Historical Novels Review | Issue 95 (February 2021) by The Historical Novel Society

H I S T O R IC A L

NOV EL S REVIEW

ISSUE 95

THE ARA PRIZE

Recognizing & Rewarding Historical Novels |

FEBRUARY 2021

More on page 8

FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE ... Allure of the Artist Creative Artists in Historical Fiction Page 10

Band of Sisters Lauren Willig's True Account of Triumph & Hope Page 12

Changing Perceptions of History Elzbieta ChereziÅ&#x201E;ska's The Widow Queen Page 13

A Passion for Words Ursula Hegi Considers Her Work Page 14

Sacred Space A Conversation with Laura Esquivel Page 15

Historical Fiction Market News Page 1

New Voices Page 4

History & Film Page 6

A publication of the Historical Novel Society | www.historicalnovelsociety.org

H I S T O R IC A L

NOV EL S REVIEW ISSN 1471-7492

PUBLISHER Richard Lee

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

EDITORIAL BOARD

Managing Editor: Bethany Latham

Linda Sever

<LSever@uclan.ac.uk> Publisher Coverage: All UK children’s historicals

Karen Warren

<worldwidewriteruk@gmail.com> Publisher Coverage: Birlinn/Polygon; Bloomsbury; Duckworth Overlook; Faber & Faber; Granta; HarperCollins UK; Hamish Hamilton; Pan Macmillan; Penguin Random House UK (Michael Joseph, Penguin General, Penguin Press, and their imprints); Short Books; Simon & Schuster UK

REVIEWS EDITORS, USA Rebecca Cochran

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

Bryan Dumas

<bryanpgdumas@gmail.com> Publisher Coverage: Algonquin; Kensington; Other Press; Overlook; Sourcebooks; Tyndale; and other US/Canadian small presses

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

Sarah Hendess

Book Review Editor: Sarah Johnson

Xina Uhl

Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Avenue, Charleston, IL 61920 USA <sljohnson2@eiu.edu> Publisher Coverage: Bethany House; Five Star; HarperCollins; IPG; Penguin Random House (all imprints); Severn House; Skyhorse; Australian presses; university presses

Features Editor: Lucinda Byatt 13 Park Road, Edinburgh, EH6 4LE UK <textline13@gmail.com>

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

REVIEWS EDITORS, UK Alan Fisk

<alan.fisk@alanfisk.com> Publisher Coverage: Aardvark Bureau, Black and White, Bonnier Zaffre, Crooked Cat, Freight, Gallic, Honno, Impress, Karnac, Legend, Pushkin, Oldcastle, Quartet, Sandstone, Saraband, Seren, Serpent’s Tail

Edward James

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

Douglas Kemp

<douglaskemp62@gmail.com> Publisher Coverage: Allison & Busby; Little, Brown; Orion; Penguin Random House UK (Cornerstone, Ebury, Transworld, Vintage, and their imprints); Quercus

<clark1103@yahoo.com> Publisher Coverage: US/Canadian children’s publishers <xuwriter@gmail.com> Publisher Coverage: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Simon & Schuster (all imprints); Soho; and Poisoned Pen Press

Larry Zuckerman

<boyonaraft64@gmail.com> Publisher Coverage: Bloomsbury; Macmillan (all imprints); and Grove/Atlantic

REVIEWS EDITOR, INDIE Misty Urban

<misty@historicalnovelsociety.org> Publisher Coverage: all self- and subsidy-published novels

EDITORIAL POLICY & COPYRIGHT Reviews, articles, and letters may be edited for reasons of space, clarity, and grammatical correctness. We will endeavour to reflect the authors’ intent as closely as possible, and will contact the authors for approval of any major change. We welcome ideas for articles, but have specific requirements to consider. Before submitting material, please contact the editor to discuss whether the proposed article is appropriate for Historical Novels Review. In all cases, the copyright remains with the authors of the articles. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the authors concerned.

MEMBERSHIP DETAILS

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY was formed in 1997 to help promote historical fiction. We are an open society — if you want to get involved, get in touch. MEMBERSHIP in the Historical Novel Society entitles members to all the year’s publications: four issues of Historical Novels Review, as well as exclusive membership benefits through the Society website. Back issues of Society magazines are also available. For current rates, please see: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/members/join/

HISTORICAL FICTION MARKET NEWS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE

ISSUE 95 FEBRUARY 2021

Due to COVID, the next North American conference (June 21-27) will be an all-virtual event. Registration opens on February 15th. For more details, see the back cover of this magazine and visit hns-conference. com.

COLUMNS 1

Historical Fiction Market News

Sarah Johnson

New Voices Profiles of debut authors Asha Lemmie, Sarah Penner, Frances Quinn & Margaret Rodenberg | Myfanwy Cook

History & Film Not Whether to Be, But Who: Ophelia |

Misty Urban

FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS 8

The ARA Prize Recognizing and Rewarding Historical Novels by Elisabeth Storrs

10 Allure of the Artist Creative Artists in Historical Fiction by Susanne Dunlap 12 Band of Sisters Lauren Willig's True Account of the Triumph of Hope by M.K. Tod 13 Changing Perceptions of History Elzbieta Cherezińska's The Widow Queen by Lisa Redmond 14 A Passion for Words Ursula Hegi Considers Her Work by Lisa Redmond 15 Sacred Space A Conversation with Laura Esquivel by Adelaida Lucena-Lower

REVIEWS 16 Book Reviews Editors’ choice and more

NEW BOOKS BY HNS MEMBERS Congratulations to our author members on their new book releases. If you’ve written a historical novel or nonfiction work published (or to be published) in November 2020 or after, we’d like to promote the details in this column. Please send the following information to sljohnson2@eiu.edu or @readingthepast by April 7: author, title, publisher, release date, and a blurb of one sentence or less. Details will appear in May’s magazine. Submissions may be edited for space. This listing is limited to current paid HNS members. In Alison Stuart’s The Goldminer’s Sister (HarperCollins Australia, Jul. 2020), set in Australia in 1873, Eliza Penrose arrives in the gold mining town of Maiden’s Creek in search of her brother, planning to make a new life for herself, but instead she finds a tragic mystery – and hints of betrayals by those closest to her. On the eve of the American Civil War, an adopted Cheyenne Indian journeys to Charleston, South Carolina to find his birth family in Native Stranger, the third book in Elizabeth Bell’s Lazare Family Saga (Claire-Voie Books, Aug. 10, 2020). In A. M. Stuart’s second Harriet Gordon Mystery, Revenge in Rubies (Berkley, Sept. 2020), a riveting new mystery set in Singapore in 1910, when Lieutenant Colonel John Nolan’s beautiful new wife is found bludgeoned to death in her bed, Harriet Gordon and Inspector Robert Curran are drawn into the secrets of the South Sussex Regiment where Honor is Before All. He wants to practice his outlawed convictions about religious freedom, but the Church of England will imprison, torture, and kill those who stray, in Ora Smith’s The Pulse of His Soul: The Story of John Lothropp, a Forgotten Forefather (Lighten Press, Sept. 1, 2020). Rita Gerlach’s Mercy’s Refuge (independently published / Dusk to Dawn Books, Sept. 15, 2020) is set in 1620; when Mercy McCrea’s life is in danger, she flees across the English Channel to Holland, to her uncle’s farm where she joins the English Separatists aboard the Mayflower after wedding Caleb, a carpenter falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. Hannah Byron’s debut In Picardy’s Fields, first in The Resistance Girl Series (independently published, Sept. 24, 2020), is set in 1918 at the frontlines in France, featuring the first female surgeon and spy facing the Germans, Agnès de Saint-Aubin and Madeleine de Dragoncourt. In The Kindness of Thieves by Gail Feeney (independently published, Sept. 27, 2020) set in 1857 England, master charlatan Jack Cooper organizes one last big job before leaving his life of crime only to

A publication of the Historical Novel Society | www.historicalnovelsociety.org

get sidetracked by Anne, an intriguing young woman discovering London and her place in the world. After traveling to a slave community hidden within the Great Dismal Swamp, Will Rees and his wife Lydia get caught up in a dangerous murder case where no one trusts them in Death in the Great Dismal by Eleanor Kuhns (Severn House, Oct. 1, 2020). In Freedom’s Call by Douglas P. Cornelius (Crosslink Publishing, Oct. 1, 2020), set during the pre-Civil War late 1830s, teen-aged Brady gets caught up in the abolitionist activities of Christian newspaperman Elijah Lovejoy and finds that his dream to become a cub-pilot on a Mississippi River steamboat will be impacted by fugitive slave William Wells Brown, while Lovejoy’s printing presses keep getting dumped into the river by angry mobs. In the fall of 1545, Caterina Konarska travels to Vilnius on a mission for Queen Bona to stop Duke Zygmunt from marrying his scandalridden mistress, yet as bodies pile up she begins to wonder if an assassin is trying to ensure the same; this is the premise of Midnight Fire, second in the Jagiellon Mystery series by P. K. Adams (Iron Knight Press/Amazon, Oct. 6, 2020). At the heart of Sarah McCraw Crow’s The Wrong Kind of Woman (Mira/HarperCollins, Oct. 6, 2020) is Virginia, a woman who finds her way through grief when she helps bring the women’s movement to an all-male college campus in 1970; it’s a novel about grief and loss, but also about friendship and love in a time of change.

Set mainly in England and Belgium, The Diamond Courier, second in Hannah Byron’s The Resistance Girl Series (independently published, Dec. 10, 2020), features Lili Hamilton, daughter of Madeleine de Dragoncourt who appeared in In Picardy’s Fields; a reporter for the communist newspaper The Daily Worker, she ends up smuggling Antwerp Diamonds to London during WW2, until she is caught. In The London Monster by Donna Scott (Bowker, Jan. 4), set exactly one hundred years before Jack the Ripper terrorizes the people of London, another devil stalks the streets in search of prey, and an underground fighter and an aspiring journalist team up to catch the terrifying villain known as The London Monster. High Treason at the Grand Hotel by Kelly Oliver (Level Best Books, Historia Imprint, Jan. 5), Book Two in the Fiona Figg Mystery series, features a plucky sleuth and is filled with memorable characters and wonderful suspense. Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books, Historia Imprint, Jan. 12) Book Two in the Shane Cleary series, set in 1970s Boston, features a down-on-his-luck PI, walking the streets of dirty old Boston.

In Children’s Fate, the fourth Meonbridge Chronicle by Carolyn Hughes (Riverdown Books, Oct. 26, 2020), set in 14th-century England, Emma Ward learns her apprentice daughter Beatrix is being exploited by her immoral mistress and determines to rescue her from ruin, whilst Beatrix isn’t even certain she’s willing to be saved.

The rhythm of Marguerite Martin Gray’s Wait for Me: Revolutionary Faith Book Five (Celebrate Lit Publishing, Feb. 9) beats across the miles, into the prisons, through the shackled town from the heart of God to His war-weighted people in Charles Town, South Carolina in 1777.

The Cup of Christ and the Forgotten Disciple (Holt Publishing Company, Nov. 2, 2020), first in the Cup of Christ series by Jack Holt, is a dual narrative set in the 1st and 12th centuries about two men – one a forgotten disciple, and the other an actual author from the 12thcentury – each of whom writes a book that violently leads to the Cup of Christ (the Holy Grail).

Liz Milliron’s The Stories We Tell (Level Best Books, Historia Imprint, Feb. 9), Book Two in the Homefront Mystery series, takes place in Buffalo, New York, during the early years of WWII.

Blood Royal by Alexandre Dumas (Pegasus, Nov. 3, 2020), in a new translation by Lawrence Ellsworth, Book Four in the Musketeers Cycle, follows d’Artagnan and the musketeers to England in an attempt to save King Charles I from execution. In Helen Cannam’s A Hidden Fire (Independently published, Nov. 5, 2020), in north east England during the reign of James I, Catholic widow Kate Machyn faces a conflict of family loyalty, love and faith, set against the background of the Gunpowder Plot. In The Shadows of Versailles by Cathie Dunn (Ocelot Press, Nov. 20, 2020), shortly after her arrival at Versailles, Fleur is seduced by Philippe de Mortain, and her path to revenge soon takes her into the world of helpful whores, intrigue-plotting nobles – and poisoners! In Joyce Yarrow’s Zahara and the Lost Books of Light (Adelaide Books, Dec. 5, 2020) Seattle journalist Alienor Crespo travels to Spain, where she applies for citizenship as a descendant of Jews expelled in 1492, confronts modern-day extremism, and commits herself to protecting an endangered “Library of Light.” The Runes of Destiny by Christina Courtenay (Headline Review, Dec. 10, 2020) is a Viking time-travel story where a 21st-century woman ends up in the 9th century as thrall to a Viking warrior, who takes 2

her on a journey across the seas to sell her for profit; although she’s determined to find a way back to her own time, there is a connection forming with her captor, and she must try to resist the call of the runes or accept her destiny lies with him.

COLUMNS | Issue 95, February 2021

The Turncoat’s Widow by Mally Becker (Level Best Books, Historia Imprint, Feb. 16) is a Revolutionary War mystery featuring Rebecca Parcell and Daniel Alloway, who uncover a plot that threatens the new country’s future. In Johanna Wittenberg’s The Raider Bride, Book 3 in The Norsewomen Series (Shellback Studio, Feb. 25), to gain her inheritance, Ragnhild must sail to Ireland to avenge her father’s death. In The Steel Beneath the Silk (Bellastoria Press, Mar. 2), the final novel in Patricia Bracewell’s 11th century Emma of Normandy Trilogy, discord between England’s queen and king shifts to grudging alliance when a fierce Danish enemy bent on total conquest invades England. In the Revolution, a British deserter could become a traitor to the Crown by joining the Continental Army and there become a hero; Chains Across the River by Bevis Longstreth (Honeycomb Publishers, Apr. 2) tells the enthralling tale of one such soldier, Captain Thomas Machin, a brilliant engineer of flawed character, born, educated and trained in England, who enlisted in the British Foot and was posted to Boston, where he saw action at Breed’s Hill before deserting to join the Continentals. Finding Napoleon by Margaret Rodenberg (She Writes Press, Apr. 6), with its intriguing adaptation of Napoleon Bonaparte’s real attempt to write a romantic novel and a rare look at his last love, the audacious Albine de Montholon, offers a fresh take on Europe’s most

powerful man after he’s lost everything. Set in the darkest days of the Spanish civil war, In The Dark by Anamaría Crowe Serrano (Turas Press, May) is a tale of two sisters, and the secret of their house – a deserter from the conflict, hidden deep in the dark – and the woman who dares to protect him. Renowned psychiatrist Frieda Fromm-Reichmann fled Nazi Germany in 1935; Frieda’s Song by Ellen Prentiss Campbell (Apprentice House Press of Loyola University, May 25) is a tale of the way history and chance, and the work and people we love, shape our lives--and how the past is always present, haunting us. In 1944, after a war widow befriends a German émigré newly arrived in her small Nebraska town, the two uncover a tragic secret harkening back to the days of World War I and face deadly consequences from an unknown enemy in The Stranger from Berlin by Melissa Amateis (Simon & Schuster UK, Aug. 10).

NEW PUBLISHING DEALS Sources include authors and publishers, Publishers Weekly, Publishers Marketplace, The Bookseller, Publishing Perspectives, and more. Email me at sljohnson2@eiu.edu or tweet me @readingthepast to have your publishing deal included. Denene Miller, editor at Simon & Schuster US, sold One Blood, which moves from the US South during the Great Migration to modernday Atlanta, and described as a “multigenerational epic exploring the link between three Black women: a birth mother who has her child taken away, the adoptive mother who raises that child and the woman the child becomes,” to Suzie Dooré at The Borough Press via Victoria Sanders of Victoria Sanders and Associates. St. Martin’s will be the US publisher. Dreamland author Nancy Bilyeau’s The Fugitive Colours, a sequel to The Blue, also set in the rivalrous art world of Georgian England, sold to James Faktor at Lume, in an exclusive submission, for publication in May 2022, by Max Epstein at Max Epstein Law. Between Two Kings by Alexandre Dumas, in a new translation by Lawrence Ellsworth, Book Five in the Musketeers Cycle, in which d’Artagnan and company return to England to restore Charles II to the throne, sold by agent Philip Turner to Pegasus Books for publication in July 2021. Christina Courtenay’s Whispers of the Runes and Tempted by the Runes, the second and third books in a Viking time travel series, were acquired by Kate Byrne at Headline Review via Lina Langlee at The North Literary Agency, for publication in June and December 2021 respectively. Five Chinese Hanged in Idaho, the debut from Jenny Tinghui Zhang, a story of reinvention and identity about a Chinese girl in the 1880s West, with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 as backdrop, sold to Caroline Bleeke at Flatiron via Stephanie Delman at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. UK rights sold to Jillian Taylor at Michael Joseph via Vanessa Kerr at Abner Stein, on behalf of Stefanie Diaz, in association with Stephanie Delman at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. Mirandi Riwoe, winner of the inaugural ARA Historical Novel Prize for Stone Sky Gold Mountain, sold her next historical novel, Sunbirds, set in WWII-era Indonesia, to the University of Queensland Press (UQP).

Age of Monsters, a Victorian-set tale of identity, self-discovery, and redemption by Lianne Dillsworth, which follows a mixed-race stage actress on her journey to find her missing colleague, a Black woman with vitiligo, sold to Millicent Bennett at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency, on behalf of Juliet Mushens; and to Emily Griffin at Windmill by Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment (UK/Commonwealth, excl. Canada). The Women of Bond House by Tori Whitaker (author of Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish), described as “a dual timeline story of two women related by blood—one in Prohibition-era Detroit and the other in modern-day Kentucky—and three things that bond them together: a bourbon distillery, a red 1923 sports car, and one’s diary that changes the other’s life forever,” sold to Chris Werner at Amazon Publishing’s Lake Union imprint via Katie Shea Boutillier at Donald Maass Literary Agency. Leaving Coy’s Hill by Katherine A. Sherbrooke, a historical novel inspired by the life of 19th-century American suffragist, orator, and abolitionist Lucy Stone, sold to Jessica Case at Pegasus for May 2021 publication, via Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management; publication is May 2021. Norma Perez-Hernandez at Kensington acquired Lorena Hughes’ new historical mystery The Spanish Daughter, a series debut set in in 1919 Ecuador, about a cacao plantation heiress who impersonates her late husband and investigates his death after he was murdered in a hired killing meant for her, via Rachel Brooks at BookEnds.

CORRECTIONS The review of A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling (HNR 94) incorrectly described a scene about VJ Day in China. In addition, the review of Jeri Westerson’s Spiteful Bones (HNR 94) erroneously listed a character named Nigel; it should be Nigellus.

OTHER NEW AND FORTHCOMING TITLES For forthcoming novels through 2021, please see our guides, compiled by Fiona Sheppard: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/guides/forthcoming-historicalnovels/

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

A publication of the Historical Novel Society | www.historicalnovelsociety.org

NEW VOICES

Sarah Penner

Asha Lemmie

Exploring the twists and turns of history, debut novelists Asha Lemmie, Sarah Penner, Frances Quinn & Margaret Rodenberg invite us into worlds merging fact and fiction.

banks of the River Thames. Together, we can begin to unbury the secrets belonging to the lost apothecary. I only ask that readers tread carefully—for the apothecary is a clever woman and a master of disguise.” Asha Lemmie’s Fifty Words for Rain (Dutton, 2020) is set in post– World War II Japan, and her main character, Nori, is a girl growing up against a backdrop of a legacy of war and tradition. Lemmie graduated from Boston College with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. However, she had started writing Fifty Words for Rain when she was sixteen years old. “Nori came to me in much the same way as my daydreams. I knew I wanted to tell a story about a girl who belongs nowhere, and who blossoms all the same, but I never intended to write a novel. I only sought to find a release for a story that grew bigger and bigger, and eventually, became too much for me to hold inside my head. “I always loved reading books, and I have always loved writing, but it was not until this idea that it occurred to me that I could ever be an author. I did not understand how one could possibly take an idea from a seed, and turn it into a fully-fledged work of art that could reach people. I didn’t understand how one could take that first great leap of confidence and faith, knowing that the odds were unfavorable, knowing that long years could be spent on something that would likely live and die in a drawer in my desk.”

Frances Quinn

Margaret Rodenberg

The Lost Apothecary (Park Row, 2021) by Sarah Penner was inspired by a treasure hunt. As Penner describes it: “In the summer of 2019, long before pandemic-related lockdowns, I found myself standing in the mud of the River Thames in central London, wearing blue rubber gloves and a pair of old tennis shoes. I was mudlarking—hunting the river for old treasures. My story begins with one woman’s discovery of a mysterious vial on the banks of the River Thames. The vial is connected to a string of unsolved murders two centuries ago and the female poisoner behind them—an apothecary who sells welldisguised poisons to other women seeking freedom from the men who have wronged them. “The Lost Apothecary is very much a story about women controlling their own destinies. There are dark aspects to the story—like the burden of secrets and the destructive pursuit of vengeance—but it is also a story of hope and the way women can protect, honor, and free one another, even when separated by the barrier of time. While researching this book, I loved digging into historical documents and antiquated ephemera, particularly those relating to 18thcentury London. Over the last few years, I’ve happily passed many an afternoon in the Rare Books room of the British Library, my head buried in fragile manuscripts from bygone eras. I’ve studied firsthand accounts of apothecaries, druggists, and poisoners. (I know enough to be dangerous, as they say.) So, although The Lost Apothecary is a work of fiction, I have done my best to research and craft a story that is true to history.” What has delighted and thrilled Penner, she says, is that “The Lost Apothecary has been picked up in Canada, the UK, and eleven territories worldwide. It’s an interesting time to publish a book, but I hope my debut novel serves as an invitation for readers to escape our present reality, if only in the imagination, and join me on the 4

COLUMNS | Issue 95, February 2021

However, because Lemmie is “a natural-born performer, a trained musician,” she says, “there is no greater horror to me than devoting myself to something that will never be seen. I didn’t understand how one could take such a risk—until Nori. My desire to finish her story, to make it sing, blotted out my fear of failure. I wrote and rewrote, I researched, I took rejection on the chin. Whatever it took to do her justice, I was willing to do.” She even, she continues, “snuck off to Japan as often as I could, with money I didn’t really have. I spent years learning the language, and crystallizing a feeling I was already familiar with: the feeling of being in a place that is familiar, beloved even, but unalterably foreign. Ten years later, I am an author, and Fifty Words for Rain is in the world. I have come to appreciate that Nori and I share an ultimate triumph: both of us refused to be erased without making a mark.” Finding Napoleon (She Writes Press, 2021) by Margaret Rodenberg delves into the life of Albine de Montholon, Napoleon’s last lover, and also explores Napoleon’s interest in writing romantic fiction. From the moment that Rodenberg heard about “young Napoleon Bonaparte’s attempt to write a romantic novel,” she relates, “I vowed to finish it for him. I’d lived in France as a young teen and still loved its language and history. Since I planned to write a novel, the idea united my passions.” Rodenberg’s next step was to refine “the concept: that the defeated Napoleon in exile would finish his youthful manuscript as a gift for his toddler son. Since the aging emperor’s view of his adolescent idealism drove the story, I avoided his middle years of battles and geopolitics. But to ghostwrite for Napoleon, I had to know him as a person.” To achieve her aim, she carried out extensive research and “visited Napoleonic sites in France and Corsica. But the big prize was

St. Helena Island, the site of his second exile and where much of the novel takes place. A tiny British-governed island in the South Atlantic, it remains one of the most remote inhabited spots in the world. Napoleon considered it an ‘accursed place,’ where ‘the soul wears out the body.’” Today, as Rodenberg points out, “the French lovingly maintain Napoleon’s two residences and his first gravesite. Alone in the silence of Napoleon’s musty rooms, gazing out his windows at the windswept plain that gave way to interminable gray ocean, I opened my imagination to a deeper story. A year later, in Santa Barbara, California, when I held some of the handwritten pages of Napoleon’s original manuscript, my inspiration was complete. Meanwhile, the role of audacious Albine de Montholon—the member of Napoleon’s exiled entourage who became his last lover—grew in importance. History often casts this feisty survivor of the Revolution and her husband as traitors to Napoleon.” However, Rodenberg didn’t believe it was “that simple.” By the time Finding Napoleon was completed it had “three intertwining threads: Napoleon’s defiant struggle after he’s lost everything; the adaptation of his unfinished novel into his romantic origin story; and Albine de Montholon’s zigzag between a liaison with ‘the world’s most famous man’ and bourgeois happiness. So, while an emperor is at the heart of the story, all the big stakes are personal.” Certainly, the tale of The Smallest Man by Frances Quinn (Simon & Schuster UK, 2021) is one that centres around the personal challenge of one man facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. Quinn, who read English at King’s College, Cambridge, says: “I came across the inspiration for my novel almost by accident. I had an idea for a murder mystery set in the 17th century, featuring a character with a disability, so I Googled to see what kind of lives disabled people had then. Up popped the Wikipedia entry for Jeffrey Hudson, ‘court dwarf’ to Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles 1. By the end of the first paragraph, I’d mentally abandoned the murder mystery and wanted to write about him instead.” As she discovered, “Jeffrey had an incredible life. He was ten when he was given to the queen as a gift, became a sort of human pet at the court during the lead-up to the Civil War, accompanied her on her mission to buy arms and troops in Holland and was there when she was attacked by Parliamentarian forces. As if that wasn’t enough, he went on to kill a man in a duel, got captured by pirates and enslaved in Morocco, then came home and was put in prison as a traitor. Behind all the adventures, I felt there must be an amazing character –

someone who’d been given a difficult hand in life, but grabbed every chance and made something of it. “It seemed a gift to a novelist, but I soon found out an exciting life doesn’t necessarily make good fiction. A novel needs a shape and a direction, whereas real life meanders about, takes odd turns and has no respect for the need to tie up the ends in the last chapter, all of which was true of Jeffrey’s life. My solution was to create a fictional character, Nat Davy, who has some (though not all) of the same adventures, against the same historical background, but gave me the freedom to write a proper story, rather than a fictionalised biography. He’s the kind of person I think Jeffrey might have been: brave, funny and loyal, but with an impulsive streak that can get him into trouble. I kept a picture of Jeffrey on my desk while I was writing, and though he’s not there in the pages, he was always in my head. I hope he’d approve of the result.” Lemmie, Penner, Quinn and Rodenberg have all made their mark on historical fiction by adding their own personal touches to the lives of both real and fictional characters whose life journeys they have encapsulated in their novels, and to help their readers circumnavigate the uncharted waters of history.

WRITTEN BY MYFANWY COOK Myfanwy Cook is an Associate Fellow at two British Universities and a creative writing workshop designer. Please do email (myfanwyc@btinternet.com) if you discover any debut novels you would like to see brought to the attention of other lovers of historical fiction.

A publication of the Historical Novel Society | www.historicalnovelsociety.org

HISTORY & FILM Not Whether to Be, But Who: Rewriting Ophelia

In Ms. Scheide’s Honors English study of Hamlet, my group was assigned to present Act V. I was Hamlet, and Shannon was Laertes. We wrapped a stick of cardboard in aluminum foil to serve as the poisoned sword and carefully choreographed a fight scene which, in the performance, we flubbed, but nonetheless we died with suitable dramatic flourish, leaving Charlie, as Horatio, to mop up. None of us can recall who played Ophelia. It’s possible we left her off-stage entirely, the ninny who tossed herself in a river because her boyfriend broke up with her. I recall sobbing cathartically on the blue carpet in my college dorm room as Mel Gibson’s Hamlet twitched his last, but Helena Bonham Carter’s Ophelia failed to elicit any sympathy. Kate Winslet in Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet fared even worse; I couldn’t finish the movie, having moved on in my college studies from existentialism to irony. When I taught Shakespeare at Lewis-Clark State College, my students didn’t know what do with Ophelia, either. We simply weren’t drawn to Ophelia’s inner drama the way we were to Hamlet’s. Maybe she was hiding a pregnancy, but where to go with that? We read Ophelia as a casualty of her own compliance, a victim of the patriarchy, an inert body strategized, scrutinized, and fought over by the men in her life — a cipher, not a character. Her one act of agency was to obliterate herself, but the poetry, and poignancy, of her gesture fell flat. Tina Packer suggests in Women of Will (Vintage, 2016) that Ophelia is one of a cluster of Shakespearean heroines who die for speaking truth to power, but that elevates her tragedy, not her relatability. Once I learned that Elizabeth Siddal, the model for John Everett Millais’s gorgeous pre-Raphaelite Ophelia, nearly died of pneumonia from a bathtub of cold water to give the artist that look of ecstatic surrender, I felt I’d found the key to why Ophelia didn’t resonate with my feminist students. They weren’t about to die for their art, or a man, or the patriarchy. In a feature on history and film, I’ll acknowledge here that Hamlet is historical fiction; “Amleth” in Saxo Grammaticus’ Danish History was already a legend in Shakespeare’s time. But Hamlet, considered by many to be Shakespeare’s most sophisticated and complex play, is

COLUMNS | Issue 95, February 2021

an established artifact of world literature, firmly embedded in even our daily lexicon. Beyond their self-evident beauties, Shakespeare’s works have survived in teaching, reading, and performance because the plays respond so readily to our current cultural concerns. Harold Bloom, that bardolator, claims in Hamlet: Poem Unlimited (Penguin, 2004) that the play resonates so deeply because of its exploration of human experience, though he forgets to footnote that what he means is white European-born male experience. Mary Pipher’s landmark 1994 study Reviving Ophelia made Shakespeare’s heroine a template for how Western culture robs adolescent girls of their selfrespect, self-assurance, ambitions, and joy. The name has become a shorthand for brief, doomed struggle, much like poor Ophelia’s life. Ophelia is due for a feminist retelling, but the challenge of how to fit this character into a narrative palatable to contemporary audiences — that is to say, relatable to my Shakespeare class — is no small one. Lisa Klein’s novel Ophelia (Bloomsbury, 2008) makes a very readable effort, telling the coming-of-age story of a young woman with self-possession, agency, and pure good sense. Ophelia navigates her way through a competitive court, falls in love with the popular boy, and then must extricate herself from his bloody mission when he dedicates himself not to Ophelia, but to revenge against his usurping uncle and punishing his sexual mother. Klein’s Ophelia participates fully in the dramatic action. She’s in league with Hamlet in his charade of madness. She finds the vial of poison proving that King Hamlet was murdered. And when (spoilers ensue) she suspects that Claudius set her father up to die by Hamlet’s hand and plans to end her life, too, she uses her knowledge of herbs, in the manner of other notable Shakespearean heroines, to fake her own death. Once free, she flees to France, finds refuge in a nunnery, and pursues a life of peaceful industry. Not only does Ophelia escape the madness and devastation of Elsinore, but she goes on to raise her child in peace and safety — yes, there’s another little Hamlet by the end. The losses of revenge are salved by a happy ending, much like Nahum Tate’s version of King Lear in which Cordelia marries Edgar. Claire McCarthy’s cinematic re-imagining of Ophelia (2018) furthers Klein’s take on female agency in the court of Elsinore, but this version — much like the discussions in my Shakespeare seminars — turns Hamlet from a crisis of internal resolve and kingly succession to a knock-it-down-and-drag-the-body attack on the patriarchy. I found it utterly delightful and a bit confusing, and in the end it made me consider my chief objection to these feminist retellings of classic literature, much as I love them. The film’s chief charm, it must be said, is its gorgeous visuals. The cinematography is my favorite kind: colors lush enough to eat, fabulous costumes, and elaborate sets. (I want Queen Gertrude’s bath for my house.) Crowd scenes are staged like a medieval tapestry, a profusion of texture and colors, and there’s a soft, hazy filter over every scene, even the final carnage. All this, and the chief actors are some of the prettiest working in film. The opening frame establishes this aesthetic by duplicating the famous Millais painting: Daisy Ridley, as Ophelia, floats faceup in a murky pool, trailing watery flora. An opening voiceover affirms the intention to recraft Hamlet’s legacy: having seen more than is in heaven or hell, Ophelia declares, now she is going to tell her story. Interwoven with Ophelia’s assertion of control over her narrative (and her showing that she’s a strong swimmer, unlikely to drown) is an

eerie, haunting chant of the love song that, in the play, Hamlet pens to her: Doubt that the stars are fire / Doubt that the sun doth move / Doubt truth to be a liar / But never doubt I love. The song proves a musical cue for the moments of passionate love and dramatic intensity, but its use here floats free of the play’s very interesting suggestion that the recipient must set aside the truth of her eyes and empirical evidence in order to believe in something of which she will see no real proof. These echoes of Shakespeare’s greatest lines prove, in the end, mere hints and gesture. “You’re a fishmonger,” this Hamlet says to Polonius as a private joke to Ophelia, who compared him to a fisherman and herself a helpless fish in an early scene when he and Horatio discover her swimming. “The lady doth protest too much,” Gertrude herself says when she guesses that Ophelia has been hiding her relationship with Hamlet. And when Hamlet orders Ophelia “Get thee to a nunnery,” he is telling his secret wife, literally, to run away to a convent in France where she will be safe. “To be or not to be,” arguably the most famous soliloquy in the English language, doesn’t even appear as a gesture. The movie sums up Hamlet’s internal struggle with an observation from Ophelia (made in that scene when she’s trying to persuade him to turn his back while she exits the water): “There are two sides struggling in you, one baser, one better.” Shakespeare’s language and themes are not to the film’s point. Instead, the subject of female agency is the point, and to support this, the screenplay integrates the developing love affair between Queen Gertrude, a woman feeling the growing distance of her husband and son, and her covetous brother-in-law, Claudius. Though shocked at King Hamlet’s sudden death, Gertrude gives Claudius her hand quite willingly, a ploy to preserve her status and his attentions. The dark foil to Gertrude is her twin sister Mechtild, a role in Klein’s novel enlarged in the movie. Mechtild is an herbalist, a dealer of remedies as well as poisons, Claudius’s scorned lover, and third in the trio of women who decide the fate of Elsinore. Claudius, like Hamlet, is stripped of interiority or any complex motive — a bit ironic for the play cited by some as the starting point for Western literary subjectivity. The women, too, though more active, are yet somehow less complex. Gertrude behaves like the adolescent girl, jealous of Ophelia; Ophelia behaves with sensible caution, only consenting to sex after Hamlet marries her (unlike the novel). When she finds the vial of poison in Claudius’s cloak, Ophelia communicates subtly to Hamlet, while they are being watched, what she’s discovered. She stops Hamlet from killing his uncle on the spot when The Murder of Gonzago reveals his guilt: it’s treason, and she doesn’t want revenge to cost him his life. When she guesses that Claudius meant for Hamlet to kill her father and that he will try to kill her, too, Ophelia stages madness to call him out before the court, the only character who is brave enough to speak truly. She tells Horatio to dig up her grave, a key factor in her plan for escape. And she provides impetus for the final mayhem: when she reveals to Mechtild how Claudius betrayed her, a furious Mechtild leads the King of Norway’s soldiers into the hall, swords drawn (there’s even a horse for effect). The grudges of men get very little stage time in this version; Laertes and Hamlet dispatch each other about as quickly as Shannon and I did in the high school auditorium. Mechtild and Gertrude bring down the curtain on the carnage, sharing one last meaningful look as Gertrude, after running her faithless husband through with the poisoned sword, knowingly drinks poison, while that haunting refrain sings out: Never doubt I love.

The bloodshed is orchestrated by the women; the storytelling, the plot, and the revenge belong to the women. Only Ophelia, rather than giving her life to it, gets clean away. There’s a moment when Ophelia flirts with suicide, when she thinks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern succeeded with their orders to kill Hamlet. But the movie makes her final break with Elsinore even more decisive. In another classic Shakespearean move, Ophelia, disguised as the courtier Osric, tries to persuade Hamlet to run away with her. When he won’t give up his revenge — and, possibly, his chance at the crown — she leaves. Ophelia has absorbed her father’s parting advice to Laertes: to thine own self be true. Sealing this is a final frame showing a joyful young girl running across an open field, an echo of the girlish Ophelia who opened the movie. This Ophelia’s legacy from the rottenness of Denmark is a daughter — no young Hamlet who might one day vie for the throne. The movie lingered in my mind, but the gorgeous visuals couldn’t make up for what was missing: the subtle, leaping brilliance of Shakespeare’s language and the complexities of human thought and emotion that it expresses. The film, like the novel, has a tidy moral: ill motives lead to ill ends. But I wonder why a woman-centric retelling of this play wouldn’t borrow from its classic themes: loyalty, greed, revenge, and the nature of reality, existence, love, and truth. The women’s activities, as ever, are reduced to the pursuit of or reaction to their chosen sexual partner. Admittedly, neither do the men in Ophelia debate philosophical truths, among each other or themselves. Perhaps these are no longer topics that appeal to a broad audience. But I long for the day when our popular culture — our present moment’s literary artifacts — extend the full range of human thought and expression, and the deepest struggles of existence, to all sorts of ancestries and genders. Then again, perhaps some viewers will find Ophelia a more welcome tale for its method, lacking in madness. “I did not lose my way. I did not lose myself to vengeance. Instead, I found my way to hope,” Ophelia claims at the end. If this makes for a rather less shocking story, it does offer a more satisfactory, self-assertive resolution for young women. Ophelia may lack the acrobatic language, passionate doom, and tragic reprisals that make the original play so fun to study and teach, but this clever, resourceful, and well-adjusted character is the kind of heroine my 12th-grade class might have rewarded with actual stage time.

WRITTEN BY MISTY URBAN Misty Urban is the author of two collections of short fiction and assorted scholarship on the theme of monstrous women and medieval romance. She is the Indie Reviews Editor for the HNR and also reviews for Publisher’s Weekly, Medieval Feminist Forum, and femmeliterate.net.

A publication of the Historical Novel Society | www.historicalnovelsociety.org

THE ARA PRIZE Rewarding and Recognizing Historical Novelists

The contest was ably administered by another HNSA partner, the New England Writers’ Centre. Entries ranged from children’s and young adult fiction to historical romance, family sagas, historical fantasy, historical mysteries, parallel narratives and literary fiction. Books were submitted from multinational publishers, independents, small presses, agents and self-publishers in either paperback or digital format. The judging process was fiendishly challenging, with books assessed on the criteria of excellence in writing, depth of historical research, and reader appeal. Our judges were Linda Funnell (Chair), co-editor of the Newtown Review of Books and publishing professional; Paula Morris, historical novelist, academic and founder of the Academy of New Zealand Literature; Kirsty Murray, historical novelist and Creative Fellow of the State Library of Victoria; and Colin Falconer, best-selling author of over two dozen historical novels. The books not only explored the histories of Australia and New Zealand but also tales from China, Ireland, the Soviet Union, France, England, the United States, New Guinea, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Greece and South America. Many, many fine novels were submitted. Ranging from earliest Christian times through to the Second World War, the eight longlisted novels tell stories that resonate with audiences all over the world. The books reveal the true diversity of the genre with its innate ability to illuminate new interpretations of history, and transport readers into an authentic and compelling re-imagining of the past. Significantly the longlist demonstrates the value of historical fiction in highlighting ‘erased’ history, and capturing the voices of those who’ve been silenced.

2020 will long be remembered for the impact of COVID-19, which no doubt will be woven into historical fiction in the future. The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) also made its own little piece of history this year with the inauguration of the ARA Historical Novel Prize. The award is the realisation of a shared vision of the HNSA with the ARA Group and its founder, Edward Federman. Edward is a true philanthropist with a long-standing involvement in fostering the arts in Australia. Through the ARA Group, he was a generous partner of the HNSA’s 2017 and 2019 conferences. Together, our organisations have placed historical fiction onto the Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) literary calendar by designing a prize to distinguish our historical novelists in a class of their own. Most extraordinary of all, Edward doubled the initial prize money of $30k to $60,000 mid-way through the contest in recognition of the difficulties faced by writers during the pandemic. The increase in funding places the ARA Historical Novel Prize among the top five richest literary prizes in the region. The overall prize winner received $50,000, with an additional $5,000 awarded to each of the remaining two shortlisted authors. The response was overwhelming, with 185 novels submitted under the definition of historical fiction set by the Historical Novel Society.

FEATURES | Issue 95, February 2021

This element was displayed in the winning novel, Stone Sky Gold Mountain (University of Queensland Press) by Mirandi Riwoe. In immediate and poignant prose, the novel recreates the experiences of Chinese siblings, Ying and Lai Yue, struggling to survive on Far North Queensland’s goldfields in 1877. The harshness of the environment is vividly recreated, contrasting the hopes and dreams of the protagonists with the realities of violence and hunger. The novel’s intimate exploration of its characters is juxtaposed against an epic depiction of different cultures thrown together in social and economic turmoil. The book explores big questions of identity, racism, colonialism and gender—all of which are relevant today. Riwoe sees the novel as important in highlighting the AustralianChinese colonial experience, expressing a desire “to depict those who have been elided or even ignored historically, such as women and the culturally diverse, and perhaps shift stubborn perceptions.” The two winning shortlisted books also explored 19th-century Australian history with different portraits of the country’s past. In Master of My Fate (Penguin Books Australia), debut author, Sienna Brown, tells a coming-of-age survival story of a Jamaican slave transported to New South Wales in the 1830s as a convict. The novel is an eloquent story of determination and hope. Brown was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in Canada, but it wasn’t until she moved to Sydney that she discovered William Buchanan’s story and was captivated by how it intersected with her own cultural background. She believes Buchanan’s tale needed to be told and goes “a long way to establishing that Australia’s beginnings were truly more multicultural than many people realise, or would like to admit.”

THE JUDGING PROCESS was fiendishly challenging, with books assessed on the criteria of excellence in writing, depth of historical research, and reader appeal. Shepherd (Text Publishing) by Catherine Jinks is a powerful evocation of violence and cruelty in rural New South Wales during the 1840s. Told in the unsentimental voice of a young poacher transported for life, Jinks crafts a riveting adult historical thriller where a ruthless killer seeks revenge in an ancient land. Taut and compelling, Shepherd is imbued with a depth of understanding of the natural world, and powerfully evokes, with unstoppable momentum, the brutality of desperate men. Jinks sees historical fiction as being a “gateway drug” to entice readers to learn more about history as she believes “we have to value what used to be because it informs what is happening now.” Tara June Winch’s The Yield (Penguin Books Australia) is also set in Australia. A parallel narrative, the book interweaves the contemporary story of August, an Aboriginal woman, with that of an 18thcentury German missionary, as well as the quest of her dead grandfather, Albert ‘Poppy’ Gondiwindi, to pass on the language of his people through a dictionary. Bringing together indigenous Australian history, the Wiradjuri language, the tragedy of dispossession and its consequences, the novel is a powerful elegy for what has been lost and a testament to the strength of what survives. Winch has won the three most prestigious Australian literary prizes this year, including the Miles Franklin, but sees awards like the ARA Historical Novel Prize as important to flag a genre that can be buried by the commercial world of contemporary fiction. “It’s an exciting prize to be part of for that reason, to see what great stories of the past have been reimagined and unearthed.” Other pockets of history were explored in the longlist. In Damascus (Allen & Unwin) Christos Tsiolkas delivers a flesh and blood Paul of Tarsus placing him within his historical period—a time of slavery and violence when Christianity was a minor sect in a pagan world. Based around the gospels and letters of St Paul, the novel is an unflinching dissection of doubt and faith, tyranny and revolution, and cruelty and sacrifice. The book challenges readers with themes of class, religion, masculinity, patriarchy, colonisation and exile. Concerned that women and slaves have been excised from the official history of the Christian Churches, Tsiolkas believes “by the twin guides of imagination and research, a writer can try and give a voice to those who have been traditionally silenced.” Another novel which gives voice to the repressed is Pip Williams’ The Dictionary of Lost Words (Affirm Press). Set at the time of women’s suffrage movement in England, the novel features a girl determined to ensure words and meanings related to women’s experiences are not lost. In her character’s observations, and later role in the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, the author elegantly demonstrates the unconscious biases in how language is codified. Williams considers historical fiction is an accessible way for readers to learn alternative narratives given “history has so often been written by the victors, and so often written by men, there is a lot missing.” The Electric Hotel (Allen & Unwin) by Dominic Smith explores the nascent days of cinema. From the Lumière brothers’ first demonstrations of moving pictures in Paris to early American movie houses in Fort Lee, New Jersey— America’s first movie town— to the battlefields of Belgium in the First World War, this is a prodigiously researched journey through the birth of cinema and one man’s doomed obsession with his muse. Smith considers historical fiction gives us a sense of the lives that came before us and allows us “to

empathise with our ancestors, and understand the forces that shaped the present.” Another debut historical novelist placed in the contest is Nigel Featherstone with Bodies of Men (Hachette Australia). Set during and after the Western Desert campaign in the Second World War, the book explores both the outward courage and the inner struggle of two gay soldiers. This is a tender and beautifully written love story that challenges ideas about fathers and sons, masculinity and war. Featherstone sees being longlisted as a real ‘shot in the arm’ and considers the ARA Historical Novel Prize to be a terrific initiative which represents “an opportunity to be part of the broader conversation about historical fiction and to recognise all the writers and readers that love the genre.” Spreading the word about the inauguration of the prize during COVID posed its own challenges. This led the HNSA Prize Committee to delve into producing virtual announcements to publicise the longlist, shortlist and winner. Illustrated excerpts were read by the authors via Youtube with relevant graphics and music. You can view these on the www.hnsa.org.au website. 1 The committee comprised Elisabeth Storrs, Sophie Masson, Diane Murray, Sally Wood and Greg Johnston. The task we set ourselves was at times overwhelming but we are all immensely proud of being able to grab the attention of the ANZ publishing industry and historical novelists. The ARA Historical Novel Prize is a true celebration of the genre, and a real opportunity to foster it on a grander scale. As the Chair of the judges, Linda Funnell, remarked: “It does, indeed, feel we are in a golden age for historical fiction.”

REFERENCES 1. The presentation of the prize is also on YouTube: https://hnsa.org.au/mirandi-riwoes-stone-sky-gold-mountainwins-the-inaugural-ara-historical-novel-prize/

WRITTEN BY ELISABETH STORRS Elisabeth Storrs is the author of the ‘A Tale of Ancient Rome’ series. She co-founded Historical Novel Society Australasia and is the program director for its conferences. She is also one of ‘The History Girls’.

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ALLURE OF THE ARTIST Susanne Dunlap Explores the Fascination with Creative Artists in Historical Fiction

and serious plays all the time and the house was filled with books. Everyone we knew was in or wanted to be in the arts. It never occurred to me to not be in the arts, first as an actress, then an opera singer and balladeer, then a novelist.” Beyond her own personal connection to art and music, Cowell says, "I find writing about artists of all kinds to be fascinating: it is always the individual struggling to say what is precious to her or him to the world. And we write of course of the particular world each artist had to contend with, which shows us history. It gives me courage that once Monet sold so few paintings that he and his wife went hungry. It shows me the great works we take for granted (Hamlet, the water lily paintings, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony) involved a lot of struggle and uncertainty, just as we endure today whatever our field.” Also mining her personal history for interest in writing about musicians or artists is Rita Charbonnier, author of Mozart’s Sister (Crown, 2007). “I studied music, singing and acting, I played in theatre and sometimes I still do, so it was quite natural for me to deal with art and artists in writing as well. The ‘psychological type’ of the artist is very familiar to me, because it is my psychological type… and also because most of the people I hang out with are creative people.” It fits that many authors have creative backgrounds in other fields. The same part of the brain, the same inclinations apply to making art of all kinds: engaging the imagination, being able to enter into someone else’s mind to bring a musical composition to life, for instance, or to have the vision to bring forth a beautiful image from paint and blank canvas. That same ability helps writers dig into the psyche of historical figures to add flesh and blood and emotions and reveal a truth that goes beyond the history books.

