Historical Novels Review, Issue 76 (May 2016)

A PUBLICATION OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW Issue 76, May 2016

CHANGING NOTION OF THE HISTORICAL NOVELIST THE

the state of fiction set in the ancient world conjuring the inner voice dinitia smith on george eliot fall of poppies stories of love & the great war what’s past is prologue shakespeare’s historical fiction reclaiming the novel from the cutting room floor an enigma bletchley park as setting

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

Historical Novels R eview

ISSN: 1471-7492 | © 2016 The Historical Novel Society |

pub lis h er

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

edit o r ial boa r d

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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> Publisher Coverage: Simon & Schuster (all imprints) Book Review Editor: Sarah Johnson 6868 Knollcrest Drive Charleston, IL 61920 USA <sljohnson2@eiu.edu> Publisher Coverage: Bethany House; Five Star; HarperCollins; Henry Holt; IPG; Penguin Random House (all imprints); Severn House; Trafalgar Square; university presses; and any North American presses not mentioned below Features Coordinator: Lucinda Byatt 13 Park Road Edinburgh, EH6 4LE UK <textline13@gmail.com> |

review s edit o r s , u k

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

Elizabeth Hawksley <mail@elizabethhawksley.com> Publisher Coverage: All UK children’s historicals

Bryan Dumas <bryanpgdumas@aol.com> Publisher coverage: Algonquin; Kensington; Other Press; Overlook; Sourcebooks; Tyndale; and other US/Canadian small presses Arleigh Johnson <arleigh.johnson@att.net> Publisher coverage: US/Canadian children’s publishers Ilysa Magnus <goodlaw2@optonline.net> Publisher Coverage: FSG; Grove/Atlantic; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Minotaur Books; Picador USA; Poisoned Pen Press; Soho Press; St Martin’s Press; and Tor/Forge |

Steve Donoghue <st.donoghue@comcast.net> Publisher Coverage: all self-published, subsidy, and electronically published novels (USA) |

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, Orion, Pimlico, Secker & Warburg, Vintage); and Transworld (inc. Bantam Press, Black Swan, Corgi, Doubleday) | Quercus (interim)

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Rebecca Cochran <CochranR95@gmail.com> Publisher coverage: Amazon Publishing; Hachette; Hyperion; Pegasus; and WW Norton

e d i tori a l pol i cy

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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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Helen Hollick <author@helenhollick.net> Publisher Coverage: all self-published, subsidy, and electronically published novels (UK)

Edward James <busywords_ed@yahoo.com> Publisher Coverage: Arcadia; Atlantic Books; Canongate; Head of Zeus, Hodder Headline (inc. Coronet, Hodder & Stoughton, NEL, Sceptre); John Murray; Robert Hale | Alma and The History Press (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)

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

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

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

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

confe re nce s

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The Society organizes annual conferences in the UK and biennial conferences in the US and Australasia. Contact Richard Lee <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org> (UK), Ann Chamberlin <annchamberlin@annchamberlin.com> (USA), or Elisabeth Storrs <contact@hnsa.org.au> (Australasia).

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Historical Novels R eview I s s u e 7 6 , Ma y 2016 | I SSN 1471-7492

| columns |

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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 jo y c alla wa y , d a v id dyer, martha hall kelly & s t e p h a nie stor e y | m y f anw y cook

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r ed pe nc il t h e m o o n i n th e palace | cin dy vallar

| features & interviews |

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TH E CHANGI NG NOTI ON OF TH E HISTO RIC AL NOVELI ST | b y claire mo rri s

11 what’s n ew & old & read a l l over? ancient world fiction | by judith starkston 13

co njuring the inner voice

d in itia smith on g eorg e eliot | by lucin da bya tt

14 f all of po ppies stor ie s of love & the g reat war | by s us an mcdu f f ie 15

wh a t ’s p a s t is p rologue

sh a ke spe are’s hf | b y charlotte wight w ick

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r e c la imin g the n ovel f rom the cu tti ng room f loor | b y kate b raithw a ite

17 an eni gma ble tc h le y park as s ettin g | b y my f anw y co o k | reviews |

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

PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE u r rece nt con fe re nce s i n L ondon , Syd ne y and De nve r h ave b ee n huge success es . In S e pte mb e r 2 0 1 6 we h ave ou r nex t UK con fe re nce. It w i l l w i l l t ake place at the Mathe matical In stitute, part of the Un ive rsit y of Ox ford , wh ich i s the olde st u n ive rsit y i n the Engl i sh sp eak i ng world . The Vic tori an p o e t , Mathe w Arnold , cal led Ox ford ‘th at swee t cit y w ith her d ream i ng spi re s’ i n h i s p o e m Thy rsi s; ce rt ai n ly an apt s e tti ng for a mee ti ng of h i stor y f an s . It i s al s o my al m a mate r. I rece ntly atte nded a g audy i n my old colle ge, Me rton , and I need h ard ly say th at it s eemed i ncred ible to me th at it wa s th i rt y-t wo years si nce I h ad b e g u n my ti me the re ; t we nt y-t wo years si nce I wa s married i n Me rton C h ap el. The c it y sti l l ex e rt s the stronge st hold ove r me, and I th i n k it w i l l b e ou r f i ne st con fe re nce ye t .

Sp eake rs i nclude Melv yn Bra g g, Fay Weldon , Trac y C he val ie r, K ate Wi l l i am s , Marg are t George, E l i z ab e th C h adw ick , C h ri stophe r Gortner, Jo Bake r, and many more ! Publ i sh i ng i ndu str y pro fe ssion al s , ed itors and b o oks el le rs w i l l b e t ak i ng part , and the re w i l l b e one -to - one s avai l able w ith ed itors and a ge nt s , to o. As 2 0 1 6 i s the 9 5 0 th an n ive rsar y of the Norman Conq ue st , pl an s are u nde r way to i nvolve the 1 0 6 6 Re - e n ac tment S o c ie t y, and the re w i l l b e knowledgeable ac tors pres ent on the Satu rd ay, i n f u l l costu me, to an swe r you r q ues tion s .

C atch up w ith v ideos f rom ou r 2 01 4 L ondon con fe re nce on YouTub e ( u s e r / h i stnovs o c ) to s ee wh at ki nd of panel s we’ l l h ave to offer. St ay up to - d ate w ith ou r ne ws by fol low i ng @ h i stnovs o c and # H N SOx ford 1 6 on Tw itte r, and by l i k i ng ou r Hi storical Novel S o cie t y Faceb o ok pa ge. The con fe re nce i s al ready al most s old out , s o b o ok now to s ec u re you r place, v i a ou r website : https : / / h n s ox ford 2 0 1 6 . org !

Many, many th an ks to C arol McGrath and her e sti mable team for putti ng al l th i s to ge ther. Rol l on S e pte mb e r !

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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 76, May 2016 | 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 Thanks again to Fiona Sheppard for her work proofreading this issue’s reviews.

More reviewers wanted - North American reviewers in particular. If you enjoy reading this magazine and have thought about contributing reviews, please drop me a line with a statement of interest and to receive the reviewer guidelines.

Reviewers should be able to write clearly and concisely and adhere to our quarterly deadlines.

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

The Captain’s Daughter by Jennifer Delamere, set against the backdrop of Gilbert and Sullivan’s theater and featuring an orphaned young woman who dreams of a career on stage and the wounded soldier she falls in love with, sold to David Long at Bethany House, in a three-book deal, for Summer 2017 publication, by Jessica Alvarez at BookEnds.

Letters from Skye and At the Edge of Summer author (and HNR reviews editor) Jessica Brockmole’s Woman Enters Left, which follows two generations of women on two life-changing cross-country road trips, one in 1926 and the other in 1952, sold to Anne Speyer at Ballantine by Courtney Miller-Callihan at Handspun Literary.

Susanna Porter at Ballantine bought North American rights to C.W. Gortner’s The Romanov Empress, about the Danish princess who became a beloved czarina, witnessing the opulence of imperial Russia and the lead-up to the 1917 revolution, via Jennifer Weltz at Jean V. Naggar Literary.

The Translation of Love by Lynne Kutsukake (an Editors’ Choice in this issue), about a young girl in American-occupied Tokyo who writes to General MacArthur in the hopes that he can find her missing sister, sold to Susanna Wadeson of Transworld by Suzanne Brandreth of Cooke Agency International on behalf of Amanda Betts of Penguin Random House Canada.

Annamaria Alfieri’s Idol of Mombasa, set in British East Africa in 1912, in which a young Assistant District Superintendent is entrusted with investigating the murder of a runaway slave in the charged racial and political climate of Mombasa, sold to Maggie Topkis at Felony and Mayhem Press, for publication in Fall 2016, by Adrienne Rosado of Leibo Literary.

Forrest Gump author Winston Groom’s El Paso, a historical epic set during the Mexican revolution and an indelible portrait of the American southwest in the waning days of the frontier, sold to Phil Marino at Liveright by Keith Korman at Raines & 2 | Columns |

HNR Issue 76, May 2016

Raines.

Joy Rhoades’s The Woolgrower’s Companion, set on an Australian sheep station during WWII, pitched as reminiscent of The Thorn Birds with the racial insights of The Help, sold to Clara Farmer at Chatto & Windus and Beverley Cousins at Penguin Australia by Stephanie Koven at Janklow & Nesbit.

NYT bestselling author Karen Harper’s next Edwardian novel (after The Royal Nanny, reviewed this issue) titled The It Girls, sold again to Lucia Macro at William Morrow (HarperCollins) by Annelise Robey of the Jane Rotrosen Agency. The novel follows the illustrious and notorious careers of sisters Lucile, Lady Gordon, trendsetting clothing designer, and Elinor Glyn, romance novelist and Hollywood screenwriter, from the late Victorian era to the Roaring ´20s.

Susan Spann’s Betrayal at Iga, fifth in her Shinobi Mystery series set in 16th-century Japan, in which two men seek sanctuary in a mountain village, but when an ambassador from the rival clan is murdered during a welcome feast, they must find the killer in time to avert a war between Japan’s most powerful ninja clans, sold again to Dan Mayer at Seventh Street, for publication in Summer 2017, by Sandra Bond at Bond Literary Agency.

Caleb Carr’s sequel and prequel to his Alienist historical mystery series sold to Josh Kendall at Mulholland via Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor. The first, set 20 years after The Angel of Darkness, centers on nativist violence and terrorism in the WWI years, while the second, The Strange Case of Miss Sarah X, finds a youthful Kreizler finishing his psychology training and delving into the secret life of Sara Howard from the Alienist books.

Author of the forthcoming The Other Einstein (about Mileva Marić Einstein) Marie Benedict’s Carnegie’s Maid, set in 1860s New York and Pittsburgh and about how a missing housemaid inspired one of the country’s richest, most ruthless industrialists to give away his billions, sold (again) to Shana Drehs at Sourcebooks by Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency.

The Tenderness of Wolves author Stef Penney’s newest historical novel, Under a Pole Star, an epic love story set in the late 19th-century Arctic world, was acquired by Jane Wood at Quercus via agent Diana Tyler at MBA Literary and Script Agents.

Linnea Hartsuyker’s The Half-Drowned King, The Sea Queen, and The Golden Wolf, an epic Norse trilogy based on the rise and reign of King Harald the Fairhair, first king of Norway, and the birth of the Scandinavian Viking kingdoms, sold to Terry Karten at Harper by Julie Barer at The Book Group. The author is herself a descendent of King Harald.

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt, imagining the infamous Lizzie Borden story through the eyes of Lizzie’s troubled sister, their family’s maid, a strange interloping man, and Lizzie herself, sold to Corinna Barsan at Grove/Atlantic,

by Daniel Lazar at Writers House on behalf of Pippa Masson at Curtis Brown Australia. Rights also sold to Robert Watkins at Hachette Australia, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Pippa Masson at Curtis Brown Australia; and to Sarah Savitt at Tinder Press in the UK, by Gordon Wise at Curtis Brown UK,

Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates.

Sarah Day’s Mussolini’s Island, a love story with elements of politics and crime set in 1939, in which 45 gay men from Catania, Sicily were labelled a “sexual aberration,” expelled from their homes, and exiled to the island of San Domino, sold to Imogen Taylor at Tinder Press for publication in Spring 2017,

by Juliet Mushens at UTA. Rosemary Simpson’s What the Dead Leave Behind: A Gilded Age Mystery, in which, after the sudden deaths of both her father and fiancé, a New York City socialite is left to fend for her own life with the help of a former Pinkerton agent, sold to John Scognamiglio at Kensington in a two-book deal, for publication in 2017, by Jessica Faust at BookEnds.

A River of Stars by Vanessa Hua, about a Chinese factory clerk who comes to America to deliver her baby, only to find herself betrayed by her lover and on the run with her child, plus her second novel, The Sea Palaces, about Chairman Mao’s mistress, sold to Susanna Porter at Ballantine by Emma Sweeney and Margaret Sutherland Brown at Emma Sweeney Agency.

Sarah Shoemaker’s Mr. Rochester, pitched as a reimagining of Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre through the eyes of its mysterious and mercurial romantic hero, beginning with Edward Rochester’s lonely childhood at Thornfield Hall, sold to Millicent Bennett at Grand Central via by Jennifer Weltz at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper, biographical fiction about Louisa Alcott’s younger sister May (depicted as Amy in Little Women), her heroic struggles to become an artist in Europe, her often fraught relationship with Louisa, and her tragic early death, sold to Lucia Macro at William Morrow for publication in 2017, by Barbara Braun at Barbara Braun Associates.

New and forthcoming titles: Catherine Hokin’s debut novel, Blood and Roses, was published in January by Yolk Publishing. She has been awarded a place on the Scottish Book Trust Author Mentoring Programme 2016 to develop her second novel, also a work of historical fiction.

After postponements, Margaret Southall’s debut novel A Jacketing Concern is set for release by Knox Robinson on September 27. Set in 1811 London, the novel is about a climbing boy (chimney sweep apprentice) who accidentally falls down the chimney during a sexual encounter between an aristocrat and courtesan. But the boy is no ordinary climbing boy, as the aristocrat discovers.

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

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in a pre-empt.

HarperCollins UK and US acquired Hazel Gaynor’s latest novel, the story of the two young cousins who created the Cottingley Fairy photographs that fooled the post-WWI world, and the present-day woman who set out to discover what really happened, via Michelle Brower of Kuhn Projects for publication in spring 2017.

Monique Truong’s The Sweetest Fruits, about identity, revelation, and the search for belonging in the fascinating life of late 19th-century writer Lafcadio Hearn, as related by four women, including his Greek mother and his Japanese wife, who witness his life as well as their own, sold to Paul Slovak at Viking, at auction, by Janet Silver at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency.

Lady Pushkin by Jennifer Laam, following the rise of Natalya Goncherova from insecure school girl to influential wife of imperial Russia’s most famous and controversial poet, Alexander Pushkin, sold to Vicki Lame at St. Martin’s, for publication in Winter 2018, by Erin Harris at Folio Literary Management.

Come Hell or Highball author Maia Chance’s next two books in her Discreet Retrieval Agency series set in Prohibition-era New York City, Gin and Panic and Naughty on Ice, sold again to Elizabeth Lacks at Minotaur, by Stephany Evans of FinePrint Literary Management.

USA Today bestselling author of The Magician’s Lie Greer Macallister’s Girl in Disguise, inspired by the life of Kate Warne, first female private investigator in the US, who was hired as a young widow by Allan Pinkerton in 1850s Chicago and was instrumental in foiling the plot to kill Lincoln before his inauguration, sold again to Shana Drehs at Sourcebooks, by Elisabeth Weed at The Book Group.

Chelsea Luna’s young adult novel Lions in the Garden, set in 17th-century Prague and following a seventeen-yearold daughter of the High Chancellor as she yearns for a life outside of the castle walls—only to discover that rumors of a rebellion against the crown might be true, sold to Norma PerezHernandez at Lyrical Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2016, by Brianne Johnson at Writers House.

Masks and Shadows (reviewed this issue) author Stephanie Burgis’s Congress of Secrets, in which a lady arrives at the 1814 Congress of Vienna with a supernatural secret and finds dark alchemy, old enemies, and an unexpected chance at love awaiting her, to Rene Sears at Pyr, for publication in fall 2016, by Molly Ker Hawn at The Bent Agency.

The Lotus Eaters author Tatjana Soli’s The Removes, about Libby Custer, wife of George Armstrong Custer, interwoven with the account of a young girl taken by a Sioux war party and held in captivity for years, sold to Sarah Crichton at Sarah Crichton Books, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.

The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer, in which a 21stcentury female physician is transported back in time to Siena through a 14th-century painter’s diary, arriving in time to discover a Florentine conspiracy to destroy its rival city, Siena, sold to Susan Moldow and Tara Parsons at Touchstone, by

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 76, May 2016 | Columns | 3

NEW VOICES Debut novelists Joy Callaway, David Dyer, Martha Hall Kelly and Stephanie Storey aspire to create a legacy for the future from past events.

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family trip and the scent of the past combined to inspire Martha Hall Kelly to write Lilac Girls (Ballantine, 2016). She says, “I had never heard of Caroline Ferriday until I read an article in Victoria Magazine published in 1999, “Caroline’s Incredible Lilacs.” The photos showed Caroline’s lovely white clapboard home in Bethlehem, Connecticut, now known as the Bellamy-Ferriday house and her garden, filled with antique roses and specimen lilacs. I carried the article with me until it was worn smooth. With three young children, I had little spare time, but visited a few years later, unaware that trip would lead me to write a novel.”

Kelly explains, “I drove up to Litchfield County one May Sunday, the only visitor that day, so I was able to breathe in the essence of the house, which remained as Caroline left it when she died in 1990. The faded wallpaper. Her canopy bed. Her mother Eliza’s hand sewn crewel draperies.

At the tour’s conclusion, the guide paused on the landing outside Caroline’s secondfloor bedroom to point out the desk, her typewriter, medals, a photo of Charles DeGaulle all arranged there. She picked up a black and white photograph on the desk, of smiling, middle-aged women huddled together, posed in rows. ‘These were the Polish women Caroline brought to America,’ she said. ‘They were known in Ravensbruck, Hitler’s only all-female concentration camp, as The Rabbits because they were the Nazis’ experimental rabbits’.” The guide’s words stayed with Kelly and, “As I drove the three hours home on the Taconic Parkway,” she says, “the story pestered me. Caroline was a true hero with such an interesting life; a debutante former Broadway actress who galvanized a jaded post-war America, dedicated her life to helping women others forgot. Why had no one celebrated her life?”

From that point onwards, Kelly says, “I devoted all my spare time to research on Caroline, Ravensbruck and World War II, and any afternoon I could get away I spent in the cool root cellar under the old summer kitchen of Caroline’s house, paging through old rose books and letters, absorbed in her life. After trips to Poland, Caroline’s archives in Paris and to Furstenberg, Germany to see Ravensbruck, I finally finished the book one May — just as the lilacs were blooming.”

As with Kelly, Stephanie Storey’s novel, Oil and Marble 4 | Columns |

HNR Issue 76, May 2016

(Arcade, 2016), came from a chance discovery. Storey explains, “I first learned about the rivalry between Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti twenty years ago, in graduate school, when I briefly studied under one of the top Michelangelo specialists in the world.” She discovered “the city of Florence had once hired the two artists to paint frescoes on opposite walls of city hall. This double commission was billed as a battle between the two greatest living artists. For a few months, they worked alongside each other in the same room, but neither completed his fresco. Drawings of both designs remain, but not a single brushstroke survives.”

Storey realised that “for centuries, art historians have regretted this clash of the titans came to nothing. Imagine, they lament, what wonders those two geniuses might have created if they had stayed in that room to compete? How sad the world missed out on such promise.”

However, Storey explains, “The historical record tells us the two openly disliked each other long before the dueling frescoes debacle. Contemporaries reported they had contentious run-ins on the streets. Plus, their personalities, families, beliefs, work ethics, and even appearances were at extreme odds.”

According to Storey, there is “compelling evidence that these two were already well-established antagonists.

During the years just prior to the fresco commission, while working side by side in Florence, Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa, while Michelangelo was carving the David just down the street. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Fraser. The Beatles vs. the Rolling Stones. Mac vs. PC. Great rivalries beget greatness. Seemingly invincible opponents drive us all to grander heights than we could reach on our own. Surely it isn’t a coincidence that the two most iconic works of art in western civilization were created in the same town, at the same moment. Isn’t it only logical that the young Michelangelo pushed the aging Leonardo to paint the Mona Lisa, just as Leonardo drove Michelangelo to carve the David? Those are the questions that first inspired me to dig into this story; Oil and Marble is the result of that search.”

Although David Dyer’s The Midnight Watch (St. Martin’s, 2016) has no historical link with Storey’s, it does share the common ground of being inspired by the quest to answer unanswered questions.

Dyer has been fascinated by the Titanic disaster, he says, “since as a very young child I watched the classic Titanic film A Night to Remember and was enthralled by the size and beauty of the ship, and by the way it sank: the water flowing inexorably from one watertight compartment to the next deep in the ship’s hull, while on the upper decks people drank cocktails, played cards

However, Callaway states, “I am not that young, but I did get to thinking about why our family stories have always captivated me. My mom and I are both fascinated, probably thanks to my grandmother and her own passion for genealogy. I asked my Gran about it, and she told me that she treasured the stories and the history because it was a way to hold on to her own parents, who both passed away before their time. Though I never knew them, I feel as though I did because of her anecdotes, many of which involve Gran’s grandmother and her artist siblings — Virginia the writer, Anne the milliner, and Alevia the concert pianist — who lived in Gilded Age Bronx, New York.”

Callaway notes, “It was through Gran’s family that my interest in ancestry was piqued.” She became fascinated by “Miss Luella Honey Ballard, a Southern cook who rode her exercise bike in a dress; by Doc Wilkerson, the only doctor in Boone County, and

by Ruth Snyder, a witty storyteller who hid thousands of dollars under the rugs for safekeeping.”

Callaway admits she’s enthralled by these legacies in and of themselves, “But it’s the mirror of my ancestors’ lives in my own and that of my parents and grandparents that keeps drawing me back. I once read an article suggesting that DNA contains memories, and I believe it. There are too many gardeners, artists, and writers on my maternal side and too many medical professionals and electrical tinkerers on my father’s side to overlook the possibility that our passions stem from our past.

Some would stop there, satisfied with the idea that their life’s work was in a sense predestined, but I can’t quit digging. I owe it to myself and to those before me to know their lives as best I can, because only in their shadow can I fully appreciate my own life and understand the legacy I’m destined to leave.”

Whether as a result of DNA or just the desire to leave a legacy, Callaway, Dyer, Kelly and Storey have all left their imprint on historical fiction.

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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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and listened to the band. Even as a youngster I think I registered the symbolic implications of this – that in life things can seem all happy and pleasant on the surface, but be chaotic and desperate down below.”

Later, Dyer says, “I became interested in a specific aspect of the Titanic disaster, the ‘Californian incident.’ I had always known that as the Titanic lay sinking, the steamship Californian had seen her distress rockets and not come to the rescue, but I had never been able to find out why. When I began working in London as a maritime lawyer, I became a little obsessed with the question and started to think about writing a book. I carried out research in London, Liverpool, New York, Boston and – ultimately – at the Titanic wreck site itself. My inspiration was my curiosity.

Why didn’t the Californian respond to the rockets? What was it like for her captain and crew to live with the guilt of all those deaths? What happened on that ship?”

Dyer goes on, “I began to realize that the story of ‘male chivalry’ on the Titanic was a bit of a myth. Sure, some first class men did stand back, but more than fifty of them got into the lifeboats. At the same time, more than fifty children died, all of them from third class. What happened to those children that night? Why were they left to die, not only by the Californian, but by the people on their own ship?”

Investigating the past and its consequences are at the heart of both Dyer’s novel and Joy Callaway’s The Fifth Avenue Artists Society (Harper, 2016). When telling people about “the real-life family inspiration” behind her novel, people often comment that Callaway appears “too young to care about ancestry.”

photo credit: Jeffrey Mossier Photography

photo credit:Jom Photography

photo credit: Laura J. Meier Photography

Left to right: Joy Callaway, David Dyer, Martha Hall Kelly & Stephanie Storey

HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Columns | 5

THE RED PENCIL Cindy Vallar analyzes the work behind published manuscripts. In this issue, she profiles Weina Dai Randel’s The Moon in the Palace (Sourcebooks, 2016).

Ever since childhood, China has fascinated me. Time obscures the reason for this interest, although it may stem from Meng Li Jun, the first doll my mom received as a little girl that started her collection of dolls from around the world.

Set during the Ming Dynasty, Meng Li Jun’s story is a legend, but centuries earlier in the 7th century during the Tang Dynasty, a thirteen-year-old girl was summoned to the Imperial Palace to serve the emperor. She rose through the ranks to become Empress Wu,1 China’s first and only female ruler, who “ruled the kingdom for almost fifty years, during which the country thrived in trade, art, culture, military expansion and blossomed into a golden age.”2 Weina Dai Randel’s debut novel, The Moon in the Palace, tells of Wu Mei’s early years, from ages five to twenty-two. What inspired her to write such a captivating tale of this controversial woman? After reading Maxine Hong Kingston’s “No Name Woman”3 in graduate school, Weina “did a presentation about an unmarried woman who drowned herself because her pregnancy was considered a disgrace to her family and her village.” She says, “I didn’t like the story that much, and I wanted to tell my classmates that China had many strong women who were successful, and the first person who came to my mind was Empress Wu.” An early pivotal scene in The Moon in the Palace takes place three months after Mei arrives in the Imperial City. Although chosen as a Select, she has yet to meet Emperor Taizong. Here she meets Jewel, whom she believes is “one of the older Selects who were summoned to serve . . . years before. This scene is important because Jewel is one of the major rivals of Mei, and Jewel is not who she claims to be.” In the draft this is part of another scene showing the Selects who are Mei’s chamber mates; in the published version it stands alone. Weina explains why. “The draft focused on the Selects, but as I worked on it, I decided to focus on Jewel more. I have learned the end of a chapter is very important to the plot. Where we leave it usually leads to the next story line. Since the Selects are not the next story line,” she reworked the scene to omit them as the following example demonstrates.

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Draft: “What makes you say that?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

I hesitated. “They’re different.”

“Well, I think you’re different from anyone else here.”

I tightened my grip on my basin. I didn’t intend on complaining or soliciting sympathy from her but all of a sudden words poured out before I could swallow them. “Well, you don’t know all these. Yesterday, one girl saw a pimple on her face. She screamed. For the whole day she cried. She was still crying when I came here this morning, two days –” I held out my fingers – “that’s how long she cried.”

“That’s not a surprise.”

“Well, it’s a pimple, not a tumor.”

“I won’t argue with you.” She smiled. “But I’d still be careful around them if I were you.”

Somehow I felt better. “They don’t bother me,” I said, and put down my basin on the low-rise windowsill.

Published: “What makes you say that?” I walked to the pavilion. Perhaps the woman had noticed my unhappiness, or heard the others make some comments about me.

She smiled, tucking a handkerchief in her pocket. “It would be hard to live here for anyone, especially if you have difficult chamber mates.”

I put my basin down and sat on the windowsill. “I agree.”

An author may like how she drafts a scene, but she also has to focus on what’s most important to the whole story.

Weina realized this as she worked on revisions. “When I wrote the draft, I thought it was cute to say ‘it’s a pimple, not a tumor,’ and I wanted to keep that comment. But the problem with the draft was it focused on the conflict with the Selects, which is OK, but too much emphasis on the conflict clogs down the main plot – Mei’s desire to see the Emperor. After all, the main goal at this point of Mei’s life is to see the Emperor, and everything happening here should relate to that goal. If I elaborate on her relationship with the Selects, that’ll slow down the plot considerably. So in the revision, I cut out all the comments and conflict with the Selects.”

Cutting scenes is only part of what an author must do during revisions. Sometimes she has to flesh out the scene, as occurs in the scene below where Weina focuses more on Jewel and how Mei sees her.

Draft: She fixed her gaze on me. Her eyes were like a cat’s, inscrutable, observing me quietly but refusing to be observed. She would make a powerful enemy. I felt uneasy.

Draft: The woman herself was stunningly beautiful.

She was young, despite her white hair. She had smooth skin, willowy eyebrows and a small, cherry-red mouth. Loops of white fringed her forehead, while two heaps of hair circled near her ears like the pointy ears of a feline.

“You can call me Jewel,” she said.

“I’m Mei.” Published: The woman herself was stunningly beautiful.

She had willowy eyebrows and a small cherryred mouth. Loops of white fringed her forehead, while two heaps of hair stood at both sides of her head like the pointy ears of a feline.

“How old are you? Fifteen?” She smoothed a scroll on the table and anchored the corners with the ink stone, ink sticks, and a calligraphy holder painted with white clouds and red peonies.

“Thirteen.” Most of the Selects were fourteen – another reason I did not fit in. I had bled for the first time the month before I came to the palace. My body was changing too, and my breasts were sore. But I still had the slender figure of a girl.

“So young,” she said. “They call me Jewel.”

“I’m Mei.” The more vivid the depiction of the character, the better the reader is able to visualize her. Dialogue and action also help with this. In this example Mei compares Jewel to a cat because her physical features are reminiscent of the feline. “[M]ore importantly, there is a stealthy, secretive quality of Jewel that Mei senses but can’t quite voice. This is what I call to plant the seed of intrigue – I don’t want to say it directly. I only make it subtle – the observant readers will pick this clue up!”

She includes additional details about Mei because she believes “it’s always good to let the reader know what your main character looks like. I believe this will ground the reader better.” Also, since Mei is still growing from a child into a woman, “I think it is a good place to remind readers of how her body appears at this stage and what she thinks of it. In later chapters, you’ll also see how her body begins to take a womanly shape, and subsequently, how her mind reacts to that as well.”

Published: She shook her head, her gaze fixed on me. Her eyes were like a cat’s, inscrutable, observing me quietly but refusing to be observed. I wondered what she was thinking.

Aside from again mentioning Jewel’s cat-like attributes, the change Weina makes between the two versions is more obvious.

Jewel remains Mei’s enemy, but Weina deleted this reference in the published book because “this was revealed too early, too fast. Obviously Jewel hasn’t done anything that rouses Mei’s suspicion yet.”

The first time the protagonist meets the antagonist serves not only as an introduction to this character, but the scene also needs a purpose for the meeting. In this scene it serves to provide Mei with a way in which she might finally achieve her desire of seeing the Emperor. Since she has no powerful familial connections, Jewel offers her another way to catch the Emperor’s attention.

Draft: As if knowing what was in my mind, Jewel said, “The Emperor is a collector. He collects women like flowers. Some arrived here ten years ago, and they’ve never had a chance to meet the Emperor.”

“Ten years?”

“As far as I know, no one in this court, let them be new Selects or not, has ever been summoned by the Emperor.”

That night, the girls’ chattering rang in my ears like a bell incessantly tolling. I could not sleep. I had not felt like this since Father died.

Published “I did not mean to upset you, my friend.”

She put down the brush. “Let me tell you something else. Every year on his birthday, the Emperor accepts gifts from his concubines, including us in the Yeting Court. If you give him an unforgettable gift, he may honor you by seeing you.”

“Oh, really?” I was excited. “What kind of gift?”

“Something unique.”

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In the rewrite Weina retains only a few words: “Emperor is a collector.” She explains why: “The problem with the draft’s ending is it’s closed: Mei is upset that she cnn’t see the Emperor, and that is it. It doesn’t provide a direction for the next scene.

“In the published version, they are talking about the Emperor’s birthday and gifts, and the possibility to meet the Emperor, which is Mei’s goal. The scene after that talk will naturally have a direction. And Mei will find the ‘unforgettable’ gift in order to see the Emperor.

“So, you see, the plot moves and it moves efficiently.”

Weina enjoys writing historical fiction because she likes history. She is “drawn to the past and the amazing people who 8 | Columns |

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made an impact on other people’s lives.” This is evident in both The Moon in the Palace and its sequel The Empress of Bright Moon (Sourcebooks, April 2016). Born and raised in China, she is a gifted storyteller who brings to life the rich, exotic, historic tapestry of her homeland. Today she lives in Texas and is married with two children.

Reviewers have described The Moon in the Palace as an “eloquent first novel”4 with “fresh, lyrical prose.”5 C. W. Gortner says Weina “spins a silken web of lethal intrigue, transporting us into the fascinating, seductive world of ancient China, where one rebellious, astute girl embarks on a dangerous quest for power.”6 Booklist’s starred review of The Empress of Bright Moon describes it as “[a] full immersion, compulsively readable tale that rivals both Anchee Min’s Empress Orchid (2004), about the Dowager Empress Cixi, and the multilayered biographical novel Empress (2006), by Sa Shan, which also features Empress Wu.”7 Weina invites you to visit her at www.weinarandel.com or connect with her at https://www.facebook.com/weinadairandel or https://twitter.com/WeinaRandel. If you’d like to have her chat with your book club about her books, please contact her at weinabooks2016@yahoo.com.

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Notes: 1. Empress Wu is also known as Wu Zetian.

2. Response from Weina Dai Randel from interview questions about her book.

3. The story “No Name Woman” appears in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior (Knopf, 1976).

4. Starred review by Catherine Coyne, Library Journal.

5. Christy English, author The Queen’s Pawn and To Be Queen: A Novel Of The Early Life Of Eleanor Of Aquitane.

6. Online at http://www.weinarandel.com/?page_id=42.

7. Ibid.

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thousands of gifts from all the ministers, titled ladies, and all the other ladies. How could one gift stand out and attract his eye? “What have the ladies given him in the past?”

“Gold or expensive toys. Jewelry, silk robes, lapis lazuli even. I once offered him a horse.”

A horse! One of the most treasured animals in the kingdom. The rebellion against the Sui Dynasty had cost many precious steeds.

With peace at hand, horses were cherished and desired by every man. A conqueror like the Emperor certainly understood their value.

“And he didn’t summon you?”

Jewel shook her head.

“If he is not interested in seeing us” – I frowned – “why does he summon maidens to the palace each year?”

She sighed. “All I can tell you is our Emperor is a collector.”

“Collector?”

“A general is no general if he has no soldiers, and what kind of Emperor would he be if he cannot have any woman he wishes in the kingdom?”

I would rather not think of myself as something to be collected, like the piece of bone relic Mother cherished. “So he would summon us, any of us, if he is interested in the gift?”

“That’s right.” She nodded, gazing at a group of women coming down the winding path to fetch water from the canal. “But let me tell you, for seven years, no one from the Yeting Court has impressed him.”

“What are you going to give him this year?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know yet.”

I had a feeling she was unwilling to share her idea. I did not blame her. She must desperately wish to impress the Emperor and move to the real Inner Court.

A freelance editor and historical novelist, CINDY VALLAR also presents writers’ workshops and writes nonfiction articles about maritime piracy and historical fiction. Her historical fantasy “Rumble the Dragon” appears in Dark Oak Press’ anthology A Tall Ship, a Star, and Plunder. You can visit her at www.cindyvallar.com.

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The Changing Notion of the “Historical Novelist”

S torytelling, unique characters and the changing notion of “historical novelist”: Claire Morris talks to Tracy Chevalier.

Those who’ve read Tracy Chevalier’s novels will know that setting, period and subject matter vary considerably from book to book. That said, Chevalier points out that her two most recent novels – The Last Runaway (Dutton, 2013) and At the Edge of the Orchard (Viking, 2016) – do share some similarities.

Both are set in Ohio during the 19th century, and both are about migration between England and America, and what it means to move countries. Chevalier has shared in the past that her inspiration for stories often arises from places she’s not expecting.

She reminded me that she doesn’t have a “big plan” for her books, and mentioned that because of this, it was something of a surprise to find that she would be setting her recently published novel in the 19thcentury United States as well. “[The reason for this is] because I had the idea [for At the Edge of the Orchard] while researching The Last Runaway. I was reading about Johnny Appleseed and how the real man was very different from the myth, as many of the trees he sold would have produced sour apples for making alcohol with,” she explains. “I got the idea of a pioneer couple fighting over whether to grow sweet or sour apples and thought, ‘There’s my next novel.’”

It’s inspiring to hear that the idea determines what she’ll write about, rather than some preconceived formula. When I spoke to Chevalier in 2007 for another HNS feature, she told me how she’d stumbled upon the idea for the novel she was then working on (Remarkable Creatures, Dutton, 2009). While on England’s south coast, she happened to visit a small museum in Dorchester with her son on a rainy day, and came across a display about Mary Anning, who, in the early 19th century, discovered fossils in the cliffs of Lyme Regis, fossils that would greatly influence the scientific thinking of the day. Chevalier knew instantly that

she needed to write about Mary, who became perhaps one of her most memorable characters to date.

One thing that draws me to Chevalier’s work is the knowledge that I’ll be rewarded with unique characters like Mary, and quality storytelling, no matter the setting or time period. She has anchored her stories in not only the 19th-century British fossil-hunting of Remarkable Creatures, but also 17th-century Dutch painting (Girl with a Pearl Earring, Dutton, 1999), 15thcentury Flemish weaving (The Lady and the Unicorn, Dutton, 2004), 18th-century English poetry and painting (Burning Bright, Dutton, 2007), turn-of-the-20th-century funerary customs (Falling Angels, Dutton, 2001), 16th-century French religious strife (The Virgin Blue, Penguin, 1997), and 19thcentury USA quilting (The Last Runaway) and tree-planting and plant-collecting (At the Edge of the Orchard).

All of these novels are obviously historical, but back in 2007, Chevalier was reluctant to call herself a historical novelist. She admitted to being attracted to historical themes, and even went so far as to say that she can write a little more objectively about people and events of the past. But she seemed reluctant to associate herself with a genre. She wasn’t alone. During the HNS’s early days, I encountered a similar reluctance from at least two other novelists who could clearly be identified as “historical.” I suspect that Chevalier also didn’t want to rule out the possibility of something more contemporary. (And in fact, her first novel, The Virgin Blue, is set partially in the present day.)

Since she’s agreed to speak at the HNS conference in Oxford later this year, I wondered if she’d changed her views on the term “historical novelist.”

“I am still not fond of labels, as they can be a little limiting,” she told me. “However, I think the notion of a ‘historical novelist’ is changing – we get a little more respect [than we did a few years ago], and also what we do is more varied than the stereotype.

by Claire Morris

I am...

still not fond of labels, as they can be a little limiting. However, I think the notion of a “historical novelist” is changing — we get a little more respect.

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Project, where writers take a Shakespeare play and write a novel inspired by it. I have chosen Othello, and am setting it on an American school playground in the 1970s (when I was a kid).

All the characters are 11 years old. So: another American book!

After that I believe I will scurry back to England and write a novel about Winchester Cathedral.”

Some readers may be pleased to hear she’ll be eventually returning to that side of the Atlantic Ocean. Remarkable Creatures was her last novel set there; it is arguably one of her most impactful books, with its themes of a woman striving to make her way in a man’s world and, of course, the role of science in a world dominated by the theory of creation.

Another unifying feature of Chevalier’s novels is that the reader always learns something. I’m not referring here to deep themes or to history – although there’s much to be learned in these arenas, too – but to the practical skills her characters employ, such as button-making (Burning Bright), weaving (The Lady and the Unicorn), grafting (At the Edge of the Orchard) or bonnet-making (The Last Runaway). Chevalier volunteered at Highgate Cemetery, which inspired Falling Angels, to allow herself to really get a feel for the place, and took a painting class while she was working on Girl with a Pearl Earring. She learned how to quilt for The Last Runaway, a craft she’s continued as a way to relax after a day of writing and research. When I asked her in 2007 about her willingness to learn these skills she responded: “On-the-job training I think of it. The buttons I really loved doing. And for The Lady in the Unicorn I found a tapestry-weaving studio in the south of England – it’s actually a college which has all these different classes in crafts and restoration. This studio uses medieval techniques and they had been commissioned to reproduce “The Hunt of the Unicorn,” which are the tapestries at The Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York…for me it makes all the difference.”

The success of Girl with a Pearl Earring gave rise to a number of reviews and articles associating Chevalier’s writing with art, but although she admits to being inspired by art generally, her novels, in the end, tend to be sparked by an eclectic mix of tangible things, such as the William Blake exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London that led to Burning Bright. I think it’s safe to say we won’t ever be able to predict the period or the characters Chevalier might feature in future novels, but we can be certain that she will spin stories we can immerse ourselves in – and isn’t that what the very best historical fiction is all about?

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Thank you, Hilary Mantel!”

The recently released At the Edge of the Orchard is the epitome of a great historical novel, with fictional characters mingling with ones who actually lived against a backdrop that has been carefully constructed from details of the period. It begins in 1838 in a fledging family apple orchard in Ohio, but follows its principal character, Robert Goodenough, across the United States to California where, post gold rush, he encounters the plant collector William Lobb among the sequoias in Calaveras Grove. Robert went west to escape a family tragedy, but once he reaches San Francisco and the ocean, he, of course, can’t go any farther unless he gets on a ship.

“Historical fiction is relevant today because it reminds us of [the] common ground [we share with our ancestors],” Chevalier says. “Moreover, we share with our ancestors that curious American desire to move around to escape problems. That’s really what this book is about…Reading that story may help make sense of our options now. Sometimes you just can’t run anymore, and have to turn around to face what you’re running from. That was the case then, and it is now, too.”

When asked what she hopes readers will take away from At the Edge of the Orchard, Chevalier shares that “part of me hates the thought of my work having a message. First and foremost, I want to entertain, and it’s enough for me if the reader cares about the characters and finishes the book! But I did write [this one] for a reason, and I suppose it is to ask readers to look at the landscape around them – especially trees – and ask how it reflects their lives. What choices do they make, to move or to stay, based on their surroundings? For American readers in particular, I want to remind them of our relationship to our physical country, and what happens when we move around in it.”

This deeper meaning is typical of a Tracy Chevalier novel because, although it is clear that she places storytelling first, she is meticulous about her research and portraying a period accurately, and inevitably, thought-provoking themes arise from this. In The Last Runaway, Honor, a young English Quaker who moves to Ohio in the 1850s, is drawn into the activities of the Underground Railroad, the network of people – many of them Quakers – helping runaway slaves from the South escape to safety. Honor gets involved despite the fact that many of those in her new community keep their focus firmly on harvesting their crops and going to Meeting. The novel is underpinned by the historical events of the time, but Honor is also growing and changing and learning and asking herself questions about wrong and right, and her desire for freedom of spirit is also a huge part of what moves the story forward. This intricate framework is mirrored by the quilts that most of the British and American women of that time would have made, incorporating into the final products so much of their literal histories through scraps of clothing and household fabrics.

Chevalier reveals that her next novel will also be set in the US. “I am working on a book for the Hogarth Press Shakespeare

CLAIRE MORRIS is the Web Features Editor for the Historical Novel Society. She served as the managing editor of Solander from 2004 to 2009, and helped to start the HNS North American conferences. She lives in Toronto.

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the state of fiction set in the ancient world

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What’s New & Old & Read All Over?

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udith Starkston speaks with authors Maggie Anton, Geraldine Brooks, Gary Corby, Ruth Downie, Stephanie Dray, Margaret George, Libbie Hawker, Tim Leach, Rebecca Lochlann, Alison Morton, Kate Quinn, Elisabeth Storrs and Stephanie Thornton to get their views on the ancient world as setting for historical fiction.

it, “Crime fiction is far more elastic than many people imagine.

The genre provides a structure that frees me from writing ‘straight’ history, big battles or romance…Most of the feedback I get suggests readers enjoy spending time with the characters in the imagined ancient world where they live.” I myself have dusted off the Hittites in my upcoming series, turning their forgotten queen into a sleuth. Tim Fiction set in the ancient world — Rome, Leach covers the same geography (now Turkey), Greece, Troy, the Near East and various other though somewhat later, with his Last King of antiquated locations — has a venerable tradition Lydia (Atlantic, 2014). Gary Corby brings humor among readers, but is sometimes pronounced to Greek crime solving. Libbie Hawker jumps “over and done for.” In order to gain a sense of from 18th Dynasty Egypt to the now-destroyed whether or not ancient world fiction is thriving Palmyra of the 3rd century. This sample gives a today, what changes in style and topics have sense of the scope. No room for boredom. emerged recently and how the universality of I found a range of views as to how popular with such fiction holds up, I interviewed a wide range readers these highly diverse ancient settings and of authors who set their novels in the far past. topics are.

The responses to my informal questions were so There was agreement that UK readers are enthusiastic that only snippets can be included more open than US readers to ancient era here. novels, particularly “”blood-and-battle Rome.”

Despite some discouraging “encouragement” by Maggie Anton noted her medieval books are agents and publishers for authors to head toward more popular than her ancient ones. Margaret more modern eras, I think Margaret George’s George commented (and Kate Quinn made a overall conclusion reflects the broad experience: similar observation): “In my experience, having a “I would say that the ancient world will never be character already known (a marquee name) makes forsaken by readers but that other periods take it much easier to pitch and market…everyone’s center stage at different times, although they tend heard of Cleopatra.” to rotate, while ancient stays stable and reliable.”

In contrast, Elisabeth Storrs feels, “The ‘hook’ Let’s dig a little deeper. of writing about a little known civilization First, I noticed among current writers a wide has helped attract readers.” Tim Leach thinks range of topics and settings within the rubric the popularity of the fantasies of Tolkien and “ancient.” Alison Morton carries an ingrained Martin is carrying over and making readers “more knowledge of Roman life forward into a Roman receptive to stories set in unusual times, places colonia that survives into the modern world. and cultures with which they may not be familiar.”

Elisabeth Storrs takes on the elusive Etruscans and contrasts Gary Corby suggests, “The ancient mystery demographic is them with their neighbors, the Romans. Settings for Roman spread thin across the globe. There’s pretty much nowhere you fiction include battlefields as well as conquests of a more private can go to find a few hundred ancient mystery fans congregating. and intimate sort, such as those of Kate Quinn’s determined This makes marketing somewhat trickier.” But, in moderation women. Maggie Anton takes her readers to the Jews of 4th- of this view, I will offer my recent experience at Left Coast century Babylonia. Mysteries set in the ancient world have led Crime, which is just such a congregation of mystery fans for all to wide readership for several writers, and as Ruth Downie put periods. Attendees of my panel and a variety of readers at LCC

I would say...

by Judith Starkston that the ancient world will never be forsaken by readers...ancient stays stable and reliable.

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the fear of death — I think we experience them the same way through time.”

As a writer of a people, the Hittites, who were lost to the sands of time, I know the tangible reality of a waterfall or a glimpse of the sea from Mount Ida’s flanks can be a deep inspiration and make the ancient seem utterly present. The other side of this research, the hard work amidst scholarly and dry sources in multiple languages, also has to be done. If you’ve heard Geraldine talk about her process, you know she has done her time in the tomes as well. Maggie Anton noted a “lack of primary sources, especially concerning women.” As Gary Corby dryly observed, “all of that research is what a business person would call a barrier to entry. It’s much harder to get started in ancient mysteries, than say, contemporary thrillers or mainstream literary. The net result is it’s an inherently smaller field [of authors].”

Geraldine Brooks brought up another thread that I heard from others — the constants across time. Love and hate and our fears don’t change, but also the same themes keep reoccurring in history so that, as writers of the ancient world, we bring to our readers topics of extreme current interest. My Hittites faced a perennial foe that beat their empire’s might with guerrilla tactics and acts of terror against civilians. Sound familiar? Here’s how Ruth Downie put it: “there’s no shortage of parallels with modern times. The religious leaders who are dangerous fanatics — or freedom fighters. The challenge of living in an occupied country — and the challenge of being part of the occupying forces, with all the misunderstandings, mistrust and tragedy that can follow.

The awfulness of people-trafficking. The vastly different status of women between different societies. The bizarre cures of quack medicine...” Kate Quinn brought out a different angle of this same point, “since progress in human rights is a jagged advance rather than a linear one, we can often look to the very distant past and see greater freedoms for oppressed minorities than we see in more recent history: consider Imperial Rome when a woman could initiate a divorce with ease…when bisexuality and homosexuality were socially acceptable…The great flexibility of the distant past on such issues means more freedom in our stories, and a chance to talk about current issues in a historical framework.”

Although some professionals (even some overheard at the Denver HNS conference) want to declare “Ancient history is dead!” meaning fiction set therein, I beg to differ, and so do an array of extraordinary writers. So pick up something really old and get reading. Predictions of extinction are premature.

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showed intense interest in my Hittite mystery series, which isn’t even out yet. I heard from these readers that what drew them was the accessibility I created to a world they would otherwise never know about. Gary also points out that with ancient world readers, “if someone likes one of your books, then they like all of your books and they’ll buy them all,” and he’s “quite optimistic for the future of ancient mysteries.” Gary Corby attributes his appeal partly to his “colloquial tone and humor” that readers can relate to, and I see similar informality and updated style in many of the successes of ancient world authors, including Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray and Stephanie Thorton, among others.

