132,564
edits
Changes
From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to searchNewest Historical Fiction Reviews (view source)
Revision as of 08:13, 19 October 2021
, 08:13, 19 October 2021no edit summary
[[Category:New Reviews|Historical Fiction]]__NOTOC__<!-- Remove -->
<!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
{{Frontpage|author=Freya Marske|title=A Marvellous Light|rating=4|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Robin Blyth is nudged into a job in the Civil Service, much to his chagrin. There he meets Edwin Courcey and learns that the streets of London are threaded with magic. Desperate to remove a curse that threatens to swallow him, Robin follows Edwin to the countryside, where the hedgegrows bristle with incantations and the people shimmer with power. There they uncover a sinister plot that threatens the lives of all magicians in the British Isles. |isbn=1529080886}}{{Frontpage|isbn= B09F4CTKJR|title= Flights for Freedom|author= Steven Burgauer|rating=4.5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=It's the later stages of World War I and the United States has just entered the conflict. Petrol Petronus is a young American who has signed up and joined the 17 Aero Squadron. This company was the first US Aero Squadron to be trained in Canada, the first to be attached to the RAF and the first to be sent into the skies to fight the Germans in active combat. But before that can happen, Petrol has to master flying the notoriously difficult but majestic Sopwith Camel.}}{{Frontpage|author= Christophe Medler|title=Madrigal: A Closely Guarded Secret|rating=4|genre=Historical Fiction|summary= Set against the backdrop of the English Civil War, a secret plan (code-named Madrigal) is discovered by Sir Robert Douse in the summer of 1642. As a loyal servant of the King, and Head of the Secret Service, it is Robert's duty to uncover the details of the plan and follow the clues to uncover one of the most guarded secrets in history—especially since the plot could affect the King.|isbn=B095HY8SXQ}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1471187179|title=A Beautiful Spy|author=Rachel Hore|rating=4|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Minnie is an 'ordinary' girl living an unexciting life in a leafy provincial suburb. The book is set in the 1930s and Minnie is expected to live up to her mother's expectations and find a nice young man to marry, produce children and spend the rest of her days looking after her husband and their home. Unfortunately, this isn't what she wants to do at all and neither does she want to continue working as a secretary. As a result of a chance meeting, she finds herself drawn into espionage, working for the secret service and effectively living a double life - attempting to infiltrate the Communist Party of Great Britain. Minnie finds herself torn between what she perceives as her duty and the friends she has made - and likes - whilst working for the Communist Party.}}{{Frontpage|author=Afonso Cruz and Rahul Bery (translator)|title=Kokoschka's Doll|rating=2.5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary=Well, this looked very much like a book I could love from the get-go, which is why I picked my review copy up and flipped pages over several times before actually reading any of it. I found things to potentially delight me each time – a weird section in the middle on darker stock paper, a chapter whose number was in the 20,000s, letters used as narrative form, and so on. It intrigued with the subterranean voice a man hears in wartorn Dresden that what little I knew of it mentioned, too. But you've seen the star rating that comes with this review, and can tell that if love was on these pages, it was not actually caused by them. So what happened?|isbn=1529402697}}{{Frontpage|author=Christina Hammonds Reed|title=The Black Kids|rating=4.5|genre=Teens |summary=Christina Hammonds Reed's debut novel is set against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, a reaction to the absolution of four police officers for beating a black man, Rodney King, nearly to death. Told from the perspective of Ashley Bennett, the novel follows her evolution from a silent bystander when confronted with matters of race, to a woman finding her voice and embracing her heritage.|isbn=1471188191}}{{Frontpage|author=Caroline Scott|title=When I Come Home Again|rating=4.5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=1918 and a young man is arrested in Durham Cathedral. He refuses to give a name, no matter how hard they push he will not say who he is. Eventually they determine this isn't wilful obstinance, he doesn't answer because he doesn't know. He remembers being on the road for a long time, and being frightened, and some of the faces from the road, but other than that – everything that came before has gone. They need a name for the forms and so they call him Adam and, because he was found in the Galilee Chapel, it becomes Adam Galilee. A fanciful name for a tired young man in a dishevelled uniform who doesn't know who he is, where he is or how he got there.|isbn=1471192172}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1405946172|title=The Glass House|author=Eve Chase|rating=4.5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Rita lost both her parents in a car crash when she was just six years old: since then she's always craved a family. She'd lived with her grandmother in Torquay until she got a job as a nanny with the Harrington family in London. Soon her engagement to Fred, a Torquay butcher, fell through and the Harringtons became her family. In 1971, after a fire at the London house, Jeannie Harrington, her children, 13-year-old Hera and 6-year-old Teddy, along with Rita went to the family's house in the Forest of Dean. It wasn't ''quite'' dilapidated, but it certainly wasn't the same standard as the London house had been before the fire.}}{{Frontpage|author=Sally Magnusson|title=The Sealwoman's Gift|rating=4.5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary= There is a legend that God came to visit Adam & Eve in the Garden. Eve had not finished bathing her children and ashamed of those still not cleansed, she attempted to hide them from the eyes of God, denying that she had more children than those, already bathed, that she willing paraded for him. God was not to be deceived, however, and decreed that what was sought to be hidden from the eyes of God would henceforth be hidden from the eyes of man, and so the Elves were born: the hidden folk. They can see man, but man can only see them if they so choose.|isbn=1473638984}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Wendy Cheyne
|summary=It's long been known that Cassandra Austen burned most of the letters which she and other members of the extensive Austen family had exchanged with or about her sister Jane. What is not known is ''why'' she did this and at this stage - more than two hundred years after Jane's death - a definitive answer is unlikely to forthcoming. Gill Hornby has provided us with some possible answers in a book that proved to be far more emotionally complex than I was expecting.
