appear under Penguin’s Viking Young Readers imprint.

Kate Bradley at HarperFiction (UK) acquired three novels from debut novelist Joanna Hickson via Jenny Brown. The first book, The Agincourt Bride, about Catherine De Valois, wife and then widow to Henry V, will appear in paperback in Feb 2013.

C.B. Hanley’s The Sins of the Father, first in a series of medieval murder mysteries featuring Edwin Weaver, a young man of common origin who is thrust into the noble world of politics and murder, will be published by The History Press in July 2012.

Serpent’s Tail editor Rebecca Gray has bought World English rights in Beatrice Hitchman’s debut Petite Mort, about a silent French film missing one crucial scene, from Antony Topping at Greene and Heaton. Publication is Spring 2013.

Susan Spann’s Shinobi, first in a new samurai mystery series set in 16th-c Japan, sold to Toni Plummer at Thomas Dunne Books, in a three-book deal, by Sandra Bond at Bond Literary Agency.

Suzanne Rindell’s The Other Typist, in which a female typist at an NYPD station in the 1920s becomes obsessed with a new woman in the typing pool, sold to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a pre-empt, by Emily Forland at Wendy Weil Agency.

Heloise and Abelard, Sherry Jones’ retelling of the love story

successful and controversial midwives of her time, set in 19th-c New York City, sold to Bloomsbury UK by Rebecca Gardner on behalf of Sarah Burnes at The Gernert Company.

Tony Hillerman Prize winner Andrew Hunt’s City of Saints, the first in a series of historical mysteries set in 1930s Salt Lake City featuring a Mormon Deputy, sold to Peter Joseph at Thomas Dunne, for publication in Fall 2012, by Steve Ross at Abrams Artists Agency.

Caroline Sheldon sold Pamela Hartshorne’s time-slip novel Candles in the Dark, a tale of passion, possession, and regression, along with one other novel, to Wayne Brookes at Pan Macmillan, for publication beginning in autumn 2012.

James Markert’s The Choirmaster of Waverly Hills, a WWIera novel set at a tuberculosis sanatorium, sold to Shana Drehs at Sourcebooks by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (NA).

Suzanne Desrochers’ sequel to her acclaimed Bride of New France, continuing the protagonist’s life in the New World and the cruel circumstances endured by the filles du roi, sold to Adrienne Kerr at Penguin Canada, for spring 2014 publication,

by Samantha Haywood of the Transatlantic Literary Agency.

The Yonahlosee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani, set in 1930 in a debutante/equestrienne boarding school in the Blue Ridge Mountains, sold to Sarah McGrath at Riverhead by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor.

New and upcoming releases Queen Elfrida’s Cockatrice by Judy Monckton, set in the 11th century, tells of Queen Elfrida’s autumn years in the abbey she has founded to atone for her difficult past. It was published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie.

Elizabeth Osta’s Jeremiah’s Hunger, a historical saga set in 1830s-90s Ireland and New York City, has been published by Frank Tierney at Borealis Press, Ottawa, Canada.

Karen Harper’s medieval mystery Mistress of Mourning / The Queen’s Confidante (UK title) will appear from Penguin (US) and Random House (UK) in July. The dual heroines are Queen Elizabeth of York and a female merchant chandler who makes wax shrouds and death masks.

Alan Furst’s latest WWII-era spy novel, Mission to Paris, appears in June from Random House US/W&N.

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For more forthcoming titles, see: http://historicalnovelsociety. org/guides/forthcoming-historical-novels.

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of the famous medieval love story, sold to Kathy Sagan at Gallery by Natasha Kern at Natasha Kern Literary Agency.

Michael Irwin’s The Skull and the Nightingale, a dark tale set in 1760s England, sold to Patrick Janson-Smith of Blue Door (UK) and David Highfill at Morrow (US), via Annette Green Michael Joseph’s Sam Humphreys won a five-way auction for world rights to three historical novels from début author Liz Fremantle, beginning with Queen’s Gambit, the story of Katherine Parr seen through her and her maid’s eyes, via Jane Gregory.

Pam Jenoff’s The Ambassador’s Daughter, which follows a young German Jewish woman as she meets a young naval officer who will eventually become her husband (and a high-ranking Nazi official), sold to Susan Swinwood at Mira, in a three-book deal, by Scott Hoffman at Folio Literary Management.

Following reported self-published sales of close to 140,000 ebooks, Legal Aid attorney Marlen Suyapa Bodden’s debut The Wedding Gift, pitched as Roots meets The Help, sold to Selina Walker at Century/Arrow, for 2013 publication, by Victoria Sanders at Victoria Sanders & Associates. US rights to Monique Patterson at St. Martin’s.

Berwick Coates’ debut At the Grey Apple Tree, a multiperspective story of the first days of the Norman Conquest, sold to Clare Hey at Simon & Schuster UK, for publication in April 2013, and a second novel about the Battle of Stamford Bridge to follow in 2014, sold to James Gill at United Agents.

Sarah Naughton’s The Hanged Man Rises, set in the slums of Victorian London with a killer on the loose, sold to Venetia Gosling at Simon & Schuster UK Children’s, in a three-book deal, for publication in Spring 2013, by Eve White at the Eve White Literary Agency.

Picador UK editorial director Francesca Main acquired Ellen Feldman’s The Unwitting, about a woman, a marriage, and secrets, set in 1963 at the height of McCarthyism, via Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates on behalf of the Emma Sweeney Agency. US rights to Spiegel & Grau.

Judith Kinghorn’s debut The Last Summer, set on a Sussex estate on the eve of World War I (an Editor’s Choice title in Feb’s HNR), sold to Ellen Edwards at NAL by Deborah Schneider at Gelfman Schneider, on behalf of Sheila Crowley at Curtis Brown UK. Gallic Books has acquired The Confidant, a debut novel by Le Figaro journalist Hélène Grémillon, in which a 1970s-era Frenchwoman begins receiving mysterious WWII-era love letters following her mother’s death, for Sept 2012 publication.

Annabel Lyon’s The Sweet Girl, about the coming of age of Aristotle’s daughter and her dramatic life in the face of an arranged marriage after his death, sold to Diana Coglianese at Knopf, for publication in 2013. Canadian rights went Random House Canada, for publication in fall 2012.

My Notorious Life by Madame X, Kate Manning’s fictive memoir of a near-orphan girl who becomes one of the most

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

HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Columns | 3

NEW VOICES Debut novelists Lorraine Bateman & Paul Cole, Peter James Cottrell, Genevieve Graham, Alex Grecian, Lois Leveen, and Taylor Polites provide insight into the inspiration for their novels.

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ar, intrigue, murder and unsung heroes and heroines provided starting points for this issue’s debut novelists. Peter James Cottrell explains that his novel, England’s Janissary (Robert Hale Ltd, 2012), was “a long time in the making, probably over twenty years when I think about it. I grew up with the Northern Irish Troubles in the background. They were just there. What I didn’t realise was how complex they were and how deep their roots until I finally served there with the British Army.

In the end, I spent over three years of my military career in Northern Ireland and fell in love with the place. I also fell in love with Irish history, despite its blurring of myth and reality, which is why I chose to write my MA History thesis on the role of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and ended up writing Irish history for Osprey Publishing. In 1919 republican leader Éamon de Valera called the RIC “England’s Janissaries,” which is where I got my title, dismissing them as mere mercenaries. Yet this is too simple an explanation as most were Irish Catholics who believed themselves Irish. Tragically they paid a heavy price for their loyalty to the Crown and, along with the 250,000 Irishmen who fought in the Great War, have been virtually airbrushed from Irish history. There are many books that tell the story of the Irish revolution through the eyes of the rebels, but none, as far as I know, from a policeman’s perspective. That is why I made my protagonist an Irish Catholic ex-soldier turned policeman so that I could tell their story, and whilst Kevin Flynn is fictitious, most of the characters he meets and many of the events he gets caught up in happened. I wanted to tell the story of those men who, in the words of Irish writer Sean O’Faolain ‘…were not traitors. They had their loyalties, and stuck to them.’ ” Researching the life of Edith Cavell, an English nurse executed by the Germans for espionage in Brussels in 1915, combined with her research for an MA in biography, resulted in Lorraine Bateman joining forces with Paul Cole to write At Midnight in a Flaming Town (Karnac Books, 2011). Bateman and Cole were “soon unearthing the most extraordinary accounts of bravery and adventure. The German invasion of Belgium meant that millions of innocent people suddenly found themselves under the yoke of occupation — and not just Belgians, there were 4 | Columns | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

100,000 American tourists and travellers stranded in Europe …Ordinary lives were turned upside down, and civilians were faced with situations and decisions that most of us would hope never to confront. British soldiers found themselves trapped behind enemy lines … (this was before the war became bogged down by trench warfare, don’t forget). Some of the truth had been lost in the propaganda haze of the period and we felt it was right to help put the record straight, as well as honour some little-known heroes and heroines. Furthermore, we just couldn’t leave such gripping material untold.”

Lois Leveen was equally gripped by the fate of another real spy, Mary Bowser, a “former slave who became a spy.” Leveen’s novel, The Secrets of Mary Bowser (Hodder & Stoughton/Morrow, 2012), was inspired by “a few sentences describing her espionage while reading about a book of women’s history. I couldn’t stop wondering about what she did — and why she might have chosen to do it. How did this particular person come to play such an amazing role in the American Civil War? What experiences would lead her to sacrifice her own freedom and return to slavery, when she could not be certain about how the war would end? What was it like to be an educated woman, but spend every day around people who consider you ignorant and not even human? What was the relationship between Bowser and Van Lew, two extraordinary women separated by race and class but united through their spying? I wrote The Secrets of Mary Bowser to answer those questions, for myself and for readers. Although there is very little documentation about Bowser’s life, I did a huge amount of research on urban slavery in Richmond, Virginia, free black life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and of course on the American Civil War. That was the biggest surprise, because the Civil War always seemed to be a rather dull laundry list of names of generals and battlegrounds when I had to study it in school. Suddenly it became the backdrop for this fascinating story, about friendship and family and what happens when you choose to do what’s right rather than what’s easy. I loved interweaving real people and events, even actual correspondence and newspaper articles, with scenes and dialogue I invented. It is the perfect role for someone who loves both literature and history. Plus I got to create some secret codes, which is always pretty cool.”

Genevieve Graham, author of Under the Same Sky (Berkley, 2012) admits that she “was never interested in history until recently. That interest sprang up along with the startling realization that I wanted to write a novel. When my children were little, I had no time for reading. As they grew more independent, so did I. My mother handed me Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, then insisted I sit down and read. I instantly became

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Casertano

PHOTO CREDIT: Christy Grecian

era, in part because I grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, a town with a beautifully preserved antebellum district that feels like time-travel. I read a lot about the period, but in college, I began a more focused study of the Civil War South. By then, major revisions had been made to the received historical view of Reconstruction, inherited from the Dunning School, which portrayed the South as the victim of corrupt carpetbaggers and incompetent freedmen.”

For Polites, “reading this new scholarship was an important correction for me. I had seen very few works of fiction based on Reconstruction, which, the more I read, had as much to do with our country today as the Civil War. The Union had an immense amount of moral and political power behind it after the Civil War and that capital was used to enact an incredible program of political equality (for men only, however). The reaction to that experiment was violent and, after the Panic of 1873, the capital was all spent. The Union reconciled through national acceptance of a race-based, segregationist society that was manifested in economics and civil life, politics, the judiciary, literature and popular culture. Gains had been made, however, and while there was a severe retrenchment, the stage was set for new progress in later generations. The end of Reconstruction as a turning point began to fascinate me. How about a new Southern heroine, a woman of her time with the same prejudices and assumptions about her Southern world, but someone who overcomes them at this critical juncture in the story of the Civil War, its aftermath, and what it meant for American society?”

Author Alex Grecian has long been associated with Left to right from top: Lorraine Bateman & Paul Cole, Peter James Cottrell, Genevieve graphic novels, but his first historical fiction novel, The Graham, Alex Grecian, Lois Leveen, and Taylor Polites Yard (Putman, 2012) is set at Scotland Yard in 1889, an ardent admirer of Ms Gabaldon’s many gifts and the 18th and is full of colour and melodrama. Grecian explains: “Every century she invited me to explore. But as with all good things, story is about crime, if you look hard enough. We humans have her novels came to an end. Even after I’d read them four times found countless ways to hurt each other. We’re creative about each, I experienced a kind of loneliness without those rough, it…Crime’s been around as long as we humans have. I suppose, difficult times, so I announced to my husband that I was off to if I wanted to, I could write a crime novel about cavemen or the write a book. Three hours later I presented him with a stack of Renaissance. But I like the Victorian era best. That’s when we paper which he informed me was ‘not bad at all.’” rolled up our collective sleeves and got busy walling each other Graham’s husband’s praise encouraged her to contact “re- up in the cellar.” For Grecian, during the Victorian era, “magic enactors representing the time period, folks passionate about and science coexisted for a while. They were equals. But there details,” research, and take “volumes of notes.” She discovered was no such thing as DNA …Nobody cared about fingerprints that “all those dull history lessons in school were based on and we never had to wear uncomfortable latex gloves. If we kept thrilling worlds, worlds in which men hunted and fought — a straight face … we could get away with murder.” without cellphones.” Graham prefers to call her novel “Historical Adventure, not Romance. Unlike many historical romances, MYFANWY COOK is fascinated by the creativity of my heroes and heroines often have never seen the inside of a debut novelists in unearthing settings, plots, and characballroom, nor worried about salon etiquette. They are the rough ters to captivate readers of historical fiction. If you have and tough survivors, quick with a knife or a cheeky remark.” information about a debut novelist of interest to feature, The Rebel Wife (Simon & Schuster, 2012) by Taylor Polites please email (myfanwyc@btinternet.com) or tweet her started with a love of “heroines in fiction — Scarlett O’Hara (twitter.com/MyfanwyCook). made a big impression when I was introduced to her at 13.

Gone with the Wind spurred my fascination with the Civil War

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HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Columns | 5

THE RED PENCIL Editing Historical Fiction Cindy Vallar analyzes the work behind polished, finished manuscripts. In this issue, she profiles Tom Behr’s Blood Brothers (CreateSpace, 2011).

It It was It was a dark It was a dark and stormy night.

After considerable pacing and final completion of the opening sentence of his future masterpiece, Snoopy declares, “Good writing is hard work!”1 This assertion is what every historical novelist quickly learns, especially when tackling the first sentence (not to mention the first paragraph and page). The opening is so important that it has a name – the hook – because it not only begins the novel, but also appears on the book jacket, in your query letter to an agent, and on your promotions for the novel. The better the hook, the more intrigued the reader becomes and the faster you engage him/ her, the more likely he/she will read your historical novel.

What differentiates a hook like Snoopy’s from a great opening sentence that entices the reader?

It must make readers care about the character(s) and the story’s outcome. It contains a revelation that urges them to discover the story’s resolution. It poses a question to lure the reader into finding out the answer. Why is this important? Think about how long it takes a potential buyer to decide which book to read next. He selects a book from the shelf. He scans the book’s blurb, then opens the novel. After reading the first page, he decides. That’s how long you have to capture your audience.

Most Americans learn The Marines’ Hymn in school, but rarely are we taught the history of the events recounted in this song. “To the shores of Tripoli,” the second line, refers to the first time United States Marines fought on foreign soil. In 1803 6 | Columns | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

Tripolitan corsairs captured the USS Philadelphia and her crew of 300. In 1804 President Thomas Jefferson sent William Eaton on a daring mission to rescue those captives with a handful of Marines. Tom Behr’s historical novel recounts this adventure.

“As a child, perhaps 10 or 11, I had read about Eaton’s mission and Lear’s treachery in Kenneth Roberts’ novel Lydia Bailey and with a young boy’s impulsive sense of right and wrong, knew that what we had done as a nation was ‘wrong’. That sense of wanting to help readers think more deeply about America’s use of power – especially in the Muslim world following the tragic decision to invade Iraq” – is what motivated Tom to write Blood Brothers.

The original draft, written in 2005, opened with this sentence: The boy sat in the secret hollow of a huge red oak, feeling the roughness of the jagged bark merge into his bare skin.

It’s a good sentence, but it lacks the essential hook.

Peter Behr, Tom’s twin and one of his four editors, read that early version. His experience as a journalist and former business editor of the Washington Post led Pete to suggest “that I get right into the major plot thread of Eaton’s mission, in part to help readers unfamiliar with the history (most readers, I suspect) understand why Eaton was involved in Tripoli in the first place.” Which Tom did, transferring the opening of the novel from the Mohawk Valley in North America to Malta.

They met in a dark tavern, in the warren of small, mean streets that had sprung up outside the city walls in the Floriana district.

This version hints at what may happen, but it still lacks the effectiveness of a good hook. “I hammered and chipped away at the opening sentence for weeks. . . . My editors challenged me to, in effect, ‘turn the movie camera on,’ so I captured not just the sound of the dialogue but the visual images as well.” In the published version of Blood Brothers Tom succeeds in doing

what his editors suggested as well as incorporating the essential elements of a good hook.

If I needed someone to slit a throat or steal a purse, Eaton thought, I would come here to find him.

When I first read this opening sentence, I wondered what would happen. I wanted to know why William Eaton would be in such a dangerous place. In other words, Tom “dumps the reader into a crisis, engages him or her emotionally, and . . . starts the questioning process.”2 As I mentioned earlier, the first sentence is most important, but so is the first paragraph and the first page. If you haven’t captured the reader or the agent by then, you’re unlikely to gain a new fan or representation that leads to a publishing contract.

So what was Tom’s opening paragraph in the original version of Blood Brothers?

The boy sat in the secret hollow of a huge red oak, feeling the roughness of the jagged bark merge into his bare skin. He let his mind empty out, becoming quiet and open to the forest around him. A beetle, foraging for food, crossed over onto his leg. He felt the pull and release of its tiny claws on his skin as it worked its way across his body to move further up the trunk. As he quieted, the sounds of the forest around him began to come to life, the way the morning sunrise gradually turns dark shadows and unrecognizable shapes into bright, familiar clarity.

This is the reader’s first introduction to one of the brothers – Henry Doyle. “I had been reading a lot about the Mohawks and the Iroquois nation, without really thinking about writing a novel. One morning, I woke from my sleep with the image of the young Henry Doyle, sitting in the huge red oak (actually the 250-year-old oak in the woods behind our house), watching the gathering at Johnson Hall and wondering who his father was.

Blood Brothers began with Henry entering my consciousness and saying ‘tell my story.’”

This passage provides an interesting glimpse into Henry’s life, but it’s backstory. Since this novel is really a story about Eaton and the first time the United States invaded foreign soil, it’s not a good hook. That’s why readers of the final version of the novel

don’t encounter this introduction to Henry until chapter four.

In the course of writing this novel, Tom selected four close friends to review his writing. Aside from Peter Behr (mentioned earlier), these included “Pete’s daughter Alex Behr, a professional editor and award-winning fiction writer; Priit Vesilind, for years a highly-acclaimed writer for National Geographic; and Michael Peterman of Trent University (Canada), also an editor and writer.” Tom heeded their advice and “switched the focus to Eaton . . . to establish the basic plot threat of Eaton’s mission, get immediately into action, and to create more mystery around Henry Doyle. Readers learn about his past after they experience him in Malta.” The second version of the opening paragraphs became: They met in a dark tavern, in the warren of small, mean streets that had sprung up outside the city walls in the Floriana district. The first to arrive, as planned, were General Eaton and Colonel Leitensdorfer.

They were joined shortly by Leitensdorfer’s contact, a British intelligence agent. He greeted the Colonel cordially.

“Colonel, a pleasure, I’m sure.”

Then he turned to the General. “And you would, I assume, be General Eaton?”

When Tom and I first discussed Blood Brothers, he shared the following with me: “If I have learned one lesson as a first time fiction writer, it is the value of feedback: to recognize the errors, clumsiness and undeveloped opportunities that my closeness to the work (and inexperience) kept me from seeing.

“The revisions reflect the combined strengths and limitations of how I write. Typically I will wake in the morning with a chapter or section clearly in my mind (I turn the next day’s assignment over to my subconscious when I go to sleep. I hear what I want to write as a movie script – the dialogue tends to flow immediately (I also probably read too much Hemingway at an early age.)

“As you’ll see, I intend the successive additions to serve a number of purposes: to create a clear, emotionally-charged sense of place, to provide more insight into the character’s thoughts HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Columns | 7

and feelings beneath their dialogue, and to tighten the tension between characters and the suspense of the plot.”

This is what Tom succeeds in doing in the published version of Chapter 1.

If I needed someone to slit a throat or steal a purse, Eaton thought, I would come here to find him.

William Eaton had arrived early for that evening’s rendezvous with the British agent, Burton Grey. Grey had picked a bad place for their meeting – the Sedum Tavern – in a bad part of Valletta harbor. In the daytime, the square was a fish market. At night, other things were bought and sold.

The lengthening shadows cast by a fading sun played across the centuries-old weathered stone buildings fronted by awning-covered stalls. Eaton stood, unnoticed, in a boarded-up doorway, his cloak pulled tight against the damp cold rolling in from the harbor. With the approach of twilight, merchants were shuttering their shops and their customers were fleeing the square. Eaton watched as patrons entered the tavern: sailors from the ships of twelve nations crowding Valletta’s harbor, dock workers, pick pockets, thugs, cutthroats, and whores. A bright-eyed rat looked up from his supper of fish scraps on the shop table next to Eaton.

Eaton nodded a greeting: paying a visit to your two-legged cousins, I suppose? Above the doorway, rust stains like dried blood streaked downward over the stone from a crude iron hook in the wall. I wonder what has hung on that hook, Eaton thought. Fish—or men?

is this guy Doyle?’ ‘Why is he involved?’ and ‘Can the Americans trust him?’” These are the questions the hook intends, and we keep reading because we’re intrigued to learn the answers.

Although Tom taught English for two decades, “my students taught me more than I ever taught them.” He majored in English at Colgate University, earned a Master’s degree in American Literature from the Bread Loaf School of English (Middlebury College), and a Doctorate in English Renaissance and 18thcentury Literature from Princeton University. He and his wife divide their time between renovating a 1730’s farmhouse in New Jersey and summering in Nova Scotia. He wrote Blood Brothers “because I wanted to confront the truth of things” and when he decided to self-publish the novel, he sagely consulted several trusted editors who guided him in crafting a story that “captivates the reader and brings to life this remarkable undertaking, providing a gripping tale as intricately woven as a spider’s web.”3 Notes: 1. Charles Schulz’s lovable beagle actually borrowed his opening sentence from Edward George Bulwer-Lytton’s Paul Clifford, which was published in 1830. More than a century later, this memorable worst first line, which contains fifty-nine words, serves as the inspiration for San Jose State University English Department’s Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest where entrants compose “the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.”

2. Sandra Kischuk, “Literary Hooks,” Writer’s Toolbox (accessed 24 December 2011); available from http://sandrakischuk.com/ writers-toolbox/literary-hooks/.

3. I reviewed Blood Brothers for the October 2011 issue of Pirates and Privateers (http://www.cindyvallar.com/BloodBrothers. html). Tom’s website (http://www.bloodbrothersnovel.com/) includes a video trailer of the book, the history behind his novel, and its first eight chapters.

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In four paragraphs, Tom manages to hook the reader. He makes you care. He entices you. He makes you wonder what is to come. In the subsequent pages of this first chapter, he introduces Henry Doyle, but cloaks him in mystery. “He fades in and out of view like a wraith, and kills quickly, without compunction or mercy. This change sets up the reader’s questions: ‘Who the hell 8 | Features | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

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Eaton looked at his watch, then eased quietly from his hiding place into the tavern and stood in darkness near the door.

CINDY VALLAR is a columnist, editor, historical novelist, and workshop presenter. Aside from contributions to Solander and HNR, her work includes The Scottish Thistle, a novel of the Rising of 1745, and various articles on maritime piracy that have appeared in Pirates and Privateers, The Pyrate’s Way, and No Quarter Given. You can visit her at www.cindyvallar.com.

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the Titanic’s legacy to historical fiction

W hat is it about the sinking of the ocean liner RMS Titanic

on the night of April 14, 1912 that has captured the imagination of authors, readers and film-makers? What is it about the stories of the passengers who survived and those who didn’t that continues to engross and fascinate? Was it that the fate of the passengers on the Titanic was a lottery, one in which the odds were heavily stacked in favour of the wealthiest passengers?

Or is it that the event was so dramatic? Certainly from the writers’ and the film-makers’ perspective, the sinking is full of opportunities for action.

Film producers were quick to seize on the event as a potential money-maker. In Nacht und Eis was released in 1912 and became the first of many films, including Titanic (1943) and A Night to Remember (1958), culminating in the romanticized Titanic (1997) directed by James Cameron. For film-makers, the visual possibilities of the sinking are clear, but what have writers of historical fiction made of the event? Their focus is less on the disaster, and much more on the characters and the consequences of it on their lives. It is often used as a setting for romance as illustrated both in earlier novels and in more recent ones.

Danielle Steel (A Good Woman, Random House, 2008) and Beryl Bainbridge, whose work Every Man for Himself (Duckworth, 1996) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, are two of the best-known authors who have been inspired to write about the fate-filled night. The tragedy provides a backdrop against which romance, intrigue and crime can be played out.

It involves passengers and crew from the super-rich to steerage class, from honeymoon couples to families with children.

Surprisingly, until the recent upsurge in interest caused by the anniversary of the sinking, it was historical novelists writing for children and young adults who capitalized most on the event.

They use the dramatic possibilities of the event to create suspense and adventures interwoven into compelling stories, as illustrated

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Titanic Tales

by Eve Bunting’s SOS Titanic (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1996) which paints a vivid picture of the class structure and human tragedy through the eyes of Barry O’Neill, a 15-yearold passenger. More recent publications include Claudia Gray’s Fateful (HarperTeen, 2011) whose main character is 17-yearold Tess Davies, a ladies’ maid. Suzanne Weyn’s Distant Waves (Scholastic Press, 2009) provides her reader with a strikingly different approach to the event. It mixes fact with time-travel and fascinating characters, such as the creator of an earthquake machine, whom Mimi and Jane, two of the protagonists, meet in Spirit Valley. The list of fiction written for children is of ‘titanic’ proportions and there are even stories for eight-yearold readers, as in the story of two children travelling third class, Survival: Titanic, April 14, 1912 (Aladdin Paperbacks, 1998), written by Kathleen Duey, author of over 80 children’s books.

Turning to the adult market, fictionalized accounts of the experiences of the real passengers have been transformed into novels and have frequently been used as a tool by historical writers to add authenticity to their stories. Walter Lord’s classic account, A Night to Remember (R&W Holt, 1955), details the sinking of the Titanic minute by minute, including striking descriptions of the icebergs from the point of view of the passengers. Lord was renowned for his knowledge about the event and based his book on the information and stories of the 63 Titanic survivors whom he managed to track down and interview.

Among the more recent historical novelists to draw inspiration from the event, Amanda Grange says that her interest started as a child, when she discovered a book about the ship in her local library. She writes: “I was attracted by the beauty of the liner and I was shocked to learn that such a huge vessel could sink. It was the first time I was really aware of the power of nature, and I think that is one of the reasons for the disaster’s continuing fascination

by Amanda Grange & Myfanwy Cook

Fictionalized accounts... of the experiences of the real passengers have been transformed into novels and have frequently been used as a tool by historical writers to add authenticity to their stories.

HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Features | 9

AMANDA GRANGE has had over 20 novels published, including six Jane Austen retellings which look at events from the heroes’ points of view. A longtime HNS member, she has always been fascinated by history. For more information, please see her website: www.amandagrange.com.

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ship sank, another that he was still in evening dress; one account said that the ship split before it sank, another that it sank in one piece. I began to realise that researching the disaster was not enough and that, as a novelist, I would sometimes have to choose between often very different eye-witness accounts. This taught me a very useful lesson about history, that there is very often no such thing as a fact.”

As well as portraying a detailed vision of the sinking and its aftermath, Grange wanted to portray the style of life on board before the ship hit the iceberg. “I brought to life the gymnasium and the swimming pool, the Turkish baths and the cafés, and I filled them with historically accurate details: the mechanical horse in the gym, the Crown Derby china in the restaurant and the Axminster carpet in the shade of Rose du Barry. I introduced the famous and infamous passengers: John Jacob Astor, one of the richest men in the world, whose fortune could not save him; Jacques Futrelle, the mystery writer; Henry B. Harris, the Broadway producer, and Dorothy Gibson, the actress, as well as the less reputable people, such as the professional gamblers who hoped to win a fortune from the wealthy passengers during the voyage. And I included the premonitions some of the passengers and crew experienced before the disaster.”

It is now a hundred years since the ship sank, but Grange is certain that “its fate will haunt us for a hundred years to come, inspiring films, TV series and novels.” Julian Fellowes’ four-part Titanic will air on television in April in the lead-up to the centenary. It takes a radically different stance to James Cameron’s film by recounting the disaster from the point-ofview of each class or deck, as well as “setting the record straight” about the ship’s first officer, who was vilified in the film. Without question the tragedy will remain a source of interest, mystery and inspiration for Titanoraks* and writers, because as Gill Paul points out, “How can life ever be the same again when you have heard 1,500 people dying in the water around you?”

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*http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9117551/ATitanic-drama-with-a-touch-of-Downton.html [accessed 15 March 2012 Sites and anniversary exhibition information: Belfast: http://www.nmni.com/titanic Liverpool: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/ exhibitions/titanic Halifax, Nova Scotia: http://museum.gov.ns.ca [click on “Collections: Titanic”] h t t p : / / w w w. e n c y c l o p e d i a - t i t a n i c a . o r g / d i s c u s / messages/5671/95849.html http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/titanic-books MYFANWY COOK is an HNR features editor. She lives near Plymouth, the port where 167 survivors of the crew of the Titanic disembarked; please see: http:// www.plymouth.gov.uk/millbay_docks_25-32.pdf

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for us: no matter how far we progress, it reminds us that nature can easily overpower us.” But the heroic stories of individuals rising above the most extreme adversity are inspiring: “the band who continued to play as the ship sank, so that some semblance of calm would delay the inevitable panic; the captain who did everything in his power for his passengers before going down with his ship.” The fate of the Titanic led Grange to write a novel about the sinking: Titanic Affair (first published in hardback by Severn House in 2004 and now available as an ebook).

Other novels about the event are also packed with suspense and adventure, but many of them have a highly romantic slant, as in The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott (Doubleday, 2012), which takes the reader beyond the event and into the court room battles for accountability and the media frenzy that followed in the wake of the disaster. Another recently published novel is Cathy Gohlke’s Promise Me This (Tyndale, 2012), which tells the story of Michael Dunnagan’s promise to the woman he comes to love and spans the period from the sinking of the Titanic to the First World War. Titanic Ashes by Paul Butler (Flanker Press, Canada, 2011) is a work of literary historical fiction which is set in 1925, in a London restaurant where J. Bruce Ismay, former chairman of the White Star Line, is at dinner with his daughter. The novel is about revenge, untold truths and the consequences of the event when Ismay was evacuated into a lifeboat leaving his passengers to perish. Although The House of Velvet and Glass (Hyperion, 2012) by Katherine Howe is set Boston in 1915, it is the death of Sibyl Allston’s mother and sister on the Titanic that drives her to seek answers from the turn of a medium’s table. The quest for truth also drives Gill Paul’s novel, Women and Children First (Avon, 2012), weaving together the lives of a handsome young steward, an unhappy millionaire and an unmarried, pregnant English lady and following them thorough the turmoil of the sinking, the tragic decisions and the aftermath of the event. Paul’s novel dovetails perfectly with her work of non-fiction, Titanic Love Stories (Ivy Press, 2011), which is romantic, but far from sentimental. It introduces the reader to nine first-class newly or nearly newly-wed couples and to honeymoon couples from the second-class and third-class decks, not all of whom survived.

The search for accuracy is something shared by Amanda Grange. Although her novel is a historical romance, she highlights her intention “to make sure that all the historical details were absolutely accurate. I researched the event thoroughly from contemporary documents, including newspaper articles of the time and, most importantly, survivors’ accounts.” But differences in the accounts soon emerged, “even in the facts: one account said that Bruce Ismay, the chairman of the White Star line who was on board at the time, was wearing his pyjamas when the

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an interview with Lisa See

“J ust remember, a person is his — or her — history…

What is your history and what are you going to be?”

—Shanghai Girls

Few of us dare to consider our lives this way. Does this also change our perception about the elements of a historical novel? I recently put this question to Lisa See, the author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, On Gold Mountain, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, and Dreams of Joy, as well as three Red Princess mysteries: Dragon Bones, Flower Net, and The Interior.

All have something to say about lost, forgotten, or deliberately disguised facts and reactions to historical characters and events. These include the secret writings of Chinese women, lovesick marriages haunted by the afterlife, the little known facts about the 1939 Sino-Japanese War in Shanghai, and the horrific, poignant reality of Mao Zedong’s “Great Leap Forward” from 1958 through 1961. Lisa See’s avid love of the world she has so meticulously researched and depicted with appealing potency is especially evident in Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy. DS: An ultimate puzzle about life is expressed in your novel, Shanghai Girls, when Pearl says, “I wonder if there was anything I would have done differently. I hope I would have done everything differently, except I know everything would have turned out the same. That’s the meaning of fate. ...You can’t fight your fate...It is predestined.” How do you reconcile this notion that fate will determine everyone’s destiny no matter what choices individuals and leaders throughout history make?

LS: I originally envisioned Shanghai Girls to go from 1937 to 2007. I had wanted to divide the book into four sections: Fate, Fortune, Destiny, and Nature (namely the interaction of human nature with fate, fortune, and destiny). I got about 100 pages into the novel and I was still in Shanghai, still in 1937. In the end, I divided Shanghai Girls into three sections: Fate, Fortune,

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Li vi ng Hi s t or y : C h o ic es & C o n s eq uences

and Destiny. Instead, all of Dreams of Joy is, to me, about human nature. When, how, and why does human nature push us to do things we wouldn’t ordinarily do? Can human nature overturn fate? Can fortune and destiny be shaped by our human natures?

I hope that Dreams of Joy shows that human nature is stronger and more reliable than fate, fortune, and destiny.

We are unique in having the ability to change our lives, even when it looks impossible, even when it appears that there’s no hope and we can’t surmount the obstacles that history throws at us. It is man — of all the creatures—who has the ability to choose to do the right thing, to live and die honorably, to look out for our families and loved ones right up to our final moments on earth.

I truly believe that history is something that happens to individual people. We may not understand that we are reacting to or being influenced by history, but we are. Yes, we have hindsight, but mostly we’re just experiencing life day by day. I once asked my father, when I was interviewing him for On Gold Mountain, whether he and the family felt racism against the Chinese when he was growing up. He said they didn’t think or talk about it very much.

What they had to do was get up in the morning, eat breakfast, go to school or work, come home, have dinner, go to bed.

In other words, they were living their lives, not thinking about history.

How much information should one use of history? I have to tell you that I put everything into my first draft. If I found an interesting historical tidbit, I want to use it! But I pull a lot of that stuff out when editing until I feel that I’ve reached a good balance. Less is always more!

DS: Your descriptions of scenery are exquisite as the reader follows the characters throughout China and America – from the deep contrasts of the beauty and ugliness of Shanghai in Shanghai Girls to Pearl’s comments about the drabness of China City, and in Dreams of Joy the recognition of how poorly Shanghai and the outer provinces of

by Deborah Schoeneman

When, how, and why... does

human nature push us to do things we wouldn’t ordinarily do?

Can human nature overturn fate? Can fortune and destiny be shaped by our human natures?

HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Features | 11

DS: When reading literature about a foreign country I frequently find myself considering our perceptions about another country: for example, the American perceptions about Communism and Pearl’s discovery that China was not “closed” until Nixon’s work. Pearl, May and Joy all have misconceptions. How does this affect history and therefore fiction, especially in Dreams of Joy? LS: Yes! This misconception is happening around us all the time and it goes in both directions. In my work, I’ve been looking at those contradictions — the fantasy and reality that we have about places, neighborhoods, peoples, and countries. I don’t have an answer for what is right. I’m just interested in how those things are colored and how we take them and accept them as fact. Your example of how Pearl and Joy look at the People’s Republic of China in 1957 is spot on. Pearl worries that when she arrives, she’ll be taken out and shot. Joy thinks she’s going to be embraced as a young woman who has come to China full of idealism for the new government. Neither is right in their assessment but neither is wrong either. They’re both on different paths and experience things differently. That said, by the end they both come to the same conclusion.

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DS: Could you explain Z.G’s interaction with Joy and later with May and Pearl in Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy? What does this say about how history affects the artist’s sensitivities and works?

LS: Z.G. is a typical Rabbit. He avoids conflict by hopping away from it. He does this politically, which has allowed him to continue to work as an artist in the new regime. He has also done this in his private life by not taking responsibility and not truly connecting to the people who love him: Pearl, May, and Joy. All the characters in my books make great emotional journeys, and Z.G. is no exception.

In Shanghai Girls, Z.G. is an artist who paints “beautiful girls” for commercial posters. In Dreams of Joy, the government has used him to help create the idea of a new, modern “beautiful girl.” She is no longer lounging in her boudoir in silk and satins; she is ruddy cheeked, rounder, and driving a tractor. This shift has allowed him to continue his work as an artist. In fact, when Dreams of Joy opens, he is in real trouble with the government for his work and his words. It’s only when he paints this new idealized version of a modern Chinese woman (who happens to be his own daughter) that he’s rehabilitated.

DS: Pearl has a very powerful realization about seeing herself as a victim, always afraid, and always longing to fly away. Yet she rationalizes why she stays with Sam and with her sister, despite their disputes and jealousy. Do you believe these characters found joy in spite of wanting to “fly away” from their normal lives?

LS: Hmm…Pearl does see herself as a victim. She doesn’t just recover from the rape and the other things that happen to her in the first book. One of the things that strikes me, as a reader of books and a viewer of movies and television, is how often really terrible things are resolved for characters. In real life people continue to suffer from the tragedies that have happened — sometimes for their entire lives! In the first book, Pearl is paralyzed by what’s happened to her. In the second, she is moved to action to save her daughter. It is through her moving and experiencing life again that she is finally (but not totally) able to come to terms with the things that have happened to her. To me, this is central to the novel. Both Pearl and Joy take their own very different journeys to “come of age.”

As to the second part of your question, originally I wanted to title the book Finding Joy. To me, the first half is about finding Joy, the daughter, while the second half is about finding joy, the emotion. In my heart, I believe that, by taking very different, sometimes unexpected, journeys, all the main characters find joy, the emotion, by the end of the novel. This is my first novel with a truly happy ending.

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Discover more about Lisa See at www.lisasee.com.

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China have fared since the War. How special are these descriptions because of your love for each place and how does a writer capture the essence of those special places in the historical scenes?

LS: I see the settings as characters. I try to find out everything I can about a place and I work with all the senses. I find that smell is especially evocative of a place.

Does it smell like incense, tea, coal smoke, roast duck, mildew, sewage, or some combination of those things? Smell is the strongest of the senses and the one most locked to our primitive selves. In my own life, I can pick up a whiff of something and be totally transported to another place and time.

With Dreams of Joy, I needed to find a house for Z.G. in Shanghai that would look Western but still have Chinese influences. I found it on a little walk street when I was exploring the French Concession one day. The villa, where Z.G. and Joy stay in the fictional village of Green Dragon, is modeled on a 17th-century villa in Huangcun Village in Anwei province.

Anyone can write about how cold a room might be if it doesn’t have glass pane windows, but it’s quite different to actually stay in an old house without windows on a very cold night.

DEBORAH SCHOENEMAN is a retired English teacher and now works in the legal field.

She reviews books and is an Associate Editor of Fiction for the HNS.

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or, how a minor German princess became Catherine the Great

atherine the Great is a towering historical figure in any C terms: an empress who seized the throne, took lovers and invaded territories. Only now she has also become the subject of a historical novel, The Winter Palace (Bantam/Doubleday, 2012), a best-selling tour de force from Eva Stachniak. The Polishborn Canadian’s latest novel tells the story, through the eyes of Varvara, a Polish girl recruited as a spy at the Russian court, of how a minor German princess became Tsarina Catherine the Great of all the Russias. Stachniak’s own experiences as an outsider clearly resonate in her portrayal of both the young girls, whom we see adapting to very different circumstances. “I can only suggest that no one has written about her because perhaps it needed a writer familiar with both the Eastern and Western cultural traditions?” says Stachniak. “Perhaps my Polish and Canadian experience allowed me to approach her from both a personal and historical perspective? When Varvara and Catherine meet they are both very young.

As foreigners, they both have to re-define themselves, re-write their lives. All they know is that they are both threatened and that their friendship can save them. And I needed an outsider’s point of view, because I know from my own experience that outsiders make for excellent observers.”

The author’s own experience brings intensity to a novel that straddles east and west, portraying the multicultural tapestry that was Eastern Europe. Her interest in exploring identity adds a fascinating dimension to an already grand theatre of history, with echoes of the theme of her debut novel, Necessary Lies.

Winner of the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award in 2000, that novel tells of a Polish immigrant to Canada who returns to Wrocław (previously German Breslau) and is forced to re-examine her own identity. However, Stachniak also uses her exploration of identity to examine womanhood and female friendship, Russia’s relationship with the West and its role in the East, and the mechanics and politics of power.

Still fascinated with Catherine, Stachniak has no illusions

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THE SPY WHO WENT OUT INTO THE COLD about her character and actions, having delved deep into her correspondence, diaries and available biographies. Her research also took her to St. Petersburg, the Peterhof, and Tsarskoye Selo, which are evoked colourfully in the novel. As she says, “On one hand this is a story of a powerful woman, who had to find her own way in a largely misogynous world. On the other, it is a story of a usurper who, in her quest for absolute power, manipulated her friends and condoned her husband’s murder. A reformer and a conservative; a passionate woman and a cool politician who knew how to win – and an immigrant to Russia who had to reinvent herself in order to win her new country to her ways of thinking.

What a treat for a writer!”

For Stachniak, history has always been a passion, and she admits to it being “a treasure trove of stories from which I take freely”. She counts Hilary Mantel, Penelope Fitzgerald and Kate Grenville among her influences, citing Fitzgerald’s The Beginning of Spring as her all-time favourite for its portrayal of Russia on the cusp of the October Revolution.

“It is written with such mastery and understanding of Russia,” she says, “I reread it every time I want to remind myself of what attracts me the most in historical fiction.” Stachniak is busy at work in Toronto finishing The Empire of the Night, which will examine what absolute power can do to a woman’s soul, as it tells of the older Catherine, facing death and the destruction of her political legacy.

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For more information, please find Stachniak online at www.evastachniak.com | @EvaStachniak Dr Wanda Wyporska lives in London with writer Daniel Woodley and son Arkady. She is finishing Witchcraft in Poland 1500-1800 and starting an historical trilogy.

Find her online @WandaWyporska

by Wanda Wyporska

I NEEDED... an outsider’s point of view, because I know from my own experience that outsiders make for excellent observers.

HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Features | 13

Hilary Mantel on her new novel, Bring Up the Bodies

“T he border between truth and lies is permeable and blurred because it is planted thick with rumour”: Lucinda Byatt talks to Hilary Mantel.

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PLANTED THICK WITH RUMOUR

‘bring up the bodies’ of the accused for trial; they are living bodies but their death hangs over them.” Mantel says that she has been captivated by “the profound and quite swift alteration in belief ” that resulted from the changing notion of purgatory during the Reformation.“One of the great questions of the 1530s was just this: where are the dead, where have they gone? As the decade moved on, the dead receded further. Chantries, set up to pray for souls in perpetuity, would soon be closed. Courtiers and clerics no longer knew whether those prayers were any use.

Nor did they know whether they could secure their own future place in heaven by any human effort.” She agrees that “we find it difficult not to project modern cynicism backwards. Thomas Cromwell is usually taken to be an amoral man whose religious convictions were assumed for political advantage. But there is plenty of evidence that he was sincere in his evangelical beliefs, and certainly he stuck by them when they were of no practical use to him at all.”

Mantel’s passion and her delight in this period infuse every page. “This whole project,” she says, “the two novels finished and the one to come, has given me the greatest pleasure of my writing life, and the greatest challenge. I have also felt myself drawn forward by curiosity as to what I might write on the next page.” However, she admits to feeling that her knowledge of the Tudors is “shallow” compared to her research for A Place of Greater Safety (Viking, 1992).

“Feeling unready, I hesitated for a long time, many years, before beginning Wolf Hall. But by the end of the first page, I knew that it was the story I was meant to write, that it was these people who should fill my horizon for the next few years and command all the resources of my imagination.” That imagination, coupled with her dazzling talent and her insight into human nature, has produced another masterpiece.

Bring up the Bodies (Fourth Estate/Holt, 2012) is Hilary Mantel’s second novel in what will now be a trilogy on Thomas Cromwell’s life. What prompted her decision to focus on the historically controversial event of Anne Boleyn’s fall, rather than continuing to the climax of Cromwell’s career? “As I wrote the weeks leading up to the fall of the Boleyns,” she says, “I became aware of the ferocious power of the story, and its layers, its complexity. I didn’t want to rush or curtail the reader’s experience of it. I felt that the narrative of Anne’s fall, though so often rehearsed, still held its mysteries and that they were worth exploring; they compelled attention.”

