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=Rhidian Brook
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|title=The Reformatory
|title=The Aftermath
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|rating=5
 +
|genre=Historical Fiction
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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...
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|isbn=1803366532
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Katherine Howe
 +
|title=A True Account
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=''The Aftermath'' is set amongst the devastated ruins in the fire-bombed city of Hamburg in 1946. The British have occupied the ruined city and Colonel Lewis Morgan, an officer and a gentleman, is charged with overseeing the restoration of order. However, Colonel Morgan must first deal with the human cost of the bombing including remnants of fanatic Nazis, the ''trummerkind'' - children of the rubble, and the starving civil populace. He also, in 1943, lost a child due to a Luftwaffe bomb and he must support his deeply grieving wife, Rachel, when she arrives after months of separation with their surviving twelve year old boy, the impressionable Edmund.
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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>0670921122</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0861547438
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Sarah Marsh
 +
|title=A Sign of Her Own
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|rating=3.5
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|genre=General Fiction
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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 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.
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|isbn=1035401614
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Claire North
|author=Diana Souhami
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|title=House of Odysseus
|title=Coconut Chaos
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|genre= Literary Fiction  
|summary=Our anonymous narrator has a chaos-theory-theory about the mutiny on the Bounty.  It can all be traced back to Fletcher Christian stealing a coconut.  Armed with this thought and the intrepid spirit of many Britons before her, she sets off for Pitcairn Island, the isolated home of Christian and his band of dissenters 3,000 miles from New Zealand.  She leaves behind a beloved but delusional mother, her partner and all the comforts of civilisation as she travels with hope and the inimitable Lady Myre.  Meanwhile we listen to true stories about the mutiny, the aftermath and the fact that there weren't really many heroes, just a group of flawed individuals fighting for survival.
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|summary= ''What could matter more than love?''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780878745</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=Robert Wilton
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|isbn=0356516075
|title=Traitor's Field
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=It's 1648 and the embers of Charles I's reign start to fade as Britain slowly turns the monotone colour of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth.  However, Royalist passion still exists and it's up to Sir Mortimer Shay, the Comptrollerate-General for Scrutiny and Survey, to gather the intelligence, maintain his spy network and fan the embers towards the Royalist victory for which he longs. He's a wily veteran so not easily stopped but among the confusion and brutality that tears Britain in half, former lawyer Cromwell's spymaster John Thurloe is the man charged with the task.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848878192</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B0C7J9D21B
|author=Paul Lynch
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|title=A Captive in Algiers (Muhammed Amalfi Mysteries)
|title=Red Sky In Morning
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|author=A J Lewis
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=It’s 1832 and Coll Coyle and his humble family are to be turfed out of their home in Donegal and Coll is just angry enough to confront the landowner’s son who is responsible. The repercussions of Coll’s actions are huge and Coll is forced to go on the run. He attempts to escape across the unforgiving and desolate landscape of North West Ireland, the brutal Atlantic Ocean and the plains of North America, all the while stalked by the incredibly dangerous and violent John Faller. Red Sky in Morning is Paul Lynch’s debut novel and it is a real hit.
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|summary=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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780879164</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Essie Fox
|author=Patricia Watkins
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|title=The Fascination
|title=Trick of Fate: Connell O'Keeffe and The Pen Caer Legacy
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Connell O'Keeffe was a gentleman actor and on 23 February 1797 he was on his way from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire to catch the ferry home to Ireland.  Unable to speak Welsh he was unaware that the French had invaded Pen Caer and rode into a situation which would change his life forever.  The man who had set off to make his leisurely way home, taking in some of the local landmarks suffered a life-threatening injury, was unjustly accused of a foul murder and became a fugitive. It was difficult to see that he could survive his current situation - fitter men than he were dying - and if he did, what was the point?  What was there that he could do when his chosen profession would no longer be open to him?
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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>0957210450</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1914585526
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Nicole Jarvis
|author=Michael Ennis
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|title=A Portrait in Shadow
|title=The Malice of Fortune
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|rating=4.5
|rating=3
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=Michael Ennis sets his ''The Malice of Fortune'' in Italy in the early part of the 1500s. Ennis is a history lecturer so unsurprisingly, his book is full of evidence of detailed research and understanding of the times. And what fascinating times they were. With the Borgia family dominating both the papacy and several political regions, fighting for power and land, a number of family led mercenary armies, and several great figures who would leave a lasting legacy, notably Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli, the latter of whom narrates a very large part of this novel. The real life political wrangling of the times would stretch the imagination of most novelists and Ennis bases his tale on a huge number of real, documented happenings. What he seeks to add to the party is an insight into why and how these events occurred and certainly there are some unexplained gaps in the relationships of the key players. The core story is an attempt to discover the identity of the murderer of the pope's son, Juan Borgia, Duke of Gandia. Candidates range from his brother, Cesare Borgia, Juan's courtesan, Damiata to the heads of various powerful, mercenary families. It's historical fiction meets crime fiction.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780890974</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Tim Leach
 