They’re not the political movers and shakers, or witnesses to the biggest moments of history, or even necessarily household names. Yet something about artists of all kinds, about their unique lens on their times, inspires historical novelists to examine their lives and milieus and to get at their underlying truth. Sometimes these are famous figures—a few books about Beethoven have come out this year already, for instance. At other times, novelists seek out the unsung, or the forces in the background that made the lives of famous artists possible. Of course, these two roles are more likely to be filled by women—a perennially popular focus for historical novelists. To get a glimpse of the why behind the fascination with creative artists in historical fiction, I asked a few of my fellow historical novelists to share their reasons for focusing on artists, musicians, actors, and writers. Often, the author’s personal background played a role in their choice of subject. That was certainly true for Stephanie Cowell, author of Marrying Mozart (Viking, 2004) —about the Weber sisters and their relationship with Mozart; and Claude and Camille (Crown, 2010)— about Claude Monet and his first wife, Camille Doncieux. “ I grew up with parents who felt the arts and artists were the center of the world. They were both visual artists. We went to museums

FEATURES | Issue 95, February 2021

But not all authors who turn to historical artists and musicians for inspiration necessarily have that background. Something else draws them to these individuals. Quite often, it’s part and parcel of illuminating the forgotten women of history. Just as women populate the unseen underpinnings that make up the richer historical tapestry of wars and political battles, so are they frequently vital in a great male artist’s or musician’s achievements. Sometimes the limitations imposed on female artists by institutions controlled by men have limited their opportunities and output, and consigned them to the shadows of history. That’s a tempting mine of rich subject matter. As Barbara Quick, author of Vivaldi’s Virgins (Harper, 2007) notes, “I was drawn to the Ospedale della Pietà, the famous foundling home in Venice [where Vivaldi taught], as a setting for a novel before I really understood the emotional hook for me—really, I don’t think I fully understood it until I had finished writing the novel. One can feel like an orphan without being an orphan. One can feel like a musician without ever mastering anything more than a fountain pen. Vivaldi’s music gave me the doorway into his soul. It wasn’t at all a stretch for me to understand the loneliness and yearning of [his best student] Anna Maria dal Violin.”

ANDERSEN'S homely rural and fantastic tales have every right to be in New York — because everything and everyone can find a place there, too. Excavating the past for women who somehow enabled or inspired artists, musicians, and writers is not uncommon. From Sarah Dunant’s The Birth of Venus to Tracy Chevalier’s The Girl With a Pearl Earring to the late, great Susan Vreeland’s Clara and Mister Tiffany to Lynn Cullen’s Twain’s End, readers’ eyes have been opened to the fact that the arts don’t occur in a vacuum, that the outside world and the people who surround the artist have played roles it’s easy to overlook from a distance of time. Another spur for writing about creative people can be the desire to rehabilitate a figure who has been maligned by history. While this may certainly apply to more than artists, musicians, and writers, often it’s the salacious details—the outsized mythology around an artist—that ooze into the mainstream image of who that artist essentially was. C.W. Gortner achieves a kind of humanizing rehabilitation of Sarah Bernhardt, for instance, in his novel The First Actress (Ballantine, 2020). That the charismatic Bernhardt’s name became synonymous with being overly dramatic about something trivial is a case in point. Gortner’s captivating novel shows us her youth and early life, the Bernhardt before the legend, as it were, who is a sensitive, sympathetic character. He illuminates her struggles against a life she didn’t want and her determination to be an actress on her own terms—no easy feat in the highly traditional world of French theater in the nineteenth century. Also along the lines of rehabilitating an image is Mary Sharratt’s recent novel, Ecstasy (HMH, 2018), which chronicles the life of one of the most notorious women in music history, Alma Mahler. Her name has lived on not as the talented composer that she was, but as the femme fatale who lured male artists into her snares—to their detriment. Music historians often accuse her of somehow causing the death of her famous second husband, Gustav Mahler, when in fact he died of a hereditary heart condition. Sharratt describes her fascination with Alma Mahler this way: “Mahler loved Alma as passionately as some of his fans seem to hate her. We can feel Alma’s indelible presence in his music from his Fifth Symphony onward. His most tender adagios are declarations of his devotion to her. In his tenth and final symphony, we can literally hear his heart breaking for her. He scrawled on the score, ‘To live for you, to die for you, Almschi.’ As an author, I wanted to discover how one woman could inspire such extreme emotional reactions.” Add to that the indisputable fact that Alma gave up composing at the request of Mahler—although late in their marriage, when she was being tempted away, Mahler recognized her need for artistic expression and began to encourage her—and it’s easy to see that the reviled Alma Mahler of music history occupies that place undeservedly. For me, the appeal of writing about musicians and artists lies in the focused, limited view we get of history through their eyes. Momentous events that occurred during their lifetimes can look a little different when examined through the lens of how those events directly affected the lives of creative people. That lens often requires the writer to sub-select research, to amplify things that don’t seem as relevant or important in a general sense.

For instance, Napoleon was in many ways a positive influence on France at a time of transition. Yet the Napoleonic Code, often seen as a step forward in the French legal system, was a disaster for women artists—and women in general. Part of giving women fewer rights in society (men had a legal right to control women, married women couldn’t buy or sell property, etc.) was that women could not belong to professions. Thus, women artists were not entitled to the profession of artist, meaning they could not join any professional bodies, namely the Institut de France. Paradoxically, they could exhibit in the important annual salons. Digging into the ways women negotiated their restrictions and managed to make art or music or write in the face of them can illustrate facets of history that would be overlooked when taking another view. To be more general, the closing of a trade route because of a war might not affect most people in a country directly. But if that trade route is the source of paper or ink or pigments or fabric, then artists who need those materials are likely to consider it a disaster. And for historical fiction, those changing fortunes represent a goldmine of conflict, contradiction, struggle, and triumph—the stuff a good novel is made of. Even without an obvious antagonist, the lifelong quest of an artist to ensure that his or her voice is heard through the ages is inherently dramatic. In the hands of all the authors mentioned above, stories of artists of all kinds open worlds of perspective into history, making it accessible and fascinating to a broad reading public—which is, after all, one of the primary goals of historical fiction. So let’s have more books about visual artists, musicians, and writers!

WRITTEN BY SUSANNE DUNLAP

Susanne Dunlap is the author of ten historical novels for adults and teens — seven of which are centered around music and musicians. Her most recent is The Paris Affair. Susanne is an Author Accelerator Advanced Certified Book Coach. Find out more at https:// susannedunlapedits.com.

A publication of the Historical Novel Society | www.historicalnovelsociety.org

BAND OF SISTERS BY M.K. TOD Lauren Willig’s true account of the triumph of hope over hopelessness 1917 France. A country torn apart by war. Villages destroyed. Families homeless. Children orphaned. Women pregnant against their will. To this land comes a small band of college graduates—a band of women inspired by the notion of helping French citizens rebuild their lives. Lauren Willig’s latest novel, Band of Sisters (William Morrow, 2021), explores the true story of the Smith College Relief Fund, a group of American college women who crossed the Atlantic in April 1917 to help the people of the Somme region whose lives had been ravaged by the German invasion of France. “As they left, the Germans destroyed everything that could be destroyed, poisoning the wells, breaking the plows, sending all the able-bodied to work camps in Germany while sending back the old, infirm, and very young to their devastated villages to be a burden on the French government.” Setting the stage for such a story requires extensive research. Fortunately, Willig was able to draw on research she’d already done for All the Ways We Said Goodbye (William Morrow, 2020), a novel co-written with Beatriz Williams and Karen White. She told me that she’d “read in horrifying detail what they [the French] had endured during the German occupation.” To that she was able to add “information gleaned and relayed by the Smith College Relief Unit in their own reports and letters” about “the actual travails suffered by the families they served.” Band of Sisters brings this true story to life through a unique group of fictional characters. Kate Moran, a scholarship candidate with an inferiority complex; Emmie Van Alden, dominated by a famous socialite, suffragist mother; Maud Randolph, a schemer; Liza Shaw, Maud’s sidekick; Mrs. Rutherford, the energetic and determined leader of the group; Julia Pruyn, a doctor with a secret; and several more. Willig told me she wasn’t “comfortable taking the real people and turning their inner lives public, so I compromised: all the events in the book are things that really happened … but I replaced the real members of the Unit with my own fictional creations.” Some were “entirely the product of my imagination.” Others were very closely inspired by the real members of the Unit. I asked Lauren Willig about the themes she explored in the novel. She confessed that she is “a character-driven author, and any themes that emerge do so at the behest of the characters, rather than my characters shaping themselves to a theme.” However, she knew from the beginning that friendship would be a central theme along with the theme of belonging, “with finding one’s place in the world, even if it’s not the place anyone thought you ought to be.” Another element that emerges through the story is the “importance of knowing oneself—and, therefore, being able to get past the superficial externals and truly know and care for others.” Central to Band of Sisters is “the triumph of hope over hopelessness. Of plunging in and doing everything one can for a good cause, and then plunging in again, even if it seems hopeless, even if you have no idea what you’re doing.” This comes out in so many scenes, as 12

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the Smith women find ways to overcome the problems faced by the French villagers from lack of food and clothing to illness, grief, and despair. And, like emptying a lake bucket by bucket, the Smith women gradually make a difference. As I read the story, I asked myself what motivated these women to go overseas and face the dangers of war. According to Willig’s research, there were some who “had a strong romantic attachment to the idea of France, and felt that they wanted to be part of this momentous historical moment . . . there was also an element of adventure to it, of getting to go abroad and be in on the action.” Others, “like the founder of the unit, Harriet Boyd Hawes, were motivated by a strong humanitarian sentiment” because the “reality of the crisis, the women and children in need, was truly staggering and heartbreaking.” And there were those who saw the venture as “a chance to strike a blow for women’s rights.” Willig points out that this was a time when “women still didn’t have the vote in the United States. Both the founder and the members of the Smith Unit were very aware that the world was watching them and that if they could pull this off, if they could make a success of their mission, it would have a real impact for women’s rights and women’s suffrage.” In keeping with what really happened, a significant portion of Band of Sisters takes place behind the lines where the war didn’t actively intrude on the unit’s day-to-day world. These women undertook the difficult work of rebuilding communities, a truly mammoth task. They “drove to far-flung villages in driving rain, taught classes to shell-shocked children who had forgotten how to play, begged officials for various supplies from petrol to school benches… They rose at dawn, often spent the whole day out in their highly unreliable trucks going from village to village or tramping there on foot with supplies strapped to their backs.” Despite their circumstances—or perhaps because of them—the women created hope for the hopeless, a spirit of community out of the devastation of war, and laughter for each other and for the American and Canadian soldiers stationed around them. According to Willig, “everything was grist for humor, from the trucks breaking down to buying the wrong kind of fowl, to waking up to thirtydegree weather with their water jugs frozen solid. They turned all their mishaps into jokes at their own expense in their chatty, snarky, hilarious letters home.” Band of Sisters responds compellingly to a central question: “What happens when you take a group of women with wildly different personalities and interests and set them down in the high-pressure situation of a war zone?” Lauren Willig is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She has many novels to her credit, including eight in her Pink Carnation series – think Regency spies – several novels written with other authors, and six historical novels, some of which are dual timelines. She has a graduate degree in history and a JD from Harvard Law School, an excellent foundation from which to write a story like this. M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her most recent novel, Time and Regret was published by Lake Union. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her blog A Writer of History.

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF HISTORY BY LISA REDMOND

Dedicated to all women about whom history is silent Through the translation skills of Maya Zakrewska-Pim and an American publisher, the English-speaking world will finally be able to explore the powerful writing of one of Poland’s biggest selling authors: Elzbieta Cherezińska. The Widow Queen (Forge, 2021) is her first publication in English, and it explores the story of Świętosława, the 10th-century princess who became a powerful Scandinavian queen. Cherezińska has been fascinated with Świętosława for many years. “I encountered Świętosława for the first time in a collection of essays I read as a teenager about the women of the Piast dynasty. I was fifteen or sixteen years old, and all I could think of was that she had been my age when she boarded the ship which took her away to Sweden. When, years later, my husband and I began our travels around Scandinavia, I found myself intrigued by the Viking culture, and I saw Świętosława in a new light. I felt as if I were seeing her in her natural habitat. Impressed by Scandinavia’s history, I wrote a tetralogy, set at the same time as The Widow Queen, in which I included a fictional scene depicting my heroes, Bjorn and Ragnar, meeting her and her sister Astrid. My next novel focused entirely on Świętosława's brother Duke Bolesław… and then I thought: why be satisfied with this? El, are you afraid of making her the heroine of her own story?” The fact that Cherezińska waited for so many years before tackling the great queen’s story meant that she was able to make use of recent scholarship on the period, so that the original idea expanded into a much bigger story. “A few books were published in the interim which increased my understanding of Świętosława and the men in her life, and consequently by the time I began to work on what has become The Widow Queen, the story grew far bigger than I had initially anticipated. My research consisted of looking at the history of Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, England and Kievan Rus. The largest number of written sources (chronicles) describe English history, but we must remember that the ancient history of all these countries has more in common with legend than fact. No chronicler

ever recorded Świętosława's name. She is referred to as ‘Bolesław’s sister,’ ‘Mieszko’s daughter,’ ‘Sven’s wife,’ or ‘Cnut and Harald’s mother.’ I had to piece together her story from fragments of various chronicles, sources which told the stories of the men in her life. “I also used the chronicles to collect information about Eric, Olav, Sven and Cnut’s conquests in order to describe the wars they fought as well as the impact their leaving for such prolonged period of time had on Świętosława's life. It was a fascinating adventure. “On top of that, I reached for Scandinavian sagas written between the 12th and 14th centuries which detail the lives of kings and heroes, although I had to be careful when using these since the real and the fantastic are so closely entwined within them. Archaeological findings were a great help, too. I used these to help me recreate my heroes’ surroundings and homes, their clothes, households, items of everyday use, weapons and accessories. This enabled me to create a complete world filled with authentic detail – their world.” For Cherezińska, recovering the names and the voices of women in medieval history is particularly important. The dedication of The Widow Queen reads: To all the anonymous, forgotten princesses The nuns, wives, mothers and rulers, about whom history is silent The girls marked in biographies of dynasties with a sad ‘N.N.’ Cherezińska has restored Świętosława's name but without relinquishing the nickname given to her by the Scandinavians. “The original moniker attached to her name is Storråda, and it comes from an Icelandic saga about Olav Tryggvason. What is interesting is that the widow queen acquired it after she burned two of her suitors alive in a bath house. She wasn’t named Sigrid the Incendiary, Sigrid the Cruel, but Sigrid the Haughty. It provides context for her actions. Her decision wasn’t seen as a crime, but a battle for female dignity. In Viking culture (at the time, Świętosława was the late Swedish king Eric’s widow), courage, even bravado, was highly valued. Freya, the most famous goddess of Viking mythology, was simultaneously the embodiment of sex, magic, and war. This distinct combination of values led to Sigrid-Świętosława becoming Storråda… I’m not at all surprised that we reach for stories of the outstanding women who came before us, that we want to hear tales of ancient female rulers, to learn about the girls and the women who broke through the glass ceiling a thousand years ago. Our perception of history is changing, too. It became accepted over the centuries that history was created

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by men. Of course, we cannot change the past, but thanks to the progress made by research and the reexaminations of our earlier findings, we are discovering just how many women did, in fact, have an impact on the fates of kingdoms.” Although both the author and the heroine of The Widow Queen are Polish, Cherezińska is quick to point out that this is not the first time that Świętosława has been introduced to the English-speaking world and is in fact reclaiming her place in it. “Świętosława entered the English-speaking world long before I did. Cnut [also known as Canute], who is born in the final scene of the first book, grows up to be King of England, so the debut of The Widow Queen on the English market is, really, just her return to the English-speaking world. As for me, I am curious and excited. Will you welcome Świętosława as if she were one of your own? Will you struggle with the difficult Slavic names? Or will you lose yourselves in a story of a world from a thousand years ago, a world in which people, though experiencing a very different everyday existence, nevertheless love, desire, and suffer just like we do?” We are very grateful to Maya Zakrewska-Pim for translating the author’s responses to Lisa’s questions into English. Lisa Redmond blogs at “The Madwoman in the Attic” (http:// lisareadsbooks.blogspot.com/) about women writers and historical fiction. She is currently working on a novel based on the 17th-century Scottish witch trials.

A PASSION FOR WORDS BY LISA REDMOND Acclaimed novelist Ursula Hegi considers her work Ursula Hegi’s new novel The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls (Flatiron, 2020) is a multi-voiced historical tale set on the north coast of Germany in the 19th century. The place and the people are formed and reformed by the North Sea. It is a place of great beauty but also a place of great danger. There are records of great tidal waves in the 14th and 17th centuries, but the wave that takes three of Lotte Jansen’s children on a summer day in 1878 is a fictional one. “To research I flew to Hamburg, rented a car and drove toward the edge of the Nordsee—North Sea—where my family took vacations when I was little; where earth and water have barely separated and are still as they must have been on the third day of Creation. This is the landscape Emil Nolde painted and Theodor Storm described in his novels. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful. So much land and so few houses. Wind ripples the grasses and yellow rapeseed fields, so that they shift and swell like waves in the Nordsee. This landscape, yes, where dikes and windmills rise from the flat earth. “I learned that the Nordsee has great appetite for sacrifice. In my novel it seized three lives because the people raised the dikes again to hinder the flooding of Neuland—new land. In ditches they trapped the sea, isolated it in long solitary fingers until it could no longer gather force but fizzled out its rage, stagnant while sediment accumulated 14

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on the Meeresboden—sea floor. They considered it their birthright to defend what they’d preserved. But the Nordsee remembered. Retaliated. According to legend and to history, it swallowed the island Rungholt centuries ago because its citizens were greedy and Godless. What took hold of me is that some people believe the island rises once a year. And I brought that into my novel. It influenced my characters, my story—one of those moments when you feel the flare of research, the gift.” Folktale and magical realism are very much part of Hegi’s writing style. The belief in the island rising once a year, Lotte and her husband’s doomed plan to reunite their family, the strange behaviour of the bees, and many other aspects of the story. “Magical realism is part of all my writing. Although I’m aware of it as a literary tradition, it comes from my own angle of vision. It’s how I observe the world, consciously tapping into the magical vision of the child who does not limit reality to facts but moves freely between inner and outer reality. I write from inside each character’s skin, become that character. I go after dramatic choices as I establish fully developed characters who’ll continue to develop in the course of the storyline. I weave back and forth, going deeper during my 50 – 100 revisions. I’ve sat at my desk blushing, crying, laughing. When I write from the perspective of the dwarf, Trudi Montag (Stones from the River, 1994), I am her height, feel her bliss, rage, lust, sorrow.” On the recurring motifs of motherhood and water in her writing, Ursula Hegi says: “As a girl, I grew up on another continent, mesmerized by the wide river that flooded the meadows up to the dike and beyond. Hochwasser—high water. My mother showed me how to ride the turbulent currents. I also took solitary walks along the Rhein, sat on its stone jetties, imagined what it would be like to live on one of the barges. I wrote poems that evoked emotions I couldn’t name yet. Wrote stories. Began a novel. Finished half of it on lined paper. I was a greedy reader. The passion of words. I was a Christian martyr in Rome. A murderer in Russia. A grandmother in Norway. I gave birth a decade before I ever became pregnant. Rode a horse through the American West years before I arrived in America as an 18-year-old. I watched my mother die when I was 13, and the thread of the dead or lost mother runs through much of my work. I didn’t realize that until I gave a reading from my sixth book, and a woman in the audience asked why I had so many dead mothers in my books. I shook my head, no. Only later would I realize that it was true, that I have been writing this love story—the yearning for the lost mother—most of my life. The impact continues to shape my life and work—every bit as much as growing up in the terrible silence of postwar Germany when our parents, teachers, and clergy did not speak of the Holocaust.” So, what’s next from the author? “I don’t know yet. When my first Burgdorf book, Floating In My Mother’s Palm (1991) was published, Bob Edwards interviewed me on NPR Morning Edition and said, ‘I hope we’ll hear more about these characters.’ I told him I was finished writing about the people of Burgdorf, about the town, I had no idea that I would write a second novel set in Burgdorf; a third, a fourth. A Burgdorf Cycle. A fifth. But as soon as I finished the interview and stepped on the sidewalk, one of my secondary characters, the dwarf woman Trudi Montag, began knocking about inside my head, demanding to have her own book. I went home, wrote down a couple of thoughts I had about her, and I didn’t stop writing for two years and three months. That book became Stones from the River. It was as though the character of Trudi had developed on her own ever since I’d finished writing about her through the perspective of Hanna Malter, a 12-year-old girl. Trudi has remained one of my favourite characters. I have others. In The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls it’s Tilli who gives birth at age 11 in the St. Margaret home for Pregnant Girls,

I WANTED to speak about the importance of retaking the kitchen as a sacred space. The kitchen is the fountainhead of profound changes.

Tilli who becomes one of the central characters, Tilli who is nesting herself inside my life.” Lisa Redmond blogs at “The Madwoman in the Attic” (http:// lisareadsbooks.blogspot.com/) about women writers and historical fiction. She is currently working on a novel based on the 17th-century Scottish witch trials.

SACRED SPACE BY ADELAIDA LUCENA-LOWER A conversation about Laura Esquivel’s trilogy It was only when the Covid-19 pandemic struck and everyone had to shelter at home that many people rediscovered the magic of cooking and baking. The central role of the kitchen in our lives and the importance of cooking for our well-being and mental health was not news to Laura Esquivel, Mexican novelist and politician. The trilogy of novels that started with Like Water for Chocolate (Doubleday, 1992), the international bestseller that became a successful film, underscores that precise message. Tita’s Diary (Independently published, 2020) is the second novel of the trilogy, although the last to be published. As with the first, it is set during the Mexican Revolution and tells the story of Pedro and Tita, and of Mama Elena, Tita’s mother. It also has recipes and home remedies, and rails against the tradition that in a family the youngest daughter must not marry in order to take care of aging parents. Treading upon the same events and characters of an earlier work is fairly unusual for a novelist. But in Tita’s Diary, Esquivel deepens into the motives not only of the protagonists but of Mama Elena, providing the tragic backstory behind her anger. “It was important to explore Mama Elena’s motivations and the tragic events that shape her,” Esquivel says. “I noticed how many young people, ages 15-20, attended book signings. I asked myself: why did they relate to a story published thirty years ago and set more than one-hundred years ago. My hypothesis was that they identified with Tita and her condition as victim, and with the mother as an object of desire. Today, young people don’t have a domineering mother such as Mama Elena, who forbids them to marry, but they are in fact victims of an emasculating system that determines who may and may not study, who will risk life emigrating to another country to get a miserable salary, young people who live in a world disconnected from the kitchen, from healthy eating, from the teachings of their ancestors.” According to Esquivel, the third novel of the trilogy, The Colors of My Past, set in the present, exemplifies the disconnection of modern life. Maria, the protagonist, a descendant of the De la Garza family, is overweight and suffers from eating disorders. She has to heal in many ways by reconnecting through a maternal grandmother and through Tita’s diary, the only object left after a fire. It is a journey back to nature, healthy food, and the kitchen, a journey in which the events in Mama Elena’s life reverberate in Maria’s. “I wanted to speak about the importance of retaking the kitchen as a sacred space,” Esquivel

says. “[The kitchen is] the fountainhead of profound changes… I placed the [original] story during the Mexican Revolution because to me it was paramount to establish that personal and family revolutions have more impact that apparently massive events.” The format of Tita’s Diary might surprise some readers, particularly replicating longhand. Reading a novel that way makes it challenging. We are no longer accustomed to the style, but the choice was deliberate. “My intention was always that Maria would find the diary,” Esquivel argues. “When conceptualizing what she would read, I decided to write it in its totality. And when I did this, I also decided that I wanted my readers to experience it in the same form, as a genuine object. That is why the typography is longhand, why there are pages with burnt corners, why it has flowers, photos, and other signs that denote a real diary.” The background of these novels is a Mexican ranch. But between the natural world of this ranch and the wonders of the supernatural there are many passages, and they run through the kitchen. “God can be found even in stew,” Esquivel writes, quoting Saint Teresa of Avila. Thus, Tita, the protagonist of the first two novels, learns that a hot cup of chocolate is the way to open the heart, that cooking is a ritual, an offering, a tribute to a wise guide, a way to thank the Earth. That there is no pain that won’t go away with a Christmas roll. That you can eat light, knowledge, history, and your punishment because cooking is chemistry, alchemy, medicine, and philosophy. “Who says that it’s not making love?” Tita muses. There is a dark side as well. A cook’s personal energy and emotional state may trigger a disastrous chemical reaction that infuses a delicious meal with an unexpected quality, and ends up affecting innocent diners, sometimes hilariously. Esquivel echoes the vague instructions of old cookbooks in her novels. “The recipes,” she says, “are written with an informal narrative language because that is the way inherited family recipes are written in my own family as well as in other Mexican families.” Researching the novels and the traditions of Mexican life came naturally to her. “Truth is I did not find it difficult to compile details on Mexican culture because I had everything at hand through my experiences, in family recipes, and in the oral history of my family.” The success of novels such as Esquivel’s, where the real and the fantastic mingle, speaks to deep needs that modern societies are not fulfilling. “The world of technology,” Esquivel maintains, “promises to connect us but really it disconnects and divides us. The real connection comes from rituals such as that of the chocolate, from contact with the earth, from love, generosity, and everything that is implied in the cooking and sharing of food: in partaking in communion.” As Laura Esquivel imagines and recreates rituals, as she draws attention to what is valuable in traditional culture, she keeps the past alive, proposing a return to a life in harmony with the rhythms of nature. “You whip with the heavens,” she writes. Cooking has never been a more transcendental art. Or more indispensable, as we have all found out lately. Adelaida Lucena-Lower is a voracious reader and writer of historical fiction. Her current project is set in 8th-century Spain.

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

ANCIENT EGYPT THE NORTH WIND DESCENDS

N. L. Holmes, Independently published, 2020, $14.99, pb, 392pp, 9781735291611

1340 BCE. Tensions are high in Kemet under the sun king, Akhenaten, who has just named his brother Smenkhkare as co-regent. During a commission to visit with the vassal kings and ensure their loyalty, Lord Hani is called upon to investigate the murder of a Babylonian diplomat. He is accompanied by his secretary and son-in-law, Maya, and the search soon leads to a shocking secret affecting Hani’s family. And if the murderer isn’t identified, Hani’s failure could lead to war. While everything looks New Kingdom Egyptian from the regional clothing styles, the complex political situation, the social structures, and setting details, the dialogue is peppered with modern inflections. Hani and Maya sound more like 18th-century British gents than Egyptian with their use of “my boy” and calling out men as “a dandy” or their rooms as “these digs.” And while Thebes is referred to by its Egyptian name, Waset, I was perplexed as to why the population referred to themselves as “Thebans,” harkening to its Greek-given title. Hani also mentions thoughts battering the walls inside his head. Egyptians believed thoughts arose from the heart, not the head. That idea wasn’t proposed until 6th century BCE by the Greek philosopher Alcmaeon. Overall, this is a story about family with a diverse cast of characters. The mystery is less rich than the character dynamics. It is easy to empathize with Hani’s father, wife, daughters, sons, and friends. The author does a commendable job balancing personal and political plotlines. Details about clothing and cosmetics, social life, and architecture are immensely enjoyable. While some dialogue feels slightly out of place, the story is entrancing on many levels, especially with its vibrant characters. The novel can be read as a standalone, and I look forward to more from this series. J. Lynn Else

CLASSICAL

JUSTICE FOR ATHENA

J. M. Alvey, Canelo, 2020, £3.39, ebook, 255pp, B08HMPZGDV

In 5th-century BCE Athens, the great Panathenaia festival, with its mix of artistic and athletic competitions, is about to start, and playwright Philocles is looking forward to enjoying the holiday with his friends and his beloved Zosime. But then someone starts offing the epic poets chosen to perform Homer’s Iliad, in such a random fashion that it is hard to discern the murderer’s goal. As Philocles says, do a good job once, and chances are you’ll be asked to do it again – so it’s easy to guess who must be called upon to solve the mystery before too many bodies pile up, and Wise Athena’s great festival is ruined. Once again, J. M. Alvey pitches Philocles against the villains, armed with his quick mind, strong legs, and a host of helpful friends and family members. And again, there is much to enjoy in this third instalment; a whodunit full of twists, a dryvoiced narration, and most of all the brilliant, vivid recreation of the sights, mindset and spirit of Classical Athens. Recommended. Chiara Prezzavento

BETRAYAL OF A REPUBLIC: Memoirs of a Roman Matrona

Joost Douma, Addison & Highsmith, 2020, $32.99, hb, 224pp, 9781592110629

The life of Cornelia Africana, daughter of famed Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus and mother to the Gracchi brothers, is recounted through journal entries. With interests in literature, writing, and Greek philosophers, Cornelia was influential in her son’s education and political careers. Her sons served as tribunes for the people between 133 and 121 BCE, but their defiance of Rome’s political institutions, unfortunately, led to violent ends. I’ve read journal-like narratives before, but none have been done this well. The Roman frame of mind and its vices come alive in Douma’s fictional memoir. The prose is lyrical and historically immersive as a mourning mother reevaluates life, fate, and the mistakes made in her lifetime. With their eyes on economic distress, fair land distribution,

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

care of the country’s veterans, and providing subsidies to the poor, readers can see parallels to the news stories of today in the reforms the Gracchi brothers lost their lives for. The words of the author are well-stated in saying, “…but neither my sons nor I had foreseen how much vitriol and hatred would burst to the surface if you try to stop the underbelly of a society to indulge in its greed.” The journal is non-linear in fashion, but everything unfolds in organic ways and appropriately sets the stage for what’s to come. The narrative is packed with emotion, tension, and fantastic period details. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Roman culture through the eyes of an influential, educated woman in this poignant account of a Republic about to rend itself to pieces. Highly recommended. J. Lynn Else

A THOUSAND SHIPS

Natalie Haynes, Picador, 2020, £8.99, pb, 348pp, 9781509836215 / Harper, 2021, $27.99, hb, 368pp, 9780063065390

‘A thousand ships’ conjures up a face familiar to the world, equally admired and derided—that of Helen of Troy. But those thousand warrior-laden ships, plying the waters from Greece to Troy, held in their bows much more than the fate of one woman. Encapsulating her story with capricious asides from Calliope, Haynes captures the harrowing stories of women both inside and outside of Troy. Beginning her narrative with the sacking of the city, following Priam’s fateful decision to move the Wooden Horse inside the gates, we experience what follows through the women’s emotional journey. Hecabe sits on a melancholy shore with her daughters, beloved Polyxena and scorned Cassandra, and her daughters-in-law, Andromache and Helen, awaiting Menelaus’s momentous decisions. None of them fare well, although Odysseus allows Hecabe a rare opportunity to take revenge on her youngest son’s murderer. Familiar backstory is woven expertly into the narrative but incorporates new twists. In a wryly humorous exchange, the Gods settle on war, rather than plague, flood, volcano, or earthquake, to cull the excess humans whose weight Gaia can no longer support. We learn of the Golden Apple and the prophecy of Troy’s downfall; Achilles’ slaughter of the Amazon sisters Hippolyta and Penthesilea; his butchery of Hector; Menelaus’ abduction of Chryseis; Penelope’s desperate attempts to hold off unwanted suitors in Odysseus’ absence. All the ancient parts of the tale are here in this extraordinary ode to the courage, stoicism and ‘silence’ of these women. Today we would call the novel a feminist triumph, but for me such modern phraseology seems to clash with the classical beauty of Haynes’s narrative. For lovers of classical stories, this novel joins the works of Emily Hauser, Madeline Miller and Pat Barker, and the ancient authors of Haynes’s literary inspirations will be applauding from Mount Olympus! Fiona Alison

THE GATES OF ATHENS

Conn Iggulden, Pegasus, 2021, $26.95, hb, 464pp, 9781643136660 / Michael Joseph, 2020, £20.00, hb, 464pp, 9780241351239

About 490 BCE, the aging Persian King Darius, and his young son, Xerxes, stand on a hilltop overlooking the smoldering ruins of Persian-controlled Sardis. The Greeks have stormed the city, killed the Persian garrison, and burned the town, including a 2000-yearold temple. Xerxes observes his father shoot an arrow into the air, vowing revenge. Shortly thereafter, the Persians arrive on Greek shores, at Marathon, with a 10,000-strong army. From Athens, Xanthippus hurries along with his fellow warriors to battle the Persians. Despite being outnumbered, the Athenians are victorious. However, as Athenians are subsequently engulfed in rancorous politics and factionalism, Xanthippus is dismayed as friends turn into traitors. Democracy is at stake. The second Persian invasion, in 480 BCE with a larger army and navy, led by Xerxes, unites the Greek city-states. Leonidas, King of Sparta, and his warriors come to Athens’ aid for the battle at Thermopylae. Xerxes is determined to demolish Athens. This is the start of a new series by acclaimed writer Conn Iggulden, covering the GrecoPersian wars of the ancient world. As typical, Iggulden takes his time in narrating the story. The background and intricacies of the conflict leading to war are detailed, not just by narrative, but using dialogue to present a more intimate understanding of the pros and cons. The Persian points of view, in the form of deliberations by Xerxes, are well presented. Most of the novel’s characters are real historical persons, and their interactions add to the events’ accuracy. The extensive research conducted by Iggulden shows in the depth of the discussions. The battle strategies and combatants’ engagements, including their armaments, are described in detail. However, all these portrayals, characters’ arguments, and scene depictions make for a long novel. Readers will eagerly await the next book. Highly recommended. Waheed Rabbani

BIBLICAL

TO DWELL AMONG CEDARS

Connilyn Cossette, Bethany House, 2020, $15.99, pb, 368pp, 9780764237881

Arisa and Lukio are fleeing from Ashdod and an uncle about to sell Arisa to the temple. Through the sacrifice of a Hebrew slave who taught them the stories of her people, Arisa and Lukio follow the “magic box” that’s wrought havoc on their community. Since capturing it from the Hebrews, the box has brought plague and death to the Philistine cities possessing it. The siblings follow it as it enters Hebrew lands. After being discovered by Levites, they are lovingly adopted into a family who vow to keep the box, known as the

Ark of the Covenant, safe until God makes clear where it should be kept. Some priests, however, believe the ark should be restored to Shiloh and make plans to steal it during the next Levitical festival no matter the cost. The book dives into a period Scripture says little about, between 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. Arisa grapples with her past and what her people have done. She fears losing the love of her adoptive family and throws herself into serving others. Her brother, however, doesn’t want to forget his Philistine heritage and is bitter living among Hebrews. Ronen is a priest tasked with gathering information about the ark’s whereabouts, but the kindness and faith of Arisa’s family calls into to question Ronen’s own family’s motivations for stealing the Holy of Holies. For these three characters, love and loyalty are put to the test in heart-wrenching ways. The story is unhurried as characters grapple with themes of faith and acceptance despite how one looks or where a person comes from. Cossette’s ability to bring Biblical times and its rich cultures authentically to life is, in a word, glorious. This is a beautiful exploration of the ancient past that will resonate with modern readers. J. Lynn Else

1ST CENTURY

THE EMPEROR’S EXILE

Simon Scarrow, Headline Review, 2020, £20.00, hb, 434pp, 9781472258441

This is the latest book in the saga of Macro and Cato, books which have taken them far and wide in the Roman Empire. It is now 57 CE. Nero is the emperor at the beginning of his reign. Scandalising Roman society, he takes a girl, Claudia Acre, off the streets and makes her his mistress. Eventually tiring of her, he exiles her to Sardinia and orders Cato not only to escort her to the island but also to put a stop to the insurrection of the indigenous people who, refusing to accept Roman rule, are creating mayhem. Famine and plague are also causing problems. Cato, relieved of his position in the Praetorian Guard, is given the task of solving these problems with few resources. He lands in Sardinia with Claudia, takes her to the villa assigned to her, and from then on, there are difficulties in all directions. Scarrow’s research is thorough. His descriptions of both the area and the people are so good that the reader is captivated, and the background information becomes a living, breathing setting which does not intrude on the story but enriches it. A cast list enables one to know who is who and where they belong, and a map lets the reader follow the tale with ease. His characters simply walk off the page, and the reader immediately becomes involved. A real page turner. I have enjoyed several books in this series, and this one has not disappointed. Marilyn Sherlock

6TH CENTURY

THE REBEL NUN

Marj Charlier, Blackstone, 2021, $27.99, hb, 300pp, 9781094092751

Poitiers, 588. For many noblewomen seeking an alternative to marriage and the perils of childbirth, royal monasteries provided a quiet solution. For Clotild, granddaughter of Clovis and bastardis of Charibert I, it is the only path that offers relative safety from her cruel family. At the Monastery of the Holy Cross, Clotild flourishes under the loving care of Radegund and her successor, Agnes. Expected to be voted the next abbess, Clotild is startled when the bishop, Maroveus, announces the nuns will not only be disallowed from the burial of Agnes, but that he will be naming the new abbess, Lebover. Where once the monastery was a place of joy and generosity, Lebover’s leadership brings a strictness and asceticism the nuns have not previously known. Gone is the laughter, the camaraderie. Under Lebover, the coffers shrink as quickly as the women do on their meager rations, threatening the future of Holy Cross. Clotild, still believing herself the leader of her Sisters, makes small forays into indirect rebellion before an untimely death shakes her into action. Clotild’s rebellion brings the Sisters out of the cloister and into the real world, on pilgrimage and in danger. At a time when bishops and kings fought for who would have dominion over the clergy, when both agreed on little but the unholiness of her sex, Clotild sought audiences with church authorities and royal family members alike for help against Lebover’s cruelty. The Rebel Nun is a well-written window into the life of a 6th-century royal bastard and the changing landscape of holy power structures. Charlier writes a strong voice for Clotild, with vivid descriptions of a daily life that brings readers along into her world. The research shows, and Charlier does an excellent job of seamlessly integrating the historical record with her own fiction. Anna Bennett

7TH CENTURY FIRE QUEEN

Joanna Courtney, Piatkus, 2020, £8.99, pb, 404pp, 9780349419534

There is nothing better than that feeling, sustained from the first page to the last, that you’ve stumbled upon a new favourite author. Joanna C o u r t n e y ’s story of Hamlet’s Ofelia, and the murky world of 7th-century Norse politics, is richly nuanced, gripping, and viscerally real. Set in what is

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now Northumbria as well as various locations in Denmark, the narrative arc of the story is of Hamlet’s fight to be King, despite his uncles’ best attempts to kill him. By his side throughout this struggle is Ofelia, master swordswoman and shield maiden, leader of his army, sworn to protect him. There could not be a greater contrast to Shakespeare’s Ophelia, whose mad darkness stamps her as victim. This Ofelia has come to terms with childhood trauma and forged herself a life protecting her Prince; fulfilled in every way but one. She has sworn never to tie herself to any man and refuses to marry Hamlet – himself so much more interesting than Shakespeare’s pallid skullgazer. It seems to me that the theme of this book is love; beautifully drawn between Hamlet and Ofelia, but also between the Prince and the two wives he takes for politically expedient purposes, and eventually between all three women. The book made me laugh, and cry, and cheer in almost equal measure; I am delighted to find that there are two other books in the Shakespeare’s Queens series already published, which are on their way to me! Nicky Moxey

FORTRESS OF FURY

Matthew Harffy, Head of Zeus, 2020, £18.99, hb, 416 pp, 9781786696342

AD 647. Anglo Saxon Britain. Penda of Mercia has travelled north with his allies. Beobrand, leader of men, warrior, brave and feared by his enemies, is leading his men in pursuit of a raiding party. However, it soon becomes clear that the raiders are only a small part of a large army. With the King away Beobrand takes his men back to the fortress of Bebbanburg (Bamburgh) to warn the garrison and prepare for the inevitable onslaught. This is more than just a story of a bloody battle. This is a story of murder, vengeance, a passion which cannot be satisfied and a king’s unspoken ambition which will fan the flames of war. The first chapter opens strongly and sets the tone for the rest of the novel. With a strong plot and characters, the story is fast-paced and exciting. The action scenes are stirring without being too graphic, while the personal internal conflicts provide a backdrop of character development. This is the seventh in the Bernicia Chronicles series but can be read and enjoyed as a standalone. I can’t wait for the next instalment to find out how Beobrand is going to get out of the mess he is in! Highly recommended. Mike Ashworth

9TH CENTURY

TEMPTED BY HER VIKING ENEMY

Terri Brisbin, Harlequin Historical, 2020, $6.50, pb, 288pp, 9781335505811

This story, Book Five in the multi-

authored Sons of Sigurd series, is set in 9thcentury Scotland. Beautiful widow Katla Thorfinnsdottir was abused by her loutish husband, and is now being mistreated by her father, Thorfinn. Rugged Viking warrior Brandt Sigurdsson travels from Norway to kill Thorfinn, who has slaughtered many in Brandt’s family. When Brandt is gravely wounded and taken prisoner, Katla tends his injuries during his weeks in captivity. The two fall in love while unraveling a web of treachery and bloodshed. They indulge in white-hot, explicit lovemaking while planning their escape and trying to uncover the true villain. This story is dark and humorless, full of thuggery, steamy sex, domestic abuse, paganism, and the constant cold of winter. It is true to the times, and fans of this violent period should enjoy it. Anyone looking for lighter fare should probably pass.

the deaths of those he cares about: family, friends, and followers, even admired foes whom fate decrees he must oppose. Cornwell writes vivid fight scenes, he generates suspense as his hero faces danger, and he provides fascinating insights into a little-known era of 10th-century history. But this is Uhtred’s story before all else, and it is deeply involving. We share his concerns, admire his efforts to do the right thing, and celebrate his victories. Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Knowles

In this glorious conclusion to Bracewell’s Emma of Normandy trilogy, Emma becomes an even greater, wiser, savvier queen than ever she was in the two previous novels. Focusing on the years 1012 to 1017, Bracewell leads the reader through the triumphs and defeats of the English against their mortal enemies, the Danes. During those harrowing years of war, starvation and death, Emma stands strong, steeled against those who would shred her kingdom and kill her children, creating alliances whenever possible, and suffering terrible personal loss. History tells us of the eventual English defeat by Cnut, but this isn’t dry, pedantic history. Bracewell takes us on that perilous journey with Emma, embellishing when necessary to create drama, but clearly having done what is a scholarly amount of research, often where sources are contradictory or virtually nonexistent. While King Aethelred is old and weak of mind and body, Emma is a force of nature, recognizing political realities and surrounding herself with wise advisors. She realizes on a visceral level that the King’s allegiance to traitors like Eadric and his fear of overthrow by his own sons will ultimately lead to his defeat. But there is only so much that Emma, with her devotion to her faith and belief in the English, can do to alter the arc of history. Emma’s eventual marriage to Cnut—where she becomes his most important advisor and a queen twice over—is a perfectly choreographed dance. It is also a pleasure to see Cnut send his wicked handfasted wife, Elgiva, on her way. Bracewell does a masterful job in creating

10TH CENTURY WAR LORD

Bernard Cornwell, Harper, 2020, $28.99, hb, 352pp, 9780062563293 / HarperCollins, 2020, £20.00, hb, 352pp, 9780008183950

This is the (probable) conclusion to The Last Kingdom series, which follows the adventures of Uhtred, the lord of Bebbanburg (Bamburgh), during the wars of King Alfred and his successors as they strive to drive back or pacify invaders and unite the separate Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into ‘Englaland’. By now, Uhtred is old, content to rest in his beloved fortress, but these are dangerous times. A northern alliance of Scots, Vikings, and Britons is being forged, King Athelstan is moving to protect his kingdom, and both sides want Uhtred and his mighty fortress. Peace is not an option, but which side should he choose and who can he trust? To protect his fortress and those who rely upon his protection, Uhtred must exert all his powers. Though his fighting abilities have waned with age, he has learned from long experience and his instincts remain undimmed. These help him to outmanoeuvre younger, overconfident foes, both in combat and in tactical planning, but will they be enough to overcome the odds at the Battle of Brunanburg? Uhtred is an epic hero in the Dark Age mode, as comparisons with Beowulf suggest: both are magnificent warriors ready to sacrifice themselves to protect their people. Cornwell shows not only his achievements, however, but his uncertainties and the cost. Though quick to avenge wrongs, he is saddened at

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

Ray Thompson

11TH CENTURY

THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK

Patricia Bracewell, Bellastoria, 2021, $22.95, pb, 436pp, 9781942209812

this arch-villain whose only goal is to wear a crown. I truly hated that woman! A perfect conclusion to a brilliant trilogy—a great read! Ilysa Magnus

12TH CENTURY

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman, William Morrow, 2020, $27.99/£20.00, hb, 420pp, 9780062562388

Readers who adored the captivating Mistress of the Art of Death series written by Ariana Franklin (pen name of prolific historical novelist Diana Norman) were devastated by the author’s untimely death in 2011. Her daughter, journalist and novelist Samantha Norman, was able to complete her mother’s unfinished standalone historical, The Winter Siege, in 2014, but fans were resigned to the fact that the brilliant medieval forensic doctor Adelia’s adventures would be left incomplete. Norman, however, has managed to create an elegiac sense of closure to the series by expanding her mother’s ideas for the final volume into a satisfying narrative. The wintry setting for the novel is appropriate to Adelia’s struggles to come to terms with her own aging and her daughter’s maturity; Norman, however, honors her mother’s legacy by retaining Adelia’s sharp wit and steely determination. The narrative centers mostly on Adelia’s daughter Almeison, or Allie, who comes into her own as an investigator and healer. The novel also returns to the series’ origins in the mysterious Fenlands of eastern England, and brings back some beloved characters from earlier in the series. Fans of The Winter Siege will be pleased with the way Norman connects that novel to Adelia’s world and circle of friends; however, those looking for the complex political plotting Franklin did so well might be a little disappointed at the thinness of the plot and the ease with which the reader can guess whodunit long before the characters do. That scarcely detracts, though, from the pleasures of the lived-in world Norman creates through lively description and entertaining dialogue. Her characters’ conversational style is more Regency than medieval (there’s even a sly Austenian callback or two to delight the attentive reader), but Death and the Maiden offers a quick and diverting read for a long, cold winter’s night, and a warm sendoff for a beloved character. Kristen McDermott

RIVER OF SINS

Sarah Hawkswood, Allison & Busby, 2020, £8.99, pb, 352pp, 9780749026196

1144, Worcester. A woman is found brutally murdered on an island in the middle of a river, a few miles from town. Hawkswood’s medieval crime-fighting duo Bradecote and Catchpoll, back for their seventh adventure, need to find

out why she was murdered in this remote spot in order to find her killer. As they delve deeper into the victim’s past, they find that the clue to her murder lies in another death in that lonely place: that of her mother, twenty years ago. And as other women start to die in the town itself, the Sheriff’s men are in a race against time to find the murderer before he strikes again. Although part of a series, River of Sins holds up entirely as a standalone historical whodunit. Hawkswood skilfully evokes a sense of the medieval world, one which is both faroff and familiar: bustling Worcester, full of craftsmen and traders, petty bureaucrats playing at local politics and families trying to get by, and the entirely different, but related world of the countryside, where secrets can be buried but not forgotten within small, tightknit communities. The medieval detectives wind their way through a series of twists, turns and contradictory evidence to unpick the truth. The central characters, Undersheriff Bradecote and Sergeant Catchpoll, are a pleasing pair, a riff on the “suave, senior officer and the gruff, diamond-in-the-rough Sergeant” motif that is rightly popular in both historical and contemporary crime novels. They are joined by an eager, wet-behindthe ears-sidekick, young Walkelin, whose local gossip and enthusiasm is central to solving the case. But despite these familiar tropes, they are all well-rounded, empathetic characters in their own right, and the quality of Hawkswood’s writing makes this a highly entertaining mystery. Charlotte Wightwick

