Historical Novels Review, Issue 72 (May 2015)

A PUBLICATION OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW Issue 72, May 2015

Where to Draw the Line? fantasy with a historical setting

waterloo’s 200th anniversary two centuries of hf lady of the house erika robuck on sophia hawthorne the house that ralph built sadleir & sutton house the earth is singing an interview with vanessa curtis a pox on the phony king? king john in hf the 17th century tracing family history

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE publisher’s message | historical fiction market news | red pencil | new voices

Historical Novels R eview

ISSN: 1471-7492 | © 2015 The Historical Novel Society

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p ub 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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edito r ial boa r d

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

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

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

Edward James <busywords_ed@yahoo.com>

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

Doug Kemp <doug.kemp@lineone.net>

Publisher Coverage: Allison & Busby; Little, Brown & Co (inc. Abacus, Virago, Warner); Random House UK (inc. Arrow, Cape, Century, Chatto & Windus, Constable & Robinson, Harvill, Heinemann, Hutchinson, Pimlico, Secker & Warburg, Vintage), Simon & Schuster (inc. Scribner); and Transworld (inc. Bantam Press, Black Swan, Corgi, Doubleday) | Quercus (interim)

Tracey Warr <traceykwarr@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Birlinn/Polygon; Bloomsbury; Faber & Faber; Granta; Pan Macmillan; Penguin; Short Books; Simon & Schuster | Accent Press; HarperCollinsUK; and Knox Robinson (interim)

Jessica Brockmole <jabrockmole@hotmail.com>

Ilysa Magnus <goodlaw2@optonline.net>

Tamela McCann <jjmmccann@aol.com>

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

re v i e ws e d i tors , i nd i e

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Helen Hollick <author@helenhollick.net>

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

Steve Donoghue <st.donoghue@comcast.net>

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

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Publisher Coverage: All UK children’s historicals

r eviews edit o r s , u sa

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

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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Elizabeth Hawksley <mail@elizabethhawksley.com>

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Arleigh Johnson <arleigh.johnson@att.net>

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

r eviews edit o r s , u k

Publisher Coverage: Algonguin; Henry Holt; Other Press; Overlook; Sourcebooks; Tyndale; and other US small presses

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

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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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Andrea Connell <connell1453@verizon.net>

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

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

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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

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Historical Novels R eview I s s u e 7 2 , Ma y 2015 | I SSN 1471-7492

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ed itor ia l r ich a rd le e

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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 w i llia m kla be r , laur a lebow, c ynthia ripley mi l l er & e le a n o r pa r ke r sa pia | my f anw y cook

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r ed pe nc il t h e sno w b ri d e | c i n dy vallar

| features & interviews |

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W HER E TO D R AW THE LI N E ? h istor ical f antas y | by an n cha mberl i n

1 1 waterloo’s 200th an n i versa r y t wo c e nturies of hf | b y david ebswo rth 13

lady o f the house

eri k a r o bu c k on soph i a haw thorn e | b y karen how l ett

14 the hous e that ralp h bu i l t r alph sa d le ir & s utton hous e | b y mar y seel ey 15

the earth is si ngi ng a v a n essa c ur tis inter view | b y elizabeth ha w k sl ey

16 a p ox on the p hon y k i ng? king joh n in hf | by charlotte wight w ick 17 th e 17th centu r y tr a c ing f am ily his tor y | b y an n sw i nf en | reviews |

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

PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

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n 24th March the Walter Scott Prize shortlist was announced. This year there were seven books chosen, all of which have been reviewed in previous issues of the HNR, four of which we had selected as Editors’ Choices. So far so good, you would have thought.

A £25,000 prize for historical fiction, supported at a major festival, and a deserved annual accolade for Sir Walter Scott’s contribution to the early form of the novel. It is surprising, though, the rancour that the prize causes amongst writers. There is a sense that the prize is just for ‘literary’ novels, and a feeling that there are enough prizes already for ‘literary’ novels. There is also a sense that these are not the kinds of book that ‘genre’ readers of historical fiction enjoy. At its most virulent point, there is even an idea that isolating and rewarding ‘literary’ fiction denigrates novels not seen as ‘literary’. I wonder how far these views are shared by Society members? It is certainly true that of the authors shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize in its first six years, only one, Ann Weisgarber, is or has ever been a member of the HNS. Of the same list, only three have attended any of our conferences (Ann, Sarah Dunant, and CJ Sansom) – and only three others, to my knowledge, have ever been asked. I wonder where this places our Society with regard to ‘literary’ fiction, and whether, if we are not mostly admirers of this kind of work, we should instigate a prize to reward the kind of historical novels we do most admire?

The shortlisted titles for the 2015 Walter Scott Prize are: The Zone of Interest, by Martin Amis; The Lie, by Helen Dunmore; Viper Wine, by Hermione Eyre; In the Wolf ’s Mouth, by Adam Foulds; Arctic Summer, by Damon Galgut; A God in Every Stone, by Kamila Shamsie; Ten Thousand Things, by John Spurling. The winner will be announced at the Borders Book Festival in June.

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HNR The

RICHARD LEE subverted a promising academic career by choosing to write a thesis about John Buchan when given a research bursary at Merton College, Oxford. Since then, he has spent many years as a bookseller, founded the HNS, and has established a successful property business near his home in Devon.

HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | 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 We continue to have a position open for a UK-based reviews editor interested in working with publishers and reviewers to provide content for this magazine. This is a volunteer position, as is the case with others within HNS. Editors receive free membership during their tenure and first picks on incoming review books. Please get in touch with me for more details.

Many thanks to editors Tracey Warr, Doug Kemp, and Edward James for their help during this interim period.

Special thanks to Fiona Sheppard for her work on proofreading the reviews and features within our short timeframe.

New publishing deals Sources include author and publisher submissions, Publishers Marketplace, Booktrade.info, Publishers Weekly, The Bookseller, and more.

Donna Russo Morin’s Da Vinci’s Disciples series, beginning with Portrait of a Conspiracy, in which a secret group of female artists in Renaissance Florence unravels a conspiracy against the Medici brothers with the help of a young Leonardo Da Vinci, sold to Laura Duane at Diversion Books, in a three-book deal,

by Shannon Hassan at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Author of Rodin’s Lover Heather Webb’s A Fall of Poppies, an anthology featuring novellas by nine authors and centering on WWI’s Armistice Day, sold to Amanda Bergeron at William Morrow by Michelle Brower at Folio Literary Management.

Contributors include Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Kate Kerrigan, Hazel Gaynor, Jennifer Robson, Jessica Brockmole, Marci Jefferson, and Evangeline Holland.

City of Light author Lauren Belfer’s new literary novel And After the Fire, about a woman who, after discovering a longlost Bach cantata, unwittingly becomes the next chapter of a story that stretches back through WWII Germany to the Enlightenment, sold to Claire Wachtel at Harper and Iris Tupholme at Harper Canada, in a pre-empt, for publication in Spring 2016, by Emma Sweeney at the Emma Sweeney Agency.

The Beautiful American author Jeanne Mackin’s Evenings in Paris, following the legendary rivalry between fashion designers Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli in early 20th-century Paris, sold to Ellen Edwards at NAL, in a two-book deal, for publication in Winter 2017, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Vienna in Violet by David Frank, which sees Franz Schubert and his vocalist, Michael Vogl, on the trail of a countess’s killer, 2 | Columns |

HNR Issue 72, May 2015

and about a song Schubert wrote that may have caused her death, and may cause their own deaths as well, sold to Kristina Blank Makansi at Blank Slate Press by Gloria Koehler and Donna Eastman at Parkeast Literary.

UK and Commonwealth rights to Kate Mosse’s The Burning Chambers Trilogy, the books in which move from 16th-c Carcassonne to 17th-c Amsterdam to 1880s Cape Town, centering on the lives and loves of two families on opposite sides during the French Wars of Religion, sold to Maria Rejt, publisher of Pan Macmillan’s Mantle imprint, via Marc Lucas at LAW. C.W. Gortner sold North American rights to his novel about Marlene Dietrich, The Siren from Berlin, to Rachel Kahan at William Morrow via Jean V. Naggar agent Jennifer Weltz, for summer 2016 publication.

Former seaman and maritime lawyer David Dyer’s Eight Rockets, an epic historical novel of the Titanic based on years of research in Liverpool, New York, Boston, London, and over the site of the wreck itself, sold to George Witte at St. Martin’s for publication in April 2016, by Gaby Naher of The Naher Agency and David McCormick of McCormick Literary. UK rights went to Margaret Stead at Atlantic Books, and Australian rights to Ben Ball at Penguin Australia.

Karen Harper’s Victorian/Edwardian historical novel, The Royal Nanny, the true story of Charlotte Bill, the woman who reared King Edward VIII/Duke of Windsor, King George VI and four other royal children (including John, “The Lost Prince,”) has been sold to Lucia Macro at HarperCollins by Annelise Robey of the Jane Rotrosen Agency.

The Last Days of Wonder, the second novel from Oscarwinning screenwriter Graham Moore, a historical thriller set in 1880s New York and centering on the legal implications surrounding the newly invented light bulb, sold to Noah Eaker, senior editor at Random House, via Jennifer Joel at ICM Partners.

The Victorian-set novel Cameo by Eliza Redgold, in which a lady’s idol becomes her love as she risks her reputation in the arms of a bohemian artist, sold to Nicola Caws at Harlequin UK, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2016, by Joelle Delbourgo at Joelle Delbourgo Associates.

Susie Dunlop, publishing director at Allison & Busby, acquired UK+Commonwealth rights (excl. Canada) to Julian Stockwin’s The Crakys of War, which dramatizes the rediscovery of gunpowder in Edward III’s England, via Carole Blake at Blake Friedmann.

Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces and historian Lucy Worsley’s debut The Other Elizabeth, based on the real and tragic story of Katherine Howard, Henry VIII’s teenage fifth wife, sold to Deb Noyes Wayshak at Candlewick, in a twobook deal, by Zoe Pagnamenta at The Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates. UK rights to Zoe Griffiths at Bloomsbury UK, by Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates.

Andromeda Romano-Lax’s Behave, a fictional reimagining of the life of 1920s Behaviorist scientist Rosalie Rayner Watson and her controversial marriage and experiments, sold to Juliet Grames at Soho Press, for publication in Spring 2016, by Gail Hochman at Brandt & Hochman.

Painted Horses author Malcolm Brooks’ Cloudmaker, set in the time of Amelia Earhart, about two restless cousins who build their own airplane in rural Montana and a local bank robbery that could have serious repercussions for their ambitions, sold to Amy Hundley at Grove/Atlantic by Kirby Kim at Janklow & Nesbit.

H.P. Wood’s Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet, set in early-20th century Coney Island, pitched as having elements of Water for Elephants and The Night Circus, to Stephanie Bowen at Sourcebooks, at auction, by Courtney Miller-Callihan at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

Serena Burdick’s debut Girl in the Afternoon, set amidst the world of Impressionism in Belle Époque Paris, sold to Laura Chasen at St. Martin’s Press via Stephanie Delman at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

Daniel Woodrell’s Vivian Somebody, following the life of a mysterious Ozark woman usually known as Vivian Chase, who became a notorious Midwestern outlaw in the 1920s and ‘30s, sold, to Ben George at Little, Brown, by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group.

New and upcoming titles The Secret Chord, the newest historical novel from Geraldine Brooks, retells the story of King David. It releases in September from Viking (US) and November from Little Brown (UK).

Patricia Hopper’s debut novel Kilpara (Bygone Era, May 4th) takes place after the Civil War when Ellis O’Donovan takes his exiled mother back to die and be buried in Ireland at Kilpara, the estate once owned by his family. He is faced with refusal from the English lord who now owns the estate, whose word is law, and who loathes the Irish.

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman (Simon & Schuster, August), set in early 19th-c St. Thomas, features the mother of painter Camille Pissarro, telling a little-known story of forbidden love.

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

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Carnegie Medal-winning Jennifer Donnelly’s YA novel These Shallow Graves, part murder mystery and part historical romance set in the Gilded Age in New York City, sold to Naomi Colthurst at Hot Key Books in the UK, in a pre-empt, for publication in Fall 2015, by Cecilia de la Campa on behalf of Steve Malk at Writers House.

Television producer Stephanie Storey’s novel Oil and Marble, about the dramatic rivalry between Michelangelo Buonarotti and Leonardo da Vinci in 16th-c Florence as they prepared their respective masterpieces David and Mona Lisa, sold to Lilly Golden at Arcade by Barbara Braun at Barbara Braun Associates.

The Confessions of X by Suzanne Wolfe, the story of the controversial figure St. Augustine told through the eyes of his concubine, sold to Daisy Hutton at Thomas Nelson, by Carol Mann at the Carol Mann Agency.

Governor General’s Award winner Peter Behrens’ Karin, a love story and historical epic inspired by the true story of Peter’s father, born on the Isle of Wight in the late 1910s and deported with his parents as German nationals after WWI, sold to Deborah Garrison at Pantheon and Sarah McLachlan at House of Anansi in Canada.

Amber Brock’s A Fine Imitation, alternating between a socialite’s restless life of privilege in Prohibition-era New York, when a relationship with a talented and secretive muralist upends her life, and her daring senior year at Vassar, ten years earlier, where she befriended a bold, artistically-gifted woman who brought her to the brink of social exile, sold to Hilary Rubin Teeman at Crown, in a pre-empt, by Stefanie Lieberman at Janklow & Nesbit.

The Aerialist by Pam Jenoff, set in WWII Europe, about a young woman who steals an infant from a boxcar bound for a concentration camp and takes refuge in a traveling circus, bringing together the true stories of the train of unknown children and a German circus that sheltered Jews during the war, sold to Susan Swinwood and Erika Imranyi at Mira, in a two-book deal, by Susan Ginsburg at Writers House.

La Templanza by Maria Duenas (author of The Time In Between), pitched as a Spanish Gone with the Wind set in Mexico City, Havana, and Spain’s Jerez de la Frontera, with the outbreak of the American Civil War and a billiards game providing the twin catalysts for a war of the sexes between a financially ruined Mexican silver baron and a wily, married Andalusian heiress over the title of a vineyard estate, sold to Johanna Castillo at Atria by Thomas Colchie at The Colchie Agency on behalf of the Antonia Kerrigan Agency in Barcelona.

Alix Rickloff’s Down the Lane, a dual-period novel in which a young English noblewoman trades her life of privilege for a bohemian adventure with a forbidden love; years later, her daughter, a WWII nurse, finds her way back to the family estate seeking answers, sold to Tessa Woodward at William Morrow, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

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

HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Columns | 3

NEW VOICES William Klaber, Laura Lebow, Cynthia Ripley Miller & Eleanor Parker Sapia unveil engaging insights into the intriguing characters and historical periods they explore in their debut novels.

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ynthia Ripley Miller’s debut novel, On the Edge of Sunrise (Knox Robinson, 2015), is set in France during the Merovingian era. “It is a romantic adventure about Arria, a Roman senator’s daughter, and Garic, a Frank First Counsel to his tribe,” she writes.

“Their ‘love at first sight’ desires force them across cultural boundaries, into political intrigue, and against Attila the Hun. I grew up with an Old World grandfather who loved to tell a story. As a girl, I read a lot, leaning toward the historical, and eventually became an English teacher. I joined writing groups and wrote short stories, but dreamt of writing a book one day.”

However, Miller’s love of strong and powerful characters only came to the fore some years ago, she says. “With a hectic school year completed, I wanted a break from educational textbooks. I looked for a historically-set novel with an adventurous plot. I guess one might say I turned to the dark side: genre fiction. Anne Rice’s vampires brought historical backgrounds to life and demonstrated a diversity of human traits despite their undead status.

Diana Gabaldon and her Outlander series captured my attention with their vibrant characters, Scottish history, and splash of fantasy. These stories inspired me because they possessed the elements that appealed to my personality.

I felt compelled to move in the direction of a well-researched romantic historical and sought to create a new, uncharted setting for my novel. Yet at the same time, I wanted to write in a world somewhat familiar to me.

“From my travels abroad, ethnic heritage, and some experience teaching history, I decided ancient Rome would become my backyard. I wanted a turbulent and exciting time span that would cross cultures and usher in the medieval age. From a writer’s perspective, 5th-century Rome, and the Germanic barbarian Franks – who later became the French Merovingians – filled the niche for drama, intrigue, and a fresh era. Who were these barbarian warriors and nobles who began to flourish and dominate the European landscape? They beckoned me.”

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The main character of The Rebellion of Lucy Ann Lobdell (St. Martin’s Press, 2015) was introduced to William Klaber in a tiny town in upstate New York. He explains: “One morning, long-time local historian Jack Niflot asked me to lunch. Over a plate of hash and eggs, Jack told me about Lucy Lobdell, who had lived in town before the Civil War and who was said to have haunted my old farmhouse in the 1880s. I had never heard of her. Jack said that in 1855, Lucy cut her hair, changed clothes and went off to live as a man. She opened a dance school and, after a disastrous romance with a female student, she fled with a rifle to the western frontier and passed for three years until she was found out and put on trial for the crime of wearing men’s clothes. Later she was married to a woman by an unsuspecting judge. Jack said he had been collecting material on Lucy for decades and showed me a leather satchel filled with letters, newspaper articles, and Lucy’s early writing. He said he was looking for someone to bring Lucy’s story forward. I was stunned, but I knew right away that I wanted to try.”

Klaber started to work “on Lucy’s biography,” he says, “but there was a problem. With Jack’s research and my own, I could paint in broad strokes where Lucy went and what happened, but all the things we would really want to know – her thoughts, her words – these things were lost to time. There were rooms we could simply not enter. But that changed the moment I stopped writing her biography and started writing her memoir. Suddenly I was inside those forbidden rooms. Now all I had to do was to get Lucy to loosen up, talk to me, and tell me how it all went down. It took a long time, but finally she did.”

Like Klaber, Eleanor Parker Sapia found herself in a position where her characters almost insisted on being written about.

She has “long believed,” she says, “that if we discover a truth and ignore it, the same truth will revisit us. Ignore that truth again, and its grip becomes tighter, never fully releasing us, because we know.

“The tribute I wrote in honor of my Puerto Rican grandmother’s 90th birthday, and a lifelong friendship with her Caribbean midwife, inspired my historical novel, A Decent Woman (Booktrope, 2015). I planned to write about the complex lives of women in male-dominated, colonial Puerto Rico, which would include racism, misogyny, and the social turbulence of the era, and I knew my protagonist, Ana Belén, an Afro-Cuban midwife, born into slavery, would confront male doctors entering the birthing room for the first time. But I did not set out to

Photo credit: William Lebow

include an infanticide trial, prostitution, early feminism, and the forced sterilization of Puerto Rican in the early 1900s, nor did I anticipate adding crimes against women to the story.”

As Parker Sapia’s research continued “into the lives of women in turn-of-the-century Puerto Rico,” she writes, “It became glaringly obvious I couldn’t turn my back on what I’d discovered.

I was now faced with historical truths, and at the time I was a Spanish-language refugee case worker and a counselor in Brussels, Belgium, working with women involved in human trafficking, in abusive relationships, and most of my clients were living on the fringes of Belgian society – it was imperative for my story to grow and evolve. The universal truth that pain is intensely entwined in the human experience spurred me on.

“It is my hope that through the readers’ empathy and identification with my characters and their unique experiences with pain and suffering, Caribbean women are properly honored and recognized through my storytelling. My character’s struggles are as familiar to women today as they were to the women of Puerto Rico’s past.”

What inspired Laura Lebow to write The Figaro Murders (Minotaur, 2015), which is set in 18th-century Vienna, was initially an interest in opera rather than a specific character.

She writes: “The inspiration for The Figaro Murders began 15 years ago, although I didn’t know it then. I had become an opera enthusiast, and was taking a university course on Mozart’s operas. I was fascinated by the operas and wanted to know more about how they reflected Enlightenment thought. I bought every

book on the professor’s recommended reading list, read a few, and shelved the rest in my ‘to be studied when I retire’ bookcase.

“Ten years later, I was looking for a new project to fill my days and decided to write a novel. Since I’d been a mystery and historical fiction fan since age six, I knew I wanted to write a mystery, to challenge myself to see if I could write a book as good as the many that had kept me enthralled since childhood. My thoughts returned to my bookcase full of studies of Mozart’s operas. Why not combine the two interests, and write a series of mysteries about the operas of which I had grown so fond?”

Then, Lebow writes, “I chose Lorenzo Da Ponte, the librettist for Mozart’s three most famous operas, as my detective. Da Ponte was a talented poet who was forced by the vicissitudes of fate (and his own weaknesses) to leave his beloved Venice and make his way through Europe, reinventing himself after every setback he encountered. To me, he is a fitting representative of the dangers and opportunities of the enlightened 18th century.”

From a reader’s perspective, she treasures: “those historical novels that create a world for me, a world to which I long to return for days after I close the book for the final time. I wanted to create such a world for my own readers. So, after a year of reading all the books I had saved on my shelf, and many more, I finished my research by spending a week in Vienna, taking hundreds of pictures of buildings, streetscapes, and vistas, using my imagination to see the city as it was when Mozart and Da Ponte walked its streets.”

What Klaber, Lebow, Miller and Parker Sapia share in common is that by using their imagination and carefully researched backgrounds, they have provided their readers with a key to unlock the doors to places and ways of thinking in the past that would otherwise be sealed forever.

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MYFANWY COOK admires the ingenuity of debut novelists and their ability to share new stories to entertain readers of historical fiction. Please email (myfanwyc@btinternet.com) or tweet (twitter.com/MyfanwyCook) about debut novelists you recommend.

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Left to right: William Klaber, Cynthia Ripley Miller, Laura Lebow & Eleanor Parker Sapia

HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Columns | 5

THE RED PENCIL Cindy Vallar analyzes the work behind published manuscripts. In this issue, she profiles Lindsay Townsend’s The Snow Bride.

Every story requires a plot, a setting, and characters. The more memorable the characters the better, for their story will remain with the reader long after the final page is turned. One such tale is Lindsay Townsend’s The Snow Bride (BookStrand, 2012), a historical romance based on Beauty and the Beast (B&B). Why choose this particular fairy tale?

To me, fairy stories are the bones of a country’s beliefs about itself and powerful for that. B&B is a timeless tale of love, sacrifice, yearning and redemption, a metaphor for change and acceptance. I love stories that look beneath the surface of appearances and B&B does that in force. The whole story is very romantic, with its high stakes and caring. . . . Love is at the heart of the story, transforming the characters – literally in the case of the Beast. For me as a romance novelist, this makes the whole story immensely compelling and inspiring.

Many of my romances have elements of B&B in them, particularly the idea of love changing one’s perceptions so a character can see another beyond the dazzle, or otherwise, of looks, and also the idea of high stakes and emotions – feelings matter in B&B, love matters and is the major force in the story.

Lindsay definitely focuses on these key elements in her medieval tale. The hero is Magnus, a knight badly scarred physically and emotionally from his ordeals as a Crusader.

Elfrida, the heroine, is the “witch of the woods” who takes care of others, especially her sister. Just as parents struggle over what to name their child, so does a writer. The name provides insight into a character. For example, Lindsay says: “Elfrida means ‘elfstrength’ and is derived from the Anglo-Saxon . . . it matched her wiry and subtle strength and hidden magic power . . . giving her a fey element to both her character and appearance. It also rooted her firmly in the English past. Magnus calls her ‘elf ’ at times, which both fits her nature and shows his developing 6 | Columns |

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feelings toward her.” On the other hand, “Magnus means ‘Great’ and became popular in 11th-century Scandinavia. I chose it because I felt it matched him and also hinted at his Viking past.”

The next step in making a character three-dimensional is to create a dossier about him/her. Some authors fill out biographical data questionnaires. Jeannie Reusch’s My W-I-P Notebook,1 which I use, includes character templates detailing such information as education, residence, physical traits, significant relationships, life events that impact the character’s life, and traits (positive and negative). What does Lindsay do?

I consider my characters’ wants and needs, what drives them, their virtues and flaws, their fears. I also create a basic back story for each of my people and go on to make a note of their appearance: hair and eye color, complexion, any particular marks or wounds or tattoos. Before beginning to write the story, I jot all these aspects down on a bit of card that I keep propped on my computer at all times. As I create and discover my people by placing them in situations and learning how they react, I discover their own catch-phrases and speech habits, likes and dislikes, yearnings and fuller back stories. These aspects emerge as I write and rewrite, and I go over the MS again to make my people consistent, while fitting into a particular story arc of either growth or decline.

Providing her characters with back stories allows her to “understand what motivates them. I write all this down beforehand and add to it as I write. I like to know their particular likes and dislikes, their fears, hopes and aims. I picture them moving and note any particular gestures or habits. I consider their dreams and nightmares and sometimes show both, to add insight for the reader.” Although much of this material never appears in her story, the dossiers add depth to her characters.

Elfrida and Magnus meet when she offers herself up as a sacrificial bride for an unseen, unknown beast that has been stealing brides on the eve of their weddings. It is the only way she knows to save her sister, one of the captives. But the “beast” that comes for her isn’t the one she expects; rather, Magnus comes to her rescue. Only by pooling their knowledge and skills

will they find the missing brides, but the vile beast also employs magic – one that is dark and evil – and there are many forces at work to keep them from locating the women in time. While on their quest, their journey leads them to the castle of another Crusader.

Magnus was still so blistered with rage that she could feel the heat rising off him like steam. As they passed the kitchen block and then the stables, Elfrida wondered where they were going. “What did you say to him?” she ventured.

Magnus shook his head. “Leave it, Elfrida.

Leave it all.”

It was hard for her to be quiet. “But I have news!” She had so much to share with him, and he was making it impossible.

Perhaps he spotted the sheen of tears in her eyes for suddenly he stopped and shook his head. “Ach! I know I am a bear this evening.”

She wanted to deny it, to make him kiss her, but pride made her respond. “Indeed you are.

And when are you going to set me down?”“Right in here.” He stepped forward a few more paces and pushed at a series of wooden timbers leaned against one of the keep’s outer bailey walls. . . .

“But your men, will they not be anxious?”

He laughed and some of the iron left his face.

“Mark knows I take care of myself and he has sense enough to see the men all right. I am sorry to say this, Elfrida, but not even the Denzils turn on guests, not for a fall out over a lone woman, however beautiful she is.” He touched her cheek with his fingertips. “You are a prize, my darling, and Gregory Denzil wants you but he will not fight for you. A mort of treasure, that would be different.”

Denzil is Magnus’ antithesis, a man who has “no compunction in trying to kill Magnus on the hunt, while at the same time fulfilling the idea of chivalry to guests by not seeking to murder Magnus in his home, under his roof. It shows Denzil’s twisted morality and hypocrisy.”

This draft scene hints at something that has happened between Denzil and Magnus, but it’s not a strong scene. It fails to have much impact, in part because personal observations and details, such as Denzil’s morality and hypocrisy, are missing.

Consider this version from the published book.

“Denzil never leaves his own dinner table. If he

sends others, they shall not find me.”

Magnus was still so blistered with rage that she could feel the heat rising off him like steam. As they passed the kitchen block and then the stables, Elfrida wondered where they were going. “What did you say to him? . . . And what happened while you were hunting? What harm did Denzil attempt?” She knew something had gone amiss.

She could sense it, vividly.

Magnus shook his head. “Leave it, Elfrida.

Leave it all.”

It was hard for her to be quiet. “But I have news!” She had so much to share with him, and he was making it impossible.

Perhaps he spotted the sheen of tears in her eyes, for suddenly he stopped and shook his head.

“Ach! I know I am a bear this evening.”

She wanted to deny it, to make him kiss her, but pride made her respond. “Indeed you are.

And when are you going to set me down?”

“Right in here.” He stepped forward a few more paces and pushed at a series of wooden timbers leaned against one of the keep’s outer bailey walls. ...

“But your men, will they not be anxious?”

He laughed and some of the iron left his face.

“Mark knows I take care of myself and he has sense enough to see the men all right. I am sorry to say this, Elfrida, but not even the Denzils turn on guests under their own roof, not for a fallout over a lone woman, however beautiful she is.” He touched her cheek with his fingertips. “You are a prize, my darling, and Gregory Denzil wants you, but he will not fight for you.”

She knew that he was not telling her everything, that the forest hunting had led to some kind of malice, but she sensed she would not get that out of him tonight, if ever. She asked instead after another, more urgent danger. “How can you be sure the Denzils will not betray us? They are not good or decent.”

“They are a dangerous family,” Magnus agreed.

“I cannot promise they will treat us forever as honored guests, but for now I think the pretence of chivalrous behavior holds Denzil back. He wants you certainly, and for a small time I think he will make some show of courtesy.”

He grinned. “A mort of treasure, now, that would be different. For gold he would break all laws of hospitality, even more than for you, my HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Columns | 7

comely little auburn wench.”

In this revision, the contrast between the two Crusaders is more apparent. Readers better grasp that Denzil’s chivalry only goes so far. Another change involves Elfrida’s ability to intuit that something happened. Why did Lindsay make these additions?

When I was re-reading the MS after allowing a “cooling off ” period . . . I realized that I needed to show Elfrida’s insight as a wise-woman.

Accustomed to dealing with others, she can pick up gestures and non-verbal clues. I also wanted to suggest that as a witch she can sense still more, through her magic. Whether she can or not, she and others, including Magnus, believe she does, which shows the beliefs of the time. I thought too that the additional questions would sharpen tension between Elfrida and Magnus, as she realizes something happened on the hunt and Magnus, in typical fashion for his kindly, knightly character, does not want to worry her and wants to deal with it himself. She wants to know more and he doesn’t want to tell her. This makes a tension between them and also moves their relationship forward as Magnus admits a little . . . and Elfrida learns to let some matters lie, a hard task for her as a wise-woman used to sorting things out and taking charge.

and also the elements of fable.” At the same time, she creates characters that come to life because she gives them “real fears and dreads. I make them tired, hungry, lonely, hurting, striving, aching with need. I put them in situations of real heartbreak and danger, where the stakes are high. I write strongly within their viewpoints so the reader can identify with their emotions and their delights and pains. I try to show them as vividly as possible and show my main characters through each other’s eyes, so that my readers can savor the developing relationships and romance.”

The Snow Bride demonstrates how gifted a storyteller Lindsay Townsend is. 2 Her love of words and her ability to create worlds that bring the past to life are helped by the vivid characters that populate her story.

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Notes: 1. For more information on Jeannie Ruesch’s workbook, please visit http://jeannieruesch.com/books/work-in-progressnotebook/.

2. To learn more about Lindsay and her writing, visit her at http://www.lindsaytownsend.co.uk.

I agree with Lindsay’s assessment that The Snow Bride is a blend of historical fiction, historical romance, and historical fantasy. She “strove to root the story in as realistic a historical setting as I could,” she says, “and show the difference between the beliefs of that time and those of our day. For example, the magic Elfrida uses is based on medieval sources and ideas. At the same time, I wanted the story to have elements of romance (via the relationship and the quest of seeking for the missing brides) 8 | Columns |

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The three additional paragraphs “clarify what Elfrida senses and show what she and Magnus have learned of Denzil, especially with regard to Denzil’s love of gold.” All these changes combined show Elfrida and Magnus “striving together, close to quarreling but being able to put their mutual irritation aside for the sake of each other and for their ultimate quest. I consider it important as it shows Elfrida’s insight, reveals Magnus’ steadfast bravery and laconic wit and has them accepting each other’s flaws – Magnus’ sometimes quick temper (‘I know I am a bear this evening’) and Elfrida’s relentless curiosity and wish to be at the heart of things. (It was hard for her to be quiet…).”

CINDY VALLAR is a columnist, freelance editor, historical novelist, and workshop presenter. Dark Oak Press recently released her historical fantasy, “Rumble the Dragon,” in their short story anthology, A Tall Ship, A Star, and Plunder. You can visit her at www.cindyvallar.com.

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fantasy novels with historical settings

of the most rancorous exchanges I’ve had online concern S ome where we draw the line of fantasy in novels with historical settings. I have been told that Christian miracles make the grade because “the life of Christ is proven fact,” but having Greek or Roman gods put in an appearance or answer prayers is fantasy because “we have proven them wrong.”

To declare such a doctrine is to write out of the canon Mary Renault, whom I consider my greatest inspiration. I love how young Alexander sees the god, whose son he believes he is, leaving his mother’s bedchamber in Fire from Heaven (1969).

The sight defines Alexander’s relationship to Philip of Macedon, his “real” father. It defines the course of Alexander’s life, and to me is a much more valid explanation than that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had a hand in this. It beats the heck out of such pious offerings as The Robe (1953) or BenHur (1959) in terms of historical verisimilitude.

Some hold that such visions are okay as long as the reader can see that there was some “real” scientific explanation: Olympias had a lover of impressive stature. Others believe that without using a high democratic, capitalist, or scientific mindset to solve every dilemma and running circles around the ignorant barbarians among whom he is forced to live, the hero cannot be a real hero after all. Often, to my mind, such heroes become very like Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889), and I do call them fantastical.

For me, personally, entering a very different mindset is part of the main reason I read and write historical fiction. An inspirational historical that gives very American evangelical ideas to any time period before Joseph Smith and upstate-New York’s Burned-Over District — and I’ve read some from pre-Christian eras — is pretty much fantasy in my book and does not satisfy.

Time and again, my novels get labeled “fantasy,” sometimes, as in my most recent offering — a trilogy entitled The Valkyrie, with the first volume entitled The Choosers

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Where to Draw the Line? of the Slain (Penumbra, 2014) — with no “historical” attached.

And yet, I researched the dickens out of my subject. When my heroine Brynhilda — yes, that Brynhilda — first sees Odin’s steed Sleipner, she sees the eightlegged creature of myth. That the horse presently divides himself in two so there is a mount for her to ride and join the god in his travels is mere divine sleight of hand. I could not neglect the quote I use at the start of volume one from the twelfthcentury historian Saxo Grammaticus, when he says that women who gave up the usual female pursuits of hearth and home to become Valkyrie did actually exist. Saxo also provided the quote that will head volume three, indicating that Odin was a man who went around the world fooling people into thinking he was a god; Saxo, of course, was a Christian. I do not ignore the archaeology (my major, actually) that tests the DNA of several buried Vikings and discovers no Y-chromosome.

My Joan of Arc Tapestries series (St. Martin’s Press) — where Joan is burned as a witch because she was one — gets labeled fantasy (even heresy by true believers) although I mean to recreate a world in fiction as Carlo Ginzburg’s The Night Battles (Routledge, 1983) and Margaret Murray’s The God of the Witches (Sampson Lowe, 1933) do in nonfiction. On the other hand, nobody’s thought to do the same to my trilogy about early Islam, where the jinn are present and miracles are performed.

Jinn are in the Quran; to not believe in them could be considered un-Islamic, and to not believe in witches (which according to the Old Testament shall not be allowed to live) is to be neither Jew nor Christian, I suppose. Does The Sword and the Well escape from the nomenclature “fantasy” because I self-published these titles and had control of genre identification? Or is it because some readers have a very low opinion of Islam and think its believers must be deluded anyway?

How else is a novelist to deal with historical figures who hear voices, see visions? Our bizarre society likes to

by Ann Chamberlin

How else...

is a novelist to deal with historical figures who hear voices, see visions?

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Souls by D. B. Jackson (Tor, 2014), third in a series. This novel is set in the midst of a historical smallpox epidemic in 1769, in a Boston occupied by British redcoats and struggling under trade embargoes. The true focus of the tale, however, is a plot to rob the graves of the newly dead from the well-known cemeteries where those involved in the Salem witch trials are buried. Against this backdrop plays out a plot that reads like ignis ex cruore evocatum, the high fantasy/LARP (Live action role-play) trope of a battle of the conjurors and who has the most cards up his sleeves. And yet the author has a history degree.

Elisha Barber by E. C. Ambrose (DAW, 2014) evokes London, Jewish men of medicine, and the fourteenth-century arrival of gunpowder weapons to forever alter warfare, but the names of battles, kings, and princes are none that history books recite.

Nothing could be more real than the descriptions of barbering performed by the title character — the sort of barbering that saves lives torn apart on the battlefield and which conflicts with butchering surgeons and Salerno-trained physicians inclined to experiment on fallen cannon fodder. The reality of description bleeds seamlessly over into the magic of magi so that all are vividly believable. I haven’t enjoyed such visceral descriptions of the physical trappings of the late Middle Ages in any “straight historical” in years.

Li Lan, the heroine of Yangsze Choo’s The Ghost Bride (Morrow/Hot Key, 2013), gives us a tour of the Chinese afterlife as she is faced with the prospect of marrying the dead scion of a wealthy family to repair the fortunes of her own clan.

I cannot imagine a better way to capture this practice, which is especially popular among émigré Chinese in Malaya, as here and elsewhere, than to have a sympathetic character do battle with the otherworldly manifestations of the paper-doll servants’ dutiful descendants, who burn to serve their dearly departed.

Pursuing this quest, Li Lan solves the mystery of who murdered her unsavory suitor and forges a brave new life for herself.

Lauren Owen bridges the gap between historical and horror in The Quick (Random House, 2013). The gentlemen’s clubs of Victorian England and Oscar Wilde with his mauve gloves wrangle with creatures polite society will not name. Vivid details fill the pages, from toasting forks and how to properly lay the parlor fire, priest holes and wonderful leather-lined libraries, to blood-hungry street urchins and the efficacy of holy water against the undead.

I hope you’ll take your pick from the eight titles I’ve shared here — including, humbly submitted, my own — for a sense of the spectrum of possibilities that open up once the so-called fantastic is added to the historical.

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consign them to regimens of pills or the sanatorium. Off their meds, these folks shoot up our schools and our cinemas, so they say. I don’t think we have the best grasp of such aspects of the human mind. New historical fantasy titles such as the ones I’ve reviewed below can open so many doors to exploration.

We have that chimera, steampunk, the popularity of which no one who sits in the vantage point of my bookstore at the Arizona Renaissance Festival can deny. Yet Mark Hodder’s The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack (Pyr, 2010), the best of the subgenre I’ve read, is the book I have to credit with my knowledge of the true-life attempt on the young Queen Victoria’s life in 1840.

And what better way to explain that bane of London bobbies on night shift, the Victorian “myth” of Spring-Heeled Jack, than with a good dose of steampunk gears and widgets? I have to delight in the older Majesty on steam life-support, even though I know it’s not “true.”

If you have any interest in turn-of-the-nineteenth-totwentieth-century immigration to New York City from all over the world, you might start with Helene Wecker’s The Golem and the Jinni (Harper/Blue Door, 2014) where, as the title suggests, the supernatural creatures enter the cultural melting pot as well.

The images of streets of Yiddish and homeless newcomers will compare favorably to any other historical novel you may have read, with the added melding of Maronite Christian Arab with Ukrainian Jewish paranormal threats, which can also serve as metaphors for those of us taught to be obedient and ignore our own wishes. Some of the material for this book must come from the experiences of the author’s own family; how more real can you get?

Also based on Jewish tradition but of a much more ancient time comes Maggie Anton’s Enchantress (Plume, 2014), the second of her novels of Rav Hisda’s daughter in the fourth Christian century, at the time of the formation of the Talmud and the struggles of the rabbis to patch together what was salvageable of their faith and practice after the fall of the temple of Jerusalem. What few in recent, more “rational” times accept is just how full of magic and spells the Talmud is, which was perfectly understandable for the time and place. Our heroine consults Chaldeans, others create what must be the precursors of golems and sides of beef for the Sabbath meal.

Anton has written a number of blogs discussing her use of the supernatural and shared her thoughts with me for this article. “In 4th-century Babylonia where ‘magic’ was real,” she writes, “everyone believed that illness was caused by demons or the Evil Eye, and cured/prevented by amulets and incantation bowls. My heroine is one of these healers, her methods would be considered magic today. Yet, all the spells I include are authentic, that is from archaeological evidence and ancient magic manuals.

So is my novel a historical fantasy or not? One person’s miracle is another person’s magic.” (http://readingthepast.blogspot.com) Anton’s more sober attempt to bring ancient spells into reality is in some ways less successful at creating a world the reader gets sucked into than her polar opposite, A Plunder of

ANN CHAMBERLIN is currently chair of the HNS North American Conference. She has published twenty books, including international best-selling historical novels, and her historical plays have been produced from Seattle to New York City.

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two centuries of historical fiction

he sulphurous stench of gun smoke obscures our view of Waterloo, even two hundred years after the battle. In this bicentenary year, the clamour of conflict continues to sometimes deafen us. But that fog of war and the screams of injured outrage are now generally only the result of debate that still ebbs and flows around this turning point in European history.

Was victory at Waterloo (a) won by the brilliance of Wellington and the resolute steadiness of his British infantry; or (b) truly threatened by the alleged cowardice of his Dutch and Belgian contingents; or (c) snatched from the jaws of an ignominious British defeat by the timely arrival of Wellington’s dogged Prussian allies; or (d) simply thrown away, against all the odds, by the French? You’ll find whole battalions of eminent historians, this year, fighting their own battles, for and against each of these viewpoints.

As a result, I struggle to recommend one non-fiction title alone that gives a wholly satisfying background. But my “top three” books on the subject would include Gareth Glover’s Waterloo, Myth and Reality (Pen & Sword, 2014) – a beautifully written volume, albeit approached from a fairly traditional Anglo-centric viewpoint, that’s both readable and entertaining, as well as doing exactly what the title implies. Second, there’s Andrew W. Field’s Waterloo: the French Perspective (Pen & Sword, 2012), which draws on primary sources previously unpublished in English to show the way that this battle looked from “the other side.” And, third, there’s Peter Hofschröer’s 1815: The Waterloo Campaign – The German Victory (Greenhill, 2004), a pretty contentious title but, in practice, this is a fairly balanced book, which at least gives proper credit to the role played by the King’s German Legion, Dutch-Belgian and (particularly) Prussian forces in the campaign.

And it was a campaign, of course, not a single battle. By June 1815, the European powers had been at war for 22 years. Until 1917, this was known as “The Great War.” But the French had been defeated in 1814. Napoleon was forced to abdicate and went into exile on the island of Elba. In March 1815, however,

By June 1815...

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the 200th anniversary of waterloo

he escaped, returned to mainland France, raised a fresh army, and marched north to tackle his two principal enemies – an allied force under the Duke of Wellington, and the Prussians under Field Marshal von Blücher. Between 15th and 17th June, the French fought no less than five battles (at Charleroi, Gilly, Ligny, Quatre Bras and Genappe) before the final confrontation at Waterloo itself on Sunday 18th June.

But how have these events been covered by fiction writers, as opposed to non-fiction historians? And has the medium of historical fiction perhaps given authors a better opportunity to set the battle in a wider context, to deal with background social issues from the period? So here are my short reviews of some Waterloo novels (in chronological order), which were already favourites, or which I’ve read more recently for the purpose of this review piece.

The Charterhouse of Parma | Stendhal (1839) This is the story of young Italian aristocrat, Fabrice del Dongo. I include it here because several chapters follow Fabrice as he tries to join the French army on the Waterloo battlefield. An unusual tale. No real heroes. And much of Fabrice’s time at Waterloo is spent with a hardnosed, nameless cantinière, giving us some unusual political viewpoints – as well as the inspiration for my own recent novel about the battle.

The cantinières were female sutlers (victuallers), three or four serving with every French battalion, and frequently to be seen in the very front lines, serving brandy to the soldiers and sometimes embroiled in the fighting itself. Many of them died brutal battlefield deaths, and it wasn’t unusual for them to keep their children at their side, even at the bloodiest moments.

Remembering the Stendhal novel, and wanting to write my own story of Waterloo – though from an entirely fresh perspective – I decided to tell the tale of cantinières as the core of The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour (Silverwood, 2015).

Astonishing that no fiction authors have told this remarkable story since 1839 – well, at least, not until now!

by David Ebsworth the European powers had been at war for 22 years. Until 1917, this was known as “The Great War.” HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Features | 11

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as Bonaparte makes his way north towards Paris after his escape from Elba. Plenty of twists and turns. Great historical detail.

Once again, most of the Waterloo campaign takes place offstage, but there are some harrowing scenes of the battlefield’s aftermath. From a social context viewpoint, it’s interesting because Nathan is part of a family of international bankers, so we have at least some insight into the forces at work behind the war and the discrimination facing British Jews of the period.

Four Days in June | Iain Gale (2006) Well-written and tells the tale of the campaign’s battles, but with the biggest focus (not unreasonably) on Waterloo. It relates the story from five different senior officer perspectives – William Howe De Lancey and James Macdonnell from the British side; von Zieten from the Prussians; and Ney plus Bonaparte himself for the French. Good battle scenes, considering these lofty viewpoints.

The Fields of Death | Simon Scarrow (2010) The final part of Scarrow’s series about Wellington and Bonaparte, this one picks up their respective stories in 1809 and follows them through to Waterloo and beyond. Written with all the author’s normal attention to detail, it’s a very imaginative recreation of the two commanders’ characters although, for me, they were a bit over-simplified. Good scene-setting though.

Imperial Scandal | Teresa Grant (2012) Lots of characters. Lots of plot twists. But this other tale of espionage set against the background of Waterloo is also wellwritten. I’d never read Teresa Grant before but I’ll definitely look for more. I liked it because it paints the chaos of Brussels so well, as panic fills the streets with news of Napoleon’s march north. There is also an absorbing murder mystery which British spy Malcolm, and wife Suzanne, must attempt to solve. In the final few chapters, Malcolm becomes embroiled in the battle itself, basically acting as a courier for Wellington – and therefore providing a handy point of view from which to detail the conflict.

And Teresa Grant does that very well indeed!

There are plenty more novels that feature Waterloo, of course (even the Susanna Clarke fantasy novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, features the battle) and I’ve not omitted any of them for other reasons than lack of space and the fact that I’ve not read them! But plenty of choice here for anybody who wants to immerse themselves in this year’s commemoration. Massive reenactments at Waterloo itself (19th and 20th June) and even the Duchess of Richmond’s Ball – all likely to be sell-out events!

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For more about the Waterloo commemorative events have a look at www. waterloo2015.org/en

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Vanity Fair | William Makepeace Thackeray (1847) Another satirical novel, a glorious Victorian classic, set against the background of Waterloo – though readers won’t learn much about the battle.

Les Misérables | Victor Hugo (1862) Readers will be familiar with the story of Jean Valjean, Cosette and the others. But it’s maybe less well-known that the author takes a 19-chapter digression in the First Book of Volume Two for a hugely detailed description of Waterloo. Apparently lots of folk “skip” this section. Shame on them! Hugo visited the battlefield in 1861 and wrote the relevant section there. He uses these chapters to introduce key characters and frame the battle as a somewhat pyrrhic victory for the enemies of the French Revolution.

The Adventures of Gerard | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1903) Only a quick mention here, since the book includes a chapter on how the famous Brigadier Gerard acquitted himself at Waterloo.

Not bad.

The Bronze Eagle | Baroness Orczy (1915) Nowhere near as interesting as The Scarlet Pimpernel but it is, at least, set against the background of Waterloo.

An Infamous Army | Georgette Heyer (1937) Another of my favourites. The first half of this well-known novel is a finely crafted Regency romance of the middle classes (Charles Audley and Lady Babs Childe), with some interesting side-plots. But the second half is almost entirely given over to the battle. Heyer recounts the main episodes almost minute-byminute, and brilliantly, with such clarity that it has been used to help train officers at the British Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

Sharpe’s Waterloo | Bernard Cornwell (1990) All fans of the Sharpe series will love this one! The social context, of course, is that Sharpe has risen through the ranks so always brings some straight talking to the officer class within which he now moves. And he brings his prejudices with him too. He has a pretty low opinion of Wellington’s Dutch-Belgian allies and particularly William, Prince of Orange. Sharpe’s point of view about the Dutch-Belgians may be historically unjustified, but it goes with our hero’s character. And, anyway, he has other things to worry about – the machinations of his estranged wife, Jane, and her new lover, Lord John Rossendale.

A Close Run Thing | Allan Mallinson (2000) Follows young Matthew Hervey through Bonaparte’s abdication in 1814, a posting to Ireland and, finally, the Waterloo campaign.

Decent character development, dialogue and attention to detail.

Strong on social context too and particularly the religious convictions and differences of the period that were still such a driver to the international politics of the age as well as one’s place in society.

The Spy’s Reward | Nita Abrams (2006) Wonderful! Fifth in a series of stories, this one about British spy, Nathan Meyer, ostensibly on a mission to escort a young woman and her mother back to England but actually with a clandestine responsibility for observing the movements of Napoleon’s army

DAVID EBSWORTH has published four novels. The first, The Jacobites’ Apprentice, was a Finalist for the HNS 2014 Indie Award. His fourth novel, The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour, was published on 1st January.