|title=The Last King of Lydia
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Ancient mythology seems to be enjoying a surge in popularity of late, with a plethora of books, movies and games based on these ancient legends and fabled heroes. There is something in the collective consciousness that enables these stories to resonate with each subsequent generation, allowing ancient wisdom to put out new roots in fresh soil.
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|summary=''I want all of Florence to know my name''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857899171</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=James Benmore
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|isbn=1803362340
|title=Dodger
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=That loveable rogue, the Artful Dodger, is one of the most memorable and amusing characters in all of English literature. ''Oliver Twist'' ended with Dodger Jack Dawkins arrested for the theft of a silver snuff box and transported to Australia. But what happened next? James Benmore explores that idea in ''Dodger'', which takes up the story six years after the events of ''Oliver Twist''.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780874650</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Thomas D Lee
 +
|title=Perilous Times
 +
|rating=3
 +
|genre= Fantasy
 +
|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=Elizabeth Gill
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|isbn=0356518523
|title=Miss Appleby's Academy
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=After forsaking her own chance of happiness to care for her aging father, Emma Appleby’s life is thrown into turmoil when he dies suddenly, leaving her fate entirely in the hands of her callous brother Laurence. Laurence and his wife view the middle-aged spinster as a burden and are keen to marry her off to an elderly neighbour to free themselves of responsibility. With seemingly nowhere to turn, Emma flees America to make a new life for herself in her childhood home of County Durham.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780878478</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=G K Holloway
|author=Jenny Mandeville
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|title=In the Shadows of Castles
|title=A Crown of Despair
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=By the age of 31 Katherine, Lady Latimer, had been married and widowed twice.  Her first match to an elderly, sickening baron ended at the age of 16, as miserably as it had started two years earlier. Her second marriage to John Neville, Lord Latimer, had been more comfortable. On his death she found love for the first time in her life, but to no avail.  The monarch had seen Katherine and would claim her for himself no matter what her wishes may be.  This forced marriage would make her famous, for down the centuries history would recount the story of Lady Latimer using her other name: Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII.
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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>071980857X</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1800422466
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=3949666079
|author=Anne O'Brien
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|title=Noema
|title=The Forbidden Queen
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|author=Dael Akkerman
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Katherine de Valois is the young and innocent girl betrothed to Henry V of England. While Henry doesn't love her, she thinks she can be happy with him. Unfortunately, though, she quickly finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage, then finds an even worse fate in store as Henry is killed and she is left a lonely young widow. With political machinations dogging her every step as men like Edmund Beaufort and Owen Tudor catch her eye. Can she be happy with one of them, or will those people at court who don't want to see any man gain the power that would come with marrying the mother of the young king foil her hopes?
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|summary=''This is a story about some things that happened to me about twelve thousand years ago.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848452152</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{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=E A Dineley
 