THE CANTERBURY MURDERS

E. M. Powell, Crosshaven Press, 2020, £8.99/$10.99, pb, 300pp, 9798682187768

It is Easter, 1177, and the King’s Clerk Aelred Barling and his assistant Hugo Stanton are on pilgrimage, making their way to the martyr Thomas Becket’s tomb at Canterbury. But before they can worship at the shrine, they are ordered to investigate the brutal killing of one of the cathedral stonemasons. Within hours, others start to die, clearly by the same hand but with no evident connection. Can Stanton and Barling prevent more deaths and stop the cathedral being disgraced? This is the third of E.M. Powell’s Barling and Stanton mysteries. The author conjures up the sense of 12th-century England extremely well, from the glories of the cathedral to the unruly hordes of pilgrims and the pleasures of a wellrun ale house. The murder mystery is suitably twisty, with a wide cast of likely suspects. The central characters are becoming increasingly complex as the series develops. Barling is outwardly prickly, but inwardly sensitive, fearful for his soul and desperate to keep the friendship of his assistant. Stanton is seemingly charming and happy-go-lucky but hides a secret grief. This is a highly enjoyable mediaeval murder

mystery, with lots of historical atmosphere, appealing characters and an entertaining and ingenious plot. Recommended. Charlotte Wightwick

CONQUEST: The Anarchy

Tracey Warr, Impress, 2020, £8.99, pb, 400pp, 9781911293439

As the priest pronounces Nest married to a man she doesn’t want, her dead lover appears. But this is the 12th century, and the priest’s word is God’s Word. Nest is as sunk as the ship she’d believed her lover to be upon. So begins the third instalment of a trilogy following Nest as she navigates life as a prize in the war between Anglo-Norman King Henry and the 12th-century Welsh kings. Nest, a Princess of Wales, is trapped between conflicting loyalties, as sons born of forced marriages fight for Henry, while her Welsh family schemes to throw off the Norman yoke. Meanwhile, Haith, the man Nest loves, leaves to investigate how the ship he should have been on had sunk, taking with it King Henry I’s heir. Warr’s Henry is a vivid, strong personality, making the anarchy after his death all the more believable. In the chaos, the Welsh see their chance. When Warr delved into Welsh history and discovered Nest, she must have known she’d struck story gold. Warr creates a believable world by imagining lives less about politics and more about love, and this emotional involvement kept me reading. As in real life, however, politics intrudes, bringing with it messy complications. I was glad of the “who’s who” list to help keep track of the many, but necessary, subsidiary characters. Warr’s research is impressive – both the conquered, and women, tend to be “invisible” in the historical record. Her love of Wales shines clearly. So it may be churlish of me to feel my 12th-century illusion broken by a remark about gambling on cards, thought not to have arrived in Europe until the 14th century. However, I enjoyed Warr’s story of a woman whose marital life was used as a weapon of conquest, and my appetite is whetted to discover Nest’s earlier adventures. Helen Johnson

13TH CENTURY

HIS CASTILIAN HAWK

Anna Belfrage, Troubador, 2020, $20.99/£15.25, pb, 408pp, 9781800461086

As a reward for loyal service, Robert FitzStephan is knighted by King Edward I and given the hand of an heiress in marriage. Though the estate is modest, it represents an important step up the social ladder for an illegitimate son of a lord. Eleanor (‘Noor’) has no choice but to obey the king’s command, but the marriage gets off to a rocky start when Robert spends his wedding night in the arms of another woman. Their relationship does

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improve, fortunately, and they eventually fall in love. Robert is honorable and brave, Noor compassionate and unexpectedly resilient, qualities that engage our sympathy. But these put them at high risk when she gives refuge to the infant son of a Welsh prince. This is an unforgiving world where rulers expect loyalty and unquestioning obedience, and since the child’s father has rebelled against the king, his overlord, sympathy for victims, however innocent, is deemed betrayal. Reluctant to hand the child over, they try to conceal his identity, but these are dangerous times on the Welsh Marches during Edward’s ruthless campaign to suppress the Welsh in the late 13th century: enmities are bitter, vengeance is implacable, punishment vicious, tolerance suspect. There is a stark contrast between the passionate encounters and growing affection of the wedded couple and a savage world, where women are married off to husbands who have the right to beat them, and rebel leaders are hung, drawn, and quartered, their followers and dependents hunted relentlessly. The former belong to the world of romance, the latter to realistic fiction, and the transition can be uncomfortable for readers. But perhaps it is not such a bad thing to be reminded of the dangers in a world where cherished civil rights are disregarded for some ‘higher good.’ Definitely recommended. Ray Thompson

THE SKY WORSHIPERS

F. M. Deemyad, History Through Fiction, 2021, $17.95/C$22.95, pb, 366pp, 9781732950863

In The Sky Worshipers, Deemyad takes us on a vivid and lush journey through the Mongol conquests of the 13th and 14th centuries. The story begins when Lady Goharshad, queen of the Timurid kingdom, finds a journal hidden within the walls of Samarkand. Within those pages, four women who had been forced into, and held captive, by Mongol rulers during various times of their rule, escape the despair and loneliness they chronically felt from not only their experiences but that of the Mongol leaders themselves. The story mainly focuses on the Mongol conquests of Central Asia and the Middle East but also throws in bits of narrative on the Yuan Dynasty of China and the Russian Golden Horde. Initially, the reader may feel a bit lost with the historical terminology and abrupt start of events. But Deemyad’s impressive historical research and ability to give life to the antagonists quickly rectifies that and immerses readers into the rich world of the main characters. The Sky Worshipers is an excellent read for anyone interested in Mongol history and/or stories of bloodlust and betrayal, but also fulfillment. Jennifer Dumas

CATHEDRAL

Ben Hopkins, Europa, 2020, $28.00/ C$41.95/£16.99, hb, 618pp, 9781609456115

Spanning over a century—from 1229 to 1351—Cathedral doesn’t detail the workings of the humongous construction project at its heart. Nor does it dwell on the high and mighty. While distant emperors and popes serve to support or thwart the rising structure, the men and women who will literally live in its shadow dominate the book. A bishop’s treasurer, a Jewish moneylender, a visionary architect, a merchant, a girl in a nonconformist religious commune, a stonemason, a depraved baron, a self-made weaver muscling her way up in a man’s world, and more—many more—build, or resist, the cathedral. Their fates depend on how astutely they apply their talents and ambitions to manipulate their place in local society. Several of the characters, especially the more eccentric of them, may set up in the reader a craving to learn more of them, to follow their story longer. But despite its length, Cathedral’s generous timespan and its sprawling and intricate cast allow each character only a relatively fleeting appearance. The ensemble is what immerses the reader in the town and its interdependent citizens. Hopkins bestows neither glory nor excessive grit on the Middle Ages. His cathedral town nearly feels familiar. And that is a large part of what makes Cathedral such a gripping read. While weaving our senses skillfully into ordinary medieval life, Hopkins surrounds us with people who share our irresistible attraction to physical beauty and the charisma of power, the often prickly comforts of faith, and greed, lust, hunger, illusion, personal love: all that makes us human, regardless of place and time. Jean Huets

ELEGY TO MURDER

Priscilla Royal, Independently published, 2020, $15.00, pb, 230pp, 9781952747014

Elegy to Murder is the latest medieval mystery featuring Prioress Eleanor and Brother Thomas. Royal succeeds in creating sympathy for her characters and drawing us deep into the medieval way of thinking. She accomplishes this feat, even though, if not for Royal’s skillful writing and the total immersion of her reader, her characters’ moral crises might feel distant, occasionally even offensive to modern audiences. Royal’s compelling novel gives readers the gift of seeing the world through another’s eyes and listening with open hearts. The novel begins in May 1283 with Crowner Ralf attempting to intercept smugglers who are

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

avoiding King Edward’s taxes, levied to fund his unpopular wars and castlebuilding. All Ralf really wants to do is get home to his ailing wife. The source of her ill health is one of the aspects where Royal gives us both insight and compassion into less easily accepted parts of medieval life. Back at Eleanor’s priory, multiple problems disrupt life, from the lasting effects of guilt over sexual sins to mother-son conflict. Then a well-liked newcomer to the village is beaten and only narrowly saved from death. Before anyone can solve that crime, a merchant on pilgrimage is murdered just outside the priory gates. Eleanor sends for Ralf, desperate to avoid offending the king by interfering in a secular crime, but she and Thomas are on their own for far longer than they expected as Ralf’s progress mires to a halt. He suspects a spy. The threads tying together the various crises of conscience and criminal activities resonate richly and offer surprising twists. Priscilla Royal has given us a highly recommended addition to this long-running marvel of a series. Judith Starkston

14TH CENTURY

OF SWORD AND SHADOW

A. L. Sowards, Covenant, 2021, $16.99, pb, 266pp, 9781524413583

In 1397, in the Greek city of Thebes, a nameless slave is employed by her master in a variety of schemes ranging from stealing purses to espionage. On one of those adventures, she encounters Gillen, a young Basque man after the same prize as she. When he shows up with a different name at a function where she is impersonating the daughter of a dignitary, it’s clear there’s a pattern. But are they on the same side? Whatever the connection, she springs to Gillen’s aid when someone tries to kill him. That draws her further into the complex politics of Thebes, fought over by Catalan and Navarrese overlords, with Greek natives lost in the middle. In addition to massing armies, more delicate matters of family networks and marriage negotiations could change the balance of power in the city and region. As the political intrigue heats up and brings her into contact with some of the highestranking officials of church and state, her hard life as a slave and the mysteries of her origin start to unravel. And as she and Gillen become closer, she grasps at freedom, only to have her chances pulled further away from her. The first-person narrator deftly provides enough of the complex context to keep the reader informed without weighing down the

narrative. One might still wonder, despite explanations, how a slave ends up not only literate but with in-depth knowledge of history and the political maneuvers going on around her. Or how a change of clothes is enough for her to pass as an aristocrat. Those quibbles aside, the only real misstep is a belabored misunderstanding the main character has concerning Gillen that seems manufactured to create tension. Otherwise, it’s a lively story set in a fascinating place and time, with appealing main characters. Martha Hoffman

HURDY GURDY Christopher Wilson, Faber, 2021, £14.99, hb, 247pp, 9780571361946

1349: the adolescent Diggory has been a friar in the order of St Odo since he was eight. The community’s mission is to care for the sick, so the boy learns the craft of medicine (a concoction of Avicenna, Galen and superstitious charms, in which the brothers nevertheless are aware of the schools of Salerno and Padua). The friars survive on spectacularly disgusting food; of an animal, they are permitted to eat only the offal. Their patron saint was a mystic who foretold the age of a small-handed orange-faced man who reversed truth and lies, and of thinking machines with flat glass faces. This is not, however, Catweazle’s electrickery and telling-bones for grown-ups: the novel is both an utterly convincing excursion into the medieval mind and a prescient tale, for this plague year, of how human beings react in the face of incurable pestilence. Plague is brought to the friary by a group of mummers and, when he becomes infected, Diggory is quarantined by being locked up to die. When he does so, he is sent back pretty swiftly from the hereafter for saying the wrong thing, and manages to escape only to find he has to bury those of his companions who haven’t fled. As the only one left, he declares himself abbot, but leaves the friary without his habit and, as a boy who up to then has had only wet dreams and hissing at the abbot’s cat to confess, goes off to grapple with an alien and dangerous world. This world is not just dangerous for Diggory: though apparently cured of the plague himself, it breaks out wherever he goes. This is an enthralling read. Katherine Mezzacappa

15TH CENTURY

MEDICI: SUPREMACY

Matteo Struckul (trans. Richard McKenna), Head of Zeus, 2020, £18.99, hb, 439pp, 9781786692139

Florence, 1469. Lorenzo de Medici has become the head of the family and de facto ruler of Florence. Life is never simple in the deadly world of Florentine and Italian politics. Although passionately in love with a Florentine girl, a dynastic marriage has been arranged with a powerful Roman family, which will

strengthen the Medicis’ position. Duty must come before happiness. At the same time Lorenzo’s many enemies are conspiring against him, forming an alliance to destroy him and his family. Torn between love and the demands of a loveless marriage, the realities of wielding power and the compromises of governing, Lorenzo finds himself in a vicious and bloody cycle of events to defend all that he holds dear. This is the second instalment in Struckul’s series on the House of Medici. The action scenes are well-written and exciting. With an excellent translation by Richard McKenna, a strong plot and well-defined characters, the book brings alive the life and culture of 15th-century Florence. Lorenzo is shown as a caring, well-meaning ruler who is forced by circumstances into decisions which have unfortunate and at times bloody consequences. I am looking forward to the next instalment. Recommended. Mike Ashworth

16TH CENTURY

THE FINDER OF LOST THINGS

Kathy Lynn Emerson, Historia, 2020, $16.95, pb, 272pp, 9781947915824

Winter 1590. Blanche Wainfleet is known as a finder of lost things. Utilizing her strong deductive skills, she must now discover who murdered her sister Alison. She’ll do whatever it takes to find out what happened, even send herself to prison to infiltrate a group of Catholics captured during a recent raid at the house of Lady Otley. After the queen pardons all imprisoned women, Blanche is asked to become Lady Otley’s companion, a position left vacant after Alison’s suspicious death. There Blanche poses as a woman interested in converting while attempting to uncover the last days of her sister’s life. There are many ways to set the historical stage. Emerson has a great sense of vernacular and brings out her characters through periodauthentic words and sensibility. The thoughtful sentence construction was a delightful way to welcome me into this time and place. The plot has a good amount of tension, as Blanche is often in dangerous situations trying to unmask a killer. The mystery is multilayered, and unexpected obstacles keep readers guessing until the end. This story is women-led, from Blanche to Lady Otley to the servants and a few others encountered along the way. Conversely, Blanche’s husband and one priest are the only male characters with depth; otherwise, the men feel a bit stereotypical. Overall, an enjoyable period mystery packed with religious tension and danger lurking at every turn. J. Lynn Else

A TIP FOR THE HANGMAN

Allison Epstein, Doubleday, 2021, $26.95, hb, 384pp, 9780385546713

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) is the Jimi Hendrix of great playwrights. Marlowe’s meteoric career fizzled mysteriously 427 years ago. Just a few brilliant plays and poems and a few scandalous (but largely unverified) bits of biography survived him. Was he a spy? A scholar? A ruffian? A child molester? A Catholic? An atheist? A counterfeiter, or merely an alchemist? Was he Shakespeare? That last suggestion is chronologically impossible, but Marlowe definitely invented blank verse and also bequeathed to his writer-successors a lurid treasure trove of biographical rumors, which has recently inspired Allison Epstein’s thrilling and romantic debut novel, A Tip for the Hangman. Reportedly pitched to editors as “Shakespeare in Love meets Sarah Waters,” this entertaining story presents Marlowe—under his nickname, Kit—mainly as a conflicted Elizabethan double agent, while largely downplaying his writing life. A man alone in a room with his quill is not very dramatic, of course. Epstein successfully evokes both the beauty and the brutality of 16th-century England, which is dirty and smells bad. Hangings and beheadings abound, though the precise meaning of the novel’s title is never explained. Whatever else Marlowe was or wasn’t, Elizabethan court records strongly imply that he was a bar-room brawler and a risktaker. The exciting plot sweeps the reader from Cambridge University to the Palace of Whitehall to Newgate Prison. Epstein is at her best with settings and secondary characters such as Mary Queen of Scots, Sir Francis Walsingham (Elizabeth I’s spymaster), and Marlowe’s longtime, longsuffering lover, Tom. But Kit himself, maybe inevitably, remains enigmatic. Did he resemble Shakespeare’s Mercutio? Or his own daredevil Doctor Faustus, or thuggish Tamberlaine? Perhaps all we really need to know is that his work still dazzles and he died too young. Susan Lowell

THE LAST BLAST OF THE TRUMPET

Marie Macpherson, Penmore, 2020, $19.50, pb, 471pp, 9781950586530

This third and final volume in the novelization of the life of John Knox takes the Scottish reformer from his return to his flock in 1559 after enforced exile to his death in 1572. These years cover the widowed Mary Stewart’s return from France to claim her throne and Scotland for Catholicism with her two eventful marriages that will be much more familiar to readers. Being dropped in the middle of these characters’ lives is very difficult. Although a list of characters at the beginning helps a little, the 16th century is very difficult on this level. For example, there are many Elizabeths, not least of all is the champion of Protestantism

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on the English throne. How to make clear to the reader which is which is a challenge of character building and invention. Also, characters can become elevated to new honors and then are referred to by these new names. If skill had been employed to make us invested in certain characters, we might have tolerated this inherent confusion better. Knox in particular is erratic in his motivations—which may indeed have been the case, but a sympathetic protagonist would not be so hapless. Much more interesting are the characters of Elisabeth Hepburn and her spiritual heir Isabelle. The author postulates that this prioress Elisabeth is the mother of Knox, which is a very interesting if unsubstantiated conflict—but limited in this final third of the trilogy. Thick use of Scottish vocabulary adds to the voice, but makes reading difficult. A vocabulary list would have helped. Finally, scenes where important events happened offstage and are merely reported by someone—bursting in on a dithering Knox as often as not—do not help flagging interest. Ann Chamberlin

THE BRIDLED TONGUE

Catherine Meyrick, Courante Publishing, 2020, $12.99, pb, 356pp, 9780648250838

In England in 1586, 28-year-old Alyce Bradley has learned to be “silent and obedient and not draw attention.” Twelve years ago, her outspoken ways and interest in healing and the physic, as with her grandmother, could make her the target of witchcraft accusations festering in the town, so the family sent her away to work for Lady Faulconer. She became a serving maid, and her life in exile was harsh. This taught her to curb her sharp tongue and unseemly behavior. She has now returned home, and her father insists she marry. He will provide a sizable dowry to compensate for her lack of beauty, but she has no desire to marry. She agrees only if she is allowed her choice of suitors, but her choices are limited. First is Robert Chapman, an overbearing and opportunistic apprentice in her father’s shop. He has expected for years to marry Alyce and inherit her father’s shop, but Alyce refuses because of his aggressions toward her. Second is Thomas Granville, a privateer under a cloud of villagers’ gossip. He needs Alyce’s dowry to fund his newest expedition. After meeting Thomas, she decides that they can make a life together based on courtesy and respect. Thomas seems unaffected by the town’s gossip swirling around him, living his life as he chooses. Neither does Alyce allow gossip to determine her choice of a husband. You could not find a better character than Alyce. She is a plain-looking woman of strength and profundity that diminishes the typical beautiful heroine. She settles into her new married life with contentment and hope for her future. What takes place throughout the rest of the book is not to be missed. The engaging plot, authentic dialogue, and narrative woven 22

with rich descriptions will wrap the reader in the world of Tudor England. Janice Ottersberg

IMPERFECT ALCHEMIST

Naomi Miller, Allison & Busby, 2020, £16.99, hb, 446pp, 9780749026172

In 1573, two bright young girls lead very different lives. Wealthy aristocrat Mary Sidney is learning her place as the only surviving daughter of a prominent family, while little commoner Rose Commin, whose healer mother has been charged with witchcraft, is sent to be a maidservant with Lord Pembroke’s wife, Lady Catherine. Apparently the two have nothing in common – except loss, a yearning to find solace and meaning in artistic pursuits, and a budding interest in alchemy. When, a few years later, Mary becomes the second Countess of Pembroke, she and Rose are thrown together as mistress and maid, and slowly their mutual wariness begins to thaw into understanding and collaboration, as both young women learn to make sense of their world through poetry, art, and healing. Will they also learn to rely on each other, in the trials and adversities that lie ahead? Naomi Miller charts the remarkable life of Mary Sidney by recounting her various intellectual passions as one alchemical quest for wholeness. With two engaging women at its heart, and a layered exploration of artistic creation, and women in Tudor society, Imperfect Alchemist is an absorbing novel of ideas. Chiara Prezzavento

THE CITY OF TEARS

Kate Mosse, Minotaur, 2021, $27.99, hb, 676pp, 9781250202185 / Mantle, 2021, £20.00, hb, 560pp, 9781509806874

While Minou Reydon-Joubert, her Calvinist husband, Piet, and their children ready themselves for the journey to Paris, where the marriage between Henry III of Navarre and Margaret of Valois is to mark the end of decades of religious violence, they become aware that Catholic resentment is building against them and their fellow Protestants. Even before they reach their final destination, they are viciously attacked, and once they arrive at the capital, come face to face with anti-Huguenot feeling running so high that the infamous St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 23-24 August 1572 results. The Reydon-Joubert family is rent apart, and although the family flees to Amsterdam, where they are able to make a new start after Piet lays claim to his true provenance, they

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

are unhappy because their much-beloved daughter has gone missing. Hoping for her return, the Reydon-Jouberts can’t know that she remembers hardly anything of her former life and is eventually held prisoner by their sworn enemy, who intends to use her against them. Will the chaotic twists and turns of religious strife reunite the loving people the conflict has torn asunder? And what role might the “Sudarium,” a sacred relic, play in the coming together of a family? Will its members be avenged on the man who caused their misery, or is their story far from over? The sequel to The Burning Chambers, The City of Tears poses as many mysteries as it resolves, making readers long for the next installment of Huguenot adventures. A Kate Mosse classic, this book remains entertaining and riveting until the very last page. Elisabeth Lenckos

KATHARINA - FORTITUDE

Margaret Skea, Sanderling, 2019, £10.99, pb, 464pp, 9780993333156

This is a truly heart-warming story of a woman’s life as she marries and raises a family in Wittenberg, Saxony. The story begins in 1525 after her marriage to Martin Luther, the renegade cleric who has turned Christendom on its head. Katharina herself is also something of a renegade after leaving a convent to seek a freer life. The life that she chooses brings her six children, and Martin is a loving father to them all. He holds classes and turns the Lutherhaus into a college where converts from far and wide come to sit around the large family table and discuss their new theology. Thrifty Katharina is watching the pursestrings, and with a woman’s wile, she convinces Martin to allow them to rent rooms in their large house. Martin’s other talent of horticulture allows them to grow their own vegetables to feed them with. They also attract the attention of Catholics, who see the marriage of Martin and Katharina as evil and claim that their first child will be the Antichrist. This puts a strain on their friends and family, who for the most part support them, even though they are sometimes at odds with Martin’s teachings. There is tragedy in the Lutherhaus, too, when two of their girls die, one in infancy and the other at thirteen. Plague also sweeps through the country, and Katharine and her friends care for the sick. Katharina is a strong woman, but she is tested by these events, and when Martin’s health begins to fail just as his responsibilities in the new church increase, she is sometimes at her wits’ end. Margaret Skea has brought home the fragility of life in the 16th century, but she also shows the love that remains and grows stronger for those who survive. A beautiful story. Alan Pearson

17TH CENTURY

UNTRUE TILL DEATH

Graham Brack, Sapere, 2020, $8.99/£7.50, pb, 265pp, 9781913518929

Set in 1674 in the Netherlands, this second in series offers an intricate, intellectual murder puzzle to solve amidst the academic debates of the University of Leiden and the intrigues surrounding William of Orange’s leadership. By series premise, Mercurius, philosophy master, is writing his memoirs. This time, his remembered tale concerns the “accidental” death of a colleague who fell down some stairs. The novel’s plot flows from there as William forces Mercurius into investigating political conspiracies, which leads to yet another murder and a too-close cooperation with a torturer—also, a romantic entanglement that Mercurius, as a hidden Catholic priest, shouldn’t participate in, but he does admire a beautiful woman. The dominant charm of Brack’s writing lies in Mercurius’s deadpan voice. He combines references to cerebral philosophical arguments (in accessible ways) with a selfdeprecating, cynical take on human nature. In an early scene with the rector of the university, for example, Mercurius realizes that he’s being set up for the unenviable job of giving a lecture to their students warning against the evils of visiting whores. He thinks to himself, “I was convinced that in a contest between my moral philosophy seminars and an evening between the ample breasts of Fat Lysbeth, I was unlikely to come out on top, if you’ll pardon the expression.” Here and elsewhere Mercurius’s inner language shades into contemporary idiom, but humor carries it off for the most part. Brack also vividly depicts the Dutch cities and countryside, along with details of daily life and academic peculiarities. He takes us back to a time and place rarely covered by historical mysteries with authority and obvious depth of knowledge. A pleasing package of history, philosophy, and murderous fun. Judith Starkston

THE SIGN OF THE GALLOWS

Susanna Calkins, Severn House, 2020, $28.99/£20.99, hb, 240pp, 9780727889560

London, 1667. Lucy Campion is traveling to market when she’s almost run over by two men with a handcart. Subsequently, she discovers a dead man hanging from a tree. As she goes to report her find to the constable, Lucy runs into Adam Hargrave, who’s freshly returned from the New World, a man she’s still sorting out her feelings for. After all, she was a servant in Adam’s household for years and of lower standard. Yet, Adam has feelings for her too. After the man’s body is reported and brought to the morgue, a strange cipher is discovered in his pocket, leading everyone to believe he didn’t commit suicide. Was he murdered by the men who ran into Lucy? If so, she could be in great danger if the mysterious message isn’t decoded in time. After the first chapter, I sensed this book was part of a series. However, it was easy to

catch onto the character dynamics without the necessity of lengthy recaps (despite this being book 5). The historical setting is beautifully nuanced. This is a London that’s been ravaged by the plague and the Great Fire, and the cultural implications of both are well-explored. Lucy is an intriguing, hardworking woman whose spirited curiosity propels the investigation forward in organic and character-developing ways. She plausibly holds her own in a male-dominated world. Clues are uncovered through a variety of surprising twists and turns. Thus, I kept wanting to read “just one more chapter” to see what was discovered next. Lucy’s trade as a printer’s apprentice and traveling bookseller is enjoyable to read about, an opportunity due in part to the reduced pool of male apprentices. There’s also a lovely appreciation for the printed word underlying the narrative. This is a delightful character-driven, suspenseful murder mystery. Recommended. J. Lynn Else

MERCY’S REFUGE

Rita M. Gerlach, Dusk to Dawn Books, 2020, $12.00, pb, 302pp, 9798684517587

Twenty-one years old, Mercy McCrea is living a hardscrabble life with her aged grandparents in 1620 England. She supports her tiny family by employing her prodigious skill at cooking. Soon she is offered a desirable position in kitchen service with an aristocratic English family. Almost immediately, however, the master of the house makes unwanted advances. Mercy resists the repulsive lord’s clumsy efforts and finds herself accused of attempted thievery. At the risk of the hangman’s noose, she must flee England to join a community of English Puritan separatists in Holland, where she has an older uncle. Mercy finds both friends and solace among the separatists. She also meets a young former sailor who is also fleeing from the wrath of a female English aristocrat who has branded him a thief. The two refugees take comfort in each other’s company, and romance grows. Both decide to join the separatists on the hazardous ocean journey to the unknown in the new world aboard the good ship Mayflower. But first they must finally rid themselves of the vindictive lord who has been stalking Mercy. This book is a well-researched, dialoguedriven, intensely emotional inspirational romance. Any historical account of the first pilgrims is welcome. The author captures the strife between the Anglicans and the separatists. There is also what seems an odd and gratuitous hit against Dutch Catholic nuns in an orphanage. More thorough copy editing would have helped immensely. Yet the historical detail and lucid descriptions of the harrowing maritime crossing of the Mayflower for the men, women, and children aboard add some adventure to what would otherwise be just another romance novel. Well worth reading. Thomas J. Howley

DARK TIDES

Philippa Gregory, Atria, 2020, $28.00/ C$37.00, hb, 464pp, 9781501187186 / Simon & Schuster UK, 2020, £20.00, hb, 496pp, 9781471172854

On Midsummer Eve, 1670, a beautiful young woman from Venice arrives at a ramshackle warehouse in London. Livia di Ricci clutches her infant son and declares herself the widow of the son of warehouse’s owner, Alinor Reekie. Alinor, however, doesn’t believe Livia for a second, but her adult daughter, Alys, embraces Livia as a sister. Alys nearly bankrupts the Reekies bankrolling the shipment of Livia’s “antiquities” from Venice to London, but Livia assures them that selling them will make them all rich. Still suspicious, Alinor sends her granddaughter, Sarah, to Venice to investigate Livia’s claims and search for Alinor’s son, Rob, whom she is certain is still alive. Meanwhile, in New England, Alinor’s brother, Ned, is content with his life as a river ferryman several miles outside of town. Having come to America after the Restoration, he befriends the local Native Americans. But as the townspeople gear up for war against them, Ned must decide where his loyalties lie. Dark Tides features strong female characters without being anachronistic. While the Reekie women’s options in Restoration London are limited, their intelligence, courage, and cunning are not. And once again, Gregory has shown her keen ability to immerse readers in the time and places of the story, particularly in her chilling descriptions of life in mid-17thcentury Venice. The only weak point lies in Livia’s tricking a local aristocrat, James Avery, into marrying her. In the first chapter, Gregory establishes that Avery has pined for Alinor for two decades, so his falling for Livia, practically at first sight, stretches credulity. Though this is the second book in the Fairmile series, familiarity with the first book is unnecessary. Readers may be frustrated that the European and North American storylines never directly connect, but as this is only book two of a planned trilogy, Gregory will likely reconcile these stories in the final novel. Sarah Hendess

THE SMALLEST MAN

Frances Quinn, Simon and Schuster, 2021, £14.99, hb, 376pp, 9781471193408

Nat Davy is ten when he discovers that, not only is he smaller than the other boys in his village, but that he will always be different, and there’s nothing he can do about it. When his father sells him as a curiosity to the royal court, Nat longs only to return home. But then he strikes up a friendship with another youngster, lonely and overwhelmed by the hostile people surrounding her – the queen of England, Henrietta Maria – and his life opens up in ways he could never imagine. Following the tumultuous years leading to the death of Charles I, The Smallest Man follows Nat as he travels with the queen, first to the Continent to raise support and money

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for the king, and then back into Civil War-torn England and the heart of danger. Through it all, can Nat find love and happiness, despite being the Smallest Man in England? Nat was inspired by the life of the historical figure Jeffrey Hudson, who was court dwarf to Queen Henrietta Maria. However, the author is clear that her Nat is a fictional character, and indeed his story deviates from Hudson’s in a number of ways (Hudson, for example, was kidnapped by Barbary pirates and may have been sold into slavery, something which doesn’t feature in this novel!). The author vividly depicts life in 17th-century England, from the small village of Nat’s childhood, through to the splendours of court and the horrors of a country at war. Nat is an entertaining and joyous narrator, whose determination and courage shine through the pages of the book. His love for his friends and family is the anchor which enables him to cling to hope and bravery, despite a backdrop of cruelty, war and treachery. It is a truly delightful novel. Highly recommended. Charlotte Wightwick

THE COMPANY DAUGHTERS

Samantha Rajaram, Bookouture, 2020, $10.99/£8.99, pb, 390pp, 9781800191761

This radiant debut novel is perfect for fans of The Miniaturist and Girl with a Pearl Earring. Two young women of 1620s Amsterdam, maidservant Jana and her e m p l o y e r ’s pampered daughter, Sontje, find themselves compelled to seek their fortune – really, to sell themselves to the highest bidder – as “Company Daughters,” women transported by the powerful East India Company to marry the bachelor settlers of their prosperous colony in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia). During an epic journey, they discover their own value and desires while trying to navigate a world that sees them as mere commodities to be traded and displayed. Rajaram has the remarkable ability to immerse you completely in the sensory world of her settings. Jana is a perceptive observer, alive 24

to the beauties of nature, and the reader shares her point of view effortlessly, but it’s more than that. With carefully chosen details, Rajaram transports you to the canals of Amsterdam, the wild beauty of the Cape of Good Hope, and the fragrant heat of Batavia, opening Jana’s eyes along the way to new cultures and to the power of female community. Fully half the novel takes place aboard the trading ship Leyden, but never feels claustrophobic, thanks to Jana’s fascinated curiosity about everything she observes. The women she travels with are fully realized personalities, as complex and flawed but also as sympathetic as Jana. The community they build is both powerful and fragile, but the emotional rollercoaster of their experiences never feels artificial or melodramatic. This is a novel to be savored for its gorgeous prose and unforgettable relationships. It’s also an important depiction of the West’s long history of human trafficking and a reminder that its cruelties are woven so intimately into our culture that it’s easy to mistake Jana’s struggle to survive as a triumph of individuality. She would be the last to agree. Kristen McDermott

SHAME THE DEVIL

Donna Scott, Independently published, 2020, $16.95, pb, 417pp, 9781734924800

Shame the Devil is an ambitious novel, spanning well over a decade in the life of Colin Blackburne. Our hero is only eleven when he sees his mother brutally killed by Parliamentarian soldiers, after which he, his father, and younger brother are hauled off to seven years of indentured servitude. Colin may be humiliated, he may have been plunged from a life of relative comfort to the harsh life of a servant, but he never forgets who he is—the son of a loyal royalist who one day intends to fight for his king and avenge his mother’s death. By the time Colin is old enough to do so, Charles I is dead, but Colin still joins the royalist cause, which will cost him dearly. Scott has created a very likeable protagonist and has gifted him with an equally likeable female counterpart. As the daughter of the viscount to whom Colin is indentured, Emma is unattainable, but love has its way of working through such minor challenges as war, imprisonment, exile, and servitude. Besides Colin and Emma, Scott must be applauded for the depiction of Alston, a hurting and confused young man torn between his “unnatural desires” and an uncompromising faith. Basically good, Alston struggles to free himself from the clutches of the utterly despicable Stephen Kitts. With fluid prose and driven dialogue, Scott brings the complexities and deep divisions of the English Civil War to vivid life. Warmly recommended.

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

Anna Belfrage

THE RUNNING WOLF

Helen Steadman, Impress Books, 2020, £8.99, pb, 314pp, 9781911293538

Master sword-maker Hermann Mohll is forced to flee Solingen in Germany in the 1680s as work dries up. He follows what keeps his profession alive – war – and lands in England with other migrants to set up a sword-making community in Shotley Bridge, County Durham. But he has broken vows to the sword-making guild which protected him and discovers that becoming an independent sword-maker is not an easy way to keep him and his family out of poverty. Hermann is based on one of Shotley Bridge’s real sword-makers, and we follow his travails over almost 20 years. The wolf of the title refers to the maker’s mark on Hermann’s swords, a wolf running towards battle, and is also a reference to Hermann and his family running towards what they hope is a brighter future. However, in the run-up to the 1715 Jacobite rising, Hermann is caught smuggling swords and ends up in Morpeth gaol for treason, facing hanging, drawing and quartering. The book is told through the alternate voices of Hermann and Robert, his gaoler. Robert is puzzled when Queen Anne’s righthand man, the Earl of Nottingham, takes an interest in Hermann’s case. Robert thinks he knows everything about his prisoner. But does he? Helen Steadman obviously carried out a lot of meticulous research for her book, including learning the difficult art of making a sword herself and meeting a descendant of our hero. Her writing is at its best when descriptive, such as Hermann’s smuggling, a particularly effective skating scene on the river, and the sword-making process. An unusual novel that brings a little-known area of history and its craftsmen to life. Kate Pettigrew

18TH CENTURY

NANTEOS: The Dipping Pool

Jane Blank, Y Lolfa, 2020, £9.99, pb, 368pp, 9781784618773

A companion to Blank’s The Shadow of Nanteos (2015), set in 1750s Cardiganshire, this novel tells the story not only of Thomas and Mary Powell and their plans for the house which gives the book its name, but also the interwoven lives of their bailiff Cai Gruffydd (Thomas’s natural son), and the servants, lead miners, and Gypsies of the community beyond its gates – plans baulked by tragedy both natural and manmade. This is not just a portrait of a time and the people who inhabit it, but also of the landscape of Wales. Captivating imagery reflects that setting, as in ‘the sun sets behind the bald hills below Devil’s Bridge, the sky thin and purple as the skin under an old man’s eye.’ The ravages made by mankind, from the felling of the ancient oak to permit the extension of Nanteos to the impact of lead mining are vividly drawn: ‘for mile on mile the land has a crumpled,

sickly look, the colours wrong, the curve of the surface ridged, wrinkled and puckered by the hollows and tips of mines.’ Dialogue is similarly fluent, though sometimes more signposting was needed, given the range of characters. The book opens with a Calan Mai ritual with overtones of sacrifice, echoed by the later appearance of Ranter evangelists, with tragic consequences. Life is sometimes brutal, from a kitchen-table Caesarean section to a hanging, yet told not salaciously but with redeeming empathy. This is a book that will echo long in the memory. Katherine Mezzacappa

WICKED MISTRESS YALE, THE PARTING GLASS

David Ebsworth, Silverwood, 2020, $16.99/£12.99, pb, 468pp, 9781781329993

In 1700 London, the East India Company’s (EIC) former governor, Elihu Yale, recently returned from Madras, is at a dinner party with his family. Seemingly wishing to reconcile his ten-year estrangement from his wife, Catherine, he proposes a toast: “A parting glass… an end to separations…” But he also announces the sale of Catherine’s house and the purchase of an enormous mansion. Also, dismissing Catherine’s loyal housekeeper, he replaces her with a Portuguese widow from M a d r a s . Fu r t h e r m o r e , Yale corresponds with his former mistresses in Madras. Catherine’s sons decide to sue their stepfather, Yale, for portions of their inheritance he is withholding. This leads to other family quarrels, which infuriate Catherine. The housekeeper feeds Catherine high doses of laudanum. Catherine becomes incapacitated, and Yale has her ensconced in a mental hospital. Catherine must battle her insanity and patch up her family’s conflicts. Catherine is also drawn into espionage. This is the gripping conclusion of the Yale Trilogy. David Ebsworth has admirably woven his plot into the difficult historical period following the Glorious Revolution. This account of EIC Governor Elihu Yale, told by his wife Catherine, both real-life characters, is based on Ebsworth’s extensive investigation. The research, conducted not only in historical records but also in graveyards, shows in the narrative. While Catherine’s name may have been forgotten, Ebsworth has revived her out of historical folios to have her tackle Yale in sometimes rancorous discussions during dinners. Period dialect, including exclamations and swear words,

and mannerisms are included at just the right level. While Elihu Yale may well stand beside the stalwarts of the EIC such as Robert Clive and others, he hasn’t received the recognition he deserves, despite his generous grant and name to Yale University. This book serves to correct that. Highly recommended. Waheed Rabbani

A HOME ON WILDER SHORES

Susan Posey, Page Publishing, 2020, $24.95, pb, 534pp, 9781645444633

The story opens in the mid-Atlantic in 1751 on a ship of immigrants to the American colonies. Ardath and Gwyn Rhys’s mother disappeared back in Wales, and they are traveling with their father to an uncle in Philadelphia. But a smallpox outbreak devastates the passengers and crew, leaving the girls orphaned, and this disaster is compounded by a shipwreck. After many trials they arrive in Philadelphia to find their uncle kindly disposed toward them, but his wife is not. Ardath and Gwyn set up their own housekeeping and apothecary shop, run by Ibrahim, the Muslim doctor they assisted on the ship during the outbreak. The chapters alternate among three points of view, Ardath’s, Gwyn’s, and that of a woman named Carys, who was kidnapped and sold as an indentured servant, also on her way to the New World. The girls’ cousin David sends word from North Carolina that a woman fitting their mother’s description has been seen nearby. Is Carys really her? Ardath and Gwyn prepare to traverse the dangerous wilderness on horseback to find out. The novel fictionalizes an incident from Posey’s family history and weaves in historical figures: Ben Franklin befriends Ardath, a young George Washington helps them on their journey south, and they meet poet Susanna Wright on the way. Ardath and Gwyn are welldeveloped characters, gaining confidence as they are freed from their ultra-religious father’s authority, learning to navigate a ship, and becoming abolitionists when Ardath buys a slave family from a dying man and arranges their freedom. Readers will learn historical lore such as colonial herbal medicine and the unromantic side of 18th-century female dress. The one problem I had was that the ending felt abrupt after a 500-plus page buildup, but overall, this is an exciting 18th-century adventure with strong female characters. B. J. Sedlock

ELEONORA AND JOSEPH

Julieta Almeida Rodrigues, New Academia, 2020, $24.00, pb, 183pp, 9781734865912

Rodrigues tells the story of Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel and Joseph Correia da Serra, two remarkable people from late 18thcentury Naples. Eleonora is the daughter of Portuguese aristocrats who give her a classical education on a level with the boys of her social class. While studying Latin, she meets Joseph, the son of a Portuguese Jewish

family forcibly converted to Catholicism. The two share a love of learning, and eventually they fall in love. Joseph’s father lacks money and wants him to become a priest, which would guarantee an income. Joseph obeys his father’s wishes and breaks Eleonora’s heart. Steeped in Enlightenment philosophy, Eleonora becomes a poet and intellectual and accepts a position as librarian to Queen Carolina of Naples. When Eleonora discovers a secret about the queen’s personal life, Carolina dismisses her. Eventually Eleonora becomes a supporter of the French Revolution. In 1799, during the short-lived Neapolitan Republic, she edits a revolutionary newspaper, only to be imprisoned for her activities after the Republic’s fall. Meanwhile, Joseph becomes a diplomat and botanist, and a friend of Thomas Jefferson, frequently visiting him at Monticello, where the two discuss the events of the day. It is during one of these visits that Joseph discovers Eleonora’s memoir, written in prison, which brings back a flood of memories and makes him regret the past. Rodrigues’ writing is beautiful, and she brings these two historical characters to life. The novel is told in alternating chapters, interspersing the conversations between Joseph and Jefferson at Monticello with Eleonora’s memoir, which Joseph is reading. The scenes at Monticello are fascinating, with Joseph and Jefferson discussing a wide range of topics, including slavery, revolution, and science. Rodrigues makes the reader sympathize with both protagonists, and the book left me wanting to read more, especially about Eleonora. Vicki Kondelik

19TH CENTURY

THE WILD HIGH PLACES

Zarabeth Abbey, Forest Path Books, 2020, $17.99, pb, 330pp, 9781951293161

Raised in his foster father’s household of the warrior Rajput caste on the western edge of the early British Raj, young Jefferji Tamisen has been a sacred dancer for the god Sri Krsna his whole life. One day, an old friend of the father he never met arrives to propose a quest: a journey into the high mountains of the Pamir range beyond Peshawar in pursuit of treasure. Under the impression that he might be exiled from the household due to English ancestry, Jefferji accepts the offer. So begins a journey of both deep camaraderie and great treachery, with lyric beauty and yet dashes of humor. Zarabeth Abbey’s debut historical adventure, The Wild High Places is an adventure novel and a subtle male comingof-age novel in one. As such, it shows a deep understanding of male relationships— friendships, mentorships, sidekicks, and one case of villainous seething resentment weaving the men together. Through it all runs Jefferji’s relationship with his Beloved, the god Krsna. Abbey depicts the spiritual dimension of Jefferji wonderfully. In such a maledominated society, her handling of the novel’s

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women finds a way to be multifaceted and human, as well. Abbey also handles the horsecentric nature of this setting by making the horses into expressive supporting characters. Anyone who likes historical adventure, coming of age stories, and stories with a spiritual element will love The Wild High Places. Warnings for violence and some vivid, gory description, as well as poetically rendered sexual content. Irene Colthurst

THE VIRTUES OF SCANDAL

Richard Henry Abramson, Aeschylus Press, 2020, $28.95, hb, 442pp, 9781734991819

This retelling of the last decade in the life of George Gordon, Lord Byron, opens at the battle of Missolonghi in 1824, to the sound of ‘the pulpy thud of pikes on flesh.’ Abramson gives Byron a rather more heroic death than the combination of sepsis and bloodletting that actually carried him off, probably granting the poet the end he would have preferred. There are three strands to the novel: Byron in London at the time of the publication of Don Juan, provoking a petulant and envious Robert Southey and exasperating his publisher; Byron on the run from murderous janissaries in Greece, along with the long-suffering John Cam Hobhouse and Dr. Polidori; and the adventures of the youthful Don Juan between shipwreck, the Sultan’s harem in Constantinople, and the court of the Tsar. Aside from occasional grammatical infelicities such as ‘the Tsar of all the Russia’s’ and the geographically confused reference to a villa in Ravenna ‘on the Grand Canal between the Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge,’ Abramson’s prose is confident and engaging, particularly where he describes a bravura bouts-rimés competition between Byron and Southey, with Wordsworth and a brittle Lady Caroline Lamb looking on. His attention to detail impresses, as in the pink Himalayan salt of the harem, or the vinegar with which Byron dilutes his ink. His greatest gift is for dialogue, particularly in the mouth of a vengeful but gradually disintegrating Lord Castlereagh and in Byron’s invented address to the House of Lords. Where Abramson has departed from historical fact in favor of dramatic impact is detailed in his closing notes; paradoxically, he can do this successfully because he really knows his material. Katherine Mezzacappa

DANGEROUS WOMEN

Hope Adams, Berkley, 2021, $26.00, hb, 336pp, 9780593099575 / Michael Joseph, 2021, £11.99, hb, 400pp, 9780241411407

Eighteen women become quilters on the Rajah convict ship sailing for Australia from England in the spring of 1841. The group is among nearly 200 women who are being sent to Van Diemen’s Land to serve out sentences for petty crimes, including Hattie Matthews 26

and her son Bertie, and Clara Shaw, the woman who has taken another’s identity. The quilt is the project planned by the matron for the voyage, Kezia Hayter, who seeks to teach the women skills they may use to support themselves on their release. The Rajah Quilt is a 128 x 133-inch coverlet bearing diamond-shapes bits of cloth in a series of squares surrounding a series of embroidered birds in flight and flowers. The quilt was originally presented to Jane Franklin, wife of the Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, and later sent to Elizabeth Fry, leader of the British Ladies Society. It is currently housed in the National Gallery of Australia. Part mystery, part inquiry, Dangerous Women is a compelling read, tracking Kezia and ship’s officers as they piece together the details surrounding the knife attack that left Hattie bleeding and unconscious on deck and gradually revealing the story that Clara has been hiding. The narrative is also deeply personal in its descriptions of the convict women, their past histories, their adjustments to living onboard a sailing ship, and their connections with one another as they piece together fabric into a unified whole. A stunning debut for author Adams. K. M. Sandrick

A MARQUIS IN WANT OF A WIFE

Louise Allen, Harlequin, 2020, $6.50/C$7.50, pb, 288pp, 9781335505873

1815. Prudence Scott is a rather naive young woman, more interested in scholarly pursuits than fashion, but after being seduced by the glib flattery of an accomplished rake, she needs a husband in case of pregnancy. Ross Vincent, the rather disreputable and recently widowed Marquis of Cranford, needs a mother for Jon, his infant son. Despite their reservations, they agree to wed as ‘a matter of business.’ But can this marriage of convenience become more? They are making cautious progress towards a warmer and mutually supportive relationship when disaster strikes: Ross goes missing on a voyage to the continent with supplies for the army; and in response to reports of his death at Waterloo, Jon’s maternal grandparents seize their grandchild. What should Prue do? This is the third in the Liberated Ladies series, and although the plot feels contrived at times, this is a minor issue, since the focus is upon the growth of the characters as they adapt to each other’s needs. Despite lapses in judgement, both protagonists, fortunately, are

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sensible and ready to acknowledge their own flaws, to forgive as well as to seek forgiveness. Strongly recommended. Ray Thompson

NATIVE STRANGER

Elizabeth Bell, Claire-Voie Books, 2020, $15.99, pb, 472pp, 9781733167642

When the third book in the Lazare Family Saga opens in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1859, the family is reeling from tragedy and questioning both their past and future. As the series shifts away from local priest Fr. Joseph Lazare and his erstwhile lover, Tess, it focuses on the next generation, a new pair of starcrossed lovers. Clare (Tess’s daughter) and David (Joseph’s nephew) take center stage with their own story of forbidden love. Not long after, the titular “native stranger”—a man thought abandoned for dead as a child and raised by the Cheyenne— returns, seeking answers about his white heritage. Sparks soon fly with Clare, turning forbidden love into a love triangle and ensuring nothing will ever be the same. Bell’s stunning saga continues strong with this book, growing in depth and emotion with each page. That is one of the author’s true talents, to be able to make the reader truly feel each moment of the book, rather than simply experiencing it at a remove. This is due in part to Bell’s meticulous research, which not only helps ground the reader, but brings to life important, lesser-known aspects of history. Even though it is the middle of a series, this book lacks none of the richness and tension of the previous books, and the series continues to hold its own among the most celebrated of multigenerational sagas. Highly recommended for older young adults and adult readers due to mature content. Nicole Evelina

DECEPTION BY GASLIGHT

Kate Belli, Crooked Lane, 2020, $26.99/ C$35.99, hb, 288pp, 9781643854649

In the winter of 1888, stunning 26-year-old Genevieve Stewart fights to remain the only female reporter at New York City’s leading daily paper. The novel opens with Genevieve pursuing leads to a generous jewelry thief in a rough neighborhood. Suddenly thugs surround her in an alley where a dead body lies a few steps away. The thugs threaten to rob her and worse. The leader of the band, handsome Daniel McCaffrey, rescues her but refuses to provide any information on the thief, called Robin Hood, or about the dead body.

