Difference between revisions of "Newest Historical Fiction Reviews"

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[[Category:Historical Fiction|*]]
 
[[Category:Historical Fiction|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Historical Fiction]]
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==Historical fiction==
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Tananarive Due
|author=Fiona Mountain
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|title=The Reformatory
|title=Cavalier Queen
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|rating=5
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=We sweep back in time to a young Henrietta.  Living the spoilt and pampered life of a pretty, little princess whom everyone (even her dog) loves and adores.  She spends delightfully carefree days singing and dancing and playing with her little dog.  But the subject of marriage is on the horizon.  She's fourteen after all. Time to put away those childish things.  Who has her family decided will be her future husband?  The young princess has no say in the matter but hopes he will be just a little handsome and be gentle with her. It's not only a marriage of two individuals (that's almost inconsequential) it's a marriage of two nations - with strategy and long-term thinking in mind. In short, the French Royal Family want to do everything to appease other countries and hopefully keep war at bay.
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|summary= Gracetown, Florida. June 1950. After a scuffle with a white boy, twelve year-old Robbie Stephens Jr is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, otherwise known as the Reformatory. It's a place with a brutal and dark reputation. But the segregated reformatory is a chamber of horrors, haunted by the boys that have died there. In order to survive the school governor and his Funhouse, Robert must enlist the help of the school's ghosts – only they have their own motivations...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848091672</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1803366532
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}}  
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Katherine Howe
|author=Barry Unsworth
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|title=A True Account
|title=The Quality of Mercy
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Literary Fiction
 
|summary='The Quality of Mercy' picks up the story of the author's Booker Prize-winning 'Sacred Hunger' although if you haven't read the first book, you won't be greatly disadvantaged as the relevant story lines are explained. What you might miss out on is some of the feeling for a few of the main characters, most notably the Irish fiddler, Sullivan who, when this book picks up in spring 1767, has just escaped from prison where the remaining shipmates of the slave ship, the 'Liverpool Merchant' await their trial of piracy. Slavery and abolition thereof remains a central theme of this sequel, but the book draws some poignant similarities with those in bondage due to poverty, and particularly those working in the coal mines of County Durham.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091937124</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=James Aitcheson
 
|title=Sworn Sword
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=The novel is set in the turbulent years following the Battle of Hastings. We follow the Normans as they set out to quell the restless and rebellious factions in the North of England. An ambush in Durham sees the Normans decimated and determined on revenge - this precipitates the events which follow.
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|summary=Hannah Masury is living in Boston, having been sent to live with a family who run an inn, and being made to work there from a young age.  When she hears there is to be a hanging of some pirates in the town, she decides to go and watch.  Enthralled and horrified in equal measure, Hannah finds herself embroiled in a young boy's death at the hands of two vicious pirates. She hides away, so that they don't find and kill her too, and then to escape them completely she runs away to sea, dressing as a boy and joining the notorious Ned Low's pirate ship as a cabin boy. She soon finds herself in the thick of things when there is a mutiny on board, and from there we are caught up in her rip roaring tale of life on the ocean waves.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848093241</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0861547438
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Sarah Marsh
|author=Lisa See
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|title=A Sign of Her Own
|title=Dreams of Joy
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=It's the late 1950s, and America's teenagers (the very idea a brand new concept) are beginning to live the all-American dream.  For some of them however it isn't all 'Happy Days' diners and rock'n'roll.  For the second generation Chinese immigrants there's an alternative: back 'home' there's a brave new world being forged, a world where 'we'd work in the fields and sing songs. We'd do exercises in the park. We'd help clean the neighbourhood and share meals.  We wouldn't be poor and we wouldn't be rich.  We'd all be equal.'
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408822296</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=John Buchan
 
|title=Greenmantle
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=I'm told that Buchan is still widely read.  Really?  "John Buchan?  Oh yes, he wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps"… and that's as far as most of us get. Let's be honest most of us only know that one from the many film versions, just about all of which take huge liberties with the original plot.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846971977</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ellen Feldman
 
|title=Next to Love
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Babe, Grace and Millie are three American girls who have grown up togetherNow young women each marry their sweetheart just as America becomes involved in the Second World WarBut on a fateful day in 1944, sixteen telegrams arrive from the War Department bringing death to the locals, including Grace and Millie whose husbands have both been killedBabe seems to be the lucky one as her husband, Claude, returns from the War, but in truth he will never be the same man again.
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|summary=After a bout of scarlet fever as a child, Ellen Lark loses her hearing.  Suddenly plunged into a world of silence, everything about her life changesLiving in a time when the use of sign language was seen as something only savages do, Ellen is sent to a school where she is taught to lip read, but physically restrained from signingFrom here, she ends up in another school studying under Alexander Graham Bell who has been teaching the deaf and using a system called Visible SpeechAt the same time, Bell is working on other inventions and ideas, and Ellen finds herself unwittingly caught up in a complicated tangle of espionage.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330544500</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1035401614
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Claire North
|author=Fiona Mountain
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|title=House of Odysseus
|title=Isabella
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=The fate of mutineer, Fletcher Christian in the 18th century remains a mystery even today but Fiona Mountain has pieced together a dramatic and powerful story based on rumours and clues that Fletcher returned to England to be with his long-lost love, Isabella Curwen. Fletcher, the son of a bankrupt family and Isabella, the sole heiress of a huge fortune are prevented from marrying. Their relationship is manipulated by those around them and a young, naïve Isabella is forced to marry her cousin, John.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099562251</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ben Kane
 