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Erika Robuck’s novel of Sophia Hawthorne

E rika Robuck’s The House of Hawthorne is a richly coloured

portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne and his family as seen through the eyes of his wife, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne. Spanning the years from the early 1830s, when the young Sophia spent time in Cuba, to the mid 1860s, and following the family from Massachusetts to England and Italy and back home again, this is a first-person narrative which takes the reader deep into Sophia’s world and character.

A passionate woman, intense in her feelings and prone to soulful and effusive expression, Sophia cannot have been an easy person to fashion or temper for the page. I asked Erika what drew her to her narrator: “Writing the novel from Sophia’s point of view was an immersive experience, and one I had not set out to embody. In the past, I have employed fictional narrators to tell the fascinating historical lives of authors and artists. While researching, I kept my mind open to which fictional character would tell the story of the Hawthornes. After reading many books about the family, I dug into the works and writings of Nathaniel and Sophia directly, and it was in reading Sophia’s 700page Cuba Journal that she asserted herself.

I felt strongly that she wanted to tell their story.

“In all honesty, my initial impressions of Sophia through biographers’ eyes were not entirely favorable.

She was portrayed as somewhat of an invalid of ‘convenience’, and criticized for not speaking out against slavery. Through her journals and letters, however, I drew a different view, and felt I understood her better. I became enamored by her enthusiasm, her stubborn optimism, and her almost childlike view of the world. It was a challenge to write in her voice, and I hope I rose to the occasion.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne remarks in the book, “What could be more fictional than biography?” The House of Hawthorne is a novel based on extensive biographical reading and research, but I wondered to what degree Erika used artistic licence to ‘fictionalise’ fact.

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Lady of the House

“I research heavily with the hopes of presenting as accurate a portrait of my subjects as possible, but I am not a biographer or historian. While they must stick to the ‘facts’, I have the freedom to create conversations and interior reflection they do not. I do believe my research and readings give me insight into the feelings and emotional truths of my subjects.”

Ralph Emerson toasts the house of Hawthorne as “a place warmed by love and the true and perfect union of artists”; Sophia’s artistic gifts – she was a talented painter – were, for the most part, subsumed by family responsibilities and by the moral support she gave her husband, but she seems to have been content in the role of sympathetic non-practising artist.

In the end, Erika tells us, she adopted her husband’s medium and published journals and letters, but this seems to have been an unsatisfactory conclusion to a life of artistic promise. How profoundly did Sophia feel herself unfulfilled in this respect, and what would she have made of this telling of her story?

“Upon Nathaniel’s death, Sophia was in crisis. Aside from her pain over losing her soul mate, one of the challenges she faced was a lack of economic stability. She was persuaded to publish their personal papers for money, and also because she genuinely wanted to share her husband’s private genius with the world. Unfortunately, Sophia so heavily edited and censored their marriage journal, the piece was flat and not well received. It was a blow to her because her conscience was already conflicted over publishing it.

“I do believe Sophia would have enjoyed this telling. She was such a gifted artist and inspiring person that she deserves recognition. I hope that the book does honor to her family, their name, and both to the struggles and triumphs of their marriage and creative lives.”

Erika Robuck is the author of Receive Me Falling, Hemingway’s Girl, Call Me Zelda and Fallen Beauty.

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Karen Howlett writes at www.cornflowerbooks.co.uk

by Karen Howlett

In all honesty... my initial impressions of Sophia through biographers’ eyes were not entirely favorable. She was portrayed as somewhat of an invalid of ‘convenience’, and criticized for not speaking out against slavery.

HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Features | 13

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Ralph Sadleir and Sutton House

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The House that Ralph Built

he house stands set back at an angle from busy Homerton T High Street in Hackney, East London. At first glance, with its

to the house to open up the Georgian panelling to see the arch of a Tudor fireplace, or discover the 16th-century garderobe in gables and elegant sash windows, you might date it to the late the corner of a “Victorian” room. In the room that once opened 17th century, but look closer at the tiny bricks and the faint off Sir Ralph Sadleir’s ground floor Great Hall, you can view remains of decorative black diamond pattern-work, and you the rare linenfold panelling and open up the panels like an realise it is considerably older than that.

Advent calendar to see traces of Ralph’s original colour scheme The name, Sutton House, is erroneous. It was believed, at one in trompe l‘oeil – yellow, green and red – and the remains of vivid time, to have been owned by Sir Thomas decoration in the fireplace surround.

Sutton, who founded Charterhouse Hilary Mantel visited Sutton House School in 1611,1 but the land where the whilst writing Wolf Hall, and described house now stands was in fact owned by her impressions of the house in The one Sir Henry Sadleir – who probably Guardian newspaper. She recalled how had a house here before his son, Ralph, the sight of the “small rosy bricks” from had it pulled down to build the mansion, 1535 in the cellar, one with a trapped known in its day as the Bryk Place, blade of grass, and one with a dog’s paw between 1534 and 1535. print, moved her to “do what a novelist Ralph Sadleir was one of history’s has to do: unfreeze antique feeling”. 4 survivors. Raised in the household of As a final note, in the early 19thThomas Cromwell, he became first century one wing of the house was Cromwell’s Secretary and then worked occupied by a “first class gentleman’s directly in the King’s service.2 boarding school”5 and one of the Hilary Mantel introduces him in Wolf pupils was Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

Hall – “Rafe’s [sic] eyes are blue, his hair Although his schooldays there ended is sandy brown, and you couldn’t take him ignominiously, he went on to become for a Cromwell. But he is still a tribute to Baron Lytton of Knebworth, the author the man who brought him up – dogged, of a great many popular historical novels, sardonic, quick on the uptake.”3 such as The Last Days of Pompeii (1834), Early 16th-century Hackney was a Rienzi (1835), and Harold (1848) – and Chalk, pen, and ink sketch by Hans Holbein the Younger of an country village, a convenient three miles unidentified man, thought to be Ralph Sadleir of course the creator of the immortal from the City of London. A number of opening lines of Paul Clifford (1830): “It wealthy citizens, including Thomas Cromwell himself, also had was a dark and stormy night …”. rural retreats there, and Bryk Place reflected Ralph Sadleir’s Sutton House is now owned by the National Trust and is open position as a man of rising fortune. to the public. Visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-house His star ascended along with his mentor’s and he was knighted in 1540, the same year as Cromwell’s fall from grace Mary Seeley is a member of HNR’s review team and has been a and execution. Sadleir escaped his mentor’s fate and later re- National Trust volunteer at Sutton House for many years. entered royal service under King Henry and King Edward, and then Queen Elizabeth. He moved with his wife, Helen, and Notes: Gray, Mike (1997) Sutton House, Swindon: Acorn Press for the National seven children to a new, grander mansion in Hertfordshire and 1.

Trust, p.15. sold Bryk Place in 1550. Thus began the house’s passage through 2. Ibid., p.7 the hands of various merchants and traders, schoolteachers 3. Mantel, Hilary (2009) Wolf Hall, London: Fourth Estate (Harper Collins, and local worthies, including a number of Huguenot families. p.105 It was modernised and extended and eventually split into two 4. “Author, author: Unfreezing antique feeling”, Guardian, August 15th 2009 properties around 1751 (and reunited in 1895). However, the (www.theguardian.com/books/2009/aug/15/hilary-mantel) building renovations were casual, and this now allows visitors 5. Gray, p. 24

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Renovations...

by Mary Seeley

were casual, and this now allows visitors to the house to open up the Georgian panelling to see the arch of a Tudor fireplace, or discover the 16th-century garderobe in the corner of a “Victorian” room.

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HNR Issue 72, May 2015

an interview with Vanessa Curtis

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The Earth is Singing

As a contemporary YA and children’s book author, Vanessa

Jew, no choice at all. How important is choice in the novel?

Curtis has won the Manchester Children’s Book Award and VC: Very important. Even being able to make small choices been short-listed for the Waterstones Children’s Book prize, but gives Hanna a sense that she still has an identity and might The Earth is Singing is her first historical novel. survive. Of course, some of the choices she makes, along with Set in Riga, the capital of Latvia, the novel opens with the her mother, lead to disaster and tragedy but little choices, such as Nazi invasion in 1941. The heroine, Hanna, age fifteen, is hiding food or selling jewellery, were essential if Jews wanted to Jewish. She is training to be a dancer, but the Nazis have other eat. When her grandmother is gone and her mother ill, Hanna plans for Jews. has to make the sorts of choices normally reserved for adults.

EH: What drew you to this story?

EH: Why does Hanna continue to have faith VC: I’ve always been aware of my Jewish that her father is alive? The readers may guess heritage, but I never knew that my mother’s that he probably isn’t, but, of course, we could family came from Latvia. Although my be wrong. mother’s grandmother had fled to Britain VC: I think that hope of her father’s in 1905, I began thinking about the friends survival is what helps her through traumatic and relatives she left behind her and their situations and enables her to look out for eventual fate during World War Two. her family. It also gives her hope for a better When I researched what had happened life after the war. to the Jews in Riga, I was horrified to learn EH: I really enjoyed The Earth is Singing; that the Nazis had wiped out the entire will there be a sequel? I’m sure that many Jewish population within two weeks in readers will want to know what happened early winter, 1941. The Earth is Singing next. came from that.

VC: I always intended the novel as a EH: This is your first historical novel. How complete thing in itself, which tells one difficult did you find writing about a different story in detail and then provides an ending time, place and mind-set? which readers can interpret in any way they VC: I found it a very enjoyable challenge, like. I don’t think the story would lend itself although it did take a lot of planning and to a sequel, but I have planned another researching. I had lists pinned up over my novel with a storyline which is not entirely desk at all times: place names and street unconnected. It takes place in 1950s names in Riga; a calendar of dates from 1941; recipes for Jewish Munich and tells the story of what happened to the Polish food; dates of key Jewish festivals; and a chronological timeline children who were stolen by the Nazis and passed off as Aryans. of events in Riga between June and December 1941. It was a lot So my research is taking me down some similar avenues. of information to juggle with, but eventually it all fell into place.

EH: I am interested in how you found a voice for Hanna. What The Earth is Singing is published by Usborne, and reviewed in made you choose the first person and the present tense? the Children & Young Adult section of this issue of HNR. For VC: I’m always happier writing in the first person present tense. more details on the author, visit www.curtisliterary.co.uk and It allows an immediacy which works well in novels for young www.usborne.com adults and I’ve used it in all my novels for children. The present tense adds the sense that events are happening just as Hanna witnesses them.

Elizabeth Hawksley has been an avid reader of historical novels EH: There is an interesting paradox. Somehow, Hanna continues since childhood, and joined the HNS on its inception. She has to make choices, however small, in a situation which allows her, as a had twelve historical novels published.

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by Elizabeth Hawksley

When I... researched what had happened to the Jews in Riga, I was horrified to learn that the Nazis had wiped out the entire Jewish population within two weeks in early winter, 1941.

HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Features | 15

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800 years on: King John & the Magna Carta in fiction

Award-winning author Elizabeth Chadwick talks to Charlotte Wightwick about King John and her favourite books about the period …

This summer sees the 800th anniversary of a charter believed to be the cornerstone of freedom in much of the Western world. As such, the reign of King John and the events leading to the Magna Carta have long been of huge interest to academic historians and novelists alike.

John is, of course, one of the great villains of history. Even leaving aside the endless portrayals of him in the Robin Hood legend (who can forget Peter Ustinov’s cowardly lion in Disney’s cartoon?) novels such as Jean Plaidy’s Prince of Darkness (1978) and Graham Shelby’s Wolf at the Door (1975) catalogue a lurid procession of murders, kidnaps, rapes and betrayals. By this reckoning, John is variously weak, lecherous, violent, sadistic and vain, and Magna Carta comes about entirely as a response to his depredations.

For a more complex picture, Elizabeth Chadwick says, “I do love Sharon Kay Penman’s Here Be Dragons (1985) which is about John’s illegitimate daughter and her husband, Llewelyn Fawr of Wales. It paints a sympathetic view of John while not whitewashing him.” Penman shows John as a complex and often vulnerable man whose crimes result from his insecurities, but she also explores the part that the changing political landscape played in the development of the Magna Carta. What makes this novel so strong, though, is how she brings the emotional struggles of her characters to life. John’s daughter, Joanna, battles to reconcile a child’s love for her father with an adult’s understanding of his sins, and a daughter’s loyalty set against that of a wife.

Chadwick’s novels, too, explore themes of competing loves and allegiances. She has written several books covering this period.

Lords of the White Castle (2000) follows Fulke FitzWarin, a rebellious baron and possible inspiration for the Robin Hood legends. The Scarlet Lion (2006) follows the later career of one of John’s supporters at the time of the Charter, the great William Marshal, whilst To Defy a King (2010) follows Marshal’s

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A Pox on the Phony King?

daughter, Mahelt, and her rebellious husband, Hugh Bigod.

“The Magna Carta was sealed during a time of great upheaval,” she says, “and the characters I have written about have had major roles to play during that process. I have tended to see the issues involved in the Magna Carta and the personality of King John through those characters.”

She also points out that “even without the handicap of his personality, [ John] was always going to be up against it, following on as he did from Richard the Lionheart. Everyone has different sides to their characters. I admire John’s indefatigable energy.” However, she goes on to explain that many of his problems, culminating in military defeat at the hands of the French at the Battle of Bouvines, were of his own making. In summary, she says: “My views on John haven’t really changed over time except possibly to take a step towards the harder line. The great William Marshal says on his own deathbed to King John’s young son Henry III, that if the child ever grows up and desires to behave as a certain wicked ancestor has done, then he wishes him an early grave…

Having come to know William Marshal very well in more than ten years of studying him, I trust his opinion.”

This year is seeing a surge of interest in John’s reign, with a wide range of events, exhibitions and lectures taking place, alongside the publication of a number of new books, including Dan Jones much recommended Magna Carta (Head of Zeus, 2014). For anyone interested in biographies of the king, Chadwick has the following advice: “I am looking forward to reading Marc Morris’ new biography of King John (Hutchinson, 2015). W.L. Warren’s biography of him is excellent (1997), and Stephen Church has brought out a new one, too: King John: England, Magna Carta, and the Making of a Tyrant (Macmillan, 2015).”

For more about the commemorations to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, visit www.magnacarta800th.com.

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Charlotte Wightwick is a reviewer for HNS. The ‘beautifully crafted opening’ to Charlotte’s first historical novel, The Lady With an Ermine, won the 2014 Faber Academy’s creative writing competition. She’s currently writing the rest of it.

by Charlotte Wightwick

Even... without the handicap of his personality, John was always going to be up against it, following on as he did from Richard the Lionheart.

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HNR Issue 72, May 2015

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tracing family history reveals a period worth exploring

Sixteenth-century

novels are unfailingly popular, yet the seventeenth has not caught the popular imagination. Certainly the Tudors are larger-than-life, while seventeenth-century rulers possess little glamour, but if you find ordinary people more interesting than royalty, this is a period of unbounded riches.

These centuries are linked – the transition from medieval to modern. Were we to find ourselves in 1490, the world would be a very strange place. In 1710 it would not be so unfamiliar. Attitudes to religion, politics, and society in 1710 would come close to our own, while those of 1490 would feel quite alien.

What factors contributed to these changes? The most important was printing.

Once books were no longer the rich man’s prerogative, a world of ideas was suddenly available to all. Cheaply printed pamphlets circulated new political and social ideas, igniting the desire for a fairer society. The publication of the Bible in the vernacular meant the common people could discover what it really contained, instead of depending on a church hierarchy.

As printing revealed the world of ideas, so improved shipbuilding and navigation revealed the physical world. Ancient belief in a flat earth was debunked. Whole nations and cultures, never before envisaged, were discovered by intrepid explorers. What excitement it must have engendered! The world offered treasures to the imagination – and to commerce! – far beyond the ken of those who had lived a little earlier.

This ferment of new ideas and discoveries bubbled away during the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth it exploded.

In England the century was dominated by Civil War. Suddenly it became possible to kill a king under a quasi-judicial procedure. Possible for an army to make a commoner, Cromwell, “protector”, ruling as an unconstitutional dictator. Possible for people to experiment with new social and religious practices: the Diggers, Levellers, Quakers all came into being at this time.

This period, so rich in exciting events, drew me to explore it through two novels based on fact. This Rough Ocean originated in family history. My husband’s family, land-owning gentry, is

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The 17th Century

well documented. We were interested in John Swynfen and his wife, Anne. John was a Member of Parliament, so one might suppose he was a “Parliamentarian”, a “Roundhead”, an ally of Cromwell, willing killer of the king. Our research revealed that the truth was much more complex. John was a Moderate.

This group was working for a more democratic society, greater powers for Parliament, a constructional monarchy. They wanted to curb the powers of the king, but were totally opposed to killing him.

Although the Moderates’ proposals were passed by Parliament, an army coup seized control, imprisoning forty leading Moderates, including John. It was this period I wanted to write about.

What would it have been like for a man of conscience and strong principles to be imprisoned while the country fell under military dictatorship? A situation still familiar today. At the same time Anne had to take over her husband’s role, running a large estate at a time of lawlessness and dearth.

While researching the seventeenth century I came across the exploitation of the fenlands, first by the aristocracy, then, in mid-century, by new companies of “adventurers” (including Cromwell), who invested in enclosures to seize the lands of the fenlanders, bring in Dutch tenant farmers, and make personal fortunes. The fenlanders fought to save their livelihoods from these greedy capitalists, whose drainage schemes caused terrible damage. Amongst the leading protestors were a number of women, which led to the creation of the central character, Mercy, in my novel, Flood. These were the nameless commoners whose lives were threatened not only by the adventurers, but also by the terrifying witchhunts of the period.

From fenlanders to MPs, these ordinary people of the period – who had much in common with us – saw their lives shattered by the social earthquakes of the period. That is why it is worth exploring the seventeenth century.

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Ann Swinfen is the author of eight historical novels, two of which are set in the 17th century. http://annswinfen.com/

by Ann Swinfen

The world... offered treasures to the imagination – and to commerce! – far beyond the ken of those who had lived a little earlier.

HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Features | 17

Reviews |

online exclusives

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

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Denotes an Editors’ Choice title

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biblical

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ESTHER: Royal Beauty Angela Hunt, Bethany House, 2015, $14.99, pb, 352pp, 9780764216954 The biblical story of Queen Esther and how she and her cousin, Mordecai, saved the Jews from certain death in ancient Persia is beautifully retold in Esther: Royal Beauty, first in the new Dangerous Beauty series by Angela Hunt.

Esther’s birth name was Hadassah. Because her parents were deceased, Hadassah lived with her cousin, Mordecai, who worked at the palace, and his wife, Miriam.

The king had recently dethroned his wife, the cunning Vashti, after she refused to adhere to his summons. Soon after, the palace begins to search for a replacement queen. While on her way to her wedding nuptials, Hadassah is kidnapped and taken to the royal palace, along with other potential virgin brides, though none of them stand a chance against her beauty. To her great surprise, Hadassah, who, by now, has changed her name to Esther, begins to fall in love with the king as well.

Instinctually, she never reveals her Jewish roots or her affiliation with her cousin Mordecai.

After some years, a power-hungry tyrant named Haman begins to unduly influence the king. After Mordecai refuses to bow down to him, Haman convinces the king to issue an edict to kill all of the Jews in the land. Risking her life, Esther approaches the king and convinces him to overturn the edict.

The narrative effectively shifts between Hadassah/Esther and Harbonah, the eunuch closest to the king. Even if you are familiar with the biblical tale and its outcome, you will nonetheless be swept up in this riveting tale. This retelling of the story of Esther is as good as biblical fiction gets.

Esther truly comes alive in these pages. At its heart, this is a love story about Esther and her husband, her family, and her people.

Hilary Daninhirsch 18 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 72, May 2015

ANGELS AT THE GATE T.K. Thorne, Cappuccino Books, 2015, $22.50, hb, 368pp, 9783906196022 Angels at the Gate is a clever retelling of the biblical story leading up to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the families of Abraham and Lot. The book is told through the eyes of Adira, whose father is a nomadic trader who raised her in the guise of a boy so that she could stay by his side traveling and learning the ways of his tribe. When two strangers, brothers who are rumored to be Holy Men, begin traveling with them, Adira struggles with having a young woman’s yearnings while being trapped in a young man’s persona. Fluent in many languages, Adira tutors the two “Angel” brothers in order to earn barter for the ownership of a beloved dog, Nami, who proves to be a lifesaver as the treachery of men and the desert threaten all that she loves.

From the alluring cover of this historical novel to the very last page, as the reader anticipates the biblical climax of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt, the author has us transplanted back into 1748 BCE with all of our senses attuned. I felt Adira’s inner struggle for her identity, the superstitious beliefs of those people that the “Angels” came in contact with, and the historical significance of the geology that made the famed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah important commercial ports of their day. The story is well researched and well-thoughtout, giving the reader an adventure through the unforgiving desert where men and women struggle to survive, hold fast to their religious beliefs, and realize the strength within themselves as they work together.

Beth Turza

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classical

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AMULET: The Caucasus Campaign Fredrik Nath, Fingerpress, 2014, £8.99/$9.99/€9.99, pb, 370pp, 9781908824547 Aulus Veridius Scapula is born into a comfortable life around 100 B.C. as the son of a respected and successful jeweller. There wouldn’t be a story if everything didn’t go horribly wrong, and it does. At 15, Aulus finds himself orphaned, destitute, and forced to live a homeless life as a thief in the streets. His only memento of his past happy life is an emerald amulet that he keeps around his neck. All he understood about it from his father is that it holds an immensely valuable secret.

A not entirely voluntary enlistment in the Ninth Legion gives Aulus a new start, toughens him up, and gives him a new friend in his fellow legionary Junius.

The Ninth Legion is shipped to Sinope in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) in preparation for a campaign against the Armenians. While waiting in Sinope, Aulus and Junius become mixed up with corsairs. After enslavement and shipwreck they meet the beautiful young Queen Hypsicratea, who

is being held in courteous but firm captivity by the Romans.

The starting gun is fired (metaphorically) for the campaign in Armenia. Aulus and Junius must march off with the Ninth Legion. After a great battle, Aulus seems once again to have lost nearly everything, but this is the first volume of a series, and several plot points are legitimately left unresolved, so stay tuned for the next instalment. I certainly will; Amulet: The Caucasus Campaign is a fast-paced and exciting read.

Alan Fisk

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1st century

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DEADLY ELECTION Lindsey Davis, Hodder & Stoughton, 2015, £16.99, hb, 386pp, 9781444794229 / Minotaur, 2015, $25.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250063984 Flavia Albia, originally from Britain, is the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco, a wellknown detective in ancient Rome. When a rotting corpse is discovered in a strongbox, to be auctioned in Rome by the family’s auction house, Flavia Albia considers it her duty to find out who the dead man is. This, together with the fact that elections are to take place for various officials for high office, gives our heroine plenty to do and think about, especially when a second body is later discovered to have been put in the same strongbox. The plot twists and turns, and the search for the identity of the original dead man lead to many family secrets coming out into the open.

Lindsey Davis uses a style of narrative which combines Ancient Rome with modern English and strangely, it works well. She is also adept at slipping in odd little facts, such as the origin of the term ‘candidate’ in elections, which all give added colour to the story. However, I did find the pace rather slow and waited a long time for ‘something to happen’ which would move the story on. I have read several of this author’s original Falco series and enjoyed them, but this one did not enthrall me and would not encourage me to read more in this particular series. Of course, fans of Lindsey Davis are free to disagree.

Marilyn Sherlock THE TOMB: A Novel of Martha Stephanie Landsem, Howard, 2015, $14.99/ C$17.99, pb, 322pp, 9781451689129 The Tomb is a recreation of the story of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, teased from scant details provided by biblical history, and incorporating the traditional stories into a fuller context. The premise hinges on one night, at Mary’s wedding feast, when Martha and Isa, a young man she has loved since childhood but cannot hope to marry, share their passion for each other. Seven years later Martha remains unmarried. She keeps house for Lazarus, along with Penina, a mute servant, and 7-year-old Zakai, who is presumed by the townspeople of Biblical — 1st Century

Bethany to be Penina’s son. But Zakai is Martha’s son, although Isa is unaware of his existence.

Martha is a devout but lonely woman who mourns Isa’s absence, but as time passes, Lazarus feels duty-bound to find her a husband. When Simon, a local Pharisee, presents his suit, Lazarus advises Martha to announce her sin before they marry, sure Simon will forgive her. Simon, however, does not react as Lazarus predicts, and he coerces Martha into an agreement by which she must renounce Jesus and his followers. As Lazarus lies dying she must decide whether to call for Jesus’ help or submit to Simon’s threats.

Landsem tells a dramatic story which reads like a fast-paced family drama, deeply engrossing and vastly detailed. The people – their lives, their beliefs, their laws and customs – are all relayed through strong characterizations so richly drawn that it is possible to intensely dislike some of them for their intolerance and self-satisfaction, whilst believing that they are justified in their actions and beliefs. I found this novel very satisfying, full of inspirational themes but never preachy. I would definitely recommend it.

Fiona Alison THE WOLF AND THE LAMB: A Jerusalem Mystery Frederick Ramsay, Poisoned Pen Press, 2014, $24.95, hb, 298pp, 9781464203268.

Why did Pontius Pilate condemn Jesus Christ to death in the year 30 C.E. in Jerusalem? Frederick Ramsay offers readers a different credible scenario that is fascinating to follow. The story begins with Pilate receiving a message to meet a colleague, Aurelius. He finds that colleague dead in the bowels of the Antonia Fortress, is immediately arrested as the murderer, and commands Gamaliel, the Chief Rabbi of the Sanhedrin, to find the killer.

Pilate will be taken to Rome to be put on trial for his life, obviously losing his political position if he is not cleared of this charge.

The hair-raising, complex mystery that follows involves a doctor, Pilate’s wife, a group of revolutionaries known as the Sicarii, Judas – the man who offered Jesus to Jewish leaders, a slave boy named Marius, Jesus Christ and two Romans who have come to Jerusalem on the Emperor’s orders to condemn Pilate. Gamaliel is an ancient form of the detective Colombo, amusing and intriguing readers with his repetitive but insightful questions and speculations. A terrific historical fiction read!

Viviane Crystal

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PALATINE: The Four Emperors—Book 1 L.J. Trafford, Karnac Books, 2015, £9.99/$16.95, pb, 416pp, 9781782202946 68 A.D. was the Year of the Four Emperors, and this is the first volume of a tetralogy that will follow each of the four emperors in turn.

Palatine tells the story of the downfall of the Emperor Nero, and its immediate aftermath.

At first we are introduced to a large number of characters: Nero himself, his personal secretary Epaphroditus, Epaphroditus’ own secretary the young freedman Philo, the Praetorian Prefect Nymphidius Sabinus, and Nero’s “second Empress”, the flighty and spiteful eunuch Sporus. Other significant characters soon appear, among them Philo’s landlord’s daughter Teretia and the brutal 1st Century — 2nd Century

slave overseer Straton.

The crowd of characters and the complex events of the story are handled so deftly that I was never lost or confused.

Events move out of the control of all those who were trying to manipulate them. Some Palatine characters find love, l. J. trafford although one of them can’t see that he has found it, while others find tragedy, death, or mental breakdown.

Palatine contains plenty of humour as well, often in the form of authorial asides, which doesn’t often work, but in this case it does. There is no shortage of originality, too, including the oddest love triangle that I have ever read.

Eventually, the story focuses in on the freedman Philo. I think that we have not yet been told everything about Philo, so the subsequent volumes promise more interest and entertainment.

Palatine reads like a combination of Flashman and the early Lindsey Davis, and I strongly recommend it. Anyone who doesn’t buy this one should be flung from the Tarpeian Rock.

Alan Fisk THE TONGUES OF MEN OR ANGELS Jonathan Trigell, Corsair, 2015, £16.99, hb, 384pp, 9781849017954 In this story of Jesus and the rise of Christianity, miracles have down-to-earth explanations and the realities of Roman-occupied Judaea are shown in all their brutality. Jesus/Yeshua is seen mainly through the eyes of others, and Paul/Saul is a major player who for his own reasons develops ‘The Way’ into a universal religion. Trigell’s Paul/ Saul is a complex man whose upbringing has given him an unrealistic sense of his own worth. Insulted by his employer, the Jerusalem high priest, and thwarted in his ambitions, he discharges his rage in the persecution of Christians. Then, en route to a mission in Damascus, he has an epileptic episode...

The crucifixion happens in the middle of the novel, and chapters set between thirty-odd years before and fifty years after are scattered with chronological randomness around it. This gradually becomes less confusing, but I’m not persuaded that it improves the story. The characters, however, even lesser ones like ‘Useful’, to whom Paul dictates his letters, and Drusilla, wife of Felix the ex-prefect of Judaea, are brought convincingly to life. And the settings and events are described in such muscular yet sensuous language that you almost feel you’re there.

Sarah Cuthbertson

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2nd century

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TOTAL WAR ROME: Destroy Carthage David Gibbins, Pan, 2014, £7.99, pb, 326pp, 9781447237105 / St. Martin’s Griffin, 2014, $15.99, pb, 352pp, 9781250054852 Carthago delenda est, Carthage must be destroyed. These words resound throughout this

novel of Scipio Aemilianus, adopted grandson of the famous Scipio Africanus and his steadfast protector and friend, Fabius Petronius Secundus, and give them their motivation in life. Through their eyes the reader sees one of the great Roman figures coming to manhood and witnesses his gradual and seeming divinely-inspired rise to power from his first blooding against the Macedonians to the climactic siege and final destruction of Rome’s most hated rival, Carthage.

Inspired by Total War: Rome II, part of the bestselling Total War PC game series, Destroy Carthage is the first in a series of novels from David Gibbins. The author brings the historical and archaeological big guns to bear in this military historical novel, using intriguing historical detail to construct a firmly authentic feel to the novel’s descriptions of cities and battles.

Yet too often Destroy Carthage seems to end up in a historical fiction no man’s land where there is too much explication and too little narrative drive.

Story progress is often forestalled by lengthy and didactic discussions between the characters on tactics or politics, just at the point when the reader is primed for action. While the main two characters of Scipio and Fabius are front and centre, their narrative journey seems to be of less interest to Gibbins than Roman strategy and technology, putting the story at one remove from the reader.

This is a fascinating period of Roman history, and while the author provides some very interesting insights into the Roman character and martial mind he doesn’t put them at the service of the story.

Gordon O’Sullivan

C

LADY OF THE ETERNAL CITY Kate Quinn, Berkley, 2015, $16.00/C$18.00, pb, 528pp, 9780425259634 Kate Quinn’s masterful talents in portraying the ancient world have culminated in this fourth and final installment of the Empress of Rome series – a historical whodunit that reads beautifully as a stand-alone novel, and offers the character depth and literary form to challenge any critic who may claim that substance is lacking in the historical mystery genre.

Sabina, emerging heroine of Quinn’s Empress of the Seven Hills, is now Empress of Rome, and her hands are full with two volatile but brilliant men to control – Vix, her fearless former lover who now heads the Praetorian Guard, and Emperor Hadrian, her mercurial husband who ranges from brilliant visionary to sadistic despot at the careless flick of a hand. And then there is Vix’s adopted son, Antinous – the beautiful boy who is destined to remake the course of the empire (and its ruthless leader) with his gentle nature and compassionate soul.

Through the alternating perspectives of Sabina, Vix, their spirited daughter, and Antinous himself, Kate Quinn brings new depth to the very real centuries-old mystery of Antinous’ drowning in the Nile. Was it an accident? A suicide? A human HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 19

sacrifice? Or something else entirely? More impressively still, Quinn is able to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of telling a thoroughly affecting love story featuring a thoroughly unlikable character. Although history is silent on whether the emperor’s boy favorite felt anything for Hadrian in return, in Quinn’s world he does – and it is a passion so believable, so human, and so compelling that it snatches up every other character in its surge. No reader of this novel will ever see history in any other way again.

Ann Pedtke

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4th century

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TWILIGHT OF EMPIRE: War at the Edge of the World Ian Ross, Head of Zeus, 2015, £12.99, pb, 390pp, 9781784081133 / Overlook, 2015, $26.95, hb, 416pp, 9781468311211 War at the Edge of the World joins the crowded market of Roman military books in Britain, but with a key difference, the time in which it is set.

Constantine is perhaps one of the most significant of all Roman emperors, not least because he was (maybe) the first Christian emperor. However, the story begins in the time of Diocletian’s tetrarchy, also a key period of the later Roman Empire. War at the Edge of the World picks up Constantine’s story from his time as a general in the Roman province of Britainnia, following the career of the no-nonsense centurion, Aurelius Castus. It explores the delicate political situation between Rome and her northern neighbours, taking Castus on a dangerous mission north of ‘the wall’.

The honest, loyal military man simply following orders is a cliché of historical novels, exploited

by Ross in the character of Castus, a hardened centurion. Other complex characters come and go, but his nature stays true throughout, an anchor in an otherwise changing, deceitful world. The battles described are vivid and intense and the story full of twists, making it a good read.

Overall, this is solid military fiction, the like of which fans of Riches and Kane should read. I am looking forward to the next instalment in this new saga!

Chris James

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5th century

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AT THE RUIN OF THE WORLD John Henry Clay, Hodder & Stoughton, 2015, £19.99, hb, 450pp, 9781444761368 At the Ruin of the World is Clay’s second novel on the later Roman Empire, although his first, The Lion and the Lamb, is not part of the same series. This book is set in the context of barbarian incursions across a fragmenting Roman Empire in the 5th century C.E., in particular the Hunnic movements under the notorious Attila. In this tumultuous political time, the story follows the lives of three characters: a noble brother and sister and a boy determined to salvage the reputation of his once equestrian family. To give away more would spoil the plot of the book.

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This novel is very well researched and moves at a fast pace that makes it a real page-turner. Moreover, by following characters living in contrasting circumstances, Clay is able to provide ample perspective and a range of experiences in a period of history sometimes overlooked or glossed over as the end of the western Roman Empire. The best part is the balance between personal and private, war and politics, Roman and barbarian. Perhaps the biggest weakness, on the other hand, is the lack of depth to some characters.

Overall, I would recommend this book to those interested in the later Roman Empire or the general reader looking for an easy but epic read.

Chris James

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6th century

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THE LAST ROMAN: Honour Jack Ludlow, Allison & Busby, 2015, £19.99, hb, 351pp, 9780749014315 The second in the series, this is part of the fictionalised biography of Flavius Belisarius, hero of the Byzantine Empire under the rule of Justinian I. With no holds barred, this follows the campaigns of a young Flavius, who ignores the febrile politics of the rulers, only to serve with honour and honesty in the seemingly endless struggles against the Persians and then the North African Vandals. What Belisarius can’t understand in a world of dishonesty and intrigue is that it is the honest man that isn’t trusted. As the Emperor dies slowly, Petrus involves him in deeper politics, knowing that out of all Belisarius can be trusted to be honest. Justin is proclaimed Emperor, thanks to the machinations of Petrus, and Belisarius is given a free hand in the fight against the Persian Sassanids.

Despite failures – caused by the continuing venal politics of Constantinople – Belisarius continually shows honour and ability. After Justin dies, he appoints Petrus his heir – who becomes Justinian.

His strained friendship with (now) Justinian causes jealousy from the new Emperor’s wife, Theodora, who comes from a modest background.

And Theodora is like her husband; she has the power of life and death!

This novel is a good read! It’s lively and atmospheric and handles the characters – real personalities from history – with subtlety and sympathy. The most important character, Belisarius, is portrayed as an honest man in a dishonest world.

Alan Cassady-Bishop

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11th century

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PEOPLE OF THE SONGTRAIL W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O’Neal Gear, Tor, 2015, $25.99, hb, 352pp, 9780765337252 The People recall with horror the arrival several years ago of the Wobee, the raiders with their large ships who departed having kidnapped several of their youth. Those old wounds are ripped open once again upon seeing those same ships on their shores one morning while out seal hunting. These Wobee – Icelandic Norsemen – have come to settle

and trade. At least, most of them have. Others have come to take Skraeling slaves and claim land for their own, or for still darker reasons.

Worlds collide and unravel as deadly confusion ensues and even deadlier truths are revealed. Can the Spirit Power of the Kutsitualit prevail against the magic of the Norse Seidur seers? The fate of the People and of the throne of England itself – not to mention the lives of all those on these frigid shores – are at stake. Can these two peoples find common ground, if only in the form of a common enemy?

As archeologists, Michael and Kathleen Gear have rare and deep insights into the peoples who inhabited North America prior to contact with Europeans. Capitalizing on recent findings proving Viking landings in modern-day Canada, they present in People of the Songtrail how those first meetings might have played out. The characters are alive and well-written, with several points of view people from both sides of the Atlantic. The authors are able to infuse depth into both cultures. This novel does include a large dose of fantasy (magical swords, channeled lightning, lethal sorcery, etc.).

That, combined with the fact that this isn’t true first contact (that happened several years earlier in this narrative), left me somewhat disappointed.

The ending is abrupt and leaves several threads loose, which is no doubt left for subsequent books to resolve. But the writing and storytelling are wellcrafted.

Justin M. Lindsay

C

ODIN’S CHILD: Book One of the Odd Tangle-Hair Saga Bruce Macbain, Blank Slate Press, 2015, $18.95, pb, 350pp, 9780991305865 Though much has changed in Iceland with the coming of the men who favor the White Christ over the old gods, and though the heralded days of the seaborne Vikings are in their twilight, the ancient custom of the blood feud is alive and well. Odd TangleHair, the youngest son of an ostracized godi, a priest of Odin, finds himself and his family in the thick of one when he and his brother seek vengeance upon a neighbor.

When the bloodshed doesn’t end there, Odd finds himself bereft of family and exiled.

What follows is a saga worthy of the skalds from his homeland. Burdened with shame and guilt, Odd must find a new path for himself, one that takes him into new lands, across seas, and into the heart of wars and courtly intrigues. An unruly crew, inscrutable Lapps, and wicked Finns further complicate his Fate. He’ll need every scrap of his wit, sword skill, and sheer nerve to navigate these uncharted waters.

Macbain has turned from his home stomping grounds of ancient Rome to this first in a new Viking series. His writing is vivid and compelling, and his understanding of Norse and Icelandic culture and history is woven deftly throughout the tale. The cast of characters is well-fleshed out 4th Century — 11th Century

and Odd makes for a wonderful protagonist. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and I eagerly await its sequel. Highly recommended.

Justin M. Lindsay

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12th century

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THE LORD BISHOP’S CLERK Sarah Hawkswood, The Mystery Press/Trafalgar Square, 2014, $14.95/C$17.95/£9.99, pb, 254pp, 9780750958523 On a summer’s day in June 1143, murder makes a visit to the Abbey of Pershore in Worcestershire, England. The abbey rests at the crossroads of a highly trafficked area and often provides overnight lodging for travelers. The first victim is the loathedby-all Eudo, clerk to the Lord Bishop, Henri de Blois, brother of Stephen, King of England.

Sarah Hawkswood brings to life a medieval abbey run by Benedictine monks whose hospitality is well known, as seen by the amount of visitors stopping over on this June night. Amazingly, all of the travelers knew Eudo and had unsettling experiences with him in the past. These grievances set the plot in motion, and it is the last group of visitors for the night, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire and his associates, who must solve the crime. The Sheriff appoints Lord Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll to lead the investigation, and these two men are not the best of friends in good times.

The novel can appear overwhelming with the number of suspects that Bradecote and Catchpoll must interview, but they all have credible motives for wanting Eudo dead. Just when Bradecote and Catchpoll (and the reader) believe they have the right suspect in custody, murder returns for more victims, and the poor brothers of the abbey must leave their farm work for burial detail.

This convincing medieval murder mystery is set during a time of rivalry for the English throne

by William the Conqueror’s grandchildren, and Hawkswood leaves the reader guessing to the wellwritten end.

Sarah Brooks BLOOD OF THE FIFTH KNIGHT E.M. Powell, Thomas & Mercer, 2015, $15.95, pb, 369pp, 9781477827147 In this, the second in a series which began with The Fifth Knight (HNR 65), Theodosia, her now husband, Sir Benedict Palmer and their two small children are living an anonymous life in a small village. The last thing they need is to become involved again with Henry II and the conspiracies which seem to swirl around him.

At the scene of Henry’s penance to the martyr, Becket, they are, once again, dragged into Henry’s net. With Queen Eleanor being exiled to a nunnery, Henry is free to cavort with his favorite mistress, Rosamund Clifford. But Rosamund is in danger from an unknown enemy – and who does Henry trust to ensure that Rosamund is safe other than Sir Benedict?

Benedict is not the only Palmer in the line of fire, though, because, back in the village, Theodosia, alone with the children, is being targeted as a witch.

Unable to get word to Benedict, Theodosia must 12th Century — 14th Century

fight the powers that be who, seek to destroy her, by herself.

Although both Fifth Knight novels are terrific, I think this is Powell’s better outing. There are two powerful storylines highlighting each of her protagonists’ strengths and which intersect with a plot or two from the previous book. Theodosia and Benedict are not merely attractive characters; they are intensely real people. The backdrop – both political and social – in which the two are functioning is true to time and place, and the historical figures are not just stick figures. This is a romp and a fun read.

Ilysa Magnus

C

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13th century

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THE ANCHORESS Robin Cadwallader, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015, $26.00, hb, 320pp, 9780374104252 / Faber & Faber, 2015, £14.99, hb, 320pp, 9780571313327 / HarperCollins Australia, 2015, A$34.99, pb, 320pp, 9780732299217 The medieval anchoress chose to be enclosed within a cell attached to the outer wall of a church. She willingly participated in the enclosure ceremony, which included a ritual burial, often with the anchoress laid on a funeral bier and receiving last rites. The anchoress was now essentially dead to the world.

Finally enclosed within her cell, the entryway is either nailed shut or bricked over, and the anchoress remains there for the rest of her life.

Robin Cadwallader is faithful to the many details of life prescribed for an anchoress, religious minutiae which are fascinating in themselves. What Calwallader brings to this novel is the character of Sarah, the anchoress. Sarah is seventeen when she seeks permission to become the anchoress in the village church of Hartham, although she is in deep mourning for her sister, who died in childbirth, and is running from a possible marriage to the son of Sir Geoffrey Maunsell, a local lord with a questionable character.

In addition to the dynamic Sarah, Cadwallader crafts a community full of unique secondary characters with whom Sarah interacts and in turn learns much about the life of the community around her, making the novel much more the story of a community than that of one isolated woman. Into this are moderately injected the historical themes of church corruption as well as the misogynistic medieval attitudes about sexuality and gender, power and privilege, and learning.

This debut novel is beautifully written with flawless historical accuracy, filled with intensely descriptive imagery of the world that is Sarah’s – both within her cell and inside her head. That cell, however, does not protect Sarah from the church hierarchy or the laws of the land. Highly recommended.

Shannon Gallagher

THE HORSE HEALER: A Novel Gonzalo Giner, Grupo Planeta, 2015, $20.99, pb, 560pp, 9781497697553 Diego’s world is ripped apart when the dreaded Imesebelen, the Muslim world’s most feared warriors, descend upon his village at the border of Castile. By the close of the day, he has lost his father and a sister, and watched as his two other sisters are taken captive and led away to parts unknown. He is left only with this beloved mare, his love of horses, and a burning desire for vengeance and his sisters’ freedom.

What follows is an epic saga set during the Reconquest. Diego’s years-long journey will take him across Spain, and ultimately into the camp of the Caliphate, as he seeks to master the healing arts for horses and somehow track down his sisters.

Along the way he accrues both learning and fame to his name while studying under Muslim, Christian, and Jewish masters. If he could but parley his newfound relationships with the courts of Spain into a bid for his sisters’ freedom – and the freedom to treat his equine charges as he sees fit – then he will not only find the inner peace he struggles for, but also the long-sought peace of the realm.

Giner, a veterinarian himself, combines his knowledge of his profession, with the history of the Reconquest of his native Spain, into a moving narrative. You’ll finish the novel feeling you could survive the wilds of the countryside and open up a veterinary practice of your own. His expertise lends his writing a commanding authenticity.

This is a debut novel and so his earnestness shines through. The pacing can be off at times, with too much weight given to less important moments, and not enough time spent with the key moments of the tale. Nevertheless, this is a powerful and memorable read. Recommended.

Justin M. Lindsay

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14th century

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THE DRAGON OF HANDALE Cassandra Clark, Minotaur, 2015, $26.99, hb, 340pp, 9781250058867 Fifth in the Abbess Hildegard mystery series, this installment sees Hildegard returning to England after a year abroad, with the decision before her to rejoin her order or not. She is sent to Handale Priory in deepest Yorkshire to help clear her mind—fat chance! Murder, superstition, punishingly severe surroundings, and ambiguously “religious” nuns, who run the place with an iron fist, all combine to put Hildegard on edge and wondering just exactly what is going on, that everyone seems intent on keeping her from finding out.

I have not read any earlier books in the series, but that didn’t interfere with following the story line, especially with handy references to past issues that were fairly transparent (e.g., lost lovers, previous political intrigues). Overall, it’s an entertaining read, but I didn’t feel connected to the main characters in a sympathetic way, and this led to a lack of urgency in solving the mystery.

In my opinion, the descriptions of medieval life and customs, especially in regard to the Priory, bordered on clichés, or else were overly gruesome HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 21

depictions of punishment and superstition, and thus fairly unpleasant for this reader.

Mary F. Burns

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15th century

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ROSEBLOOD Paul Doherty, Headline/Trafalgar Square, 2014, $14.95, pb, 341pp, 9780755395989 1455, the seamier side of London: pestilence and threats of war (the uncivil kind) between the Houses of York and Lancaster with the throne of England at stake; thugs (called henchmen) who are ruthless cutthroats, yet charming and entertaining; Frenchmen bent on revenge – all this and more author Paul Doherty hurls at the reader in this most unusual, yet absorbing, retelling of the Wars of the Roses from the point of view of the ordinary man, who may occasionally become lawless.

Amadeus Sevigny, henchman for the Yorkists, is bent on getting rid of his Lancastrian counterpart, Simon Roseblood, owner of an influential London inn called the Roseblood, and an important London alderman. Sevigny holds a bitter grudge against Lancastrians since, as a child, his family was cut down before his eyes, and the Duke of York rescued and educated him. Simon Roseblood is for Lancaster because of family tradition, and having gained wealth and prestige through long association. Simon is able to thwart Sevigny’s plans and, when he would exact return violence towards the Yorkists, they go awry when the French terrorist group Le Corbeil intervenes, leaving dead crows as a calling card amongst the bodies.

Le Corbeil adds an interesting twist to the novel, refreshing the reader’s memories of the horrific English occupation of France during the Hundred Years’ War – which had only recently ended.

In Roseblood the well-known history makers take a back seat to the common men and women of 15th-century London, providing a people’s recollection of the Wars of the Roses. This unique storytelling keeps pace with actual historical events, and the author takes the reader closer to the precipice of the thorny Rose wars. The violence can be very graphic in detail, but readers may not be put off by such descriptive narrative. Roseblood is a well-written historical novel with a fast-paced, action-driven plot. Highly recommended.

Sarah Brooks THE BROTHERHOOD OF BOOK HUNTERS Raphaël Jerusalmy, Europa, 2015, $16.00, pb, 268pp, 9781609452308 Louis XI wants Paris to be the center of the book trade that is emerging after Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. To this end, he enlists Francois Villon to make contact with a secret society of book collectors who preserve Jewish wisdom, Greek learning, and, most especially, the last words of Jesus. Villon travels to Acre and other sites in a land ruled by Mamluks and guarded by Mongol mercenaries. Villon encounters monks, rabbis, Medicis, members of the Columbus family, and the successors of the Essenes. Improbably, he dazzles everybody, including the beauty assigned to spy on him, by reciting his poetry in French, 22 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 72, May 2015

a language few of his listeners understand. The adventures move through Italy before returning to France where the Spider King is uniting his kingdom by outwitting and overpowering his overmighty subjects.

Loving descriptions of medieval manuscripts and incunabula lend color to the novel. The roguepoet Villon is one of the most fascinating figures from the 15th century, but he belongs to Paris and the Court of Miracles with its beggars and thieves.

Taking him out of this environment makes as much sense as if the author had him visit aliens on another planet or time travel to New York.

James Hawking THE LADY OF THE CASTLE Iny Lorentz (trans.