}}
{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingisbn=1471186393|title="15"Photographer of the Lost<!-- |author=Caroline Scott -->|-rating=4.5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Historical Fiction|[[image:1471186393.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwMay 1921.amazon Edie receives a photograph through the post.coThere is no letter or note with it.uk/dp/1471186393/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Photographer There is nothing written on the back of the Lost by Caroline Scott]]=== [[image:4photograph. It is a picture of her husband, Francis.5star Francis has been missing for four years.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Technically, he has been "missing, [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] May 1921believed killed" but that is not something that a young widow can believe. Edie receives a photograph through She hangs on the word 'missing', disbelieving the postword killed. There is no letter or note with it. There is nothing written on the back of the photograph}}{{Frontpage|isbn=099944235X|title=The Man Who Killed Hitler|author=Andre Pronovost|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Germany is split. It is a picture Some of her husband, Francisis in favour of Hitler and the Nazis, but much isn't. Francis has been missing for four years. TechnicallySome of her is stuck to the east fighting the Soviets, he has been "missing, believed killed" but that is not something that a young widow can believe. She hangs some will soon have to be on the word 'missing'other front, disbelieving against the Americans coming into the word killedcontinent to put things right as they see it. [[Photographer of Finding out that the war to the Lost by Caroline Scott|Full Review]] <!-- Andre Pronovost -->|-| style=east isn't working, due to Hitler'width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:099944235Xs tactical ineptitude and inability to heed advice, some people reckon Stalin is five seasons away from being in Berlin.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co The only way to shore things up, and repair the splits, is to kill Hitler, and luckily Baron Nicholas is the man to do it.uk/dp/099944235X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style= He's aristocratic enough, he knows enough people in industry, society and other circles of power, so once he''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[The Man Who Killed Hitler by Andre Pronovost]]===s succeeded he might be able to keep a German presence in Europe. But will he still be able to keep the "predatory American capitalists" and the blatantly communist Soviets from meeting in the middle?}}{{Frontpage[[image:3star.jpg|linkisbn=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction1789018625|Historical Fiction]]title=Just Another Girl on the Road|author=S KensingtonGermany is split. Some of her is in favour of Hitler |rating=4 |genre=Historical Fiction|summary=When Sergeant Farr and the Nazis, but much isn'tCorporal Valentine first encountered Katrinka Badeau she was just eighteen years old and fleeing from a farmhouse and a group of German deserters who had raped her. Some of her is stuck to Despite being outnumbered she was giving just about as good as she got when Farr and Valentine intervened and finished the east fighting the Soviets, but some will soon have to be on group off. It was 1944 and Farr and Valentine were part of the other frontJedburgh unit, EDMOND, against the Americans coming into the continent to put things right as they see itlead by Major Willoughby Nye. Finding out that the war to the east isnNye recognised Katrinka immediately - he't working, due to Hitlerd worked on her father's tactical ineptitude merchant ship and inability to heed adviceKatrinka had once had a crush on Nye. When he offered her a job with his unit, some people reckon Stalin is five seasons away from being in Berlin. she accepted}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1542007232|title=The only way to shore things upRabbit Girls|author=Anna Ellory|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Berlin, and repair 1989. Miriam is in the splits, is to kill Hitlermiddle of a city freshly united, with the Wall newly broken down and luckily people able to cross at liberty for the Baron Nicholas first time in decades. She is in the man to do middle of such euphoria, but cannot feel it. He, for she has not left her father's aristocratic enoughapartment in weeks, nursing him as he knows enough people in industrylies dying. One standard bed-bath, society and other circles of powerhowever, is very different, so once when hegasps the name ''Frieda''s succeeded he might be able to keep that she does not recognise – and she sees for the first time ever a German presence in Europetattoo for his camp inmate identity under his watch. But will he still be able to keep the "predatory American capitalists" One bombshell outside, then, and the blatantly communist Soviets from meeting in the middletwo inside. And inside her father, Henryk, what is going on, as he has a first-person narrative alternating with her story? [[The Man Who Killed Hitler by Andre Pronovost|Full Review]] <!-- S Kensington --> What will we find happened, as he remembers back to the real Frieda, a young woman that shook him to the core when he was her literature professor? That's right, more bombshells… }}{{Frontpage|-isbn=1529311446| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Long Flight Home|author=A L Hlad[[image:1789018625.