|title=Hannibal: Enemy of Rome
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|genre= Literary Fiction  
|summary=Thanks to his [[The Forgotten Legion by Ben Kane|Forgotten Legion]] trilogy, Ben Kane has recently bought Roman times to life in me far more than history and Latin lessons at school ever did.  Having enjoyed this first trilogy, I've been eagerly awaiting his ''Hannibal'' trilogy, since he told Bookbag about it when we interviewed him.  Finally, the wait is over and ''Hannibal: Enemy of Rome'' is here.
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|summary= ''What could matter more than love?''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184809227X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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The follow-up to the excellent ''Ithaca'' picks up a few months after where we left off. In the palace of Odysseus, with delicate care Queen Penelope continues to rule without her husband, who sailed to war at Troy and then by divine intervention never returned home. As ever she remains surrounded by suitors vying for the throne of the Western Isles. Having survived – politically and physical – the chaotic storm that Clytemnestra brought to Ithaca's shores, Queen Penelope is on the brink of a fragile peace. One that shatters however with the return of Orestes, King of Mycenae, and his sister Elektra, seeking refuge.
|author=Jose Saramago and Margaret Jull Costa
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|isbn=0356516075
|title=The Elephant's Journey
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Literary Fiction
 
|summary=This novel is inspired by a real event – the marriage gift of an elephant from Dom João III of Portugal to his cousin Maximilian, the Hapsburg Archduke of Austria. When the gift was accepted, the elephant Solomon, his mahout Subhro and numerous soldiers, oxen and porters, walked from Lisbon to Vienna to deliver the present, arriving in 1552.  This is the story of that journey.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099546884</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B0C7J9D21B
|author=Sara Stockbridge
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|title=A Captive in Algiers (Muhammed Amalfi Mysteries)
|title=Cross My Palm
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|author=A J Lewis
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=Fortune teller Rose Lee lives on the edge of London society in 1860, making her living by entertaining (and sometimes deceiving) the rich by reading their palms.  She fears the fate she has read for herself in her own palm which is perhaps what makes her cautious of delivering the whole truth to the ladies that employ her.  On one particular night Rose is called to the house of Lady Quayle, a woman of high society, who delights in having her fortune read, taking everything Rose tells her as gospel.  One of the guests present is Emily, a young girl and friend of Lady Quayle's daughter Tabitha.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>070118504X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Alison Weir
 
|title=The Captive Queen
 
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Vaclav and Lena are both children of Russian immigrants, growing up in BrooklynVaclav dreams of becoming a fantastic magician, with his friend Lena as his assistant, and as children they practise their routine together, making lists of the things they'll need, the costumes they will wear and the tricks they will performVaclav is confident and happy, but Lena is quiet, withdrawn and struggles with speaking English.  Yet Vaclav believes, always, that they are destined to be togetherEven when Lena disappears one day and is gone from his life for many years still he hopes that, somehow, he will find her again.
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|summary=When we first meet our hero, his name is Ettore and he lives at The House of Beautiful SwallowsIdyllic as this might sound, it's a bordello and Ettore's mother died when he was bornHe's not been short of mothers, though - but for someone of his background in late-eighteenth-century Amalfi, it's difficult to obtain decent employment. The stint working with the preparation of anchovies didn't work out and bastards are considered bad luck on fishing boatsEttore was nothing if not resourceful - and determined - and it was not long before he had a successful business as a guide for visitors.  He was even saving some money.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434020443</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Essie Fox
|author=Helen Humphreys
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|title=The Fascination
|title=The Reinvention of Love
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary='The Reinvention of Love' is one of those stories that is so bizarre and strange that it could only be based on factual events. Essentially it is a good, old-fashioned love triangle set mostly in Paris in the period from the 1830s to the 1860s; a world where fighting duels is a commonplace event. The triangle features the great French literary writer Victor Hugo, his wife Adèle and the altogether strange critic Charles Saint-Beuve who narrates much of this story, with brief breaks for Adèle's side of events and some letters written by the Hugo's youngest daughter, also called Adèle (but let's call her, as she was known to her family, Dédé to avoid confusion).
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|summary= The Victorian era is incredibly over-romanticised as a setting for historical fiction (matched only, perhaps, by the Second World War) which has often led to more than a few writers mishandling it. There's such a glut of media set in the era that the hallmarks we've come to associate with it are familiar to the point of being cliched, hackneyed even. All this is simply to illustrate that it would be an easy thing to do poorly. But despite that, something about it still grabs me – and something about this book's description did as well.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846687985</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1914585526
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Karen Harper
 
|title=The Queen's Governess
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=Kat Ashley isn't a name one usually associates with the Tudor era, but just like the more famous characters of the period, she has her own fascinating story to tell, a story which this book captures perfectly. As Thomas Cromwell's spy, Anne Boleyn's confidante and later Princess Elizabeth's governess, Kat Ashley certainly knew the Tudor court well and it is through her fictional diary entries that the reader is invited to know the dazzling, yet dangerous Tudor court too.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091940419</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Roy Jacobsen, Don Bartlett (translator) and Don Shaw (translator)
 
