Historical Novels Review, Issue 77 (August 2016)

A PUBLICATION OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW Issue 77, August 2016

LONDON’S BURNING the great fire “yes, we have no tomatoes” why food history matters tumbling into hf an interview with juliette fay privilege & poverty depression-era boston deception, lies, murder & mystery anna mazzola’s the unseeing fly past maggie leffler’s new novel

starting afresh lynne kutsukake on identity

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE publisher’s message | historical fiction market news | history & film | 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> |

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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

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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

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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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PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

Historical Novels R eview I s s u e 7 7 , A u g us t 2016 | I SSN 1471-7492

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ed ito r i al

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hi s to r ic al f ic tio n m arke t ne ws

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ne w vo ic e s

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hi s to r y & f i l m

r ich a rd le e

s ar a h joh nson

p r of ile s of debut his torical f iction authors a n n abe l a bbs, je nn if er s . b rown , aimie k. ru nya n & j . aa r on sa nde r s | my f anw y cook t h e e g yp ti a n | be than y latham

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LO N DO N ’S BU R NING

the g reat f ire | b y doug l a s kemp

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“ y e s, we h ave no t o ma toe s”

o r , wh y food h i s tor y matters | by lucin da bya tt

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tum b ling into h isto rical fict ion

an inte r v ie w with j uliette f ay | b y j anice derr

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p riv ile ge & pover t y

de pr e ssion-era b os ton | b y kathleen tessa ro

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de c e p tio n, lie s , murde r & myst er y

a n n a m azz ola ’s th e unseeing | b y charlotte wight w ick

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fly past

m a ggie le ffle r’s n ovel | by hilar y dan i nhi rsch

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starting afr esh

l y n n e k u tsuka ke on identit y | b y chris tin a co u rtena y

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b o o k r e v ie ws

e d ito rs’ c h oic e & m ore

y last several weeks have been so much bound up with Brexit that it would seem odd to me not to talk about it here. Not for HNS governance reasons, because nothing need change with these; nor, of course, for any partisan reasons. Have similar situations to Brexit been faced historically? What historical novels have featured this kind of political rupture? Which novel best captures the current zeitgeist?

Brexit is a specific kind of secession: secession from a voluntary confederation of states. It is not secession from a unitary power, which rules out many ‘Independence’ novels. Nor is it a secession under arms. That rules out (say) American Civil War novels.

Only two historical situations occur to me (please tell me the ones I am missing): the secessions of Naxos and Thassos from the Delian League; and the split of the English monarchy and polity from the Catholic Church. (The consequences of the disassembly of the USSR are not history yet in our sense).

The results for the Delian League quickly became war: and enforced re-admission of the rebel states under punitive terms. Subsequently the league became the First Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian Wars ensued.

The results of the English split with Rome were more protracted. Though the break began as a political decision, the religious element was equally important. The Spanish Armada, the Wars of Religion, the English Civil War, the colonization of the Americas: all might be seen as unintended consequences.

The zeitgeist novelist par excellence, I think, is Hilary Mantel. The idea of Wolf Hall was that power is wielded in closed rooms, in private conversations, not by the supposed institutions of power, or by majority decision – so true to the feel of recent life in the UK. In the subsequent novels a seeming-simple decision (divorce) turns out to have changed all the rules. The powers unleashed by that Brexit become unknowable even to the arch-controller himself, Thomas Cromwell.

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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 77, August 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.

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

Gary Inbinder’s second novel in the Inspector Lefebvre series, The Hanged Man: A Mystery in Fin de Siècle Paris, sold again to Claiborne Hancock and Maia Larson at Pegasus by Philip Spitzer and Lukas Ortiz of the Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency, for August 2016 publication. Inspector Lefebvre uses innovative forensics and a network of police spies to uncover a secret alliance, a scheme involving the sale of a cutting-edge high explosive, and an assassination plot that threatens to ignite a world war.

Crystal King’s Feast of Sorrow, about an early “foodie,” a Roman who served as culinary advisor to Emperor Tiberius and whose recipes appear in the world’s oldest known cookbook, sold to Etinosa Agbonlahor at Touchstone, for publication in 2017, by Amaryah Orenstein at GO Literary.

Sourcebooks will be publishing Susan Higginbotham’s upcoming The First Lady and the Rebel, the story of Mary Lincoln and Emilie Helm, half-sisters divided by war and united by grief.

Miss Emily author Nuala O’Connor’s new historical novel Becoming Belle, pitched in the spirit of Frog Music meets Vanity Fair, following the unlikely love affair of Victorian London’s premier dancer with a wealthy young aristocrat, and the lengths his family will go to in order to prevent the match, based on the true-life romance between Isabel Bilton and Viscount Dunlo, sold (again) to Tara Singh Carlson at Putnam, and to Helen Smith at Penguin Canada, by Grainne Fox at Fletcher & Company.

Mistress of Rome author Kate Quinn moves to the 20th century with The Alice Network, set in 1915 and 1947, in which an unmarried, pregnant American launches a desperate search for a beloved cousin who vanished in Nazi-occupied France, and finds her only ally in a chain-smoking, battle-scarred old woman who belonged to the real-life network of female spies led by Louise de Bettignies during WWI. It sold to Amanda Bergeron at William Morrow, for publication in summer 2017,

by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Michael Shavit, publishing director at Jonathan Cape, and Nikki Christer of Penguin Random House Australia, jointly acquired two new novels from British-Australian novelist Evie 2 | Columns |

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Wyld via Laetitia Rutherford at Watson, Little. Her third novel, The Bass Rock, explores women’s experiences in three eras, dramatizing “why something ‘only being in your head’ is the most terrifying thing of all.” Pantheon will publish it in the US. Jennifer Brehl at William Morrow bought world English rights (excl. Canada) to Canadian author Janie Chang’s second novel, Dragon Springs Road, set in 20th-century China and featuring supernatural elements, via Jill Marr at the Dijkstra Agency. It was also acquired by HarperCollins Canada.

Natasha Solomons’ The House of Gold, an epic family saga about a wealthy Austrian heiress forced to move to England to marry a distant cousin in the pre-WWI years, based loosely on the story of the Rothschilds, sold to Tara Singh Carlson at Putnam, by Pippa Wright at Hutchinson, a division of Penguin Random House UK. The Spy by Paulo Coelho, a first-person reimagining of Mata Hari’s life, revealing the choices she made in pursuing her own truth, sold to Anne Messitte at Knopf, for publication on November 22, 2016 (with simultaneous publication in Englishlanguage territories).

Dan Smetanka of Counterpoint Press acquired Jamie Harrison’s The Widow Nash, about a Seattle woman who recreates herself as a young widow after her father’s sudden death in 1904, from agent Dara Hyde at the Hill Nadel Agency, for publication as a lead fiction title in summer 2017.

Butterflies with Broken Wings by Rachel Rhys sold to Sarah Cantin at Atria by Deborah Schneider of Gelfman Schneider/ ICM on behalf of Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown in London. It tells the story of a young woman who boards an ocean liner in 1939 for Australia to start a life in domestic service, and while carrying a terrible secret. The fever of impending war amplifies prejudices, and by the time the ship docks, two passengers are dead, war has been declared, and lives will be irrevocably changed.

Plum Street Publishers’ Liz Russell acquired James Babb’s (unagented) middle-grade novel Devil’s Den, third in the Brody Martin series, which follows a 14-year-old boy searching for his family in post–Civil War America.

Jessica Ellicott’s Beryl & Edwina Mysteries, three mysteries set in post-WWI England and featuring reunited girlhood friends from Madame DuPont’s Finishing School for Young Ladies, one a celebrated American adventuress and the other who spent her adulthood in the quiet English village of Walmsley Parva, sold to John Scognamiglio at Kensington by John Talbot at Talbot Fortune Agency.

Calling Me Home author Julie Kibler’s Home for Erring and Outcast Girls, in which a university librarian uncovers the hidden histories of two young women rescued from Texas’s turn-ofthe-century red-light districts by a daringly progressive shelter for fallen girls, inspired by the historical Berachah Industrial Home in Arlington, Texas, sold to Hilary Rubin Teeman at Crown by Elisabeth Weed at The Book Group.

A Son Called Gabriel author Damian McNicholl’s The Moment of Truth, pitched as inspired by the life of the first

nanny to the British Governor of Singapore and becomes embroiled in two murders at his official residence, sold to Krystyna Green at Constable & Robinson, in a three-book deal, for publication in June 2017, by Priya Doraswamy at Lotus Lane Literary.

Katherine Ashenburg’s debut novel Sofie and Cecelia, set in the art world of Sweden in the late 19th/early 20th century, a story of lifelong female friendship between two women married to famous artists Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn, sold to Lynn Henry of Knopf Canada, for New Face of Fiction, for Spring 2018 publication, by Samantha Haywood of the Transatlantic Literary Agency.

New transatlantic editions Dinah Jefferies’ The Tea Planter’s Wife will be released in North America by Crown in September. In her HNR review of the UK edition (Penguin, 2015) last November, Cathy Powell wrote: “Jefferies transports her readers to Ceylon with ease and evokes the atmosphere of what a tea plantation would have been like in the 1920s and 1930s.”

New and forthcoming titles The Popish Midwife, a biographical novel by Annelisa Christensen, was published by The Conrad Press (Canterbury) on 25th June. In 17th-century London, Catholic midwife, Elizabeth Cellier, became a voice against injustice, successfully defended herself against false accusations of treason, then faced a libel trial for the book she wrote of her experiences.

Her proposal for the first midwife college was accepted by King James II, but was sadly never built because of the 1689 revolution.

“They would do anything to be reunited with those they love, even if it means traveling beyond the boundaries of the world as we know it.” Two women descended from Morgan le Fay, but living almost 1000 years apart, share catastrophic visions of the future. When their lives collide in a garden in Glastonbury, they realise that only magic can save them. Felicity Pulman’s The Once and Future Camelot, sequel to I, Morgana, was published

by Momentum/Pan Macmillan Australia in May 2016.

In addition, Pulman’s six Janna Mysteries for young readers, set during the treacherous civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda, have been rewritten for adult readers, retitled, and re-released by Momentum/Pan Macmillan Australia in ebook and POD. Titles include: Blood Oath, Stolen Child, Holy Murder, Pilgrim of Death, Devil’s Brew and Day of Judgment.

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American female matador in 1950s Mexico, sold to Claiborne Hancock at Pegasus, with Katie McGuire editing, for publication in summer 2017, by Margaret O’Connor at Innisfree Literary.

Lydia Kang’s first adult novel, A Beautiful Poison, about three estranged friends in 1918 NY each trying to solve a murder in their own life, sold to Jodi Warshaw at Amazon’s Lake Union imprint, by Eric Myers at Dystel & Goderich.

Rachel Kadish’s The Weight of Ink, set mostly in London of the 1660s and of the early 21st century, the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect—a female Jewish scribe and the modern-day academic on her trail—attempting to reconcile the life of the heart and mind, sold to Lauren Wein at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt by Sarah Burnes at The Gernert Company.

Author of The Night Journal Elizabeth Crook’s The Which Way Tree, set in 1860s Texas, tells the story of a young mixedrace girl’s odyssey to avenge her mother’s death by tracking and killing the panther that killed her. It sold to Ben George at Little, Brown by Gail Hochman at Brandt & Hochman. Film rights were optioned to Maverick Films, with Robert Duvall to star, by Gail Hochman at Brandt and Hochman.

Ellen Umansky’s The Fortunate Ones, about two women whose lives intersect over a stolen painting, set in post-WW2 London and present-day Los Angeles, sold to Kate Nintzel at William Morrow via Lisa Grubka at Fletcher & Company, for publication in winter 2017.

The Floating Theatre by Martha Conway, in which a young woman, seamstress to actors aboard a flatboat traveling townto-town along the Ohio River, finds herself inadvertently smuggling slaves to safety in the north as a result of an old debt to an opportunistic wealthy abolitionist, thus jeopardizing the fate of the entire theatre, sold to Trish Todd at Touchstone by Lisa Bankoff at ICM on behalf of Sue Armstrong at Conville & Walsh.

Meghan Masterson’s The Wardrobe Mistress, about a seventeen-year-old wardrobe woman for Marie Antoinette, who casually spies on the queen during the French Revolution, sold to Lauren Jablonski at St. Martin’s by Carrie Pestritto at Prospect Agency.

The Hidden Light of Northern Fires by Daren Wang, a Civil War-era story about the only town north of the MasonDixon to secede from the Union, set near the last stop on the Underground Railroad where abolitionist farmer Mary Willis helps smuggle runaway slaves to freedom in Canada, sold to Laurie Chittenden at Thomas Dunne Books by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates.

Mark Sullivan’s None Shall Sleep, a WWII epic based on true story of Pino Lella, an Italian teenager who guided Jewish refugees over the Alps, became a spy inside the German High Command, and fell in love with a woman who would haunt him the rest of his life, sold to Danielle Marshall at Lake Union Publishing, by Meg Ruley at Jane Rotrosen Agency.

Ovidia Yu’s Frangipani Tree Mystery, the first book in The Crown Colony Mysteries series set in 1930s Singapore and introducing a mission-educated young woman who is made

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 77, August 2016 | Columns | 3

NEW VOICES Inviting us to share their catalyst moments are debut novelists Annabel Abbs, Jennifer S. Brown, Aimie K. Runyan and J. Aaron Sanders.

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nnabel Abbs describes her novel The Joyce Girl (Impress Books, 2016) as “a small edifice built on four founding blocks – each of which was a book. Without any one of these,” she says, “I may never have written it. The first book was the original source of inspiration. Dotter of her Father’s Eyes, by Mary and Bryan Talbot, won the 2012 Costa Biography award and was the first graphic novel I’d ever read. It tells two stories, one of which is a potted account of James Joyce’s daughter, Lucia, a pioneering modern dancer in 1920s Paris. Graphic novels are inevitably restricted, and, although marvellous, it left me with many questions.”

Abbs continues: “I was horrified that I’d studied Joyce at University but knew nothing of his daughter. I turned to the only biography of Lucia and read it twice. Here I learned that all of Lucia’s letters, medical records, and diaries had been destroyed. Not only that, but letters written about her and to her had also been destroyed.

She underwent early psychoanalysis with Carl Jung – but he, too, had destroyed all his notes and records.

There was no record of the affairs she’d claimed to have with Samuel Beckett and Alexander Calder. Everything was burned after she was committed to an asylum.”

She admits, “At the time I hadn’t planned to be a writer, but the treatment of Lucia moved and enraged me. Her biography was written by a Joycean scholar, and although it was meticulously researched, I felt it was inaccessible to the average reader. At the same time I read a novel about Virginia Woolf and her sister [Vanessa and Virginia] by Susan Sellers, whose writing style made me think I could approach a novel of Lucia in a similar way. I then read hundreds of reference books and finally produced a first draft – only to realise it read like a replica of Susan Sellers’ novel. Meanwhile I was reading Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist – which helped me see that my novel was bereft of plot or pace.” Then, Abbs reports, “I sat down and rewrote the entire novel… which eventually bloomed into The Joyce Girl.”

In contrast to Abbs’ novel, Promised to the Crown (Kensington, 2016) by Aimie K. Runyan “was a happy accident ten years in the making.” Runyan says: “I was taking a course in Canadian civilization for my graduate program, 4 | Columns |

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not out of a strong desire to learn about the subject, but because it was the course I needed at the right time. I also enrolled in a creative writing course that semester for the benefit of my own sanity, which kept me on the constant lookout for story ideas (I am also a firm believer in the power of deadlines). When my Canadian professor mentioned that Louis XIV paid for the passage of 770 women, known as the filles du roi, to go to his colony in Canada to marry settlers and populate Quebec, I immediately knew I had a story.”

What impressed her, she says, was “that things were going fairly well in France at the time; these women were giving up the lives they knew in a country that was at the pinnacle of civilization and culture. They faced uncertain futures in a country they knew next to nothing about. They were told it was cold, there were dangerous natives, and that the men they would marry had become a bit ‘rough around the edges’ after years in the Canadian wild.

These women accepted the challenge placed before them and became mothers to a nation. Two-thirds of all people of French Canadian ancestry, myself included, are descended from one or more of these brave women.”

“Years later,” Runyan continues, “I had the opportunity to spend several months in Quebec researching for my thesis on these women, and squirrelled away documents I could use for the novel I yearned to write. But, as is the frequent tale, my little story sat in a drawer (ok, hard drive) for ten years as I established my career as a teacher and became a wife and mother. One day, when my youngest was finally sleeping through the night and shreds of sanity came creeping back, I gave myself permission to sit and continue their story.”

Jennifer S. Brown, author of Modern Girls (NAL, 2016) finds that “history comes alive” for her when, she says, “I can place myself in it. This is why I love historical fiction, and it’s also why I have a passion for researching my family’s genealogy. While collecting names for the family tree can be a fun game, I’m more interested in the stories behind the names. Finding pieces of evidence – old letters, buried in a cousin’s basement, written between great-grandparents; newspaper articles about long-gone family members; ship manifests that illuminate professions and hometowns – helps me imagine fully realized people. As a writer, though, genealogy is more than a pastime; it’s an inspiration for my fiction.”

In order to learn more about her family, Brown pressed her father for stories. “He told me his great-grandmother had a pregnancy during the Depression that she couldn’t afford.

My writerly instincts kicked in, and his grandmother’s

Photo credit: Jim Pogozelski

story transformed into two fictional women with unwanted pregnancies, the heart of Modern Girls.”

Brown elaborates, “The two women – immigrant Rose and her American-born daughter, Dottie – are based on my own great-grandmother (not coincidentally named Rose) and my grandmother, Bessie. The fictional characters are infused with details from stories my father told me.

While Bessie wasn’t pregnant before her marriage, she was a high-school track star, a whiz with numbers, and attended Camp Eden. Her mother, my great-grandmother, was an intractable woman, ruling the house with an iron fist.

Rose made sure the Jewish traditions were maintained in her home, even as everyone else in the family ignored them whenever her sharp eye was turned elsewhere. No one was sure of Rose’s age, because it was a poorly kept secret that she lied about it to appear younger than her husband.

“So while Dottie and Rose may be fictional, in many ways they are a tribute to the women who came before me. They keep my family alive in my heart.”

The idea for J. Aaron Sanders’ Speakers of the Dead (Plume, 2016) came while he was reading Justin Kaplan’s biography of Walt Whitman.“In it, I happened upon the most amazing story: Whitman left home at age 12 to be a printer’s devil for a man named Samuel Clement. Being homesick, Whitman looked to Clement as a father figure, and so he was shocked when Clement was arrested for digging up the corpse of the recently deceased Quaker prophet, Elias Hicks. This story so affected Whitman that he wrote about it in the Brooklyn Daily Times in 1857, and perhaps reworked his adolescent, gruesome experience in the surreal poem The Sleepers.”

Sanders decided, he says, “to set the novel in the early 1840s, when Walt Whitman was young and ambitious, and he was living a big life in New York City. He could kick ass if he needed to – and what I found fun, when writing the novel, was how human Walt became.

“At that time, Walt Whitman had just published a temperance novel, Franklin Evans, and was working on a follow-up he never finished called The Madman. I wanted to explore why. Research taught me that this was around the time of the unsolved Mary Rogers murder, the rise of yellow journalism, body snatching for anatomical dissection, disease, immigration problems, and political corruption – a transformative time for New York City.”

“For each of these narrative strands,” Sanders says, “I used a corresponding historical character (Edgar Allan Poe/Mary Rogers, James Gordon Bennett/yellow journalism, Samuel Clement/body snatching, Elizabeth Blackwell/anatomical dissection, and Isaiah Rynders/immigration and politics). I never felt the fictional elements intruding on the history, but I did have to bend history to bring all these narrative strands together. That’s what makes this book so fun.

“Speakers of the Dead,” Sanders explains, “is first and foremost a mystery novel. That said, I also wanted to write a novel that somehow documents the transformation of the young Walt Whitman into the Walt Whitman, the American Poet. I wanted to capture his ambition, his physicality, his capacity for love, and to imagine a set of fictional events that might begin to explain his poetic ability to capture all of America in Leaves of Grass.”

Undoubtedly, each of the four debut novelists has not only engaged deeply with their characters, but has also paid tribute to those who lived in the periods that they are writing about.

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MYFANWY COOK is a devotee of the work of debut novelists and their ability to create new fiction from past facts and memories. Email (myfanwyc@btinternet.com) or tweet (twitter.com/MyfanwyCook) about debut novelists you have enjoyed reading..

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Annabel Abbs, Aimee K. Runyan, J. Aaron Sanders & Jennifer S. Brown

HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Columns | 5

aHISTORY & FILMe THE EGYPTIAN

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n high school, when I was out for the summer, I’d stay up late for marathon viewing of American Movie Classics (back when AMC actually showed classic movies; those were the days). During one such session, I flipped on the magical glowing rectangle to the sight of Gene Tierney, engaged in some sort of archery contest with Victor Mature, both of them costumed in 1950s Hollywood’s take on ancient Egyptian. From the moment I first saw her chilling performance in the lake scene in Leave Her to Heaven, I’ve loved Gene Tierney. At the time, I was also making a somewhat obsessive study of the Amarna period in fact and fiction. Having just finished Allen Drury’s novels, A God against the Gods and Return to Thebes, stumbling across Twentieth Century Fox’s The Egyptian (1954) seemed the loveliest kind of serendipity.

The Amarna period has fascinated Egyptologists since they first unearthed hints of the Heretic King and his city devoted to one god, the many-rayed sun disc, Aten. For those unfamiliar, the basics: Akhenaten (reigned c.

1353-1336 BC) was a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty who inherited a stable and prosperous Egypt that worshipped many different gods, chief amongst whom was Amun, the Hidden One. But Akhenaten was different, some even said mad, and he and his beautiful wife, Nefertiti, dismantled Egypt’s centuries-old traditions, smashed temples, and moved the capital from Thebes to the desert, all in an attempt to elevate the Aten and destroy the old gods, especially Amun and his powerful priesthood. The result was the epithet “Heretic King,” a country that collapsed from within and was beset from without, and successors who attempted to erase Akhenaten from the historical record.

The Egyptian approaches Akhenaten tangentially, through the story of Sinuhe (Edmund Purdom), a young physician of mysterious origin, raised by loving foster parents. His heart is in the right place; he struggles to help the poor and is particularly adept at the art of “opening skulls” (aka trepanning). When out lion hunting with his super-macho BFF, Horemheb (Victor Mature), the two happen upon a man who turns out to be Pharaoh Akhnaton [sic] (Michael Wilding), out in the desert 6 | Columns |

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communing with his god. When Akhnaton suffers an epileptic seizure and Sinuhe manages to help him, Akhnaton elevates him to court physician and Horemheb to the Royal Guard.

Sinuhe is the object of devotion for a lowly tavern maid, Merit ( Jean Simmons), but manages to throw happiness away with both hands by pursuing instead a gold-digging, literal whore of Babylon, Nefer (Bella Darvi), who warns him again and again not to fall in love with her. In an epic win of the Poor Judgment Award, Sinuhe elbows through the scores of men at Nefer’s palatial estate to creepily ogle her and give her gifts he cannot afford. Stroking her long-haired cat like a Bond villain, Nefer slowly bankrupts Sinuhe, and since he’s now given her not just all his worldly possessions, but also the deeds to his parents’ home and tombs (thus robbing them of eternal life), Sinuhe expects to finally be carnally rewarded. Instead, finished playing with her mouse, Nefer has Sinuhe thrown out into the gutter and barred from ever entering her home again. Meanwhile, his parents have died, collateral damage of Sinuhe’s own actions, and Pharaoh has had Sinuhe’s life declared forfeit, Pharaoh’s daughter having died while the court physician was too enthralled with a merciless Babylonian to provide medical attention to a sick little girl. Merit stands by her man, and they spend one night together before Sinuhe slips out of the country to try to rebuild his life.

He returns years later, rich and forgiven

by Pharaoh, to an Egypt in a state of collapse. The Hittites threaten, there are riots in the streets, and even Nefertiti fears her husband has gone mad with his all-consuming devotion to the Aten. Encouraged by Pharaoh’s sister Baketamon (Gene Tierney) and Akhnaton’s coarse, hard-drinking mother, Taia (who conveniently happens to know mind-blowing secrets about Sinuhe’s origins), Horemheb and Sinuhe hatch a plan to poison Pharaoh in order to save Egypt.

Does all this sound a bit…convoluted? It is. And I haven’t really covered all the major characters or plot points (Merit is a follower of the Aten, a child becomes involved, there’s a wily eye-patched servant played by Peter Ustinov…). The Egyptian is a long movie (almost 2.5 hours), and the plotting was described by more than one reviewer with the adjective “ponderous.” As a matter of fact, a contemporary review from the 50s noted that the movie “glistens with archaeological scenery, rumbles deeply with a sense of human woe — and moves at the pace of a death march.”1 Yet this is not unexpected for a movie of this genre from

by its competitors, specifically The Valley of the Kings (MGM) and Land of the Pharaohs (Warner Bros.). A further, seemingly paradoxical, factor that may have influenced Fox’s choice of this particular property was its perceived ties to salaciousness. The film is based upon the book, The Egyptian (originally published in Finnish as Sinuhe Egyptiläinen), by Mika Waltari. Translated into English and first published in the United States in 1949, the book was rather histrionically labeled by many of the morality brigade as “obscene.” Just like everyone in 1949 (sales figures for the book were phenomenal), as soon as I saw that word “obscene,” I went to check it out from the library and give it a read. All I can say is, if I hadn’t already been convinced by news sites, flipping on the TV, and what I see people wearing/doing on the street…I’m pretty sure 1940s obscene and today’s obscene aren’t the same thing. There really isn’t a great deal of comparison that can be made between the book and movie. They share some plotting elements, but the book is an accomplished literary work concerned with historicity (the author availed himself of the archaeological research and scholarship available at the time it was written), and it’s much more imaginative and adept with its pacing than the “ponderous” film epic it spawned.

Yet most critics have been, in my opinion (take it for what it’s worth), unduly unkind to this film. As I mentioned, historical accuracy and swiftness of plot aren’t why audiences flocked to historical epics during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and these factors aren’t why historical epics still hold appeal today. To sum it up in one word, it’s spectacle. The Egyptian, like its fellows in this genre, is a visual feast with a swelling score, all presented in mile-wide CinemaScope and hyper-saturated DeLuxe color.

The emphatic acting (the film’s “star” excepted) combined with the scale of the sets and the detail of the costumes (e.g., Nefer’s rainbow colored wigs, the swing and click of beaded braids as she moves) makes for a viewing experience at once panoramic and granular. Our modern spectacles are smaller, more tawdry and ludicrous (reality TV in particular, I’m looking at you), but both they and the historical epics from the 1950s share the appeal of melodrama. Where the historical epics differ most are in their pretentions and scale, their very grandness. The Egyptian is a grand film. I found it fascinating to rest my eyes on at age 15, and if I randomly tap the Turner Classic Movies app on my iPad and it happens to be on…I’ll still stay up past my bedtime to watch it today.

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References 1. Crowther, Bosley. “The Screen in Review; The Egyptian at the Roxy Is Based on the Novel.” New York Times, 25 August 1954. Accessed via http://www. nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C04E2D91531E43ABC4D51DFBE6683 8F649EDE&

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Hollywood’s Golden Age: historical epics usually subordinated plot to lush cinematography and costuming, pageantry, crowd scenes and, it must be admitted, acting styles that can now seem overtly artificial. Purdom as Sinuhe is most often described as “earnest” in his role, and he’s certainly the most subdued of all the portrayals (one gentle blogger rated him a 7 out of 10 on the Soporific Scale). Nefer, whose thick French accent lends exoticism but makes about three words in five comprehensible, and bug-eyed lush Taia ( Judith Evelyn) are caricatures more than characters; Victor Mature isn’t much more subtle. Marlon Brando was originally signed to play Sinuhe (though I’d see him more as a Horemheb), and I’ve wondered how that casting change would’ve affected the acting and dynamics in this film. Despite the ostentatious visual whirlwind going on in most historical epics, they still typically feature a dynamic lead – Kirk Douglas in Spartacus, Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur. Purdom’s sedate portrayal gives rise to the question of whether a film can stand on its pageantry alone, with the help of some vibrant secondary characters (such as the aforementioned Gene Tierney). I think the answer The Egyptian provides is a qualified yes.

Like “reality” television today, The Egyptian isn’t meant to adhere to any kind of authenticity in its acting or its plotting (which we’ll be kind and call ahistorical); it’s a melodrama, plain and simple. In the same vein as The Robe and The Ten Commandments (which reused some of The Egyptian’s sets), The Egyptian is also a Christian epic, of sorts. I see you scratching your head – wait, I thought you said this was about the collapse of 18th-dynasty Egypt, and…wouldn’t that be at least 13 centuries before the birth of Christ? As Akhnaton sits dying upon his throne, he gazes at the Aten disc upon the wall, and has an epiphany: he’s been under a misapprehension all along about what his deity was trying to tell him – it isn’t the sun he should’ve been worshipping, but the Son of God. Cut to epilogue. Even as a teenager, I laughed (quietly, because I wasn’t supposed to be watching TV at 3 a.m.) at this “revelation.” But later reading led me to the awareness that it actually wasn’t just another example of Hollywood ignoring context in a clumsy attempt to relate two completely unrelated things. Akhenaten as the world’s first monotheist has given rise to more than one theory by scholars who paint him as possible precursor to, influence on, or even alter-ego of Moses himself (I’m not making this up – Freud advanced this theory in his work, Moses and Monotheism). And that, Dear Reader, is the path Akhnaton takes from Heretic Pharaoh to responsibility for the rise of Christianity in the film, because perhaps he was actually Moses. Or maybe Sinuhe was.

(It turns out there are basket-boated babies plucked from the Nile in The Egyptian as well.) While most who can tell time, suffer periodic bursts of common sense, and parse basic facts into appropriate categories don’t subscribe to such creative theories, it’s worth noting that Hollywood didn’t come up with this whole Akenaten = Christian/Moses deal on its own. There is actually scholarly precedent.

In addition to capitalizing on the Christian epics popular at the time, The Egyptian was also meant to get out ahead of other Egyptian-themed films which Fox knew were in the works

BETHANY LATHAM is a professor, librarian, and Managing Editor of HNR. She publishes in various scholarly and popular journals, as well as writing for EBSCO’s NoveList database. She serves as Internet Editor and a regular reviewer for Reference Reviews.

HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Columns | 7

conspiracy theories & fictional accounts of the Great Fire

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September will mark the 350th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great Fire of London – that awful conflagration which destroyed much of what is now the City of London. Most schoolchildren in the UK will have studied this event at some point in their education, and the catastrophe lurks somewhere deep in the nation’s psyche. There have been many historical accounts published, and more recently a prime-time television series in 2014, as well as numerous fictional versions. These latter include two novels just published, which cover aspects of the Fire of London and are both reviewed in this issue – C.C. Humphrey’s Fire (Century / Doubleday Canada, 2016) and Andrew Taylor’s The Ashes of London (HarperCollins, 2016).

The core elements of the Fire are fairly widely known, and it is safe to say that, if asked, most people would be able to identify a few key facts or beliefs – that the fire was started in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane; that the Mayor of London, Bludworth (or Bloodworth), was initially sceptical about the extent and danger the blaze presented and asserted that “a woman might piss it out,” – as was reported by Samuel Pepys; and also that this same diarist left us with an invaluable, detailed eye-witness account of the spread of the Fire and devastation that it caused.

One other popularly perceived tenet is the perception at the time, and afterwards, about the cause and origins of the Fire. It was generally thought to be the work of plotting papists, and/ or French or Dutch antagonists – all a devastating preliminary action to the destruction of the Protestant regime. The fact that Charles II’s brother, the future James II, was a Catholic, as well as the popular rumours about Charles’s innate sympathy for Rome (his wife Henrietta Maria was also a Catholic), added fuel to the general consternation.

An anonymous verse about the Fire (much was written and published in broadsheets in the aftermath, most of it dreadful in quality) summarises the popular feelings. Entitled A Poem on the Burning of London, it started with the following lines:

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LONDON’S BUR NING

Is’t still unknown from whence our ruin came, Whether from Hell, France, Rome or Amsterdam.

As ever in periods of crisis, groups at the edges of society came under suspicion. There were countless episodes of Catholics (which made up only one percent of the population of England), foreigners, and very often both, coming under suspicion, and various military groups were mobilised to prevent invasion or to deter internal papist uprisings.

With widespread reports and belief in an imminent Catholic insurrection, many Catholics, and some Dutch, went into hiding as a precaution – their disappearance heightened doubts against them for this seemingly suspicious behaviour. Even the 2014 television series developed a fictional line that the unfortunate baker Thomas Farriner and his family in Pudding Lane were part of a popish cabal and conspiracy.

One man, a Frenchman from Rouen, Robert Hubert, was hanged for starting the Fire at the end of September. He had confessed to the act, but it is almost certain that he had nothing to do with it, especially as evidence indicates that he was not in England when the Fire started. Hubert claimed that he had accomplices, was a French spy, and worked for the Pope as well.

He was either tortured into confession, or, as seems more likely, he simply confessed because of some form of mental aberration, presumably the same motivation that convinces others to falsely claim that they are notorious serial killers. His death, while seemingly punishing the arch villain of the disaster, also confirmed that there was a real plot to overthrow the regime, and that other extreme papists were still at liberty, plotting another outrage.

The lewdness and licentiousness of the court of Charles II was becoming popularly known, and frowned upon. Many thought the Fire was a response from an enraged deity to the wickedness that emanated from the very top of society. The Fire

by Douglas Kemp

MANY THOUGHT... the Fire was a response from an enraged deity to the wickedness that emanated from the very top of society.

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Thomas Venner’s uprising in early January 1661, when nearly a thousand Fifth Monarchists attacked main centres of state power. Venner had assumed leadership of the movement after the gruesome execution for Regicide of Major-General Thomas Harrison in 1660; Harrison had signed the death warrant of Charles I, and was thus exempt from Charles II’s general Act of Indemnity and Oblivion. The Monarchists inspired fear and achieved some initial success, but when the militias were raised and sent to oppose Venner’s men, the uprising was soon defeated.

Many of Venner’s troops were killed, and Venner himself was wounded and captured. He and his rebel leaders were swiftly tried and executed. More than a hundred Fifth Monarchy believers or sympathisers were arrested, even though they often did not play an active part in the insurrection. Most received prison sentences or heavy fines, which effectively emasculated the movement.

Nevertheless, the movement survived and its adherents watched in horror as Charles II’s court descended, as they saw it, into filth and immorality. Particularly, they thought Christ would return shortly after the year 1666, due to the “666” which signified “the Beast.” For those who looked for patterns to confirm the ominous nature of the year 1666, they could point to the unique fact that the year was the sum of the Roman numerals in descending order MDCLXVI – a portent indeed that the believers could expect something special to happen that year.

The general belief that the Fire was caused by malign human agency or a wrathful deity survived. It was only in 1830 that the inscription blaming Catholics for starting the Fire, found on the 200-foot tall Monument to the Fire built under the auspices of Charles II and completed in 1677, was finally expunged.

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References: 1. Jack Gilpin, “God’s Terrible Voice: Liturgical Response to the Great Fire of London,” Anglican and Episcopal History, 82:3 (2013), pp. 318-334.

2. Alan Marshall, The Age of Faction: Court Politics 1660-1702 (1999), London: Manchester University Press.

3. Timothy G. Shilston, “Thomas Venner: Fifth Monarchist or Maverick?” Social History, 37:1 (2012), pp. 55-64.

4. Adrian Tinniswood, By Permission of Heaven: The True Story of the Great Fire of London (2003), London: Jonathan Cape.

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occurred after the dreadful Plague of 1665, which killed up to 100,000 Londoners and had still not entirely disappeared. Two such disasters occurring one after another could not be a simple accident – this was clear evidence of divine wrath. London had ignored the Plague sent by a furious God in 1665, and therefore had to be given a second salutary reminder to reform its sinful ways. In 1667, Thomas Vincent, a London clergyman, published a discussion of the Great Fire in which he analysed God’s response to sin at great depth, with the widely held conclusion that “God doth sometimes speak unto a people terrible things.”

Even as early as 1660, John Milton had warned of the horrors of a “dissolute and haughty court [with] vast expense and luxury, masks and revels, to the debauching of our prime gentry both male and female… by the loose employments of court service.”

The figurehead and prime mover of what was fast becoming a dissolute court was Charles II, who encouraged, enjoyed, and participated in a variety of what was commonly seen as immoral, improper and repugnant behaviour. He seduced women as and when he so desired and needed a diet of constant amusement and novelty, which his courtiers and favoured female companions competed to supply.

The first well-known novel about the Great Fire was written by the hoary recorder of seventeenth-century England, William Harrison Ainsworth, in Old Saint Paul’s. First published in 1841, the novel appears rather stilted and indigestible to the contemporary ear. In his story, a character based upon the arch dissolute John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester, tricks a woman into sleeping with him after arranging a fake marriage. The seduced female sickens and dies after this ineradicable stain on her virginal character. The Fire is started by a group of religious zealots who are appalled that such behaviour seems to be increasing at the apex of society. Much of Old Saint Paul’s is associated to the Book of Revelation, with some appropriate apocalyptic language.

Both of the newly published novels by Humphreys and Taylor also feature the anger that extreme religious dissenters felt about the Restoration regime, and both, coincidentally (one presumes) focus on the role, both actual and perceived, of the so-called Fifth Monarchy Men in the build-up to, and the actual blaze of the Fire.

The Fifth Monarchy Men, or the Fifth Monarchists, were an extreme dissenting religious movement, which was prominent in English and Welsh society and politics from 1649 until 1661.

Their name is derived from the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament of the Bible, which tells of the prophecy about the four monarchies or kingdoms on earth – thought to be Babylon, Macedonia, Persia and Rome. The adherents waited for the arrival of the fifth kingdom, which would see the arrival of Jesus as omnipotent sovereign over miserable, sinning society.

Initially, the Monarchists supported the rise to power of Cromwell, but soon became disenchanted with his consolidation of secular power. And then the Restoration of the sovereign with Charles II prompted a further disenchantment, culminating in

DOUGLAS KEMP is one of the UK team of review editors for the Historical Novels Review.

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or, why food history matters for historical fiction

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“Yes, we have no tomatoes”;

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ucinda Byatt, with contributions from Martine Bailey and Dr Annie Gray, takes a look at food history.

I wanted to write about an eighteenth-century cook, I discovered a treasure trove of images and recipes on Ivan Day’s website (www.historicfood.com). His Georgian cookery course was full The title is rather tongue-in-cheek, but it is symptomatic. I so I rang Ivan and begged for help. He took pity on me and let shall name the sin, but not the sinner. A recent biography of me join, so I learned about all the processes I didn’t understand Machiavelli contained this extraordinary description of food – how to cook on an open fire, to use a spit, cauldron and wafer being brought into Florence in the 1470s: irons, plus unexpected details like stitching lard into meat and “Other carts bent under boxes of vegetables whose greens using feathers as a pastry brush. He also let me hunt through and yellows, beneath fragile his library, transporting me to tomatoes turning misshapen research heaven as I photographed amid an excess ripeness sucked countless recipes on my phone. It out of the oozy Tuscan blend of was there I found the directions to hot sun and lava-enriched soil, make the violet pastilles that give shone against the granite and An Appetite for Violets (Hodder / marble of the new palaces.”

Thomas Dunne, 2015) its culinary Most readers would, I think, title.” have shut the book in dismay.

Annie is also attracted to the Leaving aside the overblown style eighteenth century, on the grounds and other howlers (there was no that “life before tea is unthinkable granite in Renaissance Florence and the fashions are much, much and few traces of volcanic activity in more flattering to wear.” Annie that area of Tuscany), that mention works “at the front end of public of tomatoes is a cardinal error! Of history,” reaching out and making course, novelists would never fall people think about the past. When into that particular trap, would asked what tips she would give they? The anachronism prompted historical novelists, she began by me to take a closer look at how the “making a division between upstairs explosion of academic and popular and downstairs, or front stage and Dr Annie Gray, No.1 Royal Crescent, Bath food history is reflected in fiction. backstage. When writing about life Because we know more about what we eat today, we enjoy upstairs, it’s important to get the times of meals right.” Annie reading and learning about food in the past – and not only about remembers reading a book set in the sixteenth century in which the ingredients, but the whole process of production and supply, a significant plot moment took place in the evening around the retail, preparation, service and consumption. I approached dinner table. It jarred because the time was wrong: dinner would Martine Bailey, whose work was described by Fay Weldon as have been served in the afternoon. On the other hand, Wolf Hall heralding the birth of “culinary gothic,” and Dr Annie Gray, a (Fourth Estate / Henry Holt, 2009) deserves praise because it well-known and much-broadcast food historian whose first “gets the details absolutely right and is an excellent example in book is due out next year. this respect.” Annie’s advice is that every novelist should own Martine’s novels are set in the eighteenth century, and food a good general book, and not go near Wikipedia. Interestingly, takes centre stage. The research can be daunting. She says: both Annie and Martine named Sara Paston William’s The Art “When writing about a character who is defined by her work, of Dining: A History of Cooking and Eating (National Trust, I think it makes complete sense to immerse yourself in that 1993) as their go-to reference book. occupation’s tastes, smells and sensations. As soon as I knew that When we move downstairs, it’s essential to visit a precise

Memory and food...

by Lucinda Byatt

are a powerful literary trope, and something we can all relate to in our eveyday lives. In many ways, food is the perfect vehicle for capturing the past.

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HNR Issue 77, August 2016

kitchen of Erddig Hall, Wrexham. Historic recipes lay scattered on the table and their untutored poetry suggested a powerful new language to write about lost moments in time.”

Annie noted that “the intricacy of the cooking and dining rituals is well beyond our modern take. The reality of sitting of down with dishes pointing in different directions, and all the etiquette about how you were served, and if and when you should serve yourself, is mind-blowing. If you got it wrong you risked not being invited back!” She recommended C. Anne Wilson, Lunch, Nuncheon and Other Meals: Eating with the Victorians (Sutton, 1994) as covering all these aspects; also anything by Pamela Sambrook (e.g., The Country House Servant, Sutton, 1999). Another tip: visit historic properties and, where possible, handle equipment and utensils “in order to experience the spaces, the challenges, and also the sensual impact of the refurbished kitchens.”

I also asked about re-enactment as a form of research. Annie was adamant that mob caps and aprons fixed with velcro strips are not at all helpful. However, she rightly pointed out that even when we use “authentic” utensils and costumes, “it is always us in the modern world recreating the historical experience.”

But costume is an important physical reminder of actions and activities that would be very different today – for example, the physicality of bending over to knead dough. “One of the most commonplace health problems in the modern workplace is backache. Corsets support your back when you’re standing all day; they force you to treat your back well by making it impossible to bend from the waist.”

So why does food draw us into the past? “I think it stirs so many primitive emotions: a parent’s love (or resentment), the family hearth or the cold comfort of strangers,” said Martine.

“We have all been hungry, sick or supremely sated. Good food writing should speak to everyone’s past. Above all, indulge in the most pleasurable research of all. Get away from the computer and eat something different. And then find the perfect words to convey its appearance, pungency, and texture, to transport your readers to your chosen place and time.” Or, as Annie put it, “Food is a brilliant way to get under the skin of past societies: everyone eats, and the choices we make reflect who we are and what we believe.” Just remember that tomatoes would only have appeared in public Florentine markets a couple of centuries or more after Machiavelli was born.

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Martine Bailey is the author of the Booklist Top Ten Crime Debut An Appetite for Violets and The Penny Heart. www.martinebailey.com.

Annie Gray is a historian, cook, lecturer, broadcaster, writer and consultant.

Her first book, A Greedy Queen: Eating with Queen Victoria, is due to be published in spring 2017 by Profile Books. www.anniegray.co.uk

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period kitchen so you can visualise the scene more readily and get a good idea of the layout. In particular, Annie said, “Remember that the kitchen is only one of many rooms that were used for food production. Take note of what is being bought, where it is being prepared and how, who is cooking and where. We often bring our modern assumptions with us and this is a hurdle we have to avoid.”

I wondered about Weldon’s term “culinary gothic,” and when asked, Martine thought that Fay “recognized my combining food writing with gothic fiction, such as Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho. To me, the culinary gothic is a style of writing that uses food to characterise elements of mystery, death and the unnatural. These need not always be grotesque or terrifying.

“In An Appetite for Violets, my cook heroine reflects that recipes are ‘scribbled down like beacons against the coming darkness.’

They are what we now call memorialisations, rich connective materials in social memory.” On the other hand, in The Penny Heart (Hodder & Stoughton, 2015 / published in the US as A Taste for Nightshade, Thomas Dunne, 2016), the “malevolent cook uses remedies such as soporific Poppy Drops and Twilight Sleep, narcotic herbs once used by women in childbirth. I wrote much of the novel in the Antipodes, so my researches included sampling Maori dishes cooked in a hot-stone hangi pit, grubs, sea snails, crocodile and kangaroo.”

There is a risk of overloading your work with detail. “Food is the perfect way to show and not tell,” Martine added, “whether writing about class, wealth, aspiration, desperation or much more. In historical fiction it may be helpful to think of a modern dish – let’s say a pensioner sipping cheap tinned soup – and then imagine the historical equivalent, such as bowl of oat gruel. It can be tempting to let food research dominate and strangle a story, so I try to feature food at a plot’s turning point rather than describe static mealtimes.” When researching, she confessed that “it is hard to beat a living history DVD. Tales from the Green Valley (available on YouTube) introduced the Victorian Farm team to television and is a fine introduction to rural life and cookery in the seventeenth century.”

That said, errors abound. Annie pointed to the well-known anachronism of the female cook and kitchen maid in Downton Abbey. At the time when the programme first starts, an earl would have had a French chef with more than one male assistant in the kitchen, not a woman. “This means that it is very difficult to use a female protagonist in the kitchen. Yet, storyline plays a part too, and readers are willing to overlook inaccuracies provided the experience of cooking is authentic. An excellent example is Babette’s Feast. It should not be that difficult to get these details correct, especially if you’re a historical novelist trying to tell some form of historical truth. Food and food preparation does not involve viewpoint, so it should be straightforward and factually correct.”

Memory and food are a powerful literary trope, and something we can all relate to in our everyday lives. In many ways, food is the perfect vehicle for capturing the past. Martine, too, said that “Memory and memorialisation are what really excite me. I first had the idea to write An Appetite for Violets in the atmospheric

LUCINDA BYATT is HNR’s Features Coordinator.

She enjoys everything related to food and history. www.lucindabyatt.com.

HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Features | 11

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Janice Derr talks with Juliette Fay

I t wasn’t a career that I was after. It was just that I wanted a

life that didn’t mean spending most of it at the cookstove and the kitchen sink.” — Sophie Tucker, singer

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T U M B L I N G I N T O H I S T O R I CA L F I C T I O N

Fay explores these social changes through her character, Winnie. The second youngest Turner sister has aspirations beyond the stage and dreams of attending college and studying medicine. She is also an advocate of women’s rights and longs for the Nineteenth Amendment to pass. “Many people truly believed that the more freedom women had — to vote or work outside the home or not get married at all — the more society would degenerate until no one was taking care of hearth and home, and children would be running wild and unfed in the streets. (I am not making this up.) I didn’t feel I could tell a story about that time without talking about the changing role of women. Vaudeville, with its more open culture and fewer rules, was a great way for the Turner girls to get a sense of the broader possibilities.”

The novel also explores the racial inequalities both in and outside of vaudeville. The sisters befriend an AfricanAmerican tap dancer named Tip who experiences both subtle and blatant racism. Fay says that many times African Americans were reduced to working poorer theaters in the south, referred to as the “Chitlin’ Circuit.” “Tip was talented enough to make it in the bigger circuits in the north, and because circuit and theatre owners mostly cared about the bottom line, if you could bring the crowds, they would hire you. But they wouldn’t necessarily treat you too well. Racism was so deeply embedded in the culture of the time that black performers were considered lucky to be there at all.”