They aren’t writing the “serious style of ages past,” as Gary put it.

It isn’t that their history is modern, but the underlying voice and tone appeals to a wide range of readers today.

Libbie Hawker and others echoed Gary’s point about the loyalty of those who read ancient world fiction. Hawker’s readers stick with her through many books and make up in longevity and devotion what they lack in numerical superiority. Libbie also points out that though her audience may be somewhat niche, by self-publishing and holding onto the profits, she thrives.

Despite happy readership, some traditionally-published authors have been steered by their agents toward early 20th century or otherwise more modern eras to reach for potentially larger sales.

Is there an advantage to writing fiction set in the ancient world? I can summarize the theme I heard over and over as “mind the gap.” Only in this case, the gap is a writer’s best friend.

As Kate Quinn said, “Much less historical documentation survives from ancient Rome and Egypt than from, say, the Industrial Revolution or the Renaissance — those gaps in the historical record are gold for a novelist, because we have much more room to build our stories.” Rebecca Lochlann said the gaps “can be filled by a writer’s imagination.” Stephanie Thornton calls it a “freedom” she greatly misses when writing in the overly-documented 20th century. Stephanie Dray mentioned the problem that even the weather is known daily in early America, and when writing about Jefferson, she had to show a “reckless disregard of the weather almanack…If I want to make it rain in the ancient world, I can generally do that without worrying.”

Geraldine Brooks had a poetic way of discussing the joys and mysteries of research for ancient fiction: “The research challenges can be formidable. I’m reminded of what Hans Ernst Gombrich writes in his introduction to A Little History of the World, where he says it’s like dropping a piece of lit paper down a very deep well — the further it drops, the less is illuminated, as oral sources give way to written, written to the archeological record, and then finally the light is gone. Yet the stories are still there. To get to those darker places you have to be more ingenious. I find going to the places where events happened is useful. The landscape may have changed, but the way the light moves across it, the way the wind blows, the relation of hill to valley or water to land — there are things you can use, things you can experience in the same way your distant characters did. Also, I firmly believe that strong emotion doesn’t change. Love and hate, the will to live,

JUDITH STARKSTON’s upcoming mystery features one of history’s most influential and wily of women, Queen Puduhepa. If the sands of time had not buried the Hittite Empire, Puduhepa’s fame would have cast Cleopatra’s into shadow. Now that archaeologists have rediscovered this exotic world, Starkston has brought Puduhepa back to life as a royal sleuth.

Dinitia Smith on her literary heroine, George Eliot

One of the greatest challenges of fiction is to dare to step inside

a great figure of the past, to relive their experiences, but also to fill in the gaps, to recreate their inner voice. Dinitia Smith sets out to do just this, and succeeds brilliantly, in her latest novel, The Honeymoon (Other, 2016). Her subject is Marian Evans, better known as George Eliot.

In the summer of 1860 George Eliot married a man twenty years her junior, exposing herself to social ridicule and personal anguish. Smith recounts the terrible events of the ‘honeymoon’ in Venice when Eliot discovered the secret weakness of the man who was now her husband. I began by asking Smith how the book had developed.

“As a novelist, I looked to George Eliot as a role model, for the journey she took to become a writer, and for the obstacles she overcame. And I looked too, at her moral life – she was a deeply moral person, unfailingly kind and generous, even as she became enormously wealthy and well-known.

“The seed for the book had been growing for several years. I’d been thinking particularly about her late-life marriage to John Cross, his attempted suicide in Venice, her apparent forgiveness of him, and then, her death only two short months after the couple returned to England. So little was known about the marriage. It took up so little space in her biographies. Why did she marry him, and he her? Was the whole thing a tragedy, I wondered? I wanted to believe that it wasn’t, that the marriage brought something to her, despite the upheaval of Cross’ illness.

“And so I began a journey of discovery, trying to understand their relationship. But as I went along, I realized I had to go back into her life, as a country girl from Warwickshire, self-educated, who managed to become the editor of a prominent magazine, The Westminster Review, all the while longing to be a novelist.

And then, into her life came George Henry Lewes who loved her and encouraged her. But when he died, her life seemed to be over.”

Marian’s extraordinary zest for learning was driven by

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CONJURING THE INNER VOICE

the realisation that she was plain and unlikely to marry. Her relations with men are sensitively explored, but one is still struck by the precariousness of her early life. Eliot’s letters “were most revealing in telling me about her daily life, and in some cases her opinions about art and politics. As I say in my ‘Note to the Reader’, she was extremely proper and discreet, so they were not very revealing about her private passions. For those I looked at her own writing for clues, her poetry, for instance, or the accounts of her close friends such as Edith Simcox.”

Smith also draws on the diaries kept by her publisher John Chapman, who became her lover and invited her to take lodgings in his London home.

Using titles inspired by Dante’s writing (such as ‘La Vita Nuova’, ‘In a Dark Wood’), Smith highlights how Dante and Italy feature prominently in much of Eliot’s writing, not least in Romola. “But to me,” writes Smith, “Dante’s importance lay in the development of her relationship with Johnnie Cross.” By reading together, as Cross later wrote, “The divine poet took us into a new world. It was a renovation of life.”

Eliot’s need for love was a key part of her character and she was painfully deluded, not least by her brother, to whom she was so attached in childhood. By exploring her love for George Lewes, her partner of twenty-six years, and her late attachment to Johnnie Cross, Smith has found the voice of this remarkable woman. “I am absolutely confident,” Smith writes, “that Eliot would not have become a novelist without the constant support and love of George Henry Lewes.

One would like to believe Eliot could have done this without a man at her side, but undoubtedly the world owes George Henry Lewes a debt, too, as well as, of course, to George Eliot herself.”

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Lucinda Byatt translates from Italian and teaches Italian Renaissance history. She also coordinates the features for Historical Novels Review and occasionally blogs at http:// textline.wordpress.com

by Lucinda Byatt

She was... a deeply moral person, unfailingly kind and generous, even as she became enormously wealthy and well-known.

HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Features | 13

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FALL of POPPIES

Y ears later, people would always ask, what were you doing the moment the war ended?” — Jessica Brockmole

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stories of love and the Great War

Record Set Right,” spans the years 1918 to 1980, and spans the globe as well. She commented, “Creating a self-contained short story plot is always a challenge to someone accustomed to writing in a more expansive form, and occasioned much scribbling, and crossing out, and rethinking, and scribbling again. But it was immensely rewarding to see how everyone addressed that same challenge.” Hazel added, “I’d only ever written full-length novels or 1500- to 2000-word short stories, so this was new writing territory for me. Ultimately I found it really rewarding to tell a story in 10,000 words.”

These few words convey us to nine fascinating moments and places. The Aerodrome Romorantin, in France, inspired Jessica Brockmole’s story “Something Worth Landing For.” She says, “It was used during WWI as an airplane production and repair facility, but a vibrant community sprung up around the aerodrome to accommodate the American airmen and engineers, and the French women employed to build DH-4s.” Kate Kerrigan’s contribution, “The Photograph,” takes us to Dublin. “On Armistice Day a group of British soldiers staying in the Queen’s barracks in Dublin attacked a house party in a nearby street because they heard what they thought was Irish rebel music being deliberately played to disrespect them.”

An old film clip of Anna Ladd’s Red Cross Studio for Portrait Masks in Paris sparked Jennifer Robson’s story, “All for the Love of You,” and Jennifer utilized Mrs. Ladd’s personal papers, archived at Yale, in her research. Each story provides a window into the unique experiences of those caught up in this maelstrom of war.

The creativity and emotion inherent in these nine tales provide a fitting tribute, not only to the many fallen, but to the resilience of the human spirit. Ultimately, the road to reconciliation lies through forgiveness, and through love.

Almost one hundred years have passed since the Armistice ending World War I, the war to end all wars. The cataclysmic conflict and its final cease-fire, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of November 1918, are remembered in the recently released Fall of Poppies (William Morrow, 2016), a collection of short stories. The nine stories, tied together by themes of forgiveness, survival, grief, and hope, bring the cost of the Great War vividly to life.

The contributors include Jessica Brockmole, Hazel Gaynor, Evangeline Holland, Marci Jefferson, Kate Kerrigan, Jennifer Robson, Heather Webb, Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig. Heather sparked the initial idea and approached the other authors. All enjoyed the collaborative process. Marci commented, “Working with authors you know whose work you respect has been a dream...the authors struck a working camaraderie, so publication felt like a celebration of art and friendship.” Lauren mentioned, “It was immensely rewarding to get to work with and get to know such a talented group of authors.”

“We all know writing is, by its nature, a lonely profession. Being part of a bigger team has been a wonderful experience,” Hazel added.

All the characters face the terrible challenges of devastating conflict. Forgiveness and reconciliation are easier spoken of than actualized and, as a reader, I grew curious to learn how the authors felt about this often torturous process. Heather commented, “How does one forgive the nation who enlists them in such meaningless destruction, or the men who follow those orders? In “Hour of the Bells” I explore the idea of revenge and rage born of intense grief, and how my protagonist’s only salvation is truly through forgiveness — self forgiveness as well as forgiveness of those, including God, who took her son from Susan McDuffie writes historical mysteries set in medieval her.”

Scotland, during the 14th century. A lover of historical fiction The set word limit was a challenge. Lauren Willig’s story, “The since childhood, she regularly reviews books for the HNS.

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Forgiveness...

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by Susan McDuffie and reconciliation are easier spoken of than actualized and, as a reader, I grew curious to learn how the authors felt about this often torturous process.

HNR Issue 76, May 2016

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Shakespeare as author of historical fiction

n the 400 anniversary year of Shakespeare’s death, Charlotte IWightwick talks to James Shapiro about his latest book, 1606: th

Shakespeare and The Year of Lear (Faber & Faber, 2016), and the playwright’s use of history to illuminate contemporary events.

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What’s Past is Prologue

and a daughter. Playwrights, including Shakespeare, turned to more topical issues generated by the new regime, especially, in the early years of James’s reign, the possibility of a Great Britain.”

Indeed, as this last shows, the England of 1606 has many parallels with our own, with hotly contested debates over sovereignty within the British Isles and the country still reeling from the failed terrorist attack – the Gunpowder Plot – of the year before. When asked whether modern artists try to use history in the same way as Shakespeare, Shapiro says: “Nowadays I see parallels almost everywhere I turn: in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (the brilliant hiphop historical drama on Broadway), and especially in television series – to which I am especially addicted – such as Homeland and The Americans.” He goes on to say: “I’m deeply jealous of historical novelists, who derive pleasure from their research but then are free to go beyond where I permit myself to go, exploring the interiority and motives of their characters and reshaping stories into compelling plots. I’m keenly aware that this is what Shakespeare himself was doing when, for example, he invents for Brutus such remarkable soliloquies in Julius Caesar, or imagines the love-affair of Antony and Cleopatra.”

Perhaps it is this that is one of the reasons for Shakespeare’s undying and almost universal popularity: just as we do, he was compelled to look into the past to try and make sense of his present. As Shapiro says, “The celebration [marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death] in 2016 is truly global. I spoke about Shakespeare’s plays in India last month, a fortnight ago in Vermont, in London this past week and I will be heading to Argentina and Uruguay. I’ll surely lift a glass in his honour and memory on April 23rd.”

It’s easy to think of Shakespeare’s plays simply as ‘classics’, speaking to us across the centuries and acting as a timeless mirror for human drama. Yet as James Shapiro rightly points out in his new book, Shakespeare was very much a creature of his time, using myth and history to cast light on the politics and social upheavals of his day. Shapiro says, “Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers turned to the theatre – there really weren’t alternatives at the time – to engage [with] pressing contemporary issues. Playwrights, including Shakespeare, didn’t disappoint, whether the topic was Union with Scotland or the aftershocks of the Gunpowder Plot. Shakespeare, more than his rivals, tended to look to the distant past to illuminate the present.”

Shapiro’s books bring out very vividly for the reader how Shakespeare’s plays would have resonated with their contemporary audiences. This is all the more fascinating when we consider the dramatic events that took place during his lifetime – and see how these change what he wrote about and how he treated his subjects. Shapiro has previously studied another key year in Shakespeare’s life as a playwright, 1599, when he wrote Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and Hamlet. In 1606, it was Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra.

Shapiro reflects on the differences, explaining that, “During the waning years of Elizabeth’s reign, it was clear that she would not marry nor bear children [and refused] to identify her successor. The first decade or so of [Shakespeare’s] playwriting career was spent writing one succession play after another – Charlotte Wightwick is a writer and reviewer for the HNS. Her from Titus Andronicus to Hamlet. The understandable fear of first novel, The Lady with an Ermine, is based on Leonardo da foreign invasion and civil war fuelled these plays. In 1603 all Vinci’s portrait of the same name and is set in Renaissance Milan. that changed after King James of Scotland peacefully succeeded to the throne, arriving from Edinburgh with a wife, two sons,

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by Charlotte Wightwick

The England... of 1606 has many parallels with our own, with hotly contested debates over sovereignty within the British Isles and the country still reeling from the failed terrorist attack.

HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Features | 15

J

ustin Hill describes himself as a writer who finds his story as he writes, but when he was approached to write the novel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, the story – in Hill’s words, the “who kissed who, and who died” – was already in place. The screenplay for the Netflix movie sequel to Ang Lee’s successful movie from 2000 had already been confirmed.

If writing screenplay based on a book, Hill would have been shrinking plot-lines and characters: for this project he would have to do the opposite and “grow the script back into a novel.”

Both Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon movies originate in the stories of Wang Dulu, a prolific 20th-century Chinese writer famous for his Wuxia novels. Hill describes Wuxia as a genre of fantasy novel, similar to The Lord of the Rings, concerned with good versus evil and duty versus passion, within the context of Confucian and Asian ideas of family loyalty and self-denial. In direct translation from the Chinese, Wang Dulu’s novels – episodic and reliant on assumed knowledge of Chinese history – might not appeal to modern readers, but the books provided Hill with the depth of storyline and characters he needed to recreate Wang Dulu’s world for today’s audience.

Fans of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will welcome the return of female warrior Shulien, who comes out of seclusion to protect the legendary Green Destiny blade. Shulien lost the love of her life seventeen years earlier. Now she has another chance at love – but can she take it? In contrast, another character, Snow Vase, is a young woman facing the same choices, but finding her own answers.

Hill welcomed the chance to focus on these characters: “Novels and films work very differently on the audience,” he explains.

“Novels work through an interaction of writer and reader, in a way that is much more satisfying and intense than film – but they’re also much more internal. You can go inside a character’s head in a way you cannot on film.”

Character is also the key to Hill’s portrayal of the action scenes for which martial arts films are famous. A firm believer

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RECLAIMING the NOVEL from the CUTTING ROOM FLOOR

that action is dull in books unless closely linked to the desires of a character, he makes clear what is at stake in each fight scene.

He also draws on his own experience of living in China in the 1990s. Learning tai chi there, he says, was invaluable in the writing of this novel, giving him insight into the philosophy and spirituality that underpins kung fu, and it is central to the core beliefs of his characters. He also used his first-hand experience of the sights and scenery of rural China – of the bamboo forests and mountain pagodas – to create vivid backdrops to the battles to safeguard the Green Destiny.

Although the screenplay gave Hill the bones of his story, even the dialogue did not transfer directly from script to novel.

The one place where Hill did stay close to the movie process was in the description of characters. Not all the roles had been cast when Hill began writing, but as the actors were chosen he was careful to match his physical descriptions to the people bringing the characters to life on the screen.

For anyone unsure of whether to begin with the movie or the book, Hill says of his novel, “It links the two films together, and reaches back in time to before either film, and shows how Shulien turned out the way she did, and how her love life became so complicated. I would recommend seeing the films and then reading the book, and finding within it the answers to questions that the reader didn’t even realise they had.”

Justin Hill is the author of two novels set in China: The Drink and Dream Teahouse (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2001) and Passing Under Heaven (Abacus, 2005). He is currently writing the sequel to Shieldwall (Little Brown, 2011), based around the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

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UK native Kate Braithwaite is now based in Pennsylvania. Her novel, Charlatan (Fireship, 2016), a tale of poison, aphrodisiacs, lies and infidelity, was long-listed for the 2015 Mslexia New Novel Award and the Historical Novel Society Novel Award.

by Kate Braithwaite

Novels work...

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through an interaction of writer and reader, in a way that is much more satisfying and intense than film – but they’re also much more internal.

HNR Issue 76, May 2016

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Bletchley Park as setting for Lucy Ribchester’s The Amber Shadows

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AN ENIGMA

Bletchley Park encompasses a collection of basic huts, a small

late Victorian Gothic mansion, and a stable block and cottages on a 58-acre Buckinghamshire estate. How did the work carried out there make a “very decisive contribution to the Allied war effort,” as General Dwight D. Eisenhower commented? Why has it fascinated writers like Andrew Hodges, whose biography, Alan Turing: The Enigma (Simon & Schuster, 1983), was transformed into the film The Imitation Game (2014)? What has led historical fiction author Lucy Ribchester to set her most recent novel, The Amber Shadows (Simon & Schuster, 2016), there with her engaging main character, Honey Deschamps, working at a type-x machine in Hut 6?

When ‘Captain Ridley’s Shooting Party’* spent time at Bletchley in August 1938, it heralded the start of one of the most mysterious undercover Secret Service operations of the Second World War. The party consisted of members of MI6 and the British Government Code and Cypher School, and resulted in Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair, Head of MI6, buying the Park and renaming it ‘Station X.’ Intrigue surrounded the cypher work of codebreakers like Mavis Lever who, at age nineteen, started working as part of Dilly (Dillwyn) Knox’s team. In addition, the better-known Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, Peter Twinn and John Jeffreys cracked the Enigma and Lorenz codes. This ensured Bletchley’s legacy for historians and novelists alike.

But Ribchester explains, “It was hugely important to me to try and create a sense of the day-to-day activities of the Park.

However, I didn’t want to focus particularly on the mechanics of codebreaking, or on a handful of genius brains who have already been singled out in fiction and nonfiction. I’m not really mathematically inclined, so a lot of the algebraic cryptanalysis which went into setting up the bombe machines still goes over my head – even after watching several live demos and reading half a dozen books on the subject. I was also more interested in the ordinary people who worked at the Park and how the

pressures of work and secrecy affected their nerves, their sense of self, and their relationships.”

By D-Day on 6 June 1944 up to 18,000 messages were being deciphered each day; by 1945 there were 8,600 staff working at ‘BP,’ as it became known, with another 1,500 working close by.

It was a world of its own with a language of its own: ‘cribbing’, ‘clonking,’ ‘spaghetti’, etc.* Concerts, plays and musicals were performed in Hut 12, tennis was played on the courts, but nothing was ever quite egalitarian, with the ‘top brass’ eating in a separate dining room and not having to queue. However, everyone shared an ability to keep secrets. Ribchester says, “I guess it was a combination of the time period and the idea of so much secrecy and subterfuge that I found interesting about Bletchley Park. It’s incredible to me that so many people could have kept such a monumental secret from their loved ones as well as keeping the day-to-day secrets within their different sections of the Park. I became fascinated with the idea of secrecy and what that does to your own trust in other people – if you know you are keeping your own secrets, what’s to say the people around you are being truthful with you?

This then branched off into wider ideas of family secrets and secret love affairs and how to trust strangers we’re falling in love with, and the book just ran on from there.”

For historical novelists like Ribchester, the place and people of Bletchley Park have provided an atmospheric enigma, a source of inspiration that is in every way a mystery to be decoded.

Lucy Ribchester can be found on facebook, twitter and at lucyribchester.com

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* https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk Myfanwy Cook is an Honorary Fellow at two universities in the UK and has published numerous short stories and articles. She teaches, designs and runs writing workshops and promotes historical fiction writers and writing whenever and wherever she can.

by Myfanwy Cook

It was... hugely important to me to try and create a sense of the day-to-day activities of the Park. However, I didn’t want to focus particularly on the mechanics of codebreaking, or on a handful of genius brains.

HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | 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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MIRIAM Mesu Andrews, WaterBrook, 2016, $14.99/ C$19.99, pb, 320pp, 9781601426017 Miriam is the sister of Moses. She watched her infant brother be rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter, and later wept when he escaped as an adult to sanctuary in the land of Midian. This novel begins with the return of Moses at the age of eighty back to Egypt, and how Miriam, the prophetess of the Hebrew slaves, learns to overcome her spiritual uncertainties and trust completely in God once again.

Miriam is now an old woman, and it is through her narration that we witness the devastating plagues that finally forced Pharaoh to allow the Hebrew slaves, led by Moses and Aaron, to leave Egypt. Through the story we come to know the details of Miriam’s extended family, including her brothers Moses and Aaron, her nephew Eleazar and his wife Taliah, and Hur—the love of Miriam’s younger years and finally her husband in old age.

Told by interweaving facts of ancient Egypt with the biblical text of Exodus, this book propels the reader along to its climactic ending with the parting of the Red Sea and the Hebrews’ ultimate escape from bondage. A thoroughly delightful read.

Linda Harris Sittig

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ON THIS FOUNDATION Lynn Austin, Bethany House, 2015, $14.99, pb, 467pp, 9780764209000 Nehemiah is a mere cup bearer (food taster) to the King of Persia in a palace one thousand miles from Jerusalem. The King allows Nehemiah to leave and supports his mission to rebuild Jerusalem’s broken walls. Closely based on the Old Testament’s Book of Nehemiah, Austin gives today’s readers a layered story of hardship, treachery, and faithdriven purpose.

On Nehemiah’s arrival, Jerusalem’s walls, main temples, and many of its buildings lie in ruins, 18 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 76, May 2016

its gates smashed and burned. Neighboring rulers and nighttime thugs harass and oppress the nearly defenseless Jewish people who have dared to return to their homeland.

A two-year drought adds to the challenge of daily survival.

Jealous neighboring tribal leaders use spies, assassins and rumor-mongers to undermine Nehemiah’s efforts and special way with his people.

Daily life details and solid dialogue draw the reader into feeling for the main characters.

Teenaged Nava, given to a wealthy landowner as a servant for six years to repay her father’s debts, is a feisty delight. Chana, one of the headstrong women who help rebuild a section of the great wall, finds strength in tasks women had previously not dared to touch. Nehemiah becomes heroic. The multiple, sometimes twisty and surprising plots are easy to read and follow. Austin layers in the deeplyheld religious beliefs of key characters, but never in a preachy way. The nicely integrated passages from Scripture are both appropriate and informative.

Though this is the last of Austin’s Restoration Chronicles, several not-quite-finished secondary story lines and lives just beginning will leave some readers wanting more.

G. J. Berger

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THE GLADIATOR’S TEMPTATION Jennifer D. Bokale, Montlake, 2016, $12.95, pb, 268pp, 9781503953970 In 100 BC Rome, Fortunada, a golden-haired beauty, and Baro, a gladiator, meet secretly. They are in love and plan to marry. Although Fortunada is divorced with two young children, Baro is willing to break his contract with a Ludus, a gladiatorial school. Fortunada’s ex-husband, Albinius, returns unexpectedly. Having divorced his second wife, he plans to start a Ludus in another town. Fortunada is alarmed that he wishes to not only take custody of his children, but also – having been offered a dowry – remarry her. Baro intentionally loses a fight and obtains his release. Fortunada is faced with a dilemma of having to either remain with her children or go with her lover, who has thrown off his career for her.

This captivating love story explores the laws and norms of the Roman era. Under the paterfamilias system, women had very few rights, if any. Children were considered the property of the husband; divorced or widowed women would be returned to their father and could be sold into slavery. The boundless efforts that Fortunada has to exert to

keep her children, and Baro, under those oppressive conditions are well narrated. The evocative love scenes and settings transport us to Rome, while enjoying the story.

Waheed Rabbani THE SINGER FROM MEMPHIS Gary Corby, Soho, 2016, $26.95, hb, 362pp, 9781616956684 In this sixth installment in Gary Corby’s Athenian Mystery series, Nicolaos and his wife, Diotima, a priestess with an independent streak a stadion long, once again find themselves up to their eyeballs in international intrigue. When Herodotus, a young Greek with a passion for travel writing, hires Nicolaos to accompany him on a trip to Egypt, the investigator is hesitant. After being summoned by Pericles, Nicolaos’s employer, he changes his mind – or rather his mind is changed for him. So the trio set off for Egypt only to find themselves tracked across the sea by a Spartan assassin, embroiled in an Egyptian war to send their Persian conquerors packing, a Libyan who claims to be Pharaoh, and a mysterious singer from Memphis who is much more than she appears to be. And there are crocodiles, camels, and vast tracts of desert that make both Nicolaos and Diotima long for home. Even Herodotus’s love of travel is tested.

I’ve read every one of Corby’s witty ancient noir novels, and this is just as enjoyable as the others.

His blend of history, notable figures, humor, and the tropes of noir transform his characters into old friends you sometimes want to smack up the side of the head – Nicolaos, never Diotima – and then afterward enjoy a bottle of wine with.

Recommended for lovers of historical mystery and all things ancient Greek (and Egyptian and Persian and Libyan).

Kristina Blank Makansi

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THE RISEN: A Novel of Spartacus David Anthony Durham, Doubleday, 2016, $28.95/C$37.95, hb, 496pp, 9780385535663 In David Anthony Durham’s novels of ancient Rome, Rome plays the villain. Pride of Carthage mapped Hannibal’s attempt to overthrow that seat of world power, and now The Risen traces the great slave uprising led by the gladiator Spartacus.

Credit the power of Durham’s storytelling that it doesn’t matter that readers already know the outcome of both ill-fated campaigns; the journey to get there is absolutely worth the trip.

Durham’s approach to the story is both inventive and well-suited to the task. He’s broken the book into three sections, each made up of chapters told Biblical — Classical

from the point of view of the same set of characters.

Thus, readers get to know and follow a handful of characters through the shifting tides of the story, including a hapless Roman soldier, an old woman whose early servitude taught her routes up and down the length of Italy, a Greek medic, a Roman general’s slave scribe, several of Spartacus’s most trusted lieutenants, and Spartacus himself.

Spartacus is a born leader, able to think both strategically and tactically, helped also by a priestess’s visions of triumph. The gladiators’ escape, early sorties, and first two engagements against the Roman armies sent against them are thrilling in their planning and execution. Spartacus takes the long view of his eventual objectives, though not everyone in his expansive following agrees with his plans.

Halfway through the book, the tide starts to turn against The Risen, slowly at first with small setbacks, but soon in wave after wave of bad luck, betrayal, and strategic miscalculations. As one character says, Spartacus was so strong he could only be brought down through betrayal, but it may be that Spartacus simply didn’t understand that, however much Rome was hated, an army of slaves could never command the respect necessary to gain true allies.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL Emily Hauser, Doubleday, 2016, £12.99, hb, 400pp, 9780857523143 Think of the tale of Troy. What names can you remember? Active men – Achilles, Paris.

Passive women – Helen, only remembered for being beautiful; Cassandra, laughed at for her unbelievable prophesies. In For The Most Beautiful, Emily Hauser has told the story of two unlikely heroes, women whose voices have been lost.

Krisayis, daughter of the Trojans’ High Priest, and Briseis, princess of Pedasus, start near the top of the hierarchy, but both are enslaved by the Greeks.

Their struggles in the face of that disaster, and the need to preserve the essence of Troy, form the core of the book. Looking down from the clouds is the panoply of gods – with their own desires and agendas, and with two of the female gods grumpy because they were not chosen as “most beautiful”…

If I hadn’t been reading a review copy, I might have abandoned it. The early vacuousness of its protagonists, and the shallowness of the gods, really irritated me. But I persevered, and gradually grew to like, and then admire, the girls – very much.

I got to the end of the book, and immediately read it again, this time appreciating the superb character arcs that Emily Hauser has drawn. The gods hadn’t changed, but then that is the nature of gods. This is a fascinating picture of life in Bronze-Age Troy, from the point of view of women at both the top and bottom of society. The author’s knowledge of, and respect for, the period shines through. Read it twice. You won’t regret it.

Nicky Moxey PENELOPE’S WEB Christopher Rush, Polygon, 2015, £16.99, hb, 510pp, 9781846973093 This is a new retelling of the Trojan War, centred on the character of Odysseus, and narrated in three different voices: Odysseus himself; his faithful Classical — 1st Century

wife, Penelope, left at home on the island of Ithaca; and an anonymous third-person authorial voice.

There is no need to lay out the plot here.

You know the story, or you ought to. The illicit elopement of Paris with the married Helen sets off the Trojan War, and hostilities commence when the first Greek ships run up the beach on a fierce rip tide (in the Aegean?). Two things distinguish this Trojan War novel from others. First of all, there are direct interventions by the gods of Olympus at critical moments. I wasn’t sure how seriously we are supposed to take the role of the gods, and whether or not this novel should be classified as historical fantasy. Secondly, there is a constant stream of foul language, which rapidly becomes as wearying as reading a novel in some heavy dialect. Perhaps this is meant to represent how soldiers talk all the time (which they don’t), but it reads more like an elderly academic author trying to show how butch he is.

The section on Odysseus’ return and revenge is surprisingly long, but it works, and provides more interest than a simple return, dispatch of suitors, and happy reunion with Penelope would have been. It was also a surprise that ships can be blown off course by 300 degrees (in circa 1200 B.C., about 3,000 years before the invention of the compass?).

I would have liked to hear more of Penelope’s voice. In spite of its defects this is an exciting read, although as Trojan War novels go I still prefer George Shipway’s King in Splendour.

Alan Fisk THE DAUGHTERS OF PALATINE HILL Phyllis T. Smith, Lake Union, 2016, $24.95/ C$35.95, hb, 398pp, 9781503952485 / also $14.95, pb, 398pp, 9781503952478 The Daughters of Palatine Hill tells the story of three powerful women in imperial Rome. Julia, the only child of Emperor Augustus, longs for a great love, but her father arranges her marriages to produce an heir to the empire. The passionate Julia rebels by having a series of affairs, none of which is emotionally satisfying. Meanwhile, Julia’s stepmother, Livia, who is not the evil poisoner of legend but the devoted wife of Augustus, wishes to see the Roman Empire at peace and to help the common people. But she and Julia often clash, and she finds the daughter she wants in an unlikely person: Selene, daughter of Augustus’s enemies, Mark Antony and Cleopatra. As a child, after the suicides of her parents, Selene is taken as a captive to Rome and raised in Augustus’s household. She knows she owes her life to Augustus and is torn between loyalty to him and the desire to avenge her parents. Livia takes Selene under her wing and allows her to marry Juba, a deposed prince. Juba and Selene become king and queen of Mauretania, where the arts and sciences flourish under their rule. But when Selene hears of a plot against Augustus, her loyalty is put to the test.

Each woman narrates her own story in alternating chapters. The reader sympathizes with each in turn, although the three women are often in conflict with each other. Julia is probably the hardest to like, and could come across as a spoiled brat, but I felt sympathy for her because, although she appears to have everything, she is denied the one thing she truly wants. Smith brings ancient Rome to life in all its complexities. This is an excellent follow-up to her first novel, I Am Livia,

but can be read independently.

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Vicki Kondelik

CALL TO JUNO: Tales of Ancient Rome, Book 3 Elisabeth Storrs, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 542pp, 9781503951952 Fourth century BC. In the wealthy and proud Etruscan city of Veii, Vel Mastarna becomes ruler and attempts to break the Roman siege of his citadel. His Romanborn wife, Caecilia, now thoroughly acclimated to life in her adopted city and deeply in love with Vel, struggles to maintain morale while her husband is off campaigning. She wrestles with famine and plague in the beleaguered city. Her servant, Semni, tries to regain her mistress’s trust and strives for her own happiness while, in the Roman camp, the concubine Pinna seeks security and love amidst the storm of Roman politics. Marcus, Caecilia’s cousin, fears betrayal. Told from the points of view of these four characters, Call to Juno recounts the story of the final struggle between Veii and Rome, separated by only twelve miles geographically but in other respects worlds apart.

Elisabeth Storrs does a fantastic job in this book, bringing the ancient spiritual beliefs and emotional lives of her characters sharply into focus. The author gives plenty of background information in this third volume. It could be read as a standalone, but readers might have a richer experience if they read the entire trilogy in order.

That would be no hardship, as Storrs writes beautifully about this distant time period. I had previously read the first book in the trilogy, and that helped in my understanding of this book.

Her characters seem true to their time, strongly rooted in the mores of their respective cultures as they strive to placate the gods and gain victory. The contrast between the colorful, sensual culture of the Etruscans and the more severe Roman society is well portrayed, immersing readers in this ancient struggle. Recommended.

Susan McDuffie

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1st century

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THE GRAVEYARD OF THE HESPERIDES Lindsey Davis, Hodder & Stoughton, 2016, £18.99, hb, 416pp, 9781473613362 / Minotaur, 2016, $26.99, hb, 368pp, 9781250078902 Flavia Albia is about to marry the magistrate, Manlius Faustus, in a formal wedding, and her sisters are thrilled to take on the wedding planning.

Solving a new case becomes a race against time because human bones are discovered in the garden of a bar Faustus’s workmen are renovating. Albia is determined to solve the case before her wedding day. More bodies are discovered. Her investigation takes her into a Roman underworld of fast food bars, gambling, protection rackets and prostitution.

HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 19

Lindsey Davis knows her Roman world, and part of the joy of reading my first Davis novel was discovering it with all its omens, intrigues, streets, baths, apartment blocks, poverty, wealth, ceremonies and some very odd eating restrictions imposed by Emperor Domitian. Apparently, this is more important as a method of citizen control than the murky reality of crime. The other part lies in how the relationship between Albia and Faustus develops.

Davis’s characterisation is memorable and her dialogue sharp. Graveyard is a first- person, past-tense narrative so we see other characters from Albia’s witty perspective. Whilst she is an edgy, reckless, determined, quick, and perceptive personality, Faustus is reliable, considered and just too likeable. The lovers contrast well, bouncing ideas off each other, and we feel that they are, for now, a sound match.

This story is told in a superbly lively and fastpaced style, the author creating deviations and intriguing blind alleys which will keep a reader in a suspenseful grip throughout. If you know little about the Roman world at the beginning, you will know more by the story’s end. I recommend it for loyal Davis fans and all lovers of well-written historical crime.

Carol McGrath THE FURIES OF ROME Robert Fabbri, Corvus, 2016, £14.99, hb, 346pp, 9780857899705 AD 58. Nero is Emperor of Rome and ruling a terrified empire. No one is safe, not even his wife, Claudia Octavia. There is a rumour that he plans to withdraw from Britannia and the bankers in Londinium are panicking. Vespasian is aware of a prophecy, made for him as a baby, that he would have a great destiny, but nobody will tell him what that prophecy was. If it is to be fulfilled, he must placate Nero at all costs to stay alive and protect his family. In Britannia Boudicca is rebelling against Roman rule, and Vespasian is sent to Londinium on a secret mission.

We are told in the author’s notes that there is very little, in the writings of the early works of Tacitus and others, that reveals Vespasian’s actual part in all of this, so the author has had to construct an agenda which would reasonably fit in with what is known. As I also know virtually nothing about Vespasian, Robert Fabbri’s tale came across as totally believable and matched perfectly with what is generally known of Nero’s mad reign. I haven’t read any of the other books in this series but will certainly do so.

Marilyn Sherlock THE IRONSMITH Nicholas Guild, Forge, 2016, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 416pp, 9780765382269 Noah is a pious Galilean ironsmith whose cousin Joshua, a carpenter, begins preaching a dangerous message after the death of John the Baptist. Noah, a widower, is in a position to know that one of the tetrarch’s men, a disgraced temple priest, will stop at nothing short of torture and crucifixion to silence such revolutionaries. Nicholas Guild learned his chops writing about the Assyrians, and what he writes are justly called thrillers. Certainly that is what this novel becomes as we root for 20 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 76, May 2016

Noah to win the girl and save his cousin, even at the cost of his own life.

This view of the Gospels from the voice of someone who seems made of flesh and blood but who isn’t named or sanctified gave more reality to the texts for me, the reality of someone who has no interest in becoming a Christian, but simply wants to see justice done. Plot and fictional characters lose our interest as the inevitable ending approaches, but I for one am always fascinated by different takes on the world’s great religious figures.

Ann Chamberlin HUNTING THE EAGLES Ben Kane, Preface, 2016, £14.99, hb, 389pp, 9781848094062.

In A.D. 9, the German tribes, led by Arminius, ambushed and massacred three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest. The legions’ revered eagles were captured, and it was one of Rome’s worse defeats. In A.D.14, Centurion Tullus and a few other survivors are part of a vast army determined to avenge the massacre and re-capture the eagles.

Their leader is Germanicus, a great general and a match for the wily, charismatic Arminius. But many of the legionaries have grievances: no pay and brutal officers. Mutiny is brewing. As for Arminius, he must keep the quarrelling tribes united. The consuming passion of the aging Tullus, demoted and disgraced, is to avenge his murdered soldiers and retrieve their eagle.

Tullus and Arminius are three-dimensional characters, each convincing in his determination and each keeping our sympathy for his cause.

Tullus’ conflict with his superiors echoes Arminius’ frustration with his fellow chieftains. The other characters are serviceable rather than colourful.

Many are real: Arminius and his wife, Germanicus and several Roman officers. Even Germanicus’ son, baby Caligula, turns up. The language is modern military and appropriately robust, yet the sense of period – Roman life and attitudes in the 1st century – is excellent. The hardships on the German frontier are well done, as is the isolation of legionaries in the provinces. Women do not figure except as whores. The picture of German tribal life is also fascinating, and I could have done with more of it. Although Kane’s main interest is in the Roman Army, he is meticulous in balancing both sides. Daily routine, weapons, hierarchy, battle plans and superstitions are lovingly detailed but thank heaven for the glossary and the efficient map.

Highly recommended for Roman history buffs.

Lynn Guest INVADER Simon Scarrow & T. J Andrews, Headline, 2016, £18.99, hb, 369pp, 9781472213709 Britannia, AD 44. Optio Horatio Figulus, a Gaul serving in the Second Legion, distinguishes himself in the campaign against the tribes on the Isle of Vectis. Due to his background Figulus finds himself sent on a thankless mission to the land of the Durotrigans to install a puppet king, a mission almost doomed to failure before the start, further complicated by the presence of Numerius Scylla, an imperial envoy. A Druidic sect sees this as an opportunity to deal a mortal blow against the hated Roman conquerors, which will unite all the tribes in revolt.

When a novel is co-written, there is always a danger that you can see where one author stops and the other begins, but here the writing is seamless. As you would expect from a writer of Simon Scarrow’s calibre, this is well-researched, exciting and a page-turner from page one. The action scenes are vivid and realistic without being graphic. Roman politics and the fatal results of failure cast a dark shadow over Figulus as he strives to complete his mission against impossible odds, political interference, fanatical Druids and military incompetence. Highly recommended.

Mike Ashworth DAUGHTER OF ALBION (US/Can) / SKIN (Aus/NZ) Ilka Tampke, St. Martin’s, 2015, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 368 pp, 9781250081094 / Text, 2015, A$29.99/NZ$35, pb, 370pp, 9781922182333 Set in Southwest Britain in A.D. 28, this is the story of Ailia, a foundling left on the doorstep of the Tribequeens’s kitchen in Caer Cad, one of the largest hill towns in Durotriga. With her parents unknown, Ailia does not know if she has “skin,” or a totem. If she does, she has no way of knowing what it is. This leaves her without many options in life, for without “skin” she cannot be educated, marry, or even be taught to swim. By rights, she should be living on the “fringe,” an enclave of other skinless semi-outcasts.

Because she has the support of Cookmother and because Tribequeen likes her, she is fortunate enough to be allowed to live in the kitchen with Cookmother and the other girls, and to serve the Tribequeen as a maid. Throughout the book, Ailia tries to find her “skin,” and along the way she must sort out her feelings for two men, the enigmatic Taliesin and the more conventional Ruther. The Romans are just starting to come into Britain, and by the end of the story, Ailia has matured into her power as she prepares to move forward toward her destiny. It is she who must advise her people whether to submit or fight.

This book is hard to pigeonhole. It is part history, part myth, part fantasy, and has strong elements of romance. It is an exciting page-turner, but could probably be called a literary novel for the research and poetry. There will be a sequel for those who want to know how Ailia and her people handle the Roman invasion.

Elizabeth Knowles

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2nd century

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THE IDES OF JUNE: A Libertus Mystery of Roman Britain Rosemary Rowe, Severn House, 2016, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 224pp, 9780727885913 In Glevum (modern Gloucester, England) on the 13th of June in 193 AD, a messenger arrives at the roundhouse of Libertus, a pavement builder. He delivers a strange request from Libertus’ patron, the magistrate Marcus, to come to his villa immediately.

Libertus suspects the summons has to do with the recent murder of Emperor Pertinax and rise of Julianus, who seized the throne by bribing the Praetorian Guard. Provincial armies throughout the Roman Empire are in revolt. It being an Ides 1st Century — 2nd Century

day, most businesses are closed, so Libertus puts on his toga and presents himself before Marcus in his atrium. Libertus is astonished to learn that, as a supporter of Pertinax, Marcus’ life is in danger: he received an anonymous threating letter. Marcus asks Libertus to smuggle his wife and family to safety in another town. When Libertus learns that other Glevum officials have received similar intimidations, and one has been poisoned, he is drawn into a hunt for the mysterious killer while safeguarding Marcus’ family.

Sixteenth in Rosemary Rowe’s series set during the 2nd-century Roman Empire in Britain, this fascinating novel will appeal particularly to those unfamiliar with that era. The historical details are well presented, especially the turmoil within the empire’s hierarchy. The descriptions of daily life, cuisine, roundhouses, villas, baths, and the countryside are vividly narrated. Readers will feel as if they have journeyed with the party, and travel is risky even along the short distance between Glevum and Aquae Sulis (present-day Bath). The relationships between citizens and slaves are deftly handled; it may come as a surprise that five- and six-year-old children were pressed into slavery.

The introduction of other characters, their issues, and the murder mystery adds depth into the plot.

Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani

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3rd century

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THE MEDICUS CODEX Cy Stein, Balcony 7, 2016, $28.99, hb, 504pp, 9781939454638 When Aaron, a Galilean Jew, leaves his homeland for Rome, he knows he aims high in seeking to become a student of Galen, Rome’s undisputed master physician. On his way he is beaten and robbed, attacked by a rabid dog, and imprisoned for counterfeiting the emperor’s currency. And this is all before the adventure really begins. Though faced with discrimination, and though he has little in the way of resources, he joins forces with new friends and old family and begins his own medical practice as Gaius Romulus Saccius. But even such an overtly Roman name cannot hide his heritage, and his talents and intellect bring him not only new opportunities, but also new enemies. Can he and his friends and family prevail as he is drawn into the world of slavers, low-life gangsters, and the Roman imperial court?

The Medicus Codex is Stein’s debut novel, what will become book one of a new series. As a highly respected physician himself, Stein is able to lend great authority to Gaius’s medical practice, and readers will leave the book with an amateur medical degree themselves. Stein does well at breathing life into 3rd-century Rome. It’s a fascinating, dark, and dangerous place. There is perhaps too much eagerness, too much cramming in everything that the new author has always wanted to cram into a novel. I never connected with Gaius or his travails. If there is a beauty, he will bed her. If there is revenge to be had, he will have it. If there is a foe to overcome, he will do so – and then some.

I wasn’t quite sure what I was reading, with the prologue having the feel of a mystery setup, and yet 3rd Century — 7th Century

the ending never tying back into it. I found some of the violence, and all of the sex scenes, gratuitously graphic. Perhaps with his second novel Stein will have worked some of this out of his system and give us a more intriguing Gaius.

Justin Lindsay

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4th century

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RUFIUS Sarah Walton, Barbican, 2016, £19.99/$17.95, pb, 414pp, 9781909954168 There are interesting stories alluded to in Sarah Walton’s Rufius, including the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria, the repository for many ancient manuscripts that are lost to us forever. The story of how the Christian Bible was assembled is also referred to: supposed heretic texts that contradicted the approved story were destroyed, and the followers of those texts persecuted. Unfortunately, Walton has chosen to use those stories as backdrop only, focusing instead on her transgressive protagonist Rufius and his passion for his young adolescent ward, Aeson.

Walton makes it clear that Rufius’ sexual preferences are unusual; that as a cinaedus, a man who enjoys penetration, he was more likely to prefer adult men. Some writers have written brilliantly about forbidden relationships, Lolita being the obvious example, but Walton is no Nabokov, and Rufius lacks an examination of the tension between what readers might find morally repulsive and what characters find enjoyable.

Rufius is not a terrible book, and it contains some interesting characters, particularly Aeson, but it does fall short of its potential. Ominous prophecies are uttered in the opening chapters but abandoned by the end. When Rufius is watching the destruction of the books around him he thinks of Euripides’ Bacchae, certain to be “on the Archbishop’s heretical hitlist”, but the Bacchae survived. How much better it would have been to choose or invent a text known to be lost to us? This is a small misstep, but it is indicative of the larger missteps taken with what could have been a great book.

Laura Shepperson

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5th century

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THE SWORD OF ATTILA: Total War: Rome David Gibbins, Pan, 2015, £7.99, pb, 288pp, 9781447237112 / St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016, $15.99, pb, 288pp, 9781250082138 If the first novel in this Total War: Rome series concerned the birth of the Roman Empire, The Sword of Attila describes its death throes. Set 600 years after Destroy Carthage, David Gibbins’ new book sees the western Empire in extremis, with the Vandals, the Huns and the Visigoths all darkening the horizon. The author throws into that dire situation Flavius, a young Roman officer, and his loyal sidekick, Macrobius, men trying desperately to stand firm as everyone around them stands aside. Add in a mythic and mysterious British monk called Arturus, the last great Roman general,

Aetius, and a daring plan to enter the belly of the Huns’ beast for the sacred sword of Attila, and you have the ingredients for some pacy military historical fiction.

Intended as both an addition and a complement to the computer game, Total War: Rome, this novel attempts to provide a military and political education for both Flavius and the reader, and this is its strength and its weakness. Buttressed by excellent research and a keen sense of atmosphere, The Sword of Attila has a fascinating time period in which to play, and the sense of a world ending is very strongly conveyed. The short length of the novel and the pace at which Gibbins cracks through his story mean the lacunae in his plotting and characterisation aren’t dwelt on as we leap through the period in short intense bursts. For the gaming reader, there is detailed information on tactics, weapons, uniforms and the politics that underpinned and undermined Rome, but for the historical fiction fan, the characters and story suffer at the hands of an overload of information dump.

Ultimately the novel loses its way between the poles of education and entertainment.

Gordon O’Sullivan

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7th century

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THE EMPRESS OF BRIGHT MOON Weina Dai Randel, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2016, $15.99, pb, 368pp, 9781492613596 The Empress of Bright Moon, Weina Dai Randel’s second novel of Mei, the woman who became Empress Consort Wu, the only female emperor of China, from 684 to 705 AD, picks up the story that began in The Moon in the Palace.

The old Emperor Taizong is dying, and his son and Mei’s lover, Pheasant, is declared his heir. But Mei has been Taizong’s concubine, even if only in name. How can she now be with Pheasant, particularly when tradition demands that all of Emperor Taizong’s women must spend the rest of their lives in prayer in Buddhist monasteries? And will Pheasant be able to become Emperor in more than name, when his own uncle and wife have their own agendas and ambition for seizing power for themselves?

As in her first novel, Randel is tremendously successfully at portraying the world of 7th-century China while developing a forward-moving and engrossing drama. Difficulties and challenges abound for Mei and Pheasant, not least in the form of Pheasant’s dangerous wife, Lady Wang. Randel is particularly effective in her depictions of women and, in Mei, successfully brings to life a woman who, history shows, lived an extraordinary life in a world where women’s actions were normally rigidly constrained. Lady Wang is a worthy opponent for Mei, and Randel makes sure she is a multi-faceted character and not simply a pantomime villain.

This novel, and its precursor, should appeal to HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 21

anyone who loves to disappear into another world with believable characters and high-stakes conflict.

Highly recommended.

Kate Braithwaite THE SPARROW AND THE HALL: Love and Betrayal in Anglo-Saxon England Donald Mace Williams, Bagwyn, 2015, $12.95, pb, 192pp, 9780866988070 In 7th-century England, the churl Edgar marries his love, Gwenda, and his thane, Keelwolf, pays a brief visit to the wedding party. The onset of war a few months later sets events in motion that will haunt Edgar for years to come. His proud and devoted loyalty to his thane conflicts with unvoiced suspicions about the wife he loves, while the ramifications of his actions during the hostilities will lead Edgar to future ordeals. Against that violent backdrop, the details of Edgar and Gwenda’s daily life over several decades are sympathetically and realistically portrayed. Will the harvest be good or bad? Will the children survive their illness?