|title=Child Wonder
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Literary Fiction
 
|summary=1961 was a year of change, a time, as Jacobsen puts it, ''when men became boys and housewives women''.  At the outset Finn and his mother are leading a quiet, rather timorous life in a working class Oslo suburb.  Then change overwhelms them, not through world events, but in the form of a mysterious child who is Finn's half sister.  Linda is not like other children and Finn's attempt to deal with her impact on his family is the central thread in this quintessential story of growing up.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857050184</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Nicole Jarvis
|author=Amor Towles
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|title=A Portrait in Shadow
|title=Rules of Civility
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Katey Kontent works hard during the day as a typist at a big law firm in 1930s Manhattan, but at night she likes to sample the nightlife – jazz clubs in Greenwich Village. There on New Year's Eve 1937, she and her roommate Eve meet the charming Tinker Grey. This is the start of a year of many changes for Katey and her friends.
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|summary=''I want all of Florence to know my name''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444708848</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Cast out from Rome, Artemisia Gentileschi arrives in Florence seeking an oasis in which her art can find a home and where her future can thrive rather than stagnate. But as some as she enters Florentine society she faces great opposition from the powerful Accademia, the self-proclaimed guardians of the healing magics that through paintings have the power to protect the city and its citizens from plagues and curses. The all-male Accademia has hoarded power over art and architecture for centuries and guard it above all else. To them, Artemisia – an ambitious young woman who promises trouble and change – has no place amongst them and their society.
|author=Meira Chand
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|isbn=1803362340
|title=A Different Sky
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=We meet the first of the three main characters - Chinese Mei Lan on a trip with her devoted minder-nursemaid into town. The sights and smells intrigue the young girl as they are a far cry from her comfortable home and its surroundings. Rather than appreciating all that space and the beautiful objects in the family home, Mei Lan feels lonely (she's an only child) and even hemmed in.  But perhaps she'll change as she grows up.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099546248</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Thomas D Lee
 +
|title=Perilous Times
 +
|rating=3
 +
|genre= Fantasy
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|summary= ''Hate is the path of least resistance''
  
{{newreview
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Set in the near-distant future, in a world on the verge of climate collapse, Britain is in great peril. The British Isles desperately needs a hero (or several) to save the day and rescue what little remains. What no-one expected was that one of the Knights of the Round Table would answer the call.
|author=Lian Hearn
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|isbn=0356518523
|title=Blossoms and Shadows
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=I see from the front cover that Hearn is already a best-selling author with her ''Tales Of the Otori'' so I was looking forward to a good read. However, I did slump a little when I opened the book and was presented with several pages of the story's characters - sub-divided into fictional and historical.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857382977</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=G K Holloway
|author=D J Taylor
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|title=In the Shadows of Castles
|title=Derby Day
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=I read (and reviewed) Taylor's [[Ask Alice by D J Taylor|Ask Alice]] and took to Taylor's style straight away.  Is this one going to be as good - or even better?  Time to find out ... To set the tone we first meet a couple of no-gooders as they plot and scheme and it's all about horses and the Derby. And by degrees, Taylor introduces his main characters, chapter by chapter, to his readers. As this novel runs to over 400 pages, there's plenty of time for flesh to be heaped upon the bones of many of these characters.  So, for example, we have a rather cold and calculating daughter living with her elderly father who appear right at the start of the novel.  I got the sense that things were about to happen - and they certainly did.  There's a strong sense of emotions just bubbling under the surface with this duo.
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|summary= We begin after the momentous battle in 1066 and on the day of William of Normandy's coronation as King of England. William's position is not secure and the new king has many challenges. Imposing authority through a coronation is important. And William is right to worry. While the previous king, Harold, is dead and the likelihood of more pitched battles is over, the rebels are stirring and much of the country does not wish to recognise a new overlord.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0701183586</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1800422466
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=3949666079
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|title=Noema
 +
|author=Dael Akkerman
 +
|rating=4.5
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|genre=General Fiction
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|summary=''This is a story about some things that happened to me about twelve thousand years ago.''
  
{{newreview
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Maya is a young girl living in a hunter gatherer village during the Mesolithic era. Climate change is occurring, the Sea of Grass encroaches further and further into Maya's forest home, and food is becoming more and more scarce. What to do? Can the law givers in the federation of villages muster peaceful ways to cope? Can the Traveller, a spiritual figure who interprets the wisdom of All Life, provide solutions?
|author=Suzannah Dunn
 
|title=The Confession of Katherine Howard
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=Katherine Howard was Henry VIII's fifth wife. She was perhaps the most seductive of his wives and a considerable contrast to her predecessor, Anna of Cleves. She's been consigned to history as a silly girl, but careful reading gives the lie to this. Suzannah Dunn begins her story when Katherine was twelve years old and went to live in her step-grandmother's household. There she met Cathryn – generally known as Cat – Tilney, but the two girls were very different and didn't hit it off initially. Cat was quietly ambitious, aware that she needed to make a good marriage, whilst Katherine was image-conscious and very interested in the boys.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007258305</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1529125898
|title=Wall of Days
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|title=Godmersham Park
|author=Alastair Bruce
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|author=Gill Hornby
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=The front cover of this debut novel caught my full and undivided attention with ''Alone, ten years on an island, until one day...'' I couldn't wait to start reading.  We meet the central character - we don't know his name just yet and in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter.  He's living alone on an island, somewhere in the world.  Is it the past, the present or even the future?  As the story developed I decided on the former.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846688000</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Rory Clements
 