Fay’s thorough research of the era brings the vaudeville stage to life and creates a rich and engrossing story. “The subculture of vaudeville was this crazy little brother-and-sisterhood, with its own customs, rules and slang. I learned far more than I could ever have put in the book, and it was a blast.”

One imagines a similar quote might come from the characters in Juliette Fay’s The Tumbling Turner Sisters (Gallery, 2016).

The Turner sisters don’t have much, but they are getting by until their father injures his hand in a bar fight and is unable to continue work in a shoe factory. Desperate to pay the rent, their mother proposes that the girls put together an acrobatic act they can take on the road.

Traveling from theater to theater, the sisters find themselves in the middle of a whole new world.

This is Fay’s fourth novel, but her first foray into historical fiction.“I’ve always loved reading historical fiction, but questioned whether I had the background to write it.

Don’t you need some sort of history degree to write about a completely different time?

As it turns out, the answer is no. As with any story about a complicated topic — for instance, if a character has a certain medical condition or line of work that’s central to the story — you just have to be willing to submerge yourself in the subject matter and learn everything you can.”

Fay has a personal connection to her novel’s vaudeville setting, since her great-grandfather was a vaudeville performer. “To show my gratitude for his inspiration, I did name one of the characters after great-grandpa Fred.

However, since I knew so little of his performing life, I had to make most of it up. This actually gave me a lot of freedom to make the character work well for the story, instead of being constrained to Fred’s real-life experiences.”

The time period also drew Fay in: “The world was changing quickly in 1919, just after World War I, with Prohibition and women’s suffrage on the horizon. These social and political changes forced people take a look at the way things had always Janice Derr is a librarian, an avid reader of historical fiction, been done, and start to question if there weren’t better ways.” and frequent reviewer for HNR.

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by Janice Derr

I L E A R N E D. . .

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far more than I could ever have put in the book, and it was a blast.

HNR Issue 77, August 2016

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Privilege and Poverty

y novel, Rare Objects (HarperCollins, 2016), examines the M ways in which two young women struggle to make peace with

their complex identities during the years of the Great Depression.

“The land of opportunity” captures the romantic notion of the elusive American Dream, but for the characters in the book, especially Maeve Fanning, the social and economic divides of Boston in 1932 remain almost insurmountable. Raised in Boston’s North End, a ghetto of poor Italian immigrants, Maeve is no stranger to poverty, hardship and prejudice in a city whose social hierarchy was presided over by the distinctive Boston Brahmans. Maeve also harbors a shameful secret – she’s been institutionalized for alcoholism. In the mental hospital, Maeve met another young woman at the peak of Boston society, who’s being treated as mentally defective because of her sexuality.

They become true friends, bound together by their vulnerabilities as they navigate the world outside the institution and fulfill their own versions of the American Dream.

Alcoholism in America rose dramatically among women during the years of Prohibition. Ironically, Prohibition, along with the women’s right to vote, broke down the social barriers that once kept “respectable” women out of the traditionally male world of saloons and bars. With alcohol consumption forced underground, suddenly nothing was more glamorous or enticing than drinking. For the first time, women were welcomed into the same venues and served on equal terms with men. Heroines emerged in books and movies to advertise this new freedom – openly sexual creatures like Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, and Joan Crawford, all of whom epitomized hedonistic excess.

However, the stigma of depravity and defective morality still clung to alcoholism, especially for women. It was assumed that alcoholic women were inherently genetically inferior. In an era when eugenics was viewed by many as the key to America’s political and economic supremacy, some states even went so far as to sterilize female alcoholics. There was little or no conception of alcoholism or addiction as a disease. Instead, it was viewed

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Kathleen Tessaro explores the darkest secrets of Depression-era Boston as a disgusting personal failing – a symptom synonymous with the dissolution of the fabric of society caused by the influx of immigrants and their corrupting influences on white AngloSaxon Protestant America.

The mental institution featured in the novel is Binghamton State Hospital in New York, originally the New York State Inebriate Asylum. With its Gothic Revival architecture and extensive grounds, it once hosted wealthy private patients but was converted into a state mental hospital at the turn of the century. Most of the scenes in the book are taken from personal experiences of patients there or in similar institutions. State-of-the-art treatments included “hydrotherapy” — binding patients to a metal gurney and wrapping them in icy wet sheets for up to six hours at a time, or spraying them with freezing water from fire hoses. Although electric shock treatments weren’t in popular use until later in the 1930s, other experimental forms of shock therapy included large doses of insulin to induce convulsions. Another popular therapy, touted as a wonder cure for all forms of addiction and even bedwetting, was the Belladonna Cure created by Charles B. Townes. A mixture of the delirium belladonna, henbane (otherwise known as insane root), prickly ash, and castor oil, this tincture was administered every hour for 50 hours straight, resulting in severe vomiting, hallucinations and excessive diarrhea. It was aptly nicknamed “the puke and purge.”

It’s difficult to imagine that these therapies represented forward thinking in mental health treatment of the time. Yet in some ways we still struggle as women to confront our difficulties without trepidation and shame. And beneath the idolized slogans of America’s freedom and equality for all, darker prejudices and fears still threaten our capacity for acceptance and achievement.

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Kathleen Tessaro was an early member of the Wimpole Street Writers. Previous novels include Elegance, Innocence, The Flirt, The Debutante, and The Perfume Collector. Kathleen lives in the USA with her family. kathleentessaro.com

Ironically... Prohibition, along with the women’s right to vote, broke down the social barriers that once kept

by Kathleen Tessaro

“respectable” women out of the traditionally male world of saloons and bars.

HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Features | 13

Anna Mazzola’s The Unseeing

Anna

Mazzola’s atmospheric debut novel, The Unseeing (Tinder, 2016 / Sourcebooks Landmark, 2017), is a dazzling blend of fact and fiction, truth and deception, as befits the subject matter – the horrific murder of Hannah Brown and its aftermath in nineteenth-century London. She discusses Sarah Gale and how she went about crafting her beautiful and disturbing story.

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Deception, lies, murder & Mystery

accounts said to have been penned by Greenacre – but I was also warping the truth in order to write my own story. And of course that story was a mystery, in which the reader is also trying to get to the truth, so truth and deception became a key theme.”

Indeed, truth and lies are no strangers to Mazzola, whose background as a criminal lawyer helped shape her approach: “I didn’t think of it at the time, but I suppose it was my interest in criminal justice that attracted [me] to this particular story – of a woman who had clearly been silenced in some way.

It must also have shaped the plot, as justice and injustice are at its heart.”

It is not initially clear whether it is justice for Sarah, or for the victim, that is the central plank of the plot. We know that Sarah is not telling the whole truth, but as we discover more about her, we are led to feeling increasingly sorry for her, helped

by Edmund’s evident compassion and the parallels between Sarah’s life and his own mother’s, both affected by domestic abuse.

When asked how she approached such a difficult topic, Mazzola says: “In some ways, things were very different… It was widely accepted that men of all classes would beat their wives and children, and it was rare for anything to come of it. However, in some respects, we haven’t come that far: many victims of domestic and sexual abuse are afraid to speak out, and many are failed by the justice system. The shame, the anger and the fear are still there.”

Yet Mazzola’s skill as an author is such that, even as we know Sarah is, on many levels, a victim, it remains clear that she is lying to protect someone, although the identity of that someone remains a mystery until the end of the novel. It makes for a tense, gripping and highly enjoyable read – and one whose themes continue to resonate today.

In 1837, London was transfixed with horror by what became known as the ‘Edgware Road murder’ – so-called because the victim’s dismembered body was found in that location. James Greenacre was sentenced for the murder of his fiancée, and his mistress, Sarah Gale, was sentenced for helping him. The Unseeing follows Gale’s story after her conviction. When asked what drew her to Sarah, Mazzola says: “It was [her] silence that drew me in. The newspaper reports from the time noted that she remained quiet and motionless throughout her trial… Sarah’s barrister… said very little to counter the allegations that Sarah Gale must have known that James Greenacre, her lover, had killed and dismembered the victim in the house in which they lived. That got me thinking: what was really going on? Was Sarah Gale afraid of Greenacre? Was she guilty? Or was it something else entirely?”

It is this central ambiguity which makes the novel so fascinating. Mazzola has painted a compelling picture of a woman driven to protect – something, someone – in the only way she can: by her silence. She is an intriguing, enigmatic central character, off-set by the naïve young barrister (Edmund Fleetwood), haunted by his own demons, who is asked to review her case. All of the characters carry secrets, deceiving others or themselves. The author says of this leitmotif: “I think that came partly from the real case (the defendants were evidently lying in order to protect themselves or others) and partly from the way I investigated the materials. I myself Charlotte Wightwick is a writer and reviewer for the HNS. Her was trying to get to the ‘truth’ of what had happened – past the first novel, The Lady with an Ermine, is based on Leonardo da false stories created by the newspapermen and the numerous Vinci’s portrait of the same name and is set in Renaissance Milan.

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by Charlotte Wightwick

IN SOME RESPECTS... we haven’t come that far: many victims of domestic and sexual abuse are afraid to speak out, and many are failed by the justice system.

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HNR Issue 77, August 2016

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writing brings the sacrifices & dreams of the past to life

n elderly woman holding on to a secret from her past, one A that leaves behind a trail of pain and regret — that was the premise swirling through Maggie Leffler’s mind before she fleshed out The Secrets of Flight (William Morrow, 2016), a novel about one woman’s life-changing experience as a member of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

Leffler’s imagination was triggered, she says, by seeing a 1940s photo of women pilots wearing flight jackets and being awarded gold medals. In researching this book, Leffler sought out surviving WASP members; it was a fortuitous happenstance to have found Florence Shutsy Reynolds, who became her muse, inspiration and a fabulous resource.

Leffler’s compelling and witty third novel is told from three perspectives: Mary Browning at age 87; Browning’s younger self, Miri Lichtenstein, at age 20; and 15-year-old Elyse, a confused teen grappling with her own familial and personal issues.

Mary Browning is an elderly widow who leads a writing group. While she can be counted on to give critiques, she has yet to share her own stories. When Elyse joins the predominantly senior citizen group, Mary feels drawn to her and hires the girl to type the riveting story of Miri Lichtenstein, a young Jewish girl who defies convention by joining the WASPs at the dawn of World War II. Miri loves the sky and the freedom it offers, but when faced with an impossible choice — love or family — the flight path of her life is irrevocably altered.

With a part-time medical practice and full-time mothering responsibilities, one may wonder how Leffler found the time to write such an intricately layered novel. Where others may drown in the current of an exceedingly busy life, for Leffler, writing is her lifeline. “I’ve really always tried to be able to do both. I just can’t not be writing, so I do write a lot at night, and I just try to carve out the time on the weekends. It’s hard, but when the story is in my head, I have to get it down somehow,” she explains.

Leffler was able to call upon her medical knowledge in several hospital scenes, but how did a woman who grew up in the

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FL Y PA S T

Christian faith, whose sister is a reverend, manage to write such an authentic portrait of Jewish characters who follow Jewish traditions?

As it turns out, it was pretty personal. When she was in her 40s, Leffler’s mother discovered that she had Jewish roots. “I was inspired by learning that piece of my family heritage and my curiosity about why someone would keep a secret from her own family, what kind of fear she might have,” says Leffler.

During the research phase of the book, Leffler’s sister provided her with materials that enabled her to study Jewish traditions, supplementing those with even more reading. Though seemingly fundamental to the storyline, Leffler did not originally intend to incorporate Jewish characters and themes into the story.

“I set up to write a story about a WASP, but I also thought that this was an opportunity for a character to make a big break from her family; to follow her dream and to try something new.” She continues, “I thought it would be interesting if she had that backstory as a catalyst for her break with her family.”

Perhaps this resonated in particular with this Pittsburgh-based reader, but Leffler deftly weaves the landscape of present-day and historical Pittsburgh, evoking its roots as a city smoky from its constantly churning steel mills.

In addition to the themes of forgiveness, guilt and sacrifice, Leffler notes familial themes: “a search for identity and accepting who you truly are. I love writing about families and the idea of what makes a family.” The result is an ambitious, witty novel that has the ability to produce laughter on one page, tears the next.

“I’m always happy to stir up both emotions in a reader,” Leffler says.

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Hilary Daninhirsch is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Historical Novels Review. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, two redheaded daughters, and a dog of undetermined breed.

by Hilary Daninhirsch

I love writing... about families and the idea of what makes a family.

HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Features | 15

The Translation of Love (Transworld / Doubleday, 2016) by

Lynne Kutsukake is a moving story which highlights a difficult time in Japan’s history: the aftermath of World War II, when the country spent six years under American occupation. This period has not been extensively covered, and when asked why, Kutsukake replied that she wasn’t sure. “Obviously, I think the immediate post-war period is a fascinating time,” she said.

The Americans began to transform Japan into a western-style nation through parliamentary democracy and reforms such as women’s suffrage. They sent aid, and this opportunity for change must have been welcomed by many. But life after the war was harsh, with large numbers of people on the brink of starvation. The fact that Japan had been defeated – despite its citizens being assured such a thing wasn’t possible – had severely shocked the entire nation. Kutsukake’s novel offers insight into the minds of those who lived through this time, showing the difficulty of starting over when everything has been lost and change is forced.

We follow a young girl, Fumi, as she searches for her sister, but we also see her friend Aya’s struggle with repatriation. As Japanese Canadians, Aya and her father are interned and given an ultimatum – move east of the Rockies or go back to Japan.

They choose the latter, but Aya doesn’t feel Japanese.

Citizens were invited to write letters to General MacArthur, who was overseeing the Occupation – “If you have a problem, write a letter. This is what democracy means” – and they did, 500,000 of them! Aya helps her classmate by writing to MacArthur in English, on Fumi’s behalf, asking for help. The letter reaches a Japanese-American translator, Matt, who becomes involved in Fumi’s search. His family was also interned during the war, and Matt puts his translation skills to good use while grappling with the question of where he belongs. Kondo Sensei, the girls’ teacher, is also struggling to find his way in this new era.

Members of the author’s family were sent to internment camps in the interior of British Columbia during the war, and I

asked her if they ever spoke about their experiences, whether any of them went back to Japan. She said, “They spoke about being sent to ghost town camps in the mountains and being given only 24 hours to pack one suitcase … But they didn’t go into great detail. I learned a lot about the internment from books. My maternal grandparents repatriated to Japan, but my grandfather died two years later. Eventually my grandmother was brought back to Canada.”

Japanese culture does not encourage speaking about or showing emotion, so I wondered if Lynne had noticed this within her family. “Indeed, there was much reticence among the older generation,” she told me.

The word that kept running through my mind as I read was “bewilderment” – the Japanese were confused by new democratic concepts, while the Americans were equally bewildered by Japanese culture. It is clear that neither side really understood the other.

I lived in Japan in the mid-1970s and was aware of some residual resentment towards Americans. This story led me to understand it and empathise. When Japan lost the war, this dealt a huge blow to the Japanese people’s sense of honour a concept paramount in their culture. This book illustrates that the thousands of GIs who descended on the country had no understanding of this, no idea of what they were doing to a proud nation, even if their intentions were good.

The Japanese – especially women – were incredibly resilient, and what emerged, despite the devastation of war, is an amazing country. This book showcases the strength of character and determination that helped Japan rebuild itself.

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Christina Courtenay’s (aka Pia Fenton) novels, Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014), won Romantic Novelists’ Association Awards for Best Historical Romantic Novel of the Year. Her latest work, The Jade Lioness (Choc Lit, 2015), is a historical adventure set in 17th-century Japan.

by Christina Courtenay

Obviously... I think the immediate post-war period is a fascinating time.

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a national and personal quest for identity & healing

HNR Issue 77, August 2016

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Starting Afresh

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online exclusives

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

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Denotes an Editors’ Choice title

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biblical

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THE SECRET BOOK OF KINGS Yochi Brandes (trans. Yardenne Greenspan), St. Martin’s, 2016, $26.99/C$37.99, hb, 416pp, 9781250076984 This is the English translation of the latest Biblical fiction offering by a popular Israeli author.

Set in the tumultuous Davidic period, young Shlom’am comes of age and sets out to unravel the mystery of his bloodline – a journey that will take him to the very throne of Israel.

Brandes builds upon her flawless historicity with a profound appreciation for scripture as literature.

She is unique in her ability to render complex, almost Falstaffian, characters who are themselves conscious of their place in the multigenerational narrative. Rizpah, the concubine of Saul from 2 Samuel, compares herself and her experience to Tamar, the prostitute who “stole” the seed of Judah in Genesis 38 – a mere oral tradition during the reign of Saul. While neatly defining Rizpah’s moral conundrum, Brandes presents a fascinatingly accurate timeline and mechanism of historical influence. This is authoritative scholarship brought to life, without a hint of pious overlay. The reader’s respect for the material, regardless of faith, grows with every page, and Brandes’ dynamic style and vibrant characterization keep the pages turning.

The heroic but dangerously ambitious David, the “Mad Princess” Michal – we are treated to a deep dive into their relationships and motives.

The narrator accuses himself of a childhood tendency to “embellish.” A self-criticism by Brandes herself, perhaps? If so, it is charming, but she’s selling herself short. The Secret Book of Kings combines historical integrity with great and approachable storytelling.

Jackie Drohan

Ancient — Classical

COUNTED WITH THE STARS Connilyn Cossette, Bethany House, 2016, $14.99, pb, 352pp, 9780764214370 Kiya has been sold by her father to help pay off his debts. Despite serving a cruel woman, Kiya finds friendship with a compassionate slave named Shira. Shira, a Hebrew, guides Kiya down a path that will change her entire way of thinking. Kiya watches her country laid to waste as the twelve plagues strike Egypt. When Kiya learns her brother’s life is on the line, will she be able to place her faith in the Hebrews’ “invisible” god to save his life? Can she place her family’s lives in the hands of the Hebrews, the people her countrymen have enslaved for countless years?

I loved journeying with Kiya both physically and spiritually. She faces issues that resonate today, including questions of acceptance, love, and trust.

Her faith discoveries are heartfelt and emotionally weighted. The Hebrew and Egyptian characters are all great.

The plot, moving through the plagues of Egypt into the journey towards Mt. Sinai, is expertly paced. Additionally, character development and relationship-building create a strong, page-turning storyline. The miracles of Yahweh are enchanting and beautifully visualized.

While the plot is lyrical and multi-layered, sadly there are also many disappointing inaccuracies during the chapters set in ancient Egypt. For example: Thebes should be called Waset (“Thebes” was a Greek name for the Egyptian city); ice was not even a concept there (they did not have frozen water, so Kiya should not feel ice in her veins); an inch is not an ancient Egyptian unit of measure; and the brain was considered useless matter.

Egyptians believed all thoughts and emotions came from the heart, so Kiya would never have referred to the truth being hidden in her brain/mind.

Despite these errors, I relished this book. I would recommend the book, particularly for lovers of Biblical history, but with the reservations listed above.

J. Lynn Else THE JUDGMENT D. J. Niko, Medallion, 2016, $14.99, pb, 416pp, 9781942546221 In Jerusalem in 965 BCE, Solomon is in the midst of constructing the Lord’s Temple. For the inner sanctuary, future home to the Ark of the Covenant, Solomon seeks gold to cover the walls.

However, to acquire such large amounts of gold he’ll need to negotiate for it with the Egyptian pharaoh. In Tanis, Egypt, he falls in love with Pharaoh’s daughter, Nicaule. To symbolize their new alliance, Solomon requests Nicaule for his queen. However, Nicaule’s love belongs to another, and she will spend all her life trying to topple Solomon’s empire.

“The wisest of women builds her house, but

folly with her own hands tears it down” (Proverbs).

This is the theme for the life of Nicuale, our story’s protagonist. Despite her treachery and selfishness against Solomon, Nicaule’s chapters are still captivating, and she’s not a likable person – props to Ms. Niko’s page-turning plotline. Other characters providing voice to this story include High Priest Zadok and Solomon’s daughter Basemath.

There are a few historical inaccuracies. One, I don’t believe an Egyptian princess would use the name “Thebes.” This was a Greek label for the Egyptian city; the Egyptian name was Waset.

Additionally, there are some out-of-time word choices, including words like “consumption” (460 BCE was when Hippocrates first referenced this) and “toxic cocktail.” The first record of the cocktail beverage was 1803, and “toxic” is a modern term.

I would have liked more of Basemath. Her character’s strength of faith and love of family create a more intriguing/likable narrative voice; a few scenes of Nicaule’s lovemaking could have been removed. While not vividly explicit, there is some heavy-narrated foreplay.

Overall, Niko’s enchanting scenic descriptions and strong characters make this an entertaining read bringing to life people of deep faith. I thank her for narrating religious beliefs so beautifully and sensitively.

J. Lynn Else

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classical

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BY HELEN’S HAND Amalia Carosella, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 435pp, 9781503933484 Greece, the Bronze Age: Helen, daughter of the god Zeus and the most beautiful woman in the world, has for years been haunted by nightmares of war, rape, and destruction. In an earlier effort to avoid her fate, this princess of Sparta engineered her own abduction and lived a secret life as wife to King Theseus in Athens. Now, her husband vanished and his throne usurped, Helen returns to Sparta with her brothers. Despite her previous disappearance, numerous suitors still lust after her beauty and desire her hand in marriage. Among them is Menelaus, prince of Mycenae, obsessed with Helen since childhood.

Helen’s efforts to thwart destiny and spare her people the sufferings of war are foiled at every turn by the machinations of the gods. This retelling of the events leading to the Trojan War allows Helen, so often treated as a beauteous cipher, to speak at last. A flesh-and-blood queen springs to life, a woman battling the deities for her own happiness and the well-being of her people. Prince Paris of Troy, promised Helen by the goddess Aphrodite, also tells his own tale. The gifts of the gods are not HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 17

always to be prized.

I had read Carosella’s prequel, Helen of Sparta.

That novel paints a detailed picture of Helen’s earlier years, but By Helen’s Hand provides enough backstory to easily stand on its own. This novel brings the Bronze Age of gods and heroes vividly to life. Fans of Greek myths and the Iliad will love this fresh take on Helen, as will any reader who relishes a good story. Well worth your time, and recommended.

Susan McDuffie ITHACA Patrick Dillon, Pegasus, 2016, $25.95, hb, 272pp, 9781681771557 Updating the second oldest extant work of Western literature, Homer’s Odyssey, seems a daunting task, but the author entertainingly succeeds. The novel focuses on Odysseus’s 16year- old son. Telemachus is initially portrayed as weak and victimized, as his father, whom he has never seen, has been gone for 16 years to the Trojan War, and never returned. He cannot protect his beautiful mother, Penelope, from the unwelcome and vulgar tenant “suitors” who are trying to marry the former Ithaca island chief ’s ostensibly widowed wife. Though untrained in fighting, Telemachus is intelligent with a gift of talking the rage out of potential aggressors. He decides to journey on a quest to find his father after all this time.

In the town of Pylos, Telemachus teams up with Polycaste, the young daughter of the local chief, and the two travel to Sparta to meet with its legendary leader, Menelaus, and the famous Helen of Troy. Menelaus, his father’s friend, firmly believes Odysseus is still alive. Polycaste has a positive impact on the young son, even teaching him the rudiments of handling a sword. The book then shifts to what really happened to his father.

Eventually, Telemachus and Odysseus meet in the hut of a friendly swineherd back in Ithaca and, together, conceive a way to right 16 years of wrongs.

There are a few minor issues. A map would have been helpful, and one doesn’t “fire” an arrow; but the short novel is delightfully illuminating and satisfying. The author takes some liberties with Homer’s chronology of events, but the characters come alive in every aspect. Like the original, it is an emotional rollercoaster, appealing to both men and women. The climax is absolutely riveting and riotously dramatic with an even more unexpected finale.

Thomas J. Howley TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE Dan Wallace, Branden Books, 2016, $19.95, pb, 472pp, 9780828326049 The century before the emergence of Julius Caesar saw the Roman Republic devolve into a kleptocracy where a handful of wealthy senators, using dubious legal means, usurped the farm lands originally granted to Rome’s military veterans for their service to the country. These veterans and their families then became homeless, wandering the countryside devoid of any means to care for themselves or their families. The tale of the Grachii brothers who rose up from the Plebeian ranks to 18 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 77, August 2016

challenge these injustices is one of history’s great human, and political, stories. Wallace’s novel focuses on the oldest of the Grachii, Tiberius, telling his story from the final battle at Carthage, in 149-146 B.C., through his election as first Tribune of the people, to his efforts to enact a land reform law that would restore the farm lands to the military veterans and their families, to his assassination by the “Optimatii.” This is a most timely novel eerily echoed by the current political situation in the U.S., where a couple of political “outsiders” are championing the “disadvantaged” (those who have lost jobs due to political decisions by fat cats in Washington) in order to challenge “the establishment.”

I found the characters to be engaging and wellformed and the story well told. The novel gives you a feel for ancient Rome in the last years of the Republic. The main complaint I had was the plethora of Latin names thrown at the reader right from the beginning. A dramatis personae and/or a couple of family trees for leading characters would have been most welcome, as would a couple of maps for the action that takes place in northern Italy and in Spain, not to mention Asia Minor.

Barry Webb

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1st century

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FOREIGN BODIES David Wishart, Severn House, 2016, $29.99/£19.99, hb, 240pp, 9781780290874 Foreign Bodies is the 18th in the Marcus Corvinus series. In AD 42, the emperor Claudius sends Corvinus off to Gaul to investigate the murder of a wine merchant to whose family Claudius owes a personal debt. It doesn’t take long for the situation to grow far more complicated than helping a family from the emperor’s hometown.

Wishart’s mysteries are well-established as a delight for fans of Roman noir. This subgenre works because the cynical, tough language borrowed from ´30s detective fiction matches the tone of life in the Empire. Wishart uses contemporary British slang and obscenities to reflect the bawdy language that comes down to us in various Roman “literary” traditions. Wishart carries his anachronisms to a fairly extreme degree, but it works as entertainment, an invitation not to take the Romans too seriously.

For example, an official asks “to meet him ASAP in the provincial admin building.” Marcus notes, “If I was wrong then I was in complete schtuck.” This flippancy is often explicitly humorous: “My throat was as dry as a camel’s scrotum.”

Marcus is a privileged patrician, but he doesn’t like the snobbery of his class. So as an investigator he has the dual advantages of being at the social top while having the attitude of a skeptical outsider.

His “talking-it-out” partner is his wife, Perilla, who matches his ability to solve labyrinthine crimes. This being the Roman Empire, politics is mixed in with murder, so Wishart has raised the stakes enjoyably high. The plotting is intricate and keeps the reader guessing. The necessary Roman

history, quite a lot actually, is loaded in without overburdening the story. Wishart wisely waits until the reader is motivated to hear the complexities of history and puts explanations into believable mouths.

Judith Starkston

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2nd century

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VITA BREVIS Ruth Downie, Bloomsbury, 2016, $26.00/ C$31.00, hb, 384pp, 9781620409589 Gaius Ruso, Roman medical officer and reluctant investigator of murders, is back for the seventh installment of the delightful Medicus series. This time the doctor has left his home in Britain and moved his growing family into the morass of Rome itself – crowded tenements, bustling slave markets, violent gladiator games and all.

Ruso believes he is coming to Rome to take over a thriving medical practice for a fellow doctor temporarily tied up in family affairs, and hopes to offer his British wife, Tilla, and new baby daughter the stable and respectable home they have long yearned for. Instead, he finds that his predecessor has vanished without a trace, and no one can tell Ruso where the doctor has gone – least of all the dead man discovered in a barrel outside the door. Meanwhile, Ruso’s so-called benefactor, Accius, has other plans for Ruso in Rome, which include helping Accius to win a beautiful young heiress whose father has died under mysterious circumstances.

While moving Ruso to Rome admittedly detracts from Downie’s usual Roman Britain setting – a few scenes come across simply as excuses to give historical cameos to Roman landmarks – Downie’s plotting is as engaging as ever, as she weaves the threads of a murder mystery into the very character-driven story of Ruso and Tilla. While marital strife under the pressures of a new home and a new baby in the household could have proven tedious, these two characters and their relationship are so charmingly portrayed that every domestic scene seems of a piece. The tension between Tilla’s rebellious nature and the ideal of a “Good Roman Wife,” and the tension between Ruso’s outer gruffness and inner integrity make this Medicus installment much more than a mystery novel.

Ann Pedtke

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4th century

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TWILIGHT OF EMPIRE III: Battle for Rome Ian Ross, Head of Zeus, 2015, £14.99, hb, 443pp, 9781784081201 Battle for Rome is the third novel in Ian Ross’ Twilight of Empire series, following Constantine’s rise to power from Britain to Gaul and, in this Classical — 4th Century

novel, to Rome itself. It is set in the 4th century AD, a period of turbulent civil war in the fallout after the first tetrarchy and the abdication of Diocletian, concentrating on the conflict between Constantine and Maxentius. This was a very important period for the Roman Empire which is often overlooked in favour of earlier periods.

The protagonist in the series is Aurelius Castus, a soldier whose fortunes parallel those of Constantine. In this book he has become a tribune in Constantine’s army. Best described as a likeable rogue, Castus’ attentions are split between his duty as a soldier and the actions of his new wife; he is a simple man thriving in a complex world. Like the other books in the series, it is a solid read, delivering what fans of the genre would expect.

Recommended.

Christopher James

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THE CONFESSIONS OF X Suzanne Wolfe, Thomas Nelson, 2016, $15.99, pb, 304pp, 9780718039615 The narrator of Wolfe’s deeply poignant novel is nameless, for this detail was never historically recorded.

A poor young woman from Rome’s African provinces, she willingly becomes the concubine of the man she adores, a scholar with an auspicious future. The two remain faithful to one another, raising a beloved son, and stay together until her presence becomes an obstacle to his career advancement. He goes on to acquire fame as Augustine of Hippo, early Christian theologian and future saint. His biography is well known, but what burdens did his lover endure?

Her imagined story of romance, loss, and courageous sacrifice begins in 4th-century Carthage, a city of many gods ruled by a distant Christian emperor. The daughter of an itinerant mosaic-layer, she and Augustine share a special bond, but her humble birth means they can never marry. The secondary characters are equally wellcrafted, especially Augustine’s mother, Monica, a kind, practical woman who abhors her son’s early Manichean beliefs.

The central couple’s moment of parting is almost unbearably sorrowful, though the heroine, who cares too much to hold Augustine back, sees no other choice: “For us to love without measure is not enough. The world has a measure. It has weighed us in the scales and found us light.” What she accomplishes in her remaining years is a testament to women’s strength.

The richly descriptive writing involves all five senses in its evocation of the ancient Roman world: the glint of sunlight on a church floor, the gentle clink of tiles, the delicate scent of lemons at the market. Moving beyond this, it harnesses literature’s power to create soaring imagery conveying universal truths. Her story will break your heart several times over, but in Wolfe’s 4th Century — 12th Century

telling, it’s also intensely beautiful. More than a well-researched novel that humanizes its real-life characters, this is a poetic work of art.

Sarah Johnson

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9th century

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THE LAST ABBOT OF LINN DUACHAILL Michelle Markey Butler and Jess Barry, S & H Publishing, 2015, $15.99, pb, 352pp, 9781633200302 When a group of Norse traders come to buy trees from which to build longships, the monks of the abbey of Linn Duachaill are understandably suspicious. This is, after all, 9th-century Ireland, and they have already suffered from an earlier Viking raid. The lure of the silver offered as payment overcomes misgivings, however, and their abbot reluctantly agrees. The traders honor their agreement, but unfortunately there are others, Viking and Irish both, with more predatory designs. They loot the monastery and roast the abbot alive, an event recorded in Irish annals.

By adopting different points of view, the authors convey the anxiety of the main characters as they deal with a tense situation, particularly over whom to trust. Since Mariel, the Norse captain, and some of her crew are women, they experience not only mistrust of their race, but male prejudice, especially from the monks. Torn between his duty to submit to the orders of his superior, however unjust, and to deal honestly with others, including the Norse, Brother Breasal struggles with his conscience; his niece Evgren finds herself falling in love with Ivor, the Norse shipbuilder, but dare she leave her own people to live among strangers?

This is a plausible recreation of life among ordinary people in Dark Age Ireland, and though unusual, the prominent role of women in Captain Mariel’s crew was not unheard of. The balanced treatment of all parties is valuable, and the issues raised remain troublesome to this day. Even the political turmoil of a divided and quarrelsome land locked in fratricidal struggle has contemporary relevance, in Ireland and beyond. The novel is also appropriate for young adult readers.

Recommended.

Ray Thompson

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11th century

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THE HARROWING James Aitcheson, Heron Books, 2016, £16.99, hb, 438pp, 9781784297305 The Harrowing of the North is a famous phrase familiar to many of us as the tactic used by William the Conqueror to quell rebellion in the North and ensure the conquest of England was complete. In this novel James Aitcheson shows us the personal side of this tactic, as the land is cleared and the people – men, women and children – are murdered,

often in the most cruel and gruesome ways. We meet five individuals: Tova, a maid, and her mistress, Merewyn, who are fleeing Merewyn’s husband’s family, Beorn, the warrior, who rescues them from a Norman attack; Guthred, a former priest; and Oslac, a wandering storyteller. As the people of the North flee the approaching Normans, so these five must also make their way northwards to Hagustaldesham (Hexham, Northumberland).

The storytelling is brilliantly framed, with each part of the book covering one day of travel and the various characters telling their stories each evening as they prepare to rest, a style not dissimilar to the Canterbury Tales. In this way we get insight into each character and understand their perspective on the situation. The author does not shy away from the truth of the bloodshed and cruelty of events, and it becomes clear that although they are fleeing the Norman army who have destroyed their homes, they are also each fleeing from their past.

The storytelling is wonderful; each character tells their story in their own voice, but the pace never flags, the plotting is taut and the characterization deft. James Aitcheson is a fantastic writer who has brought to vivid life a dark period in English history, shining a light on ordinary people and the historical events that impact them.

Lisa Redmond

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12th century

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THE AUTUMN THRONE Elizabeth Chadwick, Sphere, 2016, £16.99, hb, 488pp, 9781847445438 / Sourcebooks, 2016, $16.99, pb, 512pp, 9781402296840 The Autumn Throne is the third and final instalment of Elizabeth Chadwick’s Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy.

Eleanor – or Alienor as she would have been known in her lifetime, and as Chadwick calls her – is one of history’s most fascinating and formidable characters, ruler of vast lands in her own right, Queen both of France and of England and the mother and grandmother of kings and queens across Europe. This book covers the last thirty years of Alienor’s life, following her from captivity at the hands of her second husband, Henry II of England, through her role as regent and Queen Dowager for her sons, two of England’s most controversial kings, Richard the Lionheart and John. The story follows Alienor as she crosses HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 19

the Alps in winter to bring Richard his bride, raises a king’s ransom to free him from his enemies, mediates between her warring sons, is besieged by her own grandson, rekindles emotional ties and mourns children killed in war, in sickness and the childbed.

Chadwick’s writing is, as ever, fluid and entertaining, and this is a novel packed with incident, interest and emotional depth. The medieval world she has created is rounded and convincing, the fruit of years of research. For long-term Chadwick fans there are also welcome glimpses of characters from her other novels – not least William Marshal. The central focus, however, is always on Alienor, who remains a vivid and charismatic, dominant character. Throughout the trilogy, Chadwick’s heroine has battled against divided loyalties and the demands of love and duty.

This book weaves those strands together so that when we leave her, we do so with regret but in full appreciation of her achievements. Chadwick has told Alienor’s story in a way which does honour to this remarkable woman. Highly recommended.

Charlotte Wightwick THE LORD OF IRELAND E. M. Powell, Thomas & Mercer, 2016, $15.95, pb, 368pp, 9781503951938 In this, the third of the Fifth Knight series set in 1185, Powell’s focus shifts to Prince John, referred to as “Lackland” because his father, King Henry II, has not given him the titles he believes he deserves.

Henry sees his opportunity to manage John’s ego and outrage by dispatching him to rebellious and seemingly uncivilized Ireland with a large army to ensure that neither the warring Irish tribes, nor an ambitious lord he does not trust, manage to wrest the island away from the British Crown. But Henry also doesn’t trust the fickle, ambitious and treacherous John, to whom he has refused a crown – so he sends along his most trusted “agents,” Sir Benedict Palmer and his wife, Theodosia (Henry’s daughter), to shadow John. In those roles, Sir Benedict accompanies the army and keeps an evervigilant eye on both the phlegmatic and dangerous John, and Theodosia has (for the sake of the Crown) taken the veil once again to get as close to John as possible. As it turns out, John does a lot more damage than even his own father assumed was possible. As he wreaks havoc on the island, he names himself Lord of Ireland.

What a romp! Both Benedict and Theodosia are beautifully drawn characters, and you can almost hear them breathing, walking, moving about in these pages. John is a scoundrel at best and traitor to his father at worst. It is apparent that Powell has had a veritable field day with him! The action is apace and the plot moves swiftly. As a stand-alone novel, this book more than holds its own. A great follow-up to the first two books in the series – and highly recommended.

Ilysa Magnus

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14th century

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THE GREAT REVOLT: A Brother Athelstan Medieval Mystery Paul Doherty, Severn House, 2016, $29.95/£19.99, hb, 224pp, 9781780107646 This is the tenth Brother Athelstan mystery in the series, and Doherty delivers crime and politics in equal measure. In 1381, his “diminutive Dominican” wrestles with murder and mayhem that hark back some 50 years to the mysterious death of Edward II, allegedly murdered by his Queen (Isabella) and her lover, Roger Mortimer.

The current, very young King Richard II is engulfed by warring factions and harried by the Great Revolt of the title, engineered by “the peasant army,” including farmers, common men, guilds and craftsmen, and exploited by ambitious nobles and their henchmen. This uprising of “Upright Men” wants to pull down everything and everyone—King, Noble, Church and State—and institute a new Jerusalem in London. There are two popes claiming the Church, and every king in Christendom seems to be changing sides and allies every other day—in other words, life as usual in medieval times.

There are a couple of “locked door” murders for Brother Athelstan to solve amidst the political churning, and he becomes a target of the murderer as he draws ever closer to solving the crimes.

Doherty writes with conscious assurance about the times and the details, although I found the dialogue somewhat stilted and lacking in depth. Athelstan is continually drawn off into a dream state in the middle of some very trying circumstances (like being attacked or escaping from a dungeon), which didn’t seem realistic. It’s a solid mystery, but I thought the characters seemed wooden and twodimensional; it was hard to care about their fates.

Mary F. Burns A GRAVE CONCERN Susanna Gregory, Sphere, 2016, £19.99/$27.99, hb, 442pp, 9780751549799 Medieval Cambridge is in an uproar. It’s not the entertaining sight of University Chancellor Tynkell fighting Satan on top of the tower of St. Mary the Great, but the election of a new Chancellor as a result of his predecessor’s death. Normally this wouldn’t concern the townsfolk but combined with a feud between tomb-makers and a spate of thefts, Cambridge has become full of tensions and intrigues. Not only does Matthew Bartholomew have to give lectures to his medical students, he must help his friend Michael, the Senior Proctor, solve the mystery of Tynkell’s murder. After all, why would Satan use a spike to stab the elderly scholar? Michael has his own concern: he wants to solve this case and get a “suitable” Chancellor installed before he takes up a desirable Bishopric.

This is a highly entertaining novel in a highly entertaining series. The characters are likeable and believable, and the setting is described in vivid detail. Factors of life in Cambridge of the mid-14th century are described with charm and humour.

The plot is involving, with red herring a-plenty and action into the bargain.

Alan Cassady-Bishop

THE SERVICE OF THE DEAD Candace Robb, Pegasus, 2016, $25.95/C$33.95, hb, 235pp, 9781681771274 Candace Robb re-emerges! As a fan of her Owen Archer mysteries, I anxiously awaited the beginning of this new series starring a young widow from York, raising her late husband’s illegitimate children and running what can only be described as an unusual household.

Raised on the northern marches of England, Kate Clifford learned early how to be tough, selfprotective and resilient. When she is left widowed and drowning in debt created by her late husband, Kate rises above what could easily destroy her and finds ways to pay off the debt and establish herself in the male-dominated society of 1399.

In the midst of the political upheaval created by warring factions led by Richard II on one side and his estranged cousin in exile, Henry Bolingbroke, on the other, Kate needs to keep her head above the fray.

Kate has creatively turned one of her properties into a guest house and clandestinely rented bedchambers to the well-healed, powerful York merchants who need a secret meeting place with their mistresses. But when a mysterious, unnamed guest is brutally murdered, Kate must find a way to resolve the “problem” and ensure that she and her family are not pulled under by a scandal that will destroy everything she has attempted to build.

Kate Clifford is a wonderful creation, hardnosed in some respects, compassionate and caring on the other. The characters that surround her – from the interesting personalities that people her household to those who could destroy her – are drawn meticulously by Robb. Even the labyrinthine streets of York are drawn with care and an eye to detail.

I look forward to the next installment of this delightful series!

Ilysa Magnus A MAIDEN WEEPING Jeri Westerson, Severn House, 2016, $29.99/£19.99, hb, 256 pp, 0727886215 In this ninth installment of Westerson’s Crispin Guest medieval noir series, we find Crispin himself playing a supporting role as his apprentice, Jack Tucker, takes the lead. A mysterious man hires a very drunk Crispin to kill a woman. Crispin, his chivalrous nature horrified at the very idea, instead goes to warn her. Beguiled by her beauty, he ends up in bed with her, eventually passing out from the alcohol. When he comes to, he is shocked to discover that the woman had been murdered while he was unconscious. Before he can get far in his investigation, he is himself arrested for the murder, leaving Jack to solve the crime on his own. With the help of some new characters – the plucky lawyer, Nigellus Cobmartin; and the lovely Isabel Langton, niece of Gilbert and Eleanor of the Boar’s Tusk Tavern – and our old friend John Rykener, Jack takes on the mantle of The Tracker alone for the first time.

I have read and loved every other book in the Crispin series, which is set in late 14th-century London, and this one was no different. It is 12th Century — 14th Century

somewhat bittersweet to see Jack growing up, becoming a man, and meeting a girl he can seriously consider marrying. I still think of him as the little boy he was in the first book. At the same time, it is wonderful to see him grow and use the skills he’s learned at Crispin’s knee to save his mentor from the gallows. Westerson crafted a terrific story once again, full of twists and intrigue, and frankly a lot of frustration! Those sheriffs need a good swift kick. If it is infuriating to read about their petty tyrannies, how much worse must it be for poor Crispin to have to live and work with them.

Another masterful job from Westerson. Highly recommended!

Kristen McQuinn

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KINGMAKER: Divided Souls Toby Clements, Century, 2016, £16.99, hb, 360pp, 9781780894652 Third in a series of four, here is a product of vivid imagination and astute historical knowledge, tempered by fine writing skills.

Toby Clements evokes the world our ordinary, 15th-century ancestors inhabited and shows how the merciless ambition of kings and nobles impacted their lives. It’s an adventure story in the best tradition; the credible characters range up and down northeast England in search of refuge, survival and sometimes just each other. Sit down for a rugged, compelling read, lanced with tenderness. We are all familiar with the cast of historical figures (Edward IV, Lord Hastings), yet Clements fleshes them out in a fresh way, and by the time you have finished reading you’ll think his imagined characters probably existed too!

The present-tense narrative works exceptionally well, allowing the reader to experience all the happenings alongside the protagonists.

Descriptions of fighting, travelling, eating, drinking and even the bliss of bathing simply leap off the page with admirable authenticity. One of the most enjoyable aspects is Clements’ imaginative re-creation of the English landscape of the 1460s: valleys, moors and forests without signposts. We are shown the vivid detail of how the common folk went about their daily lives in their cruck houses, inns, fields and churches. Has Clements been time-travelling on the quiet? He certainly offers fascinating glimpses of medieval medical procedures. Getting the dialogue right is always a thorny issue in historical fiction. Toby Clements handles it deftly, using enough vocabulary and turn of phrase to establish historical context but otherwise allowing speech patterns to seem real rather than mannered. Inner monologues are 15th Century — 16th Century

convincing too. The novel would translate well to the screen or radio. The Kingmaker series is new to me; I’ll be reading the first two novels, and await the fourth avidly!

Jan Middleton SONS OF THE BLOOD: New World Rising Robyn Young, Hodder & Stoughton, 2016, £16.99, hb, 436pp, 9781444777710 1483. Jack Wynter, illegitimate son of Sir Thomas Vaughan, is sent to Spain with a secret document – a map, which he is ordered to protect with his life. Wynter is attacked by someone wanting the map and is forced to return to England, where he finds a country in turmoil.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is now on the throne and Sir Thomas has been executed as a traitor. Jack becomes involved with the growing opposition to Richard. At the same time a secret organisation determined to explore the wisdom of all mankind, no matter how heretical, is hunting the map, as well as the Catholic Church, who wants it destroyed.

This is the first in a new series by Robyn Young.

A strong plot propels the reader at breakneck speed as the War of the Roses reaches its end. The author brings alive the period, in which a changing world rises from the ashes of the bloody conflict. The action scenes are well drawn without being graphic.

With an interesting take on the fate of the Princes in the Tower, this is an excellent addition to the many books written about this period – historical fiction at its very best. Highly recommended.

Mike Ashworth

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16th century

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THE GIRL IN THE GLASS TOWER Elizabeth Fremantle, Michael Joseph, 2016, £14.99, hb, 464pp, 9780718180461 Queen Elizabeth I is ageing and without an heir. Arbella Stuart, niece to Mary Queen of Scots, is first in line for the throne and being groomed for power by her severe grandmother, Bess of Hardwick. The only other possible contender for the English crown is the Scottish King James, Arbella’s cousin, and it seems certain that he, as a foreigner, will not inherit. However, amidst fears of Catholic plots, fortunes turn, and James becomes the new king, leaving Arbella as a perceived threat.

From childhood she lives a suffocatingly confined life: a life entombed, without mate and without estate. Her only way to gain a sense of control of her own life is to starve herself.

Ami Lanyer is a poet, former mistress of a nobleman, and now down on her luck and trying to survive debt and guilt about her role in Arbella’s life. She also has to contend with accusations

of witchcraft spread by her nosey, malicious neighbour. The two women’s stories twine around each other, slowly revealing Arbella’s fate and the cause of Ami’s guilt.

There are a few patches of heavy-handed exposition, but overall this is a beautifully written and intensely engaging story. Elizabeth Fremantle vividly conveys the sensory details of Arbella’s and Ami’s everyday contexts, such as, for example, the sound of Bess of Hardwick’s long string of pearls being poured from one hand to the other. This is the story of a woman silenced, of a struggle for freedom and love. It is quite an achievement to have made this good a story from such a stultifying life.

Highly recommended.

Tracey Warr CONSPIRACY S.J. Parris, HarperCollins, 2016, £14.99, hb, 474pp, 9780007481248 Italian philosopher, Giordano Bruno is in a confession booth giving the priest a list of his sins.

We are instantly gripped by the hero’s iconoclastic panache. A series of murders ensue and King Henri, an old friend of Bruno’s, asks him to investigate.

Bruno is disadvantaged in this task by the fact that he is a declared heretic and banned from court by Catherine de Medici, the Queen Mother. The irony and danger of having to investigate the crimes, whilst looking like the prime suspect himself, is not lost upon him. Bruno navigates his way through devious plots against the King and betrayals from his former lovers, through conflicts between Catholics and Huguenots and the machinations of two formidable sets of spies – those being run from England by Walsingham, and the Flying Squad, a group of nubile young noblewomen spying for the Queen Mother. For a mere writer, Bruno certainly gets himself into a lot of trouble.

This is vivid, pacy writing, where we live the twists and turns of Bruno’s dilemmas with him.

The historical detail is thoroughly convincing, with the scenes at court being particularly memorable. A recommended read in this engaging series.

Tracey Warr THE CASTLE OF KINGS Oliver Pötzsch, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $28.00, hb, 656pp, 9780544319516 Germany, 1524. Agnes is the daughter of a castellan whose home is the former seat of the Holy Roman Empire, but now fallen into obscurity. Mathis is the blacksmith’s son, though his interest in metallurgy takes him far afield from horseshoes and nails – firearms and artillery are his specialty. They make for unlikely companions.