As in Wolf Hall (Fourth Estate/Holt, 2009), Mantel’s absorbing narration reveals a man who is unexpectedly appealing, cultured, humorous. Anne’s destruction allows Mantel to question the notion of truth: how can this consummate, often radical statesman negotiate a “truth [he] can use”, a truth to satisfy Henry VIII, keep France and Spain at bay, but also one that will secure his own career? Mantel admits her version may throw “more blame on Lady Rochford than perhaps she deserves ... Jane Rochford is one of those characters we are compelled to read backwards. We know that she played a reckless, possibly malicious part in the destruction of Henry’s fifth queen, Katherine Howard, who was very young and inexperienced.

In the light of this, it’s hard to see her as other than wicked or unstable.” That said, the scholar Julia Fox (Jane Boleyn: the infamous Lady Rochford; Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007) exonerates her and gives a different reading of events. Above all, however, Mantel tries “to show how difficult it is to get at the truth once fear becomes pervasive within a group of people.”

Lucinda Byatt is Features Coordinator, when not teaching The title of the book “comes from the formal instruction to history and translating from Italian. www.lucindabyatt.com

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by Lucinda Byatt

How can... this consummate, often radical statesman negotiate a “truth he can use,” a truth to satisfy Henry VIII, keep France and Spain at bay, but also one that will secure his own career?

14 | Features | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

an interview with Susan Higginbotham

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Perseverence & Quiet Courage

C: What motivated you to become interested in the history of M fourteenth- and fifteenth-century England?

I think we owe it to those who can’t speak for themselves to treat them fairly. There are always going to be villains and heroes in SH: I had long had a mild interest in medieval history, particu- novels, of course, but one shouldn’t turn a mere womanizer into larly the Wars of the Roses, since reading Shakespeare’s history a rapist, for instance, without having a solid historical basis for plays, but I didn’t start to do serious research until a few years doing so. ago when I happened to re-read Marlowe’s Edward the Second [published 1594]. For some reason, the historical background MC: What inspired you to write your fifth novel Her Highness, to the play intrigued me, and I started reading everything about the Traitor, which will be published in June 2012?

Edward II’s reign that I could. Gradually, SH: I read Leanda de Lisle’s The Sisters this led me forward into the Wars of the Who Would Be Queen (HarperCollins, Roses and Tudor England.

2008), and I was shocked to realize how little truth there was in the traditional repMC: How do you select your main characters resentation of Frances Grey. I thought that and why? it would be intriguing to tell the story of SH: I look for someone whose story inthe events surrounding Jane Grey’s brief trigues me and to whose tale I can bring reign from Frances’s point of view. Early in a fresh perspective. I’m particularly drawn the research, however, I came across some to strong women — not “kick-ass” charwritings of Guildford Dudley’s mother, acters, but women with quiet courage: the Jane Dudley, and they moved me so much I women who can persevere when the odds had to include her in the novel too. are against them, like Margaret of Anjou in The Queen of Last Hopes, or who can reMC: Are you already writing your next novel build their lives in the face of tragedy, like and if so what is the theme?

Frances Grey and Jane Dudley in Her HighSH: It’s about Margaret Douglas, Countness the Traitor. ess of Lennox, grandmother to James VI and I. I’m in the early stage of writing, and MC: Have you a favourite character that you am still getting to know Margaret — it haven’t written about yet? usually takes me a few chapters to do so.

SH: I would love to write about Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII’s mother. She’s often reduced to a caricature by historical novel- MC: Did winning an Independent Publisher book award have a ists, and she deserves so much better. She took a stand against great impact on your confidence as a historical novelist?

Richard III at the risk of her own life and triumphed to see her SH: It certainly helped! But I don’t think a novelist ever ceasson and her grandson on the throne of England. es to worry about how her next novel is going to be received. I wouldn’t want to read a novel by someone who doesn’t worry MC: How important is historical accuracy in your writing? about this, as a matter of fact.

SH: It is very important, though of course I’ve made my share of blunders. I feel very strongly that a novelist should remain For further details on Her Highness the Traitor (Sourcebooks, 2012), please true to the known facts and shouldn’t smear a historical charac- visit www.susanhigginbotham.com. ter’s reputation just for the sake of making a story juicier or for making a protagonist more sympathetic. Many readers get their Myfanwy Cook runs historical fiction writing workshops and is an HNR Feanotions about history solely from reading historical fiction, and tures Editor.

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by Myfanwy Cook

I feel very strongly...that a novelist should remain true to the known facts and shouldn’t smear a historical character’s reputation just for the sake of making a story juicier or for making a protagonist more sympathetic.

HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Features | 15

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an interview with Gabrielle Kimm

Gabrielle Kimm is passionate about her writing, her latest

book and her characters. In fact, you might imagine she was born to write historical fiction, so meticulous is her research and so obvious her passion for the genre. However, she had no genre in mind before she began her first novel, His Last Duchess.

The inspiration for that came from her work as an English teacher, studying Robert Browning’s poem with a class. The idea ‘exploded’, as Kimm puts it, and there was a story that just had to be told. The research followed the idea, and she simply did ‘what had to be done’.

Interestingly, Kimm sees herself as a chronicler of people’s stories rather than an historical writer. The Courtesan’s Lover followed naturally from His Last Duchess, and grew from the author’s involvement with the character of Francesca. It is this fascination with character that makes Kimm’s work so enjoyable, as her characters are vividly expressed, rounded and engaging.

She keeps the stories fast-paced too, never allowing interest to wane.

The era, the sixteenth century, was already set as The Courtesan’s Lover followed on from His Last Duchess, but a change of scene was required. The choice of Naples was fairly arbitrary: Francesca and her children had to be taken away from Alfonso and Ferrara, and Naples fitted the bill perfectly. Kimm describes it as an ‘ebullient, complicated, melting pot of a city’, a perfect backdrop for the troubled courtesan. Research also showed that Naples had a distinctive geography which is crucial to the events of the novel.

The Courtesan’s Lover is filled with engaging characters, but it is essentially Francesca who dominates the book and captures the imagination of the reader. Francesca is such a vibrant personality and so well understood by the author that it seemed pertinent to ask (although with no inference about her profession!) if Kimm felt any of her own personality had been transferred to the character at all. Her answer? ‘Of course there is something of me in her. There’s some of me in most of my characters (except,

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A Chronicler of People’s Stories hopefully, the odious Carlo from The Courtesan’s Lover!), but none of them is recognisably me — or anyone else. I’ve never yet created a recognisable portrait of someone I know — I’m not sure that I’d like to!’ She does, however, concede that Francesca is braver and more resilient than she might be, given the same circumstances.

Thus far we had discussed character, setting, plot, research methods and inspiration, but these are, of course, all popular questions. Was there, perhaps, a question that remained yet unasked? One that might reveal more about the author and her writing? What question would the author herself like to be asked?

‘That’s a hard one,’ she says. ‘Perhaps something I haven’t been asked before is what I actually get out of writing? I think the nearest answer I can find is this: I love the feeling that comes when I am writing, when I realise that I’m discovering truths about my book rather than just making them up. There comes a point when writing a novel when you become a channel for your own creativity — unexpected things happen in the plot, or characters do something you didn’t know they were going to do. That sense of the story’s independence from you is just so exciting. It makes struggling through the difficult days worthwhile.’ She then adds: ‘Does that make sense?’

It makes, of course, perfect sense. Kimm is a supremely natural writer and storyteller.

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Gabrielle Kimm’s latest novel, The Courtesan’s Lover, is published

by Little, Brown Book Group (Sphere, UK) and Sourcebooks (US). Her website is www.gabriellekimm.co.uk.

Joanna Simm is a freelance writer and copywriter, currently working in the south of France. She can be contacted via email at joannawsimm@hotmail.com.

by Joanna Simm

There Comes... a point when writing a novel when you become a channel for your own creativity — unexpected things happen in the plot, or characters do something you didn’t know they were going to do.

16 | Features | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

Reviews Due to an ever-increasing number of books being reviewed and space constraints within HNR, some reviews are now published as online exclusives. To view these reviews and much more, please visit http://www. historicalnovelsociety.org.

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biblical

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LOVE’S SACRED SONG Mesu Andrews, Revell, 2012, $14.99, pb, 448pp, 9780800734084 King David, renowned Israeli king, is lying on his deathbed, comforted by Abishag, the woman taken from the Northern Tribe of Shunem to be his bride but kept as a concubine, a fact proving to be the linchpin of division between the soonto-be King Solomon and the Northern Tribes of Israel. Solomon, however, proves to be a just king as he is blessed with the one thing he asked of the Lord God, wisdom. Afar in Shunem, Jehoshaphat is proving to be wise, with a plan to reunite the Tribes, with the gift of his daughter as a wife to the new king. The plot of this remarkable story concerns the integrity and wisdom displayed by Jehoshaphat, his daughter Arielah, and Solomon, with all of their own strengths, weaknesses and overall huge faith. They meet intense conflicts fostered by the plotters known as the Lions of Judah and the Daughters of Jerusalem, who will stop at nothing to acquire the crown of Israel.

Written after multiple readings of the Biblical Song of Solomon, this novel is a beautiful, dangerous, and romantically fictional portrayal of the world around this love of all loves.

Viviane Crystal CAIN Jose Saramago (trans. Margaret Jull Costa), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011, $24.00, hb, 159pp, 9780547419893 / Harvill Secker, 2011, £12.99, hb, 160pp, 9781846554469 This is the English edition of the last novel by Portuguese Nobel laureate Jose Saramago, who died in 2010. So while the author was dying, he was writing about a character who cannot die.

Cain, after killing his brother Abel, the world’s first murder, is condemned by God to wander the earth, with a mark on his forehead so no one can kill him.

He is forced to witness, as surely the author did, atrocity after atrocity as the sad world rolls on.

Accompanied by a personable donkey, Cain’s path jerks him backwards and forwards through time and space, from Abraham and Isaac to Sodom and Gomorrah. Just how, Cain begins to wonder, does God get away with condemning him, when the crimes on His head are so numerous, unjustified and no accident? Finally, when faced by the mass extinction of Noah’s Flood, Cain takes matters into Biblical — 1st Century

his own hands.

Critics comment favorably on uncapitalized proper names, long paragraphs, erratic punctuation as reflecting a search for identity and meaning.

Nobel Prize winners, like God, are allowed to play by their own rules in what is more parable than historical fiction.

Ann Chamberlin SARAI: A Novel Jill Eileen Smith, Revell, 2012, $14.99, pb, 320pp, 9780800734299 Biblical women make fascinating heroines.

They’re strong. Their stories are larger-than-life, epic adventures. But what makes these women particularly irresistible characters for historical fiction is that their personal lives are not very well fleshed out in the primary source. That leaves a lot of room for a novel to take off. Sarai, a Christian romance by Jill Eileen Smith, is a wonderful example of the genre. It follows Sarai, Abram’s beautiful and well-loved wife, from the early days of the marriage through their long years together.

Those aware of the Bible story know that Abram was commanded by God to leave the home of his father for a new land and promised that his heirs would make a great nation. Unfortunately, Sarai was barren. Their journey is fraught with peril, adventure, spiritual growth, and romance. Smith brings familiar episodes alive with rich detail and poignant emotion. However, immersing oneself in the culture and customs of 2051 BC can be a bit jarring when reading a romance – Sarai and Abram are half-brother and sister. It took a while to get past that before I could appreciate the development of their relationship as much as I did the rest of the plot.

Sue Asher

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classical

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THE SEVEN WONDERS Steven Saylor, Minotaur, 2012, $25.99, hb, 336pp, 9781466801967 / Constable, 2012, £14.99, hb, 288pp, 9781845295684 The twelve previous mystery novels in Steven Saylor’s bestselling Roma Sub Rosa series have made Gordianus the Finder one of the most popular sleuths of ancient Rome. Now Saylor offers a prequel to the series, featuring 18-yearold Gordianus on his spectacular coming-of-age voyage around the ancient world.

Accompanied by his tutor, the celebrated poet Antipater of Sidon, a fresh-faced and self-confident Gordianus sets out to visit the Seven Wonders of the World, from the Colossus of Rhodes to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. At each new location, Gordianus encounters a fresh mystery to hone his burgeoning detective skills. By the time he reaches the last Wonder, the young sleuth knows that he is meant to follow in his father’s footsteps

as a Finder – but in his newfound assurance of his abilities, he might just be missing the solution to a greater mystery that has been slowly drawing him in since the beginning of his journey.

Saylor’s mastery of ancient history makes each of his books a pleasure, but The Seven Wonders is a particularly indulgent tour of the Roman world – rife with spectacular set pieces – to be lapped up by devoted classics enthusiasts. Each chapter can be read as an individual unit, but the through line of the plot takes this book a step beyond a mere series of short stories. Seasoned Roma Sub Rosa fans and newcomers alike will be immediately engaged in this tightly crafted novel. While Gordianus’s new sexual liaisons at every stop along his journeys begin to border on the lurid, it’s all part of the classic boy’s coming-of-age tale, borrowing from the long traditions of setting out to prove oneself, see the world, and ultimately discover one’s fate.

Ann Pedtke

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1st century

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EMPRESS OF THE SEVEN HILLS (US) / EMPRESS OF ROME (UK) Kate Quinn, Berkley, 2012, $15.00, pb, 512pp, 9780425242025 / Headline Review, July 2012, £6.99, pb, 480pp, 9780755381050 Kate Quinn returns with a gripping sequel to her bestselling debut Mistress of Rome. After the assassination of Emperor Domitian, Thea and Arius have escaped the city and settled peacefully in Britannia – but Vix, their headstrong son, hasn’t lost the taste for action. Vix journeys back to Rome and finds Sabina, the senator’s daughter who gave him his first childhood kiss, grown into an intelligent and alluring woman. The two begin a passionate affair, but they both know that a future is impossible between a patrician and a plebian. Sabina has many wealthier suitors, including the gentle intellectual Titus Aurelius, and the cunning and ambitious soldier Hadrian.

While Vix fantasizes about military glory, Sabina has her sights set on escaping Rome and seeing the world, and her only means to achieve this goal is a strategic marriage. But in choosing ambition over love, Sabina makes choices with unexpected consequences – consequences she must live with for the rest of her life.

As Vix and Sabina pursue their respective ambitions – their paths sometimes converging, sometimes diverging – each makes powerful friends and powerful enemies. While their story is essentially a romance, the backdrop of weighty historical events and fully drawn characters allows this novel to bridge genres. No villain – from the cool and calculating Hadrian to the grasping Empress Plotina – is without a human element, and no hero is without failings. While Quinn tells an affecting love story, she doesn’t allow fairytale idealism to overpower the confines of historical HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 17

reality. Vix and Sabina must each live with the choices they make. After this book’s somewhat unsettling conclusion, the scene is set for another novel to continue the stories of these complex and engaging characters.

Ann Pedtke

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5th century

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DEATH OF AN EMPIRE M.K. Hume, Headline, 2012, £19.99, hb, 533pp, 9780755371464 This is the second instalment in M.K. Hume’s Merlin Trilogy. Keen to uncover his father’s identity, but also driven by the need to further develop his healing skills and knowledge, 19-yearold Myrddion Emrys, with a group of companions, leaves Britain and travels across France and Italy to Constantinople.. The young healer makes powerful enemies on the way as he becomes involved in a fight for survival, threatened not only by Attila’s hordes, but also the deadly politics of the dying monolith Rome which is disintegrating under the weight of corruption and decadence.

This is an original and gripping story about the young Merlin before he becomes advisor to Arthur.

The author portrays Myrddion/Merlin as a healer with an uncontrollable ability to see the future. Fast paced and well written the author brings alive the death throes of a corrupt Rome. The action scenes are well written and exciting, while the characters are vibrant and totally convincing. I can’t wait for the next book. Recommended.

Mike Ashworth AZAZEEL Youssef Ziedan, Atlantic, 2012, £15.99, hb, 312pp, 9781848874275 Set in the 5th century AD, these are the memoirs of Hypa, a Coptic monk. His journey begins when his mother betrays his father, who is killed, and then marries another man. Unable to forgive his mother he travels from Upper Egypt to Alexandria, and then on to Syria looking for spiritual enlightenment, as well as seeking to develop his skills as a physician. Slightly naïve, with an ambivalent attitude towards women he finds himself unwillingly involved in the dangerous politics of the early Christian church, where corrupt powerful Bishops crush any opposition, whether pagan or Christian, to their interpretation of the Gospels.

Winner of the 2009 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, Youssef Ziedan has written a remarkable book, which looks at how one man’s beliefs are challenged, not only by the devil (Azazeel), but also the corruption endemic within the early Church. Written in the first person, the author’s voice is strong, dynamic and, through Hypa, forces the reader to examine their own beliefs, while bringing alive what has been a relatively neglected period of history. Recommended.

Mike Ashworth

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10th century

18 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

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THE BONE THIEF V M Whitworth, Ebury, 2012, £19.99, hb, 440pp, 978009194721 Anglo-Saxon England, 900 AD: Athelfled, the late King Alfred’s daughter, is married to the ailing Lord of Mercia, and she wants to keep the kingdom separate from acquisitive Wessex. But her brother King Edward clearly has other ideas. So Athelfled sends her faithful cleric Wulfgar to find the bones of St Oswald which are languishing in the Vikingheld Danelaw to the east of England. Athelfled wants to found a new church with the holy relics and unite the people of Mercia. Decidedly unheroic Wulfgar sets off on his perilous quest to eastern England, accumulating a small band of companions as he goes. Can Wulfgar and his friends find the bones and not lose their lives in the process?

The depth of the author’s research shows but isn’t heavy-handed. The exploration of AngloSaxon and Viking mind-sets, believable settings and a plausible story all help to give the story a very authentic feel: farmers don’t care who is king as long as they can till their fields in peace, there are myriad political machinations, violence is sudden and casual, and loyalties can easily shift. This book covers the cusp of Anglo-Saxon and Viking England. It’s a complex period, but the author surefootedly manages to tell a compelling and exciting tale in her debut novel. Highly recommended.

S Garside-Neville

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11th century

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THE NEEDLE IN THE BLOOD Sarah Bower, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2012, $14.99, pb, 544pp, 9781402265914 / Snowbooks,

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THE STOLEN BRIDE

2007, £7.99, pb. 575pp, 9781905005390 The Norman Conquest of England was one of the pivotal events of the Middle Ages. In 1066, William the Conqueror and his brother, Bishop Odo, defeated King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings. England was brought under Norman rule. The story was commemorated in the phenomenal Bayeux Tapestry. Sarah Bower uses the embroidery (and the embroiderers) as the focal point for her passionate account of the conquest, The Needle in the Blood.

The novel primarily follows the fortunes of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent, younger brother of William the Conqueror. Ruled by ambition, he is the driving force behind the invasion of England. Seeking a permanent way to document the grandeur of the event for the masses, he commissions the embroidery, asking his sister, a nun with secrets of her own, to oversee the work.

One of the women she brings into her atelier is Gytha. A skilled embroiderer, Gytha was a lady’s maid to King Harold’s mistress. She was at the lady’s side when she was forced to identify the mutilated corpse of the king on the battlefield.

Later, Gytha watched as the king’s capital city was invaded, its people killed, its women raped.

Naturally, Gytha hates the Normans, Odo most of all. She agreed to work on the embroidery for the chance to see him again, intending to kill him.

However, when they do meet, fire erupts between them. They begin an affair with far-reaching consequences. Odo’s ambition has earned him enemies and his king’s jealous requirements clash with Odo’s need to be with Gytha.

Although the focus of the book shifts largely to the bedroom, it also addresses the larger problems facing a society undergoing so huge a transition.

Given the fascinating historical setting, I couldn’t help but be immersed in the read.

Sue Asher

E D I TORS’ C H OICE

Tony Hays, Forge, 2012, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 352pp, 9780765326294 When Malgwyn accompanies King Arthur to help settle a dispute in Doged’s troubled lands, they arrive to find more than ambitious nobles and Saxons vying for the throne. If Arthur wants to keep Doged’s land in the fold, and the gold that might be found in its mines, then they must find some way to keep the peace. But when Doged is murdered, his young wife demands answers. Arthur turns to Malgwyn, his most trusted counselor and the man most experienced in such matters, but Malgwyn soon discovers that not only his life, but the future of the kingdom, will be lost should he not find the true murderer.

The Stolen Bride is the fourth book in Tony Hays’ Arthurian Mysteries. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each one. The previous three novels are fantastic, though they aren’t necessary to enjoy this fourth installment.

Hays has done a tremendous amount of research to breathe new life into this era, where Rome has retreated and the Britons are left to fill the power vacuum and fight off the Saxon invasion. Malgwyn, for all his flaws, is brilliantly written, as are Arthur, Merlin, Bedevere, Guenevere, and all the rest.

Highly recommended.

Justin M. Lindsay 5th Century — 11th Century

ALMODIS, THE PEACEWEAVER Tracey Warr, Impress, 2011, £6.99, pb, 345pp, 9781907605055 11th-century Occitania is a collection of counties and walled cities ruled by families continually fighting and marrying among themselves to increase their lands and authority. Women and children are the pawns in these battles for political power. Almodis de la Marche is such a pawn, married to Hugh of Lusignan to bring peace between her family and his. A pious man, Hugh prefers a chaste life, so after Almodis has produced the essential three sons she is repudiated by Hugh, whom she loves, and married to the vile Pons of Toulouse. Ambitious and intelligent, she brings efficient government to the corrupt city as well as giving Pons his necessary sons but he, suspicious of her talents and eager for a fresh bride, attempts to confine her in a nunnery. Almodis manages to escape, but where will she be safe in the twisted, violent politics of Occitania?

The early chapters are hard going. A lot of information and history is thrown at the reader (although genealogy tables do help) but perseverance pays off. The story is told alternatively

by Almodis and her maid, Bernadette, and this gives us a clever perspective on the action and on Almodis herself. Almodis was a real person and quite a woman: three husbands, twelve children, literate, politically astute and powerful at a time when a wife could be burned at the stake for adultery. Wisely, Warr portrays such a formidable character as admirable but vulnerable and yet not always sympathetic or likeable. She brings this relatively unknown period of French history vividly to life through the eyes of her fascinating heroine, a woman whose story should be better known. Recommended.

Lynn Guest

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12th century

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THE COPPER SIGN Katia Fox (trans.

Lee Chadeayne), AmazonCrossing, 2012, $14.95, pb, 646pp, 9781611090345 When Ellen is forced to flee home, she must pretend to be a boy to pursue her life’s passion: to become a sword-smith. Her natural daring and tenacity bring her through innumerable obstacles and betrayal, and into the shop of a renowned blacksmith. Through her travels, both in England and on the Continent, she masters her trade and becomes acquainted with court life, complete with its high-living, politics, and intrigue. It is in court that she meets her love—and her mortal enemy.

The Copper Sign, set in the 12th century, has all the makings of an epic novel (including its length).

It is rich in detail. The marketplaces, castles, and countryside are fleshed out and feel real. Fox has certainly done her research. Nowhere is this better shown than in her detailed description of swordsmithing, gold-smithing, and scabbard-making. By the end you’ll feel as though you might be able to make a sword yourself.

I struggled with some aspects of this book, including the stilted dialogue. It is a debut novel, 12th Century — 14th Century

and it shows in its earnestness and lack of subtlety.

Fox leaves nothing to the reader’s imagination, including graphic sex and rape scenes, one only ten pages in. She explains every twist and turn and development, which left me frustrated and often rolling my eyes. Anachronistic phrases such as ‘heartthrob’ and ‘turned him on’ threatened to kick me out of the novel. The antagonist keeps reappearing in chances of fate that defy credulity, and the supposed love interest, William, is deplorable.

Nevertheless, I’ll peek at the sequel, The Silver Falcon, in the hopes that Fox will have come to trust the reader and avail herself of a strict editor.

Justin M. Lindsay

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13th century

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FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS Sherry Jones, Gallery, 2012, $15.99, pb, 416pp, 9781451633245 The four beautiful sisters of Provence grew up in a household where daughters were educated like sons and expected to put loyalty to family first.

Spanning five decades, this compelling medieval saga intertwines the sisters’ lives through happiness and sorrow.

Marguerite, Queen of France, marries the religiously fanatical Louis, who allows his mother to reign in his stead. Enduring an overbearing mother-in-law, spending years outside France on crusade and never possessing lands in her own right, Marguerite nevertheless remains strong and determined, fighting for her dowry.

Eleonore, Queen of England, finds a pleasant match early on with the fair but weak Henry III. With the barons on one side, and the queen’s foreign relations on the other, the king finds himself thwarted at every turn and unable to expand his kingdom or take back the lands lost by his father.

Sanchia, Queen of Germany, the most beautiful and extremely shy, had hopes of joining a convent—but family comes first. Married to the wealthiest man in England, who was later elected King of Germany, Sanchia never quite finds in her earthly husband what she desires from life.

Beatrice, Queen of Sicily, is the youngest and least understood of the sisters. Pampered by her father, she revels in her power over Provence and flaunts her ruthlessly selfish husband. She does possess the obligatory loyalty to family each of the sisters holds dear but is never able to reveal her heart because of the animosity among her family.

Featuring a host of characters, each with a convincing personality, is not an easy feat with so many to introduce. Though the story sometimes jumps years ahead, the chapters clearly label character, place, year and age, and the family trees are useful with the plethora of progeny.

Arleigh Johnson INSURRECTION Robyn Young, Hodder, 2011, £7.99, pb, 655pp, 9780340963661 Insurrection is the first part in Robyn Young’s trilogy about Robert the Bruce. The death of Alexander III of Scotland sets the scene for this

historical adventure. As Alexander left no heirs, the challengers to the vacant throne scramble forward; chief amongst them the Lord of Annandale, Robert the Bruce’s paternal grandfather, and John Balliol, supported by the Bruces’ enemies, the Comyns.

In this first part, we accompany Robert through his early years from the point when his grandfather makes his case but loses to Balliol, King Edward I’s choice (Edward, king of England, is overlord of Scotland). Disappointment doesn’t deter the Bruces from striving for a genial relationship with Edward in the hope of future support. When Robert is sent to Edward’s court, he joins a select group of young men from noble families keen to earn their spurs. Robert’s reputation as a capable fighting man grows as he makes both friends and enemies, but the group also leads him in actions he later regrets.

When the Scots finally begin to fight Edward’s heavy-handed approach to their kingdom in earnest, Robert is forced to make a choice that determines his future. But with extensive family property on both sides of the border, where does his loyalty really lie?

Like Young’s other historical novels, Insurrection is meticulously researched. The real historical incidents in Bruce’s life are cleverly interspersed with fictional events, Celtic mysticism and gory battles. Insurrection is full of action, but at times relies too much on explaining actual history to maintain the fast pace I expected.

An in-depth attempt at summing up Robert the Bruce’s early years, Insurrection is a treat for any fans of the Scottish Wars of Independence. I’m looking forward to the second installment.

Stephanie Patterson

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14th century

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THE MYSTERIUM: A Hugh Corbett Mystery P.C. Doherty, Minotaur, 2012, $25.99, hb, 320pp, 9780312678197 The 17th entry in the Sir Hugh Corbett medieval mysteries opens with a “locked cell” murder of a much-hated, highly placed judge who conveniently chose a life of penance and renunciation when his crimes were found out—but he couldn’t hide away from the Grim Reaper.

Hugh is busy fighting insurrection and riots in the streets of London, King Edward is grumpy and devious as usual, but unraveling what turns out to be a series of brutal murders takes all of Hugh’s insight, intuition and just plain grit. The title is taken from the name of a serial killer who everyone thought had vanished years before—but it appears that he’s back, flaunting his signature killing method that is striking fear into every on-the-take official and all the royal minions in London.

Doherty effortlessly presents the world of the early 14th century and engages the reader right from the start in the smells, sights and terrors of the dark and slimy alleys of the London criminal underworld—but he also lifts our spirits with Sir Hugh’s true devotion to the sacred mysteries of the Church at its reverential and spiritual best, despite the corruption and temptation knocking at every door.

Mary F. Burns HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 19

TRUE HIGHLAND SPIRIT Amanda Forester, Sourcebooks, 2012, $6.99/£4.99, pb, 416pp, 9781402253072 A sealed missive orders Morrigan McNab’s brother to kill the bishop. In his absence, the task falls to her. If she fails, her impoverished clan will suffer. Although she longs to be a lady, her sins are many and no one wants to wed a woman who wears male attire and skillfully wields a crossbow or sword. Except perhaps the French minstrel she robbed then kissed. The same man who stops her from murdering the bishop.

Jacques Dragonet isn’t really a minstrel, but a Hospitaller knight who seeks a priceless relic that the Templars brought to Scotland. Unbeknownst to him, Morrigan also seeks the treasure. As each follows a different path to gain it, their lives become intertwined. But two corrupt, powerful men also want the relic and they will stop at nothing to attain it.

Forester’s characters draw you into the story, and her skillful storytelling anchors you in medieval Scotland. She deftly combines Edward III’s invasion with legends of Templar treasure and holy relics of great significance to spin an enchanting tale of greed, love, and redemption that will make you sigh and wish “if only.”

Cindy Vallar UNHALLOWED GROUND Mel Starr, Monarch, 2012, $14.99, pb, 240pp, 9780857210586 Mel Starr has now written a fourth installment of his chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, a surgeon in the town of Brampton, England, in 1366. This story opens with the requisite murder of every murder mystery, but in this instance the killing is a done deal. No blood and gore. Not even a scream of terror in the night. Master Hugh is summoned to inspect what at first appears is a suicide. But he isn’t convinced this is so. After all, the deceased, Thomas atte Bridge is a scoundrel who had many enemies and was the least likely man to do away with himself. The problem is, if this wasn’t a suicide, there’s a very good chance the killer is one of Hugh’s dear friends in the village, and he’s not keen on hauling any of them to the gallows for dispensing the nasty atte Bridge.

It’s not hysteria and graphic forensic detail that are Starr’s tools. Instead, he composes an intelligent and cozy mystery that involves Hugh as a reluctant investigator. And it’s the charm of the scenes, blending with the well-researched historical details that make this novel so very appealing and therefore readable.

Kathryn Johnson THE FOREST LAIRD (US) / REBEL: The Bravehearts Chronicles (UK) Jack Whyte, Forge, 2012, $25.99, hb, 512pp, 9780765331564 / Sphere, 2012, £6.99, pb, 464pp, 9780751548853 Being Scotch-Irish and fascinated with the history of Scotland, I was happy to have the opportunity to read and review Jack Whyte’s latest novel. The Forest Laird is a retrospective of the life of patriot William Wallace beginning with his death on August 24, 1305, and going back to his early boyhood. It is told in the first person by his cousin and closest friend, Father James Wallace, 20 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

who wishes to reveal the real William Wallace to those who have been taught only legend and myth.

After many years of relative peace, King Alexander dies and the leadership of Scotland is up for grabs. The magnates or powerful leaders of the land implore King Edward of England to step in and negotiate the choice of a new king.

Edward jumps at the opportunity to put into place his desire to take over this proud land. His gradual movement of English soldiery into the region begins to take a toll on the citizenry. When William can no longer face the injustice to his people, he takes action. With a handful of rebels, he moves to Selkirk Forest and undertakes forays into the towns to mete out his own justice. Soon his numbers grow, and dispossessed men and their families are living and thriving at his forest hideout.

Reminiscent of Robin Hood, William soon has a price on his head. When his growing family takes priority in his life, he vows to fight no more, but tragic events transform him from noble patriot to a merciless outlaw with no thought in mind but to wipe the Scottish landscape free of English occupation for all time.

The history of Scotland is tragic and intriguing, and this story of William Wallace is the same.

The balance of action, interesting characters, and history makes this an excellent read.

Susan Zabolotny

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THE QUEEN’S VOW: A Novel of Isabella of Castile C.W. Gortner, Ballantine, 2012, $26.00, hb, 400pp, 9780345523969 / Hodder, 2012, £12.99, pb, 416pp, 9781444720792 Bestselling author C.W. Gortner’s latest novel examines the life of Isabella of Castile, one of the most famous women in history. Fifteenth-century Spain is fraught with danger and is an unstable place, and Isabella seemed to be destined to a quiet life until a devastating turn of events thrust her into the spotlight.

After their father, the king, dies, Isabella and her younger brother, Alfonso, live with their mother away from court. Her half-brother, Enrique, ascends to the throne and proves to be an incompetent ruler. Isabella and her brother are taken from their mother and sent to court so that Enrique and his queen can supervise the siblings. Isabella is accused of treason and is taken captive by King Enrique. During the course of her confinement, she has very few people she can trust, but Isabella draws on her own inner strength. At the age of seventeen, she becomes heiress to the Kingdom of Castile. Isabella turns to the one person who has always been in her heart, her true love, Prince Fernando of Aragon. The two marry against the orders of King Enrique and therefore immediately place themselves in danger. The two face their tragedies and triumphs together as rulers as they strive to make Spain a better place.

Isabella is most often remembered as the queen who financed Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas, but in this vivid novel, Gortner reveals that she is much more than this. She is

an inspiring young woman who bravely faced the turmoil that surrounded her and managed to hold on to her crown. Her resolve and courage helped her face the numerous problems in her realm as she and Fernando began to unite Spain. Gortner has again produced a richly detailed book that is hard to put down.

Troy Reed THE HIGHLANDER’S PRIZE Mary Wine, Sourcebooks, 2012, $6.99/£4.99, pb, 352pp, 9781402264719 Clarissa of York, illegitimate daughter of Edward IV, is sent to Scotland as a gift for King James. But it wouldn’t be a Highland romance without a kidnapping, and this one comes in the form of Broen MacNicols, leading a team of clansmen fiercely against the idea of half-English royal sons. Though Clarissa didn’t want to be a concubine, she doesn’t exactly relish being a hostage – but to her surprise, Broen promises to ensure her safety and treats her with a respect she has rarely encountered. Neither can ignore the powerful attraction between them, but multiple enemies threaten their chances of enjoying it.

After reading the cover blurb I feared we were headed for rape-as-love territory, but thankfully this is not the case. Broen doesn’t need force to seduce, and Clarissa clearly expresses what she wants rather than fainting and falling onto it.

Their witty, spirited banter is lots of fun. The author knows her history, skillfully weaving the complicated politics of the time into her storyline.

Spelled-out accents distract me, though it seems mandatory for this genre; but that’s a personal quibble in an otherwise satisfying, sexy, and wellwritten romance.

Heather Domin

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EQUAL OF THE SUN Anita Amirrezvani, Scribner, 2012, $25, hb, 448pp, 9781451660463 Amirrezvani’s novel of 16th-century Iranian court politics centers on Princess Pari Khan Khanoom, favored daughter of the Shah, and her quest for power. When her father dies, Pari sees herself as his heir in all but name—as a woman, she cannot inherit the throne, but she is the most intelligent and politically savvy of all of the Shah’s children. The sexes are segregated, so Pari’s servant Javaher, a eunuch, is one of the few men able to pass between the worlds of women and men. Pari comes to rely on Javaher as her spy and her confidant.

When the cruelty of the Shah’s heir is revealed, Pari conspires to assassinate him—a move that, done well, would place someone friendlier to Pari’s cause on the throne. Though Pari and Javaher are successful, the new Shah is not friendly to Pari, and she finds herself fearing for her life.

As she did in her first novel, The Blood of Flowers, Amirrezvani illuminates the inner lives of women in a society where their roles are highly restricted.

Had she been born a man, Pari could have been one of the great shahs of Iran, but as a woman, she was relegated to “power behind the throne” 14th Century — 16th Century

roles. Equal of the Sun is a fine political novel, full of rich detail and intrigue, but it’s also a thoughtprovoking study of the intersection between gender and power.

Nanette Donohue THE KNOT Jane Borodale, HarperPress, 2012, £14.99, hb, 431pp, 9780007313327 This is a perfect book for the green-fingered reader – and also for translators! Henry Lyte has made it his life’s work to translate an herbal by the Flemish botanist Rembert Dodoens. He is also inspired to create a new garden at the beautiful old Somerset manor house, Lytes Cary. Unlike his translation, however, the garden can never be “finished” and will always be a work in progress.

After the death of his first wife Anys, Henry falls in love with a London beauty, Frances.

She struggles to adapt to country life and feels threatened by the marshy landscape of the Levels.

The unexplained circumstances of Henry’s first wife’s death and the unsettling presence of blind Widow Hodges create tension from the outset of the novel. This is exacerbated by the hostility shown by Henry’s father, which is compounded by the latter’s death and the persisting malevolence of his stepmother, Joan Young.

There are moments of desperation – but also real beauty in this story of how a man’s love for his family, his work and nature ultimately allows him to discover the peace and fulfilment embodied in the Knot at the heart of his garden. The various facets of Henry’s life are beautifully woven together with an exploration of deeper questions concerning religion and science – epitomised by Henry Lyte’s dangerously unorthodox belief in the existence of a universal spirit – and the nascent revolution in popular science, which is hastened by the publication of this and other herbals. Borodale excels for the detail of her research while telling an evocative story.

Lucinda Byatt QUEEN WITHOUT A CROWN: An Ursula Blanchard Mystery Fiona Buckley, Severn House (Crème de la Crime), 2011, $28.95/£18.99, hb, 240pp, 9781780290140 In this ninth installment in the series, Ursula, now happily remarried and living a quiet existence as Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting, seeks to remain as anonymous as possible. However, having been the queen’s spy has its definite disadvantages.

Ursula is universally known in the Court to be indispensable to the queen, independent and wise. Her counsel is sought out by a young man whose engagement to the sister of Ursula’s former ward has been ended by her family because, when he was a small boy, his father is believed to have poisoned a man. Although Ursula wants to see the young people happily married, her main motive for accepting the assignment is that the young man will pay her handsomely, thereby saving her ailing husband’s dearest homestead which is deeply in debt.

Along the way, Ursula naturally finds herself in the darkest danger, accompanied by her closest companions, as they together undertake to learn not merely the truth about the poisoner but about a rebellion brewing in the North against Elizabeth, 16th Century

Buckley has created another eminently readable and enjoyable book, peopled by lovingly created characters, both charming and not so, and with a plot that twists and turns. True to the time with its political and familial intrigues, this is a delightful book. Although I have not read all of the other eight installments, this is easily a stand-alone because the reader gets sucked in right away by Ursula’s brains, wit and charm.

Ilysa Magnus THE SECRET KEEPER Sandra Byrd, Howard, 2012, $14.99, pb, 320pp, 9781451663846 A connection to the Seymour family finds Juliana St. John in the household of Kateryn Parr, Lady Latimer. Juliana, as the daughter of one of Queen Jane Seymour’s ladies, expects to spend some time serving in a highborn lady’s household and later marry with the dowry left by her wealthy merchant father. Though she received little affection at home from her own mother, she quickly becomes attached to “Kate” and offers her complete love and loyalty to her twice-married but childless benefactress.

After Kate makes her third marriage to the King of England, the once-forward- thinking household becomes embroiled in religious strife, hiding dangerous books and secretly helping reformers.

The religious debate between the two sects is brought to the forefront, with the queen bent on turning the king’s mind on religious matters.

Tidbits of Kateryn Parr’s actual writing are strewn throughout, and all known accounts of her as queen are covered, though perhaps not in great detail— but enough to leave the story adequately abridged.

Thomas Seymour, for once, is not depicted as a total beast—but as Elizabeth aptly states: “A man of great wit, and little judgment.”

Juliana’s character as the main protagonist is both surprisingly fresh and perfectly presented.

There is much more to her than a lady’s maid, and finding out her secrets as the story unfolds is a great pleasure. Unlike many novels of this kind— which portray a fictional character in the lead— this one works very well. A female’s place in society is expanded upon, but not so much as to become monotonous and spoil the historical theme.

Arleigh Johnson TRAITOR Rory Clements, John Murray, 2012, £14.99, hb, 486pp, 9781848544307 This is the fourth in Clements’ John Shakespeare series. John is Will’s older brother and an ‘intelligencer’ in the Queen’s service. As usual Will makes a cameo appearance, giving minor support to his better-connected brother.

As in the earlier books John is asked to unravel one of the many conspiracies which swirl around the Tudor court and, as before, the plot is fiendishly complicated and quite improbable, not unlike some of the real conspiracies. Everybody (except John and Will) is brutal and unscrupulous and conditions are grossly unsanitary.

Clements uses a wider range of settings than in his earlier books and the scene shifts from a stately home in Lancashire to a vagabond band in Oxfordshire to a military campaign in Brittany, with a cast ranging from the Queen to some of the

‘sturdy vagabonds’ who featured in the Poor Law Acts. I found this the best book in the series.

My only hesitation is that John Shakespeare seems to have a modern sensibility in the Tudor Age, but this is perhaps the only way for the author to confront us with the nastiness of life in the late 16th century.

Edward James A SEARING WIND W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, Gallery, 2012, $26.00/C$29.99, hb, 496pp, 9781439153901 In 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto has spent several years exploring and conquering the native tribes of Florida. After a major battle at the town of Mabila, he has decided to move inland to search for gold and valuable treasures. Following them are Black Shell Man-Killer and Pearl Hand Chief-Killer; their mission is to stop this “monster” and his army from destroying their culture. The Kristianos enslaved their people, killed their fellow tribesmen, and stole or destroyed precious artifacts belonging to the tribes they conquered. They are now headed to the former home of Black Shell, a tribe called the Chicaza. Black Shell has been exiled from his tribe for being a coward, and does not know how he will be received by his family and tribe members.

This is the third book in the Contact: The Battle for America trilogy. The Gears are well known for their many novels about the early Native American experience. This series is a departure from the other books in their series. Anthropologists in their own right, they have a working knowledge of Native American cultures based on their extensive research and exploration. My only minor complaint is the 20-21st century dialog used by the authors, but I have read most of their novels, and they are all page-turning, gripping stories. I would recommend this series to those who enjoy reading about this time period and the Early American culture.

Jeff Westerhoff HER HIGHNESS, THE TRAITOR Susan Higginbotham, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2012, $14.99, pb, 315pp, 9781402265587 This is not the story of the nine-day Queen, Lady Jane Grey, but of her family, her husband Guildford Dudley’s family, and how they were affected by King Edward VI’s device for the succession. It is told from the points of view of Lady Jane Dudley and Lady Frances Grey, the mothers of the would-be ruling couple. Here the infamous Duke of Northumberland, John Dudley, becomes a devoted and attentive husband; he is a firm leader for England and peaceful about meeting his gruesome end. Lady Frances becomes not a mean, ambitious mother, but a woman who loved but could not relate to her intelligent teenage daughter, Jane.

The story begins with Henry VIII’s death and recaps all of the classic anecdotes from this time: Katherine Parr’s shocking remarriage and death, Lady Mary Tudor’s failed attempt to escape England and her imagined religious persecution, and the feud between Northumberland and Somerset, resulting in Somerset’s demise against the English population’s wishes – all leading up to Edward VI’s plans to make his Protestant cousin HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 21

Jane the queen of England. But it also provides the stories behind the stories, told from the fresh perspectives of the mothers involved.

Along with historical accuracy, a swift-moving plot and little family details that any mother would remember and treasure, such as Lady Dudley’s talking parrot and Lady Grey’s dismay at her daughter’s surprising lack of common sense, the novel includes characterizations at which this author excels. She takes the infamous villains of history and presents them as relatable human characters.

This book at times made me smile and then cry with the tragedy. I very much recommend it.

Cynthia McArthur THE QUEEN’S SECRET Victoria Lamb, Bantam, 2012, £12.99, hb, 351pp, 9780593067994 In 1575, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, drains his coffers to put on an Entertainment at Kenilworth Castle for Queen Elizabeth I during her Summer Progression. He has suspended time by stopping the gatehouse clock. Leicester knows this will be his last chance to persuade the Queen to make him her husband.

Sir Francis Walsingham accompanies the Court; as royal spymaster he fears an attempt will be made on her Majesty’s life. Also travelling is one of the chief spies, Goodluck, who discovers that his young ward Lucy Morgan, a Moorish singer, is with the court players.

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Leicester, meanwhile, although ambitious to be King, cannot resist the charms of Lettice Knollys, cousin to the Queen and wife of the Earl of Essex.

When whispers of their liaison spread through the court they do not fail to reach the ears of Elizabeth.

Jealous and enraged, she asks her songbird and new favourite Lucy Morgan to spy on the lovers.

The author Victoria Lamb has always dreamt of writing a series of novels about Shakespeare and his Dark Lady, and The Queen’s Secret is her debut.

Within these three weeks at Kenilworth there are Catholic plots to assassinate Elizabeth, romantic couplings, hunting, bear-baiting, fireworks and murder most foul. Will Shakespeare himself makes his first entrance as a boy of eleven, but somehow the story seems contrived. The period with its smells and sounds is well described, and the characters both real and imagined mostly blend together, but Lucy, around whom the book revolves, appears too sophisticated and knowing for her modest 17 years and station in life.

The explicit relationship between Elizabeth and Leicester depicted here would have served history better if the mystery surrounding it had been maintained.

Gwen Sly THE FLOWER READER Elizabeth Loupas, NAL, 2012, $15.00, pb, 448pp, 9780451235817 / Preface, 2012, £12.99, hb, 352pp, 9781848093713 The turbulent court of Mary Queen of Scots

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

THE BOOK OF MADNESS AND CURES

Regina O’Melveny, Little, Brown, 2012, $25.99/C$28.99, hb, 336pp, 9780316195836 That this is a book of madness is immediately obvious; Doctor Ernesto Mondini has become unhinged. His final letter arrives in Venice from an unknown location – he wants no more contact with humanity and he will not be coming home. His daughter Gabriella, a physician in her own right, sets out to find him. But she does not search Europe so much as she dissects it. Her travels peel away layers of cold flesh, showing a world that celebrates the first stirrings of modern science even as it sends witches to burn at the stake. En route Gabriella assembles her own notes for the project she shares with her father, a comprehensive “Book of Diseases.” In it she describes fantastic, almost whimsical maladies of the body and mind that are simultaneously unbelievable and vividly real.