|title=John Shakespeare: Prince
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=This is the third in the excellent Elizabethan murder mystery series, featuring John Shakespeare, brother of Will. An inexplicable murder is linked to a much deeper plot of political dimensions, leading Shakespeare into danger and tragedy. A series of bombings, which appear to be targeting the immigrant population causes huge unrest and fear, and leads to the uncovering of further political dimensions.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848544251</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Felix J Palma
 
|title=The Map of Time
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Like a lot of readers I cannot resist a book with an immediate hook that draws you into the story quickly and in a seemingly effortless fashion.  From the very first page of 'The Map of Time' Felix Palma had me firmly in his grasp and continued to hold me there for the entirety of the novel.  Not once did I become bored or distracted as I relished every word, page and chapter of this remarkable book.  
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|summary=''If it were not for the casual dereliction of the odd gentleman's duty, there would no women to teach well-bred daughters at all.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007344120</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Anne Sharpe was thirty-one years old when she arrived at Godmersham Park to take up the position of governess to twelve-year-old Fanny Austen.  She had no experience of teaching but this was a case of necessityUntil the death of her mother, Anne had a comfortable life and was loved by both parents although her father was frequently absent from the householdWhen her mother died, her father cast her off and would have nothing more to do with herNo explanation was offered but she would receive an annuity of £35 a year.  Her maid, Agnes, would receive nothing but was fortunately taken in by some neighbours.
|author=Margaret James
 
|title=The Golden Chain
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=It's 1931 and teenager Daisy Denham, along with her parents Alex and Rose, and two brothers have left their life in India and moved to Melbury House in Dorset, a place full of history for Alex and RoseDaisy is not keen on her new life and surroundings and is desperate to escape, particularly when she discovers a long held family secret that casts a shadow across her pastShe soon meets handsome Ewan Fraser, a young man forced to spend his holidays in Dorset thanks to his overbearing mother, and the two strike up an instant friendship that soon turns to love, spurred on by their joint interest in working on the stageEwan soon gives Daisy a golden chain and Daisy promises never to take it off.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>190693164X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Melissa Fu
|author=Adrienne McDonnell
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|title=Peach Blossom Spring
|title=The Doctor and the Diva
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|rating=3.5
|rating=4
+
|genre=Historical Fiction  
|genre=Historical Fiction
+
|summary= I loved the prelude to Peach Blossom Spring, a short chapter entitled ''Origins''.  Unfortunately it is the only truly poetic part of a book that I expected more from. Covering Chinese history from 1938 to 2005 as viewed through one family's perspective. When their home city is set ablaze during the war with Japan, a young mother (Meilin) and her four-year-old son (Renshu) are among those who flee. The story follows them on their journey across China, and in Renshu's case eventually to America.   
|summary=We first meet one of the central characters, the successful, young obstetrician Dr Ravell as he mingles with the great and the good Bostonians at a high-level social gathering. His reputation seems to precede him as one guest enthuses 'After nineteen years in a barren marriage ... thanks to you, they had twins.'  High praise indeed.  And at this gathering he not only meets a future patient, Erika von Kessler, but he is also enraptured by her singing voice. He tries to explain all this but finds it difficult so ends up by saying 'It was not an earthly voice; it was a shimmering.' I loved that line.
+
|isbn=1472277538
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751543608</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1916072038
|author=Amitav Ghosh
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|title=The House in the Hollow (The Talbot Saga)
|title=River of Smoke
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|author=Allie Cresswell
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=At over 500 pages, this is a big book and it's also a big book in terms of the subject matters that it covers; the whole colonial situation regarding parts of the East as well as the properties and problems of the poppy's product - opiumGhosh also crams in a wealth of very different and diverse characters so that the novel has the feel of an exotic and at times, enchanting pot-pourri of a read.  I have to say at the outset that I find authors such as Rushdie wordy, very wordyI have Ghosh's ''The Glass Palace'' in my ever-growing 'to read' pile.  I wonder if the latter will be as wordy as the former.  Time to find out...
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|summary=We meet part of the Talbot family in Yorkshire in November 1811Twenty-seven-year-old Jocelyn Talbot and her mother have travelled in some discomfort from their home at Ecklington, to the house in the hollowThe two women are angry with each other and Jocelyn is well aware of her mother's strengths and weaknesses:
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0719568986</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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''She is practiced at subterfuge, at concealing, beneath a facade of respectability, the deplorable truth''.
|author=Anna Lawrence Pietroni
 
|title=Ruby's Spoon
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=“This is the tale of three women – one witch, one mermaid and one missing – and how Ruby was caught up in between”.
 