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789018625/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Historical Fiction| stylesummary="verticalSeptember 1940 -align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Just Another Girl as WWII rages on, bombs rain down on Britain, destroying the Road by S Kensington]]=== [[image:4starhomes and lives of a people on the edge.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] When Sergeant Farr and Corporal Valentine first encountered Katrinka Badeau she was In Epping Forest, Susan Shepherd and her grandfather Bertie live together raising homing pigeons with the birds proving a comfort for Susan following the loss of her parents. These pigeons are more than just eighteen years old birds to Susan though – in each one, and fleeing from a farmhouse especially in Duchess, she sees a distinct personality and forms a group of German deserters who had raped herclose bond. Despite being outnumbered she was giving just about as good as she got when Farr Meanwhile, young pilot Ollie Evans leaves Maine to head to Britain and Valentine intervened and finished join the group offRoyal Air Force. It was 1944 and Farr Working with the National Pigeon Service, he soon meets Susan and Valentine were part is tasked with air-dropping hundreds of the Jedburgh unithoming pigeons into German-occupied France, EDMOND, lead by Major Willoughby Nyewhere many will not survive. Nye recognised Katrinka immediately - heAs the mission is planned, the bond between Ollie and Susan grows stronger, but when Ollie'd worked on her father's merchant ship s plane is downed behind enemy lines, it may be Duchess who provides an unexpected lifeline and Katrinka had once had ensures that hope of a crush on Nyereunion for Susan and Ollie remains…}}{{Frontpage|isbn=178747920X|title=Brightfall |author=Jaime Lee Moyer|rating=4. When he offered her a job with 5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Robin Hood is gone – denouncing both his former life and his unitlove Marian, she accepted. [[Just Another Girl on the Road by S Kensington|Full Review]] <!and retreating to a monastery – although no-- Ellory -->|-| style=one knows quite what led him to abandon all that he had built. Marion''width: 10%; verticals life since has been relatively quiet -align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1542007232but when her friends start dying, Marion is tasked by Father Tuck to break the curse surrounding them and to save their lives.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1542007232/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''Setting off with a soldier, a Fey Lord and a sullen Robin Hood, she becomes tangled in a maze of betrayals, complicated relationships, and a vicious struggle for the throne…}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1784631647|title=A Perfect Explanation|author=Eleanor Anstruther|rating=[[The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory]]===5[[image:3star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Historical Fiction|General Fiction]]summary=Enid Campbell was a woman who, [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Berlinon the face of it, 1989had everything. Miriam is in Leading the middle life of an aristocrat – full of a city freshly unitedinherited wealth and splendour, with the Wall newly broken down glamourous locales and people able to cross at liberty for the first time in decades. She is in the middle of such euphoria, but cannot feel it, for she has not left her fatherhigh expectations. Only Enid's apartment in weekslife has been plagued by mental illness – undiagnosed, nursing him as he lies dyinguntreated and threatening both Enid and those close to her. One standard bed-bath, howeverAfter losing custody of her children, Enid sells her son to her sister for £500 – but is very differentthis an act of greed, when he gasps the name ''Frieda'' that she does not recognise – and she sees for or an act of desperation? Exploring the first time ever a tattoo for his camp inmate identity under his watch. One bombshell outside, thentrue story of her own grandmother, Eleanor Anstruther has found the perfect subject for an explosive, moving and two insidebeautifully well-written debut. And inside her father, Henryk, what is going on, as he has a first person narrative alternating with her story? What will we find happened, as he remembers back to the real Frieda, a young woman that shook him to the core when he was her literature professor? That's right, more bombshells… [[The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory|Full Review]] <!-- Hlad -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529311446.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529311446/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Long Flight Home by A L Hlad]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] September 1940 - as WWII rages on, bombs rain down on Britain, destroying the homes and lives of a people on the edge. In Epping Forest, Susan Shepherd and her grandfather Bertie live together raising homing pigeons with the birds proving a comfort for Susan following the loss of her parents. These pigeons are more than just birds to Susan though – in each one, and especially in Duchess, she sees a distinct personality and forms a close bond. Meanwhile, young pilot Ollie Evans leaves Maine to head to Britain and join the Royal Air Force. Working with the National Pigeon Service, he soon meets Susan and is tasked with air-dropping hundreds of homing pigeons into German-occupied France, where many will not survive. As the mission is planned, the bond between Ollie and Susan grows stronger, but when Ollie's plane is downed behind enemy lines, it may be Duchess who provides an unexpected lifeline and ensures that hope of a reunion for Susan and Ollie remains… [[The Long Flight Home by A L Hlad|Full Review]] <!