She’s unconventional, spending her days in clothing more suited to hunting than to noble courts, and with her beloved falcon. He’s distracted by the rumors of uprisings around the country, of peasants rebelling against their overlords.

As her father’s only daughter, Agnes is slated for an unhappy marriage with some as-yet-unnamed nobleman. As a commoner, Mathis has only the drudgery of his father’s life to look forward to.

But Agnes is having dreams, far too vivid to be ignored. Are they echoes of the past? What do they HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 21

mean for her, and for the throne? When Mathis is wrongfully imprisoned for murdering the mayor, their fates, already close, now become irrevocably intertwined. With murderers on their heels and civil war all around, they must solve the mystery of her dreams – to save their lives, and possibly topple an empire.

Pötzsch unveils a world full of historical detail and life. The cast of characters gives the reader the full scope of the ills that face imperial Germany at this time. But for such a long book, there is surprisingly little story. The pace is slow, with too much angst and too much wondering and pining.

There are some good twists and turns along the way, but halfway through, this reviewer was eager for the book to finish. The ending had too many fantastical elements to it, too much deus ex machina. This felt like a debut novel, not a work from a seasoned writer like Pötzsch.

Justin M. Lindsay THE NINJA’S DAUGHTER: A Hiro Hattori Novel Susan Spann, Seventh Street, 2016, $15.95/ C$17.00, pb, 248pp, 9781633881815 In 16th-century Japan, the ninja Hiro Hattori and Father Mateo, the priest Hiro is assigned to protect, awake early one morning to learn of the death of a beautiful girl. The young woman has been strangled; the only clue is a golden coin hanging around her neck. It soon becomes apparent the woman was from a theatrical family. Authorities forbid further investigation, saying that a mere actress’s death is unimportant. But the girl’s father, Hiro’s own cousin, requests that they continue, and Hiro feels obligated to comply. Meanwhile the ruling shogun wants the Jesuit out of the city and threatens him with death. The theft of a valuable theatrical mask complicates the investigation as Hiro and Father Mateo race to solve the mystery and escape Kyoto with their lives.

Susan Spann’s fourth Shinobi mystery transports the reader to the world of the shogunate, traditional No drama, and the rigidly class-bound society of feudal Japan. Her writing moves along at a pleasant pace. Father Mateo makes a nice foil for Hiro, allowing us to experience this distant culture through the eyes of both a native and a foreigner.

The unexpected resolution of the mystery hints at further adventures for Hiro and Father Mateo as they leave Kyoto behind them. Recommended.

Susan McDuffie

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17th century

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A DEATH ALONG THE RIVER FLEET Susanna Calkins, Minotaur, 2016, $25.99/ C$29.99, hb, 336pp, 9781250057372 The last thing Lucy Campion, a printer’s apprentice, expected to see while walking along the River Fleet was a ghost. But that’s sort of what she finds in Susanna Calkins’ latest mystery set in post-1666 Great Fire London. The ghost turns out to be a young woman covered in blood, in tattered 22 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 77, August 2016

clothes and with no memory of who she is or what happened to her. Lucy takes the girl to a physician she knows, and they try to identify her. When they decide that the mysterious woman probably has a noble upbringing, Lucy agrees to become the woman’s personal caretaker, and together they begin to rebuild her memory. A memory that puts both girls in grave danger and could possibly dismantle a horrible plot that reaches deep into British high society.

Complicating matters for Lucy is the fact that the two men her heart yearns for—Constable Duncan and the wealthy Adam Hargrave— become involved in the search for the woman’s past, and this sets up a love triangle subplot that some readers may feel gets in the way of the true mystery.

Calkins’ London oozes from the pages. From the rank, vile Fleet River, to the lingering effects of the Great Fire, into the dark, foreboding and crazed Bedlam hospital, the reader is transported to a world far away but with a closeness of familiarity.

Readers may need to suspend belief that Lucy, from a lower caste, would be so openly accepted into higher society, but that does not get in the way too much of a well-paced, historical mystery. An all-around fun book to read.

Bryan Dumas THE HUNGRY HORIZON: Pirates of the Pacific Mike Hawthorne, Fireship, 2016, $19.99, pb, 294pp, 9781611793635 It’s 1679 in Port Royal, Jamaica. English sailor Tom Sheppard and two of his mates join an expedition to steal Spanish gold and silver. They are on the run after taking part in a brawl in a bar.

As buccaneers on board a pirate ship, they land on the coast of Central America. They then join the pirates as they struggle and fight their way through the dense jungles, with the prospect of stealing treasure from the Spanish sometime after arriving on the Pacific coastline. They must defeat not only the Spanish but also fierce native tribes. Sheppard and his companions try to escape from these pirates, but are frustrated at every turn.

This is Book One of the Pirates of the Pacific series, which is based on true events. This nautical adventure features all the classic naval stories of the 17th century – pirates, the Spanish Main, and the search for gold and silver bullion. This is a fastpaced, page-turning naval adventure written for those who enjoy action and suspense at every turn, with evil bad guys who try to thwart the plans of our unlikely heroes. I highly recommend adding this book to your naval library and can’t wait until the next installment is published.

Jeff Westerhoff FIRE C.C. Humphreys, Century, 2016, £14.99, hb, 352pp, 9781780891453 This is the second volume in the series set in Restoration London. It is 1666 and the newly established pairing of Pitman and William Coke is employed by Sir Joseph Williamson, Under-Secretary of State, to prevent the planned assassination of King Charles II by fanatical Fifth

Monarchists in London. They equate the fateful year of 1666 with the number of the beast and, therefore, expect that the year will see the return of Jesus as the world’s king to banish Satan once and for all. The attempt is made while the King is attending the theatre, and fails, thanks to the efforts of Pitman and Coke, though they needed some luck to thwart the killing. Pitman is a professional thief-taker and Captain Coke, former cavalier and reformed highwayman, is preparing to marry his pregnant partner, a widow and actress, Sarah Chalker. But William is betrayed on his own wedding day by a villainous plot hatched by the Fifth Monarchists, and ends up pressed into service for the Royal Navy in the campaigns against the Dutch fleet. Meanwhile, Sarah ends up in a debtor’s prison, and then the hot dry London summer explodes into the disastrous conflagration at the start of September, and it does indeed appear that the Fifth Monarchist’s predictions might just be coming true.

The story is very capably and engagingly told.

The madness and disregard for life shown by the fundamental Fifth Monarchy believers is clearly echoed in aspects of some of today’s extreme religious beliefs and the violence and terror they justify in the name of their God. The story rattles along to a neat conclusion – adept and entertaining historical fiction that has been thoroughly researched and accurately portrayed.

Douglas Kemp THE SAVAGE APOSTLE John B. Kachuba, Sunbury, 2015, $16.95, pb, 230pp, 9781620066669 New England, 1675: The body of the Christian Indian John Sassamon is discovered in frozen Assawompset Pond. The eventual trial of three natives for Sassamon’s murder leads ultimately to the devastating King Philip’s War, the struggle between the native inhabitants of New England and the English colonists. The tragic story of the events prior to this conflict is told from two viewpoints, a device allowing the reader to see both sides leading up to the hostilities.

John Eliot, missionary and founder of the Praying Villages, was Sassamon’s mentor. The elderly Eliot sponsored the Wampanoag convert’s education at Harvard and trusted him to continue the conversion of the native tribes to Christianity.

The younger Metacom, sachem and chief of the Pokanoket tribe, who is known to the colonists as Philip, provides the other voice in the narrative.

Metacom becomes sachem after the suspicious death of his brother Alexander. He wants to live according to the old ways, and according to his tribe’s traditional laws and justice. The trial by the colonists of one of Metacom’s close advisors for murder eventually drives both sides to the brink of conflict, and neither side can draw back.

This novel deals primarily with the events leading up to the war and is not a history of the war itself. Well researched and well written, it will be enjoyed by readers wanting to know more about this sad period in colonial New England’s history.

Susan McDuffie

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A MEASURE OF LIGHT Beth Powning, Vintage Canada, 2016, $16.95/ C$19.95, pb, 323pp, 9780345808493 It is often said that New England’s Puritans came to America for freedom of worship. In a sense that is true. They abandoned England to build Bible-based communities free of influence by Anglican king and clergy – plus all other religions.

Surely God would shower blessings upon them. If not, then wrong-doers must be rooted out and God’s wrath appeased.

To that end, Puritans wield the same abuses foisted upon them in England. Their opponents suffer whippings and dank jails, ear-cuttings, and banishment to the wilderness. The gallows wait for those who refuse to sit down and shut up. Women in this narrow-minded theocracy are silenced, no matter how keen their intellect or deep their spirituality. Mary Dyer, Anne Hutchinson, and Herodias Gardner are foremost among homegrown civil and religious dissidents punished by the Puritans, and their audacity changed American history.

Beth Powning’s A Measure of Light is the latest historical novel presenting Mary Dyer’s meteoric career to fortunate readers. Mary’s choices may seem baffling: leaving beloved husband and children to return to England in 1651, where she becomes a convinced Quaker and follows George Fox’s motley converts across England. When she returns to New England, Mary challenges Boston’s Puritans to either change their bloody anti-Quaker laws or to apply them to a woman, an act horrific even for hardened Puritan magistrates. With clear and accurate imagery and history, Ms. Powning places readers in Mary’s world. She also takes us into Mary’s soul, where such fate-filled decisions are the only way forward for this stout-hearted Quaker. Passionate and vividly imagined, A Measure of Light has my highest recommendation.

Jo Ann Butler

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THE ASHES OF LONDON Andrew Taylor, HarperCollins, 2016, £14.99, hb, 494pp, 9780008119089 The Great Fire rages in London.

James Marwood, the narrator, who works as an underling reporter for Joseph Williamson, who in turn is in the employ of the Earl of Arlington, is despatched to discover what the feelings on the streets are amongst the populace about the conflagration. James’s father, a printer, was a convicted Fifth Monarchist, who had been 17th Century — 18th Century

imprisoned for participating in Thomas Venner’s 1661 uprising, but is now entering senility.

In a parallel story, Cat Lovett is a young heiress forced to live with distant relations in their rambling house in Holborn after the disgrace of her father, a hunted regicide. She is to be married off to an old roué, much to her disgust, and when she is raped by the son of the family, and she takes her violent revenge, she escapes from their clutches. The paths of Cat and James had met when she steals his cloak whilst they both watch the destruction of St. Paul’s in the fire, and then James accompanies his employer to visit her former home, to investigate the murder of one of the servants of the house, whose body was found in the burned out St Paul’s.

The lives of Marwood and Cat move ever closer, unwittingly linked by the fanatical, millennial beliefs of their fathers. Both of them are sucked into events stranger and more dangerous than they could ever have envisaged.

This is an excellent story – wonderfully well plotted, with credible, well-rounded characters that fit well into the milieu of Restoration England.

Andrew Taylor seems to leave open the possibility of a sequel or two, which would be very welcome.

Douglas Kemp GUNPOWDER PERCY Grace Tiffany, Bagwyn, 2016, $14.95, pb, 294pp, 9780866988155 The novel follows Thomas Percy, a member of the group of English Catholics that planned the infamous Gunpowder Plot in 1605. Through him and his circle, the reader is introduced to the religious and political atmosphere of the period as well as the events surrounding and leading up to the Fifth of November.

Tiffany evokes vivid and rich detail of the early 17th century—streets, smells, and clothing. Even if readers are familiar with the events depicted in the novel, they will turn the pages in order to immerse themselves in this tumultuous world. Additionally, Tiffany’s expertise as a Shakespearean is apparent, as Shakespeare is a mechanism for the plot: Thomas Percy visits the Globe theatre repeatedly to watch Shakespeare’s history play, Henry IV, Part 1 and is obsessed with and encouraged by the character of Hotspur, the hot-headed Northern noble who tries to overthrow the king in 1403. Moreover, lines and phrases from Shakespeare’s works are seamlessly and delightfully woven through the text.

Tiffany’s knowledge and attention to period detail are compelling, but what is equally gripping is the manner in which the characters are written.

Tiffany refuses to give her readers a hero, as she avoids winnowing history down to heroes and villains—preferring to show only the winners and losers. In fact, many of the characters in the book refuse to gain the reader’s sympathy either because of their rigid religious fervor or their political scheming.

Towards the end of the novel, Tiffany insightfully connects the events of the Gunpowder Plot to the Civil War—noting that the successful plot to destroy the monarchy was led by the Puritans, a very passionate religious minority. In this subtle way, Tiffany’s novel provides readers

with some cogent thoughts on the complex role of religious terrorism throughout history.

Nicola Imbracsio

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THE VALLEY: Book One of the Valley Trilogy Helen Bryan, Lake Union, 2016, $14.99, pb, 645pp, 9781503936157 Sophia Grafton, the daughter of a British nobleman in 1754, grows up spoiled, wild and free in a society that decries such behavior. Eventually, her father realizes change must come and bribes his daughter into cooperation with the offer of beautiful and fashionable clothing that will guarantee the success of her “coming out” into the upper echelons of British society. Little does Sophia know that her father’s lavish spending has driven them to the point of poverty. All that remains, after Lord Grafton’s sudden death, is a tobacco plantation in the colonial New World, which Sophia inherits.

Now, Sophia shows her true mettle as she travels to America and soon escapes the drunken, grasping will of her appointed guardian. She meets Henri de Marechal, a French spy posing as a dance master.

After her harrowing escape, it is Henri, whom she again meets on her journey down South, who will save her through her own audacious plan of marriage for convenience’s sake.

The reader shares how dangerous and wild America was; these travelers are close to death from starvation and illness by the time they finally arrive at their destination, only to find a ramshackle cabin and no tobacco fields or anything else on which to build a business. This is the story of how they build up the plantation, meanwhile suffering the loss of children, Indian attacks, and numerous trials, but they are bonded by their immense love for each other and the beautiful land on which they dwell and flourish. It’s a true story representing how America was built on the backs, blood, sweat and tears of its settlers. Wonderful, realistic, harrowing and delightful historical fiction that this reviewer highly recommends!

Viviane Crystal THE RIVALS OF VERSAILLES Sally Christie, Atria, 2016, $16.00/C$22.00/£9.99, pb, 448pp, 9781501102998 The Rivals of Versailles, the second book in the Mistresses of Versailles trilogy, tells the story of King Louis XV’s most powerful mistress, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, better known as the Marquise de Pompadour. The novel charts the Marquise’s early life from the instant she is told by a fortuneteller that she will become the king’s lover, and her mother’s lover begins plotting her way to the King’s bed. The story follows her to her place at Versailles, where she becomes the king’s official mistress but earns the scorn of the nobility; to her inability to give the king a child and legitimize herself in her own eyes; and to her death about 18 years later, in 1764. But the Marquise isn’t just any mistress. She acts as confidante, political advisor, HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 23

and right hand to the king and is indispensable to him in affairs of the country, his personal life and his sexual exploits. When the Marquise can’t provide the king with sexual favors any more, she sets up a brothel for him and chooses his lovers.

The Rivals of Versailles reads like a memoir in the form of a novel. It is told from the Marquise’s first-person point of view but shifts for several chapters to the viewpoints of many of her most significant rivals, which leads to some confusion.

Apart from this, the novel is both intriguing and engaging. The immense, often obscene opulence of the nobility comes through strongly, including their backstabbing, the ridicule of the bourgeoisie, and their attempts to climb up the social ladder, as well as the abject poverty of the peasant class.

Hints of the despair of the peasants, including the beginning of social unrest, are hinted at, but the novel stays centered on the Marquise and her unusual relationship with the king.

Francesca Pelaccia

appears not to be what it seems.

Daley also goes into Carey’s back story, explaining what happens to her towards the end of her childhood. These passages also give some information about her family members as well, and Carey’s relationship with them. Carey is portrayed as a highly inquisitive and studious person, as well as being extremely resourceful. She wants to understand the intricacies of her husband’s life, both past events and current ones. An unexpected plot turn towards the end of the novel heightens the drama. It is evident that a lot of deception by many of the characters mentioned has been carried out.

Cathy Powell

THE HAMILTON AFFAIR Elizabeth Cobbs, Arcade, 2016, $25.99, hb, 408pp, 9781628727203 Thanks to a certain musical and a newfound appreciation for the Founding Fathers (and mothers), Alexander Hamilton and his wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, are well on their way to becoming the new American “it” couple in history and historical fiction. The Hamilton Affair is a joint biographical novel of the pair, tracing them from their contrasting childhoods through their courtship and sometimes rocky marriage to Hamilton’s tragic end. Accompanying their stories is that of a purely fictional character, the ex-slave Ajax Manly, who struggles to find liberty and happiness in a new nation that does not quite live up to its ideals.

This is an engaging, well-researched novel with vivid characters and nice turns of phrase (“Even a mule could be taught to spin if it was sufficiently motivated”; “cheerful as a green grasshopper”).

Though the novel spans decades, the reader neither feels bogged down in detail nor deprived of it – except in the last few chapters, where two vitally important events pass so quickly as to seem almost an afterthought. I would also have liked to have seen a few flaws in Elizabeth, as we do with her husband – but she does indeed seem to have been an extraordinary woman, well matched with an extraordinary man.

Susan Higginbotham

A DEATH AT FOUNTAINS ABBEY Antonia Hodgson, Hodder & Stoughton, 2016, £14.99, hb, 344pp, 9781473615090 Third in the Thomas Hawkins series, after The Devil in the Marshalsea and The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins, this novel is set in spring 1728.

The South Sea Bubble has well and truly popped, and Hawkins is tasked by Queen Caroline, firstly with investigating violent threats to Lord Aislabie, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and widely held to be responsible for the disaster, and secondly and more secretly, with acquiring a certain green ledger book which contains all the insider details.

In the wrong hands, this information could bring down the government and even the monarchy.

Hawkins travels up to Yorkshire to stay at Aislabie’s house with Sam and Kitty, key characters from the earlier books. Murder soon rears its head and ghosts from the past reappear. The daughter of Aislabie, who supposedly died in a house fire along with his wife, is brought back to him, but perhaps she is not what she seems.

The novel is excellent, full of historical details and narrative verve. The characters are multilayered, and the plot skips along rapidly. It could possibly be read as a stand-alone, but the reader would only be depriving themselves of the two earlier books, which are both of a similarly high standard. Fascinating historical notes at the back give an added layer of depth and interest and clearly explain which events and characters were real. Very highly recommended and I’m already looking forward to number four. Fans of C. J. Sansom, Rory Clements and S. J. Parris will be very content if they pick up this (and the previous) offerings from Hodgson.

Ann Northfield

THE REVELATIONS OF CAREY RAVINE Debra Daley, Heron Books, 2016, £19.99, hb, 320pp, 9781782069935 London in the 1770s must have been an exciting place for those of a buccaneering nature and for the wealthy. This book tells the story of Carey Ravine and her rather dashing entrepreneurial husband, Oliver Nash. It is told in the first person through Carey’s eyes. Daley, with vivid descriptions, brings the scenes of the times to life. They may have the appearance of a family of means but it is all a smoke-screen. Nash has managed to impress some people within high society, but this association

DEATH AT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY: A John Rawlings Mystery Deryn Lake, Severn House, 2016, $28.99/£19.99, hb, 224pp, 9781780107790 When an actress, traveling under an aristocratic alias, falls to her death from the riggings of a ship in the wake of the Boston Tea Party, John Rawlings, apothecary extraordinaire and amateur sleuth, feels compelled to find her killer. Acquainted with the victim, whom he knows from the time they were shipwrecked together during their journey from England to North America, the adventurer and widowed father of three investigates the events

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that led to her death, discovering an underworld of rebels, espionage, and intrigue, as well as a long-lost lover.

Death at the Boston Tea Party brings to vivid life 18th-century Boston—the city, where John dispenses medical potions at the Orange Tree Tavern, is rife with tension since the colonies refuse to accept the newly imposed monopoly of East India Company tea and are about to take drastic action. Although the main plot is slow in taking off—John does not reach Boston until Chapter Six—this novel offers an entertaining romp through early American history and a colorful cast of heroes and historical celebrities. The reader does not need to know the rest of the series in order to enjoy this new installment in the adventures of John Rawlings.

Elisabeth Lenckos THE CAVALIER SPY S. W. O’Connell, Twilight Times, 2015, $19.95, pb, 310pp, 9781606192542 The second in O’Connell’s adventure series (after The Patriot Spy, 2012) begins late in 1776, with Lt. Gen. George Washington confronting a recalcitrant Congress while his troops face superior British strength. To keep losses to a minimum before winter closes in, Washington depends on information provided by a growing network of spies.

One of these is Lt. Jeremiah Creed, a young Irishman with a checkered past. Washington’s staff has doubts about Creed’s trustworthiness, but the general decides to takes a chance and send the bright, young man into New Jersey. The search for information expands, leading Creed and his small band into New York City. When fire breaks out (ultimately destroying a third of the city), Creed’s quick thinking plays directly into Washington’s strategy.

In order to operate undetected, Creed develops a modus operandi for the team. By adapting different personalities and disguises, his men pass as locals when they encounter British troops. The information they glean while deep in British-held territory proves invaluable. And as Washington’s confidence in Creed grows, the general gives him increasingly difficult assignments, which will be detailed in subsequent volumes.

It will take a dedicated reader to consume so many chapters heavy with detail about Creed’s work undercover. Flashbacks to Creed’s earlier life provide relief tempered with confusion—is Creed guilty of murder or not?—which, like the awkward love scenes and overuse of dialogue, could be fixed by a good editor. When it comes to action, however, The Cavalier Spy rings with authenticity.

Jeanne Greene A MASTER PASSION: The Story of Elizabeth and Alexander Hamilton Juliet Waldron, Books We Love, 2016, $15.99, pb, 475 pp, 9781771456746 In the New World of the mid-18th century, young Alexander Hamilton’s childhood could not have been more different from the cosseted upbringing of Betsy Schuyler. From an early 18th Century

memory of a Mohawk peace meeting on her New York estate to meeting General Washington’s aide Hamilton at a dance, Betsy’s life is surrounded by love, care and family. But the immigrant from the West Indies who John Adams called “the bastard brat of a Scots peddler” had a childhood scarred by violence, poverty, and shame. He found a way out through his intellect, work ethic, and a patronage to attend college in the American colonies. Once there, he made his way through the army of the revolution until he was chosen by Washington as a trusted aide.

Attraction is immediate on both sides. Betsy’s father assures her that he approves of her choice.

Their wedding night seems to frighten them both in its intensity. But separations are common.

Hamilton, although a proud and doting father to their young children, is engaged in forming a new country, and making sure its financial obligations don’t doom it as it’s being born. Elizabeth takes the reins of the household in New York City, and relies on her birth family for support and company.

With its focus on family relationships, this first part of novelist Waldron’s fictional biography of the marriage of a Founding Father shines new light on Hamilton’s rise and his connection with a powerful New York dynasty. Elizabeth, although schooled at home, proves a loving, intelligent and devoted partner. Juliet Waldron brings to vibrant life the passion, conflict, and devotion shared by the Hamiltons.

Eileen Charbonneau RESOLUTION: A Novel of the Boy Who Sailed With Captain Cook A. N. Wilson, Atlantic, 2016, £18.99, hb, 278pp, 9781782398271 / also £12.99, pb, 278pp, 9781782398288 Any book by A. N. Wilson is a rewarding read, but be warned! Resolution was the ship in which Captain Cook sailed on his second voyage to the Antarctic and the South Pacific in 1772-75, and there is a picture of it on the cover. The cover also describes the book as ‘a novel of the boy who sailed with Captain Cook’ and promises ‘the life and times of one of our greatest explorers… seen through the eyes of a young man who sailed with him’.

This is indeed the story of the ‘boy’ (he was 20 years old at the end of the voyage), but it is the story of his whole life from childhood in East Prussia to his early death in Paris. Only three of his 38 years were spent on Resolution, although the book he wrote about it is his main claim to fame.

The subject of the book is George Forster, who despite his name was a German botanist of distant English descent. Wilson tells his life story not in chronological order but as a series of episodes which flit backwards and forwards in time and space, as George might have remembered them in his last years. Sometimes we are on Resolution, sometimes in London, Mainz or Paris. Resolution is not just the name of a ship but a motif for George’s life.

There is not very much about Captain Cook and a lot about the Romantic Movement in Germany, the French Revolution and George’s unhappy marriage. Like most of Wilson’s books, this is 18th Century — 19th Century

fictionalised history rather than historical fiction with few invented characters. It is interesting, informative, evocative and emotionally authentic, but it is only incidentally about the ship and its captain.

Edward James

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THE LAST WOMAN STANDING Thelma Adams, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 298pp, 9781503935181 Josephine Marcus, teenage daughter of Jewish immigrants, is heading to Arizona to marry her fiancé, Johnny Behan. She arrives in the boomtown of Tombstone bright-eyed and hopeful, but soon realizes that while Johnny is full of flowery compliments, he’s also full of excuses and lies. After months without a wedding in sight, Josephine’s affections turn towards Wyatt Earp. In Wyatt, she sees a justice-seeking lawman willing to stand down a lynch mob, alone, in order to ensure another man’s right to a trial. In Johnny, she sees a politically-minded lawman who stands in a corner until conflict is resolved and then steps out to claim the glory of other men’s successes. Through the Earps’ example, Josephine learns that family should always stand by one another, no matter the cost.

Josephine, the narrator, comes off superficial at times, occasionally getting distracted by her own breasts and men’s broad shoulders. She describes her love interests mostly by their reactions to her breasts and their actions in bed. Josephine also disappoints during the chapter in which she visits Johnny to beg him to free Wyatt from jail… dressed as a seductress. Josephine’s personality does develop throughout the story, but I would have liked more thoughtful actions/reactions and less physical ones.

One discrepancy I noticed involves Josephine’s departure from Tombstone. It’s generally believed she left Tombstone after Morgan Earp was killed.

Ms. Adams has Josephine leaving beforehand.

Otherwise, everything is quite well researched.

The well-known historical scoundrels and lawmen of Tombstone come alive in this book, from Curly Bill and the Clantons to Doc Holliday. These men are vividly portrayed. The phrases used and conventions of daily life feel authentic to the 1880s.

Overall, Josephine’s voice is strong and bursting with personality. It makes for an engaging narrative, despite the occasional distraction.

J. Lynn Else LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP Beth Andrews, Robert Hale, 2016, £12.99, hb, 239pp, 9780719813856 Love and Friendship was written when Jane Austen was 14 and foreshadows the conflict between moral obligation and individual desire which permeates many of her more well-known books. Updated by Beth Andrews, the story follows Isabel and her daughter, Marianne, when they attend the theatre in Bury St. Edmunds. They

encounter Isabel’s old friend, Laura Lindsay, who gives Isabel a journal for Marianne to read. There is love at first sight, exaggerated sentiment, and a complete disregard for the feelings of others.

Havoc inevitably ensues.

While familiar with Jane Austen’s classic work, I had no knowledge of this early work. It was interesting to see how her later novels are founded in this. The book also includes the original Austen version, with uncorrected spellings, which enables the reader to compare the two versions. Ms Andrews has kept the humour and enjoyment of the absurd, while bringing in modern concepts and ideas, and a changed ending. While this version may not appeal to Jane Austen purists, I found it intriguing and immensely readable. Try it – you might like it.

Mike Ashworth THE WOMAN WHO DID Lou Allin, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 310pp, 9781432830571 In 1896, on a cold night on Vancouver Island, Detective Sergeant Edwin DesRosier is called out to a murder scene in the Parliament building’s park.

He is shocked to see a female body lying in the bower like a “broken marionette,” for he recognizes her as Vicky, his very first love from his youth. She’s been strangled with a black stocking, similarly to how two other prostitutes were recently killed.

Although Vicky has led the life of a demimondaine and had posed for Edwin’s opium-addict artist mother, for some reason he doesn’t believe her death is connected to the other two. The investigation into the discovery of an outlandish tattoo on Vicky’s buttock—most uncommon for a woman in those times—reveals some astounding information about Vicky’s past, and about the city. Despite Edwin’s personal feelings for Vicky hampering his search, his resolve eventually leads to the murderer.

Lou Allin opens this novel with an evocative first sentence: “The dramatic new Parliament buildings on this magical island were a strange place for a murder, but even Paradise had a serpent.” It sets the stage for the murder mystery that hooks us into the story, and we know that we are reading the work of a master storyteller. The lyrical prose continues throughout the book, and while it keeps us guessing about the villain’s identity, we are presented with tantalizing historical tidbits, such as how Captain Cook, the first European on Vancouver Island, had introduced tattooing there. The beauty of the island is described vividly, which made me recall my vacation there. Allin, the former VP for the Crime Writers of Canada, has previously won Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novella in 2013. Unfortunately there won’t be any other new memorable novels from this author, for she passed away in 2014.

Waheed Rabbani THE CAULIFLOWER® Nicola Barker, William Heinemann, 2016, £16.99, hb, 328pp, 9781785150661 / Holt, 2016, $28.00, hb, 304pp, 9781627797191 This is a historical novel like no other I have HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 25

read. The author herself suggests that the book is more a collage, with excerpts from the Song of Solomon and many (not particularly good) haikus punctuating a narrative best described as nonlinear. And what’s with the ® that pops up whenever the title is mentioned?

Despite its idiosyncrasies, it’s an easy read, telling us the story of the life of Sri Ramakrishna, an Indian sage (guru? saint? incarnation of God?) of the 19th century. Ramakrishna is still revered throughout the world, so it’s brave to produce a novel which at least allows for the possibility that he was, at best, deluded and, at worst, suffering from quite serious neurological problems. Or was he? The book raises more questions than it answers, which is probably the right way around when you’re dealing with an important religious figure. Ramakrishna taught through parables and play, and Nicola Barker seems to adopt the same approach. I certainly found I was learning more about Hinduism than I realised, although a serious student of either the religion or the man would probably be better off with a less eccentric approach. (There’s a decent bibliography for anyone who wants to pursue it.)

I am all too aware that this is a very short review of a very serious work, but the way it is written (did I mention the extended quote from Bleak House?

Or the 1855 swift flying with a tiny camera to show us the view?) defies a regular review. I was very nervous starting out to read this, but I soon came to enjoy the unconventional style. Definitely worth a go.

Tom Williams THE WHALE: A Love Story Mark Beauregard, Viking, 2016, $26.00, hb, 281pp, 9780399562334 What many now regard as one of American literature’s greatest achievements was originally a critical and commercial failure, leading to its author’s financial and literary demise. Mark Beauregard gives modern readers insight into Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, and into the literary atmosphere of the 19th-century Berkshires.

Set in the beautiful landscapes of the Berkshires—Pittsfield and Lenox, Massachusetts, specifically—Beauregard’s novel traces the relationship between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne during the few years of their friendship. Beginning in the summer of 1850, just before each author published their masterworks, Melville and Hawthorne meet among friends on a summer hike, and immediately recognize each other as kindred spirits. However, as time goes on, the friendship becomes more intense. It is this relationship between Melville and Hawthorne that ignited the completion of Melville’s MobyDick in 1851 and led to the most prolific period of Hawthorne’s writing career.

Told from the perspective of Melville, the novel incorporates direct lines from the author’s novels and letters (Beauregard discusses his research process and findings in an epilogue) and gives readers an image of the author as sensitive and observant, yet also emotionally volatile and obsessive, making him a compelling foil to 26 | Reviews |

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Hawthorne, who is depicted as stoic and refined with an unshakeable sense of integrity and morality.

Beauregard’s careful research, rich details, and inspired writing depict a relationship between Melville and Hawthorne that is both historically conceivable as well as believable. Fans of the two literary giants will enjoy the book, as Beauregard takes readers into the personal lives of these men and makes them come alive beyond their own literary works. Also, The Whale: A Love Story provides vivid details on the rural Berkshires in the mid-19th century, the authors’ and their friends’ lives, families, and philosophies.

Nicola Imbracsio THE VISCOUNT NEEDS A WIFE Jo Beverley, Signet Select, 2016, $7.99/C$10.49, pb, 432pp, 9780451471901 The late, great Jo Beverley has another hit with The Viscount Needs a Wife. Her well-researched plot and expert characterization draw you into the story. It is 1817. Kathryn (Kitty) Cateril mourned her soldier husband for two years and is now ready to move on in life. Unfortunately, her frosty mother-in-law is making her life hell every time Kitty mentions rejoining the living. When a friend mentions a new viscount is in search of a wife, Kitty automatically says yes. Anything is better than entombment in a drafty manor in Gloucestershire.

Beau Braydon, now Viscount Dauntry, is looking for a marriage of convenience, someone to care for his inherited manse. Dauntry is as uncomfortable with his new title as he is with the admiration of his bride by his late predecessor’s friends. Could he be jealous? He would much rather be working in the field like the spy that he is. Kitty has a few secrets of her own, about her marriage and her curiosity concerning her new husband. When the royal family is threatened, Dauntry and Kitty travel to London to serve and protect the Crown. But what of those secrets?

Monica E. Spence LATE HARVEST Fiona Buckley, Severn House, 2016, $29.95/£19.99, hb, 256pp, 9780727885944 Exmoor, England, early 19th century. Peggy Shawe inherits the family farm when her father dies, although marriage means that her husband will own it. Circumstances bring two suitors.

One, James Bright, is the down-to-earth son of a neighboring farmer. The other, Ralph Duggan, is her true love, but lives twelve miles away on the coast. The son of a shipbuilder, Ralph is caught up in smuggling over the years. As Peggy is involved with both these men during the long span of her life, she is faced with danger and hard decisions as the wheel of the seasons turns through the country life on Exmoor.

This is a long, complex family saga with settings that bring the reader deeply into old-time farm life and into the coastal world of those who follow the sea. The smuggling issues cause danger and crises of loyalty and conscience for Peggy. Women’s issues are touched on, but while she is feisty and independent, Peggy is a woman of her time. As usual, Valerie Anand, writing as Fiona Buckley,

creates a three-dimensional historical world and a book that is hard to put down.

Elizabeth Knowles GIRL IN THE AFTERNOON Serena Burdick, St. Martin’s, 2016, $25.99/ C$29.99, hb, 288pp, 9781250082671 In 1870, 18-year-old Aimee Savaray, daughter of a prominent Parisian family, aspires to become an artist. As war rages on the streets of Paris, Henri, a young man the Savarays had adopted from England as a boy, disappears after giving Aimee a kiss. Henri had also wished to become an artist and, as he and Aimee painted together, they fell in love. She cannot understand why he vanished without a word to her or her family, but she is convinced he is still alive.

After studying with Edouard Manet, Aimee has one of her paintings exhibited at the Salon de Paris, where she discovers a painting of herself, called Girl in the Afternoon. Realizing that the painting can only have been created by Henri, she begins a search for him and uncovers a web of secrets that threatens to tear her family apart. When Henri abandons Aimee for her model, Aimee, in an act of revenge, becomes involved with Manet and becomes pregnant with his child. It is up to Aimee’s grandmother, Madame Savaray, to save her reputation.

Burdick brings the sights and sounds of the Paris of the Impressionists to life. Aimee is an admirable protagonist, a woman trying to become an artist at a time when the art world was dominated by men.

Henri is an intriguing character, even though the mystery of his past is not as fully developed as I would have liked. The characters of Aimee’s family, even her self-centered mother, are well drawn. Her grandmother is an especially admirable character.

I would have liked to see more of Manet in the novel, but this is only a minor criticism. Girl in the Afternoon is an excellent debut novel, and I look forward to reading more by the author.

Vicki Kondelik BRIDE OF A DISTANT ISLE Sandra Byrd, Howard, 2016, $14.99/C$19.99, pb, 372pp, 9781476717890 Hampshire, 1851: Annabel Ashton visits her cousin Edward over the summer at the family home. The illegitimate child of an insane mother, Annabel has little choice when her cousin insists that she not return to her teaching position.

Instead she remains and helps his wife entertain Edward’s business associates, in particular the odious Mr. Morgan and the far less odious Maltese Captain Dell’Acqua. But vague memories of her mother, who visited Malta before Annabel’s birth, haunt Annabel. Objects that once belonged to her mother mysteriously appear in her rooms, suggesting she might be legitimate, and suspicions plague her. Was her mother indeed insane? And will Annabel go mad herself?

I enjoyed this inspirational romance, and found the setting and the subplot regarding Annabel’s Maltese heritage interesting. The characters fall into the Gothic mold, but they are pleasantly believable. Annabel’s Catholic faith is an important 19th Century

component in the story but does not overwhelm, and readers of all religious persuasions who enjoy a sweet Victorian romance or a good Gothic read should enjoy this book.

Susan McDuffie LIBERTY BAZAAR David Chadwick, Aurora Metro, 2016, £9.99, pb, 311pp, 9781906582920 The American Civil War was also fought in England, not with battles and bombardments but with fundraising drives, propaganda offensives, dirty tricks and covert deals. British intervention could have changed the outcome of the war, as it did in the concurrent civil war in China, but the British government chose neutrality. Not so the British people. North and South each had its legions of supporters, vocal and organised, trying to do down their rivals and advance their own cause.

This is the setting of Liberty Bazaar, narrated by two Americans in opposite camps, telling the story in alternate chapters; Trinity is an escaped slave girl and Jubal is a Confederate officer. The Liberty Bazaar of the title was a grand fundraising event held in Liverpool, which raised a huge sum for the Confederate cause, ostensibly to help prisoners’ families.

Or is there a secret plot to build a super-warship in Liverpool to break the Union blockade of the Southern ports? Trinity and Jubal both have their parts to play in uncovering and frustrating the plot, each for their own reasons. This is a suspenseful, well-crafted thriller about a little-known episode of Anglo-American history.

Edward James THE LAST LEGIONNAIRE Paul Fraser Collard, Headline, 2016, £19.99, hb, 397pp, 9781472222756 In the first book in the series Jack Lark began his Army career in Aldershot Barracks as an orderly to one of the Captains, but when the Captain dies suddenly of a fever en route to the Crimea, Jack assumes his identity and deviously makes his way up through the ranks of the British Army. By 1859 he has had enough of battlefields and returns to London to help his mother run her gin palace, but circumstances intervene, and Jack finds himself back in the company of Major John Ballard of the Army’s Intelligence Department.

This is the fifth book in the series, and it has lost none of its pace. It moves swiftly, keeping the reader’s attention throughout with the result that the pages simply keep turning. The characterisation is excellent, and Paul Collard’s characters slide effortlessly into the real events of the day. The story is set in the French-Austrian wars of the mid-19th century and culminates in the battle of Solferino, where thousands were killed on both sides. The Historical Notes at the end of the book tell us that Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman and an observer of the battle, was so appalled at what he saw that through his efforts the International Red Cross was founded.

Jack has met up with an American called Kearney who is killed during the battle, and he finds a thick wedge of letters with an address written on 19th Century

the envelope on Kearney’s body. Finding himself alone in the world and with, apparently, nothing more to do, he resolves to deliver the letters. A hint of more to come? I hope so.

Jack’s character has been likened to Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe – a good comparison.

Marilyn Sherlock FOUR FURLONGS: A China Bohannon Novel Carol Wright Crigger, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 272pp, 9781432832155 In turn-of-the-century Spokane, China Bohannon works as the bookkeeper in the Doyle & Howe Detective Agency, co-owned by her uncle, Montgomery Howe. Her dreams are not confined to her present position, however. She’d like to be a detective herself, and she’d also like a relationship with her uncle’s partner, Gratton Doyle. In this second installment in the series (after One Foot on the Edge), she gets closer to achieving her dreams.

While Doyle and Howe are working the Interstate Fair, keeping an eye out for pickpockets, China is left in the office to help desperate 14-year-old Neva Sue O’Dell. Neva Sue suspects her ne’er-dowell grandfather and mother are complicit in the “accidental” death of her jockey brother and laming of their horse, Mercury.

China is the recipient of multiple threats when she hides Neva Sue, and it turns out there’s much more to the mystery than fixing a horse race. The charm of the book isn’t in the plot, however, it’s in its protagonist. China fends for herself against bullying policemen and assorted thugs and, motherless herself, she protects Neva Sue, who may as well be motherless. She’s resourceful and quick-witted. I hope Gratton is worthy of her.

Ellen Keith THE STRINGS OF MURDER Oscar de Muriel, Pegasus Crime, 2016, $26.95, hb, 406pp, 9781681771328 / Penguin, 2015, £7.99, pb, 416pp, 9780718179823 In 1888 London, Inspector Ian Frey is down on his luck. Having lost his job, his girl, and the respect of his family, his prospects seem bleak.

That is, until the Prime Minister assigns him to a high-profile case, which must be kept hush-hush.

This case brings him to Edinburgh, Scotland and into the command of the wacky and uncouth “Nine Nails” McGray. The two show remarkably different approaches to the case, from the people they encounter to life in general. However, they create an effective and sometimes humorous duo on the trail of a sadistic killer.

The Strings of Murder is not without its slow sections, but there is always the promise of one lead or another to keep the reader turning the pages.

With its heart-pounding and exhilarating end, the finale must be read in one sitting. Overall, this is well-written with colorful characters and relatable developments. Recommended without hesitation.

Alice Cochran GRACE Natashia Deón, Counterpoint, 2016, $26.00/ C$38.50, hb, 400pp, 9781619027206 In a twist on Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Natashia

Deón spins a novel in which the young mother fleeing slavery dies, the baby survives, and the mother goes through the rest of the novel as a ghost. As Grace begins, the girl, Naomi, is in full flight toward freedom, but she is heavily pregnant, and the baby comes just as the slave hunters and their dogs overtake her.

By a small, amazing, and not really believable miracle the baby survives and Naomi follows her.

She names the baby Grace, but the family that raises her calls her Josephine. While Naomi muses on her own life, she watches her daughter live hers, a neat device for covering many years.

Like Beloved, the novel is often violent; Morrison knew how to restrain this without blunting it, but Deón gets a little gaudy sometimes. The real pleasures of the novel are the closely observed moments, the great ear for dialog, the rhythms.

“You called me?” I say.

She washes her hand over her face, says, “I called you a long time go. Where were you?”

“I knocked but you was sleep.”

She strains her swollen eyes open, bends over her lap with her elbows on her knees.

“I was shootin marbles,” I say.

“I can tell you lying. The way your voice just rose.”

Beloved was, in the end, about forgiveness, but Grace is always about revenge. Sometimes it runs off the rails, but it’s still an interesting read.

Cecelia Holland BELGRAVIA Julian Fellowes, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016, £18.99, hb, 432pp, 9781474604154 / Grand Central, 2016, $27.00/C$35.00, hb, 402pp, 9781455541164 When Anne Trenchard, wife of a successful businessman, reveals a long-guarded secret to haughty and scornful Lady Brockenhurst, a chain of events ensues that will forever alter the lives of three families and rain consequences upon a pair of devious servants in the process. Set in 1840s London, this book takes its title from the new upper-crust district where the action occurs, an area which James Trenchard, a man of humble origins and improbable social aspirations, had a hand in developing. Some less respectable venues feature in the clandestine comings and goings of a few characters.

Perceptive, well-crafted scenes portray conflict and resentments simmering beneath the polite decorum and cool calculation exercised in Belgravia’s grand halls, drawing rooms, and boudoirs. At first glance the characters might resemble familiar social class types of the era, but they are endowed with individuality and emotional complexity that render them engaging. Each one stands to gain or lose something. Uncertainty and tension abound. As questions about the major revelation filter through the minds of various people, the narrative risks becoming repetitious; however, deft plot twists and pacing counteract this and keep the reader guessing which direction things will take. With key characters shifting their perspectives and the playing cards of high society having been reshuffled, the story achieves a satisfying conclusion.

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LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT A MAN I KNEW Susan Fletcher, Virago, 2016, £14.99 hb, 265pp, 9780349007601 In 1889, the painter Vincent Van Gogh is expelled from the Provençal town of Arles after being caught walking through the town with no clothes on. A compassionate pastor recommends him to the mental hospital of Saint-Paul-deMausole, a crumbling establishment at the foot of the Alpilles Mountains. The short period Van Gogh spent here was the most prolific of his working life, and among the paintings he produced is a small portrait of the warden’s wife, Madame Trabuc, a woman whom Van Gogh, in a letter to his brother, described as a ‘poor soul, resigned to her fate.’

From this thin evidence, Fletcher has crafted a tale of an intense friendship and a long marriage, battered but unbowed, as good marriages are, by the years of small joys and disappointments.

Fletcher’s Jeanne Trabuc is far from resigned. On the contrary, hers is a rich and rebellious soul which takes flight under the influence of the troubled artist. In a series of flashbacks we discover how an adventurous and unconventional girl was gradually tamed by circumstance, by having to care for a sick father, by marriage to a man who is struggling with his own demons and by the raising and letting go of her three sons. Yet her friendship with Van Gogh and her absorption of his notions of individual freedom and responsibility help her to re-make her life and recapture her spirit.

Fletcher’s writing is packed with repressed emotion. Every short and exquisite sentence is a ticking bomb; every tiny nuance and line of understated dialogue carries a world of meaning.

A sensitive and truthful picture of a quiet woman determined to make herself heard. Highly recommended.

Sarah Bower IF THE EARL ONLY KNEW Amanda Forester, Sourcebooks, 2016, $7.99/£5.99, pb, 384pp, 9781492605492 Lady Kate Ashton and John Arlington, Earl of Wynbrook, are anxious to avoid each other, though the reasons are complicated. In this Regency, however, they are continually thrown together in each other’s company, until the barriers eventually come tumbling down. Unsurprising, really, given the number of exciting adventures they are forced to share: robbery and abduction, forced marriage attempts and wild pursuits. And the powerful physical attraction between them, of course. But who is behind the cruel plots, launched against Kate and her twin brother the Earl of Darington since childhood? And why is she so convinced that she can never marry?

The pace is unrelenting, at times hectic, and 28 | Reviews |

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the improbable sequence of events teeters on the edge of melodrama. Fortunately, the scandalously independent heroine is a delight; the hero, though a ‘bastion of society’, is noble and suitably fascinated; and the humor lively and ironic. Highly recommended to those who enjoy a witty Regency romance.

Ray Thompson A GOLDEN CAGE: A Newport Gilded Age Mystery Shelley Freydont, Berkley Prime Crime, 2016, $16.00/C$22.00, pb, 368pp, 9780425275856 This is the second in an historical mystery series set in Newport, Rhode Island during the Gilded Age and featuring Deanna Randolph, a young heiress.

Deanna is not a typical young lady of the Gilded Age. A great reader of female detective stories, she chafes at the limitations placed on her by polite society and her mother. Fortunately for Deanna, her mother is away in Switzerland and Deanna has been left in the care of the Ballard family. She had almost become engaged to young Joe Ballard the previous year. Joe’s mother and grandmother allow Deanna more freedom than her mother. She uses the opportunity to join a bicycling club, wear less restrictive clothing, and to continue reading detective stories.

One evening, Deanna and the Ballards attend a lavish birthday party for a neighbor, a judge. The judge’s family has erected an outdoor theatre and brought in an acting troupe to put on a play during the party. After the performance, the group stops to see one of the members of the acting troupe, the daughter of Joe’s mother’s friend. The young woman has run away from home to be an actress and her family is scandalized and concerned. The next day, an actor from the play is found dead on the floor of the Ballards’ conservatory and the young lady they visited has disappeared. Deanna feels compelled to investigate, with help from her maid and Joe. This series would be best read in order. I was curious about what had transpired between Joe and Deanna in the first book, which hindered my enjoyment of the story somewhat. The solution to the murder seemed obvious to me, but I enjoyed the descriptions of life for the rich and the not-sorich in the Gilded Age. Jane Kessler A PLACE CALLED WINTER Patrick Gale, Grand Central, 2016, $15.99, pb, 384pp, 9781455594085 / Tinder, 2015, £7.99, pb, 384pp, 9781472205315 Loosely based on the experiences of the author’s great-grandfather, A Place Called Winter is an evocative tale of a timid man grappling with the fierce passions buried deep within. While at times the language is lovely and lyrical, at other times it is as utilitarian as a how-to manual. At the end of the 19th century, Harry Cane, a shy elder son who is about as conventional as a man can be, is content to live in the shadow of his younger, more dynamic brother. Harry ultimately marries—because that is what is expected of a man in his position—fathers

a beloved daughter, and lives an upright life until, almost unwittingly, he is seduced by a man of great appetites and little honor. When the affair comes to light, Harry’s family casts him out, albeit under cover of going to make his fortune in Canada. Once there, he takes on the task of fencing, farming, and living on 160 acres of land, where his nearest neighbors just happen to be a brother-sister duo similarly ostracized.