|title=The Death of Lyndon Wilder and the Consequences Thereof
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary= Anna Arbuthnot moves to Ridley Hall as governess for Lord and Lady Charles Wilder's granddaughter, Lottie. Lottie's mother died years before and her father Lyndon has just been killed in the Napoleonic Wars.  Lady Charles has all but beatified Lyndon as no one could ever be as wonderful, caring or heroic.  In fact she only tolerates Lottie because of her family likeness but things are about to change.  Lyndon's younger brother, Thomas, returns from the war accompanied by the secrets that stalk him and intentions that will shake Ridley Hall.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780332270</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1529125898
|author=William Palmer
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|title=Godmersham Park
|title=The Devil is White
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|author=Gill Hornby
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Just off the West coast of Africa is the island of MurandaIt is uninhabited, but previous attempts at settling it mean there are buildings available for useThere is wild game for hunting, fruits on the trees and the climate suggests that the land could be cultivatedA group of gentlemen, not liking the slavery rules they are living under in late Eighteenth Century England, have an idea of claiming this island as a kind of Utopia where there are no slaves and everyone lives in comfort and equality.
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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>0224096826</amazonuk>
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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 AustenShe 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 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.
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Melissa Fu
|author=V M Whitworth
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|title=Peach Blossom Spring
|title=The Traitors' Pit: (Wulfgar 2)
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|rating=3.5
|rating=5
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|genre=Historical Fiction  
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|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= Wystan, one of Wulfgar's brothers, has always been an honest, sturdy farmerNot the sharpest sword in the armoury perhaps, but he pays his taxes and remains well-respected. However that seems to have changed.  Wystan is accused of plotting against King Edward of Wessex. Wulfgar knows Wystan is innocent and has three months to prove it; three months to stop Wystan being hanged and hurled into the open, unconsecrated grave that is the Traitors' Pit. Not an easy task to begin with, it becomes considerably harder when Wulfgar's liege Lady Fleda asks him to go on a mission he can't refuse; a mission that could take more time than he has.
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|isbn=1472277538
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091947189</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1916072038
|author=Julian Lees
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|title=The House in the Hollow (The Talbot Saga)
|title=The House of Trembling Leaves
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|author=Allie Cresswell
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary= To many it may just be another skirmish in the longstanding clan war in the Malaysia of 1936 but the explosion destroys Lu See's village dam and over 30 lives.  As far as Lu See's concerned, it's time for her to leave anyway.  Rather than face an abhorrent arranged marriage she escapes to Cambridge, England with her Tibetan servant, Sum Sum, seeking a future that combines study with her forbidden true love, Adrian Woo.  Adrian comes from a rival family in the village so this isn't a match that pleases everyone.  For now Lu See and Sum Sum think they've left trouble and conflict behind but their futures testify differently.
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|summary=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:
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908737174</amazonuk>
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}}
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''She is practiced at subterfuge, at concealing, beneath a facade of respectability, the deplorable truth''.
  
{{newreview
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Hester is furious about Jocelyn's refusal to do as she was asked, which has precipitated ''this violent and unexpected removal''.
|author=V M Whitworth
 
|title=The Bone Thief: (Wulfgar 1)
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary= It's 900AD.  Fleda is the Lady of Mercia, taken from her native Wessex to marry Mercia's Lord 15 years ago, her childhood friend, secretary and wanna-be-priest Wulfgar being one of her few existing links with the past.  Their country is far from united as whispers of unrest come from all directions.  Perhaps the only way to strengthen Mercia and increase its importance is to acquire a saint's relics?  As a result of this thought process, Wulfgar is sent to Baldney in order to steal the bones of St Oswald.  Despite having the company of young Ednoth of Sodbury (who can just about handle a sword), Wulfgar beings to realise that stealing bones is the easy bit.  Staying alive may be a tad harder.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091947235</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=Ella March Chase
 