Lee Chadeayne), AmazonCrossing, 2015, $14.95, pb, 480pp, 9781477826720 This is the second installment in the Marie series, written by a husband and wife known by the pen name Iny Lorentz. I had the pleasure of reading the first in the series, The Wandering Harlot. It provides background which, to my mind, readers will need to fully understand the characters, which were so richly developed in the first book, and their motivations and actions.

Marie is a truly wonderful character, the embodiment of a female protagonist. Her character is so well crafted that when finished with the novel readers will feel like they have just visited with a dear friend. Marie drags the reader through bliss, anxiety and admiration for her single-minded belief and goals, even if at times it seems she is living in a fool’s paradise. More than anything, she perseveres through all that life throws at her and survives with her heart and soul intact.

The Lady of the Castle is the story of Marie’s life after her marriage, a life that seemed almost enchanted until her husband did not return from the war with the Hussites and is presumed dead.

Her world is turned upside down, but she knows in her heart he lives – but where and how to find him? Her pursuit takes her on a dangerous journey into the midst of war. It is a captivating tale that will keep readers enthralled to the last. Iny Lorentz uses historical medieval Germany as the setting for the Marie series, and the historical detail is as engaging as its protagonist.

Shannon Gallagher CONSTANTINOPOLIS James D. Shipman, Lake Union, 2015, $14.95, pb, 320pp, 9781477827420 In 1452, in the Ottoman city of Edirne, the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmet confers with his trusted general. Mehmet is yearning to prove himself, for Turks consider him incompetent and too young to rule. Mehmet wishes to capture the jewel metropolis, Constantinople – unconquered for a thousand years. Although most on the Ottoman Council disagree, citing the city’s impregnable defense walls, and Byzantine’s naval superiority – fearing their Greek-fire weaponry – Mehmet devises a plan.

In Constantinople, Emperor Constantine “weeps,” worrying about the safety of his crumbling city. While being comforted by his mistress, a messenger brings news of the Ottomans amassing a large force outside Edirne. In a hastily convened

meeting, Constantine’s advisers present him a baffling set of options: marry a Georgian princess, request assistance from neighbors and his brothers in Morea, unify the Eastern and Western Churches, or flee to Rome. While Constantine contemplates his choices, Mehmet puts in place his strategies, which include a secret weapon for use on the city’s walls.

James Shipman has employed the tools of historical fiction writing admirably in maintaining readers’ interest up to the ending. The novel transports us to mid-15th-century Byzantium, to observe the fall of the eastern Roman Empire, as we move with the characters as they think, speak, love, and fight. Inevitably the book is steeped in historical details, but presented in small measures.

Although in dialogue the use of the “as you know…” syntax is a bit overused, it is enlightening to learn of both the Ottoman and Byzantine viewpoints, and the reasons for Mehmet’s and Constantine’s decisions. The novel would be of much interest to those unfamiliar with that period in history, and the author’s notes in the afterword assist in providing additional information and separating fact from fiction.

Waheed Rabbani

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16th century

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MURDER IN THE QUEEN’S GARDEN Amanda Carmack, Obsidian, 2015, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 283pp, 9780451415134 Murder in the Queen’s Garden is the third book in the Elizabethan Mystery Series by Amanda Carmack. It is 1559, and Elizabeth has been on the throne for six months, enjoying summer parties at Nonsuch Palace, where in 1541 famed astrologer to King Henry, Dr. Timothy Macey, had disappeared.

Astrology and horoscopes are as much the rage as masquerades, pageants, banquets, hunts, and games. When the body of Dr. Macey is discovered and then that of another astrologer, the queen calls on her personal lute player, Kate Haywood, the heroine and sleuth of the series, to “unofficially” investigate. Kate starts to make inquiries only to discover that astrology and horoscopes are lethal and at the root of ambitions, betrayals, and the murders.

Murder in the Queen’s Garden is a cozy Elizabethan mystery. Amanda Carmack paints a very vivid and impressive picture of the time, the places, the people and the conditions. No detail goes unnoticed, which brings the period to colourful life.

Kate is a spunky and headstrong heroine who goes where ladies of the time aren’t supposed to go or see or do. She even has two unofficial suitors, who are trying to become worthy of her, and sometimes take on the role of her bodyguard.

Murder in the Queen’s Garden is a fun read with a solid mystery and a determined and likeable heroine.

Francesca Pelaccia THE TUTOR Andrea Chapin, Riverhead, 2015, $27.95, hb, 355pp, 9781594632549 / Penguin, 2015, £8.99, pb, 368pp, 9780241968161 The discovery of the body of a murdered priest 15th Century — 16th Century

begins the story of Katharine de L’Isle, a childless young widow living with her uncle’s Catholic family during the Elizabethan persecution. A tutor engaged for her cousins’ children begins to flirt with her, even though he is only a glove maker’s son and has a wife and children back in his hometown of Stratford-Upon- Avon. Her initial aversion weakens as the tutor enlists her advice about his poem, about Venus and Adonis, and the sonnet sequence on which he is working. His ability with language and skills he acquired during a period spent in London gradually win her over, especially his dramatic recital of a speech he wrote in the voice of Henry V. She becomes his muse, his critic and his collaborator as well as his lover. Katharine’s love for this poet contains a strong component of physical desire, unusual in an Elizabethan heroine.

The year 1590 unfolds, marked by dates in the Church calendar, as the recusants preserve their religion in a hostile environment, sending some into exile on the continent. Ingenious priest holes help the family survive periodic searches for evidence of their fidelity to the old religion.

The subplots involving Katharine’s uncle’s family clutter the story to some extent, but there are many redeeming features. Strong descriptions of clothing and food add style and flavor. Young Will’s verbal talent is well displayed, but the depiction of his questionable character rescues the book from the all-too-common sin of bardolatry. Recommended.

James Hawking BLOOD DIVIDE John Sadler, Lion Fiction, 2014, $14.99/£7.99, pb, 344pp, 9781782640899 In 1513, the Battle of Flodden Field, one of the bloodiest battles on English soil, was fought between the Scots, led by King James IV, and the English, led by Sir Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey.

The story is told by Sir Thomas, along with Johnny Heron, a swaggering, disreputable man who rides as a scout for the English; Lord Hume, a leader of one of King James’s armies; and finally by Isabella Hoppringle, Abbess of Coldstream, who has been a known spy for the English while living in Scotland.

She serves as a nurse and helps the wounded Scottish soldiers during and after the battle.

Sadler has written a war novel that’s compelling from the opening pages. His research is impeccable: he has traveled the battlefields as a tour guide and is able to convey his expertise in describing the Battle of Flodden Field. He is able to distinguish between the four main characters while writing their stories in the first person. It’s an entertaining read, even with all the blood and gore of medieval battle, which is described in great detail. I highly recommend this novel to English and Scottish history buffs who wish to learn more about this major battle between these two antagonists during the reign of Henry VIII. Jeff Westerhoff LAMENTATION C. J. Sansom, Mulholland, 2015, $27.00, hb, 656pp, 9780316254960 / Mantle, 2014, £20.00, hb, 650pp, 9780230744196 London, 1546. This sixth entry in the Matthew Shardlake series finds Matthew once again ensnared in Henry VIII’s court: a place teeming with danger and intrigue. Henry is dying. His heir, 16th Century — 17th Century

Edward, is a child, and so all the king’s men are locked in a battle for power. No one is safe from religious persecution, no matter which side they claim. Catholic, Protestant—this includes Henry’s sixth wife, Queen Catherine Parr. To Catherine’s horror, her confessional book, “Lamentation of a Sinner,” is missing. This radically Protestant manuscript could destroy her if it finds its way to Henry.

Once again Catherine seeks Matthew’s help.

As in the other books in this outstanding series, Sansom weaves a complex web of murder and double-dealing that looks straight into the heart of Whitehall. When Matthew is afraid—and he is very afraid of Henry VIII—the tension leaps off the page. London comes alive in all its terrible glory.

Figures familiar to readers from earlier books stride through the pages: Cranmer, Wriothesley, the Lady Elizabeth, Thomas Seymour, Barak and his wife, Tamasin. Sansom knows his business and is not afraid to take risks that, in the end, lead readers in surprising and sometimes sobering directions.

Highly recommended.

Alana White THE HERETIC Henry Vyner-Brooks, Lion Fiction, 2015, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 608pp, 9781782640950 Benedictine Brother Pacificus is not who he appears to be, and neither is the mysterious leper, Simon. When a local couple is arrested for treason and heresy, Pacificus and Simon risk everything to take their children to safety, entrusting them to a Dutch eel-catcher and his sister. But in England of 1536 no one is truly safe. As the king dissolves monasteries and takes command of the church, old loyalties fracture and spies are everywhere. No one can be trusted. With revolutionary ideas on the rise, Pacificus must decide whether or not to be the monk he has become, or the knight he was meant to be – or can he be both in the service of the Lord, the woman he loves, and the children he has vowed to protect?

I was immediately drawn in to The Heretic only to have my hopes for a great tale disappointed and then, pages later, revived again. The beginning of the book was uneven, but I couldn’t stop reading.

It’s a book of big ideas, political intrigue, and action; I came to love Brother Pacificus, Simon, the children, and the many other characters, and I have to admit, I shed several tears on their behalf.

Based on historical events, this book has it all, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in such a tumultuous time period.

Kristina Blank Makansi

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17th century

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LOVE’S ALCHEMY: A John Donne Mystery Bryan Crockett, Five Star, 2015, $25.95, hb, 392pp, 9781432830250 It’s fashionable now to take popular writers from the past and turn them into sleuths. I was intrigued by this debut novel that centers on John Donne, the famous English metaphysical poet. Donne? What kind of mystery would he be called upon to solve?

As it turns out, this is no mere whodunit. In 1604, Donne is already married to Anne More

and suffering the poverty and fall from grace that marrying for love was bound to cause. His political career is in ruins, so to survive he needs to find patronage for his poetry. Unfortunately, the patroness he attracts is a beautiful and manipulative woman who tempts him to stray. He has another option, one he literally can’t refuse: to turn spy for King James’ chief counselor, Robert Cecil. Cecil is rabidly anti-Catholic and has heard rumors of a Catholic plot against the government.

Donne, although currently divorced from the Church, has Catholic connections going way back.

If he can convince his family he wants to return to the fold, he should be able to uncover the plot—so believes Cecil.

The mystery is this: is there a plot? Who is behind it? This provides for a tension-filled mission for Donne. But the deeper mystery driving the book is: who is John Donne? As he embarks on the journey, he wrestles with his qualms about betraying those who trust him, his separation from the Church, his love for his wife and his lust for his new patroness. This is a remarkably intense and emotional portrayal of the poet that makes him believably brilliant and flawed. It is a wonderful blending of history and fictionalized biography.

Highly recommended!

Sue Asher

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THE HAMMER OF WITCHES Begoña Echeverria, Center for Basque Studies at Univ. of Nevada - Reno, 2014, $16.95, pb, 338pp, 9781935709534 The Hammer of Witches is the story of two very different but connected characters in a small Basque town during the witch hunt of 1610: Maria, a young girl grieving the death of her mother and struggling to assume the role of woman of the house while secretly learning to read, and Father Salvador Zabaleta, who was once in love with Maria’s mother before becoming a priest, and who is now charged with guarding her safety amid an increasingly suspicious environment. As the hysteria over witches grips the village, both girls fall under the shadow of suspicion by the Inquisition and find their faith tested in very different ways.

This book is a gripping page-turner of horrific historical events. While the beginning and end may seem slow in comparison to the lightning-paced middle, the entire novel is a strong portrayal of a time period in which superstition, and blind faith in the edicts of the Catholic Church, reigned over logic, reason and humanity. This is the first book I’ve ever read that made me feel what it must have been like to be a victim of unfounded suspicion, forced to rely on personal faith, or recant all one holds true. It also shows the other side of the story, what it is like to be faced with judging guilt or innocence when the expectation of superiors and neighbors is clear.

In addition to being a riveting story, this book is important as a cultural resource in that it preserves many of the traditional stories of the Basque HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 23

people about witches. It also serves as a reminder that such blind hatred is possible, even today, if we allow ourselves to be swayed to anger, without deep thought and consideration for the humanity of all involved. Highly recommended.

Nicole Evelina THE CHEAPSIDE CORPSE Susanna Gregory, Sphere, 2015, £19.99/$29.95, hb, 467pp, 9780751552805 London 1665, and the country is in turmoil.

The plague is rife in the city, the Dutch are threatening to invade and the Goldsmiths, acting as bankers – there being no official banks in those days – had suffered serious losses and were charging extortionate amounts of interest when lending money. Corruption was everywhere, and even those suffering from the plague could avoid the 40 days’ quarantine, if they had sufficient money to bribe the ‘searchers’ to say they were only ill from the dropsy or falling sickness, etc. When the body of one of the bankers is discovered in Cheapside and a French spy dies of the plague, having apparently walked unhindered from Long Acre to Cheapside, the Earl of Clarendon orders Thomas Chaloner to investigate. The bodies begin to mount when a local physician, especially popular with the poor, is also murdered.

From the historical notes we learn that, in 1912, archaeologists discovered a cache of fabulous Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery in Cheapside, which was at least 250 years old. No one knows how it got there, but in dating it back to this period Susanna Gregory possibly found her ‘hook’ for her latest Thomas Chaloner mystery. The majority of her characters really existed, and rumours of the Dutch invasion were everywhere. I found it an interesting story with a solid historical base, but I did think the pace was rather slow. I tended to get bogged down in the bankers’ shenanigans.

However, the historical note at the end of the book was a great help. This is the latest in the Thomas Chaloner mysteries, and I have no doubt that we have not seen the last of him.

Marilyn Sherlock TREASON’S DAUGHTER Antonia Senior, Corvus/Trafalgar Square, 2014, $19.95/£12.99, pb, 460pp, 9781782392644 Henrietta Challoner, called Hen, is a highly educated young girl who prefers education over the traditional role for women of her day. Living in London, on the brink of the English Civil Wars, Hen lives a highly privileged life as the pampered only daughter of a successful linen merchant, Richard Challoner, and she adores her two brothers, Ned and Sam. In the beginning, people are drawn into taking sides in the religious and political struggles between King Charles and Parliament. The Challoner family cannot escape being caught up in these events.

Hen, her father and younger brother Sam favor a moderate position, while Ned is a staunch man of independent faith, who believes that the King and his Catholic wife are endangering England.

All too soon the reader is trapped by the complicated history of the English Civil Wars which last nearly 10 years, the time span of the novel. In the beginning, the King and his royal forces are successful. Ned joins the rebels, 24 | Reviews |

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the army of Parliament, to the dismay of the Challoner family, and this is the driving wedge that will separate father from son, and lead Richard Challoner into treasonous dealings to aid the King within London, a Parliament stronghold.

Hen faces challenges, betrayals, and love she never anticipated. Through all the adversity she encounters, Hen never stops supporting her family – both sides. Antonia Senior has crafted a well-written story of a family’s desperation in the midst of a society breaking down from traditional ways. Treason’s Daughter is a masterful retelling of the struggles against King Charles, the divinelyappointed King, and the beginnings of English democracy, and of a family which will never be the same as it once was.

Sarah Brooks

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18th century

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THE CHATEAU ON THE LAKE Charlotte Betts, Piatkus, 2014, £13.99, pb, 385pp, 9780349404486 The date is 1792, and the French Revolution is at its height. Madeleine Moreau has lived a sheltered life teaching at her parents’ Academy for Young Ladies in London. Her father’s family is shrouded in mystery, but she knows he came from near Fontainebleau. Tragedy strikes when her parents die and she makes a decision to travel into France to search for her relatives. When an acquaintance, the Comte Etienne d’Aubrey, offers to accompany her, she eventually takes up temporary residence at his home, Chateau Mirabelle. The chateau is a place with many hidden secrets.

This is a romantic story set against the cruelty of the French Revolution. It is a time when everyone fears for their life. However, the politics of the country are complex, with war having been declared, and the injustice of the tax system. The author manages to show the politics from both sides. It explores the peasants’ desire for equality and their poverty, whilst the nobles wish to keep their beautiful affluent homes that have been in their families for generations.

There are a number of well-drawn and engaging characters: the two love rivals for Madeleine’s affection, one a man of noble blood, the other his friend; Sophie, who is Madeleine’s close friend; and the unpleasant and pompous mayor. At times, the book has a very gentle pace, reflecting Madeleine’s growth of character as her adventure begins, and her contentment in her new life, but it quickens, leading the reader to a clever twist, as she uncovers the secrets of the past and her love for the future. The book is an enjoyable and gripping read, impeccably researched, which presents some interesting insights into this very violent period of history.

Valerie Loh

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THE HIDDEN MAN Robin Blake, Minotaur, 2015, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 384pp, 9781250054944 In 1742, a pawnbroker is found shot to death behind his locked office door. Lawyer/Coroner Titus Cragg believes it to be a suicide after the pawnbroker is suspected of losing the town’s

money—money stored with him for safekeeping—by investing in the risky Guinea Trade. As Cragg investigates, along with his friend, Dr. Fidelis, cruel slave traders, insurance scams and the myth of a lost treasure from the Civil War are revealed. After the insurance broker, who insured the slave ship, is found mutilated and murdered out on the moor, Cragg and Fidelis rush to fit all the clues together.

Blake’s prose is powerful, and the mystery had me hooked. Both Cragg and Fidelis are strong and honorable characters, yet have their flaws to make them human. The mayor of the town, a blustery, angry man, is the perfect and amusing foil for the protagonists. The mystery is solved in a believable way, though one storyline is left dangling. I didn’t want the novel to end and highly recommend this engrossing read set in a not often explored time in history.

Diane Scott Lewis THE MIDWIFE’S REVOLT Jodi Daynard, Lake Union, 2015, $14.95, pb, 426pp, 9781477828007 In the spring of 1775, America finds itself at war with England. Young Jeb and Lizzie Boylston said goodbye to one another after settling into the farm that his uncle, John Quincy, has provided to them. When Jeb is killed in the very first skirmish that his unit fights in this War for Independence, Lizzie is left alone. She establishes herself with the locals by earning a living as a healer and a midwife, taught to her by her now-deceased mother. Lizzie is the voice of this historical novel, recording her depression, fears, hunger, and not knowing who the enemy is. Her dearest friends, Abigail Adams and Mrs. Quincy, install in her home Martha, a young woman to assist with the farm and to apprentice as a midwife. When two suspicious deaths occur and her knowledge of herbs show poison as the cause, Lizzie turns spy and tries to help discover who the enemy is among them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this step back in time, told through a courageous woman of the period.

Through Lizzie’s narration I felt transported to the 18th century, with the authentic home scenes and the politics wonderfully depicted. The characters are well developed and have genuine feelings of concern, suspicion and loyalty for one another.

The principal characters become involved in relationships, while family fences are mended when her sister-in-law, Eliza, moves in to care for her with her impending motherhood, expanding the caring band of sisters. I look forward to the next book, told from Eliza’s point of view, and continuing the story.

Beth Turza PRECIOUS PAWN Mary Martin Devlin, Cuidono, 2014, $16.95/ C$18.95, pb, 387pp, 9780991121519 “Can fortune fail to shine on a face like that?”

In 1743, with visions of her extraordinary beauty 17th Century — 18th Century

dancing in his head, the degenerate compte de Fautrière removes his 14-year-old daughter from a convent and grooms her as mistress to Louis XV, notorious for his “affaires du Coeur.” But the motive is neither altruism nor love. The compte only favors himself and his philandering Parisian lifestyle. Eager to please her indulgent father, young Diane revels in a world of tutors, musicians, brocade gowns, and extravagant wigs. But in an age when fortunes are made and unmade on the basis of rumor alone, the plan goes awry and Diane is banished to the country with an uncouth bourgeois husband.

Based on the unpublished memoirs of an unnamed 18th-century countess, the novel documents Diane’s rise, romances, and inevitable downfall. There is a subplot, starring her spiteful smallpox-scarred sister, which cleverly reflects on Diane’s flawless perfection, and reminds us of the transience of all this indiscriminate decadence.

Beauty, after all, is only skin deep! Moreover, this story tells of the sad fate of women played like pawns in games of power and greed. A compelling and evocative novel, I was hooked, on page 6, by the description of the rakishly flamboyant compte.

Although potentially an explicit book, Devlin doesn’t indulge in graphic sexuality (bar a few lewd scenes). But the descriptive narrative is gorgeous and I recommend you bask for a while in the elegance (and naughtiness) of the age.

Fiona Alison ANNA’S CROSSING Suzanne Woods Fisher, Revell, 2015, $15.99/ C$19.99, pb, 336pp, 9780800723194 Anna König is a reluctant passenger on the Charming Nancy, the historic ship that brought the first group of Amish to America in 1737.

While Anna would prefer to stay in her German hometown of Ixheim, she is the only Amish passenger who speaks English and is thus necessary as a translator between her people and the Englishspeaking captain and crew. During the long, difficult passage, Anna struggles with her growing attraction to Bairn, the ship’s carpenter, who is critical of the “Peculiars” (the outsiders’ name for the Amish). Anna and her people must rely on their faith as they suffer from water shortages, find a dangerous weakness in the ship’s structure, and even help a pregnant woman give birth.

The setting is detailed and vivid, especially the ship’s lower deck where the Amish are forced to endure overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. I was fascinated to learn about this crucial time in Amish history: the first wave of Amish immigrated to America in the 18th century largely because of religious persecution. Distinctions between the Amish and Mennonite passengers were illuminating, as were the sailing superstitions and rituals that Fisher overlays with biblical symbolism.

The point of view alternates among Anna, Bairn, and Felix, a young Amish boy. Anna and Bairn’s conversations are spirited and engaging, but most of the supporting characters are disappointing stereotypes, from the charming young troublemaker, to the thwarted sexual predator with the requisite yellow teeth and rancid breath. I was also jarred out of the story a few times by anachronistic language: for example, the word “pants” instead of trousers, and slang expressions 18th Century — 19th Century

such as “hang around.”

Overall, Anna’s Crossing is a sweet inspirational romance that will no doubt please fans of this prolific author.

Clarissa Harwood THE FIGARO MURDERS Laura Lebow, Minotaur, 2015, $24.99/C$28.99, hb, 336pp, 9781466856196 Lorenzo Da Ponte, court librettist in 1786 Vienna, is in trouble: not only hasn’t he finished his libretto for Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro, which is scheduled to open in a few weeks, but he finds himself the prime suspect in a murder case.

On an errand for his barber, Lorenzo visits the barber’s fiancée, a maid in the household of a baron, where he gets into an argument with a young man who is the baron’s page. When the boy is found dead a few hours later, the Minister of Police asks Lorenzo to go undercover in the baron’s household, posing as poetry tutor to the baroness, to find the murderer, or face charges of murder himself. At the same time, Lorenzo searches for the barber’s birth mother. The dead boy, it seems, had known who she was, but never had time to reveal the secret.

This debut novel is first in an intriguing new series, vividly conveying the flavor of 18th century Vienna. Readers familiar with The Marriage of Figaro will recognize parallels between characters and situations in this novel and Mozart’s opera, which adds enjoyment, but The Figaro Murders is highly recommended to any mystery fan.

Vicki Kondelik MISTRESS FIREBRAND Donna Thorland, NAL, 2015, $15.00/C$17.00, pb, 416pp, 9780451471017 Jennifer Leighton is a playwright and a loyalist.

In 1775 Manhattan, both her gender and her politics are against her. Theaters, especially those staging pro-British satires, are at the mercy of the Rebel mobs, and, to be taken seriously as a female writer, Jenny’s best hope is to obtain passage to London. When British general – and playwright – John Burgoyne’s ship unexpectedly docks in New York’s harbor, Jenny sees a chance to advance her fortunes – but she reckons without the British intelligence officer, tasked with Burgoyne’s protection, half-Mohawk Severin Devere.

Thorland returns to her Turncoat form in this lively novel, which combines a sweet-yet-sexy romance with a tale of intrigue, uncertain loyalties and poignant loss. The issue of Devere’s Mohawk blood is worked nicely into the plot, which brings in many real characters and incidents of the nascent American Revolution alongside some intriguing fictional ones, in particular Jenny’s aunt Frances.

Thorland’s three Renegades of the American Revolution novels are loosely linked, with some characters making appearances in more than one novel, but each can be read as a standalone. There is an interesting balance in the novels between romance tropes and historical detail; they could attract readers of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series who are fascinated by the Revolutionary story lines and want more of this setting.

Jane Steen

9780800721985 Mobile, Alabama, 1776. Young Creole beauty Lyse Lanier meets handsome, foppish, Rafe Gonzalez. Rafe is Spanish, at a time when Spain’s political position in the American colonies is unclear. Lyse and her family are culturally French, but Alabama is under British control. Lyse’s relatives include those who are partly African and those who are partly Native American. Some are slave and some are free. These diverse elements combine to form a story filled with suspense and danger.

This is an inspirational book, and both Rafe and Lyse turn to their religion as perils loom. The pair grows and matures throughout the story, discovering where their true loyalties lie, and that freedom – whether a country’s or a person’s – is priceless.

There is a trite opening scene, but the book soon builds to a fast pace and a thick plot. It sheds light on a part of the American Revolution that is usually eclipsed by events in the northeastern states. Depictions of Creole, Spanish, and slave culture are fascinating in this stand-alone, second book in the Gulf Coast Chronicles.

Elizabeth Knowles BURKE AND THE BEDOUIN Tom Williams, Accent, 2014, £9.99, pb, 248pp, 9781783756438 Tom Williams’ first novel about real-life Napoleonic-era spy, James Burke, was based on the factual record of his exploits in South America (His Majesty’s Confidential Agent, HNR 70 online).

This lively follow-up, set in 1798, is in the realms of the “what if ”, as Lieutenant James Burke and his trusted sidekick, Private William Brown, are sent to Egypt to investigate rumours that Napoleon is planning an invasion. Unable to forestall the French landings, Burke takes to the desert, in alliance with the Bedouin tribesmen, to do all he can to hinder the French operations, whilst trying to get word to Nelson’s Mediterranean fleet, and pausing only to liberate the beautiful Spaniard, Bernadita, who has been enslaved by a dastardly Turk.

This is very much a “Boys’ Own” adventure (but also very suitable for ladies who like a little derring-do!) and is at its best in the vivid action sequences and set pieces, such as the Battle of the Pyramids and the climactic Battle of the Nile.

Burke is a ruthless operator and some scenes make uncomfortable reading, although, of course, our hero’s actions can be justified as those of a soldier and a spy. As in the previous book, he and Brown are the strongest characters but Bernadita (in spite of the emphasis on her physical attributes) is not quite the archetypal “damsel in distress”, giving Burke some useful advice on fatwas!

My only real gripe is that the book suffered from niggling small editorial and typographical errors throughout. I was mystified by the Wolonial Office on page 2, and very tempted by the felucca that was later “under sale” instead of “sail”!

Mary Seeley

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THE CREOLE PRINCESS Beth White, Revell, 2015, $14.99, pb, 352pp, HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 25

THE DREAM LOVER Elizabeth Berg, Random House, 2015, $28.00/ C$34.00, hb, 368pp, 9780812993158 Noted author Elizabeth Berg has turned her hand to historical fiction and provided eager readers with biography, history, and romance all in one book in her take on the life of George Sand. Told in first person from Sand’s perspective, chapters follow multiple timelines, from her birth in Paris in 1804, to her death in 1876.

Born Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, her father a nobleman, her mother a courtesan, Aurore grew up in the midst of discord. Her paternal grandmother was at odds with her mother, and the bright, but emotionally insecure Aurore became well-versed in the art of manipulation to gain attention, and, she hoped, unconditional love. When her marriage didn’t provide love, she maneuvered out of it, moving from her estate in Nohant, France, to live in Paris with her lover, among the intellectual and artistic elite. These connections fueled her fledgling attempts at writing, as well as other forms of self-expression, and she was soon seen attending plays dressed in men’s clothing (those seats were cheaper), and becoming known among the literati as George Sand.

Berg’s details of Sand’s hardships, both fiscal and emotional, as well as her great successes, bring the reader into the salons and theaters of the time.

We meet Sand’s many lovers and friends, from Franz Liszt, to Marie Dorval, to Eugene Delacroix, to Gustave Flaubert and Frederic Chopin. Every detail, sartorial to architectural, rings true, as do the emotional highs and lows of each character. In Berg’s hands, Sand lives again, playing the piano to inspire Chopin, writing through the night with pages of prose flying off the table, loving deeply, and wanting to be loved in return.

Helene Williams TOO DANGEROUS FOR A LADY Jo Beverley, Signet, 2015, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 432pp, 9780451471985 It is 1817. Lady Hermione Merryhew endures her bleak life with memories of a certain lieutenant’s almost-kiss at her coming-out ball, although he shipped out the next day and never reappeared.

Now impoverished and widowed by the bounder she’d married, Hermione is traveling, in hopes of an advance on money, promised by her elderly great-uncle. When a stranger breaks into her room, she recognizes him as her lieutenant, despite his shabbiness.

Mark Louis Thayne leads a double life. He holds the title of Viscount Faringay, but his life’s work is spying for His Majesty George III and rooting out members of the Crimson Band, violent revolutionaries bent on destroying the English aristocracy and redistributing their wealth.

Hermione becomes deeply involved with the Band to save Mark, and now only he can protect her. Will they survive the violence of the Band?

Will Hermione receive help from her uncle? Will love prevail?

In this 15th novel in her Company of Rogues series, and her 39th book, Jo Beverley’s characterization, plotting skill and research shines in a very entertaining story. And it is not every day a reviewer discovers an unknown ancestor 26 | Reviews |

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(Utopian crusader Thomas Spence) in the midst of a romance novel.

Monica E. Spence THE GUINEA BOAT Alaric Bond, Old Salt Press, 2015, $15.50, pb, 272pp, 9780994115294 This fluently written adventure tells the story of two friends, young fishermen whose lives move in opposite directions after an encounter with a naval press gang, a Revenue cutter and a gang of smugglers. Set on England’s southeast coast at the start of the Napoleonic Wars, The Guinea Boat contains a wealth of fascinating information about the seagoing – and smuggling – life, worked seamlessly into the story. Love, family and loyalty are pitted against the need to survive in a world where smuggling is a way of life and is often carried on alongside honest trade. The French coast is close enough that smugglers and fishermen are recruited as spies, further adding to the complex web of relationships, which Bond highlights with some intriguing plot twists.

There are enough plot elements in this novel that it could easily have been stretched into further books; unfortunately, the author chose to wrap up the story with a summary, an unsatisfying close to an exciting tale. Nevertheless, The Guinea Boat should appeal to both general readers interested in the Napoleonic Wars era and those with a taste for richly detailed seagoing yarns. Recommended.

Jane Steen A JUNE OF ORDINARY MURDERS Conor Brady, Minotaur, 2015, $25.99, hb, 400pp, 9781250057563 It is 1897. Victoria is celebrating her 60th year as monarch, Ireland is sweltering under record heat, and among the scores of weather-related deaths are three seemingly unsolvable murders. Yet Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) officials focus more on presenting a good front during Victoria’s son’s ceremonial visit than in doing the real work required to bring the killers to justice.

Into the fray steps Detective Sergeant Joe Swallow, a 20-year DMP veteran, who has seen his share of failures and successes. His career as a doctor went down the drain in drink, so, with his best friend, the medical examiner, they piece together the scant clues with both science and guile to solve the murders – and foil a plot on the prince’s life in the bargain.

This procedural displays Dublin – with its grand castle and its grimier underbelly – as anything but “ordinary.” Debut novelist Brady simply can’t avoid his journalistic background as he details routes of travel and local color to the smallest detail, to the detriment of the plot. As a result, the action is sparse (just seven of the 380 pages), and Swallow reminds me of another Sergeant Joe (Friday, of Dragnet and “Just the facts” fame).

Tom Vallar THE RIGHTEOUS REVENGE OF LUCY MOON Bill Brooks, Five Star, 2015, $25.95, hb, 272pp, 9781432830090 While on her honeymoon, Lucy Moon receives word that her mother has been shot dead, gunned down right out of her saddle. With her husband

in tow, Lucy races back to the lawless, dusty plains of the Pistol Barrel of Oklahoma. But she finds that discovering who killed her mother is next to impossible in the raucous town full of gamblers, gunfighters, prostitutes, and men hiding from the law. Complicating matters is a redheaded Indian named Red Dog, who catches Lucy’s eye, and the arrival of her rebellious, good-for-nothing brother JR. The Righteous Revenge of Lucy Moon is an unsparing, violent, bloody, and sex-laden rampage through the lawless Midwest. Brooks’ prose is tight, sparse and gritty, like the windswept plains the story is set upon. While the characters felt thin, there was enough meat on the bones to not distract from the overall plot that Brooks keeps moving at a brisk pace. If you are a fan of Westerns you will want to pick this book up.

Bryan Dumas THE DUKE’S DISASTER Grace Burrowes, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2015, $7.99/£5.99, pb, 416pp, 9781492605300 More than most Regency authors, Burrowes probes the darkness behind the glittering façade of wealth and privilege among the aristocracy. The Captive Hearts series focuses on the after-effects of war upon returning soldiers, and this particular romance upon rape, and the vulnerable situation of dependent women, even well-born ones.

Despite his confession, when he proposes that he is “not a nice man,” Noah, the Duke of Anselm, is actually surprisingly considerate and very fond of the females in his family, even his cat. Thea’s problem is less his daunting practicality and disconcerting habits, than that she is no longer a virgin, as the duke discovers on their wedding night. He, however, responds better than she expected and, with patience and understanding, eventually they achieve the happy marriage both deserve. The gradual revelation of her innocence, and the progression from wary companionship to true love, is handled adroitly.

Burrowes has a fine control of subtle irony, and the interaction between two attractive characters is lively and enjoyable. Apart from an unfortunate lapse into melodrama at the climax, the romance is skillfully structured and elegantly written.

Definitely recommended.

Ray Thompson

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MIST OF MIDNIGHT Sandra Byrd, Howard, 2015, $14.99, pb, 374pp, 9781476717869 Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionary parents slain in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, returns to England to reclaim her family heritage after having spent most of her life in India. To her dismay she finds her place has been usurped by another young woman claiming to be Miss Ravenshaw, who had recently died mysteriously. The ownership was then transferred to a distant relation, Captain Luke Whitfield, who surprisingly invites Rebecca 19th Century

to stay while the matter is settled.

Unfortunately for Rebecca, she has scant evidence of her identity, other than relating the past and speaking of her family. She’d lost everything in the Mutiny, and has been so long away from England that she remembers very little, and none remember the four-year-old child she’d been.

While inquiries are sent to India by her father’s solicitor, she installs herself in Headbourne Manor, with a suspicious staff, meeting equally skeptical neighbors and enduring Captain Whitfield’s subtle questioning.

Whitfield, however, is the epitome of a gentleman: always solicitous and kind, wellmannered and with seemingly faultless behavior.

Rebecca feels he shows her especial favor, and she quickly falls under his spell, though soon enough she hears the rumors and innuendos concerning his involvement with the imposter, and his attachment to Headbourne.

This lightly gothic novel, reminiscent of Victoria Holt, includes an intriguing mystery that is so ingeniously planned that, upon finishing, readers will spend time flipping back to see how the clues were laid. The atmosphere of the setting will delight gothic romance audiences, while the inclusion of relatable scripture, gleaned from the protagonist’s missionary roots, will satisfy inspirational readers.

Richly detailed descriptions of life in Britishoccupied India cement this historical account, though perhaps take second place to the author’s immensely engaging characters.

Arleigh Johnson

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BEYOND ALL DREAMS Elizabeth Camden, Bethany House, 2015, $14.99, pb, 362pp, 9780764211751 An inaccuracy in the historical record compels librarian Anna O’Brien to question the navy’s investigation into the loss of her father’s ship. That jeopardizes not only her job, but those of the other female librarians, since no one made their temporary hiring at the Library of Congress permanent.

Determined to learn the truth, she seeks help from a handsome, yet arrogant, congressman.

After a failed attempt to prove congressional corruption, Luke Callahan needs another crusade to pursue and the quiet, sharp-witted librarian intrigues him enough to help her. But the deeper they delve, the more dangerous the truth becomes – not only for themselves, but also the nation.

This inspirational romance opens in late 1897, when relations between the United States, Spain, and Cuba are tenuous. From the Capitol to the Library of Congress, Anna’s passion for her work shines through, transporting the reader into her world. Washington, DC, societal constraints, and ingenious inventions (think typewriter or flashlight) spring to life before the reader’s eyes.

Camden tackles alcoholism and abuse with realism, while demonstrating how having faith, stepping outside of comfort zones, and trusting in others can overcome adversity to realize dreams. Highly 19th Century

recommended.

Cindy Vallar

HUNTING SEASON Andrea Camilleri, Mantle, 2014, £16.99, hb, 185pp, 9781447265917 On 1 January 1880, a stranger steps from the ferry onto the harbour in the small Sicilian town of Vigata. The locals are curious and inquisitive. It is Fofo, son of a famous local farmer who was killed, returned after many years to open a pharmacy, which proves so popular he is soon accepted as a person of stature.

At the palazzo, the family of the local marquis, Don Filippo, is cursed by tragedy: first his father and then his son die, and his poor wife is driven mad. The marquis seeks solace in the arms of a farmer’s wife, leaving his poor, beautiful daughter, ‘Ntonto, to mourn alone.

Fofo, with his medical repute, is drawn into the family as adviser and friend, but can he offer any solutions to the family’s misfortunes, or will death return to haunt the nobility of Vigata once more?

Andrea Camilleri, best known for his Inspector Montalbano novels, has written a whimsical little tale of tragi-comedy and small-town Sicilian life.

The historical setting is largely incidental as it could easily be transposed to any period, but the story is enjoyable enough with sufficient laughs and mystery to bustle the reader along.

Tim Smith DECORUM Kaaren Christopherson, Kensington, 2015, $15.00, pb, 512pp, 9781617735219 Decorum is a story of manners set in Gilded Age New York, where money and society meant everything. Francesca Lund is an orphaned heiress bent on living life to suit herself. Yet the ways of society are still playing in her mind as she embarks on the appropriate path for a young woman of the period. But has she chosen the right man? And what will society say when her unsuitable desires become known?

At first glance, Decorum could be considered dull. The beginning is slow, as the cast of characters unfolds with excruciating detail. They all have pasts, and each one slowly divulges the truth as the plot continues. Despite the pace, the novel is remarkable in its similarities to the work of Edith Wharton. The reader feels drawn into a world of glamour, glitz, and supreme hypocrisy. Everything is permissible as long as one does not get caught. It is a drama of manners and the stakes are high – one misstep could mean social oblivion. The person who feels this most keenly is Connor O’Casey. An Irish immigrant and self-made man, he storms into New York determined to make his mark. Yet he never forgets the importance of making friends in society, and tries, with some difficulty, to reign in his saltof-the-earth personality. He and Francesca notice each other from the start, for he is charismatic and she is beautiful but out of reach. Francesca shows excellent character development as she learns to open her eyes to the real world, and stand on her own two feet despite the consequences.

This novel will appeal to a wide range of readers, particularly those who enjoy period novels such as Age of Innocence and The Portrait of a Lady.

Caroline Wilson

SAY YES TO THE MARQUESS Tessa Dare, Avon, 2014, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 432pp, 9780062240194 Rafe Brandon, Britain’s four-time heavyweight champion, is determined that his older brother, Piers, the Marquess of Granville, will marry Miss Clio Whitmore even if he has to plan the wedding himself. Which is exactly what Rafe proceeds to do… with hilarious consequences. Piers and Clio have been engaged for eight years. Although everyone assumes that Clio is excited by the prospect of marriage to one of Britain’s foremost peers, in reality Clio is attracted to the misfit younger brother, who would rather be beaten bloody in a fight than dress in a tailcoat and step into a ballroom.

Set sometime during the early years of the 19th century, this romp has little need of specificity of time or place. Dare’s writing is fluid and enjoyable, but it is her characters that steal the show. Clio is a delightful heroine with a sense of humor as luscious as her curves; Rafe is appropriately bemused by Clio’s shenanigans; and the supporting dramatis personae are diverse and interesting people who provide many laugh-out-loud moments. This is the first book written by Dare that I have read, but it certainly won’t be the last.

Nancy J. Attwell THE DEVILS THAT HAVE COME TO STAY Pamela Difrancesco, Medallion, 2015, $14.95, pb, 212pp, 9781605425811 It’s 1848 and gold fever isn’t the only pestilence racking California’s Sierra. Hillsides are ravaged for gleaming metal. Waters bubble with slime and bloating fish bellies. Children sicken, men prey on the weak, and only the most callous thrive. Tending bar in a shantytown is easier than mining, but the barkeep is struggling without his beloved wife Joanna. Months ago she took the stage home to tend her dying mother, but the old woman’s passing is slow and tortured.

An Indian, disfigured by illness, comes in for whiskey, and feathers lie scattered below his stool when he leaves. Soon the bartender sees the Indian strewing gold like seeds; returning that which was stolen from the earth. When the ground swallows the nuggets, the bartender wonders if the world has become one with the ether. Nevertheless, when the Indian says he is walking to Sutter’s Mill, near Joanna’s home, the bartender goes with him.

Pamela Difrancesco’s The Devils That Have Come to Stay explores the nature of greed and brutality. Its witness is never named, leaving this reader feeling slightly unmoored. It’s appropriate, for the bartender can never trust what his eyes show him. Difrancesco’s acid Western is an intriguing combination of Jack London and Stephen King. It raises more questions than it answers, but it will keep you reading.

Jo Ann Butler

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SANCTUARY Robert Edric, Doubleday, 2014, £17.99, hb, 304pp, 9780857522870 There have been plenty of fictional treatments of the Brontë family. This one takes a different perspective in being a first-person narrative by the three sisters’ brother, Branwell Brontë.

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Branwell’s eccentric behaviour and unusual beliefs give his account a starkly unconventional approach. It is 1848 and Branwell has returned to live at the Haworth parsonage with his father, the rector and his sisters. Branwell’s dissolute past is behind him – his unsuitable romantic attachment to a married woman, and his job working on the railways from which he was dismissed following allegations of accounting irregularities – but he finds it challenging to be back in the domestic environment, where the organised Charlotte in particular upbraids him constantly for his sins. He continues to suffer from his epileptic seizures and is protected by his kindly father, who is anxious about his daughters’ growing literary reputation, following the publication of their slim volume of poems and then their fiction.

Branwell feels he constantly has to apologise to his sisters, father and friends for his behaviour and the hurtful and undiplomatic things he says.

He almost has to say sorry for just being alive. But he would be a significant challenge to live with – mentally unstable, often drunk, living off his family despite being in his early 30s, and with no prospect of a career. He observes the changing landscapes around Haworth, as growing industrialisation and the change to land use continue the transformation of the landscape.

Branwell’s narrative is wonderfully well written; to superbly understand and express his confusion, unhappiness and desperation is a major literary achievement, together with the account of life at the parsonage amongst this talented literary family.

This is an engaging and moving novel.

Douglas Kemp THE LONG HIGH NOON Loren D. Estleman, Forge, 2015, $24.99/C$28.99, hb, 272pp, 9780765334558 Randy Locke and Frank Farmer have had a longstanding feud ever since they worked together back in 1868. Now, a few years later, they are traveling the West, looking for work and for each other, to finish the gunfight. Enter Abraham Cripplehorn, aka Jack Dodger, who is a writer of western lore and sees a promising exhibition that could earn him a lot of money. Trouble is that the western states don’t approve of gladiatorial contests where one of the contestants could wind up dead. So he entices these two cowboys separately to face each other for money, whereby the winner takes home the prize, the loser is of course dead – the problem is to find a place where the combatants can draw on each other in front of paying spectators without going to jail.

A prolific western and adventure author, Estleman has added another entertaining story to his list. He shows his knowledge of Western lore in his writing, while providing the reader with drama and action throughout his tale. This story has interesting characters that are well formed and credible for the time period. Tension builds until the final pages when the two gunfighters meet for 28 | Reviews |

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the last time. Who will survive to live another day?

Recommended reading for Western history buffs.

Jeff Westerhoff

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FLOOD OF FIRE Amitav Ghosh, John Murray, 2015, £20, hb, 614pp, 9780719569005 / Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2015, $27.00, hb, 624pp, 9780374174248 The adjective which springs most readily to mind on reading this book is ‘vast’ – or perhaps I should spell it V - A - S - T. It is not just long (the third in a trilogy of equally long books) but its sweep is immense, taking in first all of India, then the Indian Ocean and then China. There are scores of characters, princes and peasants, sepoys and nabobs, Indians and Asians, several interweaving plots, violent battles, erotic encounters, storms at sea, everything. The comparison with War and Peace is inescapable. If nobody has yet called Ghosh the Tolstoy of India, I am happy to be the first.

The saga begins in India in the 1830s and culminates in China in the First Opium War (1840-41). This is not the India of the British Raj but John Company’s India, the strange world of a subcontinent ruled by a private trading company. It helps to have read the earlier books in the trilogy, Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke, but if you can find time for only one, I am sure you will enjoy this.

Edward James PARIS RED Maureen Gibbon, Norton, 2015, $24.95/C$27.95, hb, 224pp, 9780393244465 On a Paris day in 1862, two teenaged girls stand before a window, drawing—and attract the attention of a man who transforms their work with a few marks on the page. This encounter with the painter Edouard Manet will change their lives and produce one of his most famous paintings: Olympia, a portrait that shocked the art world with its depiction of Victorine Meurent, the protagonist of Paris Red. Gibbon’s book paints a colorful portrait of Paris’s Belle Époque, rich in description and sensual detail, and introduces us to some of the great artists of the day including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Her writing is lovely, as full of color and vibrancy as the era’s greatest works, and the sex scenes between Victorine and Edouard positively sizzle.

Unlike the artist, however, Gibbon doesn’t quite do justice to Meurent. Rather than present us with a blossoming young art student and musician coming into her power as Paris’s most popular model, Gibbon gives us a simple tale of a poor, somewhat naïve foundry worker driven by sex and art—in that order. In fact, Victorine seems to think of little else but sex. The book’s only dramatic tension arises when Manet goes away on family business, leaving Victorine to fret over how she will pay her rent.

Paris Red’s characterizations lack complexity or depth, and its most compelling story, of Victorine’s ambivalent attraction to a close woman friend,

never fully develops. Still, the book offers an entertaining and erotic read about a fascinating woman unfamiliar to most. At its best, it should stimulate the reader’s interest in learning more about Victorine Meurent, whose work was more popular than Manet’s during their lifetime and whose life, ultimately, proved far more interesting.

Sherry Jones A MINOR INCONVENIENCE Sarah Granger, Samhain, 2014, $14.00, pb, 230pp, 9781619223080 This is a Regency with a twist: a male/male romance. Captain Hugh Fanshawe was severely wounded in the leg at Salamanca, and is now gracing an office at Horse Guards, dejected by the pity he receives from both family and strangers when he attends ton parties. But handsome officer Theo Lindsay, previously glimpsed at a ball and a molly shop, comes to his office and warns Hugh and his office mate Courtenay about a suspected spy. Theo apparently shares Hugh’s attraction and invites him to dinner, ending the evening in bed.

But later, Hugh begins to doubt Theo’s interest in a cripple, and wonders why Theo would bother to put himself out helping Hugh’s sister out of a social faux pas. Then Hugh learns Theo has been imprisoned for being the suspected spy. Can Hugh convince his superiors that Theo is innocent? And will their intimate relationship be revealed in the process?

Judging by the dedication, I got the impression that Granger is a fan of Georgette Heyer’s work.

This novel is successful in creating a Regency atmosphere. Granger mostly keeps to period language, but a few slips peek through, such as the modern phrase “good luck with that.” I liked the realistic touches such as Hugh’s worry that Theo’s servants might talk about their affair. The bedroom scenes are on the inexplicit side. There really isn’t much suspense over the spy plot, but the male romance is agreeable.

B.J. Sedlock THE HARVEST MAN Alex Grecian, Putnam, 2015, $26.95/C$31.00, hb, 400pp, 9780399166440 In the spring of 1890, Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad is still on the trail of Jack the Ripper, although Jack has not committed a murder recently. Now a new serial killer, nicknamed the Harvest Man, has been gruesomely killing families in their homes. Detective Inspector Walter Day, suffering from an injury after having been tortured

by Jack, as described in an earlier book, takes part in the investigation. He is assisted by Nevil Hammersmith, a former detective also injured by Jack, and Dr. Kingsley, accompanied by his assistant Henry, a giant of a man who’s a bit slow in mental ability. Even though he’s assigned to a new case, Day continues to determine Jack’s location, looking below London’s streets, before the Karstphanomen, a secret society of vigilantes, find him.