While Harry’s need to survive instills in him a determination that eluded him back home, when confronted once again with the possibility of falling in love, he retreats into himself and refuses to allow his impulses to betray him. It is left to Paul, his neighbor, to make the first advance. Harry and Paul, and, indeed, all the characters in A Place Called Winter are as circumscribed by their own personalities, by the time-bound cruelties of hatred and bias, and by the harsh weather of the Canadian north country, as is the land itself. But even as Harry constructs a fence around his acreage in order to claim it as his own, in doing so he ultimately opens the gate to his heart. Recommended.

Kristina Blank Makansi LIGHT UP IN WONDER Patrick Gooch, Knox Robinson, 2016, £12.99, hb, 325pp, 9781908483775 It’s 1894 when Sam Lockhart, a young Brighton gardener, is hastily recruited by an eccentric character to prune a hedge in front of a strange piece of machinery. What Sam doesn’t know is that the man is George Albert Smith, with his pioneering camera for moving pictures. Smitten with this glimpse of an exciting new world, Sam plunges headlong into the whirlwind of Smith’s groundbreaking efforts, becoming a writer and a producer, as the new form of entertainment, cinema, develops on both sides of the Atlantic. But then an unscrupulous businessman, Charles Urban, begins to exploit the naïve Smith, and Sam must make some hard choices. This book is truly a mine of information about the joys and struggles of early cinema, both in England and America. So much so, indeed, that the (rather flat) characters are forever spouting information in endless awkward dialogue.

While learning a good deal of fascinating detail on projectors, patent law, and silent film production, one is left wishing that Mr. Gooch had written a nonfiction work instead.

Chiara Prezzavento SHE WAS SHERIFF Melody Groves, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 358pp, 9781432831998 In 1872, thirty-five-year old Maud Overstreet is made sheriff of Dry Creek, California. She accepts the position reluctantly, knowing it is temporary until the elections in a few months. Her only responsibilities since she was a little girl have been cooking and cleaning for her father, the local bank president. She is soon tested by those who wish to see her fail. Meanwhile, she is still waiting to hear from her boyfriend, who left the town a couple of years ago, and promised to marry her upon his return. When she captures and locks up two desperadoes who try to rob the mail wagon, 19th Century

she is blamed for their escape. She then learns of a possible bank robbery by the James Mooney gang over the July 4th holiday celebration, and knows she must foil the attempt and regain people’s respect.

Although its premise is unusual, a lady sheriff in a 19th-century western town, the story itself is entertaining. I’m not sure I buy the reason she was made sheriff in the first place, but the character interactions and the chase against the bad guys make the book an enjoyable read.

Jeff Westerhoff DRINKING GOURD: A Benjamin January Historical Mystery Barbara Hambly, Severn House, 2016, $29.95/£19.99, hb, 256pp, 9780727886064 In Louisiana in 1839, free black man Benjamin January, who had been trained as a surgeon in France, is relegated to earning his living as a piano player. However, he is also clandestinely involved in the Underground Railroad. He receives a secret message to hurry to the cotton plantation town of Vicksburg to treat a wounded ‘conductor’, so he and his white friend, Hannibal, take a boat up the Mississippi. As is necessary in the antebellum era, Benjamin assumes the disguise of Hannibal’s slave. In Vicksburg, Benjamin treats the gunshot victim, who is hiding in the house of Drummond, a white preacher and abolitionist, along with other runaways. Cain, a founding member of the Railroad, is also there to help runaways follow the Drinking Gourd, the Big Dipper, to freedom.

However, Cain publicly assaults Drummond, and later, he is arrested after Drummond is found dead.

Now Benjamin has to use his investigative skills to solve the murder without exposing the runaways, himself, or the Underground Railroad.

This is the thirteenth novel in Barbara Hambly’s Benjamin January mystery series, and she continues to entertain and inform us about pre-Civil War life and norms in and around New Orleans. The slaves’ and Southerners’ dialogue and the evocative descriptions transport us to life in the Mississippi swamplands. Nevertheless, this is a story of misery and hardships faced by the underprivileged, particularly black women, and the advantages taken by those who felt it was their God-given right to subjugate them. These aspects of the novel were noted by Ms. Hambly herself, in a Facebook post (March 21, 2016): “It was a very dark story, but I couldn’t see how to do a book about the Underground Railroad as a light story – the best I could do was to put in a light sub-plot” [the Drummond murder]. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani THE LOST GIRL Liz Harris, Choc Lit, 2015, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9781781893012 A moving romantic novel rooted in its social context, The Lost Girl explores themes of identity and belonging through the story of a young woman of Chinese ancestry and American upbringing at a time when her two cultures remained distinctly separate.

In Wyoming mining country in 1868, sevenyear-old Joe Walker rescues a Chinese baby from 19th Century

certain death and persuades his reluctant family to take her in. The story follows Joe and Charity, as she’s named, over the next seventeen years, and Harris manages to cover this lengthy period of time without making the tale feel episodic. The Chinese are deeply resented in the town of Carter because of the perception that they’ve stolen white workers’ jobs. A polite and intelligent girl who helps Mrs. Walker with her chores, Charity faces prejudice from both sides, her Asian appearance contrasting with her more informal American ways. She derives comfort from her blossoming friendship with a girl her age, Su Lin, and her ties to Joe, which endure a lengthy separation as he leaves to become a cattle drover. Once he returns home, their emotional connection looks to develop into something more, but Charity finds herself torn between her heart and society’s expectations.

A British novelist who has lived in the States, Harris has expertly captured her setting, both the local vocabulary and the geographical milieu, with beautiful scenes of the wide-open skies arching over the Wyoming prairie. For this American reader, though, a lighter touch with evoking speech patterns – both the Walkers’ Western twang and the Chinese immigrants’ broken English – would have been more effective. The dramatic tension, which is driven by the era’s cultural turmoil, remains high through the unexpected finale. The casual racism endured by the Chinese is painful to read, but it’s a shameful part of American history that deserves to be acknowledged, as it is here.

Sarah Johnson NAPOLEON’S LAST ISLAND Thomas Keneally, Sceptre, 2016, £18.99, hb, 430pp, 9781473625334 / Atria, 2016, $20, hb, 432pp, 9781501128424 The story of Napoleon’s last years on Saint Helena is more legend than history to anyone who has studied history from an English viewpoint.

Thomas Keneally’s perspective, therefore, which begins with a little-known Australian connection between the ‘Great Ogre’ and the family who were his original hosts on the island, throws a welcome fresh light on his exile.

Before his own house was ready, Napoleon stayed with the Balcombe family whose head, William, was an officer of the East India Company.

William had five children, the second of whom, Betsy, at the age of thirteen, forged a tense and competitive friendship with Napoleon. He enjoyed children’s games. She fancied herself on the cusp of womanhood. In this novel, she tells the story of their passing intimacy, both childish and erotically charged. Their closeness would eventually disgrace the family, who would immigrate to Australia to avoid censure in London.

Though the novel begins with Napoleon’s death, it is mainly chronologically constructed and observes the conventions of memoir, with the adult Betsy looking back on this momentous period at the end of her childhood. She is bitterly self-critical, and justifiably so, for Betsy is a vindictive girl with a sharp tongue, no tact and an inability to show her feelings for those she loves, notably her sister, Jane.

While I don’t subscribe to the view that fictional

narrators have to be likeable, the character of Betsy makes the novel difficult to enjoy because there is nothing endearing about her, nothing which explains or justifies her petty unpleasantness. So, while Keneally constructs her voice with all the skill of a writer at the top of his game, for me, the book founders on it.

Technically superb, historically interesting, but not, ultimately, a great read.

Sarah Bower EDENLAND Wallace King, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 497pp, 9781503934948 Soon after war breaks out between the North and the South, Bledsoe, an escaped slave from the Our Joy plantation, meets Alice, an Irish immigrant and indentured servant, in the Great Dismal swamp of North Carolina. They become allies and eventually lovers while the Civil War rages around them. They are trying to reach the North, where Bledsoe wishes to fight for the Union. They become separated, and Bledsoe joins forces with an artist and Northern spy. Meanwhile, Alice is rescued and brought to a plantation in North Carolina, where a young girl becomes her friend, and she joins the life of Southern gentility. Will Bledsoe and Alice ever reunite?

The author has written a compelling love story between a black slave and a young white girl.

Because this is considered taboo in the South, the two must act as mistress and slave while passing through Southern communities together. When they become separated, Bledsoe and his Northern benefactor maintain an unusual friendship in which Bledsoe is uncertain about his motives. Meanwhile, the relationship between Alice and the young plantation woman is understandable considering the culture in the South before and during the war.

Well researched; the steady unraveling of the plot remains gripping until the conclusion. Historical writing at its best.

Jeff Westerhoff BLUE BONNETS: Dancing for the Devil Trilogy, Book 2 Marie Laval, Accent, 2016, £7.99, pb, 152pp, 9781910939567 SWORD DANCE: Dancing for the Devil Trilogy, Book 3 Marie Laval, Accent, 2016, £7.99, pb, 146pp, 9781910939574 These sequels to The Dream Catcher, which I reviewed in HNR 76, are set in Scotland in 1847.

To tell the truth, I was looking forward to finding out what happened to Bruce McGunn and Rose Saintclair after she fled him to seek a reunion with Cameron McRae, who had married her in Algiers.

Needless to say, after Bruce catches up with her, she soon comes to realise she has been deluded about McRae and really loves McGunn! Someone, however, is determined that neither Bruce nor Rose should reach the McRae estates, and that might have something to do with the contents of Rose’s father’s diary and promises he had made to carry out the last wishes of a dying Scottish officer, Niall McRae, in 1815.

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The tales gallop along, flinging the hero and heroine from one predicament to the other – with a few pauses for passionate lovemaking – before the skeletons cascade from closets, and dramatic accusations and revelations are made. These elements combine to make enjoyable page-turning adventure-romance, but I stand by my original criticism that this does not work as a trilogy. Rose also turns out to be the sister of Lucas Saintclair, the hero of The Lion’s Embrace (also reviewed independently in HNR 76) and some of the events in that novel are referenced.

It feels like a full-length novel has been split randomly into three. Coming to Blue Bonnets after a break, and in spite of “the story so far” preface, I found myself asking, for instance, exactly who was Morag, and what was the relationship of MacBoyd to McGunn? These last two volumes were also beset by sloppy textual and typographical editing – mainly along the lines of random missing words and letters. I wondered in particular about the “simmering tapestries” on page 132!

Mary Fisk TEMPTATIONS OF A WALLFLOWER Eva Leigh, Avon, 2016, $7.99/C$9.99, pb, 370pp, 9780062358660 To a modern reader, marriage between a duke’s daughter and an earl’s son would seem unremarkable, other than as a parade of the rich and famous. But this is Regency England, where degrees of rank among the aristocracy are minutely scrutinized; Lady Sarah Frampton has a large dowry, and Jeremy Cleland is the third son, not only unlikely to succeed to the title, but a lowly vicar in a rural parish. Since they are well suited and share a powerful attraction, they decide to wed in secret. The duke is not pleased, but, more importantly, both have secrets which will test their mutual bond: she is none other than the Lady of Dubious Quality, author of scandalously erotic fiction, and he has been ordered to unmask her identity.

The growing love between two attractive and sympathetic characters is delightfully handled, the sexual scenes are predictably explicit, and the burden of paternal expectations and societal censure revealed. An added bonus is the opportunity for the author to mount a spirited defence of ‘escapist’ romance novels. This is third in The Wicked Quills of London series. Strongly recommended.

Ray Thompson THE FAST MEN Tom McNab, Sandstone, 2016, £8.99, pb, 373pp, 9781910124635 Everything has a history. We know about athletics in ancient Greece, but how many are privy to the secrets of race-running in Victorian England and America’s Wild West? Throw in a little Shakespeare for good measure (not to mention the appearance of Phineas T. Barnum) and you have the fascinating milieu of The Fast Men. Tom McNab treats his readers to the fascinating subculture of the Western genre – towns where folk are as hungry for theatre and sport as for “Injuns” 30 | Reviews |

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and Colt 45s.

The story is essentially a saga covering thirty years of the adventures of one Moriarty, a likeable Scotsman, talented thespian and amateur athlete.

Health issues force him in the role of coach rather than foot-racer or “pedestrian” but he proves adept at training Buck Miller and Billy Joe Speed, the racing fraternity’s equal to Alias Smith and Jones. Moriarty also acquires a splendidly English aristocratic wife, whose renditions of Shakespearian heroines are not appreciated at home so she heads for them thare hills with great enthusiasm. The idea is that winning running races will generate enough money to set up a permanent theatre company. Even more financial success is assured by strategic betting on who will win – hence the smoke and mirrors of ingenious scams.

So, prepare yourselves for astonishing descriptions of races around the towns and cities of 19th-century America: you’ll taste the dust and feel the muscle cramps! You’ll find yourself cheering on a great cast of colourful characters as they pursue their aspirations. A warning: do not expect to draw breath until the last page. By then you’ll be in great condition as a reader.

Jan Middleton FLIRTATION WALK Siri Mitchell, Bethany House, 2016, $14.99, pb, 361pp, 9780764210389 In 1855, after the death of her con man father, Lucinda Pennyworth moves to West Point to live with her aunt and uncle. Lucinda is determined to put her scheming past behind her and to live a respectable life by marrying a gentleman. When her uncle introduces her to a number of cadets, Lucinda sees a potential future with Seth Westcott, top of his senior class and extremely handsome.

Seth, however, has different plans. With his mother dead and his sister scammed out of their inheritance, Seth wants to move to the frontier to track the swindler down and put his family back to rights. The Army, however, will only send men at the bottom of the class out West. Seth, with the aid of his friends, plots ways to tarnish his reputation in order to topple from the top. This proves much harder than anticipated, though, because Seth has been bred to succeed. All the while, he falls further and further into love with Lucinda.

Siri Mitchell again delights with this charmer.

The story takes a while to pick up, and most of the action takes place in the last few chapters, but they are worth the wait. I enjoyed the struggles Seth endures trying to fail. Lucinda, too, is a delightful heroine with some excellent growth and development. The lesser characters, such as Cousin Phoebe, are equally interesting. All in all, this is highly recommended as a fun, light romance.

Rebecca Cochran REMEMBER THE LADIES Gina L. Mulligan, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 326pp, 9781432831769 Four-year-old Amelia Cooke is orphaned in 1861 Montana, and grows up wondering why women are so often denied the same privileges as men. Amelia’s curiosity and fighting spirit lead

her to become a lobbyist in Washington D.C., privileged, propositioned, laughed at, and ignored by members of the 1887 Congress. Perhaps Amelia can win their respect; perhaps she can even help to pass a proposed constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote, once she’s hired by the National Women’s Suffrage Association.

Meanwhile, she’ll have to figure out what to do about Edward Stillman, a senator whom she may love, but doesn’t know whether she can trust.

I was interested in these characters, especially Amelia, and I think because of that interest, I wanted more from the story. It felt a bit heavy on the politics and light on the characterization and detail. Amelia, for example, punches a man early in the story, but we don’t get to see others’ reactions to what must have been an incredibly rare and scandalous thing. Chapters alternate between following Amelia and following Edward, and each change made me miss the other character a bit. The history, while a bit technical at times, is fascinating, and as I said, I was left feeling that I wanted to know Amelia a bit better.

Amy Watkin BETWEEN WORLDS, NEVER TO RETURN: Historical Novel about the Emigration of the Germans to Texas Barbara Ortwein (trans. Lisa Mays and Pamela Philips), Univ. of North Texas Press, 2016, $24.95, pb, 320pp, 9783956322723 This combination of fiction and history is Ortwein’s response to a question she was asked as leader of a German/Texan exchange program: why did so many Germans immigrate to Texas in the 18th and 19th centuries? Ortwein began by personally crossing Germany on the route used by early travelers, by foot when necessary. Now, extrapolating from her experience, she describes the arduous conditions encountered by her central character, Karl Engelbach.

When Engelbach sets out in 1844, the territory we call Germany is comprised of dozens of states and principalities. Elites rule with scant regard for individual rights. There is no common government, coinage, religion, not even a common language.

Wars are common. Landholding is restricted.

Poverty is prevalent.

Most emigrants are motivated by a chance to own their own land and to raise their family in peace. Others, like the Engelbachs, are running to escape imprisonment. The family encounters numerous, sometimes overwhelming, setbacks on the journey to the ship in Bremen and across the ocean to Charleston. The voyage overland to Texas will be continued in subsequent volumes. Although the detail is overwhelming at times, this is a vividly imagined tale that should be of particular interest to Americans of German descent.

Jeanne Greene CARLY’S REVENGE David Osborne, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 226pp, 9781432831585 Carly Barton is new to the Kansas plains – and the outlaws to be found there – when her parents are murdered by three escaped convicts. Two of 19th Century

them rape her brutally, but think she is harmless, so they let the beautiful young woman live. Big. Mistake.

With hair shorn, “Carl” Barton rides to town in search of someone who can teach her to shoot.

She is referred to a washed-up gunman who can be easily found at the Red Rooster saloon. Clay Daggert tells Carly to forget hunting her rapists down. They will just kill her. Then he relents, for he’d tracked down and killed his own brother’s murderer. Turns out, there was a $500 bounty on the man’s head. Clay embarked on a gunman’s life, but stress drove him to drink. Despite his derelict appearance, Clay takes on the adept student, and he cleans up well too.

David Osborne’s Carly’s Revenge is a fast-paced historical western, authored by a teacher and lifelong Old West buff. Mr. Osborne has a smooth style and a great eye for detail. His story line isn’t complex, but his winsome characters keep me rooting for Clay’s redemption and wishing Carly success.

Jo Ann Butler WHAT GOLD BUYS: A Silver Rush Mystery Ann Parker, Poisoned Pen Press, 2016, $26.95, hb, 412pp, 9781464206238 This is the fifth in Parker’s Silver Rush mystery series, set in Leadville, Colorado in the 1880s.

I haven’t read the first four but was so taken by Parker’s protagonist, Inez Stannert, that I’ll rectify that asap. Inez and her estranged husband, Mark, return to Leadville after a sojourn in Colorado Springs. Inez is determined to divorce Mark after a year, and he is equally determined to win her back.

Of course, their lives are complicated by their joint ownership of the saloon, the Silver Queen, along with African-American Abe Jackson.

Inez is distracted from her own problems by the plight of young Antonia Drizzi. She’s been supporting her soothsayer mother, Drina, by working as a newsboy named Tony. When Drina is murdered and then her body disappears, Inez looks after Antonia, who may be next in the killer’s sights. Parker expertly captures the roughness of a mining town where saloon owners and brothel madams seek to separate prospectors from their money. Foppish drunken Englishmen, sinister undertakers, and reporters round out the cast of characters. Inez is a complex woman, and the comeuppance she delivers to Mark is so satisfying that I can’t wait for the sixth in the series.

Ellen Keith THESE HONORED DEAD: A Lincoln and Speed Mystery Jonathan F. Putnam, Crooked Lane, 2016, $25.99/ C$38.50, hb, 297pp, 9781629537771; $15.99/ C$23.50, pb, 297pp, 9781629538204 A young store owner and an up-and-coming lawyer start a lifelong relationship in Jonathan Putnam’s These Honored Dead. Joshua Speed runs a general store in Springfield, Illinois. When he’s asked if he has room for a new man in town to bunk with him, Speed reluctantly agrees to share his bed—not an unusual circumstance in a town with too few rooms for bachelors to bunk down—with 19th Century

the young lawyer. But when Speed sees the tall, lanky Abraham Lincoln for the first time, he begins to question his generosity. However, the two men not only start a friendship, but they also embark on a tangled path of murder, deceit and illicit affairs.

When Rebecca Harriman’s niece is murdered in her barn, Speed takes it upon himself to prove her innocence. His motives seem unusual to Lincoln, but he doesn’t know that Speed and Harriman had a secret affair. When two more murders occur, it is up to Lincoln to defend the man accused of the crime. Through Speed’s investigations (with help from his sister), and Lincoln’s crafty legal ruse, secrets come to light that no one could have suspected.

Putnam takes the real-life friendship of Lincoln and Speed and spins a wonderful fictional history of their first years together. As to the mystery part, it is not too difficult to piece together the murderer early on, but the story is engaging enough to pull you through to the end when you are given the whys. A well-researched book that will appeal to fans of historical fiction, and a book that should be on a Lincoln buff ’s reading list.

Bryan Dumas SEVEN YEARS OF GRACE: The Inspired Mission of Achsa Sprague Sara Rath, Vermont Historical Society, 2016, $24.95, pb, 445pp, 9780934720663 Lectures were popular entertainment in the pre-Civil War decade. Politicians and entertainers roamed the country, giving speeches on everything from anti-slavery to mesmerism. Achsa Sprague, a young woman from rural Vermont, becomes a highly popular lecturer, and Seven Years of Grace is her story.

Intelligent and strong-willed, Achsa began teaching school in 1839, when she was only twelve. In 1850 she is skeptical of a doctor wielding “spirit forces” but allows him to draw off “infective magnetism” from her body. Illness which has debilitated her for years improves, and Achsa has a vision of angelic Guardians directing her to heal others. This transformation becomes Achsa’s most popular lecture topic, and for seven years she presents herself as a medium to sellout crowds. Putting herself into a trance, she composes epic poetry on request, defends spiritualism and women’s suffrage, and urges audiences to turn from such evils as slavery and brutal prisons.

Sara Rath mined the Vermont Historical Society’s collection for her impeccably-researched historical novel about Achsa Sprague. Based on Achsa’s correspondence and newspaper accounts, Ms. Rath explores the spiritualism fad. Critics decry it as promoting Free Love, and even Achsa comes to question the spiritual love she shares with a married supporter.

Ms. Rath does a great job of creating a very human Achsa from centuries-old letters, and working those excerpted letters into Seven Years of Grace. Many are presented in an elaborate italic appropriate to the era, but tiring to read. However, that’s my only complaint. Fans of antebellum America and the spiritualism craze shouldn’t miss this one.

Jo Ann Butler

AN UNTIMELY FROST: Lilly Long Mysteries Penny Richards, Kensington, 2016, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 273pp, 9781496706027 Orphaned at eleven and raised in the theater, Lilly Long has not known anything but makebelieve and role playing. After she is jilted by her husband—who steals both her innocence and her savings—Lilly decides she’s going to defend the many other helpless women in the world.

To do this, she sets out to become a Pinkerton.

Headstrong and determined, Lilly does whatever it takes to win over Allan Pinkerton and his two sons. She is conditionally brought on, and her first case is, on the surface, a simple one: locate a missing family—a local pastor, his wife, and their children.

When Lilly arrives in 1880s Vandalia, Illinois, she assumes that she’ll be able to wrap up her case quickly and return home triumphant. What she finds is a town that clamps down in an antagonistic silence at the mere mention of the Pastor or his family. Lilly is forced to draw on all her theater experience to wiggle her way into the fabric of a town whose wounds are close to the surface, and whose scars are still too tender to be dealt with.

Beyond Vandalia’s resistance, Lilly begins to have concerns with a boxer who seems to be shadowing her every move. As the stakes, and threats on her life, rise, she begins to wonder if the two are connected.

Penny Richards has written a fun, feisty protagonist in Lilly Long. The prose is crisp and the tempo paces nicely to a finish that sees Lilly needing every bit of her cunning. The motives for the family’s disappearance and subsequent crimes I felt were a bit odd, but those did not impact the overall book. A nice read beside the pool.

Bryan Dumas

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THAT BRIGHT LAND Terry Roberts, Turner, 2016, $17.95, pb, 336pp, 9781630269753 In the mountains and small towns of western North Carolina in 1866, returning soldiers from both sides have settled into uneasy peace—but, for some, the Civil War isn’t over.

Someone is killing Union veterans. To avoid insurrection, the governor sends Jacob Ballard, 24, a former Union soldier/spy, to Warm Springs, NC, where, disguised as a federal pension examiner, he’s to stop the murders.

Born in North Carolina but raised elsewhere, Ballard has lost his Southern accent. Union veterans meet with the “federal examiner” to discuss pensions but, when they keep talking, it’s about hate, revenge, and disloyalty, which leads back to an execution of Union loyalists by Confederate soldiers—but nothing about the recent murders.

Ballard makes allies among those who recognize his decency, including a young widow and her son. Sometimes, when the couple walks the land HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 31

together, the terrain looks familiar, and Jacob remembers what was good about this place. If he understood why the locals are still angry, he might understand the killer and discover his name, but Jacob has secrets too. He will have to risk everything good he’s found in the mountains of North Carolina to prevent the spread of one man’s vendetta.

The plot is original and, with minor exceptions, the characters in Roberts’ second novel (after A Short Time to Stay Here, 2015) are convincing— but the setting steals the show. Ballard’s struggle for identity parallels that of the remote, mountainous region of North Carolina, which will complicate his future. That Bright Land deserves an A for the sympathetic protagonist, intelligent love story, and well-crafted plot, but Ballard’s discovery of his own roots, after years of homelessness and war, makes it an A+. Highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene ALL THEIR MINDS IN TANDEM David Sanger, Quercus, 2016, £14.99, hb, 454pp, 9781784293956 October 1879, New Georgetown, West Virginia. A man called “The Maker” arrives in this small town. He has a gift: he can remove or recover lost memories. The Maker has been invited to the town by Dr Umbrund, who has dark, disturbing memories from the Civil War which he wants removed. There are other characters are affected by the actions of the stranger. There are three sisters who live on a hill – one stern, one wild, one mysterious. There is also “The Bird,” who lives in the tavern, but no one has ever seen, playing spellbinding music behind a curtain: Odell, a young man with dreams and ambitions he is too cowardly to fulfil, bullied ceaselessly by Clay, the town bully and alpha male, with dark secrets of his own. However, does the stranger have an agenda of his own?

A slow-burning novel that takes the reader into the world of characters in a small town struggling to come to terms with the dreadful deeds of the Civil War. The reader enters their thoughts and feelings as their back stories are slowly revealed.

Fans of the genre will really enjoy this.

Mike Ashworth THE DETECTIVE AND THE DEVIL Lloyd Shepherd, Simon & Schuster, 2016, £7.99, pb, 328pp, 9781471136122 In 16th-century London, Jacobus, a Dutch mercenary steals the library of the notorious necromancer, John Dee. Jacobus double-crosses the merchants who hired him and takes one particular manuscript for himself. In 19th-century London, constable Charles Horton is called to a scene he hoped he had witnessed for the last time: a family of three – father, mother, daughter – horribly murdered. He had previously caught and prosecuted a murderer of two families in the same area and thought he had seen an end to this particular type of crime. Had he previously caught the wrong man or were there more devious influences at work? Horton is ably assisted in his pursuit of the murderer by his learned wife, Abigail.

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Horton’s enquiries take him into the secretive East India Company, and then after a murderous attempt on Abigail, they travel to the mysterious Atlantic island, St Helena’s, pursuing the mystery of the murders and John Dee’s stolen manuscript.

It took me a while to get into the book because of the flashbacks at the beginning to the 16th century, which disrupted the main 19th-century murder mystery pursued by the Hortons, but once I was enmeshed in the story I was gripped, and once gripped, I could not put it down. The rendering of the tender relationship between Charles and Abigail is especially effective. A complex and wellwritten tale.

Tracey Warr

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WINDMILL POINT Jim Stempel, Penmore, 2016, $21.50, pb, 389pp, 9781942756507 The grit, tragedy and bold strategy of the American Civil War play out in Jim Stempel’s Windmill Point. Am I glad I read it? You bet.

Stempel’s writing is vivid and meticulous.

He tells the story of the pivotal events that took place in little more than two weeks in such a compelling fashion that even knowing what happens, you still feel the inexorable pull of tension. At the time of Cold Harbor – June 1864 – the outcome of the war is uncertain. Will the North give up in face of a public increasingly distraught with the horrible toll of death and destruction? Will the South succumb to the greater numbers arrayed against it?

Alternating between voices from North and South – those of Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, sharpshooter Wyman White, artillery commander General Alexander Porter, ‘bad boy’ General George Custer, cavalry leader General Wade Hampton and others – Stempel creates not just a story of war but a story of the individuals involved, their strengths and weaknesses, their beliefs and character traits, and their lives on and off the battlefield.

The author is particularly adept at explaining the technical aspects of war and framing the decisions made by Lee, Grant and others so that the average reader can understand and appreciate them. General Porter, for example, examines the flawless placement of artillery that savaged the Army of the Potomac. Wyman White shows us the patience and skill of sharpshooters. Through Wade Hampton’s and George Custer’s eyes we see the chaos and intensity of cavalry in action. Most significantly, of course, are the actions and thoughts of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant as they try to outwit one another. Highly recommended.

M. K. Tod THE STRAWBERRY GIRL Lisa Stromme, Chatto and Windus, 2016, £12.99, hb, 330pp, 9781784740580

It’s summer 1893, and the Norwegian fishing village of Asgardstrand is swelled by an influx of well-to-do guests and bohemian artists from the city. On the cusp of womanhood, fictional local girl, Johanne Lien, is torn between the freedom of the artist community and the safety of her familiar, uncomplicated background. Longing to paint, she is instead sent to work as a maid for the wealthy Ihlen family. Drawn into an uneasy friendship with their wayward youngest daughter, Tullik, Johanne both acts as a go-between and seeks to protect Tullik as she pursues the controversial painter Edvard Munch. At the heart of the story is Munch’s The Scream, Stromme expertly weaving fiction from fragments of fact and local lore concerning Munch’s relationship with Asgardstrand and the Ihlen family.

The physical depiction of the characters, real or imagined, is convincingly conveyed by strong imagery, e.g.: “whiskers… like an untamed hedge,” and their complexity revealed through their sometimes contradictory actions. Johanne is a beguiling narrator, with whom it’s impossible not to sympathise, as she struggles with Tullik’s adolescent rebellion and begins to understand both the power and the danger of illicit love. The novel highlights wider issues too, including whether art transcends consideration of others, or can excuse the inexcusable. Part of my pleasure in an historical novel is discovering how much is fact and how much fiction, so it was satisfying to find a comprehensive author’s note rounding off this very enjoyable book.

I do have some reservations – I was unconvinced by the supernatural element surrounding the painting; disappointed that the ‘room’ in Johanne’s head, with which the book opens, seemed to get lost as the story progressed; and unable to understand the relevance of the quotations in the chapter headings – but recommend it nonetheless.

Margaret Skea THE GILDED YEARS Karin Tanabe, Washington Square, 2016, $16.00, pb, 400pp, 9781501110450 Karin Tanabe’s The Gilded Years focuses on the true story of Anita Hemmings. In 19th-century New England, Hemmings is a brilliant student, and she longs to attend Vassar College. But many of the colleges of the time are not integrated, and Anita is African-American. She uses her light skin to her advantage and passes for white. To her classmates she is a wealthy Bostonian, but in reality, Anita hails from the working class AfricanAmerican neighborhood of Roxbury. Despite being a distinguished student with future opportunities, she must resume her real identity following graduation. It is Anita’s longing for more that draws her to Lottie Taylor. The wealthiest girl at school is bubbly and fun; no one is immune to her charms.

But Lottie is also vicious when thwarted, a fact that Anita becomes intimately acquainted with.

The pace of the novel is rather glacial at first, but as Anita becomes enchanted by Lottie, the real action begins. Anita’s character is initially hard to like as she constantly obsesses about her motives for passing. But as the reader gets to know her, a great deal of sympathy is struck, particularly when 19th Century

her codependent relationship with Lottie ends in betrayal. Lottie’s characterization is probably the most vivid throughout the book, and her expected, yet unexpected turnaround is terrible to witness.

The Gilded Years has its flaws but will appeal to general historical fiction readers. The concept of passing versus owning one’s race is a fascinating issue rarely discussed in historical fiction. Anita’s struggle to find her place amongst the white upper crust, but also her own people, is palpable.

Barraged on all sides, it takes a catastrophic fall for her to finally know she is worthy no matter which race she may claim.

Caroline Wilson MURDER IN MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS: A Gaslight Mystery Victoria Thompson, Berkley Prime Crime, 2016, $26.00, hb, 296pp, 9781101987087 After years on the New York City police force, Frank Malloy has inherited money and set himself up as a private investigator. His new wife, Sarah, a former midwife, is eager to relieve the boredom of retirement by helping him solve his next case.

A wealthy couple’s daughter has been murdered at the Women’s College where she had recently begun to teach. Possible suspects abound, from jilted lovers to jealous colleagues, and any number of them seems equally likely, until one of them also winds up dead. Over the course of the story, we get a tour of late 19th-century views about women’s roles, race, class, ethnicity, and the introduction of cars. The story dances around the idea that women might have romantic relationships with each other, and various characters repeat the process of not understanding how that could possibly be.

It’s a pleasant read, though the pace is a little slow and the characters tend to over-discuss their theories about the murder. Readers who have been following this Gaslight Mystery series will probably approach the characters as old friends. Those reading for the first time will find them somewhat skimpily outlined, with numerous allusions to previous interactions and plotlines.

Martha Hoffman BELOVED POISON E. S. Thomson, Constable, 2016, £14.99, hb, 400pp, 9781472122278 London in 1846, and St. Saviour’s hospital is due for demolition and relocation, to allow the construction of a new railway through its ancient buildings. Will Quartermain, a young architect, is sent by his company to oversee the exhumation of bodies from the burial grounds in the hospital.

He is allocated to share a room with the narrator of this story, the junior apothecary Jem Flockhart.

But there is a problem here, for Jem is really a female, disguised as a male from the age of seven (she is now 24) so that she can follow her father – the hospital’s apothecary – into the business. St. Saviour’s is a ferment of jealousy, rivalry, ambition and adulterous lust amongst the staff. Jem and Will discover a cache of tiny coffins in the wall of a disused chapel in the hospital buildings, containing sinister dolls. There is a secret behind these weird items, which they attempt to discover, 19th Century

and then there is a death – one that is quite relentlessly signposted in advance by the author, as the victim, the philandering Dr Bain, had a number of mortal enemies in the hospital. Jem has her suspicions and quickly establishes that Dr Bain was murdered, and not the apparent suicide that the circumstances suggested. There are more deaths and Jem’s investigations put her in mortal danger as she uncovers a sorry story from the past.

It is a dark, gothic tale, set amidst the grim and noisome buildings of St Saviour’s hospital. The decay of flesh, the smell of corpses and the filth of ordure and human degradation hang over the whole murder mystery, as well as the horrors of inherited madness and the evil that men do. The narrative is excellent and the story utterly enthralling – quite simply a page-turner!

Douglas Kemp THE CIRCLE M. J. Trow, Severn House, 2016, $28.95/£19.99, hb, 240pp, 9781780290836 In his second post-Civil War mystery (after The Blue and the Grey, HNR May 2015), Trow, a Welsh-born writer, again places his enquiry agents (private detectives) in harm’s way, this time in the US. Former US Army Major Matthew Grand and former London newspaper reporter James Batchelor have a blank check from Matthew’s cousin Luther to investigate the suspicious death of Lafayette Baker, Head of the US National Detective Police, with whom they had tangled in the pursuit of Lincoln’s assassin and his cronies.

Since Baker was still one of the most hated men in both the North and the South, they have no shortage of suspects, starting with Luther’s leading contender, Edwin Stanton, the former Secretary of War whom conspiracy theorists have long linked to Lincoln’s demise.

The pair uncovers clear evidence of foul play by opening Baker’s Pennsylvania grave under the cover of darkness. They ride railroad cars, paddlewheel steamers, and horse-drawn cabs as they criss-cross the eastern states following clues they receive from Baker’s nurse, a political reporter, and a notorious Washington, DC brothel kingpin. They wisecrack with historical personages like the Southern spy Belle Boyd, Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest, and abolitionist Sojourner Truth, and each man finds a kindred spirit with a different woman along the way. And once again they often find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Trow doesn’t show sufficient appreciation for the searing hatreds that persisted during Reconstruction in America. The sterile environment that results, and the haphazard nature of the red herrings that lead his detectives no closer to the truth, make this mystery one that is saved only by the charm of his heroes.

Tom Vallar RELIANCE, ILLINOIS Mary Volmer, Soho, 2016, $27, hb, 354pp, 9781616956721 Most historical fiction about small-town life involves quirky residents coping with social change.

Volmer’s second novel fills the bill yet is hardly

formulaic. It’s set in a picturesque hamlet sitting alongside the Mississippi (Reliance, a fictional place, is described as near Alton). In 1874, women’s suffrage is fiercely debated, and the Civil War’s horrors are a still-recent memory. While the plot sometimes meanders as slowly as the river on a calm day, the characters’ interactions and discoveries make it worth following to the end.

When Rebecca Branch arrives in Reliance to marry Mr. Lyman Dryfus, a businessman whose Matrimonial Times ad she’d answered, she brings a surprise guest along: her 12-year-old daughter, Madelyn, who she says is her younger sister.

Rebecca means to start her life over, “to be a lady,” and her illegitimate child doesn’t fit the plan. We see events unfold through the eyes of this feisty girl: her anger about her Mama’s betrayal; her awkwardness about her appearance, with a dark red birthmark covering half her face and body; and her desire for belonging. Maybe, sometime in the future, she might marry charming photographer William Stark. For now, she accepts Miss Rose Werner’s offer: to help care for her ailing father, the town’s founder, in exchange for an education.

Wealthy Miss Rose, a former actress, has a social agenda that attracts covert interest from women.

In addition, one of Madelyn’s finds along the riverbank dredges up unpleasant secrets.

Madelyn’s coming of age is enjoyable to observe.

While she starts off wanting desperately to be beautiful, like her mother, she comes to learn that beauty has its own disadvantages. Even more satisfying is the gradual emergence of Rebecca’s true story, which Madelyn is too young to recognize for what it is. Each woman’s journey in this charming, deceptively quiet novel is one of depth and courage.

Sarah Johnson SISTER OF MINE Sabra Waldfogel, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 480pp, 9781503935341 The dissonance of owning your half-sister as your slave and the complexities in general of sibling relationships are explored in this sweeping, ambitious Civil War-era novel. Formerly entitled Slave and Sister in its self-published edition (2014), it has been re-edited and re-released.

Adelaide is the daughter of German immigrant Mordecai Mannheim, a successful Jewish cotton plantation owner in a small northern Georgia town. The privileged Adelaide’s primary role in life is to marry well and within her faith. One of the kitchen slaves, Rachel, is gifted to Adelaide as her personal housemaid. Awareness eventually dawns on the women that they share a father; a fact that has never been acknowledged. When Adelaide refuses to marry a lecherous man from Savannah, one hand-picked by her father, she and her mother are cast out of Savannah society. Ultimately, Adelaide rebounds, marrying the only other Jewish man in town, Henry, who strikes a business deal with Mordecai. Henry and Adelaide have a loveless marriage, and Adelaide fears that her husband will fall in love with her slave, just like her father did years ago.

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the eyes of Jewish characters adds an intriguing dimension. The transformation and growth of the women as well as the complicated intricacies of their relationship forms the backbone of this wellresearched novel. Although she is imperfect, having been marred by hefty emotional baggage and her lot in life, the strong-willed Rachel is one of the most human, resourceful and engaging characters in recent literature. In creating these tenacious female characters, the author turns the roles of women on its head. Despite their contentious relationship, replete with blinding jealousy and residual pain, but bound by propriety and love, the two women unite, against all odds, risking their own personal safety, to fight for what is right.

Hilary Daninhirsch WITNESS SEEKER Stone Wallace, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 266pp, 9781432832209 Chance Gamble is a witness seeker: he pursues witnesses to crimes so they can give testimony for or against those who have been arrested in America’s Southwest around 1885. While “vacationing” in sunny Mexico in the town of Santa Rosina, he is approached by a Mexican named Francisco Velasquez. Silvano Ramos, a mean and evil man, had murdered his sister, and Francisco wants Chance to help find and kill him. Chance is told he is complicit in the murder because he had brought Francisco’s sister to a trial as a witness against Ramos. Chance reluctantly agrees to help find Ramos and his gang of cutthroats who are terrorizing settlements across the border in Texas.

This novel is western writing at its best. The action is solidly paced, and the steady unraveling of the plot is genuinely exciting. The differences between Chance and Francisco, along with their mistrust of each other, add an additional element of suspense to the story. Will Francisco kill Chance after finding Ramos? This is a highly recommended western novel.

Jeff Westerhoff EASY PICKINGS Richard S. Wheeler, Forge, 2016, $26.99, hb, 288pp, 9780765381613 March McPhee’s husband, Kermit, dies in the first sentence, killed by a falling rock in his Montana gold mine. She then loses her baby in a fire set in her cabin, part of a conspiracy of unscrupulous men wanting her mine. The law is no help: Constable Roach protects his relatives involved in the scheme. Yet March isn’t lacking friends; saloon owner Tip Leary and assayer Wittgenstein give her food and shelter. Slippery lawyer Hermes Apollo agrees to help, but for a steep personal price.

March is determined to fight for her property, via committing sabotage at the mine and a lawsuit. Yet her efforts grind to a halt when a corrupt judge in Helena traps her into being sent to an insane asylum.

I enjoyed this Western’s strong female protagonist. March has more grit than I could ever summon up in such a daunting situation. But the ending was totally disappointing. In the climax, the main villain has an unmotivated change of heart, 34 | Reviews |

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unsupported by plot developments. Maybe that kind of about-face in a person happens in real life, but it’s not very satisfying in fiction. Up to the last chapter, I was a fan of the book.

B. J. Sedlock THE MAGNOLIA DUCHESS: Gulf Coast Chronicles, #3 Beth White, Revell, 2016, $14.99, pb, 352pp, 9780800721992 Fiona Lanier is undeterred in her efforts to rescue her brother, captured by the British Navy, and not even Charlie Kincaid, a man from her past who recently survived a shipwreck, will keep her from bringing her brother safely home. As Charlie begins recovering his memory, it is clear that the two stand on opposite sides of the conflict, and Fiona’s act of charity develops into a tale of adventure, danger, intrigue, and love.

White has crafted a stirring trilogy around the lives of several generations of the Lanier family, set in her native Mississippi, and bringing to life, in this final tale, the area’s role in the War of 1812.

Weaving together three separate love stories in one volume, White explores timeless values such as love and loyalty, honor and duty, and faith in a God that directs our steps. Although some of the plot points stretch this historical romance beyond the realm of likelihood into fantasy, the level of detail and humor in her writing carries the story, and readers of the series will not be disappointed with its conclusion.

Lauren Miller CHARLIE RED Michael Zimmer, Five Star, 2016, $25.95, hb, 238pp, 9781432832292 In the summer of 1882, Tom Slade is riding shotgun on a stagecoach traveling through central Arizona, delivering $45,000 of mine payroll.

Thieves rob the stage when it stops at an isolated way station. Hoping to catch the outlaws before they disappear into the desert, Slade harnesses a mule and follows their trail. In the middle of the desert, Slade meets a lone woman named Claire Adams who is after the outlaws for different reasons. He soon learns about her mysterious friend, Charlie Red. This exciting western is Book Five in the American Legends collection by Michael Zimmer.

This novel, like many of his other westerns, has a fast-paced plot with plenty of action. As the plot begins to unravel, the protagonist appears in one compelling action sequence after another until he faces the leader along with his band of outlaws.

Readers will be immersed in the chase.

Jeff Westerhoff

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THE BONES OF PARADISE Jonis Agee, William Morrow, 2016, $25.99/ C$31.99, hb, 432pp, 9780062413475 This book isn’t sure what it wants to be: gritty western, family saga, murder mystery, coy romance,

historical recounting of the massacre at Wounded Knee. The bits and pieces are all there, but the lack of a central focus or believable characters means that those pieces never gel into a coherent whole.

It’s 1900 in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. When J.B. Bennett is murdered at the border between his and his father’s ranches, he leaves behind his estranged wife, Dulcinea, two sons who barely speak to him, and a father, Drum, who is twelve kinds of mean wrapped tight in hatefulness and tied with spite. J.B. is shot just as he discovers the body of a Native American girl named Star; the busted homesteader who stumbles upon them both gets shot, too, but he survives to end up as a hand on J.B.’s ranch.

The point of view bounces among the principal and supporting characters such that there is no central protagonist. The most sympathetic character is Rose, Star’s older sister, but she’s left underdeveloped as Agee spends more time with Dulcinea.

Plot points start up and then fizzle out, like Dulcinea’s half-hearted search for the killer, or the issue over who owns mineral rights.

Most frustrating is the manufactured mystery surrounding the deals that J.B. and Dulcinea separately struck with Drum. Particularly given the extended tease over what Drum is holding over her that could force her to leave her husband and children for ten years and never mention it to J.B. during the many times they meet up, the big reveal is so thoroughly unconvincing that the character loses all credibility.

At times, Agee’s writing is lovely and engaging; unfortunately, that’s not enough to carry the entire book.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi ENCHANTED ISLANDS Allison Amend, Nan A. Talese, 2016, $26.95/ C$35.95, hb, 310 pp, 9780385539067 Nominally a story about a female spy for US Naval Intelligence who monitored German activity on the Galapagos island of Floreana during World War II, Amend’s tale is so much more. Frances Conway, aka Frances (Fanny) Frankowski or Franny Frank, is from a poor Polish family in Duluth, Minnesota; her desire to stay in school against her parents’ wishes leads her, and her best friend Rosalie, to run away to Chicago. Eventually Franny lands in San Francisco, and, at the mature age of fifty, when the US is on the brink of entering World War II, becomes a secretary in the Office of Naval Intelligence.

That’s where the real adventure begins. Franny is recruited to work with Ainslie Conway in his spying mission on Floreana. The Galapagos Islands were strategically important: from there, the US could protect the Panama Canal, and the location was perfect for refueling missions. Americans weren’t the only ones interested, however, and Ainslie and Franny’s job is to keep track of the other members of the isolated island community, who might be spies for other governments. Franny has kept secrets for years, so she’s good at this work, living one life with Rosalie and another with Ainslie, though her feelings tear her apart from the 19th Century — 20th Century

inside. She discovers that facing the truth can be dangerous, for her and everyone else.

Amend does a terrific job of creating relationships fraught with deception, that reflect changing attitudes toward women, Jews, and sexuality over the course of the 20th century. Her descriptions of life on Floreana resonate with back-breaking hard work and simple beauty, while even minor characters are fully formed. The real Frances Conway’s memoirs leave many gaps, and Amend’s work creates a believable, multi-faceted, and intriguing back story that readers will relish.

Helene Williams MAYON Mickie B. Ashling, DSP Publications, 2016, $16.99, pb, 232pp, 9781634763653 Set in post-WWII Philippines, Mayon exceeds expectations at all levels. It delivers solidly and tastefully on its packaging as LGBT romance, but Ashling’s flawless dialog and rich cultural settings make the novel much more.

John Buchanan, ex-U.S. Marine hero and aspiring volcanologist, takes a position as overseer on a vast plantation complex in the shadow of Mt. Mayon in Philippines’ Albay Province. His value to his wealthy employer lies primarily in his potential as a husband to one of several daughters, but John has struggled with his identity for years, and falls into a passionate and potentially dangerous pairing with his Filipino counterpart, Gregorio.

Historical LGBT fiction poses challenges, as changing societal norms resonate in voice and dialog, both internal and spoken. Ashling’s unique multicultural background strikes a soundly authentic note for the period. From cuisine to fashion to linguistic project, Ashling puts the reader in the story, and adds a captivating female perspective on the book’s male relationships. The conflict and secrecy central to gay expression in the postwar period plays out not only in the central characters, but in the women in their lives, most notably Victoria, Gregorio’s mother, and John’s potential marital suitors.