La Dottore herself is a wonderful character, a 16thcentury woman through and through who just happens to be a highly skilled medical professional. She fits her intellect and passion to the rules of her time, hiding her true colors in a man’s doublet when she must and allowing herself to love only when it’s safe. She travels from one university town to another, collecting her father’s abandoned possessions and ever more dire tales from the men who knew him. Yet the complete picture of Ernesto Mondini’s “madness” is not one of despair; the “cure” is, of course, the journey. In the end I’m not sure it actually matters whether Gabriella finds her father or not.

This book is rich in historical flavor, and the language is gorgeous throughout. Each minor character is a fully developed picture of 16th-century life, with all its ignorance and beautiful hope. As for Gabriella, I’d follow her across any other continent she cares to dissect.

Richard Bourgeois 22 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

is the backdrop of The Flower Reader, which tells the tale of Marina Leslie of Granmuir and her struggle for survival in Reformation Scotland. Of mixed French and Scots descent, “Rinette,” as she is called, possesses a clairvoyant gift which is stirred by the presence of flowers. Nevertheless, having the knowledge of future events does not prevent her from being almost continuously in trouble.

A distant relative and protégée of Marie de Guise, Rinette is entrusted by Marie with a silver casket of Nostradamus’ prophecies which must be delivered to no one but young Queen Mary.

While determined to fulfill her promise to the late Queen, Rinette is also intent upon marrying young Alexander Gordon, whom she not only loves but who will help her to keep her lands out of the hands of more powerful nobles. When Alexander is killed by a mysterious assassin, Rinette must use the hidden silver casket as a bargaining chip to save not only her patrimony but to obtain Queen Mary’s help in bringing his assassin to justice.

Nothing turns out as she plans, however; very few characters are what she first thinks them to be, except of course Rannoch Hamilton, who proves to be a greater wretch than Rinette ever suspected.

Mary Stuart is portrayed in all the fullness of her enchanting youth: impulsive and sweet, majestic and clever but also vain, naïve, temperamental and slightly neurotic. Her court is brought to life, as are the various factions and plots which rend Scotland asunder and lead to Mary’s downfall. Loupas accurately depicts a stormy, complex era by means of a page-turning mystery and romance.

Elena Maria Vidal SACRILEGE S.J. Parris, Doubleday, 2012, $26.95, hb, 432pp, 9780385535472 / HarperCollins, 2012, £9.99, pb, 416pp, 9780007317769 S.J. Parris offers the reader a multisensory, cinematic experience surrounding the deadly black plague of London in 1584. Sacrilege, her the third novel featuring Giordano Bruno, the apostate Italian monk who has fled the clutches of the Inquisition for eight years, is neither Catholic nor Calvinist.

Now 36 years old, Bruno once again returns as the spymaster employed by Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth’s master of intelligence. One day he fears he is followed as he walks the streets of London. When he confronts the assailant, he is surprised to see the beautiful Sophia Underhill, who he met sometime ago in Oxford, and once again her charm captivates him. Disguised as a boy, her subterfuge is a result of being accused of the murder of her husband, Sir Edward Kinglsey of Canterbury. When Sophia (now Kit) pleads with Bruno to help clear her name, he is unable to resist the memories she stirs.

With his own agenda in mind, he must convince Walsingham to let him travel to the site of the murder of Thomas Becket. Walsingham has learned of a possible conspiracy theory. It is believed that papists in Canterbury have hidden Becket’s bones with plans to establish a shrine, thus establishing him as a martyr. Walsingham agrees to send Bruno undercover as Dr. Filippo Savolino, scholar and writer of the history of Christendom.

Bruno is led by his heart, but his duty to Queen Elizabeth is steadfast.

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Parris provides a sumptuously rich setting with an absorbing entangled plotline that will keep the reader on a precipice of sudden death. Sacrilege is a historical thriller that can stand on its own and which will leave lovers of this genre pleasurably satisfied, anticipating of the next appearance of Giordano Bruno.

Wisteria Leigh THE BORGIA MISTRESS Sara Poole, St. Martin’s, 2012, $14.99/C$16.99, pb, 416pp, 9780312609856 Rome, 1593. Francesca Giordano, a young woman of dark passions and even darker talents, is the court poisoner to Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia. Her task is to protect Rodrigo, his papal throne, and the lives of the Borgia family from the threats of enemies both within and outside of Rome. Here the Church is enveloped in corruption.

Monarchs and Cardinals vie to wrest control of Christendom from Borgia’s hands.

Underlying these obligations is Francesca’s sexual relationship with Cesare, the Pope’s son, and an illness of the mind and body which frequently overwhelms her. Her obsessive need to find and kill the priest who murdered her father has been redirected to two very different themes. The first is to discover more about her dead mother from her mother’s childhood friend. The second is to discover who is assassinating members of the papal household. Who could gain from these deaths?

Once again the Borgia papacy is threatened, and it falls to a physically debilitated Francesca to discover the answers.

Poole weaves her complex tale like the finest silk.

The story is both subtle and rich, enveloping her readers in the historical complexity of Renaissance Rome. Poole’s third novel is peopled with many of the same characters as HBO’s The Borgias. I sincerely hope that this is not the last we see of Francesca Giordano and her friends. Sara Poole’s Borgia stories are a delight. Highly recommended.

Monica E. Spence

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THE APOTHECARY’S DAUGHTER Charlotte Betts, Piatkus, 2012, £7.99, pb, 382 pp, 9780749954499 January 1665, and the ills in the City of London are mostly treatable fevers and accidents. Susannah Leyton is happy as trusted assistant to her apothecary father. Not all men acknowledge her skills; for instance, dark, impassive Doctor William Ambrose who moves like a lone wolf through the city streets. Her father’s remarriage is disastrous for Susannah. Spiteful and extravagant, Arabella rules the besotted Mr Leyton. Marriage with Henry Savage offers Susannah an escape, but this man’s long absences and unloving behaviour are incomprehensible. His death discloses nothing but her vanished dowry and his debts. Susannah is saved from starvation in the unforgiving streets by becoming waiting woman to tetchy, arthritic Agnes Fygge, aunt of Doctor Ambrose. Susannah falls into admiration and desire for this dedicated, enigmatic man. When he introduces a beautiful black slave 16th Century — 17th Century

into the household, his affection for Phoebe and her little mulatto son is apparent. Surely this child must be her master’s son and Phoebe, proud and disdainful, is secure in William’s love?

The Great Plague, unleashed, rages through the city and in the ensuing months of suffering, secrets are at last uncovered. Susannah and all in the beleaguered household are united in grief.

This traditional historical romance gives a striking picture of a city at the mercy of an invisible enemy. The author acknowledges her debt to Samuel Pepys, and there are passages in her novel, especially those of domestic chaos, which would win sympathetic understanding, and possibly a wry smile, from the great diarist.

Nancy Henshaw THE SENSORIUM OF GOD Stuart Clark, Polygon, 2012, £12.99, hb, 280pp, 9781846971877 The novel opens in 1679. Despite the work of Kepler, Galileo and Tycho Brahe, the movement of the stars and planets remains a mystery. Edmund Halley, Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke are engaged in complementary and yet rival research, striving to further scientific knowledge. However, their research is seen in some areas as undermining God, and therefore the King’s authority. Attacks on religion are seen as attacks on the state and therefore treason. Scientific discussion is undermined by accusations of plagiarism, atheism and political intrigue. Throw in Newton’s

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THE BLEEDING LAND

involvement in Alchemy, the suspicions of the Church and changes in the monarchy, the chance of disaster, both on a personal and professional basis, is a realistic outcome.

This is the second novel in a trilogy that dramatises pivotal moments in the history of astronomy through the lives of some of the scientists and thinkers whose work came to shape the modern world. In his well-written and wellresearched novel, Stuart Clark brings alive both key moments and people who have stretched the boundaries of our knowledge in an enthralling story which brings the late 17th-century to life.

Recommended.

Mike Ashworth THORN Michael Dean, Blue Moose, 2011, £14.99, hb, 259pp, 9780956687654 Thorn is a fictional account of a friendship between the philosopher Baruch Spinoza and Rembrandt Van Rijn, the great Dutch painter. It takes place in Amsterdam in 1656. The Jews have fled from the persecution of the Inquisition in Portugal and Spain and have taken up residence in Holland. Strangely, instead of being obliged to hide their religion, here they have to practise it openly, as any sign that they were converting to Christianity would mean they would be expelled.

A group of freethinkers called Waterlanders meet frequently at secret destinations to denounce the strict religious doctrines of the Calvinist

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Giles Kristian, Bantam Press, 2012, £12.99, pb, 320pp, 9780593066157 This is the first in a planned trilogy of novels set during the English Civil War, and this tale begins in 1642 with the country on the verge of war between an obdurate King and an assertive Parliament, a war about both political and religious beliefs, a war that will consume England.

In The Bleeding Land, the reader is introduced to the Rivers family, landed gentry of means. The narrative focuses mostly on the two Rivers sons, Edmund and Tom. While the family’s traditional allegiance is to the King and the brothers are at first as one in their attitudes, soon terrible events push Tom to leave his family and join the Parliamentary side. From the raising of the King’s Standard at Nottingham to the first pitched and bloody battle of Edgehill, their fraternal bonds are stretched to the utmost.

This novel is a considerable departure from Kristian’s exuberant Viking trilogy. In the Raven books, Viking warriors gloried in their martial prowess, but the soldiers and civilians of The Bleeding Land seek no such glory. This is more low-key, nasty and brutal. While Kristian is expert in bringing the mayhem of the battlefield to life, in this book there is an added poignancy as former comrades and family hack at each other.

The split narrative of the divided brothers also allows the author to move between the two sides, exploring their differences politically, religiously and socially. While some recent novels on the English Civil war have found this difficult to manage, Kristian handles it with assurance and imagination. There is also sparing and thoughtful use of real historical figures, Prince Rupert springs to mind here, weaving them into a large cast of characters. Most impressively though, Kristian has changed both style and period and emerged both unbloodied and unbowed.

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government. The Rabbi Morteira loves Spinoza, and has known him since he was a boy, but is determined to stop him philosophising against both Judaism and the Calvinists. Spinoza’s younger brother, a stupid man, is trying to gain control of the family shipping business. Spinoza becomes involved with Rembrandt as the painter struggles to avoid bankruptcy.

The story is told from Spinoza’s viewpoint, and from the first page the reader is enthralled by the brilliance and arrogance of the philosopher.

Although the friendship and interaction between Rembrandt and Spinoza is fictional, it is totally credible and extremely funny. Michael Dean has used historical evidence for many of the characters and their personalities, and he has brought the period vividly to life. This is a brilliant book; I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Fenella Miller THE PICCADILLY PLOT Susanna Gregory, Sphere/Trafalgar Square, 2012, £19.99/$29.95, hb, 485pp, 9781847444325 Thomas Chaloner finds himself recalled by his employer from an investigation into corruption in Tangier without the opportunity for a satisfactory conclusion to the case, because there have been some thefts from the building site of his new mansion. The Earl of Clarendon is not an easy employer, particularly as he continually re-directs Chaloner to explore other avenues at his whim, often wasting precious time on trivialities. With two rival groups, the Piccadilly Company and the Adventurers, vying with each other to gain the greatest share from overseas trade, the possibilities for corruption are endless. As ever, Gregory leads us vigorously through this historic period, tumbling from one close shave to an equally challenging situation with our sleuth thwarted at every turn as the crimes proliferate.

To compound his difficulties since his marriage to Hannah, Thomas has not been around for long enough to establish his role, leading to trouble when staff insubordination or recruitment occurs.

Indeed he wonders if his marriage partner is compatible with him or his lifestyle, especially as he has to retain his bolt hole to practise his viol in peace. As the tension mounts, Chaloner strives to bring the threads together, sharing information with Spymaster Williamson as the crisis reaches its peak and combining with his old friend John Thurloe to achieve a satisfactory resolution.

Cathy Kemp THE KING’S AGENT Donna Russo Morin, Kensington, 2012, $15/ C$16.95, pb, 402pp, 9780758246820 No task is too difficult or dangerous for Battista della Palla, Florentine art dealer, handsome thief, and agent to François I, King of France. When the king, entangled in a struggle with Emperor Charles, wants Battista to find a relic of extraordinary power, he eagerly sets out. To find this relic, he must assemble a triptych. At the house of the Marquess of Mantua, however, Battista hits a snag and is only able to escape with the first painting with the help of the Marquess’ ward, beautiful and enigmatic Lady Aurelia. What’s more, happily abandoning her sheltered life, Lady Aurelia runs away with him, making herself at home in Battista’s coven. Soon, it 24 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

becomes apparent that she will be invaluable in the search since she is a connoisseur of Dante’s Divine Comedy, and the poetic masterpiece maps their quest. But who is Aurelia, a restless aristocrat or an enemy agent hunting for the relic as well?

Against the sumptuous landscape of Renaissance Florence, The King’s Agent is an adventure tale with echoes of Dan Brown and of the hit video game, The Legend of Zelda. Part historical fiction and fantasy, it has juicy tidbits such as actual paintings with odd depictions of “airships,” imaginative escapades into hell, purgatory, and heaven, and a gradual unveiling of the mystery at the center of the novel. If there are a few superfluous detours—Battista’s band of fellow thieves—they do not diminish the pace. An enjoyable read.

Adelaida Lower

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A DARK ANATOMY Robin Blake, Minotaur, 2012, $24.99, hb, 368pp, 9781250006721 / Pan, 2012, £7.99, pb, 304pp, 9780330518086 Robin Blake’s latest novel, set in 18th-century Lancashire, takes the reader on a journey through time and technique. Blake deftly recreates Preston, a medieval charter town whose character was subsequently erased by industrialization. The reader is challenged to imagine justice in the absence of modern investigative tools and forensic science.

This is the mission with which Preston’s Coroner, Titus Cragg, is charged. When the squire’s wife is murdered, Cragg investigates using the sharpest tools at his disposal: observation, perception, interpretation and Luke Fidelis, Preston’s young doctor. Instead of relying on trite resolutions based on intuition, the supernatural or coincidence, Blake allows Cragg and Fidelis to explore the events in a realistically non-linear fashion. The obstacles raised against Cragg’s investigation remind us that, although culture, industry and architecture change over time, human nature is somewhat constant.

In this tale told in the first person, we accompany Cragg as he and Fidelis investigate. Cragg’s voice is accessible yet evocative, and Blake’s prose is quintessentially English, with a rhythm and accent pervading the reading experience. The reader is transported to Preston as the story entices the senses with the smell of leather, flickering firelight, and crisp temperatures and integrates nuances of Lancashire class structure, racism and sexism.

Although some may feel that the plot twist is broadcast prematurely, Blake’s writing more than compensates for that slight weakness. As the first novel of a trilogy, Blake has laid a solid foundation upon which to build. Cragg and Fidelis have space to grow and develop in the next books. I look forward to the next visit with these newfound friends.

Georgia Davies Graham HIGHLAND STORMS Christina Courtenay, Choc Lit, 2011, £7.99, pb, 318pp, 9781906931711 Heartbroken Brice Kinross travels from Sweden

to take up the reins of the family estate, Rosyth, in Scotland. Having been betrayed by his brother and childhood sweetheart, he hopes to find peace there, and a new way of life. On his arrival, though, he finds the locals to be surly, and the estate manager – who has run Rosyth into the ground – goes out of his way to make things difficult for Brice. To top it all off, a substantial amount of money has gone missing and the new laird is not quite sure who he can trust. Enter the fiery red-head Marsaili, housekeeper and beauty, and Brice’s life takes yet another turn.

Set in 1754, Highland Storms is the sequel to Trade Winds. While not awash with historical detail, the plot of the story itself, along with descriptions of the people and surrounding countryside, are captivating. Add treachery and romance to the mix, and you find yourself with a well‑written, fast-paced, enjoyable read.

Katy O’Dowd UNDER THE SAME SKY Genevieve Graham, Berkley, 2012, $15.00, pb, 329pp, 978042524523 Maggie and her sisters are left to fend for themselves in colonial South Carolina after their brutish father dies in a freak accident. Maggie sees the accident coming in her dreams, just as she sees most things before they happen, and just as she sees her Wolf, the boy she has always felt inside her soul and heard in her thoughts.

Andrew is a Scottish Highlander: proud, fierce, and loyal to the fugitive Prince Charles, who looks to claim the English throne. With his mind full of the beautiful girl he sees in his dreams, he and his father and brothers set off to fight the English in Prince Charles’ name.

After terrible tragedy strikes both Maggie and Andrew, leaving them both without family, they give each other strength and hope. Andrew decides to leave his ruined homeland and search for his soul mate. When Maggie is left broken, both physically and mentally, by a tragedy she knew would happen but couldn’t prevent, she is rescued by the Cherokee and begins to find a measure of fulfillment in her new life. But when Maggie suddenly finds herself thrown into a cold, dark cell on the charge of murdering an English officer, the only thought that can sustain her is knowing and feeling that Andrew is on his way to save her.

This book is well-written and has all the elements of a good read. The characters are strong and interesting, and the plot moves along just fast enough to make the reader want to turn to the next page. Under the Same Sky is Maggie and Andrew’s journey towards each other, and they learn along the way that family is what you make it. This was a fun and engrossing novel, and I look forward to reading the sequel.

Cynthia McArthur A SIMPLE MURDER Eleanor Kuhns, Minotaur, 2012, $24.99/C$28.99, hb 336pp, 9781250005533 Maine, 1796, a Shaker settlement. The Shakers are a fascinating movement; their lifestyle and worldview could make for an absorbing historical novel. Sadly, this is not that novel.

Traveling weaver William Rees arrives home to find his son has run off to join the Shakers.

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Pursuing him to their settlement, he arrives on the eve of a murder – a Shaker woman has been bludgeoned. Rees must solve the crime (and the inevitable other murders) while attempting to repair his relationship with his son and forming a new romantic attachment.

This is the author’s debut novel, and it is evident. The plotting is handled clumsily: the “suspense” prolonged by stopping conversations on the flimsiest of pretexts or being too tired to immediately pursue a lead; keys to the “mystery” are dropped in the reader’s lap well before the appropriate denouement (the protagonist, too slow or preoccupied to do the appropriate arithmetic, plods on). The characters are underdeveloped, the prose unpolished, the historical setting unrealized, and all the conventions of the genre on parade in clichéd form – even waiting to gather all the major players so Rees can stand before them, explain every aspect of the mystery, and “reveal” the murderer to astonished gasps. Not recommended.

Bethany Latham SEASON OF LIGHT Katherine McMahon, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011, £12.99, hb, 375pp, 9780297858300 Thomasina (Asa) Ardleigh is 19 years old and wants to change the world. In Paris in the spring of 1788, she immerses herself in the world of the liberal salons and falls in love with a radical lawyer, Didier Paulin. She has no time for her awkward cousin, Harry Shackleford, for Harry’s wealth is irrevocably tainted by the slave trade. Revolution and war separate her from her French lover, but not from her ideals. In 1793, her sister, despairing of Asa’s unconventional behaviour, engages a mysterious émigrée marquise, Madame de Rusigneux, to improve her manners, for marriage to Harry would solve many problems. Asa is not pleased, but soon finds that Madame brings with her too many memories of her own time in France..

The opening chapters capture a sense of a world on the brink of momentous change, where Asa and Didier’s fevered, erotic affair is conducted in a Paris full of bright hopes for the future. The final third of the book, when Asa returns to her beloved France to find a country riddled with fear, violence and factionalism, is riveting.

I might quibble with a few of the images such as a “cravat-sized strip of lawn,” but the author otherwise presents a vividly realised world, from the cosseted lives of the aristocracy to the hardship of the rural and urban poor.

Asa carries the story. She is a fascinating, contradictory heroine: she may be reckless and sometimes naïve, but she is also fiercely intelligent, ardent and loyal.

Mary Seeley THE CONSTANT LOVERS Chris Nickson, Crème de la Crime, 2012, £19.99/$28.95, hb, 224pp, 9781780295183 The winter of 1732 saw too many violent crimes and deaths. Richard Nottingham, Constable of Leeds, is looking forward to a peaceful summer.

But when a rash of domestic thefts is reported throughout the city and a young woman is found dead in the ruins of an old abbey, he and his constable, John, have their hands full. Complicating matters is a turf battle between two crime bosses 18th Century — 19th Century

and the suicide of a Leeds cloth merchant. The constable is going to need help. He takes a chance on the printer’s son, but is the former schoolboy up to the job of solving crime and keeping the peace?

This is the third in Nickson’s Constable Nottingham series, but it is not necessary to read the other books to follow the story. I enjoyed Nickson’s wonderful descriptions of 18th-century Leeds, and I loved his characters, complicated and appealing persons all of them. The mystery is interesting, but the real meat of this story is in the relationships between the people in this merchant town. When the story ended I was disappointed because I wanted to spend more time in Leeds with Nickson’s characters. I bought the previous two books in the series so I could do just that.

Patricia O’Sullivan THE SCARLET RIBBON Derry O’Dowd, History Press Ireland, 2012, £12.99, pb, 239pp, 9781845887292 If you are into obstetrics this is the book for you. It begins with a caesarean section (performed with a penknife) and continues on to various other complications of childbirth, with in between an operation for haemorrhoids (performed with the help of a handful of leeches), an amputation and an outbreak of measles. Since this is the early 18th century, the medical procedures are often rudimentary and sometimes bizarre, and the outcome for the patients is often unfavourable.

The novel follows the career of a young Irish doctor who, after the death of his wife in childbirth, devotes himself to becoming a man/midwife and trains in Paris and London before returning to Dublin to raise the standard of care during delivery.

There is also a love triangle, with a wealthy English socialite and a simple Irish girl competing for his heart. Guess who wins!

This is one of the first two fiction titles published by the History Press of Ireland. The book throws a different light on Irish history to most Irish fiction.

Ireland is not portrayed as a victim nation: instead we see Dublin as the wealthy and sophisticated ‘second city of the British empire’ at the cutting edge of science. I look forward to forthcoming titles.

Edward James CIRCLE OF SHADOWS Imogen Robertson, Headline Review, 2012, pb, £7.99, 373pp, 9780755372089 Another instalment detailing the adventures of Harriet Westerman and Gabriel Crowther, an unlikely detective pairing which works in unusual ways, solving crimes others cannot. I missed the previous novel, Island of Bones, and this was certainly a mistake, one reason being that I am certain I missed a good book and the second being that there are quite a few references to events of the earlier novel, particularly with the sub-plot involving Harriet’s desire for revenge against the opera singer and eunuch Manzerotti.

The book begins in the fictional Duchy of Maulberg, just before the important social event of the decade; the marriage of the current Duke.

Strange ritualistic murders and poisonings are becoming increasingly difficult to keep from the public, and the machinations of the elite who are struggling to gain and retain power are causing

trouble. Initially, a relative of Harriet’s, Daniel Clode, is accused of one of the murders and thus faces the executioner’s axe. Mrs Westerman and Mr Crowther must hunt down the culprit(s) and follow complicated clues to unravel the intricate mystery at the heart of the Duchy, save Daniel and stop the gruesome murders.

This is an entertaining and well-written novel with many fantastic and fascinating moments. The plot and characters drive the novel, and there is a sense of atmosphere and period throughout. Very enjoyable and therefore recommended highly, but perhaps it’s best to read them in order; the first title is Instruments of Darkness.

Ann Northfield THE INVISIBLE CITY Emili Rosales (trans. Martha Tennent), Alma/ Trafalgar Square, 2012 (c2009), $12.95/£7.99, pb, 288pp, 9781846880902 In 1759 King Charles III and his royal court moved from Naples to Spain, and with them came the engineers and architects who would build the new coastal capital. The city planned for the Ebro river delta was never completed, but Emili Rossell and his friends happily played amid its ruins as children. Now living in Barcelona, Rossell has his childhood curiosity about the Invisible City reawakened when a manuscript of the 18thcentury architect Andrea Roselli anonymously arrives at his gallery. Since the memoir appears authentic, he wonders who might have sent it.

Emili Rosales artfully engrosses the reader from the first page, and with great facility parallels a young man’s contemporary story of self-discovery with the travails encountered by a similar young man involved in the building of the Invisible City, which was once believed to be only a legend.

A missing masterpiece of the Venetian painter Tiepolo ties both narratives together and provides the mystery and tension that propels Rossell to compulsively search for answers.

This is a beautifully written literary work, fascinatingly told and compelling in its language.

Its ending will delight and satisfy. It was translated from Catalan by Martha Tennent, and her contribution should not be overlooked.

Enthusiastically recommended.

Veronika Pelka

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BLOOD STORM Bill Brooks, Five Star, 2012, $25.95, hb, 344pp, 9781594149115 A request for help sends Detective John Henry Cole to Deadwood, the wildest gold mining town in Dakota Territory’s Black Hills in 1876. It seems that Lydia Winslow, the proprietor of a female escort service, has seen three of her girls die since opening business in Deadwood. The first two were thought accidental, but the third was clearly murder. Cole also leans that Winslow has placed an ad in the newspapers, offering a reward to whoever can solve the three murders.

In Blood Storm Detective Cole learns that every gunslinger and bounty hunter west of the HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 25

Mississippi is on the way to Deadwood. A couple have already had unfriendly brushes with him. Cole must separate who is friend and foe, even before he reaches Deadwood on the Black Hills Stage.

Once there, he is aided by Martha Canary, a roughspoken, hard-drinking woman better known as Calamity Jane. He also learns that Lydia Winslow suspects that the murderer is Doc Holliday, later of the OK Corral fame.

Blood Storm, a quick-moving, tightly-knit tale, is the first in a series of books about John Henry Cole.

The people of Deadwood are familiar in Old West fiction – perhaps so well-known that aficionados know exactly when events took place there. Brooks didn’t provide the year for Blood Storm’s events until nearly the book was nearly 2/3 over, so I was kept guessing. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading about Detective Cole and his world, and so will any fan of Old West fiction.

Jo Ann Butler DAWN COMES EARLY Margaret Brownley, Thomas Nelson, 2012, $15.99, pb, 334pp, 9781595549686 In 1895, with her latest romance novel banned in more polite societies, Kate Tenney is looking for a way to escape the confines of Boston. Applying for a position as a ranch heiress in the Arizona Territory seems like the answer to her all troubles, but Kate

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soon realizes she’s in far deeper than she could have ever imagined. Hard work, a kidnapping bandit named Cactus Joe, and the romantic advances of ruggedly handsome blacksmith, Luke Adams, are just a few of the adventures she’s to encounter as she tries to prove herself worthy of inheriting the Last Chance Ranch from owner Eleanor Walker.

This pleasant Western novel focuses mainly on Kate’s journey from a stubborn young lady not willing to trust any man to a mature woman in love who’s torn between duty and her heart. Brownley successfully intertwines vivid scenery and character development with just a touch of Christian undertones. The ending comes a bit abruptly and fails to give some closure to one of the story threads, but the overall effect is one of delightful charm.

Rebecca Cochran SUMMER OF PROMISE (Westward Winds Book #1) Amanda Cabot, Revell, 2012, $14.99, pb, 416pp, 9780800734596 With a perfect mix of romance, suspense and discovery of faith, Amanda Cabot brings us a bright new series featuring three sisters raised in the East. In this first book, the impulsive middle sister Abigail travels to Wyoming Territory to visit her elder sister, Charlotte, at Fort Laramie in 1885.

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

OSCAR WILDE AND THE VATICAN MURDERS

Gyles Brandreth, Simon & Schuster, 2012, $14.00, pb, 368pp, 9781439153734 / John Murray, 2011, £19.99, hb, 352pp, 9781848542501 If the first four novels of Gyles Brandreth’s series of Victorian murder mysteries had never existed to whet | appetites 6 t hforcanother e n t ofuhis r ynovels, this title would our still have captured readers’ imaginations. Brandreth’s deftly plotted, entertaining escapades double as historical novels of considerable merit. They can be enjoyed by fans of both genres, ladling out just enough suspicious doings and just enough historical detail to satisfy both sorts of readers. Add to that, Brandreth’s delightful wit, and it’s a magic combination.

In his latest addition to the series starring two historical figures of the 19th century, Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde, it’s 1892. Doyle is annoyed by his fans, or rather the fans of his star character Sherlock Holmes. Holmes has become rather an albatross to him, deterring the dour Conan Doyle from the more serious writing he’d rather pursue. Seeking rest and refuge from the public at a German spa, he runs into his old friend, the much more chipper and playful Wilde, who is up for an adventure. When they discover mysterious threatening letters amongst the collection of unanswered fan mail Conan Doyle had carried with him, and even darker items--a severed finger, lock of hair, and a mummified hand— Wilde convinces his reluctant friend to accompany him to Rome in search of clues to why they seem to have been summoned to the Vatican.

Brandreth is a deft hand at weaving plot, historical atmosphere and entertaining characters.

The bonus for the reader is being invited to spend time with both the master of the mystery genre himself, A. Conan Doyle, and one of the most popular playwrights of his era, Mr. Oscar Wilde. They make congenial companions to each other and for any reader up for the traditional Sherlockian call, “The game is afoot!”

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Abigail meets Lieutenant Ethan Bowles on the way there, and the two immediately hit it off. Once the summer is over, Abigail must choose between the steady life and love she left behind or the promise of an eventful future with Ethan.

Before she does, she has to help Ethan discover who is behind some stagecoach robberies without either of them getting hurt, but that proves more difficult than it seems. Abigail’s evolving character is likable, as we are eager to see Ethan and Abigail’s mutual attraction become acknowledged. Sure to please any historical romance reader, this is a well written story with a great mix of characters and a fast-moving plot that includes a range of topics from family bonds and Army deserters to mischievous puppies. I am already looking forward to the next installment of Westward Winds, which will follow Charlotte’s path.

Marie Burton THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JACK THE RIPPER James Carnac, Bantam Press, 2012, £16.99, hb, 320pp, 9780593068205 A manuscript is found at the bottom of a box of memorabilia belonging to S.G. Beamon (creator of Larry the Lamb). Written by James Carnac, it claims to be the autobiography of Jack the Ripper.

When his father kills his mother and then himself, Carnac finds himself living with his uncle, and it is here that his fascination with blood and knives develops, until he finds himself tempted to cut his uncle’s throat, for the only reason that he wishes to indulge his macabre interest. Resisting temptation he moves out to find himself suitable accommodation from where he can indulge his growing craving.

Written in the first person, the author’s voice is compelling and dynamic, with the authentic tone and nuances of a Victorian writer. The sights and smells of Victorian England come alive, and the murders are realistic without being grisly. Is James Carnac the Ripper as he claims? Is he a psychopath, or just a fantasist? Or is the whole story the product of a talented writer who has produced an excellent addition to the genre? Only you, dear reader, can decide. Recommended.

Mike Ashworth BLUE MOON PROMISE Colleen Coble, Thomas Nelson, 2012, $15.99, pb, 320pp, 9781595549150 After a man breaks into their house and she loses her job, Lucy Marsh weds a man she’s never met. It’s the only way to protect her siblings, Eileen and Jed, now that her father is dead and her stepmother left them to fend for themselves. On a wintry day in 1877 and with great trepidation, they board a train for Texas.

Nate Stanton never expected his father to arrange a marriage by proxy for him, but his Christian upbringing and conscience prevent him from putting the trio back on the train. Getting to know each other presents comical and heartstopping situations, least of which is the realization that Lucy’s uncle is Nate’s sworn enemy. When a stranger threatens Jed and a smarmy, handsome detective wheedles his way into the good graces of Nate’s father and Lucy’s cousin, they join together to discover the truth.

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Lucy, Nate, and his father are strong-willed people who prefer to maintain control to fix problems, rather than putting their trust in God. The obstacles and situations that arise emphasize this central theme. Several spoonfuls of an elaborate mystery add ample spice to make this a heartwarming Western romance.

Cindy Vallar LOVE BLOOMS IN WINTER Lori Copeland, Harvest House, 2012, $13.99, pb, 240pp, 9780736930192 In 1892, Mae Wilkey is so worried about the welfare of her elderly neighbor, Pauline, that she leaps to the conclusion that the name “Tom Curtis” written on a piece of paper must be that of Pauline’s only living relative. Mae writes to Tom and demands that he come to Dwadlo, North Dakota, to look after his aunt. Tom, who works for a railroad in Chicago, does not think that he has any such relative, yet he sets off for North Dakota on the off-chance that there is truth to Mae’s claim..

I have only once seen a British pantomime.

It was an unforgettable experience because the activities on stage were so ludicrously exaggerated that I couldn’t help but enjoy the show. I had the same feeling while reading this book: The basic premise is absurd, the townsfolk are quirky, and the mayhem continues to grow more and more ridiculous as the story progresses. Cats, dogs, elephants, and trains all run amok, time sequences don’t fit, and the characters behave inconsistently.

However, once I relaxed, and didn’t try to take it seriously, this was a highly entertaining story.

I am certain that Copeland’s fans will be equally delighted.

Nancy J. Attwell THE HEART’S FRONTIER Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith, Harvest House, 2012, $13.99, pb, 282pp, 9780736947527 Emma Switzer and her Amish family are traveling in 1881 Kansas when bandits steal their wagon and goods. They walk to the nearest town, where God answers their prayers for help when trail boss Luke Carson lands at their feet after being ejected from a saloon. Emma is underwhelmed by this particular specimen of the Lord’s help. Nevertheless, even though it may prevent the cattle’s arrival at the trail head in time to meet the train, Luke delays the drive to help recover their wagon. The Switzers find they can repay Luke by rounding up strays after rustlers kill some of his men. Then Emma is kidnapped by one of the surviving rustlers. Can Luke rescue her?

How can their growing attraction resolve, when Luke declares he’ll never become Amish?

It’s a sweet love story, with chemistry between the protagonists. Emma’s tart-tongued grandmother adds humor. The authors include enough foreshadowing that the surprise ending doesn’t seem to come out of nowhere. A few modern expressions (“have a nice life”) jar the reader out of the period. But overall, fans of inspirational novels, especially of the Amish subgenre, will devour it.

B.J. Sedlock TRUE SISTERS Sandra Dallas, St. Martin’s, 2012, $24.99/ C$28.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250005021.

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INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

A.L. Berridge, Michael Joseph, 2012, £12.99, hb, 468pp, 9780718158989 The book opens in Meerut, 1853. Ensign Harry Standish returns home to find that his father has committed suicide, driven to this desperate act by the crushing weight of his debts. In 1854, having sold his commission to pay off his father’s debts, and returned to England, Corporal Harry Ryder, as part of 13th Light Dragoons, disembarks in the Crimea. Thus begins a whirlwind tale of treachery, betrayal, incompetence, stupidity and amazing acts of courage. Harry Ryder finds himself trying to prove the existence of a rogue staff officer who is spreading chaos throughout the British forces, issuing orders at the heart of battle which hand the advantage to the Russian forces.

The novel opens at a cracking pace and accelerates.

The battles of the Alma, Inkerman and the Charge of the Light Brigade are described in heart-thumping, exciting and exhilarating detail. The author’s detailed research and eye for detail bring alive the Crimean War in an outstanding piece of historical fiction. A. L. Berridge has done it again – quite simply superb. This is one for the bookshelf. Highly recommended.

Mike Ashworth The year is 1856, and it is already July when a determined group of Mormon Saints begins a journey from Iowa to Utah on foot, all their worldly goods reduced to a small handcart.

These hardy souls are seeking Zion, and though some have misgivings about the late start, they march onward, pulling their own carts, cooking, worshipping, giving birth, and losing loved ones as they go. It is through this journey that the bonds of friendship are forged among the women as they share everything as winter storms approach and promised supplies never arrive. They become True Sisters indeed.

Dallas based her novel on the true story of the last Handcart Journey of 1856, and while her characters are fictional, their hardships, deprivations, and ultimate plights ring true. The women either dig deeper into their faith to find the courage to keep going, or they lose hope and suffer defeat and even death. Dallas does not shy away from the images of illness and the effects of killing cold, and the characters face incredible odds as well as misguided leaders whose decisions rob them of possessions and family. It is hard enough to read about women giving birth on the march, but to know that the child has almost no chance of survival was almost too much to bear. But bear it they did, with the help of the ones who best understood: the other women.

I found this book fascinating as I followed these religious pilgrims across an unforgiving landscape, though I often was frustrated with their circumstances. Many of the men do not come across as sympathetic, but it’s really the women such as Nannie, Anne, and Jessie showing such fortitude that make this well worth the read. It is not an easy story, but it is ultimately a study in human endurance. Recommended.

Tamela McCann A LADY’S REVENGE

Tracey Devlyn, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2012, $6.99/£4.99, pb, 432pp, 9781402258220 Guy Trevelyan and Cora deBeau are childhood friends and British secret agents in the Napoleonic period. Their opposite number, the cruel (and kinky) French agent Valère, captures Cora and tortures her without mercy until Guy mounts a rescue. Guy and Cora fall hopelessly in love as he helps her put mind and body back together—but ruthless, relentless Valère will stop at nothing to recapture his English prize once and for all.

Despite a promising premise this novel fails both as a historical work and as a romance. Period details are few and indistinct, and characters frequently lapse into modern colloquialisms.

Gratuitous touches like the heroine practicing tai chi in trousered nightwear don’t help either... isn’t it possible to write a strong historical female without also making her a time traveler?

And while lust abounds, the passion is lacking.

Through Cora’s eyes Guy is little more than a conveniently musk-scented slab of meat. Guy’s thoughts toward vulnerable, damaged Cora approach sweetness at times, until bang! There goes that bulge in his breeches again. I wish the author could have shown us just how Guy and Cora complete one other, soul to soul, and then give us the naughty bits.

Richard Bourgeois HEART’S SAFE PASSAGE Laurie Alice Eakes, Revell, 2012, $14.99, pb, 375pp, 9780800719852 Seeking God’s guidance is a strong theme in this second installment of The Midwives series, and sailing through dangerous waters during the War of 1812 is another. Throughout the standalone novel, Phoebe is sailing with Captain Rafe Docherty, her captor, who is hell bent on seeking revenge against James Brock. Captain Rafe’s wife was murdered by James Brock, and is using Phoebe HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 27

and her family to find him. As Phoebe learns more about the captain, her common sense tells her to run from him, but her heart pulls her straight into Captain Rafe’s arms. Amongst the plot twists, our heroine Phoebe is determined to share her faith in God just as much as she tries to stop Captain Rafe’s quest for revenge.

Supporting characters are well drawn out, details of life on a brig are abundant, and the action and suspense are well plotted. The voyage across the Atlantic is complete with a scampering dog, an endearing child, expecting mother and swashbuckling pirates, offering a clever love story with a charming Scottish accent. I enjoyed this novel a great deal, and will be looking for Eakes’ first book in the series.

Marie Burton MY RUTHLESS PRINCE Gaelen Foley, Avon, 2012, $7.99, pb, 375pp, 9780062075918 / Piatkus, 2011, £7.99, pb, 384pp, 9780749957414 In 1816, Drake, the Earl of Westwood has always fought for good as part of the Inferno Club. But then the evil Prometheus cult captured him, tortured him, and turned him into a traitor.

Enter fiercely loyal Emily Harper, who tracks her longtime friend to the Prometheus stronghold in Bavaria, determined to prove his innocence. Of course Drake is really out to destroy the malevolent organization from the inside, and only has revenge on his mind (until Emily shows up, that is). Torn between protecting Emily from the evil goings on, and his lust for revenge (and Emily), Drake must come up with a plan to do both, and salvage his reputation.

Only pick up this book if you are in the mood for light historical romance with a melodramatic heroine and a broken hero. With over-the-top characters (archetypal brawny, macho hero and stereotypical beautifully devoted heroine), dramatic situations, and typical passionate interludes, this story verges on the ridiculous. That said, however, if you are looking for true escapism, you can definitely find it in My Ruthless Prince. Good for fluff, not for historical value.

Rebecca Cochran A RANGER’S TRAIL Darlene Franklin, Moody, 2012, $14.99, pb, 272pp, 9780802405876 This Christian novel is set during the 1870s Mason County “Hoodoo” War in Texas, between German and Anglo settlers. Leta Denning’s husband is lynched by a German-American mob, which took exception to the court’s dismissal of his cattle rustling charge. Texas Ranger Buck Morgan is sent to investigate the incident and feels sorry for the widow trying to hold a ranch together on her own. But soon he begins to suspect Leta’s brother Andy may have been part of a retaliatory gang who struck back at German settlers, killing Buck’s cousin. How can Buck perform his duty as an impartial lawman when he’s personally involved in both sides of the conflict?

Franklin includes some solid history: reader’s notes on the background of the war, maps of Texas, and chapters headed by quotations from historical sources. The main problem I had with this novel was trying to keep straight which minor character 28 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

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E D I TORS’ C H OICE

Elizabeth Camden, Bethany House, 2012, $14.99, pb, 340pp, 9780764208959 On a hot humid night in late May 1879, spinster Libby Sawyer and her father are out on the lawn of her brother’s vacation cottage on St. Catherine’s Island, Massachusetts, watching a lunar eclipse. A telegram arrives informing them that their house on the mainland, Colden, has been occupied by “a pack of gypsies.” The encroachers are a family from Romania, headed by Michael, a 36-year-old burly widower, along with his two children, a sister and two henchmen. What makes matters worse is that they have papers showing the property was willed to them. Hence, the local sheriff allows them possession until the ownership is settled by the courts. The ‘homeless’ Sawyers are drawn into a legal battle which reminds us of Dickens’ Bleak House.

Camden has penned a superb inspirational historical fiction novel. She has given most of the characters, especially Libby and Michael, both qualities and flaws to capture our attention. The house itself reveals ancient religious artifacts, but while these are not as mesmerizing as those from Da Vinci Code, they are compelling. A parallel theme, of newcomers’ behavior and treatment by residents, runs throughout the novel. Court cases usually satisfy only one party; Camden’s unique ending is bound to satisfy most readers.

Waheed Rabbani was on which side of the conflict. Plus, there wasn’t much chemistry between Leta and Buck. While I appreciated learning something about a chapter in U.S. history I was ignorant of, the plot and characters weren’t very compelling.

B.J. Sedlock THE MOST IMPROPER MISS SOPHIE VALENTINE Jayne Fresina, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2012, $6.99, pb, 373pp, 9781402265976 Sophie Valentine feels like a burden on her family. A broken engagement and a minor scandal have kept suitors at bay, and there aren’t many eligible men visiting the small town of Sydney Dovedale. After another spat with her family, Sophie rashly places an advertisement for a husband in the Farmer’s Gazette—and she gets a nibble in the form of Lazarus Kane, a handsome stranger with a secret to hide. Though Sophie’s attracted to Lazarus, she’s hesitant to commit, and becomes even more hesitant when an old flame arrives, further complicating matters.

The small-town setting and focus on characters rather than contrived suspense make Fresina’s debut different from the typical Regency. Sophie is a spirited heroine with an insatiable curiosity about life and love, and Lazarus is persistent without being creepy. There’s plenty of charm, and the secondary characters provide extra entertainment without detracting from the main story. Readers who enjoy straightforward, lighthearted love stories will find a good one here.

Nanette Donohue WORDS SPOKEN TRUE Ann H. Gabhart, Revell, 2012, $14.99, pb, 368pp, 9780800720452

Adriane is a woman born ahead of her time, lacking the desire to be socially acceptable in her prim and proper society. Instead, she finds herself intrigued by the unrest of the 1850s and the political causes of the day. Adriane is at risk of being her father’s assistant at his newspaper for the rest of her days, and she wouldn’t mind that fate. Unfortunately, her father has other plans, as she learns: her future becomes the center of a shady business deal with the major political force of Louisville. Marrying Stan against her will and meeting the dashingly handsome Blake Garrett at the same time is a conundrum for Adriane, and she explores her faith in God while seeking answers to her dilemma.

As luck would have it, Blake is the editor for a rival newspaper and therefore her family’s archenemy. The stars align when these two meet, and we can’t wait to see the fireworks when they admit their mutual attraction. Adriane is a strong heroine, and her inspiring story is complemented by great characters and twicked suspense lurking in the background. The novel boasts a fiery plot rich with historical nuance that is indicative of Gabhart’s writing skill.

Marie Burton AMAZULU Walton Golightly, Quercus/Trafalgar Square, 2011 (c2008), $9.99/£6.99, pb, 640pp, 9781847245861 The year is 1818, and Shaka, the warrior king of the Zulus, is on the verge of consolidating a vast African kingdom. Pushing back against the European powers that consider the continent to be theirs for the taking, as well as warring against the many tribes surrounding him, Shaka stands ready to become one of the most powerful kings Africa had ever seen. But uneasy lies the head that 19th Century

wears the crown, and Shaka must be ever alert for traitors and usurpers. To ensure his power, he must sometimes be cruel and ruthless, using his impis—his disciplined, courageous and fearsome regiments.

Since the Zulus had no written language, all we know of the historical Shaka and his people comes to us from writers and historians who were not Zulu. So, it is a monumental task to recreate Shaka’s life and times with any degree of accuracy, but South African writer Golightly succeeds admirably. This sweeping novel follows Shaka from his boyhood up to his final victories over rival tribes and is full of detailed information about Zulu culture and customs. The battle scenes are vivid and realistic and forcefully illustrate the warrior code of the Zulus.

The novel has such an extensive cast of characters that the author is compelled to list them all at the beginning of the book. At times, it is difficult to follow them all, but this is a slight imperfection in a debut novel that is otherwise an interesting and exciting read.

John Kachuba LADY AMELIA’S MESS AND A HALF Samantha Grace, Sourcebooks, 2012, $6.99/£4.99, pb, 416pp, 9781402258343 In this Regency novel, the widowed Lady Amelia Audley returns to London after a twoyear absence. She is accompanied by her trusted and loyal friend, Lady Bianca Kennell, a widow of dubious reputation. At his mother’s reception, Amelia encounters Jake Hillary, the man she loved until he deserted her without a word.