|title=The Nine Day Queen
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary= The young monarch, Edward Tudor, is dying and the Protestants of England fear a return to Catholicism through his sister, Mary Tudor.  However, the Dukes of Northumberland, Pembroke and Suffolk seize the opportunity to promote self-interest in the form of Suffolk's 16 year old daughter, Jane.  His eldest and 4th in line to the throne is also young enough to do as she's told.  In this way the door closes harshly on Jane's childhood, for history knows her as Lady Jane Grey; a name that will be written in blood.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091947170</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Annabel Abbs
|author=Shiba Ryotaro
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|title=The Language of Food
|title=Clouds above the Hill: A Historical Novel of the Russo-Japanese War, Volume 2
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=If Volume 1 built up the characters of Masaoka Shiki and the Akiyama brothers, Volume 2 is a book more about war than about people, at least as individuals. Very early in this volume, Masaoka Shiki passes away at a very young age and so fades from the story. Shortly afterwards, as the war with Russia becomes more inevitable and Japan's preparations for this really kick into gear, the Akiyama brothers blend a little more into the cast of characters working on the war effort and whilst their names appear fairly regularly, we don't follow their stories as closely as before.  
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|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>0415508843</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1398502227
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Freya Marske
|author=Patricia Watkins
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|title=A Marvellous Light
|title=The Wayward Gentleman: John Theophilus Potter and the Town of Haverfordwest
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=In 1778 John Theophilus Potter (Theo to his friends) came to Haverfordwest from Dublin with a group of actors to put on two performances of ''Romeo and Juliet''.  A careless accident left him unable to return with the other players - and then he met Elizabeth Edwardes, from a family of local gentry. Friendship turned to love and whilst some in the town wondered (in a rather loud voice) that the Edwardes should allow Elizabeth's friendship with an actor, Theo was no strolling player without a penny to his name.  He was a 'gentleman player' with a considerable fortune and a very respectable income. He was also a restless man, constantly driven to achieve.
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|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>0957210442</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn= B09F4CTKJR
|author=Pam Jenoff
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|title= Flights for Freedom
|title=The Ambassador's Daughter
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|author= Steven Burgauer
|rating=3.5
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=In 1919 the Great War - the First World War - was over and all that was left was to work out the terms of the peace treaty. Margot Rosenthal accompanied her father, a diplomat, to Paris, where he was part of the German delegation and in the invidious position of being disliked by the French because he was ''the enemy'' and mistrusted by fellow members of the delegation because he was Jewish.  They'd previously been in England where they'd simply been the enemy.  Margot could have gone home to Berlin but that would have taken her back to her fiance, who'd been seriously injured in the war. She'd rather fallen into the engagement, feeling that it was what she ought to do.  Passion played no part.
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|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>1848452039</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author= Christophe Medler
|author=Annabel Lyon
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|title=Madrigal: A Closely Guarded Secret
|title=The Sweet Girl
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|rating=4
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=''The Sweet Girl'' is a novel fictionalising the life of Pythias, the Greek philosopher Aristotle's daughter. The reader looks at the world through Pythias’ eyes, from the age of 7 until her late teens, starting in Athens, and ending up in Chalcis. One gets to delve into the experience of life in the household of a highly esteemed ancient philosopher, and the uncertainty which the main characters are thrown into after the death of King Alexander, making life unsafe for anyone previously affiliated with him – this includes Aristotle, who was once his teacher.
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|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>085789952X</amazonuk>
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|isbn=B095HY8SXQ
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1471187179
|author=C W Gortner
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|title=A Beautiful Spy
|title=The Queen's Vow
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|author=Rachel Hore
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Queen Isabella of Spain will always be regarded as a bit of an enigma. On the one hand, contemporary sources claim that she was wise, kind and gentle, hating any kind of cruelty, including the popular sport of bullfighting. Her rule brought about the unification of Spain and heralded a new era of peace for its people. On the other side of the coin, she and her husband Fernando sanctioned the infamous Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of all Jews from Spain. Her most vehement critics may also point out that her sponsorship of Columbus brought untold misery to the inhabitants of the Americas, although in her defence, there is no way that she could have predicted the eventual consequences of his pioneering voyage.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444720805</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Afonso Cruz and Rahul Bery (translator)
|author=Shiba Ryotaro
+
|title=Kokoschka's Doll
|title=Clouds above the Hill: A Historical Novel of the Russo-Japanese War, Volume 1
+
|rating=2.5
|rating=5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=I've long been a lover of Japan, ever since a brief visit to the country more than a decade ago.  Whilst I've read several Japanese crime thrillers in translation, I've never really investigated the history of the country.  Now available in English for the first time, Shiba Ryotaro's ''Clouds Above the Hill: A historical Novel of the Russo-Japanese War'' provides just that opportunity.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0415508762</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jack Wolf
 