The book will appeal to a broad audience and leave them looking forward to more. Well done, and highly recommended.

Jackie Drohan

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A COUNTRY ROAD, A TREE Jo Baker, Knopf, 2016, $26.95/C$32.00, hb, 304pp, 9781101947180 / Doubleday, 2016, £14.99, hb, 336pp, 9780857522085 This is the story of an Irish writer’s bleak WWII years in German-occupied France. “A Country Road, a Tree” is the setting for Samuel Beckett’s highly acclaimed absurdist play, Waiting for Godot, and in fact many aspects of the story relate to the dialog of the dramatic work. Although knowledge of the play 20th Century

is not essential to appreciate the novel, readers who enjoy digging deeper into the meaning of otherwise mundane occurrences may find themselves searching for a copy of Beckett’s version.

Opening upon a snippet of the writer’s childhood, an allegory of a tree’s significance is repeatedly used as he goes from a self-perceived family outcast to a sincere, though underconnected member of the resistance movement in France. He could have stayed safely away from the war in Ireland, but he feels the need to fight for his beloved adopted country. The combination of his origin, occupation and lack of funds undermines his determination, and he also continually battles with writer’s block and his responsibility for his companion, a French piano and singing instructor named Suzanne, who has remained at his side through all manner of desperation.

It’s rare to come across a book these days with such contemplative prose—moments and detailed movements through the eyes of a frustrated writer.

The apprehension of the characters’ situation is palpable. Though their journey differs from the single setting in Waiting for Godot, the characters’ emotions are relatable. This book is recommended for readers of WWII history, biographical novels, and those looking for a story with in-depth symbolism.

Arleigh Johnson

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THE HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT Catherine Banner, Random House, 2016, $27, hb, 415pp, 9780812998795 / Hutchinson, 2016, £12.99, hb, 480pp, 9780091959326 An island can be a secluded place of refuge. For those who spend their lives there, islands can also turn claustrophobic and isolating. Both hold true in Catherine Banner’s marvelous debut novel, a nearcentury-spanning epic set on the fictional isle of Castellamare, a fivemile-wide heap of rock off the Sicilian coast – a place with a founding myth of its own, and where the gossip flows like the limoncello at the Espositos’ bar, the evocatively named House at the Edge of Night. Amid this picturesque Mediterranean milieu, its residents interact with one another, the world outside, and the cultural heritage that surrounds them.

The focus falls on four generations of Espositos, and their stories unfold in the lively style of a folk tale but with the realism of a meaty historical saga.

The combination makes for reading enchantment.

It begins as the future patriarch, Amedeo, arrives at Castellamare in 1914 to become the island’s firstever doctor. Scandal arises when his intelligent dark-haired wife, former schoolteacher Pina, and Carmela, estranged spouse of the wealthy conte, give birth to boys on the same night – halfbrothers, perhaps.

Many well-defined characters play roles,

including Maria-Grazia, a fragile child who becomes a determined woman; Robert, the Englishman from the sea; fishermen, poets, and entrepreneurs; even Gesuina, the near-blind midwife whose passing marks an era’s finale. Both world wars transform the island’s inhabitants, as does the 2008 financial crisis. Rivalries develop; secrets are revealed; tender love affairs form; relatives are lost and found. There are a treasure trove of stories and many fabulous turns of phrase (“a face like bad weather”).

The novel dares to take its time, to remarkable effect. Incidents gain near-mythic status as the decades pass, and the large scope lets readers see the original events and, much later, the legends they create. In Banner’s gifted hands, both are equally absorbing, and equally magical.

Sarah Johnson EDEN GARDENS Louise Brown, Headline, 2016, £7.99, pb, 346pp, 9781472226105 This is the story of three women living in Calcutta in the 1940s – Barbara Brooks (Mam), her daughter Maisy and her ayah Pushpa. Alternate chapters are written by Maisy and Pushpa, both in the first person, which is sometimes disorientating at the start of a new chapter, as the voices of the two characters are not that distinct.

But this is not a tale of the upper-classes. Mam is a prostitute, looked down on by other members of Calcutta’s English society. Despite her dreams of a better future Maisy inevitably follows in her mother’s footsteps, while Pushpa looks after them both, introducing Maisy to street life and comforting her when things go wrong.

Against an authentic background of life and events in this turbulent period of India’s history, Brown weaves a story that does not flinch from the harrowing experiences of three women trying to survive in difficult circumstances. They stayed with me long after I had put the book down. This is a well-written novel, with memorable characters, and a true feel to it, which I recommend to all – though beware – although engrossing it is not an upbeat read. jay Dixon BAMBOO ISLAND Ann Bennett, Monsoon, 2015, £8.99, 330pp, 9789814625173 Malaysia has a history largely unknown to many in the West, and the events that took place during the Second World War may come as a shock to the reader in this tale. Ann Bennett has undertaken some extensive research in order to produce a fictional story with realistic backgrounds. Layers are skilfully revealed through diary entries, letters and reminiscences to provide a believable storyline.

Juliet Crosby has suffered significantly during the past 20 years and secreted herself away from society on her rubber plantation in order to forget her past. The appearance of a young woman, Mary, at her home one evening shakes her into remembering, though those memories are full of pain. We are gradually encouraged to view the atrocities endured by her and those around her HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 35

during the Japanese invasion and the subsequent incarceration in camps of enormous depravation.

Juliet and Mary embark on a journey together to uncover their links with each other and their shared history. This is an enlightening tale, with well-rounded characters and an engaging storyline, making it an enjoyable read.

Cathy Kemp HISTORY’S CHILD Charles M. Boyer, Western Michigan University, 2016, $18.00, pb, 585pp, 9781936970391 In 1939, young Tadek Gradinski and his family live a carefree lifestyle in Poland. Their lives are interrupted in 1940 when the Russian army invades. The authoritarian Russian rule felt by the Polish people is interrupted when the German army invades Poland a year later. Soon an underground force is organized with Tadek participating as a messenger. His father is taken from their home to work elsewhere in the new German empire, while Tadek’s remaining family gets caught up in the intrigue between the Jews and the Germans, eventually hiding a Jewish family from the Gestapo.

The story follows Tadek’s situation, his relationship with family members who work with the Underground, his new girlfriend, and his plight after the war while facing imprisonment in Siberia.

In this coming-of-age novel, Tadek learns life’s lessons the hard way, helping his family survive during enemy occupation and working with the resistance, a dangerous daily lifestyle, while hiding his true identity from his friends. Tension builds as Tadek tries to deliver messages to the resistance. At times, tension builds and catches you by the throat.

It’s also a heartbreaking love story as Tadek falls for a local girl, but because he lives such a dangerous life, he is unable to follow through with this relationship and marry her. Highly recommended.

Jeff Westerhoff

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AT THE EDGE OF SUMMER Jessica Brockmole, Ballantine, 2016, $26/C$35, hb, 336pp, 9780345547897 In 1911, fifteenyear-old Clare Ross has suffered the death of her father and an earlier abandonment by her artist mother. She’s whisked from Scotland to France for a summer at the chateau of the Crépet family, friends of her mother. There she finds solace and a deep friendship with the family’s son, Luc. At the end of summer, when her globe-trotting linguist grandfather comes to fetch her away, both friends are devastated. Clare’s travels begin and Luc continues his schooling in Paris. The two remain bound together with letters. Years and distance and missed connections separate them as World War I rages and ravages Luc, who has become a soldier.

Clare studies art and decides to help ease 36 | Reviews |

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the aftermath of the Great War on its soldiers by volunteering in a Paris studio making facial prosthetics for the maimed. When Luc appears, she does not recognize him. But they both strive to rekindle the summer that has changed both of their lives.

Poignant and unabashedly romantic, Brockmole presents a luminous story in the tradition of A Town Like Alice. Strong supporting characters, good use of epistolary devices, and sensory scenesetting descriptions all help the central relationship between Claire and Luc. Their hard-won friendship catches fire and ignites every page to a deeply satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.

Eileen Charbonneau

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MODERN GIRLS Jennifer S. Brown, NAL, 2016, $15.00/C$20.00, pb, 363pp, 9780451477125 In 1935 on New York’s Lower East Side, two Jewish women, a mother and a daughter, both find themselves unexpectedly pregnant.

How they cope with their situations, against the backdrop of a changing society, is the heart of this riveting novel.

Brown tells their stories in alternating voices. Dottie is a relatively carefree young woman who knows she is going to marry her steady, mild-mannered beau, Abe. But after an argument with him, Dottie runs into the arms of Willie, a smooth-talking, handsome suitor.

When Dottie realizes she is pregnant, her world turns upside down; social convention prevents her from revealing her secret to even her best friends.

In the meantime, Dottie’s mother, Rose, is a Yiddish-speaking immigrant, struggling to make a better life for her family in the new world. Before she became a full-time wife and mother, Rose was a political activist. For too long, she had been silenced; she is anxious to have her voice heard again. Once both women realize that they have unwanted pregnancies, they have to make hard choices and reimagine the lives they each wanted for themselves.

Modern Girls is a story of mothers and daughters, of sacrifices and of societal consequences, in a time when the role of women in society was on the verge of moving forward. Both Rose and Dottie are imperfect but inherently relatable. With its compelling storyline, a well-researched historical setting, protagonists who are authentic and strong, and beautifully written prose, Modern Girls is, without a doubt, one of my favorite books of 2016 to date. The story drew me in from the very opening pages, and I was reluctant to let go of the characters once I finished the book. I predict it has a bright future as a book club favorite.

Hilary Daninhirsch

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THE REASON FOR TIME Mary Burns, Allium Press of Chicago, 2016,

$16.99, pb, 202pp, 97809967558 Monday, July 21, 1919. A dirigible falls from the sky onto Chicago’s Illinois Trust and Savings Bank, a piece of glass hitting a young Irish immigrant girl named Maeve Curragh in the neck, forever altering her view of the world. For ten days, we are privy to the unfolding incidents reported in the newspapers, which Maeve devours.

The headlines sear her imagination as well as illuminate the goings-on around her. Soldiers return home from the battlefields of WWI Europe.

Along with the Great Migration in full flower, racial tensions erupt between blacks and whites, and Maeve encounters violence and race riots.

The naïve Maeve falls for a streetcar conductor named Desmond Malloy, whom she calls “a sort of a magician… with the power he had to make me believe.” She longs to have him, torn by her own foolishness. Yet he affects her in another way: he makes her think she can do anything when she is with him.

Burns plunges the reader into the world of Chicago in 1919. Her flawless use of Irish brogue in Maeve’s first-person voice pulls us ever deeper into the events. Maeve’s perceptions of daily life are shown by her struggles to make sense of this new, feverish world, bounded by her Irish Catholic values and her position as a catalogue order clerk for the Chicago Magic Company. An amazing tale from a master of her craft.

Gini Grossenbacher THE MUSE Jessie Burton, Ecco, 2016, $27.99, hb, 352pp, 9780062409928 / Picador, 2016, £12.99, hb, 464pp, 9781447250944 In her second novel (after The Miniaturist, 2014), Burton links two talented young women of different generations with the fate of a magnificent lost painting. Set in an era—the mid-20th century—when art is a man’s province, The Muse is a tale of love, obsession, and rejection, as well as a compelling mystery.

1937, Malaga, Spain. Olive Schloss, 19, a gifted artist, paints in private, ignored by her English mother and her art dealer father, who says,“Women [artists] have no vision.” Olive doesn’t seem to care what he thinks; she just wants to paint. Her maid wants to honor her talent but, for Olive, reclusion is more comfortable than recognition. Then civil war reaches Malaga. Normal relationships end, people die, and a painting disappears.

1967, London. Odelle Bastien, a talented writer, left Trinidad to find a career; now 22, she sells shoes. She never stops writing, however, or searching for a better job until a prestigious art institute hires her as a typist. Surrounded by people with an interest in the arts, including a manager who mentors her and an attractive young man who brings in a painting for evaluation—and 20th Century

involves her in solving the mystery that shrouds it—Odelle becomes a different person.

Burton interweaves the two stories skillfully, yet one feels a dichotomy when reading. Although each honors women in her work, Odelle’s growing sophistication is more believable, hence more appealing than Olive’s innocence. Two unique personalities in radically different times defy comparison, as do their fates. Nevertheless, you will remember Burton’s characters long after you finish The Muse; and her prose is magical. Highly recommended.

Jeanne Greene

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THE BOWL WITH GOLD SEAMS Ellen Prentiss Campbell, Apprentice House, 2016, $16.99, pb, 232pp, 9781627200998 Hazel Shaw, a Quaker living near Bedford Hills in Pennsylvania, falls in love and has a very brief marriage, as her new husband is whisked off to fight in WWII. She and her neighbors, both Quaker and not, are shocked to hear that the Bedford Springs Hotel is going to house prisoners of war, in particular Japanese diplomats.

They definitely will not be granted special favors, and their lives will be substantially restricted.

Hazel accepts a position as secretary to the head of the hotel-prison. This is the story of her experience not only in that role but also as a human being who recognizes both the hurt and love between a Japanese ambassador and his British-born wife, which deeply scars their child.

Music, poetry, and books fashion bonds that surpass nationality. Loss touches every character and elicits stark questions about loyalty, betrayal, victory and defeat. Hazel survives an astonishing act and its aftermath at the end of this forced detention. Years later, she returns to the Bedford Springs Hotel with one of the former detainees, culminating in scenes of healing after confession.

It also introduces a wonderful bowl and an artistic technique that literally and figuratively bespeaks power in brokenness.

It’s been a long time since I couldn’t put a book down because I was so engrossed in the reading.

The story elicits cycles of tender compassion coupled with vivid anger, parallel reactions to those experiencing the war from the American and Japanese sides, a manifestation of war wounds that still exist within many to this day. This is a poignant, beautiful gem of a historical novel written by a skilled author.

Viviane Crystal THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF LOVE Elizabeth J. Church, Algonquin, $25.95/C$38.95, hb, 333pp, 9781616204846 In Elizabeth J. Church’s debut novel, she tackles a topic some might feel has been written to death: feminism. But in her capable hands, she breathes 20th Century

vigorous life into this subject as she tells the story of a woman, Meridian Wallace, and her marriage, for which she sacrifices much of her own life. Yet, in the end, Meri comes across not as a victim, but as someone who has seriously considered the questions of love, responsibility, ambition and sacrifice, and has made her decisions with eyes wide open.

Meri is a gifted young woman who is fascinated by the world of birds, the physics of flight and the strange, airy spaces where the winged creatures make their lives. Her dream, after college, is to get her Ph.D. in ornithology. However, before she has finished her undergraduate degree, she falls in love with Alden Whetstone, a brilliant physics professor fifteen years her senior. They marry, and he moves to New Mexico while she completes her degree. Then, she joins him.

Alden is working on the secret Manhattan Project and must labor long hours, leaving his young wife alone much of the time. Meri has been accepted to several graduate schools on full scholarship, but in the end, Alden convinces her that his work is more important than hers, which in a way it was—he was working to end WWII as quickly as possible, saving American lives in the process.

In spite of failing to meet the expectations of her time—she has no children and never really fits in with the other wives—Meri does follow a small part of her dream, though not in any kind of formal way. Church writes about long-term marriages with the skill of a brain surgeon, dissecting each nuance to render a rich, complex view of Meri and Alden’s life together.

Anne Clinard Barnhill REBEL SISTERS Marita Conlon-McKenna, Transworld, 2016, £12.99, pb, 399pp, 9781848271999 The centenary of ‘The Rising’ in Ireland has despatched a battalion of excellent (mainly Irish) writers off on a research and remind mission. The resultant booty of thought-provoking literature on this episode of British/Irish relations has something for all tastes: non-fiction guides, essays, biographies as well as plenty of historical fiction, now including Rebel Sisters; an entertaining and informative women’s fiction perspective. Perhaps surprisingly given the chapter naming convention used here, the story is not told by the sisters or their mother, after whom all eighty-seven chapters are episodically named, but by an omniscient narrator.

Given their privileged family background, which is cleverly exposed in the more slowly paced parts (one and two) of this five-part novel, sisters Nellie, Grace and Muriel Gifford make somewhat surprising “Rebels.” However, as we follow the development of the practical Nellie, the politically engaged Grace, and the caring Muriel over the period 1901-1916, we fully comprehend what is meant by the front cover strapline; ‘tragedy would be their fate. Freedom would be their legacy.’ The prologue, too, is brimming with promise of high drama to come, and from the outset we know what kind of story we are in for. The pace picks up from part three onwards, and by the time we put this

book down, and the British Army has put down The Rising of Easter 1916, we are left staggered by the hand serendipity has dealt these sisters.

Life really is less predictable than fiction. Who would have predicted such career, love-interest and marriage choices?

Although they are arguably not quite as innocent as depicted here, one is nevertheless in admiration at the courage of these Rebel Sisters.

Their perspective is undoubtedly just as interesting as their men, Plunkett, MacDonagh, et al, and is perhaps a more effective reminder?

Lawrence Battersby SPOILS OF VICTORY John A. Connell, Berkley, 2016, $27/C$35, hb, 372pp, 9780425281567 In 1946, World War II is over, and Germany is occupied and governed by the American, French, Russian, and British military and police. Bavarian South Germany is the American Zone with an American military government. Mason Collins is an ex-cop and a crime investigator of the U.S. Military police in Garmisch, a pretty, un-bombed ski resort town at the Austrian border of Bavaria.

In this town, refugees, amnesiac Nazis, warshocked civilians, humiliated German military and police, and opportunistic villains from everywhere, together with the occupying armies with their own problems and foibles, all form a social chaos where the tentacles of crime, sadism and murder slither freely. Treachery and suspicion are rampant.

Mason Collins has to find a murderer.

Mason Collins’ friend – Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) agent John Winston – has reason to suspect here in this town the existence of a vast criminal conspiracy led by men of power in the sundry commercial, police, military and criminal forces of Bavaria. He tells Mason of this, and then is slaughtered with his beautiful girlfriend.

Mason goes on the hunt to dredge where he may for Winston’s evidence and villains. He must find and neuter the bad guys without upsetting the cozy ones.

John A. Connell has given him a complex route, and a pig-headed stubbornness to succeed. The characters are straightforward, the descriptions reasonably restrained, and the incidents well defined, logically interdependent, and complex without confusion. For action, tension, beautiful women, and all types of men, this coherent story satisfies.

John Coffey BECAUSE YOU DESPISE ME J. S. Cook, DSP Publications, 2016, $14.99, pb, 168pp, 9781634763509 American Jake Plenty runs a saloon and brothel in World War II Morocco. Resistance fighter Abaroa kills a German soldier in the brothel so he can steal the exit visas the man carried.

Captain Nicolas Renard, prefect of police, comes to investigate. He and Jake have a past, having served together in World War I, and a romantic relationship between them begins to grow. Then another blast from Jake’s past turns up in Maarif: Picard had swept Jake out of a male brothel back HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 37

in ´20s Paris, though their relationship later went sour. Picard, also with the Resistance, comes to Maarif trailing a wife, to Jake’s dismay. Add to the mix the Nazi officer Danzig, sent to investigate the soldier’s death and apprehend Picard. He has no scruples about using torture to get the information he wants, and threatens the men with concentration camps and pink triangles. Both Picard and Danzig are a threat to Jake and Nicolas’s nascent romance, not to mention their lives.

There are some similarities to the film Casablanca’s plot, but it’s more of an homage, morphed into a male/male romance. I liked some of Cook’s turns of phrase, such as: “trailing a little cloud of sycophants.” There are several steamy bedroom scenes. The ending was a bit of a letdown, which to me seemed resolved too quickly and patly for the previous level of plot complication. An epilogue tells where the characters ended up after the war. Cook also includes an appendix describing organizations (with contact information) which provide aid to LGBT people. Male/male romance fans, and those who like tales of espionage and wartime fiction, will enjoy this novel.

B.J. Sedlock WHILE YOU WERE MINE Ann Howard Creel, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 316pp, 9781503952232 It’s the end of World War II and nurse Gwen Mullen is enjoying the V-J Day celebrations on the streets of New York City, even stopping for an unexpected kiss from a stranger that would become a famous photograph. But, when Gwen arrives home, she finds that the life she’d carved out for herself during the war is threatened. Gwen’s roommate, Alice, had left her tiny baby with Gwen and now, a year later, after Gwen has grown to love the baby as her own, Alice’s husband returns for his child. Lieutenant John McKee was in a POW camp and must now learn what it means to be a father, as Gwen learns when to let go of what she cares about most, and how to hold on to what she cannot live without.

Creel writes with detail and sensitivity that make the characters and 1940s New York City shine through some truly heartbreaking moments.

The book is not a suspense thriller, but I honestly had no idea how it would end and wasn’t even sure what I wished would happen. I was rooting for all of the characters and didn’t know how to reconcile my thoughts when characters’ wishes were at odds with each other. I hung on every word and loved the ride.

Amy Watkin THE DOLLHOUSE Fiona Davis, Dutton, 2016, $26.00/C$36.00, hb, 304pp, 9781101984994 1952. When 17-year-old Darby McLaughlin moves from Defiance, Ohio to New York to take a secretarial course, she quickly falls under the spell of Esme, an aspiring actress and jazz singer, who works as a maid at the Barbizon Hotel for Women—aka the Dollhouse—where Darby rents a room. At once attracted and repelled by the vivacious Puerto Rican, Darby explores Esme’s 38 | Reviews |

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New York, experimenting with the world of jazz, drugs—and what the era termed ‘degeneracy.’

At The Flatted Fifth, she falls in love with Sam, the nightclub’s talented chef, but their passion is doomed because Esme leads parallel lives and, in a desperate attempt to hold on to her friend, commits a terrible error of judgment.

2016. Rose Lewin, a denizen of the Barbizon— which has in the meantime been converted into a residence—becomes fascinated with the elderly Darby, who goes about veiled, plays the same jazz record over and over, and is rumored to have been involved in a murder. A journalist whose career and relationship have hit rock bottom, Rose sets about investigating the biography of the mysterious lady and discovers not only a horrifying secret, but also a beautiful friendship, which will change the lives of both women forever.

Highly readable, The Dollhouse conjures up 1950s New York convincingly. In particular the now-vanished world of the Barbizon Hotel for Women, with its antiquated rules and intriguing array of female personalities and tragic fates, lives on in the pages of the novel in delectable detail.

Although the ending is a little too perfect, the reference to Austen and Brontë, whose novels Darby reads, tells us that this is no mere ‘chick-lit,’ but feminist-inspired entertainment.

Elisabeth Lenckos DEATH DEALS A HAND: A California Zephyr Mystery Janet Dawson, Perseverance, 2016, $15.95, pb, 232pp, 9781564745699 A year after the disastrous run on the California Zephyr that included a rockslide and a murder in Death Rides the Zephyr, and Jill McLeod is back riding the rails! The westbound trip to California is about to bring new challenges her way, including estranged relations, headstrong teenagers and a few disquieting passengers whom Jill suspects may have checkered pasts. When a poker game sweep results in murder, all bets are off in this whodunit set aboard the 1950s streamliner with the Vista-Dome experience.

Dawson introduces some enjoyable new characters, including Lois Demarest, sweet sixteen and already a handful for her parents, and Pamela Larch, a Southern beauty with a bad case of wanderlust. Readers will be kept on edge as they follow along with Jill’s sleuthing to sort rumor from fact and identify the killer before the villain eludes capture by disembarking on one of the many stops along the route.

Readers who enjoyed the day-to-day account from the first novel will find the sequel bears the same style, but the details can be distracting at best, disengaging at worst. Dawson’s overuse of time references can be off-putting and jarring, interrupting the flow of the text.

Dialogue is interrupted by exposition dumps that could be conveyed later, and at some points, the awkwardly-inserted research feels like factdropping or conversational tangents that feel tacked as if to remind the reader, “hey, this is the 1950s!” It may not be a train wreck, but the starts and stops result in far from a smooth ride.

Lauren Miller

SUFFRAGETTE GIRL Margaret Dickinson, Pan/Trafalgar Square, 2016, $12.95/£6.99, pb, 352pp, 9781509803033 Florrie Maltby is a rich, bubbly, young English countrywoman with a social conscience. Rather than marry her dear friend and neighbor, Gervase, Florrie sets off for London to join the Suffragettes, militant activists working to obtain the vote for women. Her acts of property violence land her in prison, where she undertakes a hunger strike, enduring starvation and then forced feeding, mostly, it seems, to prove that she can. Weak and ill, she is rescued by Gervase, whose devotion never wavers. (Never. As the story progresses, this devotion becomes unrealistic.)

The skills Florrie learns as a Suffragette serve her well when World War I breaks out and she volunteers as a nurse at the front. Brave, outspoken, and beautiful, she attracts the attention of a handsome, recklessly determined Swiss field doctor, Ernst Hartmann. They begin a passionate affair which is not as discreetly conducted as Florrie believes. Florrie is convinced the doctor loves her; however, when her beloved younger brother is arrested for desertion, it is Gervase, not Ernst, who lends his support.

Florrie is a feisty protagonist, but her insistence on the rightness of her actions clashes with her naiveté and sense of entitlement, so it’s difficult to be too impressed. Although the politics of the Suffragettes and the wartime scenes are convincingly portrayed, they remain background to a love story that fails to inspire. This is an entertaining read, but not a memorable one.

Sue Asher THE MEMORY OF US Camille Di Maio, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 400pp, 9781503934757 England, 1961. The suicide attempt of a lonely midwife is interrupted by a boy whose mother has gone into premature labor. When the midwife hears the name of the priest who is called to the woman’s bedside, she is transported back to her youth, when she fell in love with a man by the same name. The story then shifts to 1937 and moves into The Thorn Birds territory, with a seemingly-impossible love between Julianne Westcott, a pretty Liverpool socialite, and Kyle McCarthy, a poor Irish-Catholic seminarian.

I love stories about good priests with normal human failings. Kyle might be too good for some readers, but I found him more interesting than Julianne and wished the story had been told from his point of view instead of hers. This is not inspirational fiction, but it does have a subtle Christian undercurrent.

The first half of the novel is stronger than the second half, with vivid descriptions, fully fleshedout scenes, and plausible dilemmas. Di Maio is a competent writer who can hook the reader with strong dialogue and a compelling story. However, aside from descriptions of clothing, the novel is light on historical detail. Furthermore, the main conflict is resolved quickly, and subsequent events seem contrived, as if the author realized she let her characters off the hook too easily and needed 20th Century

to throw new problems at them. The decisions Julianne makes after the war are so baffling and implausible that I lost sympathy for her. The second half was also dominated by telling rather than showing, keeping the reader at a distance. Readers may be willing to overlook the weaknesses of the second half of the novel in light of the strengths of the first half.

Clarissa Harwood THE AFTER PARTY Anton DiSclafani, Riverhead, 2016, $26.00/ C$35.00, hb, 374pp, 9781594633164 Cece and Joan grew up amid Houston’s elite, an ordered world of debutante balls, country clubs, and Junior League meetings. Joan—beautiful, restless, and shocking—has always stood in the spotlight, while Cece waits in the shadows, ready to temper her best friend’s wildness, while, at the same time, breathlessly envying it. At 25, with a husband, child, and carefully cultivated image, Cece knows she should leave Joan to her own messes. She’s grown beyond the days as Joan’s confidante and sometime-chaperone. But Cece can’t help but be drawn into her orbit, still, even when Joan’s actions raise the stakes for both of them and when Joan’s secrets threaten their place in Houston society.

Between the sun and the steaks and the endless martinis, DiSclafani effortlessly creates 1950s Houston. It’s easy to say that the city, glittering and cool, is as much a character. The reader feels the turquoise pools and the ice cubes, smells the tanning oil and ubiquitous cigarettes, tastes each and every daiquiri.

The real characters are just as vibrant. Joan sprawls across the page, unthinkingly drawing the eye to her. She oozes confidence, but secrets simmer beneath the surface. But it’s Cece, with her quiet obsession and uncertain narration, who holds our attention as she struggles between unsnaring herself from Joan’s grasp and being quite content to stay snared forever. Neither woman is perfect.

Both, at times, flirt at the edge of wrong decisions, and then grapple with how to define “wrong.”

Though the story is quiet and the mystery smallstakes, there’s something compulsively readable about The After Party. The writing is gorgeous, the details sumptuous, and the world-building flawless. Recommended.

Jessica Brockmole THE END OF LAW Therese Down, Lion Hudson, 2016, £7.99/$16.99, pb, 320pp, 9781782641902 The End of Law is a work of fiction tackling a subject that has seen very little coverage over the years: Nazi Germany, from the perspective of highranking Nazi officers and their families. Therese Down has researched her work carefully, and the end result is a gripping tale that sheds new light on one of the darkest periods in history.

The End of Law begins with quotations from the White Rose activists, German Christians who saw it as their duty to stand up to Hitler and the Nazis as a principle of faith, but this introduction is misleading. The characters in the book are not activists. They witness some of the most 20th Century

barbaric atrocities of the time, and one character, Karl Muller, based on a real-life SS officer, does wrestle with his Christian faith. However, the main characters, Muller and Hedda Gunther, the wife of an SS officer, are primarily concerned with protecting their own families. Karl’s wife is a depressive, and Hedda’s daughter has suffered head injuries in an air strike, putting them both at risk of becoming targets of the Nazi’s euthanasia policy.

At times, the writing of The End of Law is clunky and repetitive, particularly where Down is drawing on facts. However, this is that rare book where the story and the events that inspired it are sufficiently enthralling to allow any faults to be overlooked by the reader. It is also not for the fainthearted: Down does not shy away from describing the horrendous treatment of Jews, homosexuals and others by the Nazis. I would recommend The End of Law to anyone seeking to understand how ordinary people can become complicit in the worst possible events.

Laura Shepperson HARRY MAC Russell Eldridge, Allen & Unwin/Trafalgar Square, 2016, $17.95/£12.99, pb, 304pp, 9781760113209 South Africa is an exciting, dangerous place to live in the 1960s. Tom’s Dad is Harry Mac, a journalist using his pen to expose the truth about the Nationalist government coming into power by using propaganda and brutality, techniques often associated with the Nazis. The rebellion against this government is growing, but so are the restrictive rules and the disappearance of dissenters. Tom is carrying a huge secret, overheard in a conversation between his father and another journalist, one Tom is afraid to share with his best friend, Millie.

Tom’s weakness as a polio victim increases with the growing tension in the country, his physical and mental suffering paralleling the powerlessness and fear of the different nationalities in South Africa: the Afrikaaners, Indians, Jews, British, and others.

Nelson Mandela briefly invigorates the antiapartheid movement, but imprisonment in mental institutions and jails, silencing, kidnapping, and death for the black population become the norm.

What is even more fascinating about this coming-of-age story becomes clear in the accounts of the insidious ways dictators gradually alter the acceptable news and the doctrine spread through political talks, radio, newspapers and pamphlets.

Yes, protest is alive and well but obviously ineffective. Sol, Millie’s Dad, a survivor of the Holocaust, reads the work of Primo Levi to Tom to understand the nature of human responses to the Nazis then and now. Harry Mac hunts to maintain a sense of power and to release tension but his “anger smells like a rhino” to his son, a noxious odor spreading every day. Amazingly, he is never arrested! Tom’s narration takes us through the steps we know will lead to the inevitable explosion.

Vibrant, poignant historical fiction.

Viviane Crystal

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THE BOX CAR OF FUN Chris England, Old Street, 2016, £8.99, pb, 467pp, 9781910400272

This is the second novel in the series by Chris England set against the backdrop of pre-First World War music halls and vaudeville. Both novels feature Arthur Dandoe as the main character.

The curtain rises on the story of rivalry between the young comedians Charlie Chaplin and Dandoe in 1910, and falls in 1913.

The portrayal of Chaplin and Dandoe can only be described as captivating. Chaplin’s insecurity, egotism and determination to monopolise the affections of Tilly Beckett, who Dandoe falls in love with, are masterfully contrasted with Dandoe’s ambitions and aspirations. His foremost desire was to advance in the comedians’ hierarchy that formed part of Fred Karno’s immensely successful Edwardian ‘Fun Factory’ and to avoid the jealous spitefulness of Chaplin. Much of the action takes place in a box car hired to transport the cast across America by train. The appealing descriptions of America during the period, from bustling Los Angeles to copper-rich Butte, Montana, and to the ‘shimmering heat’ of Salt Lake City and the often less-than-salubrious accommodation where the cast boarded, all help to set the stage for the appearance of eccentric but believable characters, such as Whimsical Walker whose style of clowning fails to impress Chaplin. The novel provides insights into the growing popularity of the ‘Marx boys’, Mack Sennett’s Keystone cops and the arrival of silent comedy films as a rival to the slapstick humour provided by the Fun Factory.

This novel is a remarkable achievement because it seamlessly blends fact and fiction. The characters and plot carry readers along as if we were fellow thespians accompanying them through their squabbles and successes. Excellent, engaging and highly entertaining, this is historical fiction writing at its very best.

Myfanwy Cook THE TUMBLING TURNER SISTERS Juliette Fay, Gallery, 2016, $24.99, hb, 339pp, 9781501134470 It’s 1919 in a small town in western New York State. The Turner family – the frustrated, dissatisfied mother, almost silent father and four diverse daughters – are poor, as in one rent check away from being thrown out on the street. Then their mild-mannered father gets in a bar brawl, is injured, and loses his job. Mother goes into action.

She trains, makes costumes, and then puts her daughters on the vaudeville circuit. The Tumbling Turner Sisters (ages 13-19) are born.

Told in trading chapters by the two middle daughters, shy, brainy Winnie and headstrong, passionate Gert, the women (with the oldest war widow daughter’s infant Harry in tow) travel by train from town to town, coming of age among the performers of a dying art form. They glean wit, wisdom, love and heartbreak in the process. On the HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 39

brink of renown, a hotel fire threatens devastation to both the act and their lives.

Told in the picaresque style, with bon mots from vaudeville performers leading in to each chapter, Juliette Fay’s fun-house turn on Little Women is a tour de force. The vaudeville circuit, its players, audiences, and its theaters come to glorious life through the eyes of the Turner family. By turns hilarious and full of unexpected surfacing depths, The Tumbling Turner Sisters is a class act, indeed.

Highly recommended.

Eileen Charbonneau FEVER AT DAWN Péter Gárdos (trans. Elizabeth Szász), Doubleday, 2016, £12.99, hb, 232pp, 9780857523785 / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $24.00, hb, 240pp, 9780544769793 1945 and war has just ended in Europe. Miklós (family name not revealed) and Lili Reich were both Jewish-Hungarian prisoners and survivors of Belsen. Both were sent, independently, to Sweden after the war to assist in their recovery from the horrors of the camp. Miklós decides to write to every young female Hungarian war refugee sent to Sweden in the hope of finding someone who might have known him from his home town of Debrecen. The hospital doctors have told him that tuberculosis has destroyed his lungs and he is given just six months to live. Lili, who is also hospitalised with a kidney infection, receives one of Miklós’s letters and she decides to write back. The story tells of their epistolary love affair – both traumatised by their Belsen experiences.

It is a gently narrated novel, delightfully and movingly narrated. The reader can feel nothing but empathy and admiration for our two heroes, willing them to succeed in this unlikely romance, to garner something from the wreckage of their lives.

The book is based upon true events of the author’s own parents.

Douglas Kemp THE GIRL FROM THE SAVOY Hazel Gaynor, William Morrow, 2016, $15.99/ C$19.99, pb, 448pp, 9780062403476 / Harper, 2016, £7.99, pb, 528pp, 9780008162283 Dolly Lane’s dream is to be someone, specifically a chorus girl in post-Great War London. Her move from being a maid at a small country house to cleaning rooms at the Savoy Hotel in London is a step in that direction, as she tells her new roommates, several of whom share her fantasies of fame and fortune. What she doesn’t tell them is her real reason for leaving Mawdesley Hall and the dreadful secret of her past.

Dolly literally runs into her ticket onto the stage, in the form of Perry Clements, a composer in search of inspiration. His sister, iconic performer Loretta May, is also searching for something more.

The relationship these three begin to build teaches them all something about humanity, and about real life outside of the sequins, outrageous behavior, and upbeat rhythms of the Jazz Age. Along the way Dolly learns other hard lessons, about trust, power, and memory; she has to grow up to achieve her dreams, and sometimes that means leaving others 40 | Reviews |

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behind.

Gaynor’s story is fast-paced, light, and mostly bright even during Dolly’s difficult times. Readers will enjoy the descriptions of the vibrant London nightlife and the Pretty Young Things who defined the era; there’s plenty of name-dropping and gossip in the halls of the Savoy to help set the scene.

Reminders of the war are present, as well, with disabled veterans and discussions of the boys who didn’t come back keeping Dolly and her friends connected to their previous lives and injecting the occasional somber note, which provides some balance to the tale. Dolly’s optimism and hope, however, will keep readers cheering for her and the other young women coming of age during this time.

Helene Williams THE SKY OVER LIMA Juan Gómez Bárcena (trans. Andrea Rosenberg), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $25.00, hb, 256pp, 9780544630055 An amusing true story of catfishing before its time, The Sky over Lima takes place in 1914 Peru, where we meet two young law students, Jose Galvez and Carlos Rodriguez, sons of very different but equally wealthy families. Erstwhile starving poets and Bohemian free spirits, the pair is frustrated by the boredom of family prestige and obligation, as well as admittedly mediocre poetic abilities.

Enter the hoax. In an effort to access the fresh work of the famous Nobel laureate, Juan Ramón Jimenez, the boys concoct for him a fictitious pen pal named Georgina Hubner, a beautiful woman who seduces Jimenez from afar, obtaining an unpublished copy of his poetry. The joke soon takes on a life of its own. The letters become more and more intimate and passionate, as they impart Georgina with personality and living identity; and her epistolary becomes a novel of its own. In the liberating anonymity, the young men learn as much about life and literature as they do about themselves.

Gómez Bárcena’s debut novel offers a unique voice, framed in short chapters, each leveraging the tone and tension of the last. The historical and cultural touches are vibrant, making the city of Lima and its people a character in itself. We look forward to more from this author.

Jackie Drohan

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THE ONE MAN Andrew Gross, Minotaur, 2016, $26.99, hb, 432pp, 9781250079503 Alfred Mendl is a renowned Polish physicist who has dedicated his life to electromagnetic research. When he and his family are captured and sent to Auschwitz, the U.S. government sets a plan in motion to free him.

Why? It appears that Mendl has knowledge

shared only by one other person – a physicist working for the Nazis. As the Nazis inch closer to an atomic weapon, Mendl’s expertise is desperately needed by his mentor, Niels Bohr, and the other scientists involved in what came to be known as the Manhattan Project. Indeed, without Mendl’s formulas, the Allied effort to separate U-235 and U-238 – the secret to creating the powerful reaction required in an atomic bomb – will likely come too late, and the Nazis, who realize they are losing the War, will be victorious.

The highest powers in the U.S. have set the plan in motion, locating and training young Intelligence Lieutenant Nathan Blum (who has lost his entire family to the Nazis in Poland) to infiltrate Auschwitz and retrieve Mendl.

In an epilogue to this suspenseful, wonderful, sometimes difficult read, Gross explains the origins of the idea here – his father-in-law had lived through the Holocaust and dares never speak of it, even though he doesn’t know what became of his family in Poland. As Gross started his research, he learned about Niels Bohr, whose harrowing escape from Denmark, after having been awarded the Nobel Prize in 1922, came as a jumping-off place for Gross’s creation of Alfred Mendl, who is not an historical figure. Although Gross is best known for his non-historical thrillers, he hits this one out of the park. The reader becomes engrossed and stays engrossed; the characters are beautifully drawn, and the history speaks for itself. A highly recommended read.

Ilysa Magnus THE DARKNESS KNOWS: A Viv and Charlie Mystery Cheryl Honigford, Sourcebooks, 2016, $15.99/ C$22.50, pb, 338pp, 978492628613 Former secretary Vivian Witchell plays a gumshoe’s sidekick on radio station WCHI’s The Darkness Knows. She likes the attention the press pays her until after she trips over a dead body one late night in October 1938. Now reporters want interviews, the police ask questions, and a fan mentions her in a threatening letter. Of course, Vivian’s not thoroughly convinced the murderer will really come after her; then someone tries to kill her at the annual Halloween party. She became an actress because she craved excitement, so she’s not about to sit around and wait to be killed. Nor will she allow another actress to take over such a plum role. If that happens, she might as well bid her career goodbye.

Private detective Charlie Haverman is the special consultant for The Darkness Knows. The station manager also hires him to protect Vivian, but that task proves challenging. She won’t stay home, and she insists on poking her nose into his investigation into the murder. In fact, her presence vexes him almost as much as her dates with the debonair actor who plays Harvey Diamond, gumshoe extraordinaire on the radio drama. As secrets, lies, and suspects mount, so does Vivian and Charlie’s relationship. When they get too close, the killer decides they both need to die.

Murder with a hint of romance and scandal introduces readers to the Viv and Charlie Mystery 20th Century

series. Honigford vividly recreates Chicago during the Depression. The depth of her research and her realistic portrayal of old-time radio transport readers back to its golden age, when listeners gathered around their sets to hear The Shadow, Boston Blackie, or The Thin Man. This is a thrilling adventure laced with humor that keeps readers guessing whodunit until the end.

Cindy Vallar

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THE BALLROOM Anna Hope, Doubleday, 2016, £12.99, hb, 320pp, 9780857521965 / Random House, 2016, $27, hb, 336pp, 9780812995152 It is the long hot summer of 1911, and Dr Charles Fuller works as a First Medical Officer at the Sharston Lunatic Asylum in West Yorkshire – based upon the real West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, which only fully closed in 2003. Sharston is a huge institution with around two thousand inmates, set amongst the rolling dales. Charles is committed to developing his theory of therapy through music, but he is also an enthusiastic eugenicist, wanting to develop a better society through selective breeding of superior genes. The story is also narrated through two others – both inmates in the asylum; Ella Fay worked at the local wool mill, and one day, she angrily rebelled at the mind-numbing and dangerous work, and was promptly despatched to Sharston, where she was incarcerated. John Mulligan, an Irishman, intrigues Charles by his chronic melancholy and lack of response to stimulus, but he decides to make him a case study to demonstrate the benefits of music upon the mentally ill. As the story develops, Ella and John develop a mutual attraction during the weekly dancing between the two otherwise separated sexes, while problematical issues with Charles’ sexuality and then his own mental stability become apparent. The developing relationship between Ella and John takes place during the oppressive and constant heat of the summer, and it ends in profound consequences for all of the main characters.

It is a moving and poetically written book, gentle in its descriptions of harshness, beauty and intolerance. It is a revelation to see just how huge and self-contained the asylum was, as well as how little could be done to help those unfortunates inside and the degree of their general mistreatment – the more capable inmates worked in conditions approaching slavery or tied labour.

Douglas Kemp GREEN DAWN AT ST ENDA’S: The Celtic Colours Trilogy, Book 1 Tracey Iceton, Cinnamon Press, 2016, £9.99, pb, 447pp, 9781909077997 This novel tells the story of William ‘Finn’ Devoy, who is sent from New York to a Dublin boarding 20th Century

school in 1911, aged twelve, against the background of the build-up to the 1916 Easter Rising. Finn’s headmaster is Patrick Pearse, one of the Rising’s leaders, and he encounters other key figures in Ireland’s emerging fight for independence (notably James Connolly and Constance Markievicz) at the school, where he becomes an increasingly committed member of the struggle. The novel is meticulously researched, steering the reader through all the different bodies who played a part in the Rising and the independence movement. It also weaves in the legend of Cuchulainn, Ireland’s mythological hero and fabled warrior, who the novel’s protagonist increasingly identifies with and from whom he takes his nickname.

This is the first book in a trilogy, which may be one of the problems in terms of engaging the reader with the unfolding events: setting Part One so firmly within the 1911-1916 timeframe and so firmly within the very detailed life of the school gives the story-telling a very slow pace. All the events in the boys’ lives, including plays they are involved in, are given the same weight of detail and telling as the action scenes. This impacts on the unfolding of the Rising itself, which occurs only, and quickly, in the last quarter of the book. Exposition is heavily used and there are some issues around characterisation: one early, highly criminal action by Finn has little impact on him, which seems less than plausible.

I have a long interest in this area and very much wanted to like this book, but am afraid I found it a less than satisfying read. Hopefully, the rest of the trilogy will put the story-telling more to the fore.

Catherine Hokin COLD MORNING: An Edna Ferber Mystery Ed Ifkovic, Poisoned Pen Press, 2016, $26.95, hb, 279 pp, 9781464205415 In the spring of 1932, the infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, America’s hero, is snatched from his bed by an unknown kidnapper and held for ransom. Two months later the child is found dead near Lindbergh’s home, and the hunt for the murderer begins. Almost three years later, Bruno Richard Hauptmann stands trial in Flemington, New Jersey as the main suspect in what becomes known as the “crime of the century.”

Playwright and novelist Edna Ferber and critic and radio personality Aleck Woollcott are hired by the New York Times to provide daily commentary of the trial. Edna is not fully convinced Hauptmann is guilty and is quickly becoming tired of the media frenzy surrounding the case when she finds herself in middle of a new murder mystery. A waitress at Edna’s hotel is murdered shortly after boasting she knows information that could change the course of the trial.

This is the seventh novel in the series, but one needn’t have read the previous books to fully enjoy this mystery. Full of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing, and the snappy dialog between Edna and Aleck make this a fun, fast read.

Janice Derr THE DRESS Kate Kerrigan, Head of Zeus /Trafalgar Square, 2016, $19.95/C$23.95/£12.99, hb, 400pp,

9781784082383 The story centers on a dress that links the lives of three separate women, transcending continents and decades to pull their separate narratives into one stellar story line. Joy Fitzpatrick commissions the dress to bedazzle her husband at her thirtieth birthday party in 1950s New York. Lily Fitzpatrick lives in modern London and is a blogger on vintage clothes. When Lily stumbles across an old photo of Joy wearing the dress, her intrigue in both the woman and the couture sets the plot in motion, eventually pulling in the story of Honor Conlon, the Irish seamstress who created the stunning outfit.

The three women’s lives are bound by the dress and by the unusual connection their families have with each other. Set in dual time frames, the plot intertwines each woman’s quest. Joy wants to recapture her husband’s attention, Honor wants to establish herself as a couture designer, and Lily has challenged herself to recreate the magic that was once hidden within the fabric of the fabulous dress.

The dress itself represents a second chance for happiness for all three women, but in the end they each learn that appearances alone do not guarantee success.

I thoroughly loved this story, with all the wonderful details of vintage and couture fashions, and how the author brought rural Ireland, 1950s New York, and London to life via the fragile relationships of the three main characters.

Linda Harris Sittig THE INFINITE AIR Fiona Kidman, Aardvark Bureau, 2016, £9.99, pb, 464pp, 9781910709085 The Infinite Air tells the life story of pioneering aviator Jean Batten: her childhood in New Zealand, her dedicated mother and dysfunctional family, her brushes with the early heroes of aviation which inspired her to give up a promising musical career to pursue flying. Her passion for flying took her to the Stag Lane flying club, where Jean rubbed elbows with the great aviators and hobbyists of the 1930s (including Amy Johnson and the Prince of Wales), whilst at the same time, she and her mother subsisted on cups of tea and minute steak in a downtrodden London flat. The heartbreak and romance of aviation comes across through Jean’s determination to prove herself by flying solo to New Zealand, whatever the cost.

Although it is billed as a novel, The Infinite Air reads like a fictionalised biography, well-paced and easy to absorb. Kidman has clearly done her research; however, a discussion about which parts of the story were based on fact and which were only “inspired by fact” is missing from the end matter.

Kidman may have better served Jean’s story by turning her not inconsiderable narrative skills to a straight biography. At times the story seemed limited by the constraints of Jean’s life, whilst the fictional possibilities of the glamorous setting and characters were almost limitless. The heavy emphasis on her aviation career added to a sense of lopsidedness and aspects of Jean’s later life – her war work, coming under suspicion as a Nazi spy, her relationship with Ian Fleming and friendship HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 41

with Noel Coward - were hurried over.