Consequently, she accepted a proposal from Jake’s best friend, David Audley; it soon became clear their marriage was a mistake. Now Audley is dead, and Jake and Amelia reunite. After many misunderstandings and outside interference from both well-meaning friends and enemies, all seems to be set for their marriage. But it is not smooth going. A chance conversation with a stranger sends Jake and Amelia’s plan into a mess and a half.

This is a debut Regency novel for Grace, and she has created a feisty, headstrong heroine. Her style is witty, and the plot is full of many surprises, twists and turns on the path to the proverbial happy ending.

Audrey Braver MISS HILLARY SCHOOLS A SCOUNDREL Samantha Grace, Sourcebooks, 2012, $6.99/£4.99, pb, 427pp, 9781402258312 In this light Regency romance, Lana encounters a rake named Lord Andrew Forest, who rescues her after she falls out of a window into a tree.

Despite the loveless marriages around her, Lana longs for a wedding with true love attached.

Drew Forest hardly seems like an ideal match, though, since his reputation among the ton is that of a rake and a womanizer, more interested in bedding women than in conversing with them.

Lana captures Drew’s interest with her beauty, wit and independent ways. Until then he had not felt such an attraction for any woman. Lord Bollrud, recently returned to England from Austria, courts Lana. Although Lana is drawn to Drew’s magnetic features, she considers whether a match with Lord Bollrud would be a more secure choice.

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Samantha Grace has crafted an enticing romance with many twists and turns until the very last page. She enlightens with Regency details yet never overwhelms. Overall the novel delivers a satisfying romp with the telltale happy ending.

Liz Allenby HENRY TILNEY’S DIARY Amanda Grange, Berkley, 2011, $15.00, pb, 273pp, 9780425243923 / Hale, 2011, £18.99, hb, 224pp, 9780709092339 Henry Tilney’s Diary is a delightful retelling of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey from the hero’s point of view. Grange’s novel begins before the events of Northanger Abbey, when Henry, on vacation from school, finds out that his mother is gravely ill. We learn the circumstances of his mother’s illness and death. Eight years later, Henry, now a clergyman, meets young Catherine Morland on a visit to Bath and finds himself attracted to her; she seems like a breath of fresh air after the flirtatious, sophisticated young women his overbearing father introduces him to in order to find him a wealthy wife. He is thrilled to find that Catherine shares his love of Gothic novels and even more delighted when his father invites her to stay with the family at Northanger Abbey. But why is General Tilney so eager for Henry to marry Catherine, who, as Henry knows, has no fortune?

This novel should please admirers of Austen’s original, and it fills in the details of Henry’s sister Eleanor’s secret romance, his roguish brother

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Frederick’s flirtation with Isabella Thorpe, and why Frederick came to be the way he is. We also come to understand exactly what Henry sees in Catherine.

Vicki Kondelik THE YARD Alex Grecian, Putnam, 2012, $26.95/C$28.50, hb, 432pp, 9780399149542 / Michael Joseph, 2012, £12.99, hb, 544pp, 9780718159160 London, 1889. Jack the Ripper has finished his work, but the police’s inability to apprehend him results in an openly contemptuous public. Scotland Yard is restructured — an already overworked cadre of 12 detectives is now assigned to investigate murders. The newest addition to this squad is handed an ordinary case (a trunk murder) with an unprecedented victim: one of the squad’s own inspectors.

Although he is known for his graphic novels, The Yard is Grecian’s first written novel, and it’s a commendable effort. His skill in the visual medium transfers to prose — all the gruesome sights, sounds, and smells of a depraved Victorian London are vividly depicted. There are sections not for the squeamish. Suspense is competently handled, as are the multiple points of view which make up the narrative. The characterization is particularly adept, and there’s even the occasional thought-provoking comment on industrialization and metropolitan Victorian society. If there’s fault to be found, it’s that the novel occasionally devolves into melodrama, but always finds its way

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Lyndsay Faye, Putnam, 2012, $25.95/C$30.00, hb, 411pp, 9780399158377 / Headline Review, 2012, £14.99, hb, 400pp, 9780755386741 It’s 1845 and, until now, New York City has had no police force. Many citizens believe that government interference in their lives should be limited. (Sound familiar?) However, when the great potato famine hits Ireland and the city swells with impoverished immigrants, an already severe crime problem forces the establishment of the first NYPD. Officers wear cheap copper stars, invoking sneers: “Copper!”

Timothy Wilde, without a job since his bar burned down, is a reluctant recruit assigned a beat in the notorious Sixth Ward. When he finds a young girl covered in blood, he knows he should turn her over to the House of Refuge, but his conscience won’t let him.

The abuse there is horrific. Besides he needs to sort out the evil that doused her in the blood of another person. What he discovers are dozens of children’s bodies thinly buried in a forest north of 23rd Street.

And the hunt for a serial killer is on!

This is a stellar novel in more ways than one. Faye is admittedly a plotting virtuoso, but she’s even more adept at portraying the streets of 19th-century New York City in all of their teeming, steaming, reeking glory. The city is tough, and the men and women who have taken on the job of keeping it safe must be tougher. There’s Timothy breaking heads on his beat, his romantic obsession Mercy Underhill risking death to tend the diseased, the priest whose cathedral is desecrated in the worst possible way, the famous George Washington Matsell who published his flash (street talk) dictionary and headed up his coppers. If you love Caleb Carr’s or Matthew Pearl’s stories, you’ll relish Lyndsay Faye’s latest in what this reader hopes will become a long, long run of vibrant historical thrillers.

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back out again. Realism is added through leads that sometimes aren’t and plot threads unraveled unpredictably or snipped off altogether. Add to it all a few genuinely funny moments courtesy of absurdity and human nature, and you have The Yard: a gripping police procedural mystery and cracking good read. Recommended.

Bethany Latham TEXAS PRIDE Leigh Greenwood, Sourcebooks, 2012, $7.99, pb, 384pp, 9781402263965 A Polish prince on the Texas borderlands of the 1870s provides plenty of fish-out-of water humor and action in this romance. A veteran of the Civil War who has been matured by deceit and hardship, Ivan grabs at an opportunity to own half of a ranch won in a card game. Even though he mistrusts the man who offers, Ivan sees a path to return to his homeland and regain his rightful place in society.

Standing in his way is independent rancher Carla Reece. When hostilities erupt between the town and its Mexican neighbors, Ivan and Carla begin to work together to overcome both each other’s pride and the town’s prejudices to see that justice is done.

The narrative is paced well, but it often resorts to “tell” when a more artful showing might have been a better choice. But the even-handed charm of the hero teams up well with the self-aware prickliness of the object of his affection. They are a good match who will keep readers rooting for their love to conquer all.

Eileen Charbonneau LONDON BELLES Annie Groves, HarperCollins, 2010, £20, hb, 437pp, 9780007361496 London Belles is the tale of four girls, Tilly, Sally, Dulcie and Agnes, during the Second World War. Olive, Tilly’s mother, decides to take in lodgers, and this is how the girls meet. Sally is a nurse at Bart’s, Dulcie is a shop assistant at Selfridge’s, and Agnes is an orphan who is forced to leave the orphanage when it moves into the country. The four girls experience danger and upset before eventually becoming friends.

The story is well researched, and the reader is shown an interesting portrayal of life in London for ordinary folk during the war. I’m sure Annie Groves’ many fans will enjoy this family saga.

Sadly, Penny Jordan (who wrote as Annie Groves) died in January. She will be missed by her thousands of fans and many friends.

Fenella Miller HEART OF GOLD Robin Lee Hatcher, Thomas Nelson, 2012, $15.99, pb, 320pp, 9781595544889 In 1864, Shannon Adair dutifully accompanies her minister father to his new church in the gold rush town of Grand Coeur, in the Idaho Territory, but she secretly burns with resentment that she cannot remain in Virginia to support the Confederacy in its fight against the Northern aggressors. Shannon, who rejects her father’s belief that there is right and wrong on both sides of the war, hates everyone who does not stand wholeheartedly with the south.

Despite her antagonism, Shannon agrees to nurse Alice Jackson, the ailing widow of a Yankee soldier.

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It soon becomes clear that Alice is dying and that her son, Todd, will be left in the care of her older brother, Matthew Dubois, a wanderer who loves his job as a driver for Wells Fargo.

This gentle and well-written story of the Old West proves, once again, why Hatcher’s novels are beloved by so many readers. Shannon and Matthew are likeable characters who come from such different worlds that it doesn’t seem possible for them to ever find happiness together—until a band of Confederate outlaws unwittingly gives them the opportunity to test their faith and their love. Recommended for all those who enjoy inspirational romance.

Nancy J. Attwell SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE QUEEN OF DIAMONDS Steve Hayes and David Whitehead, Hale, £18.99, hb, 223pp, 9780709094784 This latest instalment of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes contains the usual ingredients: the correct address (221B Baker Street), Mrs Hudson showing the visitor up, and Dr Watson on hand to lend muscle and to marvel at the abilities of his detective friend.

The Countess Elaina is rescued from thugs by a tall, mysterious American, but is he who he pretends to be? Elaina takes him to Holmes in order to repay her debt of gratitude and get the American some expert help in finding his younger brother whom he claims has disappeared. Holmes is currently involved in solving the mystery of recent jewellery thefts and of course making his usual logical yet impressive deductions. There are knife fights and a dramatic escape, all set in a Victorian London with trotters on the menu and a pea-souper fog. The characters are clearly delineated, and the story moves along at a good pace. It is well-plotted with a not too obvious twist in the tale. Overall, reasonably satisfying, but a quite a light read. It is one to be dispatched over the course of a winter’s eve with some pleasure, but it won’t resonate in the heart and mind. Particularly enjoyable for those fans of Holmes who can never have enough of their hero.

Ann Northfield BLUE ASYLUM Kathy Hepinstall, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012, $24.00, hb, 288pp, 9780547712079 Iris Dunleavy is a bright, independent woman whose husband decides she is not a proper, respectful wife. This means always being obedient to his every wish, including his cruel treatment of his slaves on a Virginia plantation in the middle of the Civil War. But he is rich and well-respected as a successful businessman and community member, so for her unnamed crime, she is tried, convicted, and sent to a private mental institution on a small Florida island.

Immediately she meets a woman who swallows anything she can get into her mouth, a young boy who believes he is suffering from madness because of a particular act he can’t stop repeating, and a compassionate chef who sees more than he dare comment upon. All have moments of seeming to be quite sane, but Iris is unable to figure out what sets each off in his or her own mad pattern. She is attracted to Ambrose, a traumatized soldier who

suffers from violent outbreaks and who can only be calmed by objects and sounds conveying the appearance and sound of the color blue. Iris hates the doctor who is treating her, seeing him for what he really is, and which the reader will discover in good time, but only after receiving a primitively brutal type of therapy treatment. It is no surprise that feisty Iris wants to escape, a seemingly impossible fantasy that has an amazing, haunting, but spirited, finale.

It has been ten years since this reviewer read Kathy Hepinstall’s novel, The House of Gentle Men, and her style is now even better – flowing with rhythms of brutality, tenderness, eeriness, sensuality, sensitivity, and so much more. A unique, excellent historical novel!

Viviane Crystal THE IRISH HEALER Nancy Herriman, Worthy, 2012, $14.99, pb, 320pp, 9781936034789 An inspiring yet predictable story of love blooming between different social classes, The Irish Healer depicts the story of Rachel Dunne, accused murderer. Forced to flee Ireland, she finds work at the home of Dr. Edmunds in London. Dr. Edmunds is battling his own personal demons but falls in love with Rachel from the start. Rachel is an accomplished healer, and would be a perfect fit as Dr. Edmunds’ assistant if she allowed herself to work in the trade again. With shame on her sleeve, the doctor knows there must be more to Rachel’s story, but she refuses to share the real reason why she left Ireland. However, the cholera epidemic of the late 1800s derails both the doctor’s and Rachel’s stubbornness and forces the two to work together.

The servants in Dr. Edmunds’ employ create atmospheric appeal, particularly with the depiction of the amiable house boy Joe’s dialect. From a loyal housekeeper to a pompous sister-in-law, the supporting characters and scenery of England enrich the sometimes stagnant love story along with themes of prejudice, redemption and faith, both in oneself and God. The Irish Healer is an encouraging debut and should be enjoyed by most readers of Christian historical fiction.

Marie Burton THE HOUSE OF SILK Anthony Horowitz, Orion, 2011, £18.99, hb, 304pp, 9781409133827 / Mulholland, 2011, $27.99, hb, 304pp, 9780316196994 To the delight of Sherlock fans everywhere, there’s been a definite surge of renewed interest in Sherlock Holmes in recent years thanks in part to the excellent Guy Ritchie films and the equally brilliant BBC series “Sherlock”.

The House of Silk taps into all of this and, like the Guy Ritchie films, offers an interpretation of the original Holmes but with a subtly modern twist. I thought his Holmes very reminiscent of the one in “Sherlock” – an awkward yet not charmless man, gifted with great intellect and regarding his fellow man with amused disdain.

The actual plot of The House of Silk has a cracking pace, full of twists and turns and malevolent deeds in the grimy swirling streets of Victorian London as Holmes pits his wits against two very different intertwined cases and at the same time defends himself against an attempt to discredit him.

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Although the overall tone is authentic, it’s often easy to spot that this book was in fact a modern creation.

Overall, if you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes or just in the market for some really excellent period crime‑busting, then I’d definitely recommend this book.

Melanie Clegg NIGHT HAWK Beverly Jenkins, Avon, 2012, $7.99, pb, 371pp, 9780062032645 Former bounty hunter Ian “Preacher” Vance is a hero to many—a striking, half-Scots, halfblack man who quotes Bible verses and travels the American West in 1889 seeking justice for the weak. Maggie Freeman is far from weak, but when she is arrested for the murder of a sleazy businessman, Vance offers to deliver her safely to Abilene. He quickly grows to admire Maggie’s spirit, and admiration becomes love as the two make their journey.

Jenkins specializes in historical romance novels featuring people of color, and her books illuminate the struggles of minorities as well as their roles in shaping the history and culture of the United States we know today. The historical aspects of Night Hawk are well-researched, and Jenkins gives her readers ample historical context without turning the novel into a lesson. Her sensitive, engaging portrayals of biracial and Native American characters, combined with a fast-paced plot, make this an excellent read for historical romance lovers.

Nanette Donohue THE MAID OF FAIRBOURNE HALL Julie Klassen, Bethany House, 2012, $14.99, pb, 416pp, 9780764207099 Julie Klassen has written a clever book that incorporates what readers love of Jane Austen, Downton Abbey and even a bit of Jane Eyre. The novel offers everything a historical romance reader looks for, and I was sad to let these fun characters go. Margaret Macy’s once spoiled life takes a turn for the worse after her father dies and her evil stepfather wants to take control of her inheritance.

She impulsively runs away and finds herself becoming a maid in a household where two former suitors reside, Nathaniel and Lewis Upchurch.

Margaret, masquerading as Nora, mimics the servants’ mannerisms and dons a wig to hide her identity, eventually finding an unexpected accomplice in the sister at Fairbourne Hall.

Margaret matures as she is able to realize how blessed her life once was and acknowledges the hard life of a servant, as well as the missed opportunity with Nathaniel. However, the disappearance of Margaret from the social set causes a stir, forcing her out of hiding. Is there hope that the right Upchurch brother could rescue Margaret? The atmosphere of the below-stairs servants administering to the upper crust, along with historical quotes annotating each chapter, make this an entertaining and inspiring read.

Marie Burton THE CAPTURE OF THE EARL OF GLENCRAE Stephanie Laurens, Avon, 2012, $7.99/C$9.50, pb, 486pp, 9780062068620 19th Century

In June 1829, Angelica Cynster is attending a ball at Cavendish House when she is suddenly aware that a tall man with dark hair, leaning on a cane, is staring at her from across the ballroom, where he is talking with some gentlemen she knew.

Suddenly she is aware of a hot, burning sensation in her chest emanating from the pendant that had been passed down from her two older sisters, Heather and Eliza. The legend attached to this pendant is that it will signal the wearer when she meets her true love. So, of course, being the boldest of the three Cynster sisters, Angelica inveigles an introduction to this stranger, the Viscount Debenham. Debenham has his own agenda involving Angelica, and she has unwittingly played right into his hands.

Laurens has created a boisterous, charismatic family in the Cynsters. Their lives, loves and adventurous escapades make a delightful read.

This is the final installment in the Cynster Sisters trilogy. The pendant, however, will be passed on.

Audrey Braver THE SECRETS OF MARY BOWSER Lois Leveen, Hodder, 2012, £7.99, pb, 320pp, 9781444736250 / Morrow, 2012, $15.99, pb, 496pp, 9780062107909 Mary Bowser is born into slavery, freed by her mistress and sent to be educated in Philadelphia.

Ten years later, on the brink the Civil War, she returns to her native Virginia to spy for the North.

Lois Leveen tells us that Mary is based on an historical character. She must have had considerable courage and judgment, but whether her efforts had such far-reaching effects of those of her fictional counterpart is more doubtful. It would be extraordinary if – as in the novel – she had deliberately withheld information that might have brought too facile a victory to the North because she feared that a nation re-united so quickly would not abolish slavery..

Leveen is on surer ground with Mary’s family and friends, though there is an air of wishfulthinking. Mama is all motherly and wifely virtues; Papa is her male counter-part until the hardships of slavery wear him down. Mary’s husband, Wilson, is brave, handsome and doting, man enough to recognise when his wife is in the right – which is almost always.

Mary’s most interesting relationship is with Miss Bet, the white Southern woman who freed her and paid for her education and maintains a not always welcome interest in her protégé. This is not a straightforward friendship. Mary recognises the sincerity of her abolitionist views while resenting her assumption of control over her former slave.

She also finds Bet’s occasional insensitivity towards the realities of black life exasperating. Husband Wilson sees her as a complete nuisance.

The Secrets of Mary Bowser will appeal to many readers with its clear narrative, uncomplicated characters and unambiguous sense of right and wrong – though more demanding readers might find the book less engaging. Nevertheless it recreates a woman from a time when, as Leveen points out: ‘little effort was made to record the daily lives of most slaves, free blacks, or women of any race.’

Peter Prince

PENNY LACE Hilda Lewis, Bromley House/Five Leaves, 2011, £11.99, hb, 326pp, 9781905512966 As the jacket says, this is a novel of men machines and money. Penny is the name of a factory worker, Nicholas Penny, and the product the factory makes is lace.

The novel is set in late Victorian Nottingham and also in Derbyshire. Nicholas has an excellent story to tell, and Hilda Lewis does it extremely well. Nicholas does not like his bosses, the masters of the mills, and does not have a good relationship with his co-workers. He starts on the factory floor and learns the trade but is determined to set up on his own and become a master, which he eventually does away from Nottingham and also away from the trade unions. He starts to steal the work from his former bosses, who he feels are old-fashioned, by undercutting them. He installs new machines and uses new methods and new patterns for his lace. As the story unfolds, his financial position changes, and he also marries along the way.

Penny Lace is a good read, bringing the lace‑making industry alive with its dense and detailed descriptions. The reader gets to know the well-rounded characters really well through the excellent writing. The language is authentic and the writing easy to read. The chapters are quite short, making the book good for picking up and putting down; however, once picked up this book it is actually quite difficult to put down. Penny Lace can be recommended for its storyline, its geographical accounts of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and most certainly for its insight into the lace‑making industry.

Barbara Goldie THE FEVER TREE Jennifer McVeigh, Viking, 2012, £12.99, pb, 346pp, 9780670920891 1878. Orphaned by the death of her father, Frances Irvine faces a stark choice. Spurned by her mother’s grand relatives and left penniless by her father’s unwise investments, she must either become an unpaid nursemaid to an impoverished aunt, or marry a man she barely knows.

Dr Edwin Matthews is a distant relative (in every sense of the word) whose work takes him to the diamond-mining town of Kimberley in South Africa. But as Frances makes her reluctant way to join him, she encounters the charismatic William Westbrook. He is the only person who seems to sympathise with her plight, but he has his own fortune to make and a hidden agenda...

Inspired by the diary of a doctor combating the smallpox epidemic in South Africa, McVeigh’s debut novel creates a vivid portrait of the ugly side of the British Empire, as well as the stark beauty of the Karoo.

Frances in particular is a complex character as she evolves from sheltered child to mature woman.

Given her vulnerability after her father’s death and the apparent coldness of Edwin, it’s not surprising that William leaves such a profound effect on her, at the same time that some deeper instinct warns her to be wary of him.

If I do have a reservation, it is that Edwin is often depicted as too cold and single-minded – the sort of person it is easy to admire from a distance but impossible to live with because he fails to make HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 31

allowances for lesser mortals. Occasionally the vocabulary struck me as too modern – when, for instance, did the expression ‘squeaky-clean’ become current? And I’m not surprised that a minor character went bankrupt if he really sheared sheep during a snowstorm - presumably the entire flock died of hypothermia. But this is nit-picking. A promising debut.

Jasmina Svenne WHISPERS THROUGH THE HOUSE Laurel Means, North Star, 2011, $14.95, pb, 282pp, 9780878394494 In this companion to her novel The Long Journey Home, Means revisits the Minnesota prairies during the post-Civil War era of pioneer settlement. Lucy Dubois has just lost her husband to an accident, and her sole consolation is that she is pregnant with his child. Pioneer life is never easy, and it’s even more difficult as a widow with several children. Though she has a close-knit community to support her, Lucy worries about being burdensome to others, and tries to fend for herself as best as she can. She dreams of remarrying, and is in love with her neighbor, Mattias, but cannot find a way to let him know about her feelings.

Lucy’s life is harsh, and she falls victim to a variety of serious events, including a fire that destroys part of her home and a flood that ruins one of her fields.

The plot often jumps from tragic event to tragic event with little relief, and this grim realism makes Whispers Through the House somewhat difficult to read at times. There are also a lot of characters, and it is sometimes difficult to determine how the characters are related to one another. Although the number of characters reminds readers that community was the key to survival, there are times when it seems like a tighter focus on Lucy’s inner circle would improve the novel.

Novels of this era are a rarity, which is surprising given how much the “pioneer spirit” is a part of the American mythos. Means’s knowledge of the time and setting is extensive, and the novel is infused with detail without getting bogged down in exposition. It would not surprise me if Means revisits this family in the future, and I’d be interested in seeing where their story goes.

Nanette Donohue MR BISHOP AND THE ACTRESS Janet Mullany, Little Black Dress, 2011, $8.99, pb, 274pp, 9780755347810 Beautiful, sophisticated Sophie Marsden, the ton’s infamous Mrs. Wallace, has an ignominious fall from grace when she is abandoned by her lover and has an altercation with her father’s business partner at the theater. Hiding out in the country, she uses her acting skills to secure a place as a respectable governess.

All is well until she finds the house steward is the same gentleman who assisted the move from her previous lodging. Both Sophie and Harry Bishop quickly feel at home with the quirky Shadderlys, who treat their servants as members of the family. Neither wish to leave, but Mr. Bishop is uneasy with both his reluctance to reveal Mrs. Marsden’s true identity and his growing feelings for her. When Sophie receives an anonymous expensive gift, she steels herself to return to London, thinking it a love token from Lord Shad.

32 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

A family emergency, however, allies Sophie and Mr. Bishop as they finally confront their mutual affection for one another.

This is a highly entertaining Regency novel that is both outrageously funny and endearingly unconventional. Readers looking for another Georgette Heyer may be disappointed, for it has a modern feel in regards to the characters’ personalities and their acceptance of certain lifestyles, as well as the type of humor displayed. It makes a wonderful escapist read and is a delightful break from more serious period novels.

Arleigh Johnson THE WOMAN WHO LOVED JESSE JAMES Cindi Myers, Bell Bridge, 2012, $14.95, pb, 406pp, 9781466473461 Jesse James – notorious outlaw to some, hero of the Southern cause to others – is brought brilliantly to life in this novelization of his courtship and marriage to his cousin, Zee. Following a chance meeting at a wedding, and later, as Zee tends to his wounds, they fall deeply in love. Though many years pass before they actually marry, she holds on to her faith in him, all the while ignoring the negative press and wild stories she hears of him. With her, he is a different person entirely – intelligent, wellspoken and mannered, he treats Zee with love and devotion. Once she gives in to the idea that he is living a dangerous double life, she does not try to change him, for his wildness is a part of him she

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SUGAR ISLAND

greatly loves.

This book is not only a love story. The Reconstruction Era is recounted through the viewpoint of a state split between the North and South, and many were supportive of the James brothers playing Robin Hood, robbing from the very men they felt had taken away their livelihood – banks and trains controlled by Union businessmen.

Though a definite leaning to the Southern cause is apparent, the reader gets a sense of the political atmosphere of post-Civil War America. This is a sympathetic viewpoint of the infamous outlaw, but nonetheless a poignant one with interesting details of the era and an immaculate recounting of the retaliatory crimes committed by Jesse James.

Arleigh Johnson THE PURSUIT OF LUCY BANNING Olivia Newport, Revell, 2012, $14.99, pb, 304pp, 9780800720384 In 1892-93 Chicago was preparing for the World Columbian Exposition, the greatest world’s fair held up to that time, and still the most memorable. (The same Chicago chauvinism reflected in that statement earned us the nickname “Windy City” during the efforts to win the right to hold it.) Newport was inspired by Glessner House, the only remaining sign of the avenue’s past magnificence. In addition to the architecture, she provides rich descriptions of the clothes, table settings, decorations and other trappings of late

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Sanjida O’Connell, John Murray, 2012, £8.99, pb, 344pp, 9781848540408 Sugar Island is inspired by the life of Fanny Kemble – actress, author and anti-slavery activist – and is set in the American South on the cusp of the Civil War. Emily arrives in Georgia from England to begin a new life with her husband, Charles, only to discover he is a slave owner.

While attempting to meet the expectations of her new family, she finds herself secretly befriending the slaves.

Emily is an engaging heroine with a strong moral sense, a rounded personality who wins the reader’s interest and sympathy. We follow the novel through her viewpoint.

‘Emily noticed the house servants were all light-skinned, the colour of newly planed wood.’ The servants are superbly depicted, especially Edward, the head Negro.

‘Edward bowed to her. He had an aristocratic-looking nose, deep frown lines between his brows and an air of sadness about him.’

O’Connell’s emphasises the justness of the Negro cause and their exploitation by the plantation owners, but her characters are good and bad and many shades of grey.

She pays attention to detail, humanity and motivation and through this demonstrates historical and economic change, cause and consequence Sugar Island has pitch-perfect settings. I was there in 1859 seeing what Emily saw through the eyes of a foreigner. Picnics, rides, visits to neighbouring plantations, small towns, and the beach are very evocative. ‘Oyster catchers probed for worms with their brilliant red beaks and a flock of terns skimmed the waves, moving in synchronicity like one living organism.’ Here Emily feels that for the first time she is free. Such descriptions convey the otherness of Emily’s personal journey through both horror and beauty.

Sugar Island is a terrific read, an enlightening, dark, deeply emotional and satisfying novel.

The highly popular The Help by Kathryn Stockett, set in 1960s Mississippi, incorporates similar deep rooted southern issues. I wish Sugar Island the same success.

Carol McGrath 19th Century

19th-century affluence.

The main emphasis is on character, particularly Lucy, a young lady who hides her attendance at the newly opened University of Chicago from her conventional family and her stuffy banker fiancé.

Her maid has an even bigger secret, a baby boy who is quiet enough to remain hidden in the large house for several days. Lucy meets her brother’s friend, a poor but honest architect with hair the color of honey and cobalt blue eyes. We end with the opening of the Fair, but the novel is intended as the first in a series called Avenue of Dreams.

Recommended for Chicagoans.

James Hawking THE TECHNOLOGISTS Matthew Pearl, Random House, 2012, $26.00, hb, 496pp, 9781400066575 As the first class of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – a ragtag amalgam of “charity” students and Harvard wannabes and rejects, all intensely brilliant – prepares to graduate in 1868, it becomes clear that there is a madman on the loose in Boston. While rival Harvard, in the person of Professor Louis Agassiz, religious and anti-Darwin, undertakes an investigation with the Boston Police Department’s imprimatur, a group of Technologists – Darwinists and believers in the saving grace of industry and technology – begin to unravel the growing mystery as virtually each passing day brings another disaster of almost Biblical proportion.

With each new twist and turn of the plot, we learn more about the protagonist, Marcus Mansfield, a “machine guy” and former Union prisoner of war. Given the opportunity to rise above his station, Mansfield encourages four of his “fellows,” one of whom is Ellen Swallow, the first woman ever to attend MIT and ultimately a professor there, to pursue the individual responsible for the catastrophic, and entirely fictional, events tearing Boston to shreds.

This novel is a true combination of the historical and the fantastical. While Marcus is fictional, most of the other Technologists, Agassiz and other Harvard and Boston notables are historical personages. Characters are drawn with loving attention to detail and spring to life full-blown. The tensions between MIT and Harvard, from MIT’s inception, are palpable and historically accurate.

Pearl’s greatest talent is in taking what is verifiably true and meshing it with fictional elements, making of it a cohesive whole. Although at times the pacing of the plot may slow, I found this book to be a wonderful excursion into a time and place with which I was not familiar. Highly recommended.

Ilysa Magnus SEAHAWK BURNING Randall Peffer, Tyrus, 2012, $24.95, hb, 320pp, 9781440533167 / $15.95, pb, 320pp, 9781440533150 During the latter stages of the American Civil War, from 1863 to 1865, Captain Ralph Semmes of the C.S.S. Alabama terrorizes the North’s shipping and whaling industry. He tries to prevent raw materials from reaching the shores of the North, thereby helping the Southern cause while capturing and destroying Northern ships. While 19th Century

he is at sea, his girlfriend Maude Galway is on the run from Pinkerton agents. Because of her association with convicted spy Rose Greenhow, Maude is suspected of spying for the South along with conspiring to kill President Lincoln.

This novel is loosely based on the true story of Captain Semmes of the Confederate navy, an assassination conspiracy involving key government leaders in Washington, and the attempt made by Captain John Winslow of the U.S.S. Kearsarge to capture and destroy the Alabama. Other reallife supporting characters include the Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells and a leader of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman.

This is the third and final book in the trilogy chronicling the adventures of Captain Semmes and his exploits during the American Civil War. The research is well documented, with intriguing factual and fictional characters involved in a plot to assassinate President Lincoln. Prepare to be immersed in a page-turner with end-of-chapter cliffhangers. I would recommend reading the first two novels first, primarily because of the character development of Captain Semmes and Maud, along with the supporting cast of players in this exciting spy and war novel series. Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff

black citizens the freedom they were promised at emancipation and others plan to revive the “old South” one town at a time.

Gus’s cousin, Judge, informs her that Eli appointed him trustee of the estate even though they agreed on nothing except Gus’s welfare. He tells her she is penniless but declines to reveal more. Simon, a former slave, knows all the secrets, and she must learn to trust him. He has been the envoy in Eli’s nefarious business transactions and knows that Eli brought home a large sum of money on the night he died. Gus and Simon must work together to find it; Gus promises Simon half the found money as their quest takes them to places unwelcome to widows and dangerous to former slaves. Simon proves to be the only clear head in the bunch and the key to her future.

The author hopes to deconstruct the myths of the Old South, but I enjoyed the old myths in my favorite novels more. I felt as if Gus never really developed into anything interesting, Simon was really good, and the bad guys were really bad.

I think the novel could have used a little more balance.

Susan Zabolotny

FORSAKING ALL OTHERS Allison Pittman, Tyndale, 2011, $13.99, pb, 380pp, 9781414335971 In this continuation of the “Sister Wife” series, Pittman continues the story of Camilla Fox, whose flight from her Mormon husband corresponds with her spiritual awakening. Found half-frozen on the prairie by the United States Army, Camilla finds new hope even as she must undergo excruciating surgery as well as anguish over the loss of her children. Determined to rescue her young daughters from Mormonism, Camilla risks her life, health and heart in an odyssey which tests both faith and the full extent of maternal love.

Throughout the novel, Camilla is torn between her passion for Nathan Fox and her awakening love for Colonel Charles Brandon, the soldier who has given her his protection.

While there are a few anachronistic expressions in the course of the narrative, the reader is given a fascinating glimpse into Mormon pioneer life and explores the psychological and social aspects of polygamy. It is interesting to see existence inside a cult. No character is stereotypical, however, and one sees why Camilla was drawn to the Mormons in the first place. It is also clearly shown why she ran away. Pittman weaves an unusual tale of the Old West, a tale which is both inspiring and romantic.

Elena Maria Vidal

A SECRET IN HER KISS Anna Randol, Avon, 2012, $7.99/C$9.50, pb, 374pp, 9780062025807 Constantinople, 1815. Outside an opium den, an attractive woman in Turkish garments and a handsome British officer in uniform are spotted kissing. Members of a mob that initially gathered to attack the major, believing that an Ottoman maiden was being molested, resort to cheers and sheath their swords upon seeing the fair lady’s curls and English features revealed upon the dropping of her veil. This was a ruse Mari and Major Bennett Prestwood had used to evade the sultan’s soldiers.

It’s one of the many deceptions they employ in their mission. Mari’s unique skill in concealing the plans of Ottoman forts into sketches of butterfly wings lead to her recruitment as a British spy.

Bennett, battle-scarred after Waterloo, is assigned as her “minder” so that she can complete the drawings, safely, of two more forts. Mari has secret wishes for Greek independence, inherited from her mother, and Bennett wants to return home as soon as possible. With the Ottoman authorities on their trail, passion and desires confront the two and further hamper their operation.

While unconventional Mari is somewhat like Heyer’s “Grand Sophy,” the setting of this Regency historical romance in Constantinople makes it a very pleasurable read although the historic minutiae are rather sketchy.

Waheed Rabbani

THE REBEL WIFE Taylor M. Polites, Simon & Schuster, 2012, $25.00, hb, 284pp, 9781451629514 “I know that Eli is dying.” The opening line of this debut novel by Taylor M. Polites is intriguing, and the initial thought is for the speaker who will suffer the loss, but his widow, Augusta “Gus” Branson, could not be more emotionally detached. Eli has been the provider of her wealth and comfort for the last ten years, but even her child is the result of an accident. The year is 1876, and her small Alabama town is in turmoil as Republicans work to give

THE BROTHERS Asko Sahlberg (trans. Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah), Peirene, 2011, £10.00, pb, 122pp, 9780956284068 Finland, 1809. Henrik and Erik are brothers who fought on opposite sides in the war between Sweden and Russia. When peace is declared, both return home to confront rivalries much older and deeper than that brought about by the war.

This quiet, understated novella has been likened to William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, and there are similarities in the harsh, rural setting and the sense HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 33

of deep family secrets seething below the slow, calm surface. It also shares with Faulkner’s masterpiece a series of beautifully realised narrative voices and skilful control of information. Sahlberg brings the strands of his story together at just the right pace, remorselessly manipulating the reader’s sense of dread as the feuding brothers and the rest of their family draw towards a climax.

There is, however, one big problem with the novella which prevents it being quite as good as it should be, given the beauty of the writing and the wonderful atmosphere of rural Finland in deep winter. This is a clumsy deus ex machina in the form of a sudden, inadequately explained inheritance which changes everybody’s fortunes in unexpected ways. I found this disappointing because there was no need for it. The pre-existing tensions between the characters and the revelation of a much more credible and dramatic family secret was quite enough to keep the story going and bring it to a much more satisfying and truthful conclusion.

Sahlberg is clearly a very gifted writer, who lets himself down with this silly device which would be more at home in a drawing‑room comedy.

The book is worth reading, however, for its atmospheric setting and powerful characterisation.

Sarah Bower SONG OF MY HEART Kim Vogel Sawyer, Bethany House, 2012, $14.99, pb, 348pp, 9780764207860 Goldtree, Kansas, 1895. Sadie Wagner travels from her Indiana home to work as a store clerk and part-time singer in an “opera” house. A sweet, religious girl with a God-given voice, she must earn money to aid her family back home. Sheriff Thad McKane wants to be a minister, but first must root out the bootleggers who are corrupting the town.

He and Sadie are attracted to each other, but their love may not survive her seeming involvement with criminal activities. Danger and suspense threaten, and an unwelcome suitor complicates Sadie’s life even more. With the Lord’s help and a good deal of soul-searching and personal growth, Sadie and Thad try to find the path to a godly future with each other.

Christian readers will enjoy this sweet story, which offers a mix of romance, mystery, and humor while focusing on biblical values. A large cast of entertaining secondary characters adds to the appeal, as does the carefully drawn, Western smalltown setting.

Elizabeth Knowles THE SOLITARY HOUSE (US) / TOM-ALLALONE’S (UK) Lynn Shepherd, Delacorte, 2012, $26.00/ C$31.00, hb, 340pp, 9780345532428 / Corsair, 2012, £12.99, hb, 336pp, 9781780331669 Disgraced former policeman Charles Maddox works as a private investigator in 1850s London.

He takes a surprising assignment from a shadowy attorney to discover who is sending threatening letters to a powerful financier. His great-uncle, a brilliant “thief taker” now suffering from dementia, helps him in his lucid moments. But as Charles delves deeper, he believes there is far more to this case than the attorney admits. Charles’ further investigation drops him into the debaucheries and criminals of London and put his life in extreme 34 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

danger. Several people who help him along the way end up hideously murdered. What depraved secrets do the financier and his “gentlemen” cohorts hide behind their facades of respectability?

This ambitious novel is intellectually enthralling, with dark twists at every turn, as murky as the creeping London fogs. Charles is a young man with a troubled past of his own, but his tenacious nature won’t allow him to give up.

The “modern” omniscient narrator who talks directly to you can be distracting, but mimics the Victorian style of writing. Characters from famous novels of this era—most notably, Charles Dickens’ Bleak House—are integrated into the story. This is a haunting novel that will have you guessing until the last pages, and it is not at all for the faint of heart. I pondered each subtle hint that led to the dreadful conclusion long after I finished the book.

Diane Scott Lewis THE TRUTH OF ALL THINGS Kieran Shields, Crown, 2012, $25.00/C$28.95, hb, 416pp, 9780307720276 In Portland, Maine in 1892, detective Archie Lean investigates the brutal murder of a prostitute.

The woman is laid out like a pentagram and pinned to the earth with a pitchfork—the traditional method for killing a witch. Criminologist Perceval Grey is brought in to assist. Grey is distrusted by the officials because of his half-Abenaki ancestry, but the killer left a strange message in that language. Grey and Lean, along with historian Helen Prescott, follow the clues that lead them to previous murders, Portland’s 17th-century past, and a definite tie to the notorious Salem witch trials.

Soon all their lives are threatened as a demented killer roams New England out for revenge using the deadly rituals of a witch’s Black Book.

This novel is intricately plotted with numerous twists. Grey especially is a compelling character as he uses modern investigative techniques and clever perception to ferret out the truth. His painful past is woven into the story through their probing into the Abenaki Indian connection. The author’s knowledge of 19th-century Portland is remarkable, putting you right into the city. I found it strange that one of the killer’s accomplices is never identified— and no one is curious about this person—though they play an important part near the end.

The killer’s bragging confession to a tied-up Grey borders on cliché, but it’s still gripping. Kieran Shields’s debut novel is a fascinating addition to the historical mystery genre.

Diane Scott Lewis WHERE WILDFLOWERS BLOOM Ann Shorey, Revell, 2012, $14.99, pb, 328pp, 9780800720742 Faith has little faith in herself or her aging grandfather. They are both struggling to overcome the losses of the War Between the States, and Faith dreams of the wildflowers of Oregon. Even though Grandpa has the same painful memories of family long gone, he wants to stay in Missouri and have Faith run his mercantile store even though a woman running a business is frowned upon. The story unfolds as Faith tries to force her wayward dream into reality, but we hope that love blooms between Curt and Faith, which would hold Faith in Missouri where she belongs. However, Royal

Baxter, a childhood fancy of Faith’s, returns from the war and offers Faith her childish dreams. The author meanders through this love triangle with some mystery and plenty of historical ambiances, along with eye-rolling moments on Faith’s part.

Where Faith’s character is stubborn, willful and determined, she is foolish in many of her decisions.

Faith’s friend Rosemary is her wise and rational counterpart and is shunned for being a nurse during the war. Reading of these two ladies and their struggles was engaging, and I hope to see these characters in the next installment of the Sisters at Heart series.

Marie Burton THE SEDUCTION OF PHAETON BLACK Jillian Stone, Kensington, 2012, $14.00, pb, 335pp, 9780758268969 Phaeton Black, paranormal investigator, operates in Victorian London. He is charming, clever, playful, ruthless when he needs to be— and, above all, a ladies man. It’s much to his convenience that he lets out a flat below Madam Parker’s brothel. If this sounds a bit outlandish for a historical novel… well, it is. But it’s darn good fun, too.

It appears that an ancient evil called Qadesh has unleashed itself upon London, in the form of a fanged demon that drains its victims’ blood. The stakes are high, and author Stone paces the action briskly, leaving us just enough breath to face the next paranormal threat, whether it’s an Egyptian mummy or a ripper named Jack.

Although the sexy romps, flirtation with a leather-garbed heroine named America Jones, and periodic escapes into absinthe haze far outweigh any attempt at authentic historical details, the fantasy works if one keeps an open mind and just enjoys the ride.

Kathryn Johnson MAY THE ROAD RISE UP TO MEET YOU Peter Troy, Doubleday, 2012, $25.95, hb, 400pp, 9780385534482 Ethan McOwen has lived through the period of Irish history known as “the Hunger” in 1847 County Fermanagh. He and his sister, Aislinn, brought much joy to the family in this dark time with their dramatic renditions of Shakespeare and the Odyssey. But then Aislinn dies of starvation, and in the family’s grief they make the decision to leave for America.

The journey across the Atlantic Ocean is truthfully depicted with its horrific lack of food and plenty of disease. Ethan consoles himself by talking to Aislinn, who is in heaven and whom he believes sees all. Upon arrival, Ethan yearns for more education but is rejected because of his Irish background, perhaps a blessing in disguise as he takes up the craft of photography. He forges on, developing a passion for photographing beauty and horror exactly as they are. But this talent is about to be drastically challenged with the Civil War, in which he and his friends participate in the famous Irish Brigade.

Devastating scenes follow in which soldiers line up in ranks, falling line by line from the guns of the Southern Rebs. In the middle of all this he meets Marcella, the love of his life, a former society girl whose passions includes independence, freedom 19th Century

C

THE LUMINIST

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

David Rocklin, Hawthorne, 2011, $15.95, pb, 322pp, 9780979018879 When Catherine Colebrook goes to Ceylon to join her husband, a functionary with the East India Company, she’s already obsessed with finding a way to make lasting photographic images. In 1836, the nascent science is incomprehensible to colonial society. Catherine ignores her peers and, when her experiments with glass, light, and dangerous chemicals consume her hours, she neglects her family.

Eligius, a brilliant young Indian servant, becomes Catherine’s disciple and shares her obsession. When his kinsmen rebel against the Company’s tyranny, Eligius, loyal to his mentor; refuses to take part. The violence escalates. Eligius, who is considered an enemy by both sides, finds safety with neither.

Like Catherine, the young servant is caught in a struggle with his own heritage. The tragic story of the faithful servant is repeated throughout colonial history, but Eligius, who is not a slave, never comes to regret what he has learned.

The Luminist, which is loosely based on the life of British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, is a fascinating story beautifully told. Rocklin describes the undeveloped country, the harshness of native life, and the tragic consequences of rebellion in sentences which, while they do nothing to dispel the ugliness, cast events in a classic mold. The characters, especially but not only Catherine and Eligius, are unique and yet recognizable from the context. They will be hard to forget. The Luminist is for attentive, questioning readers, who will find the effort rewarding. Highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene for slaves, and the women’s suffrage movement.

On another side are Micah and Mary, two talented young slaves who educate themselves by various means but are denied the right to love. They will find each other only after Micah escapes and travels a self-revealing journey to maturity.

Peter Troy is a masterful storyteller who completely disregards stereotypical pictures of the Irish, slaves, and warfare – speaking from the heart and creating a unique, literate tapestry of characters and love beyond the reader’s limited imagination.

Absolutely delightful, and a must read!

Viviane Crystal COLORADO DAWN Kaki Warner, Berkley, 2012, $15, pb, 359pp, 9780425245224 In 1868, Maddie Wallace is trapped in a loveless marriage with a Scotsman who has abandoned her for the military. She married him for love, but he had different plans, so she flees her lonely life for the United States, where she will work as a photographer documenting the growth and expansion of the West. Maddie carves out a life for herself in the small town of Heartbreak Creek, Colorado, and she finds success in her chosen profession. It’s her success, and the publication of her photos at home, that lead her estranged husband to her—and Angus plans to woo her and win her once more.

Warner’s novel, second in a series about the women of Heartbreak Creek, is a fine Western romance featuring an engaging love story, cruel villains, and intelligent dialogue. Maddie’s desire to maintain her independence puts her at odds 19th Century

with Angus, who must learn to appreciate what his wife’s career and talents mean to her. Warner has an obvious love for the setting, as the vistas and views of the West are beautifully described. The romance is nicely layered, and as Maddie and Angus reveal their inner lives and dreams to one another, it’s hard not to cheer for them. I’ll definitely be exploring Warner’s backlist, and I look forward to the next Heartbreak Creek novel.

Nanette Donohue THE RICHEST HILL ON EARTH Richard S. Wheeler, Forge, 2011, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 348pp, 9780765328168 Butte, Montana is a fascinating place to visit. A guided tour enlightened me on how the history in that corner of Montana affected the whole nation (the labor movement, the 17th Amendment). So I was pleased to learn more via award-winning Western author Wheeler’s book, set in that “worst, cruelest, most generous, and amusing city in the United States.”