Donald Williams’s lovely prose, reminiscent of the writing of Ellis Peters, vividly evokes this period. This obviously well-researched novel thrusts the reader into the heart of life in 7thcentury Northumbria, when Christianity and pagan religions fought for souls of men while kings and chieftains vied for control of territories. The reader can relax and luxuriate in the tale, letting the measured pace and description bring this vanished era to life. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip to early Northumbria and the accomplished writing that took me on this journey. Recommended.

Susan McDuffie

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8th century

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WINTER’S FIRE Giles Kristian, Bantam Press, 2016, £14.99, hb, 320pp, 9780593074534 Norway, AD 785. Following the slaughter of his family by treacherous King Gorm, Sigurd Haraldson has been forced into an early maturity.

Still a boy in years, his life must be dedicated to revenge. He has found a haven for his precious young sister on the Island of the Freya Maidens although, even there, glimpses of her life are unsettling. A penniless outlaw with a few unflinchingly loyal comrades, Sigurd must take death-dealing with service with any jarl who will promise payment in silver, risking his only treasure, the beautiful ship Reinen. Success will bring him the power to attract and reward high-quality fighting men; his longterm unswerving aim is the destruction of King Gorm. Sigurd has become known as lucky: after emulating Odin’s feat of superhuman endurance, he is favoured by the All Father.

A glorious but merciless winter landscape is laid out for readers in biting reality. The thaw brings a deluge that leaves the aftermath of every affray a blend of mud and blood. Brief intervals gathered round a hearth may be relished on behalf of this heroic band whose dialogue is understandably robust. At last, a chance occurs, more like a forlorn hope, but the reward could be tremendous. A bloody story indeed, but Sigurd shows an aptitude for trickery worthy of the god, arch-trickster Loki.

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The map and glossary are commendable, and this author’s known knack with metaphor and simile adds to readers’ enjoyment.

Nancy Henshaw

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11th century

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A WOUNDED REALM: The Blood of Kings, Book 2 K. M. Ashman, Thomas & Mercer, 2016, $15.95, pb, 356pp, 9781503948433 This is the second installment of the Blood of Kings series by Ashman. I also read and reviewed the first book of the series, and the second book picks up roughly twelve years after the first left off. The struggle for control of the Welsh house of Aberffraw continues, with the rightful ruler Gruffydd ap Cynan missing and unable to claim his place as the leader who can try to unite the warring houses of Wales.

Nesta ferch Rhys, the daughter of Gwladus, Queen of Deheubarth, is just as much a prisoner as Gruffydd, though of a different sort. She is taken to the court of William II as a royal hostage, where she eventually becomes the mistress of the eventual Henry I. She learns to navigate the morass of court politics and becomes a strong and capable woman in the process.

I have to confess that the first book in the series didn’t do much for me, but this second book held my interest very well. The writing is more sophisticated and the action more organic.

Similarly, the character development is strong throughout the novel, as are the scene descriptions.

Ashman has moved beyond telling rather than showing, which does wonders for the narrative.

Based on these changes within the novel, I will gladly look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.

Kristen McQuinn THE NIGHT WANDERER Alys Clare, Severn House, 2016, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 240pp, 9780727885845 In this seventh Aelf Fen mystery, apprentice healer Lassair, an 11th-century young woman from a Fen village, has just returned to Cambridge following a previous adventure. She is a student of Gurdyman, a beneficent magician who dislikes to be called a wizard. Soon a wealthy merchant is found murdered near the river, his throat ripped out as though by a huge, clawed animal. Evil seems to pervade the air as fear grips the town.

Gurdyman leaves the area, and Lassair and sheriff ’s man Jack Chevestrier work together once again to solve the increasing numbers of gruesome murders that are terrorizing Cambridge. Even Aelf Fen is not a safe haven from the evil scourge.

Clare’s fans will enjoy this gripping story that combines a mystery with horror, fantasy, and romance. As Lassair and Jack’s attraction for each other becomes stronger, her old love, Rollo Guiscard, returns from Constantinople and reenters the picture. The wizard Hrype comes to a life-changing decision, urged to it by Gurdyman.

The novel stands alone, but new readers will want to go back to the earlier titles to fill in the characters’ back stories.

Elizabeth Knowles

THE NORTHERN QUEEN Kelly Evans, Nordland, 2016, £9.99, pb, 313 pp, 9788283310054 Some parts of English history are strangely neglected by novelists and the general public.

King Alfred and his successful struggle against the Danes in the 9th century attract a lot of attention, while King Aethelred’s unsuccessful struggle in the 11th century is largely forgotten. The Northern Queen describes how England became part of the Danish empire under King Canute, as told through the story of Canute’s first (handfasted) wife, whom he put aside when he became King of England, in favour of Emma, wife of the previous king, Aethelred the Unready. According to the publisher, this has been ‘meticulously researched’.

Maybe, but it has not been meticulously edited. At one point Canute is going to sail from Sandwich ‘up the Humber’. This is impossible, given that the Humber is 250 miles north of Sandwich, and I suspect it should have been ‘up to the Humber’.

Further, there are no dates in the chapter headings so, for instance, we don’t discover until page 65 that the events in the prologue (the massacre of St Brice’s Day, when Danes were killed on the orders of Aethelred) took place in 1002.

This is frustrating for the reader. And I could have done with a family tree to help keep track of the members of Canute’s and Emma’s family. That said, the prologue is well written and starts the novel well. But after that there is a lot of repetition of information and, in one particular paragraph, actual repetition of the same phrase. This is not an absorbing book, but it has believable characters, and I learnt a lot about the period. jay Dixon BLOODLINES: A Crown of Blood and Honor, Book 2 T. K. Roxborogh, Thomas & Mercer, 2016, $15.95, pb, 331pp, 9781503946446 One rebellion is over, and Fleance, the son of Banquo, is king in 11th-century Scotland. He mourns the death of the former king and his good friend, Duncan, in battle. However, before he can establish his reign, he must deal with rebellion at home and animosity from abroad. Banquo’s adoptive father, Magness, believes Fleance is too weak to be king and so leads a rebellion. At the same time, Collum of Norway believes Fleance seeks revenge for the death of his father. He renounces the love of his life in order to marry Rachel, a woman of the royal Scottish bloodline.

These challenges provide for a bracing series of battles that transform Fleance into a true King of Scotland. Rachel is kidnapped, and her faith strengthens her for the cruel obstacles she faces on a daily basis. One very loyal follower chooses to pay the ultimate price in order that his king will prevail against all opposing forces. Fleance is very royal in outer composure but also very human, with multiple doubts about his worthiness and ability to be the king Scotland most needs at this moment in history. It’s a generation after the brutal regicide committed by Macbeth. While all the prophecies uttered by the three hags have come true, there are new promises; Fleance must decide whether these women are witches whose words bring devastation to the kingdom or wise women who speak truths that dare not be ignored.

7th Century — 11th Century

Bloodlines is the second book in this series after the first, Banquo’s Son. T. K. Roxborogh has penned a notable series depicting how civil war and romance changed the course of Scottish history.

Excellent, exciting historical fiction!

Viviane Crystal

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12th century

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PILLARS OF LIGHT Jane Johnson, Doubleday Canada, 2016, C$22.95, pb, 496pp, 9780385682626 Themes of love in wartime, familial duty, and faith are woven through this sweeping epic, which transports readers to the days of King Richard the Lionhearted, through the deserts of Syria, and into the war waged by Saladin’s army in its attempt to conquer Jerusalem. Pillars of Light is two stories in one, both taking place in the late 1100s. The two eventually collide in an unexpected way.

First there is John Savage, a boy who was abandoned at birth and raised in a priory in Cornwall, England. There he meets a man known only as “The Moor” who rescues John from a life of abuse, taking him on the road with a group of other misfits. The carnival-like troupe goes from town to town putting on shows, faking miracles, pretending that everyday objects are holy relics, stealing and lying, and often finding their lives in peril. Then there is the story of Zohra, a Muslim girl, and Nathaniel, a Jewish doctor. Despite their religious differences, they risk their lives for a forbidden romance.

This atmospheric book is masterfully researched, with lush descriptions of landscape and intricate insight into the human heart. Pillars of Light is an all-encompassing adventure, wrapped in multiple love stories set against the backdrop of faith and belief, which explores what drives the human heart to keep beating when all hope seems to be lost.

Hilary Daninhirsch THE WHITE SHIP Nicholas Salaman, Accent, 2016, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9781910939581 During the reign of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy, Bertold, the bastard son of a Count, is sent as a tutor to the castle of Breteuil in Normandy, Tom Jones-fashion, to seek his fortune. In Breteuil his fortune finds him in the comely shape of Countess Juliane, bastard daughter of King Henry, who is saddled with a boorish husband, Eustace. Juliane’s father is in conflict with his barons, including Eustace. Bertold thinks he has plenty to worry about, such as not getting caught in the act of adultery and being castrated, and has no idea of the tragedies and dilemmas in store for him as he gets caught up in some of the most famous incidents of the 12th century.

The book is thoroughly researched and should have been fine grist for an historical novel, but the characterisation lacks depth. Real historical people appear like celebrities in Hello magazine. Bertold keeps telling us that Juliane, whose passion drives the story, is an amazing woman and he wishes we had met her, but Salaman fails to bring her off the page. The book is stuffed with deliberate 12th Century — 15th Century

anachronisms which are supposed to be part of the humorous style: “In a recent survey … we came top for sheer dungeon quality”, “the Christmas rush”, “he told him where to get off ”, and Abelard’s belief in “Modernism, Realism, Conceptualism”. Bertold himself is a good-looking, lucky buffoon, and his character and voice are ill-equipped to handle the two historical tragedies the novel is draped across: King Henry’s role in the blinding and maiming of his own two little granddaughters, and then the loss of his heir, two of his other children and around 300 young nobles and crew in the wreck of the White Ship off Barfleur.

Tracey Warr

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THE SERPENT’S CROWN Hana Samek Norton, Cuidono, 2015, $16.00, pb, 394pp, 9781944453008 In this sequel to The Sixth Surrender, young novice Juliana de Charnais finds herself wed to Guerin de Lasalle, the powerful Lord of Partheny and heir to the Lusignan family. When Guerin is called off to Cyprus to help his family defend the Lusignan crown, Juliana is left to care for their daughter, Eleanor, alone – but not for long, as Eleanor is taken away by Juliana’s father-in-law, sending Juliana on a quest to regain her daughter, her husband, and her marriage. In Cyprus, Juliana and Guerin are caught in plots and subterfuge both deadly and devious that it will take all their cunning, loyalty, and love to overcome.

Hana Samek Norton begins weaving a web of deceit from the start, and it is an unrelenting journey through the power struggles and deception that enveloped Cyprus in the 13th century. She draws on a number of historical characters, including many from the Lusignan and d’Ibelin families. The Serpent’s Crown focuses on the rise of Hugh I, the intrigues that surrounded his court, and the power plays that led to his rule. It is clear that Norton did her research, basing her story on actual events, but that does not stand in the way of her wonderful writing and storytelling, which bring 13th-century Cyprus to life. The only issue I had was keeping straight the forty-plus characters, many using multiple names. However, there is a “who’s who,” which I referenced often. An intriguing story and a good read.

Bryan Dumas THE GUARDIAN: A Tale of Scottish Independence Jack Whyte, Forge, 2016, $27.99, hb, 546pp, 9780765331588 This is the latest installment in Whyte’s Scottish Independence saga. It is told through the eyes of the engaging Father Jamie Wallace, cousin to William, who, on the orders of Bishop Wisehart of Glasgow, is key in building the alliance between Wallace and Andrew Murray, heir to the Lords of Petty and Bothwell. The entire novel happens in a short span of months in 1297. Wallace is primed for action following his successful attack on the garrison in Lanark and Murray. He has recently escaped from England, returning to Scotland to regain his lands and legacy (both in defiance of Edward Plantagenet

of England, the self-proclaimed Hammer of the Scots), determined to succeed in unifying a divided country and achieving the independence of their beloved homeland, Scotland.

Informative and engrossing, Whyte’s narrative creates a compelling, fact-based read filled with action, politics and personality, stamping each historical person with character and flaws.

Wallace and Murray (who unfortunately doesn’t appear until almost one-third of the way through the novel) are presented as equally passionate, stubborn and dangerous, very much men of their time. While the conclusion (The Battle of Stirling Bridge) seems curt, the novel is anything but -- it is a substantial, absorbing tale largely due to the character of Jamie Wallace. It is through him that the pace of the novel flows into a realistic account of the best kind of historical fiction.

Wendy A. Zollo

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ASHES TO ASHES: The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon, Book 8 Mel Starr, Lion Fiction, 2015, $14.99/£7.99, pb, 244pp, 9781782641139 England, 1369. Surgeon Hugh de Singleton, bailiff of Bampton, is summoned to examine human remains—bones—discovered in the ashes of the St. John’s Day bonfire, and the search for the victim’s identity is on. Clues wrested from reluctant villagers lead de Singleton into a web of secrets woven over decades in the nearby village of Kencott, whose bailiff, rumored to have been highborn, has gone missing.

An engrossing tale of medieval forensics, Ashes to Ashes is narrated in lean prose by de Singleton, who draws readers in through his cool depiction of a kitchen-table autopsy, a gruesome bonesetting, and a brutal beating. He then goes on to establish, detail by fascinating detail, the identity of the victim. From there, he employs intuition, medical knowledge, and investigative skill to ferret out the murderer.

Author Mel Starr opens the story in past-tense narration and then breaks the rules by allowing de Singleton to pepper his narrative with presenttense comments: a brilliant move, as it turns out, because by doing so at precisely the right moments, Starr turns a crime novel into a living chronicle, and his narrator into a true storyteller. The reader, from the very start, is hooked.

Rebecca Kightlinger

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APOTHECARY MELCHIOR AND THE MYSTERY OF ST. OLAF’S CHURCH Indrek Hargla (trans. Adam Cullen), Peter Owen/ Trafalgar Square, 2016, $16.95/£9.99, pb, 256pp, 9780720618440 In Tallinn, capital of Estonia, in 1409, a serial killer appears to be in the midst of the townspeople – merchants, brewmasters, engineers – and one savvy apothecary cum detective, Melchior.

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a seemingly mystical power, Melchior is called upon to help solve the murder of a much-maligned foreign knight who is viciously killed at the imposing castle fortress of Toompea. As the body count increases, the panic in the town mounts. Who is responsible for these seemingly unconnected deaths? Is the mystery of St. Olaf ’s Church and the deaths associated with its construction somehow related to the recent murders?

I decided to review this book because I am a stranger to medieval Estonia and wanted to learn about it. There is much here to absorb about piracy and guilds, the Church’s growing influence, the townspeople themselves, and their customs and attitudes. Despite the clumsiness of the translation – or perhaps the somewhat stilted, archaic style of the author (who has become renowned for this series, of which this is the first installment) – I found myself becoming distracted by the plodding nature of the plot construction. And I still can’t figure out what kind of curse Melchior suffers from.

With all the worthwhile books out there to read, I think it’s doubtful that I’ll be choosing another Melchior book in the future.

Ilysa Magnus BLOOD AND ROSES Catherine Hokin, Yolk, 2016, £12.99, pb, 372pp, 9781910130049 Beginning at the start of the Wars of the Roses, Blood and Roses focuses on and is in part narrated by Margaret of Anjou, unfortunate wife of Henry VI. It is a novel of the interior mind and in many ways reflects the experiences of women, even Queens, at that time. The action, battles and most negotiations and deals all occur offstage. The reader learns the news passively along with Margaret; something is announced by messenger or revealed by gossip or by a visitor, and we see her reaction to the news through an interior monologue in her head, written in italics to differentiate it from the narrative text.

It may not be the most thrilling of approaches, but it is interesting to see how Margaret copes with what medieval life throws at her. A family tree of the York and Lancaster sides plus a list of characters and their allegiances would have been helpful to keep events clearer. The switches of allegiance are bewildering at times and show what a chaotic world it must have been to try to win or keep power. The reader develops empathy with Margaret’s plight. She is a victim of her circumstances, married to a man who would have been better fitted to be a monk, and this has obvious implications for a foreign Queen whose main role is to fill the royal cradle.

Ann Northfield PORTRAIT OF A CONSPIRACY: Da Vinci’s Disciples, Book 1 Donna Russo Morin, Diversion, 2016, $14.99, pb, 298pp, 9781682300602 In Renaissance Florence, revenge rules supreme, and the feud between the powerful Medici and Pazzi families colors nearly every aspect of life.

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which depicts the conspirators, has disappeared from the Palazzo, along with Lapaccia, a woman from a renowned house. Her friends, women from diverse backgrounds who form a secret group of female artists, must recreate the missing painting to help restore peace to their beloved city and bring the missing woman back to the good graces of the Medici family. With the help of Leonardo da Vinci, the women risk their reputations, families, and lives to pursue their forbidden love of art and help draw out the conspirators seeking to wrest control of Florence from the Medicis.

Morin pens a tight narrative, with vivid imagery and complex plotting throughout. Her character development is good, though I would have liked to see more depth in some of the women in the group.

However, because the novel focuses mainly on one of them, Viviana, it is forgivable that the others are not quite as well fleshed out. Morin’s research is thorough, and I enjoyed her use of Da Vinci as a mentor to the ladies. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Kristen McQuinn

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THE SPY OF VENICE Benet Brandreth, Twenty7 Books, 2016, £16.99, hb, 434pp, 9781785770371 It is 1585 and England’s spymasters want to forge an alliance with Venice. A mission is arranged, using a group of travelling players as cover. One of these players is the young William Shakespeare, who has arrived in London following a series of misadventures that have forced him to leave his native Stratford-upon-Avon. As he travels through foreign and often hostile lands, William is swept into a world of violence, corruption and intrigue. It soon becomes apparent that only his own sharp wits can ensure the success of the mission and his own survival.

In this novel Shakespeare is presented as a kind of Elizabethan James Bond, getting into scrapes from which there is always a lucky escape, and attracting numerous women. He seems to have a love of trickery and his passion for words is apparent: devotees of Shakespeare’s work will enjoy the verbal sparring and the frequent references to his plays and sonnets. The story is a fantasy to the extent that there is no evidence that Shakespeare was ever involved in spying, although we know so little of his life that it is not impossible. But in other respects it is historically accurate, building up a picture of a dirty and violent London, a sumptuously degenerate Venice and a Europe riddled with conflicts of religion, power and commerce. Ultimately The Spy of Venice is an amusing and fast-paced action thriller that will entertain a variety of readers.

Karen Warren

MURDER AT WHITEHALL Amanda Carmack, Obsidian, 2015, $7.99, pb, 298pp, 9780451475695 Yuletide in 1559 gives Kate Hayward a chance to compose and play her music for Queen Elizabeth’s Twelve Days of Christmas celebration.

In addition to being a musical genius, Kate is an accomplished code cracker, knife fighter and spy.

All of these skills help her investigate the murder of a Spanish envoy. There is also an attempt to blackmail Elizabeth over her conduct with Thomas Seymour when she was living with her stepmother.

Kate and her father had been serving as musicians in the same household at the time.

Solving the mysteries takes Kate to Cripplegate, a dangerous district of brothels and criminals, but she is determined to protect Elizabeth. In addition to being her queen, Elizabeth also happens to be her second cousin because Kate’s grandmother was the illegitimate half-sister of Anne Boleyn.

A cheerful feminism pervades the series as Kate succeeds in many male-dominated roles. Her busy life leaves little time for romance. She might be in love with an actor whom she sees rarely. A lawyer whom she sees less often definitely loves her.

The mysteries are well-crafted with a mixture of meaningful clues and red herrings. It takes a while to get to work on solving them, what with all there is to do around Christmastime. Recommended.

James Hawking LEFT IN THE WIND: The Roanoke Journal of Emme Merrimoth Ed Gray, Pegasus, 2016, $25.95, hb, 256pp, 9781681771267 Emme Merrimoth sets out for the New World with no loyalties and few expectations. “I was twenty-five years old,” she relates, “and enjoying the fruits of my parents’ only legacies to me: rich blonde hair, a comely smile, and fullness of body apparently irresistible to the attentions of men, and a cheerful willingness to return the favors.” If readers take this as a premonition of the plot to come, they are right on the mark. Dalliances on deck, kidnappings by Indians, Puritan scandal, even the inevitable accusation of witchcraft – Ed Gray delivers it all. What he doesn’t deliver is any sort of character resolution.

The story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke has proved irresistible to many a writer, and the drama of the colony’s mutinous divisions and mysterious disappearance could have found a spirited witness in Emme Merrimoth. Emme blithely moves from man to man, playing to her own advantage by seducing first the captain of the ship and then two consecutive governors of the colony. But while her voice is entertaining, the self-referential nature of her journal entries – should she banish the “unseemly” bits from her record? Perhaps write them down then tear them up later? – quickly becomes tiresome. Rather than listening to Emme attempt to sort out the “confused jumble in her memory” and “restore it to sequence for the writing of this journal,” the reader wishes she would get on with the story. When the narrative finally concludes and the fate of the Lost Colony becomes clear, Emme is no wiser than before – and no happier. She has neither embraced her own nature nor found a new path. She remains tossed on the currents of history with no stake in her own fate – 15th Century — 16th Century

her story floating away like the pages of her journal in the wind.

Ann Pedtke VERY LIKE A QUEEN Martin Lake, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 414pp, 9781503953277 Very Like a Queen, Lake’s ninth novel, takes place at the court of Henry VIII and involves Alice Petherton, the king’s mistress, her protector, Thomas Cromwell, and a certain Frenchman named Nicholas Bourbon. Adept at court intrigue and able to hold her own with such nefarious characters as Richard Rich, Alice and her friends must try to survive the whims of their capricious monarch.

When Alice first sees Nicholas Bourbon at court, her heart is aflutter. As the king’s interest in her wanes (due to his fascination with the young Catherine Howard), Alice has a chance at true love.

Bourbon returns her affections. Unfortunately, Cromwell, her adviser, notices their mutual attraction and reminds her she must be true to the king – to do otherwise is to court death.

So, Alice continues to answer the king’s summons and does her best to please him. His unhappy marriage to Anne of Cleves is on the rocks and he needs Alice more than ever. That is, until his eyes fall on the lovely Catherine Howard.

Alice watches as Henry exchanges one wife for another, distraught that she cannot have her own love, Bourbon.

The descriptions of food and court life are sumptuous. However, telling the tale of a woman of easy virtue is a challenge if no plumbing of the depths of the character takes place. Alice, sadly, remains superficial, and thus this reader finds sympathizing with her circumstances difficult, especially when she goes to France and decides to sleep with the king there, too. The author fails to give sufficient motivation for these decisions, which, in turn, makes Alice seem flighty and willing to use whatever is necessary to stay at the top of the social heap.

Anne Clinard Barnhill DEATH OF AN ALCHEMIST: A Bianca Goddard Mystery Mary Lawrence, Kensington, 2015, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 292pp, 9781617737138 The Rat Man lifted his nose, catching the essence of alchemy, and tasted it on his tongue. Someone had discovered something of import. Someone had come as close as he had once done. Perhaps even closer.

Someone, indeed, has. Or believes he has.

Ferris Stannum, one of 16th-century London’s many alchemists, is poised to send his formula for immortality off to Cairo for corroboration, when Bianca Goddard, a young chemiste, knocks on his door. She has searched out the venerated alchemist in the hope that he will teach her the process by which herbs may be combined with metals to produce a medicine that will ameliorate symptoms and cure disease. Once Bianca has proved herself to him, Stannum begins to teach her how to produce the brooding heat that will sublimate metal. But before he can impart all the knowledge his new apprentice requires, Stannum dies of a mysterious hemorrhagic disease that looks a lot like the dreaded sweat.

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As Stannum’s landlady, and then his daughter and son-in-law, fall victim to this rapidly fatal malady, Bianca senses that it is not the sweat but a disease not before seen; and when her husband, John, begins to exhibit symptoms, the clock starts ticking on her search for the secret to producing Stannum’s elixir of life.

In the hands of this talented storyteller, what begins as a medical mystery develops into a quest and finally into a tough decision based on the question of eternal life: “If John fights his malady and survives this particular illness, then I believe he will live as long as his body serves his soul. But if his soul is finished with his body, should I concoct an elixir to prevent it from ever leaving?”

The answer may lie with the riverdwelling wraith, Rat Man. Rebecca Kightlinger CITY OF WISDOM AND BLOOD Robert Merle (trans. T. Jefferson Kline), Pushkin, 2015, £8.99, pb, 571pp, 9781782271246 HERETIC DAWN Robert Merle (trans. T. Jefferson Kline), Pushkin, 2016, £9.99, pb, 605pp, 9781782271932 City of Wisdom and Blood and Heretic Dawn are books two and three of Robert Merle’s Fortunes of France series, which follows the French Wars of Religion through the experience of one family.

Published in French in the 1970s and 80s, they have now been translated into English for the first time. Both books are told through the eyes of Pierre de Siorac, the younger son of a Protestant nobleman.

City of Wisdom and Blood starts with Pierre leaving home with his brother and trusty valet to make his way in the world. The novel follows the young men’s adventures as they fall in with a succession of Catholic pilgrims, rowdy students, eccentric professors and philosophers, sinister grave-robbers, vapid noblewomen and violent mobs.

Heretic Dawn sees Pierre and his little band returning home after their adventures. They are traitorously attacked by an old family enemy, who Pierre kills. Subsequently he has to travel to the royal court in Paris in an attempt to obtain a pardon from the King. Unfortunately for him, the year is 1572, and religious hatred against Protestants is rising as Paris prepares for the marriage between Margot of France and Henri of Navarre.

Pierre is an engaging narrator: impetuous, brave and loyal. As a moderate Protestant with friends and family on both side of the religious divide, his viewpoint, and the horrors that are unleashed during the two books by both sides, acts as a powerful plea for religious tolerance. Merle’s writing style is entertaining, easy to read and well-paced, despite both books’ lengths. The only irritant is the fact that female characters seem to exist only for maternal or sexual purposes, rarely having clearly defined characters of their own or playing active roles. Otherwise however these are thought-provoking yet thrilling swashbucklers – and immensely good fun.

Charlotte Wightwick

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THE DARK LADY’S MASK Mary Sharratt, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $26.00, hb, 384pp, 9780544300767

It is not often that I read a novel that makes me want to do actual research on a person – in a good way, not a fact-checking way – and then blog about it. But Sharratt’s latest novel did just that. It is a wonderful take on an often-speculated theory that Aemilia Lanier may have been the Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

In Sharratt’s story, Aemilia Lanier, historically the first professional woman poet in England, is the daughter of a Marrano (a Jew who was forced to convert to Christianity). She is educated from the age of eight in the home of the Countess of Kent after her father’s death. From there, she becomes the mistress of the Lord Chamberlain, bears his son, is banished from Elizabeth’s court in disgrace, and married off in haste to Alfonso Lanier to mitigate the scandal. She eventually flees to Italy with a relative, taking with her the up-andcoming poet William Shakespeare. Lanier initially proposes a business deal with him to co-write plays together, since she knows she couldn’t publish them under her own name. The two fall in love and add their passion to their writing. Things go awry, and ultimately Shakespeare ends up publishing his sonnets as attacks against Aemilia, and she replies by publishing her Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum.

Sharratt creates a believable and delightful portrayal of Lanier and her possible role as Shakespeare’s Dark Muse. Her characters are rich and complex, and the intricacies, joys, and pains of their lives are realistic. The speculation within the novel works extremely well, because Sharratt works with historical fact and academic theory in the space between the documented facts of Lanier’s life, Shakespeare’s life, and their written works.

Very highly recommended!

Kristen McQuinn OIL AND MARBLE: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo Stephanie Storey, Arcade, 2016, $24.99, hb, 352pp, 9781628726398 1501: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti return to their Florentine homeland in the opening years of the 16th century. At 50 years of age, Leonardo is a showman, but also a respected “elder statesman” of all forms of art and scientific investigation. Michelangelo, an angry young man in his twenties, considers himself primarily a sculptor, and has distinguished himself in Rome – but Rome is not Florence. When a commission to carve the Duccio stone – a huge but damaged piece of marble – is offered by the city fathers, it is refused

by Leonardo, but the destitute Michelangelo takes the job, hoping to prove his worth in Florence and to his disapproving father.

Bad blood develops between the two artists. It is not until Leonardo begins work on a portrait of a silk merchant’s wife that he understands Michelangelo’s fixation on the statue. At the same moment, the two men fight to create arguably their most famous and best loved works: the David and the Mona Lisa.

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As a self-confessed “Florentine-ophile,” I have a deep love for the city and appreciation for its history and art. Before I got to the bottom of the first page, I was completely engrossed in Oil and Marble. I especially liked the way Ms. Storey involved all the great names of the early 16th century in the art of politics and the politics of art. This is an eminently readable tale, with the two giants of art giving the story its heart and soul. A fabulous and fun read.

Recommended.

Monica E. Spence KATHERINE OF ARAGON: The True Queen Alison Weir, Headline Review, 2016, £18.99, hb, 553pp, 978142227478 / Ballantine, 2016, $28.00, hb, 624pp, 9781101966488 Historian and biographer, Alison Weir, embarks on a new series of novels examining in turn the lives of each of Henry VIII’s six wives. She begins with teenage Katherine (born Catalina), a Spanish princess brought to Britain to marry Prince Arthur, heir to the English throne. When Arthur dies suddenly, Katherine is betrothed to his younger brother, Henry, the future monarch, and in time is crowned Queen. Despite fondness and respect between the royal couple, Henry grows impatient with Katherine for her inability to provide a male heir, despite the birth of a healthy daughter, Mary. King Henry’s eye turns to vivacious Anne Boleyn, one of Katherine’s ladies-in-waiting, and his campaign to divorce Katherine begins. This instigates a chain of events which will irrevocably change the course of British history.

The novel provides a fascinating glimpse into the personal life of Queen Katherine behind the intricate and vicious political intrigues of the Tudor court. In spite of Henry’s ruthless abandonment of his first wife, she is revealed to be a strong, intelligent woman who struggles to protect the future of her daughter, as well as her own right to maintain her religious faith. Meticulous research, combined with Alison Weir’s empathy for her subject, makes this an illuminating and engaging portrait of ‘the true queen.’ Often portrayed as a dour and downtrodden woman, Katherine of Aragon is revealed to be astute and resolute enough to survive into old age. This is an enjoyable and enlightening read, and I look forward to the next one in the series.

Claire Thurlow

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LICENSE TO QUILL Jacopo della Quercia, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016, $16.99/C$19.50, pb, 375pp, 978125005965 1604: In this historical romp, William Shakespeare is not only a playwright but part of the Ordinance Office – a double O agent – which is operated for the benefit of His Majesty James I and VI and the safety of his kingdom by Thomas Walsingham (aka “W”), cousin to the late, great Sir Francis Walsingham, master spy. Walsingham’s assignment for Shakespeare: discover just what is planned by a Catholic zealot guy named “John Johnson” (aka Guido “Guy” Fawkes) and his cabal; go undercover, gain their trust. Just do not allow their plan – whatever it is – to succeed.

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On the other side of Europe, Venice to be exact, a dead playwright wakes.

Formerly known as Christopher Marlowe, playwright and spy, he has a dozen names, and breaks code as well as he pens a line of poetry. He is called home to England to assist Will to solve the Guy Fawkes problem.

Shakespeare’s in deep with Fawkes’s crew, and Guy demands that Will pen a seditious play to be called “Macbeth” – and help blow up Parliament.

This is a wonderful, uproarious novel, with so much history that it makes your head spin with the cleverness of the dialog and plot. All the great names are here: Shakespeare’s Dark Lady, Francis Bacon, Pope Leo XI, Richard Burbage, Thomas Walsingham, Guy Fawkes and his incompetent crew, witches, Marlowe, Will, and a silver horse named Aston. This is a book no lover of Elizabethan/Jacobean history can afford to miss.

Recommended most highly.

Monica E. Spence MARGARET THE FIRST Danielle Dutton, Catapult, 2016, $15.95, pb, 176pp, 9781936787357 Margaret Cavendish was a woman of firsts: she was the first woman to write what is now considered science fiction (The Blazing World); she published under her own name during a time when most women published anonymously; and she was the first woman invited to attend a meeting of the Royal Society. Her writings—both fiction and philosophical—provoked both praise and derision.

While some admired her originality and boldness, many of her critics thought her to be “mad” and ridiculous in both her writing and her personal style (she was known for wearing outlandish clothes in public).

It is this “mad” Margaret that is the subject of Dutton’s nuanced fictionalized biography.

Writing in the first person, Dutton takes readers through the emotional struggles of Cavendish—an introverted, artistic girl growing up in a family of dazzling extroverts, who finds herself a lady-inwaiting to Queen Henrietta Maria, and eventually flees with the English court to France when the royalist forces are defeated in 1644. Readers are given insight to Cavendish’s travails—and how they influence her own stories of young ladies fleeing danger to unknown, strange lands.

Dutton writes Cavendish in a lyrical stream of consciousness, often spending time to focus on small details, like the motes of dust in the air, or the color of a landscape as it passes a carriage window, which is appropriate for a subject like Cavendish, who spent much of her own life immersed in the details of natural history. The narrative carefully and seamlessly incorporates lines from both Cavendish’s writings and Virginia Woolf ’s (whose essays introduced Dutton to Cavendish). Overall, Dutton’s fictionalized biography is unconventional in its approach, but entirely sensuous and captivating in its style – much like her subject.

Nicola Imbracsio

THE CHELSEA STRANGLER Susanna Gregory, Sphere, 2015, £19.99, hb, 488pp, 97800751552836 It’s 1665, and a stifling, half-deserted London is in the relentless, terrifying grip of the plague.

The naval victory at the Battle of Lowestoft has meant that the government has commandeered the theological college at Chelsea to house Dutch prisoners of war, and there are daily rumours that those sailors are on the brink of escaping, adding to the unease and fear. As if that weren’t enough, a vicious strangler is now stalking the neighbourhood.

Thomas Chaloner is sent to investigate the murder of the first victim, an inmate of a private asylum for gentlewomen known as Gorges. Thefts have taken place there as well, but Chaloner struggles to get to grips with unreliable accounts and suspicious contradictions. He soon suspects that there are links between Gorges and the prison. As the body count mounts, so does the pressure on Chaloner to halt the murderous rampage.

Although this is the eleventh volume in the Thomas Chaloner series, it was the first I have read. Gregory’s Restoration London is vividly portrayed, and I was immersed in it. Yet, while skilfully done, it never overwhelms her very real and relatable characters, whether they are fictional or real historical figures. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a standalone novel, and found it a pacy and engrossing historical mystery. And, as with the best mysteries, I didn’t guess the end. A very fine read.

E.M. Powell FORTUNE’S WHELP Benerson Little, Penmore, 2015, $19.50, pb, 421pp, 9781942756606 In 1695, Scotsman Edward MacNaughton, former buccaneer captain, pirate, and fencing master, is on a mission in Ireland, delivering important letters from Lord Deigle in England. He is also on a personal quest to obtain a privateering commission. Soon after arriving, he becomes enmeshed in the Jacobite mission to assassinate King William III and bring the former King James back to the throne. He also gets involved with three women during his stay in Ireland, one or all of whom may be spying for the Jacobites. As the title suggests, Captain MacNaughton believes Fortune is first among all women, and he is her whelp. He dares not guess what role Fortune will take in his life, and he is content not to know.

The author exhibits his knowledge of piracy, sailing, and fencing in his storytelling. His wellresearched 17th-century tale describes the bitter relationship between Ireland and England. An enterprising protagonist, Captain MacNaughton can extricate himself from almost certain death every time so he can complete his mission, all the while trying to obtain his own ship. I hope Mr. Little plans on providing more stories about this interesting character and his interactions with women, “with sword in hand, and a dark ship on the horizon.”

Jeff Westerhoff PROMISED TO THE CROWN Aimie K. Runyan, Kensington, 2016, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 354pp, 9781496701121 Following the women sent as brides to the emerging French colony of Quebec is an interesting 16th Century — 17th Century

premise for historical fiction. In 1667, three women leave France, each for different reasons, to help settle the colony of New France. They find themselves forever changed after arriving in the convent of the Ursuline Sisters. Elizabeth is the first to find a good match. Trained as a baker in her beloved family shop, she works through her grief over her father’s passing by training the other young ladies in baking. These skills are admired by a local bakery owner, Gilbert, who proposes marriage along with a business partnership.

Nicole is the next to marry. She begins her new life far from her new sisters, in a freezing shack, where she suffers through childbirth alone, and then tragedy. In a town of eligible bachelors, Nicole was too desirable to remain a widow, so she remarried. Rose wants to hide behind a convent veil so she won’t be abused by a man ever again, but her suitor, Luc, convinces her that he would be patient and gentle.

Runyan brings us a little-known slice of the history of early North American settlement, reminding us that these young women were of the best sort, ones who may have come upon financial difficulties or were dependent on others, so that a new life far away may have seemed like an adventure. The story touches on real-life scenarios in which hardships draw families together. The author also brings in the problems faced in a community where those with political power use their connections to create chaos by manipulating regulations for business owners. The priest attempts to destroy one of our couples’ livelihoods, but the conclusion is very well-thought out, and so is the novel as a whole.

Beth Turza THE MIDWIFE AND THE ASSASSIN: A Midwife Mystery Sam Thomas, Minotaur, 2016, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 336pp, 9781250045768 Upon hearing of her nephew’s incarceration in the Tower, Lady Bridget Hodgson departs post-haste for London from her home in the English countryside only to find the story a ruse, engendered to coerce her and her assistant, Martha, into spying for Cromwell’s wily agent, Jonathan Marlowe. Reluctantly shedding her fine gowns and linens for rough wool and adopting a persona as a widowed country midwife, Bridget and Martha find lodgings in the cacophonous and pungent streets of The Cheap.

As ordered by Marlowe, they befriend Katherine Chidley, a well-known radical determined to destabilize the political status quo and fight for the rights of the underdog. When Katherine’s husband, Daniel, becomes the first in a series of murder victims, the three women band together to solve a dangerous mystery and perhaps save the country from the brink of Civil War. Fourth in a series set in Puritan England, taking place three years after Bridget and Martha are forced to flee York, this Midwife tale will satisfy all lovers of a good historical mystery. Thomas gives us insight into the political world of 1640s England while we learn much about the art of 17th-century midwifery through fictionalized use of a historical court case. An absorbing and page-turning tale.

Fiona Alison 17th Century — 18th Century

A MASTERPIECE OF CORRUPTION L. C. Tyler, Constable, 2016, £19.99, hb, 301pp, 9781472114969 As a huge fan of Tyler’s Ethelred and Elsie series, I was very happy to receive this to review and even happier that I was not disappointed. It is the second in the historical series featuring John Grey, and it is set during the time of Cromwell’s Protectorate. The first one in the series is A Cruel Necessity and the third, Pestilence, are both on my to-read list already. It is not essential to have read the first although it may well enhance the reading experience of the second.

Tyler’s trademark style is evident throughout with humour, tension and a not particularly admirable hero. Grey is certainly not a traditional military or James Bond spy figure, as he gets himself into all sorts of trouble and struggles to remember what lies he has told to which person. His main motive is self-preservation, and this can be difficult in a precarious world where loyalties, politics and religion are divisive and dangerous.

The novel begins with a case of mistaken identity, and Grey quickly becomes embroiled in both Royalist and Commonwealth spy plots.

Characters from real life play a vital role, and the author includes an author’s note to be clear about any liberties taken with the events. Readers may well become as confused as Grey with the complicated plots and double or triple-dealing, but they will enjoy the journey a lot more than he does.

Being a spy is not the easiest of jobs. Thoroughly enjoyable and very much recommended.

Ann Northfield

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OUR OWN COUNTRY Jodi Daynard, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 442pp, 9781503954809 Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1772. Eliza Boylston, daughter of a prosperous merchant and his ambitious wife, is anticipating a 16th birthday surrounded by her loving family. Unlike her serious sister and brother, Eliza, optimistic and trusting, is oblivious to her parents’ failings and the political tumult in the Boston area.

Within months, the party is cancelled and Eliza’s innocence is shattered by a series of events.

Each one – the sale of a beloved slave, sexual assault by a “young gentleman,” her sister’s death, brother Jeb’s rebellion, her parents’ cruel selfishness – undermines her sense of security. By the time war forces Eliza to take refuge among inland radicals like John and Abigail Adams, she has become a different person. Lonely, afraid, but with a courage based on convictions, Eliza falls in love with the rebel cause – and with John Watkins, a courageous slave who supports it. But slavery remains legal, even in the new republic, forcing John and Eliza to embark on another leg of their journey to safety.

Our Own Country is book two of Daynard’s Midwife Trilogy, after The Midwife’s Revolt (2015), in which Eliza is a minor character. Daynard’s novels are well-written and carefully researched and, by following a young woman’s search for independence, she puts a personal face on political revolution. Readers can look forward to book three

in 2017.

Jeanne Greene THE BUTCHER’S HOOK Janet Ellis, Two Roads, 2016, £14.99, hb, 341pp, 9781473625112 Janet Ellis has written a startling and original historical novel in The Butcher’s Hook. The smart, astute and fascinating heroine and mesmerising narrative belie the fact that this is a debut. Anne Jacob is a middle-class girl in the middle of the 18th century, hungry for books and for knowledge, but a betrayal at the hands of her tutor leads her to explore other avenues of learning and realise the limits of her world. Following the loss of her beloved baby brother, Anne detaches herself from emotion until she meets Fub, the butcher’s boy, and in him she finally finds purpose and passion.

Determined to make a life for herself separate from her parents and the plans they have made for her, Anne will go to any lengths to maintain her newfound happiness, no matter how dark the path she must tread. The book highlights the restrictive limits set on women in the Georgian era and the psychological damage such restriction could lead to, and it is also an immersive portrait of London: its sights, smells, tastes and sounds. While Anne is at the centre of the narrative, we also see her mother, worn out by countless pregnancies and grief; the maids Jane and Grace, limited by their position but ever watchful; and the men who control the women around them with a word, a smile or a frown. The book is also a wonderful portrait of the intensity of first love and the madness of that intensity. Highly recommended.

Lisa Redmond THE WINDS OF FOLLY Seth Hunter, McBooks, 2016, $18.95, pb, 384pp, 9781590137055 In 1796, British captain Nathan Peake is ordered to proceed to the Adriatic Sea aboard the Unicorn. He is to determine if France, under Napoleon, has designs on the Seven Islands (the Ionian Isles) and northern Italy. On his trip to Venice, he must master the Sirocco, better known as the “winds of folly.” He arrives at the Italian city of Venice under the guise of an American in order to hide from French agents. Venice is under the power of Cristoforo Cristolfi, chief agent of the Inquisition, better known as “the Devil.” The introduction of familiar historical characters such as Napoleon and courtesan Emma Hamilton (who will become the mistress of Admiral Nelson) adds realism to this fictional tale.

The best part of this novel is its various plot twists and turns. Much of the activity occurs on dry land (in comparison to other naval stories of this period) while Peake is trying to spy for Admiral Nelson, so if you are looking for naval action, you may be disappointed. After he discovers Napoleon’s plans, Nathan escapes Italy and rejoins the British fleet. At the end, a major sea battle is finally enjoined between the Spanish fleet and the British at Cape St. Vincent. These sequences are vividly described.

If you enjoy British naval tales you may like this novel’s action and suspense and become immersed in the story. Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 27

THE PROPHETS OF ETERNAL FJORD Kim Leine (trans. Martin Aitken), Atlantic, 2016, £14.99, pb, 563pp, 9780857897916 / Liveright, 2015, $29.95, hb, 576pp, 9780871406712 The Viking colonisation of Greenland in the 10th century is a popular topic for novelists. Others have turned to the mysterious disappearance of the colony in the 15th century, but as far as I know Kim Leine is the first novelist to write about the re-colonisation in the 18th century.

The re-colonisation was led by the missionary Hans Egde, who came in search of the lost colony and, failing to find it, stayed to evangelise the Greenlanders (aka Eskimos). Introducing Christianity to a non-Christian people often has unforeseen consequences. The Prophets of Eternal Fjord were an unorthodox Christian sect that took root among the Greenlanders and became a focus for resistance to colonial rule.

That said, Leine’s book is only incidentally about the Prophets. The hero, misfit missionary Morten Falck, does not move to Eternal Fjord until page 388, and he leaves on page 432 with another 130 pages to go in this saga-length book. And what terrible things happen to everybody! – murder, judicial murder, rape, botched abortion, suicide, assisted suicide, fire, starvation, disease (messy diseases like tuberculosis and scurvy) and more. It is all told vividly with no holds barred: Scandi-noir at its darkest. If you can stomach this you are in for a feast.

The climax of the book is the great fire of Copenhagen (1795) – a wonderful description – which paradoxically is a disaster and a salvation.

Don’t let this put you off Greenland. It’s a lovely place, and even Morten Falck went back there.

Edward James THE BODY ON THE DOORSTEP A. J. Mackenzie, Zaffre, 2016, £18.99, hb, 272pp, 9781785761133 Late on a moonless night in Kent in 1796, Reverend Hardcastle opens the rectory door to find a man shot, dying, whispering four mysterious last words. Nearby, during skirmishes with smugglers, Miller, a Customs officer, is also shot dead. The inquest is rigged, so cool, capable Mrs Chaytor, a young widow living in the village, teams up with the Reverend to solve the mystery of the two deaths. Who are the shady gang of Twelve Apostles? What explains the comings and goings at the home of the Justice of the Peace? Is it simply a case of smugglers or is there treason afoot, related to England’s war with the French Republic and the threat of a French invasion? Above all, will the Reverend be able to overcome his penchant for port long enough to make heads or tails of any of it?

An enjoyable murder mystery with engaging characters, nicely observed historical detail and gentle humour. Hardcastle enlists the assistance of a young painter named Turner (yes, actually him) who is staying in the village undertaking en plein air studies of seascapes and weather. Turner also shins up a drainpipe to the bedroom of the innkeeper’s daughter now and then. In one vivid scene the Reverend is threatened in bed by pistol-wielding masked men. Hardcastle’s parishioners are godless, especially his bell ringers, and his regular congregation consists of three old ladies and three old men (one asleep, one deaf and one very 28 | Reviews |

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smelly). The Reverend is kept lubricated with port and succoured with gingerbread by his “vinegary” but loyal housekeeper and uses his reputation as a drunken sot as cover for his sleuthing. Each and every melodramatic stop is pulled out in this old fashioned murder mystery that promises to be the first in a series featuring Hardcastle and Chaytor.

Tracey Warr SCARPIA Piers Paul Read, Bloomsbury, 2016, $27.00/ C$32.00, hb, 384pp, 9781632863249 / Bloomsbury, 2015, £16.99, hb, 384pp, 9781408867495 Best known for Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, Read reprises his renowned journalistic style in his latest novel. Set in the late 18th century, Scarpia is a riff on Puccini’s Tosca, described by Read as the original work of an “anti-clerical Frenchman,” whose “calumny” it is his purpose to redress. No surprise there. As an English Catholic, the enthusiasm Read radiates for this opportunity to defend the papacy while slamming the French is guiltily charming.

Scarpia is a villainous character in the opera, showcased in an ethereal duet with Tosca where he deceives her into betraying her tortured Jacobin lover. Read re-imagines him from childhood: son of a disenfranchised Sicilian noble, a reckless military career leaves Scarpia in the service of church benefactors and a rich Roman wife. After a chance dalliance with Tosca, the rock-star soprano of her time, Scarpia flees Rome to avoid Napoleon’s army. The Pope is dethroned, and Scarpia’s wife misbehaves quite publicly. When fortunes reverse, Scarpia returns to serve, unwillingly, as Rome’s chief enforcer, ordered to root out Republican sentiment.

The climax is known, and the entire opera is compressed into the last chapter. Scarpia’s motives are not only vindicated – a conflict of loyalty and Catholic guilt – but Read reworks the very storyline. A cheat, perhaps, but Scarpia is not meant to be fan fiction.

Read is at his best when applying his skilled realism to deep dive character study. He fails only, perhaps, by rendering Puccini irrelevant.

Most fascinating is the omniscient voice of the confessional: the ability of priestly characters to divine the cross-currents of human motive while ignoring their own bias. In it we imagine echoes of Read’s own conscience. A worthy read.

Jackie Drohan

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THE FRENCH LESSON Hallie Rubenhold, Doubleday, 2016, £14.99, hb, 365pp, 9780385618892 1792. Henrietta Lightfoot, the 19-year-old daughter of an earl, has left behind her country and respectability to live as the paramour of George William Allenham, in Brussels. Used to her lover’s absences, she is at first unconcerned when he is summoned to Paris on diplomatic business, but after he sends a letter that hints at some secret distress, she decides to follow him to the French capital. Braving several mishaps, Hetty arrives in Paris only to discover that she is unable to trace Lord Allenham, and she soon finds herself in the unenviable position of having to serve as the gobetween to two rivaling femmes galantes, English-

born Grace Dalrymple Elliot and Agnes de Buffon, the former and present mistresses of Louis Philippe Joseph d’Orléans, cousin to Louis XVI, and ‘Godfather of the Revolution.’