The story then unfolds through the separate points of view of Daniel and Genevieve. Days after that first encounter, Genevieve meets Daniel at a high-society ball and begins to wonder if he is Robin Hood. The jewelry heists continue, and multiple well-known high society members are murdered. Daniel and Genevieve cooperate to find the thief and the killer or killers. Together they discover that the deaths may be linked to a complicated realestate scheme. They grow to admire each other, even begin to fall in love, but mutual suspicions interfere. She wonders if Daniel is Robin Hood or even the murderer. He wonders if she is using him to get her big story. Along the way, Genevieve must evade stalkers and multiple attempts on her life. Belli accurately portrays New York’s street thugs and aristocracy, their dwellings, clothes, food, how they interact. Creative and unexpected plot twists impel the story. The ending leaves big holes open, but a promised second novel will likely fill them. Overall, Deception by Gaslight is an interesting American addition to the Victorian mystery subgenre. G. J. Berger

THE CHILDREN’S BLIZZARD

Melanie Benjamin, Delacorte, 2021, $28.00, hb, 368pp, 9780399182280

The Children’s Blizzard is the story of the Blizzard of 1888, which swept across the Great Plains with no warning and killed hundreds of people, many of them children on their way home from school. This is a fictionalized account of that devastating storm, based upon actual events and oral histories of the survivors. This book is exquisitely written. Melanie Benjamin does an incredible job of connecting the reader with the characters. She shares the backstories and inner thoughts and feelings of pretty much every character in the book. Even the animals have something to say. And her stories delve deeply into the characters’ lives. The protagonists are two sisters who are both schoolteachers. Although they have so much in common, they experience very different outcomes during the storm simply based on last-minute decisions. There is also an immigrant family led by a stressed-out mother and a dallying, irresponsible father, and a young girl who has been sold to them by her mother for next to nothing. We meet an African American bar owner, who gives us the perspective of how people of color were treated in the late 1880s.

After the storm, a great newspaperman arrives. He comes to the area in search of the next big story but instead experiences a lifechanging connection with one of the victims. Benjamin’s account of the harrowing experiences of the young people struggling through hazardous conditions, blinding snow, and freezing weather to try and find their way home, sometimes in vain, leaves us on the edge of our seat, feeling as if we are traveling with them. Benjamin has written a book based on true events that cannot be missed, and I recommend everyone read this story, which is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Bonnie DeMoss

A THOUSAND TEXAS LONGHORNS

Johnny D. Boggs, Pinnacle, 2020, $8.99/ C$11.99, pb, 500pp, 9780786046218

In 1866, Virginia City, in Montana Territory, is inhabited by 5000 people. This is a story of an Ohio man, Nelson Story, living in Virginia City but looking to become a successful rancher. To succeed, he needs the cattle that can be purchased in Texas. He asks a former gold miner, Mason Boone, to advise him because of his knowledge of Texas. Story’s wife Ellen, pregnant with their first child, must remain in Virginia City. Other major characters include Dr. Beckstead, who befriends Ellen and helps her deal with her pregnancy; two farmers, John Cablin and Steve Grover; and Molly McDonald, a woman who dresses as a man because her job as a bullwhacker hires only men. Molly rescues Constance Becket, who has killed a man when he tried to rape her. They both sign on as bullwhackers and travel west with the wagon train away from those looking for Becket. Johnny D. Boggs is one of today’s major writers in the western genre. He also writes articles about Western lore for magazines. This novel is long (500 pages), although the fastpaced action makes it difficult to put down. Even though there are a number of subplots, the cattle drive from Texas to Montana is the major story, filled with bandits, bad weather, prairie fires, Indian attacks, disgruntled drovers, and stampedes. The novel has everything a western aficionado would love. It’s written by a masterful storyteller, and I cannot praise this book enough. Jeff Westerhoff

IN THE GARDEN OF SPITE: A Novel of the Black Widow of La Porte

Camilla Bruce, Berkley, 2020, $26.00, hb, 480pp, 9780593102565

Big Brynhild, now known as Nellie, escapes her harsh Norwegian village life for America, reluctantly leaving behind her sister, Little Brynhild. Little Brynhild, pregnant by a wealthy man, attempts to manipulate the situation into marriage and a comfortable life. Instead, she’s beaten and left for dead. To spite the perpetrator, she survives through sheer force of will, eventually taking her revenge before following Nellie to America. Rechristened Bella (aka Belle), she uses men to move up the economic ladder in the land of opportunity. Nellie’s unease deepens as first one then another of Bella’s husbands dies, her farmhands disappear, and her properties burn, circumstances which always leave Bella better off. This is a well-written fictional account of a truly horrific historical woman. By allowing Nellie a voice in addition to Bella, Bruce both enhances the sense of dread and suspense while offering a sympathetic counterpoint to Bella’s sociopathy (an aspect of the narrative Bruce has softened). Bella tears through the men she finds in America, so unlike the abusive males of her home village: “He was a simple man in pursuit of a simple life. He wanted a woman to look after him…I liked this as it made him easy, but I despised him for it, too. To me it spoke of weakness, and I never could stomach that.” These “weak” (in actuality, kind) men make easy pickings. Bella at first is simply in pursuit of always more material wealth, but soon realizes she lives for spite and the enjoyment of violence. There is no comprehensive survey of Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset/Bella Sorenson Gunness’s total victims, but estimates range from 14 to more than 40, including multiple small children. Bruce offers a convincing portrayal of the nature plus nurture that created this 19th-century monster. Bethany Latham

INSIDE THE BEAUTIFUL INSIDE

Emily Bullock, Everything with Words, 2020, £8.99, pb, 234pp, 9781911427193

An etching by George Arnaud from 1814 depicts a middle-aged man held chained to a stake with an iron ring around his neck, another iron bar around his chest and his arms pinioned to his sides. This inmate of Bedlam, the Bethlem Hospital for the insane, was James Norris, an American Marine, who was had been restrained in that way for about ten years of the fourteen he had spent incarcerated, before his case attracted the attention of the Quaker philanthropist Edward Wakefield and a parliamentary select committee on madhouses followed. Bullock’s tour de force of a novel gives Norris voice at last. In Bullock’s telling, Norris

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believes he is being taken from a Sailors’ Mission to his ship, but instead finds himself locked up as a lunatic. Here he imagines he sees Fletcher Christian, ringleader of the mutiny on board the Bounty, on which Norris served, the source in his d i s i n t e g ra t i n g mind of all his woes and his driving obsession – along with Ruth, the woman Norris loved. B u l l o c k describes Norris’s incarceration as a descent into the circles of Hell, condemned as an incurable, first roped, then chained and left to the mercy of his brutal and incompetent jailors and doctors. His only balm until Wakefield’s first visit, is, for a while, the company of a cat. But the more his movements are restricted, the further Norris’s imagination wanders, back through his sailings, his New England childhood, his relationship with Ruth, and Fletcher Christian’s betrayal. The novel is narrated entirely by Norris, in wonderfully rich language delivered in often staccato sentences. A new inmate arrives: “his coat looks soft as a rabbit’s ear… [his] red hair blazes… [the apothecary] follows him like a fly after shit”. This is an utterly absorbing read. Katherine Mezzacappa

LINE BY LINE

Jennifer Delamere, Bethany House, 2020, $15.99, pb, 336pp, 9780764234927

In 1880s London, Alice McNeil has long ago chosen a career as a telegrapher instead of marriage and family, and has never regretted it. She begins working at Henley and Company in a prestigious position. Douglas Shaw is an ambitious young man who has worked his way up from poverty. He has his sights on marrying into high society. However, when the two form a friendship, things begin to change. Then a jealous coworker lashes out, and Alice must deal with the consequences. This is the first book in the Love Along the Wires series by Jennifer Delamere. This book provides an interesting look at the practice and importance of telegraphy in the 1880s. There are also tidbits of history woven throughout. Andrew Carnegie, the American businessman and philanthropist, makes an appearance and gives Douglas some advice. Alice is reading a book called “The Spinster’s Guide to Love and Romance,” which is based on real books of the era, and often gives the reader a laugh. There is also a gentle Christian message about giving back to help others. Fans of Christian romance and Victorian-era technology will enjoy this story. Bonnie DeMoss

VICTORINE

Drema Drudge, Fleur-de-Lis Press, 2020, $18.00/£15.00, pb, 346pp, 9780996012034

This compelling literary novel brings Edouard Manet’s favorite model to life. Through firstperson narration by petite, auburn-haired Victorine, we witness the relationship between artist and model. He sees the fire in her; she calls him a gentleman admiring his restraint. As he creates his unconventional masterpieces Picnic and Olympia, we are privy to his mindset. A would-be artist, bold feminist, analytical, and eager to learn, she parleys with the master. The passages where Victorine reflects on art and life are most poetic. Unnerved, she agrees to pose nude for Olympia in service to art. She believes “Painting is collaboration. your model depicts something you want to capture.” No mere object, she is fully present, “I do not think of modeling as work per se. I’ve been apprenticing. Art is nearly formed in me.” The novel is rich in subtle comments on patriarchal society’s conventions and a woman’s place. Poor, she must work to survive, keenly aware of the class divide. In art, she can portray a prostitute but not a lady, so she is replaced by upper-class Berthe Morisot, which infuriates her. A complex, daring, fully developed character with fluid sexuality, Victorine is a survivor. Sex underscores the story with openly erotic scenes. Her sensitivity is shown in her tender care of Pug, the orphan she adopts, and her rendering of Jup, her mother’s pampered pet. Manet, the undisputed leader of modern art, declines to exhibit as Monet, Degas, Renoir, and others eschew the Salon. Our persistent heroine studies at the Académie Julian. Though accepted by the 1876 Salon, it is Manet’s approval she craves. Her self-portrait captures her essence: proud, soft, tough, enduring. Drudge fulfills her goal to return Victorine Meurent to the world as an artist. Aficionados of art history will relish this novel. Gail M. Murray

NIGHTHAWK’S WING

Charles Fergus, Arcade, 2021, $24.99/C$34.99, hb, 290pp, 9781951627461

Gideon Stoltz, sheriff of Colerain County, is still woozy two weeks after falling from his horse while on patrol and lying unconscious for hours. His memory of that time comes back in bits and snatches, and some of the snippets are disturbing: recollections of an interaction with Rebecca Kreidler, a woman who went missing the same time as his accident and whose death he is now investigating. Nighthawk’s Wing is the second in author Fergus’s mystery series set in the 1800s in Pennsylvania Dutch country. It is an accomplished crime novel, unraveling truths as Gideon questions witnesses about the last days of Rebecca’s life and eliminating falsehoods as he pieces together evidence and observations. It keenly reflects on attitudes and grievances held by members of different religions, cultures, and native languages and suspicions of women unwilling to be confined by their expected roles. It also warmly details

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

time and place and finely depicts tensions between a husband and wife in grief. The narrative stokes Gideon’s restless guilt and captures Rebecca’s tumult in the form of an imaginary nighthawk companion. More than a down-to-earth procedural, Nighthawk’s Wing takes flight. K. M. Sandrick

AN EXTRAVAGANT DEATH

Charles Finch, Minotaur, 2021, $27.99/C$37.99, hb, 304pp, 9781250767134

In 1878, Charles Lenox, the most famous detective in Britain, travels to America at the prime minister’s personal request. On the train from New York to Boston, the bodyguard of William Stuyvesant Schermerhorn IV importunes Charles to travel immediately to Newport, Rhode Island, where a nineteenyear-old debutante has been murdered. Against his better judgment, Charles agrees to investigate. Turns out that the dead woman had two serious suitors, including Schermerhorn’s son, and first impressions lead Charles to suspect both young men. But the quick solution crumbles under scrutiny, and the mystery develops with many reversals. So far, so good, but the ending bothers me; the surprise resolution devolves into psychological territory I usually think of as a copout, though Finch’s nuanced approach almost makes up for it. The real treat, however, is the social commentary. Even Charles, younger brother to a baronet and former member of Parliament, can’t fathom the opulence on display, the class system based on money, or square either with the way most Americans live. How an English gentleman navigates the social and cultural cues is worth the price of admission in itself. I admire the authority with which Finch moves about the world of power and social position, whether we’re talking about a meeting with Benjamin Disraeli or a Caroline Astor soirée. And if you’ve ever wondered how such idioms as backlog, grapevine, or white elephant entered the language, or what a folded-down corner of calling card signified, wonder no more. As with its predecessors, this Lenox novel explores an overlooked aspect of the detective’s life, in this case, fatherhood. I like those sections, few as they are, very much. Though I find this entry less pleasing than some others in the series, even a less-thanstellar Lenox tale is very good indeed and worth your time. Larry Zuckerman

ABSENCE OF MERCY

S. M. Goodwin, Crooked Lane, 2020, $26.99/ C$35.99, hb, 320pp, 9781643855219

In this exciting debut of a new series, Goodwin introduces readers to Detective Inspector Jasper Lightner—a decorated Crimean War hero and one of the most skilled investigators with the London Metropolitan Police. He is also the black sheep of his family, earning the disdain and embarrassment of his father (the Duke of Kersey) for the media

attention his cases muster and for the physical manifestations of his wartime head injury: a pronounced stutter and intermittent memory loss. When the Duke’s political machinations to remove Jasper from the police force backfire, Jasper sets off, in the summer of 1857, for a year-long assignment in New York City to help train detectives of a dysfunctional police department. Immediately met with the case of murdered philanthropist and reformer Stephen Finch, Jasper is plunged deep into the reek of New York’s poorest and tawdriest tenements, so effectively depicted the reader almost chokes on the stench of despair. Navigating the enmity of his colleagues wishing his failure, as well as the lingering demons of addiction, Jasper joins forces with an unlikely ally when another man is murdered under similar circumstances. Disgraced detective Hieronymus Law, rumored to have helped frame an innocent woman for murder, is given a second chance to clear his name by helping Jasper solve the grisly series of slayings. This odd-couple duo of a stuttering English nobleman and his earnest, gangling compatriot is a delightful conceit that upends many a tired trope of detective fiction. Absence of Mercy is an intricately plotted and smartly conceived mystery that delivers the goods. Populated with a cast of memorable characters every bit as diverse as one would imagine of mid-19th-century New York City, Goodwin touchingly depicts the seamier side of surviving. Readers will eagerly await the return of Jasper and Hy Law. Peggy Kurkowski

THE SMUGGLER’S WIFE

Evie Grace, Arrow, 2020, £6.99, pb, 365pp, 9781787464421

Deal, England, 1815. Grace Lenniker’s head has been turned, in two directions – ouch! At seventeen, this smuggler’s daughter faces one of love’s eternal dilemmas, whether to choose the loveable rogue over the steadfast plodder. As it goes, she takes the rogue route, becoming wife to ex-gang leader ‘Black Dog’ Isiah, ‘reformed’ smuggler, hostelry owner and arch-enemy of her own ex-smuggling family, but still she holds a wistful little torch for the one she shunned. Rest assured, the author could write a ripping yarn of it either way. This take brings intrigue, hard-drinking, brawling and back-stabbing, alongside the taxman’s relentless contraband searches. Intimidation rules, blood spills, lies flourish, love and kindness are trampled. Amid concerns about Isiah’s veracity, Grace displays admirable loyalty to her increasingly poor decision, her worrisome relationship contrasted against those of her two sisters who have done well, particularly elder sister Louisa’s marriage to another ex-smuggler who “turned his coat”, the now King’s Revenue officer and Commander of HMS Legacy, Jason Witherall. This leads to several conflicts of interest and persons as major night-time seaside skirmishes test the smugglers’ abilities to land

their loot while avoiding capture, the courts and the gibbet. If ever there was an award for ‘Best Character Names and Archaic Words’ Evie Grace would be a top contender, with her gang members’ monikers, “Awful Doins”, “Lawless” and “Cut-throat”, and genuine contemporary words used in context, such as shrockled, stinkibus, megrims and haveycavey. Moreover, well-written evocative descriptions of coast, marsh and countryside faithfully exhibit their respective features and seasonal weathers; further, household interiors are realistically authentic. Just one anachronism: in 1815 would someone really have shouted (on page 293) “We need backup!”? Otherwise an excellent read indeed. Simon Rickman

WHO WANTS TO MARRY A DUKE

Sabrina Jeffries, Zebra, 2020, $7.99/C$10.99, pb, 307pp, 9781420148572

1800. The Duke of Thornstock, Marlowe “Thorn” Drake, is furious at being trapped into offering marriage to a young woman after her stepmother catches him kissing her. Strangely enough, his anger is not dispelled when she refuses him. Nine years later he meets her again when his half-brother enlists her help to discover whether his father had been poisoned. Olivia Norley, it turns out, is also a talented chemist who has developed a technique to detect the presence of arsenic in a body. To their mutual annoyance, their former physical attraction rekindles, but their reluctance to get involved fades as they get to know each other better. Despite obstacles, prospects for a happy marriage look hopeful, but will they survive the deadly attacks of a poisoner seeking to cover his—or her—tracks? Thorn and Olivia are unconventional: he secretly writes popular plays, she is serious about her chemistry experiments; he is tolerant, she refreshingly direct, and both are scornful of society’s expectations. In other words, they are well suited in the world of Regency romance, and their progress towards recognition of the fact is enjoyable. The mystery remains unresolved, awaiting the next book in the Duke Dynasty series. Recommended. Ray Thompson

WILD RAIN

Beverly Jenkins, Avon, 2021, $7.99, pb, 384pp, 9780062861719

The stranger whom Spring Lee finds in a blizzard is like no man she’s met. Easterner Garrett McCray has come to Paradise, Wyoming, to write a newspaper article on Spring’s brother, the area’s only Black doctor. Beneath Garrett’s gentle, gentlemanly manner, Spring finds a strength that matches her own. Born into slavery, Garrett served in the Union Navy in the Civil War, then read for the law. Garrett isn’t intimidated by Spring’s independence, or her skill with horses and

guns, but for their deepening attraction to become a future, Garrett must defeat the specters of Spring’s past and win her trust. The love story builds with sweet sensuality as Spring and Garrett discover each other’s strengths and complex pasts. The supporting characters are engaging and diverse. A strength is how Jenkins deals realistically with the challenges facing Black and Native characters, from bigotry and navigating a segregated world to rebuilding lives after Freedom. As ever, Jenkins delivers a historical world that feels fully inhabited and a convincing depiction of the real challenges facing the 1880s U.S., while foregrounding the triumphs of truly likeable characters and delivering a deeply satisfying love story. An entirely enjoyable read. Misty Urban

YELLOW WIFE

Sadeqa Johnson, Simon & Schuster, 2020, $ 2 6 . 0 0 , hb, 288pp, 9781982149109

Virginia, 1850. Beautiful and educated, enslaved Pheby Delores Brown looks forward to the day she turns eighteen, when she has been promised her freedom. The illegitimate daughter of the local medicine woman and the white owner of the Bell Plantation, which is her home, Pheby is treated cruelly by his wife. Soon after her father suffers an accident and her mother dies, the woman exiles Pheby, and she is offered up for sale. About to be auctioned to the highest bidder, she is claimed by ‘the Jailer,’ but although the man saves her from the ultimate humiliation, his supposed chivalry turns out to be nothing more than a canny disguise. For he is the manager of Devil’s Acre, the infamous jail where enslaved people’s spirits are broken in order to force them to submit to the abuse meted out to them by their potential owners. After the Jailer makes Pheby his partner in crime, and she bears him several children, she realizes that she is, despite the hardships she has endured, a doting mother, willing to sacrifice what it takes to keep her progeny safe. However, when the love of her life returns, Pheby’s character is tested as never before. Fast-paced, tense, and atmospheric, The Yellow Wife is impossible to put down. Since the slavers’ menace is relentless, and the scale of the slaves’ suffering immeasurable—beatings, maiming, hunger, thirst, and abasement are the order of the day—the reader keeps worrying about Pheby’s fate. But we needn’t fear, since she proves indomitable—a bright, strong, resourceful woman, who persists in her struggle for survival and empathy in a society rotten with the disease of slavery.

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Moved by her quest for love and mercy in a world seems to have abandoned these values, we root for Pheby, confident she will prevail. Highly recommended. Elisabeth Lenckos

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT

Tara Johnson, Tyndale House, 2020, $14.99/ C$20.99, pb, 393pp, 9781496428394

Cadence Piper lives in Washington DC during the early Civil War years. She possesses both a stuttering tongue and a strong will to help with the war effort. Although her father thinks she is slightly mentally diminished due to her stutter, Cadence is determined to help as a nurse. She is turned down by Dorothea Dix for being too young and too beautiful but finds herself using her singing voice to entertain the troops and raise their morale. She becomes known as the “Songbird of the North.” Dr. Joshua Ivy works tirelessly helping to save injured soldiers, but he is also involved in another, more dangerous endeavor. Cadence and Joshua find themselves working together at the hospital and fighting a battle for freedom against the sinister Knights of the Golden Circle. This is a well-written look at the Civil War and the evil secret society that was the forerunner of the Ku Klux Klan. The characters are well developed, and the storyline is intriguing. There is a strong message of God’s love for everyone, regardless of race or skin color. Recommended for fans of Civil War-era fiction and Christian romance. Bonnie DeMoss

THE PROPHETS

Robert Jones, Jr., Putnam, 2021, $27.00, hb, 400pp, 9780593085684

This ambitious debut about gay love on a slave plantation has all the right ingredients: a memorable cast of characters, a riveting plot with a touching love story, evocative prose. But the writing slips at times into self-indulgence and could have benefited from an editor’s deft hand. The Prophets tells of hot-tempered Samuel and sweet Isaiah, enslaved young men on a Mississippi plantation. The pair work and sleep in the barn, tending to the animals and their clandestine love. When the plantation owner’s son discovers their secret, the consequences are devastating. Jones weaves the tale skillfully, alternating points of view among Black, white, and mixed-race voices, and building the action to a stunning climax. But his portrayal of Christianity as hypocritical and spiritually bankrupt is not new; using magical realism to imbue certain slaves with supernatural powers, while entertaining, also feels redundant. He overwrites at times, descending into preachiness – admittedly, it’s a sermon that white readers need to hear – and his ending drags as he tries, then tries again, to wrap it up. The reader willing to overlook these minor flaws and keep reading, however, will be 30

amply rewarded with many wonderful turns of phrase. The prose ascends, at times, to poetry. “…He always smelled like a coming rain, the kind that would make you lift your head in anticipation. Open your mouth and wait. Because of that, Samuel could roam free in those meanwhiles, touch the veins of leaves, build pillows out of moss, drink dew from the palms of his hands. This, too, was a kind of freedom, for it sought to nourish rather than make the act of living a crime. Who built this?” Robert Jones, Jr. did, and I look forward to seeing what he’ll build next. Sherry Jones

THE WRECK

Meg Keneally, Zaffre, 2020, £8.99, pb, 384pp, 9781838771393

By the mid-1800s, the authorities in both England and the rapidly developing young cities in Australia were trying to contain demonstrations and uprisings demanding better conditions and pay for workers. Some organised events became as violent, unjustified, and tragic as the infamous Peterhouse confrontation, which killed and injured many citizens, including the parents of Meg Keneally’s central character, Sarah McCaffrey. With both parents dead and her brother executed for his part in a failed assassination attempt, Sarah, herself sought by the police and still seething with grief and political extremism, boards a ship bound for Sydney. Badly maintained and poorly skippered, the vessel is wrecked as it approaches the entrance to Sydney Harbour. Sarah, the sole survivor of this tragedy, finds employment with Molly Thistle, an almost Fagin-like character who has prospered hugely in the underworld of this corrupt and corrupting city. Her political convictions still foremost in her mind, Sarah pursues them, contacting like-minded groups and becoming involved in subversive meetings. This leads to near-disaster when Mrs Thistle discovers that she is being deceived and used by Sarah, who is by now enduring punishment for her convictions. Mrs Thistle comes to her aid and a mutual respect slowly develops between the two of them. Meg Keneally has worked hard to convey the history and the atmosphere of early Sydney, and she tells her story in a very cool and honest, if rather pedestrian, manner. The relationship between Sarah and Mrs Thistle is what lies at the heart of the narrative, ready for a full-blooded exploitation by the writer which, for me, simply does not happen. Julia Stoneham

A CASTAWAY IN CORNWALL

Julie Klassen, Bethany House, 2020, $16.99, pb, 378pp, 9780764234224

In 1813 in North Cornwall, looting shipwrecks is a way of life. Unwritten rules of the area allow for wreckers to take the washed ashore

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

belongings, provided there are no survivors. Like the rest of her town, orphan Laura Callaway collects lost items, but rather than selling the items she finds, Laura researches their provenance and sends them on to the next of kin, giving closure to the families of the lost sailors. When one fateful shipwreck washes ashore a survivor, Laura rescues and revives him. The mysterious survivor appears to be a gentleman, yet he speaks with a strange accent, and appears elusive and keen to keep his identity hidden. Laura soon becomes entangled in his mysterious origins, his story, and naturally, begins to fall in love with him. While Klassen interweaves interesting snippets from actual historical records, and the backdrop is elegantly described, I was dissatisfied by the slow pace and lack of character development. Laura is a super sweet, angelic character with no flaws or apparent growth. Likewise, the villains of the story are stereotypically villainous, offering no real depth or intrigue. The storyline and plot have great promise but lack follow-through. Nevertheless, for fans of Klassen and her historical romances, this is still worth a read. The scenery, gentle love that grows between Laura and her stranger, and some of the minor characters, help make up for some of the disappointments. Rebecca Cochran

DEATH IN THE GREAT DISMAL

Eleanor Kuhns, Severn House, 2020, $28.99/£20.99, hb, 224pp, 9780727890238

It is 1800 in Maine, and Will Rees agrees to accompany his friend Tobias, a former slave, on a dangerous journey back into the American South. Accompanied by Rees’s wife Lydia, they travel into the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia in order to get Tobias’s pregnant wife, Ruth, and bring her back to Maine. The Great Dismal Swamp is a place so dangerous and filled with poisonous creatures, harmful vegetation, pools of black water and life-threatening terrain that even the slave catchers hesitate to go in. Despite the dangers, a village of the formerly enslaved has formed deep in this place, living off the land and learning the wild ways of the swamp. Shortly after Rees, Lydia, and Tobias reach the village, a murder is committed, and fingers are pointed at Tobias. Although there is some distrust due to his white skin, the village leaders allow Rees to investigate the murder and find the killer. This is the ninth book in the Will Rees series. It can be read as a standalone, but the reader will benefit from reading the previous books. This is a fascinating look at the Great Dismal Swamp and the enslaved who fled there trying to find freedom. The murder mystery is multi-faceted, with many red herrings and plot twists. The treatment of the slaves by those who felt they could own another human being, body and soul, is described in horrific detail. The description of the Swamp paints a picture of a place so dangerous and horrible that only those fleeing something much worse

would try to live there. Recommended for those interested in learning more about the Great Dismal Swamp or those interested in historical fiction and mysteries. Bonnie DeMoss

FOREVER, PHOEBE

Chalon Linton, Covenant, 2021, $15.99, pb, 224pp, 9781524416881

In Somerset, 1814, Phoebe Jamison and her older brothers live a charmed life, placing bets with each other on a horse race or chess game, attending tedious balls, and wagering who will dance with whom. A newcomer to the area, Franklin Everly befriends the Jamison family and becomes enamoured of the feisty red-headed Phoebe. I commend the author for the effort she has put into her book, but it falls short for several reasons. Too much descriptive minutiae stalls the readers’ imagination; too much telling, not showing; by the middle of the novel, nothing of note has happened; the characters lead frivolous lives which makes it impossible to care about any of them; the sexual attraction between Franklin and Phoebe is barely hinted at; and nothing drives the plot forward. Even the danger of a kidnapper abducting local girls feels inconsequential and plays no part in the story. It took some effort to finish the book; however, it may be of interest to readers who enjoy a very slow-burn romance. Fiona Alison

UNTO THIS LAST

Rebecca Lipkin, The Book Guild, 2020, £9.95, pb, 712pp, 9781913208820

John Ruskin was approaching forty when he agreed to teach drawing to the nine-yearold Rose La Touche, with whom he gradually fell in love. Lipkin has thoroughly researched their relationship, with some phrases coming straight from Ruskin’s own account. Really this is two books, as halfway through the narrative shifts backwards to recount Ruskin’s disastrous first marriage to Effie Gray and its scandalous annulment. Lipkin’s is a somewhat overwritten style, with ‘said’ replaced by harrumphed, buoyed, goaded, griped, extolled, retreated, and others. Sentences are sometimes long and the language baroque, as in ‘she forgave herself liberally for feeding on such satiates.’ Ruskin comes across as a self-absorbed, impotent Dr. Casaubon, and Rose an unappealingly precocious zealot. There is little sense of recoil expressed at a man courting a child thirty years his junior, but this is arguably in keeping with the mores of that age: until 1875 the age of consent in England and Wales was 12, and then was raised only to 13. As Rose herself remarks, the marriage market for a girl is ‘no better than being a poor fox in a hunt.’ There are convincing vignettes of Ruskin’s circle, notably of an acerbic Jane Welsh Carlyle, Georgiana Burne-Jones and a young Oscar Wilde. Some inaccuracies jar, as in ‘Rose displayed her fiercely Celtic streak’ (she

was Ascendancy, so not Celt) and Ruskin ‘at St Mark’s Square… lingered in the dark cloisters of the cathedral, where… the stainedglass windows cast a glow,’ though St Mark’s has neither a cloister nor stained-glass. That said, Rose’s decline is told with great empathy, and the author’s enthusiasm for her subject is without doubt. The reader will learn much about Ruskin’s life and beliefs. Katherine Mezzacappa

DEATH COMES TO THE RECTORY

Catherine Lloyd, Kensington, 2021, $26.00/ C$35.00/£21.00, hb, 272pp, 9781496723253

The last in an eight-book cosy mystery series, Death Comes to the Rectory again employs the amateur sleuthing skills of Robert and Lucy Kurland, whilst this time stretching familial obligations to their limits. Shortly after the christening of their new baby, Robert is called to the rectory, where his cousin’s husband has been stabbed to death with the rector’s letter opener, in the rector’s study, complicated by the fact that the rector himself, Lucy’s father, may have financial reasons for wanting the man dead. As local magistrate, Robert is obligated to investigate the members of both his and Lucy’s family, who are forced by bad winter storms to stay over-long at the Kurland mansion after the christening. Everyone is getting on each other’s nerves, and everyone lies to Robert, giving us lots of animated repartee between husband and wife. Further, the dead man was a despised member of society, and no one but his wife is the slightest bit bothered by his untimely death. This is the first Kurland St. Mary mystery I have read, and although I found it slow to begin with, once the pace picked up it is a convoluted murder plot involving money, shipping ventures, and nefarious schemes designed to defraud investors. Various red herrings block the path to the murderer’s identity until the end. Since the many family members are somewhat hard to unravel, I suggest reading some of the earlier books first, to get a feel for the relationships, but fans of the series will be delighted with this conclusion. Fiona Alison

THE ARCTIC FURY

Greer Macallister, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2020, $26.99, hb, 432pp, 9781728229058

Lady Jane Franklin says she does not believe her husband, the explorer John Franklin, is dead. Multiple expeditions to the Arctic have failed to locate him, but all of these expeditions have been undertaken entirely by men. Clearly, Lady Franklin insists, an allfemale expedition is the answer. But it’s 1853, and women simply don’t do such things. Except, perhaps, for Virginia Reeve, a trail guide from California. Bankrolled by Lady Franklin and accompanied by twelve other adventurous women, Reeve sets off from

Boston for the Arctic to find John Franklin and, hopefully, to bring him home alive. One year later, Reeve is back in Boston, on trial for the murder of one of the members of her expedition. Reeve is innocent, but in proving her innocence, she may have to reveal her darkest secret crew. The research behind this book is exemplary. Readers get a true feel for the chill of the Arctic, the inhumane conditions of a 19th-century jail, class differences, and the way that women were considered expendable if it meant protecting a man’s reputation. Macallister is a master of historical fiction with female characters, and The Arctic Fury is perhaps her finest work to date. Mixing courtroom drama with a thrilling Arctic exploration, she fleshes out thirteen distinct, three-dimensional expeditioners. This book passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors, proving that a group of women need not be reduced to cattiness over men and clothes. But neither are the women flawless Mary Sues. Reeve, especially, misjudges people and struggles with self-doubt. These are women as women have always been, regardless of their time period: complex, nuanced, ambitious human beings. Sarah Hendess

WORD OF HONOR

Robert N. Macomber, Naval Institute Press, 2020, $29.95, hb, 344pp, 9781682475386

The latest in the award-winning Peter Wake series of nautical historical novels, Word of Honor, opens in 1901 with what is called a “conversation.” But U.S. Navy Captain Wake is deeply suspicious of this “informal chat” with two Admirals and a fellow Captain, suspecting it is more an ominous inquiry into his service record. The questions concern the military actions of 1898 in Cuba and Puerto Rico and Wake’s highly active roles in both operational areas. As in a previous book of the series, the author again portrays the Spanish as honorable enemies, and describes the initial chaos on the U.S. side during the SpanishAmerican War, and the less than honorable treatment of freedom-fighting Cuban allies by U.S. General Shafter. Captain Wake’s real threat seems to come from a U.S. naval bureaucratic and political cabal and a particularly reprehensible and incompetent fellow Navy officer. Wake is both a successful naval surface warfare officer, which he loves, and an accomplished intelligence operative, which he only does because he is so ordered and proficient at gathering critical

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information. As he outlines his actions and decision-making processes over the time in question, Wake seems sure his exceedingly long career is coming to an inglorious end. Combining maritime combat, intelligence operations and military legal intrigue, this is another highly satisfying novel by Macomber. Minute nautical logistical details may be beyond some readers but are essential to the story. Memorable and eccentric characters such as Chief Boatswain’s Mate Sean Aloysius Rork, “King Alonso of Swan Island,” and Lieutenant Colonel and later U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt enliven the book admirably. Though part of a series, the author explains enough to make the novel fine as a stand-alone read. Recommended for military and nautical aficionados. Thomas J. Howley

SHELLEY AND THE UNKNOWN LADY

Lona Manning, Independently published, $2.99, ebook, 182pp, B08GTJWY98

Mary Bertram is young, ambitious, and bored in her loveless marriage when she checks herself into a hotel in Tuscany in 1818. Separated from her husband, on a whim she registers under her maiden name and, in doing so, seems to take an unconscious vow to enjoy herself. Mary’s fortune takes a good turn when she discovers a handsome, naked young man in the forest one day. She quickly falls into a passionate affair with him, and he declares she is the muse his stalled poetry has lacked. He, Percy Bysshe Shelley, feels misunderstood by a world that scorns his atheism and underestimates his genius. The pair fall into an enchanted interlude, relishing the natural beauties of a Tuscan summer and reveling in the torrent of poetry that their affection has loosened in Shelley. But Mary, ever convinced the world has a great destiny in store for her, remains set upon shaping Shelley into a great public poet, at which point she can take her place as his wife. However, Shelley’s marital affairs, as the reader knows, are not so simple. As the author notes, Shelley’s poetry and the reports of his contemporaries suggest he may have had an affair with a mysterious woman. Lona Manning has researched her subject well and found where the cracks in the historical record allow for a plausible story. Mary is a prickly protagonist, and sometimes the plot lags, but this is a vivid portrayal of a poet and a time. Carrie Callaghan

DAPHNE BYRNE

Laura Marks and Kelley Jones, DC Comics, 2020, $24.99/C$33.99, hb, 160pp, 9781779504654

In late 19th-century New York City, during the heyday of spiritualist seances, fourteen-yearold Daphne is filled with rage caused by the sudden death of her father. Left alone with her mother, who is drawn to the seances which are conducted by charlatans, Daphne becomes 32

ever more isolated and withdrawn. When she discovers the fraud being perpetrated upon her mother and reveals it to her, a seemingly uncrossable chasm opens between them. Her mother is convinced the spiritualists are genuine and are trying to help her contact her dead husband. Daphne is seen as that “weird girl” by other girls and is ostracized. But is she really alone? A mysterious person Daphne calls “brother” enters her dreams and eventually her waking life. She does not know who he is, or what he is, but it is obvious he has occult powers; perhaps he’s a demon. Perhaps, he is only the darker side of her own psyche. Whatever he may be, the power Phoebe derives from him is needed when the spiritualists reveal themselves to be Satanists and kidnap her mother. This graphic novel is reminiscent of Rosemary’s Baby and is richly illustrated. More than simply a horror story, it is also a story about female teenage angst and what it means to be a girl growing into womanhood, what it means to recognize and harness the personal powers that come with that maturity. This is an intriguing story that is set up well for a sequel, if not further adventures. John Kachuba

THE DARK SUNRISE

Terrence McCauley, Pinnacle, 2020, $8.99/ C$11.99/£6.99, pb, 346pp, 9780786046546

In late summer 1889, Montana Territory US Marshal Aaron Mackey has finally captured the homicidal and corrupt mayor of Dover Station, James Grant. But Grant does not go quietly. He hires the area’s best lawyer and a band of outlaws led by Mackey’s former commanding army officer and archenemy, Nathan Rigg. Grant has also allied with the nearby Hancock clans, who all yearn to avenge Mackey’s killing of one of their leaders. Mackey and his deputy, with Grant in chains, make it to the train which will take them to the territorial main city, Helena. There Grant should get a proper trial before hanging. But nothing comes easy. A peculiar judge makes light of Grant’s crimes and lets him go. Grant, Rigg, and the Hancock marauders plot to kill Mackey, his new bride, and Mackey’s father. Then they will destroy Dover Station and rebuild it so they own the whole town. Only Mackey, his deputy, and a few allies from the past are left to try to stop them. McCauley’s knowledge of early Montana and those who strove to forge a life there are evident. This fourth Aaron Mackey novel is not just a rough-and-tumble Western pageturner. Violent episodes are nicely balanced by quiet passages of the adversaries planning how to stay alive and strike. McCauley deftly explores unbridled evil and the victim’s impulse to soul-numbing revenge. Not all the good people survive; not all the bad men and women are brought to justice. But that makes the whole story all the more authentic. Highly recommended for readers of the Old West.

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

G. J. Berger

INTO AFRICA

Kerry McDonald with Bob Coles, Level 4, 2020, $18.95/£18.99, pb, 360pp, 9781933769943

Despite the rumors, Janet Livingstone believes her brother, famed missionary David Livingstone, is still alive. When she receives a crucifix in the mail, one she recognizes, Janet becomes convinced it’s a sign from her beloved brother. She meets with the New York Herald to request funding. Reluctantly, they agree to her terms, including Janet’s participation in the search. Journalist Henry Stanley is none too happy about the arrangement as he leads the expedition into the heart of Africa. Along the way, their party will encounter warring tribes, life-threatening illnesses, and lion attacks all while hoping they’ll survive long enough to reach David Livingstone and bring him home. I was fully prepared to be amazed by the countryside and its exploration but was, sadly, left underwhelmed. What does it feel for a woman who’s never left her home country to see the African landscape for the first time? I don’t know; readers are simply told how it looks. Scenes shift rapidly, cutting out valuable character moments. Without inhabiting the emotional spaces surrounding significant events, characters and the book’s narrative voice are all depersonalized for the reader. In the beginning, Janet’s struggles to stand up for herself are intriguing, but after a couple of chapters, she’s doing this with ease. And somehow, after watching a demonstration back when her older brother was in school (she’s in her 40s), Janet’s setting bones and suturing deep cuts after a lion attack. Additionally, many weighty cultural clashes including slave trading, intolerance, and exploitation are dealt with too lightly. I appreciated the effort to bring an overshadowed woman into the spotlight, but African characters and their cultures are barely fleshed out. It read more like an extremely formal treatise than a fictional exploration. Readers will see an Africa in turmoil but miss out on experiencing it. J. Lynn Else

THE WOMAN IN THE MOONLIGHT

Patricia Morrisroe, Little A, 2020, $24.95, hb, 380pp, 9781503903753

This is a fictional biography of Countess Giulietta (Julie) Guicciardi, to whom Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was dedicated in 1802. Little is known about Julie; the author’s note says that no memoirs or diaries exist, only a few letters, and very few images. Julie was Beethoven’s pupil, briefly, but Morrisroe’s novel gives them a long-term if intermittent relationship. Julie allows Beethoven to take her virginity, and he proposes, but Beethoven’s patron Prince Lichnowsky tells Julie he will cut off Beethoven’s stipend if he marries her. So Julie refuses Beethoven without telling him the real reason, that she won’t be the cause of losing the income that enables his art. Julie marries Count von Gallenberg, whom she later discovers prefers men. They move to Naples, and she becomes mistress

to diplomat Friedrich von der Schulenburg. Her path continues to cross Beethoven’s at various points in his career. He still resents her rejection and is harsh at times towards her, yet occasionally tender. Try as she might, Julie can’t sever her bond with Beethoven. 2020isthe250thanniversaryofBeethoven’s birth, so it’s fitting this novel is published now. Morrisroe should be commended for bringing a shadowy figure in Beethoven’s world to life. A classical music fan will be interested in reading about life in Vienna and other European cities at the dawn of the Romantic period. However, I had difficulty getting emotionally involved in the story. Julie drifts from one relationship to another; she simple accepts situations like her gay husband and Beethoven’s harshness, which should provide grounds for conflict, but there isn’t much of that to drive the story. I did like the touching ending, which I can’t spoil by describing here. Morrisroe provides a lengthy bibliography for readers who finish the story wanting to know more about Beethoven’s world. B. J. Sedlock

A DEADLY FORTUNE

Stacie Murphy, Pegasus Crime, 2021, $25.95, hb, 368pp, 9781643136301

Gilded Age New York City is a world of possibilities—one woman’s oyster, another’s fraught with danger. Amelia Matthew’s subtle gift for seeing the future has appeared few and far between compared to her sleight of hand, but an accident leaves her with night terrors and a radically different—and much more prominent—set of abilities. A series of events has been put in motion, culminating in Amelia waking in the city’s most infamous asylum. Here she is drugged and beaten, adding to a chorus of women protesting their stay. She is sane—and yet, explaining the circumstances that led her here will most certainly confirm their perspective. Amelia slowly explores the confines of her new world and the fellow patients whose stories range from personal tragedy to pure marital mischief, hoping against hope that her brother will find a way to break her out before the medical professionals find a way to break her spirit. While she works to find a way free, Dr. Andrew Cavanaugh searches for redemption in the grimy asylum. Chased by the ghosts of his past, he cannot tell whether Amelia Matthew is a blessing or a curse. Drawn together through common interest, the two find a measure of comfort, of sanity, in their seemingly impossible task. A Deadly Fortune spins a haunting vision of 19th-century womanhood, drawing back the curtain in a chilling reminder that emotion and circumstance could easily take everything. Murphy artfully explores the seedy underbelly of the asylum cultures, the early years of psychology, and the ever-tumultuous concept of “for the greater good.” It was a pleasurable and engrossing read, leaving me with a sense of gratitude for the progress we’ve made and

a reminder that we have not yet come far enough. Anna Bennett

A CLASS FORSAKEN

Susie Murphy, Independently published, 2020, $14.95/£11.50, pb, 329pp, 9798670498647

This is Book 3 in the A Matter of Class series, set in 1800s Ireland. It would be beneficial to read the first two books in the series first, as there are major spoilers. Escaping authorities in England, Bridget and Cormac flee home to Carlow, Ireland, with their daughter Emily. They return to Cormac’s former cottage, but his mother and siblings are gone, forced out years ago by Bridget’s embittered mother, who is lady of the manor. Many changes have occurred at Oakleigh manor, and Bridget must face off with her mother in an attempt to save the tenants from her harsh management. At the same time, Cormac is determined to find his family. The saga follows Bridget, Cormac, and Emily to Dublin, where they encounter evil people of all classes as they attempt to find Cormac’s mother and sisters. I found this to be a well-written and entertaining love story. It is also a scathing look back at the treatment of the so-called lower classes by the rich and entitled of the era. At the same time, the author brings forth a thread of hope in the form of Bridget. Although Bridget was born in privilege, she can see the humanity of every person and has already cast her title aside for love. The characters are all well-developed, and the desperation of the time is well conveyed. The novel is fast-paced and full of obstacles and adventure. Highly recommended for fans of historical romance and Irish history. Bonnie DeMoss

THE SHAPE OF DARKNESS

Laura Purcell, Bloomsbury, 2021, £12.99, hb, 401pp, 9781526602589 / Penguin, 2021, $16.00, pb, 336pp, 9780143135548

Set in the city of Bath in the 19th century, The Shape of Darkness is a wonderfully

tangled Gothic tale. It features Agnes, a silhouette cutter with a troubled past; Pearl, an albino child medium; and a serial killer on the loose. We encounter early experiments with photography, Victorian medicine, and Mesmerism. The city itself is a character: dank and decaying, often musty. As the killings mount up Agnes fears that she is somehow connected with the killer, and events start to spiral out of control. The reader is left wondering how the different elements of the story will come together, until a sequence of twists and turns at the end bring it to a surprising conclusion. The motif of light and shade runs through the novel. It is permeated by half-light, ghosts and shades. Silhouettes and photography are likened to the capturing of the soul, and Pearl is surrounded by mists and ectoplasm. If the present is elusive, the past is even more so, and Agnes struggles to recall her own history, to catch more than a few half-remembered glimpses. I enjoyed the descriptive prose of The Shape of Darkness, and the story was full of mystery and intrigue. A satisfying and compulsive read. Karen Warren