In 1892, Butte is a muddy, polluted hive of unregulated copper mining, driven by America’s hunger for telephone and electrical wire. The city teems with immigrant miners, while power rests in the hands of the three “Copper Kings.”

King William Clark hires J. Fellowes Hall to run his newspaper, promote Clark’s bid for a Senate nomination, and oppose fellow king Marcus Daly’s machinations. Butte’s powerless are also part of the story: Red Alice, a miner’s widow who becomes a crusading socialist, and Maxwell the undertaker, who can’t seem to profit from the high death rate of miners due to spending too much in brothels. The

fight over control of Butte’s wealth escalates when the third king, F. Augustus Heinze, uses bribed judges and lawsuits to jam up the courts so that he can steal copper from others’ claims.

The book’s strength is not characterization; most of the people are not very likeable. Even the downtrodden have dark sides, such as Red Alice’s children going hungry while she recruits socialists.

For me, the impact of the book was being left with a sense of wonder at man’s inhumanity to man in that time and place. Butte suffers to this day from the excesses of the mining boom, ranking high on the list of Superfund environmental cleanup sites.

B.J. Sedlock SLANT OF LIGHT Steve Wiegenstein, Blank Slate Press, 2012, $14.95, pb, 305pp, 9780982880661 Just before the Civil War, Turner, a writer and lecturer, founds Daybreak, a Utopian community, in the Missouri Ozarks. He, his wife Charlotte, and Cabot, an abolitionist, are joined by other wouldbe settlers. All struggle to achieve lofty ideals in face of hardship and despite their human flaws.

Charlotte, the most interesting and appealing of the novel’s characters, must deal with her husband’s infidelity and the attraction she and Cabot feel for each other.

A sense of the fragility of civilization and the human potential for violence infuses the novel with an understated tension from beginning to end. Ironically, even as the characters attempt to construct a perfect society, the country is descending into savage conflict. In Missouri this will pit Federal soldiers against guerrilla bands.

The author reminds us pointedly several times of the Ancient Roman proverb, “Man is a wolf to man.”

The story is told with great, perhaps excessive, emotional restraint. A major character is informed that he is about to be hanged. We do not experience his reaction but later witness his rescue through the eyes of another character who is a stranger to him.

Similarly, when a man dies in the arms of someone who deeply cares for him, we quickly cut away and see the scene from a third character’s point of view. We watch events from a distance rather than closely identifying with any one person. The author excels in portraying a particular place and time in America. Individuals make moral choices that eloquently illustrate who they are as people.

But the nondramatic style works against reader involvement. I admired many elements in this novel without feeling fully caught up in the story.

Phyllis T. Smith THE PLEASURES OF MEN Kate Williams, Michael Joseph, 2012, £12.99, pb, 401pp, 9780241951392 The year is 1840, and London is in the grip of economic depression. There are riots in the streets, and a serial killer is on the loose in Spitalfields, where Catherine Sorgeiul lives with her eccentric uncle. The servants have deserted them due to fear of the murderer, and their only visitor is the mysterious Mr. Trelawney. Catherine herself, beautiful but mentally unstable, harbours dark secrets and a fascination with the murders.

On the face of it, The Pleasures of Men is a winner. A full-blown gothic mystery set in a period HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 35

which has clear parallels with our own, written by an author who is also a distinguished historian of the Victorian age: it should be pure enjoyment. It is, however, a frustrating read, bogged down by cloying and overly elaborate language and a love of detail which slows the pace virtually to a standstill in parts. There is little clarity in the development of the plot, as the narrative slips in and out of Catherine’s imagination, and the final resolution feels somewhat rushed.

Catherine has good reasons to feel sorry for herself, but her self-pity, coupled with her dark preoccupations with sex and sudden death, makes her feel more like a sulky adolescent than a young woman of nineteen. I kept wanting to give her a good shake and tell her to get over herself! The supporting cast are all so monstrously drawn it is difficult to quite believe in any of them.

Not a bad read exactly, but one which disappointed my expectations.

Sarah Bower

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TO DO OR DIE Max Adams, Pan/Trafalgar Square, 2012 (c2010), $12.95/C$9.99/£6.99, pb, 392pp, 9780330510332 To Do or Die covers just thirteen days in September 1939, but oh, what harrowing days they are! Eddie Dawson, lance-corporal and explosives expert in the Royal Engineers, is sent to inspect the fortifications on the Maginot Line. He makes an enemy of an arrogant French captain who takes his revenge by causing him and fellow Royal Engineer Dave Watson to be hemmed in by German soldiers.

Making their escape, aided by German land mines they’d uncovered, they end up on the wrong side of the German border. Their goal—to get to neutral Luxembourg and then to France alive and intact.

I’m no military historian, but Adams (a pseudonym) is, and he knows his stuff. Although at times it strains credulity that these two men can take out numerous German soldiers (they are relentlessly pursued by an SS man who matches them in wits), I managed to let that go and enjoy the ride, if “enjoy” is the right word. Adams makes the men’s desperation and scrambling for life-saving ingenuity authentic, and if a beautiful Luxembourg woman makes an appearance, every heroic story has a heroine. And therein is my one critique: Dawson is most definitely the hero. Watson holds his end up, but this is Dawson’s story, and Dawson’s brains get them through it. Watson’s presence allows his friend and fellow engineer to shine. And that is my most minor quibble with this absorbing story, which also has every indication there will be a sequel (in fact, our UK friends already have the sequel, Right and Glory, available).

Ellen Keith THE SINS OF THE FATHER: Clifton Chronicles II Jeffrey Archer, St. Martin‘s, 2012, $27.99/C$31.99, hb, 384pp, 9781250000972 / Macmillan, 2012, £18.99, hb, 400pp, 9780230748231 New York City, 1939-1945. In the second of 36 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

Archer’s five-part drama (Only Time Will Tell, 2011), young Harry Clifton has a promising future in England with Emma Barrington, the girl he loves, until he discovers a family secret that drives him away. Harry joins the merchant marine, changes his identity, and lands in New York City.

How and why, which may continue to mystify readers, is important to the continuing plot. Suffice it to say, Harry uses his time productively and, unbeknownst to those who love him, turns his love of books and writing into a job.

Meanwhile, Archer accounts for the rest of his cast during the next four years, which coincide with the war in Europe. Harry’s mother, Maisie Clifton, believes her son is dead; she is building a life without him. Emma won’t give up; she goes in search of Harry. Hugo Barrington, Harry’s enemy, is still trying to ruin him. Giles Barrington, Harry’s longtime friend, is with British forces in Europe. Harry’s whereabouts and activities remain a mystery.

When the reader loses sight of Harry, the star is effectively removed from the stage. The rest of the cast has to carry the plot, which is so dependent on luck and coincidence that it often seems contrived.

There is very little period detail or introspection.

That’s not to say the novel is dull. It’s fast moving, with numerous twists and turns and, when Harry finally resurfaces, a tantalizing ending. There’s just not enough of the bright young Englishman in

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INTO THE FREE

The Sins of the Father. Archer fans will be eager for Harry’s return in the third volume of the Clifton Chronicles.

Jeanne Greene THE O’BRIENS Peter Behrens, Pantheon, 2012, $25.95, 400pp, hb, 9780307379931 Behrens follows up his Governor General’s award-winning Law of Dreams with a multigenerational family saga. At the turn of the 20th century, Pontiac County, Quebec, is a lightly populated timber region, and by the time Joe O’Brien becomes the man of the family at age thirteen, he’s already cutting and selling cords of wood and making his plans to get rich by following the trees, or the railroad, or whatever will take him away. His organizational skills and vision don’t preclude his seeing to the family’s safety, and just a few years later he ensures that his brothers and sisters will also escape, though he has no idea how the decisions he makes about his siblings’ futures will affect his own.

He falls in love and marries, during a brief interlude in his peripatetic, fortune-seeking life.

His wife follows him through many a rough adventure of fiscal, moral, and natural loss and gain, and we discover that she, too, is seeking something intangible, something that could be confused with love or belonging or success.

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Julie Cantrell, David C. Cook, 2012, $12.99, pb, 368pp, 9780781404242 Cantrell’s outstanding debut is no ordinary comingof-age novel. For Millie Reynolds, daughter of a downtrodden, morphine-addicted mother and a wifebeating, half-Choctaw father, poverty, depression, and abuse are all part of the tragic inheritance she faces.

As a nine-year-old child living in a shack in 1936 rural Mississippi, Millie takes shelter from her problems by hiding out in a sweet gum tree, watching the world go by from its tall branches. When circumstances deprive her of her only friend, a grandfatherly neighbor, she looks desperately for someone to trust.

The unique characters brim with authenticity.

Millie, at sixteen, narrates the remainder of her story in a strong voice full of grit and yearning. She feels much older than her years, and she dreads the violent scenes that result whenever Jack (whom she refuses to call “father”) comes home from the rodeo. A Romany tribe that passes through town every spring gives her the key to unlock her mother’s history, but some puzzles still remain. She falls for a handsome gypsy who quotes from Steinbeck and the Bible, but their romance stalls because he has to keep moving.

The plot is never less than absorbing, even during its most wrenching moments. Cantrell is particularly gifted at describing twisted family dynamics and the conflicted feelings they create. Millie doesn’t always make wise decisions, but she’s smart enough to see bigotry and false piety as they affect her, and she never stops trying to see the good in people. The novel’s background imagery is vivid and appropriate to her situation. Nature, just like humanity, can be both beautiful and cruel.

With the support of those who care for her and her growing self-worth, Millie learns she can acknowledge and understand her past without needing to relive it. The inspirational themes strengthen the book without being overpowering. Highly recommended.

Sarah Johnson 19th Century — 20th Century

The O’Briens grow and prosper as a family, and the reader gets tantalizing scenes of Venice Beach, California, in 1912, with its budding tourist industry and creeping fog banks, of desolate stretches of British Columbia where Joe’s company put in the railroad, of the relentlessly encroaching tide in Santa Barbara that threatened to sink his house. There are trips to New York City and the coast of Maine, and long stretches in Montreal, where the O’Briens eventually settle. Each locale is well-researched, and Behrens skillfully incorporates both place and personality throughout the novel.

Throughout, there’s the sense of an approaching storm, whether meteorological or psychological, as Joe O’Brien tries to control the forces impinging on his vision, which kept this reader eagerly turning the pages.

Helene Williams HUSH NOW, DON’T YOU CRY Rhys Bowen, Minotaur, 2012, $24.99/C$29.99, hb, 288pp, 9780312628116 Irish immigrant Molly Murphy (now Molly Sullivan) returns in her eleventh outing in Bowen’s series. In the fall of 1903, Molly and her husband, New York City Police Captain Daniel Sullivan, are finally enjoying a belated honeymoon on the Newport, Rhode Island estate of Brian Hannan, an alderman and key figure in Tammany Hall.

Molly anticipates a peaceful stay, but Hannan has invited them with an ulterior motive in mind, one that is never revealed because his body is found at the bottom of the cliffs on his estate. When Daniel becomes seriously ill with pneumonia, Molly must renege on her promise to give up sleuthing to clear them from suspicion.

This is the first Molly Murphy mystery I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. Bowen expertly captures the experience of the Irish immigrant at the turn of the century. Molly’s life stands in sharp contrast to the Hannan family’s life of privilege. They keep rich people’s secrets, solving problems with money, and although set a century ago, the secrets are those that still resonate today. Those characters, however, are less interesting than Molly’s quest to get to the truth. I plan to read more Molly Murphy mysteries in hopes that she faces more worthy adversaries.

Ellen Keith THE OTHER GUY’S BRIDE Connie Brockway, Montlake Romance, 2011, $11.95, pb, 384pp, 9781612181449 Set in early 20th-century Egypt, this rollicking romance pits disaster-prone archeologist – pretending to be an officer’s bride-to-be – Ginisse Braxton against her desert guide, cynical adventurer Jim Owen, who she takes for an American cowboy until he turns out to be an English duke.

As they get closer to Ginisse’s goal of the lost city of Zerzura, both their conflicts and their sensuality deepen. Roving bandit abduction and surviving the heat and storms of the exotic locale add to their partnership and camaraderie. But their impossible love grows even more so once their true identities are revealed.

The great joy of this adventure is in the snappy talk relationship between these two impostors, even as the plot occasionally reels into spoof territory. Who wouldn’t fall for a too-tall heroine whose lover describes her nose as “wonderfully 20th Century

Florentine”?

Eileen Charbonneau

THE BERLIN CROSSING Kevin Brophy, Headline Review, 2012, 358pp, £12.99, pb, 9780755380855 In Brandenburg, in 1993, the deathbed urging of his mother spurs out-of-work teacher Michael Ritter to go in search of Pastor Bruck, who holds the secret to his mother’s past and his own identity.

He unearths a tale of espionage and forbidden love in 1962, on either side of the Berlin Wall.

The first great premise of this novel is that its hero is a committed socialist, disillusioned by the capitalisation of East Germany after the fall of the Wall. By shining his light from this angle, Brophy immediately gives us something a little unexpected, at odds with the preconceptions about the divided Germany that we have from writers like John Le Carré. Capitalism has stripped Michael of his job and his identity, and he is not the kind of man, still stubbornly driving his old Trabant, for whom consumerism will provide any consolation.

Sadly, apart from this unexpected viewpoint, everything else about the novel is pedestrian and predictable. Once the lovers at the centre of the story – the East German cartographer and the Irishman tricked into spying for the English – meet, things progress exactly as the reader anticipates, so much so I found myself in the grip of a certain incredulity, pleading with the author to give me a twist, something to make me fall flat on my face as I raced ahead of him to the end of the story.

While the writing is competent, it is marred by some very sloppy editing, giving the novel an amateurish feel. It’s an easy read, though, and if you want something undemanding for a long weekend in Berlin, you could probably do worse. Though you could certainly do better as well.

Sarah Bower A DARK AND LONELY PLACE Edna Buchanan, Simon & Schuster, 2011, $26.00, hb, 418pp, 9781439159170 In 1911 John Ashley, a young man from rural Florida, was accused of robbing and murdering a Seminole. In this true-life story, Ashley escapes jail and he and his childhood sweetheart, Laura Upthegrove, become fugitives. Their lives echo Bonnie and Clyde’s as John escapes jail, and for thirteen years the couple scramble to survive.

Along with a few accomplices, Ashley is blamed for nearly every crime committed in Florida – a few of which they actually are guilty. In the end, John Ashley and his gang meet the same bloody end as Clyde Barrow, and Laura takes her own life.

A century later, Sergeant John Ashley of Miami Homicide is investigating a horrendous boating accident when he realizes two things. The first is that Ron Jon Eagle, notorious Seminole lawyer and casino lobbyist, was dead long before his boat rammed into a beachside hotel. The second is that Ashley feels an irresistible attraction for a witness, a model named Laura. Eyebrows are raised when Ashley dumps his fiancée for Laura, and doubt ratchets even higher when Ashley kills his captain and flees custody. Has Ashley turned rogue, or is he destiny’s pawn?

Edna Buchanan has won numerous literary prizes, including the Pulitzer, during the eighteen

years that she covered the police beat for the Miami Herald. She has studied more crimes than most policemen, and uses that experience and razorsharp prose to fine effect in A Dark and Lonely Place. Buchanan relates John Ashley’s story, creates the fictional John and Laura, and asks whether they can alter fate or are doomed to repeat their antecedents’ tragic fates. I highly recommend that you visit Buchanan’s Dark and Lonely Place to learn for yourself.

Jo Ann Butler DANCING AT THE CHANCE DeAnna Cameron, Berkley, 2012, $15.00, pb, 336pp, 9780425245590 The New York vaudeville scene of the early 1900s is a marvellous setting for a novel, and DeAnna Cameron has brought it to life in a vivid and delightful way.

Pepper MacClair, daughter of the seamstress, has grown up in the Chance Theater and is thrilled when she is given the opportunity to join a dance act. But things go awry, and her dreams of a stage career conflict with her relationship with Robert DeGraaf, the owner’s son, who is faced with the challenges of reviving the fading venue amidst growing competition from the Ziegfeld Follies and the “flickers”. Lurking in the wings (literally) is the mysterious Gregory Creighton, the properties manager with secrets of his own. Pepper’s own ideas for improvement result in turbulent bouts with the stage manager that display a feisty leadership style that is at odds with her acquiescence and naiveté in her personal life, but she still retains her charm as the leading lady.

Like a stage performance in itself, at times the supporting cast of “stars, marvels and delights, or fools, misfits and deviants” is in danger of stealing the show, and it is most refreshing to have occasional funny moments in a romantic novel of this type.

The storyline does feel somewhat disconnected in places, but that doesn’t detract too much from what is a most entertaining read about a great era in Broadway history. I look forward to more show business novels from DeAnna Cameron.

Marina Maxwell SONOMA ROSE Jennifer Chiaverini, Dutton, 2012, $27.50/C$29, 416pp, hb, 9780525952640 Sonoma Rose is nineteenth in Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilts series but can be read and enjoyed (as I did) as a stand-alone. Quilting may not play as big a role in this book as it does in others in the series, but Chiaverini employs a quilting technique to her storytelling. She pieces together the story of Rosa Diaz Barclay; how she came to be married to the abusive John Barclay, forsaking her true love Lars Jorgensen, and how she and Lars took her four children and fled their southern California valley for the vineyards of Sonoma County.

Although the landscape is beautiful, being a winemaker during Prohibition is fraught with almost as many dangers as Rosa faced from her husband. A villainous Prohibition agent, Dwight Crowell, makes their employers’ lives miserable before turning his sights on Rosa and Lars, who pose as Rose and Nils Ottesen. Adding to Rosa’s worries is the health of two of her children, Ana HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 37

and Miguel, who suffer from the same mysterious disease that killed four of their brothers and sisters.

Marta and Lupita, her other two children, enjoy good health. Would that be because they don’t share the same father as their brother and sister?

I don’t want to give the impression that this book is a soap opera when it is far from it. Rosa makes believable, heartbreaking choices in her life, and although there are villains, they are given a context.

Plenty of books have featured Prohibition in New York City, with speakeasies and bathtub gin, but this is the first I’ve read from the perspective of the vintners of the West Coast, people who have invested generations in their land only to have their livelihood made illegal. Here’s hoping the twentieth in this series continues the story of Rosa and Lars.

Ellen Keith ECHOES OF TITANIC Mindy Starnes Clark and John Campbell Clark, Harvest House, 2012, $13.99, pb, 352pp, 9780736929462 Kelsey Tate is a rising star in the family business built by her great-grandmother Adele, a survivor of the Titanic. But just when everything should be going well, her meeting is interrupted by a distant cousin shouting accusations that Adele wasn’t who she said she was and the company’s ownership is false. At the same time, Kelsey’s trusted advisor commits suicide and a hostile takeover is launched; Kelsey and the company are thrown. Could the accusations be true? And who is trying to sabotage all her family’s hard work? Added into Kelsey’s problems are the ill health of her beloved father and the reappearance of her old love Cole into her life. Things go from bad to worse quickly.

Every few chapters the action moves from the present day to the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic and Adele’s initial trip to America. Adele is meeting the father she’s not known and is hopeful she will find a place in his company; her cousin Jocelyn is trying to decide if she will stay in America with Adele or return to Ireland. Both women interact with a rather sleazy business partner of Adele’s father, and their mutual devotion suffers at the critical moment of the sinking.

This is a good story but not one that held me riveted. The mystery is interesting and most of the characters’ actions are believable, but Kelsey didn’t inspire any excitement or loyalty in me. The inspirational theme is weak and forced, and the climax is resolved way too easily. It’s not a poorly written story, but the word that comes to mind most is adequate. Satisfying yet lacking any deep substance.

Tamela McCann ENGLAND’S JANISSARY Peter James Cottrell, Hale, 2012, £19.99, hb, 271pp, 9780709093305 Disillusioned by his experiences in the First World War, Kevin Flynn returns to his home in Ireland and takes a post in the Royal Irish Constabulary. Unprepared for what lies ahead, he gets caught up in the bitter struggle between the British forces and the IRA. This is a novel of war, vengeance and romance as Kevin must fight with divided loyalties to protect the woman he loves and save her from the vengeance of the men who call him a traitor – because he has chosen to 38 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

become one of ‘England’s Janissaries’ (a reference to the Christian children recruited into the Turkish army).

Fictional and real events are woven together to make this a well-thought-out first novel by a military historian. Frequent analogies are made between the First World War and the Troubles in Ireland – both full of horror and violence.

Old friends turn into enemies. Seeing the events through different viewpoints, IRA and the British, we are given an all-around picture of the bloody events in the early 1920s in Ireland. I enjoyed this book; it is historically accurate and exciting, and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Karen Wintle THE CAPTIVE HEART Dale Cramer, Bethany House, 2012, $14.99, pb, 368pp, 9780764208393 This second book in the Daughters of Caleb Bender series, about an Amish family that immigrates, in 1921, to Paradise Valley, in Mexico, is even better than the first. It would be easy to make the assumption that a book about Amish settlers would have little action beyond the tilling of fields and the raising of barns, but this story is so well-written that it elicits powerful emotions in the reader.

Miriam, the seventh of Caleb’s eleven children, loves her family and is proud of her heritage, yet she cannot deny her growing attraction to Domingo, a Nahua native, who works for her father. Miriam knows that marriage to Domingo is forbidden, for he is an outsider and a warrior, yet her heart yearns for him nevertheless.

The bandits that roam the hills, led by the ex-revolutionary soldier known as El Pantera, are determined to wreak their revenge on Caleb, while Caleb and his Amish neighbors are equally determined to never strike another­‒not even to protect the lives of their families. When three of Caleb’s children disappear, Domingo and Luke (Rachel’s fiancé) set out to find them and attempt a rescue.

This is a wonderful book that I heartily recommend.

Nancy J. Attwell THE LEGACY OF EDEN Nelle Davy, Mira, 2012, $15.95, pb, 384pp, 9780778329558 / Mira UK, 2012, £7.99, pb, 512pp, 9781848450936 Meredith Pincetti thought that she had escaped her family by changing her name and moving from Iowa to New York. When she receives a letter from an attorney notifying her that her family’s farm, Aurelia, will be auctioned off, she returns to Iowa to retrieve her family’s possessions and is forced to confront her family’s difficult legacy as well as her own past.

The growth of Aurelia from a small family farm to a sprawling and prosperous estate seems, at times, like something out of a Shakespearean tragedy.

Matriarch Lavinia Hathaway enters the Hathaway family in the 1940s by way of an extramarital affair, and fights to prove herself worthy of the Hathaway name. Unfortunately, Lavinia’s viciousness leads her down a path of petty revenge and jealousy, and her vendettas against members of the Hathaway family (mainly the women) destroy the people she

purportedly cares about. The Hathaway family is beset by tragedy after tragedy, from premature deaths to descents into alcoholism to sexual abuse.

The fourth generation of Hathaways—Lavinia’s grandchildren—are driven away from Aurelia, forcing the farm into ruin.

Told in flashbacks to the mid-20th century, Davy’s debut is reminiscent of some of the more over-the-top 1980s family sagas of revenge and redemption. It’s not always a pleasant book to read, but true to its genre, it’s difficult to put down.

Nanette Donohue THE LAST STORYTELLER: A Novel of Ireland Frank Delaney, Random House, 2012, $26/ C$31/£17.99, 400pp, hb, 9781400067855 In 1956, Ben MacCarthy travels around Ireland collecting stories for the Folklore Commission.

His own life story is a mess—he didn’t rescue his beloved wife, Venetia, after she was kidnapped. She and the twins Ben fathered but never met are now back in Ireland, she under the abusive hand of the man who grabbed her. Ben’s story is shot through with Irish legend and IRA gunrunning; Brian Boru and Michael Collins; mythic Finn MacCool and Ben’s new mentor, master storyteller John Jacob O’Neill.

Ben learns how stories come true, that they’re where you go to look for the truth of your own life, and that, most importantly, “there’s no story, no matter how ancient, as important as one’s own. So if we’re to live good lives, we have to tell ourselves our own story. In a good way. A way that’s decent to ourselves.”

That’s a piece of advice worth holding on to, and Delaney demonstrates how to do it, to bring back “the warriors and princesses and heroes and maidens and druids and wizards and chieftains and bards … returned from the shadows of time and the universe to help their descendants to a better life.” Those figures belong in our own stories (and the rapparees too, those Irish bandits and highwaymen).

This is the third book of a trilogy, but I never missed not having read the first two, although they’re on my to-read list now. I was completely drawn in, trusting Delaney’s authority to tell this story, and loving his way of addressing me. Google “the most eloquent man in the world” and Delaney’s name appears. Read The Last Storyteller and you’ll know why. Recommended.

Kristen Hannum TRIESTE Daša Drndić (trans. Ellen Elias-Bursac), MacLehose, 2012, £20.00, hb, 358pp, 9780857050229 Haya Teschi is old now. In July 2006, she sits waiting to be reunited with her son, whom she has not seen for more than sixty years. As she waits, she goes through the contents of the big, red basket at her feet, the documents and photographs which are her life.

Throughout this remarkable novel, Haya waits, and what is given to the reader is her past, not just hers but that of her entire family, and of her home town, Gorizia, which sits on the border between Italy, Austria and Slovenia, in one of those parts of Europe where history itself has a role to play.

20th Century

Daša Drndić describes her novel as “documentary fiction”. It is a dense, sometimes overpowering layering of fictional narrative, testimony from defendants and witnesses at various war crimes trials, statements recorded by survivors of the concentration camps and Himmler’s Lebensborn policy, and photographs from gossip magazines, Nazi archives and “Haya’s personal collection”. In the centre of the book, 43 pages are devoted to listing, four columns to the page, the names of 9000 Jews deported from the Adriatsches Kustenland of the Third Reich to die in the camps.

The novel’s structure makes it a challenging read, and sometimes the author’s anger is too palpable, leading to an overuse of rhetorical repetition which undermines its power. At other times, Drndić loses her own words and falls silent. In the end, it is the poetry of Eliot which puts words in the mouths of Haya and her son to express the inhumanity of their separation and the cost of their reunion.

A flawed masterpiece, perhaps, but also a powerful and original testimony, moving and hypnotic.

Sarah Bower A PARTIAL HISTORY OF LOST CAUSES Jennifer Dubois, Dial, 2012, $26.00/C$30.00, hb, 384pp, 9781400069774 In 1979 Leningrad, a stranger, Aleksandr Bezetov, arrives in town from the eastern USSR. He befriends three dissidents, and although Aleksandr is there to hone his chess skills at the Academy, he helps his cafe-mates publish a clandestine rag whose name provides the title of this novel. Eventually, Aleksandr rises to become the World Chess Champion, is provided a dacha, and marries a socialite. However, he still possesses a strain of dissension and after a chess match loss to a computer, he’s dejected and takes up politics full time. He opposes Vladimir Putin’s administration and, despite adversity, enters the 2008 presidential elections.

In 2006 Cambridge, Massachusetts, a 30-yearold college lecturer, Irina Ellison, has recently lost her father—an avid chess player—to Huntington’s disease. While rummaging through his collections, Irina comes across a copy of a letter that he’d written to Aleksandr asking a philosophical question: “In games where you’ve known all along you were losing ... what is the proper way to proceed?”

Alexandr doesn’t reply. Irina knows that the query was inspired by her father’s attempt to manage his terminal illness. She’s much intrigued, as she has also been diagnosed for the same malady and has been wondering how to organise her future life.

Hence, Irina decides to leave Cambridge, and her Harvard Square chess player friends, for Russia to seek an answer from Alexandr.

This novel is narrated brilliantly by the two main protagonists, Irina and Alexandr, in alternating chapters. Dubois has admirably used the medium of chess to weave their stories together. Although some might find the detailed coverage of chess matches distracting, and while the conclusion is somewhat predictable, the period details in the novel make it an enjoyable read. The novel also provides appealing insight into how we could act in the face of insurmountable odds.

Waheed Rabbani 20th Century

THE GARDEN OF EVENING MISTS Tan Twan Eng, Myrmidon, 2012, £18.99, hb, 352pp, 9781905802494 / Weinstein, Sep. 2012, $15.00, pb, 352pp, 9781602861800 Malaysian Chinese Judge Teoh Yun Ling takes early retirement from the Bench in 1987 without telling anyone why. Now free of her obligations, she returns to the house and garden in the Cameron Highlands of northern Malaya that was left to her by the famous and enigmatic Japanese gardener Aritomo after he had walked into the jungle one day many years before and disappeared.

Yun Ling’s love for the Japanese garden, and for its creator, seems strange because she and her family had suffered greatly in Japanese prison camps during the Second World War. She renews close contact with her South African friend Fredrik Pretorius, who had come to Malaya in his youth to help on his uncle’s tea plantation and stayed for life.

Most of the novel is an extended flashback to the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Yun Ling began learning the skills of a Japanese gardener from Aritomo at the same time as the launch of the Malayan Emergency. This is a novel of love, creation, suffering, and mysteries, where even the questions can be as indistinct as the early morning mists that I remember from Malaya in the 1950s.

There are no simple or logical motivations, and the only structure to life is the disciplined artistry of the Japanese garden.

The time and place are thoroughly imagined, although with a few odd touches: nobody in 1950s Malaya called a torch a “flashlight”. The South African Pretorius family seems to have been shoehorned into the novel rather awkwardly.

I recommend this book, although the lack of any appealing characters makes this a novel to respect rather than to enjoy.

Alan Fisk THE MERCURY FOUNTAIN Eliza Factor, Akashic, 2012, $15.95, pb, 311pp, 9781617750366 This is an amazing book. Factor’s writing bumps up against magical realism time and again in the most wonderful way and yet remains excruciatingly real. It is a story about a man with a utopian vision which he tries to embody in the life of a small town – Pristina, near the Texas/Mexico border – that is founded on the grinding, toxic work of mining mercury. Quicksilver, “liquid silver with the quick of life,” is at the center of Pristina’s lifeblood. Mercury, its toxicity barely grasped at the turn of the last century, was for a while considered to hold the cure for just about every ailment, in addition to being useful in all sorts of manufacturing processes. Owen Scraperton, the American visionary and owner of the mine (he won the title in a poker game), is convinced that his utopia, built on the “Principals of Pristina: Clarity, Unity, Purpose”, will become a model of racial tolerance, agnosticism and scientific rationalism for the world. His wife, Dolores, a Mexican of the old, now poor aristocracy, is less sure, and their only child, a strange, snake-whispering daughter named Victoria, bounces between her two polarized parents in a world undergoing the radical changes of revolution, economic downfall, and the modernization of work, culture, morality

and communications.

Mary F. Burns

ALL THAT I AM Anna Funder, Harper, 2012, $25.99/C$29.99/ £16.99, hb, 384pp, 9780062077561 / Viking, 2012, £16.99, hb, 370pp, 978-0670920396 German anti-fascists in Berlin in the 1920s and ’30s felt the weight of history on their shoulders; it was up to them to expose and stop the Nazis.

When they failed, many managed to escape to England, where they desperately warned a deaf world about Hitler. The Gestapo, equally earnest, worked to stop them—by murder if need be.

Funder, author of the bestselling nonfiction Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall, based this new book, her first novel, on real people and events, most notably Dora Fabian, a brave, beautiful, and charismatic feminist-socialist. Dora’s memory haunts both Ernst Toller (1893-1939, a German playwright, revolutionary, and poet), and Ruth Wesemann, Dora’s cousin, who became a real-life friend of the author. A fourth important character is Ruth’s husband, Hans Wesemann, a pundit who lampooned Hitler and his thuggish crew.

Its subject matter is both important and meaningful, dealing with injustice and decency, and also life’s unexpected demands for courage, which we may or may not live up to. It’s an ambitious novel that builds upon a compelling drama—but with a dry, documentarian sensibility. I sometimes returned to it out of duty. Part of that may be because of the distancing inherent in telling the story from the remove of Toller and Ruth’s viewpoints, years and decades after Dora’s death.

Still, Funder’s writing is often insightful, and the story is gripping. Here’s Toller, shell-shocked in a sanatorium among the physically maimed of World War I. “All is calm, apart from the Christ hanging at the end of the room, naked and dying,” he observes.

“He looks familiar — like a relative? So far as I can tell, he and I are the only Jews here.”

Kristen Hannum THE BLACK JACKALS Iain Gale, HarperCollins, 2011, £18.99, hb, 328pp, 9780007278640 In the summer of 1940 during WW2, the British Expeditionary Force in France were forced to retreat. The 51st. Highland Division (the Black Jackals) had orders to stop the German advance south until reinforcements arrived. The reinforcements never arrived, and the Highlanders were left isolated. The 51st receive several contradictory commands from the French; their own British Divisional commander and also from an unknown Colonel ‘R’ who was in receipt of messages from the War Office in London.

A task force commanded by Lieutenant Lamb is instructed to blow a bridge to stop the advance of the German tanks, but desperate refugees are also crossing the bridge. Facing unreliable allies and a lack of support from senior staff, Lamb and his group have to use cunning to pursue their special mission to deliver a vital message from Colonel ‘R’ concerning the evacuation of British troops from St. Valéry. Lieutenant Lamb and his sergeant have no option but to take their own decisions, which are often contrary to the orders they were given.

HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 39

St. Valéry was one of the greatest disasters ever experienced by the British Army, but it has been largely forgotten, and unlike Dunkirk it was not hailed as a “miracle”.

Although the setting is entirely in France, I was disappointed that the French atmosphere was overlooked. There was no description of the towns and villages, the cobbled streets and in particular the war‑torn landscape and the bombed houses.

As a reader I would have wanted to sympathise with the local people. The story was exciting, but my senses were not stirred, and almost all the conversation takes place between British soldiers, and one French girl.

Jane E. Hill PROMISE ME THIS Cathy Gohlke, Tyndale, 2012, $13.99, pb, 402pp, 9781414353074 This delightful romance begins in 1912 and spans into World War I, recreating some pivotal moments in history with excellent detail and imagery. The story begins when Owen Allen, immigrating to America to start a garden center, saves the life of orphan Michael Dunnegan aboard the Titanic. Before he dies, Owen ekes a promise from Michael that he will do whatever he can to bring Owen’s sister, Annie, to America.

Michael does, working nonstop to set up Owen’s nursery and saving money for Annie. As Annie struggles with grief and challenging circumstances, Michael reaches out through letters. Years pass and friendship develops into love. But then war begins in Europe and Annie’s letters suddenly stop.

Michael courageously jeopardizes his life to solve the mystery of her disappearance and finally make good on his promise to Owen.

Readers will savor each year passing and experience Annie and Michael’s disparate lives, while lavishing in the slowly budding romance, like that of Michael’s gardens. With memorable characters, genuine emotions, and rich historical detail, this comes highly recommended.

Rebecca Cochran HEADING OUT TO WONDERFUL Robert Goolrick, Algonquin, 2012, $24.95, hb, 291pp, 97815665129238 In Robert Goolrick’s second novel, Charlie Beale arrives at Brownsburg, Virginia in 1948. Beale is carrying two suitcases; one is filled with butcher knives; the other, money. The first thing Beale does is purchase some land and get a job at the local butcher shop. There, he makes friends with Sam Haislett, the five-year-old son of Will and Alma, owners of the shop.

Sam idolizes Beale, who he immediately nicknames “Beebo.” Part of the attraction is that Beale is younger and more athletic than Will Haislett and is willing to spend a great deal of time with Sam. Beale settles into the small community, garnering respect for his kindness and the care he takes with his customers. His world seems well-ordered, modest, gentle and filled with the simple joys of living. This haven Beale has created for himself is shattered when he meets Sylvan Glass, the teenage wife of the town’s richest man.

Goolrick’s prose is rich, wise and beautiful: The thing is, all memory is fiction. You have to remember that. Of course, there are things that 40 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

actually, certifiably happened, things where you can pinpoint the day, the hour, and the minute.

When you think about it, though, those things mostly seem to happen to other people. This story actually happened, and it happened pretty much the way I’m going to tell it to you.

Throughout the book, such fine writing carries the doomed story up to its very end. However, the ending did not work for me. Without disclosing the events in the story, suffice it to say that the characterization of both Charlie Beale, especially Charlie Beale, and Sylvan Glass does not add up to what happens to them both.

Anne Clinard Barnhill CHASING MONA LISA Tricia Goyer & Mike Yorkey, Revell, 2012, $14.99, pb, 325pp, 9780800720469 Set in France in the summer of 1944, Chasing Mona Lisa follows Swiss OSS agents Gabi Mueller and Eric Hofstadler in their mission to save the Mona Lisa from the clutches of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, who will stop at nothing to steal Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century masterpiece and use it as a bargaining chip to assure his freedom at war’s end. This engaging historical thriller offers multiple viewpoints in an illuminating look at the city of Paris during these difficult wartime years, the strife within the resistance, and the inner workings of the Louvre as museum employees struggle to evacuate and hide the museum’s precious treasures.

I very much enjoyed this well-written and fastpaced novel, having just read Carson Morton’s

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Saving Mona Lisa, set in Paris in 191l, with the notorious theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre at its heart (HNR, Aug. 2011). Taken together, these two titles offer readers an intriguing overview of the bumpy and colorful road the world’s most famous painting traveled during the first half of the 20th century.

Alana White ARCADIA Lauren Groff, Voice, 2012, $25.99, hb, 304pp, 9781401340872 / Heinemann, 2012, £16.99, hb, 304pp, 9780434019625 What is it really like to be raised in a commune, and what are the lifetime consequences? Those are the questions raised by Lauren Groff in her new novel Arcadia.

Groff writes in a stream-of-consciousness manner, which can take some getting used to.

Nonetheless, the book is beautifully written, with introspective dialogue and colorful characters.

The story is narrated by Bit Stone, the son of hippies Abe and Hannah. It is the early ´70s, and the family lives on land in upstate New York that had been inherited from another member of the commune. The community works together to build housing and storefronts. They come up with an economic system where everyone must contribute.

They fight. They love each other. They grow up together. They raise each other’s children. In short, they form a family, but one that is segregated from society at large.

As the commune meets its inevitable end

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

PORTRAIT OF THE MOTHER AS A YOUNG WOMAN

Friedrich Christian Delius (trans. Jamie Bulloch), Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2012, $13.00/ C$14.50, pb, 128pp, 9780374533298 The timespan of this beautifully written and translated novella is less than an hour — the time it takes for Liese to walk from the German-run convent in WWII Rome to church — and it takes little longer than an hour to read. In those brief minutes, however, the reader is transported to another world, and another time.

A very pregnant Liese has been told by her doctor that it’s healthy to walk, and the sisters at the convent allow her to go to church in the afternoons; it had taken months to obtain the paperwork necessary to allow her to leave Bavaria and join her husband, Gert, in Rome, where he was stationed while recovering from a war injury. By the time she arrived, Gert had been re-mobilized and had to leave the next day for Africa, his leg unhealed, and his wife pregnant.

Her walk to the church encompasses not only the memories of her brief time with Gert, but also an incredibly rich look at life in Rome, now, during the war, and in the past, through the history which is written on the paving stones, in the buildings, in the statues, and in the people themselves. The pictures, the sounds, the smells, come tumbling through the text, partly as Liese’s inner thoughts, and partly as observations of her surroundings. The breathless pace is further accentuated by the format of the novella, which quickly reveals itself to be all one sentence. The reader has to consciously slow down, and pause with each comma, each internal question asked by Liese, to even begin to absorb all the images and meanings in this wondrous book.

Helene Williams 20th Century

because of social and legal pressures, the book jumps forward in time. Bit is still the narrator, but as he matures, his voice matures. How the former commune members adapt to living in the real world is a huge part of the storyline and makes for thought-provoking reading. Bit ends up marrying a childhood sweetheart from his Arcadia days, but she is never able to shake off her origins.

The undertones of the book are not happy ones. The bond, though, between the characters, between parent and child and lover and friend, despite all of their mistakes and hurt that they’ve inflicted upon each other over the years, is at the heart of the book.

Hilary Daninhirsch HOME FOR CHRISTMAS Annie Groves, HarperCollins, 2011, £6.99, pb, 311pp, 9780007361519 The second of the No. 13 Article Row (a street address) series continues with the lives of three girls lodging with a widow and her daughter in London during the Blitz. Each one has a sad backstory. Agnes is from an orphanage, Dulcie has been rejected by her mother and Sally fled from Liverpool when her newly‑widowed father married her best friend. But with Olive and her daughter, Tilly, the three have found a happy home. Even though every night German bombs rain death and destruction down on London, life goes on for the friends: work, exciting new acquaintances and flirtations.

Groves is good on the Blitz, going beyond the usual clichés to emphasise the blanketing dust, the chaos and the inevitable depression brought on by the continual raids. She has also caught the moral flexibility growing out of wartime insecurity. The girls question why they should be “good” if life might end tomorrow.

A pleasant novel, written with warmth. This reader hopes all will go well for the lodgers at 13 Article Row in the third instalment.

Lynn Guest TROUBLE AT THE WEDDING Laura Lee Guhrke, Avon, 2012, $7.99/C$9.50, pb, 372pp, 9780061963179 In April, 1904, Annabel Wheaton, American heiress, is about to marry Bernard, Lord Rumsford, English Earl. Theirs is not a love match. It is an open and frank business deal. In exchange for a great deal of money, they will marry and Annabel will attain social status—at last. She may have millions of dollars in wealth, but back home in Mississippi Annabel will always be a barefoot sharecropper’s daughter. This marriage will be her revenge on American society for snubbing her; Annabel knows how to take revenge. Her uncle, who is also her lawyer and trustee, does not approve of Bernard and offers Christien Du Quesne, the new but impoverished Duke of Scarborough, half a million dollars to prevent the marriage. Christian has never had a problem attracting women, but Annabel isn’t susceptible, at least not on the surface, so he resorts to causing trouble at the wedding.

This is the third of Ms Guhrke’s books in the Abandoned at the Altar series. In Trouble at the Wedding she has created a likeable but feisty, intelligent and wily heroine who seems to win all her battles with society. Unfortunately, she loses 20th Century

the skirmishes with love.

Audrey Braver

OUR MAN IN THE DARK Rashad Harrison, Atria, 2011, $25/C$28.99, hb, 320pp, 9781451625752 John Estem is an accountant apprenticing with one of the few black CPAs in the country in the 1960s. Even better, he’s working for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, with Dr. Martin Luther King. On the downside, his CPA boss is a bully, making fun of his brace and limp (the result of childhood polio) in front of Estem’s heroes— including Dr. King, Andrew Young, and Ralph Abernathy. Estem pilfers $10,000, and suddenly two white guys are tailing him. Next thing Estem knows he’s patriotically informing on his hated CPA boss to the FBI. Estem so wants to believe the agents, that his boss is a communist, a danger to the country and to Dr. King. If that were true, Estem would be a star; except that’s not the way it plays out, of course. Estem passes on information that allows the FBI to potentially sabotage the civil rights movement.

The book is a noir thriller, and so in addition to the FBI, corrruption, and civil rights heroes, there’s also seedy nightlife, gangsters, and beautiful women. The core of the story, though, is Estem’s understanding that he’s in the company of giants. “I never believed in humanity as he did,” Estem says of Dr. King.

Author Harrison couldn’t have been braver in his choice of a fictitious protagonist: a self-pitying, traitorous accountant—not an obvious candidate for a hero’s journey. Neither would a literary agent likely recommend writing about Martin Luther King Jr.’s struggles to stay faithful to his wife. That Harrison pulls it off—and with a debut novel, no less—is truly a testament both to his heart and to his writing talents.

Kristen Hannum THE SNOW CHILD Eowyn Ivey, Reagan Arthur, 2012, $24.99, hb, 400pp, 9780316175678 / Headline Review, 2012, £14.99, hb, 432pp, 9780755380527 This story opens in Alaska in 1920. The main characters, Mabel and Jack, are a childless middleaged couple who have left the city to take up homesteading in this demanding climate. We learn that they have deliberately chosen a life of solitude in the hope of leaving behind the grief of their stillborn child ten years earlier. The way they come to embrace this loss and their understanding of each other is a beautiful thing.

It’s the first snowfall of their second winter and, in a moment of levity, they build a child in the snow with facial features, a real scarf and mittens. The next day their lives are transformed when the hat and scarf are gone and small footprints lead into the woods. Thus begins a tale of isolation, survival, friendship, love and a fair amount of fantasy. Their snow child is real, but so many of the things she does could not possibly be, yet she becomes the child of their longing and they come to accept her odd behavior without question.

Faina, the snow child, comes and goes for many years. She never appears in the summer, but always returns with the first snow. They become close friends with their neighbors, the Bensons. Garrett

Benson, the youngest son, is a godsend when Jack suffers an injury and he helps keep the farm going.

They see him as the son they never had. He meets Faina and they fall in love. Her parents are forced to accept the fact that she has become a beautiful young woman, but can she commit to such a relationship?

This story is very well done. I enjoyed the mingling of fantasy and reality and the descriptions of the Alaska’s challenging climate. The characters are so well fleshed out. I highly recommend this book.

Susan Zabolotny THE SISTERS Nancy Jensen, St. Martin’s, 2011, $24.99/C$28.99, hb, 324pp, 9780312542702 Bertie and her older sister Mabel have stuck together since the death of their mother a few years ago. Life isn’t easy on their hardscrabble Kentucky farm with their cruel stepfather, but Bertie has a boyfriend, and both girls dream of the day when they are old enough to move away. But something changes on the day of Bertie’s eighth grade graduation, and a series of misunderstandings lead to bitter feelings of betrayal as the two sisters go their separate ways. The novel traces the paths that each choose, following the sisters through the Depression, the Second World War, the conflict in Vietnam, and into the present day, as they touch the lives of their own daughters and granddaughters and learn how deep family can run.