  
Despite the opening, this novel is more gritty realism than fantasy – there is lots of mythical imagery but in truth, the setting for this novel is a small industrial town cut off from everywhere else by the surrounding canals. It is 1933 (the middle of the Great Depression), and a stranger arrives in town to turn Ruby’s life upside down, for better or worse.
+
Hester is furious about Jocelyn's refusal to do as she was asked, which has precipitated ''this violent and unexpected removal''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099540053</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Then we are told of the birth of a child and, soon after, Hester Talbot departs, leaving Jocelyn in shame and isolation in Yorkshire.
|author=Richard Hughes
 
|title=The Fox in the Attic
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=The novel opens with a scene set to grab the reader's attention:  a young girl has been found dead somewhere on the Welsh coast.  And straight away I'm aware of Hughes' particular writing style.  Fluid with proper sentences.  It all has a traditional feel which I liked.  Then we cut fairly briskly to the young Augustine who's rattling around in some pile.  Due to the fallen in the First World War, many heirs did not return to England to take their rightful (I'm getting into the language, you'll notice) place in the family dynasty.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848879784</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Annabel Abbs
|author=Geraldine Brooks
+
|title=The Language of Food
|title=Caleb's Crossing
+
|rating=5
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Let's start, as Geraldine Brooks has, with a fact: in 1665 the first Native American, Caleb Cheeshateaumauk, graduated from Harvard College. Around this, Brooks has created a wholly fictional story (the known facts are so few that this is largely unavoidable). The stroke of genius here is to put the story into the words of the entirely fictitious Bethia Mayfield, the daughter of an English minister on what we now call Martha's Vinyard, where Caleb lived in the Wampanoag tribe. At various points in her life, Bethia sets down events concerning her early secret friendship with Caleb on the island, to accompanying him and her brother to Harvard and the subsequent events.
+
|summary=Eliza Acton is a poet who has never had the slightest inclination to boil an egg. When tasked with writing a cookery book, she recruits Ann Kirby, a local woman with a troubled home life. Together, they test, craft, refine and reshape the world of domestic cookery, reinventing the recipe book and changing the face of cookery writing forever.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007333536</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1398502227
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Freya Marske
|author=Claire Holden Rothman
+
|title=A Marvellous Light
|title=The Heart Specialist
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=We first meet teenager Agnes at home - dissecting a recently-dead squirrel in secret. She knows full well that her family would not approve of this unseemly behaviour, especially from a girl. She's expected to be a young lady and enjoying ladylike hobbies, like playing with dolls.  Fat chance.  Feisty Agnes is her father's daughter and she has an interest in medicine.  It must be in the blood, in the genes. If that's the case it's skipped younger sister Laure.  The two sisters are very different.  Laure is a gentle and pretty girl but her health is rather delicate.  Agnes is a bit of a tom-boy and a go-getter.  Their grandmother despairs of young Agnes - what's to become of her?  The norm is marriage and a family, this medical nonsense must be stamped out.  It's out of the question.  This profession is strictly for the men.  Try telling that to Agnes.
+
|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
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1851687947</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn= B09F4CTKJR
|author=Anne O'Brien
+
|title= Flights for Freedom
|title=Devil's Consort
+
|author= Steven Burgauer
|rating=5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=In the year 1137 fifteen year old Eleanor of Aquitaine is an orphan. Just before her father's death he asked King Louis VI of France to take care of her, and the unscrupulous Louis took advantage of this request to marry her to his pious son Louis VII. When her new father in law passes away, the young woman becomes Queen of France and is determined to safeguard her precious lands from all who want to take them – even if it leads to conflict with her weak-willed husband. Then she meets the Count of Anjou, Geoffrey Plantagenet, and his son Henry…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0778304272</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Elizabeth Speller
 
|title=The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=I reviewed and thoroughly enjoyed Speller's [[The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller|The Return Of Captain John Emmett]] so I was really keen to get stuck into the follow-up.  The main character, officer Laurence Bartram is also an important character in the previous book, but both are stand-alone novels in their own right.  The front cover is evocative and is also as pretty as a picture - literally. With its intriguing title which had me asking all sorts of questions before I'd even opened the book, it was a good start.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1844086313</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Christophe Medler
|author=Carol Birch
+
|title=Madrigal: A Closely Guarded Secret
|title=Jamrach's Menagerie
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=The novel is written in the first person by a young boy called Jaffy.  He describes the poverty of his life at home which includes the delightful line 'We lived in the crow's nest of Mrs Reagan's house.'  He also describes his struggling mother and his absent father.  But I got the sense that here was a bright and resilient boy.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847676561</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Karen Maitland
 
|title=The Gallow's Curse
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=This is the eagerly anticipated, and long awaited third novel by the immensely talented author Karen Maitland. It seems as if her ever expanding and permanently loyal fan base will not be disappointed in any way by her latest offering. It's rare (if ever), that I would be moved to give a 5 star rating to any novel - but this one richly deserves the highest of accolades.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718156358</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Stuart Clark
 
|title=The Sky's Dark Labyrinth
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=This book is heavily based on fact.  All of the characters are real people - apart from one. Some of us may be familiar with the names of Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler (due to the importance of their respective work, both men are afforded healthy chunks in my Oxford English Dictionary).  Clark also has a rather impressive working CV including holding a Fellowship of the Royal Astronomical Society.  But what I personally really liked and appreciated was the line on the book's front cover which said 'Knowledge can be a dangerous thing.'
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846971748</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=B095HY8SXQ
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1471187179
|author=M C Beaton
+
|title=A Beautiful Spy
|title=The Travelling Matchmaker: Emily Goes to Exeter
+
|author=Rachel Hore
|rating=3
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=Emily Goes to Exeter is by way of 'Being the First Volume of the Travelling Matchmaker' as the subheading has it on the frontispiece: the beginning of a new series obviously.
 