ONCE DISHONORED

Mary Jo Putney, Zebra, 2020, $8.99/C$11.99, pb, 320pp, 9781420148114

When he sees the lovely Kendra, Lady Denshire, standing alone at a ball, officer and gentleman Lucas, Lord Foxton, at once asks her to dance. He knows how it feels to be ostracized; ever since he broke parole and escaped a French prison, he’s been snubbed by society. Kendra’s woeful tale of being divorced and disgraced by false charges of adultery moves Lucas to offer his help in reclaiming her son, and their quest to recover lost children and clear both their names leads to a deepening emotional bond and mutual passion. Along the way, Kendra finds a sense of belonging among the unusual women who frequent Angelo’s fencing academy, and Lucas puts his gifts as a bonesetter to work at a charity hospital. While both characters have painful pasts to make peace with, the course of the book is a series of genial adventures and warmtoned interactions as reparations unfold and problems gently dissolve. Much time is spent with characters from previous Rogues Redeemed books and Putney’s Lost Lord series, which will please fans. Putney tells a tale of two mature adults surmounting the trials of the Regency world with gracious ease. Misty Urban

ALWAYS A PRINCESS

Clyve Rose, Boroughs Publishing Group, 2020, $12.95, pb, 254pp, 9781951055837

1814: Captain Wil Clifton leaves a night of gambling in London for a duel on the outskirts of his family estate. Rather than the Earl of Haversham, his expected opponent,

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Wil finds the Earl’s second, Valkin Brishen, the head of the Romany House Brishen. Wil wounds Valkin in the duel and arranges for Valkin to recover at Clifton House, tended by the gypsy’s sister, Syeira, an accomplished healer. As her brother convalesces, Syeira cannot disregard the growing attraction between her host and herself. Nor can Wil. He has no thoughts of any romance; his goal is an army commission. Neither is Syeira free; she is promised to another, bound by Romany traditions. However, love may have other plans for the two. This is a pleasantly sensual historical romance. The focus on Romany culture provides an interesting twist to a story set in the Regency era, although I confess I found the setup required some suspension of disbelief on my part. Well written, the attraction between the two lovers is palpable, and readers who enjoy historical romance will want to give this one a try. Susan McDuffie

JERNINGHAM

Christina Sanders, The Cuba Press, 2020, $9.99/ Au$11.99, ebook, 283pp, B08BHSZ6D1

In 1841, nineteen-year-old Edward Jerningham Wakefield arrives on New Zealand’s shores brimming with energy and tasked with acquiring territory for the New Zealand Company and the British citizens whom the Company has recruited to colonize the remote island. To date, the Company has done little to collaborate with the indigenous chiefs whose land it intends to purchase. But when Jerningham, with his gambler’s flair and his unbridled charisma, sets out with scouting parties, he charms entire villages, negotiates with chiefs, establishes his own commercial enterprise, and develops the respect for the Māori people that will one day put him at odds with the Company. Jerningham is described as an account of the rise and fall of Edwin Gibbon Wakefield’s wayward son as told by the Company’s bookkeeper, Arthur Lugg, who is charged with accompanying Jerningham on his expeditions and reporting back to his uncle. This story describes those jaunts. And more. In a creative twist, author Christina Sanders frequently introduces reasons why Lugg cannot accompany Jerningham on forays into the interior: injury, illness, Company duties. And while Jerningham is away, Lugg chronicles his own day-to-day life and expeditions, as well as his experiences with the newcomers whose ideas, struggles, squabbles, and grit shape the new colony. The resulting novel feels less like a biography of the mercurial Edward Jerningham Wakefield than a memoir of the stolid, if fictional, Arthur Lugg. But the reader benefits, for by moving through Lugg’s daily life—at his slow, steady pace and with his careful observations and intimate revelations—we are given the opportunity to live among the colonists and examine the challenges faced by the Company 34

as it largely ignores Jerningham’s counsel and takes its first clumsy—and, as a result, disastrous—steps toward “settling” a territory already long settled. Recommended. Rebecca Kightlinger

THE DECEPTION OF HARRIET FLEET

Helen Scarlett, Quercus, 2021, £16.99, hb, 368pp, 9781529407549

All the ingredients for a classic gothic novel are present – 21-year-old Harriet Cauldwell arrives at a large, isolated English north country property, Teesbank House, in 1871 to take up a post as governess. Her charge is Eleanor Wainwright, a highly challenging and intelligent young female, with a wealthy and deeply unpleasant family. Teesbank House has a local reputation for evil, and there are references to matters disturbing that happened some time ago as well as indications of a contemporary haunting. Harriet has her own secrets and past she is escaping from (hence taking the family name of a former governess) – these are gradually revealed throughout the narrative as she tells her account in the first person. Eleanor refuses to be taught by Harriet, and her hostility continues, while they come to a form of unspoken collusion that Eleanor will be allowed to pursue her own studies unhindered. She does tell Harriet details of the grisly murder of her brother, Samuel Wainwright, a two-year-old back in 1849 before Eleanor was born, and Arielle Marchal, a French governess’s conviction for the murder and her execution; Harriet becomes intrigued by the crime and tries to find out as much as she can of the killing, especially as there are parallels between her and Arielle. The tale bundles along in excellent fashion, with a good dabbling of gothic horror and sensation to keep matters bubbling along nicely. Like all such tales, it does seem a little far-fetched and unbelievable at times. There is a decidedly feminist thread to the story, with the mistreatment of vulnerable females by despicable men who control wealth and affairs in 19th-century society as the unavoidable and unpleasant message. An enjoyable, wellplotted read. Douglas Kemp

THE SONG OF THE SKYLARK

Liz Shakespeare, Letterbox Books, 2020, £9.99, pb, 322pp, 9780951687963

Mary Mitchell is just nine years old when she is offered as a “prize” to men drawing straws to win her services as a parish apprentice, in a practice which in the 19th century had died out everywhere else but Devon. She and her older brother are sent to work on a remote farm for a master with a volatile temper. They find solace at the local chapel, where brother and sister are taught to read. When life on the farm becomes intolerable, they take daring action to change the course of their lives. It brings them face-to-

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

face with the cruel injustice of early Victorian England. This fascinating story draws on original documents which give an insight into the farming and chapel communities of North Devon. But it’s not a dry telling of historical fact. Liz Shakespeare brings young Mary and her brother, Thomas, alive in this tale of everyday country folk. All the while as I became engrossed in the novel, I couldn’t help but think of parallels with the modern slavery of today, which has recently featured as a storyline on the BBC radio serial The Archers. Times change but, actually, they don’t very much, with history repeating itself all around the world, over and over again. Despite the harshness of Mary and Thomas’ situation, without giving anything away The Song of The Skylark becomes a tale of hope over adversity, with the reader willing brother and sister to find the happiness they so much deserve. This is a well-researched book by an author who specialises in breathing life into the true stories of the past. Margery Hookings

NOTORIOUS

Minerva Spencer, Kensington, 2020, $15.95/ C$21.95/£12.99, pb, 374pp, 9781496732835

Despite the decidedly Victorian bustle on the lady’s silhouette featured on the cover, this is a Regency romance set in 1817. Drusilla Clare is a social reformer who scorns the affectations of the aristocracy, but she nurses a secret: she is in love with Gabriel Marlington, the gorgeous brother of her best friend, Eva. Caught in a compromising situation, they marry, but can the marriage develop into a partnership based on true love and respect? To make the task even more challenging, not only are both reluctant to confess their true feelings, but they have enemies: she, a disappointed rival and an aspiring suitor who needs her dowry; he, someone who blames him for the death of his entire family. The hero’s complicated family background (his father a sultan, his mother an English lady) strikes one as improbable and more than a little entangled, and the plot grows overly melodramatic. The latter does, however, provide opportunities for the protagonists to appreciate each other and learn to co-operate against outside threats. As do the extensive bedroom scenes. Though the start of a series, this is a sequel to Dangerous. Recommended to those who relish passion and danger in their romance reading. Ray Thompson

BALKAN GLORY

Julian Stockwin, Hodder & Stoughton, 2020, £20.00, hb, 396pp, 9781473698765 / Quercus, 2021, $26.99, hb, 432pp, 9781473698765

This is the latest episode in the career of Captain Sir Thomas Kydd and his ship Tyger. The action takes place in the Adriatic, which Napoleon Bonaparte has dubbed ‘the French Lake’. Kydd himself is dubbed the ‘Sea Devil’, and Dubourdieu and his French fleet, which

greatly outnumbers the British, are ordered to get rid of him. It becomes known to the British that Napoleon has a plan which threatens the balance of power in Europe and the only way to thwart it is for Kydd to stop him in the Adriatic. Can he do it? I have read several of these stories and enjoyed every one. The reader is helped by the inclusion of maps of the area and a Dramatis Personae marking out those who are real people of the time. They and the fictitious characters all merge seamlessly together. The author’s notes at the end of the book also help to put the action into perspective. The characterisation is first-class, and the reader quickly becomes involved with all that happens. Many will know the island of Sicily and may have seen some of the monuments mentioned in the story with their own eyes. I had and was able to picture the action as it unfolded. The pages turn almost of their own volition, although the end is never really in doubt. Defeat might have meant the end of Captain Kydd and the end of the series. This is a book for all to enjoy, and I strongly recommend it.

as a bully. Both men believe in honor, not what others say or do but how you “hold” yourself. Although dueling is illegal, the act is one way to restore one’s honor. The men continue to be at odds with each other. Their disputes come to a head when slanderous accusations are made by both men. The only way out of the situation and maintain their honor is to fight a duel. This tale is a story of two men who cannot seem to agree or get along with each other, because both men are jealous of the other’s success. The author has captured the tension between the two while others in the story try to temper their behavior towards each other. This novel kept me interested, knowing that there was going to be a final reckoning between them. Although there is sympathy with Jack McCarty’s actions, he pushes Armistead’s buttons at the wrong time, resulting in a confrontation. A colorful story, well-written, and difficult to put down.

Marilyn Sherlock

Maybelle Wallis, Poolbeg, 2020, £9.99, pb, 343pp, 9781781997352

FINDING PARADISE

Jane Ver Mulm, Fireship Press, 2020, $19.99, pb, 258pp, 9781611793017

Just before the American Civil War, Ellen Schmidt was a spinster daughter from a wellrespected plantation in Georgia. Instead of dancing and taking tea, Ellen worked in the gardens or the kitchens, more comfortable amongst the enslaved people than her family. When her father marries her off to an older blacksmith in town, she takes her best friend Sukie, who is also her enslaved maid, and the maid’s enslaved husband, Amos. Tragedy ensues when Sukie dies in childbirth, and shortly thereafter war is declared. As Ellen’s husband works tirelessly for the Confederacy, his health gives out and Ellen becomes a widow in the same house as Amos. A forbidden love affair ensues. There are some troubling aspects to this narrative, including lack of agency for characters of color, moral epiphanies that don’t ring true, and large swaths of uncompelling exposition. The details of cooking and gardening are lovely and show attention to research details. Yet there is little spark between Miz Ellen and Amos, which dooms this to be a largely forgettable book. Katie Stine

MASQUE OF HONOR

Sharon Virts, RosettaBooks, 2021, $27.99, hb, 400pp, 9781948122702

Former Lt. John “Jack” McCarty of the War of 1812 can be shallow and self-absorbed, though he can also be thoughtful, considerate, and self-aware. His opposition in politics and in life is General Armistead Mason, Jack’s second cousin and brother-in-law. Armistead is ambitious, headstrong, and has a reputation

Jeff Westerhoff

HEART OF CRUELTY

Birmingham, 1840: Heart of Cruelty opens in a workhouse, where two girls are punished by being made to crush slaughterhouse bones, a scene described neither sentimentally nor with indignation; the tone of this novel is more Wilkie Collins than Dickens. The narrator is Jane Verity (though with a neat pun on the name; it is not actually hers) a theatre pianist and lawyer’s daughter, reduced to the workhouse after falling pregnant by an actor; her infant dies within days, but Jane is by then indelibly marked out as a fallen woman. Her first-person account is interspersed with letters, inquest and court reports, and the minutiae of an undertaker’s invoice, all of which convince utterly (Wallis, a doctor, has a particularly impressive understanding of Victorian medicine). Jane is taken from the workhouse to be servant to the remote, troubled coroner William Doughty and his invalid wife, in an echo of Jane Eyre, for of course they fall in love, he probably more than she. Against all the odds William and Jane unmask a horrifying catalogue of abuse and cruelty in the workhouse, giving the story a thoroughly modern resonance – then, as now, the difficulty for victims was being believed, against the word of an apparently upstanding and respected member of the community. This novel is thoroughly researched and vividly written through all the senses, convincingly evoking externally all the sounds, squalor and smells of a Victorian industrial city, and internally the feel and weight of clothing and the shabbiness of unloved rooms. The dénouement satisfies, and the ending is unexpectedly unconventional. Katherine Mezzacappa

ELIZABETH AND ELIZABETH

Sue Williams, Allen & Unwin, 2021, Au$29.99, pb, 315pp, 9781760631345

Elizabeth and Elizabeth is bestselling Australian journalist and non-fiction writer, Sue Williams’ first historical novel, based on the true story of two colonial women. Set in the early decades of the 19th century, when the frontier prison colony of New South Wales was a hotbed of political and personal agendas, Williams explores the unlikely friendship of two very different, pioneering wives called Elizabeth. As the naïve, idealistic wife of the newly arrived Governor, Elizabeth Macquarie is illprepared for the harsh reality of colonial life. Arriving with an unusual personal agenda of social and architectural reform, she is overwhelmed by the heat, dust and primitive conditions that confront her in 1809 Sydney. She latches onto an unlikely confidante, the wife of sheep farmer, John Macarthur. While John is in England attempting to clear his name of serious anti-establishment criminal charges, Elizabeth Macarthur is proving herself to be a more than capable manager, equally comfortable in the harsh outback with a rifle in her hand, as she is in the genteel ballrooms of colonial society. Williams skillfully portrays the two women’s growing relationship against the complex backdrop of their place and times, a white man’s world of corruption, greed and cruelty. Elizabeth and Elizabeth is a fascinating look at how these two remarkable women navigated themselves through difficulties and heartbreaks to leave a legacy felt nearly two hundred years later. Christine Childs

THE VANISHING AT LOXBY MANOR

Abigail Wilson, Thomas Nelson, 2021, $16.99, pb, 342pp, 9780785232957

In this Regency Noir romantic mystery, Loxby Manor is supposed to be a place of comfort for Charity Halliwell. After being suddenly whisked off to Ceylon five years prior, where an assault changes her forever, all she wants is to return to the comfort she knew in childhood: cavorting with her friend Seline and Seline’s older brothers, Piers and Avery. But upon arrival, she finds much changed. Piers no longer lives at home, an accident has left the patriarch bedridden, and the house lacks the carefree life it once had. Considering Piers had broken her heart, his absence is for the best. But then Seline goes missing, and circumstances don’t add up. Piers returns home, and while his presence is a comfort, it is also a distraction as Charity tries to figure out if Seline has run off, or perhaps something more sinister has occurred. This gothic mystery hits all the buttons: handsome brothers, invalid father, unpredictable mother, sinister butler, strange noises, abandoned ruins, jilted marriage

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pacts, and secret societies. I would recommend it to anyone who loves Regency romance with a bit of eerie foreboding. Katie Stine

THE LONELY WIFE

Val Wood, Bantam Press, 2020, £20.00, hb, 352pp, 9781787632622

England, 1850. Rich thirty-something banker Charles Dawley will be vastly wealthier once he has fathered a son, thereby fulfilling the terms of his Uncle Nev’s will. Marriage is arranged with another banker’s daughter, bright but unworldly eighteen-year old Beatrix. The newlyweds take a northbound train to set up home in the late Nev’s dilapidated mansion on its run-down Humberside estate. However, utterly heartless cad Charles has no interest whatsoever in his newly inherited land (earnings aside) nor his newly bedded wife (womb aside) having, as he often insists, urgent business back in London; cognisant of his lies, Beatrix suspects a mistress. Nevertheless, during his prolonged absences she returns the estate to competent order and unexpected profit, doing the accounts herself and hiring so many supportive, helpful staff and friendly farm workers that despite her loveless marriage it’s hard to imagine she could ever be lonely. Ah, if only there were a kind, romantic local chap who… The plot unfolds in a gentle prose reflecting East Yorkshire’s peacefulness as she grows to love her new rustic life, the increasing contrast between innocent city-bred Beatrix and accomplished country estate manager Mrs Dawley being well chronicled by a writer with evident fondness for the area. Time is kindly concertinaed while Beatrix has three babies within twenty-five pages, prompting her to worry that the ever-absent Charles might return to steal them away with impunity, as indeed husbands then could. This introduces an interesting contemporaneous thread concerning Mrs Caroline Norton, who campaigned tirelessly yet successfully to change English laws that constrained women within marriage, oppressing them as men’s property. Beatrix’s story is a fine example of mid-19th-century women’s daily anxieties and the determination required to endure, with or without money and children. A most worthy read. Simon Rickman

20TH CENTURY 36

MISS HARRIET’S WEDDING

Valerie Fletcher Adolph, VFA Books, 2020, $14.99, pb, 236pp, 9798662913493

In England in 1947, Princess Elizabeth prepares to marry Phillip Mountbatten. And at the Avalon Private Hotel, sweet, elderly Miss Harriet is planning to marry John Prentiss. But there are obstacles in the way. Neither John nor Miss Harriet is particularly interested in wedding planning, there are issues agreeing on a church, and to top it all off, somebody wants to kidnap Miss Harriet! Alice, Trudy, Kenneth Wilson, the local police detective, and the guests at Avalon band together to try and keep the wedding on track and protect Miss Harriet. Tidbits from Elizabeth’s wedding are dropped throughout the book. This is the second in the wonderful Alice and Trudy Mystery series by Valerie Fletcher Adolph. This is an entertaining read which alternates between the perspectives of Alice, the owner of the Avalon, and Trudy, who helps her run the hotel. In addition to wedding plans, we are caught up in the other residents—Fay, who is using her considerable talent as an artist to sketch the local dogs; Colonel Starr, whose mind is generally geared to military matters; Mrs. Shand, who does some uppity criticizing of the wedding planning, both royal and nonroyal; Calvin, the elderly flirt; and Sophie, who tries to help out in every situation. Alice’s aristocratic family makes appearances, as do Ben, a local man, his dog Yan, and others. This is a sweet, mild cozy mystery, softer and more comfortable than most. It is a relaxing read about post-World War II England. I loved the characters, especially the elderly hotel guests. Fans of weddings, cozy mysteries, and postwar novels will enjoy this book. Bonnie DeMoss

THE DARK HEART OF FLORENCE

Tasha Alexander, Minotaur, 2021, $27.99/ C$37.99, hb, 320pp, 9781250622068

The latest installment in the Lady Emily series finds the clever and curious titular character in Florence, investigating a string of burglaries and a recent murder s o m e h o w connected to her stepdaughter ’s Italian estate. Lady Emily and her friend, Celine, travel all over the city to uncover a complicated web of secrets woven throughout Florence’s history and architecture. These investigations relate to an ancient buried treasure connected to the recent murder at the palazzo; flashbacks to the life of the former occupant provide an emotionally compelling backstory to this infamous treasure. Meanwhile, Lady

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Emily’s husband, Royal Agent Colin, and his colleague, Darius, embark on a dangerous political mission. Are these two mysteries somehow connected? Readers familiar with or interested in Florence will treasure the dual narratives, each offering a satisfying window into the city’s history in both 1903, as tensions between Britain and Germany escalate, and the end of the 1400s with the fall of the Medici rule in Florence. The likable and entertaining main characters provide never-ending clever banter and keep the story moving to a satisfying conclusion. Recommended for fans of the series, though any reader with an interest in the setting or desire for a fun and quick mystery will enjoy this ride. Those unfamiliar with the time period or Florence will still find a satisfying escape with this quick-paced and intriguing mystery, and new readers to the series are welcome to jump right in. Ellen Jaquette

SEA OF WOLVES

Philip K. Allan, Independently published, 2020, $19.50, pb, 304pp, 9798677491849 In 1941, Germany was determined to control the shipping lanes in the North Atlantic. Their U-boats routinely sank Allied ships and convoys ferrying much-needed supplies to the British. Against this backdrop, Philip K. Allan crafts a thrilling tale of World War II intrigue and daring in Sea of Wolves. To do so, he enlists three very different characters, each with a strong motivation, to drive the narrative forward. Vera Baldwin, who has witnessed firsthand what German bombs have done to London during the Blitz, eagerly signs up to work as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park. Otto Stuckman is a dedicated Nazi willing to die for the Führer and cannot rack up enough victories at sea. First Lieutenant Leonard Cole is out for revenge for the men he lost when his ship was torpedoed. Allan’s prodigious research is deftly interwoven throughout, but it is at the level of story that Sea of Wolves cruises most ably. For Vera, a crossword enthusiast, breaking enigma codes is not nearly as challenging as ensuring that her efforts don’t end up costing British lives. Otto Stuckman’s zeal to serve the Reich forces him to make some tactical errors, and Leonard Cole carries the unwieldy burden of saving an entire nation. The novel does an excellent job of illustrating how the outcome of an enormous event such as World War II depended upon the interconnectedness of minor figures often neglected by history. John La Bonne

CROOKED TRUTH

Kristine F. Anderson, Mercer Univ. Press, 2020, $18.00, pb, 214pp, 9780881467574

In the post WWII South, fifteen-year-old Lucas lives with his Granny, Paw Paw, and Uncle Robert on their cotton farm. Thirteen years older than Lucas, the childlike Robert has Down Syndrome. Lucas is his protector, tasked

with watching him as the two help out around the farm. Lucas would love to go off by himself to fish, but he accepts his responsibility. He is patient, kind, and protective to his uncle, who cannot do simple things and whose speech is hard to understand. Alvin Earl, Robert’s much older halfbrother, bullies and pokes fun at him whenever he shows up at the farm. He refuses to use Robert’s name, instead calling him “that boy.” This is Georgia in 1948, and there is no tolerance of anyone different, especially from the cruel Alvin Earl. He relentlessly demeans and spews hatred toward Robert and the Black help. Corinthia, Little George, and Cotton have worked for them so long, they are part of the family. When Lucas’s Paw Paw dies, Alvin Earl is furious when Little George inherits part of the land Alvin Earl expected to have, and Lucas is given money for college. Granny, Lucas, and Robert are allowed to live in the house as long as they like. Alvin Earl moves into the house, and their lives become filled with anxiety and distress. He threatens to commit Robert to the state hospital and remove Lucas from school to work the cotton fields. Anderson perfectly captures family life in a small Southern community and the bigotry of that time. Lucas is a character to love for his quiet compassion and kindness in contrast to Alvin Earl’s despicable life as a bully and petty criminal. This is a coming-of-age story with a thread of malevolence running through. It will warm your heart one minute and disturb you the next. Janice Ottersberg

THE CHILDREN’S TRAIN

Viola Ardone (trans. Clarissa Botsford), HarperVia, 2020, $27.99, hb, 304pp, 9780062940506

In 1946 Italy, those living in the south are severely impoverished by the war. A children’s train will be taking groups of hungry, poor children to families in the north who can feed and care for them. Antonietta and her son Amerigo sit before a recruiter. “Are you sure you want him? Look at this kid. He was sent by God to punish us!” Antonietta is a cold and aloof mother, overburdened with poverty. Amerigo is an endearing seven-yearold who is fixated on shoes – shoes without holes, shoes with holes, no shoes, new shoes. He has always worn other people’s shoes that never fit. Amerigo’s life is on the streets, collecting rags and trapping sewer rats to sell. He is frightened to leave his world, even with promises of food and a better life. Upon his arrival, Derna adopts him, and he happily settles in along with Derna’s cousin Rosa, Alcide, and their three sons. Alcide, a piano tuner and instrument maker, takes a special interest in him. Amerigo loves music, and Alcide makes him a violin, which becomes his most treasured possession. His time with his new family must end, and the children are returned to southern Italy. “We are split into two halves now,” Amerigo says to his friend.

His mother is unchanged, but he loves her while his heart aches for Alcide and his other family. This begins his life struggle of his heart torn in two. Amerigo tells his story in first person. The narrative doesn’t work well in depicting a child speaking, since it is unrealistic at times for a seven-year-old. Later the narrative switches to second person when Amerigo speaks to his mother. While I disliked the style, once the story takes off, the plot is so engaging that the way the story is told fades into the background, making this a great read. Janice Ottersberg

POPPY REDFERN AND THE FATAL FLYERS

Tessa Arlen, Berkley, 2020, $24.99, hb, 320pp, 9781984805829

Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers is the second book in the A Woman of World War II mystery series by Tessa Arlen. It is 1942 and Poppy, employed by the London Crown Film Unit as a scriptwriter during the war, is sent to work on location at an airfield. The film she is working on is about the Air Transport Auxiliary pilots, or “Attagirls.” This amazing group of female pilots flew many different types of planes and transported them to airfields all over Britain during World War II. Sometimes these transports occurred during severe weather conditions. Poppy begins to work on the film and starts to get to know this intriguing group of talented and professional female pilots. When two “Attagirls” are killed in accidents during seemingly routine flights, Poppy and her boyfriend Griff begin to investigate. This was such an interesting read, especially since I had never heard of the “Attagirls.” The history of these brave women is fascinating, and the author provides more facts about them in a historical note at the end of the book. The murder mystery is well done, with many twists, turns, and red herrings. The villain is not easy to figure out, so the reader is surprised at the end. The characters are compelling and welldeveloped. Our heroine, Poppy, proves to be a witty and clever sleuth. Her relationship with her boyfriend Griff is complicated at times, but that just makes it more interesting. This is a great combination of World War II historical fiction and cozy mystery. I would recommend this book to fans of both genres. Bonnie DeMoss

I’M STAYING HERE

Marco Balzano (trans. Jill Foulston), Other Press, 2020, $16.99, pb, 224pp, 9781838934446

This fascinating story set in northern Italy, on the Austrian border, begins in 1923 and ends in 1950. It’s told in first-person narrative as the protagonist writes her daughter a letter telling her of past events. The mother begins the story with her own coming of age that coincides with Mussolini’s rise in power. As his fascist soldiers arrive in her village and take

over, she laments the loss of innocence and worries about the future. Marriage and children eventually ensue, but not before an unspeakable tragedy to her best friend and a second more horrifying ordeal concerning her own daughter. The war drags on for years, and after Mussolini’s soldiers leave, the Germans arrive. At first, the villagers are given the choice to leave Italy for German relocation, but the mother vows to stay—no matter what. Balzano uses primary sourced interviews to pull together the historical details needed to bring the village to life. He tells the horrors of occupation and war culminating in the singular event of the damming of the lake that will destroy the village. The plot is well-paced and woven with an ever-present ugly premonition. This is a superb telling of a historical event that few people are acquainted with, written in lyrical prose that makes the characters real. The book is thoughtfully accompanied by a map of the Tyrol so that readers can place themselves on location, and the intricacies of the storyline spur the reader to turn each page. Highly recommended. Linda Harris Sittig

THE FABERGÉ SECRET

Charles Belfoure, Severn House, 2020, $28.99/£20.99, hb, 256pp, 9780727890863

In St. Petersburg in 1903, Prince Dimitri Markov is a close ally and friend to the Romanov royal family. Tsar Nicholas and his wife and children treat Dimitri as one of their own. Dimitri’s wife, Princess Lara, with whom he has a superficial relationship, has many lovers, and so Dimitri follows suit. His is a life of architectural designs and opulence. Although he need not work for a living, he relishes the creations he has designed. When Dimitri becomes entranced by Dr. Katya Golitsyn, his world changes. Out of the opulence of his lifestyle and through her eyes comes a growing awareness of the plight of Russian Jews subjected to pogroms, death and devastation. His closest friend, the Tsar, blames this suffering on the victims. Ultimately, Dimitri is faced with a moral dilemma which will obviously change his life path. Belfoure is an accomplished architect himself and has penned a number of successful historical novels. This isn’t one of them. First, the entire premise is on shaky ground. Second, there are simply too many anachronisms (streets in pre-Revolutionary St. Petersburg named after Soviet-era heroes?). And glaring factual errors that could have been easily

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researched: Jews do not eat challah bread during Passover! An easy read, but unfortunately not a book I would recommend. Ilysa Magnus

THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE

Marie Benedict, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2020, $26.99/C$38.99, hb, 288pp, 9781492682721

In December 1926, famed author Agatha Christie went missing. For eleven days, police, the public, and two of the UK’s most famous mystery writers—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy L. Sayers—searched all of England for the writer. When she was found in a hotel eleven days later, Mrs. Christie claimed amnesia and no knowledge of the events. Benedict has taken on this mystery in her latest novel. Set in two alternating timelines, one in the “present”—during the eleven days— focused on Christie’s philandering husband, Archie, and the other as a memoir manuscript which sets the stage for her disappearance and casts Archie as “the perfect man.” In Archie’s chapters, arguably the more satisfying of the set, we watch as Archie struggles to follow the deliberate instructions set by Mrs. Christie in a letter left the day she disappeared. Archie is forced to protect his mistress, deal with the scrutiny of the police, and side-step a media clamoring for a sensational story. The manuscript chapters detail how young Agatha falls in love with Archie, how she is determined to follow her mother’s instructions to create the perfect home for Archie—even at the expense of a relationship with her daughter—and how she slowly learns that it is all for naught. While readers will revel in the portrayal of Archie the philanderer and watching him slowly unravel as Agatha’s breadcrumbs lead the police to his affair, fans of Agatha Christie’s books may not find the manuscript chapters true to Christie’s writing style. Nonetheless, Benedict has imagined a witty and delightful mystery built on Christie’s unreliable narrator style à la Dr. Sheppard. Bryan Dumas

THREE HOURS IN PARIS

Cara Black, Soho Crime, 2020, $27.95/C$35.95, hb, 348pp, 9781641290418

Cara Black, best known for the Aimée Leduc mystery series, has given us an exciting, fastpaced World War II thriller in Three Hours in Paris. Kate Rees, a young American markswoman who lost her husband and infant daughter in a bombing attack on their home in Scotland, is recruited by British Intelligence to assassinate Hitler during his visit to Paris in 1940. After she misses her target, Kate goes on the run, using a network of French Resistance workers to help her navigate through the maze of streets, in the hope of getting out of Paris before the Nazis catch her. She takes on various disguises in order not to appear conspicuous. Soon Kate begins to realize that one of her contacts 38

may be an informer for the Nazis. Meanwhile, Gunter Hoffman, a German policeman, is ordered to track Kate down. A deadly game of cat and mouse begins, with Kate always trying to stay one step ahead of her pursuer. The book is written at a breathtaking pace, in short chapters alternating between Kate’s and Gunter’s points of view. Cara Black keeps you on the edge of your seat. The reader always wants Kate to succeed in her task, and to get out of Paris safely, but Black also manages to present Gunter as a sympathetic character. He has no love for Hitler and the Nazis, and he is only doing his job and trying to get home in time for his daughter’s birthday party. This makes the novel more complex, by letting the reader sympathize with both the hunter and the hunted. Cara Black paints a compelling portrait of occupied Paris, a place where people informed on their neighbors, and no one knew who might be in league with the Nazis. I highly recommend this book. Vicki Kondelik

NOTES OF LOVE AND WAR

Betty Bolté, Mystic Owl, 2020, $16.99, pb, 382pp, 9781733973656

In Baltimore, 1942, Audrey and her sister Rae are both helping at the USO, dancing with the departing troops, when Audrey meets Charlie, who becomes her pen pal. Rae meets Victor, who is not a soldier, and is quickly engaged. Audrey has her suspicions about the broody and controlling Victor. She also has dreams of the future which do not include marriage, and she becomes a music critic for the local paper, taking the place of a man who has gone off to war. While covering the music scene in Baltimore, Audrey continues her letters with Charlie. Then a suspicious plot comes to her attention. What will she do? This book is a romance at first, and then slowly builds to a mystery/thriller towards the end. The romance between Audrey and Charlie is well written, and much of it plays out in letters, which is very true to life, as many marriages resulted in that time from the letters between soldiers and the women writing to them. Audrey’s determination to build a life for herself beyond marriage is a foreshadowing of things to come in the real world, as women learned during WWII that they could do well in the workforce, and by the 1960s more women were working outside the home than ever before. There is one event in the story that I feel is taken less seriously than it should be, almost shockingly so, but overall, this is a strong tale of love, mystery, and suspense during World

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War II. Recommended for fans of romance, mysteries, and WWII fiction. Bonnie DeMoss

THE TALKING DRUM

Lisa Braxton, Inanna, 2020, $22.95, pb, 350pp, 9781771337410

The deleterious effects of the gentrification of a Black neighborhood in the early 1970s are explored with insight in The Talking Drum. Three couples, whose lives will intersect, are at the center of this novel, which takes place in the fictional factory town of Bellport, Massachusetts. Two couples live in the Liberty Hill section of the city, while the other lives in neighboring Petite Africa, a rundown area that is the home to many West African immigrants who have brought their traditions and food to the local culture and businesses. Petite Africa has suffered a series of suspicious fires ever since the news broke that a developer wants to raze the neighborhood for an urban redevelopment plan, which will in effect displace the residents. An idealistic couple, Malachi and Sydney, start a bookstore called The Talking Drum that doubles as an African cultural center. Across the street are Della and Kwame, who have a volatile relationship; Kwame owns a record shop that seems to be entirely devoid of customers, while across town, Omar, a Senegalese immigrant with dreams of resurrecting his drumming career, is trying to keep his wife, Natalie, from leaving him, as she despises their living conditions. Each character is fully fleshed out and sheds light on the backstories of those affected by having their communities taken away from them under the guise of civic “improvement.” The book delves into race relations, the immigrant experience, poverty, and the impact of gentrification on the stability of family and community. Rounded out by strong characters, a hot button political issue, and an unsolved mystery or two, this is a book that may cause the reader to see gentrification from a new vantage point. Hilary Daninhirsch

CLOUDMAKER

Malcolm Brooks, Grove, 2021, $27.00, hb, 448pp, 9780802127051

It’s 1936, and Montana’s winter is closing in when fourteen-year-old Houston “Huck” Finn completes a glider based on the Wright brothers’ successful model. Towed by a friend in a “borrowed” car, baby buggy wheels get Huck’s glider into wobbly flight before collapsing on Big Coulee’s ball field. When the town’s marshal arrives, Huck already has his

next craft in mind; one with an engine. Roy Finn couldn’t be prouder of his son’s ambition and grit, and hires 22-year-old Yakima McKee as a mechanic for his repair shop. Yak is so skilled that Huck wonders whether his father intended him to help build a flight-worthy airplane. The frame is coming along nicely in the back of Roy’s shop when Huck’s cousin arrives. Annelise Clutterbuck, recently turned eighteen, sulked all the way from Los Angeles into exile at her Uncle Finn’s ranch. Annelise isn’t actually in a fix after an illicit romance with her flying teacher, but her parents want her to finish high school far, far away. When she discovers the plane, she dives right in. So does Yak, who also uses his sidewise charm on Annelise. Bestselling author Malcolm Brooks presents lucky readers with this, his second novel. Brooks has a light, humorous touch with characters of all ages; his storytelling is taut and suspenseful, and he deftly balances Houston, Annelise, and Yak’s soaring achievements with pursuit by a gang of murdering thieves. Cloudmaker is a story of flight; not from, but toward. Houston reaches for the sky with both hands, while Annelise is swayed by love even as she builds self-confidence and puts her own abilities to the test. Will Houston’s plane prove a declaration of independence for them both? I highly recommend Cloudmaker. Jo Ann Butler

BEAUTY AMONG RUINS

J’Nell Ciesielski, Thomas Nelson, 2021, $16.99, pb, 368pp, 9780785233565

In 1914, American party girl Lily Durham is shipped over to Britain to stay with her English aristocrat cousins and learn some manners. But when war breaks out, her cousin becomes a nurse and Lily tags along to Scotland to help care for the wounded. Alex MacGregor is the laird of Kinclavoch Castle—a hale and hearty man, but for a bum knee. Instead, opening his home to wounded men is how he contributes. But he locks himself, his mother, and ill sister away from the clamor of patients and nurses— until harebrained Lily finds herself in the family wing, dismayed at the dust that surrounds them. This is a love story that I wanted to care about. Unfortunately, some of the purple prose and disordered sentences make it hard to follow. Metaphors are not always clear. A kidnapping plot seems to go nowhere, and character motivations are murky. There are some fun themes in here, and if the time period and location are your catnip, you’ll likely enjoy. If not, I’d skip it. The middle is long, and the resolution not satisfying enough to make up for the drag. Katie Stine

A LITTLE REBELLION IS A GOOD THING

Duncan L. Clarke, Belle Isle Books, 2020, $17.95, pb, 334pp, 9781951565879

1969. David Pritchard has great plans for his future and takes up employment as a political science professor at Traymore women’s college in southwestern Virginia as a brief stepping stone. He soon finds that all is not well. President Barton is old-fashioned, misogynistic, and an autocrat. Pritchard’s female students soon come to confide in him their problems both academic and personal, and when Pritchard stands up for his female students, President Barton makes life at college almost impossible. When Pritchard finds several allies among other staff members, the battle lines are drawn. Then Pritchard falls in love with a mature, already married student and makes an enemy of her estranged and violent husband, who makes several attempts on his life. What starts as life in academia becomes a fast-paced thriller. I chose to read this novel because, as a Brit, I was interested to see what life was like in the U.S. at the time. I was shocked to find that in many parts of the union, the Sixties never happened. Where were the antiVietnam protests, the race riots, Woodstock, or hippies? Clarke depicts a country that has been sharply divided ever since the Civil War, accounting for the deep partisanship today. Clarke proves that historical fiction can inform as well as entertain and as such, and part of the novel’s interest is its basis in events at a real college. Sally Zigmond

A PRINCE AND A SPY

Rory Clements, Zaffre, 2021, £12.99, hb, 460pp, 9781838773335

1942. The King’s brother, Prince George, Duke of Kent, is killed in a mysterious air crash in the north of Scotland, but was it an accident? Differing reports and the whiff of conspiracy mean that Professor Tom Wilde, Cambridge don, American, and agent of the newly created OSS is sent to investigate on behalf of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, personal friend of the Prince and godfather to his new baby son. In tandem with Harriet Hartwell, a young and beautiful British agent, Wilde is drawn into a web of secrets and lies, and it is impossible for him to know who to trust. He is the unfortunate witness to a horrible murder, and his relationship with Lydia comes under pressure from his enforced companionship with Harriet. The action ranges from London clubs to the Swedish archipelago and doesn’t let up for a moment. This is the fifth novel to feature this intrepid hero who is intelligent, loyal, quickthinking and brave. I have enjoyed all of the previous novels, and certainly this one was no exception. It’s action-packed, with a thrilling plot, interesting and well-drawn characters,

based on historical fact (unfortunately – not humanity`s finest moment) and a novel I have no hesitation in recommending. A shame it was published after Christmas, as this would have been an excellent addition to anyone`s stocking. The first one in the series is Corpus if you want to start at the beginning and, to be honest, why would you deny yourself? Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. Ann Northfield

INVITATION TO DINE

Barbara Cleverly, Soho Crime, 2020, $16.95, pb, 341pp, 9781641291903

The author of Fall of Angels returns with Detective Inspector (DI) John Redfyre in Cambridge during the early summer of 1924. The clever young detective becomes entangled in a series of murders, all seemingly related to St. Bede’s College and the longforgotten Boer War. Redfyre discovers a neatly positioned corpse on a graveyard tombstone adjoining the university. The body bears the card, “An Invitation to Dine,” along with an empty bottle of brandy. The coroner reveals the victim died by strangulation, and Redfyre links the homicide to a series of unsolved cases pointing to a St. Bede’s dining club. His careful investigation links the multiple victims to an incident in the Boer War in which a troop of soldiers’ discovery and theft of diamonds unsheathes the worst and most treacherous aspects of human nature. This novel grows on the reader since the slow beginning is shrouded in unknowns and strange incidences, such as the odd behavior of a homeless man who turns out to play a role in the story later. A patient reader unearths the soldier’s tale of murder and mayhem during the Boer War, and watches as the soldiers’ oath of loyalty breaks in the face of greed, corruption, and self-aggrandizement. The plot twists and turns gain in complexity and speed until DI John Redfyre cracks the case, surprising even himself. An enjoyable read with lots of historical detail. Gini Grossenbacher

THE WRONG KIND OF WOMAN

Sarah McCraw Crow, MIRA, 2020, $27.99, hb, 320pp, 9780778310075

Elitism and sexism at an all-male college in the 1970s are explored in this multilayered novel, The Wrong Kind of Woman. Virginia is a frustrated academic; she married and had a daughter before she could finish her PhD. She teaches an art history class or two at the college when she is needed, but she is not tenured or valued by the administration. She has a vaguely dissatisfying marriage to Oliver, a full professor at Clarendon College, a small college in New Hampshire, but in general, life is relatively good if not a little unfulfilling. But when Oliver dies suddenly, Virginia is left to raise their teenage daughter alone while finding a place for herself in the

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community at large as well as in the tightknit and closed-off world of academia. Virginia forms a tenuous bond with the only other female professors on campus and gradually begins to get involved in the women’s movement, which will have negative repercussions for her and one of her professor friends. The story’s narrative alternates among Virginia, her 13-year-old daughter Rebecca, and Sam, a student at Clarendon who had struck up a friendship with Oliver before he died. Rebecca is dealing with typical teenage issues compounded by grief, while Sam is grappling with confusing romantic feelings. His somewhat reluctant involvement with an anti-war group will have far-reaching consequences. Virginia is a multifaceted character who is trapped in a difficult life circumstance compounded by an era that does not accept women as equals. The trajectory of how feminism reached a small New England town in the 1970s is quite compelling. A characterdriven novel, the plot moves along somewhat slowly but it is elevated by the realistic protagonists and an intriguing premise. Hilary Daninhirsch

AT THE STROKE OF NINE O’CLOCK

Jane Davis, Rossdale, 2020, £9.99/$12.99, pb, 432pp, 9781838034801

London, 1949. Four women with apparently nothing in common have more in common than at first appears. Caroline Wilby has no other option than to leave home and earn money for her mother and young sister. Ursula Delancy is a star of stage and screen and prey to journalists for her scandalous private life. Patrice Hawtree, a rich heiress, was a well-known debutante before marrying a man who relies on her money for his gambling and drinking. Determined to prevent any scandal, Patrice plays along. Fourth and final is the most the most notorious woman of the post-war years: Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain. This novel presents an evocative portrait of the age – its politics, the post-war privations of rationing, and women who are supposed to put up and shut up as they raise the children forced upon them and deal with the consequences. This is the first time I have come across this author, and what a revelation! She writes stunning prose that keeps the pages turning. She understands her women, their faults, and the way they pull together when the chips are down. Some succeed, but too many, like poor 40

Ruth Ellis, fall between the cracks. In this telling, the reader feels that not only should Ruth not have been hanged, but she should never have been found guilty. Highly recommended. Sally Zigmond

THE AUTUMN OF THE ACE

Louis de Bernières, Random House, 2020, £17.99, hb, 312pp, 9781787301337

Daniel Pitt served his country as an RAF fighter pilot in the First World War and a spy for the Special Operations Executive in the Second. In the final part of Louis de Bernières’ trilogy, however, his battles are closer to home. His marriage is broken and his relationship with his son, Bertie, is non-existent. After his brother, Archie, dies a pitiful death, Daniel decides to lay his sibling to rest in Peshawar before heading to Canada, far away from his difficulties back home. But can this flawed hero confront the problems from his past and reconnect with his estranged son? Can he put conflicts aside and accept that, although time passes, it is never too late to do the right thing? The concluding novel in this trilogy can be read as a standalone but is all the richer if the reader has followed the family saga from its beginning in The Dust That Falls from Dreams. A cast list of characters at the beginning of The Autumn of the Ace is helpful to avoid any confusion, a criticism levelled by some readers of the first two books. De Bernières’s writing does not disappoint, with its vividly drawn characters, powerful switches of points of view, pathos, humour and playful nods to his previous work, including Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and the interconnected short stories of Notwithstanding. My favourite scenes were those featuring the eccentricities of Daniel’s occasional lover, Christabel, the painter Gaskell and their pet lion, Puss. This moving novel illuminates the effect two World Wars had on a generation. I didn’t want the story to end. It was a privilege to accompany Daniel on his journey into old age, approaching the novel’s inevitable outcome with a sense of cautious hope that the unresolved strands of his life could come together. Margery Hookings

A DANCE IN DONEGAL

Jennifer Deibel, Revell, 2021, $15.99, pb, 330pp, 9780800738419

Immersed in Irish culture after six years of living in Ireland (Donegal and Galway), Deibel’s passion for the country and people shine through. Her winning combination of setting, customs, and romance create a lyrical tale. She includes a glossary of Gaelic terms, adding to the authenticity. This novel is visually rich in emerald hills, white-washed thatched cottages, warm hearths complete with freshly baked brown bread, steaming tea and the sweet aroma of peat fires. Although set in the 1920s, it warms with the nostalgic charm of a long-ago time, cf. Little House on the Prairie. Though sensitive and prone to frequent

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

blushing, tears and prayers, her main character, Moira Doherty, emerges as a strong heroine who encompasses themes of faith, compassion, and resilience through adversity. Ambivalent to uproot herself from Boston to fulfill her mother Noreen’s dying wish, she hears her mother speak to her in recurring dreams and accepts the vacant teaching position in the fictional seaside village of Ballymann in County Donegal, Northern Ireland. Deibel sets up the conflict early in the novel with antagonists old Buach O’Boyle, with his threat and bone-chilling cackle, and disrespectful Aedach (AY-joc), her twelve-year-old student, whose pranks soon escalate to veiled threats. Welcoming and embracing Moira are memorable characters: motherly Brid with her superstitions; fatherly thatcher Colm; Peg, his kindly wife, wise in the ways of herbs; handsome Sean, her love interest. Readers will be treated to a sweet love story, scandalous mystery, and a lively evening of craic at Sinead Mc Gonigle’s Sunday night gatherings complete with stories, songs, tea, cake and a lively band of musicians playing heart-pumping reels and jigs on fiddles, flutes, bodhran and uileann pipes. Her mother always spoke of the joyful ceili. Moira finally gets to dance at Donegal. Gail M. Murray

THE LONGEST ECHO

Eoin Dempsey, Lake Union, 2021, $14.95, pb, 319pp, 9781542014632

The Longest Echo is a story based on the actual Monte Sole massacre when Nazi soldiers killed hundreds of Italian civilians in retaliation for their support of partisan rebels. Liliana Nicoletti is a bright teenager who feels trapped in her family’s small village on Monte Sole until James Foley, an American soldier, who has managed to escape a prisoner-of-war train, seeks shelter in the family barn. Liliana, who has a knack for languages, is assigned to interrogate James by her father. When the American passes muster, they deliver him to the rebels, who promise to take him to the allies, but before that can happen, the vicious slaughter of innocents begins. Watching the systematic killing of women and children from a distance, James forsakes his chance for freedom and rescues Liliana. Together they must slip through the treacherous Naziinfested countryside to find freedom—only to lose each other. Years later the pair reunite in New York and embark on another mission: to find Liliana’s nemesis, the SS officer who murdered her family. Although the characters are fictitious, this taut story carries a ring of authenticity. Dempsey vividly captures the sense of family and community on Monte Sole as well as the devastation and cruelty that destroyed both. There are a few elements of the book that seem unnecessary and overly complicated. For example, the story of the villain’s escape from Germany to Argentina doesn’t add much value to the narrative. But most of the book is a chilling page turner that explores a shocking,

little-known episode in history and manages to include a touching love story. Trish MacEnulty