This was a neatly wrought family saga, covering a nice slice of 20th-century American history.

Although it moves rapidly through history at times, it’s full of such rich detail that I was content to go along for the ride. Characterization was the book’s strength. Jensen presents a cast of distinct characters, all with different talents and worldviews.

I enjoyed watching them grow and interact.

The novel was only marred by what I found to be an unsatisfying ending. During the course of the book, Jensen builds up certain questions and certain hopes for the reader that remained unfulfilled at the end, at least for me. But, overall, it was an absorbing read full of carefully layered secrets and characters to whom I was loath to say goodbye.

Jessica Brockmole A LADY CYCLIST’S GUIDE TO KASHGAR Suzanne Joinson, Bloomsbury USA, 2012, $26.00, hb, 384pp, 9781608198115 / Bloomsbury, 2012, £14.99, hb, 384pp, 9781408825143 In 1923, Evangeline English is stagnating in gray, sedentary Dorset. When her sister Lizzie joins Millicent Frost, a charismatic missionary, in a venture to the Far East, Evangeline sees it as her chance to escape dreary England, despite not having the same religious fervor. Knowing they will be traveling to Kashgar, where no British woman has been, she approaches a publisher to propose writing a travel guide giving a woman’s view of the region and its people. But disaster strikes before they even enter Kashgar, and the three women find themselves imprisoned in the very city they wished to visit.

In present-day London, a young woman, Frieda, finds a Yemeni man sleeping on her doorstep.

She gives him a blanket and pillow and, the next HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 41

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THE WHITE PEARL

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Kate Furnivall, Sphere, 2012, £6.99, pb, 403pp, 9780751543360 / Berkley, 2012, $15.00, pb, 448pp, 9780425241004 Strap yourself in, cup of tea at the ready, and prepare for some excellent entertainment; you will struggle to tear yourself away from this thrilling novel. Set in Malaya and beginning shortly before the Japanese invasion in the Second World War, this book begins with a bang and doesn’t let up until the last page. It is relentless, action- packed yet character driven, and the steamy heat and atmosphere of those tense days just oozes off the page. I have read virtually all Furnivall’s novels and thoroughly enjoyed them but this is probably top of the list for me.

Constance Hadley is the wife of a rich rubber planter, but all is not well in the marriage. Things are about to turn worse as the Japanese invade, and the Hadleys, accompanied by their son Teddy, Malayan twins, and an assortment of other vivid characters decide to escape on the Hadleys’ yacht. The excitement and tension builds as the danger rises and the numerous sub-plots on the boat begin to come to fruition. Everyone, it seems, has their own agenda, including the bar owner Madoc who, it seems, will do anything for money. They encounter bomb raids, pirates and the power of the sea in its various forms.

Very highly recommended for the good old-fashioned virtues of great story-telling, The White Pearl conjures up of the atmosphere of the times and strong characters who remain with the reader after the book is reluctantly closed.

Ann Northfield morning, finds a drawing of a bird on top of the folded bedding. The two begin a curious friendship just as Frieda learns she’s inherited the contents of a flat from a deceased woman she’s never met.

Frieda’s story weaves with Evangeline’s, as she slowly discovers more about who she is.

This was a fun read, with surprises neatly unfolding to a satisfying ending. The characters were engaging, with even Lizzie and Millicent carrying secrets that ultimately impact events in Kashgar. Evangeline and Frieda are fragile and searching, but both find an inner strength and independence over the course of the book. In a novel with alternating stories, it’s often hard to keep them both equally compelling, but Joinson maintains a handle on her characters, and I never lost interest in one story or the other. She does an excellent job of sustaining a strong narrative voice in Evangeline’s epistolary chapters. A well-written and enjoyable read.

Jessica Brockmole HAZEL CREEK Walt Larimore, Howard, 2012, $14.99/C$16.99, pb, 353pp, 9781439141823 Larimore’s Hazel Creek is set in the mountains of North Carolina, near Bryson City and Asheville, and tells the story of the Randolph family as they struggle against poverty, the challenges of living in the Great Smokies, and evil lumber companies to preserve the simple life they love. Part Waltons and part Little House on the Prairie, this saccharine tale covers 1924-1925, a turbulent time when big corporations used any means necessary to get what they wanted, especially in out-of-the-way places.

Heading up the family are Nathan and Callie 42 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

Randolph. This couple has all the attributes one has come to expect from mountain people: independent, hard-working, kind beneath a veneer of suspicion. They and their five daughters fight to hold onto their ancestral land against the often illegal machinations of the Calhoun Lumber Company and the thugs hired to secure virgin timber any way they can.

Told in an episodic manner, some of the chapters don’t contribute to the flow of the story; in fact, these odd bits seem to be included for local color. And, if you don’t mind characters who quote the Bible to one another, chapter and verse (literally) you won’t be irritated by the sometimes heavy-handed message of the book. Howard is the Christian publishing arm of Simon and Schuster, so a particular world-view is to be expected.

Larimore does a good job capturing Appalachian culture and mores, which add a charming dimension to the novel. Unfortunately, the five daughters remain a sort of girlish blob until the end, when the oldest girl, Abbie, comes to the fore as a fully-endowed character. Though flawed, this novel does offer a glimpse into a world gone by and the solid folks who settled along the ridges of the mountains.

Anne Clinard Barnhill THE PROMISE Freda Lightfoot, Allison & Busby, 2011, £19.99, hb, 414pp, 9780749008291 This is an outstanding historical saga, on a par with Pilcher’s The Shell Seekers, in its family complexity. In 1948, young war widow Chrissie seeks her family’s past. The story flashes from the idyllic English Lake District to sordid San

Francisco in the early 1900s, where we see Chrissie’s grandmother’s family. Then, without warning, Chrissie contemplates running a Windermere shop meeting a young chap who’ll help her fit it out.

Breathtaking Lake District landscape contrasts with the complexity of family history in ‘Frisco.

With brilliant descriptions we see Chrissie’s grandmother, Georgia, forced to marry a rotter, a businessman with the power to destroy her entire family. But she has met her true love, an English sailor she bumped into, ending up with him in the mud and filth of Fisherman’s Wharf. Having lost her dastardly husband’s much longed-for son, Georgia becomes pregnant by her lover, who she secretly meets. But the 1906 earthquake and fire changes everything for her. With her mother, sister and maid they are destitute and homeless in the big city and reduced to camping out with thousands in Golden Gate Park.

Woven into the main story are many sub-plots devised to tempt the reader to reach further into the cupboard of family skeletons. If ever there were a filmic novel with great characters and loads of visual interest, this is it. The book reveals much about love and human nature as page after page of oversensitive female characters’ thoughts abound.

Tensions build gradually, and the time slips back to 1948 and Chrissie and her beau.

Throughout the book there is a tendency to narration overload as Chrissie discovers her grandmother’s tragic love story. This is a book of elaborate and extreme emotional introspection. If this is what you like, then this is for you.

Geoffrey Harfield THE FLIGHT OF GEMMA HARDY Margot Livesey, HarperCollins, 2012, $25.99, hb, 464pp, 9780062064226 The Flight of Gemma Hardy is less a remake of Jane Eyre than it is a variation on a theme. As such, it braves the same dangerous ground as any adaptation: comparison with the original.

I admit upfront, Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books, one firmly grounded in the Dickensian triad of bildungsroman, social commentary, and Gothicism. It’s the story of a manifestly compelling heroine’s search for affinity in human connection: deeper than a need to be loved, the need to be loved and understood. Livesey’s Jane (Gemma), removed from 1840s England to late 1950s Scotland, also embarks upon this search. Orphaned Gemma loses all human connection with the death of her beloved uncle. Her aunt and cousins turn on her, then send her permanently away to school, where she’s even more unloved and ill-treated. Out of options, she accepts a position as au pair to a wild young girl in the Orkneys, niece of the sardonic, mysterious, Mr. Sinclair.

To say more would constitute a spoiler for those who haven’t read Jane Eyre, but suffice it to say that a major element of the original plot is missing in this adaptation. Though Gemma is determined, she has more naiveté and far less moral fortitude than the original Jane. The way in which she pursues her destiny also differs — what Livesey calls in her foreword making her “fit…the possibilities of her time.” In this way, something is lost from the original. But there are also gains: a deeper examination of Gemma’s relationship with her uncle, new and appealing themes, and 20th Century

much greater three-dimensionality in subsidiary characters. Livesey’s prose is polished and sure, her dialogue crisp, and her sense of place adept.

Though the story lacks the original’s pervasive Gothicism, Livesey does add touches, including a ghost. For those of us who love Jane Eyre, this novel may prove an interesting, but slightly disappointing, read. If considered without benefit of the original, this is an engrossing look at a young woman’s search for acceptance and fulfillment.

Either way, it is recommended.

Bethany Latham STRANGE MUSIC Malcolm Macdonald, Severn House, 2012, £18.99/$28.95, hb, 256pp, 9780727881298 Eight couples share a large Hertfordshire house in the years following WWII. Many of the couples are involved in the arts – five architects, a sculptor, two publishers, a children’s author, and two BBC technicians – and all of them are dedicated to their Dower House community. The first book in the Dower House trilogy centers mainly on Felix Breit, a renowned sculptor and concentration camp survivor. Strange Music continues his story, but shifts its focus to Faith Bullen-ffitch, an English publishing executive. As the couples begin to expand their families, some Dower House members leave, buying property nearby. This brings new faces to the Dower House.

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THE BEDLAM DETECTIVE

The new members of the community bring with them youthful energy and creativity as well as a host of problems the community must overcome.

In addition, the Dower House must contend with the Tribe, the tight-knit band of children who live at the Dower House.

While I enjoyed the first book in the trilogy, this second offering did not delight me as much.

Malcolm Macdonald writes in a particular style that is enjoyable in small doses but is demanding over the long haul. First, a reader not familiar with The Dower House might have difficulty keeping track of the eight couples and their fourteen children as well as all of the new members of the community in the three years Strange Music covers.

Even though I’d read The Dower House, I had trouble keeping everyone straight. Macdonald’s dialogues are wonderfully witty, but with minimal setting descriptions, very little inner monologue, ongoing character development, and no clear story arc, it feels like one is reading a miniseries rather than a novel.

Patricia O’Sullivan WATERGATE Thomas Mallon, Pantheon, 2012, $26.95, hb, 448pp, 9780307378729 When a reader chooses to delve into the political historical quagmire that surrounded the Watergate scandal, there are a plethora of books from which

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Stephen Gallagher, Crown, 2012, $25/C28.95, hb, 256pp, 9780307406644 It’s not often I read a book in one sitting; with this novel, I didn’t leave my chair for so much as a bathroom break.

In Edwardian England, Sebastian Becker works as special investigator for the Lord Chancellor’s Visitor in Lunacy. This unique branch of British bureaucracy deals with individuals of wealth and means suspected of being too insane to properly administer either.

Sir Owain Lancaster may be such a man. His expedition to the Amazon saw the loss of all souls; only Lancaster and one other staggered out of the jungle alive. Lancaster demolishes a lifetime of achievement with the publication of his fantastical account, presented before the Royal Society, blaming the tragedy on attack by mythical beasts. Soon after, two girls are murdered on Lancaster’s estate, with Lancaster claiming they also were “torn by beasts.”

Becker must decide not only if Lancaster is insane, but if he’s a murderer.

I’m not sure I can do this book justice — it’s certainly a thriller, but with a literary depth unusual in the genre, and fascinating in the complexity of its construct. Gallagher’s prose is swift, sure, and occasionally darkly comedic. Excerpts from Lancaster’s fantastical account are interspersed with historical Amazonian reports, adding to the mystery a compelling tale of jungle survival and all the fantastical steampunk appeal of a Jules Verne or Rider Haggard story. As Becker’s son (autistically brilliant before one could be categorized as such) tells Becker upon analyzing Lancaster’s book: “It’s not a matter of where truth ends and fantasy begins…you should have said where fact ends and fantasy begins.”

For truth, like madness, is a matter of perception, and as Lancaster himself points out, “The human mind is an amazing instrument of perception…how far should we trust the instrument’s perception of itself?”

Three words of advice: read this book.

Bethany Latham 20th Century

to choose. In fact, scanning the material available, it can be daunting. Memoirs, diaries, primary sources, documentaries and novels written by the players, victims, crusaders and Nixon himself provide endless choices. Thomas Mallon has managed to create a fictional account of the debacle in DC that has never been easy to piece together. In fact, does anyone really know what happened?

His novel covers the Watergate years starting in 1972, with an epilogue that concludes in 2004.

Mallon masterfully constructs an intriguing and riveting recreation, humorous and often sad, through the dialog of a large field of quirky characters. Once the characters are sorted out and some schema is in place, this novel rapidly turns irresistible. Murky visions of the infamous televised Watergate hearings are backdrop shadows to complement Mallon’s colorful cast, whose voices recount the story.

Most memorable are three women who tried to console and support Nixon as his demise became evident. Pat Nixon, Rose Wood, his secretary, and Mrs. L, the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt – all strong and unique – had easy access to and high influence on Nixon. Lucy Roosevelt is a sharp minded, sagacious respected citizen of Washington who works a room better than any man would dare. Her clever quips are so unforgettable that a closer look by readers into her life will inevitably emerge. Never has Nixon been seen with this much vulnerability and despair. The fictional account of the history of Watergate as told by Mallon will add clarity to the miasma of information pertaining to this epic political blunder that continues to raise questions today, forty years later.

Wisteria Leigh TRAPEZE (US) / THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY (UK) Simon Mawer, Other, 2012, $15.95, pb, 384pp, 9781590515273 / Little, Brown, 2012, £16.99, hb, 320pp, 9781408703502 Simon Mawer’s (The Glass Room) latest gift to his avid followers is the first of a projected twovolume novel about a familiar subject: World War II. This time, however, he’s approaching it from a French and English perspective, rather than from a central European viewpoint. During the war, Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) program trained agents to work behind enemy lines, to aid in the resistance movement and to provide much-needed intelligence to the Allies. Mawer’s story pays homage to the women of the SOE, and is told from the point of view of Marian Sutro, a young British woman who grew up in Switzerland and France, and who is fluent in French.

Recruited by the SOE at age 19, she quickly gains espionage and combat skills while losing the last of her innocence. Her papers, her demeanor, and all exterior signs now indicate that she is Anne-Marie Laroche, a French student; inside, she carefully conceals what is left of Marian. The danger of discovery and betrayal is very real, as are the atrocities the invading Germans inflict on both country peasants and Parisian sophisticates.

Marian/Anne-Marie fights loneliness, isolation, and hunger, driven by the need to make a difference but not knowing if anyone will be there to catch her as she makes her leap of faith.

HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 43

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ENCHANTMENTS

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Kathryn Harrison, Random House, 2012, $27/C$32, hb, 336pp, 9781400063475 / Fourth Estate, 2012, £14.99, hb, 320pp, 9780007472567 In this novel’s afterword, author Harrison explains that as an 11-year-old she latched onto Robert Massie’s masterful biography, Nicholas and Alexandra.

It became part of her, and later, when Harrison learned that a bear mauled Rasputin’s daughter in the 1930s in Maria Rasputin’s circus act in Peru, Indiana, Harrison knew she had to write the story.

Enchantments begins with the “mad monk” Grigory Rasputin’s body being pulled from the frozen Neva River in 1917. Now the forces that would destroy old Russia gather an unstoppable momentum. Masha and Varya, his daughters, are momentarily cocooned from the upheaval, for the Tsarina has brought them to Tsarskoe Selo, the Romanovs’ royal residence 15 miles outside St. Petersburg. Varya, 16, spends her time with OTMA (the grand duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia), while Masha, 18, Rasputin’s favorite, becomes the 14-year-old Tsarevich’s only true friend. As their world collapses, Masha tells Alyosha stories of her childhood in Siberia, and of her father’s miracles and escapades. Alyosha lives and breathes in these pages as a boy who, alone among his family, has no illusions about what will befall them. Harrison’s Rasputin, seen through his daughter’s eyes, is a sympathetic force of nature.

This is a dazzling, haunting novel, a love story that balances magic and the sweat of history, our compulsion to understand “how it really happened,” and our human love of the mysterious.

“We don’t need narratives that rationalize human experience so much as those that enlarge it with the breath of mystery,” wrote Harrison in a recent op-ed for the New York Times. She surely succeeded in doing that with Enchantments. Highly recommended.

Kristen Hannum Mawer’s representations of England and France—both rural and urban—are at once eerily quiet and bustling with confusion, as he illustrates the fateful moments in a war and in a young woman’s life. Who Marian/Anne-Marie is, who she loves, and who she is to become are questions only partly answered in this first volume, which will leave readers clamoring for Mawer to finish the sequel, and resolve this intriguing, gripping tale.

Don’t expect to sleep much in the meantime.

Helene Williams THE BAKER’S DAUGHTER Sarah McCoy, Crown, 2012, $23.00, hb, 304pp, 9780307460189 What does a 17-year-old German baker’s daughter during World War II have in common with the owner of a German bakery in presentday El Paso, Texas? Plenty, as the reader soon discovers. This story by Sarah McCoy, author of the acclaimed The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico, interweaves past and present in an absorbing story of loss and renewal.

Reba Adams is a journalist who befriends the elderly Elsie and her daughter Jane. Elsie operates a German bakery in the corner of western Texas.

Reba is dubiously engaged to Riki, a MexicanAmerican man who works at the Border Patrol.

Both Reba and Riki are trying to heal fragmented pasts before their relationship can truly work.

While the present-day story is a good one as Reba and Riki find their way back to each other, 44 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

the story of Elsie in 1940s Germany is stunning, heartbreaking and absolutely riveting. The writer touches upon the Lebensborn program, in which young, mostly single, German women had babies that were given to the Fatherland to promote the Aryan Nation. Elsie’s sister, Hazel, is part of this program and gives birth to three children, one of whom comes to live with Elsie and her parents when Hazel disappears.

Elsie unwillingly becomes engaged to a Nazi officer, Joseph. When a Jewish boy saves her from being raped by another Nazi, Elsie risks her life by hiding him. The events that derive from this one impulsive act shape the rest of Elsie’s life.

Delectable German baked goods, such as lebkuchen hearts and brotchen, are mouthwateringly described throughout the book and, in fact, the author was kind enough to provide a few recipes.

Replete with raw emotion and suspense, The Baker’s Daughter is a fascinating journey through a horrifying time in world history that will resonate long after you close the book.

Hilary Daninhirsch GATHERING OF WATERS Bernice L. McFadden, Akashic, 2012, $15.95, pb, 259pp, 9781617750311 We often imagine what it would be like if a place could talk, be a witness to historical events. Bernice McFadden accomplishes this fantasy with the personification of Money, Mississippi. Money is a narrator with infinite vision and an omnipresent

capacity to unveil the intimacies of each character’s mind. McFadden’s story emerges with a prescient warning: “your soul has a body, and souls never ever die.” Gathering of Waters is a chilling and sorrowful story surrounding the savage, racially motivated and brutal slaying of Emmett Till in 1955.

It all begins when Reverend August Hilson and his wife, Doll, escape the race riots in Tulsa, Oklahoma and move to Money along with the soul of Esther, the whore who has assumed Doll’s body. Tass Hilson is the granddaughter of Doll and August. When Emmett Till arrives in town, Tass is immediately attracted to the new boy, but her future is suddenly altered when Emmett is killed.

Tass eventually marries and moves to Detroit.

What happens to Tass after raising a family of thirteen makes this a wondrous and hopeful journey. This story has such an array of emotions: humorous, chilling, warm and deeply cold. Esther invades various host bodies, and her hateful evil soul will continue to incite havoc in Money.

Bernice McFadden presents a unique parade of memorable characters in this fluid multigenerational story. It is a quick, startling read with brilliant dialogue and a deep message.

Wisteria Leigh THE LAVENDER KEEPER Fiona McIntosh, Penguin Australia, 2012, AU$29.95, pb, 576pp, 9781921518416 Luc, the adopted son of Jewish parents, runs a lavender farm in Provence. In 1942 his life is shattered when his beloved grandmother is murdered and the Nazis send the rest of the family to the camps. Luc vows revenge and joins the French resistance movement, the Maquis.

Lisette works as a waitress in England. Her European background and language skills come to the notice of the Special Operations Executive, and she trains for a secret operation in Paris that involves Colonel Markus Kilian, a disenchanted German officer. She is parachuted into France and together with Luc manages to keep one step ahead of collaborators and the Gestapo.

Fiona McIntosh is a popular fantasy author who has branched into historical fiction. She certainly proves her mastery of fast-paced narrative. The French locations and history appear to have been well researched, but the wartime tone is inconsistent, and there are anachronisms, such as London trains being operated by 1960s “British Rail”.

The moral and idealogical dilemmas of both Luc and Markus are sympathetically explored, but Lisette is unconvincing as a disciplined SOE agent.

Her transformation from apparent inexperience with men into a sexy mistress is difficult enough to accept, but when she dithers between Markus and Luc, one loses all patience with her. The contrived love triangle becomes increasingly melodramatic until real events thankfully force it to its predictable conclusion. At least Lisette regains a snippet of credibility by the time Paris is liberated. There are unresolved plot issues, but the author’s notes indicate a sequel is on the way.

Readers of historical romances will probably enjoy this in spite of its flaws, but with restraint and a more believable 1940s heroine it had the potential to be a really good World War II novel.

Marina Maxwell 20th Century

THE SECRET CHILDREN Alison McQueen, Orion, 2012, £9.99, hb, 355pp, 9781409131144 1925. When James MacDonald, a lonely Scots tea planter in Assam, took a beautiful Indian girl as a concubine, he did not foresee two daughters, accidents of his lust, born from this union. Serafina and Mary are the secret children, “problems” loved by their father but who must be kept hidden from his compatriots lest their existence damage his career. At the same time, they are despised by the Indians as casteless half-breeds. The novel, based on a true story, follows the sisters from birth to old age, from Assam to Bombay, from the supremacy of the Raj through the Pacific War, Independence and Partition to a moving conclusion in an English churchyard.

The child of an Indian mother and a British father, McQueen obviously has a deep understanding of the confusions and difficulties faced by Serafina and Mary. The casual cruelties of racism, from both the British and the Indians, are sometimes balanced by unexpected tolerance and kindness. All the characters, nasty or decent, are carefully drawn and three-dimensional and set convincingly in their period. The sisters are completely believable as they struggle in their different ways of finding their place in an unsympathetic world. The Indian background is colourful. Landscape and weather are vividly described whether in the ravishing countryside or squalid cities. Particularly fascinating are the details of rural Indian life.

This is a wonderful novel. A page-turner that is gripping, sensitive and thought-provoking. Highly recommended.

Lynn Guest THE LAST ROMANOV Dora Levy Mossanen, Sourcebooks, 2012, $14.99, pb, 352pp, 9781402265945 We know Tsarina Alexandra’s lady-in-waiting was with the Romanov family at the time of their assassination in 1918. Mossanen has used this historical verity in her astounding novel. We learn more particulars on the life and times of the “Last Romanov,” Tsarevich Alexei, through the eyes of his Tyotia Dasha—beloved “aunt,” Darya, who was (in this fictional version) also among the ill-fated group, but who survived the massacre.

In 1991, the 104-year old Darya, still living in a dilapidated manor in Ekaterinburg, receives a note from a secret Russian Nobility Association.

She’s summoned to an estate, in Crimea, to verify the identity of a man claiming to be the Tsarevich Alexei.

Darya, born with an opal-eye, possesses a healing touch. She’s also assisted by the magical powers of a Faberge egg necklace and the scent of a piece of ambergris inside it. The mythical potency of the ambergris—found along the Crimean coast—features prominently throughout the novel.

The Tsarina brings up Dasha, upon the death of her parents. She becomes the governess to the sick Tsarevich. Yet, since she’s not able to treat Alexei of his haemophilic bleedings, they have to call in the indomitable monk Rasputin, who manages to heal him, at least temporarily. While Dayra devotes her full time attention on the Tsarevich, she also has a secret paramour, a Jewish artist. Through him, we 20th Century

learn of the hideous prosecution of the Russian Jews during that period.

The novel, although superbly written to bring out the grandeur of the Romanovs, has in parts bits of magic-realism that might seem out of place in a historical narrative. However, the story is so compelling that readers will follow Darya into the Crimean mansion, as if to watch the concluding episode of yet another movie on the Romanovs.

Waheed Rabbani A PARACHUTE IN THE LIME TREE Annemarie Neary, History Press Ireland, 2012, £12.99/€13.50, pb, 239pp, 9781845887322 At first sight this is a standard POW romance – German prisoner/local girl. This time, however, there are significant differences. Firstly the story takes place in neutral Ireland in 1941, and the romantic action unfolds while the downed German flier is on the run in the weeks before he is caught and interned. Secondly none of the romantic outcomes are those one might expect. The lovers are not reunited, and everybody marries somebody else.

The author tries to rectify this by adding two ‘postscript’ chapters set in 1999, in which the septuagenarian ex-lovers rediscover each other, their respective spouses having died in the interim.

The German airman’s granddaughter has tracked down her grandfather’s old flame on the internet!

I am not altogether happy about the happy ending, but it is an enjoyable read set in a chapter of Irish history which is little known to English readers.

Edward James

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A LIFE OF BRIGHT IDEAS

THE MASTER’S MUSE Varley O’Connor, Scribner, 2012, $25.00, hb, 256pp, 9781451655384 In 1956, 27-year-old Tanaquil Le Clercq is at the height of her career. Principal dancer of the New York City Ballet and married to the company’s famed artistic director, George Balanchine, she dances ballets created especially for her. But, while on a European tour only three years into their marriage, Tanny contracts polio and, though she survives, she learns she will never walk again.

George quits the ballet for a year to care for her and strengthen the rest of her body through exercises of his own devising. Tanny adores George, and his attention helps her to emotionally come to terms with her condition, but as he returns to the New York City Ballet without her, their marriage and her self-resolve are tested. George continues to train young, talented dancers while Tanny must watch from her wheelchair the career that could have been hers.

I like novels highlighting women largely forgotten by history, and this was a fascinating portrait. I’d read of George Balanchine before, but nothing of Tanny, his fifth wife. She was a strong woman equally passionate about dance and George, which made her paralysis and her husband’s gradual withdrawal all the more heartbreaking. O’Connor, the daughter of a polio survivor, writes from a place of experience. Coupled with her careful research of the ballet world, the story feels real without ever getting heavy-handed. Tanny’s narrative voice is solid, just as tough and engaging as the character herself, and carries the story along. An enjoyable

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Sandra Kring, Bantam, 2012, $15/C$18, pb, 438pp, 9780553386820 In friendships, there’s usually a leader and a follower.

Such is the friendship of Winnalee Malone and Button Peters. Winnalee was the adventurous one who blew into Button’s life in 1961 in The Book of Bright Ideas.

She left Button with her book of bright ideas (“Bright Idea #10: Never eat cotton candy in the rain”) and the memory of what it was like to have a best friend.

Almost 10 years later, Button is still living a quiet life in her small Wisconsin town, where the most daring thing she has done is move from her widowed father’s home into her late grandmother’s house, to live on her own away from her still grieving father. As she lives across the street from her aunt and uncle, this is not as risky as it seems. Much to Button’s delight, Winnalee comes back. But, what was brave and adventurous in the child is now reckless and irresponsible in the adult, and Button finds her enchantment with her old friend tested.

I lost an entire day to this book. I sat down to start it and could not get up until I’d finished it. Kring creates a fully realized world. I knew exactly what Button’s small town was like from the mean busybody to the love that Button doesn’t see right in front of her. It’s 1970, so drugs, hippies, and the war play a role but, as in Brigadoon, they don’t touch the characters the reader cares about too sharply, and this is not a bad thing. Instead, the characters’ responses are to each other and their relationships rather than to more external forces. Like Button, I was alternately exasperated with and charmed by Winnalee, and, like Winnalee, I wanted Button to come out of her shell and enjoy her life. Please, Sandra Kring, write a third book about these friends!

Ellen Keith HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 45

read overall.

Jessica Brockmole

THE COLDEST NIGHT Robert Olmstead, Algonquin, 2012, $22.95, hb, 304pp, 9781616200435 It’s an old story – boy falls in love with the wrong girl and runs off to escape the longing. But Robert Olmstead’s The Coldest Night is so much more. A war story, a love story, a coming-of-age story – it’s a simple theme spun into a novel heartbreaking in its stark and stunning prose.

Henry never had plans in life beyond finishing high school and working in the stables across the river. He certainly never planned on falling for Mercy, the privileged daughter of the town’s most powerful man. When her father discovers the relationship and threatens Henry, Henry and Mercy run off to New Orleans. But things aren’t the same there. Mercy is uncertain, she’s nervous and, when her brother and father catch up, she’s gone. Not knowing what else to do, Henry joins the Marines and ships off to Korea.

He arrives at the turning point of the Korean War, the fierce 17-day battle of the Chosin Reservoir. He isn’t prepared for any of it: the brutality of the war, the harshness of the landscape, the mistrust in his own ability. A vicious ambush leaves Henry alone with only one other marine, forced to venture through enemy territory in search of their column. Through their trek, he feels around for self-confidence and remembers Mercy, the one person who believed in him once upon a

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time.

This is the kind of war novel I love. A boy forced to grow up on the battlefield, then realizing he’s grown too big and too strong for the world he once knew. Back home, no one fully understands what Henry was doing over there. He’s left much on his own to recover and assimilate in a town that has moved on without him. Novels about the Korean War are few and far between, and this is a strong offering in that category. Recommended.

Jessica Brockmole THE STREET SWEEPER Elliot Perlman, Riverhead, 2012, $28.95, hb, 626pp, 9781594488474 / Faber & Faber, 2012, £14.99, hb, 576pp, 9780571236848 Adam Zignelik, a history professor at Columbia studying the beginnings of the civil rights movement, is looking for a new research topic to help secure tenure. A World War II veteran suggests that Adam look into the stories of black soldiers who were involved in the liberation of Dachau. The search leads him to the dusty basement of a university library where the boxes contain not stories of black troops, but the first recorded interviews with Holocaust survivors, taken only months after their release, while they are recovering in Displaced Persons Camps.

At the same time that Adam is searching, Lamont Williams, a recently released convict in a work probation program, befriends an elderly man who was a prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau and learns his story.

HISTORY OF A PLEASURE SEEKER E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Richard Mason, Knopf, 2012, $25.95/C$29.00, hb, 277pp, 9780307599477 / Phoenix, 2012, £7.99, pb, 304pp, 9780753828427 Amsterdam, 1907. The protagonist of Mason’s silky bildungsroman (after Natural Elements, 2010), is determined to rise in the world. Handsome young Piet Baron plans to save his guilders, go to New York, and get rich – all while living well. Although none of his many talents qualifies Piet to teach a ten-year-old, he charms the wife of Maarten Vermeulen-Seckert, a wealthy hotelier, into hiring him as live-in tutor for their disturbed son, Egbert.

Piet’s self-confidence is challenged, but he rises to each occasion. He converses in several languages, uses a fish knife correctly, and has exquisite taste. He also plays piano, sings (bass and falsetto), and draws beautifully. He even cures Egbert’s anxiety disorders. It’s great fun to see this deserving young man pull a rabbit out of a hat when he needs one.

Piet also understands (as well as any man in his twenties) the commodity value of sex. His experiences while in the Vermeulen-Seckert household, described in loving detail, are useful, if unwise. Whether engaged in sex for pleasure or gain, however, Piet neither misleads nor disappoints. To love him is to love him.

Piet’s amazed that cleaning a dinner suit costs more than he can get by selling it; so you know he still has lots to learn. Money comes easily but does not last. He takes too many risks and, inevitably, Maarten finds him out. It’s unfortunate that Piet can’t stay to see his positive impact on the family. (He’s not a scoundrel yet.)

Last seen on an ocean liner headed south, young Baron has a new name and a new plan. He’ll be back. This is a good time to become acquainted. Highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene 46 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

I have to admit, this story took a while to get off the ground. About two hundred and fifty pages of a while. Once it did, though, the pace picked up.

Adam and Lamont’s searches are cut with scenes from the past, from the psychology professor who traveled through Europe recording the interviews in 1946 to the prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

To me, the past scenes were more compelling and vivid than the contemporary ones, sometimes, as in the death camp scenes, brutally so. I did feel Perlman made some puzzling stylistic choices. The voice was fairly omniscient throughout, but pulled back even further from the reader near to the end, lessening the emotional impact for me. And the quick scenes changes gave the book a sometimes choppy feel. With such an intriguing premise, I wanted to like this book. But the slow beginning, unresolved ending, and the occasional emotional distance made it not work for me.

Jessica Brockmole THE WINGS OF MORNING Murray Pura, Harvest House, 2012, $13.99, pb, 304pp, 9780736948777 Murray Pura sets his tale of inspirational romance in the Amish community of Pennsylvania as the world prepares for the outbreak of World War I. Young Amish Jude Whetstone, the blacksmith’s son, roars into the community piloting a yellow biplane as the neighborhood stands speechless. Jude introduces Lyyndaya Kurtz, his childhood friend, to the world of aeroplanes as he flies her over the village. She laughs, urging him to “Go into the sun as fast as you can and do a barrel roll.” War breaks out and the U.S. drafts men to serve in Europe. Although Amish are conscientious objectors, Jude and other village boys are still drafted into the Army and sent to France.

As a flying ace he must decide whether to sacrifice himself to the war and save his friends or to endure abuse and torture by American troops who resent Amish anti-war beliefs.

This novel illuminates the war years in a personal way. The reader enters into the love story of Jude and Lyyndaya as they confront separation, life-changing decisions, and the possibility of shunning by the Amish community. The Wings of Morning shows how the emergence of wartime and new 20th-century technologies impacted the outlook of the Amish in the early 1900s.

Liz Allenby THE COVE Ron Rash, Ecco, 2012, $25.99, hb, 272pp, 9780061804199 Ron Rash’s new novel has all the elements I particularly enjoy in fiction: the story is set in the North Carolina mountains at the height of WWI; the backdrop of the Appalachian mountains provides a hauntingly eerie mood; the characters are quirky and true; the writing is skillfully lovely.

Yet, this novel fails to satisfy; putting my finger on a reason has kept me up nights.

The story involves a brother and sister, Hank and Laurel Shelton, who live in the cove, a dark place where evil things happen. Hank is a returned veteran who left his good arm in France, and Laurel is a lonely young woman, waiting for life to begin. She discovers at stranger on their land, Walter, when she hears a beautiful sound. At first, 20th Century

she thinks it is a rare bird, but she finds out it is Walter playing a flute. He is a mute, as explained by the note pinned to his shirt. And he is injured, stung by bees. Laurel takes him in, nurses him to health. Slowly, they fall in l Their happy ending is complicated by the patriotic fervor of the local enlistment recruiter, Chauncey Feith, who is determined to enroll every able-bodied young man in the service of his country.

So, why doesn’t the novel work? Part of the problem is that while reading the book, I never forgot I was reading a story. In the best fiction, the idea of story is completely purged from my mind while I live the events as they happen, as if they were happening to me. That didn’t happen here. A thin veil stood between the novel and me. I simply didn’t care much what the characters experienced.

Anne Clinard Barnhill RED RUBY HEART IN A COLD BLUE SEA Morgan Callan Rogers, Viking, 2012, $26.95, hb, 320pp, 9780670023400 Growing up in 1960s Maine, Florine idolizes her beautiful mother, Carlie, who seems to embody the free spirit of the era. When Carlie disappears while on a trip up the coast with a friend, Florine’s life is forever changed. She has always been a strong young woman, but her teenage years are made even more difficult by the absence of her mother.

Florine’s father, a stoic lobsterman who never gives up his search for his wife, provides support and love, but it is her grandmother who takes over the role of helping Florine develop into an independent woman.

Rogers’s debut explores the intricate relationships between mothers and daughters. Set during the cultural tumult of the 1960s and early 1970s, this is less a suspense novel about a missing woman and more a coming-of-age story. Strong female characters form the center of the novel, from Florine’s pragmatic grandmother to her bowlingcrazy best friend to Florine herself. Even when she’s at her most difficult, you can’t help but be charmed by Florine, whose grit and determination are impressive. Rogers also touches on the class conflict between the year-round residents and the vacationers who frequent coastal communities.

Filled with beautifully drawn characters and a plot that kept me reading compulsively, Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea is a fine work of women’s fiction.

Nanette Donohue THE DETOUR Andromeda Romano-Lax, Soho, 2012, $25.00/£17.99, hb, 320pp, 9781616950491 Ernest Vogler is a young, overlooked artist working for the Third Reich’s Sonderprojekt when he is sent to Rome to oversee the purchase and transport of the marble statue The Discus Thrower. He finds everything already arranged by an associate in Rome: the statue is packed, escorts hired, and a route plotted through the back roads of Italy up towards Munich. Vogler has three days to get the statue to the border; the Führer is waiting. It should be a simple journey, a chance for Vogler to earn back the self-confidence taken by his abusive father years ago.

But, like life, no journey is as straightforward as that. The twins hired to escort Vogler and the statue have agendas of their own – some personal, 20th Century

some political – and take the truck on a series of unexpected detours through Tuscany and the northern Piedmont. Vogler protests, but the twins encourage him to see it as a chance to tour Italy. Each detour shows him more than just the landscape; veering from his carefully planned route (and carefully planned life), Vogler discovers much about friendship, love, and the kind of person he wishes to be.

Romano-Lax has taken a snippet from history, Hitler’s controversial pre-war acquisition of The Discus Thrower, and cast it in a classic road trip story, where the journey is more about selfdiscovery than maps and routes. Vogler is a beautifully layered character – misunderstood, doubting, secretive, precise – rivaled only by the colorful Digiloramo twins, who keep a thread of dark humor running throughout. RomanoLax paints a glorious landscape of northern Italy, with sunsets and winding vineyards that pull the reader in as much as the characters. Thoroughly recommended.

Jessica Brockmole THE TRAIN OF SMALL MERCIES David Rowell, Putnam, 2011, $24.95/C$29.00 hb, 258pp, 9780399157288 The year is 1968, and Americans are wondering what has gone wrong with their country; the war in Vietnam rages on, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has been murdered, riots plague Washington, D.C. and in June, Senator Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy is assassinated. It is against this backdrop that Rowell sets his first novel, centering on June 8, the day the senator’s body is transported by train from New York, to the nation’s capital and on to interment at

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THE LIFE OF REBECCA JONES

Arlington National Cemetery, close by the grave of his brother, President John F. Kennedy.

Although there are fascinating details about the funeral train’s procession—two people were killed by another train while waiting along the tracks for the funeral train—the train serves only as a device to link together the stories of six different characters who never interact with each other.

Three of these stories, in particular, form the bulk of the novel. Jamie is a young, crippled Vietnam vet trying to deal with the loss of a leg. Maeve, an Irish immigrant, sees her potential job as a nanny to Robert Kennedy’s family disappearing with his death. A 19-year-old African-American youth with the punning name of Lionel serves his first day as a railroad porter aboard the funeral train.

Only the last two characters have any connection with Kennedy and those are tenuous at best.

While the characters are all well-drawn, their stories are all essentially unfinished. They may be intended as a metaphor for the unfinished business of the murdered senator, but the reader wishes that there were some closure for at least some of them.

John Kachuba THE UNREAL LIFE OF SERGEY NABOKOV Paul Russell, Cleis Press, 2011, $16.95/ C$19.50/£12.99, pb, 320pp, 9781573447195 This beautifully imagined and written novel, which feels more like a literary biography than a fiction, tells the story of Vladimir Nabokov’s younger brother, a brother who followed too soon—11 months—after the 1899 birth of his bullying, brilliant sibling. Author Russell heard about Sergey Nabokov in an essay in Salon.com,

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Angharad Price (trans. Lloyd Jones), Maclehose, 2012, £10, hb, 176pp, 9780857051363 This slim volume was originally published in Welsh to great acclaim. Rebecca Jones looks back in old age to her long life on a remote farm in Snowdonia. Three of her brothers were born blind. Their parents sacrificed much to pay for their schooling in England. Although this enabled them to lead fulfilled lives, it came with a heavy price because it severed their connection with their Welsh heritage. Not only that, but Rebecca and her sighted brother Bob had to leave school at twelve, although both would have also benefited from further education. Bob wanted to train as a doctor but had to remain working the land. Rebecca helped about the farm, cared for her younger siblings, and later for her nieces and nephews, and took in sewing. What is most remarkable about this book is this resilience of the whole family in the face of misfortune upon misfortune. They never show their bitterness. They just get on with life, working hard with an unwavering Christian faith.

It reads like a memoir—the author is closely related to this family—but it is actually a novel.

I can’t say why, because to do so would destroy the central premise. I defy anyone to read it and not be moved. It is like nothing I’ve ever read before. I put the book down feeling different about myself and the world. My only regret is that I couldn’t enjoy it in its original language. Highly recommended for those who like their reading to be both quiet and deeply felt.

Sally Zigmond HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 47

and now has conjured him back to life with this many-layered, readable page-turner. The story begins with Sergey trapped in 1943 Berlin. An arrest seeming inevitable, Sergey is writing the story of his life, “without knowing how much time remains.” The chapters of the memoir then take their turns with 1943’s events.

Russell has succeeded in the impressive feat of making vivid and compelling the story of a vulnerable hanger-on, a person Vladimir Nabokov described as a “shadow in the background.” Sergey, an affectionate child in a liberal, wealthy Russian family that celebrated the gregarious Vladimir, was mostly overlooked. An effeminate, stuttering adolescent, Sergey was pitied and scorned. As an adult, he drifted for years, opium making him even more shadowlike as he searched for love and meaning. The shimmering world he lived in, though!—the tables he ate at, and the beds he slept in! After graduating from Cambridge, Sergey moved with the glitterati of between-the-wars Paris. Here are Cocteau, Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, and Vladimir Nabokov himself, all of them written with wit. There are fireworks of detail that would overwhelm a reader in the hands of a less adept writer. (Details pulled off in part, it turns out, by a cadre of research assistants!)

This is a book that ends all too quickly, and calls to be reread and enjoyed again. Absolutely recommended.

Kristen Hannum LOUISE’S GAMBLE Sarah Shaber, Severn House, 2012, $28.95/£18.99, 192pp, 9780727881335 This is the second in a series set in Washington, DC during WWII. Louise Pearlie, a young widow, works as a file clerk at the Office of Strategic Services. Many people just want things to go back to the way they were before the war, but not Louise.

The war has given her a taste of independence, and she loves it. Louise makes a friend at her knitting circle, a young Italian refugee who somehow knows Louise works at the OSS and asks her to convey information to her boss. Louise agrees to pass information back and forth, but then the woman is found dead. Louise investigates, even though she’s gambling on losing her valued job. Shaber has created a wonderful cast of characters in this series, and the descriptions of 1940s life, including shopping, dining at the Mayflower Hotel, working at the OSS, and living at a boarding house make for a wonderfully entertaining read.

Jane Kessler PARADISE MISPLACED Sylvia Montgomery Shaw, Swedenborg Foundation Press, 2012, $15.95, pb, 304pp, 9780877853411 As the son of the wealthiest man in Mexico, Captain Benjamín Nyman can have it all. And, in the days leading up to the Mexican Revolution of 1910, it seems he does. A commission in the army, a devoted family, and an assured place in society. But the things he wants – his brother’s fiancée Isabel and a chance to fight in the revolution – are things that money cannot buy. His mother firmly supports the current regime and, just as ardently, dislikes Isabel, who she sees as a manipulative fortune hunter. She takes drastic steps to keep Benjamín 48 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

away from both Isabel and the revolutionaries.

He’s not to be put down, though, and sets off on a path that has him questioning family, status, and politics. But one fateful night sets off a series of events that lead to an accusation of murder and imprisonment. Caged, Benjamín thinks back on his life and mistakes. When he’s offered a shot at freedom again, he wonders whether atonement is better found outside or within.

Paradise Misplaced is a beautifully written book set in a time and place I know little about. Shaw’s research into the era is evident. Multi-layered characters move through the lush landscape of Mexican sugar plantations. The story is quiet, complex, and emotional.

My one qualm with Paradise Misplaced is that it was not complete as a novel. It’s the first in a planned trilogy, and many questions and motivations remained unresolved at the end.

Despite the mystery plot, this is first and foremost a character-driven story, and I would gladly turn to the next book in the series to reconnect with the same characters, cliffhanger or not. I would have liked to see the mystery aspect wrapped up in a satisfying conclusion.

Jessica Brockmole THE LIBERATION OF CELIA KAHN J. David Simons, Five Leaves, 2011, £8.99, pb,

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273pp, 9781907869037 Glasgow, 1915. Celia Kahn behaves more like a mother than a daughter to her Jewish family, caring for her gambling and drink‑addicted Uncle Mendel, adopted brother Avram, staid father, and highly strung mother. Celia’s mother is proving particularly difficult to live with after being publicly humiliated and regarded as an enemy alien. Celia decides to placate her with her favourite sweets, and while at the sweetshop she encounters primary school teacher Agnes Calder, an open, direct woman with a social conscience.

Intrigued, Celia agrees to meet Agnes at a select tea room, which seems at odds with the woman’s socialist ideals and militant principles. Agnes she draws Celia into the Women’s Movement and into political protests. Agnes’ militancy leads to imprisonment, and while in prison she makes a decision with fateful consequences.