Before she grasps the political complexities of her situation, Hetty is embroiled in a lethal intrigue involving the murder of the King, and she learns too late that she has placed her trust in the wrong person.

Shining a light into a dark, but fascinating corner of French revolutionary history, The French Lesson illuminates the fate of the era’s aristocratic prostitutes. This elegant novel concentrates on two charismatic horizontales who tried to influence the future of France, but its author has much to say about the desperate condition of 18th-century women in general. The story is told from the perspective of the (fictional) Henrietta, a sympathetic ingénue reminiscent of Charlotte Lennox’s Female Quixote who, while searching for her lover and a new family, manages unintentionally to insert herself into the deadly conflict raging between the Royalist faction and the supporters of the Revolution. Her narrative will delight readers looking for a feminist-inspired account of the historical event, which, more than any other, helped shape our modern world.

Elisabeth Lenckos THE DUTCH GIRL Donna Thorland, NAL, 2016, $15.00/C$20.00, pb, 400pp, 9780451471024 A prim schoolmistress with a scandalous secret. A handsome highwayman fighting for romantic ideals. A dangerous spy mission with the fate of nations hanging in the balance. Donna Thorland’s The Dutch Girl has all the ingredients of an over-the-top romantic thriller. But for readers who venture past the first few pages – and with Thorland’s addictive plotting, it’s difficult not to – this book proves itself a serious contender.

In Revolutionary New York City, Anna Winters appears to be a respectable English gentlewoman running a prestigious finishing school. But underneath she is still Annatje Hoppe, the daughter of a Dutch tenant who lost his life in a failed uprising against the powerful Patroons – and the passion to bring justice and independence to her people still burns. Her turbulent past makes it a reckless act for Anna to set foot ever again in the Hudson Highlands. But her familiarity with Dutch language and culture, and her youthful love affair with the sensitive son of the Patroon – long forgotten (or not) – makes her uniquely suited to infiltrate the estate in the guise of a governess and win the people to the side of the American Rebels.

In the midst of this swashbuckling plot, Anna emerges as a real and likable character: clever in practical ways, confident and competent, but with genuine care and understanding for her students (so rarely evinced in fictional governesses) and a deep-set loyalty to her people and her roots.

Beautifully researched details bring sparkle to this fast-paced plot, and while the ending comes a little too easily, Anna’s fate remains tied to her own 18th Century

choices – and thus eminently satisfying. The Dutch Girl plays successfully to those in the market for a romantic thriller, a Revolutionary epic, or just an absorbing story of characters fighting against the conventions of their time.

Ann Pedtke

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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Diane Allen, Pan Macmillan, 2015, £20.00, hb, 384pp, 9781447245995 / £6.99, pb, 384pp, 9781447246015 Polly Harper loves her happy life in the Yorkshire Dales on the farm of her affectionate parents. But it is the 19th century, the world is speeding up, and she wants to take advantage of what life can offer, and so she feels increasingly trapped. When by chance she meets handsome Tobias, the son of a wealthy landowner who was a nasty drunk, her parents take care to keep them apart, but Polly falls from the frying pan into the fire when she succumbs instead to Matt Dinsdale.

With the death of her mother, Polly learns the truth about her past and her life begins to unravel.

If you are a lover of historical sagas and the sweep of the northern hills and their romance, then this novel is definitely for you. Unfortunately, I happen to be more of an historical truth than romance reader, and I kept tripping over the anachronisms and the easy plot-device that relies on memories being very short, when in fact in Yorkshire they are very, very long indeed! Many genres of fiction have moved on, including historical romance, but, to me, Diane Allen’s novels remain the same. Yet why should she change? Her novels sell very well indeed.

Sally Zigmond ONLY BELOVED Mary Balogh, Signet, 2016, $7.99/C$10.49, pb, 400pp, 9780451477781 The seventh and concluding novel in the Survivors’ Club Regency series describes how George, Duke of Stanbrook, finds a happy marriage with Dora Debbins, a gently born spinster who is earning a modest living as a music teacher. Since they are older, their expectations are for friendship and comfortable companionship, rather than passion, but fall in love they do. Both have been damaged by traumatic family experiences in their past, he a loveless first marriage, she a mother’s abandonment; but as they confront the past and share the burden, they find not only healing but happiness. The process is not easy, however: not only must they struggle with their own sense of injustice, but not all those responsible are willing to be reconciled.

This does create suspense and an awareness that darkness can strike at even the innocent, but the strength of the story is the steadily deepening love between two deserving protagonists as they meet the challenges together. This is another heartwarming and impressive performance from Balogh.

Strongly recommended.

Ray Thompson

19th Century

RUSH OH! Shirley Barrett, Picador Australia, 2015, A$32.99, pb, 358pp, 9781743535943 / Little, Brown, $25.00/C$30.00, hb, 368pp, 9780316261548 / Virago, 2016, £14.99, hb, 368pp, 9780349006628 Australians may be familiar with the shore whaling enterprises that operated in Twofold Bay, New South Wales, until the early 20th century. A unique feature of such operations was the role of killer whales in trapping and herding the valuable larger whale species into the Bay, where crews were waiting to harpoon them and harvest their baleen and oil. The killers would be rewarded with the lips and tongues from the carcasses. This unusual relationship between human whalers and their animal counterparts forms the background to this story related by a fictional Mary Davidson, daughter of the real George “Fearless” Davidson, the whaling boss.

Rather than a conventional novel, this is more a series of vignettes. It’s quirky and humorous with romantic components and other wry diversions.

The cast of eccentric characters are entertaining enough, including the individually-named killer whales (who all actually existed), but it does feel as if it’s trying too hard to sanitize grim reality with whimsy and waffle. Some readers will see through it or fail to find anything funny or appealing about the inherent violence involved in whaling and all that blood, guts and stinking blubber.

Being familiar with the history of the region and that of the real Davidsons, I can’t fault the descriptions or landscape. The pen drawings are a lovely touch, but a map would help the uninitiated. And making this iconic family into irreligious drinkers when they were in fact lay preachers and strict teetotalers is a sexing-up that does them a disservice. Although the author offers the descendants an apology in her concluding notes, one has to wonder: why not make them all fictitious in the first place?

As a novel, the distinctiveness of Rush Oh! certainly makes it memorable but also likely to polarize.

Marina Maxwell A THOUSAND SHALL FALL Andrea Boeshaar, Kregel, 2016, $14.99, pb, 288pp, 9780825443817 The year is 1864, and Virginia is ravaged by the Civil War. Young Carrie Ann Bell, an independent journalist like her absent father, has chosen not to take sides. When she disguises herself as a soldier and sets off to find her wayward fifteen-year-old sister, Carrie Ann finds herself in a conflict of loyalties between old Confederate friends and new Yankee ones. She meets Colonel Peyton Collier, a Union cavalryman, and their connection grows as Carrie gamely nurses wounded soldiers. She becomes part of Peyton’s family household, and again, allegiances collide. This is an inspirational book, and the characters’ faith carries them through much adversity. The tragedy of war is depicted without pulling any punches.

Well-researched and rich with American history both political and social, this is a satisfying read with a large supporting cast. Carrie Ann has a complex backstory that may be laying some ground for the planned sequel. The book is flawed somewhat by its one-dimensional villains, but readers will enjoy

spunky, loyal Carrie Ann and handsome, principled Peyton, as well as Peyton’s charming Aunt Ruth and her freed-slave companion Tabitha – a bit stereotypical, but good fun anyway. This is the first book of the Shenandoah Valley Saga by this multipublished Christian fiction writer.

Elizabeth Knowles HMS PROMETHEUS Alaric Bond, Old Salt Press, 2016, $15.95, pb, 358pp, 9781934404063 Bond delivers another fast-paced, high-impact piece of Napoleonic-era naval fiction with HMS Prometheus, eighth in his Fighting Sails series.

In the western Mediterranean in 1803, Captain Sir Richard Banks races to bring his crippled ship of the line back into fighting trim in time to support Horatio Nelson’s blockade of the French.

Bond paints a broader perspective than most other masters of the genre, such as Patrick O’Brian. The narrative not only unfolds through the strategic view of the commissioned officers but also draws us into the quotidian drama of midshipmen, foremast hands, and smugglers, as well as the women who were routinely present on English naval vessels of the period, but less commonly discussed. These are more than sub-plots or contextual ambiance: the shipboard sufferings of the young former prostitute, Poppy, the moral shortcomings of foremast jacks such as Bleeden, the various inner means by which each seaman and officer cope with the terrors of naval combat. Bond shows us how each humble hobnail spirals upward to determine the fortunes of war and the outcome of great sea battles.

The senior staff is not neglected, however, and one of Bond’s most masterful touches is his close portrayal of Nelson, presenting the famous admiral from his strategic genius down to the smallest details of his generous and inspiring personality.

Like all good serial fiction, the author makes it relatively easy to pick up the story and break into the book on its own merits. That said, the ending leaves the reader yearning for the next installment.

Well researched, finely written. A must-read for lovers of sea stories.

Jackie Drohan DUKE OF MY HEART: A Season for Scandal, book 1 Kelly Bowen, Forever, 2016, $5.99, pb, 352pp, 9781455536795 When a book opens with a dead naked earl tied to a debutante’s bed, you might rightly wonder if it can only go downhill from there. Not with Kelly Bowen’s deft hand at the helm.

Beatrice, the debutante in question, is missing, and her concerned aunt calls in the cool and collected Miss Ivory Moore, something of a society “fixer,” to both conceal the situation and locate the girl. Bea’s older brother isn’t as confident in the mysterious Miss Moore’s abilities. Maximus Harcourt is a sea captain, a reluctant duke and, if he were being honest, an unprepared guardian to the impulsive Bea. As secrets from Ivory’s past begin trickling out, Max begins learning to trust, both her and himself.

Max was a fairly typical hero, though the guilt he felt over failing his sister as guardian added a nice vulnerability. The independent Ivory with the HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 29

checkered past was a wonderfully strong character.

Despite Max thinking he was in control, Ivory moved their relationship ahead, at her pace and on her terms. Entertaining Regency romance with an interesting, well-written heroine.

Jessica Brockmole I THEE WED Celeste Bradley, Signet, 2016, $7.99/C$10.49, pb, 352pp, 9780451475978 The fourth in The Wicked Worthingtons Series, set in Regency London, describes how Orion sets out to establish his career as a successful scientist, but unexpectedly finds love as well. Not with his mentor’s very suitable daughter, however, but with her half-Italian cousin Francesca, who burns ‘like a flame on ice’. Though Francesca is a scientist too, a biologist, struggling for acceptance in a prejudiced, patriarchal society, it is her cooking skills, lively mind, and voluptuous body that sweep him off his feet. Especially the body. Fortunately the attraction is mutual, but will one night of unrestrained passion end their fascination and satisfy their ‘scientific’ curiosity?

The sexual encounters are extended and graphic, but humor is created by their efforts to deal rationally with their intense physical attraction and by Orion’s highly eccentric family, especially his precocious and brilliant little sister Atalanta.

There are darker notes too: sexist oppression and bullying, blackmail and intellectual theft. Most of the characters are likeable, however, and they earn their happiness by learning to respect and care for others, regardless of differences. Recommended.

Ray Thompson THE ELOQUENCE OF THE DEAD Conor Brady, Minotaur, 2016, $26.99, hb, 416pp, 9781250057570 Conor Brady’s latest Joe Swallow procedural (after his debut in A June of Ordinary Murders, HNR 72) involves the 1880s Dublin Detective Sergeant in a murder, robbery, and land swindling at the highest ranks. The victim, a pawnbroker who concentrates in jewelry and estate sales, was loved by few. The city remains on edge, however, because his sister, who hid her brother’s demise for days, disappears without a trace.

Joe has his pick of the best cops in his unit to assist him in his search for clues and suspects.

His best friend, the medical examiner, once again provides a key assist by using rudimentary fingerprinting techniques. This serpentine case takes Swallow to London and the Irish countryside in addition to the mean streets of his city. He often crosses paths with a childhood friend who has grown to be a formidable businesswoman, love interest, and possible suspect.

If you are seeking an action-and-adventure murder mystery (though the body and liquor counts are high), look elsewhere. But if intricate plotting and journalistic descriptions of time and place pique your fancy, Brady is your man.

Tom Vallar A SWEET MISFORTUNE Maggie Brendan, Revell, 2015, $14.99, pb, 336pp, 9780800722654 In Paradise Valley, Montana Territory, 1862, John McIntyre receives a request from a friend 30 | Reviews |

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asking him to rescue his sister from a dance hall.

Rachel Matthews doesn’t want to be rescued, thank you very much, as she is earning her own living. She sees John as the bad guy, since he now owns her family’s property after they lost it due to unpaid taxes. At John’s ranch, Rachel meets his kindly grandmother, Estelle, and agrees to help in her millinery shop. Will Rachel overcome frontier society’s prejudices about “soiled dove” dance hall girls? And will the affection she feels for Estelle lead her to feel less resentful towards John?

As hinted at in the title, this is a sweet Christian romance. The religious content is woven in naturally, though the preacher quotes a Bible passage that sounds more 21st-centurytranslation than a period one. There is not a lot of suspense, mainly some mild threats to the couple’s relationship. If you cherish suspense in your stories, look elsewhere, but if you like a good comfort read set in pioneer times, this volume from the Virtues and Vices of the Old West series will satisfy.

B.J. Sedlock THE EXECUTIONER’S RACE Andrew Bynom, Aqueous, 2016, $24.99, hb, 434pp, 9780692444665 1834, Istanbul. When Zeyneb, a woman calligrapher, is condemned for using her talent to turn holy prayers into forbidden forms—those of animals and faces, among others—the only way for her to escape death is to race one of the Sultan’s bostanci, an executioner. If she loses, she dies. If she wins she lives, but in exile. Seven years later, soon-to-be famed writer of fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen, has arrived in Istanbul seeking inspiration. He soon comes across Zeyneb’s tale, its ending unknown. What can he discover of this mysterious woman, and where will his path lead?

What follows is a debut novel from Andrew Bynom. It’s a rich tale, fully infused with the milieu of 19th-century Istanbul. It’s a sensual novel in that the senses are fed with each page, through colors, vistas, aromas, and the cacophony of the city. It’s a full cast, complete with puppeteers, dervishes, gardeners, and hotel staff. You’ll finish the novel believing you can grow any variety of tulip and paint any manner of calligraphy. The tone is literary, with more attention given to the setting than to the story development. Though the pacing threw me off somewhat, and though I didn’t find the ending satisfying, this is nonetheless a worthy debut novel.

Justin Lindsay THE FIFTH AVENUE ARTISTS SOCIETY Joy Callaway, Harper, 2016, $15.99/C$19.99, pb, 368pp, 9780062391612 In late 19th-century New York, Virginia Loftin is a writer from a large family of many talents. She and her siblings live among the elite society, though are outsiders due to their paltry connections and lack of wealth. Ginny, however, is not at all perturbed about her status, because she’s in love with her beloved friend and neighbor, Charlie, and plans a happy life as his wife. Charlie, however, ends up proposing to a wealthy cousin, leaving Ginny devastated and heartbroken. She reacts by putting her pen to paper, writing a novel parallel to her troubles.

To take her mind off her worries, her brother, Franklin, invites Ginny to a gathering on Fifth

Avenue called the Artists Society. It is here that she discovers a world where men and women of talent mingle, share, and encourage one another.

She also meets the handsome and mysterious John Hooper, who has a bad reputation, but seems genuinely interested in helping her get published.

Life improves for all the siblings through the connections made at the Society, although Ginny has much trepidation regarding John’s increasingly insistent affections and the peculiar behavior of several friends. Charlie reappears in her life, and complicates matters further, leaving Ginny in a perpetual emotional upheaval. Her dream of becoming a recognized, published writer is always at the forefront of her mind, but her relationships with the two men and trouble within the family threaten her carefully laid plans.

A compulsive read, this novel is based on the author’s ancestors, and they form the foundation of the story. Most of the characters are wellfleshed, though there is one mystery that remains unsolved—as it did in the true story. This pageturning, emotional tale will intrigue readers looking for a story with star-crossed lovers.

Arleigh Johnson BEAUTY, BEAST, AND BELLADONNA Maia Chance, Berkley, 2016, $7.99/C$10.49, pb, 320pp, 9780425271643 Before variety hall actress Ophelia Flax has the chance to break off her hasty engagement to the hirsute Comte de Griffe, one of the guests at his winter hunting party is found murdered. The superstitious villagers impute the murder to the Beast of local legend, and Ophelia must determine whether her fiancé or one of his guests is the murderer.

Chance’s sparkling, witty prose hooked me from the start, and I enjoyed her twist on the familiar fairy tale. Some sentences made me laugh out loud: “She wasn’t really a tippling lady, but the image of a half dozen hairy baby Griffes crawling around in diapers required blurring.” Minor characters are equally entertaining, such as a precocious thirteenyear-old boy who speaks like a professor.

This cozy Victorian mystery is the third in a series. I haven’t read the first two books but had no trouble following the story. My only quibble is that Ophelia and her love interest have progressed too far with their feelings to be kept apart in contrived ways, and I hope Chance remedies this in the next book. Recommended.

Clarissa Harwood FAITH: Quaker Brides (Book 3) Lyn Cote, Tyndale, 2016, $14.99, pb, 367pp, 9781414375632 During the American Civil War, devout Quaker Faith Cathwell finds herself nursing the sick and wounded for the Union. But she has another purpose as well. She is also searching for her friend, a free woman of color, who was kidnapped five years prior and likely sold into slavery. Colonel Devlin Knight is a slaveholder fighting for the Union. When Devlin’s cousin gets wounded in battle, he seeks out the Quaker nurse, renowned for her skill. There’s just one problem: his cousin is a Confederate soldier and it is treason to help him.

As the army heads east, Faith and Devlin navigate danger alongside a growing attraction. Personal 19th Century

battles are fought alongside national ones, and both characters must confront their deepest secrets if they are to survive.

Cote does not hesitate to tackle the difficult subjects of the war front and racial politics. She invokes the mood of the times and takes care to record accurate details about troop movements and the challenges and limitations of battlefield life.

Historical accuracy is subverted when Cote refers to people of color as “black” instead of the periodappropriate “Negro,” though.

While the protagonist seems well-rounded, the other characters come off as one-dimensional. The romance itself is slow-building. Matters of faith, which can easily restrict the narrative, are handled with a gentle, natural touch. Disappointingly, the protagonist’s identity as a Quaker is never explored beyond the use of archaic language and an opposition to slavery. Toward the end, the romance itself take a fresh, unexpected turn whose resolution ties up plot strings and respects character motivations. In other respects, though, the ending feels rushed.

Overall, this novel is a fairly quick read with enough conflict and detail to immerse the reader into a difficult time in American history.

Xina Marie Uhl TRIPLE PLAY James D. Crownover, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 318pp, 9781432831790 The early game of baseball is played by ranchers on young Tucker Beaver’s ranch, with a fascination as to how to make a “triple play.” When Tucker turns 15, his father provides him with his own wild cattle on the range, to set up his own small herd.

He soon gets help from friends Rance Brown, who lives in town, and Cindy Nealy, who lives on a local ranch. An experienced stranger named Pete shows up and helps Tucker learn the ropes for handling and branding cattle. When the cattle are stolen a few years later, Tucker heads for Mexico, chasing after the thieves. Here is where the action picks up.

At 18, Tucker must travel alone through unknown territory, dealing with a gang of cattle rustlers, and then face a major earthquake in the area.

This coming-of-age western is written in the first person. Be prepared for a surprise ending! I’m not sure I understand how the title “Triple Play” enters into the main storyline, but it doesn’t really matter.

Still, the author is knowledgeable of western cattle ranching; the action is fast-paced, especially during the last several chapters. A thoroughly worthwhile read for western lovers. Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff

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A FEVER OF THE BLOOD Oscar de Muriel, Michael Joseph, 2016, £7.99, pb, 420pp, 9780718179847 Frey and McGray return for a second outing in de Muriel’s new novel. The story opens in January 1889 with a brutal killing at the Edinburgh lunatic asylum, and the investigative duo are immediately involved, as McGray’s own sister is also a patient there. The first in the series, The Strings of Murder, introduced the unlikely pairing of the gruff ‘nine nails’ McGray and the exiled Londoner, Frey, and in their second investigation, as before, McGray tends to speak with his fists first, while Frey is more cautious. The majority of the action in this book 19th Century

takes place outside the policemen’s jurisdiction as they chase a suspect onto a train and end up in Lancashire. Just as in their previous case, there is a supernatural element as the men find themselves the target of a dangerous secret society of witches and a curse that stretches back through the centuries to the time of the Pendle witch trials.

This is a fast-paced, well-researched and thoroughly spellbinding read. The mismatched pair is as entertaining as Holmes and Watson at their best, and the supernatural element brings an entertaining twist. There are a number of insightful moments of character development which hint at further episodes to come, and while the book is clearly a sequel to the first in the series it can easily be read as a stand-alone.

Lisa Redmond CAPE HELL Loren D. Estleman, Forge, 2016, $24.99/C$28.99, hb, 224pp, 9780765383525 The Civil War ended 20 years ago, but, unfortunately, several former Confederate soldiers hope to raise an army, conquer Mexico City, and then continue the fight in the United States. Federal Judge Blackthorne of Montana is ordering U.S. Deputy Marshal Page Murdock to a place known as Cape Hell, Mexico, to find former Confederate Captain Oscar Childress and disrupt his plans to raise his army and begin the Civil War anew.

Accompanied by an engineer and a Native American fireman aboard a steam train named El Espanto, or The Ghost, they head south to Mexico to learn if the rumors of Childress’s plans are true and disrupt his vision for a South to rise again.

Along the way, they face desert and mountainous lands inhabited by those who wish to take over the train and kill Murdock. Will Murdock arrive in time to stop Childress?

A fast-paced western with action on every page.

The battle sequences as the Ghost rumbles onward are exciting as tension builds to the last page. A fine book for western lovers to add to their library.

Jeff Westerhoff THE PETTICOAT MEN Barbara Ewing, Head of Zeus/Trafalgar Square, 2015, $13.95/C$16.95/£8.99, 480pp, 9781781859834 Freddie Park and Ernest Boulton are theatre folk, so Mattie Stacey thinks nothing of it when the two gentlemen sometimes leave her family’s lodging house in elegant women’s dresses and wigs. That is, until Freddie and Ernest are arrested for “conspiring to incite others to carry out an abominable offence.” The newspapers seize on it as the Scandal of the Century, and the moral middle class of Victorian London, who refuse to acknowledge that homosexuality exists, are confronted with shocking headlines about these Gentlemen in Female Attire. Mattie doesn’t care what they get up to in their frocks; she knows them as good lodgers and kind friends. But, despite her

best efforts, she and her family are pulled into the lurid trial.

This is the story of the sensational and real trial that gripped 1870s London and drew in bishops, lords, and a prince before its end. But Barbara Ewing’s novel goes beyond the court proceedings.

Like a stone in a lake, the arrest of the “Petticoat Men” sent out ripples, into both the upper echelons of Victorian society and the lower strata. The Petticoat Men is told from three points of view: Mattie, her mother Isabella, and a dispassionate, very Victorian omniscient narrator. Between the three of them, they tell the story effortlessly, with the right amount of tabloid breathlessness, while still staying near enough to the characters most affected by the scandal. An excellently written and interesting novel.

Jessica Brockmole JANE STEELE Lyndsay Faye, Putnam, 2016, $26.95/C$34.95, hb, 432pp, 9780399169496 / Headline Review, 2016, £14.99, hb, 420pp, 9781472217554 “Reader, I murdered him.” In this satirical riff on Jane Eyre, orphaned Jane Steele is governess to the ward of eccentric Anglo-Sikh War veteran, Mr. Thornfield. Thornfield is unaware his new employee is a serial murderess and possible heir to his estate – the reason she’s infiltrated his household, with the express purpose of killing him.

Quotes from and elements of the original remain: Jane’s hateful relations, a cruel headmaster, a sickly best friend. The novel has multiple creative strengths: a murder broadside author with a hilarious grasp of the King’s English (“Mr. Munt was lauded as the most distinguished philanderist, and a knife was shoved so far into his throat that his molars suffered renumerous damages…”), Thornfield with an East India Company background and entirely Sikh household.

Characterization is strong, and Jane is a capable narrator. Yet once she arrives in Thornfield’s home, the story devolves into a search for missing treasure, smarmy romance, and pat resolution.

Perhaps most disappointing is Jane herself.

While profane, promiscuous, a profligate liar, and violent when it suits her, Jane shares with the original her independence, and a moral code all her own – cover blurbs call her a “gutsy, heroic serial killer.” The obvious implication: Jane’s kills are justified, and you’re supposed to root for this good person doing bad things for good reasons. While this provides some satisfaction at seeing villains from the original get their lethal comeuppance, a far less sympathetic Jane and unapologetic tone would’ve been more fun. If you’re gonna go for ridiculous, as one obviously is with a serial killer Jane Eyre… go whole hog. Jane Steele waters it down: kill people, but as long as they’re not nice people and you get all moony in love, you’re still good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like you.

Bethany Latham AN UNDISTURBED PEACE Mary Glickman, Open Road, 2016, $16.99, pb, 378pp, 9781504018340 Set in the mountains and backwoods regions of the southeastern United States in the 1820s and ‘30s, this novel centers on intercultural prejudice, a HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 31

great injustice, and compassion. It offers a poignant retelling of the lead-up to the Trail of Tears while also evoking a little-known aspect of JewishAmerican history.

When Abrahan Sassaporta, an itinerant peddler, falls in love with Marian of the foothills, a beautiful, defiantly independent Cherokee woman living alone in a cabin on his trading route, he becomes personally entangled in a tragic tale set in motion twenty years earlier. Marian’s parents, believing that alliances with white settlers would secure the Cherokees’ future, had sent her to London for a year and sought her marriage to a white neighbor, but Marian had other plans. Her shared past with a black slave named Jacob – one involving forbidden love, murder, and betrayal – is revealed bit by bit.

Abe inspires empathy for his open-minded nature, and because he’s trapped in debt to his uncle Isadore, but he’s naïve in several ways. He believes his passion for Marian will eventually be returned in full, and that the freedom he finds in his new country will be granted to her people as well. Both the Jews and Cherokee have faced persecution, and Abe sees parallels between their cultures. Not surprisingly, given the federal government’s greed for Cherokee land, the future turns out differently than he hopes.

Mary Glickman paints a resplendent portrait of the unspoiled wilderness of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia, and her prose has a crystalline purity that echoes the cadence of fiction written at that time. One minor mistake was noted (a $20 bill), but overall, this is historical fiction well told. The well-rounded characters exude strength and grace, and the story brings history alive with powerful impact.

Sarah Johnson

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GLORY OVER EVERYTHING Kathleen Grissom, Simon & Schuster, 2016, $25.99/C$34.00, hb, 384pp, 9781476748443 Jamie Pyke is a successful merchant in Philadelphia in 1830. Unbeknownst to members of local society, Jamie was born on a Southern plantation, the son of its master and a kitchen slave. Because he can pass as white, he is able to live an aristocratic life with house servants of his own. When his secret identity is threatened, he realizes he must leave the city. He decides to head south, promising to rescue Pan, the son of a black man who had helped him when he was a boy wandering the Philadelphia streets.

Pan befriends Sukey, a young black woman, who tries to help him escape from a plantation via the Underground Railroad before he is sold.

Fortunately, they are able to meet up with Jamie to make their escape north together.

This is a sequel to The Kitchen House. Although I haven’t read the first book, I feel that Glory over Everything can be read on its own. There is enough backstory present to give the reader facts about the earlier lives of the characters. It is an exciting, 32 | Reviews |

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stimulating read. The early part of the plot – the discovery of Pyke’s secrets – is suspenseful and gripping. The period is richly described, providing a fascinating glimpse of slavery in the South prior to the Civil War, the negative feelings about African Americans even in the North, the Underground Railroad, and the difficulties faced by escaped slaves. This novel could very well be one of my top 10 books read this year.

Jeff Westerhoff ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS: A Novel of the Fox Sisters Hubert Haddad, Open Letter, 2016, $16.95/ C$23.95, pb, 307pp, 9781940953205 In a laudable project for the University of Rochester’s press, Haddad combines high literary style and unity of effect in this believable and engrossing historical journey.

Set at the beginning of the late 19th-century Spiritualist movement in Western New York, coinciding in time and origin with the broader religious Great Awakening which swept the country, the book presents a meticulously researched tableau. The historical Fox sisters –Margaret, Kate, and the much older Leah – interact with the spectral causes of mysterious rappings in their home. Their seeming ability to communicate with spirits launches them to overnight acclaim. Their later confession to fraud is well known, but Haddad imagines a rich inner life in the youngest sister, Kate, which persists in the reader’s mind, just as the Spiritualist movement itself persists today, contrary to common reason.

Her anxiety, as the family moves house three times during her childhood, evokes widespread beliefs in the connection of pre-teen angst to psychokinetic phenomena.

But it is the book’s resonance with the zeitgeist of our own era that is most compelling. Western New York at the time was a crossroads culturally, religiously and economically. It was a gateway for immigration of European peasants to the rich lands of the Ohio Valley and the West, and the children of its earlier settlers felt disenfranchised.

Notable is the character of Marshall McLean as a sort of mediator cum observer of the mix of these influences with Canadian, native, Mormon, and other religious splinter groups. Strongly recommended.

Jackie Drohan A NOBLE MASQUERADE Kristi Ann Hunter, Bethany House, 2015, $14.99, pb, 365pp, 9780764214325 Feisty Lady Miranda Hawthorne finds her mother’s lessons on ladylike behavior difficult to endure. Since childhood, she has found release in writing unsent letters to her brother’s schoolmate, the Duke of Marshington, who later disappeared from society. Now in her third Season in Regency London, Miranda is suspicious of her brother’s new valet, Marlow, yet is drawn into his espionage activities when she rescues him from attackers.

Once she discovers his true identity, she is angry about being deceived. Nevertheless, a spark of romance leads her to try to help foil a plot against his life.

There is some religious content, but it’s limited to a character mentally saying a prayer during a

crisis. Miranda is lively, and I liked the humor in the climax where characters end up covered in foodstuff. But I had more dislikes than likes. One reads a Regency to be immersed in a different world, but Hunter spoils the mood with Americanisms: letters are “mailed,” noses get “busted,” and “guy” is used in the 21st-century sense. The plot required a very large suspension of disbelief. Readers who don’t mind anachronisms may love Hunter’s first published novel, but it wasn’t historically true enough for me.

B. J. Sedlock

DEATH DESCENDS ON SATURN VILLA: The Gower Street Detective, Book 3 M. R. C. Kasasian, Pegasus Crime, 2016, $25.95, 486pp, 9781605989716 Another excellent installment in the Gower Street Detective mystery series! In this outing, the intrepid March Middleton receives a dinner invitation from the outlandishly named Ptolemy Travers Smith, a wealthy man claiming to be her long-lost uncle. “Uncle Tolly” is delightful but, by the next morning, also quite dead, and March is the only suspect. Her guardian, the irritable Sidney Grice, takes on the case, but it won’t be easy. As further events transpire, March’s guilt begins to look more certain and her fate sealed.

Death Descends on Saturn Villa is a more intricate mystery than the first two in the series, leaving this reader surprised at the twists and wondering until the end. The writing is just as flawless, though, packed full of delicious dialogue, voice-fueled narration, and many laugh-out-loud moments. The format is also somewhat different; in a positively delightful turn of events, a good third of the book is narrated by Grice himself. My adoration of Sidney and March remains unshaken. Heartily enjoyed!

Jessica Brockmole THE SILENT SHORE OF MEMORY John C. Kerr, TCU Press, 2016, $22.95, pb, 304pp, 9780875656199 Lt. James Barnhill is only 25 when General Hood leads the Fifth Texas Regiment against Little Round Top during the battle of Gettysburg. Hood is badly wounded, and so is Barnhill. A general with a useless arm can still command troops, so Hood is taken along when Lee’s army retreats. However, the gravely wounded Barnhill is abandoned to the care of Gettysburg’s citizens.

Barnhill convalesces with Robert Maxwell, a gut-shot soldier from North Carolina. Against all odds, Robert rallies, and James takes him home to tidewater Virginia. He falls in love with Robert’s sister Amelia, but her father forbids the match until he can support a wife in proper style.

Unfortunately, before James can finish his law studies, Amelia is pressured to marry another man to keep the family plantation from ruin.

John C. Kerr brings Texas’s post-war reconstruction to life. As an attorney, and then as a judge, James Barnhill deals with carpetbaggers, speculators, and racially-charged cases. He also endures his own family difficulties when his wife becomes a laudanum addict. And all the while, Barnhill’s memories of the war, and of Amelia Maxwell, cannot be destroyed.

The Silent Shore of Memory is both a compelling war story and a serious slice of history. It is also 19th Century

an enjoyable read, and Mr. Kerr deals with difficult issues sensitively. Judge Barnhill brings peace and fairness to his East Texas home, and is equally dogged in his quest for personal happiness.

American history buffs should definitely read this one.

Jo Ann Butler THE LEGEND OF RUSSIAN BILL Richard Lapidus, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 236pp, 9781432832186 William R. Tettenborn spoke four languages, dressed like Buffalo Bill, and had long curly blond hair like General Custer. He toured with President U. S. Grant and a Russian prince, rode a great white horse, and met his death at the end of a rope in November 1881. While those may be the facts of his life, nearly everything else is legend or tall tales, and Lapidus spins those to his own devices in this novel. “Russian Bill” got his nickname from the leader of the Clanton Gang in Tombstone, Arizona, “Curly Bill” Brosius, who challenged him to perform feats to become an outlaw. Lapidus even invents Bill’s love interest in Shakespeare, New Mexico, where he met his demise (mostly because of the young lady). Each chapter contains a separate vignette of Bill’s life, making the novel feel uneven. Nevertheless, the unique characters make this a tale of the Old West worth reading.

Tom Vallar THE LION’S EMBRACE Marie Laval, Accent, 2015, £12.99, pb, 356pp, 9781910939093 Harriet Montagu’s archaeologist father has been kidnapped in the Barbary States. Only Lucas Saintclair, a rude and uncouth local guide, and his band of disreputable fighters can help her in her quest across the desert to save him.

So begins Marie Laval’s romance set in the 19th-century Sahara. There is all you would expect from such a premise – fights in souks and in desert gorges, secret maps leading to fabulous treasure, a plot involving a mysterious silver ring, a sinister band of powerful conspirators, murder, betrayal and misunderstandings galore. And lions, both real and metaphorical. Also as expected, there’s a hefty dose of initially-suppressed chemistry between our hero (brooding, secretive, more sensitive than he lets on) and heroine (feisty, independent, yet yearning for strong arms to hold her close.)

Think Indiana Jones with 19th-century clothing or The Mummy without, um, the mummy and you won’t be far off (although the corsets and breeches get taken off rather more often and explicitly than in either of these family films). Although I wasn’t always convinced of its accuracy as a historical novel, as an adventure romance this is an enjoyable read, full of incident and colour. Entertaining.

Charlotte Wightwick THE DREAM CATCHER: Dancing for the Devil Trilogy, Book One Marie Laval, Accent, 2015, £7.99, pb, 133pp, 9781783753215 November 1847. Disgraced soldier Bruce McGunn has returned to his ancestral home at Cape Wrath in the far north of Scotland. In desperate need of funds to save the estate from falling into the hands of his family’s enemies, the 19th Century

McRaes, he takes drastic action when a storm forces the ship carrying Cameron McRae’s new bride to seek shelter in the harbour. Frenchborn Rose is not best pleased, having received an uncomplimentary account of her host from her new husband, and even less so when she discovers she is to be his hostage rather than a guest.

This slender page-turner begins by ticking all the right boxes – a family feud between the McGunns and the McRaes, a saturnine, damaged hero (with a social conscience), and a sparky heroine, unconventionally raised in Algeria. There’s a remote, cliff-top mansion, hostile locals, a couple of murders and a possible whiff of the supernatural as well as the fizzing sexual tension between Bruce and Rose - but then, what a disappointment!

What we have here feels more like a third of a longer book than the first part of a trilogy. It ends on a cliff-hanger with none of the plot elements resolved and a few more thrown into the mix at the last minute. If this was a magazine serial, then I would happily have waited until the following week for the next instalment – as it was, this reviewer was left feeling frustrated and short-changed. I don’t know if it was the publisher’s decision to split a longer novel into three parts. If so, it has misfired – which is a pity, because the story started off with such promise.

Mary Fisk THE PORT-WINE STAIN Norman Lock, Bellevue Literary Press, 2016, $16.95, pb, 224pp, 9781942658061 Philadelphia, 1844. Young Edward Fenzil finds himself in the orbit of two fascinating men: Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter, accomplished surgeon, and Edgar Allan Poe, who needs no introduction. As an assistant in charge of Mütter’s collection of grotesque medical curiosities, it’s unsurprising that Fenzil’s company would be sought by the macabre Poe. Fenzil finds himself at once mesmerized and repulsed by Poe, as both travel down a dark path where Fenzil plays a role in a story not his own.

This book reads as pastiche: it’s a first-person narrative, told many years after the fact to a strawman listener in florid, neo-Victorian language, replete with rhetorical questions. This is its genius and its curse: the prose is deliberately made to sound like Poe (a “lost” Poe story is included almost in its entirety, and the work is intended as an “homage”), but due to the novel’s length in comparison to a Poe tale, it often seems overburdened and meandering. As narrator, Fenzil can be pretentious and infuriatingly byzantine – page twenty-two, and we’re still at: “No doubt you think me a poor storyteller to take so long to begin. But I like to let the thread unspool slowly…” Page fortyfive and the story still hasn’t gained momentum: “I’m glad you don’t find me tedious…” (This provoked an inadvertent, audible snort, doubtless as intended.)

When plot does finally unspool, the work is engrossing, if the conclusion inevitable. All concerns with pacing aside, it’s an interesting literary exercise to read – Lock is skilled at mimicking Poe, and thus the characterization of Poe has dimension and depth. If nothing else, the way Lock plays with language, the myriad literary and historical references contained within this homage, make it worth reading. Apparently this is the third time

Lock has channeled a great American author: I may also pick up his tributes to Mark Twain and Walt Whitman.

Bethany Latham STEPS TO THE GALLOWS Edward Marston, Allison & Busby, 2016, £19.99, hb, 350pp, 9780749016968 In 1816 London, Leonidas Paige, the writer of a satirical newspaper, hires a bodyguard – he has reason to think his work is striking hard at the many wealthy elite who he lampoons. But even as he hires his bodyguard, he is murdered and left to be found in the midst of his burnt newspapers. The brothers Peter and Paul Skillen arrive at the scene of crime before the Bow Street Runners – the victim was a good friend of their patron and mentor Gully Ackford, and it was his employee who acted as Leonidas’ bodyguard, brutally attacked before the murder. Can the Skillen twins catch the killer before the plodding Runners?

What follows is an exciting hunt through the streets of London as the investigators have to delve into the sordid and secret lives of the most powerful, influential and wealthy members of nobility. Each having good reason to want Paige dead, the newspaper consigned to the dustbins of the past, these powerful men must be treated with cunning, favours and disguise before the murderer is uncovered.

Alan Cassady-Bishop DELIVERING THE TRUTH: A Quaker Midwife Mystery Edith Maxwell, Midnight Ink, 2016, $14.99, pb, 312pp, 9780738747521 In Amesbury, Massachusetts, in 1888, Rose Carroll, a 24-year-old Quaker midwife, spends her days attending to expectant mothers and delivering babies. Having experienced an unfortunate incident in her teens, Rose is still single, but a young doctor is showing some interest in her.

Rose’s idyllic life in the community of Friends is disturbed when several of the town’s renowned carriage factories are burned, which throws many residents out of work. Rose is thrust into the investigation when a disgruntled citizen attempts to set fire to the Friends’ worship house during a service. Although Rose and others subdue the perpetrator, the police clear him from the list of arson suspects. Among Rose’s clients are the wife of a wealthy carriage-factory owner and his mistress, so Detective Donovan asks her to advise him about any information her patients might confide to her.

However, when several gruesome murders follow, and the clues lead to Rose, she becomes a suspect herself.

Agatha-nominated mystery author Edith Maxwell has set this whodunit, first in a new series, in an unusual setting: a Quaker town in the late 19th century. The many snippets of information about the scenery and life in the district, the details of the Society of Friends’ norms and practices, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier’s appearance as a character all add depth to the story. At times, the dialogue seems contrived: for instance, in the opening birthing scene Rose tells her patient something she already knows: “I’m thy midwife and I’m here to help get this baby out.” Also, some readers might find the author’s overuse of Quaker HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 33

dialect tedious. But the red herrings are introduced shrewdly, and the plot will keep readers guessing, wanting to learn the identity of the criminals and their motives.

Waheed Rabbani THE UNSEEING Anna Mazzola, Tinder, 2016, £14.99, hb, 356pp, 9781472234735 This is the fictionalised biography of Sarah Gale, accused of being an accomplice to a murder in 1837 London. She is sentenced to hang, and the lawyer Edmund Fleetwood – a fictional character – is appointed to investigate to see if there is a legal reason for clemency. Well-researched, with believable characters, this is a harrowing story. It is set mainly in Newgate, and the awful conditions of the gaol and the injustices perpetrated both inside and outside the prison are described in detail.

There is a repetition of themes – abused children, men’s power over women’s lives – which adds to the feeling of despair, as does the harassment of Sarah by another prisoner, for which no motive is given.

Mazzola provides a possible solution to the mystery of how much Sarah knew about the murder – still unknown to this day – but I think it would have been more intriguing to leave it ambiguous and let readers decide for themselves.

A more open ending would not have left the reader wondering about motives, both Sarah’s and those of other characters. This novel kept me interested until the end, where there is a hint of the possibility of another novel with Edmund as the detective. If so, I will happily buy it. jay Dixon DARK ROSALEEN Michael Nicholson, History Press Ireland/ Trafalgar Square, 2015, $19.95/C$23.95/£14.99, pb, 288pp, 9781845888701 In 1845, a fungus hits the Irish potato crop, completely ruining the country’s harvest of the one food sustaining over half its population. When the fungus reoccurs, it brings on the Great Famine, a period in history during which millions of Irish perished from starvation.

Michael Nicholson masterfully weaves historical facts of the Great Famine into a tightly woven narrative. Set in County Cork, the story is told through the voice of a young English woman named Kathryn McCauley who accompanies her father to Ireland. He has been sent to oversee the disbursement of financial aid from Great Britain, with the goal of providing food to the Irish peasants. At first, Kathryn hates Ireland because it is not the civilized world of England.

However, it does not take her long to realize that the Irish population is virtually starving to death while the Anglo-Irish landlords are sending massive amounts of crops back to England for sale, and their own profit.

Kathryn softens toward the plight of the people as she witnesses men, women, and children dying in the fields, when food could have been provided.

Kathryn joins the rebels in their fight against the English. In the process she finds a new purpose for her life, a love she never suspected could exist, and the shadow of the gallows hanging over her daily existence. This is a riveting story with details so real that I found myself close to tears in more than one 34 | Reviews |

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Linda Harris Sittig

LAZARETTO Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Harper, 2016, $26.99, hb, 352pp, 9780062126962 On the night that Abraham Lincoln is assassinated in a theater in Washington, DC, Sylvie, a young black girl, delivers a baby.

The baby’s mother, Meda, is in service to a wealthy Philadelphia lawyer. Although she is told her baby is dead without even having a chance to hold it, she is, despite her grief, able to work in a local orphanage and bring up two abandoned white boys. She names them Linc and Bram, after the much-loved President. The story of these two boys will intersect with those of Sylvie, Meda, and their friends over the years, until the different lives of McKinneyWhetstone’s characters dramatically collide during a period of enforced quarantine at the Lazaretto hospital.

First and foremost, this is a wonderful story, beautifully told. The characters are engaging and live richly imagined lives full of love, lies and conflict. Sylvie becomes a nurse at the Lazaretto hospital and holds her suitor, Carl, at arm’s length, preferring work to marriage. Linc and Bram suffer in the orphanage, until their time there ends in violence and they are forced to flee Philadelphia altogether. Only when they reach Lazaretto will the truth of their lives come to light.

McKinney-Whetstone’s use of language is very strong and bears comparison with that of Toni Morrison. It is worth noting that colorism amongst the black community is a significant theme in this novel, as it has been in more than one of Morrison’s novels. The period and settings are wonderfully evoked with multi-sensory descriptions, ranging from cooking smells to the stink of gangrene, and from the feel of the cuffs that hang from the walls of an abandoned slave cottage to the sting of a whip across the back of the hand. A very moving book.

Kate Braithwaite SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE MISSING YEARS: Timbuktu Vasudev Murthy, Poisoned Pen Press, 2016, $26.95/C$30.95, hb, 304pp, 9781464204524 Presumed dead between 1891 and 1894, Sherlock Holmes was actually engaged in international intrigue across Europe and North Africa in this well-researched novel. At the request of an Italian scholar, Holmes travels to Venice.

Then, with the apparent sanction of the Vatican, he moves undercover to Morocco searching for an ancient document holding the answer to a worldchanging, mysterious secret. He is eventually joined by Dr. Watson, and the two are shadowed by a dangerous secret society which both suspect is being manipulated by Holmes’s nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

The historical figures of Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta figure in the hunt, as the two journey

perilously in the company of stalwart and noble Tuaregs through the Sahara to Timbuktu and beyond. They face natural and seemingly supernatural menaces along the way until the surprise ending dramatically provides the answer.

The novel has occasional shifts in narrative voice and many exotic and obscure personal and place names. This may make for difficult reading, but the well-described geographic and demographic tableaus and solid story make up for it. A good read in the proper Holmesian tradition.

Thomas J. Howley THE MIDWIFE’S CHOICE Delia Parr, Bethany House, 2015, $14.99, pb, 328pp, 978076421734 In the 1830s, Martha Cade is a midwife in the small town of Trinity, Pennsylvania, carrying on a familial tradition she adores and wishing her wild daughter, Victoria, would take it up as well.

But Victoria has other ideas, like writing for a big city ladies’ magazine, and Martha must struggle as new ways encroach upon her beloved traditions. In addition, she faces several societal ills when beloved patients face homelessness and domestic abuse, problems not openly spoken of in her time. But through it all she relies on her faith and ingenuity to get her and her fellow community members through, trusting that God will not let them down.

This is the second book in the At Home in Trinity series, and I think it would be advisable for the reader to have read the first one before beginning. I did not, and I feel like I missed out on a lot. That said, this is an enjoyable book with lots of heart. Though I found Martha’s stubbornness irritating at times, it was heartening to see how she changed through life’s trials but never lost her deep conviction in God’s guiding promise. Fans of inspirational fiction will like this sweet tale.

Nicole Evelina

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PHILIP NOLAN Chuck Pfarrer, Naval Institute Press, 2016, $29.95, hb, 320pp, 9781591145646 The novel begins in 1807. Philip Nolan, a young lieutenant in the western territories, is caught up in Vice President Aaron Burr’s schemes to dislodge the vast lands of the recent Louisiana Purchase from the Union.

When the scheme falls apart, thanks to a speedy triple-cross by a co-conspirator, General James Wilkinson, Nolan finds himself under arrest for carrying the VP’s messages. Jefferson’s lawyers can’t hang the crime of treason on the nimble Burr, so they go looking for a scapegoat and quickly find one in Philip Nolan. A properly stiff-necked 18th-century officer, Nolan refuses to compromise his honor. Enraged by the false charges and the underhand methods used to frame him, wounded and in pain, he vehemently declares his hatred for a country which would use an honest man so. His vindictive judges sentence him to be passed from ship to ship at the mercy of whatever captain until 19th Century

he dies, never to see America or have any contact with friends again.

This is, of course, the plot of “The Man Without a Country,” a story written in 1863 by Edward Everett Hale. At first, I was dubious about a fiction based upon a fiction, but it didn’t take me long to be completely drawn into this timely reworking of an old story. I wrote an admiring review for Mr. Pfarrer’s powerful Killing Che some years back. Once more, the author’s handling of the period and of his characters is impressive. His immersion in 19th-century manners and mores, his understanding of what makes a great Age of Sail narrative, and his passionate storytelling and heartpounding descriptions of warfare at sea made for a terrific read. Highly recommended!