 
 
If like me you have come to Beaton by way of Hamish Macbeth this might seem like something of a diversion.  A little research shows you that in fact Marion Chesney, who writes under a number of pseudonyms (including Beaton) has a prolific work-rate.  Having produced upwards of 130 books since starting writing full time in the 1980s, focussing on crime and historical romance, there can be few avenues down which she has yet to wander.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849014795</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Margaret Dickinson
 
|title=Forgive and Forget
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=Straight away I got the sense of this book because of its language and style.  Lots of adjectives such as Polly has a ' ... fiery personality' and 'Cold fear ran through the girl's slim body.'  This book is very easy to read, to get into as the tone is conversational.  There are lines like 'The young girl's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in a horrified gasp.  She clutched her throat as she uttered hoarsely, 'no, oh, no!' '  This book will appeal to those readers who like a rather uncomplicated yarn but also with a good dash of romance.  True escapism.  Personally, the title is too slushy for me but I appreciate that it fits in nicely with the genre and also with Dickinson's style.  But, I have to say, there's an awful lot of 'hearts thumping' and 'eyes blazing' - too many for me, I'm afraid.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>033051623X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Sylvia Broady
 
|title=The Yearning Heart
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=It is 1941 so when an unmarried Frances Bewholme becomes pregnant she is shunned by her family and sent to an isolated farm to live and work. To add to her shame and disgrace Fran's unborn baby is not just any man's; it is her brother-in-law's. Victor Renton, home on leave from the war takes advantage of Fran one night when she comes home, upset and heartbroken.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0709092113</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Maaza Mengiste
 
|title=Beneath the Lion's Gaze
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Ethiopia 1974Emperor Haile Selassie is an old man barely clinging on to powerStill thought of, even by those rebelling against him, as a demi-god that they daren't disrespect let alone challenge he has held the country in thrall to his aristocratic government supported by the violence and repression of the army and the police.
+
|summary=Minnie is an 'ordinary' girl living an unexciting life in a leafy provincial suburbThe 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 secretaryAs 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099539926</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Afonso Cruz and Rahul Bery (translator)
|author=Alma Katsu
+
|title=Kokoschka's Doll
|title=The Taker
+
|rating=2.5
|rating=5
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|genre=General 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 itI 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, tooBut 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?
|summary=When Dr Luke Findley begins his nightshift at Aroostook County Hospital in St Andrews, Maine, things are quiet until Lanny McIlvrae is brought in by the policeLanny is covered in blood and claims she has killed a man and left him in the woods.  Desperate to escape, Lanny quickly asks for Luke's help, but he is not sure at first, so Lanny decides to tell Luke her life story, a story that begins in the early Puritan settlement of St Andrews in 1809 and spans nearly two hundred years, taking Lanny from her home to Boston and beyondA story that is rich, imaginative and entirely authentic, filling the majority of the novel, and there wasn't a moment when I questioned her reliability as she tells Luke everything, chapter by chapter, as he helps her to escape, slowly drawing him and the reader into her world.  
+
|isbn=1529402697
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846058171</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Christina Hammonds Reed
|author=Glenn Taylor
+
|title=The Black Kids
|title=The Marrowbone Marble Company
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
+
|genre=Teens
|summary=Glenn Taylor tells a big story with a deft lightness of touch. Covering the period from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, The Marrowbone Marble Company (and it's marble in the form of the glass marble game for children rather than the stone variety) tells the story of Loyal Ledford, a hard working man in West Virginia who marries the daughter of the glass factory where he works. Returning from a traumatic World War two, he decides to start his own business manufacturing marbles. If that sounds dull, it's far from it.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007359071</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1471188191
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ellen Bryson
 
|title=The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno: A Love Story
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=Set in the days and months following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno is an inventive and highly entertaining story of the life of the ''curiosities'' performing in the great PT Barnum's great American Museum.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330533819</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest History Reviews]]
|author=Jean Teule
 
|title=Monsieur Montespan
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=The Marquis de Montespan is totally in love with his new wife Athénaïs and she with him, so much so that when she becomes a lady in waiting at the palace of Versailles, she begs her husband to remove her in case she falls for the charms of the famous Sun King. The Marquis refuses because of the prestige and fortune her position brings them – but it's a decision he quickly regrets, as Louis XIV
 
indeed manages to cuckold him. With all of France talking about the new woman in the king's life, Montespan is expected to take the rewards offered to him in exchange for his wife and leave the couple alone. But many years before the French Revolution, instead he takes the unprecedented step of standing up to the king, ignoring his offers and proclaiming his cuckoldry by adding horns to his coat of arms. Can the man who's become a figure of fun throughout the country win back his wife?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906040303</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Paul R Spiring and Hugh Cooke
 