Celia sets up the home that she acquires from Agnes as a women’s contraceptive advisory service, but Celia and a friend fall foul of rigid‑minded, violent protestors. Celia copes with a family death with a new assurance, and deters a prospective suitor. Chance then brings Dr Jonathon Levy back into Celia’s life. He envisages a future working overseas for both himself and for the now inspired, confident, unrestrained and liberated Celia. This informative, entertaining and uplifting book left

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YOU ARE NOT LIKE OTHER MOTHERS

Angelika Schrobsdorff (trans. Steve Rendell), Europa, 2012, $18.00, pb, 528pp, 9781609450755 You Are Not Like Other Mothers is a simple title for a book that is neither simple fiction nor dry enough to be called non-fiction. Instead it is a narrative vacuum into which the reader is sucked along with the author’s thoughtful (if belated) understanding of her flighty, pleasure-seeking mother, Else, and those who lived in Else’s world.

A middle-class Jewish girl in pre-WWI Berlin, Else, to her parents’ horror, loved Christmas trees; as a new wife and mother, she elopes with the moody, artistic gentile Fritz. In self-absorbed roaring ´20s Berlin, she and Fritz both take numerous lovers and throw countless wild parties, the guest lists including most of Germany’s intellectual elite.

Meanwhile, Else’s decent Jewish parents are kept in the dark about her wild lifestyle until Else becomes pregnant with her third child, who does not belong to her husband. Fritz chooses to leave Else and marry his lover.

The child turns out to be Angelika, the precocious and peculiar author of this epic character study. Through Angelika’s reflections and Else’s copious letters, we live through Germany’s good times, then Hitler’s rise, Else’s last-minute evacuation to Bulgaria with her children, narrowly escaping the beginning of the Holocaust.

Then, the misery of war and the terror and joy of the Allied bombs, the miraculous fall of the Third Reich, and the close of the Iron Curtain on Eastern Europe.

Else and her child finally return to Germany, where Else, tired and terminally ill, confronts her memories of her misspent life and reflects upon her newly-found, hard-won wisdom.

Schrobsdorff writes a poetic ode to her mother, whom she hated and adored, revered and pitied, and who couldn’t help but to live life to its fullest and regret the consequences later. This book was fantastic. I more than recommend it.

Cynthia McArthur 20th Century

a favourable impression long after I’d finished reading. Highly recommended.

Janet Williamson ARMISTICE Nick Stafford, Quercus/Trafalgar Square, 2012 (c2010), $12.95/£7.99, pb, 336pp, 9781849160230 Stafford begins his novel with the line “Some men had started a war, other men went off to fight it; the living were left with the mess.” This novel is the story of the mess one young woman is left.

Philomena Bligh, a seamstress from the north of England, must face life without her fiancé, Dan Case, who was killed only minutes after the armistice of World War I was announced. She feels compelled to travel to London to talk with three men who served with her fiancé. One of the men, a young barrister named Jonathan Priest who was Dan’s close friend, tells her he believes another soldier in her fiancé’s unit killed him over a gambling debt. But what can they do? Philomena is a working girl, Jonathan himself is from a working class family, and the accused is the wealthy son of Jonathan’s mentor, a powerful judge. The army had investigated Jonathan’s accusation and no charges were brought. Philomena can’t let it drop, and Jonathan finds that he wants to help her seek justice for Dan. Philomena and Jonathan are wonderfully drawn characters, honorable and courageous but not perfect, and I found myself caring deeply about them. One can see the impact of the war on the psyche of the young generation: Philomena’s hands flutter uncontrollably, while Jonathan drinks too much and uses cocaine. Stafford seems to have captured the essence of postwar London. I was carried along by this story of the devastation that war can bring to people’s lives and Philomena and Jonathan’s struggle to overcome.

Jane Kessler THE SHOEMAKER’S WIFE Adriana Trigiani, HarperCollins, 2012, $26.99, hb, 448pp, 9780061257094 / Simon & Schuster, 2012, £12.99, pb, 400pp, 9780857204943 This sprawling history begins in the Italian Alps in the early 20th century. It takes a while for teenaged Ciro and Enza to meet, and even then, it’s a short encounter. But this is enough to awaken the handsome Ciro’s interest in the lovely Enza, and enough for Enza to fall in love with him. Before they can meet again, however, circumstances (in the form of a vengeful priest) force Ciro to immigrate to America as an apprentice shoemaker.

Eventually, Enza must also leave to help support her family, and it takes several years before the two reconnect in New York, where both struggle and live the immigrant experience.

Enza’s skill as a seamstress eventually leads her to create costumes at the Metropolitan Opera and to meet the fabulous Caruso. Both Enza and Ciro almost marry others, but her steadfast love tames the impetuous Ciro, and they marry.

Their saga covers almost too much detail in its three decades and 448 pages. The supporting cast of characters is quite large, but most are left behind as Ciro and Enza move from Italy to New Jersey and New York, then the battlefields of World War I France, where Ciro fights for the American army, 20th Century

and eventually to Minnesota. Once they leave Italy, the pace slows and the story loses focus. Caruso and the Met sparkle, but once Enza gives that up to move with Ciro to Minnesota, the storyline meanders again. Recommended where Trigiani is popular.

Pamela Ferrell Ortega THE WAR OF THE DRAGON LADY John Wilcox, Allison & Busby, 2012, £19.99, hb, 352pp, 9780749010034 China in 1900 is a dangerous place for westerners as the peasant youth rise up forming the cult of The Boxers, who blame the foreign barbarians, especially the hated missionaries, for the state of their country. They are encouraged by the Empress, ‘The Dragon Lady’ who secretly supports the red-bannered Boxers.

Simon Fonthill with his wife Alice and his trusted comrade ‘352’ Jenkins travel to her uncle’s mission. The Boxers attack them on their return journey to the Legations of Peking. There, instead of finding a place of safety, a siege begins. The situation Simon Fonthill finds he is facing is a siege, which has political backing of a ‘Divine Empress’, unofficially, which means that diplomacy necessitates the ‘social niceties’ are initially still observed.

Comparisons could be made between Simon Fonthill and Jenkins, to Richard Sharpe and Harper; however, this would be overlooking a strong member of the team, Alice Fonthill, who

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also features in this action packed fast-paced adventure. The loyalty, bravery and affection the trio share make the stories throughout the series even more engaging.

Valerie Loh ELEGY FOR EDDIE Jacqueline Winspear, Harper, 2012, $25.99, hb, 352pp, 9780062049575 In this latest outing for Maisie Dobbs, Winspear’s thoughtful and plucky detective returns to her roots across the river in London, to the stables and outdoor markets of her youth. Eddie was always a fixture in the area, known to be a bit slow, but able to work magic with temperamental and sick horses. When he is killed in a paper factory accident, his costermonger friends are sure there was foul play. Eddie’s behavior had been erratic of late, and he was clearly worried about something.

Maisie’s investigation to determine if Eddie was murdered, and if so, by whom, takes her deep into political and military territory, where she finds a bigger, much more disturbing truth.

The uncertainty of the post-Great War peace is mirrored in Maisie’s personal life; her relationship with James Compton gets a bit rocky as she tries to determine if a married society woman is really who she wants to be. Her steadfast employee and friend, Billy Beale, runs into danger while investigating Eddie’s death, and his wife Doreen pushes Maisie away. Add to that some unsettling behavior from series regulars Priscilla and Douglas Partridge, and

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Germaine Shames, Pale Fire, 2012, $16.99, pb, 256pp, 9780983861201 This biographical novel has a beautiful nostalgic quality, the sort of feeling you get when watching classic noir films, browsing vintage postcards or old photo albums of happy families that you know are doomed.

Ballerina Margit Wolf is just seventeen when she leaves Hungary for a short-lived career on the Italian stage. She eventually marries her “maestro”, composer Pasquale Frustaci. In 1938 Margit yearns to see her Jewish family again and travels home to Budapest with her son, Cesare. Shortly afterwards, her pining husband Pasquale gains international success with his song “Tu Solamente Tu” (“You, Fascinating You”).

Forcibly separated from Cesare and trapped behind closed borders, Margit suffers greatly, first at the hands of the Nazis, later the Russians. For twenty years she struggles to find a way to be reunited with Pasquale in Italy.

The author’s style is faultless and understated.

You aren’t inflicted with clever historical research or lectures about the Holocaust or communism; there is no overt sentimentality. The truth is told in a few words, a look, a gesture. We bear witness to the tragedies of these real people with all their flaws and contradictions, but also to their resilience and hope. There are surprise cameos too from celebrities of the era: Vittorio de Sica, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Greta Garbo.

Why this excellent work wasn’t picked up by a major publisher is a mystery. (Despite the cliché about not judging covers, a more professional design might help to attract the wide audience it deserves.)

For anyone unfamiliar with the aftermath of World War II in Europe or simply in search of a human story well told, this is most highly recommended.

Marina Maxwell HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 49

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THE STRANGE FATE OF KITTY EASTON

Elizabeth Speller, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012, $25, hb, 416pp, 9780547547527 / Virago, 2012, £7.99, pb, 416pp, 9781844086337 Set in post-World War I England, The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton is an unconventional but compelling mystery. As with her first book, Speller’s main character is Laurence Bartram, a veteran who is now a teacher; like so many of the lost generation, he has put his life back together in fits and starts. An architect friend asks Laurence, an expert on churches, to spend his break at Easton Hall to consult on the renovations of their church. On the surface, a tame and benign scene—but even the landscape and church will enter into the intrigue. There’s more mystery lying around the Easton estate than the reader can hope to guess.

Early in the novel we learn that many years before, the Eastons’ little girl disappeared one night, never to be seen again. This mystery intrigues Laurence. He finds himself drawn in further when an unidentified dead woman appears, and he realizes the fate of little Kitty is tied into puzzles involving both the village and estate in a complicated human web. How much Laurence should and will unburden on others of what he learns is one of the many subtleties of this book.

The novel builds page-turning suspense, but I find the character development most masterful.

Speller’s characters are layered and subtle, as blundering and graceful as any living being. They, as much as the plot, draw you in, leaving you wanting to know their futures and their pasts.

Laurence develops a romantic attachment which is as ambivalent as his dreams for the future.

What will or can this man do to find love? Passion and violence rip through the polite veneer of this country home in ways that ring utterly true to life.

Judith Starkston it’s no wonder Maisie wants to go home to her flat and not answer the phone or the door. Multiple levels of instability and complex situations lead Maisie to some deep introspection as she tries to make sense of events political, professional, and personal.

Winspear may be setting the stage for her classcrossing meditating detective to strike out in a new direction, or perhaps Maisie is just undergoing some growing pains. Whatever the case, the story is, as usual, well-told, with plenty of details about 1930s life, from the servants to the London smoke to the (to us) scary state of medicine, to keep us well entertained.

Helene Williams BEREFT Chris Womersley, Quercus, 2012, £10.99, pb, 264pp, 9780857386540 / SilverOak, 2012, $24.95, hb, 240pp, 9781402798139 Quinn Walker returns to his home town of Flint, New South Wales, Australia after terrible experiences in the Great War. He had been forced to leave before the war after being accused of the terrible crime of raping and murdering his own sister, and he is in dire peril if any of the townspeople discover he has come back. He meets a strange girl, Sadie, who is also hiding from others.

She is abandoned and alone and so the two hook up together. Sadie keeps people away with weird incantations and spells, and at times it is unclear if she is a real person or a figment of Quinn’s tortured 50 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

imagination. He is compelled to visit his family home where he reconnects with his sick mother.

She is suffering along with many others in the great flu epidemic which was the sting in the tail of the First World War. There is some excellent evocative writing, as for example, at one point, Womersley describes four drunken soldiers linked together as “like a bizarre spider unaccustomed to its surfeit of appendages”. The power of the tale is in its creation of atmosphere and character rather than plot. The concern here is with the interior minds of the characters rather than exciting events per se, and so it is not for everyone. It is a very different tale, and there are some wonderful moments of imagination and powerful description. Unusual literary fiction.

Ann Northfield LETTERS FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN Gerard Woodward, Arcade, 2011, $24.95, hb, 339pp, 9781611453126 It is 1941. Tory Pace’s children have been evacuated from London to the safety of Upper Slaughter in the Cotswolds, and she has not heard from her soldier husband in six months. Her mother, whom everyone (Tory included) calls Mrs. Head, has come to stay with her so she won’t be alone. Tory does her bit of war work in Farraway’s gelatine factory. Her life is now spent in near total exhaustion. She doesn’t want to wash or clean up after her work and bathes only occasionally.

Her only outlet is writing letters to her children.

Certain her husband has been killed, Tory cannot openly grieve for him without official notice. Then she receives a letter from her husband, Donald, a POW in Germany, with an unusual request, one Tory feels incapable of fulfilling until she begins an affair with her boss, George Farraway, who inspires her to write the kind of letters her husband wants.

After the war, a partially crippled Donald returns to his family, and Tory’s life goes downhill.

Woodward provides a detailed portrait of London during and after World War II. Tory’s character changes in a logical progression from mousy housewife to a subservient but stronger matriarch while she wrestles with the strange husband who returns to her. War and, as in Donald’s case, imprisonment and disability naturally change a man’s character. Donald, however, is struggling with the additional baggage of guilt and suspicion and his own betrayal.

Audrey Braver WHAT DIES IN SUMMER Tom Wright, Norton, 2012, $25.95, hb, 288pp, 9780393064025 / Canongate, 2012, £12.99, hb, 9780857862785 Wright’s novel can easily be read in a variety of ways. As a Southern Gothic. As a coming-of-age novel. Even as a murder mystery or a psychological thriller. However you choose to dive into the story, it doesn’t take long for Wright to involve you in the lives of its young characters. Almost immediately we become aware of the danger they’ve opened themselves to as they attempt to discover who has brutally raped and killed a young girl whose body young Jim and his girl cousin discover in a field.

This is the author’s debut novel. Despite the challenge his publisher presents by comparing this story to the widely acclaimed The Lovely Bones, this novel holds its own. There is a simple but disturbing emotional truth to the tale. And when we reach the final page we feel compelled to say to ourselves,“I’ll bet this happens a lot, in almost every community. This twisted and dark monstrosity of the human spirit inevitably surfaces and leaks evil over innocents.”

The story begins with Jim living with his grandmother. His cousin, whom everyone calls LA, moves in with them. We have a sense of secrets kept from the young people, and perhaps even by them from each other. And one can’t help wondering how many secrets Wright, a practicing psychologist, has heard as they were spilled out to him by the desperate and damaged souls who have sat in his office. The prose is spare and beautiful and impossible to resist. We look forward to more novels of this caliber from Mr. Wright. Highly recommended.

Kathryn Johnson THE FLOWERS OF WAR Geling Yan (trans. Nicky Harman), Other, 2012, $15.95, pb, 248pp, 9781590515563 / Harvill Secker, 2012, £10.00, hb, 256pp, 9781846555893 In 1937, the Japanese capture Nanking, China.

An expatriate American priest, Father Engelmann, hopes his church will be respected as a safe, neutral zone. He gives sanctuary to a group of schoolgirls, and then, less willingly, harbors prostitutes and escaped prisoners of war. When the Japanese 20th Century

demand the right to search the church, the priest struggles to keep them at bay. Meanwhile, a teenage student come to terms with the dissolution of a close friendship and her sense that her parents have abandoned her; and Father Engelmann’s assistant develops a wistful attraction for the most beautiful of the prostitutes. As Chinese are massacred and raped outside, the people in the church cling to their island of safety and wrestle with questions of great moral urgency. What are they willing to do to survive? Is it ever right to sacrifice some lives to save others?

This short novel is riveting. I found it impossible to put down and am not surprised that it is the basis of a well-received motion picture by Chinese director Zhang Yimou of Raise the Red Lantern fame. The prose of this translation is clear and straightforward. The people are vividly drawn, believable, and capable of surprising the reader. As the characters’ situation grows more and perilous, we come to truly care about their individual fates.

The climax of the story provides an enormous emotional jolt. What happens is heartbreaking yet in a sense inspiring, making this a truly unforgettable novel.

Phyllis T. Smith

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A PLACE OF SECRETS Rachel Hore, Henry Holt, 2012, $15.00, pb, 400pp, 9780805094497 / Pocket, 2010, £6.99, pb, 400pp, 9781847391421 This story starts in the present as Jude, a young widow who works at an auction house, is sent to Norfolk to value the library of an 18th-century astronomer, Anthony Wickham, at Starbrough Hall. Jude has family in the area, including her sister and young niece, and her grandmother grew up in the gamekeeper’s cottage on the estate. The collection is fascinating and includes an element of mystery: the astronomer’s adopted daughter, Esther, who was his assistant, disappeared after his death. While Jude searches for clues to past events, she is also struggling with problems in the present.

Her young niece keeps having a nightmare, which turns about to be the same nightmare Jude has had all her life. In addition, Jude is attracted to Euan, a naturalist living in her grandmother’s old cottage, but she’s afraid that he is attracted to her sister, with whom she has a prickly relationship.

The place of secrets refers to a folly on the Starbrough Hall grounds used by Wickham to view the stars, which figures prominently in the lives and secrets of many of the people in the story, both past and present. Jude’s quest to find out more about Esther Wickham leads her to some surprising family connections and to the revelation of family secrets.

I enjoyed so much about this story: the setting on an English estate, the description of the process of valuing Wickham’s collection, the discussion of astronomy in the 18th century, and the budding romance between Jude and Euan. At times while reading, I wondered how, or if, the author was going to tie up all the loose threads of this multilayered story. I worried for naught, as it all came together with a satisfying conclusion. A 20th Century — Multi-period

thoroughly enjoyable read.

Jane Kessler

GLOW Jessica Maria Tuccelli, Viking, 2012, $25.95, hb, 336pp, 9780670023318 Meet four American narrators living through the years 1836 to 1941. The story actually begins in 1941 in Washington, D.C., a dangerous time when Ella McGee is forced to escape Washington, D.C. because of the trouble her mother, Mia (Amelia), has made as an NAACP pamphleteer in 1941.

These are the first of the Bound family whose descendants have intermarried and carry a mix of Scotch-Irish, African-American, and native Indian heritage.

Mia sends Ella to escape those who have destroyed their home. Ella is then brutally beaten by drifters, and this spunky girl awakens in the home of Willie May Cotton, a hoodoo woman and former slave, and her partner, Mary Mary Freeborn.

The narration then shifts to the character Riddle Young, who initially is living in the Appalachian mountains of Georgia and speaks like characters from the Bible and Shakespeare. The reader learns of the way the Indians were cheated out of their lands, how the African-Americans were really slaves subject to the most brutal punishments for the slightest lapse, not to mention the horrific lashings if caught trying to escape.

The book flows along with toughness and tenderness, people in love with the land and willing to suffer and sacrifice personal desires to survive.

They find their joy in that land, in the cultural crafts they fashion with both words and hands.

Mothers and daughters shape their own history

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while other distant politicians make enemies and warfare, consciously and unconsciously. This is an unusual book that seems to go back and forth in time, sometimes in a rather disjointed fashion, but the overlying tapestry is a harsh, beautiful, and realistic portrayal of a significant portion of American history. Remarkable!

Viviane Crystal GIRL READING Katie Ward, Scribner, 2012, $25.00, hb, 352pp, 9781451655902 / Virago, 2012, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9781844086870 Ward’s debut novel is a brave, original effort.

The concept is irresistible: Seven girls/women read while living out a portion of their lives before us.

Each one is involved in some way with an artist and portrait, adding another appealing dimension to the stories. From Simone Martini in 1333 to Sincerity Yabuki in the near future of 2060, we are drawn into their very personal world, hear their thoughts, imagine ourselves in their moments on this earth. It’s such a seductive idea, and it works to a point.

The problem for some readers will be the sometimes overly creative, sketchy style of prose.

The present tense narrative is manageable, and the stream-of-consciousness flow of observations does convey a flavor of the setting and mood. But the complete absence of quotation marks to separate dialogue from interior observations is distracting and forces the reader to work harder to sort out information, to know who is speaking or when thoughts are being provided by the author rather than the character.

That said, if the reader can accept the unfamiliar

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Rosie Thomas, HarperCollins, 2011, £12.99, pb, 468pp, 9780007285969 In present-day Wales, Mair Ellis is intrigued by the beautiful Kashmir shawl containing a lock of hair that she discovers among her late father’s possessions.

It belonged, she learns, to her maternal grandmother, Nerys Watkins. Always the free spirit, Mair decides to travel to India to piece together the story of the shawl and how it might have come into her grandmother’s possession.

The narrative moves between the present and the 1940s. As Mair finds out about the “life story” of the shawl and befriends fellow travellers, Bruno and Karen Becker, we also accompany Nerys and her missionary husband, Evan, to the wild mountain country of Ladakh, where the way of life has not changed for centuries, and then to Srinagar in the Vale of Kashmir.

Here we see the last days of the Raj played out with gin fizzes and cricket matches as war in Asia looms. Nerys encounters the unhappily married Caroline Bowen and the enigmatic Swiss mountaineer and illusionist, Rainer Stamm, both of whom will be key players in her story. The present finds its echoes in the past, and the two stories intertwine.

Rosie Thomas powerfully evokes both the gilded world of the Raj and the painful contrasts of India, then and now, with its Maharajahs and crippling poverty. She gives us two love stories and two proud heroines, interwoven with tragedy, a splash of melodrama and a haunting mystery.

Highly recommended.

Mary Seeley HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 51

style and take on the extra demands of adapting to the author’s chosen technique, this is a rewarding read. Fresh and mysterious and intriguing, the stories of these women’s lives reel past us. A Renaissance orphan poses in Siena. A servant girl in Amsterdam daydreams of knights. A female painter, rare for the 18th century, paints a dead poetess. And on through the Victorian era, the Great War, the discovery of photography, ending with a new reality based on a startling cyberrevolution.

Kathryn Johnson

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MARIANA Susanna Kearsley, Sourcebooks, 2012 (c1994), $16.99, pb, 384pp, 978140225867 / Allison & Busby, 2009, £7.99, pb, 288pp, 9780749007065 For fans of time travel and reincarnationthemed historical fiction, this 1993 Catherine Cookson Fiction Award winner will be excitedly welcomed back as a Sourcebooks re-release.

Julia Beckett has been strangely drawn to one particular old farmhouse in Exbury all her life, and when the opportunity arises to purchase it and shift her life from London to this small village, she

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jumps at the chance. Greywethers, as the house has been called for its rough-hewn grey stone walls, has a past buried within it, yet still alive, and Julia soon discovers that Greywethers’ past is as much a part of her as her own 20th-century body. She experiences frequent episodes in which she is transported back in time and relives the life of the 17th-century Mariana, with its secrets, loves, and losses.

The time travel and past life themes have been smoothly executed, making Julia’s transitions and experiences believable and cutting through possible reader skepticism enough to allow complete immersion in this engaging story. The small cast of human characters is vividly and roundly portrayed through both strong personalities and actions, whether appalling or endearing, but the strongest characters on their own terms are humble Greywethers and stately Crofton Hall, given life through their constant presence throughout the centuries. The author draws a colorful picture of both contemporary and 17th-century life in the village, with details and language marking the shifts in time.

Mariana is a beautiful and poignant tale of lost love, haunting and humbling. Whether you believe in past lives or not, this tale will make you yearn for an experience like Julia Beckett’s. Romantic, passionate, and bittersweet, this intelligent, tension-laden story will sweep you away.

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Beatriz Williams, Putnam, 2012, $25.95/C$27.50, hb, 456pp, 9780399157646 I loved this book. It rates as one of the best romantic novels I’ve read. Not only does Beatriz Williams make Wall Street dealings sexy, but Overseas offers a superb array of high concept ideas – the popular WWI era, time travel, two interconnected love stories, and heartwrenching suspense – and melds them into an original, addictively readable package. Most of the novel plays out in modern Manhattan; the rest takes place near the trenches in northern France. The clincher: both involve the same man and woman.

In 2007, junior investment banker Kate Wilson is startled to attract the attention of renowned hedge fund CEO Julian Laurence during a meeting at her New York firm. Their flirty e-mail banter overwhelms her; this intensely private billionaire, with his gorgeous looks and old-fashioned British manners, should technically be out of her league. Though disarmed by Julian’s pursuit, she doesn’t understand the reason for his devotion or protectiveness – which lies in events from nearly a century ago.

In intervening episodes, a slightly older Kate arrives in Amiens, France, one rain-drenched evening in 1916. Desperate to find Julian Laurence Ashford, a youthful British Army captain and acclaimed war poet, she needs to warn him off a night patrol where she knows he’ll be killed.

Julian doesn’t recognize Kate in this timeline, but she intrigues him, and he instinctively believes her – although his honor won’t let him send another soldier in his stead.

How these stories lock together is revealed toward the end of this grandly woven book.

Williams is an impressive storyteller, and the novel compels with its absorbing dual-period mystery and memorable dialogue, which moves from witty to achingly beautiful. Her dashing, larger-than-life hero fits the classic Edwardian mold; think Rupert Brooke of a sort, but with a less troubled personality and a killer business instinct. I’ll be first in line for whatever she writes next.

Sarah Johnson 52 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

Andrea Connell A LIGHT ON THE VERANDA Ciji Ware, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2012, $15.99, pb, 592pp, 978140222273 Daphne Duvallon must choose whether to play harp at her brother’s wedding in Natchez, Tennessee, or in her chamber ensemble’s Lincoln Center debut. She is fired when she opts to play in Natchez, but this frees Daphne to remain in her hometown. There she performs with an all-female jazz ensemble, and meets a rugged and charming nature photographer, Simon Hopkins.

Ciji Ware creates a seductive world in her romance novel, A Light on the Veranda, an atmosphere which brings Simon and Daphne together but also draws Daphne back to her past.

She begins having visions – triggered by her harps’ vibrations – of her ancestor, Daphne Whitaker, a talented harpist raised in haphazard fashion by a depressed mother and an abusive father.

As Daphne learns more about the desperately unhappy life of her namesake ancestor, she realizes that they are living near-parallel lives. The Daphne of 1820 is also courted by Simon Hopkins, but they are separated by tragic circumstances. Must the 21st-century Daphne and Simon follow their ancestors’ footsteps and remain forever apart?

I enjoyed seeing Ciji Ware’s “Harp Honey” find love with Simon Hopkins, but then watch him fly off on adventurous assignments – will they ever find time for each other? It was also a great deal of fun watching Ware’s heroine expand emotionally and professionally as she embraces jazz. Perhaps Daphne’s singing debut was a bit too perfect, but after all, this is the world of romance, where women can find their true voices in a single glowing moment, just as they can find the perfect man taking photographs in their own backyard.

Jo Ann Butler

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RAGNARŐK: The End of the Gods A.S. Byatt, Grove, 2011, $24, hb, 192pp, 9780802129925 / Canongate, 2012, £7.99, pb, 192pp, 9781847672971 The Canongate Myth Series has invited prominent authors to retell myths in modern terms. This entry uses Norse, Icelandic and German myths as its starting point, particularly those involving the death of the gods. As a framing technique, we see the myths through the eyes of “the thin girl” who buries herself in Asgard and the Gods, preferring that to Genesis and Pilgrim’s Progress.

The result sometimes resembles a children’s story, but the language is complex, the subjects are erudite, and the monsters are frightening. Wolves hunt down the gods, and Baldur’s mother can’t save her son from Hel. The most memorable sequence involves Jőrmungandr, a constantly growing snake who moves from the land to the oceans where she leaves “blood and bones staining the seaweed.” Thor breaks her skull and then succumbs to her poison Time-slip — Paranormal & Historical Fantasy

in the final struggles. If the reader fails to connect to the ecological disasters currently threatening the globe, the author makes it all explicit in an epilogue entitled “Thoughts on Myths.” The book captures the splendor of these myths while relating them to modern concerns.

James Hawking THE SETTLERS OF CATAN Rebecca Gable (trans. Lee Chadeayne), AmazonCrossing, 2011, $14.95, pb, 629pp, 9781611091229 The people of Elasund love their homeland, but life is a struggle. Long winters make for a short growing season, and frequent raids by the Turons have devastated villages on the coast. So when the rich merchant Olaf suggests they leave Elasund to search for a warm, uninhabited island he’s heard of, 250 Elasundians agree. The settlers fill nine ships with provisions and sail south, past Scotland and Ireland, to a mythical land created by Odin himself named Catan. Eager for a better life, the settlers quickly choose a site to build their village, but will they find the resources they need to survive?

Based on the popular board game by the same name, Settlers of Catan imagines where the settlers came from, what motivated them to leave their homeland, and what problems they encountered in building their settlement. Gable’s narrative explores not only the physical challenges of a new settlement, but also the social challenges. Catan’s settlers argue over religion, the treatment of slaves and women, and whether the tradition of blood vengeance should be upheld among such a small group.

Though I enjoyed Gable’s rich, and often daring, storytelling, I found the narrative too drawn out.

It took one hundred pages for the settlers to agree to even leave Elasund, and another hundred for them to reach Catan. The length of these segments would not seem so burdensome if the story moved faster, but Gable has a tendency to over-explain scenes and her characters’ motivations. The Settlers of Catan is definitely worth reading if you love the board game or Norse history and culture.

Patricia O’Sullivan THE IMMORTALITY ENGINE George Mann, Tor, 2011, $24.99, hb, 347pp, 9780 765327758 Multiples of a single criminal are turning up dead at crime scenes in the streets of London.

Veronica’s visionary sister is undergoing dubious medical treatment. Thus forms the backdrop of this latest of the adventures of Miss Veronica Hobbes and Sir Maurice Newbury which have included everything from the undead to Zeppelin crashes in previous installments.

George Mann is not my favorite spinner of steampunk. Action scenes are excellent and come breathlessly one after the other, but at the expense, to my mind, of thoughtfulness and the exploration of ideas that intersections of history and fantasy/ science fiction allow. Adolescents were the target audience of the first penny dreadfuls, so I suppose this lapse is period-appropriate, and sure to be part of Mann’s success. Lapses of Victorian manners and language also take me out, but I have to confess a wild fondness for the old queen on steam-driven life support, necessary because of the date and Paranormal & Historical Fantasy — Children & YA

sinister plot turns.

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Ann Chamberlin

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PRECIOUS BONES Mika Ashley-Hollinger, Delacorte, 2012, $16.99/ C$18.99/£10.85, hb, 352pp, 9780385742191 When her father kicks a pushy Yankee realtor off their Florida swampland property and the guy later turns up dead, it turns out to be the opening of a life-changing season for 10-year-old Bones.

This children’s book, set in 1949, is a stroll through a time when the color line was drawn with a knife, when kids scrubbed the house screens with DDT, when Florida had never heard of Disney, and when children prefaced every statement to adults with a “yes sir” or a “no ma’am.”

‘Ashley-Hollinger, who grew up in Florida, nicely evokes the era. Bones and her family and friends are as likable as the bad guys are despicable.

I had a tougher time with the sometimes awkward dialogue; the fact that much of the action happens offstage; a stretch when it came to Bones solving the crime… kind of; and a resolution that didn’t do the characters justice. That said, I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the Florida town life, Bones’s pets, the family’s visit to the Seminole village, and the important role of a brain-injured vet. The heroine’s good-hearted struggles to mature were believable and moving.

Kristen Hannum TITANIC: Death on the Water Tom and Tony Bradman, A&C Black, 2012, £5.99, pb, 127pp, 9781408155813 Here the familiar story is told from the point of view of dockyard boy Billy who has seen the Titanic built. He joins the crew as a bellboy, and this proves his ticket to the best seats in the show that will unfold. So there he is on the Bridge when Mr Andrews announces to Mr Ismay that ‘the damage to the hull is very serious’. Because he knows about the construction of the boat, he is also a guide to the ironies. When an officer tells a passenger not to worry, that there is ‘plenty of room for everyone’ in the lifeboats, Billy ‘knew that wasn’t true, but he didn’t think it was his place to tell the passengers’.

This is a good, clear, enjoyable novel that presents the Titanic story with a twist of heroism for the reader, and introduces many of the major characters in the saga.

Richard Lee WOLF BLOOD N. M. Browne, Bloomsbury, 2011, £6.99, pb, 282pp, 9781408812556 1st century AD. The Romans have invaded Britain, and Caractacus, the charismatic Celtic leader, is struggling to unite the warring Celtic tribes against them.

We meet the warrior and seeress, Trista, who has been brutally enslaved by a rival tribe. She manages to escape but runs straight into two Roman foot soldiers. One of them, Morcant, isn’t all he seems.

He’s half-Celtic and his superiors find him a useful scapegoat when things go wrong. Trista senses that he’s also a shape-shifter, a werewolf, even if he himself doesn’t yet recognize it. Soon, Morcant, too, is on the run. Their only hope of survival is to help each other – but there is little mutual trust.

Even if they do learn to co-operate, which side will they fight on?

N. M. Browne’s writing has been compared to Rosemary Sutcliff ’s, and one can see why. The writing has an almost visceral quality, and it’s powerful stuff. The land Trista flees through is cold and wet and smells of death, sweat, fear and the primeval forest. She is plagued by prophetic nightmares about death but they offer no guidance.

Morcant’s shifting from man to wolf is also entirely believable.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take to Trista. She seemed stuck emotionally which made it difficult to identify with her, and her endless nightmares became somewhat tiresome as little was resolved.

The problem is that the book lacks a proper plot. There’s a series of exciting events but that’s not the same thing. Trista’s wanderings are pretty purposeless (she doesn’t care whether she finds Caractacus or not) and I was longing for there to be more at stake for her. Having said that, I was still gripped by the power of the writing. Children of 11 plus who can cope with the dark side should enjoy this book.

Elizabeth Hawksley LOVE & HAIGHT Susan Carlton, Henry Holt, 2012, $16.99, hb, 192pp, 9780805080971 It’s the end of 1971, and 17-year-old Chloe and her best friend MJ take a road trip to San Francisco in a Volkswagen Bug for winter break. Chloe has come to the city to get an abortion, a choice that distresses MJ, a devout Catholic. Abortions are legal in counter-culture San Francisco, although Chloe has to jump many hurdles, both legal and medical.

The girls stay with Chloe’s aunt Kiki, a free spirit whose lifestyle involves drugs, a waterbed, and a freewheeling boyfriend; meanwhile, an old flame – not the father of Chloe’s baby – is a student at Berkeley, and he tries to rekindle their romance. As Chloe crosses off items on her abortion “to do” list, she reflects on her life and her choices. Carlton’s characters are likable, well drawn, and believable.

Carlton does a lovely job of portraying the youth culture of the 1970s. The importance of music, the prevalence of feminism, and the backdrop of politics are layered throughout the story in a convincing way. Chloe’s journey to get an abortion is deftly handled, including her encounters with protesters, sympathetic and unsympathetic psychiatrists, and a charming rabbi. Until the last moment, we don’t know if she will go through with the procedure.

Although Chloe has a concerned mother, loving aunt, and supportive best friend, she will ultimately make the decision for herself. Love and Haight is particularly topical when questions about women’s reproductive health fill the news; Carlton provides some much-needed historical perspective.

Michaela MacColl THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE Christopher Paul Curtis, Wendy Lamb, 2012, $15.99, hb, 320pp, 9780385734912.

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Tracy Barrett, Harcourt, 2011, $16.99, hb, 310pp, 9780547581323 In Dark of the Moon, Barrett presents the “true” story of the Minotaur, told in alternating first person

by Ariadne and Theseus. Many years ago, a son of the Minos of Krete was murdered in Athens, and as a result, the King of Athens must now send one of his own sons to Krete to be given to the Minotaur. In Troizena, Theseus has grown up not knowing his full parentage. At the age of fifteen he discovers that he is the king’s son. He leaves his mother and stepfather to meet his father, who immediately sends him to Krete.

En route, Theseus discovers why he has being sent there and agrees to a plan concocted by a woman he hardly knows.

Before we learn all this, we meet the teenage Goddess-Who-Will-Be, Ariadne, and her half-wit brother, Minos-Who-Will-Be. He is kept in the palace basement for his and others’ protection, and she is subjected to hours of lessons. As the next Goddess and ruler of Krete, Ariadne has much to learn. Barrett’s rendering of the goddess rituals are detailed and fascinating. Ariadne’s position isolates her, and she responds by craving intimacy.

When a ship arrives from a foreign land, she meets some of its passengers who, unfamiliar with Kreten culture, do not fear and avoid her. Feeling freed by their behavior, Ariadne strikes up an inappropriate friendship.

Ariadne and Theseus are appealing teenage protagonists, and they narrate with honesty and emotion. Dark of the Moon is a fabulously-conceived reinvention of the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt From award-winning children’s author Christopher Paul Curtis comes a companion book to Bud Not Buddy, The Mighty Miss Malone.

Mentioned briefly in Bud Not Buddy, our heroine is Deza Malone, a feisty twelve-year-old whose family has been hit hard by the Depression. Her father spends most of his time looking for work while her mother earns a pittance as a maid for a local family.

Deza excels in school, almost irritatingly so, but her older brother Jimmy struggles academically. Deza’s family is close-knit, trying to do the right thing, but when tragedy strikes, her father faces both a financial and spiritual dilemma. Left to fend for themselves, Deza, Jimmy, and their mother must find some way to survive in a time when so many lost everything.

This novel is well written and engrossing, and Deza is a wonderful storyteller. She experiences the heartbreak and loss her family suffers with as much fortitude as she can muster, but it is her brother Jimmy, who uses his golden singing voice to help the family, who is the most changed by events.

Curtis has a gift for bringing young voices to life and Deza is no exception. I hope that we will learn more of this outstanding young woman in a future novel, because I’ve become rather attached to her superlative voice.

Tamela McCann THE QUEEN’S LADY Eve Edwards, Delacorte, 2012, $17.99, hb, 352pp, 9780385740913 / Puffin, 2011, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9780141327334 One struggle that historical writers must face is controlling the urge to modernize their characters.

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History can be an ugly place, full of prejudices and attitudes that most people have long since abandoned. In The Queen’s Lady, Eve Edwards presents us with several thoroughly modern characters dropped into Elizabeth I’s court.

Lady Jane Rievaulx is a teenage widow whose husband married her as an act of kindness. Her stepsons are vicious, greedy caricatures intent on destroying Jane’s life in order to seize their father’s property from her. Jane’s staunchest ally is her friend Milly, whose family’s fall from grace has led her to open a clothing shop, where she sews and sells fineries to the ladies of the court.

Jane has long been enamored of James Lacey, but their relationship seems untenable because Jane scandalously jilted James’s brother several years prior. James’s African servant, Diego, is in love with Milly, and the feelings are mutual, but after some superficial discussion of racial prejudice, they decide to marry anyway. Meanwhile, James travels to the New World to escape his feelings for Jane.

Jane pretends she’s not in love with James, and a foppish Frenchman tries to marry her for her money… only to be thwarted, at the last minute, by Sir Walter Raleigh, whose fling with Jane years ago set this whole mess in motion.

Older teens (15+) who are fans of other historymeets-Gossip Girl book series may enjoy the soapopera-y twists and turns. It’s a nice love story, but it isn’t particularly realistic.

Nanette Donohue MY NAME IS NOT EASY Debby Dahl Edwardson, Marshall Cavendish, 2012, $17.99/C$20.95, hb, 249pp,

9780761459804 Luke has spent his whole life above the Arctic Circle, living with his extended family in their tiny Inupiaq village. But in 1960, when Luke and his brothers must board a plane and fly south to attend Catholic boarding school, they are exiled from everything they know. At Sacred Heart School, they are beaten for speaking in their native tongues, must follow religious practices that go against their traditional beliefs, and are rarely allowed contact with their families. Many native peoples are represented at Sacred Heart, and student factions soon emerge pitting “Eskimos” against “Indians.”

But the students at Sacred Heart gradually realize that they must band together to protest the injustices committed against their peoples.

The injustices committed against Native Alaskans during this period – from nuclear testing on tribal lands, to scientific experiments performed on students without parental consent – certainly deserve more extensive treatment in young adult literature. However, these important issues become somewhat diluted in this novel: the students grow accustomed to their harsh new surroundings with unlikely ease, and the narrative jumps months and years, moving away from social commentary to become more and more of a cliché boarding school story. The viewpoint slips distractingly between many different students at the school, and coincidental plot elements, such as a tragic plane crash, serve to deflect attention from the all-tooattributable atrocities committed by Father Mullen and other representatives of Sacred Heart.

Debby Dahl Edwardson lives and writes in Barrow, Alaska, and brings an authentic voice to Native Alaskans, basing this book on real events in her family’s history. However, one can’t help but feel that loyalty to the original events was prioritized over plot integrity. This novel is a valuable introduction to Native Alaskan civil rights history, but didn’t quite deliver on its initial promise.

Ann Pedtke SPIRIT’S PRINCESS Esther Friesner, Random House, 2012, $17.99, hb, 464pp, 9780375869075 Spirit’s Princess is set in 3rd-century Japan, before the clans are unified. At the start of the story, Himiko, the only daughter of her clan’s chieftain, is seven. She longs to hunt like her adored older brother, Aki, but her attempt to prove herself in his eyes leads to serious injury, and more importantly, to Himiko’s doubting the benevolence of the spirits. The tribe’s shaman, Lady Yama, takes an interest in Himiko and claims that since birth, Himiko has been destined for impossible things.

Secretly, she teaches Himiko how to heal and follow the magic arts of communicating with the spirits. Himiko must face her father’s opposition to her ambition to follow her own path and become a spiritual guardian of her clan.

Friesner has created a fully realized world. The details of food, clothing, housing, and more are expertly woven into the novel. As Himiko begins to explore outside the clan’s walls, the reader sees this new world through her eyes. Himiko resists the magic inherent in herself, so the reader has the chance to gradually acclimate to the idea, as she does. Himiko is a lovable heroine and I enjoyed seeing her grow up and find self-confidence. When Children & YA

she faces her father’s anger, her first response is to argue back, but the spirits help her to “listen.”

The author’s note explains that Himiko is based on a real person. Unfortunately, the novel is quite long and ends on a not-very-satisfying cliffhanger. Recommended for those readers who like to immerse themselves in another time and culture. Not recommended for those seeking quick resolutions.

Michaela MacColl THE SHADOW COLLECTOR’S APPRENTICE Amy Gordon, Holiday House, 2012, $16.95, hb, 202pp, 9780823423590 This middle-grade novel is set in early 1960s small town America. Twelve-year-old Cully Pennyacre lives with his Aunt Incandescence, who studies moths, and her sisters Miggs and Opal, his caretakers since his father abruptly decided to leave the family farm and seek his fortune abroad. Cully’s friend Sam is openhearted and friendly, but another friend Archie has changed into a bully under mysterious circumstances. And Archie is not the only one in town who has undergone a transformation. Other people are also behaving strangely, once they’ve visited a new business – Batty’s Attic antique store.

Cully answers an ad by its proprietor for an apprentice, and things take a turn for the stranger. It seems Batty has a past connected with espionage that dates to World War I, and claims to indulge in a hobby – collecting people’s shadows, using a weird machine and chemicals. Batty is related to the new town banker and real-estate duo who are out to get the Pennyacre farm. But his granddaughter becomes an ally of Cully and his aunts as they solve the mystery.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Kate DiCamillo in The Shadow Collector’s Apprentice, with mixed results. Who couldn’t delight in charming eccentrics battling sinister forces with poetry under a full moon? But the path to return a father to his family and balance to small town life is marred by an underdeveloped setting and plot points that make little sense, even within this book’s fantasy environment.

Eileen Charbonneau JANE AUSTEN STOLE MY BOYFRIEND Cora Harrison, Macmillan, 2012, £5.99, pb, 336pp, 9780330509541 This lively story, based loosely on 15-year-old Jane Austen’s visit to her Leigh-Perrot relations in Bath in 1791, tells of Jane and her 17-year-old cousin Jenny’s adventures there, as seen through Jenny’s diary.

Jenny is an orphan and, except when invited to stay with the Austens, lives with her brother Edward-John, a meek man who is hen-pecked by his mean-minded wife, Augusta. When handsome Captain Thomas Williams falls in love with Jenny and asks for her hand in marriage, Augusta bullies her husband into forbidding it. Distraught, Jenny confides in her cousin.

Jane, meanwhile, has her own love life to consider. She has met Newton Wallop, heir to an earldom, and she rather fancies being a countess.

But of course she will help Jenny. She enlists the aid of Harry Digweed, a young man she’s known Children & YA

all her life. Jenny realizes that Harry is in love with Jane – but does Jane return his affection?

What I enjoyed about this book is that Cora Harrison has plainly done her research – but deploys it with a light touch. Jenny’s diary is interspersed with Jane’s witty observations – based heavily on her Juvenilia. The girls are involved in various real life episodes, like Mrs LeighPerrot’s arrest on a charge of shop-lifting and her subsequent trial.

Late 18th-century Bath, with its splendid Assembly Rooms, the fashionable shops, the Pump Room and so on, are all there. I loved Jane’s barbed pen depictions of various acquaintances and relations, many of whom who will later reappear, transformed, in her adult novels. The moralizing Mary Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, for example, surely owes much to Jane’s cousin Phylly.

My one complaint is that the book’s title has nothing whatsoever to do with the story. All the same, I’m sure that girls of 12 plus will enjoy this book.

Elizabeth Hawksley THE HORSE ROAD Troon Harrison, Bloomsbury, 2012, £5.99, pb, 312 pp, 9781408819357 This story is told by Kallista, the 14-year-old daughter of a nomadic horsewoman. It is the year 102 BC, and her father and two brothers are away trading when the king of their city refuses to negotiate with the Chinese ruler over the ‘heavenly

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horses’ which are reared in the Golden Valley of Ferghana. As the Chinese army threatens their city and their lands, Kallista is faced with challenges that test her skills as well as her self-confidence.

With her mother sick and her father absent, she relies on friends and her thorough understanding of horses to try and save her own white horse, Swan, while their city is under attack. This plump, shy girl has to prove that she can also be a warrior.