THE INCREDIBLE WINSTON BROWNE

Sean Dietrich, Thomas Nelson, 2021, $26.99, hb, 352pp, 9780785226406

Winston Browne – war veteran, decadeslong volunteer sheriff, Dodgers fan, Little League coach, crack-scrabble player, local peace officer and county-wide babysitter – receives some news which shifts his perspective beyond the comfortable, forcing him to recalibrate his life. Into his quiet little Florida town comes Jessie, a tough, damaged girl on the run, pursued by violent brethren from a frightening cult community. Everyone knows everyone here and gossip abounds in 1950s Moab. Days pass without much occurring, and baseball is what knits the community together, whether it be fans glued to their transistor radios or participating on the new field, whose foundation was laid by Winston himself, and which now sports brandnew field lights and a washroom with ‘pumped hand soap’ thanks to his input and love of the game. As Jessie shelters under Winston’s protective wing, she gradually learns to trust rather than fear, and to enjoy the simplicity of a life without soul-crushing rules and relentless punishment for every minor infraction. Meanwhile she falls head-over-heels for baseball (despite being a girl!). Armed with his wry sense of humour and keen understanding of how ordinary and extraordinary people can be, Sean Dietrich has conjured a kind, compassionate, true Southern ‘gentle-man’ in Winston Browne and given him many memorable characters to interact with. This poignant novel is about people, life, community, family, friendship, love, the dayto-day, even the mundane. The momentous happenings are the small but incredible things people do, which are cause for celebration and remembrance. Baseball fans and nonfans alike will enjoy this sometimes humorous, occasionally heartbreaking story about all that we hold dear, which gives us a timely reminder that we need to live in the moment, or life can pass us by while we aren’t paying attention. Fiona Alison

VERA

Carol Edgarian, Scribner, 2021, $27.00, hb, 336pp, 9781501157523

It’s no spoiler to reveal that the defining event of this lovely, constantly surprising novel is the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. The narrative starts just before disaster strikes, but most of the story unfolds in the chaotic aftermath of the actual quake. Viewed through the crystal-clear vision of Vera Johnson (aged “fifteen and an earthquake”), San Francisco catastrophically falls and gradually rises again from its ashes. Meanwhile Vera’s world first unravels and then regrows. Vera is the illegitimate daughter of

Rose, a rich and powerful San Francisco madam who has farmed her out to a foster family but stays, coldly, in touch. Unloved and unpretty, Vera is also intelligent, honest, and tough. Through Rose’s many crooked cronies and connections in the wildly corrupt world of San Francisco, Vera knows how the system works. When it crashes and burns, she manages to dig out of the rubble, pass only slightly scathed through a series of adventures, and prosper. As she cruises through the wreckage, this tart-tongued female Huck Finn leads a ragtag gang including several of Rose’s displaced prostitutes, a crafty Chinese cook, a dog, a bird, a giant horse, Vera’s hapless foster sister, and a boy named Bobby. Serious research underlies Edgarian’s novel. The geography is absolutely accurate, and some minor characters are historic figures, such as “Handsome Gene” Schmitz, the about-tobe-indicted violinist/mayor of the city, Sarah Bernhardt, and Enrico Caruso—all three of whom really happened, preposterously or not, to be in San Francisco on April 18, 1906. The diction, particularly in dialogue, seems a little anachronistic at first: characters speak 21st-century English. But this becomes more understandable as the life story of truthful Vera reaches its satisfying conclusion. It also becomes clear that Vera itself is a brand-new California classic. Susan Lowell

THE HISTORIANS

Cecilia Ekbäck, HarperCollins, 2020, $16.99/ C$22.99, pb, 451pp, 9781443459488

Britta Hallberg is found dead in the meeting hall of Historical Society headquarters in Uppsala, Sweden, her body bearing signs of cruel torture, evidence of her historical research lost. Daniel Jonsson, an archivist responsible for keeping track of government activities, is dead, an apparent suicide, after complaining that telephone recordings between Swedish and other foreign ministers are missing. Javanna Turi, a young Sami girl living on Blackäsen Mountain near an iron ore mine in Lapland, has disappeared, and she is not the first Sami to vanish. Spurred to investigate are Laura Dahlgren, Britta’s friend and former fellow history student, Jens Regnell, Daniel’s colleague and friend, and Taneli, Javanna’s young brother. The Historians shines a light on Scandinavia in the Second World War. While Sweden was neutral, the country allowed German soldiers and equipment to pass by train and support fighting in Norway and Finland, and its iron ore was considered to be critical for Third Reich

steel production. In 1943, Sweden’s neutrality was being challenged both internally and internationally. Fast-paced and suspenseful, The Historians moves from the corridors of power in government and academia to the winter forest home of the indigenous Sami. Themes incorporate myth and philosophy, belief and ideology, the use and misuse of history. The multiplicity of characters sometimes creates confusion, and some plot developments are easier to achieve than one might expect, for instance, gaining quick and full access to a highly secretive program. Nevertheless, the premise of the novel is chilling, the atmosphere dark and the storytelling compelling. K. M. Sandrick

ACTRESS

Anne Enright, Jonathan Cape, 2020, £13.99, pb, 264pp, 9781787332072

In Enright’s drily humorous and spare prose, she brings to life the fictional actress, Katherine O’Dell, through the eyes of her daughter, Norah. Actress is an unusual literary novel, a work of pure fiction which reads as though its characters are pulled from history. The spirit of mid-20th century Ireland is compellingly written, and we see Katherine, who isn’t even Irish, with all her quirks and oddities, her brilliance, her addictive stage persona, the men in her life, her Hollywood connections, her affiliations with the IRA and anything else that signifies the Irish oppressing the British. The novel hops about in a jumbled stream of consciousness, which could make it difficult to follow at times, but the narrative is so skilfully manipulated in Enright’s hands that we can easily work our way through, and it’s worth the effort. Sex and sexual identity are strong themes, and the descriptive passages leave little to the imagination. Norah never seems sure whether her mother is gay or straight, and her search for understanding her mother mirrors a search for the identity of her father. These things profoundly affect Norah’s relationships as she is equally pulled toward her famous mother yet pushed away. Katherine is often absent and, when home, indulges in flights of fancy which don’t explain much for her daughter. When asked a question about someone, her replies are almost monosyllabic, such as he’s good, so he is – struck through with that Irish brogue that can be heard in the words. Eventually Katherine devolves into madness from which she doesn’t recover, but Norah is there to the end. This novel is a fictional memoir about love and, as the poignant cover photo indicates, observation from a distance. A beautiful dedication to the precious, yet often fraught relationship between mothers and daughters. Fiona Alison

TITA’S DIARY

Laura Esquivel, The Publishing Portal, 2020, $17.99, pb, 292pp, 9781734770674

Have you ever wondered how the story of

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Cinderella might have turned out, had the prince married one of Cinderella’s sisters? Tita’s Diary might provide the answer. It starts in 1910, the same time Esquivel’s magical realist publishing sensation of the 1990s, Like Water For Chocolate, begins. In the quest for her prince, we see that book’s events through Tita’s first-person diary. Denied her love by a controlling mother, Tita cooks and cleans for her sister’s family, putting her first-born nephew to her own breasts and rearing her niece. All the while the passion for her brotherin-law burns with fierce and consuming heat that sometimes drives her to madness, other times to the arms of the beatific Dr. Brown, and still other times to her kitchen. Recipes, pressed mementos, philosophy and photographs abound throughout the handwritten text. So does a fuller story of Tita’s mother’s past, family secrets and the life and times of a third revolutionary sister. Hearing from Tita herself is sure to please the many fans of the original story, but for this one, the object of her affectionate passion remains stubbornly passive and colorless amid all the drama. Eileen Charbonneau

V FOR VICTORY

Lissa Evans, Doubleday, 2020, £14.99, hb, 304pp, 9780857523617 / Harper, 2021, $24.99, hb, 288pp, 9780063059832

London in the Autumn of 1944, and V1 and V2 rockets are falling on the capital, causing misery and destruction, though the airplane bombing raids have stopped as the Allies push on to mainland Europe. Vee (Vera Sedge) runs a lodging house in Hampstead, living with her precocious teenage nephew Noel Bostock, who is educated by the various lodgers as a contribution to their rent. But it is clear during the opening part of the narrative that something dubious is going on, with Vee’s assumed name being Margery Overs, having changed identity, and that she is not entitled to live in the property. Nor is she Noel’s aunt. There are hints and clues throughout the story that Vee’s background has not been at all legitimate in terms of her behaviour, but the reader only really gets the full picture over halfway through the story. This is the third in what the author herself describes as a “loose trilogy,” so the plot may have been clearer earlier had I read the previous two books. An ARP, Winnie Crowther, meets Noel and recognises his address as a house she used to visit as girl with her twin sister. This is a worry for both Vee and Noel, and the past begins to encircle them, threatening their cosy 42

arrangement. There are further concerns as the psychological net tightens upon their life in Hampstead. This is a very funny novel, wryly observing the often ludicrous nature of the human condition; it is a mixture of comedy and tragedy in wartime London and exceptionally well narrated. It portrays so well the bleak, austere London of the latter war years, A London that was damaged and fatigued, yet struggled through; nevertheless, this is an uplifting book, filled with characters that you care about and live both on and off the page. I would like a sequel to see what happens to Noel and Vera after the end of the War. Douglas Kemp

THE MITFORD TRIAL

Jessica Fellowes, Sphere, 2020, £16.99, hb, 368pp, 9780751573954 / Minotaur, 2021, $27.99/C$37.99, hb, 368pp, 9781250316837

1933: Louisa Sullivan is newly married to a policeman who is responding to fascist uprisings in London, even during their wedding reception. Having previously been a lady’s maid to a prestigious family, she is now training to be a stenographer. Only shortly after her marriage she is invited by her previous employers to come with them on a cruise to be a helping hand, despite the fact she is trying to distance herself from them and create a new identity. She is then approached by an agency who is seemingly looking out for Britain’s best interests, and they ask her to watch the family who she is so familiar with. She is torn between her husband and this challenge that has been set her. During the cruise there are a series of unexpected events that threaten her life as she knows it. Jessica Fellowes paints a dramatic picture of the ideals of life in war and peacetime and concentrate it on a single vessel – the cruise ship being an opportune setting to bring certain characters to life. The author creates a pace that speeds up during the novel, and we are drawn to both the good and bad players in her game. Overall, it is a very successful novel which captures the uncertain time between the First and Second World Wars and leads the reader to ask what the right thing is to do during this time. Clare Lehovsky

THE MOONLIGHT SCHOOL

Suzanne Woods Fisher, Revell, 2021, $15.99, pb, 320pp, 9780800735012

In March 1911, Lucy Wilson’s widowed father sends his only child into the backcountry of Eastern Kentucky. Aunt Cora in rural Rowan County needs an office helper, and 19-year-old Lucy needs a break from her upper-crust but confining Lexington home life. This novel’s historical back story features the real-life Cora Wilson Stewart, Rowan County’s first female school superintendent. Most adults in her county carried the heavy burden of never having learned to read, write, or “do numbers.” Many could not even write their names. Cora

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

opened her rural schoolhouses on late summer moonlit nights to all adults who yearned for a basic education. Her moonlight schools became a huge success. Lucy has never ridden a horse or been around lice-infected youngsters. After just one day helping Cora, she wants to go back home. She stays and, over the weeks, begins to marvel at the glorious nature in the hills and hollers all around her. She comes to admire the closely knit and hardworking country folk. Then Cora asks Lucy to fill in as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. Lucy stumbles through her first teaching days but soon realizes that the “dear little ones had found a place in her heart.” Fisher’s secondary characters enhance the main plot. Lucy’s father owns the biggest lumber operation in the area. It has stripped virgin forests and blocked streams to poor farms and homesteads. Father’s handsome and dapper regional representative courts Lucy insistently. A mysterious and musically talented schoolmaster helps many through their hardest times. Fisher’s rendering of the customs, language, weather, and terrain all ring true. Her love for the land, its people, and their hardships and courage come through on every page. Highly recommended. G. J. Berger

CENSORETTES

Elizabeth Bales Frank, Stonehouse, 2020, $14.95/C$19.95, pb, 300pp, 9781988754321

During WWII on Bermuda, Lucy Barrett, gifted in languages, is a Censorette, part of a branch of British Intelligence stationed on the island to inspect mail between North America and European nations. Lucy uses her Cambridge education and love of Shakespeare to detect a Nazi spy ring operating out of Brooklyn and retrieve a million dollars heading into Vichy France. As she is promoted to her next assignment in Alexandria, Egypt, her friend Ruth is murdered. She both embraces her new assignment and seeks justice for her friend and “duckling.” She does so while interrogating Italian captives, volunteering at a hospital, and finding the love of her life. If you enjoyed the heart of Call the Midwife and the brainy brawn of The Bletchley Circle, Censorettes is for you. The team of extraordinary women, misfits in their own societies, form an unbreakable bond in a world at war. The characters, especially haunted-by-the-Blitz Lucy, described as “haughty as a duchess, persistent as a badger,” are unforgettable. So are the exotic locales and family ties (many shown in the form of letters), both of birth and

made by affection. This is what great historical fiction is all about. Highly recommended. Eileen Charbonneau

ACE BOON COON

Danny Gardner, Bronzeville Books, 2020, $17.99, pb, 286pp, 9781952427053

Author Danny Gardner immediately plunges readers into the thick of the action in Ace Boon Coon. The book is his second novel featuring Elliot Caprice, a former Chicago cop who makes a dangerous, tenuous living working as an investigator. It’s the early 1950s, and Jewish, Irish and Black racketeering mobs — not to mention the Nation of Islam, ruthless real estate developers, white racists, the expanding University of Illinois, rapacious bankers, random thugs, migrant workers, racist police and federal agents from Estes Kefauver’s Special Committee on Organized Crime — are mixing it up. Caprice scrambles to stay one step ahead after a murder exposes his connections with both Jewish and Black criminals. His personal life is pulled into the dangerous web in part because he’s trying to help his uncle save the failing family farm in Southville. Soon it’s clear that Caprice himself faces mortal danger. Race and racism are squarely at the center of much of the story, both in Chicago society and in many scenes as the light-complexioned Caprice is sometimes seen as white. Gardner brilliantly shows readers the difference between how the world treats a white man and a Black man, and what it feels like to be that man. At its best, the book is a fast-moving noir with a conscience and sense of humor, built on a smart plot that brings in myriad social justice elements. I was less pleased with repeatedly having to track back to figure out what was happening with a flashback or maybe one complication or character too many. It pulled me out of Caprice’s world of danger, politics and poverty as he struggled to bring about a small measure of justice. Kristen Hannum

WHERE EVERY MAN

Charlie Garratt, Sapere, 2020, $8.99/£7.50, pb, 264pp, 9781800550810

Garratt shifts the setting for this fourth book in the Inspector James Given series from England to France in the months before the 1940 German occupation. The newly married Jewish Inspector from Warwickshire has relocated to Brittany in search of a more peaceful life. Tranquility gives way to mystery when the local librarian is found dead. Although her death has been ruled an accident, Given’s suspicions are roused by clues suggesting foul play, and he pursues the matter with increasing obsession, as one after the other of the locals comes under suspicion. The story is told in first person by the Inspector, who is struggling to remain steadfast to his decision to stay away from police work while being tempted by the keen

interest in crime shown by a young local woman, determined to become a detective herself, whom Given takes under his wing. It stands on its own outside the series. Garratt does an admirable job of stitching an engaging narrative full of colorful characters and plot twists into its World War II context, adding tension with a subplot about the personal threat to the protagonist and his family posed by the Nazis’ imminent threat to France. Kathleen B. Jones

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND BRAVE (US/Can) / THE BIRD IN THE BAMBOO CAGE (UK)

Hazel Gaynor, William Morrow, 2020, $17.99/C$21.99, pb, 448pp, 9780062995261 / HarperCollins, 2020, £12.99, hb, 400pp, 9780008393632

This absorbing book about courage and fortitude transports the reader inside a Japanese internment camp during the World War II years. Elspeth is a teacher who, to escape her life in England, traveled to China to teach at Chefoo, a British-run international Christian school for children of foreign dignitaries and businesspeople. Everyone is happy and life is relatively good, though Elspeth is considering resigning and heading back to England. However, before she gets a chance, Britain declares war on Japan. Soon, the Japanese army arrives and forces everyone out of the school and into an internment camp, strictly overseen by the Japanese military. Making the best of poor circumstances, the teachers strive to make sure the children continue their education while trying to keep villains at bay. The danger increases when they are sent to yet another camp with worse conditions. The book’s two perspectives are that of Elspeth and one of her students, Nancy, a young British girl whose brother is in the camp with her. Nancy hasn’t seen her parents in a long time and leans on Elspeth as a mother figure. Despite an awful event that happens to Elspeth, she manages to keep up outward appearances as well as her job duties by straddling hope and acceptance of her plight. The author’s in-depth research into this era is apparent, with rich, evocative details of life inside the camp. It can also be viewed as a tribute to teachers who served as surrogate parents for those children separated from their parents in wartime. Eye-opening and educational, the book’s message is that ordinary people can be heroes, and that resilience, bravery and faith in a better tomorrow may be all we need to get through the darkest of days. Hilary Daninhirsch

BLASTED THINGS

Lesley Glaister, Sandstone Press, 2020, £14.99, hb, 336pp, 9781913207120

1917, and Clementine Armstrong (Clem)

is a VAD nurse on the Western Front. She volunteered to work on the frontline against the explicit wishes of her wealthy family after the death of her younger brother Ralph at Ypres in the early days of the Great War. Clem is exposed to enormous and almost unconceivable suffering and, rebelling against her engagement to Dr. Dennis Everett, who works as a general practitioner back in England, falls for a frontline Canadian doctor, Powell Bonneville. But he is killed in a shell attack, and Clem loses their foetus she was carrying. All this occurs in the opening pages of the novel and establishes the foundation for Clem’s return to England, where her life resumes the track-lines already established for her, and she marries Dennis and has a baby son. In 1920, while on a visit to her sister-in-law, she is involved in a motorcycle crash with a Sergeant Vince Fortune coming off his machine and suffering some minor injuries. Fortune has been heavily disfigured by the war, and we see how he tries to make a new life for himself in his reduced circumstances. He helps out at a local inn and has romantic designs upon the buxom landlady Doll Pepper. Both Clem and Vince Fortune, damaged in different ways by the Great War, develop an unlikely connection; Clem is naïve and gets dragged into a most difficult set of circumstances. It is an extraordinarily moving and beautifully observed tale. Lesley Glaister’s writing is pitch perfect: she has the touch of the true writer and observer of the human condition and this is one of those rare books when I just wanted to story to go on and on. It felt far too soon to be parted from Clem and her Suffolk world of a century ago, which has now also long gone. Douglas Kemp

OLIVE BRIGHT, PIGEONEER

Stephanie Graves, Kensington, 2020, $26.00/ C$35.00, hb, 358pp, 9781496731517

1941, Hertfordshire: Olive Bright, home from veterinary college due to the war, helps her father with his veterinary practice and their stable of racing pigeons. Bright pigeons are fast, and Olive is eager for their birds to play a part in the war effort. When Jameson Aldridge visits the Bright farm, Olive assumes he comes from the National Pigeon Service. However, Aldridge is from a covert intelligence organization, Baker Street. If Olive agrees to help by providing pigeons for their missions, she will have to lie to her family. Eager to play a part in the

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fight, she agrees and passes Jameson off as a suitor, despite her frequent exasperation with the man. The situation becomes more complicated when a local busybody is found dead, poisoned by refreshments at the village dance. Olive, a fan of Agatha Christie novels, investigates the death, aided at times by Jameson. Her local sleuthing may prove quite as dangerous as the secret operations the Baker Street agents undertake. This novel is a promising start to a new mystery series. The English village setting, spunky heroine, and intriguing male interest provide plenty of appeal. It’s evident Graves has done her research in the pigeon department, and the use of these birds by Baker Street agents is firmly based on history. I learned a great deal about carrier and racing pigeons and their use in WWII. Olive Bright, Pigeoneer proves a most pleasant escape from the stresses of modern life; a WWII whodunit set in a bucolic English village, with some unusual twists. Susan McDuffie

THINGS WE DIDN’T SAY

Amy Lynn Green, Bethany House, 2020, $15.99, pb, 416pp, 9780764237164

It is 1944, and Johanna Berglund has been accused of treason. She submits in her defense a collection of letters that will prove her innocence. The letters begin with Johanna as a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota. Fluent in German and several other languages, she is recommended to work as a translator at an Army POW camp near her home. She flatly refuses because she has other plans and dreams of going to Oxford. Pressure from the government and her parents eventually forces her to go. She begins her work as a translator and starts to enjoy it, despite criticism from some of the local populace about “aiding the enemy.” She is given more responsibility and asked to teach an English class, and she starts to feel compassion for the prisoners. When a nefarious plot causes untrue accusations against Johanna, she learns to truly lean on God. This is an epistolary novel, comprised completely of letters, articles, and other written communication. We watch Johanna’s character develop from a rather vain and secluded student to a woman of faith, although it takes some hard times to get her there. We meet her friends, family, and community, and we watch her grow as a person. And we learn that there were, in fact, German POW camps in the United States during World War II. I was captivated by this book, which was 44

so well written that the personalities of the characters shone, and their individual nuances were conveyed expertly through their letters. I don’t think many writers can share such an amazing story and well-developed characters in epistolary style, so I was surprised that this is Amy Lynn Green’s debut novel. I cannot wait to see what she writes next. Bonnie DeMoss

THE FOUR WINDS

Kristin Hannah, St. Martin’s, 2021, $28.99, hb, 464pp, 9781250178602

During the 1920s, Elsa’s Texas Panhandle family smothers her as a fragile outcast until she rebels to experience life with Rafe, a farmer. She ends up pregnant and is taken in to marry Rafe by his kindly immigrant farmer parents. Life is hard work, but they have fully stocked shelves for over a decade until drought and dust storms ravage the land, when Rafe abandons Elsa and their two children, Loreda and Ant. Desperate struggles against nature are portrayed with harrowing images of devastation, dire perils, and death. Elsa has no choice but to take her two children to California in search of work in the cotton fields and a better life. But unscrupulous growers exploit Central Valley workers, wringing labor out of malnourished migrants for meager wages, leaving them impoverished and beholden, scorned by native Californians. Conditions are hopeless unless the workers, whom Elsa has come to admire, band together. Elsa and Loreda meet an organizer who helps them realize the time has come because “The four winds have blown us here, people from all across the country, to the very edge of this great land…” Elsa’s and Loreda’s characters are developed masterfully as they toil together through one heart-wrenching scene after another in a relationship that arcs from unconditional mother-child love to teenage withdrawal, to a common fight for survival and, finally, to the bonding of their convictions. The Four Winds has considerable historical overlap with John Steinbeck’s classic, The Grapes of Wrath, yet bestselling author Kristin Hannah puts her own stamp on human suffering of Great Depression-era migrants. Her usual smooth, taut prose draws a sharp contrast to Steinbeck’s inimitable style, with its colloquial dialogue, parables, and sometimes lengthy sentence constructions. An immensely satisfying book. Brodie Curtis

RED WING

Cris Harding, Independently published, 2020, $12.00, pb, 350pp, 9798607201838

This is the story of two families, the Frost family in Dania, Florida, and the Harris family of Sandersville, Georgia. Between 1910 and 1921, they are quite different financially: the Frosts have money through their businesses, and the Harrises’ fortunes are definitely scarce. Dewina Frost is a 14-year-old girl. She takes piano lessons and occasionally travels with her

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

family to Wisconsin, where her father owns a lumberyard business. His first wife’s son is the foreman. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Dan Harris has fewer opportunities. As a younger son, he is forced to leave school after an eighth-grade education. Because he must help his family monetarily and learn a trade, he is sent to Saint Augustine, Florida, to help harvest oranges. After the harvest, he goes to work for his cousin and is hired on to a shrimp boat. The novel presents these two families as they try to survive tragedy and racial discrimination. It seems improbable that Dewina and Dan would never meet, so I suspected this would happen eventually. This is not so much a romantic novel as a characterdriven story of how the two protagonists deal with one setback after another. The supporting cast provides little emotional depth. Thank goodness the author does furnish family trees for both families, since I used them quite often during my reading. Jeff Westerhoff

THE UNWILLING

John Hart, St. Martin’s, 2021, $27.99, hb, 409pp, 9781250167729

After three Vietnam tours and two years in a jail for serious offenders, burned-out Jason French comes home to Charlotte, North Carolina. Jason’s older brother died in Vietnam, and their genteel mother has never stopped mourning. Their father is a homicide cop trying to hold his family together. Jason’s younger brother, Gibby, about to finish high school, is stuck in the middle. Jason invites Gibby out for a Saturday drive. Jason promises to meet up with women, drink a bit, and reconnect. On an empty backcountry road, the brothers and two women catch up with a prison bus heading to jail. Riding along next to the bus in their convertible, one of the women teases the prisoners. Days after, she is sadistically murdered. Incriminating evidence shows up in Jason’s rented room. He is arrested and sent back to the same jail. The woman’s murder and Jason’s setup were orchestrated by a death-row inmate named Mr. X. Psychopath Mr. X uses brutality and his inherited wealth to control the warden and the guards. He hires lawyers and mercenaries on the outside to extend his power beyond the prison walls. Hart delivers for readers of no-holds-barred thrillers. His principal characters are larger than life. Jason, a war hero, has fighting skills that would put Chuck Norris to shame. Gibby is a clever old soul in an 18-year-old body. Their father is one hard cop. Their mother’s grief is over the top. The evil men Mr. X has hired rival Jeffrey Dahmer for cruelty. The story is powerfully told with tension-filled setups and interesting, though sometimes improbable, twists. Readers may be frustrated that the ending leaves major loose ends unresolved. Perhaps Hart is working on a sequel? G. J. Berger

A BEND IN THE RIVER

Libby Fischer Hellmann, Red Herring Press, 2020, $17.99, pb, 420pp, 9781938733673

Tâm and Mai Trang are sisters, aged seventeen and fourteen, living with their family in Vietnam. In March 1968, the sisters are washing clothes by the Mekong River when they smell smoke. They run back to their village to see American soldiers searching for hidden Viet Cong and lighting the village on fire after herding the townspeople into the square. All the village animals lie slaughtered. As the girls hide in the bush and watch their home burn, everyone in the village is shot, including their father, mother, and baby brother. They escape and set out on a boat journey to Saigon, where they struggle to make a life for themselves. The girls want different things from life, and eventually their disagreements divide them. They part ways and have no contact for many years. Tâm’s hatred toward the Americans for the massacre of her family and her idealistic political views make it easy for the Viet Cong to recruit her. She disappears into the jungle to join them. Hellmann shows the brutal life of the Viet Cong living in the tunnels and fighting a guerilla war against the Americans. Mai is non-political, impulsive, and wants glamour in her life. She ends up working in a GI bar, where she learns to speak English. She relies on the American soldiers’ generosity and learns some harsh life lessons when she falls in love. As Tâm and Mai mature into women, their experiences mold and shape them. Hellmann gives us a wealth of historical background and facts around the Vietnam War. These parts stand out from the narrative more as a history lesson and are not seamlessly folded into the story. Nevertheless, this is a notable book about the Vietnam War, seen by two sisters in dissimilar situations, and worthy of the reader’s time. Janice Ottersberg

CHRISTMAS WITH THE SPITFIRE GIRLS

Jenny Holmes, Corgi, 2020, £6.99, pb, 384pp, 9780552177061

The presence of female pilots was unthinkable in World War One, but by the time the Second World War began, women were frequently flying aircraft that needed relocating between bases within the UK and on the continent. The Air Transport Auxiliary girls, or ATTA as they were fondly known, flew without radio communication and were expected to know the foibles of every type of serviceable aircraft from the limited information supplied. These young women risked their lives facing enemy fire, barrage balloons and associated hazards, much as those men who were flying fighter aircraft for the RAF. At their base, fictitiously set in Rixley, Yorkshire, Viv, Mary and Bobbie are joined by an older crew member, Peggy, a replacement

for their colleague, Anna, who was lost when her plane flew into the barrages over Southampton. Agreeing that they will try to befriend the new arrival seems a good plan, though Peggy is very distant. When Mary faces the prospect of her fiancé being posted elsewhere to join the bombing recces across the channel, Peggy forms an alliance with her, bolstering her spirits as well as confiding her own close kept secrets. Christmas 1944 approaches, and with everyone hoping for an end to the hostilities in Europe within the next 6 months, the ATTA girls plan a party at the Grange, where they are billeted. The storyline as it develops is believable, with the characters following their anticipated pathways and the historical notes true to form. Holmes captures the drama of the challenges genuinely faced by individuals during this period and weaves it through the day-to-day activities of the girls. Cathy Kemp

A BEAUTIFUL SPY

Rachel Hore, Simon & Schuster, 2021, £16.99, hb, 416pp, 9781471187179

Set in London in the years before the Second World War, A Beautiful Spy is the story of Minnie Gray, a typist who finds herself drawn into the world of espionage. The enigmatic Max Knight, her spymaster, encourages her to infiltrate the Communist Party and to report on its members. Minnie craves adventure and rejects society’s expectations of women in the 1930s. However, as both Max and the Communist Party start to place greater demands on her, she becomes aware of the dangers of her position. Eventually the work, and the secrecy it involves, take their toll on her private life. This novel is based on the true story of Olga Gray. Her handler was the real-life Maxwell Knight, who is said to have inspired Ian Fleming’s “M”. A Beautiful Spy provides a fascinating contrast between the limited lives of Minnie’s married sisters and the nonstop drama of Minnie’s own existence. She veers between wanting a quiet life, chasing excitement, and wanting to serve her country. However, she can never find a happy medium. I particularly liked the way we feel her fear and frustration as she starts to realise that Max, and the intelligence services, have her in a trap which she cannot escape. I can recommend this book as a compulsive and enjoyable read. Karen Warren

THE RIB KING

Ladee Hubbard, Amistad, 2021, $27.99, hb, 384pp, 9780062979063

In Ladee Hubbard’s debut novel, The Talented Ribkins, bizarre superpowers juiced the hero’s struggle against race and mobsters. Now in The Rib King, Hubbard creates a rich stew of mob violence, Upstairs/Downstairs dynamics, rampant capitalism, land theft in Florida swamps, labor strikes, a miraculous

beauty cream, and vengeance via rib sauce that packs a killer punch. Early in the 1900s, young August Sitwell escapes the brutal destruction of his community deep in the Florida swampland. On the run, he re-appears years later as groundskeeper, butler, and fixer for the Barclays, a genteel white Southern family with sinking fortunes. August offers a stupendous rib sauce recipe to investors who make a fortune with a brand featuring a grinning caricature of August, never grasping how August will subvert their marketing scheme for his own ends. The second part of the novel features Jennie, another former Barclay employee. Years after the family’s horrific demise, she’s seeking investors for a revolutionary skin cream developed in her beauty parlor. Her efforts are complicated by a labor strike, mob violence, and the crossfire between August’s co-conspirators and those trying to bring him down. Jennie’s choice to escape “the system” is a satisfying subplot. The novel moves from August’s to Jennie’s story mid-way, so readers never see August’s shift from loyal butler to stealthy agent of revenge. Jennie becomes the amateur sleuth, unraveling the multiple conspiracies which threaten the success of her beauty cream. Complex plot lines make the last half of the book less emotionally involving. Still, in its bizarre complexity, The Rib King vividly illustrates how capitalism and racism reach from the Florida swamps to national media campaigns that exploit Black entrepreneurs. Readers will marvel at the energy and creativity of those who resist oppression and relentlessly reclaim what is rightfully theirs. Pamela Schoenewaldt

A PRETTY DECEIT

Anna Lee Huber, Kensington, 2020, $15.95/ C$21.95/£12.99, pb, 372pp, 9781496728470

In October 1919, 23-year-old Verity Kent and her husband, Sidney, are trying to shed the traumas of WWI and settle back into the upper-crust British lives they came from. Both have survived their duties in the Secret Service and the carnage all around them on the Continent. Verity’s Aunt Ernestine calls for help to find paintings and smaller valuables missing from her estate in the Wilshire countryside. During the war, Ernestine had allowed RAF airmen from the adjacent airfield to billet in the manor house. Verity and Sidney quickly solve the painting mystery, but the suspicious deaths of the main groundskeeper and then a maid complicate the assignment. Several of the household help and even airmen become possible suspects. Another deadly mystery unfolds side-byside with Aunt Ernestine’s troubles. Lord Ardmore, high up in Britain’s military, seems bent on murdering people close to Verity and Sydney. He may be hiding a large-scale treasonous operation. Huber fully set up the Lord Ardmore capers in an earlier Verity

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Kent book. In this novel, some characters and complicated clues related to Ardmore appear abruptly and become a bit difficult to connect without reading that novel. Huber expertly portrays the PTSD effects on Verity and Sidney inflicted by the Great War while they struggle to keep themselves and others out of danger. The Downton Abbey-like households and society tiers are well done and ring true. Some readers may be put off by the too-modern ease with which telephone calls are made and received in 1919. Overall, this story will work well for readers of the Verity Kent novels and others who enjoy immersion in the lives and times of England between the two World Wars. G. J. Berger

ZORRIE

Laird Hunt, Bloomsbury, 2020, $26.00, hb, 176pp, 9781635575361

Zorrie Underwood lives and loves, marries and mourns, farms and fends for herself in Depression-era and 1950s Indiana. After deaths in her family, Zorrie sets out to find work, walking or hitching rides from Hillsburg, Indiana, to Franklin, Jefferson, and Morocco, where she trades menial labor for meals. In Ottawa, Illinois, she gets a steady job at the Radium Dial Co., where she paints numbers on clock faces with luminous paint and makes lifelong friendships with Marie and Janie. After returning to Hillsburg, she weds and later loses Harold in an air crash in WWII. Zorrie inherits and successfully runs the Underwood farm, providing plenty of produce, ham, and canned fruits and vegetables for herself, neighbors, and town folk. Author Hunt is a professor of literary arts at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and author of several novels and short-story collections. The Kind One won the AnisfieldWolf and PEN/Faulkner Awards. Neverhome received the Grand Prix de Littérature Américaine. Zorrie captures the small events and moments that populate the memory—letting grains of sand from the Indiana Dunes fall through the fingers, for instance—and help one climb out of some of life’s hurts. It appreciates subtle, sensitive connections, as with Zorrie’s dog, Oates, grounding her neighbor Virgil, calming his dementia-induced meanderings. Understated and lyrical, the novel is touching and wistful. K. M. Sandrick

THE TUSCAN CONTESSA

Dinah Jefferies, Penguin, 2020, £7.99, pb, 350pp, 9780241987315

This novel opens on a shuttered square on a summer evening in 1944; three crows appear, one after the other, a bad omen. Set partly in a walled village in the Val d’Orcia, and partly in occupied Florence and Rome, the novel recounts the wartime experiences of a small community with empathy and compassion. When her husband is away in Rome, the 46

Countess Sofia de’Corsi shelters a wounded British radio operator who is subsequently joined by the feisty Italian-American undercover agent Maxine and her partisan lover. Jefferies writes beautifully. She has a wonderful sense of place, of summertime explosions of light and colour which puts the reader right into her scene, expressed in details like the feel of bare feet in dry grass and descriptions of simple food the reader can nearly taste. Jefferies doesn’t describe a romantic idyll – the reasons that are driving so many to the emigrant ship are clearly expressed – but her vivid description of quiet lives in an idyllic landscape sharpens the contrast with the horrors that come as Nazi occupation tightens, and where in fairness to those who suffered, Jefferies does not pull her punches. Here, in a community where everyone knows each other, what they do not know is who can be trusted. Nor does anyone, Sofia in particular, know just what he or she is capable of until face to face with danger. The author’s research is soundly done, shaping the plot without weighing it down, and the brief timeline of the war in Italy she provides at the start neatly anchors the plot. Katherine Mezzacappa

THE MISSING SISTER

Dinah Jefferies, Penguin, 2020, £7.99/C$16.99, pb, 309pp, 9780241985434

The bestselling author of The Tea Planter’s Wife has written another historical mystery featuring complex family relationships, love, and betrayal. Annabelle (Belle) Hatton leaves England for Rangoon, Burma, in 1936 to pursue what she hopes is a dazzling career as a nightclub singer. She has with her several old newspaper articles about a baby girl who disappeared in 1911, when her now deceased parents lived in Rangoon. As she peruses the clippings, she finds herself falling into a decades-old mystery concerning what appears to be her own sister, who she never knew existed. Several people offer their help to chase down leads, but as Belle finds herself in increasing danger, she has no idea who to trust, and fails to understand why her search has stirred up such enmity. She becomes ever more desperate to uncover her sister’s fate. Jefferies’ novel is thoroughly compelling and believable, a natural flow of tension weaving in and out of the chapters. We become immersed in the intense sultry heat, the beauty of Burma’s natural landscapes, the extraordinary flora of Rangoon, the gold glinting off the pagodas, and the dissatisfaction of the Burmese people for their British overseers. There is a formula apparent here, found in Jefferies’ other

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novels, and it works beautifully, urging the story forward, unfolding the mysteries bit by bit, but only making the reveal apparent at the denouement. Belle’s story is offset by her mother’s tragic backstory, told in 1921, and this aids in understanding actions and motivations in 1911 and in 1936 without having to rely completely on Belle’s discoveries. Peppered with the feel, sounds and smells of 1930s Burma and an interesting mix of characters, this is, as expected, a beautifully written novel. Fiona Alison

MISS BENSON’S BEETLE

Rachel Joyce, Doubleday, 2020, £16.99, hb, 400pp, 9780857521989 / Dial, 2020, $18.00, pb, 368pp, 9780812996708

A spinster teacher in her mid-forties in a girls’ school in ration-hit, grey-toned, austerity England in 1950, Miss Margery Benson walks out of her unfulfilling career one day on a whim, and decides to do something which has fascinated her since she was a 10-year-old girl back in 1914. On that fateful day, her father, Reverend Tobias Benson, showed the young Margery a picture of the legendary golden beetle of New Caledonia – reportedly seen but never captured. Just after this revelation, the family learns that all four of her elder brothers have been killed at Mons, and her father immediately shoots himself. Beetles are the solitary Margery’s only real passion in life, and after casting off her despised teaching job, Margery decides to finally travel to New Caledonia to look for this mythical insect. She is accompanied by the flighty Enid Pretty as her wholly unqualified assistant – the polar opposite to Margery, who has a fair number of secrets herself. Margery also has a stalker, one Mundic, who suffers from his harsh experiences as a POW in Burma during the Second World War and decides to secretly accompany Margery all the way across the world, even though she rejected his offer to assist back in London. While all this may seem highly fantastical as a plot, the tale does indeed have the flavour and narrative style of a tongue-in-cheek humorous fairy tale. It is an easy, engaging read that both recreates the dullness of austerity England and the snobbery of colonial life. There is a parallel here to Rachel Joyce’s successful novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which like Margery, saw the main character also stroll out of his dull domestic routine without premeditation and learned lessons, narrated in a twee homespun philosophy about life, friendship and loneliness. This is an entertaining and easy-to-read novel, which perhaps did not really need to be all of 400 pages long. Douglas Kemp

PLAY THE RED QUEEN

Juris Jurjevics, Soho Crime, 2020, $27.95, hb, 360pp, 9781641291378

A couple of cops with the Army’s Criminal Investigations Division in Saigon, 1963, are charged with stopping “the red queen,” a

femme fatale with perfect aim who leaves a red playing card bearing the image of a woman on her victims’ bodies. She kills while riding a Vespa, wearing a traditional ao dai and conical hat, and she’s young and beautiful. Those are the bones of the plot of Play the Red Queen, but the novel’s impact rides on how visceral its moment in time is— how it feels as though the story couldn’t have happened in any other era—and on how Saigon itself becomes a character. The story sizzles with its tropical, heat-dazed energy and swept me up in a kind of passion for the city—or perhaps it was a passion for Jurjevics’s writing. Jurjevics, a Vietnam vet who cofounded Soho Press, edited luminaries like James Baldwin and was the author of other praised books before he died in 2018. Play the Red Queen was published posthumously. He not only gets the details right—the smell of sewage, insecticide, and jasmine; the chaotic traffic mix-up of rickshaws, scooters, bicycles, and military vehicles; the opaque CIA operations, the Buddhist South Vietnamese troops, arrogant Catholic priests, gullible reporters, and the cigarettesmoking communists—but I also quickly found myself caring about the two military cops as they attempted to find a killer, their part in a problematic intervention for a morally ambiguous regime in what becomes a shooting war by the book’s end. Recommended. Kristen Hannum

THE DOLL: A Portrait of My Mother

Ismail Kadare (trans. John Hodgson), Counterpoint, 2020, $16.95, 175pp, 9781640094222 / Vintage, 2021, £8.99, pb, 160pp, 9781784709327

Winner of the inaugural Man Booker International Prize and other prestigious awards, Ismail Kadare is Albania’s most wellknown novelist and poet. This short biography, translated from Albanian, features Kadare’s relationship with his mother. She was small, reserved, vain, with skin as white as porcelain. Hence, he calls her “the Doll” and never gives readers her first name. More a series of loosely connected short sketches than a full-fledged biographical novel, The Doll opens at her death in 1994 then jumps back to her marriage in 1933. As was the custom, she moves into the centuriesold, large house of her new in-laws. Boredom, the perpetual strife between the Doll and her mother-in-law, and the home’s constant need for repairs made his mother declare, “The house is eating me up!” Kadare reminisces about his education, relatives and friends, the courtship of his wife, and early efforts at writing. Kadare’s early literary success prompts the Doll to fear he will disown her. In Kadare’s mid-career, he and his wife seek asylum in France, but the Doll stays home. Kadare’s writing is spare and filled with interesting turns of phrase and observations. Both Stalin and Kadare’s grandmother died in 1953. Yet, he writes, the “most sensational”

event of the year “was the arrival of condoms in the city pharmacy.” A writer’s life in a communist country bent on stamping out all unauthorized expression is ever precarious: “So I was a soldier of a death squad summoned… to assault and slaughter” my own writings. Overall, this quiet study of a difficult relationship reveals his personal life to any fan of Kadare. For those unfamiliar with his work, this serves as an intriguing introduction to an important writer. G. J. Berger

SIDE EFFECTS: A Footloose Journey to the Apocalypse

S. Montana Katz, Guernica World Editions, 2020, $17.95/C$20.00/£15.99, pb, 236pp, 9781771835503

Full of postwar optimism, a newly married couple from New York set out to travel the country by motorcycle. When they reach California, they are charmed by the warm climate and intellectual stimulation and vow to live there someday. Little do they know that their plans will be altered by the birth of their first child in less than a year. Side Effects is told from their daughter’s point of view, as she documents her parents bouncing back and forth between California and New York to find financial stability and happiness. The novel is a meditation on the idealism and promise of the 1950s and 1960s juxtaposed with the impact those decades would have on the future. New technology, especially things that were supposed to improve life and make it easier, and the host of new products invented during the era, were eventually found to have dangerous environmental consequences. The narrator laments how seemingly innocuous products like TV dinners and plastic water bottles were pumped full of chemicals that may have caused her cancer. Katz’s style is so detailed and personal that I had to check at one point to see if I was reading a memoir or a novel. The stream-ofconsciousness narrative is difficult to follow initially, but you do get used to it. A novel full of nostalgia, but not the sugar-coated kind, this book is an excellent exploration of society, politics, and the environment. Janice Derr

THE DRESSMAKER OF PARIS

Georgia Kaufmann, Hodder & Stoughton/ Quercus, 2021, £18.99/$26.99, hb, 356pp, 9781529336023

This is not my kind of book, the life story of a seamstress who becomes the millionaire owner of a fashion chain. Yet in a few pages I was hooked and read it to the end as quickly as life allowed. The novel is structured as a mother’s reminiscence to her daughter, but otherwise it is strictly chronological, with no dual narratives, flashbacks, time slips or other literary devices. It begins in 1944 when the heroine, Rosa, is sixteen, and runs to 1992. As

with most life stories, the early years are the most interesting, as Rosa moves from being an i n n k e e p e r ’s daughter in the Nazi-occupied South Tyrol to becoming a refugee in Switzerland, a struggling seamstress in post-war Paris and a successful businesswoman in Brazil. It is the story of Cinderella that goes on for 40 years after she meets Prince Charming. Then before the story can begin to flag, Rosa goes back to Europe in search of her lost family and the child she gave up for adoption, a search that takes her from Switzerland to Israel, East Germany, and New York. The story is closely anchored in contemporary events, and we always know the date and place of every incident. It is difficult to believe that it is not an autobiography, but the author assures us that only one passage is autobiographical and then doesn’t say which. An outstanding debut novel. Edward James

LUCIA’S WAR

Susan Lanigan, Idée Fixe Press, 2020, $16.30/£12.60, pb, 386pp, 9781527268135

At the Royal Albert Hall in 1950 London, famed soprano Lucia Percival, grieving over some news, declines to appear at her concert. At the bar, a music critic wants to interview her. Lucia agrees and starts by telling him, “Did you know I once sang Wagner to a roomful of Nazis?” In 1917, young Lucia had arrived in London from Jamaica. Unable to enter the music business, she joins the Voluntary Aid Department (VAD) and is deployed to France’s World War I front. There, she falls in love with a surgeon. Lucia would suffer the repercussions of that affair throughout her life. Returning from France to the UK, Lucia faces insurmountable obstacles. She takes odd jobs but practices her voice, even on the train to work, where she is discovered. She is tutored by a Black artist on her road to fame, yet with a pain in her heart. Although this novel is a sequel to Susan Lanigan’s acclaimed White Feathers, it can be read as a standalone. While white feathers are mentioned, their significance is apparent. This rags-to-riches story of a Black singer might seem similar to the experiences of some present-day artists, but its setting in the difficult post-WWI period makes it unique. Lanigan, writing in Lucia’s first-person voice, has admirably captured the racial prejudices and the hardships faced by Black youths, particularly in the UK. Lucia takes the racial slurs, as well as the advances from lecherous men, in stride and never shies away from

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hard work. The snippets of Jamaican-English slang add flavor to the dialogue. The use of secondary characters like Lucia’s brother and their white girlfriends adds depth to the story. It’s evident that Lucia would have spent the period during WWII up to 1950 as a singer, but it’s not included here; maybe this will be covered in another sequel. Waheed Rabbani

THE YEAR OF THE GUN

H. B. Lyle, Hodder & Stoughton, 2020, £19.99, hb, 243pp, 9781473655539

This is the third in Lyle’s series of espionage novels set in the early years of the British Secret Service, before WWI. The year of the gun is 1912, the year that both the IRA and the UVF armed themselves for the coming ‘troubles’ in Ireland. As in the two previous novels, there is a mix of real events and characters, such as Vernon Kell, founder of the Secret Service; imagined characters, such as Wiggins, Kell’s star agent; and characters from other authors’ imaginations, notably Sherlock Holmes. Wiggins is an Edwardian James Bond, equally indestructible but more introspective. Despite the title, the gun runners do not put to sea until page 200. Indeed, gun running does not enter the plot in the first 100 pages, and Wiggins is in such deep cover that the reader does not know until page 120 that he is still working for the Secret Service. Wiggins’ adventures are exciting, but there would have been more tension had we known his true mission earlier. Nevertheless, a good, fastmoving thriller. Edward James

A HAVEN FOR HER HEART

Susan Anne Mason, Bethany House, 2020, $15.99, pb, 378pp, 9780764235191

In 1941 Toronto, Olivia Rosetti is released from a woman’s reformatory after having been banished by her family for conceiving a child out of wedlock. With nowhere to go and her baby lost, she seeks solace in an empty church. There, Olivia encounters wealthy widow Ruth Bennington, who takes Olivia under her wing, and under her roof. Soon, the two develop a great bond and decide to open a home for women in need. Darius Reed, a Greek widower and father to a little girl, works for a ruthless employer who wants the Bennington House, at any cost. Under orders, Darius must help force Ruth’s hand and sell the house. As he gets to know the two women, though, and their mission, his feelings are soon conflicted. Darius begins to fall in love with Olivia, making him question his employer and his devious methods. This is a slowly paced novel that carries the weight of many deep topics, highlighted by Christian elements with characters who have an enduring faith in God. It is clear where the story will lead, and readers are not often surprised. But, this soft, gentle read is nonetheless a delight. Olivia’s struggles are 48

real, and she captures the essence of many women of this time. It was also a nice change to read a story set in the World War II era, but that didn’t focus on the war itself. Rebecca Cochran

A SINISTER SERVICE

Alyssa Maxwell, Kensington, 2021, $26.00/ C$35.00/£21.00, hb, 304pp, 9781496717450

The sixth installment of the Lady and Lady’s Maid cozy mysteries takes us to rural Staffordshire, where the smoke clouds from the porcelain factories’ kilns mar the beauty of the landscape. In November 1920, the three Renshaw sisters and their young brother visit Crown Lily to choose a pattern for a new china service for their grandparents. As they meet with the head designer and the factory owner, a prickly pall of tension is apparent, which Lady Phoebe Renshaw can’t quite put her finger on. When that same designer, Ronald Mercer, is found in one of the grinding machines, having suffered a gruesome death (which would have been more so had the huge blades not jammed), the police suspect the disgruntled son, Trent Mercer, who has been pulled unwillingly from his Eton education to follow in his father’s footsteps at Crown Lily. As the body count grows, Phoebe and her maid, Eva Huntford, investigate the suspects who all hold superior positions at the china factory, putting themselves at no small risk. Maxwell’s cozy mystery takes place in what is now Stoke-on-Trent, the centre of England’s porcelain production. The intensely competitive nature of the business, post-war, features strongly in her plot. Phoebe is clever and innovative in her questioning of suspects, trying to catch them unguarded and draw them into traps of their own making. Here the four Renshaw siblings are together, and there is some interesting insight into their relationship with each other. For those new to the series, Phoebe’s friendship with her long-time maid, Eva, is quite different from what one would expect, but the end of the Great War brought forth rapidly changing times. This is an excellent standalone despite being part of an ongoing series, with lots to be learned about the bone-china industry, and a murderer who remains elusive until the final pages. Fiona Alison

DEATH ON THE HOMEFRONT

Frances McNamara, Allium Press of Chicago, 2020, $18.99, pb, 242pp, 9780999698273

Frances McNamara’s latest Emily Cabot mystery once again explores the amateur sleuth’s Chicago haunts. Our heroine has matured since the previous installment. The year is 1917, and Emily is now the mother of three grown children. She and her husband both teach at the University of Chicago, where they interact with such famous personages as Clarence Darrow and Jane Addams. At the beginning of the novel, a young woman who is close to the family is mysteriously murdered.