|title=Wheels of Anarchy by Max Pemberton
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=This mystery-adventure book was written and published around 100 years ago.  Will it stand the test of time?  The back cover blurb says confidently that this '' adventure story ... makes James Bond look like a stay at home ...''  Before you get into the story proper there's quite a lot of information in the introductory pages.  Some of it I did find interesting (the page about Max Pemberton and Sherlock Holmes for instance) but some readers may feel a little bogged down before they've even started to read chapter one.  Both Pemberton and Holmes belonged to a small, elite criminology society in London.  I got the impression that the two co-compilers felt as if they had to justify themselves somehow.  I ploughed on ...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907685316</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Christina Courtenay
 
|title=The Scarlet Kimono
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=It's 1611 and young Hannah's life in Plymouth is anything but exciting.  She has a horrid elder sister to deal with, and is jealous of her brother Jacob's career aboard a merchant ship.  Realising the life her parents have mapped out for her as wife to a man she loathes is not for her, Hannah decides to take action and control of her own destiny.  Soon she runs away from home, disguising herself as a boy and stowing away on one of the ships under her brother's command.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906931291</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Sara Sheridan
 
|title=Secret of the Sands
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=It's the summer of the year 1883.  William Wilberforce, hero of the anti-slavery movement is enjoying a gentleman's life in London.  But, far away in Abyssinia, things are far from rosy for the local people.  The situation facing them is ugly and very dangerous - slavers (what a horrible word) are in the area and with the stark sentence 'It takes only seven minutes to capture almost everyone' we get the picture, loud and clear.  Sheridan wastes no time in giving her readers the heart-wrenching details:  the elderly are separated and treated with very little dignity (they're almost worthless, not worth the bother of transportation), the fit and healthy are singled out and lastly, the young are segregated.  They are 'prized' most of all.  And into this latter category falls a pretty 17 year old girl called Zena.  She is spirited.  She will not show any fear.  She thinks for a split second of running but is intelligent enough to know that she'd be beaten severely for her sheer insubordination and probably even killed on the spot.  But behind her expressive eyes she is thinking and plotting ...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847561993</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 10:53, 20 November 2023

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Review of

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

5star.jpg Historical Fiction

Gracetown, Florida. June 1950. After a scuffle with a white boy, twelve year-old Robbie Stephens Jr is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, otherwise known as the Reformatory. It's a place with a brutal and dark reputation. But the segregated reformatory is a chamber of horrors, haunted by the boys that have died there. In order to survive the school governor and his Funhouse, Robert must enlist the help of the school's ghosts – only they have their own motivations... Full Review

0861547438.jpg

Review of

A True Account by Katherine Howe

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

Hannah Masury is living in Boston, having been sent to live with a family who run an inn, and being made to work there from a young age. When she hears there is to be a hanging of some pirates in the town, she decides to go and watch. Enthralled and horrified in equal measure, Hannah finds herself embroiled in a young boy's death at the hands of two vicious pirates. She hides away, so that they don't find and kill her too, and then to escape them completely she runs away to sea, dressing as a boy and joining the notorious Ned Low's pirate ship as a cabin boy. She soon finds herself in the thick of things when there is a mutiny on board, and from there we are caught up in her rip roaring tale of life on the ocean waves. Full Review

1035401614.jpg

Review of

A Sign of Her Own by Sarah Marsh

3.5star.jpg General Fiction

After a bout of scarlet fever as a child, Ellen Lark loses her hearing. Suddenly plunged into a world of silence, everything about her life changes. Living in a time when the use of sign language was seen as something only savages do, Ellen is sent to a school where she is taught to lip read, but physically restrained from signing. From here, she ends up in another school studying under Alexander Graham Bell who has been teaching the deaf and using a system called Visible Speech. At the same time, Bell is working on other inventions and ideas, and Ellen finds herself unwittingly caught up in a complicated tangle of espionage. Full Review

0356516075.jpg

Review of

House of Odysseus by Claire North

5star.jpg Literary Fiction

What could matter more than love?

The follow-up to the excellent Ithaca picks up a few months after where we left off. In the palace of Odysseus, with delicate care Queen Penelope continues to rule without her husband, who sailed to war at Troy and then by divine intervention never returned home. As ever she remains surrounded by suitors vying for the throne of the Western Isles. Having survived – politically and physical – the chaotic storm that Clytemnestra brought to Ithaca's shores, Queen Penelope is on the brink of a fragile peace. One that shatters however with the return of Orestes, King of Mycenae, and his sister Elektra, seeking refuge. Full Review

B0C7J9D21B.jpg

Review of

A Captive in Algiers (Muhammed Amalfi Mysteries) by A J Lewis

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

When we first meet our hero, his name is Ettore and he lives at The House of Beautiful Swallows. Idyllic as this might sound, it's a bordello and Ettore's mother died when he was born. He's not been short of mothers, though - but for someone of his background in late-eighteenth-century Amalfi, it's difficult to obtain decent employment. The stint working with the preparation of anchovies didn't work out and bastards are considered bad luck on fishing boats. Ettore was nothing if not resourceful - and determined - and it was not long before he had a successful business as a guide for visitors. He was even saving some money. Full Review