-- Moyer -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:178747920X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178747920X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Robin Hood is gone – denouncing both his former life and his love Marian, and retreating to a monastery – although no-one knows quite what led him to abandon all that he had built. Marion's life since has been relatively quiet - but when her friends start dying, Marion is tasked by Father Tuck to break the curse surrounding them and to save their lives. Setting off with a soldier, a Fey Lord and a sullen Robin Hood, she becomes tangled in a maze of betrayals, complicated relationships, and a vicious struggle for the throne…[[Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer|Full Review]] <!-- Anstruther -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1784631647.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784631647/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Perfect Explanation by Eleanor Anstruther]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Enid Campbell was a woman who, on the face of it, had everything. Leading the life of an aristocrat – full of inherited wealth and splendour, glamourous locales and high expectations. Only Enid's life has been plagued by mental illness – undiagnosed, untreated and threatening both Enid and those close to her. After losing custody of her children, Enid sells her son to her sister for £500 – but is this an act of greed, or an act of desperation? Exploring the true story of her own grandmother, Eleanor Anstruther has found the perfect subject for an explosive, moving and beautifully well written debut. [[A Perfect Explanation by Eleanor Anstruther|Full Review]] <!-- Varenne -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0857058738.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857058738/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Equator by Antonin Varenne and Sam Taylor (translator)]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]], [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] It strikes me that nobody can speak well of the Wild West outside the walls of a theme park. Our agent to see how bad it was here is Pete Ferguson, who bristles at the indignity of white man against Native 'Indian', who spends days being physically sick while indulging in a buffalo hunt, and who hates the way man – and woman, of course – can turn against fellow man at the bat of an eyelid. But this book is about so much more than the 1870s USA, and the attendant problems with gold rushes, pioneer spirits and racial genocide. He finds himself trying to find this book's version of Utopia, namely the Equator, where everything is upside down, people walk on their heads with rocks in their pockets to keep them on the ground to counter the anti-gravity, and where, who knows, things might actually be better. But that equator is a long way away – and there's a whole adventure full of Mexico and Latin America between him and it… [[Equator by Antonin Varenne and Sam Taylor (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- Weir -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472227727.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472227727/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Six Tudor Queens: Anna of Kleve, Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Poor, frumpy Anne of Cleaves always gets a raw deal by history, of all the wives of Henry VIII she is the one who is known for being rejected. Anne Boleyn and Katheryn Howard were the sexy ones, Jane the dutiful one who delivered a son, Katherine of Aragon clung on to her crown and Katharine Parr clung on to her life but poor frumpy Anne of Cleaves just rolled over and moved along. Not any more! Alison Weir presents us with a different view of this young woman who saw the opportunity to live an independent life and took it. [[Six Tudor Queens: Anna of Kleve, Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir|Full Review]] <!-- Rubin -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0718187091.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0718187091/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] In an alternate 1952, Soviet Troops control British Streets. After D-Day goes horribly wrong, Britain is first occupied by Nazi Germany – only to be rescued by Russian soldiers from the East, and Americans from the west. Dividing the nation between them, London soon finds itself split in two, a wall running through it like a scar. When Jane Cawson's husband is arrested for the murder of his former wife, Jane is determined to clear his name. In doing so, Jane follows a trail of corruption that leads her right to the highest levels of the state – and soon finds herself desperate to stay one step ahead of the murderous secret police… [[Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin|Full Review]] <!-- Hucknall -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:191236266X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191236266X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Boy in a Turban by Joseph Hucknall]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] You might not think that Georgian London contained many black people. But it contained more than you think. You may have heard of Francis Barber, the black African slave who became the friend of lexicographer Samuel Johnson and was a beneficiary of his will. ''The Boy in a Turban'' tells the story of a fictional black character, James, in Georgian London. James, then Quaccoe, is brought to the capital from a Jamaican plantation by a ship captain who wanted a servant for his two daughters. [[The Boy in a Turban by Joseph Hucknall|Full Review]] <!