Juliet Waldron

father, a manipulative older sister, a stepmother with whom she cannot form a bond, and a painful inability to fit in with her peers. Dreading a future of spinsterhood and penury, Lizzie is desperate for love and yearns for material indulgence. She’s not exactly a sympathetic character, this unrepentant axe-murderer, but it’s possible to understand how she could snap. In a wonderfully histrionic voice that makes the character believable even as she does things that are beyond belief, Lizzie spills her many secrets in this satisfying (if gory) account of her life before, during, and after the shattering event.

Sue Asher

FOR YOU WERE STRANGERS: A Hanley & Rivka Mystery D. M. Pirrone, Allium Press of Chicago, 2015, $16.99, pb, 320pp, 9780989053594 In For You Were Strangers, D. M. Pirrone continues the budding romance of Chicago Police Detective Frank Hanley and Rivka Kelmansky started in Shall We Not Revenge. This time Hanley is investigating the suspicious death of Ben Champion, a Civil War officer, whose death may have ties to a secret uprising during the Civil War in Chicago. Rivka’s long-lost brother returns to her house with his African-American wife and her son after they were burned out of their home.

When Rivka turns to Hanley for help in protecting her brother, little do they know that both cases are intertwined and connect to the infamous Northwest Confederacy conspiracy. The more Hanley uncovers in the cases, the closer he and Rivka become to one another.

The story is told through two narratives: Hanley and Rivka in post-fire 1872 Chicago, and the life of Dorrie Whittier in the late Civil War and early Reconstruction years. Both the sweltering, rebuilding city of Chicago and the ruined South are described in a rich tapestry that captures the time and mood of their people. Pirrone’s writing is as detailed and crisp as her research into the people, vice, and lingering racism of Chicago. While it is not difficult to surmise Ben’s killer, the intrigue with which Pirrone surrounds the murder is wellcrafted. For fans of Chicago history this is one not to miss, but the story will also hold the attention of anyone looking for a little mystery with their history.

Bryan Dumas

ON A DESERT SHORE S.K. Rizzolo, Poisoned Pen, 2016, $15.95, pb, 259pp, 9781464205477 Marina Garrod, a mixed-race girl, is the daughter of Joanna, a slave woman who was the mistress of Hugo Garrod, a sugar planter in Jamaica. Garrod, now a wealthy businessman in Britain, is very concerned about her mental health. He suspects she is the victim of some dastardly tricks designed to drive her insane. He employs John Chase, a Bow Street Runner, to protect her.

Before becoming a thief-taker, Chase was a lieutenant in the British Navy, stationed in Jamaica. There he contracted a serious illness and was nursed back to health by Joanna, who had a reputation as an obeah, a kind of witch doctor.

Chase takes up residence at Garrod’s country house. Her aunt, cousins and suitors are there, as well as her guardian who is also a trustee of Garrod’s estate. We have a fairly typical Agatha Christie-style ‘country-house’ murder scene, and before long the inevitable occurs.

This novel has a lot going for it, in particular the author’s very convincing knowledge of the period.

Also, unlike so many historical mysteries that with a little tweaking could have occurred at any time, this story could only have taken place in the early 19th century. The legal and technical content are especially well done.

For me, though, the novel lacks good creative editing, especially in the last few chapters, which really should have been drastically cut. Some readers may also find John Chase a not very competent detective. He depends far too much on the acumen of his friends Penelope Wolfe and Edward Buckler, who are also guests at the Garrod house. Four stars for historical interest and accuracy, but only three for the mystery and its denouement.

Ken Methold

THE SECRETS OF LIZZIE BORDEN Brandy Purdy, Kensington, 2016, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 305pp, 9780758288912 In the summer of 1892, in a small Massachusetts city, a double murder was committed. Lizzie Borden remains morbidly fascinating more than a hundred years after she played a central role in the chilling crime. Lizzie Borden took an axe, Gave her mother forty whacks… Surely everyone (of my generation at least) can finish this gruesome rhyme.

This lonely, unhappy young woman was almost certainly guilty of killing her father and stepmother.

But why? In this engrossing, imaginative novel, Purdy allows Lizzie Borden to tell her own story.

Lizzie suffered a stifling childhood with a miserly

SPEAKERS OF THE DEAD: A Walt Whitman Mystery J. Aaron Sanders, Plume, 2016, $16.00/C$21.00, pb, 320p, 9780143128717 1843: Walt Whitman, reporter and sometime poet, has failed to keep his friend, Lena Stowe, from hanging. Whitman knows Lena would never murder her husband, Dr. Abraham Stowe; despite his philandering, Lena and Abraham loved one another. But why was Abraham butchered and left for Lena to discover in the dissection room of their medical school for women? Walt vows to discover the reasons.

While Walt Whitman would seem an unlikely protagonist for a murder mystery, Sanders pulls it

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off with great aplomb.

Speakers of the Dead takes the reader into the seedy underbelly of mid-19th-century New York City, where the newly dead are a commodity for doctors desperate for subjects for anatomical studies.

Enter the resurrection men, aka grave robbers, who locate and provide bodies at a hefty price. Walt discovers that Abraham supported the Bone Bill, which would make legal the obtaining of cadavers for study. The cadaver business would be no more.

Walt discovers the cost of love and loyalty in this tale, which pulls the reader in from the first paragraph. Sanders skillfully paints a picture of the seedy side of life in old New York, peopling it with real-life characters from medical history and the local history of Long Island and New York City.

Highly recommended.

Monica E. Spence THE HONEYMOON Dinitia Smith, Other Press, 2016, $26.95/ C$34.95, hb, 416pp, 9781590517789 In 1880, Marian Evans, better known as George Eliot, married John Walter Cross; she was sixty, and Johnnie, as he was called, was forty. It was an odd pairing. Johnnie was fun-loving, gregarious, and athletic, while Marian was artistic, intellectual, and wary of public recognition. For nearly thirty years she had openly lived with, and wholeheartedly loved, the already-married George Henry Lewes, and his recent death had opened a chasm of loneliness and public scrutiny. Marriage to Johnnie, a longtime friend and also her accountant, would put a much-needed stamp of societal approval on Marian’s final years.

Dinitia Smith explores the relationship between Marian and Johnny, framed by their disastrous honeymoon in Venice, where Johnnie had a breakdown and attempted suicide. As the events in hot, humid Venice unfold—Johnnie being mistaken for Marian’s son, the lack of physical fulfillment, the unbearable leering of a gondolier— flashbacks provide insight into the life and career of Marian Evans. Smith delves into the brutal facts of being a plain woman in the Victorian era, with little likelihood of a prosperous marriage. Marian strives to get an education, so she can support herself, and in doing so, draws away from her family, attracted by liberal thinkers such as Charles and Cara Bray, Robert Brabant, and of course Lewes. Marian’s early working years, as the secret editor of the Westminster Review, living with John Chapman and his family, are harsh; to earn a living she has to give up her name and meet everyone’s needs while ignoring her own.

Smith draws a many-layered portrait of Marian Evans, her life and her loves, with fine details both historical and personal. Readers will enjoy an accurate portrait of the era and the people behind the great George Eliot.

Helene Williams MURDER ON ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE: A HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 35

Gaslight Mystery Victoria Thompson, Berkley Prime Crime, 2015, $25.95/C$33.95, hb, 310pp, 9780425278970 Victorian New York: Maeve, the nursemaid for the newly married Sarah and Frank Malloy, answers the doorbell to find a distraught Mrs. O’Neal, whose lovely daughter has been arrested for the brutal murder of her wealthy husband.

The newlyweds are still honeymooning and unavailable, so Maeve and her police officer friend, Gino Donatelli, investigate the crime, uncovering shady business dealings as well as a large amount of money, and solving the crimes just before the honeymooners return to New York.

This well written mystery moves briskly along.

Although I had previously read only one of the earlier Gaslight mysteries, I had no trouble enjoying this read as a standalone. The romantic conflict and verbal sparring between Maeve and Gino provide a pleasant counterpoint to the mystery and its surprising resolution. Although Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue is billed as a holiday book, the Christmas decorations do not overwhelm the plot. In fact, aside from the St. Nicholas Avenue address, the holiday is rarely mentioned until near the end of the book. Entertaining and lively, this book is recommended for lovers of cozy historical mysteries, at any time of the year.

Susan McDuffie A MAN OF GENIUS Janet Todd, Bitter Lemon Press, 2016, $24.95/£16.99, hb, 352pp, 97811908524591 In 1816 London, Ann St. Clair supports herself by writing gothic horror novels. Her cold, cruel mother had rejected her as a child, and her father had died before her birth. Remaining a spinster, Ann surrounds herself with other artistic types. The long war with France is over, Napoleon defeated, and ideas of a new world are discussed at the dinners held by Ann’s bookseller friend. Here she meets Robert James. James’s one claim to fame was a brief history called Attila, in which he tried to convince people of Attila’s heroism. The work is deemed brilliant and James a man of genius. His eloquent speeches entrance Ann, and she’s instantly smitten.

She and James begin an affair, but his passion and anger lead to rough treatment. He talks of the writing he’ll begin, but never starts. London isn’t good enough; he must go to Venice to kindle his creativity. Ann begs to go with him.

In Venice, prices are cheap, but it’s cold and damp. Ann’s obsession for James stilts her own writing. Their relationship is volatile, but she blames herself for stifling his genius. Ann is miserable and plots James’s death while still clinging to him. Then a strange German-looking man starts to follow her.

Could he be her lost father, or something more sinister?

This is a novel about obsession and abuse, genius never realized, and one woman’s journey to discover her past and regain her future. The dark, twisting turns of the relationship shape Ann in ways she both hates and grows from. She can be contradictory in her thoughts, but her mind is beaten down. For an independent woman, she falls for this blustery man easily, but Todd’s elegant, psychologically dark prose kept me mesmerized.

Diane Scott Lewis 36 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 76, May 2016

MESSENGER BY MOONLIGHT Stephanie Grace Whitson, FaithWords, 2016, $14.99, pb, 352pp, 9781455529087 Fourteen-year-old Annie, her twin brother, Frank, older brother, Emmet, and their widowed father eke out a living on a Missouri farm in 1860.

Pa dies, leaving his children nothing but debts, and they head for St. Joseph. Frank and Emmet sign on with the newly-formed Pony Express, and Annie as a cook at the Clearwater trail station in Nebraska Territory. The story covers about one year in the adventures of the Pony Express. Interesting secondary characters –from army officer Wade Hart and his journalist sister to Billy, a Native American survivor of smallpox, and the stuttering Clearwater’s owner, George Morgan – ring true.

Annie soon discovers that cooking and keeping house for a family of four is no training for feeding carriage and caravan passengers and their crews from dawn to late at night. Annie and her brothers must survive unruly or injured horses, a wolf pack, oppressive summers and brutal winters, even a rattlesnake hunting Annie’s precious chickens.

Bible passages provide anchors and comfort.

Unfortunately, the manuscript contains some clunky prose (“except for the fact that,” “what replaced the smile was”) and inauthentic dialogue for these folks (“aggrandize,” “notwithstanding”).

Some scenes end too soon. A variety of lesser facts (Annie killing that rattler with her bare hands, George Morgan “inevitably” winning at checkers “even if he only played with two checkers”) seem implausible. Despite its rough edges, Messenger by Moonlight is a well-researched tribute to the strong and courageous men and women of the Pony Express.

G. J. Berger

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STRIKING MURDER A. J. Wright, Allison & Busby, 2016, £19.99, hb, 319pp, 9780749019341 Wigan, Lancashire, 1893. The town is paralyzed by a coal miners’ strike, and many families are struggling to survive in the bitter winter weather. Arthur Morris, wealthy mineowner, receives a mysterious letter that causes him to abandon his comfortable family dinner and head for a part of town where many of his striking workers and their desperate families live. Hours later he is still there, lying near the house of the Haggerty family, murdered. Detective Sergeant Michael Brennan is under pressure to find the killer before tempers flare and the violence spreads. Is the murder connected with the tragic death of Bridie Haggerty’s husband? What of the man Molly Haggerty turned away, strike leader Frank Latchford? Who is the mysterious one-eyed man?

And why won’t Morris’s son tell the police where he went that night?

Striking Murder has a convincing sense of time and place. A.J. Wright’s characters range from the top to the bottom of the social scale and the book vividly depicts the tensions and ramifications of

the miners’ strike. The mystery is equally strong: the plot is fast-paced and cleverly strewn with red herrings and subtle clues. Highly recommended.

Ruth Downie THE TEETH OF THE SOULS Steve Yates, Moon City Press, 2015, $32.95, hb, 472pp, 9780913785539 After the Civil War, young Leighton Shea Morkan inherits the Morkan Quarry outside of Springfield, Missouri. To make a profit, he hires many free black men to operate the mine, which causes a furor among the town’s white residents.

The miners work for a lesser wage than white workers and are paid in script, which entitles them to necessities sold at the company store.

Leighton falls in love with Patricia Weitzer, daughter of a trustee of the National Mineral Bank, to whom he had owed money. This marriage arrangement rids him of the loan and adds land to his own acreage. Unbeknownst to Patricia, Leighton is having an affair with Judith, an older woman and former slave of the Morkans. Leighton and Patricia’s marriage did not sit well with Judith.

This is a sequel to Morkan’s Quarry, which had followed the narrative of Shea Morkan’s father, who had established the stone quarry prior to the Civil War. The racial tension between the blacks and whites in Springfield provides a fascinating glimpse of unrest in post-Civil War America.

Vigilantes and the upcoming railroad increase the tension within the Springfield community. The characterizations are complex and realistic for the time period. This is an exceptional read that brings the Reconstruction period to life. Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff

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ABOVE US THE SKY Milly Adams, Arrow, 2015, £7.99, pb, 452pp, 9781784751036 Phyllie Saunders is a newly qualified teacher about to shepherd her young charges onto a train to Dorset, where they will be billeted with local families to escape the London Blitz. Her young man, Sammy, a Royal Navy submariner, suddenly appears and proposes to her before leaving on active service. Phyllie does her best to care for the children and help them adjust to unfamiliar rural life, but not all the natives are friendly. Nonetheless, despite worrying about Sammy and her mother and brother, who have chosen to stay in London, she launches herself into village life and finds a niche in the Women’s Institute, which turns out to be more than ‘Jam and Jerusalem’. Soon, as events take an unexpected turn, Phyllie will need all their support to see her through.

This is a vivid story, full of convincing detail about life during WWII on the Home Front and in the Forces, showing the fear, heartbreak, grit and solidarity of people who did their bit ‘for the duration’, as they called it. The characters are welldrawn and the plot engaging enough to make for an absorbing read.

Sarah Cuthbertson 19th Century — 20th Century

LOST KIN Steve Anderson, Yucca, 2016, $24.99, hb, 317pp, 9781631580819 It’s Germany in 1946. Americans, Russians, refugees, and ex-Nazis try to survive the post-war turmoil. In the middle of this chaos, an American officer gets word that his long-lost brother is alive.

There’s a girl, but she disappears in a few pages.

Then there’s a body.

That’s three distinct story lines: the brother, the girl, and the body. One is resolved fairly quickly. I won’t reveal which one, but from that resolution come two additional plots and another murder.

Finally, a new mission develops that involves all the characters and even the antagonists. The half-solved plots merge until everything proceeds toward a singular, linear goal in the end.

It’s a good story. I only had trouble sometimes keeping up with the characters. At one point, I asked myself, “Who the hell is that?” An author can keep a reader’s attention in two ways. Number one: make it a page turner. This author is master of that, as in, “It turns out that I have a visitor from my past.” Not only that, but the subsequent chapter will usually pick up right there. That’s good.

Number two: remind the reader occasionally who the characters are, just in case the reader is not on a five-hour flight from L.A. to Philadelphia with a plane delay. This author does not do that.

The male characters are well developed, but not so much the females. There’s no romance to speak of. However, that’s not the author’s intention, to write a mystery novel or a romance. His is to show what really happened in the opening days of the Cold War. I found myself saying, “God, I hope that didn’t happen.” If you thought the war was over in 1945, you’ll think otherwise. The title font is red.

That’s not because it’s the author’s favorite color.

Kevin Montgomery DEATH SITS DOWN TO DINNER Tessa Arlen, Minotaur, 2016, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250052506 On the eve of WWI, Lady Clementine Montfort is invited to a dinner birthday party for the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. The elderly Hermione Kingsley is hosting many prominent members of society for this fete. In the midst of the frivolity, the butler cries out, and Clementine, an amateur sleuth, rushes to find one of guests is dead, a knife thrust in his ribs. Sir Reginald seemed harmless, if a bore, with no enemies – so who wanted him dead?

Clementine calls in her trusty housekeeper, Mrs. Jackson, from the country, and they both start to unravel the crime. Part of their investigation takes them to an orphanage sponsored by Hermione and Sir Reginald.

Clementine is a society lady with access to the richest in London, which helps her gather information, but Mrs. Jackson is the brains behind this operation. Clementine is never warned away from her snooping, and when the murderer is revealed – a surprise to me – Clementine says she knew all along, which doesn’t seem feasible.

Nonetheless this is a light, enjoyable mystery.

Diane Scott Lewis THE BROKEN HOURS: A Novel of H. P. Lovecraft 20th Century

Jacqueline Baker, Talos, 2016, $24.99, hb, 320pp, 9781940456553 It is 1936, and even wealthy Providence, Rhode Island suffers in the grip of the Depression. Arthor Crandle, estranged from his family and desperate for employment, takes a job as personal assistant to a reclusive author of “weird fiction.” As he settles in to his employer’s eerie home, Crandle cannot escape feelings of unease as he realizes there is something malevolent in the house… or perhaps in his seldom-seen employer.

This atmospheric literary thriller is skillfully constructed, and it offered some moments of heartrate increase I seldom experience outside a cardio session. I was unfamiliar with Lovecraft’s personal life/family history, and that stood me in good stead here – I might have seen some things coming had I known his biography, thereby lessening the suspense, which is deliciously crafted in this disquieting Gothic novel. Baker’s characterization is strong, her prose evocative, and the ambiance she creates as creepy as a frigid draft that blows a door shut in an empty house. The pacing is superb; it neither drags nor sweeps the reader too precipitously.

Along with the apprehension (and, admittedly, sometimes out-and-out fear) she provokes, there is also the element of character study that intrigues.

Having read some of Lovecraft’s work, it seems to me that Baker may have captured the feel, the essence, of the strange “Ech-Pi” that is reflected therein. She is equally adept at her characterization of the fictional Crandle and his lifeline to light and normalcy, the home’s other tenant, a young blond with the expressive name of Flossie Kush. When the novel’s final twist comes, you may feel, as did I, a desire to go back and re-read with a somewhat different perspective. I finished this novel in one sitting, and found nothing to disappoint. That’s not something I can say about many of the books I crack open.

Bethany Latham NOONDAY Pat Barker, Doubleday, 2015, $27.95, hb, 307pp, 9780385537728 / Penguin, 2016, £8.99, pb, 272pp, 9780241966037 This novel completes the trilogy which began with Life Class and Toby’s Room. London in 1940 features shattered glass, buildings on the verge of collapse, and the sound of Nazi planes buzzing their implicit death threats. Even the roses seem to expect to be bombed, a use of the pathetic fallacy that seems appropriate. Rationing makes coffee precious and a pair of nylon stockings become sexual, enviable and suspicious. Most of the characters are artists who have been acquainted with each other in a painting class and whose lives have been a tangle of marriage, adultery, incest and disillusionment.

The main character, Elinor, has been drifting apart from her husband Paul since she saw him kissing a younger woman. Elinor’s duties as an air raid warden put her in close proximity with an old admirer, an artist turned art critic. Kenneth Clark and the War Time Artists Advisory council choose to honor some artists, filling the others with a mixture of scorn and envy.

This period has been called Britain’s finest hour.

The courage and perseverance come through here,

but the characters still have their personal affairs and secrets dating back to the earlier entries in the series. It might be advisable to read the first two before opening this one.

James Hawking THE NOISE OF TIME Julian Barnes, Jonathan Cape, 2015, £14.99, hb, 198pp, 9781910702604 / Knopf, 2016, $26.95, hb, 224pp, 9781101947241 This is a fictional account of the life of the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich. It is by no means a conventional linear narrative, but rather is a series of reflections, memories and streamsof-consciousness from the composer. The book starts in 1936, and Shostakovich is in fear for his life, having displeased Stalin and thus the whole Communist Party machinery, for a loud and seemingly irritating performance of his opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, in front of Stalin and other leading Party functionaries. The whole mechanism of official displeasure falls upon the unfortunate composer, who knows only too well what happens to those who, intentionally or not, upset the infallible Party. But he seems to have a lucky escape, when his interrogator then falls under suspicion himself. Shostakovich breathes again. He then moves onto to describe and reflect upon his life as a rehabilitated composer in the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War against the Nazis, and his state-sanctioned visit to the United States in 1948. Julian Barnes portrays the crass, selfserving, absolutist and pernicious nature of Soviet life, the great experiment that wanted to “engineer the souls of men”; but just ended up as a corrupt regime that benefitted the Party and its members who scrambled up the greasy pole to the top.

Julian Barnes’ novels are elegantly written, as is The Noise of Time an admirable account of a supremely talented man, who had to survive perilous times. It analyses, in precise and intelligent language, his thoughts and responses to the great catastrophe that was the Soviet Union. This book is a relatively short read, but has an immense depth that is lacking in so many other publications of much greater length.

Douglas Kemp EVEN THE DEAD: A Quirke Novel Benjamin Black, Henry Holt, 2016, $27.00/ C$31.50, hb, 304pp, 9781627790666 / Penguin, 2015, £7.99, pb, 272pp, 9780241197356 Inspector Quirke is back in Benjamin Black’s latest, and he picks up with Quirke recuperating at his adoptive brother and sister-in-law’s home.

After Quirke’s assistant asks him to look at what the police are calling an accident, Quirke quickly agrees that it is not and that a murder happened.

The young man killed is the son of a prominent communist agitator in Dublin, and Quirke is left to decide if the boy was killed because of his father or something he uncovered. When Quirke’s daughter, Phoebe, gets a visit from a mysterious, pregnant girl who fears for her life, Phoebe helps her go into hiding. Soon after, the girl disappears, and Phoebe asks Quirke for help. Before long the two cases intertwine. Together with his friend Inspector Hackett, Quirke begins to unravel a cover-up that includes Dublin’s most powerful men and even the Catholic Church.

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Though it is only vaguely alluded to, Even the Dead is set in the 1950s. It is a sweltering summer in Dublin, a city that becomes an atmospheric character itself through Black’s skilled writing. Fans of Black’s Quirke series will enjoy the depth with which he explores Quirke’s personal life, longings, and mental baggage, but those looking for a solid mystery may be left disappointed, as the murder and missing girl cases often take a back seat to resolving Quirke’s many, many issues. Readers must suspend disbelief with the numerous coincidences that come to bear in resolving the case, and then there are the love-at-first-sight issues between Quirke and Phoebe’s boss. For what it is, this is a well-written book with an almost lyrical nature to the prose, but it isn’t a deep, suspenseful mystery.

Bryan Dumas

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TIME OF FOG AND FIRE: A Molly Murphy Mystery Rhys Bowen, Minotaur, 2016, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 288 pp, 9781250052049 1906: Molly Murphy Sullivan reluctantly bids farewell to her husband, who has been recruited by the Secret Service for a mysterious mission. A few weeks later Molly receives an uncharacteristic letter from her husband.

Convinced he wants her to meet him in San Francisco, Molly makes the arduous journey across the country with her toddler son. San Francisco buzzes with excitement over the eminent visit of Enrico Caruso, but Molly faces devastating news upon her arrival. A few days later the great earthquake shakes the foundations of the city itself. In the aftermath the lives of Molly and her loved ones are put horribly at risk.

I devoured this flawlessly written mystery in one day, and enjoyed every word. The story moves along at a rapid clip, and Molly’s resourceful struggles keep the reader entertained. Some happy coincidences after the earthquake help Molly out.

The book is a wonderful read, full of interesting details that give life to the story. I’m looking forward to catching up with Molly’s earlier adventures, and wholeheartedly recommend this one to all lovers of historical mysteries.

Susan McDuffie THE COLOURS OF LOVE Rita Bradshaw, Pan, 2015, £6.99, pb, 484pp, 9781447271581 The story begins in 1923. A ship has been driven onto rocks and the survivors taken to an inn. Two women are about to give birth. One baby, a girl, survives but the other, a boy, is stillborn. The girl is born to a woman who is unmarried and forced to hand the child over to a convent for adoption.

Instead she gives her to the other woman, who brings the baby up as her own. What follows is a powerful story of love and the consequences of that loving act.

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history, but this one bucks the trend as it could not have been set in any other period. It is typical of the attitudes of the time, and the characters have been portrayed extremely well. The reader is caught up in their lives and the events that followed. I really wanted to know what happened next and how it was all resolved in the end, but for that you will have to read it for yourself. Rita Bradshaw has written a number of novels, and I shall certainly look out for more of them.

Marilyn Sherlock A FINE IMITATION Amber Brock, Crown, 2016, $25.00, hb, 295pp, 9781101905128 Co-ed Vera Longacre is the epitome of an old money New York heiress: intelligent, beautiful, reserved, and above all a compliant daughter— until she meets Bea Stillman. A talented painter with debatable morals, Bea encourages Vera to take risks, promising to keep her friend’s secrets if Vera will keep hers. After one of Bea’s schemes goes awry, Vera must choose between her scandalous friend and her predictable family.

A Fine Imitation alternates between Vera’s time at Vassar College in 1913 and her marriage a decade later. The brief chapters flash brightly, not unlike the martinis Vera guzzles to numb herself against her loveless marriage—a union whose wealth allows her to acquire the paintings and statues she treasures while her absent husband buys jewelry for others.

Inspired by photographs of his work, Vera selects Frenchman Emil Hallan to paint a mural for her posh Manhattan apartment building.

The secretive auburn-haired artist excites Vera physically and intellectually. Once again, she must choose between desire and duty. (For those who care about such things, the novel’s sex scenes are chaste and primarily off the page.)

Brock’s introspective characters, satisfying subplots, and unexpected—but justified—twists elevate the novel from a period romance to a suspenseful peek inside high society’s gilded cage.

Vera herself might describe A Fine Imitation’s appeal the same way she explains her love of art: “it’s like a window into someone’s head. The only chance we have to see the world through someone else’s eyes. A glimpse of another time, another place.”

Jo Haraf THE HOUSEGUEST Kim Brooks, Counterpoint, 2016, $25, hb, 356pp, 9781619026056 World War II remains in the public consciousness as a certain businessman, currently running for President of the United States, is evoking comparisons to a certain Austrian in power in Germany in 1941. Kim Brooks’ first novel reminds us that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The Houseguest begins in the summer of 1941, when the war in Europe was happening to other people, when a boatload of Jewish refugees, denied entry into Cuba, was also turned away at the port of Miami, left to return to Europe or die at sea.

Brooks has assembled a compelling cast of characters. In Utica, New York, a junkman and his wife take in a refugee, an actress who refuses

to conform to the role of grateful houseguest. The couple’s rabbi, Max Hoffmann, finds himself acting as eyes and ears for Shmuel Spiro, the head of the Committee for a Jewish Army of Stateless and Palestinian Jews, at conferences where Spiro isn’t welcome. And refugee Ana Beidler bewitches Abe Auer, her host, while bedeviling men from her past.

A comparison to the present notwithstanding, this is a powerful book. There are very few Gentile characters, so this allows for more nuanced portraits of its Jewish characters. They exist not as counterpoints to Gentiles but to each other.

As Spiro puts it, there are Jews in America and there are American Jews, and there is a difference.

And tragedy is writ large in the past of several characters; they have been tested long before Hitler came to power. By the end of the book, the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor, so war has come to the United States.

Ellen Keith

THE LONGEST FIGHT Emily Bullock, Myriad/Trafalgar Square, 2015, $14.95/C$17.95/£8.99, pb, 320pp, 9781908434531 In 1950s London, Jack Munday is trying to find lightning in the bottle that will get him to the top of the boxing world. A former boxer, Jack thinks he has found his man in Frank, a young Irish boy with a powerful left hook. Together, they start to make their way up through London’s seedy, dark rings to the big show. Slowly, Frank falls in love with Pearl, a young girl living with Jack, whose relationship to him slowly evolves throughout the story. Eventually, Frank decides that he no longer wants to fight and that he and Pearl will marry. Jack has to decide if he is willing to let it all go, or seek out one last victory with Frank in his corner.

Bullock’s London is the real winner in this book. It’s a gritty, dark world rebuilding from the Blitz, and the perfect place for Jack to explore the wreckage of his own life: his abusive father, the sudden death of his wife, and his lackluster boxing career. While this is a story about boxing, the ring is really a metaphorical place for Jack to go round for round with his past. In her story about redemption and hope, Bullock’s writing is as taut as the fighters in her ring. The pacing is slow at times, but it does draw to a satisfying conclusion. A good read for an interesting look at London before, during and after the war.

Bryan Dumas

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GIRL SINGER Mick Carlon, Leapfrog, 2015, $15.95/C$22.50, pb, 160pp, 9781935248736 After hearing Avery Hall sing at a dive club in Harlem, Lester “Pres” Young advises Count Basie to bring her on as their new singer. And that’s how 19-year-old Avery goes from being a waitress living in a small apartment to traveling aboard the Blue Goose – Basie’s bus – throughout the United States during the 1930s and into World War II. Along the way, she learns about America’s varying levels of racism, especially in the Deep South. After the war, Avery leaves the band, but not the “family,” and settles into a comfortable life in New York.

Here, she is forced to confront her own prejudices when she meets Karl, a man she first accuses of being a good-for-nothing Nazi because 20th Century

of his accent. Then she learns that he is a German Jew who had fled Nazi Germany via Shanghai.

Together, they embark on another journey through American prejudice, this time as a mixedrace couple.

Don’t let Girl Singer’s length deceive you. Carlon packs an entire world into those short pages. And what a marvelous world it is: from Harlem and the Jazz Age, to Southern racism, Nazi hatred, and finally Chinese-Jewish culture. The sounds of jazz, of nightclubs and dance halls and the swinging beat of New York, are written so eloquently that the reader can almost feel the rhythm rumble off the pages like an improvised jazz note. This is an incredible novel that works as both a lesson on jazz music and the people who created it, and as a window into American racism and hatred. A fast read, but a don’t-miss, must-read book.

Bryan Dumas YOUR HEART’S DESIRE Melody Carlson, Center Street, 2016, $13.99/ C$16.99, pb, 180pp, 9781455528141 In 1946, widowed Caroline Marshall and her son, Joe, move to California to start a new life on their own. Moving into the basement apartment of her sister’s house, Caroline has some challenges ahead of her. Not only is the apartment rather dingy and dull, but she needs to find a job to support Joe and herself. Caroline works hard and is soon able to find a new job in the local chocolate factory. A handsome stranger complicates matters, especially when Caroline meets him all over town – at church, at a local diner, and even at M.G. Chocolates. As she begins to heal from her tragic past, Caroline grows into a happy woman with a new perspective on life.

This is a short and sweet romance story.

Caroline’s transformation from a dowdy, grieving widow into a strong, sparkling woman was fun to follow. I appreciated the attention to detail in the story and the historical backdrop. This was a delightful read, but one that must be read with a bowl of chocolate nearby. My only complaint is the length of the book – I wish it had been longer with a little more follow-up, as it ends rather abruptly.

Rebecca Cochran EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN Chris Cleave, Sceptre, 2016, £14.99, hb, 448pp, 9781473618695 / Simon & Schuster, 2016, $26.99, hb, 432pp, 9781501124372 This is a serious book about serious themes in serious times, written in a tragicomic style which easily lapses into facetiousness. It took me some time to relate to the characters, but the effort was repaid. It probably has a special resonance for me, having lived through (and almost not) the bombardment of London in WW2. How can anybody who has not been through it know how it felt? Yet Chris Cleave does, and he was not even born at the time; he also knows how to share it with his readers. He can even convey the unique mental 20th Century

disorientation caused by the decompression effect of bomb blast.

The story was inspired by the experience of the author’s grandparents in the London Blitz and the siege of Malta, but it is not a fictional memoir.

Rather it is an homage to the ordinary people who endured so much and bore it so bravely. Basically it is a love story between a schoolteacher and a young officer, both of them mentally and physically scarred by war. I disliked them both initially and ended the book caring strongly that things would work out well for them.

Edward James DEEP WATERS Ann Cliff, Robert Hale, 2015, £19.99, hb, 222pp, 9780719817410 As always with Robert Hale books, this is splendidly produced with a well-chosen typeface and a pleasure to (be)hold. Setting her novel in 1900s Yorkshire, in times of growing urban population in the woollen industries of Leeds, Ann Cliff gives a vivid picture of life in Firby, a farming village threatened with the prospect of flooding to make a reservoir to supply the West Riding.

When the local landowners, Major and Lady Agnes, return from India to face the problem, their estate manager fears eviction, but his daughter Rachel follows the council surveyor’s progress, taking up reporting it for the local paper. She has more than that to defend when Guy Potts, the landlord’s son, corners her in a greenhouse.

Rachel is encouraged to go to her grandfather, who needs company after an accident. Here she learns the Firby reservoir project is still alive when Roger, the young surveyor she loves, returns. He reveals that due to interference from Guy Potts the project to flood Firby has been revived.

This fine book melds civil engineering with a countryside romance. Gems like ‘the beauty of the sheltered valley gave back the warmth of the day’ and good action at the estate shoot bring the story alive. There are few passages when nothing seems to happen to further the story.

Geoffrey Harfield A PETROL SCENTED SPRING Ajay Close, Sandstone, 2015, £8.99, pb, 272pp, 9781910124611 The subject of this short and zesty novel is the women’s fight for the right to vote in the first two decades of the 20th century. It is narrated by Donella Atkins, who starts by describing her own initiative into the suffragette movement when she and a friend witness a co-ordinated action of shop-window smashing in London. A major part of the story concerns the odd relationship between the militant suffragette Arabella Scott and the Perth Gaol physician, Dr Hugh Ferguson Watson. Arabella is serving a prison sentence for her suffragette activities, and when she goes on hunger strike, Watson is responsible for ensuring her health, which ultimately ends in the deeply unpleasant process of force-feeding. Despite the battles between the two antagonists, a bizarre bond develops between them, intensified as their social origins are very different. This story is narrated by Donella, whom, it is revealed in a series of almost throwaway asides, later marries this Dr Watson, and thus Donella’s account is mostly an imaginative

reconstruction of events, seen from the wreckage of her own disappointing marriage when we learn much more about the character of Hugh Watson.

The book is a fictional imagining of real people and events. Ajay Close’s writing style is singular – direct, intelligent and entertaining. It has a depth, despite a superficial raciness, and with the narrative zipping around, it demands some attention from the reader to understand precisely what is going on.

It is undoubtedly worth it, though, and the novel is an absorbing read.

Douglas Kemp THE HIGH FLYER Elizabeth Darrell, Severn House, 2016, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 224pp, 9780727885739 Twelve years after World War I, Ben Norton arrives in England to confront his former friend and flying partner in the Royal Flying Corps, only to watch him plummet to his death during a test flight of the Lance prototype. Determined to discover what caused the shocking event, Ben leaves his former life behind and becomes the new test pilot for Marshfield aviation, putting his own neck at stake as he hunts for clues to his colleague’s death—all while hiding a damaging wartime secret.

Monitored by disapproving family and hounded by indomitable journalists, Ben is a somewhat dry narrator, his years of holding a secret likely to blame, but while he certainly knows the ins and outs of an airplane, I hoped for a touch more emotion from him. He tends to be quick and rash with his accusations, which often land him in more trouble. The prose is limited, making way for plane specs and theories, but what Ben thought would be a simple case is in fact riddled with twists and turns.

This is a fairly quick read that does an excellent job of shading each character with just enough suspicion to keep you guessing. And with many layers to the story, you’re bound to be surprised at least once.

Holly Faur NURSING FOX Jim Ditchfield, Odyssey Books, 2016, A$27.95/$22.95, pb, 300pp, 9781922200426 In 1914, 21-year-old student nurse Lucy Paignton-Fox arrives home to her family’s cattle station in Australia’s Northern Territory. Although she is about to start medical school, Lucy announces that she has enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service and will shortly be deployed overseas. Her horrified parents caution her: “But we’re at war. There’ll be shooting. You could be injured or… There’ll be men.” Lucy ignores their admonitions and sails off for nursing service with the Anzacs in France. There she works at several casualty clearing stations close to the front, moving with the makeshift hospitals as they follow the Allies’ advance. Besides providing vital medical assistance to the many wounded, Lucy has the opportunity to befriend other nurses, doctors, and soldiers, in particular Adam, an American pilot.

This war story spanning the four-year duration of WWI is another addition to the accumulation of fiction recounting that terrible time. The writing shows ample evidence of Jim Ditchfield’s extensive research and personal military experience, with detailed descriptions of armaments, troop HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 39

movements, and both air and ground battle scenes.

Scenes involving first aid procedures, especially under heavy bombardment, are particularly well handled and should interest readers of Peter Rees’ 2014 nonfiction book Anzac Girls. Readers will feel as if they are fighting alongside the combatants, working with the medical staff, and flying in vintage biplanes. However, the numerous thirdperson point of view anecdotes make the storyline feel somewhat disjointed. Also, the incessant descriptions of battles and the nursing of injuries get monotonous. It is not until about the novel’s halfway point, when Lucy and another nurse find themselves in trenches at the front and are forced into hand-to-hand skirmish with the Germans, that the storyline picks up steam and enthralls us up to the unpredictable conclusion.

Waheed Rabbani

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THE MIDNIGHT WATCH David Dyer, Atlantic, 2016, £12.99, hb, 336pp, 9781782397793 / St. Martin’s, 2016, $26.99, hb, 336pp, 9781250080936 Not another book about the Titanic?

No, this book is about the Californian, the ship that saw the Titanic’s distress signals and did not respond.

Legend has it that the officer on watch (the Midnight Watch) thought the Titanic’s passengers were having a fireworks party.

This is the greatest unsolved mystery of the disaster, and we can never know the answer. The Midnight Watch is the story of a man who tried to find the answer, an alcoholic, sleazy Boston journalist whose dogged persistence uncovers what he believes is the true story and which David Dyer clearly wants us to believe. It is not so much a whodunit as a ‘whydideedoit’, or more accurately ‘whydidtheydoit,’ and although there are 1500 victims, there is no actual murderer, just fatal misjudgments and tangles of distrust and misplaced loyalty. Nonetheless, the story has all the tension, narrative drive, characterisation and sense of place of the very best detective stories, including two fine courtroom dramas. If you like murder mysteries you will love this.

I was surprised to see that this is a debut. I look forward to the next David Dyer novel. There can be few lawyers who were once ship’s officers and now teach English literature.

Edward James AMERICAN TUMBLEWEEDS Marta Elva, Circling Rivers, 2016, $14.99, pb, 298pp, 9781939530011 1960s El Paso, Texas: When Inez Ramirez’s father is arrested for smuggling marijuana across the Mexico-U.S. border, her family nearly shatters as they deal with the repercussions. In this novel told in multi-person points of view, we get a firsthand glimpse of a simpler life in Mexico, the hardships of being a bicultural family in America, and a young girl who just wants the freedom to grow up and make her own decisions.

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I enjoyed the blending of cultures in American Tumbleweeds, from ´60s era music and styles to the homey impression of Inez’s abuela’s home and traditions in Mexico. While discrimination of Latin Americans was certainly common in the period and present in the story, Elva doesn’t make it her focus. Inez’s story is that of any young girl—finding herself under the influence of peer pressure—but she faces the added challenge of not knowing where she truly belongs. Inez’s mother, Katalina, struggles to care for her family even as she’s accused of abandoning them, and Inez’s father, Ramón, can’t help feeling he’s failed those he loves most.

Spanish inflections and phrases are scattered through each chapter, lending authenticity to the characters and their world, although I found myself wishing for more emotion from them at times. But overall, this was a story about a family’s unique struggle, and it accomplished what it set out to do.

Holly Faur TERRIBLE VIRTUE Ellen Feldman, Harper, 2016, $25.99, hb, 272pp, 9780062407559 Ellen Feldman’s sixth novel focuses on the life of birth control crusader Margaret Sanger. The title comes from a Sanger quote: “It is only rebel woman, when she gets out of the habits imposed on her by bourgeois convention, who can do some deed of terrible virtue.” Like the paradox of the phrase “terrible virtue,” the life of Margaret Sanger, as presented by Feldman, is an enigma: a mother who loves, yet virtually abandons her children; a woman who is offended by masturbation but not by the concept of “free love” within a marriage; a woman who claims affinity with the socialist/ worker movement, but consorts with the wealthy in order to procure donations and support. Feldman gives us a flesh-and-blood Sanger, complete with inconsistencies, flaws, and dogged determination and courage.

Told in the first person, with other voices interspersed periodically, the story lets readers see the motivations and the good Sanger does, alongside the harm she causes to those closest to her. Sanger’s childhood is the source of her fervor to give women choices regarding pregnancy. Her mother gave birth to fourteen babies, losing two and suffering several miscarriages. She died at 39.

Her father, a hard-drinking firebrand who preaches free thinking in every barroom in Corning, NY, is not much help for the family. Luckily for Margaret, her two older sisters pay for her to attend nursing school. Here, she meets her first love, Bill Sanger, who teaches her about the use of French letters, or condoms. She notices wealthy ladies “on the hill” have few children. As a practicing nurse in poor areas, she sees firsthand the atrocities women commit on their own bodies to rid themselves of the 14th or 15th child.

Sensitive and tough, brutally honest and yet filled with grief, this novel will leave the reader still pondering long after the last page has been turned.

Anne Clinard Barnhill BETWEEN HERE AND GONE Barbara Ferrer, Diversion, 2016, $16.99, pb, 300pp, 9781626817135 When Fidel Castro seized control of Cuba, the

affluent Natalia San Martin fled to America with her family in the wake of personal tragedy. It’s now 1960s New York, and while Natalia has carefully hidden away her former self and changed her name to Natalie, her family is now estranged, and she’s struggling to make a living. But when she’s offered the job of ghost writing a starlet’s biography, dredging up another’s tangled past unwittingly reminds Natalie of her own, with things she’d like to forget. As truths are revealed, Natalie finds the strength to move on and love again.

Ferrer has done a fantastic job outlining the lives and sacrifices of the many families who have come to find a better life in America. I especially enjoyed the history and glimpses into Cuba, written in stark contrast to New York’s bustle. Her prose sends you on little adventures you almost hate to return from. Natalie is a likeable heroine, and easy to sympathize with. She’d like to love again, as indicated by some of her poor choices, but is tormented by her past until she finds the unlikely affection of the man who hires her to ghost write.

I had a little trouble mirroring the life of the starlet with Natalie’s past. This could be because she doesn’t make an appearance until the last third of the book, and at this point we have already learned a great deal about Natalie’s story. After Natalie finally meets her, I was disappointed to see the starlet become a sudden antagonist, her erratic behavior and final, harrowing moments pinned on an unnamed mental illness. I had to wait for the happy ending, but it comes along eventually.

Holly Faur THE LETTER WRITER Dan Fesperman, Knopf, 2016, $26.95, hb, 384pp, 9781101875063 Dan Fesperman’s The Letter Writer is a classic example of old-fashioned noir with gritty detectives and seedy police officers, plenty of dead bodies piling up, corruption at the highest reaches and lowest levels of power, and a wartime tour of the nation’s largest melting pot. No one can be trusted, and even the main characters conceal much about themselves though they need each other to stay alive.

Set in early 1942 New York, just after the U.S. has entered the war, The Letter Writer features Woodrow Cain, a NYPD detective who left North Carolina and a troubled past behind him to start anew in the north, and Max Danzinger, an erudite, multilingual man who, by writing letters for illiterate immigrants, helps his clients conceal and forget their past. After Danzinger helps Cain identify a floater found in the Hudson River, Cain discovers that the letter writer also knows the dead man was involved in “Little Deutschland” where suspected Nazi sympathizers are active.

With Danzinger’s knowledge of the city, Cain’s investigation uncovers a network of traitorous corruption that could cost them both their lives.

Having lived in New York City, I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the neighborhoods and how the city worked—or didn’t—at such a crucial juncture in our history. I found it a bit hard to get into at first, but definitely recommend it for fans of classic noir and historical crime novels.

Kristina Blank Makansi

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A CUP OF DUST: A Novel of the Dust Bowl Susie Finkbeiner, Kregel, 2015, $14.99, pb, 320pp, 9780825443886 Precocious Pearl Spence is the narrator of this enjoyable novel set in the harsh Oklahoma prairies in 1934, an area that was susceptible to the kind of dust storms that could blind an entire community and wreak havoc on its residents.

Pearl’s father is the town sheriff, and while her family is not wealthy, their economic situation is a bit better than most of the other residents in Red Oak. Pearl is a curious child, and a strong-willed, outspoken one. Pearl’s older sister, Beanie, is “not right,” though Pearl is not exactly sure what is wrong with her. In addition to her parents, Pearl’s “Meemaw” lives with the family: a woman who has a rock solid belief in God. But Pearl isn’t so sure; she thinks that perhaps both God and President Roosevelt have forgotten about Oklahoma. A mysterious stranger named Eddie comes to town and seems to show up everywhere. He also seems to know a lot about Pearl. Pearl has a bad feeling about him but cannot convince her parents that he has ulterior motives.

Although the story could have taken place in Anytown, USA during the Depression era, as most families experienced similar hardships, I loved the setting of the Dust Bowl, as it provides an evocative framework for a hardscrabble life. Pearl is a terrific narrator with a magnetic personality. The book is suspenseful and gritty with true-to-life characters.

It is about hope, family, survival and faith. The writing is stellar, the storyline engaging. It’s a book that deserves a front and center place on any shelf that is filled with inspirational historical fiction.

Hilary Daninhirsch WITHOUT LEAVE Deborah Fleming, Black Mountain, 2014, $22.50, pb, 274pp, 9780970016560 In 1967 San Francisco, Seaman David Shields is on shore leave from the USS Loyola, having returned from service in the Western Pacific. He sits on a grassy hillside park and, encouraged by other people’s singing and guitar playing, he starts to croon. Diane, a flower child, is drawn to him. They discover they have much in common.

Both are from Ohio and didn’t finish school due to unfortunate circumstances. While Diane is disillusioned with the period’s mores and is living in a commune, David is distraught with his naval service. Although only halfway through his hitch, he is considering deserting. Diane tempts him: “We have room, if you need a place to stay. Got a sleeping bag?” David accepts and extends his liberty both from the Navy and at the enclave. But with conflicts developing with his new ‘friends,’ and Navy chasers on his trail, his idyllic life can’t last indefinitely.

Deborah Fleming has set this heartbreaking love story during the turbulent late 1960s, the era of the Vietnam War and student unrest. The details of life on an aircraft carrier and the antics of sailors on shore leave are both mesmerizing and hilarious.

The desires, aspirations, and disappointments among the youth of the period are well illustrated.

Scenes of life in the commune bring readers into the lives of the residents there, sharing their tokes.

Although covered in more detail than seems necessary for the plot, the student riots at Kent 20th Century

State and the actions of the National Guard are narrated well. In particular, a scene depicting the famous photograph flashed around the world, of a girl kneeling with outstretched arms, is skillfully embedded in the story. Despite the unimpressive cover, the novel would be of great interest to those wanting to learn about this turbulent period, especially members of the younger generation who didn’t live through it.

Waheed Rabbani CHARLOTTE David Foenkinos (trans. Sam Taylor), Overlook, 2016, $26.95/C$34.95, hb, 224pp, 9781468312768 Charlotte, by French writer David Foenkinos, tells the story of Charlotte Salomon, a young artist passionately in love with her art and willing to do whatever she can to give herself time to create. Born into a Jewish family in Germany and coming of age during the Nazi reign of terror, Charlotte barely escapes to France, where she is interned in a work camp from which she narrowly escapes. The next two years she spends in solitude, using this time to create a series of autobiographical images (words, musical scores, as well as visual art) to tell her story.

Sadly, in 1943, the Germans discover her, and she is gassed while pregnant. However, just before her death she entrusts her life’s work to a doctor, who is able to protect the work – which was later exhibited in the 1960s, and became a sensation.

In his tribute to Charlotte, Foenkinos chooses to tell the story in poetic form, using lines of free verse to explore the events in her life. And by telling, the novel reads just that way; we are told what happens, rather than shown. Perhaps hearing the work aloud might make it more riveting, or perhaps the translation lacks a poet’s sensibilities.

This format is not unique; several American writers have experimented with this form. But somehow, this work, which carries such a powerful story, failed to keep the attention of this particular reader. Obviously, others feel differently because the book has won two awards: the Prix Renaudot and the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens.