|title=The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=It doesn’t take long for Jack Wolf’s extraordinary pastiche eighteenth century novel 'The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones' to show its true stripes. Narrator Tristan Hart’s best friend Nathanial is handsome, charming and athletic, and also prone to ‘snatching blue Tits from the Hedges, and consuming them direct upon the Spot.’ In that phrase you see both the heart-stopping nastiness that pulses through ''Raw Head and Bloody Bones'' and the fascinating attitude to Gothic duality that lies at its core.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0701186879</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ayana Mathis
 
|title=The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Literary Fiction
 
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary= Teenager Hattie Shepherd moves with her husband August, parents and siblings from the colour apartheid of the southern US to Philadelphia in search of a better life.  Unfortunately this is 1920's America and so 'better life' is a mirage for HattieBy the age of 15 she's pregnant and subsequently gives birth to twins Jubilee and Philadelphia, the first two of 11 childrenAs much joy as they bring, the twins are destined to provide a tragedy that will flavour Hattie's and August's outlook and relationship for decades.  Each later Shepherd baby will develop with their own characteristics but each will also be tarnished by the past, irrespective of their attempts to escape it.
+
|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 onIt 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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009194418X</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1529402697
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Christina Hammonds Reed
|author=Sharon Penman
+
|title=The Black Kids
|title=Lionheart
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
+
|genre=Teens
|summary=''Lionheart'' is the latest book in the ''Devil’s Brood'' series, which focuses on the dysfunctional Angevin branch of the Plantaganets. As the title suggests, the story is a richly detailed account of the life of Richard I, covering the period from his coronation up to the end of the third crusade.
+
|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>1447205367</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1471188191
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest History Reviews]]
|author=Geling Yan and Nicky Harman (translator)
 
|title=The Flowers of War
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=1937, Nanking. The war between the Republic of China and Japan has ended in defeat for China, and now Japanese soldiers are moving in to bloodily occupy the capital city. In a small American mission church, fifteen Chinese schoolgirls are hiding, trapped until the priests who look after them can smuggle them to safety. Into this already fraught atmosphere come desperate Chinese citizens looking for shelter – a rowdy group of Nanking prostitutes, a colonel on the run and two more soldiers who have survived a horrendous secret massacre. As the Japanese atrocities gather pace, the safety and survival of each of the church’s disparate members becomes uncertain, and the initially hostile girls begin to realise that there may be common ground between them and the prostitutes they have been taught to despise.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099569620</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Joanna Hickson
 
|title=The Agincourt Bride
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary= Baker's daughter Guillaumette Dupain, aged 15, mourns for her still-born baby but her tragedy becomes others' gain.  Young Mette is sent to the Hotel de San Pol, home of the French royal family to become wet nurse to the latest child produced by the sickly Charles VI and his wife, Isabella of Bavaria.  The infant is Catherine de Valois; destined to be the mother of an English dynasty.  But first she must live long enough to marry an English king and being a 15th century royal is a dangerous existence when your greatest enemies are in your own family.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007446977</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=David Kent-Lemon
 
|title=Blockade Runner
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=London shipbroker's clerk Tom Wells is hungry for promotion.  Seeking responsibility where ever possible he's still unprepared for a proposition from his employer Mr Pembroke.  The company is to operate five cargo ships, shuttling between the Bahamas and America's southern states and he wants Tom to be on board as shipping agent; a dangerous enterprise.  Why?  It's 1861 and the south is at war with the Yankee north.  President Lincoln has blockaded ports like Charleston and Wilmington in the Carolinas in an attempt to prevent revenue-providing cargo leaving or supplies (including uniforms and arms) arriving.  Mr Pembroke plans to illegally 'run' the blockade, something not unattractive to Tom partially due to the vastly increased wage attached but mostly because he has a certain interest in a certain American lady.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781590648</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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

1471188191.jpg

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

Move on to Newest History Reviews