A sweeping saga of a fascinating life and an entertaining insight into the early days of aviation. Jean Batten comes across as a complex, yet sympathetic – if not always likeable – woman.

Rachel Richardson

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DEATH ON THE SAPPHIRE: A Lady Frances Ffolkes Mystery R. J. Koreto, Crooked Lane, 2016, $25.99/ C$38.50, hb, 304pp, 9781629535906 Lady Frances Ffolkes is an extremely busy woman. Along with chairing the Women’s Political Equality movement, meetings with the Ladies’ Educational Improvement Club, volunteering at the soup kitchen, and managing her own finances while living independently in Edwardian-era London (specifically 1906), she also finds herself hunting for a lost manuscript. After her friend, Major Daniel Colcombe, dies under mysterious circumstances, his war manuscript, a record of his activities during South Africa’s bloody Boer War, goes missing. Lady Frances quickly discovers that it may contain scandalous secrets, and that her friend’s death may not have been an accident. With the help of her loyal maid, June Mallow, Lady Frances goes toe-to-toe with Scotland Yard, the British Secret Service, and greedy politicians in a quest to recover her friend’s stolen war memoir. But there are men following close on Lady Frances’s heels who would do anything to keep the truth about what happened on South Africa’s Sapphire River a secret.

The characters and setting of this book breathe so deeply that readers are easily drawn into the story. The dialogue and character mannerisms build up the novel’s authenticity in an enchanting way. Lady Frances is a thoughtful, witty, and mature woman. While she may be the daughter of a marquess, she works hard and approaches each challenge with sensibility and courage. She’s often undervalued and underestimated for being “just a woman,” but Lady Frances rises to the occasion each time – and I loved every minute. The author never rushes, so plot and character development are things to savor, and leading ladies like Frances are marvelous to read about.

With a memorable heroine, rich atmosphere, and intriguing mystery, Koreto has created a book that will engage and entertain readers. I eagerly await book 2. Highly recommended!

J. Lynn Else

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THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT CASTAWAY HOUSE Stephanie Lam, Penguin UK/Trafalgar Square, 2016, $14.95/£7.99, pb, 512pp, 9781405917001 Rosie Churchill, aged eighteen in 1965, has run away from home, hiding an ugly secret from her mother. She secures a flat at the once-magnificent 42 | Reviews |

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mansion called Castaway House, now broken into apartments.

The manor, high on a cliff of an English resort village, was the summer retreat of the wealthy Bray family, but now it has fallen into decay.

Everyone whispers about the terrible scandal that took place there decades before.

Rosie hears strange whistling at night and finds an old, half-finished drawing of a young man with the initials R.C. In 1924, Robert Carver arrives at the mansion to visit his dissolute cousin Alec Bray. Alec has married an actress named Clara, whom he insists he now hates. Robert at first dislikes the sardonic, calculating Clara, but then he’s drawn to her. Alec is in danger of losing his wealth through his excessive drinking and risky projects. Robert is about to lose much more in a torrid affair. Someone goes missing, or is it murder?

A disheveled old man stumbles into the manor in 1965 and swears he used to reside at Castaway House, but his memory is in tatters. Rosie pities him and tries to help him untangle his past—a past that will involve her and have major consequences on the present.

The novel alternates between ’24 and ’65, secrets and lies woven beautifully in descriptive prose.

Lam expertly shows how her characters’ deceits and selfishness can destroy people. The ultimate villain who causes the tragedy that intertwines these two stories is well-disguised from the reader until the end. British slang gives the story an authentic feel. The only complaint would be the overuse of adverbs. A spectacular debut.

Diane Scott Lewis THE PROSPECTOR J. M. G. Le Clézio (trans. C. Dickson), Atlantic, 2016, £17.99, hb, 340pp, 9781848873773 At the turn of the 20th century, on the island of Mauritius, the idyllic childhood of Alexis L’Étang and his beloved sister, Laure, is about to come to an end. Alexis’ father’s death precipitates him into a darker world and a quest which will carry him from the remote islands of the Indian Ocean to the hell of the Flanders’ battlefields and back again.

He dreams endlessly of a return to his childhood home, to Laure, and to his mysterious lover, Ouma.

This is a deceptively simple novel, gently paced and with a dreamlike quality which belies its profound harshness and cruelty. By using language which is mesmerically repetitive and ritualistic, Le Clézio overlays every scene in the novel with a sense of distance and unreality, as though nothing is really happening but is an elaborate figment of its protagonist’s fevered and obsessive imagination.

The long central section of the novel sees Alexis living rough on the island of Rodrigues, searching for the treasure of the mysterious Corsair, whose maps he has pored and dreamed over all his life.

It is evident to the reader, and everyone else in the

book, that his search is a fantasy, and this in turn makes the reader wonder if the rest of his life is also fantasy, from his joyful childhood and his romance with Laure, to his relationship with Ouma, to the war itself. For Alexis, nothing really exists but his quest for the treasure, and this is the slow, sad story of his disillusionment.

A beautiful novel, though not for you if you like a fast pace and a strong plot. It will, though, make you want to drop everything except your passport and head for Mauritius.

Sarah Bower THE SECRETS OF FLIGHT Maggie Leffler, William Morrow, 2016, $15.99/ C$19.99, pb, 368pp, 9780062427922 Mary Browning has spent a lifetime keeping secrets. Living alone and widowed, her one enjoyment in life is her weekly senior citizens’ writers’ group meetings. Everything changes on her 87th birthday, though, when 15-year-old Elyse joins their group. Shortly thereafter, Mary sees an article in the paper: Congress is awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to members of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, and a picture of Mary with two other “fly girls” is underneath the headline. Mary decides to finally share the truth about her past and hires Elyse to type her memoir.

Meanwhile, Elyse’s world is slowly falling apart.

She overhears her parents fighting about divorce, her grandmother is ill, and her best friend is upset with her when Elyse gets paired with a popular boy at school for a project.

Spunky and charming from the start, Mary’s personality instantly pulled me into the story.

Growing up, Mary struggles with her Jewish identity. Mary’s boyfriend is unable to get accepted into medical school because of the “Jewish quotas,” which leads to difficult choices for both of them.

The Secrets of Flight is a coming-of-age story for Elyse and a second-chance story for Mary.

I would have preferred less teen angst and more focus on the “fly girls,” as I felt there was an overwhelming amount of problems falling on Elyse.

However, the author elegantly weaves the narrative between past and present. The historical elements are well-researched, and all the characters were well-written. I enjoyed the chapter in which Mary and fellow pilots were forced into an emergency landing, and while walking outside at night, the women hope they won’t be arrested on charges of solicitation for wearing pants!

I’m a fan of “herstories” highlighting courageous women, and this emotionally-driven, captivating book provided a “girl power” thrill for me.

J. Lynn Else A KISS FROM MR FITZGERALD Natasha Lester, Hachette Australia, 2016, A$29.99, pb, 391pp, 9780733634635 Evelyn Lockhart lives a conservative life in Concord, Massachusetts with her parents and sister. She’s expected to marry her childhood friend Charlie Whitman and settle down as wife and mother. But Evie yearns to embrace changing times, “unable to picture herself… waiting for Charlie to come home… embroidery hoop laid in her lap like 20th Century

a noose ready to squeeze the life out of her.”

When Evie comes across a woman giving birth all alone, she is frustrated by her inexperience and inability to help and is inspired to become a doctor.

In an era when there were still very few women in the medical profession, her family and Charlie are horrified, and Evie has a tough road ahead of her. Only Charlie’s elder brother, Thomas, and his mother approve. Spurned by her family, Evie must find a way to support herself in New York and pay for her tuition. Her beauty, dancing and singing skills lead her to the Ziegfeld Follies, where she works at night while studying during the day.

Evie is a sassy young woman who utterly captures the reader with her warmth and spirit.

She has her fair share of ups and downs, not least in her romantic entanglement with Thomas and her affection for the mystery child called Mary. The research is thorough and the dialogue authentic, full of the sparkle of the Roaring Twenties, but there is also serious commentary on the struggles of a woman trying to break into a male world that considers women in childbirth mere specimens.

The author has included historical notes and a playlist of great 1920s songs that feature in the novel, with the suggestion you listen to them as you read along. This exuberant and engaging novel is definitely “the cat’s pyjamas”.

Marina Maxwell BROKEN ANGELS Gemma Liviero, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95, pb, 464pp, 9781503934863 In the Lodz ghetto in 1942, young Elsi is awakened by her mother, who is moaning and bleeding from a self-inflicted abortion. Elsi helps her mother get to the hospital, where she’s treated

by Doctor Willem Gerhardt, who, despite being the son of a high-ranking Nazi official, privately disagrees with the regime’s policies. While Elsi joins a resistance group and is subsequently imprisoned, Willem is posted to a children’s home, where Aryan-looking youngsters are taught German ways. Willem continues his recalcitrant behavior by taking risks and falsifying documents to save children from death camps. There he protects a little blonde, blue-eyed girl, Matilda, a Romanian abductee, and later, in a prison, he saves a very sick Elsi from being exterminated. As Hitler’s armies sweep across Europe, fate brings these three ‘broken angels’ together. Readers will be hooked while they learn of their destiny.

As in the theological story of “The Angel with a Broken Wing,” here the ‘broken angels’ are saved from darkness, adversity, hate, and seemingly hopeless situations and healed through love and sacrifices. Liviero continues with her exposition of Hitler’s Generalplan Ost program, which was begun in her earlier novel, Pastel Orphans. Broken Angels is similarly narrated in the first-person voices of the three main characters. The horrors of WWII and the terrible hardships faced by innocent civilians incarcerated in the ghettos, concentration camps, prisons, and elsewhere are vividly recounted. However, it sounds somewhat odd to have three dissimilar protagonists, particularly in terms of age, speaking in similar voices. Also, 20th Century

the lack of colloquialism in the dialogue, for individuals of differing backgrounds, requires effort in transporting our minds to that period.

Nevertheless, this is another prodigious novel that presents the dreadfulness of the Holocaust.

Waheed Rabbani NEARLY ALWAYS Ken McCoy, Piatkus, 2016, £7.99, 439pp, 9780349410234 In 1937 Helen Durkin abandons a baby boy in a Leeds bus station. She is little Billy’s mother, a 14-year-old victim of rape. He is taken into a local children’s home, where he is contented and safe. In 1954, he is nearly 18, well grown and likeable with a mental age of only four years. He has two great friends on a neighbouring estate, teenage brother and sister Arnold and Lucy. When a girl from his home is raped and killed, the evidence points to Billy. He is deemed unfit to plead and condemned to life in a secure mental establishment. Lucy and Arnold are outraged. Fear and confusion forced their vulnerable friend to make a false confession.

Billy is innocent and deserves a fair trial. Helen Durkin realises from publicity given to the case that this boy condemned to a living death is her own son. She is now a beautiful woman, but emotionally crippled. Her resolve to find and kill her abuser must wait until Billy is free.

Billy’s story develops within a maze of progress blocked at every turn by the threat of disaster and sinister violent villains. Fifteen-year-old Lucy and her brother Arnold, a clever young man of 18, are surely attempting an impossible task, and the valiant pair is risking their own futures and even their lives. But Detective Inspector Daniel Earnshawe, at first sceptical, is now firmly on their side. Lucy, Billy and readers are rewarded at last in a splendid scene of Alice-in-Wonderland chaos. In spite of a complex plot, this novel is character-led, especially by the forceful and passionate Lucy, and Bill, who has his own brand of logic and love of jokes.

Nancy Henshaw PRAYERS THE DEVIL ANSWERS Sharyn McCrumb, Atria, 2016, $25.99, hb, 352pp, 9781476772813 Rules matter, especially in magic, so the Dumb Supper ritual practiced by a Southern mountain community’s maidens to lure their future husbands has wide-ranging repercussions in Sharyn McCrumb’s latest novel. In 1936 Appalachia, Ellendor Robbins fights to keep her husband alive after a cold takes a nasty turn into pneumonia.

When he succumbs, she convinces the town fathers to give her his job as sheriff so that she can support her two young sons. She proves remarkably good at her work, earning the respect of the men who work beside her as well as townspeople she serves. Ellie’s greatest challenge comes when a condemned killer must return to the scene of his crime to be hanged – and only the sheriff may perform the execution.

This novel sings in full-throated beauty of life essentials as it describes a world of steel-eyed spinsters who make a sheriff ’s deputy feel not just ten years old again, but “with a frog in his

pocket.” Its direct simplicity circles back to the beginning of the story as the inevitable conclusion falls into place without a false note. With deep and abiding understanding and a poetic hand, Sharyn McCrumb captures the folk ballad melancholy of the Tennessee hills and hollows.

Eileen Charbonneau A DANDY LITTLE GAME Bill McCulloch, Open Books, 2016, $16.95, pb, 274pp, 9780692601211 In 1944, Johnny Sharansky is a middle-aged gambler who’s never had a regular job. He’s known most of the age’s infamous mobsters and has managed, up to now, to keep a well-earned and careful career without tarnish. But Johnny’s hit a bad patch in what he and other gamblers call “a dandy little game” of making enough money, by whatever means, to live well. Right now bad luck follows Johnny everywhere to the point where he has to sell all his clothing to a rag picker.

Meeting Margaret turns his luck yet again.

To him she is gorgeous, and he’ll do anything to impress her. For Margaret, her obsession with criminal mobster-types is automatically fed on meeting Johnny, who plays along with her fantasy, without thinking. Johnny’s not afraid of engaging in daring, risky moves, but he’s obviously going against every gambler’s rule ever spoken or written, with his latest plan to carry out a “fake” heist.

Needless to say, the best laid plans go awry, but the revelations and consequences coming out of this “meshuge” keep the reader flipping the pages. For Margaret’s fiancé and her father are not clean-cut money-makers of upper society, but just as crooked and cold-blooded as the biggest thugs Johnny has known.

Organized crime and high society living are waning as WWII is gliding toward its end, and McCulloch captures the fading scenes and dialogue of gambling, baseball, horse racing, highbrow living, etc. in perfect pitch and amusing style. In spite of the silliness of Johnny’s plot for a great score, his antics, coupled with Margaret’s naïve attitude, make A Dandy Little Game a fun read!

Viviane Crystal DANDY GILVER AND A MOST MISLEADING HABIT Catriona McPherson, Hodder and Stoughton, 2016, £19.99, hb, 323pp, 9781473633414 I enjoy this historical crime series set in interwar Scotland. In the early books Dandy is bored with her life as the wife of a country gentleman, who can only talk about country pursuits, and we follow her gradual involvement in detection, which gives her a purpose and an interest. There is also a frisson of sexual tension between her and her partner in crime, Alex, who Dandy finds to be an intellectual equal.

In this novel they have settled down to a deep friendship and find themselves in Lanarkshire investigating both a breakout from a mental hospital on the moors and a fire and the death of Mother Mary at a nunnery nearby on Christmas Eve 1932. As usual with McPherson, there are many possible suspects and reasons offered for HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 43

what happened. There are clues throughout to the final solution but for the unalert reader it comes with a nice twist!

McPherson writes well, gives good atmospheric description, with the period detail arising naturally out of the story without overburdening the reader with too much trivia, and plots a story that holds the attention with interesting backgrounds and characters. Well worth reading! jay Dixon VILLA TRISTE Patrick Modiano (trans. John Cullen), Other, 2016, $13.95/C$17.95/£9.99, pb, 170pp, 9781590517673 Triste. French for “sad.” And that’s the mood of this short novel from Nobel Prize winner Patrick Modiano.

Villa Triste opens with the narrator wandering around a decrepit French resort town on the Swiss border where, in the 1960s, while he was a spry, idealistic young 18-year-old, he had a summer fling. Having fled Paris for reasons not clearly identified, the young man assumes the false identity of a Russian count, one Victor Chmara. At first, “Victor” just wants to blend in with the crowds in the bustling resort town; he wanders from casino to café to hotel like a ghost. But he is quickly noticed by two strangers—a young, beautiful, aspiring actress named Yvonne and her young doctor friend, Meinthe. Together they whisk Victor away from hiding and into a world of debauchery, beauty pageants, and late-night parties. While that sounds exciting, nothing of it is; in the end it’s all just sad.

All too soon, summer comes to an end, and Victor realizes that he needs to return to reality, but his two friends want nothing to do with it. They want to live in their make-believe.

Modiano’s work is a story about nothing. We learn little about Yvonne. We know nothing about Meinthe’s secret work in Switzerland. Even Victor’s fears are left vague. The reader is dropped into a summer of fun that ends as quickly as it began.

But in that nothing is a story about innocence and lost youth. Modiano is able to weave a story of a summer of fake identities and mystery into a revelation of our own search for identity and loss.

Ultimately, Villa Triste is anything but sad, but rather a languid and mysterious read.

Bryan Dumas

C

THE CIGAR FACTORY Michele Moore, Univ. of South Carolina, 2016, $27.99, hb, 273pp, 9781611175905 I’ve never been to Charleston, South Carolina, but this book brought the place alive for me. It presents a rich atmosphere, allowing readers to experience the sights and smells of the historic city.

The story follows two cigar factoryworker families, starting in 1917.

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Cassie McGonegal and her niece Brigid work in the upstairs, where whites hand-roll cigars. Meliah Amey Ravenel works in the basement stemming the tobacco leaves, for much less than the white workers make, but it’s the best-paying job an African American woman can get. Her husband, Joe, is part of the famed “Mosquito Fleet” of fishing boats, his catch providing a large part of the food on the family table.

Factory conditions are dismal: all workers come out of the factory smelling strongly of ammonia, and everyone breathes tobacco dust, which especially affects Brigid. The African American women workers’ restroom has no door to protect their privacy, and harassment is rampant. The pace at which the employees are expected to work is extremely taxing. As cigar-making machines are eventually introduced, the work pacing only gets worse. There is talk of forming a union, but it’s not until World War II that the workers attempt to stand up to the factory owners.

Moore provides a glossary of the local dialect, such as “dayclean” for sunrise, or “true-mouth” describing someone who won’t lie. I only had to do a little flipping back and forth to the glossary: the context helped. I learned about the Southern working class, race relations in Charleston, and got a new appreciation of factory conditions that 20th-century unions tried to combat. The plot does not have a big, exciting climax, but the reader will care about the characters and feel satisfied with the denouement. It’s among the best historical fiction I’ve read in a long while.

B. J. Sedlock MATA HARI’S LAST DANCE Michelle Moran, Touchstone, 2016, $25.00, hb, 272pp, 9781476716398 / $16.00, pb, 288pp, 9781476716381 In this latest novel by one of my favorite authors, Michelle Moran shakes off her familiar plot design (humble main character, ruthless antagonist, a noble leader the main character supports, and epic historical backdrops) while sensitively fictionalizing the life of exotic dancer Mata Hari. Readers will discover a woman who, after escaping from a brutal husband, reinvents herself through dance. Born Margaretha Zelle, after moving to France in 1904, Margaretha becomes “the Star of the East,” Mata Hari, and quickly rises to stardom. But as Mata Hari tries to keep her past a secret, particularly the daughter she was forced to leave behind, she pushes away the one man who genuinely cares about her.

Thus, Mata Hari becomes her own antagonist, and her inability to see beyond the fictional life she has created when war breaks out across Europe leads to her ultimate demise.

Moran masterfully weaves together Mata Hari’s past and present life in this well-researched story. Our main character does not have much development until near the end; however, as bits and pieces of Mata Hari’s past are revealed, the strength and vulnerability of this character drive the story forward. I would like to thank Moran for not going into explicit detail regarding Mata Hari’s promiscuity. It would have been easy to give her life an erotic focus, but Moran centers on the woman

who overcame hardship and had to live through the tension of WWI. While she is at times naïve and selfish, I still found myself rooting for Mata Hari.

Moran fans will find less exploration of time and character in this book versus her earlier works. However, there is still a strong emotional undercurrent in the life of this unfairly judged woman who escaped the horrors of life through dance. This is a satisfying, albeit short, read.

Recommended.

J. Lynn Else A RISING MAN Abir Mukherjee, Harvill Secker, 2016, £12.99, hb, 386pp, 9781846559013 Calcutta in 1919: Captain Sam Wyndham, a former Scotland Yard detective, has arrived in Calcutta to head up a new post in the police force. Tormented by his experiences in the Great War, Wyndham finds himself catapulted into the murder of a senior official in the administration.

Political dissent is rising, and the stability of the Raj is threatened. Is the murder a political statement, or something darker? Wyndham and his two new colleagues, Inspector Digby and Sergeant Bannerjee, find their investigation takes them from dingy opium dens to the height of society.

I am not the biggest fan of crime novels, but I found myself quickly drawn into this tale of murder and political intrigue. The main characters are all effectively drawn, realistic, and believable.

The plot is strong, while the novel is well written and effectively portrays the culture of British India at a time of great turmoil and social change where the British hierarchy is struggling to maintain its privileged lifestyle in the face of growing Indian demands for equality. Thoroughly enjoyable. You don’t have to be a crime fan to enjoy this excellent book. I predict a bright future for Captain Sam Wyndham. More please!

Mike Ashworth DARKTOWN Thomas Mullen, Atria, 2016, $26.00/C$35.00, hb, 384pp, 9781501133862 / Little Brown, 2016, £14.99, hb, 384pp, 9780349142050 In 1948, the city of Atlanta hires its first AfricanAmerican police officers. Although uniformed and armed, the eight new officers find they are still targets of bigotry and racism in the post-war “Jim Crow” South.

Lucius Boggs, son of an affluent and influential black preacher, and his partner, Tommy Smith, try to untangle the mystery of a female black murder victim. Their unofficial investigation – there are no black detectives – runs afoul of some powerful white citizens, as well as a group of white ex-cops who work clandestinely with the police on “special jobs.” Simultaneously, avowed racist cop Dunlow and his progressive young partner, Rakestraw, also have an interest in the murder case, although with very different agendas. Rakestraw and Boggs try to keep a lid on the situation, but racial tensions between the black and white officers escalate to a dangerous level, a point at which the black officers fear for their lives.

Novelist Mullen’s research is impeccable, and he 20th Century

brings to light such interesting details as the fact that, although issued firearms, the first black officers were not given squad cars and were relegated to foot patrols in black neighborhoods. This is an exciting and entertaining story, and it brings to light an aspect of the civil rights struggle that is rarely seen in print. As much as it is a fascinating look back, the novel is also timely, as tensions between the police and African-Americans are once again in the news.

This novel is highly recommended for those who like a good police procedural and for those interested in the African-American struggle to cross over the thin blue line of policing.

John Kachuba MAID OF OAKLANDS MANOR Terri Nixon, Piatkus, 2016, £8.99, pb, 423pp, 9780349401034 In the summer of 1912, Lizzie Parker, the new scullery maid at Oaklands Manor, proves to be disastrously accident-prone. Constantly dreading dismissal, instead she finds herself personal maid to wilful Evie Cresswell, who likes her; so does friend of the family, Jack Carlisle. Evie celebrates her 18th birthday and takes possession of the Kalteng Diamond. The disappearance of this fabulous jewel leads to Lizzie’s arrest and imprisonment for theft.

In 1916 Lizzie is released early from her grim life in Holloway prison. Jack Carlisle is waiting for her at the prison gates, and she is restored to Oaklands. But the old order has collapsed and she has returned to a world at war where Evie is a VAD ambulance driver who has given her heart to Will Davies, the former butcher’s assistant from home. He has been fighting at the Front but is missing, declared a deserter. Jack, who can be so loving, so mindful of Lizzie’s well-being, becomes elusive and moody. There have always been dark rumours about the death of Oaklands’ heir, Lord Henry Cresswell, in the Boer War, where Jack was the only witness to his heroic end. Oaklands becomes a place of mystery for Lizzie leading her into mortal danger and satisfying claustrophobic secret passages. And the Kalteng Diamond has never been found. This book ends with a wedding but whose and to whom? A family tree would have been useful but would unfortunately solve most of the mystery.

This is an easy-to-read book with a host of characters, many undergoing changes as readers get to know them well. It is a patchwork story that may need to be read more than once to be fully appreciated.

Nancy Henshaw THE STRIVERS’ ROW SPY Jason Overstreet, Kensington, 2016, $25.00, hb, 448pp, 9781496701763 The Roaring Twenties in New York City is a heady, exciting time for people of color, who are transforming art, music, poetry, theater, and more – a time otherwise known as the Harlem Renaissance. Sidney Temple, a bright young African-American, is approached by the FBI, via Herbert Hoover, to work as a spy. He’s happily married to a young, rather sheltered artist, Loretta, 20th Century

but knows he cannot tell her anything about his training or his job. While all these wonderful days are passing, a movement is growing, one fed by Herbert Hoover’s anti-Communist hunt. He sees any black leader or supporter as a Communist who needs to be taken down.

The bigotry is obvious, but Overstreet accurately depicts the activities of certain individuals that raise readers’ suspicions as well. Marcus Garvey, W. E. B. Du Bois, Max Eastman, James Weldon Johnson, and Claude McKay are being watched.

Garvey and Du Bois are clearly enemies, one attempting to move all African-Americans to Africa and the other believing that education and leadership in America are the ways that bigotry grows into acceptance. Sidney is assigned to get close to Garvey, but he clearly and strongly believes in Du Bois’ principled, ambitious ideas.

The plot carries some academic discussion but also depicts the violence and verbal battles that escalate to an intense pitch in between scenes at Harlem’s jazz concerts, artistic shows, literary discussions and parades of support. Sidney’s personal life will come to a climactic challenge, one that literally and figuratively parallels the challenge facing those moving into another cycle of the battle for civil rights. Superb historical fiction and a great read!

Viviane Crystal DESIGN FOR DYING Renee Patrick, Forge, 2016, $24.99/C$34.99, hb, 318pp, 9780765381842 I’m a sucker for a Hollywood mystery, and Design for Dying fit the bill perfectly. Set in Los Angeles in 1937, it’s narrated by former aspiring actress Lillian Frost turned realist department store salesgirl. Her ex-roommate Ruby Carroll has been murdered, and detectives question Lillian as they parted on bad terms. Not only did Ruby steal Lillian’s deceased mother’s brooch, but she’s been found in a glamorous gown stolen from Edith Head’s wardrobe department at Paramount. Edith is both sympathetic and practical and helps Lillian unravel Ruby’s mysteries that led to her death.

Featuring real-life characters in fiction can be tricky, but Patrick is up to the task. Making Head an adjunct to the investigation rather than a lead means she doesn’t overwhelm Lillian and neither do cameos by Bob Hope and Barbara Stanwyck. There’s an entertaining mix of gangsters and moguls, and they’re all drawn to the movie business, which seemed to drive Los Angeles in the 1930s. Head is not yet an Oscar winner in 1937, and so she’s bedeviled by studio politics and tied to the shaky future of her alcoholic boss, Travis Banton. She’s fiercely protective of him while extending a hand to Lillian. I hope these two find another mystery.

Ellen Keith THE WOMEN OF THE SOUK: A Mamur Zapt Mystery Set in Pre-World War I Egypt Michael Pearce, Severn House, 2016, $28.99/£19.99, hb, 176pp, 9780727886187 In 1913, on a hot, sand-stormy day in Cairo, Captain Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt (Head

of the Secret Police) spies through his office window a young Egyptian girl standing in the courtyard. When his clerk tells him she’s only a schoolgirl, and that she’s been waiting there for a couple of hours, he angrily asks him to let her in.

Layla informs Owen that her sixth-form classmate, Marie Kewfik, was kidnapped over a week ago. She has come to see him in desperation, for the wealthy Kewfiks have done nothing to secure her release, and the City Police are dragging their feet. Owen is reluctant to take on Marie’s case. However, due to the perseverance of Layla and her supportive classmates, and the Khedive’s insistence, Owen is drawn in to resolve Marie’s abduction as well as other connected events: hashish dealings, murder, and a potential revolt against the British.

In this 19th installment, Michael Pearce has concocted yet another intriguing mystery. The series theme of tensions created by Turkish and British involvement in Egyptian affairs, leading to criminal activity and conspiracies, is integral to this novel as well. However, true to its title, this offering concentrates on the treatment of native women by their menfolk and society in general. As with other countries during the period, Owen’s wife Zeinab is shown as a defiant “New Woman” who stands up for her rights and freedoms and is a model for other ladies. They even assist in the liberation of the kidnapped girl. Although this aspect slows the novel’s pace, the masterful descriptions of Cairo life during those chaotic times and the witty dialogue make it an informative and entertaining read.

Waheed Rabbani BORROWING DEATH: A Charlotte Brody Mystery Cathy Pegau, Kensington, 2016, $15.00/C$16.95, pb, 256pp, 9781496700568 The Alaska Territory seems like an unlikely place for a tea-cozy mystery—think whiskey and frigid temperatures instead of tea and scones—but author Cathy Pegau’s second book set in the roughand-tumble town of Cordova in 1919 provides a unique setting for crime.

While many in Cordova feel that Alaska is no place for a woman on her own, suffragette and journalist Charlotte Brody has journeyed to the last frontier for the same reason many come to Alaska – to start over. Working on the town’s newspaper, Charlotte covers the story of hardware store owner Lyle Fiske, whose body is discovered after a fire.

Charlotte and Deputy Marshal (and blossoming love interest) James Eddington assume the fire is the work of an arsonist, but Charlotte’s brother Michael, the town’s doctor and coroner, reveals that Fiske died from a stab wound. Charlotte’s investigation of the murder turns up a number of likely suspects as the shady activities in Fiske’s business and in his marriage come to light.

The author peppers the book with interesting historical information regarding Prohibition and the right to vote as well as cultural dilemmas affecting women, such as practicing a full-time profession and dealing with unwanted pregnancies.

At times, Pegau’s attempts at historical verisimilitude can be heavy-handed, a problem she will likely work out in future editions. Charlotte HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 45

Brody is a bright and intelligent character, full of the same energy and sparkle as the Alaskan setting itself. This is likely to become a popular series in the Kensington line-up, particularly for readers more interested in history and women’s issues than in dark psychological fare or gore.

Lorraine Norwood THE HEAVENLY TABLE Donald Ray Pollock, Doubleday, 2016, $26.95/ C$36.95, hb, 384pp, 9780385541299 The Jewett family is grasping at existence as Southern sharecroppers in 1917 when their patriarch drops dead. With their mother long gone, Cane, Cob, and Chimney (named for remarkable circumstances in their father’s hardscrabble life) are on their own. They’re aged 23 to 18, but only Cane, the eldest of the trio, can read, so they take inspiration from Bloody Bill Bucket, a Confederate soldier turned bank robber in a dime novel. It might be their only path to riches and the Heavenly Table their father dreamed of: eternally overflowing with steaks the size of wagon wheels and hot buttered biscuits. The Jewett Gang kills their landlord, steals his horses and guns, and quickly become infamous.

Far to their north, Ellsworth Fiddler ekes out nearly as tenuous an existence as an Ohio farmer.

His only son disappears, perhaps to the nearby army camp, and Fiddler loses the family’s savings to a swindler, leaving him to search blindly for revenge, and for his son.

Who can bring these far-flung characters, plus two-score thugs, soiled doves, and colorful skimwits face to face? It’s the award-winning Donald Ray Pollock, in The Heavenly Table. Pollock creates the most hapless gang since Fargo’s kidnappers and hurls them northward, scattering mindless mayhem in their wake. I missed the leavening of Fargo’s warm-hearted police chief, but even The Heavenly Table ends with a note of redemption.

If you like rural mayhem and black comedy, take a seat at Mr. Pollock’s Table and prepare for a feast.

Jo Ann Butler BLIND ARROWS Anthony J. Quinn, No Exit/Trafalgar Square, 2015, $16.95/£7.99, pb, 253pp, 9781843445357 Quinn mixes love, violence, and treachery in the simmering cauldron that is Dublin in 1919. Hopes for an independent republican state did not end with the aborted uprising of 1918. Donations from Americans support the Irish Republican Army’s preparation for war.

Michael Collins, the IRA leader, is on thin ice—bogged down in financial minutiae, suspected of misusing funds, while the British, who have a price on his head, hold information that refutes the financial charges. Martin Kant, a reporter from London, has tuberculosis. Work is keeping him alive. He feeds on information from British intelligence and spies so he can write about the murders of young women with IRA ties.

Lily Mirren is secretary to the head of British intelligence, a widower whose young son has been kidnapped. After a meeting with Kant, who falls in love with her, Lily disappears. Kant is concerned that Lily is involved with the IRA. Is her son being 46 | Reviews |

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ransomed to get information? If so, Lily may be in serious trouble—or dead. Worrying about Lily gets Kant mixed up in Collins’ business and puts him in constant danger.

Blind Arrows deserves a close reading. The plot takes several unexpected turns and the characters, for good or ill, can’t be pigeonholed—with one exception. The serial murders are unnecessarily gruesome. Quinn’s genius lies in pairing the magnetic Collins in a mesmerizing dance with the pathetically ill but determined Kant. Quinn also knows his history, taking us behind the scenes when the British are trying to get Collins’ support for compromise by convincing him the Irish can’t win by violence. Blind Arrows is recommended for anyone interested in 20th century Irish history.

Jeanne Greene AN UNRESTORED WOMAN AND OTHER STORIES Shobha Rao, Virago, £14.99, hb, 238pp, 9780349006444 / Flatiron, 2016, $24.99, hb, 256pp, 9781250073822 This was the first time I have encountered stories relating to the period of the Partition between India and Pakistan in 1947, and what a revelation it was! These events were not included on my school history curriculum, and it doesn’t appear to have been highlighted as a major historical event to those of us in this part of the world. Therefore, the changes wrought and the difficulties encountered during this time were an unknown element. Rao spans the various classes affected by Partition in the stories within this volume, and she reveals a very different aspect of the effects of re-drawing the boundaries. The stories are engaging as stand-alone tales but are made so much more revealing when the accompanying couplet shows the interpretation from another character’s view. From the prearranged marriages to men of another religion to their own, the subsequent rejection by their own family and their in-laws when the segregation came into force, to the refugee camps and the acknowledgement of their statelessness – some of the women’s lives were wholly unrecognisable.

There is slavery and prostitution, infanticide, unrequited love resulting in a deceitful murder, all woven into what appear at the outset to be quiet lives.

Shobha Rao has an aptitude to engaging the reader with charm whilst delivering an almighty punch when least expected. The storylines are quite disparate, though continuing to follow the main thread of the changes being undertaken to highlight the impact of this time in history. This collection has whetted my interest in this neglected period.

Cathy Kemp THE GUARDIAN STONES Eric Reed, Poisoned Pen Press, 2016, $26.95, hb, 260pp, 9781464205019 In 1941, young English children are being evacuated to a town in the Shropshire countryside.

It was believed they would be safe there from the German bombers beginning to crush major British cities. Few of the children enjoy this transition,

especially as they are divided up to provide hard labor for Shropshire families. The town’s residents are a motley crew, resenting the children as more mouths to feed in the middle of hard times when food is rationed. Now, one by one, four children go missing. Meanwhile, a widowed, retired American professor, Edwin Carpenter, comes to study the barrows and stones, which are similar to those at Stonehenge. He is disliked because America has not yet entered the war, but curiously follows the mysterious disappearances.

How much does the rampant superstition about the stones contribute to the fear that is increasing daily, especially when several horrific crimes occur?

Shades of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible pervade these pages, which are rife with hysterical suspicion, blame, fear and anger. Does WWII create these mad consequences far from the actual battlefront?

A nicely told historical mystery.

Viviane Crystal THE ACCIDENTAL AGENT: A Jimmy Nessheim Novel Andrew Rosenheim, Hutchinson, 2016, £18.99, hb, 388pp, 9781786330024 / Overlook, 2016, $26.95, hb, 368pp, 9781468309355 In 1942 the USA is in a race against Nazi Germany to harness the colossal death-dealing potential of the atom bomb. And it seems that the USA’s new ally, Soviet Russia, is also showing an interest. Enter ex-FBI special agent James Nessheim, rejected for military service on health grounds, who is studying for a law degree at the University of Chicago, where the atom bomb programme is taking place. His former FBI boss persuades him to go under cover one last time to expose a suspected spy who may have infiltrated the programme. At the same time, Nessheim meets an old flame who, it turns out, is enrolled on his law course. Can this be a coincidence?

This all makes for a rollercoaster of a story, combining a fast-paced, violent yet thoughtful plot with three-dimensional characters, a convincing noir-style evocation of 1940s America and a satisfying dénouement. If John le Carré and Raymond Chandler are your cup of tea, you’ll probably find this a terrific read.

Sarah Cuthbertson CRY, MOTHER SPAIN Lydie Salvayre (trans. Ben Faccini), MacLehose, 2016, £16.99, hb, 236pp, 9780857054494 This is a rather special book, as it is a daughter’s fictional re-creation of what her mother Montse went through in the summer of 1936, while living in a small village in Spain. Her mother is now elderly and suffers from dementia, but her memories of what went on during the Spanish Civil War are still intact. The book was originally written in French and has been translated recently into English, although there are times when Spanish quotes are inserted into the text along with relevant translations. This adds to the atmosphere of the book.

Given that Salvayre’s mother’s memory is impaired, she has also interspersed research of the situation at the time by giving details of how 20th Century

the author Georges Bernanos recorded what was occurring. The story weaves between Montse’s experiences as well as that of her close family members and then to the situation in general in Spain. The personal narrative that is shared gives a certain depth to the story. We are certainly enriched by being able to read what her experiences were like.

Cathy Powell ICE COLD Andrea Maria Schenkel, Quercus, 2015, $22.99, hb, 140 pp, 9781623657208 It’s October 1939, and Josef Kalteis, “an ethnic German, an Aryan, and in addition a member of the National Socialist Workers’ Party,” has confessed to atrocities not even the Reich wants on its hands. His death warrant declares, “Noxious parasites on this nation, like this man, ice cold in his crimes as in his very name, must therefore be removed from it.”

In Ice Cold, Schenkel lays out narrative with the cool authority of a Vegas blackjack dealer. Snap: Memorandum. Scene. Interrogation. Police report.

Snap: First person. Third. Present tense. Past.

But make no mistake, Schenkel’s a shark. Having stacked the deck, she keeps you at the table by holding the ace until the very last hand.

It’s rarely springtime in this chronicle of Germany from 1931 to 1939, and from the moment young Kathie Hertl steps off the train in Munich, the reader feels the chill. Kathie’s search for a job takes her nowhere, and her search for a warm place to sleep takes her to Soller’s Inn, where, like the other women she meets, she searches for a “fiancé” who will put a roof over her head. As she moves from man to man, losing sight of her dream of making a life in Munich, she recalls the warmth of her girlhood summers and knows that “they would always be the best summers of her entire life.”

Into Kathie’s wanderings Schenkel splices police reports, first-person interviews, and third-person accounts of other German women and girls, as well as excerpts of police interviews with both Kalteis and his wife, Walburga. Time is nimble, and narrators often go unnamed. But the close reader is rewarded with story: tragedy unencumbered with sentiment, and brutality served up cold as ice.

Rebecca Kightlinger THE CHOSEN ONES Steve Sem-Sandberg, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2016, $27, hb, 576pp, 9780374122805 It should be said from the outset: a 576-page book about the worst kind of evil is not easy to read.

In fact, the novel is mercilessly bleak, harrowing, and unyielding in its portrayal of sanctioned child murder during the Holocaust. Although the book is fiction, the killing ground of Am Spiegelgrund, a children’s clinic in Vienna, Austria, was real.

Originally a place of care for handicapped children, the clinic became a house of horrors under Hitler’s eugenics program. Normal children underwent psychological and physical torture; “abnormal” children—those who were handicapped, wayward, or slow—were murdered. Even after the children 20th Century

were “euthanized,” their brains and body parts were kept in bottles of formaldehyde in the basement and used for secret research.

The fictional story is told through three main characters: Adrian Ziegler, a young boy whose life has been filled with poverty and abuse and who has bounced through foster care and children’s homes; nurse Anna Katschenka; and Dr. Edwin Jekelius, who cajoles with candy and kills with equal dispassion. Minor characters, each unforgettable, appear along with distraught parents whose children die of “pneumonia” and other “ailments.”

All help bear witness to an insane chapter in Austria’s past.

Sem-Sanderberg’s brave attempt to bring evil to light, though difficult to digest—even in fictional form—leaves stunned readers with the hope that the more than 700 children who were murdered at Am Spiegelberg will never be forgotten.

Lorraine Norwood

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THEY WERE LIKE FAMILY TO ME * Helen Maryles Shankman, Scribner, 2016, $25.00/C$34.00, hb, 285pp, 9781501115196 A compelling blend of folktales, magical realism, Nazi barbarity, and family history, They Were Like Family to Me offers a series of interconnected stories primarily set in 1942 in the small Polish town of Wlodawa (six kilometers from the Sobibór extermination camp), as the Nazis systematically empty it and the surrounding countryside of Jews.

What might otherwise have been an unbearable recounting of inhuman atrocities Shankman transforms through a prism that is by turns forthright and tender, oblique and intimate, brutal and ethereal. Woven through the stories are talking dogs and horses, humans transformed into avenging beasts, a modern-day Golem sent as protector. How else to explain the unexplainable of the few Jews to survive the systematic slaughter at Wlodawa, in which “in three days, ten thousand lives vanished into smoke, like a colossal magic trick”?

Though each story stands beautifully on its own, it is the completed tapestry of interwoven details that finally reveals the entire picture and provides the full emotional depth of the collected stories; the sum is unquestionably greater than the parts. The stories describe characters and events from different perspectives, and each tells a piece of the full story.

Two characters recur somewhere in every story: Willy Reinhart, Reich Regional Commissioner of Agricultural Products and Services, and Haskel Soroka, Wlodawa’s skilled saddlemaker (and Shankman’s maternal ancestor). Reinhart, undeniably flawed but fundamentally “a decent man,” is determined to use his position, his talents, his legendary smile – “the smile threw its arm

around your shoulders and called you friend” – to protect as many Jews as possible. Soroka, generous and well-respected, becomes Reinhart’s conduit to the people of Wlodawa.

The author’s greatest accomplishment is in leaving the horror to speak for itself, and instead giving voice to the enchantment.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi *Editors’ Note: This work was previously titled In the Land of the Armadillos.

HEAVEN CRIES Stephan A. Silva, Penmore, 2016, $19.50, pb, 366pp, 9781942756583 An Italian fighter pilot is shot down in North Africa. He needs to get back to Tobruk to rejoin the fight against the British. On the journey he realizes that what he’s fighting for does not support his moral principles.

The historical content is excellent. It takes the reader through the entire Italian campaign of WWII, from the desert war of 1941, the invasion of Sicily, the battle for Rome, and finally to Northern Italy and the defeat of the Nazis. There are things that even a WWII enthusiast might not know, like the technical differences between Italian and British fighter planes. There are fierce firefights and aerial combat strategies. The author tells us that a German tank in 1941 France would quickly scare the hell out of everyone, but in 1944 Italy that was no longer the case. The hero has a good character arc.

It’s an easy read with a linear plot. Only in the very beginning is there any significant backstory.

However, there are times when the dialogue becomes a little strained with long monologues. At one point, the author gives us a four-page soliloquy with no interruption from the other characters that are present. That would probably not happen in real life. Toward the end it gets a bit preachy when the hero states, “My agenda is mankind. My dream is to save humanity.”

On the upside, there’s a message. The Italian people’s participation in the war was against their will. The Italians heroically didn’t participate in the killing of the Jews. The issue of communism is well told. There are snippets of wisdom, like: “Over the millennia of man’s conflicts, God had heard every excuse there is.” That’s good.

Recommended as a historical novel about Italy’s inner turmoil over the horrors of a terrible war.

Kevin Montgomery MOONSTONE: The Boy Who Never Was Sjón, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016, $22.00, hb, 146pp, 9780374212438 In 1918, the world is in turmoil. WWI wreaks its havoc in Europe, and the Spanish flu is devastating communities around the world.

Distant Iceland is no longer a refuge, for the flu has begun its deadly work there. Even nature seems outraged, with Katla’s volcanic fires blazing across the night sky and Reykjavik blotted with dark ash by day.

Sixteen-year old Máni Steinn – Moonstone – is equally in turmoil. Icelandic culture deems homosexuality abhorrent, yet Máni has a steady HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 47

stream of furtive “gentlemen” who meet him in darkened corners to pay for the teen’s sexual favors.

The only refuges that Máni has from a world that has rejected him are the adventure and romance of cinema and Sóla Gudbjörnsdöttir, a girl like no other. She comes from a rung of society far above Máni’s reach, but shares his love of the cinema.

Then the flu closes Reykjavik’s theaters, isolating Máni even more. The Angel of Death reaches out for him, or is it Sóla?

This controversial, award-winning novel is described as “the gayest book in Iceland,” and its author, Sjón, while not himself gay, describes Máni as his most autobiographical character. However, Moonstone is not just gay-oriented fiction; it is a powerful meditation on identity, as both Máni and Iceland grapple with worldly intrusion and personal transformation. At times hallucinatory and at others searingly real, Moonstone hints at rejection and acceptance on many levels, and concludes with hope.

Jo Ann Butler LEAVING LUCY PEAR Anna Solomon, Viking, 2016, $26.00, hb, 336pp, 9781594632655 In 1927, Lucy Pear Murphy is nearly ten, a kind and strong-willed girl whose black hair and dark eyes mark her as a misfit in her family. Her unusual name reflects the secret circumstances behind her upbringing. A decade earlier, late one night on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, her desperate birth mother, 18-year-old Beatrice Haven, had left her in her uncle’s pear orchard for Irish poachers to find and raise, and Emma Murphy had absorbed the newborn into her large clan. The two women’s stories become entwined again thanks to aspiring politician (and rum-runner) Josiah Story, a local quarry owner who doesn’t know of their shared past but has his own motives for bringing them together. His act has profound implications for all involved, including Lucy herself.

Leaving Lucy Pear works extremely well on multiple levels. The setting of Prohibition-era New England gently permeates the novel, with its firm social barriers, temperance ladies pushing their views, and everyone riled up by the Sacco and Vanzetti trial verdict. But the real highlights are its characters and the author’s clear empathy for them. Although they’re not much alike, Beatrice and Emma are products and victims of their time, and both find themselves trapped in unhealthy patterns. Daughter of a prominent Jewish family, Beatrice, a talented pianist who dropped out of Radcliffe, now devotes herself to social causes and caring for her invalid uncle. Emma, a loving mother of nine, risks losing her reputation when she begins an affair with Josiah. With delicate precision, Solomon illustrates their desires and fears, both voiced and unvoiced. Although her prose has a melancholy tone in places, it doesn’t succumb to it. With greater knowledge of ourselves and one another, she intimates, we can discover where we best belong – and can start anew.

Sarah Johnson

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A COIN FOR THE HANGMAN

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Ralph Spurrier, Hookline, 2016, £9.99, pb, 258pp, 9780993287466 Capital punishment seems so alien to modern Britain that it is a shock to be reminded that just over fifty years ago there was a middle-aged man in a middle-ranking job in a London office who, two or three times a year, was paid six guineas to visit one of Britain’s prisons and kill one of the prisoners; he was the public hangman.

A Coin for the Hangman contains the most chilling description of an execution that I have ever read, all the more so because it was private and clinical; a quick little ceremony with a mumbling chaplain and everybody signing the witness book as if it were a wedding. This, the description of a fictitious execution in 1953, is the high point of the book. It is followed by a letter which the condemned man has written to the hangman and which, incredibly, is delivered to him after the execution.

This is not really a whodunnit, as we know from the outset that the condemned man is innocent and there are not many suspects. Rather it is the life story of a young man (he is executed in his early twenties) who is convicted of killing his mother because he is odd and unsociable. A disturbing and poignant little novel.

Edward James LADY COP MAKES TROUBLE: A Kopp Sisters Novel Amy Stewart, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $26.00, hb, 320pp, 9780544409941 Set in the early 1900s and based on actual events but with fictitious characters, Lady Cop Makes Trouble reintroduces us to Constance Kopp, one of the first female deputy sheriffs of New Jersey (who made her first appearance in Girl Waits with Gun). Since women in the police force are neither welcomed nor taken seriously, Constance needs to prove her worth and earn her badge. However, her worth is questioned when a slippery con artist in her charge, Herman Albert von Mathesius, escapes from right under her nose. Worse, if the man can’t be found, Sheriff Heath, the only person who believes in Constance’s worth, will go to jail in his place. As Constance takes matters into her own hands, against the wishes of Sheriff Heath, she uncovers the con artist’s deceptive ploys and his various victims, while managing the woman’s prison and keeping her sisters Norma and Fleurette in check.