Anne Clinard Barnhill MARLENE C. W. Gortner, Morrow, 2016, $26.99/C$33.50, hb, 384pp, 9780062406064 Marlene is a fictional autobiography of Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992). In seven “scenes” the legendary femme fatale recounts events from her earlier years through WWII. From the start Marlene portrays herself as a very bad girl and a force to contend with. Rather a misfit, she has few friends; she rejects family values and scorns her self-effacing sister. Away at boarding school she indulges in after-hours revelry and seduces her tutor. She is, predictably, expelled, and returns home, but soon moves in with a lesbian lover and begins her single-minded struggle to stardom. She dances in cabarets, plays in a vaudeville orchestra, and begins training in voice and theatre. During these years she is also immersed in the Berlin demi-monde of alcohol, transvestites, and prostitutes.

In 1930 Dietrich lands the starring role in Blue Angel and becomes an international sensation. This film, she tells us, cemented “my image as an erotic

temptress.” Throughout her career, image and reality were indistinguishable. Her bisexual affairs were legendary and are described here in explicit detail.

Though the book’s primary focus is on Dietrich’s relationships and career, it closes with her contribution to the war effort, working for the USO, tirelessly entertaining troops at home and abroad. She publicly and dangerously disavowed Hitler. And in the 1984 Maximillian Schell documentary, Marlene, she denied she had a sister, a sister who, in reality, had worked for the Nazis.

Hearing her speak in her own voice in that documentary, I would say that Gortner’s representation of Dietrich is on the money. She was a beautiful, hard-nosed, sexy nihilist who, in her own words, never thought about the future and didn’t look back on the past. She truly was the bad girl of every man’s dreams. If you are a Dietrich fan, you will want to read Marlene.

Lucille Cormier BEHIND EVERY DOOR Cynthia A. Graham, Blank Slate, 2016, $15.95, pb, 224pp, 9781943075188 The body of Gladys Kestrel, lifelong high school secretary in the town of Cherokee Crossing, Arkansas, lies snagged on a tree hanging over a levee. The body is fully clothed with no signs of a struggle except for massive head wounds. Two sharecropper Delaney boys, fishing from the levee, make the gruesome discovery and call it in.

Thirteen years before, the Delaney father had been convicted of and executed for the murder of a beautiful senior at the same high school. That victim was the daughter of the town’s Methodist minister. Now, in 1950, that minister and a local newspaper reporter rile the good town folks into a frenzy against the Delaney boys for this second murder.

Sheriff Hick Blackburn and his deputies must find the Kestrel killer or killers before their neighbors inflict country justice on the remaining dirt-poor Delaney family members. The investigation leads to connections between the two killings, leads that seem to go nowhere but uncover secrets “behind every door” in Cherokee Crossing.

Even Hick’s close friends and his deceased father have had something to hide—or run away from.

From the opening scene, Graham gives readers both a page turner and true-to-the-time characters we care about. Interesting plot lines and surprises are sensibly resolved. The spare details about life back then are just right. Though on the short side, Behind Every Door is a satisfying story and transports us back to that time and place.

G. J. Berger THE TRENCH ANGEL Michael Keenan Gutierrez, Leapfrog, 2015, $16.95/C$23.95, pb, 246pp, 9781935248712 Photographer Neal Stephens returns to Colorado in 1919 after taking pictures of the men who fought in the trenches of World War I. A sheriff who has been blackmailing the town’s citizens, including Neal because of his secret marriage to a black woman in France, is murdered.

Both Neal and his sister, Tillie, become suspects.

Their father, Jesse Stephens, an anarchist who is thought to be living in Europe, remains a suspect HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 41

in the killing of the sheriff ’s father several years earlier.

Haunted by the possible death of his wife in France, and his memories of the trenches, Neal is drawn into a coal miners’ strike against his rich uncle. Then a worker in the mine is erroneously arrested and hanged for killing the sheriff. This execution enrages the miners even more. It isn’t long until Neal’s father arrives in Colorado to complicate matters.

This novel highlights 1920s America, with its racial injustice, anarchists wanting to change the world, rich men’s control of small towns, and family divisions occurring over generations. The author pools these very complex issues and people together into a gripping story. The unraveling plot fills the novel with suspense. Be prepared to become immersed in the life of Neal Stephens as he tries to find himself while dealing with his dysfunctional family.

Jeff Westerhoff MEET ME AT THE PIER HEAD Ruth Hamilton, Macmillan, 2015, £20.00, hb, 471pp, 9780230769069 Scarred by his traumatic past, hitherto halfAmerican, half-Irish headmaster Theo Quinn has steered clear of love. But when exuberant teacher Tia Bellamy bursts into his life in the summer of 1958, that looks set to change. As the pair grows closer, Tia and her family are drawn into Theo’s plan to rescue five-year-old Rosie from her neglectful mother and abusive stepfather, with the aid of Rosie’s grandmother, Maggie.

Though this Liverpudlian saga purports to deal with some very dark themes, it does so lightly, barely skimming across the surface. Any traumatic scenes are firmly left offstage, as are both villains, who are dealt with so quickly that their menace never feels real. Instead we are left head-hopping between a cast of cheerfully nice characters, which considerably diminishes the potential dramatic tension of this novel.

This is made worse by the impression I had that Hamilton assumes her readers have a three-second attention span, since she feels obliged to remind them every two pages that Tia likes Theo; Theo likes Tia, but they can’t be together because (nope, not telling you for pages and pages yet)… Constant reminders about the characters’ plans for Rosie’s future made it feel like I was trying to watch a film with someone who had already seen it, who kept nudging me and saying, “There’s a good bit coming soon”.

What saves this book from being totally bland is the genuinely humorous dialogue (though I could have done without the obligatory soliloquy that followed each one – “Was she exasperating? Yes. Would he change her? Not for the world”). All in all, an undemanding read for those who prefer their sagas light with the happy ending never in doubt.

Jasmina Svenne THE ROYAL NANNY Karen Harper, William Morrow, 2016, $15.99/ C$19.99, pb, 384pp, 9780062420633 Charlotte Bill begins her journey as an undernurse to the Duke and Duchess of York’s growing brood in the spring of 1897. Installed in York Cottage at Sandringham House, the young, 42 | Reviews |

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but capable Charlotte finds problems within the household’s current staff and sets about putting things to rights, and in the process earns her nickname from the children who dearly loved her: Mrs. Lala.

Along with the joys and sorrows of everyday life with the royals, Charlotte forms a troubled relationship with the groundskeeper, Chad Reaver, who wants more from her than she’s willing to give.

As their story unfolds, the Yorks’ six children grow up, and events leading up to World War I become the forefront of the story. Readers witness three monarchs on the British throne, and eventually look back over the decades beyond the Great War. Especially interesting are the relationships between the progeny of Queen Victoria, including Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and King George V of England, and their roles on the world stage. The eldest boy in Charlotte’s care, the future King Edward VIII, plays a significant part in the story, with a look at his troubled childhood, unhappy adolescence and the burgeoning duty-shirker he would become.

This is a beautifully told novel of a woman who was surrounded by all the glitz and glamour of royalty but remained unaffected, a steady foundation for all of the children she raised – especially the youngest, who is known as the Lost Prince. Readers will greatly admire the protagonist while learning about the quirks of the royal family and the events that shook the world in the early 20th century.

Arleigh Johnson THE WAR BRIDE Pamela Hart, Hachette Australia, 2016, A$29.99, pb, 354pp, 9780733634420 / Piatkus, 2016, £7.99, pb, 320pp, 9780349410203 Returned Aussie digger Frank waits eagerly on the wharf in Sydney for the arrival of his English bride, Margaret. But she’s not on board the ship, and someone tells him she probably changed her mind at the last minute. Heartbroken, Frank falls back into the arms of former girlfriend, Gladys, with whom he already has a child, Violet.

When Margaret finally arrives shortly afterwards, she is devastated that Frank is not there to meet her, and everything seems to lead to the conclusion he has deliberately abandoned her. She comes to rely on a sergeant, Tom, who finds her a place to live in a boarding house in North Sydney.

She pretends to be Frank’s widow, gets an office job and slowly begins her new life in Australia. When Frank and Margaret encounter one another again, they are faced with seemingly insurmountable conflicts and complications.

The scenes of Sydney in 1920 are superb, as is the portrayal of a society much altered by war and when moral codes are beginning to shift only to create new problems. Margaret’s natural English reserve gives her character authenticity as she struggles to come to terms with the more laid-back Australian attitudes and her growing attraction to Tom. As she gains confidence through new experiences and friendships, she blossoms and loses her tendency to suffer from self-doubt. The final crisis brings both heartbreak and joy, but also a resolution that is not without its own challenges.

It is most gratifying to read a romantic novel set in a conservative era that isn’t clichéd and doesn’t

avoid various controversial issues, including the difficulties of divorce and the Protestant-Catholic divide. This fresh and sympathetic novel from Pamela Hart has been a sheer delight to read.

Marina Maxwell THE RAILWAYMAN’S WIFE Ashley Hay, Atria, 2016, $26.00, hb, 288pp, 9781501112171 / Allen & Unwin, 2014, £7.99, pb, 320pp, 9781743318355 Anikka (Ani) Lachlan is the title character in this novel, which is set after World War II in Thirroul, a coastal town outside of Sydney, Australia. When her husband, Mac, dies in a railroad accident, her grief is all-consuming, and she spends much of the next year searching for a hidden birthday present he promised her before his death. Ani takes a job at the Railway Institute’s library to support herself and her daughter, and despite her job’s proximity to trains, Ani slowly comes into her own. Meanwhile, poet Roy McKinnon has returned from the war, scarred by his experiences, and stays with his sister in this small town where he, like D. H. Lawrence before him, tries to find literary inspiration. As Roy struggles to create poetry again, he discovers an unlikely muse. Ani discovers a poem, dedicated to her, tucked amongst her books and assumes it’s the present Mac meant for her. When someone tells her that Roy, not Mac, was the true author, life has already changed in an unalterable way.

This story is a study in emotion: grief, hope, love, redemption, and yearning. The prose is so elegant that it seems to glide, and the feelings are so wrenching and deep that it’s almost uncomfortable to read in places. The journey is touching, but it’s quite different from the tidy, happy endings Ani and her daughter so enjoy. The twists of fate the characters endure remind us how precious, but mystifying, life truly is.

Rebecca Henderson Palmer BORDERS Roy Jacobsen (trans. Don Bartlett & Don Shaw), MacLehose, 2015, £19.99, hb, 288pp, 9780857053060 The novel has its centre in the small country of Luxembourg, a tiny state that is strongly marked and influenced by borders and demarcation lines both geographical and, in terms of nationalities, languages. The essence of the story is the Ardennes offensive by the German forces in December 1944 and the role that the novel’s characters played in this and the effect it had on its participants and those that came after the War, who were also marked by the conflict.

The story is not a conventional narrative – it zips around to various times and scenarios, from the perspective of a number of characters. This story has rather a fairy-tale character and here are also some brief vignettes from historical events, some of which take place in Luxembourg, but all of which relate in some way to the issue of borders and boundaries. The fulcrum of the story is the Battle of Stalingrad, when one of the enlisted Luxembourgers, fighting in the Wehrmacht, observes from Manstein’s HQ the gradual extinction of the Sixth Army, under orders from Hitler to stay put – an example of being unable to break out from the most horrific of borders - the Red Army stranglehold. There is much military 20th Century

detail and analysis, and the length of this part, compared to the others in the novel, seems to make the whole novel somewhat unbalanced. We conclude the story back in Luxembourg, over the issue of constructing a bridge between Luxembourg and West Germany in the early 1950s and then the main male characters meet up again and reflect upon their origins, life and death. It’s all a little limp, and not terribly satisfactory.

Douglas Kemp THE SILK MERCHANT’S DAUGHTER Dinah Jefferies, Penguin, 2016, £12.99, pb, 384pp, 9780241261163 In 1950s Vietnam Nicole is a young “metisse” – half French, half Vietnamese. Her older sister, Sylvie, has inherited their father’s French looks, whilst Nicole takes after their deceased Vietnamese mother. Since childhood Nicole has felt in her sister’s shadow, marginalised by her family as she does not “look the part” in well-bred colonial French life. She is left constantly wondering about her mother’s culture.

Nicole meets and is attracted to an American silk trader, Mark, but his relationships with her sister and father seem to go deeper than their supposed connection through the silk trade. Politically Vietnam is unstable and Vietnamese rebels are attempting to overthrow the French. When Sylvie, ever the favoured daughter, is given charge of her father’s business and Nicole is left only a shop in a poor area of town, Nicole moves to live amongst her Vietnamese friends, rejecting her family. Her path crosses that of Tran, a young idealistic rebel, and he tries to persuade her to espouse his cause.

Torn between family and friends, fitting in neither with the French colonials or local Vietnamese, Nicole finds herself in danger and alone. Her father and Sylvie are not what they seem and both Mark and Tran, the two men in her life, have political objectives which leave her not knowing who, if anyone, she can trust.

Dinah Jefferies spins a convincing tale of love, jealousy, political corruption and a clash of cultures.

Evocative descriptions of life in French Indochina intertwined with a brutally truthful depiction of a country in a state of war make this a gripping read. For me there were inconsistencies in the character of Nicole, and I did not find her a very endearing character but overall it is a fascinating and entertaining read.

Maggi de Rozario THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S WIFE Suzanne Joinson, Bloomsbury, 2016, $26.00, hb, 334pp, 9781620408308 / Bloomsbury Circus, 2016, 16.99, hb, 352pp, 9781408840771 “Each betrayal was a closer step to death and he understood that she was all the days of freedom before the war…”

Taken from an ailing mother in 1920s England and sent to live with her father, a British architect with the impossible mission of bringing English gardens to Jerusalem, eleven-year-old Prudence Ashton becomes an incidental witness to atrocious secrets memorialized on film by distinguished photographer Khaled Rasul.

In The Photographer’s Wife, Joinson has crafted a novel that straddles the years between the two world wars and the gulfs between war pilot 20th Century

Lieutenant William Harrington, investigative photographer Rasul, and the woman they both love. Close third-person, nonlinear narratives told from Prue and William’s points of view engulf the reader in post-WWI Jerusalem, revealing Prue and Willie in intimate detail while allowing the reader mere glimpses of Eleanora, the photographer’s intriguing wife. It is not until Joinson brings the many threads of their stories together in Prue’s gripping, first-person, present-tense narrative set in 1937 England that the roles of the many players in this perilous game become clear.

While nonlinear narrative, fluctuating tense, and a shifting point of view can render a story confusing and disjointed when attempted by a lessskilled novelist, Joinson masterfully employs subplot and subtle detail to take the reader smoothly from character to character, decade to decade, and place to place. The reader, confident in the hands of a true storyteller, is free to settle in and be swept away.

Rebecca Kightlinger LILAC GIRLS Martha Hall Kelly, Ballantine, 2016, $26.00/ C$35.00, hb, 491pp, 9781101883075 It might seem that New York socialite Caroline Ferriday, German doctor Herta Oberheuser, and Polish teenager Kasia Kuzmerick have nothing in common. However, when Adolf Hitler invades Poland in September 1939, their lives change forever. Caroline works for the French consulate, pulling strings to admit refugees to the U.S., selling the family silver for relief packages, and hoping that her Parisian lover can survive the Nazi occupation of France.

Kasia ferries information for the Polish resistance until her entire family is swept up by the Nazis. The women are sent to the new concentration camp at Ravensbrück, where the infirm are executed. Kasia and her sisters are assigned to work, barely surviving on starvation rations, and their half-German mother is recruited

by Herta to work in the hospital.

Herta follows a dark path when she becomes a doctor at Ravensbrück. She tells herself it is only a job, even while performing lethal injections and assisting in medical experiments on prisoners.

Kasia and her sisters suffer horrific mutilation under the guise of science. The “Rabbits” which manage to survive, so-called for their experimental roles and limping gaits, are sheltered from the Nazis by other prisoners.

Lilac Girls follows the intertwined threads of these women’s lives. It’s a long, sometimes uneven read. Kasia and Herta’s storylines are intimate and appalling, and will keep you transfixed. By contrast, Caroline’s presence seems near purposeless until after the war, when she finally encounters Kasia.

That moment is worth waiting for.

Jo Ann Butler

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HARD RED SPRING Kelly Kerney, Viking, 2016, $27.95/C$35.95, hb, 436pp, 9780525429012 An epic historical novel in the tradition of Norman Mailer and Ken Follett. Chronicling nearly a century of American involvement in Guatemala, Hard Red Spring erupts with authenticity. Beginning in 1902 with the disappearance of the daughter of

murdered American farmers, little Evie’s story and influence play out across generations of commercial and religious missionary culture, and highlight the inevitability of Guatemalan life, belief and politics.

We are carried forward to 1954 and an era of direct American interventionism, as the wife of the U. S. Ambassador becomes pregnant by her best friend’s husband. The story then follows a Christian evangelist in the late ‘80s, and the return of a young mother and her adopted war-orphan daughter near the end of the millennium. A sense of desperation pervades the book, but throughout, the common denominator is the silent witness of the native Maya: stoic, mystical, fundamentally unchanged by their absorption of the blood, tears, betrayal, and even the seed of their North American would-be overlords.

Richly styled, definitively researched, the book is everything the thoughtful reader of historical fiction could hope for. Enthusiastically recommended.

Jackie Drohan

A DAUGHTER’S LOVE Catherine King, Sphere, 2015, £6.99, pb, 392pp, 9780751554335 Nell Goodman earns just enough from her menial job in a brewery to support herself and her mother, Mabel, until Mabel’s wild accusations against Wilmot, the brewery owner, cost Nell her job. However, when Wilmot takes on Nell as a servant at Wilmot Grange, he allows Nell and her increasingly eccentric mother to live in.

Although only a lowly scullery maid, Nell renews an old friendship with young Devlin Wilmot but also attracts the attention of his lecherous friend.

The atmosphere at the Grange is tense; Nell senses secrets that may stem from her mother’s accusations of murder and theft. When Mabel is threatened with the workhouse, Nell must take action. Readers will wonder if Nell will discover the truth and triumph over the many obstacles thrown.

The first chapters concern young Mabel’s connection with the brewery, so readers know what may seem to be delusions are valid. By the end, the novel becomes a real page-turner. The life of a lower servant in a 1910 country house is vividly pictured: hard graft fourteen hours a day and the brutal hierarchy of the servants’ hall make Downton Abbey seem cosy. A resourceful heroine, Nell’s struggle with Mabel’s dementia gives a routine romantic novel an unusual strand, written with imagination and sympathy. A good read.

Lynn Guest

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THE TRANSLATION OF LOVE Lynne Kutsukake, Doubleday, 2016, $25.95, hb, 336pp, 9780385540674 This touching and thought-provoking debut novel follows the storylines of several Japanese, Japanese-American, and Japanese-Canadian HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 43

characters living – and sometimes barely surviving – in Japan during the post-World War II American occupation. The stories weave together to create a wide-ranging, detailed portrait of the civilian Japanese experience before, during, and after the war.

Central to the story is General Douglas MacArthur. As one character observes, MacArthur seems almost to replace the emperor in the eyes of the Japanese people. In his role as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, MacArthur invites the Japanese to write him letters, and they respond in astounding numbers.

Pervading the novel is a constant sense of dislocation. Aya, a Canadian schoolgirl whose mother died while the family was interned, has been “repatriated” to Japan with her father but speaks virtually no Japanese. Corporal Yoshitaka “Matt” Matsumoto is a second-generation American who joined the army from an internment camp to prove his loyalty, and, now part of the occupation force, uses his rusty language skills to translate those letters to MacArthur. Matt’s coworker and fellow American citizen Nancy Nogami was visiting relatives in Japan in December 1941, and so was never allowed to return home. For the native Japanese, the social and cultural dislocation they face in their occupied country is seismic and stark.

This seismic shift in culture is most clearly illustrated through the stories of Fumi, who gradually befriends Aya, and Fumi’s sister Sumiko, who naively accepts employment at a dancehall, which immediately turns into indentured servitude.

When Sumiko can no longer return home, Fumi and Aya write a letter to MacArthur to beg for his help in finding her.

Kutsukake has created a nuanced, empathetic but unsentimental story that considers what it means to rebuild an identity, both as an individual and as a nation.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi

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THE TWO-FAMILY HOUSE Lynda Cohen Loigman, St. Martin’s, 2016, $25.99, hb, 304pp, 9781250076922 The time frame is the late 1940s, the place is Brooklyn. Common to that era, two Jewish families share two floors of a home. The family consists of the affable Abe and his wife, Helen, and the more acerbic Mort and his wife, Rose.

Abe and Helen have only boys, and Mort and Rose have girls. Abe and Mort are in business together, and the two sistersin-law have a close friendship. The cousins are in and out of each other’s houses all the time, while the family spends holidays and vacations together.

In a twist of fate, the two women give birth to 44 | Reviews |

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what would be their youngest babies on the same wintry night, when a blizzard kept the husbands from being present. Soon after, things gradually change for the families. The friendship that binds the two women starts to unravel, though no other family member can quite understand why.

This absolutely riveting book reads like a suspense novel; although many clues are peppered throughout; the reader, like the families, is not invited to share in the shocking secret that binds the two women. The underlying complexities of friendship, the intricacies of marriage and the disintegration of family are explored in this gem of a family saga. The characters are fully drawn, and the writing is superb. This is a book that is sure to become a popular choice for book clubs.

Hilary Daninhirsch THE GIRL FROM THE PARADISE BALLROOM Alison Love, Broadway, 2016, $16.00/C$22.00, pb, 336pp, 9781101904510 / Quartet, 2014, £15.00, hb, 320pp, 978-0704373785 The Girl from the Paradise Ballroom is a sweeping novel that explores humanity, family loyalty, and national prejudice in the face of war. It features a cast of characters primarily tied to the two protagonists, Olivia and Antonio. Olivia is a dance hostess with a talent for the tango who is saved from poverty by marriage to a wealthy and overindulged gentleman. Antonio is a struggling Italian singer with a pregnant wife and an extended family with Fascist leanings.

Set in England in the years leading up to, and following World War II, the novel trails Olivia and Antonio as they become entwined in a passionate affair. Though billed as an epic romance, the core of the novel is a commentary on human nature and our tendency to believe the worst without any evidence.

The historical narrative of World War II is often dominated by the atrocities experienced by the Jews and Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor.

But little is said about immigrants to Britain and what they endured. This novel reveals how German and Austrian refugees were categorized as threats to national security, even though they were not a risk at all. This same bigotry worked against Italians living in England as well. Many supported rising Fascist dictator Mussolini in hopes of regaining their dignity, and as a result they were rounded up and deported. Antonio and his family become victims of this unfortunate campaign, and the consequences resonate to the very end of the novel.

Despite war and tragedy, The Girl from the Paradise Ballroom ends on a hopeful note, and shows a great stretching and growing of its characters. General historical fiction lovers will find this novel a wonderful read. Recommended.

Caroline Wilson MIDNIGHT IN BERLIN James MacManus, Duckworth, 2016, £16.99, hb, 406pp, 9780715650332 / Thomas Dunne, 2016, $26.99, hb, 416pp, 9781250079404 What can I say about this book except that it ticks all the right boxes? It is a spy thriller with: - a tightly crafted plot - a tale of high stakes - a dramatic climax

- believable characters - a sure sense of time and place.

The only drawback is that the idea that the Defence Attaché at the British Embassy in Berlin in 1939, named Colonel Macrae in this novel, was commissioned by MI6 to assassinate Hitler is totally implausible. Yet according to the author’s note, just such a plan was actually put forward and considered at a high level by the British government.

Not surprisingly, the plan was turned down. In the novel, the plan is approved but miscarries at the last moment. That is not the whole story, of course.

There is a beautiful Jewish girl fleeing the Gestapo and a group of German generals planning a putsch, plus all the internal intrigues at the Embassy.

The internal relationships within the Embassy are perhaps the best and most convincing part of the book. We have a small group of foreigners whose job is to be foreigners, to represent the home country and to keep a distance from the host nation. In this tiny, insulated group, personal and professional tensions run high while ‘out there’ the nightmare unfolds.

MacManus is a distinguished editor and journalist as well as a novelist, and he brings all his talents to bear in this book.

Edward James MY SWEET VIDALIA Deborah Mantella, Turner, 2015, pb, $17.95, 280pp, 9781630269623 It’s not often that a book is narrated by a spirit child, but it is she who provides perspective in the marvelous yet melancholy My Sweet Vidalia, which takes place in 1950s backwoods Georgia, when racial tensions were high and poverty was the norm. The narrator, Cieli Mae, is a stillborn child of Vidalia Lee and her abusive husband, JB. JB’s violent actions caused Vidalia to lose the child, but Vidalia keeps her close by, communicating with her though no one else can see nor hear her.

Vidalia has more children by JB, who disappears for days or weeks at a time, leaving her alone but not lonely, as she has the spirit of Cieli Mae by her side. Vidalia must keep the family intact and not succumb to JB’s physical and emotional mistreatment while keeping her children safe.

Despite her marriage to an abuser and no help from her own family, Vidalia is portrayed as a strong and smart woman who meets every challenge with aplomb. She also forms a friendship with Ruby Pearl, a black neighbor whose husband was killed in a racially-motivated murder some years ago.

Even though the friendship is risky, as Vidalia is white, it provides Vidalia a haven.

The narrative does not feel “ghostly” because Cieli Mae’s spirit is still entrenched in the world of the living. She is a keen observer of and commentator on her mother’s dire circumstances, as well as a spiritual advisor. The book is written in the Southern vernacular of the times and allows the reader to hear the words on the page. Even though some scenes are painful to read, the whole book is lovely and a testament to the human spirit.

On a day when you might need a lift, My Sweet Vidalia is a fitting choice.

Hilary Daninhirsch

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MURDER MOST MALICIOUS Alyssa Maxwell, Kensington, 2016, $25.00/ C$27.95, hb, 298pp, 9781617738302 In 1918, WWI is over, and scarred and bedraggled Englishmen have returned from the military. Nineteen-year-old Phoebe has lost her parents and, with her sisters, she adjusts to life at her grandparents’ country estate. The Marquis of Allerton arrives to ask for older sister Julia’s hand.

But Phoebe overhears them in a cruel argument, and the next day the marquis is missing. When severed fingers end up in Christmas boxes, each with an item owned by the marquis, Phoebe drags her lady’s maid, Eva, into a dangerous investigation that will unlock many secrets. The marquis wasn’t well-liked and was involved in illegal transactions plus the rape of a servant. In this short-handed house, with so many young men killed in the war, Eva has the opportunity to help out in the servants’ quarters and ask questions about the marquis.

Phoebe does the same upstairs but gets nothing from her aloof sister, Julia.

The story weaves the upstairs/downstairs dynamic well, and the two young women are engaging characters. The police are mostly incompetent and fail to discover an obvious clue.

When the killer is revealed it was a surprise to me – and the protagonists. However, the reasons behind the murder make perfect sense. This novel shows the beginnings of change in a world shattered by war and the dissolving of the privileged class along with more opportunities for the lower ranked. A great read for a rainy day.

Diane Scott Lewis ECHOES FROM AFAR Tamara McKinley, Quercus, 2016, £7.99, pb, 432pp, 9781784296964 London, 1936. After spiteful rumours force her out of her nursing job, Annabelle Blake flees to Paris to stay with her Bohemian Aunt Aline. Soon she’s caught up in the excitement of 1930s Paris, thrilled to be meeting artists like the Basque artist Henri Baptiste, and his writer friend, Etienne. It’s all a far cry from her grey and dismal London life, and Annabelle revels in it – especially when the handsome Henri makes his interest in her clear.

But her money is running low and she needs a job. Henri and Etienne are planning to return to Spain to join the fight against Fascism. They urge Annabelle to join them; nurses are desperately needed and her talents will be put to good use. Part of her longs to go with them, but is she prepared to face the grim realities of a brutal war?

I enjoyed Echoes from Afar. Tamara McKinley is good at evoking both time and place. London in the 1930s is suffering from the Depression. Paris, by contrast, is buzzing with new and exciting ideas, especially in the arts. The artistic world Henri and Etienne inhabit is very real – I could, literally, smell the coffee – not to mention the Gauloises.

Her depiction of the Spanish Civil War is equally graphic: little food, sleepless nights from the constant air raids, inadequate medical supplies, and horrific wounds to deal with. McKinley does not pull her punches. But another thread runs through the book, that of the agonizing choices facing Annabelle, and their consequences, especially for her artistic daughter, Eugenie. There are some secrets which, if exposed, could destroy both 20th Century

Annabelle and Eugenie’s happiness. If you enjoy a thumping good, historically accurate read, which features interesting characters you believe in and care about, then this is the book for you.

Elizabeth Hawksley TITANS Leila Meacham, Grand Central, 2016, $26.00/ C$31.50, hb, 608pp, 9781455533831 Texas, 1880. In a dramatic prologue, which sets the stage for Meacham’s third family epic (after Somerset, 2014), a young mother gives away one of her newborn twins. For 20 years, the twins live in different areas of Texas. Neither knows the other exists. Samantha, bright and personable, a privileged only child, is close to her father and, as his only heir, aims to become the best possible rancher. Nathan shares his twin’s intelligence and drive but – his mother favors two younger siblings – he can’t take his future for granted.

Texas, 1900. Meacham braids Nathan’s and Samantha’s individual stories, allowing the reader, who knows their history, to make connections the twins cannot. As adults, the twins meet, develop a casual friendship, and share mutual friends and business associates. When Samantha finds a dinosaur skull on land marked for oil exploration, the decision to preserve the site or drill on it affects the fortunes of several families. Old rivalries and suspicions surface among the older generation, while the twins, through inevitably painful revelations, discover the meaning of loyalty.

“Titans” is a misnomer for these (mostly) decent people. Although Texas was on the cusp of the oil boom by 1900, this is a novel about family love and retribution as much as wealth or ambition.

What makes Titans successful is how skillfully the author involves readers in the characters’ lives, and keeps us reading, as we watch the plot play out.

Recommended for fans of family sagas.

Jeanne Greene NOT ALL BASTARDS ARE FROM VIENNA Andrea Molesini (trans.Antony Shugaar and Patrick Creagh), Grove, 2015, $26.00, hb, 348pp, 9780802124340 This restrained, beautifully written debut novel looks at war from the microcosm of a single location, that of a villa in the small Italian town of Refrontolo, just north of Venice, in the immediate aftermath of the disastrous Battle of Caporetto.

It is November 1917, and the German/AustroHungarian armies are pressing their advantage to drive deeper into Italy.

The novel opens as a contingent of Germans commandeers the villa of the Spada family for the officers’ use, and billets the infantry in the almostdeserted village. The adult narrator, Paolo Spada, looks back on the story through the eyes of his 17-year-old self, describing events with just the right mix of understanding, naiveté, and desire for grown-up adventure that a boy on the cusp of manhood would have in that situation.

Engaging characters populate the Spada household: strong-willed grandmother Nancy; contrary, charming grandfather Gugliemo; fiercely loyal housekeeper Teresa; beautiful, eccentric neighbor Giulia; intelligence-officer-cumhouse-steward Renato; and, at the center, Paolo’s intelligent, resourceful aunt Donna Maria. Paolo

observes the chastely tender relationship that grows between Maria and the Viennese major in charge of the billeted army, Baron Von Feilitzsch.

These two aristocrats with similar educations and cultural influences share far more in common than does the moneyed family with the local peasants, but war both divides and unites along national boundaries. Maria and the baron are the last products of old empires that will not survive the war. As many in the family are drawn into helping Renato’s insurgency missions, those boundaries are fully drawn.

Molesini’s language is simple and lovely, and his story draws the reader in close to the family. He notes that this novel was inspired by Maria Spada’s privately published Diary of Invasion; he has written a book that is equal to such a remarkable woman.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi AND IS THERE HONEY STILL FOR TEA? Peter Murphy, No Exit/Trafalgar Square, 2015, $16.95/£8.99, pb, 384pp, 9781843444015 Believing that the defections of the Cambridge Spies during the Cold War are over, the British government now faces another possible scandal.

This time it is initiated by American academic Francis Hollander, who has published an article accusing Sir James Digby, QC, of being a Soviet spy. In an attempt to salvage his reputation, Digby turns to Bernard Wesley and Ben Schroeder to sue Hollander for libel. But when they learn that MI6 agents and the Secretary of State for Home Department are intervening to prevent the suit from going to trial, then everyone’s suspicions, including that of the defendant and his legal team, are aroused. The search for the truth begins.

And Is There Honey Still for Tea?, the third book in the Ben Schroeder series, places fictitious characters alongside the stories and defections of actual Cambridge spies and historical events of the Cold War. The plot goes back and forth from 1965, when the accusations against Digby are made and the lawsuit is initiated, to a memoir-style firstperson narrative, where Digby writes about his life, until both plotlines come together later on in the novel. The present-day plotline focuses on the personal and professional lives of the various law personnel, including the prejudices of the times as well as the detailed account of the investigation from both the prosecuting and defense perspectives.

The memoir-style plotline focuses on the social, political, and familial background of Digby and held my interest from the very beginning.

And Is There Honey Still for Tea? provides fascinating insight into the factors contributing to the making of a spy during WWII and the Cold War and the use of chess as the means of relaying and receiving intelligence.

Francesca Pelaccia WINTER Christopher Nicholson, Europa, 2016, $17.00, pb, 256pp, 9781609452957 / Fourth Estate, 2015, £8.99, pb, 256pp, 9780007516087 Thomas Hardy was a prolific 19th-century novelist and poet, whose books about life and love in rural England used to be staples on high school classics reading lists. His own life is perfect fodder for a historical novel. It’s thought he mistreated his HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 45

first wife and, shortly after her death, he married his secretary who was thirty-nine years his junior.

Winter looks back, poignantly, from the vantage point of the author’s winter years.

In 1924, Hardy is in his eighties, living with his invalid wife, Florence, in an isolated house in Dorset. Although he keeps to his schedule, working every day, he knows that his best writing is behind him. His mind wanders. He neglects his wife – an old habit. He loves his dog. But Hardy finds a new interest to perk him up. Embodying the cliché that there’s no fool like an old fool, Hardy grows infatuated with a local woman, in her twenties, who acts in the amateur theater in his town. He grants her the lead part, Tess (of the d’Urbervilles), in a new play and is so enamored of this flesh-andblood example of his ideal of the perfect woman that he hangs around backstage, writes her love poetry, and insists that she must play the role on the professional stage or he will not sanction the play’s production in London. Needless to say, his wife is humiliated. Of a nervous disposition, Hardy’s erstwhile secretary can be a nag, but one can’t help pitying her.

The alternating points of view demonstrate this ill-suited but co-dependent couple at their worst as Hardy’s final act plays out. The few chapters from the viewpoint of the actress put things in a more rational perspective. Highly recommended for those readers drawn to books about writers.

Sue Asher JAZZ MOON Joe Okonkwo, Kensington, 2016, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 351pp, 9781496701169 This coming-out tale, the author’s debut, is notable for its very subject matter: a gay black man’s personal journey of discovery and selfacceptance in 1920s Harlem and Paris. Ben is a young poet unhappily married to a woman who loves him, and struggling against his attraction to a talented trumpeter named Baby Back Johnson. The men begin an affair, and when Baby Back gets a gig in Paris, Ben goes along. But the musician’s ego gets in the way of intimacy, and Ben finds himself adrift, seeking consolation with strangers in seedy underground dives and suffering writer’s block. He meets an artist and falls in love – and begins to write – again.

Such a simple plot requires real complexity to sustain itself in book form, but Okonkwo’s book falls just short of the mark. While we learn much about Ben’s first homosexual experience, his inner life doesn’t draw us in the way it should. Race, a fertile terrain, is barely mentioned, save for a token altercation on the cruise liner to Paris. Okonkwo’s writing shines in places, especially his invocations of jazz and his detailed descriptions of 1920s Paris, but the profusion of “Ben’s” poetry throughout the book interrupts the narrative flow too many times, pulling the reader out of the dream that fiction should be. Jazz Moon’s real strength lies in its depiction of relationship, in the petty quarrels and simmering resentments that can unravel the most connected of couples, and in its exploration of the mundanities of everyday love that strengthen bonds. All in all, Jazz Moon is a promising start for Okonkwo, who needs to go deeper – and ditch the poetry, or write a book of poems, instead – the next time around.

Sherry Jones 46 | Reviews |

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CITY OF SECRETS Stewart O’Nan, Viking, 2016, $22.00, hb, 208pp, 9780670785694 Many of us cannot imagine what it is like to be a survivor of Hitler’s horrific Holocaust.

However, Brand, a Latvian Jew and this novel’s main character, shares a common trait with other survivors, as has been described in written and oral accounts: an absence of feelings of connection or commitment. Adding to his terrible memories is knowledge of the deaths of those who tried to escape wartime Germany and were turned back, or who died en route to Israel.

Brand found a basic job driving a taxi in Israel and eventually became a secret member of the underground Jewish resistance movement. The Haganah and Irgun groups have at times melded to inflict maximum damage on the British occupiers.

Brand has found a comfort zone in his relationship with a widow, Eva, who refuses to talk about love.

Initially, Brand yearns to do more than drive for the resistance. As he seeks to become acknowledged as an active, faithful member, a series of actions taken compel him to realize that few members are prized, and all are dispensable. The violence and poignancy of each “job” is palpable. The swift response of the British is just as volatile as the resistance attacks.

Then tragedy strikes in one catastrophic event, and that attack rips open the hard, protective shell that encases Brand. Both he and Israel will never be the same afterwards.

Stewart O’Nan writes in a dark style that conveys the loudest, most vital message about choices with subtle shifts in dialogue and action.

Language is a precious gift in the possession of this well-known writer, who has created a memorable historical thriller that is highly recommended.

Viviane Crystal WHAT WE BECOME Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Atria, 2016, $27.00/ C$36.00, hb, 464pp, 9781476751986 Is it a tango? Is it a chess match? What We Become could be read either way: a passionate dance of lovers coming together and separating over a lifetime, or a match where motives are minutely analyzed before each “move.” Mr. PérezReverte has given us yet another work of literary art that is enjoyable and thought-provoking.

The tango and chess are key topics in the story, which begins in 1928 when famed composer, Armando de Troeye, and his stunning wife, Mecha Inzunza, travel to Buenos Aires aboard a luxury liner. Max Costa is the professional dancer onboard. He is Argentinian, a devilishly handsome rogue and perfect match for Mecha as they capture the dance floor in superbly performed tangos. In Buenos Aires, Max introduces the couple to a skid row bar and the “Old School Tango” – a source of inspiration for Armando and tantalizing foreplay for Max and Mecha. Their affair flares, but they soon part. It will rekindle eleven years later in Nice where Mecha waits for news of Armando’s fate in revolutionary Spain and Max’s past entangles him in a double-dealing espionage caper. Battered and hunted, Max turns to Mecha for help. Again they part. The separation is longer this time – until 1966. They are in their sixties now, in Sorrento.

The fire between them is tamped, their bodies no longer beautiful. The relationship takes a different

turn and propels the story into a suspenseful and, finally, bittersweet ending.

As an enthusiastic fan, it was a pleasure to open a new work by Mr. Pérez-Reverte, and I was not disappointed. The originality, intelligence, and superb writing are all there. Though some of the more introspective passages were a test of patience, the wait was worthwhile for the dynamic action that followed. An excellent read!

Lucille Cormier MILLER’S VALLEY Anna Quindlen, Random House, 2016, $28.00, hb, 259pp, 9780812996081 The latest novel from bestselling author and stellar columnist Anna Quindlen, Miller’s Valley begins in the 1960s, when protagonist Mimi Miller is eleven years old and growing up on the family farm in Miller’s Valley, Pennsylvania. “No one ever leaves the town where they grew up, not really, even if they go,” Mimi says later. In this case letting go is difficult. Her family’s farmland, owned by the Millers for 100 years, is slated to be flooded for a dam project and recreation area. As the land is lost, Mimi’s relationships with her two older brothers, her mother and father, and her eccentric agoraphobic Aunt Ruth are transformed. With Mimi’s coming of age, she sees her parents in a new light, while escaping into school, romance, and sex, and finally escaping Miller’s Valley altogether.

As her life outside of Miller’s Valley progresses, so does the inevitable development of the place she left behind. Death, illness, and the devastating effects of war take their toll. When she returns to Miller’s Valley, she finds that sometimes progress can be a good thing, especially when devastating family secrets are finally revealed. Told in simple yet elegant prose with a quiet but sure hand, Quindlen’s novel of ordinary life becomes extraordinary. Quindlen has a remarkable ability to humanize her characters and engage the reader in their outer and inner lives. Miller’s Valley is deeply satisfying and highly recommended.

Lorraine Norwood FREYA Anthony Quinn, Jonathan Cape, 2016, £14.99, hb, 464pp, 9781910702505 The novel starts at the end of the Second World War. Freya Wyley, aged 20, has been doing intelligence work for the Wrens and comes up to London to see her increasingly estranged parents, and to enjoy the victory celebrations. Her father, Stephen, is a well-known portrait painter and Freya’s background is relatively privileged. Stephen appeared as a younger man in Quinn’s previous novel Curtain Call, as did as the homosexual theatre critic James Erskine, whom Freya meets.

Freya is a feisty, rather selfish, supremely ambitious and highly confident young woman. She takes up her deferred undergraduate course at Oxford in the autumn of 1945, and there finds her vocation as a writer. She is sent down at the end of her first year for having headed off to Nuremberg without authorisation during exams to seize an irresistible opportunity to interview the famed travel writer Jessica Vaux. This article gives Freya her big break, and she becomes a driven journalist in a largely male domain. Freya continues to take few prisoners in her professional and personal life 20th Century

– the exception being the close friendship she has with Nancy Holdaway, who she met in 1945, and has ambitions to become a novelist while working in publishing, but even this relationship suffers storms and separations.

The novel is in three parts, ending in 1962.

Freya’s ruthless ambition and searing honesty has created a few ructions along the way and she learns a few chastening lessons about her own personality and behaviour. I did like Freya as a character, despite her unvarying aggression, and the novel rattles along in splendid style, immersed in the conventions, culture and style of post-war England.

Douglas Kemp WORK LIKE ANY OTHER Virginia Reeves, Scribner, 2016, $25.00/C$32.99, hb, 272pp, 9781501112492 / Scribner UK, 2016, £14.99, hb, 272pp, 9781471152214 Roscoe Martin is infatuated with two things: his wife and electricity. Both end up ruining him as a husband and father, and destroy his sense of self. In rural Alabama during the 1920s, both loves become out of reach when Roscoe’s wife moves the family back to her father’s farm. Resentment festers, and Roscoe realizes that there’s one thing he can do to salvage his marriage: electrify the farm in hopes of turning it profitable. Everything goes well until a worker with Alabama Power stumbles upon Roscoe’s illegal tap on the power grid and is killed. Roscoe is sentenced to prison, and from there he watches his family drift further away while he loses more of himself. It is only after he leaves prison that he understands who he really is, and what price he really has to pay for his crimes real and imaginary.

Reeves has a talent for haunting, beautiful prose. Her Alabama is rich and vibrant, from the coal mines to rural farms and into the depths of Kilby Prison. The novel is told in two parts – Roscoe in jail in the present, and on the farm in the past – and there were times I couldn’t help but find near-similarities between Roscoe in Kilby to Stephen King’s Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Roscoe curries favor with the guards and warden, his friend works in the woodshop and longs to see the ocean, and Roscoe works in the library and helps illiterate inmates read. This is understandable, though, since prisons offer limited work opportunities for inmates, and there are also unique aspects, such as Roscoe’s work with search dogs. The ending seems improbable for Jim Crow/Depression-era Alabama and almost hard to accept. This nice debut work has solid writing, but some structural issues keep it from being an amazing debut.

Bryan Dumas THREE-MARTINI LUNCH Suzanne Rindell, Putnam, 2016, $27.00, hb, 540pp, 9780399165481 Three-Martini Lunch is an ambitious, enveloping exploration into the lives of three young adults struggling to make their way in their lives and careers in 1950s New York. Cliff, the son of an editor at a major publishing house, dreams of being a novelist but spends more time dreaming up publishing deals than writing stories. Eden is a bright young Jewish woman from Indiana. Her ambition is to be an editor, but she has a lot to learn 20th Century

about sexism and racism in the workplace. And Miles is a young black student from Harlem. He has a talent for writing and a journey to embark on, as he hopes to uncover some secrets from his father’s past.

As their lives intersect and all three learn many difficult lessons – about themselves and their choices, morals, and desires – the good, the bad and the ugly of 1950s America is vibrantly brought to life on the page.

Three-Martini Lunch is a weighty book.

Although the prose is light and the pages turn quickly, this is a novel that does not flinch from the dark sides of human behavior. Racism, sexism, sexual violence, homophobia, deceit, revenge, lust: it is all here. These are characters that really leap off the page from the past. The result is, at times, a very sad and moving novel.

Kate Braithwaite FEAST OF THE INNOCENTS Evelio Rosero (trans. Anne McLean and Anna Milsom), MacLehose, 2015, $24.99, hb, 291pp, 9781623657246 / MacLehose, 2015, £18.99, hb, 356pp, 9780857052667 Doctor Justo Pastor Proceso López should be a happy man. He has a beautiful wife, two daughters, a thriving gynecological practice and adoring patients. But his life is troubled. His wife and daughters despise him, and his community doesn’t understand him. Unable to recognize his despair and isolation, López becomes obsessed with exposing the myth of national hero Simon Bolivar for what it is: a lie covering up massacres, betrayals and sex scandals. To put an end to the myth, López devises an elaborate stunt, involving a carnival float for the day of The Black and White Carnival, which celebrates the Feast of the Holy Innocents. The day is marked by pranks and disguises where anything can happen without seemingly any retribution.

However, in interviewing locals about Bolivar, Lopez discovers that in 1960s Pasto, Colombia, the myth of Bolivar holds a tight grip on the identity of the city and stirs up the wrath of people, who may turn his prank into a matter of life and death.

This is a modern-day tragedy of a man who nobody cares about. Doctor López is both a fool and an everyday man looking for compassion, understanding, and some semblance of love. The writing is sharp and mesmerizing but disturbing at the same time. The portrayals of the characters are unflinching and terse, starting from Doctor López, to his cruel wife, to the poet charged with following him, to his holier-than-thou neighbor, right down to his youngest daughter, a sociopath in the making. All the characters, however, are fleshed out with their own stories of needs and illusions.

Hard-hitting in its telling of the story of Doctor Justo Pastor Proceso López, this novel left me wanting to shake off the sense of loss, betrayal, and hopelessness.

Francesca Pelaccia GREEN ISLAND Shawna Yang Ryan, Knopf, 2016, $26.95/ C$34.95, hb, 400pp, hb, 9781101874257 The tumultuous years of post-Japanese, then Chinese military, rule on the island of Taiwan provide the backdrop of Shawna Yang Ryan’s epic narrative. The unnamed female narrator is born in

1947 on the night of the “February 28 Incident,” when a cigarette-selling widow was killed by military agents, sparking island-wide unrest and revolt by the Chinese nationalists against mainland China’s communist rule. The narrator’s physician father, Baba, is captured in a sweep of Taiwanese elites who have spoken out against the Republic of China; his family, including the newborn, escapes Taipei and moves in with maternal grandparents outside of Taichung.

Eleven years later, Baba is released and comes home to find his wife and children. Rather than a triumph, his return reveals a broken man, a stranger, who has had to trade his loyalty, ethics, and strength for his mere survival. The narrator is drawn slowly into her father’s world of dealings with blackmail and the secret police, where providing a name of a collaborator might guarantee his family’s temporary safety. Thinking she can escape, the narrator marries and moves to the United States, only to discover the web of lies and secrets is not bounded by geography.

Ryan draws readers into a world alternately beautiful and dangerous, showing how historical context has consequences on individual lives. The narrator, like her father before her, may make compromises in order to keep her family safe, but finds the effects are very personal, shattering even her most intimate relationships. Part thriller, part memoir-like exploration, Green Island is a haunting, captivating read, exposing a very real political history that still reverberates today.

Helene Williams

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THE BOSTON CASTRATO Colin W. Sargent, Barbican, 2016, £9.99/$17.95, pb, 290pp, 9781909954205 At the turn of the 20th century in Naples, the Catholic Church is trying to remove some of its older, darker habits, but one bishop still clings to tradition and castrates Raffi, a street urchin with a beautiful voice. Hastily covering the scandal, the church transports Raffi to America, where he is forbidden to sing and trains as a hotel concierge.

Transported into the world of the literary glitterati of 1920s Boston and with the aid of a blind friend, Victor, Raffi makes his way through life.

In this new and vibrant but often harsh world, Raffi meets a host of characters, both famous and infamous, many of them misfits struggling to be accepted. Refusing to be defined by his secret, Raffi infiltrates the lives of the poet Amy Lowell and her friends and hangers on and becomes enmeshed in this strange, rich and sometimes criminal world.

Beautifully written, by turns poignant, sad and funny, this novel explores many themes, particularly those of prejudice and marginalisation.