This novel is the fourth in the Murder Squad series. Because its story is a continuation, I wish I had been able to read the other novels first; however, this novel can be read as a stand-alone because of the introduction of a new nemesis. There is plenty of back story available to explain how Jack was able to elude the police and torture the main characters, 19th Century

plus explain why Hammersmith was dismissed from the police force.

The action is fast-paced and gripping; a real page-turner. The author provides an absorbing blend of 19th-century history and mystery. Grecian certainly knows London, its many streets and buildings, and as a result adds realism to the story.

I found the story entertaining and a must-read for mystery aficionados.

Jeff Westerhoff

fiction debut with an interesting multicultural element.

Bethany Latham

CATCH A FALLING HEIRESS Laura Lee Guhrke, Avon, 2015, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 370pp, 9780062334657 Linnet Holland, an American heiress living in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1889, is so determined to thwart her mother’s plans to marry her to a British peer that she flouts convention and arranges an unchaperoned meeting with an American suitor.

When a fortune-hunting earl, Jack Featherstone, interrupts and ruins a perfectly good proposal, Linnet is furious. With her reputation in shreds, Linnet travels to England and hires a marriage broker to arrange a competition for her hand, before rumors of her disgrace reach London.

Although Lord Featherstone insists that he be one of the candidates, Linnet vows she will never marry him.

The basic romantic conundrum of this book is intriguing, but the story is burdened by its connections to the previous titles in the “An American Heiress in London” series. The reasons for Jack’s ruination of Linnet, the secrets he keeps from her, and the names of his friends mentioned repeatedly, all limit the development of the hero and heroine’s personalities and weaken the impact of what could have been a top-notch story. Although not as captivating as the author’s previous works, Catch a Falling Heiress is still an entertaining Victorian-era romance that I warmly recommend.

Nancy J. Attwell

THE CONNICLE CURSE Gregory Harris, Kensington, 2015, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 325pp, 9780758292711 In the late 19th century, Mrs. Connicle asks Private Detective Colin Pendragon and his partner Ethan Pruitt to investigate the murder of her husband at the Connicle Estate. She is distraught, and they later learn she has a history of mental instability. Scotland Yard, under Senior Inspector Emmitt Varcoe, is already on the case. The inspector has had an extreme dislike of Pendragon and initially refuses to cooperate with him, leaving him to ask for help from his father, Sir Atherton Rentcliff Pendragon. Upon receiving a permit allowing them to assist Scotland Yard, the murder soon turns into a missing person case. Soon two more bodies are found near the estate: the first is the black landscaper, and then a neighbor of the Connicles. The investigation soon leads Pendragon into a potential voodoo-related killing with a possible serial killer on the loose.

In this latest in the Colin Pendragon series, the author has developed interesting but unusual main characters – both Pendragon and his assistant are gay men living in Victorian England. Of course they have to keep their relationship secret from the public, but it does add to an interesting character study. I found the book an interesting blend of mystery and English history, as the cost of living a wealthy lifestyle in 19th-century England can have its downside. The action is solidly paced throughout, providing for an exciting and satisfying climax.

This is a fine mystery series, and I definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy a good mystery.

Jeff Westerhoff

THE DEVIL’S MAKING Seán Haldane, Minotaur, 2015, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 368pp, 9781250069405 / Stone Flower Press, 2013, £11.99, pb, 368pp, 9780991907304 It’s 1869, and Victoria, Canada is a diverse place. Europeans, Americans, Indians, and Chinese all inhabit the rough-and-tumble colony. Oxfordeducated Chad Hobbes, fresh off the boat from England, takes a turn as policeman, the only job he can find. When a shady American alienist’s mutilated corpse is discovered in the woods and an Indian arrested for the crime, Hobbes doubts his guilt and embarks on an investigation.

This is a classic police procedural with an unusual setting. The melting pot that is Victoria, along with the uncertainty of British-U.S. relations, provides an interesting backdrop. The plotting isn’t exactly speedy, but this doesn’t detract from enjoyment of the story, and there are suspects aplenty. Hobbes is a bit over-concerned with sex, a believable characterization for an inexperienced twenty-something, and his struggle with the world opened to him by Darwin’s theories is an engaging one. The novel’s one misstep is regular transcription of Chinook (a pidgin trade language) dialogue, an unnecessary annoyance to the reader, which is then translated into English in parentheses. Otherwise, this Arthur Ellis Award-winner is a strong crime

THE ABDUCTION OF SMITH AND SMITH Rashad Harrison, Atria, 2015, $25.00, hb, 352pp, 9781451625783 Although the novel started out with an uneasy beginning, the author was able to hold my attention as I read the entire book in one day. The setting of the American Civil War’s aftermath is a popular one for readers, yet this story brings us to a harsh reality of how the war’s effect caused ripples for years to come. Wholly intriguing characters in a unique setting set this novel apart as the author writes with no holds barred. Though it comes off as crude when we are dealing with sailors and ruffians who kidnap innocents to force them to work on ships, and run- ins with the mobster-like villains who hold the cards of the day, the entire package presented by author Rashad Harrison is a wellthought-out, suspenseful masterpiece of a story.

There are many moving parts, from the fractured relationships of slaves and masters, to brothersin-arms and women who seek restoration after so many hardships, which will captivate the reader as things slowly begin to connect to each other.

These many twists and turns intermix to create a powerful story as Jupiter Smith, a freed slave, seeks his wife after seven long years. During his search he encounters people from his past, and

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battles the harsh reality of his life after freedom has been granted through the war. Through one of those twists of fate, Jupiter finds himself kidnapped along with his former master’s son, Archer Smith, and they are both forced to rely on each other, begrudgingly, for mere survival’s sake, during the dangerous voyage. Several characters are featured in the novel, around which the author creates short chapters and scenes, and there are even a few sketches interspersed throughout.

The short chapters make it a quick read, but the story itself is a vivid tale that is unforgettable and creative as it brings us from the underbelly of San Francisco to Shanghai and all the way to Liberia.

A wonderfully crafted surprise that I would not hesitate to recommend.

Marie Burton ALLINGHAM John C. Horst, Five Star, 2015, $25.95, hb, 238pp, 9781432829605 In the 1880s, the Arizona Territory consists of many small ranches and a few large ranches owned by men who had settled the land years earlier.

Millionaire Patrick O’Higgins, who lives back east and owns one of the largest ranches in the territory, hires Stosh Gorski, a Pinkerton man, to investigate several killings and cattle thefts near his ranch in the Pleasant Valley area.

A few years earlier, former lawman Clarence Allingham had witnessed the death of his wife after giving birth to their daughter. Distraught, he turned the raising of his child over to friends, moved away, and has lived in seclusion, now raising peaches for a living. He befriends a Basque family raising sheep and soon becomes immersed in the range war. Gorski, his old friend, tries to convince Allingham to join him in trying to stop the killings and cattle rustlings.

The author balances several major characters carefully, adding depth and life to each one.

Allingham and his behavior after his wife’s death are understandable, and therefore he becomes a sympathetic main character. The plot is fastpaced. The mystery of who is causing the trouble is not hard to determine early in the novel, but the book remains an entertaining read. Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff THE WINTER FAMILY Clifford Jackman, Doubleday, 2015, $25.95, hb, 352pp, 9780385539487 August Winter is the leader of a hardened band of killers, men he picked up during his service in the Union army and his banditry afterwards.

Among them are psychopaths, rapists, an ex-slave, and a tortured Indian. These men terrorize the countryside and urban streets, from Sherman’s March to the Sea, to the brutal streets of Chicago, to the deserts of Arizona and Mexico. Spanning three decades, their story is one of tremendous violence, immorality, and carnage.

Jackman’s writing is mesmerizing, and very well done. He sets you deep in the world of the 1860s through the 1880s – the American West as it was opening up to modernity with the advance of steam engines, railroads, and brutal politics. It isn’t the rosy picture so often depicted in Hollywood, at least from yesteryear. Rather, this is the story of the HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 29

American West from the perspective of the killers and criminals that were so often at the forefront of civilization’s advance.

To call this novel a dark and gritty Western would be a tremendous understatement. We spend its entirety with the worst of men, and Jackman seems to revel in their cruelty and evil. There’s no redemption, little in the way of justice, and nothing good to hold on to. There’s no silver lining, no ray of hope. Just despair and evil. Though I admire Jackman’s storytelling, I couldn’t stomach the graphic violence and seemingly endless wanton brutality.

Justin M. Lindsay FOUR NIGHTS WITH THE DUKE Eloisa James, Avon, 2015, $7.99, pb, 371pp, 9780062223913 When Mia blackmails Vander, Duke of Pindar, into marrying her, she intends the arrangement to be temporary, but since he has no intention of letting this unaccountably intriguing woman escape, he imposes conditions of his own: he will only spend four nights a year in her bed, and then only if she begs. As one character remarks about Twelfth Night, “The whole premise… is absurd.

Shakespeare created an improbability and hung the whole story on it.” That does not stop their difficult path to happiness being entertaining, however.

Two features distinguish this Regency romance: the heroine’s courage and independence, despite her insecurities, and the way James plays with the conventions of romance fiction. Mia secretly is the highly successful author of several gothic romances, and this provides ample opportunity for self-deprecating humor and different levels of irony: like Mia, James has another identity (Shakespeare professor), and they both have to satisfy the expectations of their readers. Mia insists her novels “have nothing to do with real life,” but the scene where she reveals she is a novelist is inspired comedy. Highly recommended.

Ray Thompson IF THE VISCOUNT FALLS Sabrina Jeffries, Pocket, 2015, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 374pp, 9781476786049 In 1817, disinherited Dominick Manton deliberately betrays his fiancée, Jane Vernon, so that she will jilt him and avoid a life of poverty.

By 1829, Dom’s brother is dead and he’s the heir presumptive to the Viscountcy. Jane’s cousin Nancy, the Viscount’s widow, has disappeared, and because Dom has been associated with a detective agency, Jane seeks his help. Yet if Nancy is found and she has a male child, Dom will be disinherited once more. Will Jane be able to stand his domineering ways, and can Dom control his hidden passion for Jane long enough to find Nancy and learn his own fate?

The couple’s previous history provides a good reason to keep them apart for much of the story. But for my taste, there was too much of the MacGuffin plot of looking for Jane, and not enough romance.

There’s nice imagery, like Jane as “a Hussar bent on battle,” but other passages were overwrought.

At the supreme moment of a bedroom scene, a character’s experience is compared to “a carriage thundering towards the heavens,” and on another occasion, “vaulting into the sun.” Read the rest of 30 | Reviews |

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The Duke’s Men series first to get the full story arc.

B.J. Sedlock LOVE’S RESCUE (Keys of Promise #1) Christine Johnson, Revell, 2015, $14.99, pb, 352pp, 9780800723507 In 1850, deeply mourning her mother, Elizabeth returns home to run her father’s household. She oversees the house slaves whilst fending off an overbearing aunt, an intransigent father and a resentful brother. She yearns for Rourke O’Malley, but her father claims the master of a wrecker sloop will never be a candidate for marriage. He presents alternative suitors to her, all of whom Elizabeth shuns, but Rourke believes his recent salvage will finally be the windfall he needs to ask for Elizabeth’s hand.

In a happily-ever-after romance, the crucial question becomes how skillfully the author weaves her story, such that we can ignore minor contrivance and happy coincidence. I wasn’t particularly convinced by the prologue (braving hurricane-force-winds wearing six petticoats and a bustle sounded unlikely), but this is a romance and people do strange things for love. Johnson’s writing is beautifully evocative of Key West’s land and seascapes and the salty sea mist and oleander blossoms felt tantalizingly close. A fast, entertaining read, chock-a-block with absorbing twists and turns and conspiracies. Plus an ocean backdrop! What’s not to like? A true romantic’s romance!

Fiona Alison DOCTOR DEATH: A Madeleine Karno Mystery Lene Kaaberbøl, Atria, 2015, $25.00/C$29.99, hb, 304pp, 9781476731384 In fin-de-siècle Varbourg, France, they call Madeleine Karno’s father “Doctor Death.” Dr. Karno is a practicing physician who espouses the relatively new concepts of antiseptics and disease spread through bacteria; through his friendship with the Commissioner des Morts, he’s also the city’s primary pathologist, providing Madeleine a window into that world. When a young girl is found dead with no visible signs of trauma or illness, the family forbids an autopsy. Soon the priest conducting her funeral becomes ill, is subsequently murdered, and his body stolen.

This mystery is well-written, and its atmosphere is handled competently, as is its pacing. Madeleine will be a familiar type of character – a female longing to pursue so much more than a life of stifling domesticity, one of intellectual curiosity and science. The mystery itself has a strong beginning, but eventually devolves into something darkly sexual, improbable and, frankly, none-too-sensical. Still, this mystery is well worth reading for the characterization and pacing; perhaps the mystery element will be better developed in the next offering.

Bethany Latham

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THE REBELLION OF MISS LUCY ANN LOBDELL William Klaber, St. Martin’s, 2015, $25.99/ C$29.99, hb, 288pp, 9781250061874 In 1855, women had few choices in American society: they could be wives and mothers, lonely spinsters, or whores. Few women dared to deviate

from the rigid gender roles of the time, and stories of those who did never fail to capture our imaginations. This is the story of one such woman. Lucy Lobdell always knew she was different, preferring buckskins and rifles to petticoats and kitchenware. Tired of being treated like an aberration and longing to be more than a glorified servant, one day Lucy chopped off her hair, bound her breasts, and ran away to live as a man named Joseph. For decades she moved from town to town, building one new life after another, rebuilding herself over and over again, until what began as a quest for a better living became something much greater – one individual’s quest for self-definition, or rather, the quest for a life free from definitions, a life where you can be who you want to be and be loved exactly as you are.

This wonderful debut novel tells a story that’s both heartbreaking and inspiring, written with skill, obvious passion, and above all deep respect.

It is a personal story that will resonate with readers of all genders, identities, orientations, and backgrounds. See the feature article on the HNS website for more on this excellent novel. This book is highly recommended.

Heather Domin THE SECRET OF PEMBROOKE PARK Julie Klassen, Bethany House, 2015, $14.99, pb, 461pp, 9780764210716 Abigail Foster’s family has fallen on hard times financially, finding themselves needing to leave their fashionable London home and move to a less expensive country place. When a mysterious offer to stay at the once-abandoned Pembrooke Park arrives, they decide that Abigail and her father will go ahead and move while her mother and beautiful younger sister finish the season in London. From her first days at Pembrooke, however, Abigail finds the place shrouded in mystery and sadness, filled with the ghosts of a former owner killed by his brother, and the rumors of a missing treasure.

Abigail isn’t sure what is true and what isn’t, but she does know she has found new friends in the local curate and his family, but even they seem to know more than they share. Attracted to curate William Carpenter, but torn by feelings for her boyhood friend Gilbert, Abigail begins to feel as though she’ll never find true happiness, even as she becomes further embroiled in the mysteries of Pembrooke Park.

Klassen has hit a home run with this Regency story, channeling Austen with her atmospheric language and settings. Abigail is easily identifiable as the heroine who undervalues herself, conflicted by her feelings in both love and trust. The mysteries are not particularly deep but still intriguing, and the romance is both sweet and frustrating (in just the right amounts). There is a Christian element, but it is woven well into the storyline overall and is not overly prevalent. Thoroughly fun.

Tamela McCann 19th Century

ON CIMARRON Paul Joseph Lederer, Five Star, 2015, $25.95, hb, 370pp, 9781432829889 Kansas, 1860, is the setting for this saga of two families – one white and one Kiowa Indian.

The Cimarron serves as a physical boundary and a cultural divide between the families, but there are strong parallels drawn and similar losses are suffered on both sides. While the white settlers and the Kiowa keep to their own sides of the river, an uneasy peace holds between them. But this is shattered by the ambitions of the Fort Captain, who, hungry for promotion, engineers a bloody massacre of the tribe. This is a fast-paced novel about prejudice, betrayal, revenge and forgiveness, propelled primarily by the dialogue, the moral and ethical dilemmas posed, and the action/reaction scenarios, most of which convincingly leave the reader unsure who is to blame for what. Lederer devotes little time to long narrative passages and shares minimal background, but there is a fundamental presence to his style which succeeds in conveying fascinating detail. Caught between various factions, the two mothers develop an unconventional friendship, and it is their stoicism and bravery, in the face of great loss, which allows the reader to experience a broader perspective.

Fiona Alison

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A SLANT OF LIGHT Jeffrey Lent, Bloomsbury, 2015, $27.00/C$32.00, hb, 368pp, 9781620404966 In western New York State, after the Civil War, veteran Malcolm Hopeton returns home to find that his wife and hired hand, Amos Wheeler, are having an affair.

Angry, Malcolm kills Wheeler, accidentally killing his wife at the same time. Distraught, he runs away but is soon captured and locked in jail. A neighbor, August Swartout, also a farmer, hires Harlan Davis, another hired hand who had been working for Hopeton when the killings took place. Harlan joins his sister Becca, who has been cooking and cleaning for August. Both are young and treated by August like his grown children.

These characters are faced with finding their own strength in the aftermath of the double murder.

Malcolm realizes he must hang for his actions, while August and Harlan feel they must come to Malcolm’s aid but are not sure how to accomplish his release. Many within the community follow the teachings of the “Public Friend” who had settled in the area some years ago, but some want Malcolm dead.

This is a literary masterpiece. The period detail, characterizations, and drama kept me interested in the story to the last page. The author does a masterful job describing the locale, with the language he uses involving all five senses. This is a well-researched novel of life in western New York, boldly evoking the social customs and history, as well as a study of the major characters as they search for personal redemption. An excellent 19th Century

literary novel that I highly recommend.

Jeff Westerhoff SECOND STREET STATION: A Molly Handley Mystery Lawrence H. Levy, Broadway, 2015, $14.00, pb, 368pp, 9780553418927 At twelve years of age, Mary Handley discovers the strangled body of a Frenchman on a Long Island to New York passenger train. “She had never seen a dead body before… yet Mary behaved as if this experience were a common occurrence… she had no fear, no emotion, just a desire to find out what had transpired.” Immediately she connects the murder with a man she thinks of as Bowler Hat, who she’s seen exiting the victim’s compartment.

But, of course the adults don’t believe her.

Jump ahead twelve years, and a still-fearless Molly Handley is once again involved with crime, having, for political reasons, been hired by the police to help find the murderer of a prominent Brooklynite, Charles Goodrich. Solving the case turns out to involve surprisingly nefarious historical figures such as Thomas Edison, J.P. Morgan, George Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla, but also the murderous Bowler Hat of Mary’s childhood.

I fully expected to enjoy this novel much more than I ended up being able to. The premise is so promising – the first female detective in Brooklyn.

But I found that it read more like a treatment for a screenplay than like a fully developed novel. So very many characters were involved that, of necessity, most were shallow, and even the major characters lacked the emotional complexity that would allow the reader to identify closely with any of them.

Joanne Dobson NEVER JUDGE A LADY BY HER COVER Sarah MacLean, Avon, 2014, $7.99, pb, 454pp, 9780062068514 1823. Ruined Lady Georgina, daughter and sister to dukes, has escaped her old life and transformed herself into Anna, a mysterious courtesan, who runs London’s most legendary gaming hell and who answers to no one. For years her alternate identity and secret life as Chase, manipulator of London’s underworld, is known only to her fellow Fallen Angels. News magnet Duncan West wants to discover Anna’s secrets.

Rich, brilliant and driven, West uses his skills as an investigative newsman to ferret out her secrets – some of which he never anticipated. But he also discovers he is falling for the mysterious beauty with a double life. Will Georgina/Anna/Chase give up all she has worked so hard for in order to rediscover her heart? Will her secrets and fears drive West away? Or can they find true happiness in each other’s arms? I enjoyed Never Judge a Lady

By Her Cover, despite the somewhat implausible plot of the double – no, triple – identities of the heroine. The story involved me from the first page to the Happily Ever After at the close of the story.

A fun read.

Monica E. Spence SHADOW OF THE HANGMAN Edward Marston, Allison & Busby, 2015, £19.99/$29.95, hb, 384pp, 9780749016814 London, 1815. The Napoleonic wars are over but Britain, although victorious, is reeling from

civil unrest. The Home Secretary, Lord Sidmouth, has much on his plate, including rioting American POWs in Dartmoor Prison, two of whom have escaped. To cap it all, the Home Office nightcleaning lady, Anne Horner, has disappeared.

Her job may be deemed insignificant but, as Lord Sidmouth swiftly realizes, it is essential. He offers a reward for her safe return and he instructs Peter Skillen to find her. Twins Peter and Paul Skillen are private detectives, known to be good at their job. Peter is quieter and more responsible, whilst Paul drinks too much and gambles. But both brothers work out at Ackford’s shooting gallery and are not to be messed with. Their success and skill infuriates the Bow Street runners who see the job of finding Anne as rightfully theirs, and they set about laying traps to discredit the upstarts. It soon becomes obvious that Anne’s disappearance is somehow mixed up with both the POWs’ escape and the surprisingly literate letter Lord Sidmouth receives, listing the prisoners’ grievances and threatening reprisals.

I really enjoyed this opening salvo of the Skillen twins’ adventures, and Marston is plainly on cracking form. The ratting and boxing scenes in the East End are positively Hogarthian in their depiction of filth and overcrowding; you can almost smell the squalor. The intertwining strands of the prisoners’ escape, Anne’s incarceration, the disgraced scrivener, the close-knit Irish community struggling to make a living in a hostile city, and the enmity of the Bow Street runners all make for a terrific story. Though I did wonder how Anne managed to polish so well in her after-hours job with only candles to see by. Marston’s many fans will love Shadow of the Hangman. More, please.

Elizabeth Hawksley LIKE A FLOWER IN BLOOM Siri Mitchell, Bethany House, 2015, $14.99, pb, 356pp, 9780764210372 In 1852, England, Charlotte Withersby lives a peaceful life with her botanist father. She cares little for convention, for “coming out,” or for thoughts of marriage. Charlotte is much happier roaming the fields, looking for specimens, and working on her illustrations. She helps her father with his work and dreams of one day publishing her own books. Her uncle, however, has other ideas. Convinced that Charlotte needs to become a wife and mother, he takes control. Charlotte is thrust into polite society, forced to wear fashionable attire, and attend soirees and teas. To make matters worse, Charlotte’s father has hired a replacement assistant, Edward Trimble, who seems to be doing a better job than she ever did. He also has the audacity to make suggestions about her clothing, manners, and behavior.

Charlotte, with a newfound friend, deviously plots ways to trip Trimble up and gain her position back. Her schemes misfire, though, and she winds up engaged to two men at the same time – neither of whom she even likes!

Mitchell again delights with a well-researched and plotted story that’s also lighthearted and fun.

It’s obvious from the start what will happen, but even so, it’s enjoyable to see just how it would all work out. While the main character, Charlotte, takes a really long time learning her lesson, she is still a spunky, endearing heroine. This story will be of great interest to gardening buffs, as there is a lot HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 31

of time spent discussing botany and the different flora in the area. Like all Mitchell stories, this one comes highly recommended.

Rebecca Cochran GALAPAGOS REGAINED James Morrow, St Martin’s, 2015, $28.99, hb, 477pp, 9781250054012 Imagine Gilbert and Sullivan doing Indiana Jones and you have this extraordinary novel.

The matchless heroine Chloe Bathurst, onetime actress, another time the keeper of Charles Darwin’s zoo, starts off around the world to the Galapagos, to prove evolution, dethrone God, and win enough money to get her father out of prison.

Add in a desperate army of convicts bent on actually destroying the creatures of Galapagos (garroting the tortoises with wire), and a timetraveling, hashing-smoking Gregor Mendel to handle some of the finer details, and this is, besides a mad adventure, a pretty dissertation on evolution, of several kinds.

All this is performed in a playground of language.

Morrow never loses command of a wild and crazy style. “Fanny kissed Chloe’s cheek and said, ‘Allow me to cast you once again in the unfolding drama that is my life.” Chloe’s “irony bone sang like a glass chalice.” On the longboat carrying Chloe toward Post Office Bay, you can feel the waves. In the height of battle people scream things like “precious sea-witch!” and “darling she-devil.” And, ultimately, everything works out beautifully.

What a pleasure.

Cecelia Holland

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THE LANGUAGE OF PARADISE Barbara Klein Moss, Norton, 2015, $26.95, hb, 384pp, 9780393057133 This novel requires a new genre: LiteraryPhilosophicalHistorical might be a start. The premise is intriguing and esoteric: against the background of early to mid-19th century Utopian idealism, a young scholar becomes obsessed with discovering (uncovering) the actual language spoken by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In his longing to re-create “paradise,” he is drawn in – and draws others in – to a world at odds with convention and common, human love and life.

Metaphor becomes reality as Gideon meets Sophia, the daughter of a preacher with the same scholarly bent as Gideon. The quest for the first language – which when spoken, was as one with the object spoken about (as at the Creation) – flings all the characters into the well-known wind of biblical proportions, the one whose harvest is the whirlwind. When this nouveaux Adam and Eve meet their “serpent,” idealism and ambition struggle with reality to sort out the insidious complications and dubious, daring experiments devised to reveal the lost words of Eden. This is an entrancing, deep, troubling and daring story of the human spirit bound to earth, dispossessed of Paradise, 32 | Reviews |

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and longing to return. It is so compelling I actually dreamed it at night. Highly recommended.

Mary F. Burns BODIES OF LIGHT Sarah Moss, Granta, 2014, £12.99, pb, 309pp, 9781847089083 Bodies of Light is the story of a middleclass family in Victorian Manchester. Ally is the daughter and granddaughter of strong, idealistic women who champion women’s rights and lobby against child prostitution and misogynistic laws.

Ally is expected to further the cause of womanhood by becoming one of the first female doctors. Her younger sister, May, is a freer spirit, more like their artist father than their campaigner mother. But despite her mother’s high ideals, their own home life is not so ideal. Throughout the travails and tragedy, Ally tries her best to live up to her mother’s ambitions but struggles under their weight.

Sarah Moss’s understated novel of one family holds to a tight line and never deviates into the melodramatic or clichéd. Written mostly from the viewpoint of the eldest daughter, Ally, it is a book that sticks to the adage of showing not telling and is much the better for it. There is much that is hinted at but never explicitly explained or overworked, and in Ally, Moss has a main character that is very well realised. It is a mature novel and a modern novel and a very good read.

Tim Smith

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IN THE CITY OF GOLD AND SILVER: The Story of Begum Hazrat Mahal Kenizé Mourad (trans. Anne Mathai), Europa, 2014, $17.00, pb, 402pp, 9781609452278 In 1844, a fourteenyear-old orphan girl dances in the “house of fairies” in Lucknow, Awadh, India. Her beauty and poetic abilities catch the eye of Nawab Wajid Ali. He marries her (as his fourth wife) and, following the birth of a son, names her Hazrat Mahal. The fun-loving nawab relishes the good life.

Although Wajid is gleefully governing Awadh under a treaty with the British East India Company (BEIC), they are displeased with his extravagant spending of Awadh’s abundant resources. When in February 1856, the BEIC forcefully annexes Awadh, Wajid decides to plead his case before Queen Victoria in London. He sets off with his entourage, leaving Hazrat behind, despite her pleadings. The BEIC’s sepoys mutiny in May 1857, and Awadh’s population joins in the rebellion, proclaiming Hazrat’s teenage son as the king. Hazrat, as queen-regent, takes charge of the rebel army, their first objective being to oust the Europeans ensconced in the British Residency.

While the failure of the 1857 Mutiny is historical fact, this brilliant atmospheric novel presents another perspective on its events. Based on extensive research, Murad also used her family’s primary sources: her father was an Indian raja.

The real motives of the BEIC in annexing Awadh,

the insight on how Hazrat rose to become a rebel queen, and the causes of the rebellion are all narrated in depth. Moreover, some very plausible details are dramatized on why the rebel army, despite overwhelming numbers, was unable to repel the much smaller, albeit better armed, BEIC force. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani THE DUKE OF DARK DESIRES Miranda Neville, Avon, 2015, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 374pp, 9780062243348 This is the fourth and concluding romance in Neville’s Wild Quartet series. Though set in 1802, the events that set the plot in motion date back to the French Revolution and the reign of terror which followed. Julian Fortescue, Duke of Denford, needs a governess for his young half-sisters, and Jane Grey seems well qualified–to be his mistress; she, however, is really a French aristocrat seeking revenge against a Mr. Fortescue, whom she blames for the betrayal that led to the execution of her parents and sisters, and she is determined to track him down despite her attraction to the duke. Who may turn out to be the man she seeks.

This is an involving and deftly written story: the historical background is convincing, the mystery tantalizing, the romance between two attractive lovers satisfying, and the relationship both develop with the half-sisters heart-warming. This last element might benefit from fuller treatment, for all three are interesting characters, but it is refreshing to grumble about a Georgian/Regency romance being so tightly plotted. Warmly recommended.

Ray Thompson THE ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS Allison Pataki, Howard, 2015, $26.00/C$32.00, hb, 512pp, 978147679022 Empress Elisabeth, wife to Franz Joseph and empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was beloved in the 19th century, but her story is littleknown today. Allison Pataki brings this enigmatic woman to life in this novel of finding strength and passion.

Though the daughter of a Bavarian duke, Elisabeth – known to her family as ‘Sisi’ – grew up in the wild informality of Possenhofen Castle.

Married at fifteen to her cousin, the young emperor Franz Joseph, she’s unprepared for the treacherous Hapsburg court and for her overbearing new mother-in-law, the Archduchess Sophie. From the moment Sisi arrives at court, Sophie interferes with her marriage, with her children, and with her decisions as empress, undermining her at every turn. Franz is unwilling to disagree with his mother and so Sisi finds few allies at court. It is in Hungary, where the people are restless and looking for a leader, that she begins to find her strength.

Pataki’s strength lies in her unapologetic and complex characters. Sisi, Franz, and Sophie all have their faults. They are admittedly frustrating and, in turns, selfish, weak, and uncompromising.

When reading fiction about real historical figures, the reader may rightly question whether those particular figures make the most compelling protagonists of a novel. There were times when this reader became exasperated at characters who continually chipped away at one another rather than let one another grow. It’s to Pataki’s credit that 19th Century

she chose to write such strong characters, flaws and all, without losing reader sympathy. Through them, she paints a vivid picture of the uncertainty and distrust of the Hapsburg court. A solid portrait of a little-known woman and history.

Jessica Brockmole PARIS KISS Maggie Ritchie, Saraband, 2015, £8.99, pb, 280pp, 9781908643780 Being unfamiliar with the writer, it was the subject matter, the story of Camille Claudel and August Rodin, which drew me to Paris Kiss.

The author has elected to tell the story in the form of a retrospective, first-person narrative voiced in 1930 by Jessie Lipscomb, covering the years when she worked alongside Camille Claudel as a student of August Rodin, in the steamy and mildly depraved Parisian art world of the late 1800s. In an atmosphere rife with unscrupulous ambition, irresponsible and frustrated infatuation, and despite her genius, her beauty and dazzling personality, Camille Claudel flounders into failure and mental instability.

The friendship between the two girls, Camille and Jessie, if it is intended to be the nub of the plot, fails to convince. Jessie, lightweight, middleclass and English, with her well-formed morals and girlish infatuations, is no match for Camille, the heavyweight, talented, beautiful, volatile and obsessive creature, who uses her guileless friend to facilitate her pursuit of Rodin. The central failure of this novel lies with the author’s decision to use Jessie Lipscomb as its storyteller. Sweet and simplistic as she is, the complexity and depths of the story seem to elude her.

Overall, given the period, the location, the subject matter and the storyteller’s background, the prose style smacks oddly of 21st-century journalese.

Surely Jessie, with her solid, Victorian education not far behind her, would not use such phrases as “buttoned up wrong”. It is disappointing, given this novel’s subject, that the author leaves unexplored and almost unrecognised, the fundamental power of the stories – Camille’s, Jessie’s and even Rodin’s.

Julia Stoneham THE HOUSE OF HAWTHORNE Erika Robuck, NAL, 2015, $25.95, hb, 416pp, 9780451418913 Erika Robuck has built her career on dramatizing the lives of America’s artistic greats. In The House of Hawthorne, she delves into the story of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne, wife to the storied writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.

When the novel opens, Sophia is reminiscing about the recuperative trip to Cuba that changed her world in many ways. Overwhelmed by migraines and her artistic sensibilities, she has been coddled by her family, and protected from the typical rigors of womanhood. At 24, Sophia is not expected to marry; in fact, her mother cautions her against it and the inevitability of childbirth. Yet she cannot deny her passionate nature, and though she nurses a fondness for a local planter’s son, she cannot commit to a life supported by the harsh realities of slavery. She returns to Massachusetts reborn in some ways, desperate for attention and affection. She soon meets Nathaniel Hawthorne and they marry after a prolonged courtship.

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Erika Robuck brings the mid-19th century vividly to life. Her prose is lush but not burdened by unnecessary details. She has a real knack for capturing the dreamy voice of Sophia, which lends a great deal to the novel, given that it is narrated in first person. The reader can easily see why Sophia and Nathaniel were drawn together.

In reading their letters to one another and other family members, it is a pleasure to see how much in love they were with each other, especially at a time when convenience often overruled tender feelings. Despite hardships, their love for each other never falters, which makes the ending of the novel all the more poignant. Historical fiction readers and enthusiasts of the great age of 19thcentury American literature will enjoy The House of Hawthorne. Recommended.

Caroline Wilson THE WITCH OF PAINTED SORROWS M. J. Rose, Atria, 2015, $25.00, hb, 384pp, 9781476778068 Belle Époque Paris. Sandrine takes refuge with her grandmother, last of a line of courtesans stretching back to the 16th century. Fleeing her husband and grieving her father’s untimely death, Sandrine is terrified and bereft. Grandmère doesn’t want Sandrine anywhere near the ancestral home, Maison de la Lune; yet the house, or something residing in it, calls to Sandrine. She begins to feel and act unlike herself. When she meets the handsome young architect Grandmère has hired to catalog the house’s collections for transformation into a museum, and then enrolls herself as a painter at the École des Beaux-Arts, Sandrine’s life simultaneously takes off and unravels, leaving her in both ecstasy and terrible danger.

This is a Gothic ghost story and romance, with foreboding galore, and more than its fair share of eroticism. As befits the genre, the prose is competently florid rather than elegant, and the atmosphere is slathered on with a trowel – one should not look for subtlety here; it would be out of place.

When it comes to descriptions of painting, Rose lacks the ability of, say, a Susan Vreeland, but Rose’s descriptions of Paris, and especially the Maison de la Lune, are immersive and captivating.

The occult element is interesting in its multiculturalism: from Jewish Kabbalists to members of an alchemical secret society, Rose covers all the bases here. The pace is slow and, by the end, the reader is left feeling that the novel was perhaps too long by a fifth, but this does allow the tension to build unhurriedly to a suitably satisfying conclusion. It appears this is to be the first in a series, and it will be interesting to see how Rose explores the lives of other Verlaine women, from Sandrine all the way back to her 16th-century ancestor, La Lune.

Bethany Latham EPITAPH: A Novel of the O.K. Corral Mary Doria Russell, Ecco, 2015, $27.99/C$34.99, hb, 592pp, 9780062198761 One chapter in this novel begins: “Tombstone was glad to see the end of 1881. Hell of a year, everyone said, shaking their heads. Fire, flood,

famine, blood in the street”.

The blood, of course, refers to the notorious Gunfight at the O.K. Corral when three Cow Boys were killed by Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Holliday. But the fire, flood and famine are also included in this prodigious epic that ducks and weaves through political, criminal and newspaper rivalries, as well as the murky and shifting personal relationships of all those involved. The characters – women as well as men – are as tough and prickly as the landscape that shapes them. The focus of the novel switches back and forth among these numerous real individuals, who were the catalysts for the shoot-out and instrumental in the eventual creation of the legend, both in print and in Hollywood.

It will help to have read the author’s earlier work, Doc, as it can be difficult for the uninitiated to get a grip on the entanglements and prior doings of Holliday and the Earp brothers, even if some back stories are revealed in time-shift passages.

But ultimately there is just so much swirling about in the mix that it becomes a challenge to stay the course.

The droll catch-phrase of the local newspaper, “Every Tombstone has its Epitaph”, might be reflected here in the librarian’s maxim that every book has its reader. For those who like multiviewpoint blockbusters loaded with facts and historical research, then this will be a sure-fire winner, but others who prefer lean narrative and restraint are likely to give up. They may get just as much out of Wikipedia if they really want to know what happened.

Marina Maxwell

BY THE RED GLARE John Mark Sibley-Jones, Univ. of South Carolina Press, 2014, $29.95, hb, 248pp, 9781611173994 Between November 1864 and February 1865, Joseph Crawford is the hospital steward in Columbia, South Carolina, providing care to both Confederate and Union soldiers. Aware that General Sherman is heading north from Georgia, burning homes and towns, the hospital staff and citizens of Columbia are afraid of what the Union troops will do to the town and its people. Crawford relies on Dr. Thompson, a surgeon, and the head nurse Louisa Chevis McCord, for support during this crisis.

Several miles away, on a plantation owned by the Wells family, their son Jim, who is considered to be insane, is usually kept tied to a tree in front of their stately mansion. His only friend is Rachel, a light-skinned black girl, who helps him and gives him the succor his parents fail to provide. The plantation owner, tired of treating his son and dealing with his antics, takes Jim to Columbia to be under the care of Dr. Parker of the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum. As Sherman’s army steadily moves towards Columbia, this cast of characters is faced with the oncoming threat.

Rich in historical detail, this is the author’s first novel. He has blended together historical facts regarding Sherman’s march north, the pain and suffering realized by the injured soldiers in the hospital, and the fear felt by the people living in Columbia. I highly recommend this characterdriven novel in which the author portrays believable characters dealing with the final months HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 33

of the Civil War.

Jeff Westerhoff

CUT FROM STRONG CLOTH Linda Harris Sittig, Freedom Forge Press, 2015, $14.95, pb, 318pp, 9781940553023 Nineteen-year-old Ellen Canavan and her first-generation Irish-American family arrived in Philadelphia, trying to make a successful business in the textile industry. She is depicted as a strong, opinionated woman who feels women should have equal rights, and she detests slavery. She hopes to one day own her own textile selling business and joins with her brother to establish herself in the male business world. Ellen’s work with businessman James Nolin to manufacture cloth for the Union Army takes them on a cotton buying trip to Savannah, not a safe place to be as the Civil War begins. James becomes important to her, not only as a mentor, but she also realizes, when he does not return from the South, that she is in love with him. She then travels alone, during wartime, to find him.

I had hoped that I would love this book as I am knowledgeable about Civil War history and the clothing and etiquette of the period. It failed.

The author did not have a good sense of the time period, mannerisms, language, or of fashion. In her efforts to show Ellen to be an independent young woman, she had her leave the home without a corset or petticoats, losing my respect for her as a historical novelist. The inaccuracies continued.

When Ellen’s love interest was taken prisoner and drugged by a backwoods woman and her children, I found it difficult to take this novel seriously. Not a historical book.

Beth Turza MERCY’S RAIN Cindy K. Sproles, Kregel, 2015, $15.99, pb, 272pp, 9780825443619 This inspirational novel about a young woman living in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky in the late 1890s confronts head-on the issue of abuse within the church. When the story begins, eighteen-year-old Mercy Roller has already endured the brutal deaths of both her husband and child. Her father and tormentor, Pastor, dies near the beginning of the book. Mercy then begins a journey, both literal and figurative, that leads her toward redemption.

The themes of birth and rebirth run strongly throughout the story. There is violence in life and violence in death, but also wonder and grace and joy. Although Pastor was a monstrous man who wielded words from the Bible as a weapon while perpetrating shocking acts of violence, the words themselves were of love and mercy, and they took root and blossomed.

Nineteenth-century life in the mountains of Appalachia is beautifully captured. Powerful and disturbing, Mercy’s Rain launches Sproles’ writing career and firmly establishes her as an author who is not afraid to speak the truth.

Nancy J. Attwell BROCK’S ASSASSIN: Someone Had to Burn Washington Tom Taylor, Hancock and Dean, 2014, $19.98, pb, 350pp, 9780986896132 34 | Reviews |

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In 1813, in war-ravaged Niagara, Upper Canada, Lieutenant Westlake of the 1st York Militia is trailing Willcocks, a notorious traitor.

Willcocks has turned coat and, having organized a band of so-called Canadian Volunteers, is fighting alongside the Americans. Earlier, Westlake’s home in York (present-day Toronto) had been destroyed.

Although the invading American forces are being gradually pushed back, they are executing a tactic of looting and burning civilian homes. In retribution, the British armies follow up with similar acts south of the Niagara River.

Following skirmishes, injured Westlake is nursed back by a young and attractive American war widow. When British nobleman Lieutenant Simpson’s home in Newark (present- day Niagara-On-The-Lake) is torched, twice, killing his wife and child, he concocts a unique plan to seek vengeance. In 1814 the Americans re-invade Upper Canada. But, following the fierce Battle of Chippawa Creek, and a British naval force sailing up the Chesapeake, Simpson absconds. Westlake is sent after Simpson to dissuade him. However, Westlake faces a dilemma of either staying loyal to his principles or his friend.

While this is the fourth novel in Tom Taylor’s series, it continues seamlessly, following Westlake in his various assignments during the War of 1812. Reading it, a similar protagonist, Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe, will come to mind.

Taylor’s writing is just as evocative as Cornwell’s while describing the characters and period details, and showing the battlefields as if we were taken along with him. The historical aspects are freshly narrated with the insertion of real characters, not only military officers, but also others such as President James and Dolley Madison and Betsey Bonaparte. The romance and plot twists will capture readers’ interest up to the thrilling ending.

The philosophical aspects of the politics of that era and discussions on the causes of the war are informative. Readers will eagerly await Taylor’s next book.

Waheed Rabbani THE WIDOW’S CONFESSION Sophia Tobin, Simon & Schuster, 2015, £12.99, hb, 374pp, 9781471128127 In the summer of 1851, a disparate group of “incomers” converges on the seaside resort of Broadstairs. American widow Delphine Beck is running from her past, accompanied by her cousin Julia. Edmund Steele is there, partly to escape a romantic entanglement, and partly to keep a protective eye on his host, Theo Hallam, a repressed young clergyman. Married but louche artist, Ralph Benedict, is searching for inspiration, while Theo’s aunt Mrs Quillian and the mysterious Miss Waring, and her beautiful niece Alba, seem to be there purely as tourists. They might have been just passing acquaintances, but the discovery of a girl’s body on the beach draws them together and forces them to face aspects of their past that they are trying to forget.

Tobin’s second novel is an atmospheric evocation of the Kent coast and is obviously well researched.

But I found myself struggling to engage with its characters, particularly with Delphine, who ought to be its heart. The novel switches frequently between her “confession” and a rather detached

third-person narration that shows the characters’ actions while denying access to their thoughts or emotions.

At times I felt I was being wrenched too abruptly from one character’s head to another and that, paradoxically, it would have been easier for the author to win empathy for her heroine, whilst keeping her past a secret, if more of the book had been written in the first person. It might even have been a good idea to reveal Delphine’s secret earlier, since by the time it came out, it felt a little anticlimactic – or is that just because I’ve read so much Edith Wharton? While this novel didn’t grip me as much as I expected, it might well be a book worthy of a second reading.

Jasmina Svenne THE MOURNING BELLS: A Lady of Ashes Mystery Christine Trent, Kensington, 2015, $15.00, pb, 256pp, 9781617736438 The Mourning Bells is the fourth installment in the Lady of Ashes series but easily stands on its own.

The familiar Violet Harper, a London undertaker with a penchant for finding herself involved with detective work, encounters the extraordinary at the Brookwood Cemetery as she disembarks the London Necropolis Railway in her usual routine.

Violet is musing over the Victorian paranoia of being buried alive, which has given birth to a new industry producing safety devices for coffins. Violet heartily disapproves of the trend, but then she hears the distinct ring of a bell coming from one of the coffins offloaded from the train. Violet opens the coffin to find an addled but clearly living man.

No less than a week later, Violet experiences the same “resurrection” from a coffin offloaded from the Brookwood LNR. This is no coincidence.

Violet begins to investigate on her own, with some assistance from her daughter, Susanna.

Every inquiry uncovers more suspicious dealings, but every theory they develop quickly evaporates.

When at the Brookwood LNR platform next, Violet encounters a young woman who appears to be looking for someone alive. The woman becomes hysterical when her fiancé’s coffin is opened, and he is, indeed, deceased. Did Violet imagine that the woman was shocked by this? She quickly examines the body and realizes it has received none of the customary treatment for burial.

Something most certainly is very suspicious, but what and why? As the pieces of the mystery begin to fall into place Violet realizes that she has uncovered a complex conspiracy involving some of the highest-ranking families in Britain.

The Mourning Bells is an enjoyable read that will also educate about the funerary practices of the Victorians.

Shannon Gallagher THE BLUE AND THE GREY M. J. Trow, Severn House/Crème de la Crime, 2014, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 224pp, 9781780290706 After witnessing Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865, Matthew Grand pursues John Wilkes Booth into the alley behind Ford’s Theatre, only to be thwarted by a mysterious Englishman.

Undeterred, Grand continues to investigate until crossing paths with the head of the National Detective Police, who suspects that Grand may be 19th Century

one of the conspirators. The only way for him to prove his innocence is to go to London and track down the Englishman.

The same evening the president is slain, James Batchelor meets a prostitute whose body he later stumbles upon in a nearby alley. Arrested as a suspect, he’s eventually released by Inspector Tanner of Scotland Yard, who believes it’s advantageous having a journalist beholden to him.

Tired of writing society-page stories, Batchelor sees the murder as his ticket to fame. Instead, his editor at the Telegraph fires him. Then two more women are garroted, a wealthy stranger is murdered on a ship bound for London, and Batchelor is hired to discover what Grand knows and why he’s in England. Grand refuses to discuss the night at Ford’s Theatre, but asks Batchelor to help him with his investigations. They soon realize there’s a connection between the Englishman in Washington, the murder on the ship, and the killer in London.

The murders of this intricately woven whodunit keep the reader guessing, but the plethora of characters make it difficult to keep track of who’s who. This first book in a new Victorian mystery series vividly recreates the sense of loss and shock that permeated Washington after the assassination, while providing a vibrant glimpse into the seamier side of 19th-century London.

Cindy Vallar THE CUNNING HOUSE Richard Marggraf Turley, Sandstone, 2015, £8.99, pb, 392pp, 9781910124109 1810: Jane Austen has just left Bath for Chawton; Sense and Sensibility is to be published the following year. Turley, though, plunges us into a very different England. London is vile and dangerous. A movement to cleanse the city of immorality starting, apparently, with the homosexuals, sees Mollies regularly hanged in public. But a raid on a male brothel throws up links to St James’s Palace, and there are those who will go to any lengths to cover up suggestions of impropriety by the Royal Family.

Turley is a poet, and he writes powerfully (although with a tendency to prolixity), summoning up images of filth, depravity, and horror in a plot of Byzantine complexity. Our central figure, the lawyer Wyre, is soon hopelessly out of his depth, as was this reader. Never mind; mysteries as complex as this are not, I think, necessarily supposed to be understood. There are regular murders, assaults, and double-dealing. A villainous giant, a beautiful, but mysterious, woman, mad doctors (in both senses of the word), Frankenstein-like experiments with electricity and genitalia – this book has it all.

It has its fair share of historical inaccuracies, too.

The Greenjackets are a regiment, not a title given to sharpshooters generally; it’s possible that someone might throw a beggar five pennies, but when they throw him fivepence I can’t help but feel that we’ve pre-empted decimal currency by a century and a half. Such inattention to detail picks away at the credibility of the plot, which was hanging onto any sense of reality by a fingernail to start off with.

The overblown language can be off-putting, but if you’re happy to suspend disbelief for a while and not worry too much about the plot details, it grows on you. And it’s a useful antidote to Jane Austen.

Tom Williams 19th Century — 20th Century

BLACKWELL’S HOMECOMING V.E. Ulett, Old Salt Press, 2015, $15.50, pb, 265pp, 9780988236073 This is the final chapter in the tale of Captain James Blackwell, of the Royal Navy, and his family, which includes his wife Mercedes; Aloka, his son by a Hawaiian woman; son Edward; and daughter Emma. Emma is at an age when her marriage would be important to the family, although she has strong feelings for her stepbrother Aloka.