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The police claim a disgruntled German waiter did the deed, but Emily has her doubts. Emily’s daughter, Lizzie, begs her to find the truth. Unfortunately, the detective with whom she once worked is no longer on the force, and there’s not much she can do without his help. Then a young lawyer comes on the scene and proves to be an ally. As the investigation proceeds several theories come to light. The police claim the unemployed waiter was the young woman’s lover; others believe he was a spy who killed her because she had damning information. The truth, as it turns out, is much closer to home. McNamara captures the tension of a country at odds with itself, including bigotry towards German Americans, the condemnation of peace activists as traitors, and mobs ready to mete out violence. History lovers will be delighted by the wealth of information about the progressive institution Hull House, which opened its doors to European immigrants and allowed socialists and proponents of peace to meet inside its walls unmolested. Although the novel gets off to a rather slow start, Emily’s concern for her children and her insightful perspective on the events of the period will keep readers engaged till the story picks up steam. The twist at the end is well worth the wait. Trish MacEnulty

THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS Susan Meissner, Berkley, 2021, C$35.00, hb, 384pp, 9780451492180

$26.00/

Young women and a young girl must face stunning truths and summon the courage to survive the devastating wake of the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Sophie’s first-person account suspensefully unfolds lifechanging events after she comes to America from Ireland for a fresh start. She takes a desperate chance to improve her life as a mail-order bride in San Francisco, but after a promising start with her handsome, yet mysterious and detached husband Martin, and his daughter Kat whom Sophie comes to love, things spin out of control. Sophie discovers links to two other women whom she comes to care for, and must find wisdom, courage and strength to try and undo damage done to them. But the quake brings havoc, with deadly fires and the swamping of medical resources and public services. Its aftermath is vividly brought to life in “… an orange-gold world of smoke and ash. Above us, hundreds of firefly cinders from an approaching blaze we can’t yet see are alighting on the roof of the pavilion, which is already heartily aflame in several places. I can’t see the other fires—the air all around is a smoldering blanket obscuring everything but what is right in front of me—but I can smell them, feel them, taste them, hear them.” The narrative sensitively draws Sophie’s perceptions of her companions’ emotional pains and fallibilities, which she must deal with to lead them to survival. Sophie

is a compelling heroine, forced to confront her own past as she does so much for those she has come to love. Bestselling author Susan Meissner’s stories of strong women are centered around widely varied historical events such as the World Wars, the Tudor period, the American Civil War, vintage Hollywood, the Medicis of Florence, the Salem witch trials, and the Spanish Flu. Brodie Curtis

FROM THESE BROKEN STREETS

Roland Merullo, Lake Union, 2020, $14.95, pb, 364pp, 9781542018968

Naples, Italy, 1943: the Nazis have devastated the city but now plan to bomb the coastline so neither Allies nor supplies can enter and help the impoverished citizens. Against this backdrop, a resistance is born, made up of everyday Neapolitans, who have lost everything but refuse to lose their city and can’t wait for the arrival of any Allies. The characters are varied: Giuseppe, a young archivist who has drawn up a map of the city outlining the Nazis’ gun and supply depots. Lucia, his lover, tasked with covertly taking the map to Rita, a God-fearing prostitute, who will bring it to her brother, Marco, a monk in the Monastero di Genovese. An American soldier has infiltrated the monastery in order to secure information for the Allies’ push into Naples. In the mix is Aldo, Lucia’s father, a black marketeer in service to Zozo, the town’s black market/mafia leader, and Armando, an orphan boy, who will do anything to protect the people who give him food or money. From These Broken Streets reminded me of the old “movies of the week” I enjoyed watching way back when: a fast-moving, intense, and plot-driven story filled with a large cast of colorful characters with their own motivations and histories, who eventually all come together. When they do, they resolve their internal conflicts, their communal fear, and the external battle of fighting off the Nazis on their own to regain control of their homes and become stronger. I felt for the characters and their struggles and celebrated their uprising with them. Inspired by a true uprising, From These Broken Streets is an entertaining and engaging read. Franca Pelaccia

THE STILLS

Jess Montgomery, Minotaur, 2020, $27.00, hb, 311pp, 9781250623416

Prohibition in and around the eastern Ohio town of Kinship finds Fiona Vogel looking for ways to get out from under the emotional and economic thumb of her husband, prominent bootlegger George. Meanwhile, Sheriff Lily Ross investigates the shooting and disappearance of a federal revenue agent, threats that jugs of moonshine have been tainted with lethal methanol, and the beating

and murder of her dead husband’s brother and all-around villain Luther. The Stills is third in the Kinship series, which is based on the true story of Ohio’s first female sheriff, and author Montgomery deserves praise for her depictions of strong female characters. Chapters alternate in perspective between Fiona and Lily and provide contrasts in the use of power: George’s physical and psychological dominance, Fiona’s scheming, Lily’s operations within the confines of the law, others’ movements outside it. The action takes place over the course of a few days around Thanksgiving in 1927. Some aspects of plot unfold too quickly; others stall, are repetitious, or somewhat implausible. As Montgomery explains, Prohibition was a backdrop for the first two Kinship novels. The policy and many of its ramifications take center stage in The Stills, providing readers with facts and nuances related to Prohibition’s effect on law enforcement and everyday lives in a small rural community. K. M. Sandrick

NORA

Nuala O’Connor, HarperPerennial, $16.99/ C$21.00, pb, 496pp, 9780062991720

In light of Brenda Maddox’s brilliant and exhaustive biography of Nora Barnacle— wife and muse of the writer James Joyce— and the 2000 film, Nora, about the couple’s relationship, a novel of Nora’s life might seem redundant or u n n e c e s s a r y. It isn’t. In fact, Nora by Nuala O’Connor is marvelous. Of course, by delving into Nora’s life, O’Connor must also write about one of the great geniuses of the English language. This would be dangerous territory for a lesser writer, but O’Connor has the literary chops to get the job done. Her lyrical style and Irish colloquialisms capture the essence of their feelings for each other as well for their home country. In Nora’s voice, she tells us, “Jim says I am harp and shamrock, tribe and queen. I am high cross and crowned heart, held between two hands.” The novel begins on Bloomsday (June 16) in 1904 with an early sexual encounter between the ever-lusty couple. From there we follow the peripatetic wanderings of the pair as they travel from Dublin to Trieste to Zurich to Paris and back to Zurich. Along the way they have children, live (and fight) with Joyce’s siblings, and make friends and enemies across the continent, surviving hand-to-mouth one day and high-on-the-hog the next. They endure wars, illnesses, and madness. None of it is easy. Joyce drinks too much. He flirts with other

women. He falsely accuses Nora of betrayal. But throughout all their travails, a powerful bond persists, as does Joyce’s passion for his art. O’Connor shows us just how integral Nora was to Joyce’s writing and to his success, and one comes away from this book with the sense that without Nora Barnacle, there would be no James Joyce. Trish MacEnulty

THE QUISLING FACTOR

J. L. Oakley, Fairchance Press, 2020, $18.95, pb, 448pp, 9780997323740

Oakley returns to the fjords of Norway, and her protagonist, Jens, in her new postwar thriller. Tore Haugland, a Norwegian exintelligence officer, Codename Jens, is recovering from his capture by Henry Rinnan, an infamous collaborator, recruited by the Nazis in 1940. After infiltrating Jens’ Fjellstad resistance fighters, who posed as fishermen but ran messages for the Shetland Bus, Rinnan hauled Jens off to a blood-soaked basement room called The Cloister, tortured him, and left him for dead. Recovering from his brutal injuries with his wife’s family in America in April 1946, Jens must soon return to Norway to face his torturer at the Trondheim war crimes trial. Threatening notes imply that neither he nor his family are safe from past dangers. What follows is a roller coaster thrill ride from Oslo to Fjellstad to Trondheim. The writing is tight and sparing as history unfolds alongside the present. Oakley’s expertise and knowledge of her subject shine through her work, and we are caught up with the characters, feeling the fear, the trepidation and the hard choices. The war is over, but it’s never really over. Who can Jens trust when, back in Fjellstad, he finds there is still fear, resentment and a hunger for vengeance? Although a sequel to The Jøssing Affair, this novel stands completely alone, and the backstory is very cleverly woven in. The gruesome atrocities committed are handled with respect, and although extremely graphic in places, there is no gratuitous dwelling on gore. The cast of characters is very extensive, and Oakley has provided a ‘who’s who’, but I did not have to refer to it once, due to her descriptive skill of time and place. This is a lesser-known subject—the fiveyear Nazi occupation of Norway—but it is the best wartime thriller I have read in a while! Recommended to readers of Robert Harris, David Gilman and Rory Clements. Fiona Alison

A LIGHTNESS IN MY SOUL

Annette Oppenlander, Independently published, 2020, $6.49/£5.00, pb, 108pp, 9783948100193

“That day, my soul went flying out again.” In this novella, at times horrific and at others poignant, Arthur struggles to maintain an inner strength as well as his humanity in a time of madness. With A Lightness in My Soul, raconteur

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Annette Oppenlander continues her efforts to bring little-known historical events to light via an enhanced retelling. Untangling those oft-forgotten personal memories of traumatic times past, Oppenlander takes a historically grounded incident and offers a modern version for a new audience. During World War II, many countries moved citizens out of immediate danger regions. Such is the existence of Arthur: living as far as possible from the real war of aerial bombardment and harm, he lives, works, trains, learns, and dreams in an alternate reality run by members of the Hitler Youth. Camp life is not in any way idyllic. There are marches, military training and discipline, political lessons, and constant reminders of the war. The isolated worldview of camp residents comes to a sharp termination with the arrival of United States soldiers in April 1945. At that moment, their whole being is shattered with the realization that Germany has lost the war. Attempting to understand that entity called Dachau, where he is taken to help newly freed prisoners, Arthur struggles to save his own soul. In his experiences caring for patients while torn inside by his own personal demons, Arthur witnesses sorrow and death firsthand. He struggles to maintain his humanity in this reality and dreams of reuniting with his mother. Jon G. Bradley

SICILIAN DREAMS

Vincent Panella, Bordighera, 2020, $18.00/£14.00, pb, 228pp, 9781599541563

In 1907 Sicily, Santo Regina, a young widower, finds it difficult to make a living in a society divided into landowners and peasants. Seeing no future in Sicily for him and his daughter and son, Santo leaves his children with his mother and emigrates to America, entering through New Orleans. His dreams of better treatment of workers in America are dashed when he joins a labor camp and finds himself once again working in farm fields for rich landowners. He runs away from the camp, determined to start over further north, and in his absence, the labor camp boss is murdered. Santo is presumed to be his murderer. While Santo is in America, his daughter Mariana takes up with a lowlife named Niccolo who leaves her pregnant. She kills Niccolo and, with her brother’s help, hides the body. People now begin to think Santo left Sicily because he killed his daughter’s lover. An innocent man, Santo has been saddled with a false identity that portrays him as the killer of two men in Sicily and America. The honor code among Sicilians means Santo is a marked man wherever he goes. The experience of Italian immigrants is richly portrayed in this novel, especially in scenes of Little Italy in New York. To Panella’s credit, the novel does not involve the stereotypical “buckets of blood” that occur in most novels about Sicilians. The very fact that Santo never kills anyone—although the threat of violence is 50

always present—shows that Sicilian characters do not always have to be stone-cold killers. That’s a refreshing change. This novel is highly recommended for anyone interested in the early 20th-century Italian immigrant experience, especially for those immigrants who were Sicilian. John Kachuba

THE SHARPEST NEEDLE

Renee Patrick, Severn House, 2020, $28.99/£20.99, hb, 240pp, 9780727889287

Former silent film star Marion Davies is receiving poison pen letters from the shadowy Argus. The letters threaten to expose an indiscretion with Charlie Chaplin to Davies’ lover William Randolph Hearst. Soon, two men suspected of being associated with the letters are found dead, one of a drug overdose, the other shot to death. Enter the crime-sleuthing team of Lillian Frost, assistant to industrialist Addison Rice and renowned California party host, and respected wardrobe designer Edith Head. The adventure takes Frost to a weekend at Hearst’s famed estate San Simeon, a costume party at Davies’ beach house, and visits to RKO and Paramount studios, where she runs into current and future luminaries— Orson Welles, Paulette Goddard, Barbara Stanwyck, and Preston Sturges. The Sharpest Needle is fourth in the Frost/ Head mystery series by Renee Patrick, the pseudonym for Rosemarie and Vince Keenan. Rosemarie is a research administrator and poet; Vince is a screenwriter and journalist. The story is set in the early 1940s when Europe is on the brink of the Second World War. Themes reflect the effect of Nazism on the arts at home and abroad as well as the tensions elicited by the escalating belligerence of the Third Reich. Dialogue and description etch keen portraits of screen stars, writers, and directors. The mystery has plenty of tantalizing sidetracks as it unfolds and fashion accessories as clues. Carefully stitched and neatly sewn together. K. M. Sandrick

BLACK BOTTOM SAINTS

Alice Randall, Amistad, 2020, $26.99/C$33.50, hb, 368pp, 9780062968623

In Detroit in 1968, choreographer and emcee Joseph “Ziggy” Johnson lies dying in a hospital. He knows he doesn’t have long to live and decides to write down his memories as a “Saints’ Book,” inspired by the Catholic Saints Day Book he read as a child. Each short chapter tells the story of one of fifty-two “Saints” of the Black Bottom neighborhood of Detroit during its heydays of the 1930s to 1960s. Inspired by his first Saint, Tom Bullock, the first African American to write a cocktail recipe book, Ziggy ends each chapter with a cocktail recipe to celebrate that chapter’s Saint. Introducing each chapter is a brief vignette about a girl called “Colored Girl”—one of Ziggy’s students from his days as a dance teacher to the children of Black Bottom. Ziggy

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hopes Colored Girl will finish his work after his death, but Colored Girl must overcome a lifetime of lies and abuse at the hands of her mother to take up the mantle. Black Bottom Saints would be an important contribution to literature in any year, but especially so in 2020. Through the tales of the Saints, Randall, through Johnson, illuminates how inventive and important to culture the Black community of Detroit was. So many of the real-life Saints (and nearly all of them are historical figures) created art that was appropriated by whites who ultimately were given the credit for these innovations. Randall cuts through the racism and places the credit back where it belongs. Randall leaves readers hungry to know more about these Saints and appreciative of how each of us is a sum of the people who have influenced and loved us. Hopefully, this novel will create a space for future authors to shine even more light on these “fifty-two paths from trauma to transcendence.” Sarah Hendess

THE BERLIN GIRL

Mandy Robotham, HarperCollins, 2020, $16.99, pb, 400pp, 9780008418632 / Avon, 2021, £7.99, pb, 353pp, 9780008364519

Looking back on the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II, we may wonder how that terrible debacle could have come about in such a supposedly civilized society. What were the warning signs? Mandy Robotham’s latest novel explores those questions and provides interesting insight into a society on the brink of disaster, along with the compelling story of a young journalist who quickly loses her objectivity in light of the stark injustices she witnesses. The year is 1938. After volunteering for an assignment few of her colleagues want, Londoner Georgie Young needs to prove herself to her editor as well as to her handsome but disapproving fellow journalist, Max Spender. The camaraderie of the foreign press acts as a counterbalance to the growing list of horrors she encounters, including Krystallnacht. Against her better judgment, Georgie accepts a date with an SS officer—at first because she’s attracted to him, but later to dig up vital information that may save the lives of her Jewish driver and his family. Interspersed throughout Georgie’s story are chapters relating the terror and courage of her driver—a former journalist himself—and his wife as they try to save a disabled brother and their children from the encroaching Nazi death machine. One of the strengths of the novel is the sense of authenticity. The Holocaust didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t occur in a vacuum. Georgie and the other journalists desperately try to warn the rest of the world about the signs they are seeing, but no one on the outside wants to hear it. This is a timely book as authoritarian regimes around the world flex their muscles once again. The Berlin Girl reminds us to pay attention. Trish MacEnulty

OUR DARKEST NIGHT

Jennifer Robson, William Morrow, 2021, $27.99, hb, 384pp, 9780063059405

In October 1942 in Venice, 23-year-old Antonina (Nina) tends to her invalid mother. Later, Nina observes a Catholic priest visiting her Jewish physician father who, although banned by the Fascists from practicing, still helps the poor. Afterward, her father informs Nina about the worsening situation for Jews in Venice. While her father cannot leave, on account of her sick mother, the priest arranges to have Nina flee Venice with a young man, Nico, a former seminary student. Since going over the mountains into Switzerland would be too arduous, Nina would be sequestered at Nico’s farm in the country, posing as his wife. Nina reluctantly agrees. She is well received by Nico’s family and the villagers. Despite being a cultured Venetian, Nina proves herself by learning farming practices and toils alongside other workers. Soon she and Nico are drawn closer together. However, the local Nazi officer, a brute who bears a grudge against Nico, suspects Nina to be Jewish. He starts investigating her, and his findings could lead to dire consequences. This novel is fascinating, for Jennifer Robson has based it on real-life incidents from her husband’s family history. The setting of WWII Italy, covering the lives of Italian Jews, is uncommon as well. It’s interesting to learn that these families suffered similarly harsh treatment and pain under the Nazis to Jews in other parts of Europe. They were also hidden in attics and elsewhere by sympathetic locals. The novel’s first half matches the slow pace of Nina and Nico’s journey from Venice to the farm. The prose and evocative descriptions make up for the lack of real action, but the speed and conflicts pick up in the latter half. Robson uses numerous coincidences to sew the storylines together. While some seem extraordinary, it’s not clear if they’re based on real events. Highly recommended. Waheed Rabbani

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN

Erika Robuck, Berkley, 2021, $15.99, pb, 368pp, 9780593102145

The Nazis called her “The Limping Lady.” They also called her “the most dangerous of all Allied spies.” She was an American named Virginia Hall. From an upper-class Maryland family, Hall tried to join the WW2 war efforts, only to be turned down because she had lost the lower part of one leg in a hunting accident, and had an artificial leg. (She dubbed the prosthetic “Cuthbert.”) So Hall abandoned her attempts to join the American forces and became an SOE agent for England. In 1941 she was sent to France, where she survived for fifteen months – a considerable achievement since the average lifespan of SOE operatives in Occupied France was six weeks. She fled France just ahead of the Gestapo, only to return again in 1944 as a wireless operator. From then until the end of the war she

worked with the Resistance group known as the Maquis, sabotaging the Germans and preparing for the final military drive by the Allies into Occupied Europe. For her work during the war, Hall was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Distinguished Service Cross, and an OBE. And she became one of the early female employees of the newly-formed CIA. The Invisible Woman is a novel of Hall’s work during the 1944-1945 period. Her earlier efforts for the SOE and the Resistance are covered in flashbacks, which I consider a weakness in the book. I would have dearly loved to read about Hall’s 1941-1942 exploits in fuller detail. However, this is a fine novel; intense and gripping. The often-evocative prose reveals a courageous, complicated woman, and the author has an excellent grasp of the dangers and difficulties the Resistance faced, and of daily life under Nazi occupation. She’s done a great job of bringing Hall’s services to the Resistance to vivid life. It’s great seeing Virginia Hall get some of the attention she so richly deserves! India Edghill

THE LAST TIARA

M. J. Rose, Blue Box Press, 2021, $15.99, pb, 422pp, 9781952457098

In 1915 St. Petersburg, Russia, Sofiya Petrovitch trains as a nurse along with her dear friend the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna. And in the hospital, among the wounded soldiers, she meets the love of her life. Thirty years later, in 1948 New York City, her daughter Isobelle finds the framework of a tiara hidden in her late mother’s bedroom. All the gemstones are gone. Since Sofiya never allowed Isobelle to learn Russian, or told her anything about Sofiya’s life in Bolshevik Russia, Isobelle has no idea of the significance of the tiara. But a faint, decades-old clue leads Isobelle to a trail that takes her on the convoluted path to the truth. Isobelle’s a strong, determined woman – she’s an architect in a time when practically no women worked in that field – who spent World War II working on a top-secret building project. She’s a dedicated, excellent architect, but her personal life is quiet and lonely. When she begins her quest, she has no idea that backtracking her mother’s tiara will not only reveal her mother’s mysterious past to her, but lead her to a secretive organization dedicated to returning art treasures to their rightful owners, to adventure, to danger, and to love. Although there are a few minor problems with the book – specifically in the usage of Russian names and titles – I enjoyed it a great deal. As a Romanov junkie, I couldn’t resist the imperial tiara as a McGuffin! And the book certainly did not disappoint. Romantic and vivid, with an interesting cast of characters, fascinating historical detail (especially about the top-secret project during WWII), just a hint of magic realism, and an intricately woven plot, The Last Tiara is delightfully engrossing. India Edghill

MURDER ON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR

Sara Rosett, McGuffin Ink, 2020, $13.99, pb, 280pp, 9781950054350

When she inadvertently crashes a holiday house party, Olive Belgrave stumbles across more secrets than just what her sweetheart, Jasper Rimington, has been up to. Multiple guests are lying about their circumstances, and the butler, who turns up murdered, has his hand in both treason and blackmail plots. Calm, collected, and classy as ever, Olive agrees to take the case with Jasper assisting, but they have quite a tangled web to unravel. As with earlier books in this series, the house itself is a vivid character, gorgeously described. The plot is full of reveals and red herrings, and the characters are equally quirky: there’s the lawn tennis duo, Madge and Tommy; the slick Theo Culwell; Ambrose Eggers, snowflake photographer; and a shadowy network of anti-government actors who work in codes and ciphers. Light period language and detail place the book on the cusp of 1924 in England, but little slows down Rosett’s honed, supple prose. Clever, quickwitted, and always appropriately dressed, Olive is a fun heroine to keep up with, and Jasper’s emerging depths are a continuing delight. New readers will want to start at the beginning to appreciate Olive’s adventures in full. Misty Urban

COMES THE WAR

Ed Ruggero, Forge, 2021, $27.99, hb, 288pp, 9781250312877

It is April 1944, and the Allies are preparing to invade France. Lieutenant Eddie Harkins is in England, on orders to join the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), when an American civilian employee is murdered. Eddie’s put in charge of the investigation, but his superiors settle on a suspect very quickly. Ordered to close the case but doubting the guilt of the accused, he continues his investigation, aided by his driver, Private Pamela Lowell, a smart and resourceful ally. This is a fascinating look at the Allied forces in WWII England in 1944 prior to D-Day. It combines a fictional murder investigation with actual World War II history in a compelling way. The political fights between the commanding generals and the air-versusground-war philosophies are intriguing. The narrative contradicts some history books on the effectiveness of the air campaign during the war, particularly the raids of Major General James Doolittle, which may have caused thousands of unnecessary deaths for no real strategic gain. I also learned that General Dwight D. Eisenhower was so upset by the pushback from the Army Air Force and Royal Air Force generals against his plans that he threatened to quit his command and return to the United States just a few months before D-Day. I have read many books set in World War II, but this

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one really made me want to read more about the military history of the day. The characters are well developed, and the murder mystery and investigation are interesting and engaging, with many twists and turns. I would recommend this book, the second in the Eddie Harkins series, both to fans of World War II history and those of crime/ thriller fiction. Bonnie DeMoss

SON OF NOTHINGNESS

Ona Russell, Sunstone, 2020, $19.95, pb, 224pp, 9781632932983

In 1949 in Los Angeles, Andrew Martin— born Andrés Martinez—is a successful attorney representing management against workers. He has turned his back on his culture and his people, his very legacy. Although he is well respected, his entire life outside the courtroom consists of unemotional sexual encounters and a marvelous parrot named Emerson. But Andrew’s life is circumscribed by painful memories—his father’s passion for union politics, his mother’s death, his rejection by the military. What Andrew has been left with is a syndrome where his leg feels like it’s not part of him. Yet Andrew has managed to subordinate all of that and lives his life superficially, day-today. And then Penny, a Salvation Army member, enters his life with a secret that begins to haunt him. At the same time, Andrew is offered the opportunity to go to Sacramento to determine whether the US government is using ex-Nazis to spy on communists. The journey to Sacramento becomes a life passage and radically changes Andrew’s life and his understanding of his own history. In this brief novel, Russell captures the very soul of Andrew. We join him in his revelations, his pain, his transition from a seeming robotic state to a shared humanity. The language is concise but sings in Russell’s talented hands. It is a wonderful read and shouldn’t be missed. Ilysa Magnus

RED HANDS

Colin W. Sargent, Barbican Press, 2020, £12.99, pb, 312pp, 9781909954397

Red Hands opens like a thriller, and keeps up the tension, even as the narrative voice of Iordana Borila describes a golden, happy childhood in 1960s communist Romania. Things begin to lose their sheen when she meets Valentin Ceausescu, son of her father’s political rival. Their marriage – opposed by both sets of parents – launches Iordana on a trajectory described as “if Juliet did not die”. Sargent’s work reads like memoir, written in Iordana’s voice. But Sargent’s skilled writing provides vivid images, lively character studies, a portrait of a brutal, controlling regime, insights into the nature of love, friendship and courage, and tension maintained at such a pitch, that it was almost a relief when the blood eventually began to spill. In an era of books geared to gendered markets, there’s more than 52

enough of both romance and political intrigue to satisfy both groups. The cover blurb claims that the book is drawn from 800 hours of unique interviews with Iordana, a real person, who died in 2017. So why is Sargent’s book billed as a novel, and not a ghostwritten autobiography? In an interview with his publisher, Sargent explains “Novels are the highest form of truth”. That’s as may be. But in an era of “fake news”, I’d have been grateful for an author’s note to clarify these points. Without it, I am left wondering whether the 1980s are too close for “historical” fiction. Nevertheless, a great read. Helen Johnson

WHEN I COME HOME AGAIN

Caroline Scott, Simon & Schuster, 2020, £16.99, hb, 483pp, 9781471192173

Just days before the Armistice in November 1918, a soldier suffering from total amnesia is found in Durham Cathedral. Renamed Adam Galilee, he is taken to a rehabilitation home for ex-servicemen, where Dr James Haworth tries to help him recover his memory. But while Adam instinctively resists reliving past traumas, working with him stirs up memories of the war and the loss of his brother-in-law Nathaniel, for James. In turn, this puts his marriage to the talented potter Caitlin under strain. When Adam’s photograph is released to the press in an appeal to find his family, it unleashes the pent-up grief of the bereaved. Three women’s claims on Adam seem particularly convincing – but are any of them true? This thought-provoking and evocative novel deals with the lasting legacy of war on all survivors, including non-combatants, and the fluid nature of memory that can be moulded to fit facts retrospectively. It’s one of those books that has no stereotyped “villains”, only fully-developed characters damaged by events in their past, who sometimes do the wrong thing for the right reason. The Westmoreland countryside and Fellside House with its neglected walled garden are so vividly described that they become characters in their own right too. If I was nit-picking, I might point out that a farmer’s wife would know the difference between a sickle and a scythe and that occasionally the dialogue sounds a little modern (nobody in the 1920s would have used “gift” as a verb). Since this novel is inspired by real-life events, I would have appreciated a historical note to explain where the line between established fact and fiction lay. But otherwise I can’t recommend this novel highly enough. Scott’s acclaimed first novel The Photographer of the Lost has now been added to my (substantial) To Be Read list. Jasmina Svenne

IRENA’S WAR

James D. Shipman, Kensington, 2020, $15.95/ C$21.95, pb, 376pp, 9781496723888

Propulsive and intense, Irena’s War provides a front-row seat to the transformation of a

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

Polish social worker into one of World War II’s most admirable heroines, with her efforts in rescuing over 2000 Jewish children from the Holocaust. In September 1939, the Germans overtake Warsaw, but Irena Sendler isn’t deterred in her work of distributing food to the city’s starving poor. She takes risks early on, temporarily alienating her Jewish friends when the Germans ask her to continue her work on a larger scale. “She was going to beat them, but in order to do so, she had to be in the game,” she reasons. As restrictions tighten on Warsaw’s Jews, who are forbidden social services, Irena fudges paperwork to feed them; after hundreds of thousands are forced into a walled ghetto, she feels pressured to give up but finds ways of reaching them, at great danger to herself. Irena grows especially touched by the plight of the children and, with support of the resistance organization Żegota, she organizes a system of moving them out of the ghetto, into Aryan Warsaw, and into safe spaces. The novel dexterously conveys Irena’s compassion, toughness, and the effect her uncompromising stubbornness had on her loved ones. It’s impossible for her to save everyone, but this knowledge doesn’t make individual failures any less heartbreaking. Periodic dips into the viewpoint of Gestapo officer Klaus Rein (a fictional character) show firsthand what Irena is up against. It’s chilling to witness how he mentally separates his life as a devoted family man with his horrific actions. The plot lacks background on Irena’s difficult relationship with her mother and her growing romance with a Jewish friend, Adam; we experience their interactions inthe-moment without knowing the full history. Nonetheless, the story is riveting throughout and will leave readers marveling at the real-life Irena’s courage and accomplishments. Sarah Johnson

NICK

Michael Farris Smith, Little, Brown, 2021, $27.00, hb, 304pp, 9780316529761

In his new novel, Smith imagines the back story of Nick Carraway, narrator of Fitzgerald’s classic, The Great Gatsby. Exquisitely written, the book captures the texture and feel of warfare in European trenches and in the streets of Frenchtown, New Orleans. Nick’s spirit is chewed up by the Great War, and to keep himself sane as missiles explode and bodies disintegrate, he relives a short-lived, but passionate affair he had with a woman he met in Paris. When he’s finally given leave and returns to Paris, he finds her physically and emotionally damaged from a self-inflicted abortion. The first part of the book sizzles with the terror of warfare as Nick fights in the trenches, in the forests, and in the tunnels, where he almost loses his head (literally) but is saved by being face down on the floor crying in despair when a fire bomb explodes. The second part is somewhat less propulsive. Instead of returning home to

his family in Minnesota, he heads to New Orleans. His PTSD is triggered by a deadly fire in a brothel, but he finds solace with another victim of the war. While in New Orleans, he and his companions dive into the depths of degradation from drunken brawls to opium dens. The descriptions of this world vividly depict the material and spiritual plight of the denizens: “… a draft weaved from room to room like a spectral thread. Floorboard slats were missing here and there and gave the floor a gap-toothed grin and the only light came from the sun or from the moon or from the burning matches that lit the burning pipes.” While occasionally the narrative pace lags, this is a dark, beautifully written story, which should enthrall many readers even if they don’t give a fig about The Great Gatsby. Trish MacEnulty

AN IRISH COUNTRY WELCOME

Patrick Taylor, Forge, 2020, $26.99, hb, 368pp, 9781250257291

The latest in the endearing and longrunning Irish Country series, this most recent novel is a paean to new beginnings – whether they’re a new baby or a neophyte doctor who just may be out of his element amidst simple and gregarious country people. Young Dr. Barry Laverty’s wife is enduring a complicated pregnancy, while Barry and mentor Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly are endeavoring to break in a new trainee, Sebastian Carson. Sebastian appears to be an upper-crust snob with the trappings of an English “toff” who makes an exceedingly egregious first impression. As the new apprentice makes his rounds accompanied by Barry and/or Fingal, Sebastian reveals a few secrets of his own, which slowly change his colleagues’ opinions of him. As the doctors assist in deliveries, Barry worries about his own wife. Meanwhile Fingal supports one of his erstwhile patients and the small town of Balleybucklebo’s resident Master of Ceremonies, Donal Donnelly, in conducting a most satisfying sting operation against a local corrupt businessman. Slowly and deliberately paced, this book, like others in the series, is a collection of related tales of life in a town and countryside filled with overwhelmingly likeable characters. Fans of thrillers, action and adventures may find it wanting, but many satisfied readers over the years will know and welcome what this charming novel delivers. Since it is set in the late Sixties in Ireland’s northern six counties, there is some tension associated with the ongoing civil strife – loyalist Unionists versus the native Irish republicans. Ballybucklebo tries and seems to avoid the troubles going on elsewhere, however. There are also some extensive and detailed descriptions of the human anatomy during invasive medical procedures. Newcomers will find that the

book stands alone, and fans of James Herriot will be pleased. Thomas J. Howley

SECRETS OF THE RAILWAY GIRLS

Maisie Thomas, Abacus, 2020, £6.99, pb, 448pp, 9781787463974

Manchester, 1940. The story plays out around Victoria Railway Station in the centre of Manchester, where The Railway Girls have replaced the men who worked there and who are away at war. They keep the passenger and postal service going and keep the track maintained. The descriptions of the bombing raids that took place before and after Christmas 1940 are very vivid, as are the descriptions of the aftermath and the destruction and devastation of buildings and lives. There is much about this book to like in the descriptions (and importance) of food, clothing and leisure that keep the inhabitants going. There is a ‘further reading’ section at the end of the book with details of real-life accounts of wartime Manchester. The novel is full of women: in particular Dot (married mother with sons at war); Joan (living with her Gran and sister after the loss of her father) and Mabel (from a wealthy family further north, but recovering from a tragic car accident) – but there are a few men as well. There is Bob, Joan’s boyfriend and signalman on the railway; Mr Thirkle, Dot’s secret friend, and Mabel’s handsome new boyfriend, Harry. The women gain strength from the support of each other and their regular after-work meetings at the station buffet. Few of the characters remain untouched by tragedy and problems of the heart, but together they see it through. This book is for those interested in stories of the Home Front, wartime Manchester and romantic sagas. This volume is a sequel to The Railway Girls but can be read alone; The Railway Girls in Love will follow. Julie Parker

SECRETS OF THE LAVENDER GIRLS

Kate Thompson, Hodder & Stoughton, 2021, £6.99, pb, 448pp, 9781473698147

World War II, and three girls work on the factory line in the East End of London. But these girls don’t pack munitions. They pack lipstick. And, like young women since the dawn of time, what’s foremost in their minds is not the War, but clothes, makeup and men. Thompson brings to life the fashions, the smells and the banter of women working at Yardley’s cosmetics, famous for its lavender scent. Each girl puts on a ‘face’ – both makeup and the light-hearted banter on the factory line – because each girl has a secret problem at home. It would be a plot spoiler to reveal these problems, but the resulting arguments produce far more distress than the War. This is a read that has all the elements of commercial women’s fiction: handsome and

devoted lovers, glamorous clothing, grief swiftly comforted by solid friendships. The War is not centre stage: it’s a backdrop, just one more element in the complicated lives of London’s East End. And yet, Thompson’s work is underpinned by strong historical research. Each girl’s secret problem is rooted in lesser-publicised social histories of the War. The girls’ focus on clothes and men is entirely natural – think of people today, worrying about haircuts in the midst of a deadly pandemic. And, Thompson comments in her excellent author’s notes, Churchill ‘weaponised’ lipstick. He declared that ‘beauty is your duty’, fearing that if women neglected their appearance, it would lead to a general collapse in morale. Red lipstick – rumoured to be hated by Hitler – became a potent symbol of defiance. Cosmetics firms such as Yardley rose to the challenge. This book will appeal to readers who enjoy stories of strong female friendship, desirable lovers, students of fashion history, and nostalgia for those who remember the camaraderie of working on a factory line. Helen Johnson

THE SECRETS OF WINTER

Nicola Upson, Crooked Lane Books, 2020, $26.99/C$35.99, hb, 320pp, 9781643856346

In this ninth entry of the popular and imaginative series, famed mystery writer Josephine Tey and friends descend upon the beautiful and isolated Cornish island of St. Michael’s Mount to celebrate Christmas together. But it seems murder never takes a holiday. It is December 1938, and rumors of war are swirling. An invitation to pass a peaceful Christmas at the ancient castle atop the historic Mount draws a guest list ripe for animated conversations—including the controversial arrival of a world-famous actress seeking sanctuary from recent shadowy threats. Along with her partner, Marta, and longtime friend (and detective), Archie Penrose, Josephine prepares to enjoy the solitude with those she loves the most. When two brutal murders occur over the course of a savage blizzard effectively sealing off the island from the mainland, Archie— with the help of Josephine and Marta—must put together the confounding clues that eerily trigger memories of a horrific Christmas killing 20 years earlier… before the killer among them strikes again. Upson has lost none of her plotting chops in The Secrets of Winter, intricately weaving overlapping stories into a satisfying denouement that harkens back to the depthless appeal of the closed-room mystery. Fans will be charmed by the exotic locale and its history, the threatening portents creeping around every garret corner, and a cozy and affectionate storyline that reveals more of Josephine’s personal life. Highly recommended. Peggy Kurkowski

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THE COLD MILLIONS

Jess Walter, Harper, 2020, $28.99/C$35.99, hb, 342pp, 9780062868084 / Viking, 2021, £16.99, hb, 352pp, 9780241374573

Set in early 20th-century Spokane, Washington, Jess Walter’s The Cold Millions is the gripping story of two Irish American brothers caught up in a bitter labor dispute that engulfs the whole town. Handsome Gregory Dolan, the older brother, is a member of the International Workers of the World (IWW), a committed Wobbly who pulls naïve younger brother Ryan into the fray a lot farther than he wants to be. Along the way, the brothers become entangled with the wealthy capitalist Lemuel Brand, a beautiful vaudeville singer and animal tamer who bills herself as Ursula the Great, the firebrand labor organizer Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and many more dubious characters, including one so mean he could have jumped out of a Cormac McCarthy novel. When both brothers are arrested during a strike, and Ryan is released early, Brand pulls him under his wing and the complications begin. The novel captures the flavor of tawdry, brawling, hard-drinking turn-of-the-century boomtown Spokane, and downtrodden people struggling to better themselves against powerful moneyed interests who will do whatever it takes to keep their workers down and profits up. Although there are some fiery speeches, and the labor strife feels real, it is not the ultimate focus. The heart of this novel is the poignant relationship between the two brothers, and the acts of love and loyalty which keep them worrying about and pulling for one another in their long, lonely, eventful battle to survive. Walter’s characters are nicely drawn, with some, such as Gurley-Flynn, fictionalized versions of historical characters living during that time. The novel is vividly written. It has several good plot twists that kept this reader turning pages, and a satisfying ending. David Drum

GLAMOUR GIRLS

Marty Wingate, Alcove Press, 2021, $26.99/ C$36.99/£22.99, hb, 304pp, 9781643855271

Rosalie Wright wanted to fly ever since she saw a plane at a flying circus set up at an airfield near her family’s Lime Farm. Her father indulged her wishes, much to her mother’s consternation. With the advent of World War II, Rosalie found herself flying with the Air Transport Auxilary moving every type of aircraft across southern England. With the ATA stationed at Hamble near Southampton, Rosalie is billeted in the home of Mrs. May, a kind, but stern matron whose sons are off fighting. Living with them is Caro, a spitfire in her own right, and soon, a dear friend and near-sister to Rosalie. Told in a diary-like manner, detailing Rosalie’s days, how she gets from one airfield to the next, the types of planes she’s flying, and how they are used in the war, Glamour Girls is both a period piece showing the hardships 54

of life during the war, as well as Rosalie’s oftconfused outlook on life—whether it be the secret that Caro is trying to share or Rosalie’s foray into love with an RAF pilot to the human cost of the ATA service. A roguish ATA pilot with one poor eye and a mysterious name adds to the personal chaos that Rosalie endures. At times the story reads like a checklist— especially the ferry routes. There are the expected events—loss of a friend, a lovetriangle, a personal tragedy—that readers will find familiar, but Wingate throws a few twists along the way that help pull the story through the slow sections and help create a fascinating, well-researched look at the ATA and the “glamour girls” who helped win the war. Bryan Dumas

STELLA

Takis Würger (trans. Liesl Schillinger), Grove, 2021, $26.99/C$33.50, hb, 208pp, 9780802149176

How do people rationalize maintaining relationships with others who hold abhorrent views? This question makes Stella especially relevant – because its author is German, and the book explores the complexities of relational life in Berlin during World War II. In the city, Friedrich, who is young, naïve, Swiss, and rich, meets Stella, a quixotic, impoverished nightclub singer and Latin teacher who captures his heart. He also befriends a sophisticated German man, Tristan, who teaches him to fence and who has access to the finest foods and wines amid strict wartime rationing. Friedrich feels disappointed to discover that both Stella and Tristan are anti-Semites who support Adolf Hitler. But when he learns that Stella is, herself, a Jew, he is astonished and perplexed – but Stella is a survivor who will do what it takes to save herself and her family. The result is a complex and nuanced portrayal of characters who spring to life in all their messy contradictions. Würger’s writing, translated into English by Liesl Schillinger, is straightforward and spare, as deceptively simple as the complex questions it tackles: How did Germans allow the atrocities of the Third Reich to occur? Why didn’t they rise up? How did those who opposed government-sanctioned anti-Semitic attitudes and actions coexist with people who supported Hitler? And how did they sleep at night? When Friedrich asks his father why he remained married to his mother, a staunch Nazi, we find an answer. “To each his own,” his father says. As shown in the novel, denial is a choice that its characters make to get by. Sherry Jones

THE STASI GAME

David Young, Zaffre, 2020, £7.99, pb, 368pp, 9781838772529

Dresden, Communist East Germany, 1982. Hauptmann Karin Müller of the People’s Police and her small team are tasked with

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

investigating the murder of a man found encased in concrete. However, the shadowy presence of men from the infamous Ministry of State Security, better known as the Stasi, indicate that this is not a straightforward criminal case but potentially has political overtones, which are the province of the Stasi. Müller only has a small team, who struggle to determine whether the information passed to them by agents of the Stasi is genuine or not. Is Müller leading the investigation or is she being led; is she the bait or the prey? Intertwined with the criminal investigation is the story of Arnold Southwick and Lotti Rolf, who first became friends in 1938. More than forty years later, Arnold reconnects with Lotti. Arnold’s baby brother died during the Hull Blitz in May 1941, and Lotti was disfigured during the relentless bombing of Dresden in February 1945. Arnold’s determination to publish his paper proving that the bombing of Dresden was a war crime, a belief that is still fervently held by some today, leads him into the underworld of the Stasi and MI6, neither of whom want his research to see the light of day. The Stasi Game is the sixth in the Stasi series, and Young assures readers that it can be read as a standalone, but I would have been more engaged with the characters if I knew more about their backgrounds. I found the book fascinating and the tenuous relationship between the two organs of the state, the People’s Police and the Stasi particularly interesting. Marilyn Pemberton

MULTI-PERIOD

THE BROTHERS OF AUSCHWITZ

Malka Adler (trans. Noel Canin), One More Chapter, 2020, £8.99/$16.99, pb, 433pp, 9780008398439

The Brothers of Auschwitz recounts the story of two brothers from Hungary, Dov and Yitzhak, who survive the concentration camps and death marches of the Holocaust. As teenagers after the war, they moved to a village in Galilee, and the author/narrator interviews them in their old age. The book is based on the true stories of these brothers, as well as the author’s reckoning with their history as a Jew and an Israeli. The language is sparse, appropriate for harrowing, traumatic experiences. As with any Holocaust story, the details are horrific and heartbreaking and repetitive of other books of this type. That is, of course, not a critique of the novel but of humanity. The differences in the brothers’ personalities and the effects of their trauma gives this book emotional heft. The reader comes away feeling as if they’ve spent hours getting to know Dov, the optimistic yet fragile brother, and Yitzhak, the cynical and determined younger brother. There are moments of hope that stem from how strong these men had to be, including their reunion in Buchenwald and Yitzhak’s work to keep Dov

alive during the death marches and in the hospital after the war ended. The narrator’s interludes set this book apart. She reflects on what the brothers tell her, often during train travel to and from their home. These sections occur in 2001, at the time of the Second Intifada and increasing violence in Israel/Palestine. After the brothers tell of their initial train travel to the camps with German soldiers pointing guns at them, the narrator finds herself on a crowded train platform observing an Israeli soldier who stands casually with a weapon inadvertently pointed at her. “A state like a weapon depot,” she thinks. Because of her relationship with the brothers and her mission to hear and tell their experiences, she sees the world around her differently—which is uncomfortable. Jill E. Marshall

BETRAYAL

Judith Arnopp, Cryssa Bazos, Anna Belfrage, Derek Birks, Helen Hollick, Amy Maroney, Alison Morton, et al., Historical Fictioneers, 2020, free, ebook, 436pp, B08NGJXM6L

An anthology of twelve stories from twelve different historical authors, each story in Betrayal involves—you guessed it—betrayal of some sort. The tales span the ages, from the 5th century CE to the present day, with the majority of the stories taking place from the 14th to the 18th centuries. While each of the stories is professionally written and flush with historical atmosphere, the following stood out to me. “Death at the Feet of Venus” by Derek Birks, is an actionpacked, authentic tale about a Roman Dux in 5th-century Britannia. “Love to Hatred Turn’d” by Annie Whitehead, set in the Anglo-Saxon court, provides a sweeping scope, fine period details, and beautiful writing. “A Knight’s Tale” by Charlene Newcomb, my favorite piece, is a gritty, unabashedly sexy portrait of a 12th-century knight’s gay relationships, with a bittersweet edge. Anna Belfrage’s “All Those Tangled Webs” involves court machinations in 14th-century England, engagingly written and poignant, if a bit overburdened with characters. Judith Arnopp’s exploration of treason against King Richard III, “House Arrest,” is cleverly written. Another favorite of mine, “A Not So Bonny Betrayal” by Helen Hollick, revolves around 18th-century pirates and the character of rowdy, lusty Anne Bonny, making it an entertaining and surprising read. Other subjects include the reign of Henry IV, Cyprus and Greece in the 15th century, dark doings in the Tower of London, privateer Francis Drake, scandalous highwaymen, and an alternative history of Rome. For those who enjoy vivid short fiction, sampling new authors, and experiencing a variety of times, places, and situations, you can’t go wrong picking up a copy of this delightful anthology. Xina Marie Uhl

WE ALL FALL DOWN: Stories of Plague and Resilience

David Blixt, Jean Gill, Kristin Gleeson, J. K. Knauss, Laura Morelli, Katherine Pym, Deborah Swift, Melodie Winawer, and Lisa J. Yarde, Alhambra Press, 2020, $14.99, pb, 210pp, 9781939138200

In these pandemic times, readers of historical fiction will find deep resonance with stories of the Black Death and other pandemics. In this short story collection, editor J. K. Knauss asks nine award-winning writers for their take on the theme: “Plague has no favorites.” Most stories are set in the time of the Black Death (ca. 1347), but we also journey to Ireland after the Norman Invasion and Ottoman-occupied Greece, and time-travel between 2020 and London in plague times. The Black Death (then termed “The Great Mortality”) swept across the known world. Paupers, slaves, wealthy merchants, a king’s mistress, and those around great artists like Dante and Titian all suffered. Readers will also read how, without modern scientific equipment, brilliant minds struggled to understand the causes of bubonic plague and how it might be fought, often coming astonishingly close to the truth. Most of the authors are novelists and thus writing out of their habitual format. Perhaps as a result, several stories seem overfreighted with historical fact, scene-setting, or a multiplicity of characters, which can be cumbersome in a short story. In the best of these entries, we follow a single character’s quest for love, salvation, and survival against the backdrop of an epidemic which shredded the social fabric and destroyed all certainties. Each story is followed by an author statement of the inspiration, background, and historical sources of the narrative. Pamela Schoenewaldt

SURVIVING SAVANNAH

Patti Callahan, Berkley, 2021, $26.00, hb, 432pp, 9781984803757

One hundred and eighty years after the steamship Pulaski exploded at sea, history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to curate a museum collection on newly discovered artifacts. As she researches the artifacts and attempts to solve its mysteries, she learns about the Longstreets, a prominent Savannah family who were on the Pulaski, and two known survivors, Augusta Longstreet and her niece Lilly Forsyth. As she delves into their stories, she also grapples with the hit and run death of her closest friend over a year ago, which has left her emotionally paralyzed and scarred. Patti Callahan alternates between the modern-day story about Everly and her search for the clues and information about the Pulaski and the Longstreet family, and the 1838 story, featuring Augusta and Lilly. Of the two, the historical stories win hands-down.