The transgender issues particularly are topical today. As a reader I wished I had better knowledge of the literary and political issues of the time and, indeed American readers might find this easier.

Mixing fact and fiction, Raffi’s search for love and acceptance is both heroic and touching. His HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 47

character is strong and defies pity and the ending of the book is genuinely uplifting. Colin Sargent’s use of language betrays the fact that he is also a poet, and descriptions are both memorable and entertaining. An enjoyable read, but I found that the unusual small font of this edition – Goudy Modern – made concentration a little difficult; it might be easier on an e-reader.

Maggi de Rozario THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR Helen Simonson, Random House, 2016, $28.00, hb, 465pp, 9780812993103 / Bloomsbury, 2016, £14.99, hb, 592pp, 9781408837641 The highly capable and well-educated Beatrice Nash arrives in the coastal village of Rye in Sussex, England, to take up her new post as the first female Latin teacher in the local school in the summer of 1914. As soon as she steps off the train, she finds herself involved in the lives of the village’s various inhabitants, especially those of the thoughtful and eligible bachelor Hugh Grange, his charming and sensitive cousin, Daniel, and Agatha Kent, their kind, reform-minded aunt. With war soon exploding over Europe, the villagers discover they are not immune to the conflict’s harsh sacrifices, as they accept Belgian refugees into their homes and watch as many of their sons march away to fight.

And as the Great War envelops them all, tragedy and heartache become unavoidable.

Along with the main story concerning Beatrice’s appointment, her writing ambitions (which must be kept quiet) and the slow-burning romance between her and Mr. Grange, Simonson skillfully interweaves other stories: one involving the lovely but damaged Belgian refugee girl, Celeste, and her distant professor father; another involving Snout, an intelligent boy of a lower-class family who wants to better himself; and an ongoing squabble between Agatha and Bettina Fothergill, the mayor’s wife. Leisurely paced and elegantly written with a keen eye for simple, everyday period details, lively with well-drawn and endearing characters and believable situations, and containing dialogue laced with humor and wit, this will be particularly appreciated by Downton Abbey fans and by readers of gentle chronicles of village life a la Miss Read and Jane Austen. I found it a singularly captivating and engrossing read. Nicely done, Ms. Simonson, nicely done indeed.

Michael I. Shoop

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GINNY GALL Charlie Smith, Harper, 2016, $26.99/C$33.50, hb, 464pp, 9780062250551 Delvin, Ginny Gall’s African-American protagonist, is born in 1913 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His mother, a “good-time gal,” has to disappear fast when she’s accused of killing a white man. The proprietor of a funeral home takes Delvin in, and there he learns about dignity and empathy – but then history repeats itself, and he is himself forced to flee to save himself from false 48 | Reviews |

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accusations.

It’s the Great Depression, and Delvin is hoboing rides on trains when he and others are accused of raping two white women: a part of the story closely modeled on the true story of the Scottsboro Boys, the nine African-American young men accused of raping a white woman on a train in 1931. Now Delvin is imprisoned in those Southern prisons that weren’t about justice but were about replacing slavery to provide the South with free labor.

Smith, a white writer, has done something incredibly brave here: basing his story in the world of African-Americans trying to survive the brutality of the 1930s Jim Crow South. Smith brings his young black protagonist to life in that world with details that are overwhelming, heartwrenching, matter-of-fact, and specific. Smith is a poet as well as a novelist, and his language is Shakespearean in Ginny Gall, his images rich, and his story true.

This is a classic, a brilliant story about America’s original sin – racism – and how a smart and good boy grows to manhood without losing his own humanity in those beastly times. I didn’t “fall in love with” Delvin, I rather loved him and cared about him, because he felt like a friend, like family, in trouble. One trouble after another. Recommended.

Kristen Hannum

her first novel. Set in the 1940s, her story follows several intellectual European refugees who have landed in New York City. So far, so grounded, even if the characters are, er, eccentric. A hunchbacked Hungarian countess called “the Rat” comes to live with exiled relations whose memories push out the reality of their new lives. Some of the unspeakable things of the title are her sexual experiences with Rasputin, the mad monk of Tsar Nicholas’s court.

There’s a Mengele-like Nazi, Dr. Felix, and of course he brings even more unspeakable things to the story, which becomes one of how to let go of old lives, filled with beauty but also… unspeakable things.

Spivack does a kind of magic trick with this novel, dousing it with magical realism, so that the book becomes many-layered, perhaps a little like Günter Grass’s The Tin Drum meets William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice. The Holocaust was preposterously, stupidly evil, and that evil is at the heart of Spivack’s story, about how darkness is never conquered, but just abides. Spivack, a powerful writer, brings this macabre despair to life, leaving a reader feeling haunted and defiled. I put down the book and didn’t pick it up again for several weeks, despite her gorgeous writing. It’s worth reading, but do so at your own risk.

Kristen Hannum

STREAMS OF MERCY Lauraine Snelling, Bethany House, 2016, $14.99, pb, 378pp, 9780764211065 Snelling’s Songs of Blessings series continues in Streams of Mercy. In 1907, widowed Anji Moen returns to North Dakota from Norway with her children to find a new path for herself. As she settles back down in Blessing, old and new friends intermingle. In particular is Devlin Thomas, local pastor and potential love interest for Anji. But when a circus train stops in Blessing, bringing a contagious deadly disease, the townspeople are put in a dangerous situation. They work together to help the sick, protect their villagers, and pray for guidance.

The story shifts back and forth between the various townspeople, making it hard to follow at times. It took a long time to sort each family out, despite a helpful family tree at the beginning.

While the back of the book describes this as Anji’s story, I think the main premise was really about Elizabeth, Astrid, and the struggles the town faces when struck with a diphtheria outbreak.

These chapters were striking, rich in detail, and engrossing. Unfortunately, Snelling leaves many strings untied at the end, particularly Anji and Devlin’s romance, and mysterious stranger Clara’s story. I hope that these are resolved in her next book and I look forward to seeing what happens in Blessing next.

Rebecca Cochran

LOST AMONG THE LIVING Simone St. James, NAL, 2016, $15.00, pb, 336pp, 9780451476197 Simone St. James’s latest novel is by turns both moving and chilling. Set in post-World War I England, it focuses on Jo Manders, the widow of an RAF pilot. Left penniless with an insane mother to care for, Jo becomes the paid companion of her late husband’s aunt. Dealing with the irascible Dottie becomes second nature to Jo, but when the duo returns to Wych Elm House, she is confronted with the home’s tragic history. Dottie’s mad daughter, Frances, leapt to her death some years before, and when the girl’s ghost begins appearing to Jo, she must unravel the truth behind what happened.

In doing so, she gradually uncovers her husband’s secret life. As Frances’s suicide begins to look like murder, Jo must decide if the truth is really the truth or just a figment of her imagination.

Lost Among the Living is a stunning novel reminiscent of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. Jo Manders is much more self-sufficient and worldly than that novel’s heroine, and in some ways more sympathetic. She has struggled to carry on in the wake of her beloved husband’s death, but the constant reality of poverty and madness is an everpresent motivation. The cast of characters is at times both vivid and suspect, and the reader will be kept guessing until the final pages. This novel will appeal to many readers, as it covers a gamut of genres: mystery, thriller, and gothic romance.

Highly recommended.

Caroline Wilson

UNSPEAKABLE THINGS Kathleen Spivack, Knopf, 2016, $25.95/C$33.95, hb, 304pp, 9780385353960 Poet Kathleen Spivack’s last book was a memoir about her time at Boston University with Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and others. To say that Spivack has a command of English is an understatement, and she puts it to use, maybe even sometimes over-the-top use, in Unspeakable Things,

RARE OBJECTS Kathleen Tessaro, Harper, 2016, $25.99, hb, 400pp, 9780062357540 / Harper UK, 2016, £7.99, pb, 400pp, 9780007419876 Maeve Fanning, an educated young Irish American in Depression-era Boston, wants to move forward in life, and aims high. When she gets 20th Century

wind of a sales job at an exclusive antique shop, she bleaches her red tresses to disguise her heritage, calls herself May (“with a y”), and finagles her way into the position. There, under the guidance of the store’s English co-owner, who appreciates her ingenuity, she learns how to gear her pitch to its eccentric, wealthy customers.

However, there’s a problem. Maeve has a scandalous past, one that her mother, a respectable widow, doesn’t know about. During a recent stint in New York City, Maeve worked as a dancer-forhire, drank too much bootleg gin, and ended up somewhere she can’t ever mention. Just when she’s getting used to her reinvented self, her past surfaces unexpectedly in the form of Diana Van der Laar. A socialite whose family fortune comes from South African diamonds, Diana may seem like Maeve’s polar opposite, but they become friends, both women concealing the socially unacceptable parts of their lives out of necessity. But Diana is more complex and damaged than Maeve knows, and the deeper Maeve gets into her world, the more she risks losing sight of her goals.

This gutsy, absorbing story about self-deception and belonging is remarkable in its honesty. The settings exude authenticity, both the scenes of immigrant family life in Boston’s North End and upper-crust society parties, which never go as perfectly as its organizers hope. The story bounces around time-wise in the beginning, and more details on Maeve’s future plans would have been nice. The wanting more of a novel, though, that’s a good sign. Tessaro is a natural storyteller, and her story goes where it needs to without being predictable. The result is a compelling tale that reads like real life.

Sarah Johnson A FRONT PAGE AFFAIR: A Kitty Weeks Mystery Radha Vatsal, Sourcebooks, 2016, $15.99/ C$22.50, pb, 336pp, 9781492632665 Kitty Weeks is a reporter in the Ladies’ Fashion section of The Sentinel newspaper. She really doesn’t have to work, as she and her father are slightly well off, but this means she can interview members of the truly upper class. Her real name is Capability Weeks, which truly bespeaks her ability to tackle any job. She’s also more intelligent about current affairs than most of her peers, aware that after the sinking of the Lusitania and the shooting of J. P. Morgan in 1915, war may be looming closer than most Americans realize. The option of neutrality is about to change.

For now, Kitty is assigned to cover the posh Fourth of July party at the home of Mrs. Basshor.

Kitty’s eccentric boss and the editor of the paper, Mrs. Busby, has given Kitty precise instructions on how she is to behave and conduct herself. From that point on, the world around Kitty and her father feels like it’s about to implode, all beginning with a murder at that spectacular party, which is filled with Japanese fireworks. Although the police believe the perpetrator has been found and the business finished, Kitty’s dissatisfaction with that theory causes her to explore the case in detail.

The plot becomes more complex as Kitty is questioned by the FBI, and investigations into what seems to be an easy-to-solve crime reveal a wartime conspiracy. Radha Vatsal ramps up the 20th Century

action in Kitty’s simple, rule-driven world to show how American women are beginning to shape their country in previously unheard-of ways. Delightful, intriguing, and relevant historical fiction!

Viviane Crystal AN EAST END CHRISTMAS Elizabeth Waite, Sphere, 2015, £5.99, pb, 264pp, 9780751562170 On the eve of WWII, eighteen-year-old Carla is all too aware of the harsh realities of life in the docklands of the East End of London. She looks after her grandfather and holds down a full-time job. Her love for her extended family gives her a very positive outlook on life, which make her a very popular girl who people are glad to help. As the war gets under way Carla is shocked to receive call up papers and finds herself sent to a sewing factory in Southend for the duration. Her open, honest and hardworking nature brings her opportunities that she grabs with both hands, and success is quick to follow. One of the biggest changes is finding love.

The end of the war sees a self-confident Carla, but danger is just around the corner. Can Carla survive the biggest challenge of her life and find true happiness and self-fulfilment?

This novel is well-researched with good historical content and insight. The main character is well constructed and believable. An interesting and engaging look at one women’s journey, and an enjoyable read for fans of Elizabeth Waite.

Mike Ashworth BLUE MOON Pam Weaver, Pan, 2015, £6.99, pb, 510pp, 9781447275886 Ruby Bateman works as a chambermaid in the best hotel in Worthing, Sussex, a good job during the Depression. However, the atmosphere at home is oppressive. Her father Nelson, an ex-soldier turned fisherman, cruelly bullies his wife Bea and drives his son Percy to join the Black Shirts, the fascist organization rising to prominence. He is also trying to thwart Ruby’s romance with Jim, a young photographer. Nelson’s sudden drowning brings some relief to the family along with new problems, which are not just his lost earnings.

Is his death linked to a series of mysterious fatal accidents striking men from the same company?

Were Nelson and his comrades murdered? Why is a fake bullet always found near the bodies? And Bea seems to have her secrets too. Ruby must now support her family and find out the truth.

This is the fifth saga set in Worthing, the seaside town Weaver knows well and describes in affectionate detail. The drudgery of Ruby’s job and the financial pressures of daily existence during the Depression are well conveyed. The bonds and values of family and working-class life are realistically presented without any coating of sentiment. Running like a thread through the novel, the soldiers’ deaths and the identity of a possible killer are perplexing, keeping the reader mystified until everything falls neatly into place. Ruby, Bea and Percy are three-dimensional characters whose actions and reactions are convincingly in period, as is most of dialogue, bar a few irritating modernisms: ‘I’m here for you’, for example. Even the ending, happy but not perfect, is believable. An enjoyable read.

Lynn Guest

FALL OF POPPIES: Stories of Love and the Great War Heather Webb, ed., William Morrow, 2016, $14.99, pb, 368pp, 9780062418548 Survivors of the Great War (1914–1918) inhabit these stories of love and hope in the aftermath of carnage. Written by nine accomplished authors of historical fiction ( Jessica Brockmole, Hazel Gaynor, Evangeline Holland, Marci Jefferson, Kate Kerrigan, Jennifer Robson, Heather Webb, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig), this collection is by turns tart and acerbic (Willig’s “The Record Set Right,” Brockmole’s “Something Worth Landing For”), charming (Robson’s “All For the Love of You”), poignant, and marvelously diverse (Holland’s “After You’ve Gone”).

From a borderland mother’s quest for vengeance miraculously transformed (Webb’s “Hour of the Bells”) to Irish/English animosity overcome by an illuminated family secret (Kerrigan’s “The Photograph”) to birth and death intersecting at the eleventh hour (Gaynor’s “Hush”), there’s something for everyone. Both period and character of the times are evoked with skill, care and understanding.

Settings include not only Europe, but Africa and the American South. Some stories are set in the immediate post-war period; others link to two or three generations. For civilian and soldier alike, grief is palpable and affection is transformed or speeded up by circumstances. Do you relish a good story about transformative effects on the wounded of body and heart? This marvelous collection is for you.

Eileen Charbonneau DUST CLOUDS OF WAR John Wilcox, Allison & Busby, 2015, £19.99, hb, 351pp, 9780749017149 John Wilcox is an author known to me by reputation only. I have heard many claims that the Simon Fonthill series was a match for the Sharpe series penned by Bernard Cornwell – high praise indeed. The cover. while being functional. is in truth a little bland for my tastes.

To the novel itself: First World War novels are becoming a rarity these days; add to that a novel which concentrates on the African theatre of war, and that rarity becomes more so. That alone is enough to spark the interest of an amateur historian such as myself and, I’m sure, many readers. The book begins in the year 1914 on the border of Northern Rhodesia and German East Africa. That, I am afraid, is all the spoilers that you will get from me.

John Wilcox is masterly in his building of characters; just a few pages reading, and often you feel you know them as individuals. The quality of the created characters enables the storyline to feel authentic. For the most part, the story moves along at good pace; I admit once or twice I felt the author lost focus, but these lapses were short-lived. For the most part the story is compelling. The action and mission scenes were extremely well done; the reader does not need much imagination to find themselves transported back to 1914, tiptoeing through the bush with the enemy all around.

The main character, Fonthill, is complex, though I disagree that he is a First World War version of Sharpe. John Wilcox has created a main protagonist that stands in no other fictional characters’ shadow.

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Dust Clouds of War is an enjoyable and, at times, compelling read. The plot and sub-plots are well thought out and never stretch the realms of plausibility. I would have no reluctance in opening another novel by John Wilcox.

Robert Southworth THE POUNAMU PROPHECY Cindy Williams, Rhiza Press, 2015, A$19.99, pb, 198pp, 9781925139457 From safety in the arms of her koro (grandfather), little Mere is distraught as she loses her teddy bear when their village burns to the ground – “while the government men stood by, their pale faces pleased with a job well done.”

This event from 1951 is the powerful opening image to a novel that has at its core the struggle for Maori land rights against the Pakeha (New Zealand white people) during much of the 20th century.

This is told in part in the form of a memoir written by the ageing Mere, who visits Australia and stays in a flat attached to the Brisbane house of Helene, a doctor, and her graphic designer husband, James, the son of Mere’s old friend, Shirley.

Running in tandem with Mere’s story is the marriage crisis of Helene and James. Both have become absorbed in their careers and neglected the loving relationship they once had. Mere is a gentle and wise presence who encourages them towards acceptance and forgiveness. When she gifts her sacred pounamu (greenstone) necklace to Helene, it will change all their destinies.

Helene and James can seem rather shallow, and that is probably the intention, but there is just a little too much of their contemporary story at the expense of the historic events involving the extraordinary Mere, who turns out to be far more than just a plump, benevolent grandmother.

Anyone unfamiliar with Maori words will be grateful for the glossary. Neatly compact at 198 pages and without being overloaded with too many facts, this is a moving tale with real heart that is sure to encourage an interest in other stories of New Zealand Maori. Highly recommended for anyone searching for something uplifting or a little out of the ordinary.

Marina Maxwell

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THE SUMMER GUEST Alison Anderson, Harper, 2016, $27.99, hb, 400pp, 9780062423368 Ukraine, late 1880s: Zinaida Lintvaryova is an educated woman planning to live her life helping others as a country doctor, but at 30 years old, she loses her sight from a brain tumor. To help fill her time, Zinaida begins a diary. Her family retreats to their country estate and, to help with household expenses, rents out their guest house over the summer. A family from Moscow comes to stay, and their son is growing in fame as a writer: Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. Through Zinaida’s writing, the life of this seminal literary artist is described.

Over a century later, two women work to translate and publish Zinaida’s diary. While reading about Zinaida’s life, both women begin to find peace in the midst of their own personal struggles.

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The characters in Zinaida’s diary are diverse with multi-layered personalities, and the Ukrainian countryside is vividly described. However, it’s the developing relationship between Zinaida and Chekhov that is the story’s honest, heartfelt magic. As Zinaida remembers her summers and a manuscript Chekhov left unfinished, she thinks, “Sometimes I lie in bed and remember the story and write my own ending, a different one each time. I’m glad he hasn’t finished it yet, that the future can still be written.”

The final plot twist left me slightly unsettled.

I understood the author’s reasons for the choice, but it’s not one I favored. It would have been nice to spend more time with the modern characters so the end surprise would have carried greater emotional weight. These women were simply less well developed.

Anderson’s prose is delightful: “Never let a moment escape that hasn’t been turned over in your hands, inspected for honesty and fullness and awareness,” says Chekhov. It’s fluid in movement, insightful and intelligent in conversation, and richly emotional. This is a well-written, engaging read.

J. Lynn Else THE EVENING SPIDER Emily Arsenault, William Morrow, 2016, $15.99/ C$19.99/£8.99, pb, 400pp, 9780062379306 Based on publicized 19th-century New England murder trials, The Evening Spider is the first foray into the supernatural by noted psychological suspense author Emily Arsenault. It will appeal not only to her existing fan base, but also to lovers of both forensic mystery and Victorian ghost stories.

Its converging storylines follow the first-person experiences of two new mothers living in the same house a century apart. Present-day schoolteacher Abby Bernaki is troubled by guilty dreams from her past, and unexplained phenomena centered in baby Lucy’s nursery. Her attempts to unravel both take on an obsessive mood as she investigates local history, and interconnections of birth, death and betrayal. Mysteries of motive and conflict are Arsenault’s strong point, and bind well with the tale of Abby’s historical counterpart, Frances Barnett, the troubled young wife of a local lawyer.

It takes a few chapters to track the narrative structure. Frances speaks from two perspectives: the pages of her early journal and in an interview spoken to her twin brother, Harry, from Northampton Lunatic Asylum – an eerily historical setting.

The payoff does come, however, and the nuanced differences in Frances’s literary voice before and after the big plot point become integral to the story.

Arsenault has a valuable stylistic benchmark in the detailed contemporary press coverage of the murder trial. The dimensionality of her modern characters seems to suffer a bit in comparison, their dialog often having a filler quality.

A bonus for crime scene investigation fans is the sea change in forensics which the trial chronicles.

For the first time in the late 1800s, scientific methods appeared in the courtroom, and criminal justice would never be the same.

We look forward to more historical fiction from Arsenault.

Jackie Drohan

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AND AFTER THE FIRE

Lauren Belfer, Harper, 2016, $26.99, hb, 464pp, 9780062428516 Spanning centuries, this latest novel from Belfer (A Fierce Radiance, City of Light) is her most compelling yet. It is grounded in the fictional story of Susanna Kessler, whose uncle bequeaths to her an unknown J. S. Bach cantata he looted from the ruins of Berlin in 1945.

Susanna, struggling to recover from rape, immerses herself in the responsibility of her inheritance. In the tradition of The Red Violin, we are whisked back into the late 18th century.

Bach’s dying son entrusts the work, whose lyrics are laced with disturbing contempt by way of Martin Luther, to his wealthy and gifted pupil, Sara Levy (1761-1854), a cultured, Enlightenment Age Jew. Anti-Semitism (that “dismal tradition that brought lethal consequences”) links the stories and the centuries. The lives of the two women run parallel in the narrative. Sara’s long life and glittering drama, surrounded by great minds and enormous talents, is never less compelling than Susanna’s quest. Family secrets and mysteries continue to unravel as both women ponder the crucial role of morality and ethics in our lives. Both academic antics (one Bach scholar is nicknamed “Doktor-Vater”) and pondering on the life of the spirit happily co-exist. Told with lyrical beauty (in a tender love scene, the past exists with the present), the novel is like the lost cantata itself, revealing our capacity for darkness, redeemed by the power of unconditional love. A dazzling, transformative novel. Highly recommended.

Eileen Charbonneau SLEEPING EMBERS OF AN ORDINARY MIND Anne Charnock, 47North, 2015, $14.95, pb, 244pp, 9781503950436 Charnock’s novel tells three parallel stories, one set in the past, one in the present, and one in the future. In 15th-century Florence, Antonia, daughter of the painter Paolo Uccello, learns to paint from her father, but, as a woman of the Renaissance, her choices are limited to marriage or a convent.

Without consulting her, her father has chosen to send her to a convent, because there she will be allowed to continue painting. If she married, the duties of a wife and mother would keep her from her art. In 2015, a copyist painter and his thirteenyear-old daughter, Toni, travel to China, where a businessman asks him to copy a painting by Paolo Uccello. Toni’s mother has recently died in an accident, and she and her father try to put their lives back together. In 2113, Toniah, an art historian who lives in an all-female household, wants to prove that a recently-discovered Renaissance painting is the work of Antonia Uccello.

This novel is beautifully written, and each of the stories is compelling in itself, even though I found the Renaissance story the strongest of the three. Charnock’s future doesn’t seem that different from the present, except for reproductive 20th Century — Multi-period

technology that allows a baby to be conceived without a father. I kept wondering how the stories would be interconnected, but the only connections are the names of the three protagonists, the art of Antonia Uccello and her father, and the theme of family relationships. I was hoping for a closer connection among the three stories. Also, the novel ends abruptly, and the present-day story is the only one with a real resolution. But in spite of these problems, Charnock makes you care about her characters, and her writing makes you want to keep turning the pages.

Vicki Kondelik EVERLAND Rebecca Hunt, Europa, 2015, $17.00/C$20, pb, 320 pp, 9781609452889 / Penguin, 2015, £8.99, pb, 304pp, 9780141049939 This is an absorbing dual-time-period adventure novel. In 2013, a three-member crew sets out for Everland, an Antarctic island, retracing the steps of another three-member crew who made the trip in 1913. The modern-day crew (Decker, Jess, and Brix) parallels the crew of one hundred years earlier (Millet-Bass, Napps, and Dinners). Decker and Millet-Bass are the seasoned, tough explorers; Jess and Napps are outwardly tough but turn out to have surprising vulnerabilities; Brix and Dinners are the physically weak scientists whose money or influence secures them a place on the expedition and the resentment of their crew members. At first the parallels between the two crews seem too obvious, but as the novel progresses, the relationship dynamics become more complex.

The physical challenges each crew faces become secondary to their ethical and moral dilemmas, which are also complicated by their increasingly unstable mental states.

Hunt’s prose is so spare and terse that I wasn’t surprised to find out she visited the High Arctic, as if she was so cold while she was writing that she didn’t want to waste a word! At the same time, some passages are lyrical: “hope had become like a filthy secret which both men were too ashamed to speak of.” Hunt vividly describes the sensory details of this frozen landscape and what it does to the human body. Warning: also vividly described are a few scenes of animal killing and torture.

Hunt skillfully depicts the increasing tension and shifting loyalties among both crews. Ethical considerations become murky, and secrets are easily kept in such an isolated setting: “If what actually happened and the perceived truth were contradictory, it was irrelevant. Because no one would ever know the difference.” Recommended.

Clarissa Harwood THE TSARINA’S LEGACY Jennifer Laam, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016, $15.99, pb, 320pp, 9781250091512 Veronica Herrera, newly discovered lost daughter of the Romanovs and rightful heir to the throne, travels to Russia to accept the official, if only ceremonial, position as Tsarina. But when she takes a political stand for gay rights and supports an imprisoned artist, tensions rise, and Veronica’s convictions, and relationships, are put to the test.

This is book two from Jennifer Laam, following The Secret Daughter of the Tsar, where we met Multi-period

Veronica and learned about her true identity as the heir to the Russian throne. It’s fun reuniting with the characters, some of them new, and watching as Veronica is welcomed to her beautiful homeland.

Woven throughout the story are glimpses back to Prince Grigory Potemkin, the supposed husband of Empress Catherine, as he tries to reconcile his past and build a mosque for the country’s Muslims.

Both storylines are done exceedingly well and are rich in the details I’ve come to expect from Laam’s writing. Veronica is a character with heart and a passion for what she believes is right, and Grigory is a humanly flawed character whose love for Catherine sometimes blinds him. While Grigory’s storyline is filled with his intimate lusts and faults, mixed with ambitions, I found Veronica’s weighed heavily on politics and wished for a bit more energy.

However, this is only a trivial criticism, and overall the lush history and imaginative theory make this an exceptionally satisfying read.

Holly Faur

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THE HIGH MOUNTAINS OF PORTUGAL Yann Martel, Spiegel & Grau, 2016, $27.00, hb, 349pp, 9780812997170 A mythical white rhinoceros, an autopsy that reveals the cause of life, a chimpanzee that pores over family albums… what a tale Yann Martel, author of The Life of Pi, has created this time around!

The High Mountains of Portugal is not just one novel but three interconnected novellas. The first, entitled “Homeless,” is set in 1905 Lisbon, where Tomas, a curator at the National Museum of Ancient Art, discovers an 18th-century diary that sends him on a quest to the High Mountains to search for an artifact that will change history. His odyssey ends tragically in a village named Tuizelo. The second is in the town of Alto Duro, not far from Tuizelo.

Its title is “Homeward.” Here, the hospital’s chief pathologist, Dr. Lozora, still grieving the death of his wife, performs an extraordinary autopsy under the direction of the deceased’s spouse. And, in the third piece,“Home,” a Canadian senator, Peter Tovy, also grieving his wife’s death, leaves everything and moves to his ancestral village with a chimpanzee he is unaccountably drawn to. The village is Tuizelo.

It’s tempting to think of these beautifully written stories, rich in metaphor, as a long parable – perhaps about loss and redemption – certainly about faith and trust in the irrational. There is also a strong religious strain. The runaway theological declamation by Dr. Lozora’s wife is noteworthy and, I would suggest, provides insight into the author’s goal. However, everything is not nearly so intense. There are characters you have to love and parts of each story that make you laugh aloud. Plus, if you have visited Portugal, you will appreciate the fine sense of place.

This is a wonderful book, guaranteed to draw you back again and again. It should be at the top of everyone’s must-read list.

Lucille Cormier

MOUNT PLEASANT Patrice Nganang (trans. Amy Reid), Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2016, $27.00, hb, 384pp, 9780374213855 A young but intelligent and open student has returned to Cameroon in the year 2001, anxious to research the history of her people and their path towards freedom from German, French and British colonialism. We then meet Sara, who was given as a gift to Sultan Njoya, a Bamum leader in exile.

A woman named Bertha had met this kidnapped girl and mysteriously imagined seeing her dead son, Nebu, in her. From that moment, Bertha had taught Sara the “language of love,” a counterpoint to the chaos ruling Cameroon in 1931.

Sara, now an old woman, slowly and lyrically tells the story not only of her real life as a replacement for Nebu but also describes the sultan’s court and the circumstances that led to a very sad ending for the real Nebu. He and his people are intellectuals and artists, which Sara lyrically describes with numerous examples of their brilliance. The stories are pervaded with the magical realism popularized by the Nobel prize-winning author, Gabriel García Márquez; these stories are so unrelatable, albeit beautiful, that the reader is suspended in neither belief nor disbelief but floats in this creative sea of poetic prose. Seamlessly interwoven into these tales are unmistakable prejudice, mistreatment, and colonial scorn, presented also in nuanced fashion.

However, Njoya, Nebu, Sara and many other characters are clearly gifted, insightful and visionary masters of Cameroon, so one must celebrate their independence (in 1960), however fraught with difficulties it is. Patrice Nganang is a highly gifted writer who introduces the reader to Cameroon in Central Africa and allows us to decipher its historical, cultural and political evolution through the mouth of the doyenne, Sara. Superb historical fiction!

Viviane Crystal AS CLOSE TO US AS BREATHING Elizabeth Poliner, Lee Boudreaux Books, 2016, $27.00, hb, 368pp, 9780316384148 A family’s response to a tragedy is at the heart of this plaintive novel, set in late 1940s Connecticut.

Three sisters, Ada, Bec and Vivie, grew up spending summers at “Bagel Beach,” the colloquial name for a section of the Connecticut shoreline inhabited

by Jewish families. Now, as adults, they bring their own families each year to their childhood summer home, while the husbands, who work in the city at the family-owned department store, come up on the weekends. Only Bec remains unmarried, though she has a secret love at her workplace.

The book is narrated by Ada’s tween daughter, Molly, who was an eyewitness to the accident that claimed her younger brother’s life at the age of eight. As Molly is grappling with puberty and all of its accompanying issues, she is trying to make sense of her own feelings and of the confusing family dynamics.

The story weaves back and forth in time, with Molly reflecting on the summer’s events in the present time and trying to come to terms with Davy’s death and its profound effect on the entire family, even decades later. The writing style is reminiscent of Anne Tyler, with its dissection of a family and the nuances of everyday, mundane HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 51

interactions. Intermingled throughout the book are themes of changing expectations in the roles of women and the importance of religious traditions. The book is melancholy in tone, with reflections upon the road not taken, consequences of forbidden love, and atonement.

Hilary Daninhirsch BELONGING Umi Sinha, Myriad/Trafalgar Square, 2015, £8.99/$14.95/C$17.95, 321pp, 9781908434746 In this touching and lithely written debut novel, the gaps separating the generations are wide, but their shared roots in the British Raj and desire for understanding pull them back together. The form it takes is unusual for a family saga – three separate narratives, related in alternating chapters – and this works to heighten immediacy.

The opening scene hits with tremendous impact.

In Peshawar, India, in 1907, 12-year-old Lila Langdon secretly observes her mother’s unveiling of an exquisitely embroidered tablecloth at a large gathering for her father Henry’s 50th birthday. The night ends in tragedy; Lila is shipped to her greataunt Mina’s house on the Sussex Downs, where she grows up in self-enforced silence, alienated from the lively voices and comforting smells of her Indian homeland. She forms a connection with her neighbor’s schoolmate, a Sikh boy named Jagjit, although they’re discouraged from growing too close.

Her voice interweaves with that of Henry, writing in his diary as a motherless boy growing up in Bengal under his distant father’s care, and of Cecily, the grandmother neither of them knew.

In letters to her twin sister, Mina, Cecily describes her excitement and uncertainty about traveling to India in 1855 to wed an older man, Major Arthur Langdon. Her later notes reveal her discomfort with marriage and the increasing danger she and Arthur find themselves in, as anti-British sentiment rises.

The legacy of long-hidden mysteries lingers throughout: did Cecily die in childbirth, as Henry grows up believing? What devastating image did the tablecloth depict? The answers are skillfully revealed in time, yet this is much more than a tale of family secrets. Belonging illustrates the complexity of Anglo-Indian relationships in colonial India and England, Indian soldiers’ valiant WWI service, and the pain of dislocation and unattainable love.

Reading it is a deeply felt, mesmerizing experience.

Sarah Johnson

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THE LAST PAINTING OF SARA DE VOS Dominic Smith, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2016, $26, hb, 304pp, 9780374106683 This is a beautifully written, gripping historical novel centered on the forgery of a Dutch Golden Age painting and two women: the one who painted it and the one who forged it. Seventeenth-century painter Sara de Vos is the first woman admitted to the Guild of St. Luke as a master painter; 300 years later, the only remaining de Vos painting is a haunting landscape called At the Edge of the Woods hanging in the home of wealthy New York lawyer Marty de Groot, a descendant of the original owner.

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a talented but poor Ph.D. student, agrees to copy the original for a fishy art dealer. As she deconstructs the de Vos technique, she becomes transfixed by the painting. However, when de Groot discovers his painting has been stolen and a fraud hangs in its place, he exacts revenge on

Ellie.

Fifty years later: Ellie is a prominent curator in Sydney preparing an exhibition on female painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Shocked, she learns that both paintings, her forgery and the masterpiece, are on their way to Sydney. Her long-ago crime is about to be revealed to the world.

Readers do not have to be experts in painting, the Netherlands, the Golden Age, or forgery to thoroughly enjoy this well-researched novel. Smith brings to life the vivid world of Amsterdam in the 1600s as well as modern Brooklyn and Sydney.

The multi-layered narrative swings between the centuries with the grace of a master’s brush on canvas. The fictional Sara de Vos and her painting will remain in the reader’s mind’s-eye for days, along with a desire to learn more about women painters of the Dutch Golden Age – only a few – but their works, created while restrained by the rules of the male-dominated artistic community, are gorgeous.

Lorraine Norwood

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THE EDGE OF DARK Pamela Hartshorne, Pan Macmillan/Trafalgar Square, 2015, $13.95/£7.99, pb, 467pp, 9781447249559 This timeslip begins with the story of 21st-century events coordinator Roz Acclam, whose new job in York, England, brings her full circle to the scene of the childhood fire that killed her entire family, an event she cannot recall and just recently found out about.

While she’s coping with this and other stressors, Roz looks out the window and finds herself living another life – that of 16th-century York resident Jane, a butcher’s daughter – and having memories that belong to Jane. As Roz wanders the historic streets, she finds herself pulled back in time more often until Jane’s life becomes as real as her own, and their lives begin to parallel with eerie similarity.

Both women live with tremendous childhood pain and long for a child. Both have men in their lives given to darkness and depravity. Both have reason to fear fire. As the similarities increase, the question arises: is Roz being haunted by Jane, is she losing her mind, or is Roz only a vessel as the past replays

itself?

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I read it in three days. The timeslip is done so seamlessly that I found myself hardly noting when the story transitioned from one time period to another, a feat few authors can pull off. The plot is chock full of suspense that kept me on edge and wondering what was going to happen to the characters I grew to love. The historical sections are perhaps the strongest, with vivid description, intense emotion, and well-developed characters I loved and hated in equal measure. The presentday story is a bit flat in comparison but serves the purpose of mirroring the 1569 story and providing a way to tangle past and present until the explosive, if a bit rushed, conclusion.

Nicole Evelina A MURDER IN TIME Julie McElwain, Pegasus Crime, 2016, $25.95, hb, 512pp, 9781605989747 Kendra Donovan is a modern-day FBI agent.

When half her team is killed during a raid, she vows revenge against the man responsible. She follows him to England and joins a house party which recreates the Regency era at a stately castle.

Dressed as a housemaid, she plans to poison the man. But, when another assailant shoots him, Kendra must dash up the stairs in a secret passage.

There she encounters a strange vortex that nearly kills her.

When she emerges from the passage, everything has changed. She finds she’s been sucked back into the actual Regency year of 1815. Anxious to return home, she’s soon caught up with the castle’s inhabitants, discovers a body in a lake, and deduces that a serial killer – a brutal torturer – is on the loose. Kendra uses her modern training and experience to help track down the perpetrator, with the assistance of an enlightened duke and his skeptical nephew, as more young girls are murdered.

It’s amusing to watch Kendra pit her 21stcentury knowledge, without the equipment, against the limited resources of the early 19th century. Also, women just weren’t allowed to be involved in such vulgar activities. A few caveats. The point of view hops around into every character’s head, and a duke would never be referred to as Duke by his contemporaries. Kendra should agonize more over her decision to go rogue and search out her team’s assassin to murder him. The parts in the past are interesting, full of tension and, even for this long book, a page-turner.

Diane Scott Lewis KAMINISHI Jan Suzukawa, DSP Publications, 2015, $16.99, pb, 280pp, 9781634761109 Michael Holden is a 20th-century college student who is serious about his studies. He knows he is quite comfortable financially due to a family trust but is totally oblivious as to his future since he has no clear goals or dreams. Now, however, he is about to experience a life-changing phenomenon.

After some typical jesting with his ex-girlfriend and now just friend, Ellen, he falls asleep over his textbooks and awakens in 19th-century Japan.

Initially, he is treated as a prisoner, as he is clearly a “gaijin” (alien) in the mind of most Japanese Multi-period — Timeslip

people. How he entered Japan, which is closed to all foreigners except for a few missionaries in the south, is a mystery to his captors, but Michael clearly recognizes one person whom he had seen in a dream in the past.

The clearly good-looking Japanese man is Shinjiro Kaminishi, a daimyo of a small clan, untroubled except for a rival neighbor vying for the Kaminishi lands. Shinjiro gradually introduces Michael to sex, with intensifying depth as time passes. The two men fall in love, but Shinjiro is horrified by Michael’s descriptions of Japan’s future.

Shinjiro is determined to thwart that future, which will lead to his own demise. The second part of the story involves a transition to Shinjiro and Michael’s meeting in Japan’s future, where Shinjiro is a reborn yakuza or Japanese mafia leader. Michael’s appearance changes Shinjiro’s plans dramatically.

This is a style of novel known as slashfan or yaoi fiction, involving relationships between members of the same sex, the latter primarily directed to female readers. It has both paranormal and erotic features, which are frequently seen in manga novels.

Very different historical fiction!

Viviane Crystal

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historical fantasy

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SON OF THE MORNING Mark Adler, Pegasus, 2016, $26.95, hb, 736pp, 9781605989501 This massive saga begins in 1337 “sometime between Lammas and Michaelmas,” when young King Edward III decides to defy “the French King Philip’s claim to the fief of Aquitaine.” Although the number of pages make the reader think it might cover all one hundred years of the conflict, this volume ends with the battle of Crécy, a mere nine years later. This retelling of the jostling, as the two kingdoms poise on the brink of a century of bloodshed, shows each monarch considering the state of his angels and of his sacred banners. No doubt Edward and Philip did exactly that. Philip visited his Sainte Chapelle and his Oriflamme.

Edward wondered if his path to the throne over his duly anointed father might have lost him heaven’s favor in any clear signs, and looked for victories on the Continent to confirm him.

In this version, Edward II is in fact still alive and kept prisoner in a secret place. Characters strive to find and then rescue or kill him. Most creative are the very real appearances of angels, of demons, of devils and of a Cornish populist heresy that worships Lucifer and hates royal privilege.

Shipping these people to fight in France is a good idea to attain stability on the island. Kingmaker Hugh Despenser’s return from hell at the head of a cohort of demons allows that villain new, unhistoric life.

The author puts us in the heads of many fascinating characters, which sometimes causes confusion. Probably some familiarity with the Hundred Years’ War is a prerequisite, but an appreciation of metaphor and the tropes of the paranormal should make the seven hundred pages worth the read.

Ann Chamberlin Multi-period — Historical Fantasy

MASKS AND SHADOWS Stephanie Burgis, Pyr, 2016, $18.00, pb, 300 pp, 9781633881327 Set in 1779 Hungary, this thick porridge of a historical fantasy combines well-researched music history, alchemy, horror, mystery, political intrigue, and an unusual romance in the opulent, isolated Eszterháza palace. Charlotte, the widowed Baroness von Steinbeck, is at the palace to visit her younger sister and to recover from some personal losses. She meets Carlo Morelli, a famous castrato singer who is performing in Prince Nikolaus’s private opera house. Josef Haydn figures largely in the story, as do a large cast of opera singers, military men, aristocrats, assassins, and not one, but two alchemists. There is even an “elemental” – a sinister cloud of smoke with red eyes, conjured up with an eye to performing evil magic.

When the Emperor and Empress of the Habsburg Empire make a visit, the stakes rise and dangers threaten even more ominously, although the story is dark from the start. Josef Haydn, and to some extent Charlotte, provide welcome normality and sanity as events spiral out of control and it seems as if evil will win the day. Heroism rises from unexpected places as the harrowing conclusion threatens to destroy so much of this beautiful palace and its inhabitants. Fans of historical music performances and period instruments should find this story especially interesting.

Elizabeth Knowles EMPEROR OF THE EIGHT ISLANDS: Book 1 in the Tale of Shikanoko Lian Hearn, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2016, $14.00, pb, 272pp, 9780374536312.

Kazumaru, whose father has died and whose mother has joined a Buddhist convent in her overwhelming sorrow, knows his Uncle Sademasa plans to kill him and take over the land that Kazumaru was to inherit: a familiar story in medieval Japan, where might is right and any other karma is uncertain. However, Kazumaru meets Sorcerer Shisoku in the Dark Woods and learns the art of sorcery, culminating in the shaping of a magical mask full of dark and sacred powers.

Kazumaru, now called Shikanoko or Shika, then embarks on a journey that will reshape the future of Japan. Also, Kiyoyori and Masachika of Kuromori are forced to obey their father, who will reverse their intended destiny. The resultant rift parallels the struggle playing out between those supporting the dying Emperor’s two sons, including the famous, greedy Prince Abbot of Ryosunji.

The highlights of this exhilarating novel include magical birds who carry messages and change according to an innate code of loyalty, dead eyes imbued with magical powers, the kidnapping of the emperor’s children, unrequited love, an imperial heirloom lute that changes appearance but consistently plays entrancing music, and constant battles where death and deformity do not resolve the rapidly evolving civil wars playing out for the ultimate prize of divine rule. Shika and Shisoku are the heroes who understand that even nature acknowledges the real future emperor. Emperor of the Eight Islands is based on impeccable research from classic Japanese tales and legends. Lian Hearn makes these tales into exciting, tension-producing, poetic prose emanating respect, horror, wonder,

and dynamic storytelling. Kudos to Hearn for more magnificent historical fiction!

Viviane Crystal

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CHILDREN OF EARTH AND SKY Guy Gavriel Kay, NAL, 2016, $27, hb, 560pp, 9780451472960 / Viking, 2016, C$34, hb, 592pp, 9780670068395 / Hodder & Stoughton, 2016, £19.99, hb, 592pp, 9781473628106 This is a historical fantasy. Though of Kay’s own creation, the world is closely based upon Eastern Europe in the late 1400s, after the fall of Constantinople.

The Grand Khalif of the Osmanli (Ottoman Turks) desires his portrait painted by a western artist, and so Duke Ricci of Seressa (Venice) sends Pero, who is young but talented.

His journey sets in motion a series of encounters with others on their own life-changing journeys: Leonora, an angry young woman sent to spy on another republic; Marin, an accomplished younger son of a merchant family; Danica, a young archer seeking revenge for her lost family; and Neven, a boy training to become a soldier in the khalif ’s elite infantry ( Janissaries). The impact of these encounters will reach beyond the personal level to affect important events within and between nations.

The interweaving of these lives recalls the interlacing technique of medieval prose romance, as the focus shifts from one character to another, but the story remains absorbing. This is a harsh world, where innocence offers no protection from pride and political ambition, from revenge and casual cruelty. Against this dark backdrop the virtues of honor and heroism, of love and friendship, shine the more brightly. Few expect to survive long on the dangerous paths they have chosen, but sometimes loyalty to friends, mercy to foes, and honesty in one’s dealings bring unexpected rewards.

Whether dealing with plots or ambushes, arduous travel or ferocious battle, the scheming of ambitious lords or the struggle of vulnerable peasants to survive, Kay is in masterful control of his material, and the prose is elegant. This is writing of the highest order. Very highly recommended.

Ray Thompson THE CURSE OF JACOB TRACY Holly Messinger, St. Martin’s, 2015, $25.95/ C$29.99, hb, 308pp, 9781250038982 After nearly dying in battle at Antietam, our hero, Jacob Tracy, discovers that he has contracted an unsettling gift. He is now able to see and communicate with the dead. For years, Tracy tries to ignore his gift, but bad things keep happening, especially to those close to him.

As a trail guide, Tracy and his partner, a black man named Boz, take a job with a mysterious lady named Miss Fairweather. The job proves to acquaint Tracy with his psychic powers more than ever before, and they soon find out that Miss Fairweather has more to offer than just temporary employment. As the two take more and more jobs HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 53

which sink them further into the dark spirit world, Tracy must decide if there is reason he has his powers and how he can use them for good. Boz, however, fears that Miss Fairweather’s motives may not be all that benign.

This is a paranormal ghost story set mainly in St. Louis during the 1880s, which gives the novel a rich historical context, but one should look elsewhere for a more intriguing look at St. Louis during this time. The character development is at its best when Messinger explores the relationship between Tracy and Boz, and that aspect was perhaps the most interesting for me. The prose is easy enough to read; however, the novel feels episodic and reads like a collection of loosely connected short stories.

It’s a fun read for those who wish to see as much of the dark arts in one book as possible.

Val Jensen LOVECRAFT COUNTRY Matt Ruff, Harper, 2016, $26.99, hb, 432pp, 9780062292063 In 1954, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner returns to his hometown of Chicago and finds his father, Montrose, missing. A cryptic note left by Montrose leads Atticus on a cross-country road trip to New England, accompanied by his uncle George – publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide – and his childhood friend, Letitia.

Along the way, the trio encounters racial prejudice and outright hatred, which put their lives in jeopardy on more than one occasion.

Arriving in New England, they discover Montrose being held in chains by a secret cabal of wizards named the Order of the Ancient Dawn, led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son, Caleb. It becomes apparent that the Order is intent upon enacting a mysterious ritual that necessitates the participation of Atticus.

As the title of this novel suggests, the reader would do well to bone up on the works of H. P. Lovecraft before reading it, since there are many associations with Lovecraftian tropes. Ruff also attempts to makes a statement about race relations throughout the novel, but there is no cohesion among the scenes of racial confrontation. Although those scenes are well-written and gripping, the reader learns nothing new about race relations.

Further complicating the novel is its structure, which divides the narrative into several sections that read more like short stories than parts of a novel.

The novel might be interesting for fantasy fans but the general reader will wish for a tighter focus and greater narrative cohesion.

John Kachuba THE LAST DAYS OF MAGIC Mark L. Tompkins, Viking, 2016, $27.00, hb, 400pp, 9780525429531 Mark Tompkins’s fantasy novel is a roiling cauldron of Celtic and Biblical mythology, with everything from fallen angels and faeries, witches and sorcerers, and greedy bishops and grasping kings all battling for survival and supremacy in a troubled world riven by religious zealotry and unbridled superstition. In 14th-century Europe, with Ireland as the battleground, an epic war is being waged between humans and magical creatures that could spell the end of magic once 54 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 76, May 2016

and for all.

The Last Days of Magic embodies everything I love in a fantasy novel, and that is the problem.

As a fan of epic fantasy, I so wanted to love this book – I even fell in love with the cover as soon as I opened the package – but it was simply too much. With evil Vatican operatives (colluding with Geoffrey Chaucer) who dispatch a brilliant, but conflicted assassin and King Richard II arrayed on one side, and all the magical creatures with all their varied histories and related mythologies arrayed on the other, I was too overwhelmed with the details of competing storylines and character arcs and magical abilities to truly enjoy the story.

The obviously talented author added (at least) one too many ingredients to what could have been a delicious brew. That said, the magical characters were fascinating, and the details about everyday life and the portrayals of historical figures were both realistic and engaging. This is a confounding book that many will love for its complexity and that many others will abandon in frustration because of its complexity.