Incorporating the true history of the battle to gain these unique horses and extend the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, Harrison has done extensive research to create a novel which dramatically describes the land, people and history of this central Asian region which now forms part of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. She has captured the culture of the different peoples who lived there over 2000 years ago and brought alive their emotions, superstitions and traditional beliefs. Her knowledge of horses and riding is obvious, and her graphic descriptions leave no doubt of her love of this subject. It is a book that will appeal to many young readers, regardless of whether or not they are horse lovers. It is a story which will keep them engrossed, as the pace never ceases from beginning to end.

Helen Papworth DUTY CALLS (Dunkirk, 1) James Holland, Puffin, 2011, £6.99, pb, 396pp, 9780141332192 Private Johnny Hawke joins up at 15, and

E D I TORS’ CH OICE

Susanne Dunlap, Bloomsbury, 2012, $16.99, hb, 320pp, 9781599905688 Eliza Monroe, daughter of the future president of the United States, arrives at a French boarding school in 1799 ostensibly to learn conversation skills, deportment, and refinement. The education she ultimately receives is infinitely more challenging, and more valuable. At the school, she meets two young girls into whose lives she will be irrevocably drawn: Hortense, the daughter of Josephine and stepdaughter of Napoleon, and Caroline, Napoleon’s sister. The two girls, as Eliza soon discovers, despise one another and will stop at nothing to get back at one another, drawing Eliza into their web.

This brilliant novel is told entirely in the first person, from the perspective of four young girls: Eliza, who dominates the text; Hortense; Caroline; and Madeline, the mulatto daughter of a former slave turned stage actress who suffers unspeakable horrors at the hands of her mother. Each character’s voice is heard clearly and distinctly, seamlessly threading a compelling and incredibly engaging narrative. The characters are multidimensional; each person in the story is shown with strengths and weaknesses.

History grounds the novel, with consistent references to the French Revolution, American influences, and the rise of the new French government. The question of slavery, by this point outlawed in France but still actively practiced in America, is addressed in no uncertain terms in this novel, with Eliza coming to an epiphany on the subject.

One is hard-pressed to find something to criticize in this exceptional novel. A minor flaw is a noticeable lack of substantial male characters in this tale, although Eugene, Hortense’s brother, does have his moments. Dunlap’s YA male readers may feel disenfranchised from the text; but then, no book is perfect. In The Academie, Susanne Dunlap has done her best work yet!

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finds himself in France on the losing side of the early engagements of WWII. His story is told in intimate, platoon-level detail, with an emphasis on realism. Death happens. Mutilation happens. The blood and gore is described in language suitable to make Hawke vomit. Similarly, when Hawke squeezes the trigger, kills his first German, it isn’t allowed to be an impersonal killing. Later he comes across the body, sees the dead man’s waxy face, searches through the pockets to find family pictures. War isn’t all heroism and excitement, either: it is dirty, tired, confused, and arbitrary – and awash with bully-beef and over-sweet tea.

I read this with my 8-year-old, who loved it.

For me there appeared to be some problems: the characterization is often wooden, there is an over-emphasis on details of army organisation (companies, battalions etc., and who commands who), and it sometimes juggles history uncomfortably with the more Call of Duty videogame element. My son didn’t feel this. He enjoyed the camaraderie, the sergeant-who-knows-betterthan-his-lieutenant, the blindness of a Panzer to men-up-close, the sense that you’re really there, that this could be you, and that war really does have heroism as well as misery. And, actually, he would also adore a video game based on the book!

This is for 12-year-olds and upwards. I’m not certain the formula is quite at its best yet, but it offers a welcome middle ground between Commando magazine and war documentaries.

Next up is the Battle of Britain – about which Holland has already written an excellent general account for adults – and our family will be buying it.

Richard Lee THE RUNAWAY Glen Huser, Tradewind Books, 2012, $12.95, pb, 147pp, 9781896580210 The summer of 1923 finds Leroy “Doodlebug” Barnstable at a “topsy-turvy” crossroads in his young life. Orphaned at the age of 14, he goes to live with relatives who abuse him. Before long he ventures off on his own, joining a traveling Chautauqua tent show bound for Ashville, Ohio – offering a “week-long extravaganza of entertainment and educational enlightenment.”

Doodlebug finds a generous new family in the performers and crew, and makes himself indispensable due to his portrait skills and performing and teaching abilities. He finds first love in the person of Maggie, and faces the envy of stagehands and the pursuit of his uncle, who wants him brought back into servitude. A fiery conflagration brings all the plot elements together and tests Leroy’s courage.

This first-person account by a good-hearted hero is the perfect guide through a charming and little-known piece of Americana. The style is plainsong poetry, and the story both evocative and heartrending. Highly recommended.

Eileen Charbonneau THE GIRL IN THE MASK Marie-Louise Jensen, Oxford, 2012, £6.99, pb, 311pp, 9780192792792 Sophia is an intelligent, energetic girl who reads Aphra Behn’s plays, rides horses and is a crack shot.

She also has a keen sense of right and wrong and 56 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

a determination to stand up for herself and others.

When her cruel father returns from his slaverun plantations, he is furious at how unruly his daughter has become. His response is to take her to Bath for the season in the hope of finding her a husband – which for Sophia is likely to mean passing from the control of one tyrant to another.

Terrified at this prospect, she decides to make herself as disagreeable as possible to everyone she meets in Bath in order to discourage suitors. She achieves this in spectacular fashion, even rebuffing an attractive man who is clearly taking a genuine and sympathetic interest in her. Chaperoned by her aunt, forced to wear restrictive clothing and to travel everywhere by sedan chair, Sophia is desperate for freedom. One night she discovers that she can climb out of her bedroom window and escape into the streets of Bath. From then on, her adventures begin.

Marie-Louise Jensen weaves a complex plot involving an unwelcome suitor, highway robbery, spies, and the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. Sophia, reckless, brave and loyal, is a heroine to cheer for; and the urbane Mr Charleton makes an intriguing hero. This is an action-packed story with plenty of history and period detail woven into it. It conjures up the glamour and also the squalor of Bath at that time. And the unexpected ending is entirely satisfying.

Ann Turnbull GHOSTS OF THE TITANIC Julie Lawson, Holiday House, 2012, $16.95, hb, 168pp, 9780823424238 Kevin Messenger is a disappointment. He knows this because his father reminds him of it every day. Kevin is not interested in soccer like his Dad is, and Kevin is not as compliant a student as his older sister, Courtney. Only his mother occasionally cuts him a break. But everything changes when Dad gets a mysterious letter from the estate of Angus Seaton, informing him he’s inherited a seaside house near Halifax. Determined to show his father how useful he is by solving the mystery of his inheritance, Kevin learns that Angus Seaton was part of a crew that recovered the dead after the sinking of the Titanic. But as Kevin digs deeper into the connection between his father and Angus Seaton, a persistent ghost from the Titanic pushes Kevin to the edge of madness.

I read Ghosts of the Titanic in one sitting; it’s that good. Lawson weaves Angus’s story into Kevin’s story, revealing Angus’s secrets bit by bit and building the suspense to the moment when Kevin understands what happened to Angus and sets about making things right.

Patricia O’Sullivan WITCHSTRUCK Victoria Lamb, Corgi, 2012, £6.99, pb, 351pp, 9780552566117 This novel for young adults follows the adventures of Meg Lytton, a young girl in the service of the Princess Elizabeth during her banishment from court. Living at Woodstock in 1554 amidst intrigue and rebellion, Meg uses her dark gift of magic to help Elizabeth see her future.

This is a dangerous time to practice the craft however and Meg soon finds her self at great risk from the witchfinder Marcus Dent.

The author has combined two fascinating ideas here and they work very well together. I really enjoyed the historical aspect, set as it was during a young Elizabeth’s banishment and the added drama provided by the witchcraft gives this novel a very interesting twist.

Woven through it all is a romance between Meg and a young Spanish priest, Alejandro de Castillo that I believe is meant to continue through a series of books and they make an engaging couple with plenty of depth and passion.

Witchstruck is a really good read with plenty of action and romance plus a feisty heroine. Also it has been very well drawn from a historical perspective with many interesting details integrated into the story. I think this book would be well received by young girls who enjoy some action and drama in their romance and a bit of magic in their history.

Lorraine Gregory VIXEN (The Flappers, 1) Jillian Larkin, Corgi, 2012, £6.99, pb, 400pp, 9780552565042 / Ember, 2011, $9.99, pb, 448pp, 9780385740357 Chicago, 1924. Wealthy society schoolgirl Gloria moonlights as the lead singer for a black jazz band; her ‘country’ cousin Clara comes to help Gloria prepare for her wedding, while hiding Clara’s own shady past; and Lorraine is Gloria’s ‘best friend’, constantly upstaged by Gloria’s beauty and talent. Their story is told in alternating chapters from their three different points of view.

The detailed background descriptions, the easy and natural references to the literature, culture and couture of the day, and the effortless use of period language are extremely convincing. On the other hand, Vixen seemed more like an adult romance than young adult fiction. It wasn’t steamy – it just felt to me as though the girls were in their midtwenties rather than their final year of high school.

It bothered me, too, that even the characters who talked about going to university at Barnard or Bryn Mawr had no ambition beyond attaching themselves to the most appropriate man available – Gloria’s talent as a singer notwithstanding, was marriage really the only successful career option for a woman in 1924? More disturbingly, should we suggest to today’s teen girls that it’s the only option?

Despite my quibbles with the plot, I found the reading compelling. I loved every moment of Gloria’s falling for the black pianist Jerome Johnson, and his cautious wooing of her. Larkin’s mastery of the period slang and the way she paints in the setting are glorious. A lushly painted picture of 1920s high life, Vixen is a bit like This Side of Paradise for girls; and though it lacks the bite and irony of Fitzgerald, it gives a fair reflection of the shine.

Elizabeth Wein THE AGENCY: The Traitor in the Tunnel (US) / THE TRAITOR AND THE TUNNEL (UK) Y. S. Lee, Candlewick, 2012, $16.99/C$19.00, hb, 373pp, 9780763653163 / Walker, 2011, £6.99, pb, 384pp, 9781406315974 Mary Quinn, now a full-fledged member of the Agency, an all-female detective agency run out of a girls’ school in Victorian London, poses as a housemaid at Buckingham Palace to investigate a series of petty thefts. At first the case doesn’t Children & YA

appear to be much of a challenge for her, but matters become complicated when her love interest, engineer James Easton, is hired to repair the sewers under the palace. Readers of the previous volume in the series will remember that they parted on less than good terms after their last case. Then the Prince of Wales witnesses the murder of a dissolute young friend of his in an opium den, and the killer turns out to be a Chinese sailor with the same name as Mary’s long-lost father. Mary, who has kept her Chinese heritage a secret up to this point, is determined to help the man, whom she is convinced, after she visits him in prison, is her father – even though he denies it and refuses her help. But will she discover the truth of the case without involving the royal family in a scandal?

This is a wonderful series featuring a strong, independent heroine who is torn between her duty to the Agency, in spite of the rift between its leaders, her growing love for James, and her wish to have a life with her father, even if he is a drugaddicted killer. The banter between Mary and James is always fun to read, and will remind fans of Pride and Prejudice of the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy. If this is, indeed, the last of a trilogy, it provides a satisfying conclusion, but I hope that we will see many more adventures of Mary and James.

Vicki Kondelik OUT IN LEFT FIELD Don Lemna, Holiday House, 2012, $16.95, hb, 217pp, 9780823423132 Poor Donald. After catching a pop-fly with his forehead in the annual summer game against Melody School, he’s lost more than the game; he’s lost his reputation. The kids at school can’t stop teasing him about it. But Donald is determined to make everyone forget about his blunder – by becoming a superstar. In what, he’s not quite sure, but he’s willing to give anything a try: archery, driving, hockey, skiing, singing. The only problem is, all of his new ventures fail. Fail so spectacularly that they give the kids at school something else to tease him about. But Donald has grit, if nothing else, and sticks to his quest to discover his niche, while just trying to survive sixth grade.

Eleven-year-old Donald narrates the same way he approaches each new sport – with gusto. It’s a delight to follow him through the book, whether doing his daily chores on the struggling family farm (and crossing my fingers along with his mom and dad that they’ll be able to put in electricity next year) or boldly trying something that I know will end in disaster. Lemna captures what it’s like to grow up in rural Montana in the years after World War II, from the happy to the sad to the downright embarrassing. A fun read for 8- to12-year-olds.

Jessica Brockmole TALINA IN THE TOWER Michelle Lovric, Orion, 2012, £9.99, hb, 313pp, 9781444003383 Venice, 1866. On a quiet day in November, the Ravageurs, half-wolf, half-hyena, return to Venice, their ancestral home. They were cheated out of their homeland by the Venetians’ ancestors and now, not only do they want their land back, they are seeking revenge. First, they capture all the cats, and then children and selected adults begin to Children & YA

disappear.

The Venetians know something is dreadfully wrong – the nights are full of howling – but they blame the citizens of nearby Rovigo. When Talina Molin’s parents are taken, her unsympathetic Great-Uncle Uberto removes her forcibly to his home, the spooky Tower of the Sparrows. But Talina won’t be kept down. She is determined to confront the Ravageurs, rescue her parents and put a stop to the Ravageurs’ incursions. But time is running out.

I thought for a long time about whether this book could be called an historical novel or not. It certainly has fairy-tale and magical elements which argue against it. On the other hand, it is obvious that Michelle Lovric has done her homework; the novel is set in a very real, precisely dated Venice, whose sights, sounds and smells come across with wonderful clarity.

It is also more than just a tale of magic. This is a story of human greed, evil-doing, repentance, forgiveness and redemption which resonates long after you’ve finished reading. It concerns exploitation (the Ravageurs were paid for their land with a few cheap trinkets and sweets); imperialism (the Venetians feel themselves to be superior and look down on nearby Rovigo); and human rights (the female Ravageurs are kept in a state of subservience and ignorance) all of which are still relevant today.

This is a thought-provoking as well as a thrilling and enjoyable read which could inspire some interesting discussions. For 10+. Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Hawksley Talina lives in Venice with her parents, until the unknown creatures (the Ravageurs) capture her parents and leave Talina to live with her sinister great uncle. Talina longs for her parents and sets out to find them. The creatures plot the downfall of Venice and Talina teams up with friends, who help her find out the truth.

The Venice that Talina knows is 19th century, but with a magical twist to it. With magical wolflike creatures it makes the life of Talina difficult but challenging and enjoyable.

I liked Talina as a character, and though she is ‘the terror of the neighbourhood’ that give her a strong, gutsy characteristic. If Talina has a goal, she will go through all odds to reach it. Talina in the Tower is a gripping book, because at the end of each chapter it leaves you wondering how he is going to deal with the problem, or how well she will fare on her own in an unknown place.

Elizabeth Lee, age 10 A VOICE FOR KANZAS Debra McArthur, Kane Miller, 2012, $15.99, hb, 384pp, 9781610670449 This young adult novel speaks to the heart of writers everywhere, young and old, throughout time. When Lucy, the young protagonist, is warned, “You can’t clothe your family in poetry,” we hear the often-repeated cautionary messages of parents, teachers, and all of those not bitten by the bug that tempts the literary minded into the sheltering world of words.

Lucy Thomkins is thirteen years old and a poet.

She lives in Kansas before it became a state, in

1855 when some men are determined, no matter the cost, to make Kansas a state where it is legal to own a human being – a slave state. But Lucy knows of others who believe as she does, that Kansas should be a free state for everyone regardless of race. And when she meets an Indian boy and then a family who helps runaway slaves reach safety, she knows she will need to choose how to use her words for the greater good. Or maybe step outside of her cozy poetry into a less comfortable or even dangerous place.

Some of the loveliest elements of this novel, aside from the strong, clear prose, are the added gifts of Lucy’s poetry, scattered throughout the book. In addition, the author has inserted snippets of historical documents (real or fictional) that lend an authentic flavor to the story and provide a brittle, sometimes shocking glimpse into the times.

We see a price list for goods in 1855 Lawrence, Kansas, editorials from the local newspaper Herald of Freedom, and statements from settlers revealing the extreme tension and harshness of living in those times. This is McArthur’s first novel, and a most impressive one it is.

Kathryn Johnson A BREATH OF EYRE Eve Marie Mont, Kensington, 2012, $9.95/ C$10.95, pb, 324pp, 9780758269485 A Breath of Eyre, a young adult novel, opens with a sad sweet-sixteen party showing us Emma Townsend’s lack of friends and uneasy relationship with her parents. Life continues lonely at her prep school, although reading Jane Eyre provides interest, especially when Emma is hit by lightning and wakes up in Jane Eyre’s body. The book time travels between 19th- century Thornfield and contemporary Massachusetts.

Mont develops girl-empowering themes. Emma admires Jane’s ability to stick to her principles.

Unlike Jane, Emma rejects the passive role of obedient good girl—being good is fine, but keep your brain in the game and fight back when your independence is under siege. Emma finds inner strength and self-confidence. She learns to believe in her value within a romance. At one point she asks herself, “Why did a girl’s happiness always seem to depend upon a man?” She finds it doesn’t have to.

Mont has combined the contemporary language of her modern heroine with the Victorian prose of Brontë. The portions set at Thornfield are often taken verbatim from Jane Eyre, especially dialogue between Rochester and Jane. This may be a way to introduce a teenager to Victorian prose. I found the mix of language somewhat jarring in places.

For example, after a very Victorian-sounding conversation between Mrs. Fairfax and Jane about Miss Ingram, the narrator thinks, “Now I realized how stupid I had been. He was my boss.” Both statements are very contemporary in feel, especially the word “boss.” Perhaps these abrupt changes of language are intended to show that Emma must stop being Jane and return to her 21st-century world where she belongs.

Judith Starkston SOMETHING TO HOLD Katherine Schlick Noe, Clarion, 2011, $16.99, pb, 250pp, 9780547558134 HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 57

This absorbing children’s novel by Katherine Schlick Noe is based strongly on the author’s own experiences. Like Noe, eleven-year-old Kitty has just moved to an Indian reservation in Oregon.

She and her family, which includes an older and younger brother, have moved around a lot because of her father’s government job. When they arrive in Warm Springs, it is the summer of 1962. Kitty is nervous about the start of school, not only because she is the new kid but because she is one of the few white children living on the reservation and attending the school. Gradually, though, Kitty makes friends, though there are two aloof children, Jewel and Raymond, with whom she can’t seem to break down the friendship barrier. When she learns that their stepfather is abusing them, Kitty has to make a grown-up decision. Also, a frightening scene towards book’s end showcases the real dangers of forest fires.

The book touches upon many themes that middle-grade readers may be able to connect with even today: feelings of isolation, how to handle bullies, and racism. And while it can be a scary topic, the author handles the underlying storyline about child abuse quite appropriately for the age group. Many colorful Native American cultural traditions and phrases are lovingly incorporated into the book, making it not only an enjoyable book for most ages but a learning experience as well.

Kitty is a good role model/heroine particularly for female readers; she speaks her mind and speaks up for injustice, even when she is scared of the

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consequences.

Hilary Daninhirsch

MAN OVERBOARD! Curtis Parkinson, Tundra, 2012, $9.95, pb, 160pp, 9781770492981 The title’s shout goes out early in this World War II adventure, but too late to save the mysterious passenger on an excursion ship routed along the St. Lawrence River to Montreal. The event plunges 16-year-old friends Adam and Scott into events far beyond what they expected on their summer jobs aboard the Rapids Prince.

Scott overhears a conversation that convinces him that German agents threw the man to his death and are plotting bombings in both Canada and the United States. When Adam is kidnapped to ensure Scott’s silence, the boys must escape and convince skeptical adults on board that they are in grave danger. Lindsay, a friend who works at a resort the agents are using, and Colette, a French-Canadian teen drafted to care for Adam in captivity, help the boys, as does a war veteran who believes their story.

Exciting and well-paced, with young people to root for and good background knowledge of time, place, and life at sea, Man Overboard! nevertheless suffers from stock characterizations and villains whose gangster talk and gestures include fingers across the throat.

Eileen Charbonneau

E D I TORS’ C H OI C E

Elizabeth Wein, Electric Monkey, 2012, £7.99, pb, 288pp, 9781405258210 / Hyperion, 2012, $17.99, hb, 352pp, 9781423152194 The first half of the story is told by ‘Verity’, who is being interrogated by the Gestapo. Writing is the small indulgence that has been allowed to her. They have brutalized her, broken her, but they still think she may have some more to tell them. Will she write what she will not say? Verity’s narrative tells of her friendship with Maddie, one of the few women pilots in the war.

Her voice takes us away from the hideous Gestapo world into bike-rides over the Pennines, night-flights and escapades – but we always return. The bright, fearless heroine that we admire and laugh with and love transforms back into this broken woman, delaying her execution by pitiful betrayals of all she has lived for. But is she really broken? The second part of the narrative is taken up by Maddie, who flew her friend to France, but was shot down and finds herself sheltered by the Resistance.

I confess I was sceptical at first about an American author writing a cross-class British friendship that would convince me, and I was nervous of clumsy feet treading on my fierce British pride in the SOE. I needn’t have been. This is the best book I have read so far this year. It is listed as teenage/crossover, but I would recommend it to anyone over 14. It is thrilling, moving, engaging, and poignant by turns and beautifully, sinuously plotted and written. To take just one example, early on Verity and Maddie swap lists of their 10 worst fears. How this is returned to and echoed through the plot until it becomes entwined with the other great theme of the book – truth – is exquisitely done.

This is as good as The Machine-Gunners and The Silver Sword, two classic war books I have recently re-read – and I think I prefer it.

Richard Lee 58 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

GLORY BE Augusta Scattergood, Scholastic, 2012, $16.99, hb, 202pp, 9780545331807 Gloriana Hemphill lives in the Mississippi Delta with her preacher father and teenage sister Jesslyn, supervised by their African-American maid Emma. It’s the Freedom Summer of 1964, when Yankees have come to town to provide medical care and voter registration aid to Blacks. Glory is upset that she can’t have her usual Fourth of July birthday party at the swimming pool because the town fathers have closed it “for repairs.” She learns that the real reason is to keep nonwhites from using it.

The turmoil makes Glory afraid she’s losing her best friend Frankie, who’s starting to parrot his racist father and older brother. They and other townspeople resent the outsiders’ interference in what they consider local matters. Can an almosttwelve-year-old find ways to resist prejudice in her community?

Scattergood was raised in Mississippi, so she is able to portray authentic local color through speech patterns and customs. References to Elvis and the Beatles, cats-eye glasses, and ducktail haircuts give period flavor. The characters are well drawn. The two sisters bicker, yet they are loyal during a crisis.

Emma must walk a fine line as a mother-substitute, guiding Glory while not being free to say how she really feels about recent incidents. Glory grows from the egocentricity of childhood to being able to realize how events affect others besides herself.

Glory Be presents a middle-class white child’s perspective of Mississippi during Freedom Summer, and is very enjoyable within those limits.

It could easily supplement elementary school history units on the U.S. Civil Rights era, perhaps used alongside other novels with differing points of view.

B. J. Sedlock SPECIAL OPS: Dead or Alive Craig Simpson, Corgi, 2012, £5.99, pb, 341pp, 9780522560467 November 1941, and most of Europe is in the grip of Nazi rule. In their latest Special Ops adventure, the three friends, Finn, Loki and Freya, are sent on a new, highly dangerous mission – to occupied France. Claude Chevalier, an expert in visual deception who has been working for the Special Operations Executive under the direct orders of Winston Churchill, has gone missing and taken two million French francs with him. Worse, he knows far too much about the locations of RAF airfields and which of them are merely deceptive decoys.

Finn, Loki and Freya are dropped into occupied France with clear instructions: find Claude and bring him back dead or alive. They have no idea where he is or what name he’s using but the likelihood is that he’s in Paris.

Based on various real-life SOE missions, Dead or Alive has the authentic feel of wartime France: the dangers, the cold, the semi-starvation, the bravery of many ordinary people and the treachery of others. Paris in November 1941 must have been a frightening city to live in, and Simpson brings out that living-on-the-edge-of-a-precipice feel of a city under brutal occupation.

My heart was in my mouth every time the three friends were questioned by suspicious German Children & YA

officers or tried to make radio contact with the SOE. Craig Simpson is brilliant at keeping up the tension as they try desperately to work out who can be trusted and who can’t. There are plenty of nasty surprises in store for Finn, Loki and Freya and their courage, cool-headedness and ingenuity will be tested to the utmost – and beyond.

This is exactly the sort of book to appeal to an 11-year-old child who loves a nail-biting adventure and is interested in how the French Resistance operated in World War 2. Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Hawksley GHOST MOON John Wilson, Orca, 2011, $12.95, pb, 172pp, 9781554698790 This second book in the Desert Legends Trilogy follows 16-year-old Jim Doolen as he’s drawn reluctantly into the Lincoln County Wars.

A chance encounter with young Bill Bonney (not yet known as Billy the Kid) leads Jim to a job on a ranch near Lincoln, New Mexico Territory, with his new friend. But all is not quiet on the range, and the boys are soon caught up in the feud between two factions competing for lucrative army contracts and a monopoly on local commerce.

When the boys witness a brutal murder, Bill takes matters into his own hands and mobilizes a vigilante posse – the Regulators – sworn to revenge.

Even after the Regulators are deputized, they are still quick to the trigger. Jim is torn between joining Bill in his fight against a corrupt government and following his own peace-loving conscience.

Wilson has clearly done his research into the West of the 19th century and draws many contemporary events and historical personages into his story. Through Jim’s travels around New Mexico Territory, he meets Buffalo Soldiers, ranchers, Mexicans, and Indian agents, and learns about everything from Custer and Little Big Horn to the Alamo. Sometimes the conversations tend towards oratory rather than carefully placed nuggets of history, but Wilson does keep up the pace with several real documented gunfights as Bill and his Regulators battle it out with the opposing faction on the streets of Lincoln. Overall this is a well-researched and fast-paced offering for boys 11+.

Jessica Brockmole THE SECRET KEEPERS Paul Yee, Tradewind, 2012, $12.95, pb, 133pp, 9781896580968 The Secret Keepers opens in 1906 in Chinatown, San Francisco, moments after the historical earthquake rocked the city, leaving it in rubble. Death and fire ravage the city without discrimination as the members of the Chinese Leong family are literally and figuratively shaken awake.

During the panic to flee, Lincoln Leong is killed by a runaway wagon. Jack knows that his older brother Lincoln is dead before he gets to the scene, where he gazes on his brother’s ghost emerging from his body. Jack has yin-yang eyes, the ability to see ghosts, but this anomaly frightens him.

With his father and Lincoln now dead, he is not ready for the responsibility of caring for his Ma and sisters. He is advised to take out a loan and reopen his family’s movie house. But when opening night Children & YA — Nonfiction

arrives, just as the film starts, another theater-goer shouts that he sees a ghost. The audience screams and flees the building in mass hysteria. Jack has also seen the girl, dressed in blue, appear and disappear.

Jack struggles to understand why the ghosts won’t rest as he searches for answers.

Paul Yee is a prolific author and winner of the Governor General’s Award. He presents this tension-laden turn-of-the-century story of family secrets and cover-up with drama and suspense, an ideal formula for captivating young and reluctant readers. With a quickstep pace and unexpected twists, this is a compelling read that will engage all ages.

Wisteria Leigh

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HIS NAME WAS RAOUL WALLENBERG Louise Borden, Houghton Mifflin, 2012, $18.99, hb, 136pp, 9780618507559 His Name was Raoul Wallenberg is a nonfiction account about how Wallenberg, a Swedish businessman and humanitarian, rescued thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. Borden begins Wallenberg’s cosmopolitan childhood in Sweden, where he had a flair for languages and travel.

Noticing in the 1920s how the Germans were impressed with ornate traveling documents, he capitalized on this observation during World War II when the Swedish government asked him to go to Budapest to help Hungarian Jews. He issued thousands of passports there, officially under Sweden’s diplomatic protection. He disappeared in 1945 while in Russian custody.

Borden does a terrific job of weaving photographs and documentary evidence to show us a life of an ordinary man who accomplishes extraordinary things. The early part of Wallenberg’s life isn’t particularly interesting, but once Borden starts describing Wallenberg’s creatively tireless activity in Budapest, the book becomes riveting. Wallenberg bought and adapted apartment buildings to house thousands of Jews while he devised schutzpasse for them: a letter of protection which enabled Jews to leave Budapest. His Name was Raoul Wallenberg is an accessible and interesting way to learn about a brave, forgotten hero.

Michaela MacColl QUEEN OF THE CONQUEROR: The Life of Matilda, Wife of William I (US) / MATILDA: Queen of the Conqueror (UK) Tracy Borman, Bantam, 2012, $30.00, hb, 320pp, 9780553808148 / Jonathan Cape, 2011, £20.00, hb, 320pp, 9780224090551 This historical biography of Matilda begins with a rather outrageous claim, indicating that at first Matilda rejected the marriage offer of William I. He then supposedly traveled to her home, saw her in the courtyard, threw her to the ground and beat her. Ironically, she decided the next day she would marry no other than him, a scene obviously meant to depict the formidable character of both Matilda and William. The first half of the book is more about the different scholarly accounts written by monks and historians about Matilda’s beauty,

intelligence, and royal lineage in comparison to William’s infamous reputation as an illegitimate son. However, what William lacks in heritage he makes up for in ferocity as a military leader. The second half of the story is how Matilda the Queen softened and supported him enough that he left her in charge when he went off to conquer England and afterward. This is a story about supporting God and country no matter what the cost, and what a cost it was! Excellent book for those wanting to know more about this feisty queen and the culture around her.

Viviane Crystal GILDED LIVES, FATAL VOYAGE: The Titanic’s First-Class Passengers and Their World Hugh Brewster, Crown, 2012, $26, hc, 352pp, 9780307984708 / Robson, 2012, £20.00, hb, 320pp, 9781849541794 The Titanic has captured popular imagination for the last hundred years, and for good reason— it’s a tale of hubris and heroism, of lives saved and even more lives lost. Brewster, who has studied Titanic history for twenty-five years, skillfully tells the story of some of the Titanic’s wealthiest passengers, many of whom were scions of the Gilded Age whose names are familiar even to contemporary Americans. The focus is on the passengers, rather than the ship and the voyage, and Brewster explores the lives of the passengers as well as the circumstances behind their presence on the ship. The story of the Titanic is well-known, and we all know how it ends, but Brewster’s retelling, with its focus on the goings-on among the first-class passengers, reads like a thriller. This is an excellent addition to the rapidly-expanding body of literature on the disaster, and a fine tribute to the heroes on board the doomed liner.

Nanette Donohue CHINA’S WINGS: War, Intrigue, Romance, and Adventure in the Middle Kingdom During the Golden Age of Flight Gregory Crouch, Bantam, 2012, $30.00, hb, 392pp, 9780553804270 In 1929, inspired by Charles Lindbergh, William Bond decided to get into aviation. Bond began on a construction job outside of Baltimore with the Curtiss-Wright Company. Though the banking crisis left the factory sitting idle, Bond took flying lessons and negotiated with Baltimore’s mayor to exempt the factory from tens of thousands of dollars in utility payments. When the Curtiss-Wright Company cabled to ask Bond to oversee a failing partnership with a Chinese airline, Bond was ready. So in 1931, he relocated to China determined to make a success of the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). This is the story of how he overcame China’s internal divisions, international politicking, and WWII to transform CNAC into a modernizing force.

China’s Wings is a very dense read, but Crouch does a fine job presenting the human face of CNAC by centering the story on Bond. A veteran of WWI and a construction worker with no formal education beyond an officer training course, he rose from construction foreman to Vice President of the Orient for Pan American Airways in 1945. Fans of WWII history will enjoy reading about China’s involvement in the war and how Pan Am (which HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 59

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PRESENTING HISTORY: Past and Present

Peter J. Beck, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, £17.99/$28.95/C$33.50, pb, 368pp, 9780230242081 In this insightful book, Peter J. Beck, an emeritus professor of history in the UK, cites data indicating that both British and American young people woefully lack historical knowledge. The author goes beyond bewailing this state of affairs to asking what historians can do about it. His answer is “presentation, presentation, presentation.” Beck thinks history professors should try to turn out books that will attract a wide readership. He also sees television, film, the Internet, and, yes, historical novels, as having a role to play in bringing history to life.

Much of this volume consists of a survey of how in recent years history has been presented to audiences outside academia. Beck looks critically at a number of historical novels, Hollywood films, and television documentaries, as well as the work of university-based historians who write accessible, popular histories.

Some of the names mentioned may be more familiar to British than American readers, but he discusses history presenters as diverse, and as widely known, as Philippa Gregory, Thomas Keneally, Niall Ferguson, and Mel Gibson.

Readers will be struck by how seriously Beck takes the role writers of fiction play in transmitting historical knowledge. He accepts the fact that some people learn about the past mainly from fictional works, and devotes a chapter in his book to Philippa Gregory, a historical novelist who is a university-trained scholar with a doctoral degree. Beck credits her with refusing to twist facts for the sake of telling a good story.

Stories, spiced with sex and romance, of women who manages to survive on their own terms in a patriarchal society, have continuing appeal, and Beck notes how novelists artfully weave in egalitarian themes, as well as a female perspective on the past. Beck’s treatment of novels like Gregory’s, written primarily by and for women, is respectful and enlightening.

How much distortion of historical fact is acceptable in fiction? Beck presents a variety of perspectives on this question, and without dogmatically taking sides, suggests he prefers well researched works that adhere to known facts about history.

Beck’s lively and engaging writing style makes this thought-provoking book a pleasure to read.

Those seriously interested in historical fiction and how knowledge of the past is transmitted in the modern world will find it engrossing.

Phyllis T. Smith

by WWII co-owned CNAC with the Chinese government) provided critical services in the war’s Asian theater.

Patricia O’Sullivan CITY OF FORTUNE: How Venice Ruled the Seas (US) / CITY OF FORTUNE: How Venice Won and Lost a Naval Empire (UK) Roger Crowley, Random House, 2012, $32.00, hb, 464pp, 9781400068203 / Faber & Faber, 2012, £20.00, hb, 432pp, 9780571245949 Crowley relies heavily on primary sources as he recounts Venice’s economic rise from the time of the Fourth Crusade to its decline in the early years of the 16th century. But City of Fortune is much broader in scope, as its subtitle suggests. While detailing Venice’s maritime dominance via military efforts and diplomatic engagements, Crowley includes insights to the religious events and social issues that impacted the entire Mediterranean world at that time. Living on an impermanent strip of land, Venice’s early settlers promptly mastered shipbuilding and seafaring. Since true security only comes from wealth, the tiny city-state gradually evolved into a remarkably pragmatic society founded on greed and self-preservation. In the 60 | Reviews | HNR Issue 60, May 2012

end, the envy and distrust of its neighbors dealt it a serious blow, although the ultimate decline of its maritime empire had numerous external and internal causes. This is an engaging history, although Crowley, like all historians, is not without his biases. Anyone interested in understanding how a random set of events occurring over centuries of time appears to follow some invisible law of nature will enjoy reading this work. Highly recommended.

Veronika Pelka THE FIRST CRUSADE Peter Frankopan, Bodley Head, 2012, £20.00, hb, 262pp, 9781847921550 Pope Urban’s 1095 clarion call to Western Christendom to re-take Jerusalem from the Turks is the background for many historical novels. In this fascinating book, Peter Frankopan examines contemporary Byzantine and Muslim sources alongside western ones to illuminate the pivotal part played by the Byzantine Emperor, Alexios I. 11th-century Constantinople was a wealthy, cosmopolitan city. Alexios was a ruler of exceptional ability who forged alliances with a number of Turkish chieftains to help control his eastern borders. When he appealed to Pope Urban

for help against the Turks, he knew exactly what he was doing. This was the period of the Great Schism when there were two popes, and it was Pope Clement who was in the Vatican. Pope Urban’s call to crusade was a stroke of political genius; not only would Jerusalem be taken back into Christian hands, his own authority as legitimate leader of the faithful would be enhanced – at Clement’s expense.

I enjoyed Frankopan’s illumination of the political, religious and inter-racial complexities of the Byzantine Empire, Western Christendom and the Muslim world. Traditional views of the First Crusade have hitherto been one-sided, tending to rely over-much on western source material.

The truth is far more complex and interesting.

Recommended.

Elizabeth Hawksley THE MAID AND THE QUEEN: The Secret History of Joan of Arc Nancy Goldstone, Viking, 2012, $26.95, hb, 320pp, 9780670023332 / Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011, £20, hb, 320pp, 9780297863366 Joan of Arc is an iconic figure in French history— an uneducated peasant woman who helped her countrymen rise up against the English during the Hundred Years’ War. Yolande of Aragon, Queen of Sicily and mother-in-law of France’s Charles VII, was an astute leader, capable of navigating the complex politics of court and country. One woman is legendary, the other forgotten. In The Maid and the Queen, Goldstone, who has developed a reputation for illuminating the lives of medieval women, investigates the connection between Joan of Arc and Yolande of Aragon.

Goldstone theorizes that Yolande was heavily influenced by the French novel The Romance of Melusine. Written in the late 14th century, Melusine is a fairy tale—but like most fairy tales, there are deeper meanings within. Yolande’s reading of Melusine prepared her to believe Joan when she arrived, bearing her message from God and demanding an audience with Charles—thus setting into motion the chain of events that changed the course of the Hundred Years’ War. Goldstone has a gift for making historical fact read like fiction, and The Maid and the Queen is highly recommended for all readers who enjoy medieval history.

Nanette Donohue THE FIRST LADY OF FLEET STREET Yehuda Koren and Eliat Negrev, Bantam, 2012, $30, hb, 368pp, 9780553807431 / JR, 2011, £20.00, hb, 526pp, 9781906779191 Married Englishwomen had legal control of their property by 1893 but, regardless of class or status, their earnings and actions were controlled by men. It is this, as much as intelligence and talent, which makes Rachel Beer’s career in journalism unique. The 1887 marriage of Rachel Sassoon to newspaper proprietor Frederick Beer, both from prominent Jewish families, positioned her for a lavish social life leavened by philanthropy. Rachel enjoyed both; but by 1897, poking her nose into Frederick’s business led to a rewarding full-time job. The first woman to edit a national newspaper in Britain wasn’t limited to women’s subjects; she addressed national and international political Nonfiction

issues. In 1901, Rachel abandoned her career while Frederick battled tuberculosis and died. After a prolonged state of grief, Rachel’s mental health declined. Declared mentally incompetent in 1903, she lived in privileged isolation until her death.

Rachel Beer’s career—her authority—conflicted with contemporaneous standards, which made her a role model for professional equality. The First Lady of Fleet Street is recommended for anyone interested in London at the turn of the 20th century.

Jeanne Greene

constructed from family memory and his own reading of the Bible, was infused with Christian concepts. Poignantly, he was in error in thinking he was embracing traditional Judaism. Defiant in defense of his own beliefs, Lumbroso emerges as a human being of considerable valor. This is a wrenching true story. The book is as engrossing as a novel.

Phyllis T. Smith

BABYLON: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization Paul Kriwaczek, St. Martin’s, 2012, $27.99, hb, 310pp, 9781250000071 A fascinating book! While not an expert in the field, the late Mr. Kriwaczek was a superb writer with a journalist’s flair for digging out a story.

While there are some lapses at the very beginning and the end of the book, the few minor factual errors will be invisible to the non-expert and are overwhelmed by all of the right-on historical insights, facts, and fascinating elements throughout the rest. The author has prodigiously researched all the pertinent secondary sources and translations of primary sources and provides a reasonable insight into the way Ancient Mesopotamians thought.

His discussion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Old Babylonian Empire, and the Ur III period are highlights, and the best that this reviewer has seen—as is his coverage of Enheduana, Sargon I’s daughter and the world’s first poetess, a topic studiously ignored by previous scholarly publications in the field. While this book is aimed at the general reader, there are enough previously unexplored tidbits and insights to excite even the most jaded Assyriologist. Definitely fills some gaps in the field. Most highly recommended.

Barry Webb

THE FIGHTING IRISH Tim Newark, Constable, 2012, £14.99, pb, 274pp, 9781849015158 For four hundred years Irish men have sought bounty in the armies of foreign powers. Known as the Wild Geese, whether fighting in the armies of France and Spain or for the British Empire and the United States and many other countries besides, their martial exploits have always belied their numbers.

Tim Newark takes up the challenge of cataloguing their tales, writing chronologically and with pace using the soldiers’ own accounts, from the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 to the 21st century in Afghanistan.

The Irish soldier has often been in the vanguard when it comes to winning medals, an Irishman was the first to win the Victoria Cross and the Irish are the largest group of foreign-born soldiers to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The author doesn’t however just write about heroic deeds but also relates stories which show the Irish soldier in a less flattering light, whether as fascists, traitors or soldiers on the rampage.

However the focus here is on the purely military, an advantage in producing stirring tales of heroism based on diaries and soldiers’ accounts but a disadvantage when little political or social context is provided.

Gordon O’Sullivan

FIRE & SONG: The Story of Luis de Carvajal and the Mexican Inquisition Anna Lanyon, Allen & Unwin, 2011, $17.95/ C$19.95, pb, 364pp, 9781741147087 One thinks of the Inquisition as a European phenomenon, but as Anna Lanyon shows in this highly readable account of events in late 16thcentury Mexico, it stretched its tentacles into the New World. Lanyon draws a vivid portrait of Luis de Carvajal, a young man of who, when he embraced Judaism, also chose a new name, Joseph Lumbroso.

His Jewish forebears had fled persecution in both Spain and Portugal. Over generations, some of his relatives genuinely adopted Christianity while others maintained only an outer semblance of adherence to Catholic practice. After his family settled in Mexico, Lumbroso sought to follow what he called “the Law of Moses.” This brought him to the attention of inquisitors in Mexico City, endangering also his mother and sister.

Surviving records of Lumbroso’s testimony before the Inquisition allow Lanyon to give us a chronicle of the investigation. The story attests to the remarkable strength of the Jewish faith, a faith that Lumbroso’s family hid but preserved for generations. But Lanyon points out that Lumbroso never had even the briefest opportunity for rabbinical instruction. His version of Judaism,

A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION: Victoria, Albert, and the Death that Changed the British Monarchy Helen Rappaport, St. Martin’s, 2012, hb, 272pp, $26.99C/$31, 9780312621056 / Hutchinson, 2011, £20.00, hb, 352pp, 9780091931544 The image of Queen Victoria as a dour, gloomy widow in black pervades popular culture, overshadowing the vivacious young queen recently brought back into the spotlight by the film The Young Victoria. The causes of Victoria’s transformation from sovereignty to solitude are explored in Helen Rappaport’s outstanding new book, which begins in the year prior to Prince Albert’s death and continues through the decades of Victoria’s self-imposed exile.

Writing in a narrative style rich with novellike detail, Rappaport delves into the issues surrounding Victoria’s obsessions with grief and mourning (which did not begin with Albert’s death); also examined in detail are the changing political landscape in Britain, the codependent nature of the royal marriage, Albert’s crucial but under-appreciated role in the government, the effects of Victoria’s almost fanatical worship of her husband, and the reasons it took her so long to allow herself to move on. The result of all this is a fascinating and revealing look into a shift in

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British culture far more complex than a picture of a frowning queen in widow’s weeds. Definitely recommended.

Heather Domin ALIX AND NICKY: The Passion of the Last Tsar and Tsarina Virginia Rounding, St. Martin’s, 2012, $29.99, hb, 400pp, 9780312381004 Virginia Rounding offers a fresh look at the relationship of Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra (Alix) his Empress, their accomplishments and fatal flaws, in this intriguing biographical study.

For those not familiar with the Romanovs, there is enough background not to get lost. For those who are familiar with the topic, Rounding provides unique insights focusing on aspects of the imperial marriage and political policies too often ignored.

Rounding explores Nicholas’ political achievements and his oft-demeaned temperament and Alix’s mysterious, incapacitating ailments.

While her symptoms are usually claimed to be the result of hysteria, Rounding surmises that the Empress may have had some genuine health issues, together with emotional instability. The strange dynamic between the imperial couple and Alix’s friend Anna Vyrubova is scrutinized in detail.

Alix’s belief in Rasputin is blamed for precipitating the catastrophes which followed, not so much what Rasputin did as what he was perceived to have done by the public. Most enlightening is the treatment of the spiritual lives of Nicky and Alix and how their faith flowed into their love for each other. As a stirring portrait of a marriage, this book is second to none.

Elena Maria Vidal THE POPE WHO QUIT: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death, and Salvation Jon Sweeney, Image, 2012, $14/C$17, pb, 304pp, 9780385531894 Benedictine Brother Peter Morrone (12101296) took his last name from a mountain in the rough Italian Abruzzi. He lived there as a hermit— but not just any hermit. Morrone was a rock star hermit, attracting crowds of followers and fans.

He even founded a strict but popular religious order, the Celestines. When the pope died in 1292, the College of Cardinals spent two years bickering over who would be the next pope. Peter sent them a message to hurry it up. To his horror, they immediately chose him. He was consecrated Pope Celestine V in August 1294 and resigned, the only pope ever to have done so, five months later.

His successor imprisoned him and he soon died, a suspicious hole in his skull. That’s the bare outline of a story that’s rife with self-flagellation, hermitic visions of naked seductress demons, murdered and murderous popes—even the Franciscans are divided and torturing one another. It turns out St. Thomas Aquinas’s death, en route to the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, was also suspicious.

I didn’t find much mystery (as the title promised) surrounding the elderly Celestine’s abdication. The book is, all the same, an enjoyable albeit bloodcurdling read, filled with marvelous details.

Kristen Hannum

HNR Issue 60, May 2012 | Reviews | 61

© 2012, The Historical Novel Society ISSN: 1471-7492 | Issue 60, May 2012