The era and society are brought to life with succinct descriptions and particular crimes of the times. Constance is unlike most women of her era.

While she is intelligent, sensible and capable of defending herself, she is also compassionate, which makes her yearn to help victims. Lady Cop Makes Trouble, the second installment of the Kopp Sisters’ novels, is a fun, fast, and enjoyable read.

Francesca Pelaccia

RADIO GIRLS Sarah-Jane Stratford, NAL, 2016, $16.00/ C$22.00/£11.99, pb, 384pp, 9780451475565 Maisie Musgrave, an unemployed CanadianAmerican living in 1920s London, lands a job at the up-and-coming British Broadcasting Corporation as secretary to the Talks director. Even so, she still focuses on her dream of marrying, settling down and starting a family. Hilda Matheson, a woman ahead of her time, is over the department and quickly becomes Maisie’s role model. With a little encouragement, Maisie begins taking steps to get more involved in the Talks, coming up with her own ideas on topics. When she discovers a collection of Nazi propaganda pamphlets with familiar names scribbled on them, she decides to investigate further—with Hilda’s permission. Ultimately she uncovers a plot involving the BBC and its enemies who want to quash its progressive stances on hiring and retaining women after marriage, among other things. Maisie must find a way to protect not only her beloved career, but something else that has become dear to her—her right to independence.

Maisie’s view on a woman’s traditional role shifts drastically after she finds true joy in her career, and she flourishes under Hilda’s instruction.

A highly detailed narrative and well-fleshed characters set the stage for this unique, early 20thcentury story. After the First World War, there were many more female employees and the world was changing. This is an eye-opening view of the world when women’s rights were newly budding.

Hilda Matheson is an important historical figure who not only excelled at her job, but paved the way for professional women in Great Britain to follow in her footsteps. This book will appeal to readers who’d like to learn about the history of the BBC and the newly emerging female workforce.

Arleigh Johnson ANCHOR IN THE STORM: Waves of Freedom, #2 Sarah Sundin, Revell, 2016, $14.99, pb, 400pp, 9780800723439 During World War II, Lillian Avery, an intrepid small-town girl, is finally given a chance to prove herself as a female pharmacist in big-city Boston.

Familiar with hardship, she cannot imagine having anything in common with handsome, but awkward, Ensign Archer Vandenberg, her brother’s best friend. But when Lillian receives large orders for an addictive sedative, and Archer notices symptoms of the sedative in his own crew, they’ll have to put their heads together to try to discover if there’s a link, in this intense story of hardship, danger and adventure, at home and abroad.

Sundin delivers another thrilling mystery with enough twists to leave the reader in suspense and characters displaying grit and courage, but are still flawed and, occasionally, prejudiced against one another. Sundin draws on her professional background in pharmacy to create an engaging historical romance story with enough technical details to sound authentic, and she includes some historical figures in the drama. This title also includes a teaser for book three, which centers around Lillian’s older brother, Lieutenant Daniel 20th Century

Avery, and which will conclude the series focusing on the Avery family.

Lauren Miller WHERE THE RIVER PARTS Radhika Swarup, Sandstone, 2016, £8.99, pb, 307pp, 9781910124765 It’s 1947, and teenagers Asha and her friend Nargis are oblivious to the upheavals taking place on the wider stage, as India draws closer to Independence, and the creation of Pakistan.

Radhika Swarup vividly paints life in Asha’s Hindu, and Nargis’ Muslim, households, and the mutual respect and friendship between the families. The girls walk to school hand-in-hand, and dream of their future husbands. Asha has given her heart to Nargis’ brother Firoze, who is learning law from Asha’s father; they had stolen a march on their relationship, and started a baby, when their world collapses. Partition wrenches the lovers apart. Asha loses her baby, her husband-to-be, and her parents within 24 hours of Independence, as the new countries come bloodily into being. She must find a way to survive; to try to love the man whom fate throws at her, and to bring up their daughter, in the new Hindu India. Finally, Asha’s Americanised daughter persuades her widowed mother to fly over for a visit. Fate turns the wheel again, and brings Firoze back into Asha’s life – their grandchildren have fallen in love! All the old attraction is still there…

This is a beautifully written book, immersing you in the detail and mores of each of the very different settings and periods. I wish it had ended differently, but I loved it, right up until the final plot twist.

Nicky Moxey SEE ALSO DECEPTION: A Marjorie Trumaine Mystery Larry D. Sweazy, Seventh Street, 2016, $15.95, pb, 237pp, 9781633881266 North Dakota, 1965. When librarian Calla Eltmore doesn’t answer her phone by the eleventh ring, book indexer Marjorie Trumaine panics.

“Something is wrong. I know it.”

So begins this cozy mystery in which the smalltown librarian is found dead. When Calla’s death is ruled a suicide, Marjorie is devastated. It’s October in North Dakota; winter’s coming; there’s not enough firewood; Marjorie’s husband is lingering between life and death; and now, the librarian has committed suicide. What else can happen?

For twenty chapters, a shell-shocked Marjorie seeks answers as she shuttles between the library and the sickbed of her husband, Hank, who was left blind and quadriplegic a year earlier, when he stepped in a gopher hole while hunting and shot himself in the face. In chapter twenty-one, though, Marjorie notices a clue that whispers Murder.

Marjorie indexes her suspects: Herbert Frakes, library janitor. Nina Tutweiler, a stranger in town.

Frakes, Herbert. Found the body. No violent history.

Tutweiler, Nina. Doesn’t believe suicide… Need to find.

Then, on the day of Calla’s funeral, something happens that makes Marjorie recompile her entries.

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A first-person storyteller, Marjorie paints a bleak picture of a North Dakota native eking out a living on the Western Plains. Her narrative, while evocative, is riddled with distracting infelicities of grammar (“There weren’t anywhere near that amount of people”), and redundancy (“adrift in a confusing nightmare that made no sense”). But when she finally stumbles upon Calla’s murderer, Marjorie comes to a conclusion that, while inelegantly phrased, echoes the reader’s reaction and makes perfect sense: “It was something I would never be able to understand or comprehend...”

Rebecca Kightlinger ALL WAITING IS LONG Barbara J. Taylor, Akashic, 2016, $15.95, pb, 288pp, 9781617754432 Sisters. Good relationships or bad, they are fraught with rivalry, jealously, and loyalty. Such it is with Violet and Lily Morgan. After Lily becomes pregnant, Violet goes with her to the Good Shepherd Infant Asylum, where Lily will spend the rest of her confinement, have the baby, and give it up for adoption. In accompanying her little sister, Violet is putting her relationship with Stanley Adamski at risk. But in making a fateful decision after the baby is born, she risks more than a staid, comfortable future with Stanley; she risks the reputation and social standing of both sisters. Punctuated by third-person commentary from a member of the local Bible class, the social cost of Violet’s decision and all that comes after is dissected, examined, and judged in a way that further reveals the complex web of small-town life.

A good selection for book clubs, All Waiting Is Long is set in Pennsylvania coal country in the 1930s, a time of tumultuous change and social unrest, including the rise of the eugenics movement. Barbara Taylor’s characters—a cast of nuns and prostitutes, mobsters and miners, social activists and church busybodies—reflect the varying pressures and expectations of small-town life with rich, insightful prose and dialogue that rings true to each character’s voice. Will the web of lies the two sisters weave around themselves survive? You’ll have to read it yourself to find out.

Recommended.

Kristina Blank Makansi

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THE GUSTAV SONATA Rose Tremain, Chatto & Windus, 2016, £16.99, hb, 252pp, 9781784740030 / Norton, 2016, $26.95, hb, 240pp, 9780393246698 Switzerland in the years just after the end of the Second World War. Gustav Perle is a young boy living a bleak and lonely existence with his widowed, impoverished and rather shallow and selfish mother, Emilie, in the fictional small town of Matzlingen.

Gustav’s father was a police officer, and the story of his death during the

War, and Gustav’s mother’s subsequent bitterness, emerges during the tale, which is narrated from Gustav’s perspective. He becomes friends with a Jewish boy his age whose family has just moved to the town; Anton Zwiebel’s parents are relatively wealthy, with his father working in the local bank.

But they also have their freight of emotional distress. This friendship comes to define Gustav’s life, which as a search for stability, reliability and self-reliance is in some ways a metaphor for the neutrality and independence expressed in his own country – Switzerland.

In the central second part of the story, Rose Tremain takes us back to the years before the War in the late 1930s, when Emilie and her future husband, Erich, have just met. They marry and experience some problems, in addition to Erich suffering from guilt when he decides, in a very un-Swiss way, to break a directive and continue helping refugee Jews from Austria and Germany, rather than sending them back to the border. The outcome of this principled stand turns out to be disastrous for Erich and his family. The final part takes the reader to the early 1990s, when we and Gustav learn more about those days in the 1930s-40s, and we see how events can determine the future lives of adults, to influence them, for good or for ill, for the rest of their existence. This is a moving and engaging novel – beautifully written and a delight to read.

Douglas Kemp DAUGHTER OF AUSTRALIA Harmony Verna, Kensington, 2016, $15.00/ C$16.95, pb, 471pp, 9781617739422 At the turn of the 20th century in the harsh land of Western Australia, orphaned children, Leonora and James, become soulmates. Too soon they are sent away, Lenora to a wealthy family in America, James to his uncle and aunt, who have emigrated from Ireland to Australia.

In time Leonora becomes a Pittsburgh highsociety beauty. She loses all traces of her past, even her accent. Her adoptive parents force her to marry Alex, the dashing young manager of their worldwide mining and agriculture operations. That marriage brings her back to the land she has always felt is her home. Alex hires the now-adult James as his station (ranch) manager. Jealousies, passions, and the best and worst traits of humans soon take over.

Verna’s settings are powerful. Her images of the hard ground, big sky, and brutal weather all resonate. Her portrayals of people fiercely determined to squeeze what they can out of the earth and mines ring true. The way they talk matches their status with authentic idioms and cadences of the outback. Sometimes Verna’s prose soars.

Verna’s acknowledgements page mentions the original 900-page manuscript—and the likely source of what will give some readers pause. The story contains dozens of characters, sixty-seven chapters, multiple scenes within many of the chapters, plot twists inside of plot twists, and important story lines that end too abruptly or remain unresolved. Even so, lovers of big, robust HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 49

novels out of the past will appreciate this debut and will look for Verna’s next one.

G. J. Berger MISS JANE Brad Watson, Norton, 2016, $25.95, hb, 288pp, 9780393241730 This is the story of Miss Jane Chisolm, a girl born in rural Mississippi with a rare genital defect that hinders most traditional practices expected of a woman; but Jane proves she is anything but conventional. Inspired by the life of his great-aunt, Brad Watson vividly illustrates the span of Jane’s struggles and longings as she explores the peculiar and esoteric beauty of the world around her.

I was immediately captivated by Jane, and Brad Watson’s voice effortlessly narrates her story with prose that is both simple and elegant. Life is hard for Jane: her mother all but disowns her, leaving Jane’s care to her older sister, Grace, and her father, though he tries to be kind, struggles to keep their farm aloft during the Great Depression. Jane knows she is different from other girls, and despite the friendship of the local doctor, who strives to answers her many questions, she often feels isolated. Children laugh when she tries to go to school, so she studies on her own. She loves once, only for the boy to be sent away. Her mother and sister seem to despise her in turn, and her father’s drinking had begun to twist his mind. But instead of turning bitter and angry at life, Jane’s insatiable curiosity and imagination seem to free her to be someone uniquely beautiful and unfettered. This was a truly absorbing read.

Holly Faur AS GOOD AS GONE Larry Watson, Algonquin, 2016, $26.95/C$39.95, hb, 352pp, 9781616205713 Seventy-year-old WWII veteran Calvin Sidey lives alone in a trailer on the scrubby plains of eastern Montana. His ranch hand jobs are drying up. He is a man of few words and many hard edges but reads old classics in their original Latin. On a hot July day in the 1960s, Calvin’s son, Bill, stops by unannounced. Son asks father to come to town and mind Bill’s children while Bill helps their mother through surgery in far-away Missoula.

Calvin hardly knows his grandchildren— beautiful 17-year-old Ann and eleven-year-old Will. Calvin had run out on his own young family soon after Calvin’s wife (and Bill’s mother) died in a traffic accident. Yet Calvin agrees to watch over the house and youngsters while their parents are gone.

Calvin’s hard edges rub up against Ann’s possessive suitor, against neighbor widow Beverly’s yearnings for more in this life, against Bill’s tenants of a rental house in the rough part of town, against most things modern and progressive.

Watson examines large and small events of the Sidey family members, of Beverly and her grown son, of unruly neighborhood kids, and other secondary characters. Watson lays out their humanity, what made them who they have become and now makes them do what they can’t help doing. The main story is told in the present tense interrupted by many flashbacks, but the parts are easy to follow. Lovers of Watson’s literary prose and 50 | Reviews |

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layered stories will welcome this addition.

G. J. Berger THE ENGLISH GIRL Katherine Webb, Orion, 2016, £16.99, hb, 433pp, 9781409148524 Joan Seabrook is a young archaeologist who dreams of visiting Arabia and is particularly interested in exploring the desert fort of Jabrin, said to conceal many treasures. But this is the 1950s, when the Middle East is in turmoil, caught between the ancient customs of the Sultans and the exploration for oil which began earlier in the century. Joan travels to Muscat, capital of Oman, with her fiancé, and there meets Maude Vickery, Joan’s long-time heroine, who is also an archaeologist but now an old lady living in retirement in Muscat. They become friends and Joan finds ways of travelling into the vast interior desert.

This book is based on the Jebel War, which took place in 1958/9 and is the backdrop to the story. I found it quite difficult to get into. The constant flashbacks in alternate chapters between Joan’s visit and Maude’s earlier excursions in the early 1900s I found to be disrupting, as no sooner had the reader caught up with one than they were whisked backwards or forwards to an earlier/later time. Given that the Sultan of Muscat, at that time, was living in something of a time warp, I found the characterisation somewhat stereotyped and flat.

Having been to Muscat and seen something of the area for myself, I had been looking forward to reading this book but have to admit that I was a little disappointed with it. It will, no doubt, appeal to many of our readers but not, sadly, to me.

Marilyn Sherlock JACOB’S COURAGE: A Holocaust Love Story Charles S. Weinblatt, Texas Tech Univ. Press, 2015, $32.95, pb, 518pp, 9780896729452 In Austria in 1939, young Jacob Silverman and Rachael Goldberg are in love. Jacob plans to go on to college. Then tragedy strikes as Hitler’s army invades Austria. All the Jews are forced to live in a decrepit ghetto. Soon they are sent on to a concentration camp, where Jacob and Rachael secretly marry. They are able to escape, join partisans, and fight the Nazis. They become separated during an attack on a German train, and Jacob is again captured by the Germans. The partisan leader falls in love with Rachael and tries to protect both her and her unborn child until she can be reunited with Jacob.

This is a magnificent, gripping novel of breathtaking courage under extreme circumstances.

Subtitled “a Holocaust love story” because of the relationship between Jacob and Rachael, the novel describes the considerable cruelties and inhuman behavior caused by the Nazis and experienced by the Jewish people in Eastern Europe during the war. The author places readers into the thick of it. You will share the pain and grief of this young Jewish couple as they are forced into imprisonment, as their friends and families are killed. The story is immensely readable, although the book is quite long. This is one of my favorite books this year.

Jeff Westerhoff

A CERTAIN AGE Beatriz Williams, William Morrow, 2016, $26.99/ C$33.50, hb, 336pp, 9780062404954 This is a story of a love triangle, secrets, and a decades-old murder mystery. In 1922 New York City, sophisticated Theresa Marshall, of a certain age and Manhattan elite, is in a marriage of convenience. To feel more vibrant, she has an affair with a much younger Captain Octavian Rofrano, a hero of World War I. Rofrano, “The Boy,” desires an honest relationship with Theresa, and begs her to divorce. However, Theresa is not interested in giving up her privileged life. She is much happier flitting about town and meeting “The Boy” in secret rendezvous.

The second storyline in this novel focuses on Sophie Fortesque, a wealthy young woman with a slightly mysterious father. Theresa’s brother, Ox wants to marry Sophie. Rofrano is persuaded to act as his “cavalier” and propose to Sophie, in Ox’s name. Sophie accepts the marriage proposal, but ends up falling in love with Rofran, instead.

Needless to say, trouble and complications ensue.

In addition, backgrounds are exposed, the “Trial of the Century” occurs, and a murder is solved.

Williams has a way with words and descriptions, making the Roaring Twenties come alive in her story. I appreciated her detail, diction, and wit.

There are many twists throughout this glamorous novel, which glitters with the Jazz Age. With true love on the line, scandal and murder, it’s hard to put this book down.

Rebecca Cochran LAND OF THE AFTERNOON SUN Barbara Wood, Turner, 2016, $23.95, hb, 520pp, 9781681623887 During Prohibition, an ambitious lord arrives from England with his bride, and they establish themselves in the largest home in the rural California desert town of Palm Springs. Although Nigel Barnstable has a title and an inheritance, he lacks property and the amount of money needed to begin again. He had seduced naïve Elizabeth during the crossing, and then married her to obtain her huge trust fund. The Barnstables import mature date trees to begin their business, making enemies of the Indian tribes adjoining their vast lands.

Elizabeth soon learns that she was a tool for her husband’s insatiable lust for money and power, and his abuse and her feelings of loneliness teach her to rely on her new friends and neighbors for strength.

Her champion, a drifter named Cody McNeal, quietly stands by her during dark times and shares with her the mystic beliefs of the Indians and the ancient places of the area. Her desire to save these places from developers becomes the turning point of her metamorphosis into a strong, independent woman.

This riveting story brings a clash of cultures and changes in the American West to light, along with the growth of well-developed characters.

The author has researched her period well.

Both Prohibition and women’s rights are being challenged, and laws make it difficult for women to obtain divorces and birth control devices. Readers will become aware of the many concurrent issues of 20th Century

this era in America’s growth as a country, as well as the impact of the laws concerning women and the need to challenge them. The story has an exciting and satisfactory conclusion.

Beth Turza MAGRUDER’S CURIOSITY CABINET H.P. Wood, Sourcebooks, 2016, $15.99/C$22.99, pb, 368pp, 9781492631484 In 1904, Coney Island is New York City’s magical playground, brought to life by the mysterious power of electricity. Live shows recreate the destruction of Pompeii, calliopes and roller coasters delight and thrill. Fortunetellers, contortionists, midgets, and giants showcase the extremes of human mind and body. And at the far end of Coney Island, dark and seedy, is Theophilus P. Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet. Daring souls who open the door of the old, blacked-out building are greeted by Zeph, a legless black Unusual (as the “circus freaks” style themselves).

Kitty Hayward is a newly-arrived English immigrant turned willy-nilly out of her hotel after her mother disappears. With nowhere to go, the young woman drifts down the beach to Coney Island, where she is taken in by the Unusuals.

There are marvels to be experienced by Kitty and other Dozens (as the Unusuals style tourists), but also dangers; especially when illness on a quarantined ship is revealed as bubonic plague, and Coney Island is imperiled.

It’s hard to tell reality from illusion in Coney Island, and the same is true for H.P. Wood’s Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet. It’s a complicated story with a huge cast, but very entertaining, and will keep you guessing right up until the end.

Jo Ann Butler A BRILLIANT DEATH Robin Yocum, Seventh Street, 2016, $15.95, pb, 275pp, 9781633881280 Mitch Malone and his best friend, Travis, grow up in Brilliant, Ohio, a sleepy blue-collar town nestled along the Ohio River, just west of Wheeling, West Virginia. Unlike most teenage boys, Mitch and Travis spend much of their time on “Project Amanda,” the covert operation to get to the bottom of how Travis’s mother, Amanda Baron, supposedly drowned in the river when Travis was an infant. Neglected and abused by his father Frank, Travis – now a high school senior in 1971 – wants to learn more about the mother he never knew. Town gossip has it that Amanda and her lover were thrown into the water and drowned when a coal barge rammed their boat. Frank never speaks of his deceased wife and tells his son that all his relatives on his mother’s side are dead, but is any of that really true? As the boys go to great lengths to unravel this unsolved mystery, they realize that finding justice for Travis means concocting a plot that will change both of their lives forever.

Based on the cover alone, you might be surprised to find, as I did, that this is much more Thelma and Louise than unsolved crime thriller.

What happened to Amanda is really secondary to the enduring friendship between the two main 20th Century — Multi-period

characters. Yocum’s skills as a crime reporter shine in the plot details – the well-developed backstory and local flavor make it especially appealing to those of us who live in the area. Although not the mystery novel one might expect, this is still a thoroughly enjoyable Midwestern take on a coming-of-age tale.

Rebecca Henderson Palmer

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COOKING FOR PICASSO Camille Aubray, Ballantine, 2016, $27.00, hb, 400pp, 9780399177651 In the spring of 1936, Pablo Picasso is living under an assumed name in the village of Juanles-Pins and seventeen-year-old Ondine has been tasked by her parents, who run the local eatery, to cook lunch for the stranger every day in his home.

As Ondine records the culinary likes and dislikes of the man she calls “Patron,” she is gradually drawn into a relationship with him, despite fully understanding who he is and how complex his romantic life is already.

Intertwined in this story is a second, modernday narrative, following Ondine’s granddaughter, Celine, as she travels to France with her aunt, trying to find the truth about this relationship, while ostensibly taking a cooking course run by the famously fractious British chef, Gilby Halliwell.

Aubray produces a vivid and interesting picture of Picasso and doesn’t shy away from his personal entanglements. The parts of the novel set in Juan-les-Pins are full of enjoyable descriptions, particularly of Picasso’s painting and of French cuisine, although at times some stilted dialogue makes the relationship between Picasso and Ondine feel rather unlikely.

The historical chapters however, are much more convincing than the modern story, which is dominated by Celine’s predictable romance with a character all too clearly modeled on Gordon Ramsay. Readers who stay the course will be rewarded by a neat tie-up between the historical story and Celine’s search for a missing painting, but for me both the modern story and the section following Ondine to America detracted from the sections concerning Picasso.

Kate Braithwaite KAROLINA’S TWINS Ronald H. Balson, St. Martin’s, 2016, $25.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250098375 The devastation of wartime often forces people to do the unthinkable, to make impossible choices, for the sake of survival, and the guilt that accompanies those actions can be pervasive.

In Karolina’s Twins, Lena, a Holocaust survivor, calls upon Catherine Lockhart, a lawyer, and her detective husband, Liam Taggart, to help her fulfill a promise she made to her best friend during the war: to find her friend Karolina’s two infant twins, who were born during the war. Lena’s son, believing that his mother is half-mad, and that Catherine

and Liam are only after Lena’s money, tries to block the investigation on the grounds that there has never been any evidence that these twins existed.

And why now, after so many years, is she seeking to find them?

As Lena tells her story to Catherine and Liam, the reader is transported back to Nazi-occupied Poland, accompanying Lena on her journey of survival. Every Holocaust survivor has his or her own story, and this one tells quite a unique one. A postscript at the end informs the reader that the book, though a novel, is based upon an account of a real story told to the author by a woman he met on a book tour. Ronald Balson is also the author of the highly acclaimed When We Were Brothers. In fact, readers were first introduced to the characters of Catherine and Liam in that book.

The only downside in this otherwise spellbinding book is that the reader is jolted back into the present, often without warning. This can be a little confusing, as there often is no clear division between past and present, such as chapter breaks, etc. Nonetheless, this novel is an absolute gem. It is compelling, it is original, and it is poignant.

Hilary Daninhirsch

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THE VERSIONS OF US Laura Barnett, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $26, hb, 416pp, 9780544634244 In 1958 England, Eva, a talented writer, and Jim, a gifted painter, are strangers. When a nail (or a rock or a dog) stops Eva’s bike in Jim’s path, their eyes meet and—well, you know the feeling. But Eva is involved with David, so she has to make a decision.

Eva has three choices with three possible outcomes. Each version of Eva’s story, which takes place between 1958 and 2007, is told in alternating chapters. In Version I, Eva stays, she and Jim fall in love and, eventually, marry. Eva’s career is a success but Jim’s is not. In Version II, Eva is pregnant, she marries David and takes a back seat to his career. In Version III, Eva marries David, and years go by before she reconnects with Jim. Friends and family members appear and reappear with different roles, and the normal events of life—births, deaths, weddings, funerals—provide continuity.

You could read one version at a time, start to finish; but you’d spoil the surprises and eliminate suspense. Save that for a second reading—you will want one! Barnett has created wonderful characters like Eva, who believes (or remembers or knows) that life with Jim is better than life apart, no matter how late or how difficult it is to achieve.

And Jim, who asks Eva, “What would my life have been without you?” and already knows the answer.

A love story in which enduring love, not sex or money or angst, shapes people’s lives is as rare as a unicorn. The Versions of Us is highly recommended for anyone who is, has been, or wants to be in love.

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THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE Ella Carey, Lake Union, 2016, $14.95/C$21.95, pb, 246pp, 9781503934153 In 2010, 29-year-old Anna Young, a successful café owner in San Francisco, is asked an unusual favor from her beloved 94-year-old grandfather, Max Albrecht. His request? That Anna travel to Siegel, Germany, outside Berlin, to retrieve an engagement ring hidden under the floorboards of Schloss Siegel, the family home that Max abandoned. Anna’s efforts alternate with the story of Isabelle de Florian in 1930s Europe. Parisian Isabelle is the granddaughter of a courtesan and shunned by Paris society. Young Max Albrecht knows nothing of that when he meets Isabelle holidaying in Lake Geneva and cares even less when he finds out.

Although Isabelle is not Anna’s grandmother, there is still suspense to be had in the love story.

The 1930s setting means that it is complicated by Hitler’s rise to power and Max’s family’s insistence that he join the Nazi Party. Carey makes this a personal story rather than a political one. Max questions Hitler but is loath to go against his family, and family loyalty is a theme that plays out in 2010 as well. Carey alternates perspectives within chapters, a device which keeps the reader equally engaged in both time periods. I devoured this book in one sitting.

Ellen Keith READER, I MARRIED HIM Tracy Chevalier, ed., William Morrow, 2016, $15.99/C$19.99, pb, 304pp, 9780062447098 / The Borough Press, 2016, £12.99, hb, 304pp, 9780008150570 As anyone with even a passing familiarity with Charlotte Brontë knows, “Reader, I married him,” is the climactic sentence of Brontë’s book for the ages, Jane Eyre. Conceived of, edited by, and with a contribution from Tracy Chevalier (Girl with a Pearl Earring), this collection of stories is out in time to celebrate Brontë’s 2016 bicentenary, and it features wonderful writing by a cast of strong female authors, each contributing one of these “stories inspired by Jane Eyre.”

Inspired, that is, by both the book and the titular character, who – for many girls who are now women of a certain age – was the first strong, independent-minded female character in literature we ever met. She made an impression.

These stories make an impression too; each one is thoroughly engaging beyond the frisson of discovering how each author uses the shared springboard. One of the most thought-provoking is Susan Hill’s title story, “Reader, I Married Him,” which gradually reveals the identity of the historical character who is narrating, and demands that the Reader rethink probably knee-jerk assessments she may have about one of modern history’s most notorious and reviled home-wreckers. Helen Dunmore gives us “Grace Poole Her Testimony,” offering a decidedly different take on the everstoic Grace and her true role at Thornfield, while Salley Vickers paints a not-so-happily-ever-after picture from Mr. Rochester himself in “Reader, She Married Me.” Finally, Elizabeth McCracken’s story 52 | Reviews |

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is a fully modern take on the construct of marriage as two men take their young son on a day trip in “Robinson Crusoe at the Waterpark.”

Just know that after enjoying this story collection, you’ll be certain to pull out your old, yellowed copy of Jane Eyre (mine is a Signet Classic from 1960) and enjoy it one more time.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi BEFORE WE VISIT THE GODDESS Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Simon & Schuster, 2016, $25.00, hb, 210pp, 9781476792002 “Without education,” Sabitri writes to Tara, the granddaughter she has never met, “a woman has little chance of standing on her own feet.” Recalling the desperate maneuver that enabled her own mother to send her to college, Sabitri urges Tara to stay in school. “If you are uneducated, people will look down on you. To survive, you are forced to accept crumbs thrown down from a rich man’s table. How can such a woman ever brighten the family name?”

Before We Visit the Goddess opens in Kolkata, India, in 1995, with Sabitri’s epistolary plea to Tara. Deftly blended with third-person narrative, the letter reveals Sabitri’s own ambitions, missteps, and shame, as well as the guts and hard work it took for Sabitri to ensure that her daughter, Bela – Tara’s mother – would have the opportunity to become educated and stand on her own feet.

When Sabitri lays down her pen, poet Divakaruni shifts the focus to 1963 and elevenyear-old Bela’s lonely, sometimes dreamlike existence with her quarrelling parents in Assam, India. Then, leaving Bela in a hospital bed feeling “a shift in the air, an imminent storm,” Divakaruni takes the reader to 1998 and Tara’s unsettled life in Houston.

This switchback journey from 1963 to 2020, between India and Texas, delivered in richly nuanced narratives, immerses the reader in the unforgettable lives of Sabitri, Bela, Tara, and the friends, lovers, and strangers who change their lives. In exquisitely wrought interwoven stories, each woman finds love, whether romantic, platonic, or filial; each makes an irrevocable choice based on love – or its detritus; and each must one day come to terms with feelings “as unambiguous as a knife” when confronted with the consequences of her choice.

Rebecca Kightlinger ASHES OF FIERY WEATHER Kathleen Donohoe, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, $26.00, hb, 416pp, 9780544464056 The men of Brooklyn’s Keegan-O’Reilly clan have been firefighters for as long as anyone can remember. They fight fires: some die heroically, and their wives and mothers bury them. These shared tragedies create bonds which transcend age, religion, cultural background, and even kinship.

However, some gulfs are easier to bridge than others.

Kathleen Donohoe’s own background – families fleeing famine in Ireland to become firefighters in Brooklyn – serves as inspiration for this, her debut novel. Donohoe presents readers with richly

imagined portraits of seven women who are linked with the Keegans and O’Reillys by blood, marriage, or love. The main trait the women have in common is the difficulty of their lives, wondering each day if her man will come home unharmed. Some meet the challenges more easily than others, but each is tough as nails in her own way. Eileen is adopted, but proves herself an O’Reilly when she serves on 9/11 as a firefighter.

I truly enjoyed meeting each of the KeeganO’Reilly women, and Ms. Donohoe’s writing is both beautiful and riveting. The one thing I did not like is how Ashes darts back and forth in time quicker than an Irish step-dancer. Some time-slip novels link decision and outcome, but they can be disorienting, especially when Ms. Donohoe’s portraits skip generations. A family tree is helpful, and don’t let my personal preference put you off trying Ashes of Fiery Weather. It’s a worthy novel.

Jo Ann Butler PRECIOUS THINGS Kelly Doust, HarperCollins Australia, 2016, A$29.99, pb, 320pp, 978146075091 / HarperCollins UK, 2016, £14.99, hb, 400pp, 9781460750971 This multi-stranded novel is more contemporary than historical, but it has several back stories that begin with a young bride in 1891 France and then travel throughout the 20th century via various exotic locations in the Far East and Europe. It has a wide range of characters including dancers, circus performers, artists and fashion models.

Maggie works for a prestigious London auction house in 2015. When she discovers a discarded but exquisite piece of beadwork which can be worn either as a collar or a coronet, she is curious about its origins. It is not until she appears on a TV chat show and is contacted by a woman who knows something about it that Maggie undertakes some serious detective work into the object’s history. A former model who once wore it says she felt it was unlucky: “there was some bad juju attached to it… something about its energy… not entirely positive”.

This will appeal to anyone who loves lavish descriptions of fashion and design, or who is just intrigued by the personal stories behind vintage items, but it is hampered by its disjointed and ambitious scope. Maggie’s present-day relationships and working-mother-guilt issues tend to quash any real eerie sense of the object’s malevolence in its journey across time. (If readers feel confused at any stage, there is a useful chronology in the notes at the end.) In contrast to the excesses of the narrative, the cover image of the Australian edition is remarkably restrained and fails to reflect the fabulous nature of the collar/coronet with its fleur-de-lis pattern made of “glittering diamantes, delicate beading and slightly spiky sequins”. The underlying message here is: beware of what you wish for – it might be only bling.

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WE LOVE YOU, CHARLIE FREEMAN Kaitlyn Greenidge, Algonquin, $25.95/C$38.95, hb, 336pp, 9781616204679 In her debut novel, Kaitlyn Greenidge sets Multi-period

a high bar for future books. This unusual novel about a chimp and a human family reveals a great deal of how we think about race and culture, the impact of culture on scientific study, where language fails, and the strange ways families can fall apart.

The Freeman family, well-educated but underpaid, decide to leave Boston when Lauren, the mother, is invited to participate in an experiment in the countryside where she will be teaching the sign language she learned as a child to a young chimpanzee, Charlie.

Her husband and two daughters are uprooted and relocated at the scientific institute, taking an apartment on the premises. They meet Charlie, the chimp, who is about a year old. Charlie immediately takes to their mother, but is hesitant about accepting the rest of the family.

The story is told from the point of view of the older sister, Charlotte, for the most part. Through Charlotte’s adolescent eyes, we watch as Lauren’s obsession with teaching Charlie sign language begins to erode her love for her family.

The other part of the story involves the experiments practiced by the institute at its inception, studies which are abhorrent to modern readers. But in the early 1920s, the world was a very different place. Ideas about eugenics were in the air, as well as rampant racism. In this framed story, Nymphadora, an African-American woman who teaches school, is seduced by a white doctor at the institute. The seduction has to do with photography and loneliness, how one can be persuaded to commit atrocious acts in the name of science.

This is a fascinating novel, filled with insights about a multitude of things. Read it!

Anne Clinard Barnhill HOMEGOING Yaa Gyasi, Knopf, 2016, $26.95, hb, 305pp, 9781101947135 / Viking, 2017, £16.99, hb, 320pp, 9780241242728 In the 18th century in what is now Ghana, then the Gold Coast, half-sisters are born in different villages. One grows up to live in luxury in the Cape Coast Castle, never aware that her sister is packed in the slave hold just below her feet. Each chapter of the novel carries the name of a family member.

They leapfrog from one side of the Atlantic to the other, down through eight generations. The different branches are unaware of each other, yet both sides from the beginning – when a woman stolen from one tribe mothers members of her enslaving tribe – bear the chains of slavery.

The form is disjointed. Rarely does a chapter end with a satisfying conclusion. The character we came to care for in one chapter is a barely remembered, disturbed or absent parent in the next as we are driven in chains, either physical or emotional, through the familiar American territory Multi-period

of the Great Migration, chain gangs, and drug addiction in Harlem but also through less-familiar wars against colonialism on the eastern shore. This format perfectly replicates the feeling of irreparable loss that happens when families are cracked open for the profit to be gained from individuals. Not on the same scale, of course, but modern society can do this to us all, lending universality to the epic. A compelling but not an easy read.

Ann Chamberlin THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO Mary Hogan, William Morrow, 2016, $15.99/ C$19.99, pb, 384pp, 9780062386939 The devastating Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood of 1889 is the historical event depicted in this highly readable, dual-voice novel. It’s narrated by a modern-day young woman who is searching for clues to her past, and a late 19th-century debutante who is feeling the restrictions of her place in society. As the story progresses, the women’s lives intertwine.

In present-day California, upon her 18th birthday, Lee Parker, who was adopted as a baby, is finally able to begin the search for her birth parents. With only a slight bit of information and an old photograph, she has little to go on except a connection with Red Cross founder Clara Barton.

Though she feels guilty for showing so much interest in her birth family, she heads to the library in hopes of piecing together the few clues that were offered in her closed adoption file.

Meanwhile, the story of the woman in the photo, Elizabeth Haberlin, is told in her own voice.

She was a privileged daughter of a doctor and member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. Haughty and self-assured, she began angling for the catch of the season—the son of an affluent British family—though she admittedly held in higher regard a working-class boy from Johnstown, who had warned her of the precarious position of the dam. When the dreaded event came to pass, Elizabeth found her life’s purpose in the disaster and was determined to make up for the misery and death the members of the club had wreaked.

This is a fascinating story about family dynamics, class division, and the courage of two women facing life-changing dilemmas over a century apart. The historical aspects are suitably accurate and detailed, while the modern portion is fast-paced enough to hold interest. It has great potential as book club favorite.

Arleigh Johnson THE HOUSE BETWEEN TIDES (US) / BHALLA STRAND (UK) Sarah Maine, Atria, 2016, $16.00/C$22.00, pb, 387pp, 9781501126918 / Freight, 2014, £7.99, pb, 352pp, 9781908754424 Hetty, running from an uncomfortable relationship, travels to a remote island in the Outer Hebrides. It’s 2010, and she’s purchased the estate of her ancestors, who include a oncefamous painter, Theo Blake. She intends to turn the mansion into a hotel, but finds the house a crumbling mess, the locals antagonistic over her plans, and the contractor, James, has discovered

a skeleton hidden under the floorboards in the conservatory. Hetty and James are adversaries but team up to solve the mystery, and in the process she learns about the island’s culture.

In 1910, young Beatrice meets Theo Blake, admires his paintings, and they eventually marry.

He takes her to his remote island home for the summer. At first, she’s delighted, walks the beaches observing the wildlife, and meets Cameron, Theo’s secretary. Theo and Cameron have a volatile relationship she doesn’t understand. Theo suddenly turns cold toward her, and in his neglect she’s drawn to Cameron.

The story jumps between both these years, sifting together clues to a painful past for Theo and the search to identify the victim in the conservatory.

Maine’s descriptions of the island’s landscape, wildlife and unpredictable weather are evocative.

Dialog embedded in another character’s actions can be confusing. Theo seems overly cruel to his young wife as he pines for something he can never have again. The changes in his painting style, from ethereal to eerie, track his deterioration. Much is left up to the reader to interpret, which showcases the skill of this debut author. Two women find unexpected love, but one will lead to tragedy. The novel is a haunting story of loss and longing in an unusual setting. Recommended.

Diane Scott Lewis THE WATER OF LIFE (Uisge Beatha) Daniel Marchildon (trans. Mārta Ziemelis), Odyssey Books, 2015, $19.95/A$24.95, pb, 322pp, 9781922200266 In 1996, John MacPhearson, the proprietor of Toronto’s poshest Scotch bar, tastes a dram of whisky from the old-fashioned bottle offered to him by Elizabeth Lagrand. When “fiery tongues lick the inside of his mouth, kiss him, and make him tremble” from the liquid, he agrees to the joint-venture scheme that Elizabeth has proposed.

A woman from Ontario’s economically depressed Georgian Bay area, she has discovered a stash of 100-year-old bottles of Glen Dubh whisky in her late parents’ cellar. She is determined to bring prosperity to the region by embarking on a seemingly foolhardy plan to establish a distillery and create new blends of the legendary Glen Dubh, possibly surpassing Scottish brands. In alternating chapters, the story back-tracks through six centuries of a turbulent family’s saga, spanning generations from Scotland to Canada, describing how the Glen Dubh ended up in Elizabeth’s basement. But when Robert Fearmor, descendant of the Glen Dubh’s creators, arrives mysteriously in town, Elizabeth questions his motives.

As mentioned in an interview with the Free to Write: Free to Read blog, Daniel Marchildon loosely based his novel on William Grant’s founding of the famous Glen Fiddich Distillery in Scotland. The Georgian Bay tempest is also historically based. With its smooth blending of fact and fiction, the narrative feels so true that readers might be tempted to search for the New Glen Dubh Distillery in northern Ontario. Marchildon’s intensive research into the history of Scotch single-malt whisky is copiously presented. We HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 53

learn not only the distillation methods developed by monks but also distressing details of the Highlanders’ struggles with the British excise men and their losses from the Battle of Culloden. Other interesting facts are included, such as how whisky’s flavor is enhanced by aging it in wooden barrels.

The translation from the original French is fluidly written. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani THOMAS JEFFERSON DREAMS OF SALLY HEMINGS Stephen O’Connor, Viking, 2016, $28.00/ C$37.00, hb, 610 pp., 9780525429968 A brilliant, inventive debut novel, Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings presents these two historical figures in intimate detail well beyond the historical record, and in ways sure to scandalize Jefferson worshippers. In his Author’s Note, O’Connor reminds us how little we actually know of Sally Hemings or of Jefferson’s true relationship with her. But because the author so seamlessly weaves the known historical record into this fully and believably imagined relationship, readers may be tempted to accept its story as an historical account.

For the most part, the novel offers a standard narrative that follows both Jefferson and Hemings from childhood through their long-standing intimate relationship and beyond. It wrestles with the question of Sally’s level of consensual participation, as well as the contradictions between Jefferson’s philosophy and practice. Throughout the main narrative, however, is a series of flight-ofimagination vignettes: Thomas Jefferson watches a Hollywood movie of his life; an interviewer tapes a Q&A with Sally Hemings and her brother James; Thomas Jefferson sees his former lover, Sally Hemings, from across a crowded and lurching subway car.

Some of these work better than others, but they allow O’Connor to explore concepts and perspectives in ways the main narrative could not.

A disturbing exchange between a female guard and the male prisoner ( Jefferson) she is tasked with torturing demands that we contemplate how it is that anyone who buys and sells human beings is not considered evil.

Most affecting is Sally’s “confession,” related in snippets, in which she reflects upon the ways that perhaps she was a collaborator in an evil system, turning a blind eye to others’ suffering while she benefited from her status. Her confession culminates in the horror of the auction of 130 Monticello slaves, held after Jefferson’s death to help pay his significant debts. Unfortunately, that is an historical fact.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi IN THE LIGHT OF WHAT WE SEE Sarah Painter, Lake Union, 2016, $15.95, pb, 328pp, 9781477849965 In the Light of What We See tells the stories of two women separated by 80 years. The contemporary story of Mina Morgan is told in the first-person point of view, while in 1938, Grace Kemp’s story is told in the third person. Both women share two 54 | Reviews |

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things in common: the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton, where Mina is recuperating from a near fatal car crash and where Grace worked as a nurse; and both women see things that aren’t there. Their lives and personalities are dissimilar. Mina is a highly educated professional who refuses to face what life has handed her, while Grace is a naive nurse-in-training, who has all but been disowned by her strict parents and now must fend for herself in a world she knows nothing about.

I found myself feeling for Grace as representative of the young woman of her time, but had difficulty empathizing with Mina as a contemporary woman, whose wisecracking didn’t make up for her refusal to own up to the realities of her life. The connection between Mina and Grace and their stories is weak and not integral to the other or their outcomes. The mystic elements are also minor and either explained away or easily resolved. In the Light of What We See was a fast read, but fell short of expectations.

Francesca Pelaccia BARKSKINS Annie Proulx, Scribner, 2016, $32.00, hb, 736pp, 9780743288781 / Fourth Estate, 2016, £18.99, hb, 736pp, 9780007232000 What is it that makes Annie Proulx’s voice so compelling, so completely her own? She creates characters and situations and then sits back with an ironic, god-like detachment to observe what happens next. The sense of dread draws her readers in, like witnesses to a car accident who can’t bear to look away.

Unfortunately, that voice is almost completely absent from Barkskins, Proulx’s latest and – at over 700 pages – longest novel. This is a vast story of the wanton destruction of ancient forests and native peoples by greedy and myopic invading whites. Unfortunately, lacking Proulx’s signature observational detachment, it becomes, like the sentence above, heavy-handed and obvious – two descriptions I could never have imagined attaching to her work.

The novel spans 1693 to 2013, and follows the families of two Frenchmen, impressed for three years as woodsmen to a seigneur in exchange for land in New France. One, Rene Sel, marries a Mi’kmaw woman, starting a long line of mixedblood descendants who struggle for the next three centuries against the ugly discrimination and depredations of white Europeans and Americans.

The other, Charles Duquet, has far bigger plans: he escapes servitude and ends up building a huge timber enterprise, thereby becoming one of those responsible for the depredations.

The parade of characters offers few places to hang our emotional interest, and the forest as the one consistent character does not suffice.

The device worked in Accordion Crimes, with the accordion as the unifying character, because a musical instrument, an extension of its owner, is satisfyingly intimate.

The longest stretch of the old Proulx voice finally shows up in Chapter 40, “choppers and rivermen,” featuring Jinot Sel, one of the book’s most engaging characters. I practically laughed in

relief when I got to this chapter. Unfortunately, it is short-lived, and, as the narrator describes once, “The lecture continued.” Indeed.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi THE STORM SISTER Lucinda Riley, Atria, 2016, $24.99, hb, 493pp, 9781476759920 / Macmillan, 2015, £16.99, hb, 704pp, 9781447288565 Ally D’Aplièse is a multifaceted young woman – musician and skilled sailor – who signs on as crewmember for the difficult Cyclades Regatta.

Her captain is the sailing world’s “King of the Seas,” aka Theo Falys-Kings; Ally learned seamanship from her adoptive father, Pa Salt, whose high-tech Titan is the envy of such yachtsmen as Theo. It doesn’t take long for Ally to fall in love with the handsome Briton, and Theo is equally smitten.

Then, Ally gets urgent messages from her family – Pa Salt is dead. She meets her five sisters at their father’s Lake Geneva estate, where she is given a letter by her father, left for her in case of his death.

Bidding Ally farewell, he suggests a book on his shelves if she wishes to explore the family she was born into.

Here is where Lucinda Riley’s multifaceted The Storm Sister takes flight. Ally’s book is a 19thcentury biography of Anna Landvik, who brought the famed Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s Solveig to life in his masterpiece opera, Peer Gynt.

I’d been looking at Storm Sister as a well-written romance, but Anna Landvik’s story takes it into the realm of historical fiction, and excellent stuff at that! Ally’s name is short for Alcyone, one of seven stars in the Pleiades constellation, just as there are seven sisters in the D’Aplièse family (which Theo recognized as an anagram of Pleiades). The Storm Sister is the second in a series which began with the best-seller, The Seven Sisters, and I look forward to more stories of the intriguing D’Aplièse sisters from the talented Ms. Riley.

Jo Ann Butler OUR FAMILY DREAMS Daniel Blake Smith, Saint Martin’s, 2016, $26.99/ C$31.50, hb, 288pp, 9781137279811 This is a multigenerational saga beginning in the Revolutionary era, and extending to the late 19th century. The book is not as much an immigration story – the family patriarch Jesse is already 6thgeneration American when the story opens on his struggling farm in Vermont – but a migration story. We watch the very different experiences of his children as they take difficult journeys to start lives in various areas of the burgeoning United States.

New England farming was a notoriously difficult lifestyle. Notable among the experiences of Jesse’s children is that of Elijah, who moves to Virginia and marries into a genteel Southern plantation family, in contrast to his brother Calvin, who chooses a career as a lawyer and banker in Indiana.

Many facets of the story resonate with modern experiences: Elijah’s struggle to raise Southern sons who are lazy and entitled, spoiled by slave servitude; the speculative land bubble created by Multi-period

easy bank credit in 1837. Most notable is the saga of granddaughter Indiana Fletcher, who bequeaths her home to found Sweet Briar College in Virginia.

The book can be hard-going for the casual reader, structured as an academic study of contemporary letters, but the important themes ring out: the melancholic quality of life in the early United States despite almost limitless opportunity; education as a socioeconomic brass ring. Most surprising perhaps is the deep well of insecurity behind much of the upward-reaching behavior we normally attribute to American “exceptionalism.” A compelling read for students of the era.