Meanwhile Mercedes contracts breast cancer and must deal not only with the pain of the disease but adjusting to life after the operation. As a family, they decide to travel back to the Sandwich Islands; Captain Blackwell is appointed by the government as their Consul General. Their trip back to the islands, and their arrival during a Hawaiian tribal conflict, leads to an exciting conclusion.

This is the third and final volume of Blackwell’s Adventures. I’ve read all three books and found them entertaining, with compelling, fast-paced action up until the final chapter. This novel involved juggling seven Hawaiian characters, each of whose names begins with the letter “k.” For the most part, the author is able to differentiate them, but it’s confusing at times. However, this is a minor problem. The characters are fully fleshed out, both English and Hawaiian, and are products of their time and place in history. This novel primarily involves the family issues facing each character rather than sea travel, as in the previous books in the series.

A real pleasure to read, this book can stand alone, although I recommend reading the previous volumes to see additional development of the main characters.

Jeff Westerhoff DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT Stephanie Grace Whitson, FaithWords, 2015, $15.00, pb, 336pp, 9781455529032 Maggie Malone is left behind as her two brothers join the Missouri Irish Brigade, of the Union Army, as the Civil War begins. When Maggie’s home and livestock are vandalized by local Southern sympathizers, she sets off to town and discovers that one of her brothers is on a list of wounded soldiers. With nothing left, she follows their regiment, assisting them where needed. Her efforts are noticed by Sergeant John Coulter, whose admiration for her courage, healing skills, and gentleness are appreciated following a skirmish at a nearby plantation occupied by the enemy. Libbie Blair resides at the plantation with her abusive brother, who hopes to ingratiate himself with the Confederate officers by moving contraband arms through his docks. The two women reunite and find that, although they had little in common in the past, they will share a future.

Historically a “daughter of the regiment”—or as the French referred to them, a vivandière—was an honor that very few women achieved during the American Civil War. Women were not generally permitted in camp. I liked how Maggie came to the aid of her brothers then stayed on a bit. She quietly attended to the other men, wrote letters home for them, bandaged wounds, and thus proved her worth without ever asking to follow the unit. It is refreshing to have the strength of her character develop naturally for the reader where

other authors would have portrayed her as a pushy woman. I liked that the author built up the story of friendships, romance and bravery in a historic and authentic setting, waiting until the very end of the book for those in charge to declare her a true daughter of the regiment.

Beth Turza

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THE GIRL FROM COBB STREET Merryn Allingham, Harlequin MIRA, 2015, £6.99, pb, 368pp, 9781848453760 Growing up in an orphanage on East London’s Cobb Street, Daisy Driscoll has had to make her own way in the world. The book opens in 1938, as Daisy is arriving in Bombay, having travelled halfway across the world to marry her fiancé, Gerald Mortimer. Gerald is a handsome cavalry subaltern in the Indian Army, but Daisy’s dreams of happiness are soon shattered. Gerald is not all he claims to be and, as he leads her along a path of danger and scandal, Daisy must find the strength within herself to get through her darkest hour.

It was slightly odd that the publisher chose to give this book a cover of an East End street, as the entire book is set in India. That would be the only quibble that I would have with what is a very wellcrafted novel. Daisy is a likeable and courageous heroine, with an intriguing backstory that isn’t fully revealed (there are two more books in the series).

Allingham does a superb job in portraying colonial India through the eyes of an outsider, with the beauty and challenges of the country along with its political and social complexities.

Daisy’s struggles to come to terms with her new life and marriage are engrossing. There is also a hefty dollop of intrigue in the novel, with an atmospheric building of tension and danger. Allingham skilfully sustains and builds the suspense through the book, and there are twists and surprises along the way.

The ending leaves some questions, which will presumably be answered in the next two books. An enjoyable read from a talented author in command of her genre.

E.M. Powell THE LETTER BEARER Robert Allison, Granta, 2015, £7.99, pb, 262pp, 9781847088260 The Letter Bearer tells a story reminiscent of The English Patient, about a World War Two motorcycle courier whose bike runs over a mine, leaving him blast-deafened, his memory gone and his eyesight, curiously, transformed so that he sees everything in shades of red. Taken up by a band of deserters, whose Medical Officer tells him he’s dying, the Rider treks through the western desert with this motley crew, trying to piece together his identity from the letters in his post bag.

The novel is insightful in its development of character and the interaction of the small group of fellow-travellers amongst whom the Rider finds himself. The weak and spiteful ex-Captain Brinkhurst and Lance-Corporal Swann (wittily named because, for all his vengefulness and brutality, he is our hero’s guide to maturity, just as Proust’s Swann is to his narrator) are acutely HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 35

observed, although the Rider himself is, perforce, a vaguer character.

It is marred, however, in two contrasting ways – by the richness of its language and the thinness of the storyline. Lacking any sub-plots, it recounts nothing more than the men’s dreary and demoralising desert wanderings and becomes, not merely boring, but depressing in its narrow scope. While some of the descriptions of the desert landscape are powerful, and the technical detail about tanks is very impressive, the style conveys a general sense of a writer addicted to his thesaurus and also to present participles. This makes for a dense and somewhat wearing read, requiring a level of effort not really justified by the content.

The ending is both bleak and ironic. As it becomes increasingly clear that the Rider is not dying after all, the restoration of his memory makes him, and the reader, suspect that death might have been his best option.

Sarah Bower

Clementine engages the unlikely investigational services of her housekeeper, a breach of servant/ mistress etiquette which the very proper Mrs Jackson finds uncomfortable. Ever mindful of her place, her private inquiries (mostly eavesdropping) enable her to track down two young women who went missing the night of the murder.

Arlen conveys a genuine feel for Edwardian life in a grand manor house and takes the opportunity to exploit amusingly snobbish exchanges between the guests. There’s a healthy mix of upstairs and downstairs characters, and I would have liked to get to know some of them better. I felt at times the narrative strayed down paths which confused, rather than advanced, the storyline, and certain characters didn’t seem to me to have good reason to be there (daughter, Dowager, victim’s mother – yes even her!). But the murderer’s identity remained an enigma to me, and that’s surely the sign of a good mystery.

Fiona Alison

LIBERATED: A Novel of Germany, 1945 Steve Anderson, Yucca, 2014, $24.95, hb, 246pp, 9781631580017 Captain Harry Kaspar is member of the U.S. Occupation forces sent to Germany to oversee that country after victory in Europe in 1945. As this noir mystery opens, Kaspar is about to assume a position of Commanding Officer in Heimgau. The usurpation of this position by Major Membre leads to Kaspar’s retreat out of town, where he stumbles across three tortured men left to die on the side of the road. This inciting incident motivates Kaspar to return to Heimgau and find out what happened to these men; their disappearance motivates Kasper further, precipitating his methodical deconstruction of the scams and corruption perpetrated by the civilians trying to rebuild Germany. Based on Anderson’s own FulbrightScholarship-funded research in Munich on the early years of the Occupation there, this novel explores the struggle of the war’s survivors amidst food shortages and cities of rubble. There is even a visit to the notorious Dachau concentration camp, suffused with the stench of speechless misery.

Anderson flavors Liberated with the kind of language found in other noir novels and films, emphasizing the genre with a brutal and unethical crime for Kaspar to resolve. The novel exposure of an under-represented historical period in American history suggests that some of the Occupation forces were not the good guys bringing democracy to the previously dictator state. If you like reading about World War II, you will enjoy reading about its immediate aftermath. If you like the noir novels and films of the mid-20th century, you will enjoy the prose and the femme fatale of Liberated.

Terri Baker

JUST ONE MORE DAY Jessica Blair, Piatkus, 2015, £19.99, hb, 377pp, 9780349402697 The latest of Jessica Blair’s historical romance novels is a juxtaposition of the tense and the tender, the pain and the joys of romance, and the highs and lows of wartime flying, set amid the years of World War II. Nineteen-year-old Carolyn Maddison chooses to follow her brother into the RAF by joining the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.

In doing so, she both meets a lifetime friend, Lucy, and forms an attachment to a pilot who suggests she serves on a bomber station. When the pilot is killed shortly after their meeting, it shakes Carolyn, and this, coupled with her first-ever sighting of an active aircraft catching fire and killing its crew, prevents her from wanting to form romantic attachments to any man while the war rages. But her time in Waddington, serving with the bomber unit of Lancasters and Spitfires, gradually leads her, and the others around her who are serving in the RAF and WAAF, to find their own ways of handling their hopes, dreams and relationships as their comrades fall, and they hope and pray that each and every one of them will live to see another day.

This is a lovely, heart-warming book that finds joy in the relationships, be they romantic or otherwise enduring friendships. It remains uplifting, even in the face of various tragedies that occur, and the emotional difficulties the characters face. If you have read Jessica Blair’s other fiction, you will not be disappointed; if you wish to read a tale of war in which hope and the love and camaraderie of human relationship win out over the fear and the devastation, then this is the book for you.

Claire Cowling

DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN Tessa Arlen, Minotaur, 2015, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250052490 Clementine, Lady Montfort is preparing her lavish annual costume ball. Flowers are delicately arranged, sumptuous food is prepared and the staff is on high alert. Chancing across a violent argument between her son and his degenerate cousin, Teddy (subsequently found murdered), 36 | Reviews |

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THE DARKNESS ROLLING Win and Meredith Blevins, Forge, 2015, $25.99/ C$29.99, hb, 288pp, 9780765378606 Seaman Yazzie Goldman comes home from service during World War II to Monument Valley, Utah, to find John Ford making another film near Yazzie’s mother and grandfather’s trading post.

The famous director immediately hires Yazzie – at Hollywood rates – to work as a bodyguard for

actress Linda Darnell. Yazzie’s mother isn’t thrilled that her son, having been gone for so many years, has come home only to be gone some more. She’ll get over that, doubtless, but what neither she nor Yazzie suspects is that someone else, a man recently freed from prison, has also returned, simultaneous with Yazzie’s homecoming. This man calls himself the Buzzard, and he’s been nursing a grievance against Yazzie’s mother and grandfather for a quarter century.

Between them, authors Win and Meredith Blevins (a married couple) have 35 or more books to their name, and they live in Blanding, in Utah’s spectacular red rock country. Also, Win Blevins used to work as a film critic. So it’s no surprise that they’ve written a skillfully written book with a filmmaking situation featuring the landscape they love. The novel’s pacing is just right and there’s suspense aplenty. I was surprised and pleased by the time spent on relationships in The Darkness Rolling. It was fun to watch Yazzie be a part of one of Ford’s famous Monument Valley westerns. Still, I wished that there had been more period detail.

Substitute Clint Eastwood for John Ford, and the story could have been that of a young man coming home from the Gulf War or Afghanistan.

Kristen Hannum THE EDGE OF DREAMS Rhys Bowen, Minotaur, 2015, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250052025 New York City, 1905. Once again Molly Murphy finds herself in the thick of a mystery to solve. Returning to her restored New York apartment, she meets up again with old friends Sid and Gus, who have recently returned from Vienna after studying dreams with Sigmund Freud. Her husband Daniel, a detective with the New York City Police, is investigating a series of murders, linked only by notes delivered to him after each murder is complete. After Molly is injured in the Ninth Avenue Elevated train crash, he receives another note, and they both fear the murderer is out to get Molly as well.

Rhys Bowen illustrates the life and times of turn-of-the-century New York City from a woman’s point of view. Molly is an independent character who conducts the murder investigation with her husband in the male-dominated world of that time. The author leads the modern reader back to the early 20th-century life of women who were expected to be obedient and subservient to men.

Bowen weaves a tight plot with many suspects and Freudian dream references. She provides a delightful sleight-of-hand ending, tantalizing the reader until the very last page.

Liz Allenby DUNAWAY’S CROSSING Nancy Brandon, Lake Union, 2015, $14.95, pb, 298pp, 9781477821251 In 1918, Savannah, Georgia is emerging from shock as the Great War grinds to a close. Bea Dot has just married Ben Ferguson and moved into his spacious home. However, this marriage is no idyll.

Bea Dot is pregnant, but Ben beats her until she miscarries. To separate the loveless couple while she recuperates, her influential Aunt Lavinia sends the ailing woman to the rural village of Pineview.

There Bea Dot stays with her cousin Nettie, who 20th Century

will soon bear a child.

Then the Spanish influenza appears, leaping from city to town like wildfire. It is especially dangerous for pregnant women, so Pineview’s doctor – Nettie’s husband – sends her and Bea Dot to isolation at Dunaway’s Crossing. With luck, the flu will pass them by. The Crossing is a backwoods store owned by Will Dunaway, who is delivering mail while he recovers from a war injury.

As the flu worsens, Will is pressed into duty as a gravedigger, but not before he and Bea Dot fall in love. The couple dare not see each other while Will might carry the flu to Nettie, and what will happen when Bea Dot’s jealous husband discovers where his wayward wife has gone?

Dunaway’s Crossing is a vivid portrayal of an epidemic in a small town poorly equipped to handle it. However, I didn’t feel that I really got to know Bea Dot. The discord between her and Ben is eventually explained, and Bea Dot resolves her battle with him in an intriguing way, but with little mental struggle. I would like to know more about what she thought of her choices. Even so, it’s an entertaining read.

Jo Ann Butler THE PRINCE Vito Bruschini, Atria, 2015, $26.00/C$32.00, hb, 438pp, 9781451687194 Bruschini, a renowned Italian journalist, delivers a riveting and fast-moving tale about Prince Ferdinando Licata, a man for whom the terms justice and honor are subject to interpretation.

In the insular and violent society of 1920s Sicily, Licata wields power and influence that few would dare oppose. Elegant, aristocratic, and intellectual, Licata never seems to be involved in the vendettas and revenge killings that are part of Sicilian life, yet he always gets his way; could he be a boss in the Sicilian mafia?

When the Fascists take control of Italy in the 1930s, everyone feels their brutality and oppression, even the mafia. So, when trumped-up murder charges are leveled against Licata, he escapes to the United States hoping to find peace but instead finds himself embroiled in bloody warfare between Irish and Italian gangs in the Bronx.

Bruschini draws together an intricate cast of characters from both sides of the Atlantic, showing how the mafia used this connection for the mutual gain of both Sicilian and American Mafiosi. But with that gain also came dangerous competition and duplicity, drawing Licata, his family and friends into an ever-widening circle of violence.

Not a story for the squeamish, there are several graphically violent sections in the book.

To the author’s credit, they are not gratuitous but accurately portray mafia behavior of those times.

The historical research that went into the novel is solid and interesting, revealing little-known history, such as the role of the mafia in helping the Allies with the invasion of Sicily during World War II. While one would wish for a novel that didn’t stereotype all Sicilians as mafiosi, the fact is that the mafia was, and remains, an important cultural icon in Sicilian history. Bruschini, at least, gives us an entertaining and exciting account of that history.

John Kachuba

20th Century

THE GOOD ITALIAN Stephen Burke, Hodder & Stoughton, 2015, £7.99, pb, 310pp, 9781848549173 Set in Eritrea in 1935, this novel is a riveting examination of colonialism, war, love, the power of conscience and race. It is hard to believe that this is the first book from this talented author, and it deserves a wide readership. At first, the main character Enzo Secchi, an Italian harbourmaster, is somewhat repellent as he takes advantage of his new Eritrean housekeeper and makes it clear to her that sex with him is part of the job. After all, everyone is doing it; this is one of the fringe benefits of owning a colony. Later however, the reader’s view is softened as the couple fall in love and Enzo slowly becomes involved in Aatifa’s life and family.

The political situation is volatile; Mussolini has decided that Ethiopia would be a valuable addition to his colonial empire, and all the war material, such as soldiers and weapons, are being channelled through Eritrea and through Enzo’s harbour in particular. This raises more moral dilemmas and issues for Enzo, who faces different challenges of conscience. This all serves to help make him a complex and real character and very compelling. I did not think I would care so much about him by the end of the book.

I highly recommend this powerful and thoughtful novel, and I am very much looking forward to more novels by this author.

Ann Northfield A SPARROW IN TEREZIN Kristy Cambron, Thomas Nelson, 2015, $15.99, pb, 350pp, 9781401690618 Perhaps unfairly, when I finish the first chapter or two of a novel, I form an opinion of what I can expect from the rest. In this novel, when I saw beautiful descriptions of sunsets, strawberry-blonde hair dancing on her shoulders, and dialogue-inflicted backstory, I thought, “No wonder it’s 350 pages.” Is the fact that her suit had a chocolate-brown piped collar and was pale blue, or just blue, or blue at all, pertinent to the plot? It’s a personal preference of mine that everything has to be important. If it’s not important, then you’ll miss things that are important. Many readers think otherwise.

On the other hand, the author introduces characters with only one name, shortly later revealing their last name, giving the reader a chance to digest what’s going on. There are no thirty-page chapters or dense full-page paragraphs. With that style, the author demonstrates a real consideration for her readers, which is good.

That being said, I was drawn into the two dramas, wondering how they were going to converge. The first is a contemporary mystery about a likeable character who’s accused of selling an inheritance that he didn’t own. The second involves a girl who escapes 1938 Occupied Prague, makes it to England, and travels back to save her Jewish parents from the Holocaust. I think the premise is a bit strained, but hey, it’s fiction. The intersection of the stories comes about at the end over a painting and some pearls.

If you like novels that read like a two-hour movie, you’ll be frustrated at the pace. But if you enjoy well written literary fiction with such

eloquent expressions as, “Dusk had fallen in hazy shades of blue and birds danced from branch to branch, painting trails across the sky,” then you’ll love it.

Kevin Montgomery WHISPER HOLLOW Chris Cander, Other, 2015, $17.95/C$21.50, pb, 378pp, 9781590517116 This story is set in 20th-century Verra, a small West Virginia coal mining community tucked across the creek from Whisper Hollow. In this town, the lives of Myrthen, Alta, and Lidia intersect with one another due to painful secrets, secrets they spend their entire lives trying to keep hidden.

When still a child, Myrthen loses her twin sister in an accident that forever haunts her life. As the years pass, she channels her grief into a macabre love for the Catholic Church. Alta wants to marry the handsome new boy in town, but in a twist of fate he becomes married to Myrthen instead.

Still young, Lidia’s life is shaped by the drudgery of taking care of her widower father and mentally handicapped brother. A random act of violence shatters the pattern of her existence; finding herself pregnant, she seeks out a boy to marry.

Her conceived child becomes connected to both Myrthen and Alta, with unforeseen consequences.

The novel spans a timeframe of 50 years and how each girl’s destiny becomes entwined with the others makes for a forceful plot. Well researched, the mining community jumps to life off the page, as well as the dictates of the Catholic Church that shape the life-altering decisions of all three girls.

I particularly enjoyed the nuances and the descriptive language about the community, although the novel did slow down a bit after its stellar opening. However, it came back to speed and moved along toward a powerful and satisfying conclusion.

Linda Harris Sittig ACADEMY STREET Mary Costello, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015, $22.00/C$24.99, hb, 160pp, 9780374100520 The small size of Costello’s debut novel belies its strong emotional impact and the complete life contained therein. This is the story of Tess Lohan, born in rural Ireland. She is young when her mother dies, but old enough to remember her mother’s affectionate touch, the way she tended the chickens, the way she made toast. Now the house in rural Ireland doesn’t feel like home; her baby brother is sent away to live with an aunt, her father is both sad and angry, and her older sisters are looking to leave by getting married.

Tess grieves, quietly finishes school, trains as a nurse, then follows her sister Claire to New York, which in the 1970s is anything but quiet. What Tess wants most is to belong, to be loved, yet her fear of action, of noise, of reaching out, leaves her drifting.

The few risks she takes have lifelong consequences; the biggest one results in her son, Theo. Tess adores Theo, but her reticence and emotional naiveté keep her from fully engaging, and he disconnects, unwilling to let her live through him.

Readers may want to shake Tess into action, into making overt choices rather than letting life simply happen, and indeed Costello supplies HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 37

several cataclysmic events, to no avail. Tess remains quietly competent, obedient to her fate, and an excellent observer of her inner self. This, above all, is what makes Costello’s writing so compelling: in every sentence, Tess narrates her life as it unfolds, revealing the loneliness, desire, and despair inherent to some degree in all of us. Even though Tess cannot connect with her own life, she touches every reader, perhaps enough to persuade us to engage with the possibilities in our own lives.

Helene Williams THE ASSASSIN Clive Cussler and Justin Scott, Putnam, 2015, $28.95, hb, 405pp, 9780399171758 Isaac Bell is a Van Dorn detective who is trying to build a case against John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company’s stranglehold on the oil industry. While interviewing a potential witness, Bell’s case takes a dramatic turn when a witness is assassinated in front of him–shot from an amazingly long range with deadly accuracy. As more people who oppose Standard Oil die, Bell begins to realize the true scope of the case and he winds up protecting Rockefeller himself from the assassin. But Rockefeller won’t stand idly by, and he and Bell begin a journey that will take them from New York, to the war-ravaged Baku oil fields in Russia, and back to New York, for the final confrontation with the determined, plotting, and elusive assassin.

If you are a fan of Cussler’s Isaac Bell novels, you may find yourself briefly confused by Bell’s romances–but then you will realize that this story is set before he marries. Cussler and Scott weave a high-paced, taut historical novel that will leave you guessing until the very end. This is an amazing historical action-thriller that, though it reinvents some history (some of Rockefeller’s history in Baku), stays largely true to historical facts. Fans of Cussler will not be disappointed, and those who appreciate a unique rendering of history will enjoy the spin that Cussler and Scott put on early 20thcentury America.

Bryan Dumas THE FOUNDLING’S WAR Michel Deon (trans. Julian Evans), Gallic, 2015, $16.95/£9.99, pb, 416pp, 9781908313713 The Foundling’s War takes up the tale of Jean Arnaud, the hero of The Foundling Boy. The story opens in 1940, just as France surrenders and the years of German occupation begin. Jean and his long-time friend Palfy soon travel to Paris, where they struggle to find employment and find their way in a very different world.

Weaving characters and story threads from The Foundling Boy into this sequel, Michel Deon exposes the corrupt practices of both French and German citizens and the manner in which France contends with the occupying force. Everyone jostles for advantage. Everyone is “on the take.”

Everyone can be bought—for a price. Though Jean resists, eventually his love for Claude Chaminadze, a woman he meets in the opening scene, forces him to take on an unsavory mission. The cast is large: an artist who paints forgeries, a brothel owner who wants to be a spy, a soldier whose only desire is to return to the seminary, a woman in love who will not make love, an actress who always needs a man 38 | Reviews |

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in her bed, the mother Jean never knew who is always off stage.

Michel Deon uses an omniscient narrator to tell the story, interspersing lengthy sections of narrative with bursts of dialogue. Disconcertingly—at least for this reader—Deon discloses future events well in advance of the plot and often comments directly to the reader, as if whispering a personal aside about some character or situation. Throughout, we learn about WWII France, the values and attitudes that shaped French society at that time, and the author dispenses frequent bits of wisdom on the condition of mankind as he leads Jean further into manhood.

M.K. Tod DEATH COMES TO THE BALLETS RUSSES David Dickinson, Constable, 2015, hb, £19.99, 362pp, 9781472113757 Theatrical murder onstage turns into the real thing as, after the performance, a young performer, Taneyev, is found dead backstage, stabbed through the heart with a real knife instead of a false one.

The waters are further muddied by the question of whether the victim was actually the intended one or not, as it was the understudy who is killed rather than the star of the ballet who should have been playing the part. Lord Powerscourt must use all his ingenuity and intelligent questioning to find the murderer. There are additional problems such as a jewel theft and a Bolshevik plan, set up by Lenin, to change roubles stolen from a Russian bank into pounds, to add to the sub-plots. The zeitgeist of the time is demonstrated through the excitement caused by the Ballets Russes and the fear caused by the Bolshevik threat; real-life historical figures such as Diaghilev and Fokine parade through the story as well. The respect shown to rank at this time is also clear; Powerscourt is aided by his title and knowledge of the rich and powerful.

This novel can be read as a stand-alone, but it is the fourteenth in the series, which began with Goodnight, Sweet Prince. Overall, this is a pleasant read, which fans of the series will like.

Ann Northfield WELCOME HOME Margaret Dickinson, Pan, 2015, £6.99/C$12.99, pb, 451pp, 9781447237259 Edie Kelsey and Lil Horton have been friends and neighbours for over 20 years. Living in the close-knit community of fishermen’s wives in Grimsby, Edie, a mother of five, and Lil, a widow whose only child was born after her father’s tragic death at sea in 1919, have supported each other throughout life’s ups and downs. Frank, Edie’s second son, and Irene, Lil’s daughter, fall in love and are married at a young age. Despite initial reservations on Edie’s part, this brings the two women even closer together, and the birth of a mutual grandchild adds to their happiness, despite the shadow of war threatening everyone’s lives.

With the outbreak of World War II, life changes irrevocably. Edie’s three older children are all involved with the war and Irene, her new baby and Edie’s youngest son, Reggie, are evacuated. Tragedy and hardship follow and then a scandal which tests their friendship to the limits.

A family saga from this popular author gives

no great surprises, but is eminently readable.

Margaret Dickinson comes from Lincolnshire and has obviously done her local research, so that the reader is given a clear picture of the area during the war years. The characters are well drawn and the story is easy to follow. Older readers, particularly, may enjoy the nostalgic feel and the descriptions of wartime life. The storyline is predictable, but the tale is well written and makes for a pleasant and undemanding read.

Maggi de Rozario SHADOWS OF LADENBROOKE MANOR Melanie Dobson, Howard, 2015, $14.99, pb, 339pp, 9781501106453 In 1954, Libby Doyle’s mother marries a man she doesn’t love while pregnant with another man’s child. When Maggie’s deception is revealed, Walter Doyle unwillingly accepts the child, despite her detachment from the world. Unfortunately, Lady Croft of Ladenbrooke Manor is less tolerant of Libby (who would be diagnosed with autism today). Maggie works for Lady Croft as a housekeeper, but when nine-year old Libby is ejected from school for disruption, the girl is barred from the manor as well. However, Lady Croft’s son Oliver has befriended Libby, and they continue meeting in their secret garden. Years pass; Libby is delivered of an illegitimate daughter, and Oliver is found dead in the river. When Libby disappears shortly afterward, it is thought that she followed her lover into death.

The Doyles’ younger daughter, Heather, also bears a child out of wedlock, straining her relationship with her father. When Walter dies, Heather flies over from the U.S. to sort through a lifetime of memorabilia, and finds a portfolio of beautiful butterflies. Who is the painter, and what else will Walter’s papers reveal about the Doyle family’s complicated past?

Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor, by the awardwinning Melanie Dobson, explores deception and redemption across the generations. Dobson deftly intertwines Libby, Maggie, and Heather’s stories in this historical mystery, and paints an especially sympathetic portrait of the autistic Libby. Walter and Heather were the victims of Maggie’s secretive ways, and I’d like to have learned more about their feelings on the subject, but Shadows is still an entertaining read.

Jo Ann Butler THE AMERICAN LADY: The Glassblower Trilogy Petra Durst-Benning (trans. Samuel Willcocks), AmazonCrossing, 2015, $14.95, pb, 472pp, 9781477826584 One night in 1910, in the German village of Lauscha, Marie, a creative glassblower, feels as if someone has shoved a glass dome over her head.

Unable to slip it off and breathe, she screams. She is awakened from the nightmare by her boyfriend’s soothing voice, his arms around her. Something is also blocking Marie’s inventiveness. She decides to re-energize herself by visiting her sister, Ruth, who had moved to New York along with her daughter, Wanda. Ruth, married to a Woolworth executive, lives a fashionable life in a high-rise, attending and arranging dinner parties, charitable events and such. She wants 18-year-old Wanda to act high20th Century

class as well. Wanda, unable to hold a steady job, is facing dilemmas of her own but is delighted to take her Aunt Marie around NYC. Marie enjoys the Greenwich Village atmosphere, where she meets an Italian nobleman, Franco. Marie inadvertently tells Wanda a family secret that upsets her, and she heads off to Lauscha to learn more about her past.

Franco manages to persuade Marie to move with him to his parents’ estate in Genoa.

This second book in Petra Durst-Benning’s series about a trio of German sisters is virtually a standalone. It covers Marie’s and Wanda’s stories during 1910-1911. Since that was a relatively tranquil period in Germany, Italy and the USA, the novel is essentially a family saga of loves, marriages, ambitions and disappointments. The political unrest from Bolshevism, anti-Semitism, and other issues, which happened in the following years leading up to WWI, may well feature in the sequel.

However, the strong writing and vivid descriptions of that period’s norms, dialogue and locations keep our interest alive. Readers will yearn to learn if Wanda and Marie will find love and happiness and turn the novel’s pages up to the appealing ending.

Waheed Rabbani BLACKMAIL, MY LOVE Katie Gilmartin, Cleis Press, 2014, $16.95, pb, 304pp, 9781627780643 Josie O’Connor arrives in 1950s San Francisco after her brother, Jimmy, fails to phone her as expected. A former policeman, Jimmy had been fired from the San Francisco police force and subsequently worked as a private eye before he vanished. Josie’s quest leads her to the famous Black Cat Cafe, the Fillmore district, and the Tenderloin, to a world filled with danger and blackmail for those frequenting it who are unlucky enough to be identified by the police, or others unsympathetic to “the life.”

After her initial inquiries prove futile, Josie adopts male dress, finding freedom in it. She meets gentle Mr. Dodson, enigmatic Lily Wu, and many others, all of them living in the shadows, afraid to let their secrets out. As Josie follows up on her brother’s blackmail investigation, she travels further and further into the homosexual underground, and a criminal world of corruption and police brutality.

Katie Gilmartin has a PhD in cultural studies with an emphasis in Queer History. Her knowledge brings history to life in this neo-noir mystery novel, nicely illustrated with Gilmartin’s own prints. This book evokes a period and a lifestyle unfamiliar to many readers, and is grounded in historical events, notably the California Supreme Court ruling of 1951 that challenged the police bar raids common in that era. Curious readers will enjoy and learn from Gilmartin’s recreation of this lamentable chapter in American history.

Susan McDuffie

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BENEATH STILL WATERS Cynthia A. Graham, Blank Slate, 2015, $14.95, pb, 224pp, 9780991305841 When the headless body of a baby girl is found in the swamp near Cherokee Crossing, Arkansas, it is up to Hick Blackburn, the town’s reluctant sheriff, to uncover the truth about the infant’s death. But the body isn’t the only thing that the still, murky waters of the Arkansas slough dredge 20th Century

up. The body stirs up powerful emotions in Hick – from the horror he faced and committed during WWII, to his tenuous relationship with his former fiancé – and in the town itself, making everyone reassess the place they call home and the balance between good

and evil inside them all.

Beneath Still Waters is Southern lit at its finest and most poignant. On the one hand we have Hick Blackburn’s struggle with his role in his family – his broken-off marriage with Maggie, and his relationship with his sister and brotherin-law (also his deputy) – and, on the other hand, Hick’s doubts about his place in the community.

He didn’t want to be sheriff, and now he isn’t sure he wants to chase down the killer of the baby, as it might just be a young girl in town and he wants to avoid scandal. Cynthia Graham’s writing is crisp and to the heart. Her characters are true, honest, and quickly become a part of you. This book is a page-turner that will keep you guessing about the identity of the killer until the very end. And, yes, there is a mule within the pages of the story, but it isn’t dead. Highly recommended.

Bryan Dumas

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AT THE WATER’S EDGE Sara Gruen, Spiegel and Grau, 2015, $28.00, hb, 360pp, 978038552323 / Two Roads, 2015, £16.99, hb, 400pp, 9781473604704 Maddie lives life to the fullest in 1945, partying continuously with her wealthy friends and getting herself involved in escapades with her husband, Ellis, and his best friend, Hank. Both men are 4F for fighting in the war but eager to prove their worth, so they hatch a plan to photograph the Loch Ness monster (a task begun by Ellis’s father years before). Crossing the ocean during wartime, the trio set out on their task, but nothing goes as planned. Maddie finds herself left behind in an erstwhile inn while the men go out for often days at a time, and, with lots of idle hours on her hands, begins to help the staff, almost living a double life.

As the days slip by, Maddie begins to question not only her husband and his motives, but also her own place in the world. Much like the elusive monster, Maddie finds whom she really is surfacing in unexpected ways.

I cannot say enough good things about this wonderful novel. Fully engrossing from the first pages, it shows the strength of human nature and the scariness of change. There’s just enough business with the Loch Ness monster; indeed, the whole scenario behind the trip to Scotland takes a back seat to Maddie’s emotional growth as her story plays out. The author allows the mysteries

surrounding the trio to build expertly, with the added element of just what constitutes abuse in a world of privilege. This is a delightful novel that will have you wishing for more pages because you won’t want to let go.

Tamela McCann THE NIGHTINGALE Kristin Hannah, St. Martin’s, 2015, $27.99/ C$32.50, hb, 448pp, 9780312577223 / Macmillan, 2015, £14.99, hb, 352pp, 9781447283270 This is the story of the Rossignol family during WWII in Nazi-occupied France. It focuses mainly on the two Rossignol sisters. Isabelle is the rebellious, anger-filled younger sister, who creates an escape route from France, for rescued downed airmen, as her way of fighting the enemy, but also of getting back at the family she believes rejected her. In contrast to Isabelle is meek older sister Viann, who just wants to survive the German occupation of her village and her own home and protect her daughter. Viann, however, is forced out of the shadows and must fight in her own way, when she is called on to protect the son of a Jewish friend. Ultimately, she begins to protect other Jewish children, too.

The novel also concentrates on their father, Julien, a broken man who has turned to drink to drown his own horrors of war and the loss of his wife. The novel is bracketed by the narrative of one of the two sisters 50 years after the war. The reader doesn’t find out which sister has survived until the very last page.

The Nightingale is a saga that also presents many other characters, including a sympathetic German soldier. Kristin Hannah creates a clear and precise picture of the occupations of Carriveau and Paris, including a somber image of the French trying to hold onto their way of life. But she moves through all the storylines at an equal, often leisurely pace that sometimes robs the peaks of emotional punch.

This is a story of survival, rebellion, and redemption that recreates the time, place and horrors. Kristin Hannah does ultimately deliver a big emotional moment at the end when the story is wrapped up and the identity of the surviving sister revealed.

Francesca Pelaccia A COMMON VIRTUE James Hawkins, Naval Institute Press, 2015, $29.95, hb, 240pp, 9781612517964 Paul Jackson is an eighteen-year-old Marine who finds himself at the wrong end of a firefight at the Duc Lo Firebase in Vietnam. As the sole survivor of the onslaught, he catches the eye of daring, young Captain Rivers, who enlists him to join in a new, risky venture called Marine Force Recon. After traipsing deep behind enemy lines with Rivers, it is decided that Jackson was going to help Rivers run the unit, but to do that he’d have to be an officer. In one month, Jackson goes from Lance Corporal to Lieutenant, exposing Jackson to even more scrutiny by the old guard of the Marines’ internal factions, as he has no college degree and never attended OCS – where he is being shipped off to as the war heats up. While at OCS, Jackson falls in love with a New York socialite who begs him to stay, but Jackson knows his duty. He will finish what he started.

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This is James Hawkins’ first novel, and though I am not a regular reader of war & military fiction, I couldn’t put the book down. His writing is tight, crisp and had me anticipating every ambush. It is a gritty book that doesn’t hide the horrors of the Vietnam War. If I had any issues it would be the use of the military jargon, but there is a glossary at the back that I had to reference often. Also, it is advertised as a book that pits the soldier against an American public that despises him, but that part was so minimal that I hardly noticed. I wish there was more of this aspect. Overall, a good read.

Bryan Dumas A HOPE REMEMBERED Stacy Henrie, Forever, 2015, $8.00/C$9.00, pb, 384pp, 9781455598847 In the third book of the Of Love and War series, the protagonists have both lost loved ones in the First World War: Nora Lewis’ fiancé fighting in the trenches; Colin Ashby’s brother, another pilot in his squadron, shot down in a dogfight. Both are scarred by their loss, but when Nora unexpectedly inherits a sheep farm in England’s Lake District, she courageously leaves Iowa to start life anew.

The son and heir of the neighboring baronet is, of course, Colin; they fall in love. This is a gentle, inspirational romance, which emphasizes consolation rather than loss. The villagers are surprisingly kindly and welcoming; the ‘villains’ turn remorseful; the challenges, including class barriers, are rather too easily overcome; and the lovers’ religious faith is deepened after suffering is bravely endured, lessons are learned, and suitable penance is offered. A comforting message.

Ray Thompson

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THE DYNAMITE ROOM Jason Hewitt, Little, Brown, 2015, $26.00, hb, 304pp, 9780316327657 / Simon & Schuster, 2014, £7.99, pb, 416pp, 9781471127427 July 1940. In the high heat of summer, eleven-year-old Lydia walks alone down a dusty road to her English village and finds the place deserted.

Disquieted, she continues homeward with her suitcase bumping her leg and the box for her gas mask swinging from her shoulder. Greyfriars is empty, but Lydia settles in to wait for her family’s return. And then that night, she wakes to the creak of footsteps in the house.

It is a wounded Nazi soldier who did not expect to find anyone here, certainly not Lydia, who is a runaway from Wales, where she had been sent as an evacuee. A German invasion is coming, he says.

They must prepare Greyfriars for the next arrivals.

He will not hurt her if she does as he says. Break the rules, and he will shoot her. Thus, their cautious relationship begins: a cat-and-mouse game wherein she tiptoes past him while he explores Greyfriars, searching for… what? When they are in separate rooms, Heiden feels Lydia “crouching behind the door, listening to him listening to her,” though neither makes a sound. They, and we, feel 40 | Reviews |

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the pulse of the house breathing as this wonderful, thoroughly original story unfolds. What is our German soldier about? What brought him here, and how does he know so much about Lydia’s absent family?

In The Dynamite Room, novelist Jason Hewitt weaves a spellbinding tale to linger over and savor, looping back and drawing us forward to a conclusion that is equally heartbreaking and beautiful. Long listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize (2014) and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick of 2015, this gripping first novel is a book for the ages, so engaging and well written, I did not want it to end. Very highly recommended.

Alana White DRIVING THE KING Ravi Howard, Harper, 2015, $25.99, hb, 336pp, 9780060529611 The timing for this book about racial inequality couldn’t be more perfect, amid protests over white police killings of black men and the disproportionately high African-American incarceration rate in U.S. prisons. Like the film Selma about the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ravi Howard’s novel Driving the King reminds us of how little has changed, really – isn’t that what historical fiction is supposed to do? – and how far we remain from achieving the American ideal of liberty and justice for all.

The tale centers not on the famous AfricanAmerican singer Nat King Cole but on his childhood friend Nat Weary, who saves the performer from white attackers during a concert in Montgomery, Alabama. For this heroic deed, Weary, a World War II veteran, gets ten years in prison – and, at the end of his term, a job offer from Cole, living in Los Angeles and in need of a driver. Weary accepts, and finds in L.A. a new life relatively free of racism and bigotry, while his friends and family continue to suffer and fight white supremacy in his hometown.

Here lies the rub in this otherwise wonderful book: Viewing from afar the momentous events of the era in Montgomery also detaches us from them – a shame in a book about race. We also feel detached from Cole, who expresses gratitude to Weary but little else, never fully revealing himself.

The book’s uneven jumps from present to past and back again, while intended to build tension, keep us at a distance from Weary, as well.

Still, Howard’s evocative writing, his fine ear for voice, and the beautiful, intimate scenes he teases out between Weary and others – the author is a master of dialogue – make Driving the King a gratifying read, and an important one for anyone concerned about race and equality.

Sherry Jones MATRONS AND MADAMS Sharon Johnston, Dundurn, 2015, $20.00/ C$22.49, pb, 328pp, 9781459728967 In 1918 London, 30-year-old nurse Clara hears the long-awaited news: “The war is over!” Having lost her husband in the war, tears of joy and sorrow roll down her cheeks. But she is reconciled by her thought: “I still have my children.” However, when her six-year-old son dies in an influenza pandemic, her double loss is unbearable. With the help of

a Canadian surgeon, Clara decides to accept a position as superintendent of the Galt Hospital in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Clara also longs to meet her eldest sister who, when nineteen, had been mysteriously sent to Nova Scotia, and, following the birth of her daughter Lily there, had married a pharmacist. Onboard the transatlantic ship, Clara meets another Nova Scotian, Doctor Barnaby, who coincidentally knew Lily at college. Clara improves the deplorable conditions at the Galt and supports the enamored mayor’s initiatives in ameliorating the living and health conditions of the city’s prostitutes. However, unknown to both Clara and Burnaby, Lily is also in Lethbridge, and ensuing unforeseen circumstances compel her to operate a brothel. Fate unites them to face local prejudices while seeking life mates.

While First Ladies of a country usually write autobiographies, it is fascinating that Her Excellency Sharon Johnston (the Viceregal Consort of Canada) has penned a novel that, somewhat in the style of Isabel Allende, narrates a love story with a political backdrop, set during an important period in Canada, the post WWI era. The reforms in Alberta are boldly narrated, particularly the “Lethbridge model,” which constitutes a unique way of keeping prostitution in check, and the attempts at controlling the spread of VD. Although the writing reads, in part, much like non-fiction, it is the saga of a British-Canadian family that keeps us engrossed. The open ending indicates that a sequel is likely to follow. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani LEAVING BERLIN Joseph Kanon, Atria, 2014, $27/C$32.50, hb, 371pp, 9781476704647 Kanon’s latest thriller (after Istanbul Passage, 2012) takes place in the interstices of World War II and the Cold War. Like all of Germany, Berlin is divided into zones administered by the Allies, but the city itself is in the middle of the Russian sector.

Intra-city rivalries for resources, manpower, and, above all, confidential information, are fierce and sometimes deadly.

We see the war-torn city through the eyes of Alex Meier, a Berliner returning for the first time in 15 years. Meier, a successful writer, left Germany while that was still possible. Although welcomed back as a returning exile cum celebrity, he doesn’t plan to stay. Meier’s home is in California with his young son. When he refused to testify against communist sympathizers, however, his residence status was threatened, forcing him bargain with the CIA. After a turn as an Agency spy in Berlin, Meier will be allowed to return to the States for good.

Meier’s literary credentials may open doors for him, but the Russians suspect his American connections, Germans dislike his Jewish name, and the Americans distrust his brand of socialism.

When asked to spy on a former lover, Meier is helpless to object, but when he’s deceived by his old friends, so-called allies, and the woman whom he still loves, he knows his life is in danger – but why?

And from whom? Meier comes face to face with his real enemy in a dénouement that upturns all of our expectations, The best scenes in Leaving Berlin are flashbacks to Meier’s early life – glimpses of a younger man 20th Century

and a city unchanged by war – which enlighten the reader and give the novel uncommon depth.

Leaving Berlin, one of Joseph Kanon’s best, is highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene THE BLUE MILE Kim Kelly, Macmillan Australia, 2014, A$29.99, pb, 464pp, 9781742613918 The third novel from Australian writer Kelly (aka book editor Kim Swivel), set in Depressionera Sydney, excels at depicting the era’s social conditions and the swoony exuberance and thorny complications of cross-class romance. The story unfolds through the internal musings of Irishborn Catholic Eoghan O’Keenan, recently let go from his factory job, and ambitious designer Olivia Greene, daughter of a viscount who abandoned her and her mother.

After Eoghan (“Yo”) flees the grime and alcoholism of the slums with his seven-year-old sister, Agnes, he encounters Olivia by chance in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Although there’s an instantaneous mutual attraction, their relationship progresses at a realistically sedate pace. They remain separated for long periods, while Olivia attracts new clientele to her and her mother’s couturier business and Eoghan takes a dangerous job catching rivets 300 feet above water during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The stream-of-consciousness style takes getting used to, for Olivia in particular. Her unfiltered thoughts, full of energy and interjections, follow wherever her mind rambles. The couple’s viewpoints and vocabularies reflect their personalities, though.

Both are caring people, and the narrative technique makes their sentiments toward one another feel startlingly real and honest.

The historical setting, presented clearly, plays a significant role. With Britain demanding repayment of Australia’s war debts, unemployment runs high, and there are growing pockets of civil unrest. The “blue mile” of the title refers to the overcrowded waterway dividing the city and the immense distances in faith and class separating Eoghan and Olivia. The Sydney Harbour Bridge’s massive arch, its two halves joining together at last in 1932, becomes a symbol of hope, but both the city and couple undergo significant strain before they can move forward. All of the details on the broader social context enhance the telling of a beautiful love story.

Sarah Johnson THE LANGUAGE OF THE DEAD Stephen Kelly, Pegasus Crime, 2015, $25.95, hb, 288pp, 9781605986968 An old man is found slain under a tree, crows pecking at his eyes. The ritual slaying of Will Blackwood echoes the killing of a reputed witch some sixty years earlier; the killer carved a cross on the victim’s forehead, stabbed a pitchfork through his neck, and embedded a scythe in his chest. Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Lamb investigates in this murder mystery set in rural Hampshire in the early days of World War II. Lamb’s investigations lead him to a strange mute boy, Peter, who communicates through his detailed drawings of insects and butterflies, to the girl Emily Fordham, who has befriended the boy, 20th Century

and to three neglected children who may have witnessed the slaying. The need to find the killer becomes increasingly urgent as another brutal murder takes place in the quiet village of Quimby.

Varied subplots involve Lamb’s own daughter and her work as a civil defense officer, Lamb’s troubled Sergeant, David Wallace, and a ghost from Lamb’s own years in the trenches of WWI, Inspector Harry Rivers. The characters are well drawn, and the plot moves in unexpected directions as the investigation continues against a background of German bombings and the privations of the war.

Kelly’s strong writing weaves these diverse strands into a cohesive whole. The novel vividly evokes the era and setting. I greatly enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more of Inspector Lamb’s cases in the future. Recommended.

Susan McDuffie

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SHAME AND THE CAPTIVES Thomas Keneally, Atria, 2015, $26.00, hb, 384pp, 9781476734644 / Sceptre, 2015, £8.99, pb, 400pp, 9781444781274 In August 1944, the Second World War in the Pacific is winding down.

In Australia, prison camps house enemy combatants. One of the camps, Gawell POW camp, is divided into four compounds: Compound A for the Italian prisoners; Compound B, the Japanese officers, along with Taiwanese, Koreans and Indonesians; Compound C for the Japanese prisoners; and Compound D was the second Italian Compound.

Alice Herman lives on her father-in-law’s farm about three miles from the camp. Her husband is a prisoner of war in Europe. Colonel Ewan Abercore is the camp commander, while Major Bernard Suttor commands Compound C. The camp commanders try to provide the prisoners with proper incarceration according to the Geneva Convention.

The Japanese prisoners in Compound C feel shame because of their imprisonment and would rather have died prior to capture. Many Italians are sent to local farms to live and help the farm owners. Alice is a recipient of one of the Italian prisoners. Lonely since her husband’s capture, she is sexually drawn to the young Italian. Meanwhile, the Japanese, led by several leaders, plan to escape the prison or, preferably, die trying.

This is historical writing at its best. The details of life in both the prison camp and the civilian/ military personnel in Gawell are based upon research into a similar prison break elsewhere during the war. This is a must-read for those who enjoy well-researched and atmospheric novels of World War II. The reader can feel the shame felt by the Japanese prisoners, and their preference for a merciless death to the humiliation of imprisonment. An exceptional story, highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff

THE LADY FROM ZAGREB: A Bernie Gunther Novel Philip Kerr, Putnam, 2015, $26.95/C$32.95, hb, 432pp, 9780399167645 / Quercus, 2015, £18.99, hb, 432pp, 9781782065814 This is Philip Kerr’s 10th Bernie Gunther detective novel set in Nazi-era Germany. Like the nine before it, The Lady from Zagreb is outstanding historical fiction.

The story begins in the summer of 1943.

Former Berlin homicide detective Gunther now investigates crime for the SS – the irony of which he fully appreciates. But his police skills are sent in another direction this time as he is commandeered to run a personal “errand” for propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels’ favorite starlet, the stunning lady from Zagreb, Dalia Dresner, cannot perform – so anxious is she over her missing father.

Bernie is sent to Croatia to find the man and bring him back if he can. The mission leads him to the concentration camp of Jasenovsac. The sadistic horror of the place sets the tone for the treachery to follow – a game of thrones where Nazi elites, American spymasters, and Swiss officials use every means available, including pawns like Gunther, to bring about their own versions of the war’s outcome.