-- Clark -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:034901082X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/034901082X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[In The Full Light of the Sun by Clare Clark]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] In 1930's Berlin, three people obsessed with art find themselves swept up into a scandal. Emmeline, a wayward young student, Julius, an anxious middle-aged art expert, and Rachmann, a mysterious art dealer, live in the politically turbulent Weimar Berlin, and soon find themselves whipped up into excitement over the surprise discovery of thirty-two previously unknown paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. Based on a true story and unfolding through the subsequent rise of Hitler and the Nazis, the discovery of the art allows these characters to explore authenticity, vanity and self-delusion. [[In The Full Light of the Sun by Clare Clark|Full Review]] <!-- Kazan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0749024801.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0749022132/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Phoenix of Florence by Philip Kazan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Deep in the Tuscan countryside of fifteenth century Italy, Onoria survives a massacre that destroys her family and home. Alone in the forest, she meets a band of soldiers who, believing her to be a boy train and develop her – and the determined Onoria becomes a mercenary – desperate to avoid any situation in which she may feel vulnerable again. Along the way, she meets ex-soldier Celavini, whose journey to Florence sees him investigating two brutal murders. As he digs further and uncovers links to his own family history, Celavini must revisit the past he shares with Onoria, in the hope that they can lay the ghosts of their shared history to rest, before it's too late... [[The Phoenix of Florence by Philip Kazan|Full Review]] <!-- d'Eramo -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1782273883.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1782273883/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Deviation by Luce d'Eramo and Anne Milano Appel (translator)]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] For those of you who have read books of life in the Nazi camps – and of course, for those of you who have not – this can be considered a next step. It begins, after all, with someone escaping Dachau and fleeing her work assignment during a bombing raid, and you'd not blame her one minute, as her career was deemed to be cess-tank cleaner and sewage unblocker by the Germans. In Munich, she stumbles on help to get her to what seems to be a camp for non-native civilians to look for work, or company, or transport elsewhere, either official or otherwise. But then the next chapter sees her going back into the camp next to Dachau once more, and by then eyebrows are being raised. [[Deviation by Luce d'Eramo and Anne Milano Appel (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- Gardner -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785656341.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785656341/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Count of 9 by Erle Stanley Gardner]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] ''The Count of 9'' is a hardboiled detective story written in the 1950s. It revolves around the detective duo of Donald Lam and Bertha Cool as they attempt to solve the theft of priceless Bornean artefacts. However, their case quickly turns into something darker - an impossible murder. [[The Count of 9 by Erle Stanley Gardner|Full Review]] <!-- Chamberlain -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786076446.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786076446/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Hidden by Mary Chamberlain]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] When Barbara Hummel arrives, determined to identify the mysterious woman whose photograph she has found among her mother's possessions, Dora and Joe find their worlds upended – and are swiftly forced to confront their pasts. Revisiting their time on the Channel Islands during World War II, Dora remembers a time when she concealed her Jewish identity, and Joe, a Catholic Priest, remembers a time when he hid something very different. In this story of love, loss and betrayal, it remains to be seen whether a speck of light can diffuse the darkest shadows of war… [[The Hidden by Mary Chamberlain|Full Review]] <!-- Minette Walters -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1760632163.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1760632163/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Turn of Midnight by Minette Walters]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] At the beginning of 1349 there is a glimmer of a hope that the ravages of the Black Death might be passing. In Devilish in Dorset the population is well, because of Lady Anne's strict rules about quarantine, which are regarded as heresy as they go against the strict rules of the church, but their stores of food are dwindling and they know that when they are exhausted they will have no choice but to leave. What will they find on the outside? Are they the only survivors? [[The Turn of Midnight [A Perfect Explanation by Minette WaltersEleanor Anstruther|Full Review]]}}