Jackie Drohan THE SILVER SUITCASE Terrie Todd, Waterfall Press, 2016, $12.95/ C$18.95, pb, 362pp, 9781503950498 This dual-period novel set in Manitoba, Canada, focuses on two women. The novel begins in 1939 with Cornelia, a 17-year-old farm girl who has been keeping house for her family since her mother died five years earlier. She falls in love with Henry, but their bliss is short-lived when he enlists in the war and heads off to Europe. The multiple tragedies in her life shake Cornelia’s faith in God. Benita, Cornelia’s granddaughter, is the focus of the modern storyline. It is 2006, and Benita is embittered by her financial and marital problems.

After Cornelia’s death, Benita finds her diary and learns surprising truths about her grandmother’s past that affect the whole family. Cornelia’s diary reveals her secrets as well as her journey from doubt to faith, which gives Benita hope for surviving her own disappointments and losses.

Benita’s story wasn’t as gripping to me as Cornelia’s, mainly because I didn’t feel much interest in or sympathy for Benita. She treats her husband badly, and although there’s a plausible psychological explanation for her behavior, none of her better qualities were vivid enough to outweigh this nastiness. The conflicts that exist are resolved quickly, and almost everyone is good and kind, even the ones who seem at first to be cruel. Normally this lack of tension among the characters would bother me, but the novel has an Anne of Green Gables sensibility that made me want to stay in this world with these characters.

Neither the prologue nor the epilogue seemed necessary. While the epilogue contains an interesting twist that I didn’t anticipate, it could have been incorporated into the novel proper.

Recommended for fans of inspirational fiction who enjoy a slower-paced, but well-written novel. A pleasant read.

Clarissa Harwood THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF JERUSALEM Sarit Yishai-Levi (trans. Anthony Berris), St. Martins, 2016, $25.99, hb, 374pp, 9781250078162 Gabriela and her mother, the beautiful Luna, have never connected. Desperate to understand her mother and their family’s troubled history, Gabriela pieces together the fragmented stories of several generations of women, including the curse that prevents them from being loved.

Exquisitely rich in history and detail, The Multi-period — Historical Fantasy

Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is set in three eras: the Golden Age of Hollywood, WWII, and the 1970s.

Gabriela, our main narrator, just wants to know why her mother doesn’t love her—or anyone, really.

Luna is gorgeous but spiteful and rude, and the majority of the story is actually about her. We also learn about Grandmother Rosa and how the curse arose among the women in the family. The pages are layered with both Jewish and family histories that work together seamlessly and, though slow in spots, there’s enough intrigue there to keep pushing you forward. Eventually the story does circle back to Gabriela, who still struggles to understand her family, but eventually makes a life for herself. I liked what we see of Gabriela and wished there were more to her story. I also liked Gabriela’s Aunt Rachelika, Luna’s much more affectionate sister.

Rosa was interesting as well, and I found the history surrounding Israel in those decades insightful, but Luna was a difficult character to the end. I could not like her, which is perhaps testament to how well she was written. In all, this was a poignant and intriguing book.

Holly Faur

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timeslip

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VALLEY OF THE MOON Melanie Gideon, Ballantine, 2016, $27.00, hb, 393pp, 9780345539281 Lux is a single mom, with a penchant for making bad life decisions, living in the San Francisco area in the 1970s. She was born into a well-off family in picturesque Newport, Rhode Island and spent summers with her doting father at idyllic Lapis Lake in New Hampshire. Now she decides to send her young son, Benno, back to spend a few weeks with her parents. In his absence, she goes camping in the country, gets lost in a strange midnight fog, and stumbles into a rural commune, Greengage, which became stuck in 1906 during an earthquake.

This timeslip novel focuses on Lux’s interactions with her own family and commune members, and her trips back and forth between her present life and the past. “Time” is indeed the central theme, and as it passes, dramatic changes occur among Lux’s family and friends, building to a suspenseful climax.

For many the most engaging aspect of the book will be found in the gripping human interplay associated with trying to negotiate through the vagaries of slipping through time. The author addresses this weird phenomenon superbly.

Other readers may find the preachy feminism in the first half of the book somewhat cloying. Lux has to balance existing in her politically correct, kumbaya life in Frisco with the work regimented, communal “utopia” of Greengage. After all, Joseph, the commune’s leader and Lux’s main interest, bluntly admits “work was our religion.” Despite these criticisms, this update of Brigadoon is recommended because of its well-crafted twists and thought-provoking insights into different times and cultures. Still, by the end of the book,

some may agree with me that Lapis Lake was the real paradise.

Thomas J. Howley

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alternate history

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THE VIRGIN’S WAR Laura Andersen, Ballantine, 2016, $16.00/ C$22.00, pb, 354pp, 9780804179409 Andersen brings her alternate history series (the linked Boleyn and Tudor Legacy trilogies) to a close in this exciting sixth volume. Queen Elizabeth I faces the certainty of war against her ex-husband, Philip of Spain, and turns to their charismatic daughter, Anne, Princess of Wales, for help to unite England against its common enemy and the dreaded Armada. Andersen is clearly a fan of Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond series and offers a similarly action-packed tour of England, France, Spain, Ireland and Scotland in her novels. The final volume focuses on the romantic fortunes and emotional fates of the lively Courtenay family, fictional Elizabethan nobility whose lives are plausibly intertwined with the members of the Tudor dynasty.

Once you accept her premise – that Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s son lived to become (briefly) King Henry IX and was succeeded by his sister Elizabeth – the novels are a satisfying blend of romance, politics, and rich historical research. Andersen’s Tudor England is one where the violence, paranoia, and religious strife of the 16th century are softened by friendship and family loyalties; her great achievement is her version of Elizabeth I who, given the chance to pass on her political genius to a new generation, seems kinder, funnier, and more humane than her character usually appears in fiction. The novels are aimed at a crossover YA/adult audience, which may account for both the optimistic tone and the romantic plots that make up in sweetness what they lack in depth.

History buffs will be kept guessing as to which real events will occur and which will change; this adds suspense to what would otherwise be a slightly formulaic story, making this an enjoyable adventure for a wide range of readers.

Kristen McDermott

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historical fantasy

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SUDDEN DEATH Alvaro Enrigue (trans. Natasha Wimmer), Harvill Secker, 2016, £14.99, pb, 245pp, 9781846558832 This is a novel which is gloriously and provocatively impossible to classify. If the author did not himself refer to it as a novel, I might be tempted to question that definition. Perhaps I should. Perhaps Enrigue calls his book a novel to provoke a challenge. Certainly, it contains fiction. It HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 55

puts words into the mouths of historical characters and thoughts in their heads which cannot be known but only imagined. Yet it also includes lengthy quotations from other texts, from More’s Utopia to an exchange of emails between the author and his editor. Wimmer’s translation is outstanding and rises to the challenge of linguistic humour superbly.

A tennis match is being played in Rome, at the height of the Counter-Reformation, between the painter Caravaggio and the poet Quevedo. The match is in lieu of a duel. Caravaggio’s second is Galileo, Quevedo’s a feckless Spanish nobleman married to Cortes’ granddaughter. The balls may or may not be stuffed with hair cut from the head of Anne Boleyn before her execution. Thus revolutions in art, astronomy and religion come together on the court and the spirit of the New World presides over the proceedings.

Enrigue makes bold and ingenious imaginative leaps, from Caravaggio’s mastery of chiaroscuro to the way pictures made of feathers in what is now Mexico catch the light, from war on the court to war between empires, the velocity of balls to the calculation of odds. You never know where you’re going next. A wildly funny, scurrilous, passionate, apostate journey through the birth canal of the modern world. A horrid history for grown-ups.

The New World poking out its tongue (and other things) at the old. Wonderful.

Sarah Bower AUTUMN PRINCESS, DRAGON CHILD: Book 2 in the Tale of Shikanoko Series Lian Hearn, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2016, $14.00, pb, 288pp, 9780374536329.

Shikanoko (Shika) continues his quest to find the hidden young and true Emperor of Japan and the Autumn Princess, his love. He now has additional magical powers to assist him, through five young spirit boys, a werewolf, and a magical lute, assisted by nature. His goals for the near future are: “first I need to kill my Uncle… and then I have to destroy the Prince Abbot, and… find Akhime and marry her, and restore Yoshimori to the throne.”

This magical feudal story contains sorcerers, a spirit-filled Dark Forest, spirit eyes that reveal failures, poisonous bees, etc., all of which sense betrayal and purity of mind and heart. Just as Shika has been cheated out of his rightful inheritance, so have several Japanese authorities installed the wrong son as emperor. While nature itself rebels, the forces of righteousness unite to confront friend and foe, compelling them to join Shika’s warriors.

Lian Hearn’s second book in the series develops these medieval characters into faithful, adventurous men and women who seek healing and harmony for Japan. Highly recommended historical fiction!

Viviane Crystal THE SORCERESS AND THE SKULL Donald Michael Platt, Penmore, 2016, $15.00, pb, 236pp, 9781942756569 The 16th-century French seer and predictor of frightening futures, Nostradamus, died many years ago. His family line lives on in The Sorceress and the Skull, however. Michele is born in 1932, and 56 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 77, August 2016

prophecies point toward her wielding great power.

That is, if she manages to reach puberty when such powers will be manifested. Allies like the Skull, a man disfigured by the horrors of war, join with a gargoyle to protect the young sorceress.

In this solid thriller, the action is slick and fast-paced. The atmosphere is thick and charged with intrigue. Historical details are meticulously researched but perhaps relayed a bit too faithfully.

An example sentence reads: “Michele and her aunt, who went by the name of Mrs. Desaix, sat in Principal LeRoy Stephens’ office at Lowell High School, situated on Hayes between Ashbury and Masonic.” This level of detail can make the sentences unwieldy, but it does lend an air of authenticity to the prose, and after a while the reader accepts it as a stylistic quirk. The quatrains scattered throughout the book lend authenticity and an air of mystery to the tale.

I found the characters difficult to sympathize with, mainly because they were hard to get to know.

Their portrayal is heavy on action but light on inner thoughts and feelings, another stylistic trait that may trip up some, while others may not notice its absence. Overall, this book leads the reader through dark pathways to a satisfying conclusion by using detailed prose and intense research.

Xina Marie Uhl BAD BISHOP Irene Soldatos, Hadley Rille, 2016, $19, pb, 488pp, 9780997118803 1120 AD: A political chess game is begun when the Duke of Dijon is found murdered. Quickly, alliances are forged as the threat of invasion from a powerful emperor sweeps across nations. These political leaders are not humans, either. They’re Alguls/vampires who have lived unseen alongside humanity. In a time when book production is costly and time-consuming, Alguls have studied and protected history’s documents. Could these old tomes reveal a more sinister ulterior motive behind the Duke’s murder? One Algul intends to find out.

If you like languid political debates, this is your book. For me, there was too much time spent telling versus doing. Every character’s pattern of speech is identical, with their nature utterly monotone during the book’s first half. Despite new characters being given an expanded multi-page backstory, because characters express no emotions or personality traits, it is hard to differentiate between them.

Regarding the writing style, many conversations trail off forebodingly, with an overuse of ellipses ending sentences. Also, the author seriously overuses commas. One sentence has 68 words, and it “ends” with a semicolon. With ambivalence running rampant, plot development is scant.

Whenever a significant event occurs, the what is kept secret. Instead, Soldatos’s narration involves ambiguous after-the-fact debates.

This novel reads like a tedious college lecture instead of an intriguing literary story. The last quarter of the book finally involves some face-toface conflict and action, which is very intriguing.

Otherwise, it’s vampires sitting around desks having polite discussions. The book I read was

a second edition, which added 138 pages to the original release. Why? The book is too dense with unnecessary, overly complex exposition detrimentally watering down the plot. Cut out the first 200 pages, and you’d have a much more focused and compelling adventure with a unique twist on the origins of vampires.

J. Lynn Else

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children & young adult

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THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM Kathleen Burkinshaw, Sky Pony Press, 2016, $16.99/C$25.99, hb, 240pp, 9781634506939 During the Greater East Asian War, known in the west as World War II, 12-year-old Yuriko lives with her father in Hiroshima. She has a best friend next door, an annoying cousin-brother who lives with her, and many of the same joys and problems of any girl her age. Her father begins spending time with a woman, and Yuriko wonders and worries if she will get a new mother. A secret is revealed and Yuriko discovers that her family isn’t who she originally thought them to be. Amidst these personal concerns, America drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, changing Yuriko’s life forever.

The story is based on the life of the author’s mother, who was twelve when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The details of Japanese life during the war are interesting and, I assume, accurate. They celebrate the New Year with traditional foods and the Shishi-mai, lion dancers.

Yuriko and a friend make a stitch on a soldier’s one-thousand stitch belt, so he’ll know that one thousand women are thinking of him. The girls listen to jazz music in secret when it is outlawed.

Yuriko narrates the story. She is a sweet and innocent 12-year-old, very concerned about her relationship with her father. The story moves a little slowly. The true suspense comes from the reader’s knowledge that Hiroshima will be bombed and wondering what will happen to the characters. The story is painful and tragic, and provides a needed look into a world not often presented to young, English-language audiences. Recommended for ages 11-13.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt UNCLE DREW AND THE BAT DODGER Thomas Cochran, Pelican, 2016, $14.95, pb, 248pp, 9781455622092 Nine-year-old Teddy Caldwell breaks the window of his new neighbor, Andrew “Uncle Drew” Weems, while playing baseball, and an unlikely bond develops between the youngster and the elderly gentleman. This friendship is destined to be full of curious and illuminating stories. Uncle Drew’s account of his time with BoPeep Shines, “the best pitcher he ever saw,” opens up Teddy’s view to the years when the Negro League existed so African-Americans could play organized baseball, and to the time when people of color couldn’t ride on the same train, use the same bathroom, or eat Historical Fantasy — Children & YA

and sleep in the same establishments as whites.

Uncle Drew neither glorifies nor glosses over his accounts. They are straightforward with some hurtful and awful aspects, and others are silly and dangerously amusing.

However, the friendship is also purely fun and deeply meaningful as the two discover their common likes centered on their mutual love of baseball. They abundantly accept each other as individuals, and their quiet enjoyment in each other’s company is palpable.

Uncle Drew and the Bat Dodger is wonderfully written. Its language is full of spirit and thick with resolve and confidence. It is highly recommended.

Wendy Zollo ARRIVALS Brian Gallagher, O’Brien, 2016, £6.99, pb, 240pp, 9781847177209 This is a very special time-slip story, dealing with youthful class and racial tensions. Ciara, a young Irish-Canadian girl, discovers her family history in a casket in her dead grandfather’s garden. Back in rural Canada in 1928, a motherless boy from a wealthy industrial family meets a bright youth from a humble background and Lucy, an artistic Native American girl from the Ojibwe tribe, who lives on a reservation.

On her way out to meet her new friends for a fishing trip, Lucy hides from a storm in a tumbledown boathouse. Looking out through a gap in the broken timbers, she sees a well-known brewery owner commit a murder. Frightened, she knows she must report it to the police. But how can she?

She’s not supposed to leave the reservation and she’s already aroused the suspicion of the Indian Agent in charge. All three children have much to learn about each other. The boys in the school dormitory argue about ‘class’ and being ‘stuck-up’, which leads to a three-way fight. And the boys must learn respect for Lucy, who teaches them the ways of the forest, which can be dangerous for the unwary.

This is a fast-paced, moving story about teenage relationships, which shows up the friction between Irish Canadians, rich and poor, and American Indians and colonials. It is also a rattling good yarn for twelve- to fourteen-year-olds, encompassing loyalty, jealousy, kindness, adventure, sensitivity, the treatment of Native Americans at the time, young male competition and youthful violence.

I particularly enjoyed the Ojibwe appreciation of nature in colours, bird song and sweet-smelling pines, and the way that the story is neatly embedded in the 1920s with Prohibition in the States being an essential ingredient to the murder, and with the backdrop of the horrors of the First World War. Geoffrey Harfield DISCOVER THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS Isabel & Imogen Greenberg, Frances Lincoln, 2016, £8.99, hb, 32pp, 9781847898257 This is an attractive cartoon-style book about Ancient Egypt. It’s a tall narrow hardback, smooth and easy to hold, and looks as if it was made to last. At the back is a helpful fold-out map and timeline. The book is in full colour, and the colours Children & YA

are subtle: red ochre, yellow, grey, sage green. Brief written sections are mixed with cartoon-style Ancient Egyptians and a modern archaeologist; these characters talk in speech bubbles, making the information they impart entertaining and easy to absorb. There are sections on History, the Nile, Kings and Queens, Religion, Mummification, etc.

The writing style is lively, though I felt that the written sections would have benefited from some editing here and there to aid clarity – but that is a minor criticism. A well-designed book that should appeal to children of 7-11. Highly recommended.

Ann Turnbull THE EMERGENCY ZOO Miriam Halahmy, Alma Books, 2016, £6.99, pb, 300pp, 9781846883972 It is 1939 and Britain is about to go to war.

Twelve-year-old Tilly and her friend Rosy spend the school summer holidays making a secret den and playing with their beloved pets, a cat and a dog.

To their horror, the Ministry of Home Security advises people to have their pets destroyed, fearing they will not be able to cope if Britain is bombed.

Desperate to save their pets, and defying their parents, Tilly and Rosy hide them in the den. Word gets around and other children bring their pets to the hut, and the Emergency Zoo is born. But the zoo brings its own problems. The girls are about to be evacuated, and they have to find someone to care for the pets. Tilly comes up with a daring plan which might just save the animals’ lives, and with the help of Rosy and the new friends they have made from the zoo, she puts it into action.

The Emergency Zoo is based on a little-known historical event, when around 750,000 pets were destroyed at the start of the war. Tilly and her friends find themselves in a strange new world of air raid shelters, blackout blinds and barrage balloons, and they start to face the reality of what is happening to people in Germany. They befriend two Jewish refugees, and their story is told with heart-breaking clarity. There is no neat, happy ending to this story, but it does end on a hopeful note that at least a few of the many doomed pets will be safe. Europe is on the brink of tearing itself apart, but the children’s war is a smaller and more personal one. Miriam Halahmy has written a warm and touching story of friendship, courage and loyalty. A lovely and moving book. Highly recommended for 10+.

Pat Walsh SHAKESPEARE’S GHOST Mary Hoffman, Greystones Press, 2016, £8.99, pb, 358pp, 9781911122005 London, 1610; a dirty, dangerous yet exhilarating place and home to seventeen-year-old Ned Lambert, an actor in Shakespeare’s theatre company, the King’s Men’s. Ned’s voice has broken, so he can’t now play women’s parts. The theatre is his family – his own died of the plague – but will the King’s Men still want him? A penniless man in London won’t last long.

He has other problems, too: strange experiences of a beautiful woman in green from the world of Faery who wants him to join her there. Then royal theatre patron, Prince Henry, befriends Ned, so Ned

must learn to cope with the court world. And the only person who understands him is Shakespeare, who knows about demanding patrons, and has had his own Otherworld experiences.

I really enjoyed this book. It brings the world of Jacobean theatre vividly to life, especially the art of illusion, whether creating a tempest on stage, or making tawdry garments look like the robes of kings. Financial realities also mean keeping wealthy patrons happy, and Shakespeare’s plays can be dangerously political as well as entertaining – a dangerous balancing act.

Perceptively and captivatingly written, Shakespeare’s Ghost is highly recommended for children of thirteen plus.

Elizabeth Hawksley Once I had got into it, I did enjoy Shakespeare’s Ghost, but in the first half of the book I felt slightly confused with the contrast of fantasy and reality.

I found the time the book was set in interesting, and I thought the involvement and link with Shakespeare and his plays was clever. However, the complex storyline, for me, took a bit of time to understand fully. I also found Ned’s connection with the Prince perplexing as I wasn’t sure why they had become such intimate friends or why the Prince had taken such an interest in Ned. Freya Sutcliffe, age 13 THE STONES OF WINTER Oskar Jensen, Piccadilly Press, 2016, £5.99, pb, 229pp, 978171404115 With the caption ‘A Viking tale of myth and magic’ The Stones of Winter is the first in a series of tales about Astrid Gormsdottir, princess of King Gorm’s court in Denmark, and her new friend, bard and shaman, Leif. Having rescued Astrid from a pack of wolves, he predicts the coming of a dangerous and evil force, told in visions by the Yelling Stones, three witch sisters who were turned to stone. Then there ensues a fast-paced adventure filled with references to Norse gods and encounters with witches and trolls. It portrays a world on the brink of change, with a new religion looming and old beliefs about to change forever.

This is a book that is hard to put down, even for an adult. It is a story that will draw in all young readers, with two main characters – neither of whom are gender stereotypical. Astrid is a feisty warrior who rejects the desire of her family for her to sew and for them to plan her marriage, and Leif presents himself as a creative and gentle soul able to speak to otherworldly creatures.

One of the most impressive aspects of The Stones of Winter is its attention to historical detail.

All the characters in the novel, apart from the two main ones, are based on real-life characters and real events that happened between 958 and 963 A.D., squeezed into a single year. Even the phrases and exclamations, such as ‘Troll-steeds’, ‘Gauti’s hound’ and ‘sun swallower’ are direct references to wolves’ names in the 13th-century Icelandic Eddas, the sagas of the Norse gods. The author certainly knows his medieval Scandinavian history and literature. This is an excellent book, and I look forward to the next chapter in the adventure.

Linda Sever HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 57

TREACHERY AND TRUTH Katy Huth Jones, Pauline Books, 2016, $10.95, pb, 176pp, 9780819875358 In 10th-century Bohemia, Duchess Dragomíra of the Přemysl dynasty has taken over as regent and begins persecuting followers of the Christian religion spreading from the surrounding Germanic areas. Her son, Duke Václav (Wenceslaus), is on the cusp of manhood, and waiting for the day he can introduce the people to the faith of his revered grandmother.

The story is told through the perspective of Poidevin, a young boy purchased as a slave to personally serve the Duchess. In the early days he focused solely on keeping himself safe from the bloodthirsty whims of the pagan followers, but he soon finds interest and solace in the Christian religion that Václav openly recognizes. As tension rises within the Duchy and with its neighbors, Poidevin must choose where his loyalties lie.

It should be noted for potential readers that the category for this book is Christian Fiction, as it is written with a clear agenda. The religious aspect features Christianity as an absolute good, choosing to display all the positive characteristics of the religion, and Paganism as its evil nemesis, with only mentions in a negative light. Readers looking for a balanced view may be disappointed with the tone of this story. Even so, its uncommon setting and era piques the interest of those looking for an unusual historical novel, which has a fast-paced storyline with a likable protagonist.

Arleigh Johnson THE BAD TIMES Christine Kinealy & John Walsh, Quinnipiac Univ.

Press, 2015, $15.00, pb, 118pp, 9780990945413 The Bad Times chronicles – in graphic novel form – the terrible history of the Great Hunger in Ireland and the resulting divisions in families and communities. Three young friends – Dan, Brigit, and Liam – face starvation and disease as their families’ potato crops fail and their English overlords turn a blind eye. Though they gradually lose many of the people they care about, they are determined not to lose each other – until at last they realize that they must face the crisis in their own daring ways.

This project, spearheaded by Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute, is a worthwhile way to introduce young people to the history of the Great Irish Famine. Walsh’s palette reflects both the verdancy and gloom of the Emerald Isle, and his images have a bleak simplicity à la The Little Prince. While the plot draws good and bad in stark lines with very little character growth or versatility, historical and cultural authenticity do come through. Gaelic is sprinkled throughout (explained fully in a glossary), and the historical context is signposted clearly for young readers in a prologue and other supplemental materials.

Although this graphic novel is simplistic in many ways, Kinealy and Walsh resist the temptation of a deus ex machina. The ending leaves the protagonists – and the reader – with very little to hold on to. Perhaps this is a weakness of the plot.

Or perhaps this is the intended message.

Ann Pedtke 58 | Reviews |

HNR Issue 77, August 2016

SAVING WONDER Mary Knight, Scholastic, 2016, $16.99/$19.99, hb, 288pp, 9780545828932 In this novel written in a first-person narrative, Curley Hines has lost his mother, father, and younger brother in two separate accidents tied to Big Coal. Now, with Curley in seventh grade and living with his grandfather in the small enclave of Wonder Gap deep within Kentucky, the bright spot in his life is his best friend, Jules. Jules’s real name is Julia Cavanaugh, and she and Curley have been close friends for several years. But life changes when a new boy, J.D. arrives in Wonder Gap, and Jules becomes smitten with him. Curley suddenly realizes that his feelings for Jules go way past “just being friends.”

The situation becomes more disastrous when Curley learns that the new boy’s father is also the new head of the coal company, and his goal is to destroy Red Hawk Mountain, where Curley and his grandfather live. Curley’s grandfather has been giving him a new vocabulary word to learn each week since fifth grade, and he encourages Curley to consider how some of those words could be used to ease Curley’s worries. It’s hard to see where simple words can make a difference; but they do.

Written with all the angst of middle school and the importance of friendship and loyalty, Saving Wonder should have a lot of appeal to readers aged eight to twelve.

Linda Harris Sittig QUEEN OF THE SILVER ARROW Caroline Lawrence, Barrington Stoke, 2016, £6.99, pb, 103pp, 9781781125267 Acca has grown up fascinated by the story of the princess who was hurled across a river tied to a spear. She has wanted to be that princess from the age of five, learning to hunt because she did, listening to the stories and hanging on every word about her, beguiled by the legend.

Then she meets her in the flesh, and she is not what she expected at all.

This story, based on the writings of Virgil, fills in the gaps left by that ancient Roman poet, weaving a story that is as powerful now as it would have been when it was first written.

The themes in the book are quite adult in feel but written in a style that is easy to access and very easy to follow. As it is a children’s book, the characters are not fully explored, and yet there is enough in it for me to feel the prick of a tear at the end. Conundrums are presented, demanding thought from the reader before answers and explanations are offered, giving a surprisingly sophisticated conclusion to a story that jogs along quite prettily otherwise.

This is a slim volume formatted to be read by children and reluctant teens, laid out to be easier to read, to follow the flow of words and not get lost in a sea of print. It feels robust in the hand, enough to weather the average child. It does not shy from the unpleasant and there is little gloss on traumatic events. And yet it is not so stark that younger readers would be frightened by it. It is marketed as a ‘teen’ book but I do believe that pre-teen readers will find it easy to approach, and thus a satisfying

experience.

Nicky Galliers

BROMLEY GIRLS Martha Mendelsohn, Texas Tech Univ. Press, 2016, $14.95, pb, 203pp, 9780896729223 In 1955, fourteen-year-old Emily Winter finds herself the new student at Bromley, an uppercrust girls’ school in New York City. She becomes friends with Phoebe, although their friendship is threatened when Phoebe joins an anti-Semitic club founded by the popular Cressida Whitcroft.

Meanwhile, Emily finds herself in the midst of fellow students who are mourning the death of actor James Dean, who had been killed in a car crash the week before. The novel continues to portray Emily’s situation as one of the only Jewish girls in a WASP school. We follow her exploits as she tries to fit in with her peer group at such a sensitive age. She and Phoebe share their interest in medieval lore and the romances of Lancelot and Guinevere, and of Tristan and Isolde. She notices that Phoebe has put herself on a diet, never eating the usual fattening plates of pizza, doughnuts, or Cheezits. When Phoebe excuses herself to go to the bathroom, Emily hears Phoebe on the scale, and then she hears her doing jumping jacks.

Phoebe announces to her mother that she’s lost twenty pounds.

Mendelsohn has written a lively period novel with a fairly accurate depiction of life in New York City. Her incorporation of the latest teenage fan thrills such as James Dean and Laurence Olivier adds verisimilitude to the world of a private school in Manhattan. The author also provides perspective as to the experience of growing up Jewish in such an exclusive WASP enclave. She creates an artful depiction of girls from the era facing issues such as bigotry, prejudice, and anorexia.

Gini Grossenbacher RACING THE MOON Michelle Morgan, Allen & Unwin, 2015, $13.99/ A$15.99, pb, 240pp, 9781743316351 It’s 1931 and Joe Riley, ‘on the wrong side of thirteen’, lives in Sydney, Australia. It’s the Depression, and Joe has a thriving business illegally selling eggs, which his father says isn’t a crime if you don’t get caught. His dad should know; his illegal bookmaking business has taken off, and now they have enough money saved to send Joe off to St Bartholomew’s, a Catholic boarding school.

Things do not go well. Joe is selected by Brother Felix as one of his ‘favourites’ and when he sits on Joe’s bed in the dark one night, stroking his face and more, Joe punches him. For breaking his nose and telling ‘defamatory lies’ Joe is expelled and sent to reform school – a farm on the south coast run by Irish nuns. I loved the descriptions of life on the farm, the tough love of the nuns, and the positive effect it has on Joe despite, or perhaps because of, the physical challenges.

Racing the Moon is full of boyhood exploits that kids will enjoy. The short chapters and simple, direct language make it a quick and easy to read.

However it also touches on the darker side of life, including bullying, domestic violence and sexual Children & YA

abuse. These subjects are handled with subtlety and could prompt some important discussion for children aged 13 plus. Although many young people do face these issues, some parents may prefer to wait until their children are older before including these dark realities in their recreational reading.

Perhaps the most poignant moment was when Joe talks to his friend about the war, and I realised that, only eight years later, these kids would be young men fighting in World War Two. I would recommend it as a great book for teenagers studying Australian history.

Cindy Williams OSSIRI AND THE BALA MENGRO Richard O’Neill and Katherine Quarmby (illus.

Hannah Tolson), Child’s Play, 2016, £5.99, pb, 32pp, 9781846439261 This tale of ‘Tattin Folki’ – or rag and bone people – vividly conjures a ‘Traveller’ way of life inside Britain that few ‘settled people’ know, and it comes from a collaboration between a Romani storyteller and a picture-book writer to capture oral stories before they are lost.

Ossini is a sparky Traveller girl, who longs to make music, so she makes an instrument from wood and recycled bits. When she goes off into the hills to practise, she wakes a sleeping ogre – the ‘Bala Mengro’ – which is “huge and hairy as a Shire horse”. What follows from this is both wry and heart-warming. The story unfolds using language that is lyrical yet spare, in the tradition of other picture books. But the authors happily include Romani words and phrases, which works quite wonderfully.

The illustrations, which remind me slightly of Lowry paintings, cleverly evoke the bold colours and style of Romani culture. Like the text, they include details of Traveller lifestyles that children will surely love to examine. For instance, one spread shows all the tiny pieces that Ossiri assembles to make her ‘Tattin Django’. Another gives us a wideangle view into a Traveller camp at night.

This is a picture book where everything has been thought about, from the patterned end papers to the glossary that explains the sprinkling of unfamiliar words. It is beautiful to look at, and wonderful to read aloud. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is old enough to meet an ogre.

Marion Rose

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YOKKI AND THE PARNO GRY Richard O’Neill and Katharine Quarmby (illus.

Marieke Nelissen), 2016, £5.99, pb, 32pp, 9781846439261 In this delightful traditional Travellers’ tale, young Yokki tells the story of the Parno Gry, a magical horse which appears at the hour of greatest need. The Travelling family spends the winter quietly, making things to sell. In June, they set off on their travels, visiting fairs and buying and selling horses, useful items like wooden spoons and sharpening tools and knives. In autumn, they help farmers with the harvest. And in the evenings, they tell their tales and dance.

Then the bad times come. The farmer has a Children & YA

new farm machine; he doesn’t need the Travellers; the wood they always stay in is fenced off; and their horse goes lame.

They have to sell almost everything and food is short. Yokki tries to cheer them up with the story of the Parno Gry. Then, one night, when things are at their very worst, the Parno Gry appears…

I really enjoyed both the story and Marieka Nelissen’s evocative illustrations. She sets the story in the late 19th century – we see the new farm machine and the traditional Romany caravans, which fit perfectly. It reminds me of Flora Thompson’s Lark Rise to Candleford account of the Travelling folk’s annual arrival at her Oxfordshire village in the 1880s.

I loved learning about the Travelling life, what everyone did, and how they coped. It’s also a story about the power of the imagination to rise above the bad times and look forward to a better future.

Children of 4-9 should love it.

Elizabeth Hawksley V FOR VIOLET Alison Rattle, Hot Key, 2016, £7.99, pb, 283pp, 9781471403811 South London, 1961, and 16-year-old Violet has left school but is stuck in her dad’s fish and chip shop, missing out on the Swinging Sixties and with no future as far as she can see. Her best friend Jackie also made the break from school but is striking out in a new life with new friends, leaving dull, bespectacled Violet behind. But then Violet meets a cheeky biker boy and goes for a secret ride on his motor-bike. He shows her a special place on a lonely hill overlooking London, and the beginnings of love with all its uncertainties arises. Then something terrible happens. A girl is murdered in nearby Battersea Park, and soon afterwards Violet sees her mother in the park with another man.

With no wish to spoil the plot I’ll stop there, suffice to say that what follows is a series of grisly murders, and when a body of someone close to Violet turns up, she sets out to track down the killer.

This is an engrossing evocation of a particular period with an absorbing plot. I really cared about the characters, and although Violet is seen at first as one of those girls who are never part of the incrowd, she is sparky enough to change when the opportunity arises. The cover warns us of strong language, but it is probably nothing that most 16-year-olds haven’t heard before, and the budding relationship between Violet and her biker boyfriend Beau, when they take a room together in Brighton, is delicately drawn. The central relationship confounds expectations and raises the story from one of true love to something much more radical. An evocative and generous story.

Cassandra Clark

STEALING INDIANS John Smelcer, Leapfrog, 2016, $13.95, pb, 198pp, 9781935248828 Lucy Secondchief, Simon Lone Fight, Noah Boyscout, and Elijah High Horse have grown up in very different regions of America under very different circumstances – but suddenly they have everything in common. They have each been torn away from their homes and families, put onto trains and buses by unfeeling government agents, and shipped off to an institution that is a clichéridden British boarding school in all ways but one: all the students are Native American children, being “assimilated” under the policy “Kill the Indian to save the man.”

The history of American Indian boarding schools and the abuses perpetuated there cries out for more extensive treatment in historical fiction. Unfortunately, however, Stealing Indians does little to fill this gap. Even an adult with a working knowledge of Native American history will find this book frustratingly difficult to follow, struggling to use vague clues to pin down dates and geographic locations that are never actually given – either in the narrative itself or in any accompanying notes. A young reader coming to this history for the first time – allegedly this book’s target audience – is apt to become utterly lost as to the decade and part of the country in which this story takes place.

The amorphous sense of time and place is compounded by a point of view that wanders erratically from the children to the teachers to an omniscient and anachronistic narrator. (“The second day at Wellington began with the usual commotion of boarding school” – how are four children newly kidnapped from their reservations to know the “usual commotion” of boarding school?) The cliché plots of the boarding school experience cloud the very real and shocking details of how Indian children were treated in such institutions. Should you want to introduce a young person to Native American history, choose another title.

Ann Pedtke ROSE IN THE BLITZ Rebecca Stevens, Chicken House, 2016, £6.99, pb, 156pp, 9781910655542 Rebecca Stevens continues the adventures of her ‘Strange Girl’, Rose, in this sequel to Valentine Joe, set between the present day and war-torn 1940s London. Fifteen-year-old Rose sees and hears things that aren’t there. So does her elderly Aunt Cosy, only she has the excuse of very old age. Rose’s father has died three years before, and tomorrow her mother is getting married again to an Italian who ‘smells weird’ and has an irritating thirteen-year-old son. Rose feels left out, too depressed even to keep in contact with the German boy, Fred, whom she met on holiday last summer.

Only Aunt Cosy, with whom she shares a name and a bond, seems to understand. When Aunt Cosy runs out into the night and Rose pursues her, their adventure begins.

This is a skilled time-slip tale with good local detail of both modern and 1940s London – Clapham Common, Covent Garden and HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 59

the Underground. Rose witnesses some of the most terrible events of the Blitz, and intervenes unintentionally in her aunt’s romance with a young Commonwealth airman, later reported killed in action. Rose fears that she has inadvertently changed history…

This is a well-told, fast-paced narrative. The language is direct and unself-conscious, but depicts, with a candid lack of sentimentality, what it is like to be a 15-year-old grappling with the contradictions of adult life. We see Rose’s frustration with life in the London of the Forties: ‘It was so difficult to find someone without phones and the internet…’ and its casual racism – her only criticism of the term ‘Colour Bar’ is that it is ‘silly’ – will provoke some thought in its young readers.

An excellent, emotionally mature read for 10-16 year-olds.

Jane Burke AND I DARKEN Kiersten White, Penguin, 2016, £7.99, pb, 488pp, 9780552573740 / Delacorte, 2016, $18.99, hb, 496pp, 9780553522310 What if Vlad the Impaler were a girl?

Set in Wallachia (Transylvania), a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, in the years 1446 to 1451, And I Darken follows the life of the vaivode (warlord prince) Vladislav Dragwlya with a fair degree of accuracy. Except this Vlad is a girl. Like the ruler of the history books, Lada spends her early years in Wallachia, and then as a hostage of the sultan when her weak father refuses to pay taxes to the Turks.

In contrast to her clever and gentle brother Radu, Lada is wild, brutal and almost self-destructive in her blind quest to return to Wallachia and take her father’s place as ruler. But she bides her time and trains with the Janissaries, an army of fighting slaves sent from their homelands as tributes to the sultan. The siblings also befriend the sultan’s son, later Mehmed II, but this meeting is not confirmed as historical fact.

In And I Darken there is a sense of unease on every page, especially at the sultan’s court with its sophisticated political machinations, and Lada is almost dehumanised by the inherently brutal environment, which serves as an interesting way for the author to explain the cruelty for which the Transylvanian leader was so notorious. A good read, but occasionally uncomfortable; with the sadistic historical leaders, this book is not for the squeamish. However, there are glimmers of beauty in the imagery, e.g. ‘A spire so high [he] was surprised it didn’t scratch the blue of the sky’. There’s a helpful glossary at the back.

Although told intermittently from Lada’s and Radu’s viewpoints, Lada, with her strong feminist views is the perfect anti-heroine and will appeal to girls aged 15+.

Henriette Gyland

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THE ART OF HISTORY: Unlocking the Past in Fiction & Nonfiction Christopher Bram, Graywolf, 2016, $12.00, pb, 176pp, 9781555977436 Christopher Bram (Father of Frankenstein, Eminent Outlaws) explores his love for the past in this delightful little book from Graywolf.

“Some people dismiss historical fiction as a bastard genre, the lowly love child of history and romance.” Not Bram. He wallows in the rich details; he revels in the complexities and dynamics that both historical fiction and non-fiction share.

Breaking down a group of varied and unlike authors and their work—including Toni Morrison, Leo Tolstoy, David McCullough, and Charles Royster—showing the ways they use biography, details, or even the nature of human comedy as a medium to tell both history and a story. Bram expertly deconstructs some of the genre’s more famous works and shows why they all deserve more than a bastard child label. It would have been easy for Bram to turn this into a thesis paper full of academic stuffiness, but it is clear through the casual, at times humorous, writing that this is a work of love for the genre and history in general.

A must-have book for anyone looking to hone their historical writing craft, as well as for anyone who loves the genre and wants to immerse themselves in the intricacies of the historical narrative.

Bryan Dumas GETTING STARTED IN WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION Emma Darwin, John Murray Learning (Teach Yourself series), 2016, £12.99/$16.99, pb, 253pp, 9781473609662 What is the difference between writing historical fiction and writing any other kind of fiction?

Not much, to judge from this book. At least 90% of it is given over to issues which are the staple of every Creative Writing course; story arc, point of view, telling and showing, dialogue and so on.

The Teach Yourself series has been going for a long time, and in 1996 it published Writing a Novel and Getting Published by Nigel Watts. There are big differences in layout and presentation between this and Darwin’s book but very little difference in content. Darwin avoids large slabs of text, laying out her book more as a series of exercises with numerous icons and boxes. Watts says little about self-publishing and obviously nothing about e-books, and Darwin does not say much about these either.

Getting Started is really about writing fiction in general, with special reference to historical fiction.

Although the examples are drawn from historical

fiction, the points made apply to all creative writing.

Darwin tries to differentiate historical fiction from other fiction by saying that its essence is to transport the reader to ‘another world’. She admits that science fiction has the same aim and allows it as a close relative. But how much other fiction is ‘kitchen sink’ fiction set in the everyday lives of its readers? Most of us are escapists, reading fiction to be transported to other worlds, perhaps not in time but in other locations, other occupations or other social milieux. The most that can be said about historical fiction is that the setting is necessarily distant from the experience of its readers (and the writer), and the writer needs to take special care to make it credible. Also the readers may be more demanding about ‘authenticity’, although this is debatable.

This is not to say that Getting Started is not a good book for the autodidact. I particularly liked Darwin’s discussion of ‘psychic distance’ in the context of Point of View. The section on dialogue is interesting: it is a particular problem in historical fiction but not unique to it. Darwin does not say much about genre. My own feeling is that the genre – romance, thriller, crime, conspiracy, etc. – is more important to the way a story is structured and written than whether or not it has an historical setting. However, given the number of books published in recent years on writing historical fiction, I fear this becoming an heretical opinion.

Edward James SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE: The Brief, Astonishing Life of St. Catherine of Siena Shelley Emling, St. Martin’s, 2016, $26.99/ C$31.50, hb, 218pp, 9781137279804 This is a slender, straightforward recounting of the life of Catherine Benincasa, born in 1347, the 24th of 25 children of a Sienese wool dyer. Certain at a young age of her calling by Christ, Catherine became a venerated mystic, a prolific writer, and a counselor to popes. She was instrumental in bringing the papacy back to Rome from Avignon, and worked to heal the schism when two popes were installed in competing seats. Catherine had a huge following in her short life and wielded an astonishing amount of power and influence in a time when women had neither.

It’s simply unclear what gap this “first modern, secular biography of Italy’s answer to Joan of Arc” is seeking to fill, or who its audience is meant to be. Though thoroughly researched, this is not a scholarly work, and Catherine’s life is already exceptionally well-documented. It’s also hard to imagine what a secular audience will make of some of the more extreme examples of Catherine’s selfdenial and mysticism. Perhaps the popularity of Pope Francis in secular society, with his message of simplicity and service to others, made the time ripe for a reminder of Catherine’s story.

Jennifer Bort Yacovissi THE BLACK PRINCE OF FLORENCE: The Children & YA — Nonfiction

Spectacular Life and Treacherous World of Alessandro de’ Medici Catherine Fletcher, The Bodley Head, 2016, £20, hb, 308pp, 9781847922694 / Oxford Univ. Press, 2016, $29.95, hb, 336pp, 9780190612726 Few today remember Alessandro, the first Duke of Florence. During the 1520s and 30s the rivalry between the two illegitimate young Medici heirs, Ippolito and Alessandro, was played out against the background of the Italian Wars, when the papacy, France and the Habsburg Empire engaged in a ruthless struggle for dominion of the wealthy Italian states. Fletcher has brought this period to life and provides details of the political intrigues and the trappings of princely life.

More politically astute than has sometimes been acknowledged, Alessandro kept his own hands clean by leaving the murder of certainly one and possibly two close relatives to others. His reputation as a womaniser is also somewhat redimensioned. Yet it was the promise of a society beauty that ultimately brought about his downfall.

The motivation for Alessandro’s assassination in January 1537 by his cousin, Lorenzino, puzzled contemporaries let alone modern historians.

Fletcher paints a perceptive picture of mixed loyalties, jealousy and duplicity but the lack of political purpose for the assassination remains a conundrum. The most revealing arguments of the book regard Alessandro’s ethnicity and what it did, or more importantly did not, signify to contemporaries. Fletcher’s book is extensively researched and, like the best stories, a compelling read.

Lucinda Byatt THE REBIRTH OF RAPUNZEL: A Mythic Biography of the Maiden in the Tower Kate Forsyth, FableCroft (Australia), 2016, A$29.95/$29.95, hb, 225pp, 9780992553494 In this study of the fairy tale ‘Rapunzel’, Australian author and poet Kate Forsyth collects her doctoral thesis; ‘Persinette’, La Force’s seminal version of the tale (1697); and several of her own previously published essays.

Adopting the structural theories of folklorist Alan Dundes, she identifies it as a variant of the Maiden in the Tower tale, speculates on preliterate origins in matriarchal mythology, and examines major versions, including those of the Brothers Grimm, to identify essential motifs and to trace its ‘cultural evolution… from ancient tales of three-faced goddesses right through to Disney’s Tangled.’ This offers useful insights into not only how traditional material evolves, but how its ancient mythic structures and symbols ‘work at an unconscious level to give the tale a deep psychological resonance.’ No passive maiden awaiting rescue, Rapunzel was an active agent in events, an empowering figure, though later versions increasingly drain the tale of its subversive power.

Forsyth’s argument is convincing, her prose clear, and the insights into the tale’s influence on Nonfiction

her own work, especially Bitter Greens, fascinating.

Definitely recommended.

Ray Thompson ROSETTA: A Scandalous True Story Alexandra Joel, Vintage Australia, 2016, A$34.99, pb, 336pp, 9780143780472 This is the extraordinary tale of the author’s Jewish great-grandmother, Rosetta Raphael, who caused a major scandal in early 1900s Melbourne by divorcing her husband and abandoning her daughter for the charismatic Carl Zeno, a fortuneteller of Chinese heritage.

Banished from respectable society, the couple operates in Sydney’s “Palace of Illusions” before sailing to Europe where they reinvent themselves as a Japanese professor and his American wife.

Through connections forged by Rosetta earlier in life with the aristocratic Lilian Pakenham and beautician Helena Rubinstein, the couple gains access to the rich and powerful. Carl establishes a reputation for improving health and wellbeing using a combination of radium and aroma therapies, hypnotism and mysticism. His most enthusiastic devotees include Princess Charlotte, sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Empress Eugenie, widow of Napoleon III. Just like Rosetta herself, the book is audacious and flamboyant and breaks all the rules. It darts in and out of the past and the present, veers between historical fact, the author’s memoirs and romantic fiction of an unashamedly purple variety yet remains compelling throughout. The closing chapters explore the lingering effects of family fracture on subsequent generations. A terrific read and highly recommended.

Marina Maxwell

complex relationships within the royal family. Red Roses will appeal to anyone who is interested in the English Middle Ages, especially those who would like a different perspective on the era.

Karen Warren THE SECRET POISONER: A Century of Murder Linda Stratmann, Yale Univ. Press, 2016, $40.00/£20.00, hb, 344pp, 9780300204735 During the 19th century, convictions were difficult to obtain in cases of murder by poisoning.

Arsenic, in particular, was used for many legitimate purposes and was widely and cheaply available. It was insufficient, therefore, to obtain a guilty verdict simply by proving that the accused had purchased it. There had to be proof that the victim had died from arsenic poisoning, and that there was evidence – usually provided by a witness – that the accused had administered it. Evidence that the accused had a motive for doing so was helpful but not essential.

This book is a fascinating account of how developments in forensic toxicology and medical jurisprudence increased the number of successful prosecutions and reduced the alarming incidence of murder by poisoning. The narrative can be followed and understood by non-scientificallyminded readers because of the inclusion of many memorable case histories. For example, there were shocking instances of women poisoning their children for the sake of the few pounds they were entitled to as burial money from a Friendly Society.

A remarkable work of scholarship. Recommended for readers with strong stomachs.

Ken Methold

RED ROSES: Blanche of Gaunt to Margaret Beaufort Amy Licence, The History Press, 2016, £20.00, hb, 382pp, 9780750964005 Red Roses is the story of the women of England’s Lancastrian Dynasty, from 1345 to 1509. It traces the changing fortunes of the descendants of John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward III, from the viewpoint of their wives, mothers and daughters.

These women’s lives were shaped through marriage, often contracted during early childhood. Alliances were made for dynastic or financial reasons, and to ensure the production of heirs.

Medieval women’s lives were not well documented. The book draws on letters and contemporary literature as well as account books and official papers, but inevitably there are gaps in the narrative. The author is scrupulous in explaining the source of her material and, despite the difficulties, she has managed to bring the women to life and to show their different personalities.

I came away with a deeper understanding of the period and of the nature of courtly women’s lives.

My only criticism is that I would have liked a family tree diagram to help me make sense of the HNR Issue 77, August 2016 | Reviews | 61

© 2016, The Historical Novel Society ISSN: 1471-7492 | Issue 77, August 2016