It takes Gunther some time to get through the layers of deceit to see what’s actually going on. But one of his most surprising discoveries is that he is in love. It’s an impossible romance, but – there it is. He becomes a man with one good thing in his life and he risks everything to preserve it. And that brings the story to an end – which I won’t spoil.

The Lady from Zagreb is at times hard to read.

Bernie’s cynicism can get to you after a while. Still, the story is funny in places and very human. The author’s similes are hilarious, as in: “smooth as an English butler’s silk underwear,” and “butler with a face like a melted elephant.” Kerr’s historical acumen and storytelling skill make for a thoroughly worthwhile read. Definitely a go.

Lucille Cormier DREAMING SPIES Laurie R. King, Bantam, 2015, $26.00, hb, 352pp, 9780345531797 / Allison & Busby, 2015, £19.99, hb, 350pp, 9780749018115 After completing a case in India, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes board a steamer in Bombay to head for California. Along the way, they hope to vacation in southern Japan, but almost as soon as they board, Holmes recognizes a man he suspects of being a blackmailer and immediately becomes wary. On board, Russell makes friends with an intriguing Japanese woman, who ends up giving many on the ship lessons in Japanese language and customs. After arriving in Japan, Russell and Holmes are challenged with what seems to be a complex test of strength, endurance, and cunning, but to what end, they cannot fathom. Once they’ve passed the test, they are swept up in a plan to stop a blackmailer from causing an international incident that could topple imperial Japan. From the high seas, to rural Japan, and back to Oxford, the mystery gives Russell a chance to match her wits against Holmes as well as the blackmailers.

While at times I felt the book dragged, especially in the set-up at the beginning and while they’re onboard ship, once the story got going, it drew HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 41

me in. The characters were interesting, and the descriptions of the culture and landscape of Japan had me wishing I was traveling alongside Holmes and Russell. Once back in England, the pace picks up again and the intricate mystery comes to a satisfying conclusion. Recommended.

Kristina Blank Makansi THE SNOW GLOBE Judith Kinghorn, NAL, 2015, $16.00, pb, 416pp, 9780451472090 The Snow Globe is the story of the Forbes family as they make their way through England following the Great War. The Forbes family is “new money,” the result of patriarch Howard’s rise in the world of industry. Eden Hall is their family seat, and as the family gathers there for Christmas, illusions will be shattered and secrets uncovered.

The novel is told primarily from Daisy’s point of view. The youngest daughter, she idolizes her father Howard. After overhearing the kitchen staff gossiping about the master’s flashy mistress, she is sent into a tailspin. As she struggles with her feelings of betrayal, there are other women in the home who are undergoing transformation.

Mabel, the demure matriarch of the family, is contemplating rebellion. The oldest daughter, Iris, is busy pushing the envelope in London, but is not so self-absorbed that she ignores Daisy in her time of need. The men of Eden Hall are restless, too.

Howard has been leading a double life for some time. Stephen, the family’s chauffeur, holds an unrequited love for someone out of his reach, and must learn to move on.

Judith Kinghorn excels at this time period.

Her descriptions are accurate, and the characters’ speech never wanders into modern territory. She vividly depicts the turmoil of the postwar period, as the great houses of England slowly begin to decay and their occupants drift away. The Forbes family and their retainers are all undergoing changes, and Kinghorn deftly captures the complexity of their dreams and desires. Those who love the blockbuster show Downton Abbey will find much to enjoy in The Snow Globe.

Caroline Wilson THE GOOD KNOW NOTHING: A Tom Hickey Novel Ken Kuhlken, Poisoned Pen Press, 2014, $24.95/ C$27.95, hb, 277pp, 9781464202865 Enter a world of dust and desperation, where poverty and corruption are rife and casual violence is the norm. It’s 1936, and after nearly 11 years on the LAPD, Detective Tom Hickey, a man with more scruples than most, has developed a moral code he can live with. But when a family friend gives him an old manuscript and tells a longconcealed story about Tom’s father, Charlie, who abandoned his crazy wife and two children decades prior, Tom risks his job, family, and even his life to find answers. He needs to know Charlie’s motives for fleeing and what became of him since; maybe he’s even still alive.

The contents of the handwritten sheets bear a remarkable resemblance to a published novel, which gives Tom several clues. In this atmospheric southwestern noir, the writing is lean, edgy, and action-packed as Tom follows a trail that’s still as dangerous and red hot as the Arizona desert.

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The temperature rises off the pages as he drives his Chevrolet out to Tucson, and trouble follows him constantly. Convincingly melded into the story are many real-life characters, including Aimee Semple McPherson, the evangelist preacher who employs Tom’s sister, Florence; newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who buys his politics via the media; and a man who may or may not be a notorious outlaw. Both Florence, a gorgeous dame with brains, and Tom’s wife, Madeline, a redheaded torch singer, have their moments in the spotlight, too.

The Good Know Nothing is seventh and last in Kuhlken’s California Century series, but because the books are non-consecutive, readers can start at any point. They should hide the dust jacket before beginning, though. In a crime thriller, especially, the blurb shouldn’t give so much of the story away.

Sarah Johnson

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UNDER A DARK SUMMER SKY (US) / SUMMERTIME (UK) Vanessa Lafaye, Sourcebooks, 2015, $14.99, pb, 400pp, 9781492612506 / Orion, 2015, £12.99, hb, 368pp, 9781409155379 The storm-tossed Florida Keys of 1935 is the setting for this impressive debut novel. Since he went off to fight in World War I, Missy has been missing the love of her life, Henry. He returns scarred, damaged, and part of a team of veterans hired by the U.S. government to repair a bridge. He’s also seen the wider world, and had a lover in Paris who did not class him lower because of the color of his skin.

Henry’s sister Selma thinks she has drawn him back home with the power of her spells.

Missy has long ago become content with her life as a companion to her mother and as a domestic worker, fondly caring for the Kincaid family’s baby son. The town, both black and white, is suspicious of Henry and the rough-and-ready veterans.

Suspicions heighten when Mrs. Kincaid is found beaten almost to death after a town celebration.

As Henry is brought to jail and, he thinks, almost certain lynching, the most powerful hurricane to hit North America is gearing up to strike Heron Key. Lafaye plumbs the depths of her characters as the storm approaches. Life in a segregated society shows with all its darkness of the heart under the strain of catastrophe. The hurricane and its effects are powerfully rendered, as are the quietest openings of the heart. Highly recommended.

Eileen Charbonneau

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THE EMPIRE OF THE SENSES Alexis Landau, Pantheon, 2015, $27.95, hb, 496pp, 9781101870075 The years leading up to World War II provide the setting for this powerful, engrossing debut novel exploring themes of duty and love, identity and authenticity, honor and shame and the secrets we keep, as it portrays a Jewish-Christian family

in Berlin struggling to come to terms with the increasing racial tensions gripping their country.

When World War I begins, Jewish businessman Lev Pearlmutter is one of the first to volunteer, hoping to prove his German allegiance to his Christian wife, Josephine, and her aristocratic family. Stationed in Russia, he falls in love with a Jewish peasant, Leah. Their union cannot withstand the war, however, and Lev is forced to return home to his loveless marriage. Back in Berlin, he finds that his son, Franz, has developed a zeal for all things military, which he finds disturbing but which delights Josephine, whose disappointment in her husband—not even wounded!—is evident. As the children grow up, Franz develops an attraction to a dangerous young man who lures him into the Nazi “Brown Shirt” movement—but he’s not the only one in the family with secrets. Even Lev’s daughter, Vicki, with whom he enjoys a genuine connection, grows distant as she enters a clandestine relationship that will take her away to Palestine, but also revives Lev’s hopes of reunion with his beloved Leah.

It’s a wonderfully complex plot, and Landau’s stellar storytelling skills make The Empire of the Senses a joy to read. The author has developed each of her characters so richly and deeply that they seem to spring to life, and I couldn’t wait to visit them again. Riveting and flawlessly written, this book is now one of my favorites. Highly recommended.

Sherry Jones WORLD GONE BY Dennis Lehane, William Morrow, 2015, $27.99, hb, 320pp, 9780060004903 World Gone By is 1940s World War II-era literary crime fiction. Ex-mob boss Joe Coughlin is indispensable to the Italian crime syndicate running south Florida. A legitimate business man with family ties to Cuba, Joe has become a valued consultant to the illegal underworld, a “fixer” in the words of a naval intelligence officer. And so Joe believes, until he learns of a contract for his killing from a desperate lady assassin. That cold killer, Mrs. Del Fresco, is one of many colorful players in what the criminals in World Gone By refer to as “our thing.” Crime as a business and as a way of life has already had costly consequences for Joe Coughlin. He is left to raise a young son alone, after his Cuban wife is caught in the crossfire of Joe’s professional world.

The characters populating this intelligent tale of alliances and retribution run the gamut. From well-dressed, gentlemanly Joe Coughlin, to an evil gangster called King Lucius, who after slitting the throat of an associate tells Joe, “Yet, under the watchful eyes of God… I thrive,” World Gone By is not just a mobster tale, or an involving thriller; it is a story that provides an intense flavor of a time past, a story that delves into the psyches of the individuals who become involved in “our thing.” On 20th Century

this subject Lehane is poetic: “your sins and your sorrows had multiplied so prodigiously you weren’t fit for any other type of life.” If literary crime fiction is not a genre, it should be, with World Gone By as its finest example.

Eva Ulett TANGLED ROOTS Marianne K. Martin, Bywater, 2014, $14.95, pb, 212pp, 9781612940533 Georgia in 1906 is not a good place for Anna Benson and Nessie Jameson to be best friends, for Nessie is black, and Anna is white. The children are gently separated during a party by Grandma Addy, who tells Anna that, when she’s older she will understand what’s proper. Despite Addy’s admonitions, she lets the girls play undisturbed on the family’s farm, and clean out an old shed for a puppet theater Nine years later, Anna and Nessie still meet at their secret room, and have turned their skills to making dolls for sale. For Anna, what’s proper is stifling, and Nessie is subjected to entrenched racism, but both young women are saving their money for nursing school. Anna’s father forbids her, for no proper lady would become a nurse.

Anna sneaks off with Nessie to look at boarding houses, only to hear that “your Negro” must sleep in the barn. Nessie is more accustomed to Jim Crow laws, and when she comforts Anna, they discover that their affection has ripened into love.

Tangled Roots is a sensitive exploration of forbidden love in repressive times: black and white, and physical love between women. It’s a prequel, and while I felt like I was missing something in the Benson family relationships, the story stands alone, and the love Nessie and Anna bear for each other rings true.

Jo Ann Butler TOO BAD TO DIE Francine Mathews, Riverhead, 2015, $27.95/£19.99, hb, 368pp, 9781594631795 Francine Mathews’ thriller Too Bad to Die features none other than Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, as the hero who must save the lives of the “Big Three” from an assassination attempt during World War II. President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin are meeting in Cairo and Tehran with their various entourages, to plan an invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. As they debate the various aspects of the proposed invasion, Roosevelt struggles with ill health. Churchill, in the meantime, is growing in distrust of Stalin while fighting bronchitis. Stalin, of course, is looking beyond the war to expanding the Soviet empire. After M16 agent Fleming is informed by code breaker Alan Turing that a double agent known only as “the Fencer” is in their midst, plotting to kill the three leaders, he finds that he is also a target.

Thus begins an adventure as harrowing as anything that might happen to Fleming’s protagonist James Bond. Writing with elegance and grit, Mathews keeps the reader in a state of suspense, venturing into the world of high diplomacy as well as into the sewers of the underworld. Both worlds are places where deals are made, sometimes at the price of a soul or two.

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Mathews explores the psyches of her characters during the tense days and cocktail-drenched nights in Tehran. Fleming’s brains and intrepidity, his inner conflicts as well as his suave recklessness, make him a character as intriguing as one in his own books.

Elena Maria Vidal SECRETS OF A CHARMED LIFE Susan Meissner, NAL, 2015, $15.00, pb, 416pp, 9780451419927 In 1940, sisters Emmaline and Julia Downtree are sent to a small Gloucester village during London’s evacuation of children. Emmy, eight years Julia’s senior, left behind the opportunity to see her budding fashion career take off. Having grown up not knowing her father’s identity, Emmy latched onto a fondness for bridal gowns, much to her single mother’s annoyance. She spent her youth poring over drawings of her own creations, and at the tender age of 15, already had a designer interested in her work.

Unfortunately the war complicated both her dreams of the future, and her relationships with her sister, mother and foster mother. Emmy chafed at her lost prospects, impatient with the kindness and safety found in her temporary home. Not realizing the magnitude of the upcoming devastation of the Blitz, Emmy makes a rash decision that puts all of them in danger and forever changes the course of her life.

This story of choices and consequences takes readers on a heartrending journey through wartorn London, the quiet Cotswolds and far-off America. Told in the author’s signature style of a current day character revisiting the past, the identity and circumstances of the protagonist is revealed in bits and pieces, keeping the reader on edge. This is an eye-opening view of the United Kingdom during WWII, and particularly the aerial raids known as the Blitzkrieg.

The most notable attribute of this story is the plethora of well-fleshed personalities, and the care taken with each backstory. There was not a point in the story where a character’s motives were questionable or unclear, making this a rather impressive and emotional novel.

Arleigh Johnson THE SWEETHEART Angelina Mirabella, Simon & Schuster, 2014, $25.00/C$29.99, hb, 352pp, 9781476733876 As a gawky teenager in 1950s Philadelphia, Leoni Putzkammer dreams about being someone else: someone who is popular, self-assured, and never embarrassed by her family. She gets glimpses of that other someone, that other life, when her sometime-friend Cynthia invites her to dance on Bandstand. A disastrous ending to that outing leads to a moment of fame which then does change her life, as Leonie Putzkammer is recruited into the world of professional women’s wrestling. In the ring, she becomes Gwen Davies, “the Sweetheart,” who can be dramatic, athletic, loved and hated all at once. Leonie’s wild ride on the wrestling circuit is fraught with pain, injustice, raging hormones, and a wide-ranging cast of characters, all of whom lead her to a level of maturity and self-knowledge that she would never have reached, had she followed her father’s advice and stayed home.

The 1950s were the heyday of women’s wrestling, and Mirabella has clearly done her research, even including a cameo by real-life wrestler Mildred Burke. The diners, the drinks, the trainers, and the bouts themselves transport the reader to that golden age where wrestlers were either winners (heroes) or losers (heels). Leonie realizes the complexity and needs of her own character, both in and out of the ring, as she learns some of life’s hard lessons and makes bittersweet decisions about her future. Making and keeping friends has never been her strong suit, and that’s even more the case in this competitive world, where it’s easy to forget that a woman who’s tough in the ring can still be easily hurt by an unkind word from a boyfriend or fan.

Mirabella’s story is engaging, at times funny and others painful, as we root for Leonie to triumph over her in-ring foes and her inner uncertainties.

Helene Williams A REUNION OF GHOSTS Judith Claire Mitchell, Harper, 2015, $26.99, hb, 400pp, 9780062355881 / Fourth Estate, 2015, £14.99, hb, 400pp, 9780007594344 Lady, Vee and Delph Alter are three sisters in their forties, writing what they describe as a family memoir, a quasi-confessional and a joint suicide note.

“Q: How do three sisters write a single suicide note?

A: The same way as a porcupine makes love: carefully.”

Suicide runs in the Alter family. Their mother, two aunts, their grandfather and two greatgrandparents have all committed suicide: part, they believe, of a family curse. The youngest sister, Delph, has a tattoo on her calf explaining it that reads “the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the 3rd and 4th generations.”

The sisters are the 4th and last generation, but in A Reunion of Ghosts they tell the story from the 1st generation onwards, moving back and forth through history from the late 19th century to the close of the 20th. Their great-grandfather, Lorenz Otto Alter, is called “World War I hero, World War I criminal,” and it is his sins that they believe have doomed them all.

A Reunion of Ghosts is a very consciously literary novel. Mitchell takes an unusual point of view with the three sisters narrating the novel together. Instead of a conventional first-person narrator, Mitchell writes in the first person plural.

Together they have a unique and often humorous voice, relating and commenting on the lives and deaths of their forebears as well as their own lives.

The result is an unusual novel, full of light and darkness. Although the sisters are purely fictional, the character of their great-grandfather is based on the life of Franz Haber, known as the father of chemical warfare.

Mitchell, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, is clearly an accomplished wordsmith.

Although A Reunion of Ghosts proved to be too studied to be truly engaging, there is much to admire here.

Kate Braithwaite THE WHISPERING CITY Sara Moliner (trans. Mara Faye Lethem), Hachette Australia, 2015, A$29.99, pb, 405pp, HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 43

9780349139937 / Abacus, 2015, £12.99, pb, 405pp, 9780349139937 / Pegasus, 2015, $26.95, hb, 416pp, 9781605988955 Barcelona in 1952. When glamorous widow, Mariona Sobrerroca, is found murdered in her mansion, Inspector Isidro Castro is assigned to the investigation. Young newspaper journalist, Ana Marti Noguer, is chosen to assist him because of her insider knowledge of the elite circles in which Mariona moved.

This was the era when Spain was ruled by the oppressive fascist government under General Franco; the media was subject to tight controls and police investigations liable to be twisted or corrupted by sinister forces in high places. Ana walks a dangerous tightrope as she sees the murder from a different viewpoint and privately questions Castro’s conclusions that it was just a burglary gone wrong.

When Ana discovers florid love letters hidden among Mariona’s belongings, she consults her scholarly Aunt Beatriz as to their hidden meaning.

Being members of a family that has already suffered for its clashes with authority, both women know the price that could be paid for their interference.

As they slowly uncover an intriguing conspiracy, their lives are at risk.

As well as being a thriller, the novel also gives insight into life during this dark period in Spanish history when everyone had to step carefully, always looking over their shoulder. Those readers who already have knowledge of Spanish society, culture and literature will have an advantage. The narrative is dense and convoluted in places, and without a list of who’s-who to refer to as a guide, the male characters are difficult to distinguish one from the other, although the two principal female protagonists are memorable, as they dare to challenge this infamously macho society. Being a work in translation, there are also odd awkward passages where the grammar simply doesn’t sound right. Recommended, although it may require some perseverance.

Marina Maxwell THE FLEETING YEARS Connie Monk, Severn House, 2015, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 256pp, 9780727884947 This British family saga begins in the 1950s and follows the Marchand family from Peter and Zina’s tenth wedding anniversary, until the time of Peter’s death some forty years later. It follows the lives and loves of Zina’s mother, Jenny, and the couple’s twins, Fiona and Tom. Peter is a successful actor, and Fiona follows him into this field. Zina is a trained classical violinist, and Tom also becomes a career musician.

Tragedy strikes more than once through the years of this long story, but Peter and Zina, while devoted to their arts, are firmly anchored in their love for each other. Their relationship centers them no matter what the vagaries of family life or geography may bring.

Jenny’s story should have been fleshed out more in her later years, and friends Celia and Jacques needed more time on the page. Fiona is over-thetop, even for a diva. Two skips of several years are jarring, but all in all this is a pleasant read. Perhaps Jenny, Celia, Jacques, and Jenny’s new love are being saved for other books. It would be nice to see them 44 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 72, May 2015

again.

Elizabeth Knowles

THE JAZZ PALACE Mary Morris, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2015, $25.95, hb, 256pp, 9780385539739 Chicago in the early 20th century was not an easy place for immigrants or blacks, but these are the stories told in The Jazz Palace. Benny, son of Jewish immigrants, always knew music was in his veins, but he doesn’t want to play Mozart and Beethoven; his heart belongs to the “jass” of the African American south side. Napoleon, a black trumpeter with a storied past, becomes his best friend and musical partner. Together, they defy the norms to make unusual music, love the wrong kind of women, and try their hand at success – all against the wills of those who love them, and in defiance of a city run by gangsters, who don’t appreciate such types of mixed-race collaboration.

I found The Jazz Palace to be a mixed bag. On one hand, the portrayal of the time period was fresh, focusing on the musicians and the lives of the working class, rather than the glitz and glamour of flappers and mobsters (though they do make occasional appearances). It was also evident that the author knows and loves the music of the period because you can feel its lyrical nature in the prose.

But on the other hand, the novel was bloated with too many characters, leaving you not knowing who to root for, and too much head-hopping that resulted in uncertainty about the point of view from paragraph to paragraph. If the characters had been fewer and better developed, the story would have had a more visceral impact. Instead, it was just an average story.

Jazz enthusiasts will love this unusual rendering of one of the high points of the genre’s history, as will those interested in early 1900s Chicago, but the average reader may wish to pass on The Jazz Palace.

Nicole Evelina TRAITOR’S GATE Charlie Newton, Thomas & Mercer, 2015, $15.95, pb, 592pp, 9781477849361 After Saba Hassouneh, a young Palestinian girl who is traumatized by the murder of her family, takes up with a legendary Bedouin freedom fighter, she learns how to fight for her people and her land and earns the respect—and fear—of many in the pre-World War II Middle East. Eddie Owen is a brilliant, but flawed, petroleum engineer waging his own war against poverty, and trying to protect his family from eviction from their Oklahoma farm. When Eddie’s company begins producing 100-octane aviation gasoline that can potentially revolutionize air warfare, wealthy industrialists and world leaders scramble to get their hands on the fuel. It is in this money-drenched, combustible world, brimming with new hatreds and old, that Saba and Eddie meet, fall in love, and work, with different means and often opposite goals, toward a world in which they can watch the stars together, in peace.

As one who has long been fascinated by Middle East politics (and who studied Arabic in college), I was eager to read Traitor’s Gate when it arrived, and the story did not disappoint. At nearly 600 pages, it requires commitment, but the complex characters

and the compelling storyline make it worth the time. I found it refreshing to get to know such a strong Palestinian heroine with a complex and heartrending back story, and enjoyed the balance between Saba’s character and Eddie’s. For readers who are interested in the Middle East, this will be a rewarding read.

Kristina Blank Makansi DARK BRIGGATE BLUES Chris Nickson, The Mystery Press, 2015, £8.99/$14.95, pb, 254pp, 9780750960984 The year is 1954, and Leeds-based enquiry agent, Dan Markham, is about to become embroiled in some very dark goings-on.

Having worked for British military intelligence in Berlin during his National Service, jazz-loving Dan now makes ends meet mainly with divorce cases, and when the glamorous Joanna Hart sashays into his office (in pure noir style!) to ask him to provide evidence of her husband’s adultery, it seems like any other assignment. But then Freddie Hart is killed, and Dan finds himself facing up to a ruthless man with friends in very high places for whom intimidation, extortion and murder are second nature, and against whom he will have to use all the skills (some not strictly legal) from his Berlin days, if he is to protect both Jo and his artteacher girlfriend, Carla. We know “whodunnit” very quickly, but will Dan be able to bring such a man to justice?

This is a tense thriller, all the more disturbing for the ordinariness of its setting among the smoky, rain-slicked streets of a northern industrial city.

Nickson has captured the minutiae of the mid20th century perfectly – with illegal drinking dens, Kardomah coffee houses and the Craven A cigarettes that Dan smokes. Dan, himself, is a bit of a new man (he can whip up a nice omelette with a touch of exotic garlic) and Carla, strongwilled and independent, is a great match for him.

We also have a well-drawn villain (who thinks he’s untouchable) and a very nasty selection of thugs and “bent coppers” who are around to do his bidding. Thoroughly recommended.

Mary Seeley SERPENTS IN THE COLD Thomas O’Malley and Douglas Graham Purdy, Mulholland, 2015, $26.00, hb, 400pp, 9780316323505 For Boston natives Cal O’Brien and Dante Cooper, life has been a struggle to survive since World War II. Their old Irish-Polish-Italian neighborhood has fallen into seedy decay, ruled by drugs and prostitution bosses and reeling from the Great Brink’s Robbery of 1950. When the body of Dante’s sister-in-law, Sheila, turns up— the apparent victim of a serial killer called the Butcher—the two old friends take matters into their own hands, fighting their addictions and nightmares as well as the thugs who hold the key to Sheila’s murder.

This literary noir sets its events against the harsh Boston winter of 1951, underscoring the survival mode of its protagonists. True to the genre, Cal and Dante are deeply flawed heroes, redeemed by their loyalty to each other and to others in their circle of family and friends, but ready to step outside the law to render their own version of justice. This novel 20th Century

will make noir fans happy, but I’d also recommend it to readers who don’t usually include noir in their fiction line-up, for its intelligent writing and pacey, yet thoughtful plot. A good read.

Jane Steen WEST OF SUNSET Stewart O’Nan, Viking, 2015, $27.95/C$32.95, hb, 289pp, 9780670785957 In 1937, author F. Scott Fitzgerald travels to Hollywood to salvage his writing career as a screenwriter. He’s considered a has-been – his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, was published in 1925 – and his rampant alcoholism doesn’t help. He struggles on with screenplays only to be replaced by other writers, then he must scramble for another job to offset his huge debts. His wife, Zelda, once the darling of the Jazz Age, has had several nervous breakdowns and is confined to an asylum back east.

Scott visits her dutifully, but he’s worn out by her unpredictable nature. His beautiful, exciting wife has become dull and frumpy. He feels a failure as a writer and a husband. One night, at a Hollywood club, he spots a beautiful, blonde gossip columnist, Sheila Graham, and soon they begin a torrid affair.

She implores him to stop drinking; however, Scott’s demons are too deep. He takes the “cure” yet always returns to the bottle. Sheila throws him out, though eventually takes him back, her love for him strong.

“Cures” for alcoholics were primitive in the ‘30s. Nevertheless, I doubt modern treatments would have saved Fitzgerald; he was so far gone in these last three and a half years of his life.

Zelda is also to be pitied, a woman who probably suffered from bi-polar disorder before there were proper medications. This novel is lyrically written, melancholy, with interesting dips into the Golden Age of Hollywood, plus the unfairness of the studio system. Fitzgerald was self-destructive, insecure, yet I felt a great sympathy for his plight.

I wished for a different ending, but knew better.

Defeat lingered at every turn of the page. A sad spiraling toward destruction of a once brilliant author, this absorbing read will compel you to search out biographies of Scott and Zelda.

Diane Scott Lewis ORHAN’S INHERITANCE Aline Ohanesian, Algonquin, 2015, $25.95, hb, 352pp, 9781616203740 “And if he is Turkish, what does that mean? Is he the prodigal son of a democratic republic or a descendant of genocide perpetrators? Maybe he is all of those things and none of them.” So the main character of Orhan’s Inheritance ponders, after he digests the long-concealed secrets of his family dating back to WWI and those of a mysterious woman whose life is inextricably bound with his.

Orhan’s Inheritance moves between 1990 and 1915, interweaving Armenian and Turkish history through the eyes of both sides in a moving way.

Ohanesian’s characters draw us in, fully fleshed and vividly alive. In modern Turkey, the mass slaughter and deportation of the Armenians is a taboo subject—even illegal to discuss. On the other hand, the Armenian people have dedicated themselves to active remembrance of the tragedy.

Ohanesian’s sensitive treatment balances the two possible downfalls of these differing single-minded 20th Century

approaches, and transcends them with her effective and compelling storytelling. She doesn’t allow her characters to deny the past, nor does she allow them to become “soaked and mired in [the past’s] bitter liquid.” This is a grim tale, but also a humane and ultimately hopeful one.

Judith Starkston THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE Ann Packer, Scribner, 2015, $26.99/C$32.50, hb, 448pp, 9781476710457 Ann Packer’s masterful new novel (after Songs Without Words, 2008) is the story of an American family told in their own words, which illustrates the remarkable resilience of love. When Bill Blair, M.D., is discharged from the Navy in 1954, he falls in love with a girl who shares his vision of raising a family in California. Bill and Penny marry, build a house, and have four children, but Penny, dissatisfied with the life she chose, finds another as an artist. Bill tries to be father and mother to Robert, Rebecca, and Ryan, of school age now, and little James, who all try, unsuccessfully, to think of something Penny might enjoy doing with them.

As adults, each of the siblings remembers their parents differently while retaining the same expectations of each other. Robert, the eldest, is a dedicated physician like his father and grandfather before him. Rebecca, the scholarly one, is a psychiatrist who provides the vocabulary for family dynamics while struggling to understand them.

Ryan, emotional and loving, is a schoolteacher who seems to be the most content. They remain close.

James is an underachiever. The one most affected by his mother’s withdrawal and his position in the family, he has stopped trying to keep up with the others. James’s unexpected return forces the Blairs to come to terms with a fraught childhood and, ultimately, reinforcing common bonds.

Although big issues – nature vs nurture, free will vs determinism, birth order, etc. –bubble beneath the surface, we keep our focus where the author directs us: on individuals. Packer’s skill is such that the characters will seem like members of your own family, or perhaps, yourself. Readers will turn the last page on the Blairs regretfully, wondering what happens next. Highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene CURTAIN CALL, or The Distinguished Thing Anthony Quinn, Jonathan Cape, 2015, £12.99, hb, 338pp, 9780224099585 London 1936, and the UK is in the midst of concerns about a seemingly approaching war with Germany, allied to the threats of violence from black-shirted fascists on the streets, as well as the King’s infatuation with Wallis Simpson. In addition, there is even a serial killer of call girls on the loose, the so-called Tiepin Killer, who uses the eponymous item as part of his murderous activity.

Society portraitist, Stephen Wyley, and actress Nina Land, enjoy their first adulterous liaison (Wyley is already married) in the Imperial Hotel on Russell Square one late summer afternoon. Nina hears the desperate pleas of a woman in an adjacent room and, stumbling across an attempted murder, inadvertently saves Madeleine Farewell’s life. They later meet by accident and discuss the horrifying incident. Madeleine, a somewhat unlikely escort, has a good friend in Tom Tunner, who is a long-

suffering secretary to James Erskine, an acerbic and gay theatre critic – who has, in the past, upset Nina Land and who wants his portrait painted

by Wyley. Erskine then decides to buy a new car, and the vendor is Madeleine’s pimp, Roddy Anstil.

Thus are the myriad connections in the narrative made – a series of credible coincidences to immerse and entrap the characters in the sticky mess of existence.

This is Quinn’s fourth novel and all have been historical. I have read three of them, and the novels seem to improve markedly with time. This is excellent fiction, well-paced and engagingly observed. The plot and narrative drive the reader on, and I did care very much about the main characters and was keen to see how the imbroglios they found themselves facing and, in part created, worked out.

Douglas Kemp THE BUTTERFLY AND THE WHEEL Neil Randall, Knox Robinson, 2014, £19.99/$27.99, hb, 454pp, 9781494371555 This is a Russian sprawl of a book and as such may appeal to some. The premise is reasonable: the allegations levelled at Mikhail Sholokov regarding the true authorship of And Quiet Flows the Don, a satire on the delusional foundations of a totalitarian regime.

The Butterfly and the Wheel is about a mediocre man, Ivan Turgenovsky, a second-rate writer whose literary aspirations outweigh his talent, yet who flourishes in a society which claims to eradicate inequality, but only propagates it even more. When arrested with student friends in 1916, Turgenovsky is drawn into revolutionary circles. During the civil war he denounces another writer, steals his manuscript, and rises in Soviet society, eventually coming under Stalin’s patronage. Solzhenitsyn, among others, questions his credentials.

Turgenovsky has colleagues, friends, and lovers, arrested if they threaten to expose him as a fraud.

Later he is awarded the Nobel Prize.

Nine decades of 20th-century Russia are within the four-hundred-odd pages of this book.

Consequently, the narrative can only be anecdotal and episodic. It sags beneath the plethora of characters, or rather names, real and fictional, usually unpleasant, most often unmemorable, some the same or similar-sounding. With little or no dimension they come and go, perhaps resurfacing after a couple of hundred pages, by which time this reader had no recollection of who they were or their context. Their dialogue lacks individuality, frequently like speeches, littered with jargon, cliché, slang and chat. I asked to review the book as I am interested in all things Russian, but I found this one hard going.

Janet Hancock THE HOURGLASS FACTORY Lucy Ribchester, Simon & Schuster, 2015, £7.99, pb, 504pp, 9781471139307 My mother always told me that it was my duty to vote, and not just a civic duty: “Women suffered so you could have that vote”. Reading The Hourglass Factory, it is hard not to conclude that Lucy Ribchester is unsure why they bothered. The suffragettes, whose struggle forms a backdrop to her murder mystery, range from shrill violent harpies HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 45

to, at best, a witch who “charms police horses”. The only victim of force-feeding shown in the book is a man, the main character remains unconvinced by the suffragettes, despite being a working woman who prefers to dress in trousers, and, ultimately, despite the female characters’ investigative efforts, it is the male characters who are required to save the day. A message repeated throughout the book is that gaining a vote will not help the average working-class woman. I wonder if this is a side effect of the “Russell Brand Generation”; if voting and the entire political system is an ineffective facade, the women who struggled to gain those votes are no longer heroines.

Her political views aside, Ribchester tells a good story. While her characters can be two-dimensional, from Frankie, the plucky young journalist, to Milly, the disaffected socialite performing as an exotic dancer, she has a good turn of phrase, particularly in her writing about dance, which one character describes as allowing curled paper inside her to “slowly unfurl… as the drumbeat goes on”. She has done a significant amount of research (research that she does not always wear lightly, unfortunately; the book is peppered liberally with popular brand names from the period, from “Fenwick” to “The Olde Cheshire Cheese”). However, the plot was strong, and the twist, although properly heralded, was a surprise when revealed. I will be watching for Ribchester’s future books with interest.

Laura Shepperson FOUR FACES OF TRUTH Harriette C. Rinaldi, Fireship, 2014, $18.50, pb, 191pp, 9781611793130 Four fictional narrators take turns recounting the horrors wrought by the Khmer Rouge in Four Faces of Truth, Harriette Rinaldi’s noble effort to put the meteoric rise of this bloody regime into historical context. The title refers both to the different perspectives provided by the narrators – a Buddhist monk, an original party member, a traditional Khmer healer, and a Canadian archeologist – and to the ancient stone towers of Angkor Thom, topped with faces gazing out to the four points of the compass.

Rinaldi is a master of her subject, having spent three crucial years (1972-1975) of her 27 years with the CIA in Cambodia. Her stated purpose, in writing this account as a novel, is to make this largely forgotten or ignored history more accessible. Unfortunately, her first-person narrators are burdened with having to convey a huge amount of historically accurate information about real people and real events, and the result is less satisfying than if Rinaldi had chosen to use, for example, literary non-fiction to tell this story. In particular, the dialog is wooden and used primarily to make observations about culture, history, or events. None of her characters are fully realized people in their own right, which is ironic since the driving horror of the Khmer Rouge was how avidly it sought to dehumanize its subjects, stripping them of all vestiges of individuality.

The result here is that the reader is held at arm’s length from what ought to be a much more emotionally moving story. It’s a story worth telling, though; as the last narrator observes, the current Cambodian government is as corrupt as every one before it, still filled with Khmer Rouge henchmen, 46 | Reviews |

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and bent on a campaign of actively forgetting the past.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi

The real trouble is that its author never lived to see it published.

Sherry Jones

MARGERY ALLINGHAM’S MR. CAMPION’S FOX Mike Ripley, Severn House, 2015, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 288pp, 9780727884787 When the Danish ambassador asks Albert Campion to keep an eye on his daughter’s new boyfriend, Campion, now retired, enlists his son, Rupert, to follow the young man. But then the girl goes missing and the boyfriend’s body is found at the edge of the small village where one of Rupert’s schoolmates lives, and Campion can’t stop himself from getting involved. Rupert and his wife, Perdita, head to the crime scene, while the senior Campion investigates in the city. But they are soon reunited in the village, and the twists and turns of the mystery lead to an unexpected conclusion.

Mike Ripley once again resurrects Margery Allingham’s Mr. Campion in this new novel that gives fans another welcome dose of the detective’s wit and wisdom. Sanctioned by the Margery Allingham Foundation, Ripley has picked up Allingham’s mantle with great aplomb. There is plenty of the dry humor and aristocratic sensibility that endeared readers to the original series, and Ripley has included several beloved characters as well. Recommended for Allingham fans, as well as for those who love a good Agatha Christie tale.

Kristina Blank Makansi

LET ME DIE IN HIS FOOTSTEPS Lori Roy, Dutton, 2015, $26.95/C$31.00, hb, 336pp, 9780525955078 Roy’s newest novel, set in rural Kentucky, tells Sarah Crowley’s story, first with her sister Juna in 1936, and then through the eyes of her daughter, Annie, in 1952.

In 1936 everyone in town was scared of Juna, who had the “know-how.” In 1952, it’s an open secret that 15-year-old Annie, who looks just like Juna, is really Juna’s daughter, cousin rather than sister to Sarah’s daughter, Caroline. The book’s plot unravels the mysteries that tie Annie to Juna, in particular what happened on a summer day in 1936 that led to their neighbor being the last man executed in a public hanging in the United States.

The two time periods both feature two sisters (or at least two girls raised as sisters), the 1936 pair in an incredibly dysfunctional home, a place literally in shadow, where their socks never dried out. The 1952 pair, beset by the normal curses and joys of adolescence, also deal with the lingering evil from the earlier era. They live in a home that has more light, both emotionally and physically, a farm where the crop is lavender instead of tobacco, a dwelling of healing rather than toxins. Whether that will be enough to save Annie and Caroline is part of the book’s suspense.

There are echoes of Flannery O’Connor here: poverty, violence, malevolence, and grace. Roy’s writing is spell-like, using a simplicity of language, deft characterization, an understanding of the dark side of human nature, and relentless plotting in order to pull together every aspect of the conjuring necessary to create a masterpiece of Southern Noir, or perhaps Border State Noir. Recommended.

Kristen Hannum

THE TROUBLE WITH THE TRUTH Edna Robinson, Infinite Words, 2015, $13/ C$15.50, pb, 204pp, 9781593096403 This coming-of-age tale plunges us, like delighted house guests, into the midst of a family so eccentric and charming that we wish we never had to leave. Starting in 1928, nine-year-old Lucresse Briard lives in a series of homes with her family – her quirky, art-dealer father; her charismatic, funloving brother, in whose schemes she invariably plays sidekick; their priggish, devoted houseman; the aunt who frets over their unconventional upbringing. Surrounded by strong personalities, and without a mother to guide her, how is a girl to find herself? For Lucresse, whose mother died giving birth to her, self-identification is less a search than an invention, as she makes up outlandish tales about her family life to impress her schoolmates.

As she matures, though, she finds that some truths can’t be avoided, a discovery that leads her, ultimately, to her true self.

Harper & Row optioned this novel after Edna Robinson, an advertising copywriter, won critical acclaim with its opening chapter. Shortly before publication, however, To Kill a Mockingbird burst onto the literary scene, and Harper dropped Robinson’s book, saying the market for books about single dads with two kids was now glutted.

Robinson put the manuscript away, but now, 25 years after her death, the world has the chance to read about the remarkable Briard family in a book edited by the author’s daughter. It’s not a perfect tale – the narrative, like one of Lucresse’s own fabrications, at times stretches the limits of credulity. But The Trouble With the Truth is a fast-paced, entertaining read, both amusing and poignant, and suitable for both adults and YAs.

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A STUDY IN MURDER Robert Ryan, Simon & Schuster, 2015, £20, hb, 451pp, 9781471135064 Reimagining the Holmes-Watson partnership in the early decades of the 20th century is made easy, and comes alive in this latest “Dr Watson” thriller by Robert Ryan. It is 1917, and Dr Watson is held captive in one of the more notorious German prisoner-of-war camps.

When a man dies, the camp authorities manoeuvre to get Watson to investigate. But when others die, too, and Watson is not convinced that their deaths were of natural causes, his investigations begin to ruffle feathers, and he needs to watch his own back. While he utilises the inescapable voice of Holmes in his head to help him, plans are afoot to save Watson in a way that spells certain death for Holmes.

This is a very clever amalgamation of historical detail and intertextual fiction. Watson’s lengthy time in the prisoner-of-war camps enables the author to contextualise his novel firmly within 20th Century

the detailed realism of World War I Germany, while his relationship with Holmes is never far from his thoughts. Much has been made in recent times of the homoerotic nature of the detectives’ partnership, and while Watson refutes this in Ryan’s book, the depth of the relationship for both the characters and their readership is reinforced through the psychic device employed. To see both protagonists work independently of each other, yet towards the same ends, lends a literary glue to the varied strands of this story, to create a book full of intrigue and suspense.

For Holmes and Watson fans, I recommend this book for its literary intertextuality, certainly, but equally for its insight into the prisoner-ofwar camps during World War I. This is a detailed history, as much as it is a fiction, and well worth the read.

Claire Cowling

memory in hopes of learning about her mother.

From castle gardens to broken, war-torn Germany, Hazel finds tragedy and hope, and the love of a fragile man.

Pamela Schoenewaldt shows the struggles of a German-American family during the war in a compassionate, though tough, light. We feel for the innocent people of Germany pitched into war, and the men and women on all fronts who were left scarred from its horrors. Hazel Renner is a curious, determined heroine who in the end finds not only herself but also the love of others along the way.

The writing is deftly done, the research thorough and informative. Because of Hazel’s many travels, at times it is difficult to feel grounded or invested in a particular story point, and we are left pondering the mysterious powers, but in all, this is a lovely story with a suitably accomplished ending.

Holly Faur

THE CHERRY HARVEST Lucy Sanna, William Morrow, 2015, $25.99/£16.99, hb, 336pp, 9780062343628 It is 1940s Wisconsin, and the Christiansen family is feeling the effects of the war in Europe.

Their eldest son is away fighting; his mother, Charlotte, is struggling to put food on the table; and her husband, Thomas, does not know how he will harvest his cherry crop with so many workers absent. When Charlotte persuades the local authorities to allow them to use German POWs to man the farm, she cannot imagine the consequences.

Among the Germans brought in to help is Karl, a teacher who Thomas quickly befriends and brings into their home to tutor their teenage daughter Kate, but as Kate and her mother soon find out, not all the prisoners are so civilized.

The Cherry Harvest is a romantic and at times moving story. The Christiansens’ marriage is tested, as is the relationship of their son Ben and his lively girlfriend, Josie. Kate also tastes love for the first time, falling for Clay, the rich son of a senator with a beach house near their farm.

Although Sanna tackles some serious themes in The Cherry Harvest and provides a rich and enjoyable picture of farming life, her characters are a little flat and not always convincing in their interactions with each other. The overall tone of the novel is cosy and enjoyable, however, and the characters are sufficiently engaging that readers will want to turn the pages and find out how the story concludes.

Kate Braithwaite

THOSE MEASURELESS FIELDS Caroline Scott, Pen and Sword, 2014, £16.99, hb, 376pp, 9781783463961 Laurence Greene is gassed at Ypres, but does not die until ten years later. This is a timely reminder that the effects of war can be far-reaching and powerful, even after everything has stopped and peace has been restored. His death, in a way, contrasts sharply to a Europe in the process of renewal and rebuilding.

Effie Shaw has been looking after Laurence as his cook, housekeeper and sweet-toothed baker. She does not realise until afterwards how important they were to each other. Effie has also been mourning her own loss of her fiancé, Joe. Laurence leaves her instructions to follow, starting her off on a journey of discovery, which will take her to Paris and the famous battlegrounds. His letters and diaries allow her and the reader to relive the experiences of the soldiers in general and of Joe and Laurence in particular, from the idealistic beginning of training to the grim reality of battle as she follows through the written word their disillusionment.

Effie is encouraged and assisted on her quest by Henry, another wounded soldier she encounters by accident and by Laurence’s dog, Reginald.

Humour and pathos, well-researched details and clearly imagined experiences abound throughout the novel. It is poignant with quite a few twists and turns along the way, even with the hindsight the modern reader brings to this era. Thoughtful and unusual in narrative structure, this is a compelling tale of love, loss, secrets and lies.

Ann Northfield

UNDER THE SAME BLUE SKY Pamela Schoenewaldt, William Morrow, 2015, $14.99, pb, 318pp, 9780062326638 As WWI storms across Europe, Hazel Renner’s Pennsylvania family becomes a dreaded “hyphen” – shunned in the place they’ve called home simply for their German bloodline. As grievances escalate, Hazel, determined to find some peace in the world, takes a teaching job in a small town, where she is mysteriously equipped with healing powers. But the power quickly wanes, leaving the town angry and a man dead. Back at home, her father is losing himself in grief for the war’s amassing dead, and when Hazel unexpectedly learns the truth of her birth, she leaves again for a strange castle from her 20th Century

AS LOVE BLOOMS Lorna Seilstad, Revell, 2015, $14.99, pb, 320pp, 9780800721831 1913. Tessa Gregory has studied horticulture and wants to work for the St. Paul, Minnesota park system. Rejected by the superintendent because of her gender, Tess meets gardener Reese King, who sees Tessa’s designs and realizes he and Tessa can help each other. Tessa dresses like a boy, and the two create a garden with Tessa’s plans. Romance blooms between adventurous Tessa and grounded Reese. Meanwhile, Tessa’s widowed Aunt Sam begins dating an old friend, but the two are on opposite sides of the woman’s suffrage movement

– can love overcome such a divide?

The theme to this story is “don’t keep secrets from your loved ones” as Tessa, Reese, Sam, and even minor characters are all holding something back. When the secrets are revealed, they seem minor and not worth the tension they have been building. Although light on conflict, this Christian romance is flush with good-hearted, understanding characters worthy as role models. As Love Blooms is the third Gregory Sisters book (When Love Calls, While Love Stirs). Knowledge of the other stories is unnecessary. Readers who enjoyed the romances of Tessa’s older sisters will be pleased with this installment.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt FORGIVING MAXIMO ROTHMAN A.J. Sidransky, Berwick Court, 2015, $16.95, pb, 305pp, 9780988954007 Anatoly Kurchenko is a detective in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood – a community that straddles two cultures: One Jewish, one Dominican – and they both share a littleknown connection. His name is Max Redmond (Rothman) and he’s been murdered. Kurchenko is assigned to sniff out the criminal and finds himself at odds with both communities. What he learns in the investigation, through Rothman’s diaries, is that Redmond had escaped Hitler’s persecution and settled at a refuge in the Dominican Republic.

As he digs deeper in the diaries, Kurchenko finds the words to help him come to terms with who he is, his own Russian Jewish heritage, and his own future.

Forgiving Maximo Rothman is both a murdermystery and historical fiction. If you are looking for a murder-mystery that will keep you guessing, this is not it. I had a pretty good sense of the killer within the first seventy-five pages. What this book is a fascinating look at is a part of the Holocaust survivor’s story that very few people know and understand: The role the Dominican Republic played in saving European Jews from Hitler’s plans.

Sidransky’s strength is in retelling the struggles, hopes, and lives in the agricultural community of Sousa, DR. Redmond’s diary sections of the book stand out for their tenderness, heartbreak, and resilience. The books spans nearly sixty-five years, from World War II to 2005 and three continents and, yet, Sidransky maintains a strong storyline and pacing that keeps the reader engaged throughout.

Bryan Dumas

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EARLY WARNING Jane Smiley, Knopf, 2015, $26.95, hb, 496pp, 9780307700322 / Mantle, 2015, £18.99, hb, 400pp, 9781447275640 Jane Smiley’s sequel to Some Luck returns us to the Langdon clan, a sprawling, close-knit family, spread from coast to coast and anchored in the center by the Iowa family farm, a bastion of traditional values which most of the five siblings flee, but which feeds them all.

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This will certainly be one of my favorite books of the year. Lived out over three decades, told one year at a time, the Langdon family saga is one of highs and lows, births and deaths, secrets and revelations, alcoholism, Communism, materialism, backroom deals, extramarital affairs, rebellions, fistfights, closeted homosexuality, and, above all, familial bonds. The fairly recent timeline gives the reader the luxury of reliving near-current events such as the Vietnam War, the Jonestown massacre, the Reagan Presidency, the emergence of AIDS, and more.

For all its astute historical and cultural observations, though, Early Warning’s real strength lies in Smiley’s expert characterizations.

Numerous though they be – more than 40 in this book, conjugated in, thank goodness, a family tree – Smiley imbues each of her characters with a unique, complex, memorable personality. And, contrary to current literary fashion, Smiley writes with genuine affection for even the most flawed among them. As a result, the reader will like the Langdons, too: Joe, the reticent farmer; Frank, the shrewd, macho womanizer; sensitive, intelligent Claire; Andy, the frustrated housewife; Henry, the closeted gay; the self-centered Rosa and her Communist mother, Eloise, and many more.

It’s a disparate bunch. All many of these characters have in common is the family tie that binds them – but, in Smiley’s tale, that’s all they need.