Kristina Blank Makansi

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alternate history

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THE VIRGIN’S SPY Laura Andersen, Ballantine, 2015, $15.00, pb, 368pp, 9780804179386 Laura Andersen continues to explore her alternative history of Elizabethan England, in which Queen Elizabeth I has a daughter with King Philip II of Spain. In this installment, Andersen delves into the political turmoil of Ireland as Elizabeth faces threats to her reign both at home and abroad. Following the events of the previous book (The Virgin’s Daughter), this novel focuses mainly on the Courtenay family, namely the younger generation. Queen Elizabeth sends Stephen Courtenay to Ireland as an undercover spy, where he witnesses the brutality of the English troops against the Irish and is severely wounded both physically and emotionally. As Stephen struggles with his sense of loyalty to England, his younger brother Kit grapples with his sense of loyalty to family as his childhood friendship with Anabel, the Princess of Wales, begins to take on a romantic dimension.

Because this is novel is part of a series, Andersen spends a good deal of time at the outset establishing the characters and their backgrounds, which makes for a plodding beginning. However, once the tensions are established, the plot and narrative gain pace and vigor. For some readers, it might be unsettling to encounter an alternative history that so liberally re-writes Tudor history. However, Andersen’s novel offers fun twists to known facts that add suspense and mystery to a well-traveled history. Moreover, because Andersen is free from historical reality, she is able to create and explore strong and compelling female characters (beyond Queen Elizabeth) that drive the plot.

Nicola Imbracsio

C$29.99, hb, 400pp, 9781250059215 In this alternate history and science fictionthemed novel, the WWII British special operators at Station Z are battling both Nazis and the alien Vril. As the Germans try to exploit the technology of the aliens, the British are trying to stop the oncoming Vril planet-wide offensive they suspect is imminent. While the London-based station is conducting covert research on the aliens, with the apparent assistance of historical occult figure, Aleister Crowley, special ops teams of men and women deploy to the U.S. west coast, occupied Greece and embattled Stalingrad to hunt for critical ancient artifacts. The search culminates in a fiery and exciting climax on the island of Crete which also sets the stage for what comes next.

This thoroughly enjoyable novel, part of a series by veteran “Dr. Who” writer Richards, reads just fine as a stand-alone. The Germans may be cartoonishly portrayed as clumsy and incompetent, and the espionage tradecraft may be a bit facile, but the fast-paced action and tension infused throughout compensate for that. The book is great fun, and the wooden stakes are a quaintly ironic touch.

Thomas J. Howley

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EAGLE IN EXILE Alan Smale, Del Rey, 2016, $28.00, hb, 576pp, 9780804177245 Though Praetor Gaius Marcellinus, the sole survivor of his legion, has helped lead the nation of Cahokia to victory against the warlike Iroqua, he knows the price has been high –perhaps too high. He has not only witnessed now, over the course of years, the annihilation of his legion, but now the loss and devastation of his newly adopted people. Nova Hesperia, as Roma has dubbed this new continent, now stands fractured and weakened. He knows its people will fall to the Imperial legions that are no doubt heading this way. Even through his exile, he – and those who have chosen to accompany him – seek a way to peace, not through submission, but through a united Nova Hesperia. But as word reaches him of Roma’s presence on the continent, all his plans may have been for naught.

This is Smale’s second installment in his Clash of Eagles trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed the first one, and this one exceeded it. Marcellinus is a complicated man, a hero we can all get behind. The Cahokians who travel with him are full-fledged characters, each with her or his own temperament and hopes. This work of alternate history is so thoroughly believable and well-thought out that I could almost wish it had come to pass. Smale does a wonderful job of keeping Rome feeling like Rome and Cahokia like Cahokia. I can’t recommend this series enough.

Justin Lindsay

THE BLOOD RED CITY Justin Richards, St. Martin’s, 2016, $26.99/ Historical Fantasy — Alternate History

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children & young adult

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THE BOY AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN John Boyne, Doubleday, 2015, £12.99, hb, 215pp, 9780857534521 After seven-year-old Pierrot is orphaned, he is sent to live with his aunt Beatrix, leaving behind his home in Paris and his Jewish friend, Anshel.

It is 1936, and his aunt is the housekeeper at the Berghof, Hitler’s holiday residence in the Bavarian Alps. Pierrot gradually settles into life in this uneasy household. His name is changed to Pieter, and he meets and falls under the influence of Adolf Hitler.

At first the reader is sympathetic towards Pierrot, but this soon changes to dislike and revulsion for the person he becomes. The book covers Pierrot’s life at the Berghof over the next nine years, and we watch as his innocence is corrupted by the power and evil surrounding Hitler. The boy, arrogant and blinded by hero worship, betrays his aunt, with tragic consequences.

After the war ends, Pierrot learns the full extent of what he has been complicit in, the appalling horrors of a war he never saw at first hand, but he can no longer pretend he did not have a choice in what he did or what he became.

Years later, he returns to Paris to find his childhood friend, Anshel, who is now a writer. The ending is poignant as we see Pierrot realise that his friend never lost his decency and goodness of spirit and, in an effort to find redemption, he asks Anshel to write down his story in all its unpalatable truth.

There are countless small acts of casual cruelty and a scene of sexual violence which make this book unsuitable for younger teen readers. An unusual and disturbing book. Highly recommended.

Pat Walsh BROTHERS OF THE BUFFALO: A Novel of the Red River War Joseph Bruchac, Fulcrum, 2016, $16.95, pb, 392pp, 978193846920 The latest young adult novel from prolific Native American storyteller and writer, Joseph Bruchac, explores the 1874 Red River War through the perspective of two young participants in that conflict. Washington Vance is a cavalryman serving in the 10th Cavalry, US Colored Troops—a “buffalo soldier,” as the Plains Indians called African-American troopers. Virginia-born “Wash” knows what slavery is like, and he discovers that Mr. Lincoln’s emancipation did not necessarily erase racial bigotry and prejudice, even on the faraway Great Plains. Still, he is determined to serve with honor and to make a future for himself that would have been unthinkable before he became free.

Wolf, a young Cheyenne man, finds that life among his people is changing in drastic ways.

Forced onto reservations, their old ways of life are dying. Worse, there are the incursions of white settlers and horse thieves, and the constant threat of warfare between the Cheyenne and the soldiers.

He is challenged to find his place in the swirl of conflicting attitudes.

Children & YA

This is a fast-paced novel that artfully details the thoughts and motivations of two young men— both of whom are, by their skin color, the objects of racial injustice. Bruchac’s research is impeccable, as always, and he gives the reader an accurate picture of these people and events without falling back on stereotypes. Although categorized for YA, this novel is a great read for adults as well.

John Kachuba BETRAYED Lynn Carthage, Kensington, 2016, $9.95, pb, 288pp, 9781617736278 In the second book in the Arnaud Legacy series, teenagers Phoebe, Miles, and Eleanor follow Phoebe’s family to Versailles, where the teenagers experience sudden periods of time travel, locate an old enemy, and learn the roots of her immortal secrets. But the teenagers have some role in this tale, one essential to their “graduation,” and they must piece together the clues to keep Phoebe’s family safe from harm.

This is a series where you should read the first book because if you don’t, you will have a lot of catching up to do in the first 20 percent of this novel. There’s one major secret about the teenagers that (if you don’t read the spoilers online) will further muddy the water in the opening pages, if you haven’t already been clued in. Heavy on telling, coincidence, and pre-teen dialogue, this book favors breakneck pace over depth, creating a mishmash of teen sci-fi adventure, Da Vinci Code intrigue, and Twilight-esque love story that never really coalesces. The historical details, although interesting, are more like tangents than essential elements to the plot. The premise (which I won’t spoil here) provides limitless possibilities, but the plot never capitalizes on all that potential. More sophisticated dialogue and plotting would take this promising setup much farther.

Rebecca Henderson Palmer GIRL IN THE BLUE COAT Monica Hesse, Little, Brown, 2016, $17.99, hb, 320pp, 9780316260602 Girl in the Blue Coat is a sensitively told comingof-age story set in the Netherlands during the German occupation. Hanneke is a Dutch girl who is doing her best to get revenge against the Nazis for the death of her first love, Bas, who died fighting in the Resistance. She does so by operating in the black market, tricking German soldiers by her wits as she makes her deliveries of ill-gotten goods. Life is somewhat stable in this very unstable world until one of Hanneke’s customers implores her to find a missing Jewish girl, the girl in the blue coat, who had been hiding in the home of one Mrs. Janssen.

When the girl vanished without a trace, Mrs. Janssen is frantic to find her before the Nazis do.

A reluctant Hanneke is eventually seduced by the mystery of what has happened to this girl, and her search leads her right into the heart of the Resistance, where Bas’ brother, Ollie, is a major player. She is called upon to face her darkest fears as she must decide how far she is willing to go to save the girl in the blue coat. Wracked by guilt and grief, Hanneke must grow up and realize she is no longer playing games; now, she’s playing for keeps.

This novel offers a look into how life-changing decisions are made, and the cost they often bring

with them. The book is beautifully written, and the reader is kept in a state of anxiety as the story unfolds. It’s a page-turner where the consequences for the main characters could be a fate worse than death—a concentration camp. Ages 12 + Anne Clinard Barnhill THE NEXT TOGETHER Lauren James, Walker, 2016, £7.99, pb, 356pp, 9781406358056 This multi-layered book tells the story of Matthew and Katherine, doomed to meet, fall in love, and die tragically before their time down the centuries. We first meet them in Carlisle in 1745, as Bonnie Prince Charlie and his soldiers sweep down from Scotland to besiege the castle before marching on London to restore the Stuarts to the throne. Matthew is desperate to prevent them.

Katherine isn’t sure whose side he’s on.

Then we move to the Crimea in 1854. Matthew is a reporter for The Times, intent on uncovering the truth about army incompetence; Katherine, disguised as young boy, is helping Lord Raglan to conceal that very truth. In both Carlisle and the Crimea, they end up on the same side, in love, in danger and with time running out.

Gradually, the reader realizes that another agency is at work. Operating from the future, a force is manipulating the lovers to change the course of history. But why? The story swings back and forth from past to future (2019 and 2048) using handwritten notes, newspaper cuttings, emails, online information and so on, getting nearer and nearer the crunch point. The reader is kept on tenterhooks as to who is manipulating Matthew and Katherine’s lives and what’s at stake.

I enjoyed this. The two historical episodes are well-researched and convincing, particularly the horrors of cold, rain and disease in the Crimea.

One caveat: I doubt that any commanding officer in 1745 would take advice from a woman!

Unfortunately, The Next Together is sometimes almost illegible. The small handwritten notes on a grey background, for example, can be difficult to decipher. Some of the computer information was in a light, thin typeface, in what looked like 8pt. and I needed a magnifying-glass to read it, which didn’t help. For 13 plus.

Elizabeth Hawksley THE LAST BOGLER Catherine Jinks, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $16.99, hb, 336pp, 9780544086968 This is the third and last in Jinks’ series about the bogler, Mr. Bunce, and his apprentices, Birdie, Jem and Ned. The time period is late 19th-century London. Bogles are horrible magical creatures that hide in sewers, chimneys and other shadowy places, where they capture and eat children. As such, children are needed as bait so an adult bogler can kill them. Early in this story, Jem and Birdie get jobs with the Royal Theater, leaving 10-year-old Ned as Mr. Bunce’s only apprentice (bait). The two battle a series of bogles, and Ned proves himself strong and courageous. Mr. Bunce wants Ned to one day replace him as bogler. Ned does not want to be a bogler, but is afraid to tell Mr. Bunce who has been so good to him. In addition to avoiding death-by-bogle, our group of friends must avoid Salty Jack, a dangerous criminal from the last book HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 55

who wants revenge on Jem and Mr. Bunce.

Bogles are scary creatures and every battle is nerve-racking. Ned is a sympathetic character, and his interest in mechanics and engineering helps to bring to life the setting of industrial London. I hadn’t read either of the other books in the series, which was not a problem. The Last Bogle stands on its own as a fun, mildly-frightening historical fantasy for children ages 9-12.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt AUDACITY JONES TO THE RESCUE Kirby Larson, Scholastic, 2016, $16.99/$20.99, hb, 224pp, 9780545840569 Audacity Jones is an 11-year-old orphan living at Miss Maisie’s School for Wayward Girls in Swayzee, Indiana. She’s not really wayward, but then none of the girls are. It’s a peculiar place, but to Audie, it is home. That is, until one day a certain Commodore Crutchfield, one of the establishment’s benefactors, needs a girl for a mission. Audie, looking for adventure, volunteers with alacrity and is headed out in one of the newfangled automobiles—all the way to Washington D.C. and the White House.

President Taft is hosting a New Year’s Day event, in which the “mission” is centered. Audie, however, has misgivings about the secretive plan and isn’t sure if she should trust the kindly, but distracted Commodore, his seemingly shady driver, or any of the other characters that figure into the situation.

When the time comes for Audie’s involvement in the scheme, things go awry, and she must find a way to stop a plot she’s uncovered.

First in a new series, this children’s chapter book features a spunky, though very polite young sleuth whose biggest strength is knowledge—a theme made clear to readers. Friendship is also a highlighted subject that will resonate with young readers. An entirely plausible, if not probable, plot is actually based on a true story of one of President Taft’s relatives who went missing. The writing style is neat and inviting, but even more endearing are the characters—both human and animal—that weave in and out of the tale. This is a delightful read for young historical and mystery lovers!

Arleigh Johnson

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NANCY PARKER’S DIARY OF DETECTION Julia Lee, Oxford, 2016, £6.99, pb, 251 pp, 9780192739384 London, 1920. Fourteen-year-old Nancy Parker leaves school and starts a Journal. She’s longing for real life to begin, preferably as a Detective! But all she’s offered is a job as a housemaid to Mrs Byrne who lives by the sea at Seabourne. Fortunately, Nancy’s new life turns out to be anything but boring. There’s a jewel thief about, and she suspects Cook of hiding a dark secret. And, most thrilling of all, could Mrs Byrne be mixed-up in murder?

Julia Lee’s books usually have multiple viewpoints; so it is here. We also follow Ella Otter, bored daughter of an Archaeology Professor; and bespectacled schoolboy, Quentin Ives, who hates sport and longs to be a detective himself. Readers must keep their wits about them to avoid tangling the reins about who has discovered what.

I enjoyed Nancy’s handwritten and frequently misspelt Journal. I like the way her spelling gradually improves (Ella gives her a dictionary) 56 | Reviews |

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but she never sorts out ‘psychology’ because she looks for it under ‘S’.

Lee is good at getting across the realities of life for housemaids in the 1920s: long hours, very hard work and few modern conveniences – no vacuum cleaner, for example. Mrs Byrne is less than scrupulous about paying her tradesmen’s bills; even poor Nancy finds herself down to her last sixpence before she dares to ask for her wages. Mrs Byrne makes it very clear that Nancy, as a mere servant, must Know Her Place. She must address her mistress as ‘Ma’am’ – pronounced ‘Mm’, and she must call Ella, ‘Miss’.

Fortunately, American-born Ella has no truck with this outdated behaviour; why should she adhere to ‘stuffy English habits’?

The pace is terrific and Julia Lee knows how to keep her readers on tenterhooks. I look forward to Nancy’s further adventures. For children of 10 plus.

Elizabeth Hawksley TRU & NELLE G. Neri, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $16.99/C$23.99, hb, 336pp, 9780544699601 Harper Lee (Nelle) and Truman Capote (Tru) met when they were six and seven years old, respectively. This is the story of their friendship and their adventures in Monroeville, Alabama for the first two years of their friendship. Neri portrays Tru as a precocious youth who both looked like a bulldog and was too pretty to be a boy. Nelle is a tomboy and bully who is afraid of snakes, heights, and getting in trouble. The characterization is better for Tru, but neither character comes to life, and they sometimes don’t feel like children at all. When Tru must move to New York, Nelle comforts him by saying, “There’s nothing happening down here.

There’s no nightlife, no social scene that the papers write about. You’ll be living the real thing.” Why is an eight-year-old talking about Monroeville’s lack of “nightlife”?

For the first third of the novel, Neri tells brief anecdotes that lack both cohesion and conflict.

When Tru and Nelle pretend to be Sherlock Holmes and Watson to solve a Monroeville crime, the suspense picks up and the story is more entertaining. An encounter with the Ku Klux Klan is momentarily intense, but finishes by trivializing the terrors wrought by that organization.

I was excited about this book, but I cannot recommend it. Neri’s characterization is disjointed and lifeless. The overall story lacks a focused conflict and isn’t successful as a series of miniconflicts, either. As this book is aimed at middlegrade readers and is more than 300 pages, it would have benefited from a focused editing.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt YOUNG HOUDINI: The Silent Assassin Simon Nicholson, Oxford, 2016, £6.99, pb, 206pp, 9780192744890 Simon Nicholson continues his series based on the imagined youthful career of Harry Houdini,

the famous escapologist. Harry, with his friends Billie (a girl) and Arthur, is employed by a secret crime-fighting organisation, the Order of the White Crow. This episode sees them headed for England to solve the mystery of the Silent Assassin.

Throughout, Harry’s talents are key. Clues are found and evil plots foiled by his dare-devil escapades. If the world of Harry Potter sometimes seems close at hand, there is no question that for this resourceful trio the magic is simply ability, nerve, and intelligence.

A prominent contributor to a charity called The Benevolent Orphans, named after the rich benefactors who were once poor orphans themselves, is murdered by gun-shot; significantly, by an entirely silent gun-shot. The Silent Assassin is responsible for this, and for other strange attacks. A corrupt police inspector and a civil war in a distant country, along with a villain who sells weapons to the wrong side, provide some modern resonance. The children must work out the facts as they go along, support themselves by their theatrical skills and race to identify the culprit. In a final twist, even the villain proves a surprise.

The period is the late 19th century. The historical details – cabs and steam trains – are slight, but the descriptions can be vivid: ‘a potted gingko tree rose in the garden’s centre; a wrought-iron table stood… on a chamomile lawn’. The pace, action and plot, as well as the sheer zest of the children’s ruses, are what carry this story along; and despite the dark themes, their mutual trust and reliance adds warmth.

This novel combines the detective pleasures of a Sherlock Holmes story with the excitement of a James Bond thriller. Suitable for girls and boys, 1014 years old.

Jane Burke HEART OF A CHAMPION Ellen Schwartz, Tundra, 2016, $16.99/C$19.99, hb, 272pp, 9781770498808 Ten-year-old Kenny Sakamoto wants to be just like his older brother Mickey, who at age sixteen is a star on the Asahi baseball team in Vancouver, Canada. But Kenny has never played baseball.

When he was little he had rheumatic fever, which his doctor feels might have weakened his heart.

Kenny isn’t allowed any physical activity, and his parents worry constantly about his health. Now that he is of age to try-out for the Clovers, a younger version of the Asahi club, Kenny convinces Mickey to teach him baseball in secret. After only one practice, their world is turned upside-down when Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, and the Canadian government begins to consider Japanese-Canadian citizens as “enemy aliens.”

The transformation of Kenny from weak little brother to a leader that other children (and adults) follow is smooth, believable and inspiring. Through his eyes, young readers will learn about an important part of Canadian history that isn’t often taught: the movement of Japanese-Canadian citizens to work camps and internment camps and the confiscation of possessions and businesses. Although Kenny, Mickey, and many in the Japanese-Canadian community love baseball, this is not a sports novel with the requisite play-by-play of ball games. Heart of a Champion is historical fiction, a well-crafted novel about believable characters responding to Children & YA

difficult historical events. For ages 9-12.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt SALT TO THE SEA Ruta Sepetys, Philomel, 2016, $18.99, hb, 400pp, 9780399160301 Ruta Sepetys has written a fictionalized account of the single deadliest maritime tragedy in history, and the least known: the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff during the evacuation of Germany in 1945. Nine thousand people lost their lives when the ship was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine. The majority of the Gustloff’s passengers were civilians, five thousand of which were children.

To bring tragedy to the level of human understanding, Sepetys structures the book around four main characters: Joana, Emilia, Florian, and Alfred. Each short chapter is devoted to one character’s point of view. Desperately hungry and cold, Joana, Emilia, and Florian trek through snowy forests toward a ship that promises salvation. Meanwhile, Alfred, a low-ranking German stationed aboard the Gustloff, hides in toilets and composes hateful doggerel about Jews and other people Hitler reviles.

Despite the fact that the fate of the ship is known – or perhaps because of it – the characters attach themselves to the reader in poignant backstories skillfully woven through the chapters. While the characters become more compelling as the book moves to the inevitable sinking, some readers may be put off by the rapid shifting of perspectives, particularly at the beginning when determining one character from another is difficult. Readers are advised to keep at it until they can settle into the flow.

While Salt to the Sea is YA fiction, it spares nothing in the brutal portrayal of human cruelty, war, and evil. Sepetys should be commended for her honesty and meticulous research. And all of us should thank her for honoring the nine thousand souls who went to their deaths in this unspeakable tragedy.

Lorraine Norwood RUGBY FLYER Gerard Siggins, O’Brien, 2016, £6.99, pb, 176pp, 9781847178190 Fourteen-year-old Rugby-mad Eoin Madden, a loyal Munster lad, is part-thrilled, part-horrified to be offered a weekend Youth Academy Induction Course by Munster rivals, Leinster. It would be a fantastic chance, he knows, but Leinster? Eoin’s other talent is that he can see and talk with ghosts.

His grandfather, a former Leinster player, tells him that it’s OK to like and respect your rivals.

He tells Eoin about Prince Alexander Obolensky, a Russian émigré, born in 1916, whose family fled the Russian Revolution. Later, Obolensky played Rugby for England. He became a legend before his untimely death in 1940 as a trainee RAF pilot in World War II. Eoin is fascinated, especially as Obolensky actually stayed with his uncle, Mr Lubov, in the big house next door! His grandfather gives him a strange object like a medal dome with sparkly bits in it which Mr Lubov had given him, and Eoin decides that it will be his lucky charm.

Children & YA

But is that all it is? Eoin sets out to explore the ruined house…

Most of Rugby Flyer follows Eoin’s time on the Leinster course, but it’s not all about sport. There are other lessons to be learned: getting on with boys from different places, some of whom, like the loud-mouth bully, Marcus, try to make his life a misery. Then there’s Eoin’s best friend, training with Munster, who sees him as a traitor and won’t speak to him. Does Eoin have the necessary commitment? Will he work hard and play fair?

I have to say that Rugby Flyer only just scraped into the historical novel category because of the Alex Obolensky connection. But he really existed.

Alex’s ghost tells Eoin his story, and Eoin learns that, even though foreign-born, Obolensky, too, was a worthy Rugby hero. For boys aged 10+.

Elizabeth Hawksley PADRAIG PEARSE AND THE EASTER RISING 1916 Rod Smith, Poolbeg Press, 2016, €4.99, pb, 43pp, 97811781998885 Pádraig Pearse and the Easter Rising 1916 does not have an easy task. Its stated aim is not to be a history book, but to present one of ‘Ireland’s best known stories in a nutshell’. Given that it’s probably possible to fill whole libraries with books about Pádraig Pearse and about the Easter Rising more generally, there is lot to cram into a small space.

I laughed out loud reading the first page, and I don’t think I was meant to. However, to be fair to the book, it’s not likely that children of 6+ (the target audience) would find the way the material is presented all that strange. (For the record, what made me chortle was the stilted way that dialogue was used to put over information – probably a stylistic necessity in a book of just over 40 pages with lots of pictures.)

Much more importantly, the little book covers the ground with a light touch and does not shy away from topics that have not always been popular in Irish history – including the fact that many Irishmen were fighting with the British in France at the time of the Easter Rising and that many citizens of Dublin took the Rising as an opportunity to do a bit of looting. It is clear, and easy to read – and, of course, a timely little publication.

Ouida Taaffe A TYRANNY OF PETTICOATS: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls Jessica Spotswood, ed., Candlewick, 2016, $17.99/ C$24.00, hb, 368pp, 9780763678487 This is a deceptively titled anthology of unpublished short stories by notable authors of young adult fiction. Historical YA fiction is a difficult category, as the onset of adulthood varies widely across eras. Sixteen was the age of betrothal in 18th-century New Orleans (Spotswood’s own “Madeleine’s Choice”), and old enough to board enemy ships during the Golden Age of Piracy, in the poetically styled “Mother Carey’s Table” by J. Anderson Coats.

Many of the stories cover political or historical themes familiar to their authors (“Pulse of the Panthers” by Kekla Magoon), while others are

more experimental and offer better insight into modern attitude and angst. Metaphysical and existential themes are strongly represented. The best of these include “The Journey” by Marie Lu, in which Yakune, a young Inupiat girl, is taught hunting and survival skills by her father; and the fascinating “El Destinos” by Leslye Walton, set in 1848 Texas, with Mexican sisters who are the divine fates incarnate.

The ubiquitous vampire theme makes its appearance in “High Stakes” by Andrea Cremer.

Set in 1861 Boston, Klio, a member of a coven of mythical immortals, uses her powers for contract murder. While cross-dressing heroines are heavily represented (“Mother Carey’s Table,” Saundra Mitchell’s “Bonnie and Clyde,” Katherine Longshore’s “Hard Times”), the intended focus on LGBT themes seems to fall short, represented only by the wartime dalliance of two female steel workers in Lindsay Smith’s “City of Angels.” A special nod to “The World is Watching” by Ronin Talley, a vivid picture of the Chicago DNC riots which resonates chillingly with current campaign headlines.

Overall, this is a well-conceived and thoughtfully constructed collection aimed at ages 14 and up, but with a favorite historical era and provocative heroine to appeal to everyone.

Jackie Drohan ARCTIC WILL Joanne Sundell, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 326pp, 9781432831752 Third in her Watch Eyes trilogy, Arctic Will concludes Sundell’s metaphysical saga of a sled dog family and their Siberian native owners in early 20th-century Alaska. A husky trainer herself, the author’s devoted connection to the magnificent breed permeates her work. The story opens with our Chukchi heroine, Anya, paralyzed with grief after her apparent rejection by both her father and her beloved Scandinavian mariner, Rune Johannson; as well as the loss of her most beloved huskies, Zellie, Mushroom and Xander. Her fellow tribesman, Vitya, Rune’s rival, is left to care for her.

He longs for her to return his love.

The living material plane mingles with the Shamanic spirit world as the independence and very existence of the Siberian husky and the Chukchi people are threatened by Joseph Stalin.

Sundell’s most fascinating literary device is her portrait of Stalin as half-man and half-demon, a vision reminiscent of Norman Mailer’s Hitler in The Castle in the Forest. Guardian spirits, human, canine and divine, meet in a final battle with the maleficent monster, as Rune and Vitya battle for the heart of Anya.

Numerous subplots and characters add Arctic ambiance, if little dimensionality. We witness a dog race, a seal hunting expedition, and a shipwreck.

The long list of names of the novel’s canine and human characters is occasionally burdensome to a reader who has not followed the entire series. The action is well paced, however, and Sundell’s passion for her subject carries the book. If you like Jack London, you will like Joanne Sundell.

Jackie Drohan HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 57

LIBERTY’S FIRE Lydia Syson, Hot Key, 2015, £7.99, pb, 351pp, 9781471403675 Following on from Lydia Syson’s award-winning debut, A World Between Us, and her second novel, That Burning Summer, comes another story of warcrossed young lovers. Set in 1871, at the time of the revolutionary commune of Paris, this proves an arresting setting for a romance between Anatole, a young violinist making his way in the theatre, and the newly bereaved Zéphyrine, an impoverished, fiery rebel. Worlds clash, and both must learn from the other. In a maelstrom of conflicting beliefs, is their love strong enough to survive war, betrayal and exile? The ending is hopeful but tantalisingly inconclusive.

This is a brilliant milieu for such a story, at a time and place that feel familiar – through stories of the French Revolution and Les Misérables – but which are both distinct and novel. Political ideas and agency are broached; themes of personal, class and gender liberation are all developed in an incident-packed plot. The main protagonists are faced with decisions of moral ambivalence relevant today. The burning of Paris may be an act of terror: if Zéphyrine was involved, can Anatole still love her?

This is a simply-written, well-paced novel, with a style that draws the reader in. The research has clearly been intense but is handled lightly throughout. Its depiction of young love captures both its clumsiness and its enchantment: ‘To be so close, to be able to say anything, to be caught in someone else’s eyes and breath like that.’ The writing depicts large-scale events clearly, and small details with sensual particularity: guilt makes Anatole feel ‘the silver matchbox … heating up in his hands.’

This novel is an unusual mixture of hard-hitting story-telling and subtle discourse on adolescence – and on the courage needed to face an uncertain world. Highly recommended for a young adult readership, 12-16 years.

Jane Burke I SURVIVED: The Hindenburg Disaster, 1937 Lauren Tarshis, Scholastic, 2016, $4.99, pb, 112pp, 9780545658508 Tarshis’s latest installment in the I Survived series for ages 7 to 10 recounts the horrors of the Hindenburg disaster in May 1937 in New Jersey, when the massive German airship caught fire while attempting to land. Thirty-five people were killed. On board the Hindenburg is Hugo Ballard, an 11-year-old boy traveling to America with his parents and little sister, Gertie. In the course of the four-day journey, Hugo encounters a spy fleeing the Nazis, fears for the safety of his sister, who becomes critically ill, and is caught in the fireball of the disintegrating airship, barely escaping the disaster.

The theme of the series is resilience: how the main character can struggle through the most horrific experience and yet survive, ultimately healed in both body and spirit. Written in a straightforward but fast-paced style, and seen through the eyes of the young person who is eyewitness to the disaster, 58 | Reviews |

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the books bring history to life for the reader. The books are broken into small but exciting chapters which always end on a hook. Even reluctant readers should be enticed by these page-turners. Tarshis has included a bibliography, extra resources, and additional facts about the Hindenburg at the back of the book. Highly recommended.

Lorraine Norwood A SLICE OF THE MOON Sandi Toksvig, Doubleday, 2015, £9.99, hb, 469pp, 9780857531919 Rosalind Hannigan’s tale begins in 1845 in a poor but loving home in Ballysmaragaid, Ireland.

Affectionately called ‘Slim’ by her storyteller father, the eleven-year-old is never happier than when fishing and enjoying the beauty of the world around her. Slim, her parents, two brothers, sister and a pig named Hamlet make the best of what they have, but things change dramatically when their dependence on the potato undermines their ability to survive as crops fail. When the truth behind the politics of the situation causes major unrest, they are forced to leave Ireland and immigrate to America. They plan to meet up with family in Oregon and make their fortune in a hopefully fairer new land.

From the opening ironic statement about the influence of the potato on young Slim’s life, I was enthralled by this story. Her life has been one of acceptance of what they have, and how to exist within their means. The value of humour and love are revealed as adversity is faced. Slim experiences heartbreak, but she is intelligent, quick-witted and brave. She has to think on her feet, growing as a character as she steers her family through change and tragedy.

This action-packed adventure shows the strength and versatility of the human spirit to survive the devastation that greed, ignorance and bad politics can cause. All the characters are totally convincing and engaging, including the talented Hamlet. If stories come from magic then this one certainly cast a strong spell. The writing is easily accessible, and the truth of the era is beautifully revealed through the eyes of the intuitive and resourceful Slim. I would highly recommend it for readers of 8+ with no upper limit.

Valerie Loh THE FORBIDDEN ORCHID Sharon Biggs Waller, Viking, 2016, $18.99/$24.99, hb, 416pp, 9780451474117 Waller’s second novel, coming on the heels of her successful debut, A Mad, Wicked Folly, is about the adventures of Elodie Buchanan, oldest of nine girls, each named for a flower. Set in a small English village in 1861, this story begins when Elodie’s father, a rare plant hunter for several wealthy patrons, fails to bring one of his employers the coveted Queen’s Fancy orchid back from China. Mr. Pringle, the said employer, arrives at the Buchanan home, ready to take possession of everything, including the house.

Mrs. Buchanan is ill from too many pregnancies and the burden of managing the blossoming household of girls. Her health is not improved by

her doctor, who gives her an opium-laced medicine which makes her ever more lethargic. Elodie must save the family if she can.

Her efforts lead her all the way to China aboard the Osprey, a clipper ship both sleek and fast. Also on board ship, she finds Alex, a young Russian man around her age. Or should it be said that Alex finds her? Elodie stows away on the Osprey, against her father’s wishes, and Alex helps keep her secret until they are both found out. In an effort to save Elodie’s reputation, Alex declares they are married. As you can imagine, a young lady in Victorian England would never elope against her parents’ wishes.

Elodie has many consequences to face.

Fast-paced, full of a keen sense of the times, chocked with danger and adventure, this is a charming coming-of-age story with a plucky heroine who will delight readers 12 +.

Anne Clinard Barnhill GHOSTS OF WAR: AWOL in North Africa Steve Watkins, Scholastic, 2016, $5.99/C$6.99, pb, 198pp, 9780545837064 Friends and band mates Anderson, Greg and Julie are 6th grade students living in modern-day Fredericksburg, Virginia. In the previous two books of the Ghosts of War series, they discovered a trunk in Anderson’s uncle’s junk shop that contained old war relics. Although they had tried to avoid the trunk since the last near-disaster with a hand grenade, there was an emergency that necessitated the use of a medic kit that was inside.

As expected, a ghost appeared shortly after, and the kids had another mystery on their hands.

This case seemed easy at first—the soldier’s identification was fastened to the medic kit, and so Anderson, Greg, and Julie jumped right into researching his records. When they found a living relative, however, the real mystery began as they discovered a packet of letters that had been partially blacked out. Meanwhile the kids were dealing with the ongoing problem of an 8th grade bully, Belman, who seems to be a recurring issue throughout the series.

The amount of information on WWII in North Africa is in depth, yet handled with an easyto-follow clarity for young readers. This lesserknown part of the war, along with many facts on conscientious objectors and African-American soldiers of the time, makes an intriguing and eyeopening account from two interesting viewpoints.

Although recommended for 4th – 6th graders, this book will appeal to anyone who likes WWII stories.

Arleigh Johnson THE CASE OF THE FEATHERED MASK Holly Webb, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $15.99/C$22.99, hb, 176pp, 9780544619937 Maisey Hitchens, Victorian sleuth and boarding house maid, is back to solve another case! One of her grandmother’s tenants, Professor Tobin, is donating most of his collection of artifacts to the British Museum. Before everything is packed and ready, a thief breaks in and steals a rare and elaborate South American mask, leaving a few clues behind that Maisey quickly discovers. With Children & YA

her little dog, Eddie, in tow, Maisey and her friend George set off through the streets of London in search of an unlikely culprit. Meanwhile the professor is harassed by an ill-mannered museum worker, and the police watch the house for any further suspicious activity.

This beautifully illustrated chapter book, in a style similar to the Fancy Nancy series, is aimed at ages 7 – 10 years. Though the artwork is cutesy and the main character is a 12-year-old girl, the story will appeal to both genders, as the heart of the story is the origin of the mask and its mysterious disappearance. The supporting characters are a butcher’s boy, whom Maisey helped in the first book in the series, and several other boarders at the house who have also been featured in the other books.

Although the scenario may seem unlikely, it will appeal to imaginative kids, and adults who appreciate a neatly wrapped short story. The illustrations truly bring extra charm to the story, and a mention of Maisey’s father gives a clue to the next mystery for our clever sleuth.

Arleigh Johnson LITTLE STARS: A Hetty Feather Adventure Jacqueline Wilson, Doubleday, 2015, £12.99, hb, 496pp, 9780857533197 I’d read the first Hetty Feather adventure some time ago and was curious to see how this foundling child had developed by the fourth book. Now fourteen, still small and spirited, she was instantly recognizable, as were various other characters that re-appear in new phases of their lives – no small tribute to this author’s writing skills.

Set in the late 1800s, the ‘little stars’ are Hetty and her younger gymnast friend, Diamond. We find them sleeping in a doorway, having run away from the circus. It isn’t long before the resourceful Hetty finds them a home with a gown-maker and blags their way in to a performance spot in a music hall. Both settings provide rich material for Jacqueline Wilson whose knack of choosing just the right descriptive detail to charm her audience is as evident in her historical books as elsewhere.

Oyster patties and rose cream meringues spring to mind, as do the dancing girls ‘in a line like paper dolls’ with their red costumes and white kid boots.

At the Music Hall, the girls navigate a grown-up world that is both seamy and exhilarating. Hetty, for instance, faces the lecherous advances of a man in a position of power over her – a timeless theme, which is handled here convincingly and with care.

Through this and other events we share Hetty’s journey towards maturity as she develops her acting talent, draws friends and family around her and experiences romance.

This book does not pull at the heartstrings quite like the original story, but it explores some absorbing themes, such as moving on from the emotional ties of first love. Any necessary backstory is skillfully threaded through, so this book should be relished equally by readers of nine plus who already know the series – and by those who do not.

Marion Rose

Children & YA — Nonfiction

WOLF HOLLOW Lauren Wolk, Dutton, 2016, $16.99/C$21.99, hb, 304pp, 9781101994825 In western Pennsylvania during WWII, there was an area in between farmlands called Wolf Hollow. The name, coined several generations back, originated from the story of a great wolf purge in which Annabelle McBride’s grandfather participated and related to her years later. There were many old secrets in the woods, and for as long as she could remember, a man named Toby had walked the grounds continually. He lived in an old shack behind an abandoned, burned house.

Toby was a quiet and mysterious WWI veteran, and Annabelle’s family took pity on him, leaving him provisions at times in an old crate, and even allowing him to use their camera.

Everything changed for Annabelle the year she was turning twelve. Betty Glengarry, a meanspirited bully, came to stay with her grandparents not far from the McBride farm, and immediately chose Annabelle as her target on the walk to and from school. As events escalated, Toby eventually came under Betty’s radar and she shifted her focus to him, knowing Annabelle’s fondness for the gentle wanderer.

This is the story of the residual effects of war, the harmfulness of bullying, and several different types of prejudices. Annabelle makes an admirable character, as she’s smart, honest and caring, but also flawed and therefore humanized. The plot, in which I had initial trepidations due to the subject matter, turned out to be a much different tale than I’d realized and the protagonist and her family a lovely set of personalities. This book will appeal to readers young and old looking for a mid-20th century setting.

Arleigh Johnson ELIZA ROSE Lucy Worsley, Bloomsbury, 2016, £6.99. pb, 354pp, 9781408869437 1535. Henry VIII is on the throne. Twelveyear-old Eliza Camperdowne, only child of a noble but impoverished family, knows that she must marry well. She longs to get away from her boring home life and she dreams of going to Court. Then she meets her cousin, the worldly-wise and sexy Katherine Howard, and both girls become Maids of Honour to the new queen, Anne of Cleves.

Katherine has her eye on Henry and doesn’t scruple to taunt Eliza about her ignorance of Court ways.

Lucy Worsley offers a no-holds-barred view of Tudor Court life from the plotting and damaging rumours to glittering Court Masques and handsome young courtiers, eager to pay a compliment or steal a kiss. Gradually, Eliza learns how dangerous court life is. How far are she and Katherine prepared to go to climb the slippery steps of power?

This is a first-person account seen through the naïve Eliza’s eyes, so we get her shock at the realities of Court life as well as her longings for extravagance and pleasure. Unfortunately, Lucy Worsley tends to tell us how Eliza feels rather than letting us see inside Eliza’s head for ourselves. For example, Eliza’s account of Katherine’s execution –

and she was present – is worryingly prosaic when surely she’d have been terrified and traumatized.

Elizabeth Hawksley Lucy Worsley’s Eliza Rose demonstrates a very different side to working as a maid of honour at Hampton Court. I loved how you get a sense of seeing history through Eliza’s eyes. Unlike History classes at school, the book allows you to form your own idea of what each historical character was like, and it lets you understand the reasons for some of the characters’ actions. The combination of historical and fictional writing works very well and makes for an extremely enjoyable read.

Freya Sutcliffe, age 15 DANGEROUS DECEPTIONS Sarah Zettel, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015, $8.99, pb, 400pp, 9780544542624 The third in Sarah Zettel’s A Palace of Spies series tells the story of 16-year-old Peggy Fitzroy, lady-in-waiting at the court of George I, and her adventures as a spy for the king. Jacobite plots blossom like a field of lilies, and Peggy must protect the king against such treasons. Things become complicated when her betrothed, Sebastian Sanford, returns to court to claim her. Earlier, Sebastian had shown himself to be a brute and Peggy had no intention of ever marrying him, no matter what her Uncle Pierpont says. She simply can’t marry Sebastian; she’s in love with Matthew, an instructor for a prestigious art academy.

However, Uncle Pierpont is insisting that, as Peggy’s guardian, she do as he says. But Peggy cannot figure out why Uncle Pierpont is so set on this marriage. As she endeavors to discover what is going on with her uncle, she uncovers yet another plot against the king—this time involving her own family. She must find a way to protect the king, her aunt and cousin, all the while fighting off the advances of Sebastian.

This story is told from Peggy’s point of view in a breezy style that pokes fun at some of the fashions of the day. Often humorous, Peggy says and does things ladies of her time simply would never consider. She is a breath of fresh air; an independent and fearless woman. Age 12 + Anne Clinard Barnhill

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AT THE EXISTENTIALIST CAFÉ: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails Sarah Bakewell, Other Press, 2016, $25.00, hb, 421pp, 9781590514887 / Chatto & Windus, 2016, £16.99, hb, 448pp, 9780701186586 Sarah Bakewell’s latest non-fiction book, At the Existentialist Café, documents her passion for existentialism through linked biographies of the movements’ King and Queen ( Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir) as well as their collaborators and adversaries, including Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Edmund Husserl, Karl Jaspers, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The author’s helpful “Cast HNR Issue 76, May 2016 | Reviews | 59

of Characters” summarizes more than seventy others whose lives overlap with her core characters.

The existentialists’ biographies are connected by philosophy, time, and place. Reinforced by extensive footnotes, Bakewell’s work tracks existentialism’s evolution from Europe’s Great War through America’s idealism in the 1960s. Sartre’s mercurial relationships, de Beauvoir’s work on The Second Sex, survival in occupied Paris, and the scheme to save Husserl’s manuscripts from the Nazis add tension to the interwoven life studies.

Readers may come to At the Existentialist Café for accessible explanations of a potentially confounding philosophy, to understand war’s influence on academic thought, or for period color, including students climbing statues to better hear their idols; but it is the iconic philosophers whose lives will linger. As the author rightly concludes, “Ideas are interesting, but people are vastly more so.”

Jo Haraf THE VANISHING MAN: In Pursuit of Velázquez Laura Cumming, Chatto & Windus, 2016, £18.99, hb, 268pp, 9780701188443 Art historian Laura Cumming fell in love with the art of 17th-century Spanish painter Velázquez almost by chance. As she pursued her new interest, and delved in what little is known about the great artist, she discovered the story of John Snare, the Victorian bookseller who bought a Renaissance portrait for a song, and spent the rest of his life trying to prove it a young Charles I, painted by Velázquez during the prince’s Spanish adventure in 1623. Ms. Cumming tells her findings in this wonderful book that charts her own research, Velázquez life and work, and Snare’s vicissitudes as he stood up against accepted knowledge, disbelief, class prejudice, greed and financial ruin – all for the sake of the painting he loved more than anything in the world. The result is a beautifully written, thought provoking exploration of what we know of art and history – and how we come to know it, shape it, hand it down through the centuries.

Who is the Vanishing Man in the end? The now lost portrait? Its enigmatic Spanish creator? Or the Englishman who lost himself for the sake of it?

Intelligent, fascinating and highly recommended.

Chiara Prezzavento THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT Anne Curry and Malcolm Mercer, eds., Yale Univ.

Press, 2015, $50, hb, 328pp, 9780300214307 “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers . . .” One of Shakespeare’s most rousing speeches is declaimed by King Henry V in advance of the Battle of Agincourt, which took place October 25, 1415, and in which the far-outnumbered English army emerged victorious against the French. That battle is the subject of this gorgeous, richly illustrated, and scholarly coffee table book, a project developed under the auspices of Britain’s Royal Armouries to commemorate the 600-year anniversary of a battle that its predecessor, the Office of Armoury, actually outfitted. The book features a collection of essays that discuss various aspects of Agincourt, from the 60 | Reviews |

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English and French commanders, to the weapons and armaments, to the precipitating factors and aftermath, to Shakespeare’s Henry V, and even to the 1944 Laurence Olivier film of the play, which was filmed in Technicolor and released at the height of World War II as a huge boost to national morale. Though Agincourt was not a decisive battle in the Hundred Years’ War, the editors credit Shakespeare’s play with making the battle a cultural touchstone in the English historical narrative.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi NED KELLY: The Story of Australia’s Most Notorious Legend Peter Fitzsimons, Bantam Press, 2015, £30.00, hb, 826pp, 9780593074923 Ned Kelly’s reputation as Australia’s most notorious outlaw is part of the fabric of Australian history in general. Peter Fitzsimons’ book builds on previous research on Kelly by going through the main events that led to his eventual demise. The narrative covers Kelly’s life, going into minute detail regarding the important battles that he fought.

Whether he was a legend or a criminal is something that readers will have to decide for themselves.

Fitzsimons’ writing style certainly lends to the ease with which this book can be read. After all, at over 800 pages it is a serious tome. There are a lot of primary research articles that have been quoted within the book that add to the story. Fitzsimons’ narrative flows easily, and there are a series of photographs that help bring it to life. There are so many names mentioned, it is sometimes hard to keep track of all of them, particularly the police and their various ranks.

Cathy Powell CHARLOTTE BRONTË: A Fiery Heart (US) / CHARLOTTE BRONTË: A Life (UK) Claire Harman, Knopf, 2016, $30.00, hb, 480pp, 9780307962089 / Penguin, 2016, £9.99, pb, 464pp, 9780241963661 The author of Jane Eyre, fiery? As Harman fleshes out Charlotte, her siblings, her home, her writing, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

Certainly, as all families have a hint of the dysfunctional, we recognize those traits immediately in the Brontës. Harman introduces us to Patrick, the patriarch, from his Irish childhood, to Maria, his wife gone too soon, and to the family as each child is born. This is an idiosyncratic group – from the devoutly religious, demanding and distant Patrick, to the supremely self-destructive Branwell, to the strange and isolated Emily and Anne. Of all the siblings, Charlotte seemed to have been most willing to care and feel, to use the profound emotions formed from her attachments to forge unforgettable characters. She, of all the siblings, was able to love and feel longing, desire and passion, often unreciprocated, but nevertheless there in her soul. She was at the forefront of women authors ultimately wanting to be recognized as women and creating relationships with other women authors of the period. She was, at the end, Charlotte, not a woman hiding behind a pseudonym.

Harman’s research is impeccable; her story is beautifully told and often lyrical, and Charlotte

springs to life. For a reader of nonfiction, this is a most worthy and recommended journey.

Ilysa Magnus IF THIS IS A WOMAN: Inside Ravensbrück: Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women Sarah Helm, Little, Brown, 2015, £25, hb, 768pp, 9781408701072 This is an exceptionally detailed history of the only concentration camp established under the Nazi regime solely for female prisoners. Ravensbrück, which opened in May 1939, is located 50 miles north of Berlin, by the small town of Furstenberg. Sarah Helm has used a combination of written records and memories, tracking down and interviewing the fast-diminishing number of women who were incarcerated in the plant. As is always the case with such histories, it is a narrative of desolation, suffering and grief. Although Ravensbrück was not one of the more notorious death camps, and initially at least, some of the conditions were comparatively better than elsewhere, there was an inordinate degree of suffering that happened in the confines of the camp.

Even though I have read and studied many such accounts of the atrocities committed by German military and civilians under the Nazi regime, I never fail to be shocked and upset afresh by just how much those who came under the baleful stare of National Socialism suffered.

Douglas Kemp AN INFAMOUS MISTRESS: The Life, Loves and Family of the Celebrated Grace Dalrymple Elliott Joanne Major and Sarah Murden, Pen & Sword, 2016, £25.00, hb, 272pp, 9781473844834 The authors produce the best blog on Georgian England – All Things Georgian. Because of it I looked forward to reading their biography of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, the Regency courtesan.

However, so little is known about ‘Dally the Tall’, apart from the material in her own, less than reliable memoirs, that the authors clearly made the decision to pad out the book with irrelevant digressions about the lives of Grace’s near and distant relatives. This would have perhaps been justified if they had been people of significance in Georgian England, but most were non-entities outside of their part of Scotland. There is an interesting chapter on Grace’s brother’s attempt to establish a colony in Africa, which is of historical interest, but it has nothing to do with Grace’s life.

Another problem with this book – and this has to be the publisher’s fault – is that the detailed family tree at the beginning, an essential guide if one is to follow the dense genealogical exposition in the first four chapters, is, in my Kindle edition (£15.00), totally illegible. All this said, the chapters actually about Grace are well done, especially those about her experiences in Revolutionary Paris. The many illustrations are well chosen.

Ken Methold

Nonfiction

© 2016, The Historical Novel Society ISSN: 1471-7492 | Issue 76, May 2016