Both Augusta and Lilly are women of their times, dependent on their family, especially the males, but their struggles at sea after the boiler explosion, and amid the fear and heavy loss, reveal courage and a resilience to survive that elevates them and brings on newfound strength. I was especially taken by Lilly’s story and her response to her abusive husband. I could not get into the modern-day story mainly because I didn’t care for Everly or the oftentimes melodramatic responses and stereotypical characterizations. Whatever personal growth came from Everly’s ultimate awareness, spurred by the knowledge gained about the Pulaski survivors, was outshined by the depth of the historical stories and the women and their development. Franca Pelaccia

THESE GHOSTS ARE FAMILY

Maisy Card, Simon & Schuster, 2020, $28.00/ C$35.00, hb, 271pp, 9781982117436

Two events frame this complex, multicharacter narrative. Black Jamaican, Abel Paisley’s friend dies in a work accident, but, since ‘the captain has got his wogs confused’, Abel is declared dead. Taking his dead friend’s name, he leaves his family and begins again. Near the end of his life he confesses to his estranged children, as Vera, his first wife’s ghost hovers at his bedside, wondering if her daughter will kill him before Vera gets the chance. The second event involves Debbie Norgood, the Swedish daughter-in-law that Abel doesn’t know. A cross-referencing DNA study reveals that, although 100% White, she has dozens of Black cousins. By way of explanation her father gives her a tattered journal written by her four-times-greatgrandfather, who owned a Jamaican slave plantation around 1813. Debbie is sickened by the unrelenting cruelty in the entries, and wonders if evil can be passed down. Card’s initial use of ‘Let’s say you are’ and ‘Now, let’s say’ pulls the reader smoothly into her story and works well to aid in understanding the characters and their motivations. In no chronological order we roam back and forth through the years from 1813 to 1832 and from 1966 to 2020. From the journal and other ‘confessions’ we learn of the rape of Black slaves, the importance of concealing one’s ‘blackness’, the fear of discovery, regardless of skin colour. Card provides a family tree, to which I referred often. I had some trouble with the humorous Jamaican patois as it inevitably paces one’s reading, but it is vital to the characterisations and well worth the effort to understand it because the story is compelling. Card’s novel is about the ties that bind a family’s history, the good and the not-so-good. The author pulls in scenes of traditional Jamaican folklore and superstition to aid in understanding. A timeless, yet timely subject makes this a wellrecommended debut. Fiona Alison

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THE ORCHARD HOUSE

Heidi Chiavaroli, Tyndale, 2021, $15.99, pb, 432pp, 9781496434739

Chiavaroli’s latest, The Orchard House, is a dual timeline book set in Concord, Massachusetts in the 1860s and 2019. The 21stcentury portion of the story focuses on Taylor Bennett, a 37-year-old prodigal daughter, who returns home after more than a decade and a half when she learns that her mother has breast cancer. Now a bestselling author, Taylor fled Concord after her sister’s betrayal. But being back in Concord has forced Taylor to confront her difficult past and her feelings of inadequacy, all while reconnecting with her sister, Victoria, through their shared love of Louisa May Alcott and her Orchard House in Concord. The other storyline occurs in the 1860s, as Johanna Suhre befriends Louisa May Alcott. Johanna eventually goes to Concord to help care for Alcott’s parents. Feeling like there has to be more to life, Johanna is happy to be in Concord, making her own way. Difficulties lie ahead for Johanna, but luckily she has Louisa there to help her through. Though this was an easy book to read, I was disappointed with The Orchard House. I was expecting a book with more substance and instead, Chiavaroli’s book is more historical fiction chick lit (this is a perfectly fine genre if that’s what you’re in the mood for). But I wanted more historical facts and details, a sense of a different place and time, and more three-dimensional, fleshed-out characters. I was also disappointed that Louisa May Alcott was a minor character since Johanna was the focus of the story set in the 1860s. Ultimately, the two storylines also connected in a much too coincidental way, and the book was predictable. Julia C. Fischer

FLOWING WATER, FALLING FLOWERS

X. H. Collins, Midwest Writing Center, 2020, $15.00, pb, 260pp, 9781733480239

As her life begins to fall apart, Rose Ming decides to accept her mom’s invitation to return to China and visit relatives. During the flight, Rose experiences a strange dream encouraging her to find a forgotten ancestor. Upon waking, Rose learns the women in her family have all experienced this same dream. Who is this ancestor, and why was she erased from their family history? Switching between the present and early 1900s China, this far-reaching drama slowly unravels through the eyes of the women in their family. Social constraints lead to difficult choices and devastating secrets that will change everything her family understands about their past. While well-researched, the emotional impact is light, with everything being told to the reader, including what and how they should feel at each moment. Some deeply poignant moments don’t quite land. The prose needs a bit more finesse. For example, Collins writes, “Lake Michigan shimmered in the afternoon 56

light, and my thoughts flew like its water as I jogged.” This doesn’t quite paint the narrative picture the author probably intends, as water doesn’t “fly” per se. Letting moments and even the analogies flourish a bit more would help enliven the narrative. However, Collins does bring to life sights, smells, and enticing food delicacies, both past and present. I found myself absorbed in the stories, particularly the women’s struggles during the Qing dynasty, and the setting is beautiful to behold. J. Lynn Else

PLAIN BAD HEROINES

emily m. danforth, illus. Sara Lautman, William Morrow, 2020, $27.99, hb, 640pp, 9780062942852 / The Borough Press, 2021, £14.99, hb, 640pp, 9780008346928

In 1902, two young women are obsessed with the scandalous writing of (real-life author) Mary MacLane and in love with each other. Meanwhile in the year 20— (essentially today but without the pandemic) the world’s hottest (and lesbian) movie star Harper Harper is going to star in a movie about said (dead) girls. The dual timeline of this quick-witted novel toggles between a trio of women involved in a movie about the sapphic women who died tragic deaths at a cursed Rhode Island estate, and the early 20th-century stories of the dead women and their loves. As the movie production moves haltingly toward the film that the narrator slyly promises on the first page, ominous echoes of the past appear: hallucinations, rotten apples, ghostly presences and, most of all, wasps. The three present-day women are caught in a triangle with both each other and the horrors of the past, while the women in the past grope toward what is surely a tragic ending. emily m. danforth daubs on the gothic whimsy with a heavy brush, layering the story with references to MacLane’s popular memoir, popular fandom, social media, and pop culture both contemporary and historical. For a novel pitched as a horror story, there’s an awful lot of foreboding and relatively little screaming, and some of the plot twists seem obvious (particularly when the too-cute-byhalf footnotes nudge the reader in the right direction). But there is more than enough wonderful character development, creepy dark forests, and clever interrogation of art and artifice to make this an utterly enjoyable read. Recommended. Carrie Callaghan

THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND

Julia Kelly, Gallery, 2021, $28.00, hb, 368pp, 9781982107826

Three women; three time periods. All connected by one garden. The storyline takes the reader to 1907, 1944, and the present, during which the women struggle with their personal lives and careers. Venetia Smith, who suffers the consequences of ambition and love, is the original garden designer for Highbury House. Beth Pedley is a land girl who longs

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

for a place to call home, and Highbury House gives her the opportunity. Emma Lovett is hired to restore the garden at Highbury House while tackling her career trajectory. To be honest, the connection between the garden and the women is rather tenuous; the author seems to struggle to find a way to connect the stories. The novel’s strength lies in the individual stories, which in themselves could be their own separate novels. In the last chapter, they finally come together, but not strongly enough to redeem the lack of connection throughout the rest of the novel. Unfortunately, the multi-period approach here falls short. Overall, I did find The Last Garden in England enjoyable despite my disappointment with the multi-period aspect. I’m sure readers will find it an enjoyable read, too. Andrea Connell

THE LAST TEA BOWL THIEF

Jonelle Patrick, Seventh Street, 2020, $15.95, pb, 336pp, 9781645060222

In present-day Tokyo, Nori Okuda thinks she may have found a tea bowl crafted by the Pottery Priest Yoshi Takamatsu in the 1700s. Robin Swan, a graduate student and expert in Takamatsu tea bowls, is hoping to gain access to an unpublished manuscript that will support her thesis of a link between the potter and the poet Saburo. The women come together to learn that the tea bowl has been stolen more than once over the course of three centuries and for motives other than profit. The Last Tea Bowl Thief moves from the Japan of today to the Edo Period and wartime 1945. It elegantly presents aspects of Japanese beliefs and customs, appreciates the artistry and technique of transforming clay into the handless chawan used to foster loyalty, retain power, and consolidate allegiances between daimyo and nobles in tea ceremonies, and highlights the revelations that come in ordinary moments and the attachments in life that give rise to suffering and are meant to be broken. The novel is author Patrick’s latest mystery set in Japan and her first historical mystery. She has written four crime novels in the Only In Tokyo series and produces monthly newsletters focused on things Japanese. A graduate of the Sendagaya Japanese Institute, Patrick splits her time between San Francisco and Tokyo. Part love story, part lament, part investigation, The Last Tea Bowl Thief is meant to be savored. K. M. Sandrick

THE LOST APOTHECARY

Sarah Penner, Park Row, 2021, $27.99, hb, 320pp, 9780778311010 / Legend Press, 2021, £14.99, hb, 288pp, 9781789558975

Penner’s debut weaves an enthralling tale of a modern woman whose discovery of a centuries-old serial killer helps her come to terms with the upheaval in her own life. Caroline, an American, arrives alone in London for what was supposed to be an anniversary trip with a husband she recently learned has

been unfaithful. For solace, Caroline turns to an activity she once loved: unearthing the histories of longforgotten people. An episode of mudlarking in the riverbed of the Thames leads Caroline to a small glass vial with a mysterious marking and then to the British Library where, by steps, she pieces together the shocking history of the apothecary killer. In London, 1791, Nella is troubled by her latest customer: smart, inquisitive Eliza Fanning, 12, seeking a poison to kill an employer who is making unwanted advances. For twenty years, spurred by a heart-breaking betrayal, Nella has devoted her skills to helping women remedy household aches and free them from male cruelty. But Nella has the feeling that her deeds are about to catch up with her, and when her next customer, the arrogant Lady Clarence, insists that Nella break her rule and sell her a poison that will harm another woman, Nella proves to be right. Caroline’s discovery has repercussions she couldn’t have imagined, and the suspense that builds as Nella, Eliza, and Caroline’s stories begin to overlap draws the reader in as surely as the well-paced, musical prose. The unexpected twists are as much a delight as the haunted atmosphere; Nella and Eliza live in a vaguely magical world, where female community and knowledge of the elements are sources of power, and Caroline learns to draw on these resources to renew her own strength. A completely absorbing story of the power of secrets and finding one’s way. Misty Urban

FORGIVING STEPHEN REDMOND

A. J. Sidransky, Black Opal Books, 2021, $12.49, pb, 306pp, 9781953434524

It’s August 2006, in Washington Heights, New York City, and Detectives Tolya Kurchenko and Pete Gonzalvez are investigating the excavation of a corpse found in the wall of a tenement apartment that is currently being demolished. After an examination of the body, it was found to have been enclosed in the wall since the 1960s. Nearby lives Stephen Redmond, a Rabbi, whom the detectives must question because his father, Max Rothman, along with his partner Ernest “Erno” Eisen, previously owned the apartment building. Stephen “Shalom” Rothman was 12 years old at the time, while his father has since died. Erno is still alive, lives in Washington Heights, and is over 90 years old and in poor health. Erno is next to

be questioned. Detectives Kurchenko and Gonzalvez remember Stephen because of the circumstances around the death of his father. This multi-period novel is the third book in the Forgiving series. Because there are spoilers included that affect the reading of the first book, Forgiving Máximo Rothman, I read it as well. I am glad I did and recommend that you will enjoy this third novel even better. The mystery of the discovered corpse and the life of the ancestors of Stephen Redmond/ Rothman relates to the early Jewish settlement in the Dominican Republic before World War II. Excellent characterization portrayals make this series enjoyable and kept me interested until the final page. A must read for those who are interested in the Jewish experience. Jeff Westerhoff

IN THIS LAND OF PLENTY

Mary Smathers, mks publishing, 2020, $16.99, pb, 454pp, 9780997855722

When Nicole Sinclair, a young California woman, gets the results of a DNA test, she’s shocked to find that her ancestry contains Spanish, Native American, and Irish forebears. Shortly thereafter, she gets to know her feisty great-grandmother, Irene, and her efforts to help her grandmother stay in her Victorian home in San Francisco pit Nicole against her father and estranged half-sister in a fight over who will control the family legacy. Unfolding alongside Nicole’s trials are the stories of the ancestors she hopes to discover. Diego Castro leaves Barcelona to sail to New Spain and, as a soldier helping spread missions up the Pacific coast, is with Ortega when he first discovers San Francisco Bay. Joaquina and her parents make the weary march with de Anza from the Sonoran Desert to Monterey and find prosperity in the new land. Sholeta, an Ohlone woman forced to work in the mission, finds safety in Diego’s house and bears him sons who will have very different destinies in Alta California. As they face war, growth, and change, the stories of love, tragedy, and betrayal among Nicole’s ancestors tell the larger history of California as a multi-storied, multicultural land. The historical backstories, by far the bulk of the book, make the frame story feel frail at times; the past settings are more richly detailed and the characters emotionally complex. Most poignant are the conflicts of the female ancestors, forced to sacrifice for the well-being of their families, and the fates of the natives of the area, all but eradicated. Though the writing tends more toward summary than scene, the prose is smooth and the research strong. Smathers’ novel offers a nuanced and appreciative illustration of a complicated past, threaded through with hope for unity and understanding. A rewarding and enriching read. Misty Urban

TIMESLIP

THE RUNES OF DESTINY

Christina Courtenay, Headline Review, 2020, £9.99, pb, 362pp, 9781472268242

The Runes of Destiny is the follow-up to Christina Courtenay’s magical Echoes of the Runes. Although the books share a location and some characters, The Runes of Destiny can stand alone as a complete story. When Linnea takes part in an archaeological dig, she does not bargain on being thrown back in time to Viking-era Sweden or being captured by the warrior Hrafn. As Linnea is taken on a gruelling voyage to Miklagardr (Istanbul) to be sold as a slave, she begins to form a bond with Hrafn and with the other women on board, and she wonders if her future might lie in the past. At the same time, Hrafn comes to rely on Linnea’s knowledge even though he suspects her of sorcery and starts to reconsider selling her. This is a brilliant time travel romance, full of adventure and with great characters. Courtenay has done some fantastic research on the perils of travel and the practicalities of food, shelter and clothing. She also deals wonderfully with the huge gulf in culture and beliefs between the romantic leads. An ideal choice for readers of Outlander or The Last Kingdom. Lisa Redmond

THE UPSTAIRS HOUSE

Julia Fine, Harper, 2021, $26.99, hb, 240pp, 9780062975829

Margaret Wise Brown may not be a household name, but her book Goodnight Moon, published in 1947, is one of the most popular children’s books of all time. In weird and wonderful ways, that book and its author form the foundation (pun very much intended) of The Upstairs House. This is not a historical novel in the strict sense of the term: most of the novel is set in 2017 and focuses on Megan, an academic and new mother haunted by her unfinished dissertation, which is about modernism and children’s literature. She is also haunted by Margaret Wise Brown, a minor figure in her dissertation. Feeling ambivalent about motherhood and misunderstood by her loved ones, Megan finds a turquoise door in the stairwell of her condo building that leads to Margaret in 1941. Eventually she also meets Michael Strange, Margaret’s real-life female lover, an aggressive presence who demands that Megan modify her dissertation by writing about her. Complicating matters further, Megan can’t predict when she’ll encounter Margaret and Michael: they appear freely in different places in Megan’s world. Wondering if these women from the 1940s are really there or the manifestation of postpartum psychosis, Megan alternates between ignoring them and taking their advice, sometimes too literally. Megan’s anxieties about motherhood and her dissertation combine to form a manylayered, deep exploration of what it means to be a mother, a daughter, and a woman. The story takes the reader to some strange places: moments of pure gothic terror mix with others that made me laugh out loud as I recognized

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truths about my own identity as a woman. Witty, dark, and unflinchingly honest, this is a gem of a novel that defies genre. Clarissa Harwood

HISTORICAL FANTASY THE UNFINISHED LAND

Greg Bear, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021, $26.00, hb, 384pp, 9781328589903

Bear is a celebrated fantasy/SF author who brings his considerable world-building skills to this alternative version of Renaissance England. The narrative begins as fifteen-yearold Reynard clings to life on a sinking ship, a casualty of the Spanish Armada’s failed attack on England in 1588. He is rescued by a Spanish crew desperately trying to navigate through the famous storm that defeated the attack; hoping that Reynard can guide them up the English Channel to escape around the north of the islands, they instead find themselves marooned on a mysterious island populated by time vampires, dragons, and magicians. If that sounds confusing, it unfortunately is. Bear’s fantasy world is massive, created and peopled by figures from a wide variety of mythic traditions, and Reynard is propelled from one location to another with very little idea of what is expected of him or even who he really is. Each new location, described in exhaustive detail, brings a new cryptic character to give Reynard hints and warnings, but the big picture takes forever to come together. It will take a very patient reader to stay with Reynard’s months of wanderings, given the lack of character development and relationships. The experience is much more like a gorgeously designed video-game world in which each character tells a long story about the past and gives the protagonist a puzzle to solve, before moving on to the next setting. Reynard is a frustratingly passive character, and the reader soon grows tired of being talked at in Ren-Faire formal dialogue. All the characters sound exactly alike, and give and withhold information in annoyingly arbitrary ways. If Bear was attempting to achieve the effect of a dreamlike art gallery, he succeeded, but most readers will long for an actual story. Kristen McDermott

THE TOWER OF FOOLS

Andrzej Sapkowski (trans. David A. French), Orbit, 2020, $16.99/C$22.99, pb, 549pp, 9780316423694 / Gollancz, 2020, £20.00, hb, 560pp, 9781473226128

This is the first book of a fantasy/historical trilogy set in Silesia during the 15th century when the followers of early Protestant Czech Jan Hus, burned for heresy in 1415, held sway in next-door Bohemia. Jan Zizka is also dead, so the year may be 1425—nothing more precise is necessary. Our hero is young Reinmar of Bielawa, who instantly wins the hatred of the Stercza clan by having intimate relations with the young wife of their brother, absent on an anti-Hussite crusade. The plot is instantly recognized as the 58

ever-popular episodic fantasy with Reinmar gaining more adversaries but also fascinating allies on every page of derring-do, pitched battles at crossroads, narrow escapes from towers and shadowy mages. The magic is actually surprisingly limited, but the action is wonderfully done. Also a delight is the subtle humor that can only come from a knowledge of the time period and territory frontwards and back, its theological entanglements as well as anachronisms, forgiven for the jesting, knowledgeable way they are incorporated. The author has also gifted us with the very popular Witcher series, books and film, but I enjoyed the link to real history even more, even though that link is a bit tenuous—we recognize a young Nicolaus Copernicus who actually wasn’t born until 1473. All these Eastern European names may be daunting. Fortunately, Sapkowski has such a driving style and such well-controlled narrative that our ignorance is no hindrance to pleasure. If we need to know, we will be ushered in the correct direction. The translator, David French, also deserves praise. Ann Chamberlin

THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE

V. E. Schwab, Tor, 2020, $26.99/C$34.99, hb, 448pp, 9780765387561 / Titan, 2020, £17.99, hb, 560pp, 9781785652509

What if your story couldn’t be told, your name died on your lips, and your face was forgotten the moment it was out of sight? Your freedom infinite, your profiles endless, your barriers reduced. France, 1714. Addie runs from a life she never wanted, a life she prayed to avoid. The old gods and the new have not granted her reprieve, but as darkness falls, she throws out one last gift, one last wish, one least plea. A deal is struck, and a life is reshaped. Adeline LaRue is no more, and Addie is free to find her way through the world. New York City, 2014. Addie has yet to exhaust the possibilities of entertainment in New York City, but those with its people are caught in an exhausted loop. Never a smile of recognition, never a shared smile of mutual recollection. This is hardly new in her three hundredth year, but loneliness is a hunger all its own. She thinks she knows all the rules of the game, but three small words bring her understanding crashing around her. The 2014 storyline is woven through backstories as readers explore Addie’s invisible life. Schwab’s writing style is evocative, and in the times I didn’t connect to the plot, I was caught in the emotion, the demanded pound of flesh as I considered my own attachments and inherent sense of self, my notions of love and ache and need. The novel is written with a slow pace, and readers who prefer a fast pace and hard plotline may wish to save this for a lazy day; I found it perfect for a sunny Saturday

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with time to savor the character study and thought-provoking tale. Anna Bennett

OF KINGS AND GRIFFINS

Judith Starkston, Bronze Age, 2020, $16.99, pb, 474pp, 9781732833975

Of Kings and Griffins is the third novel in a fantasy series set in Hitolia, a fictional realm based on the Hittite Empire. Tesha, a priestess, and her husband, Hattu, rule a kingdom in the north, part of the Great King’s lands. But the Great King has died. His young son Urhi, an untried teenager, now reigns. Urhi resists Hattu’s attempts at mentorship, and Tesha’s attempts to use magic to ease that relationship boomerang. Meanwhile the griffin king, intent on a mission to save his infant cubs from disaster, magically kidnaps Tesha’s blind sister, Daniti, stealing her away to the far-off land of the griffins. Tribes to the north threaten the empire, and Hattu’s soldiers are attacked by a malevolent curse Tesha cannot successfully combat, while Urhi, despite his inexperience, believes he knows best how to govern. Prepare to be transported to an ancient realm where vengeful gods speak to mortals, miraculous beasts soar through the sky, and kings, spies, and sorcerers vie for influence and power. Judith Starkston does a fine job of creating a fantasy world thoroughly grounded in the history of the ancient Middle East. The complex and intriguing plot, set in a dramatic world where magic and sorcery affect everyday life, draws the reader in. Readers who enjoy fantasy and royal machinations should enjoy this inventive novel of a magical ancient empire. Susan McDuffie

CLOCKWORK GYPSY

Jeri Westerson, illus. Robert Carrasco, Dragua Press, 2020, $15.99, pb, 280pp, 9780998223858

Clockwork Gypsy sees the return of Leopold Kazsmer, a sleight-of-hand performer with the ability to wield true magic. As in the first book of Westerson’s Enchanter Chronicles, set in steampunk London, Kazsmer must save the world, this time from a mysterious railroad cabal, even as he continues to search for his father, struggle with longing and lust for the formidable Mingli Zhao and, last but not least, deal with a tormented cyborg out to decapitate him—the “clockwork gypsy.” Deftly entwined lines of plot and magic keep the book moving, but Kazsmer himself never gains much appeal, despite his ongoing identity angst. Among other decidedly unheroic traits, he’s just too prissy. The assertive Zhao tends to evoke from him blushes and shocked cries of “Miss Zhao!” Clockwork Gypsy’s fantastical critters redeem its less interesting protagonist. Westerson masterfully conjures up a throng of gollums and goblins, a tarot-card-reading automaton, demons and daemons, ghosts, faeries, trolls, pixies, a clubroom of ensorcelled men, and the creepy “clockwork gypsy” himself. All mingle

and clash in a pseudo-Victorian London replete with bionic body parts, magic goggles, dirigibles, stinky trains, Scotland Yard, dingy theaters, and smog and pea-soup fog. Jean Huets

ALTERNATE HISTORY

THE STERLING DETECTIVE

Tim Standish, Unbound, 2020, £10.99, pb, 304pp, 9781789650853

Set in an alternate Victorian England of 1896, this debut novel tells of Captain Charles Maddox, who has been exiled to Canada for ten years for a murder he doesn’t remember committing, but who secretly returns after only eight. He is captured by the feared Bureau of Engine Security but is very cleverly rescued by a shadowy government agency called the Map Room. Maddox is offered a choice by the fabulous Milady: either return to prison or work as an agent – codename Sterling – and investigate the cold Ripper case, in order to discover which government officials conspired to influence the original and enable the perpetuation of a series of terrible murders. So begins an exciting, intriguing and very clever tale told in the first person by Maddox. The England he describes is recognisable not only from a historical point of view, but also from a modern one: police scour the streets in hot-air balloons; static dirigibles, the Victorian equivalent of CCTVs, are positioned on every street; teleprint machines allow instant communication between remote parties; analytical engines operated by “tappers” send and receive information. Patience, the brilliant tapper, complains that there are “Too many tappers trying to steal stuff”. Sound familiar? The final equivalent of a car chase is achieved by our intrepid team racing across the countryside after the villains in a hot-air balloon in their mechanical “springheels,” which allows the wearer to run fast and leap high. I found the world that Standish creates fascinating and believable. All the characters are engaging and entertaining, and the novel will be enjoyed by any reader who loves historical, espionage and/or adventure books. By the end there are still unanswered questions, which leave me with the hope that Standish is currently writing the next book in a series. Highly recommended. Marilyn Pemberton

CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULT WISHES AND WELLINGTONS

Julie Berry, Sourcebooks, 2020, $16.99, hb, 384pp, 9781728223254

Maeve Merritt, aspiring adventuress and champion of eyerolls and flying fists, is the bane of Miss Salamanca’s School for Upright

Young Ladies—especially after one of her escapades results in unearthing a djinni. But this djinni isn’t like the ones found in the pages of a story. Maeve’s is stinky and rude, and wound up tight in an old tin of sardines. With three wishes at her command, her dear friend, Alice, and an orphan boy, Tom, at her side, Maeve is ready to explore the world. But when danger lurks and a whiskered gentleman appears, Maeve suspects someone is out to steal her sardine tin djinni and she must choose what’s more important: adventure and riches, or friendship. Wishes and Wellingtons is a delightful middle-grade story set in late 1800s London with a spunky heroine. Maeve is exceedingly fun to read, both for her energy and her inner dialogue, which tends to be perfectly irreverent. Alice lends the voice of reason to any situation, and Tom is up for anything as the trio takes off on one of Maeve’s wishes—a trip to ancient Persia—but quickly finds themselves back in London, dodging constables and making new friends. While I was disappointed at first that the story did not expand on what they found in Persia, the characters are engaging, and the story has enough excitement to carry it through. Holly Faur

FLOODED: Requiem for Johnstown

Ann E. Burg, Scholastic, 2020, $18.99/C$24.99, hb, 336pp, 9781338540697

Flooded is a novel of first-person, freeverse poems told in three parts. In part one, readers meet some residents of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1889 (mostly children and young adults) who describe their daily lives, their friends and families, their dreams and fears. In part two, the dam above Johnstown breaks, and these, and other, residents describe the horrors of the disaster. In part three, the survivors, the dead, their loved ones, those who arrived to help the survivors and find the victims, and those responsible for the disaster, all narrate. Winding through these poems, the river tells its own story in beautifully lyrical poetry. This is an amazing novel. Burg’s poetry is gorgeous and bleak, moving and frozen. In the beginning, she gets readers to care about every one of the many narrators. Readers know the dam will break, and people will die, but the readers don’t know who will survive. The suspense and its answers bite like the cold floodwaters. Burg’s historical notes explain which characters were real, as well as the story’s intersection of imagination and history. Scholastic states the novel is for third to seventh grades, but I recommend it for middle to high school students. Flooded isn’t inappropriate for younger readers but they may struggle following the many, and sometimes unusual, narrators. Older readers will better understand the narrators, the lost dreams, and the trial, as well as make

connections to life, labor and politics today. Highly recommended. Elizabeth Caulfield Felt

THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS Chloe Gong, Simon Pulse, 2020, $19.99/ C$26.99, hb, 464pp, 9781534457690

Gross, violent, beautiful, and poetic, Chloe Gong’s reimagined tale of Shakespeare’s two star-crossed lovers features the city of Shanghai in the 1920s as a central character. Bankers, foreigners, gangsters, and simmering political unrest fill the city’s streets. Fittingly, Gong opens her tale with gangsters bleeding to death in those streets but not by own their hands. An interloper, a foreign menace, leaves them to writhe near the Huangpu River. As the body count rises, Gong’s heroine, eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, is tasked with solving these murders. A trained killer, she makes Thomas Shelby of Peaky Blinders look like a timid schoolboy. Like the BBC hit, this novel captures the grit, classism, and racism that defines gangster tales of this era. It frames life as a ruthless criminal as a choice between damnation or starvation. As the heir to the Scarlet gang, Juliette embodies that choice in a myriad of ways. Her ancient homeland has been carved into slices by powerful outsiders. Among her pin curls, flapper dress, and high heels, she conceals guns and knives ready to gut anyone who threatens her people and her city. The story of Juliet and Romeo is not a tale of innocent love. It is a tale of how hate steals innocence and, more importantly, life. Once hate and greed are set loose on the streets, they take on a life of their own, tearing down every living thing in their path. The two heirs of these powerful families come together to shield their city from destruction. This novel is a perfect young adult entry point into the original tragedy or a fast-paced, bloody read for anyone seeking adventure. Melissa Warren

THE POETRY OF SECRETS

Cambria Gordon, Scholastic, 2021, $18.99, hb, 461pp, 9781338634198

In 1481 Trujillo, Spain, sixteen-year-old Isabel is an unusual girl. Not only can she read and write, but she also sneaks out at night to attend poetry readings and longs to become a famous poet. She is also the only girl not to be thrilled to be betrothed to the alguacil, the town constable, even though marriage to him will keep her family safe from the suspicious eyes of Old Christians who look down upon them for being New Christians, recently converted to Catholicism. Isabel and her family desperately need acceptance. Not only are they New Christian, but they continue to practice Judaism in secret, celebrating Shabbat in their cellar on Friday nights. But Isabel has another secret: She is in love with Diego Altamirano, a young nobleman whose Old Christian family would never condone such a match. When the Inquisition comes

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to Trujillo to root out Judaizers, Isabel’s secrets expose her and her family to grave danger. Written for readers ages 12 and up, The Poetry of Secrets tells a story set in a harrowing point in history not often covered in children’s literature. Though told mostly from Isabel’s point of view, there are occasional portions told from Diego’s and one from the Chief Inquisitor’s. Though it’s well researched, there are places where historical information bogs down the story. Given the otherwise thoroughness of the research, Diego’s climactic rescue of Isabel seems implausible. Despite these criticisms, given how little there is on this topic available to young readers, The Poetry of Secrets will still be of interest. Meg Wiviott

THE PASSOVER GUEST

Susan Kusel, illus. Sean Rubin, Holiday House, 2021, $18.99, hb, 40pp, 9780823445622

In 1933 during the Great Depression, young Muriel walks through Washington, D.C. staring at the cherry blossoms and the Lincoln Memorial, where a man in rags sits on the steps. She hands him her last penny. Muriel’s family is Jewish and it’s Passover, but they don’t have money for the traditional seder because her father is out of work. She returns home amid the aromas of neighbors’ cooking. Her father suggests they visit their neighbors to celebrate this holiday of the Jews’ escape from Egypt thousands of years ago, but there’s a knock at their door. The ragged man has summoned a feast, a miracle. This interpretation of the classic I. L. Peretz story, adapted by Uri Shulevitz in 1973, sets it in a time of great hardship in the United States. As families face both a deadly pandemic and its economic fallout, this picture book for a new generation shows the importance of kindness even when one is struggling. Lively illustrations blend the realistic Depression setting and the quirky, surrealistic images of Jewish artists such as Marc Chagall. Lyn Miller-Lachmann

THE KINGDOM OF BACK

Marie Lu, Putnam, 2020, $18.99, hb, 336pp, 9781524739010

Maria Anna, Nannerl to her family, lives a constricted life with her little brother Woferl, both practicing the harpsichord and violin many hours a day under the watchful eye of Papa Mozart. Deprived of an ordinary childhood, the siblings escape at night into stories of a fantastical world of enchanted forests, ruined castles, and mysterious strangers that Woferl calls 60

the Kingdom of Back because everything in it is contrary to their normal life in 18th-century Salzburg. Lu, best known for writing science fiction and fantasy, has long been fascinated with the reputation of Nannerl, arguably the more talented of the Mozart siblings, who was forced to curtail her genius for performance and composition to take on the conventional roles of accompanist, wife, and mother. In Lu’s hands, the Kingdom becomes an almost hallucinatory source of inspiration and insight for Nannerl, as her father’s decision to put all the family resources into Wolfgang’s career deprives her of the artistic outlet she sought in her compositions. Lu points out that there is evidence that all or part of Mozart’s earliest compositions may have actually been Nannerl’s; it’s certain that in their youthful concert tours of Europe, she was by far the more accomplished performer. The sinister figure of Hyacinth, a tragic elfin trickster, dominates her fantasies and seems to have the power to confer both the blessings of skill and the curse of frequent illness on both siblings. Lu skillfully blurs the boundaries between Nannerl’s real life and her fantasy life, creating a portrait of artistic desire and frustration that young adult readers will recognize in their own experience with navigating real and virtual identities. The novel leaves the reader convinced that the music world is poorer for not having the works of both Mozarts to cherish. Kristen McDermott

HELGA MAKES A NAME FOR HERSELF

Megan Maynor, illus. Eda Kaban, Clarion, 2020, $17.99, hb, 32pp, 9781328957832

Helga may be young, but she has one ambition—to be a warrior just like Ingrid the Axe. Although her parents downplay her dream, she refuses to abandon her goal. Every day she practices being a warrior, even while doing chores. One day, news arrives that her idol seeks new crewmembers. “Holy Valhalla!” Here’s her chance. Before her parents can say no, Helga rushes to find Ingrid the Axe. Yet Helga isn’t the only young Viking with dreams of raiding with this legendary warrior. Does Helga have what it takes to join Ingrid’s crew? If so, what will her warrior name be? Written for children aged 4 to 7, this picture book recounts a tale of perseverance, practice, and the passionate pursuit of a dream. The idea behind the story stems from recent archaeological findings of a female Viking warrior. Girls may enjoy this tale more than boys, but both will find it inspiring. It invites participation when read aloud, though parents may find youngsters become too riled up just before bedtime. Some dialogue and artwork have a modern feel, yet this book is a good introduction to Viking culture without preconceived notions about who can do what.

REVIEWS | Issue 95, February 2021

Cindy Vallar

ANYA AND THE NIGHTINGALE

Sofiya Pasternack, Versify, 2020, $16.99, hb, 416pp, 9780358006022

Anya and her “foolish” friend Ivan are back in Book 2, one year after series debut Anya and the Dragon, with another adventure. This time Anya, Ivan, and Håkon, the magical dragon, set off on a secret journey to bring Anya’s father home from war. Soon into their adventure, the trio is warned, “The nightingale makes them bleed, makes them pay,” but they cannot make sense of the warning. How could such a tiny bird be dangerous? Outside Kiev they encounter a monster —a boy with gold skin and a powerful magic—lurking in the forest and terrorizing travelers. After being saved by a band of soldiers led by the tsar’s daughter, Princess Vasilisa, Anya promises she, Ivan and Håkon will capture the Nightingale. But they quickly learn the Nightingale is not a monster to be feared. A greater danger lurks beneath the city of Kiev. Anya is a delightful young girl filled with pluck, ingenuity, and loyalty, and she is a refreshing Jewish character. Her search for her faith is genuine, slipping nicely into an adventure story without overwhelming it. The secondary characters are equally as charming and fun. The plot, though perhaps a bit slow in the beginning, takes off in a bounding ride of twists and turns sure to please middle-grade readers. This reviewer’s only criticism is in the grounding of the story. This is the second book in a series, and if a reader is not familiar (as this reader is not) with the world-building presumably established in Book 1, it may be difficult to sink into the rules of magic, the setting, or time period—which is supposed to be 10th-century Kievan Rus’. Fans of Anya and the Dragon are sure to be pleased. Meg Wiviott

LORETTA LITTLE LOOKS BACK

Andrea Davis Pinkney, illus. Brian Pinkney, Little, Brown, 2020, $17.99/C$22.99, hb, 269pp, 9780316536776

This marvelous creation is more than a novel. It is a “page-to-stage” narrative, magicked out of family stories and American history and narrated by three voices who vividly “go tell” about the Little family, Black sharecroppers in Rulesville, Mississippi from 1927 to 1968. The Littles are not little. Their intelligence, courage, patience, and passion for justice are huge—like the civil rights that they work and suffer to achieve. In spoken (sung, chanted, screamed, thundered) words and strong yet tender images, the lavishly talented Pinkneys transport their readers into the skins of three very distinct characters: Loretta, Roly, and Aggie B. Little. We feel with them. Our votes are suppressed, our dignity trampled. Billysticks break our bones. It’s truly hard to believe this is a novel. Presented in theatrical format, the book is perfect for reading aloud and acting out.

Ms. Pinkney’s h a n d l i n g of dialect is masterly, and she writes lyrical text that the book’s designer has handled with great imagination. Although it teaches many lessons and includes a section of extra information at the end, Loretta Little Looks Back isn’t didactic. It’s tough, warm, lovable, and occasionally magical. Its type size and pictures suggest a children’s book. But its contents and artistry reach out to all ages. It makes adult fiction of social commentary like The Grapes of Wrath seem tedious. Susan Lowell

SPIRIT SIGHT: Last of the Gifted, Book 1

Marie Powell, Wood Dragon Books, 2020, $15.99, pb, 270pp, 9781989078280

Wales, 1282: Hyw and his sister, Catrin, are gifted. Hyw can control animals, and Catrin is a seer. But neither is prepared for the ambush on the Prince of Wales. Hyw touches the prince’s mind at the moment of his death and ends up drawing the prince’s soul into his own. With the guidance of Hyw’s uncle, he will learn to control this internal duology while gathering information on the English forces. But these gifts are dangerous and often feared. Without drawing suspicion, can Catrin convince the Welsh Princess of the death she’s foreseen before it’s too late for her people? Powell does a great job mixing elements of fantasy, mythology, and historical conflict. The plot develops through unexpected twists and turns. Hyw is particularly well developed. He has to contend with the Prince of Wales in his head, the loyalty to his people, in addition to loyalty for his best friend and the family he fostered under, who march with the English invaders. Through Hyw, readers are treated to both the English and Welsh sides of the war. Some of the names get a bit confusing, and I found myself flipping back and forth to clarify who was who. However, Powell makes an effort to clarify names and even includes a helpful pronunciation guide and glossary. I’m impressed with her research and ability to keep the different storylines flowing. The landscape and the castles, especially, are delightful to explore. Powell’s prose has a lyrical quality, and dialogue construction enriches the cultural flavor. Overall, a meticulously researched young adult medieval fantasy

with compelling characters and high-stakes action. Recommended. J. Lynn Else

THE WAY BACK

Gavriel Savit, Knopf, 2020, $18.99/C$24.99, hb, 360pp, 9781984894625

Imagine a Chagall who works in words, not paint. His work is intricate, moving, whimsical, Slavic, Jewish, folkloric—but his colors are limited to black and white, with small touches of steel blue and blood red. Gavriel Savit’s novel The Way Back is a brilliant new addition to a classic genre: the hero’s journey to the land of the dead… and back again. (That, as all heroes and quest aficionados know, is the really hard part.) It so happens, once upon a time, that the Angel of Death visits the tiny village of Tupik, an Eastern European folklore town full of ghosts, demons, imps, and devils, as well as villagers, where in the execution of his (or her) duties Death manages to lose a significant, if humble, tool. He (or she) is a dark, terrifying angel with comical quirks, such as partying, consuming large bottles of vodka, and dancing. Two teenagers set forth on this dangerous quest, a girl named Bluma and a boy named Yehuda Leib. Their adventures unfold in exciting prose full of one-line paragraphs and roller-coaster run-on sentences, as they contend bravely with apocryphal phantoms from the shadowy zone where religion and fantasy overlap: Belial, Lilith, Mammon, and of course Death. A finalist for the National Book Award, Savit himself names Tolkien and (mischievously) Indiana Jones as important influences. Neil Gaiman and J.K. Rowling also come to mind, as does Narnia. And readers aged twelve and up cannot miss the terrible implications, not at all fantastic, alas, of pogroms and genocide. Susan Lowell

NO ORDINARY THING

G. Z. Schmidt, Holiday House, 2020, $17.99, hb, 240pp, 9780823444229

No Ordinary Thing by G. Z. Schmidt is a delightful middle-grade time-travel fantasy. It is 1999, and Adam lives at his uncle’s bakery, the Biscuit Basket, in New York City. Adam misses his parents, who passed away years earlier in a plane crash. Then a mysterious stranger visits holding a snow globe. He tells Adam that adventures await him, and that he should go up to the attic. When he does, Adam finds the snow globe, which immediately takes him to Times Square in 1935 and then later a candle factory in 1967. Adam soon realizes the people and places he is visiting are all connected, more magical objects exist, and a dark presence wants to control it all. I adored this wonderful, enchanting, time-travel adventure. The characters are

well developed, and the plot is engaging. The author’s ability to connect characters from different backgrounds and time periods will leave you spellbound. Every time-travel story has to have a means of or explanation for the time travel, and this one does it well. The snow globe is sometimes curiously blank, but then the traveler’s destination will appear without warning, and the holder will be whisked away to another time. This book is everything that fans of fantasy and time-travel could wish for. It is a magical journey that will appeal to people of all ages. It is one of those books that I will read over and over again, and I will remember fondly the first time I read it. I can’t wait to share it with others, and I sincerely hope I see this world and these characters again. Bonnie DeMoss

CANE WARRIORS

Alex Wheatle, Black Sheep, 2020, $15.95, pb, 192pp, 9781617758553

Jamaica, 1760. Fourteen-year-old Moa Umbassa is a field slave on a sugar plantation, overworked, underfed, and brutalized at the whim of cruel overseers and masters. When the revolutionary, Tacky, starts a slave rebellion, Moa joins the fight. His father advises against it, but his mother supports him. Moa and sixteen-year-old Keverton fight along with the older men, sharing all the violence and hardship of the gallant, doomed revolt. The older men send Moa home before his participation is discovered. He teams up with twelve-year-old Hamaya, a young girl trying to escape the attentions of the white masters. With his mother’s blessing, Moa and Hamaya leave the plantation while they still can, while things are still chaotic. They will try to make their way to freedom in the mountains. This is a harrowing young adult novel; still, it is based on true history, and the story needs to be told. The brave freedom fighters of Tacky’s Rebellion should be remembered and honored. The dialogue throughout is written in heavy dialect, which will slow readers down. It is worth sticking to it and picking up the flow of the words, which add cadence and poetry to the writing style. Recommended. Elizabeth Knowles

A publication of the Historical Novel Society | www.historicalnovelsociety.org

2021 HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY CONFERENCE JUNE 21 - 27

HNS North America invites writers and readers from around the globe to our all-virtual conference featuring historical novelist Lisa See as guest of honor. Master classes will be provided by historical novelist Libbie (Olivia) Hawker and publishing industry expert Jane Friedman. Join hundreds of fellow history lovers and bestselling authors for real-time presentations, panels, cozy chats, agent pitches, query critiques, fun & games, and networking opportunities at the conference for historical fiction. HNSNorthAmerica@gmail.com | http://hns-conference.com | registration opens February 15

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ÂŠ 2021, the Historical Novel Society, ISSN: 1471-7492 | Issue 95, February 2021

A publication of the Historical Novel Society | www.historicalnovelsociety.org

Historical Novels Review | Issue 95 (February 2021)

Articles inside

Sacred Space

Band of Sisters

Allure of the Artist

History & Film

A Passion for Words

The ARA Prize

New Voices