Sherry Jones THE CHURCHILL SECRET: KBO Jonathan Smith, Abacus, 2015, £8.99, pb, 208pp, 9780349140254 On 23 June 1953, after entertaining an Italian delegation to a witty after-dinner speech, Prime Minister Churchill, aged 79, suffered a major stroke. His deputy, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, was about to undergo major surgery in the USA. The country was effectively leaderless. To avoid panic, Churchill’s inner circle, including his private secretary Jock Colville and his doctor Lord Moran, decided, with the connivance of the mighty Press barons, to keep the news from Parliament and the general public. Churchill was packed off to Chartwell, his country home in Kent, to recover from a bout of ‘exhaustion’ under the care of his loyal wife Clementine and a forthright London nurse, Millie Appleyard.

This is very much a novel of character memorably revealed through dialogue, which achieves a great deal in 200 enjoyable, satisfying pages. Jonathan Smith brings out Churchill’s irascibility and wit as well as his indomitable will and determination to pull through, epitomised by the dogged motto KBO (Keep Buggering On) that had seen him though his dispiriting ‘Wilderness Years’ between the wars. In the fictitious Millie, he meets his match and a touching relationship develops when they unexpectedly find common interest. Then there’s the devoted Clemmie, the only person Churchill admits to being afraid of, who wishes he would take this stroke as a hint that he should retire but knows he won’t. Last, but not least, we meet the aristocratic Colville and the gruff Yorkshireman Moran, who dislike each other but are united in their dedication to the Great Man. Sarah Cuthbertson 48 | Reviews |

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GIRL RUNNER Carrie Snyder, Harper, 2015, $26.99/C$29.95, hb, 288pp, 9780062336040 / Hachette Australia, 2015, A$29.99, pb, 376pp, 9781444792645 Aganetha (Aggie) Smart is a fictional Canadian runner who wins the gold medal in the 800-metre race in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games.

Aggie’s passion for running leads to a life of uncertain fame: her new landlady in Toronto recognizes her not because she won the Olympic gold, but from her short stint modeling fur coats for advertisements. Aggie’s need to run is part of her identity, but the author places equal importance on her relationships with family members, with friend and competitor Glad, and with love interest Johnny. Interestingly, even when Aggie is running, she narrates her feelings and thoughts almost to the exclusion of her physical movements.

The first-person present-tense narrative opens with Aggie at 104 years old and is told through flashbacks. The present-time part of the story is dominated by a mystery: who are the two young people who take Aggie out of her nursing home for a long drive? Is she being kidnapped?

The satisfying solution to the mystery connects important thematic threads. I was also haunted for days by two recurring images: Aggie’s dead sister, Fannie, and the lighthouse Aggie’s father builds – seemingly illogically – in a field on their farm.

The back cover copy misleadingly implies that Aggie was a real person. Even though the author’s note corrects this impression, I hope this clarification doesn’t come too late for readers who prefer their protagonists of historical fiction to be real people. To me, Aggie felt as real as any friend or family member.

This is not a sports novel but a literary novel with a strong narrative drive. Snyder’s poetic, deceptively simple language complements her fascinating, three-dimensional protagonist. Highly recommended.

Clarissa Harwood

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A PLEDGE OF SILENCE Flora J. Solomon, Lake Union, 2015, $14.95, pb, 366pp, 978147782086 Excited to be stationed in the lush, beautiful Philippine Islands, Margie Bauer and the other American army nurses work hard in surgery by day and enjoy dances and picnics during their free time, until the Japanese declare war on the United States, and the bombings begin in Hawaii and the Philippines in December 1941. Doctors, civilians and nurses are rounded up and detained at the University in

Santo Tomas, where at first they are treated well, with activities and interaction with local markets, but in time the conditions deteriorate and the inmates suffer from illness, starvation and abuse.

Three years later they are finally liberated, but the U.S. government forbids them to discuss the terror and starvation they suffered at the hands of their captors. Margie’s pledge of silence affects her life as a civilian after the war.

The author takes us into the theater of war in the steaming tropics, where we can feel the tension and fear that the doctors and nurses experience while saving lives, as the Japanese attacks destroy the land and the people. The historical content of the novel is well done, and I felt the emotional trials the characters experienced during and after the war. It was refreshing to see a WWII historical novel follow the story beyond the war and discuss how, in time, Margie was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The story has a satisfactory conclusion, with events from the war coming to light when Margie is an elderly woman and ready to talk about it. I highly recommend this excellent book to those who enjoy novels about history and personal lives during WWII. Beth Turza THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT Simone St. James, NAL, 2015, $14.00/C$16.00, pb, 336pp, 9780451419491 In 1925 London, most people who visit psychic mediums are family members of soldiers who died in the Great War. Psychic Ellie Winter doesn’t contact the dead or conduct séances; instead, she restricts her services to finding lost things. But then her rival, flamboyant medium Gloria Sutter, is murdered, leaving a note that reads, “Tell Ellie Winter to find me.” Solving the mystery of Gloria’s murder means Ellie must face people she’d rather forget, including James Hawley, a war veteran who has devoted his life to debunking psychics.

I’ve been a St. James fan since her first novel, The Haunting of Maddy Clare. The Other Side of Midnight is a more sedate mystery, without the chilling, breathless pace of Maddy Clare, yet still satisfying. There is one deliciously creepy séance scene, but despite the psychic protagonist, this novel is essentially a conventional whodunit. There are more dead bodies, the requisite hard-nosed detective, and several possible suspects. And Ellie must identify the killer before she becomes the next victim.

Ellie is a complex protagonist, and St. James skillfully reveals just enough backstory to keep the reader interested: Why are Ellie’s and Gloria’s lives so intertwined? What are the extent and limitations of Ellie’s powers? James Hawley is also an appropriate love interest for Ellie, but I was hoping for more sexual tension and more of the romance subplot, which I’ve come to expect from St. James’s novels.

Despite these quibbles, St. James is a skilled storyteller, and her fans won’t be disappointed.

Clarissa Harwood THE BOOKSELLER Cynthia Swanson, Harper, 2015, $25.99, hb, 352pp, 9780062333001 The Bookseller is advertised as reminiscent of the movie Sliding Doors, and the comparison is apt.

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Both explore how one brief moment can change the trajectory of a life, and both left me wondering at all of the possible turning points in my own.

In 1962 Denver, Kitty Miller leads a satisfying life. She has a devoted cat, a bright yellow apartment, and a bookstore that she owns with her best friend, Frieda. But when she wakes one morning in a different bedroom and a different version of her life, her contentment wavers. In this dream life, she’s Katharyn Andersson, a blissfully married housewife and mother in suburban Denver, with a life so picture-perfect that she begins to eagerly look forward to falling asleep each night. But even a dream world has problems and, as the lines between dream and reality blur, Kitty begins to wonder which life she’d rather have.

Life is full of paths intersected by choice and it’s hard to avoid looking back at our own and asking “what if.” The Bookseller does this beautifully with a character who appears to have it all, yet still wonders what more there could be. But this isn’t the “we were meant to be” romance that it appears on the surface. Kitty’s story is complex, less about destiny and more about the curveballs chance throws our way. Though the pace is leisurely, it packs more than a few twists and surprises, leaving the reader to ponder whether happily-ever-afters rest on fate or on the choices we make along the way. Recommended.

Jessica Brockmole SEE ALSO MURDER Larry D. Sweazy, Seventh Street, 2015, $15.95, pb, 250pp, 9781633880061 Life is pretty uneventful in the small town of Dickinson, North Dakota, during the summer of 1964, until news hits that a farming couple has been brutally murdered in their sleep. The local sheriff is baffled by the discovery of a mysterious copper amulet found clutched in the husband’s hand. He calls on his friend and neighbor, Marjorie Trumaine, a professional indexer, to help him research the amulet’s strange markings. Marjorie initially welcomes the exciting new task. Life has been tough on Marjorie since her husband’s hunting accident, the previous year, left him blind and paralyzed. She normally spends her days working on freelance indexing projects, trying to make enough money to keep her struggling farm afloat, and taking care of her bedridden husband.

But soon the danger of her investigation becomes all too real when another body is found in her barn.

The isolated landscape and the small cast of characters give the story a bit of a locked- room mystery feel. Marjorie is an engaging character who uses her indexing skills to help her solve the murders by creating an index of all of the clues and suspects. A fast-paced book that will surely please mystery fans.

Janice Derr SECRETS OF THE SINGER GIRLS Kate Thompson, Pan, 2015, £7.99, pb, 373pp, 9781447280866 The story begins in the east end of London in the spring of 1942. The Singer girls get their name from the fact that they are all working at Singer sewing machines, helping the war effort in one of the many factories in the area. We meet Poppy, sent up to London from Norfolk by her mother; Sal, 20th Century

whose husband is away at the front and her two boys evacuated to Devon; Daisy; Vera, forelady in the factory; and Archie Gladstone who runs it. As the story unfolds we learn that all the girls have a secret which they are anxious to hide.

The novel touches on the Blitz, rationing, evacuation of children and culminates in the Bethnal Green Tube disaster of 1943. It brings in the morals and prejudices of the time but, for this reader, it was flat. The “secrets” were obvious from the word go, with only one small instance where I did get it wrong, and it all became something of an anticlimax. The prose was stilted and liberally punctuated with unnecessary adjectives. For example: “Staring deep into the dying embers of the coal fire she had lit in the grate in Daisy’s bedroom…” We already knew she was in Daisy’s bedroom and where else would the fire have been but in the grate? People “exit” from rooms instead of simply “leaving” them. Little things like this spoilt the flow of the narrative. This author has considerable experience writing for broadsheets and women’s magazines, but that is not necessarily the art of story-telling, which is what a good novel needs.

Marilyn Sherlock

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A WAR OF FLOWERS Jane Thynne, Simon & Schuster, 2014, £20, hb, 407pp, 9781471131882 A War of Flowers is the next in the series of the Clara Vine espionage thrillers. In my previous review of The Winter Garden, I could not praise Jane Thynne highly enough. This book, however, just may be even better than its predecessor.

Clara’s nephew, Eric, is disturbed by the disappearance of a woman while on a cruise, and Clara promises Eric she will get to the bottom of it. However, she has a mission to complete – to befriend Eva Braun and report any interesting information to British intelligence. She needs all her training and her powers of subterfuge, while fighting against her own feelings for the man she rejected five years before. In doing her duty for her country, she unravels the mystery surrounding Eric’s missing lady, who holds the most important piece of intelligence of all.

The author’s painstaking research of Nazi Berlin and of pre-war Paris rests so easily with her fiction here, that one can readily imagine being among the men and women of the Third Reich, and living the lives of the spies in British Intelligence. It is lovely to see secondary characters drawn in as much detail as the primary ones, and this really helps to pull together the various strands of the plot and tie this fiction to the historical events which permeate it. What I love especially about this book is the tension between Clara’s own internal and external conflicts, until they converge and are played out to their inevitable ends.

This is a superb spy story, a subtle romance, and a book that holds history a ready captive within its pages. I thoroughly recommend it, and look

forward immensely to Clara Vine’s next mission.

Claire Cowling PRUDENCE David Treuer, Riverhead, 2015, $27.95, hb, 253pp, 9781594633089 David Treuer’s novel about a young white Princeton graduate, the Ojibwe Indian boy with whom he shares a secret love, and the tragedy that binds them to a troubled Native American girl, is exquisitely written, haunting – and unremittingly bleak.

Frankie Washburn, jauntily heading off to World War II, joins the hunt at his family’s Minnesota lake resort for an escaped German prisoner and, full of manly bravado, shoots and kills a young girl hiding with her sister in the bushes. The remainder of the book unfolds around this initial horror, sending Billy off to war, as well, and the sister, Prudence, into a lifelong spiral of self-abuse, as she waits for Frankie to redeem her.

But Frankie, it turns out, cannot save even himself.

Treuer brings his characters to life masterfully, providing each with a distinct and compelling voice. His scenes of love between Frankie and Billy, so tender and affectionate, are deeply touching, as is the ending chapter in which we read Prudence’s full story at last. The author’s skillful prose also treats landscape as a character, using the harsh Minnesota winter to evoke the alienation his Indians feel in white society, and the Pines, the Washburns’ resort, to illustrate nature’s supremacy as its buildings quickly fall into disrepair and begin to crumble.

For all its haunting beauty, though, Prudence lacks even a single note of levity or hope. Rather than a complex tale rich with life’s joys and sorrows, the book is relentlessly grim. Native American life sucks, and white “civilization” is why – but many readers, I’m guessing, won’t stick around long enough to get that message. Its exquisite prose makes Prudence hard to put down, yes, but the despair darkening every page makes it even more difficult to pick back up again.

Sherry Jones ADELINE: A Novel of Virginia Woolf Norah Vincent, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015, $23.00, hb, 277pp, 9780544470200 / Virago, 2015, £14.99, hb, 272pp, 9780349005645 Taking us from 1925 to 1941, this novel of Virginia Woolf (whose given name was Adeline) is quietly fascinating. Written in a style reminiscent of Woolf herself, Vincent’s book brings us inside Woolf ’s marriage to Leonard Woolf and her relationships with her sister Vanessa, her lover Vita Sackville-West, as well as T.S. and Vivienne Eliot, Lytton Strachey, and Dora Carrington.

The book is divided into five acts, each covering a brief time period, and each named after one of Woolf ’s novels: Night and Day, The Waves, Between the Acts, The Years, and The Voyage Out. I would love to read all of these novels and then re-read Vincent’s work, because I’m sure that each of these Acts in Vincent’s book reflects its namesake in significant ways.

I have read a number of books about Woolf ’s life, and this one feels intimate where many others feel voyeuristic. Vincent helps us empathize with her characters, even if we don’t always like them.

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We are suddenly privy to conversations between Virginia and Leonard that provide clues to their rather mysterious marriage. We get inside Virginia’s head, and learn what it is about her childhood that still haunts her.

At times, particularly in long sections of Woolf ’s thoughts, Vincent’s message seems more like that of an academic scholar than a novelist. The style remains fairly consistent, but these places still feel like intrusions, as though Vincent is taking a stand on an academic argument of which readers of this novel are unaware. That said, it is a delightful and insightful read that I would recommend.

Amy Watkin MADELEINE’S WAR Peter Watson, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2015, $26.95/£20.00, hb, 384pp, 9780385539791 This story is about Madeleine Dirac, whose knowledge of the French language and her extemporary work with FANY (the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) gets the attention of her superiors. She is transferred to begin extensive training as an agent for SC2, a British secret service organization during WWII. Women are being recruited and trained to be dropped behind enemy lines with transmitters and equipment for the French Underground. The head of the facility is Matt Hammond, whose war injury keeps him from active fighting, but his knowledge of the French Resistance makes his role even more vital to the upcoming Allied invasion. He and Madeleine become intimately involved, and their parting is hard, as Matt knows Madeleine is putting her life on the line, and agents have little hope of survival.

An additional subplot that adds an interesting twist to the story’s end involves an assignment directly from the Prime Minister.

Wartime historical novels can be tricky to write, especially when there is a love story included. The realism that the author breathed into his work made me feel like I was reading about actual experiences.

Once dropped behind enemy lines, the agents did not know who to trust, and with radio equipment on their person, the fear of Nazis discovering their identities, leading to torture and death, was everpresent. The story continues beyond the Allied invasion, when Matt’s job requires going into France to document what happened to the agents who did not return. Laws related to discussions of the people, their training, and the espionage that took place during WWII, were so strict that only now are we discovering just how brave the Allied agents were in those difficult years, and how few survived. I would definitely recommend this book.

Beth Turza TREACHERY IN TIBET John Wilcox, Allison & Busby, 2015, £19.99, hb, 350pp, 9780749014117 At the start of the 20th century, the British Viceroy in India dispatches a mission into Tibet, aiming for Lhasa and negotiations leading to a treaty of peaceful co-operation between the Dalai Lama and the British Raj. A journey into the unknown via the top of the world: harshest terrain, unspeakable weather and unknown inhabitants who, only possibly, may be friendly. The mission proceeds under the command of James Macdonald and the memorably-named Francis Younghusband.

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Who better to join this dangerous expedition than Simon Fonthill, whose legendary speed and skill in improvising tactics make him the ideal leader of the scouting Mounted Infantry, doing what he is famous for: turning a forlorn hope into triumph. At his side as always is indestructible ‘352’ Jenkins, a genius with horses who dreads mountains. Simon’s wife, Alice Griffith, accompanies the mission as foreign correspondent for the Morning Post. The valiant, now middle-aged trio have been joined by young Sunil, an outstandingly promisingly marksman.

Worst fears are confirmed in a narrative of shocks and thrills all the way in this first-rate yarn, backed up by the author’s wide knowledge.

Encounters ending in the massacre of poorlyarmed natives distress Alice. Compassionate and a political radical, she ventures, with Sunil, into Lhasa hoping to contact the powerful lamas, so preventing further bloodshed. Unhappily, she falls into the hands of the merciless Khampas. Will Sunil effect a rescue? Does Simon know what’s happened? Will this determined woman admit she has been a fool? Read on and enjoy.

Nancy Henshaw THE SUMMER OF BROKEN STORIES James Wilson, Alma, 2015, £12.99, pb, 288pp, 9781846883729 When we think of the 1950s, we see a time when children had a freedom and innocence they lack today. Mark is an only child who lives in a quiet village. The lonely summers stretch endlessly in the heat roaming with his dog or playing with his model railway in the outhouse.

When Mark comes across Aubrey Hillyard, a compelling man unlike any man he has ever met, living in a disused railway carriage in a private wood, he is totally captivated. Not only does he understand Mark’s imaginary world of his model railway: its society and inhabitants, he is also writing a book about how ‘The Brain’ controls everyone who has been ‘brainwashed’ by the new medium of television. Also involved in Mark’s desire to protect Aubrey is tomboy Lou, whose parents have recently arrived in the area and who run the grocery. There is a groundswell of villagers who wish to drive Aubrey out and some have serious suspicions that he is a criminal or a spy.

Mark, who is determined to help Aubrey, is soon out of his depth because of his naïveté.

This coming-of-age story, in which Mark discovers that life is never black or white, that people rarely tell the truth and can let you down, is skilfully told and full of the sights and sounds, of hot summers, freedom and a world that has disappeared. Highly recommended.

Sally Zigmond A DANGEROUS PLACE Jacqueline Winspear, Harper, 2015, $26.99, hb, 352pp, 9780062220554 Since leaving England and her investigation business behind, the life of Maisie Dobbs has been transformed, but at great cost. A double tragedy in Canada has her fleeing to the serenity of the Darjeeling hills in India until 1937, when a letter arrives from her stepmother urging her to return home.

Still suffering from doubt and anxiety, Maisie

abruptly breaks her ocean voyage at Gibraltar, only to find herself drawn into a murder mystery after she stumbles over the body of a photographer in the gardens of her hotel. When she also discovers a discarded camera containing potentially incriminating photographs, it seems there is more to the case than an opportunistic assault by a Spanish refugee. It is the distraction Maisie desperately needs as she revives her dormant detective skills. As civil war rages across the border in Spain, she is drawn deeper into a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

The craggy, picturesque landscape of Gibraltar is a refreshing change of scene, and there is the usual range of characters all hiding secrets, plus at least one familiar face and other echoes from Maisie’s past. Jacqueline Winspear’s consummate skill in writing crime stories with intricate psychological layers is proven yet again, and while perhaps this is not one of her strongest plots, fans of Maisie Dobbs will be glad to have her back – but they must be prepared for shocks and sadness.

Although fragile herself, Maisie still manages to find empathy for others as she keeps in mind the philosophies of her late mentor, to “look for the duality in everyone… to see the innocent within the guilty… and the victim within the perpetrator of a crime.” The ending has another surprise diversion but holds promise of more to come in this muchloved series.

Marina Maxwell THE HEROES’ WELCOME Louisa Young, Harper Perennial, 2015, $14.99, pb, 272pp, 9780062354495 / The Borough Press, 2014, £12.99, hb, 272pp, 9780007361465 The Heroes’ Welcome, Louisa Young’s sequel to her well-received novel My Dear I Wanted to Tell You, opens in March 1919. Peter and Julia Locke, Riley Purefoy, Nadine Waveney, and Rose Locke have survived. Each character has suffered and now faces the challenge of getting on with life.

For Peter, psychological damage leaves him unable to cope. For Riley the loss of part of his jaw is a constant reminder, one that marks every encounter with family, friends and strangers. As nurses, Nadine and Rose dealt with the war’s shattered soldiers every day. Poorly equipped to be anything but pretty, Julia has failed as a mother and a soldier’s wife.

Young’s story plays out almost entirely in 1919, vividly depicting the attitudes of those who fought, those who commanded, those in support roles and those who remained out of harm’s way. The British propensity for a stiff upper lip is on full display. Tragedy and gloom mix with hints of hope.

Trauma is part of the human condition, and yet individual after individual fails to acknowledge the trauma Peter, Riley and others suffered. Guilt is front and centre. And Louisa Young confronts us with the haunting question: who can understand and assuage that guilt?

While the story might have been more compelling if the author had not alternated points of view amongst the five characters, the writing style captured my imagination immediately. 1919 comes alive in terms of attitudes, social norms, work life, and post-war politics. The main characters are well drawn, although minor characters felt somewhat two-dimensional: the overbearing aristocratic 20th Century

father, the nasty mother-in-law, the disinterested mother, the wise would-be lover. These are minor flaws. Having read many novels set around World War One, I can highly recommend The Heroes’ Welcome.

M. K. Tod

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THE PATRIOT THREAT Steve Berry, Minotaur, 2015, $27.99, hb, 386pp, 9781250056238 / Hodder & Stoughton, 2015, £17.99, hb, 400pp, 9781473610675 This is a book on taxes! Only a lawyer would write a novel on taxes, and only Steve Berry could turn a book on taxes into a page-turning thriller.

The plot revolves around the illegality of the income tax and a rogue son of an ex-North Korean leader who wants to use documents proving that contention as a way to destroy the U.S. and ingratiate himself with North Korean military leaders, so as to wrest power away from his halfbrother. The half-brother, of course, wants the same documents – as do the Chinese for their own purposes. In order to save the United States from disintegration, Former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone and friends have to somehow wrest those documents from the rogue North Korean – and the others – without getting killed.

In telling the story Berry delves into historical tidbits from the time of the founding fathers, the signing of the 16th amendment in 1913, and FDR, while all the action takes place in current time.

A must-read for anyone who hates taxes, or just wants a good read.

Barry Webb SISTERS OF HEART AND SNOW Margaret Dilloway, Putnam, 2015, $26.95, hb, 400pp, 9780399170805 The Snow family never was idyllic. Domineering Killian Snow brought Haruki, his obedient wife, to San Diego as a post-WWII mail order bride. Their oldest daughter seems bound for the Olympics until she is injured. With Rachel’s imperfection exposed Killian rejects her, and then ejects the 16-year-old from home for smoking pot.

Drew, four years younger, is a brilliant classical musician, but earns her father’s displeasure when she opts to play tambourine with her boyfriend’s rock band. They break up, and not long after, Drew’s part-time job folds. She seeks help, not from her father, but from Rachel, who has pulled her life together. Recently, Rachel was shocked to learn that her mother, disabled by dementia, had given Rachel power of attorney, not Killian. A legal battle looms – and an acid confrontation between father and daughters.

In a lucid moment, Haruki asks Drew to fetch a book from her sewing room. She says it is about Drew and Rachel, but can’t explain why. It is an ancient Japanese text about Tomoe Gozen, a female samurai. Tomoe is ferocious as any man, yet must submit to her stepbrother when given to him as a concubine, and quell her jealousy of his wife.

What will Rachel and Drew discover in the lives of Tomoe and her sister-wife Yamabuki?

Margaret Dilloway’s Sisters of Heart and Snow is 20th Century — Multi-period

a terrific story of strength and generosity across the generations. Daughter, warrior, mother and artist, Rachel, Tomoe, Yamabuki and Drew discover strength in unity and love. Sisters is a beautifully written, heart-felt story, and highly recommended.

Jo Ann Butler LETTERS TO THE LOST Iona Grey, St. Martin’s, 2015, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 384pp, 9781250066770 / Simon & Schuster, 2015, £7.99, pb, 560pp, 9781471139826 This English love story intertwines the lives of Stella Thorne and Dan Rosinski in World War II, and Jess Moran and Will Holt in present-day London. Their paths cross when Jess comes upon a letter that links her, and later Will, with Stella’s and Dan’s history, through a box of old love letters.

The complex plot weaves between 1940s England and the present, as Dan, in his nineties and dying in America, struggles to reconnect with the longlost Stella.

All four have serious problems standing in the way of their happiness. During the war, bomber pilot Dan faces death with every mission. Stella loves him, but is trapped in an unfortunate marriage. In the present time, Jess is homeless and fleeing from an abusive boyfriend. Will is the unsuccessful son in a posh, upwardly mobile family.

Dan is a stereotype, but at least his heroic character is positive and pleasant. Stella, Will, and Jess are so unhappy and ineffective that the reader might want to give up on them. This would be a mistake. The first fifty pages of this book are relentlessly downbeat. Things don’t get much better as Stella and Dan struggle with a forbidden love in wartime Britain, Jess ends up in the hospital, and Will sinks into clinical depression. Still, the modern-day duo try desperately to find Stella and put her in touch with Dan before it is too late.

The story picks up and flies toward happiness in the last hundred pages, throwing in a couple of jawdropping, delightful plot twists. The unexpected, luminous ending is worth every word of dreariness the reader must endure to get there. Get a box of tissues and enjoy this book.

Elizabeth Knowles THE WORLD BEFORE US Aislinn Hunter, Hogarth, 2014, $26.00, hb, 368pp, 9780553418521 When fifteen-year-old Jane Standen was minding a youngster named Lily near a brokendown Victorian asylum in the North of England, she lost her in a fleeting unexplained moment and her life irrevocably changed forever.

Twenty years on, and Jane is working as an archivist in a minor London museum soon to be barred for lack of funds. It is in the museum’s closing, as she shuffles through its past, that she discovers the story of another woman who vanished in the same woods over a century ago.

Along with her story are others also linked to the area and the asylum, voices of heartbreak, concern and wanderings. Will these voices and discoveries help Jane solve her own long-ago mystery?

The voices belong to deceased residents of the asylum, though exactly who they are and what their connection is with either story, past or present, becomes murky and quickly seems like a deflated literary technique. And while we know what

happened to Jane at two points in her life, her life itself and the people in it aren’t fleshed out. These are characters that should have an impact beyond mere introductions and occasional sentences.

The World Before Us has an intriguing concept rather on the level of Byatt’s Possession and stunning language, but its disconnected plot and spectacularly slow pacing make for a timeconsuming read.

Wendy A. Zollo A DESPERATE FORTUNE Susanna Kearsley, Sourcebooks, 2015, $16.99, pb, 528pp, 9781492602026 / Touchstone Canada, 2015, C$19.99, pb, 512pp, 9781451673838 Amateur code-breaker Sara Thomas is engaged to decipher a cryptic journal left behind by Mary Dundas more than three hundred years previously.

Sara’s a bit odd; it doesn’t take long for us to learn that she’s been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a fact her cousin tries continually to both celebrate and protect. Sara moves to France to work in the home of Claudine Pelletier, where the journal is housed, and works diligently to discover the secrets held within the pages. Interspersed within Sara’s story is that of Mary Dundas herself, who longs for more adventure in her life, and finds it when asked to pretend to be the sister of a man suspected of illegal activity against the government while he is hiding in plain sight. Events go awry, however, and Mary is forced to go on the run with not only the man, but two more people of dubious character. Both Sara in the present day and Mary in 1732 begin to question their decisions and whether or not they are doing the right thing in several circumstances.

A Desperate Fortune is well-written with a great premise, but this reader never found the story particularly riveting for either main character. As Mary is dragged around the French countryside I found myself wishing the plot would move along toward a more exciting conclusion. For Sara’s side, while I liked her well enough, it began to wear on me that her Asperger’s was the defining condition of her life. Neither woman’s romance felt very genuine, and I found the secondary characters to be less than riveting. Overall I liked the story but was surprisingly let down by the general execution, which seemed to drag.

Tamela McCann THE MAPMAKER’S CHILDREN Sarah McCoy, Crown, 2015, $25.00, hb, 320pp, 9780385348904 This story takes place (most of the time) in New Charlestown, West Virginia during two different centuries tied together by a vintage doll’s head and two protagonists: Sarah Brown in 1859 and Eden Anderson in 2014. The novel brings the haunting history of the past to collide with the drama of the present, once the reader begins to realize that the New Charlestown house in the narrative once was, and is now, a safe haven for both protagonists.

Sarah is the daughter of the infamous John Brown, who was hanged for treason in 1859 when the country trembled on the brink of civil war.

Eden is a young woman who believes her marriage is crumbling because she has been unable to bear a child. As Eden resolves to get her house designated for historic preservation, and thereby increase its HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 51

sales potential, she discovers an old doll’s head shoved into what once was an underground root cellar.

As the chapters alternate from past to present, two tales emerge and merge with stories of the Underground Railroad near Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, and Sarah Brown’s fervent passion for painting subtle escape maps that point the way to freedom. As Eden’s marriage flounders, she begins to hunt for clues about the painted doll’s head, eventually bringing both stories to a satisfying conclusion.

As a history buff, I enjoyed the novel because it gave me a deeper understanding about the trial of John Brown, and the ensuing firestorm inflicted upon his wife and children. I particularly liked how the doll’s head eventually leads to connecting all the characters in the story, both past and present, and represents how artifacts can lead us back to a more enlightened understanding of history.

Linda Harris Sittig THE BEEKEEPER’S DAUGHTER Santa Montefiore, Simon and Schuster, 2015, $25, hb, 400pp, 9781476735412 / Simon & Schuster UK, 2015, £7.99, pb, 416pp, 9781471101014 The beekeeper’s daughter turns out to be two people – Grace Hamblin, raised in England, living on the estate of Lord and Lady Penselwood, where her father works as a beekeeper, and Trixie Valentine, Grace’s daughter, living on the Nantucket-like island of Tekanasset, in Massachusetts, where Grace keeps bees and gardens with Trixie and her husband, Freddie.

Grace was raised in the 1930s, when the British class system was clearly defined and she could pine after the Penselwoods’ son Rufus, but marry her friend Freddie, who also worked the estate. Trixie has been raised in America, in the more permissive 1970s. Her mother doesn’t know that she smokes pot and sleeps with her boyfriend, British musician Jasper. When Jasper is called home to England to take over the family estate after the death of his brother, Trixie learns that she and her mother have much more in common than she thought.

Montefiore has captured two distinct worlds – estate life in England as the war begins and life for locals on a summer colony. Location and time meant Grace conformed and Trixie rebelled. When Trixie is older and on her own, she discovers a secret of Grace’s that takes her back to where her mother grew up and touches both of their pasts.

This is a gentle book, and I think that’s in part due to its two rather rustic settings. Current events are touched on, but the most violent of these, World War II, really occurs off the page, perhaps because both protagonists are women. The coincidences may strain credulity, but they reinforce the connection between mother and daughter. By the end, both women had earned their happy endings.

Ellen Keith CURRAWONG MANOR Josephine Pennicott, Macmillan Australia, 2014, 52 | Reviews |

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A$29.99, pb, 389pp, 9781743519073 With her previous novel, Poet’s Cottage, Josephine Pennicott proved that edgy bohemian glamour and gothic creepiness made a great combination. Here she continues these themes but ups her game further with her riveting dualperiod novel, set in Australia’s Blue Mountains in 2000 and 1945, about dreadful family secrets, the interpretations of creative works, and the lasting impact of war on artists and their art.

The modern protagonist, photographer Elizabeth Thorrington, jumps at the chance to return to Currawong Manor, her grandparents’ remote estate, following a career scandal. In the course of preparing a coffee-table book about her grandfather, eccentric painter Rupert Partridge, and his three beautiful life-models called the “Flowers,” she hopes to learn about her family history. A wild, haunted place, with its fairytale garden, high towers, and mythological sculptures wreathed in mist, Currawong was once the scene for a trio of tragedies. “The locals have always called it the Ruins,” Elizabeth tells a friend, “not just because it’s fallen into ruins, but because it ruins lives.” Then there are the mysterious “dollmaker” and her daughter, who were allowed to remain on the property – why?

The writing is sharp throughout, with striking images of the house both in the modern segments and in its prime. The most memorable creation is Ginger Lawson, whose attitude is as fiery as her hair. A former “Flower” with lots of sex appeal even in her 70s, Ginger returns to Currawong to be depicted anew in Elizabeth’s book. Her recollections about Rupert drive the plot along There’s a lot of story packed into the nearly 400 pages, all perfectly paced, with secrets teased out bit by bit until the shocking denouement – which is worth staying up late to discover. Fans of Kate Morton should devour it, but Pennicott has a distinctive style all her own.

Sarah Johnson

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THE LOST CHILD Caryl Phillips, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015, $26.00/C$29.99, hb, 272pp, 9780374191375 / Oneworld, 2015, £14.99, hb, 272pp, 9781780746999 The Lost Child is several stories – it’s Monica’s and her son’s, framed within the Brontës’ world, and the narrative of Wuthering Heights.

Phillips envisions a Congolese slave, who meets a ‘respectable’ gentleman in Liverpool, becomes pregnant (Heathcliff ’s ‘dark, gypsy looks’) and, unable to find employment, succumbs to sickness and death, orphaning her 7-year-old son. This section is written in third person and is poignantly and

tragically impersonal. To say more would be to reveal how Phillips pulls his threads into the whole; a mystery of sorts, I didn’t really ‘get it’ until the end.

We encounter Monica at Oxford in 1957, a gifted, rather invisible girl with no friends or social life. Estranged from her family, she meets Julian, a man from the islands (no coincidence), working on his dissertation and grateful, at the time, for the ‘security and purpose’ she offers him. Several years after marrying they are still stuck in a cramped London flat with two sons, no money and no prospects. Monica leads a ‘useless existence’ and Julian watches, with disarming disinterest, as his inscrutable wife retreats further inside her head.

Unable to reconcile with him, Monica returns to Yorkshire with the boys.

This is a complex, multi-layered story of alienation, loneliness, disaffection and abandonment. It comes at you from all sides; from Heathcliff, Emily, Branwell and their father; Monica, her father, and her son, Ben, who narrates his mother’s downward spiral through mental illness into a kind of madness. Phillips juggles some difficult questions, and to find the germane connections in his work required (for me) a second reading. It’s a short book at 272 pages, but is full of the heartbreaking predicament of misfits and outcasts. You won’t walk away from this one unscathed, but I recommend it extremely highly.

Fiona Alison DEADLIGHT HALL Sarah Rayne, Severn House, 2015, $29.95/£19.99, hb, 240pp, 9780727884718 This is the fifth book in a haunted house series featuring academic Michael Flint, his girlfriend Nell and a charming rogue cat called Wilberforce.

Professor Leo Rosendale asks Michael to look into the history of the long-closed Deadlight Hall that is being redeveloped into apartments. Leo has struggled most of his life with a gruesome childhood memory of the Hall that seems to be linked to the mysterious disappearance of his friends, twins Sophie and Susannah. They were all part of a group of Jewish children who were spirited out of Europe by a Good Samaritan during World War II and sent to live with English families.

Michael sets out to investigate the Hall, while Nell follows the trail of a sacred silver object that belongs to Leo. But it is soon clear that paranormal events are stirring within the Hall. There are disembodied footsteps and glimpses of a hunched figure that seems to be whispering, “Children, are you there?” And what is it that drives the massive old furnace beneath the Hall to fire up of its own accord? When letters and documents come to light from the 1940s and from the late 19th century, it seems the twins weren’t the only sisters to vanish.

As the macabre tale unravels, the bizarre events of the past collide with the present.

It may help to have read the previous titles in this series, as there is clearly some back story to the modern-day relationship between Nell and Multi-period

Michael that has no bearing on the main plot.

There is also an anachronism in that convict transportation to Australia had long ceased by the 1880s, but it doesn’t impinge too much on this otherwise exciting and ingenious novel that has enough sinister undertones to guarantee the shivers, and it will definitely keep you enthralled.

Marina Maxwell LIAR’S BENCH Kim Michele Richardson, Kensington, 2015, $15.00/C$16.95, pb, 261pp, 9781617737736 On Mudas Summer’s 17th birthday, her cherished mother, Ella, is found hanging from the rafters of her home. Did she kill herself? Did her abusive husband finally go too far? Those are the whispers from the people of Peckinpaw, Kentucky.

But Muddy is determined to discover the truth, and with the help of her friend, Bobby, they set out to do just that, becoming embroiled in a long-ago historical event and the hatred and racial bias of the Seventies.

Bobby is the descendant of Frannie Crow, a slave hanged at a nearby plantation for an incidental crime, her gallows used to create a bench in the town square known as the Liar’s Bench. The Bench is a significant backdrop in the telling of the tale, and the tale is full of Southern swagger and a hundred years of lies.

Richardson does a splendid job of weaving the two stories together without a literary muddle.

Frannie’s touching and relevant story is told in meaningful bites, and Muddy is the personification of a 17-year-old girl who Richardson has written with wit, anger and the sensibilities of her age. A clear stage is set for Muddy and Bobby to discover the truth about Ella, Frannie and themselves as they follow a road filled with suspicions, secrets, threats and racism.

Liar’s Bench is a satisfying mystery with thought-provoking historical elements, written in a sassy Southern voice.

Wendy Zollo

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THE SEVEN SISTERS Lucinda Riley, Atria, 2015, $24.99, hb, 480pp, 9781476759906 / Pan, 2015, £7.99, pb, 400pp, 9781447218647 The Seven Sisters tells the tale of six young women, all adopted by an enigmatic man for mysterious reasons.

When he dies suddenly, he leaves behind a clue for each sister, and the past begins to unfold.

This novel is the first in a new series about each sister’s path to uncover her history. The protagonist of this installment is the eldest sister, Maia. Her birth is tied to the sultry world of Rio de Janeiro, though it is the crushing reminder of love lost that drives Multi-period

her from her childhood home to confront the past.

Her ties to an aristocratic Portuguese family are soon revealed; Maia is launched into a journey to uncover the secrets of her presumed grandmother, Izabela Bonifacio. Decisions made eighty years before resound even to the current day.

Lucinda Riley is one of the strongest authors in this genre of historical fiction. Her ability to weave stories together, using modern-day and historical settings, is top notch. The main character, Maia, is in some ways just as enigmatic as her adoptive father. Her heart still aches from a love gone wrong, and even the reader is kept guessing about the consequences of that love. Yet in discovering her true parentage, Maia finally gains closure in more ways than one. The addition of Izabela’s story connects the reader to the past, and the unique setting of Rio in the 1920s is a welcome change from the European-dominated historical fiction market.

This novel will appeal to readers of multiple genres as it contains excellent historical detail, heart-wrenching romance, and an engaging mystery.

Caroline Wilson INTO THE FIRE Manda Scott, Bantam Press, 2015, £14.99, hb, 474pp, 9780593072479 1429: France has been ravaged by long-drawnout war with England. Tomas Rustbeard is a double agent, his present task to discredit the Maid – France’s most revered woman – reveal her as a heretic and blasphemer, deserving death by burning. He becomes the Maid’s trusted companion but is increasingly puzzled. She is a leader, her courage beyond human. Even her warhorse, the fiendish Xenophon, adores her.

In battle the Maid more than equals the King’s greatest knights. Inspirational but who, or what, can she be?

In Orleans in 2014, on the eve of a bitterly fought election which will seal the city’s future, Police Capitaine Ines Picaut and her team investigate fires of a ferocity that leaves no clues – until the autopsy of an incinerated human body reveals a thumb drive, a precious message swallowed by the victim, but so encoded that even Picaut’s most brilliant codebreaker will need time to decipher it.

Meantime, why has the Church been ordering the burning of royal bones?

This marvellous book presents readers with an overflowing cornucopia of romance, horror, mounting anguish and two layers of baffling, disturbing mystery enlivened by a crowd of alltoo-human people, ancient and modern. It is exceptionally well paced, and altogether a real treat.

Nancy Henshaw HOW TO BE BOTH Ali Smith, Pantheon, 2014, $25.95, hb, 372pp, 9780375424106 / Hamish Hamilton, 2014, £16.99, hb, 384pp, 9780241145210 This unusual novel is memorable as well as

lyrical. Smith tells the story of a Renaissance artist and a 21st-century teenager who find their lives woven together in ways that neither characters nor readers understand right away. First, we hear from the Renaissance artist, who is assigned to paint the East wall in the room of a palace with representations of March, April, and May. Then, about halfway through, we begin to hear George’s story. George is a teenager who is piecing together her final memories with her mother, recalling, in particular, a trip they took to Italy, where they were awed by the East wall of a room in a palace, and George began asking questions about art. Though shrouded in mystery of character, plot direction, and some creative but muddling language, I still grew attached, liking the characters.

The writing style becomes clearer as you read, mirroring the characters’ ability to figure out their own lives. At the beginning the writing is full of broken lines, unfinished words, and incomplete sentences, somewhere between poetry and mad ravings in a stream of consciousness. Soon these broken sentences form into brief scenes, though we still don’t know if our “I” figure is male or female, young or old, dead or alive. And perhaps the point is that it doesn’t matter. Even as these elements of character become somewhat clear, there’s still a great mystery that I found curious as well as playful and enveloping. The story does eventually form itself into prose, but the writing remains poetic, reminiscent of Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner, though also quite unique.

I was enchanted, and would recommend the experience.

Amy Watkin THE SHORE Sara Taylor, Hogarth, 2015, $25.00, hb, 352pp, 9780553417739 / William Heinemann, 2015, £12.99, hb, 320pp, 9780434023097 The Shore is a collection of barrier islands set in the Chesapeake Bay, and also a collection of various stories about the people who live on those islands, and whose lives are tossed with violence as well as love. The chapters are set in various time periods from 1874 on, but not necessarily in chronological order. The book, as a whole, explores the desperation of learning to survive in a society where self-preservation depends solely upon the individual.

As the novel begins to unfold, layers of stories show the brutal aspects of a drug-infused lifestyle, but also the healing possibilities from medicinal herbs. In gripping detail, a house that is a prison for one offers the sanctuary of home to another.

Spanning multiple generations and even projecting into the future, the narratives delve into the theme of survival at all costs, where small kindnesses triumph over miseries and one person’s life force reaches through the generations to touch different souls.

I must admit that I had difficulty, at times, trying to figure out which family a particular character belonged to, but as the book concluded I enjoyed HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 53

the revelations about several of the characters.

Sara Taylor’s masterful use of descriptive language brought the barrier islands and their inhabitants vividly to life.

Linda Harris Sittig

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WILD WOOD Posie Graeme-Evans, Simon & Schuster, 2015, £8.99, pb, 464pp, 9781471149894 / Atria, 2015, $16.00, pb, 464pp, 9781476743615 Just before the marriage of Prince Charles and Diana in 1981, Jesse travels from Australia to London.

Distracted by her discovery that she is adopted, she steps into the path of a motorbike and wakes to find herself on a hospital ventilator in the care of neurologist, Rory Brandon. Rory is surprised when Jesse starts drawing images of a place he knows, that she has never been to: Hundredfield, a castle on the Scottish Borders, owned by his friend Alicia, and where he grew up. He works with Jesse through hypnosis and takes her to the castle to fathom the mystery. Has her brain injury made her a savant?

What can explain her drawings, and the second personality that emerges during their hypnosis sessions?

In the parallel historical story weaving around Jesse and Rory’s experiences, Hundredfield, in the 11th century, is a grim fortress held by the third generation of Normans, three brothers, facing down the disgruntled, dispossessed Saxons surrounding them. When Godefroi, the oldest brother, marries a strange mute woman found naked in the woods, the peasants’ fear and fury boils over and Bayard, the youngest brother, must solve the puzzle of his brother’s wife and defend the castle from brutal invaders.

Posie Graeme-Evans slips the novel skilfully between the two eras, effectively building up suspense, weaving plausible facts and relationships around ancient myths and beliefs about the forest.

The historical story is particularly gripping and peopled by men and women who ring a little truer than the contemporary cast. There are patches of staccato writing where the book reads more like a play script than a narrative, but these are minor quibbles. Wild Wood is fabulously researched, addictively plotted, and not a book you want to put down once you are immersed in the world of Hundredfield.

Tracey Warr

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historical fantasy

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THE SILVER WITCH Paula Brackston, St. Martin’s, 2015, $25.99/ C$29.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250028792 Set in both present-day Wales and in the 10th century, The Silver Witch tells the stories of Tilda Fordwells and Seren Arianaidd, two women linked by place, powers, and possibly bloodline. After moving into a secluded cottage overlooking Llangors Lake, while grieving the loss of her husband, Tilda begins to have visions of people from another time and of a woman who bears a striking resemblance to her. The crannog in the lake, which once held the palace of Prince Brynach and his clan, sparks latent powers in Tilda that connect her to Seren, a witch and shaman of the clan. Dark magic linked to an ancient grave is released by an archeological dig. To fight the magic, which may be related to Seren and her time, and avoid death, Tilda must put together the meaning of her visions, her newfound powers, and the myths of the lake.

Brackston blends history with myth and introduces an engaging heroine with albinism. In understanding herself, Tilda begins to understand her condition, too. Even though I found the author’s use of the present tense with the past tense to deliver Tilda’s narrative jarring, the novel pulled me in and made for an entertaining read.

Francesca Pelaccia GREENWODE J. Tullos Hennig, DSP Publications, 2014, $17.99, pb, 340pp, 9781632164377 In 12th-century Britain, the Christian church does all it can to stamp out the remnants of paganism, but the roots of Celtic belief run deep.

A forester’s son, Rob, is told by a seer that he will lead his people in a final conflict between the old religion and the new; when Rob and his sister, the wise-maiden Marion, befriend a young Norman named Gamelyn, the druid proclaims him their fated enemy. But Rob cannot accept this, for the feelings he and Gamelyn share go beyond the friendship of lord and liegeman – feelings which, like the old gods, are considered heresy worthy of death by Gamelyn’s church.

Greenwode is the first in a series re-imagining the Robin Hood story in a daring new way, steeped in historical romanticism with a hefty dose of fantasy and a magical sense of storytelling. The star-crossed love story embodies the conflicts and changes going on around them – old versus new, pagan versus Christian, Briton versus Norman, duty versus desire – struggles rooted in history but couched in legend. Greenwode is recommended not just for fans of LGBT romance, but all readers of historical fantasy and epic adventure.

Heather Domin

THE ETERNA FILES Leanna Renee Hieber, Tor, 2015, $24.99, hb, 319pp, 9780765336743 After the death of Abraham Lincoln, mystic Clara Templeton suggests to Mary Lincoln that her husband should have been made immortal.

Taken with the idea, Mary Lincoln presses the government to create a group of scientists and mystics to investigate immortality. Seventeen years later, the group has neared its goal when most of its members are killed in a strange accident. Clara feels responsible and mourns the loss of her lover; with her guardian Senator Bishop, she helps to investigate the accident and follow up on the group’s work.

In England, a similar group has been working on immortality, and all of its members have disappeared. Policeman Spire is hired to head the new agency, to discover what happened to the missing scientists and to help complete their work.

America and Britain are in a race to see who can understand the eterna compound/process first, but a third group, mysterious and dangerous, is also involved.

Hieber’s alternate history/steampunk world is well drawn, and her characters, though numerous, are fully realized. The mystery is murky and the plot fast-paced. The Eterna Files must be the first book in a series as the story ends mid-action.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt A TALL SHIP, A STAR, AND PLUNDER Robert Krog (ed.), Dark Oak Press, 2014, $14.95, pb, 296pp, 9781937035655 A Tall Ship, A Star and Plunder is an anthology of short stories and poems, all having something to do with pirates. A few stories are straight historical, some are mostly historical but with imaginary sea creatures, and many stories fall into the fantasy genre, such as those about space pirates, aliens, ghosts and time travel. The buccaneer characters are sometimes the protagonists and sometimes the antagonists but almost always the heart of the story.

As in any collection of writings by different authors, the stories and poems vary in quality from the good to the less so. “The Bottom of the Mug” by S. P. Dorning is a solid story in which a boy learns from his uncle about the sea voyage that took the life of his father. “The Serpent and the Dagger”

by Robert Krog is a fascinating tale of a sailor contemplating mutiny against a devilish captain who has been the only one to tame a dangerous sea serpent. “Corey of Steel” by Jerri Hardesty is a clever poem about a girl stowaway who saves the life of a captain.

Unfortunately, the collection contains poorly written, hard-to-follow, clichéd stories as well.