1914585526.jpg

Review of

The Fascination by Essie Fox

4star.jpg Historical Fiction

The Victorian era is incredibly over-romanticised as a setting for historical fiction (matched only, perhaps, by the Second World War) which has often led to more than a few writers mishandling it. There's such a glut of media set in the era that the hallmarks we've come to associate with it are familiar to the point of being cliched, hackneyed even. All this is simply to illustrate that it would be an easy thing to do poorly. But despite that, something about it still grabs me – and something about this book's description did as well. Full Review

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Review of

A Portrait in Shadow by Nicole Jarvis

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

I want all of Florence to know my name

Cast out from Rome, Artemisia Gentileschi arrives in Florence seeking an oasis in which her art can find a home and where her future can thrive rather than stagnate. But as some as she enters Florentine society she faces great opposition from the powerful Accademia, the self-proclaimed guardians of the healing magics that through paintings have the power to protect the city and its citizens from plagues and curses. The all-male Accademia has hoarded power over art and architecture for centuries and guard it above all else. To them, Artemisia – an ambitious young woman who promises trouble and change – has no place amongst them and their society. Full Review

0356518523.jpg

Review of

Perilous Times by Thomas D Lee

3star.jpg Fantasy

Hate is the path of least resistance

Set in the near-distant future, in a world on the verge of climate collapse, Britain is in great peril. The British Isles desperately needs a hero (or several) to save the day and rescue what little remains. What no-one expected was that one of the Knights of the Round Table would answer the call. Full Review

1800422466.jpg

Review of

In the Shadows of Castles by G K Holloway

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

We begin after the momentous battle in 1066 and on the day of William of Normandy's coronation as King of England. William's position is not secure and the new king has many challenges. Imposing authority through a coronation is important. And William is right to worry. While the previous king, Harold, is dead and the likelihood of more pitched battles is over, the rebels are stirring and much of the country does not wish to recognise a new overlord. Full Review

3949666079.jpg

Review of

Noema by Dael Akkerman

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

This is a story about some things that happened to me about twelve thousand years ago.

Maya is a young girl living in a hunter gatherer village during the Mesolithic era. Climate change is occurring, the Sea of Grass encroaches further and further into Maya's forest home, and food is becoming more and more scarce. What to do? Can the law givers in the federation of villages muster peaceful ways to cope? Can the Traveller, a spiritual figure who interprets the wisdom of All Life, provide solutions? Full Review

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Review of

Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby

5star.jpg Historical Fiction

If it were not for the casual dereliction of the odd gentleman's duty, there would no women to teach well-bred daughters at all.

Anne Sharpe was thirty-one years old when she arrived at Godmersham Park to take up the position of governess to twelve-year-old Fanny Austen. She had no experience of teaching but this was a case of necessity. Until the death of her mother, Anne had a comfortable life and was loved by both parents although her father was frequently absent from the household. When her mother died, her father cast her off and would have nothing more to do with her. No explanation was offered but she would receive an annuity of £35 a year. Her maid, Agnes, would receive nothing but was fortunately taken in by some neighbours. Full Review

1472277538.jpg

Review of

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

3.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

I loved the prelude to Peach Blossom Spring, a short chapter entitled Origins. Unfortunately it is the only truly poetic part of a book that I expected more from. Covering Chinese history from 1938 to 2005 as viewed through one family's perspective. When their home city is set ablaze during the war with Japan, a young mother (Meilin) and her four-year-old son (Renshu) are among those who flee. The story follows them on their journey across China, and in Renshu's case eventually to America. Full Review

1916072038.jpg

Review of

The House in the Hollow (The Talbot Saga) by Allie Cresswell

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

We meet part of the Talbot family in Yorkshire in November 1811. Twenty-seven-year-old Jocelyn Talbot and her mother have travelled in some discomfort from their home at Ecklington, to the house in the hollow. The two women are angry with each other and Jocelyn is well aware of her mother's strengths and weaknesses:

She is practiced at subterfuge, at concealing, beneath a facade of respectability, the deplorable truth.

Hester is furious about Jocelyn's refusal to do as she was asked, which has precipitated this violent and unexpected removal.

Then we are told of the birth of a child and, soon after, Hester Talbot departs, leaving Jocelyn in shame and isolation in Yorkshire. Full Review

1398502227.jpg

Review of

The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs

5star.jpg Historical Fiction

Eliza Acton is a poet who has never had the slightest inclination to boil an egg. When tasked with writing a cookery book, she recruits Ann Kirby, a local woman with a troubled home life. Together, they test, craft, refine and reshape the world of domestic cookery, reinventing the recipe book and changing the face of cookery writing forever. Full Review

1529080886.jpg

Review of

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

4star.jpg Historical Fiction

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. Full Review

B09F4CTKJR.jpg

Review of

Flights for Freedom by Steven Burgauer

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

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. Full Review

B095HY8SXQ.jpg

Review of

Madrigal: A Closely Guarded Secret by Christophe Medler

4star.jpg Historical Fiction

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. Full Review

1471187179.jpg

Review of

A Beautiful Spy by Rachel Hore

4star.jpg Historical Fiction

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. Full Review

1529402697.jpg

Review of

Kokoschka's Doll by Afonso Cruz and Rahul Bery (translator)

2.5star.jpg Literary Fiction

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? Full Review

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Review of

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

4.5star.jpg Teens

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. Full Review

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