As a whole, the collection is sloppily edited, with misspellings, formatting and grammatical mistakes, and even a line that ends mid-sentence. A Tall Ship, A Star, and Plunder is a mixed bag of loot, hiding a few gems.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt Time-slip — Historical Fantasy

WIND RAKER: Book Four of the Order of the Air Melissa Scott and Jo Graham, Crossroad, 2014, $26.99, hb, 284pp, 9781941408049 After placing a curse on a former lover, a man with mystical powers begins forming a secret military force by recruiting the reincarnated souls of history’s best military leaders and soldiers. Our main characters (Alma, Lewis, Mitch and Stasi) take a job test-piloting airplanes and move to Hawaii with their four children. The cursed woman is one of their fellow aircrew, bringing danger to their flights. Already in Hawaii is their homosexual friend Jerry, who is working at an archaeological dig and beginning a romantic relationship with a German colleague. This group of people discovers the evil man’s plot and work against him. Most of the story is set-up, with this main conflict not being revealed until the last third of the novel.

Wind Raker is the fourth book in the Order of the Air series, and not having read the first three books put me at a disadvantage. I had a hard time distinguishing between characters: their personalities are much the same. The world was confusing. It is historical: 1935 Hawaii, but the historical references are not enough to bring the time period to life, maybe because the characters feel so modern. The fantasy elements are interesting: mystical more than magical, but I never fully understood who could do what, how and why. I assume I would have been less confused if I’d read the earlier works. Recommended only for readers who have read and enjoyed the first books in the series.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt SUSTENANCE: A Saint-Germain Novel Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tor, 2015, $29.99/ C$34.50, hb, 480pp, 9780765334015 Saint-Germain is back! Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has written another fascinating, well- researched novel, this one set in the McCarthy era. Living in Paris during the dark times following World War II, the millennia-old vampire Saint Germain, here called Szent-Germain, becomes embroiled with a group of American expats running from the Communist-hunting House Un-American Activities Committee.

Yarbro tells an intricate tale by using different characters as the central figure, weaving seemingly unrelated stories into a coherent, fascinating and page-turning whole. The fact that Saint Germain is a vampire is, shall we say, less germane to the story than his involvement with this deeply flawed but fascinating group of people. Yarbro keeps the reader involved and wishing for yet another chapter.

Yarbro has written 27 Saint Germain novels, set in various periods. I have been a long-time fan of her work, and have admired not just her prose, but her skill as a researcher for many years. Her skill as a writer has grown exponentially with each novel. I recommend her latest book wholeheartedly.

Monica E. Spence Historical Fantasy — Children & YA

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alternate history

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ERASING SHAME Yeyu, DSP Publications, 2014, $17.99, pb, 330pp, 9781632164391 Jiang Shicai is still a boy when he learns that it was his father who facilitated the Xianbei Mongols’ invasion of China. Honour-bound to his father, he makes it his life-goal to redeem the family name. He knows perpetual war will only oppress the Han people further, so he joins the Xianbei army to aid in peace-keeping efforts. Overtime he becomes a highly-respected officer and some years later is asked to host Dugu Xuechi, a Military Inspector sent from the royal court. Xuechi is a shallow, lecherous degenerate who spends more time in brothels than on the battlefield. He flaunts himself and his military prowess with little regard for his own safety, but there is something about this reckless abandon which haunts Shicai. As his closest allies are lured by Xuechi’s charm, Shicai finds himself on the opposite side to old friends.

Based loosely on events in China between the 3rd and 6th centuries, this alternate history has a large glossary of Chinese terms, and character names which have intriguing meanings.

However, within the first few pages I was put off by the peculiar prose – unimaginative dialogue, grammatical errors, strange phraseology (‘a cup of tea’s worth of awkward silence’), and bewildering word repetition (‘beauty’ and ‘beautiful’ to name but two). I could find no empathy for the flat characters, from emperor to lowly servant, and believe they deserved everything the Fates doled out. The story is gay-themed romance, but better described, by the author, as ‘angst/drama’ as there is no romance here, and ‘no’ never means ‘no’. Readers should be aware there are scenes of graphic, nonconsensual and sometimes brutal sex/rape/ torture. The plot is very complex and, thankfully, not predictable (its one redeeming feature), but the writing style did not work for me.

Fiona Alison

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SERAFINA AND THE BLACK CLOAK Robert Beatty, Disney-Hyperion, 2015, $16.99, hb, 304pp, 9781484709016 Twelve-year-old Serafina isn’t quite like other girls. She has golden eyes, not a single friend, and lives secretly in the basement of the grand Biltmore Estate with her father, the estate’s maintenance man. Unknown to the Vanderbilt family, she styles herself the Chief Rat Catcher and roams the estate each night. But she’s not the only one. A mysterious

figure in a black cloak with superhuman powers has been snatching visiting children. But he’s met his match in Serafina, who’s wily, tough, and determined to not let him take another soul. With Braeden, the Vanderbilts’ lonely nephew, Serafina forges a friendship and gains an ally in her hunt for the man in the black cloak.

Serafina narrates with an engaging voice that draws the reader into her world. The setting is just as engaging: the Biltmore drips with opulence and the surrounding forest with sufficient eeriness.

Light on history, but big on plot, Serafina has enough mystery and fantasy (with a fair amount of creepiness) to satisfy young readers.

Jessica Brockmole Serafina and the Black Cloak is one of my favorite books I have ever read. It is a story that is a mix of genres. The book fits into the categories of historical fiction, fantasy, mystery, and paranormal.

In this story, Serafina learns the power of bravery and friendship. It is so fabulously written that I could not think of a book that used as much description as in this story. Serafina and the Black Cloak is so realistic that I felt like I was being drawn into the story and that I was living all of Serafina’s adventures. I recommend Serafina and the Black Cloak for people of all ages.

Ellen Brockmole, age 11 THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Dial, 2015, $16.99, hb, 320pp, 9780803740815 Ada has never left her London apartment.

Her mother, Mam, a deeply troubled and abusive woman, is too ashamed of Ada’s clubfoot to let her out of doors. Ada’s understanding of the world, therefore, comes mostly through her window.

When war breaks out with Nazi Germany, and London youths are shipped to the countryside for their safety, Ada manages to get herself to the train depot with her brother to join the refugees.

Her life begins anew in Susan Smith’s household.

Ada sees a pony for the first time. She sees grass and the ocean for the first time. She has more than one set of clothes. She takes regular baths. It is all so baffling, as she must grapple not only with the shadow of her former life, but also with the new one of a war-torn nation and the household of a grieving woman who never planned to have kids.

As the Battle of Britain commences and the bombs fall, their new bonds are tested. And one question looms: will they be returned to their mother, or can they make a new life with Susan?

Bradley unfolds Ada’s world, so truncated and tortured, with deft skill. Being a first-person narrative, Ada’s perspective can feel almost claustrophobic, which heightens the emotional intensity of the book. We breathe easier with each new revelation and feel the walls close back in with each setback, as Ada’s defenses attempt to shield her – to the point of self-sabotage – from the many threats this new world holds. These threats, in the form of a caring guardian, a brother finding peace, HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 55

and new friendships, are slowly, and painfully, revealed to be the blessings the reader has always known them to be. Appropriate for mid-grade and YA readers, though very psychologically intense. A compelling read.

Justin M. Lindsay DEAR MR. WASHINGTON Lynn Cullen and Nancy Carpenter (illus.), Dial, 2015, $16.99/C$18.99, hb, 32pp, 9780803730380 Written and illustrated with a 5- to 8-year-old audience in mind, Dear Mr. Washington is rollicking fun for the grown-ups involved as well. It’s the story of artist Gilbert Stuart’s boisterous children getting in the way of his painting his most famous portrait: the one of George Washington that we see every time we handle a dollar bill. Charlotte, as Stuart’s oldest child, writes Washington apologies, telling him that they won’t be a problem again, that they’ve learned the basics of the era’s etiquette… like don’t pick fleas off people. Stuart (1755-1828) really did produce dozens of paintings of Washington, and what seems like every other leading figure in early American history too: more than a thousand, including the first six presidents. Carpenter’s illustrations are so detailed that there are new discoveries (or old, favorite ones) to be found with each reading. Best of all, the first president’s face is so deliciously sour in contrast to the children’s high spirits – and their father so aghast – that each page has layers of humor.

Kristen Hannum

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THE EARTH IS SINGING Vanessa Curtis, Usborne, 2015, £6.99, pb, 238pp, 9781409577447 1940, Riga, Latvia.

Fifteen-year-old Hanna Michelson is training to be a ballet dancer and she has a boyfriend, the handsome Uldis.

Life was good – until the Russians invaded and took her father away for questioning.

He hasn’t returned.

Hanna, her mother and grandmother have lost their home and are living in a cramped flat and food is running short. Now the Germans are besieging the city. People are saying that the Nazis will save them from the Russians and things will get better. But Hanna is Jewish, and the Nazis have a different, far grimmer, fate in mind for Jews.

The first-person narrative from Hanna’s viewpoint allows readers to experience things through her eyes. We empathize with her delight in dancing, her loyalty to her family and her love for Uldis. But there is much she doesn’t know. As her world begins to shrink, enlightenment as to her probable fate slowly sinks in. Her readers have the benefit of hindsight, and the result is a gripping read as we long to know what will happen next but 56 | Reviews |

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fear to turn the pages.

It is extraordinarily difficult to write about the Holocaust from so close a vantage point, but Vanessa Curtis does not fail her young readers.

In my view, she’s pitched it perfectly. She does not fall into the trap of going for the pornography of brutality. Yes, the horrors are there; she tells us, truthfully, what happens but without rubbing our noses in it, and the emotional effect is all the stronger for her restraint. But what shines through is the triumph of the human spirit.

This book would be an excellent choice for girls of 11 plus who are studying the Holocaust, and there are some helpful questions to aid discussion at the end. Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Hawksley FRIEND OR FOE: 1916: Which Side Are You On? Brian Gallagher, O’Brien, 2015, £6.99, pb, 240pp, 9781847176318 This is a fast moving, exciting, and informative historical novel for twelve- to fourteen-year-olds.

The Irish Question is difficult for the rest of the world to understand fully, but most British people are delighted to have the gentle and easy-going people of the Irish Republic as close neighbours.

This book will help teenagers to understand the Rising of 1916 and what formed the Republic.

When Emer Davey saves her neighbour Jack Madigan from drowning, it seems they’ll be friends forever. But eight months later they find themselves on opposite sides in a life-or-death struggle, as Dublin is torn apart in rebellion. In this story of division, parents attempt to draw the friends apart but loyalty between the teenagers seems to be secure.

Like her father, who is a part-time officer in the Irish Volunteers, Emer believes that armed revolution is the only way to gain independence from Britain. Jack, meanwhile, follows the rule of law like his father in the Dublin Metropolitan Police. So the two young friends find their loyalties tested as the Easter Rising hits closer to home than either could have imagined. Though on different sides of the rebellion, they act together to locate their fighting dads. Tension rises as the two children work their way through fighting. As they see British soldiers fixing bayonets and hear bullets flying, they realise that warfare is anything but glorious.

Both main characters display the best of human motives, as they play their part in this extremely well-written outline, by a skilled Irish writer, who sees both sides of the Question. In an age when forgiveness and reconciliation are too rare in the popular media, it is refreshing to read of youthful kindness and courage, duty and family unity. This is the best children’s book I’ve seen.

Geoffrey Harfield LION HEART A.C. Gaughen, Bloomsbury, 2015, $17.99/ C$19.99, hb, 352pp, 9780802736161

The conclusion of the author’s Scarlet trilogy, Lion Heart continues the story with the Lady Thief, Marian, escaping her intended death at the hands of her cruel uncle, Prince John. The raising of King Richard’s ransom has broken the people of England and still the prince is meting out punishments to the common folk who can ill afford the taxes. His intentions for the funds, Scarlet finds, do not include bringing his venerated brother back to England, and she must scheme with Rob and their friends to thwart Prince John’s aspirations for the crown.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of Gloucester, the Earl of Winchester, and many other historical figures take center stage in this fast-paced tale, and are given addictively charming personalities.

With much action, humor and romance, this is a light, fun read for young adults, but may grate the sensibilities of the more serious historical readers with its witty, but anachronistic dialog. Though it is part of a series, it reads well enough as a standalone, especially for those familiar with the legend of Maid Marian and Robin Hood. Lion Heart brings a neat close to this author’s interpretation of a well-known story, while endearing readers to a strong female protagonist worthy of being Eleanor of Aquitaine’s granddaughter.

Arleigh Johnson DISAPPEAR HOME Laura Hurwitz, Albert Whitman, 2015, $13.99, pb, 256pp, 9780807524688 In this novel set in 1970, the ripe-to-rotten end of the counterculture movement, Shoshanna, her baby sister, Mara, and her mother, Ellen, escape in a stolen car from the violent, drug-saturated commune where they’ve been living. How did this all start? Ellen, from a nice middle-class family, becomes entangled with a seductive petty criminal named Adam back on the East Coast. After drifting westward together, they settle in San Francisco for the Summer of Love. A cult leader type, the manipulative Adam takes his family to an Oregon commune. In this isolated place, under the cover of “escape from square society,” the women are abused and barefoot, while the men form a vicious gang, stealing from the “straights” and fighting among themselves for loot.

Most of the action takes place in the first chapters through chillingly real flashbacks. The three refugees find succor among old friends and, haltingly, start on the long road back to normalcy.

Shoshanna is a strong, relatable heroine. Though always a recognizable teenager, she’s also drawn as a kid who has engaged in a life-or-death struggle. I heaved a sigh of relief at the rather too-tidy ending, which was far weaker than the first half of the story.

I have some personal caveats, but Disappear Home is well-written, and, for the most part, a satisfying – and hair-raising – YA read.

Juliet Waldron FORBIDDEN Kimberley Griffiths Little, Harper, 2014, $17.99, Children & YA

hb, 389pp, 9780062194978 In this novel set in the Mesopotamian desert, Jayden is on the cusp of womanhood, and her betrothal ceremony to Horeb, the future leader of the tribe, will restore her family’s position.

When the harsh desert life takes one of their own, Jayden must keep her family from falling apart and resist the forbidden feelings that are awakened in her when a stranger, Kadesh, enters their midst.

Complications arise as her sister is drawn to foreign gods and both men in her life have secrets of their own. Will the jealousy and passion that ensues destroy everything Jayden loves?

This is the first book in a new series, and it’s a fast-paced read with lots of combat, tragedy, murder and, for a Young Adult title, it does contain some sexual references without being explicit. In some ways, this reads like a fairy tale that goes dark while rushing headlong towards a cliffhanger ending. The portrayal of the villain is a bit excessive in his evil nature, perhaps to make him more of a threat for subsequent books. Forbidden could have made a great standalone title (with an alternate ending), but as it is, you will be looking for the sequel just for the romance.

Lauren Miller THE YEAR WE SAILED THE SUN Theresa Nelson, Atheneum, 2015, $16.99, hb, 432pp, 9780689858277 In The Year We Sailed the Sun, Theresa Nelson tells the story of Julia Delaney, an orphaned girl who has spent her earliest years in the Kerry Patch, an Irish section of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1911.

The Kerry Patch is filled with gang-related violence and is run by Mr. Egan, whose power seems unimpeachable. When their grandmother, with whom they’d been living, dies, the children are sent to Aunt Gert, who finds them too much to handle.

So, Julia, along with her older sister, Mary, and her brother, Bill, are taken to the House of Mercy, an orphanage run by nuns. There, the children are separated, with Bill going to a job. Later, Mary also takes a job away from the orphanage, leaving Julia to fend for herself. For a nine-year-old girl, Julia manages to get into as much trouble as another Missouri fictional character, Huck Finn.

Julia begins her relationship with the nuns by biting one when they first come to take her away.

And, though Julia presents a challenge, the nuns prove more than capable of dealing with her. Thanks to their steady guidance and the unwavering love of Miss Cora Downey, who teaches piano to the children, Julia at last finds a real home and love.

This is a charming, warm-hearted story.

Interestingly, there is truth to it. Based on the experiences of Julia Catherine Kraemer Cooney, the author’s mother-in-law, this tale is the fictionalized story of her life. The Irish culture and dialogue are spot-on. A joy to read.

Anne Clinard Barnhill MARK OF THE THIEF Jennifer A. Nielsen, Scholastic, 2015, $17.99, hb, Children & YA

352pp, 9780545561549 In the first book of her new series, Jennifer Nielsen introduces the reader to Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome. Those in power believe the treasure of Julius Caesar is buried somewhere in the mine, and Nic’s overseer commands him to crawl into an unexplored and dangerous section to seek the treasure, especially a bulla that is supposed to carry magical powers. Nic finds the bulla and slips it around his neck, triggering its magic immediately. In the wake of this magic, Nic escapes.

Once the authorities realize Nic has escaped, they cast a wide net to find him. Luckily, he is befriended by a griffin and a street urchin named Aurelia, who help him elude his would-be captors and try to rescue his sister, Livia. From one adventure to another, Nic discovers he has no idea how to use the magic he possesses, but somehow he manages to baffle the senators and generals who chase him.

Told in first-person point of view, this book has it all: a likeable hero, magic, and a band of evil men who must be thwarted so that Rome can survive.

It’s an enjoyable read, well told. One minor quibble is the abruptness of the ending. This is the first book in a series, so one expects a cliff-hanger, but the ending felt choppy rather than suspenseful.

Otherwise, this is a book I would happily buy for my grandchildren.

Anne Clinard Barnhill BEHIND THE WALLS Nicola Pierce, O’Brien, 2015, £6.99, pb, 358pp, 9781847176462.

This novel tells the story of the siege of Derry in 1688, at the time of the accession of a Catholic monarch, James II, to the British throne. The English preferred a Protestant monarchy in the persons of William and Mary, James’ daughter; support for the Catholic James was strong in Ireland. The spontaneous action of the apprentice boys of Derry in closing the city gates against a Jacobite army was an essential step towards William’s eventual victory.

Nicola Pierce takes, as her main characters, Daniel and Robert Sherrard, two of the apprentices whose names have come down to us in historical documents, and gives an exciting account of the siege in workman-like prose and well-plotted action. The two brothers prove an engaging central duo. Good use is made of meticulous research – slang such as ‘Redshanks’ for the kilted Highlanders that make-up the Jacobite army – and a sprinkling of allegory and history: the Greek story of the Spartans holding the pass at Thermopylae is mentioned. Daniel’s endearing pet dog, Horace, often reasons and responds like a human being, and provides another character easy for children to identify with.

The gory possibilities of the siege and the antagonism between Catholics and Protestants are not glossed over but are made manageable for the young reader: even an account of the notorious siege

of Drogheda by Cromwell is rendered terrifying but not graphic. Perhaps a shortage of female viewpoint in the novel is a slight disappointment.

This book aims to bring to life a period and location not often covered in children’s fiction, and would be useful background reading if studying the history of Ireland and England. The book also contains useful information, listing other books and web-sites if readers wish to follow up their interest. Recommended for readers aged 8 – 12.

Jane Burke I WAS ONLY NINETEEN John Schumann, illus. Craig Smith, Allen & Unwin, 2014, £10.99, hb, 32pp, 9781743317235 This picture book tells its moving story in simple verses and beautiful water-colour illustrations. The text is composed of the words of a song that became a hit and topped the record charts in Australia in 1983. Based on the recollections of one veteran, the song and the story record the recruitment, training and war experiences of a platoon of Australian soldiers sent to fight in Vietnam in the 1960s.

Despite being an honest depiction of war, its images are sensitive rather than graphic, and the youth and confusion of the soldiers is its constant refrain – ‘God help me, I was only nineteen’. The illustrations are in soft washes of green and gold, browns and black, managing to suggest both the tropical jungles of Vietnam and the military greens of the men’s tents and uniforms. Occasional flares of colour insert drama: ‘an Asian orange sunset through the scrub’; a wash of tender cherry-pink amongst the foliage as a wounded man is evacuated.

There is a lovely study of a grey troop-ship steaming over a blue-grey ocean towards a lowering, bluegrey horizon – an image of loneliness. Throughout, the paraphernalia of war, helicopters and guns, are depicted as smudgy and indistinct, whereas the frank, round faces of the troops remain unchanged, almost the faces of children themselves.

The author states, in a note, that the song was written to combat the oblivion to which the veterans felt they had been assigned, ‘forgotten soldiers from a forgotten war’ in the words of another song. A bright seven-year-old to whom I offered the book loved it, and her father, also an exsoldier, was moved, and quick to note that it would make an invaluable aide to classroom discussions of war and history with the 7-11 age group. Highly recommended.

Jane Burke GLADIATOR SCHOOL: Blood Justice Dan Scott, Scribo, 2015, £6.99, pb, 287pp, 9781910184431 Blood Justice is the 6th book in the Gladiator School series, and although it can be read on its own, the author helpfully weaves in enough back story to allow the reader to pick up the story without having read the previous novels. This novel starts when the two very different brothers, the quiet and introspective Lucius, through whom the story is told, and action-man Quintus, together with their HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 57

friend, the Egyptian tomboy, Isidora, return to Rome from Britannia with important documents.

With the help of a young lawyer, Gaius, the Harry Potter-like trio intends to sue the powerful consul Glabrio for the murder of Emperor Titus, as well as that of their own father, Aquila.

However, events take a disastrous turn, and they find themselves accused of patricide and condemned to die by drowning. The sentence is later commuted to damnatio ad gladium – death by sword in the arena – and the brothers have to fight for their survival as well as justice for their father.

For the benefit of the target audience the characters speak like modern children, but the excellent sense of place and time, with examples such as slave ownership taken for granted and cypress branches on the door as a sign of mourning, lends authenticity to a work of historical fiction.

Although the author doesn’t shy away from describing the more brutal side of Roman society, it is still age-appropriate and softened by an innocent, budding romance between Isidora and Lucius.

Blood Justice is an enjoyable adventure story, occasionally tinged with sadness, but with enough action and suspense to keep the reader hooked, as well as footnotes to help educate about life in Roman times. It’s aimed mainly at 9- to11-year-old boys, although girls will identify with the plucky Isidora.

Henriette Gyland

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X: A Novel Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon, Candlewick, 2015, $16.99, hb, 384pp, 9780763669676 Malcolm X is one of the most misunderstood and maligned figures of the 20th century. X: A Novel takes us from his childhood years up to his release from the Norfolk Prison Colony in 1948. Co-written by his daughter, X gives the reader a personal and informed understanding of Malcolm X and humanizes the man behind the icon.

Malcolm Little grows up in Lansing, Michigan in a family of eight children who tragically lose their strong and independent-minded father, Earl, under suspicious circumstances. Earl had challenged racial injustice and taught his children the message of Marcus Garvey – “Up, up, you mighty race” – and for daring to question those in power, he is murdered. For ten years following Earl’s death, Malcolm’s mother, Louise, fights to keep her family together during the tough years of the Great Depression. Eventually the state intervenes, commits her to a mental institution, and sends five of her children into foster care.

Following the breakup of his family, Malcolm moves to Boston to live with his half-sister, Ella.

The next years of his life are full of turmoil and 58 | Reviews |

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discontent rooted in grief, from both the loss of his parents and the dispersal of his siblings. Malcolm wastes these years getting high, hustling, and thieving, which eventually ends in an eight-year prison sentence. However, prison is his salvation; for the first time in his life, he has time to think.

He reconciles within himself the death of his father and also his own rejection of all his father’s beliefs.

He emerges from prison determined to carry on his father’s legacy and begins by discarding the name of his ancestor’s slave-owner: Little. He is now Malcolm X. I can’t recommend this novel enough.

Shannon Gallagher RUGBY REBEL Gerard Siggins, O’Brien Press, 2015, £6.99, pb, 176pp, 9781847176776 Thirteen-year-old, rugby-mad Eoin Madden returns to Castlerock boarding school in Dublin to start the new school year. He meets with old friends and enemies, and is moved up to play for the Junior Cup rugby team. He sees the ghost of a young rugby player wearing a Belvedere jersey and uncovers a link between the ghost and the Easter Rising of 1916. When mobile phones go missing from the dormitory, Eoin and his friends, real and ghostly, set out to uncover the thief.

Rugby Rebel is an old-fashioned adventure story, mainly aimed at boys with an interest in sports. The descriptions of rugby practice sessions and matches would make little sense to anyone unfamiliar with the game, but these sections are quite short and the mystery and adventure elements of the book are enough to keep more general readers interested.

The supernatural is dealt with in a matter-of-fact way that removes any potential spookiness. Indeed, the two ghosts, who are based on real people, act and talk for the most part like living people. They help Eoin to unravel the mystery of the missing phones and the secret room he discovers beneath his dormitory.

Rugby Rebel reads like a history lesson in places, with either the author or one of the ghosts telling us about historical events, or filling in the back story from the two previous books in this series, which distances the reader from Eoin’s story at times. Siggins is on firmer ground when he lets his characters speak for themselves, and very likeable characters they are, too. The narrative moves at a brisk pace and the language is clear enough for readers of nine and over. On the whole, a very enjoyable book.

Pat Walsh CARAVAGGIO: Signed in Blood Mark David Smith, Tradewind, 2015, £7.99, pb, 175pp, 9781896580050 Beppo is the servant of a wine seller in early 17th-century Rome, an orphan whose home is far away. His master is murdered, and he gets mixed up in the troubles of the painter Caravaggio. The two of them go on the run from ruthless enemies.

Pirates and bandits threaten them, against the

backdrop of the struggles between rival powers in Italy and the Mediterranean. Beppo has to cope with Caravaggio’s moods and the whims of his patrons. Can he find a way to outwit his enemies and rescue the girl he loves?

The story is told by Beppo himself with plenty of humour and energy. It is full of details that bring the period to life, from the scraping of wine barrels to the operation of a camera obscura in Caravaggio’s studio. The relationship between Beppo and Caravaggio is a convincing one, with Caravaggio’s obstinacy and pugnacity offset by his loyalty to the boy who has helped him, and his brilliance as a painter. Beppo himself is a likeable hero and good at drawing the reader into his sensations and feelings. I was particularly struck by his sufferings when he is forced to travel inside a trunk at the back of a carriage, and his experience as Caravaggio’s model. But his later adventures became a bit too hectic for my taste. The other characters are fairly sketchy, although the hierarchical nature of society, the violence and the contrasts between rich and poor are portrayed convincingly.

The overall tone of this novel reminded me of The Three Musketeers and other Dumas adventures.

Younger readers, aged 10 and above, might be more convinced than I was by the ease with which Beppo overcomes so many violent enemies.

Sandra Unerman THE CASE OF THE MISSING MOONSTONE Jordan Stratford, illus. Kelly Murphy, Random House, 2015, £9.99, hb, 219pp, 9780857551474 / Knopf, 2015, $16.99, hb, 240pp, 9780385754408 1826, London. Eleven-year-old Ada Byron is a mathematical wizard but hopeless with people. So when she meets Mary Godwin, who is good with people and loves mysteries, they don’t at first hit it off. But then they start the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency for the Apprehension of Clever Criminals which, they hope, will use both their skills. Their first case involves Miss Rebecca Verdigris’s missing moonstone. Rebecca’s maid, Rosie, has confessed to the crime, but Rebecca does not believe she is guilty. But who else could have taken it?; surely not her handsome fiancé, Beau Datchery, or Mr Abernathy, a wealthy family friend? And what has mesmerism to do with the case?

I enjoyed this book. It zips along at a cracking pace, and I enjoyed the ‘spot the hidden historical reference’. The author has played about with time to allow Ada, daughter of Lord Byron, and Mary, daughter of feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, to become contemporaries. And a disguised young Charles Dickens and Percy Shelley join in the fun.

My one niggle is that the author gets Ada’s title wrong. Ada was never ‘Lady’ Ada as Lord Byron was only a baron.

Girls of 10 plus should enjoy this book.

Elizabeth Hawksley The Case of the Missing Moonstone ticks so many good book categories: a story of friendship, mystery Children & YA

and two very bright girls makes the book incredibly enjoyable, and there wasn’t a moment when I didn’t want to read on.

The author cleverly develops at least two simultaneous plot lines, keeping the action and suspense rolling throughout. It was fast moving and the descriptive writing really plunged you into the heart of the story. I would recommend this book for any readers who enjoy detective novels and creative ideas, and also an intriguing story-line behind it all.

Freya Sutcliffe, age 12 BLACK DOVE, WHITE RAVEN Elizabeth Wein, Disney-Hyperion, 2015, $17.99, hb, 368pp, 9781423183105 / Electric Monkey, 2015, £7.99, pb, 496pp, 9781405271363 / Doubleday Canada, 2015, $21.00, hb, 368pp, 9780385681865 Emilia’s and Teo’s mothers were stunt pilots, flying in 1920s airshows across America despite the Jim Crow laws that made it difficult for the mixedrace duo to travel and work together. When a bird flies into their plane’s propeller and Teo’s mother is killed, Emilia’s mother becomes Momma to both children. She keeps alive Teo’s mother’s dream of going to Ethiopia, Teo’s father’s homeland. By the time Momma gets them to Ethiopia in the mid1930s, the Italians are shaping plans to invade, and the prospect of war threatens to turn their dream into a nightmare.

This young adult novel is an insightful and memorable visit to a racist 1930s America and a fast-developing yet, in some ways, medieval Ethiopia. Teo and Emilia are winning characters who are easy to care about, and Momma (like the other adult characters) is more flawed – yet also brave and appealing. Wein tells her story, with its suspense and unexpected twists, through flight logs, letters, notes passed between Teo and Emilia, and classroom assignments, all written by the two siblings over the course of their early adolescence.

This epistolary style told me what had happened but didn’t allow me to see Ethiopia through the characters’ eyes. I kept wishing someone would make the book into a movie so I could actually walk – and fly – alongside Teo and Emilia.

Kristen Hannum GENIUS SUMMER Pamela Woods-Jackson, Vinspire, 2014, $12.99, pb, 296pp, 9780990304203 At 16, Millie Olsen is a tentative genius, the valedictorian of her prestigious high school and the recipient of a handful of scholarships to the best colleges in the country. All she wants to do is stay home in Indianapolis, attend a community college and help her busy parents take care of her siblings. While hesitating to make a decision about her future, she spends the summer with her grandmother in Oklahoma and reconnects with her childhood friend, Zach. More importantly she discovers in her grandmother’s attic a diary written by a young girl named Synthia in 1865, a girl faced Children & YA — Nonfiction

with momentous life choices.

The parallels between the two girls help Millie move forward with less anxiety about her own options. This is a sweet book about growing up, first crushes, and parental stress, with a good amount of history thrown in. Synthia’s journal entries are the highlight of Summer Genius. Her story is a compelling one filled with real hardship.

We witness her dealing with death, sickness, and the care of her siblings with a maturity beyond her years. In contrast, Millie faces the stressors of this age, parental and peer pressure, and a soaring uncertainty about how to be her own person.

Millie’s nervous energy and frequent explanations regarding her future are frustratingly redundant, and the resolution is weak, which is not to be disdainful of Summer Genius; some editing could have made a pleasant, ordinary read into a very good one.

Wendy A. Zollo

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THE GREATEST KNIGHT: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones Thomas Asbridge, Simon & Schuster, 2015, £20, hb, 444pp, 9780743268622 / Ecco, 2014, $20.96, hb, 464pp, 9780062262059 Thomas Asbridge’s highly readable book on the life of the medieval knight, William Marshal, is effectively aimed at both lay and academic readers. It is a clear, thoroughly researched, detailed account of the pragmatics and ethos of knighthood.

Asbridge shows Marshal as a great warrior, honourable and loyal, but also a political animal, as he needed to be to thrive in the threatening world of the five Angevin kings he served: Henry II, three of his sons: Henry the Young King, Richard the Lionheart and John Softsword, and John’s son Henry III. Marshal rose from a landless younger son, dependent on his prowess at tournaments, to being Earl of Pembroke and Regent of England.

“The trace scent of self-service seems undeniable”, comments Asbridge, as he reveals sharp practices at tournaments, and the betrayals and ambitions of this world. Written in an occasionally overly racy style: knights have “the right stuff ”, nations win “the arms race”, Wales and Ireland are “the medieval Wild West”, the book nevertheless does an admirable job of enabling the reader to touch the fabric of Marshal’s world.

Tracey Warr BLACK DIAMONDS: The Downfall of an Aristocratic Dynasty and the Fifty Years That Changed England Catherine Bailey, Penguin, 2014, $17.00, pb, 544pp, 9780143126843 / Penguin, 2008, £9.99, pb, 544pp, 9780141019239 Beginning during the 19th century and ending in the 21st, Black Diamonds is the story of the end of an

era and of the back-to-the-Conqueror Fitzwilliam dynasty. “Black Diamonds” are coal, and it is upon land and mineral wealth that their immense family fortune rested. In every generation the “upstairs” story is well-larded with secrets, personal vendettas, madness and scandals. The glittery gossip parallels a story of class, the exploitation of thousands of North Country yeomen who worked and died in the mines. This social history, a description of the miners’ lives, was, for me, the most engaging section. When the story enters the ‘30s, the details of a tragic affair between a married Fitzwilliam and a Kennedy sister (Kathleen) took far too long in the telling, although the religious intolerance which kept the lovers apart provided a sour insight into that other “royal” family. As social history in the narrative gave way to soap opera, my enthusiasm waned, although respect for the author’s eminently readable prose and heroic detective work (Fitzwilliam servants were instructed to burn literally tons of family papers during the ‘70s) remained continuously high.

Juliet Waldron COMING OUT CHRISTIAN IN THE ROMAN WORLD: How the Followers of Jesus Made a Place in Caesar’s Empire Douglas Ryan Boin, Bloomsbury, 2015, $28/ C$33, hb, 224pp, 9781620403174 Everyone knows that the early Christians were mercilessly persecuted in the Roman world, simply because they wouldn’t worship pagan gods.

Not so, writes Boin, a history professor at St. Louis University. He explains, in this exploration, how life was actually perfectly safe for most early Christians during most of the still-pagan decades and centuries after Jesus.

One of the excellent points he makes concerns how most early Christians were “the quieter ones,” who went along with many of the civic/religious ceremonies, and may well have converted more pagans to their faith than the argumentative martyrs. Other topics include the wide variety of Christianities in those early years, Judaism, the cults of Mithras and Isis, and, most of all, just how complex religious life on the ground really was during late antiquity.

Boin gets into complicated historiography (the study of history) rather than just presenting the history, more than I prefer, but it was probably necessary. After all, his subject was how ideas layer themselves onto the historical record, and how some propaganda – like the inspiring but erroneous belief that it was inevitably risky to be a Christian in pagan Rome – came to be accepted as fact.

Kristen Hannum KING JOHN: England, Magna Carta and the Making of a Tyrant Stephen Church, Pan Macmillan, 2015, £25, hb, 311pp, 9780230772458 / Basic, 2015, $29.99, hb, 328pp, 97800465092994 / The fifth son of Henry II and Eleanor of HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 59

Aquitaine, John inherited the Angevin kingdom in 1199, after the deaths of his brothers. John lacked a martial upbringing but enjoyed reading and pomp. King Richard called him a child when he was 27 and his mother said he had “the shallow mind of an adolescent”. In Stephen Church’s wellresearched account he emerges as irresolute, at loggerheads with barons and bishops, and roundly outmanoeuvred by King Philip of France. Church clarifies the process leading up to Magna Carta, describing John’s murder of his nephew Arthur, and of Matilda de St Valery and her son, starved to death in a dungeon; his conspiracy against Richard; the enormous taxes and papal interdiction he inflicted on his English subjects. The narrative grip is patchy, at times drawing us inexorably into the story of John’s spectacular blunders and “unmitigated disasters”, but sometimes merely recounting a sequence of events. “Foul as it is, Hell itself is made fouler by the presence of John,” exclaimed one chronicler after the king’s death from dysentery, his Anglo-French kingdom in tatters, Prince Louis of France occupying London.

Tracey Warr WATERLOO: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles Bernard Cornwell, Harper, 2015, $35.00, hb, 352pp, 9780007539383 / William Collins, 2014, £25.00, hb, 352pp, 9780007539383 Bernard Cornwell’s Waterloo is an eminently readable chronicle of this legendary battle. It may be a surprise to readers that “Waterloo” was not exactly the much-touted English trouncing of an obnoxious French gadfly – but rather three hardfought battles waged by a coalition of English, Dutch, and Belgian forces under the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army led by General Gerhard Blücher against France’s Armée du Nord under the emperor, Napoléon – the first two in which the French were victorious. But history was made in the third decisive battle that ended in French defeat. All told, some 69,000 French, 67,000 coalition, and 48,000 Prussian soldiers took part in this epic campaign.

The author fully captures the scope, ferocity, and confusion of the three battles. The narrative is filled with excerpts from diaries, reports, and letters home from ordinary officers and soldiers.

A selection of over 200 colored reproductions of maps, portraits, and paintings further enhances the story.

Waterloo is an excellent, fairly told history.

The data are well documented and the author’s judgments, I thought, were well-substantiated.

All in all, the book is a worthwhile addition to Waterloo scholarship, a wonderful introduction for beginners, and a great read for all who love a great adventure story.

Lucille Cormier ELIZABETH I AND HER CIRCLE Susan Doran, Oxford Univ. Press, 2015, £25, hb, 424pp, 9780199574957 60 | Reviews |

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Susan Doran’s meticulously researched book on Elizabeth I takes an unusual and effective approach to its subject. Rather than a chronological account, Doran focuses, one at a time, on Elizabeth’s relationships with her kin, her courtiers and her councillors. She sheds new light on this enigmatic monarch, creating a highly readable and plausible account of her personality and actions. Doran discusses Elizabeth’s attitude to her mother, Anne Boleyn, who died when she was three years old, but whose memory she had to negotiate, and her interactions with her sister, Mary, and her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots. She focuses on Elizabeth’s political relationships with her courtiers – Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; Christopher Hatton and Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, – arguing “it is highly unlikely that she had a sexual relationship with anyone”. Discussing the Queen’s dealings with William Cecil, Francis Walsingham and Robert Cecil, Doran clarifies the daily workings of her government. This is a balanced, well-argued picture of Elizabeth, clarifying how the traumas of her youth coloured her attitudes and actions as queen, along with the tensions between Protestantism and Catholicism in European politics, her gender, fears of assassination, and the increasing controversy of the succession.

Tracey Warr

of court cases was the sensation of late Victorian and Edwardian England.

This is a ‘true crime’ story with no murder or any other violence, although there is an exhumation, with photos if you are not too squeamish. Instead there is lots of courtroom drama, lying and imaginative witnesses, a disputed inheritance, false identities, double lives, illicit affairs, and a cast of amazing characters from dukes to paupers drawn from all over the British Isles and from America, Australia and New Zealand.

Eatwell has undertaken a mountain of research, yet although her story is factual there is much artistry in the telling. She lets us share the day-today tension of the newspaper readers of the time, as each mystery is resolved only to present another.

Even when the perjurers are brought to trial in 1908 there is still a secret left for Eatwell herself to uncover in Nottingham University Library in 2013.

Edward James

THE BLETCHLEY GIRLS Tessa Dunlop, Hodder & Stoughton, 2015, £14.99, hb, 352pp, 9781444795721 This is a collection of memories and experiences of fifteen women still alive in 2014 who worked in various capacities at Bletchley Park during World War II. Much glamour now attaches to the code-breaking activities at Bletchley, but the reality is the jobs were often dull and tedious, with only the occasional flash of excitement. Shift work caused exhaustion and illness, relationships were governed by strict secrecy rules, and few had any real idea what the rest of “the biggest lunatic asylum in Britain” was up to. Only one woman had a university education and most were recruited via insider referral, or sought out for their language skills.

There is far too much crammed in here with its piecemeal and scattergun approach. It is difficult to keep track of who’s who. (Why did the publisher not include a few pages with potted biographies?)

Each of these admirable women deserves a more ordered legacy than this. One of the better sections is the conclusion, where they discuss their mixed feelings about the present openness and craze for all things Bletchley, after having spent so much of their lives staying silent and true to their oaths under the Official Secrets Act. Marina Maxwell

ROMANTIC OUTLAWS: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley Charlotte Gordon, Random House, 2015, $30, hb, 618pp, 9781400068425 / Hutchinson, 2015, £25.00, hb, 672pp, 9780091958947 Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote some of the first proto-feminist tracts in the late 18th century, was an inspiration to her daughter Mary Godwin Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and many of the Romantic poets that are currently part of that canon. She anticipated the tenets of Romanticism, later expounded by Wordsworth and others, in her Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796). Wollstonecraft’s daughter, Mary Shelley, faithfully read and re-read her mother’s oeuvre – often together with her husband, the Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley – for not only approaches to writing, but also for approaches in how to be a woman in a patriarchal society. These are only some of the areas explored by Charlotte Gordon in this fascinating book on the lives of these two women. Gordon reveals how the patriarchal society in which they lived oppressed them when they were alive and, later, maligned their legacies. This thoroughly researched book has alternating chapters that cover periods of each woman’s life journey. Sadly, Wollstonecraft died of childbed fever when she was only thirty-nine; Shelley died, likely of a brain tumor, at fifty-three.

Gordon explores how their lives were constantly challenged by the society in which they lived, but celebrates how these women nevertheless made an indelible mark on literature and the struggle for women’s rights.

Terri Baker

THE DEAD DUKE, HIS SECRET WIFE AND THE MISSING CORPSE Piu Marie Eatwell, Head of Zeus, 2015, £16.99, hb, 352pp, 9781781856086 You couldn’t make it up! No wonder this series

WEST POINT 1915: Eisenhower, Bradley, and the Class the Stars Fell On Michael E. Haskew, Zenith, 2014, $30.00/ C$33.00, hb, 208pp, 9780760346525 This book marks the hundredth anniversary of Nonfiction

the 1915 graduating class of West Point, the “class the stars fell on,” so named because 59 of its 164 graduates attained the rank of brigadier general or higher, the most of any class in history. It seems clear that what fell on these men was World War II, since by that time they were deep in their army careers with long years of training and experience, which ended up serving the country exceedingly well. Omar Bradley suggests that his not going to France during WWI, far from ending his (or Eisenhower’s) career as he had feared, helped him to approach the demands of a mobile tank- and air-based war with an open mind, unsaddled with concepts of trench warfare. The Americans also had time to watch and learn from the British and Germans. Excellent (George C. Marshall) and cautionary (Douglas MacArthur) role models may have helped; Eisenhower’s affability and coalition building were undeniably crucial. Haskew’s research is exceptional; his skipping from one man’s story to another with only a paragraph break is a bit hard to track, but he’s done a good job of giving each man his due.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi FANNY SEWARD: A Life Trudy Krisher, Syracuse Univ. Press, 2015, $29.95, hb, 304pp, 9780815610410 Trudy Krisher has breathed life back into a woman who died much too young. Using Seward’s invaluable diaries written right before, during and after the Civil War, Krisher has created a book that reads like a novel and is filled with fascinating details about the lives of the Washington, D.C. elite. The daughter of William Seward, Secretary of State for Abraham Lincoln, Fanny Seward lives a charmed life in many ways: she has every imaginable advantage of the times: her own menagerie of pets, a liberal education, thanks to the progressive thinking of both her parents and a special place in the family as the youngest child and only daughter of four.

Her family enjoys taking meals together and playing games, reading and going to the theater.

Though extremely shy, Fanny is very observant and interested in the extraordinary events of her time.

Her mother, also shy and unwell, lives primarily in Auburn, NY where she raises her daughter in the early years, exposing her to feminist ideas. Her father is equally liberal in his approach to the sexes, establishing a fund for Fanny so she will not have to marry unless she chooses to do so. On the fateful night when assassins attack and murder President Lincoln, Fanny is at home nursing her father, who was badly injured in a carriage accident. Suddenly, two armed men break into the home and try to kill Seward as he lies in his sick bed. Fanny is witness to it all.

This is a wonderfully written book of a life bound up in our country’s most traumatic hour. A must read!

Anne Clinard Barnhill

Nonfiction

EASTER WIDOWS: Seven Irish Women Who Lived in the Shadow of the Easter Rising Sinéad McCoole, Doubleday, 2014, £22.99, hb, 447pp, 9781781620229 “Dublin town in 1916, a flame of freedom did arise.

A group of men with determination caught an Empire by surprise.”

Clark, MacDiarmada, MacBride, Pearse, Ceant, Plunkett, Connolly and MacDonagh are some of the names imprinted in the minds of many Irishmen and woman, as the leaders of a very short-lived rebellion known as the Easter Rising, that took place in Dublin almost a hundred years ago and the memory of which is enshrined within poetry and song. However, until the publication of McCoole’s book, it is really only the “Men of 1916” whose stories have been told and whose actions have been recorded. Little has been known and written about the widows of these men (apart from Maud Gonne), whose only real connection to each other is that all their husbands were arrested and executed because of the Easter Rising.

Easter Widows focuses on seven couples. Using a mixture of memoirs, correspondence and historical accounts of events, McCoole builds up a picture of the relationships, devoting a different chapter to each couple, from their early years, their developing romances and the aftermath of the men’s deaths and impact on the wives. In some cases, this led to personal tragedy. For others, like Maud Gonne MacBride and Kathleen Clarke, it strengthened their own political power and status and even led to imprisonment for the two women as republican activists. Kathleen Clark went on to become Ireland’s first female mayor.

Linda Sever EYE ON THE STRUGGLE: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press James McGrath Morris, Amistad, 2015, $25.99, hb, 480pp, 978062198853 As race relations take center stage in the public consciousness, this exhaustive biography of one of America’s most prominent black journalists offers a unique look at history as seen through her eyes.

Ethel Lois Payne’s flair for narrative storytelling and her shrewd, relentless focus on civil rights landed her a plum assignment as Washington, D.C. correspondent for the Chicago Defender, but she covered the black struggle for equality wherever it took place, from Selma, Ala. to the Vietnam War. Her job at CBS, in 1972, made her the first black female radio-TV commentator for a national network.

Morris’s biography dazzles with history, comprehensively following the trajectory of her career and cataloguing her failures as well as her many achievements. Payne’s private life, however, is absent from this text: we learn almost nothing of her relationships with family members, close friends or lovers. While Payne’s accomplishments deserve the spotlight, the omission deprives the reader of an intimate connection with her –

regretful, since she must have been fascinating company.

Sherry Jones AMERICAN GHOST Hannah Nordhaus, Harper, 2015, $24.99, hb, 336pp, 9780062249210 Haunted houses are popular, and it’s thrilling – or chilling – to sleep in a room where the dead might appear. La Posada, a hotel in Santa Fe, is said to be haunted by the ghost of Julia Staab. One of the first Jews in New Mexico, Abraham Staab, built the elaborate house for his family. However, his poor wife is rumored to have gone mad after losing a child, and was chained to a radiator. In 1896 Julia ended her pain by drowning or hanging herself.

Maybe it was murder instead, but by whom?

A century later, books and articles about Julia abound, and La Posada is an attraction for supernatural investigators. Intrigued by tales about her great-great-grandmother, Hannah Nordhaus sifted facts from reams of rumors, and American Ghost is the intriguing result.

In a quest familiar to historical fiction authors, Ms. Nordhaus searched contemporary documents and interviewed distant relatives. She even consulted psychics to paint a portrait of Julia Staab and determine her fate. In the end American Ghost reveals more about the search than the subject, but it’s fascinating nevertheless.

Jo Ann Butler LIFE IN A COLD CLIMATE: Nancy Mitford, the Biography Laura Thompson, Head of Zeus, 2015, £25.00, hb, 415pp, 9781784082291 Nancy Mitford (1904-1973) was the eldest of the aristocratic, but often scandalous, Mitford sisters. She was a successful novelist, journalist and biographer, but is perhaps best remembered for her ‘U and Non-U’ opinions on class differences.

Despite her upbringing, she was a fiercely independent woman, who lived her happiest years in France, where she had ‘the freedom to be her best possible self.’ Fun-loving, yet sometimes spiteful, Nancy used her intimate knowledge of upper-class society as inspiration for her writing, revealing its foibles with biting wit.

Laura Thompson skilfully weaves a fascinating picture of this complicated woman, sifting material from Nancy’s correspondence, archive material and interviews with surviving members of the Mitford family and social circle. The Mitfords’ reputation for war-time involvement with the Fascists, and episodes such as Unity Mitford’s suicide attempt, are handled with sensitivity and objectivity. This is a thoroughly researched and engaging biography.

Claire Thurlow

HNR Issue 72, May 2015 | Reviews | 61

© 2015, The Historical Novel Society ISSN: 1471-7492 | Issue 72, May 2015