Historical Novels Review | Issue 112 (May 2025)

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW

ISSUE 112

THE CARDINAL

Novel | More on page 8

May 2025

FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE ...

The Lost Writing Partner

The Case of Charles & Caroline Todd

Page 10

Secrets & Solidarity

Susan Meissner’s A Map to Paradise

Page 12

Shadow of Shakespeare

Kate Braithwaite Talks to Grace Tiffany

Page 12

The Show Must Go On

Emma Cowing's Balancing Act

Page 14

The Monmouth Rebellion

Minette Walters on Recurring Stereotypes

Page 15

Historical Fiction Market News

Page 1

New Voices Page 4

History & Film

Page 6

Alison Weir's Latest Tudor

HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW

ISSN 1471-7492

Issue 112, May 2025 | © 2025 The Historical Novel Society

PUBLISHER

Richard Lee

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

EDITORIAL BOARD

Managing Editor: Bethany Latham

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

Book Review Editor: Sarah Johnson

Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Avenue, Charleston, IL 61920 USA <sljohnson2@eiu.edu>

Publisher Coverage: Bethany House; Bookouture; HarperCollins, IPG; Penguin Random House US; Severn House; Australian presses; university presses

Features Editor: Lucinda Byatt

13 Park Road, Edinburgh, EH6 4LE UK <textline13@gmail.com>

New Voices Column Editor: Myfanwy Cook

47 Old Exeter Road, Tavistock, Devon PL19 OJE UK <myfanwyc@btinternet.com>

REVIEWS EDITORS, UK

Ben Bergonzi

<bergonziben@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Birlinn/Polygon; Bloomsbury UK; Duckworth Overlook; Faber & Faber; Granta; HarperCollins UK; Head of Zeus; Orenda; Pan Macmillan; Sapere; Simon & Schuster UK; Storm; Swift Press

Alan Fisk

<alan.fisk@alanfisk.com>

Publisher Coverage: Aardvark Bureau; Black and White; Bonnier Zaffre; Crooked Cat; Freight; Gallic; Honno; Karnac; Legend; Pushkin; Oldcastle; Quartet; Saraband; Seren; Serpent’s Tail

Ann Lazim

<annlazim@googlemail.com>

Publisher Coverage: All UK children’s historicals

Aidan Morrissey

<aidankmorrissey@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Allison & Busby; Canelo; Penguin Random House UK; Quercus

Adele Wills

<adele.wills@btinternet.com>

Publisher Coverage: Alma; Atlantic; Canongate; Glagoslav; Hachette UK; Pen & Sword; The History Press

REVIEWS EDITORS, USA

Tracy Barrett

<tracy.t.barrett@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: All North American children's historicals

Kate Braithwaite

<kate.braithwaite@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Poisoned Pen Press; Skyhorse; Sourcebooks; and Soho

Bonnie DeMoss

<bonnie@historicalnovelsociety.org>

Publisher Coverage: North American small presses

Peggy Kurkowski

<pegkurkowski@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Bellevue; Blackstone; Bloomsbury; Casemate; Macmillan (all imprints); Grove/Atlantic; and Simon & Schuster (all imprints)

Janice Ottersberg

<jkottersberg@gmail.com>

Publisher Coverage: Amazon Publishing; Europa; Guernica; Hachette; Kensington; Pegasus; and W.W. Norton

REVIEWS EDITORS, INDIE

J. Lynn Else

<jlynn@historicalnovelsociety.org>

Publisher Coverage: all self- and subsidy-published novels

EDITORIAL POLICY & COPYRIGHT

Reviews, articles, and letters may be edited for reasons of space, clarity, and grammatical correctness. We will endeavour to reflect the authors’ intent as closely as possible, and will contact the authors for approval of any major change. We welcome ideas for articles, but have specific requirements to consider. Before submitting material, please contact the editor to discuss whether the proposed article is appropriate for Historical Novels Review

In all cases, the copyright remains with the authors of the articles. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the authors concerned.

MEMBERSHIP DETAILS

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY was formed in 1997 to help promote historical fiction. We are an open society — if you want to get involved, get in touch.

MEMBERSHIP in the Historical Novel Society entitles members to all the year’s publications: four issues of Historical Novels Review, as well as exclusive membership benefits through the Society website. Back issues of Society magazines are also available. For current rates, please see: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/members/join/

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HISTORICAL FICTION MARKET NEWS

HNS UPDATE

Are you receiving the quarterly Historical Novel Society Member Newsletter via email? It’s sent out to all HNS members (at the email address on file in your HNS account) on the first of February, May, August, and November. If you need to update your email address, you can do so by logging in to your Member Account on the HNS website. Please also list contact@historicalnovelsociety. org as an approved sender in your email client so the newsletter isn’t inadvertently flagged as spam.

NEW BOOKS BY HNS MEMBERS

Tod Lending, Kirsten Menger-Anderson, Morgan

and Elizabeth A.

The

Minette

Congrats to everyone who sent in details on their new books! If you’ve written a historical novel or nonfiction work published (or to be published) in January 2025 or after, send the following details to me at sljohnson2@eiu.edu by July 7: author, title, publisher, release date, and a blurb of one sentence or less. Please shorten your blurbs down to one sentence, as space is limited. Details will appear in the August 2025 issue of HNR. Submissions may be edited.

In The Mercenary’s Women by James L. Sweeney (Book Baby, May 2, 2024), set in the turbulent 17th century, a young African must deal with slavery, violent conflict between rival Portuguese and Dutch empires, adventures on two continents, and the Caribbean isles while seeking lasting love, identity, and a life of his own choosing.

Ellis Blackwood has published the first four Samuel Pepys Mysteries since summer last year. In The Brampton Witch Murders (Vintage Mystery Press, Aug. 31, 2024), set after the Great Fire of 1666, Pepys joins forces with his astute maidservant and anxious but brave protégé to clear his sister’s name of witchcraft. The Plague Doctor Murders (VMP, Sept. 30, 2024) finds them hunting a killer in plaguedoctor guise at Deptford’s royal docks, while The Coffee House Murders (VMP, Oct. 31, 2024) draws them into the murky world of politics, royalist versus republican, ending in a deadly confrontation at Whitehall Palace. The jeopardy deepens in The King’s Court Murders (VMP, Jan. 31, 2025), as His Majesty’s mistresses are slain one by one, and failure to unmask the culprit may cost Pepys and his inquisitors their own mortal souls.

In 1349 England, disgraced knight Alister Warde must flee execution and a monstrous plague consuming Windsor as the world transforms around him in A. R. Zamaku’s Land of Morrow (Independently published, Sept. 30, 2024).

Defined by her brilliance, yet bound by Victorian society, Annabelle Pierce—once her physician father’s medical ghostwriter—must navigate scandal, heartbreak, and ambition to slash her way into history with a parasol in one hand and a scalpel in the other in Nora Hill’s Eve’s Rib (Three Little Sisters, Nov. 15, 2024).

Set in the mountains of post-WW2 Italy, Broken Madonna by Anna Lucia (Fluency Publishing, Nov. 16, 2024) is the beautifully told story about the mysterious visions of a fragile girl, Elisabetta, who draws crowds with her miracles—but her only friend Adelina doesn’t believe

her, with far-reaching consequences that uncover dark secrets of the past.

The Mistake by Mara Schiffren (Woodhall Press, Nov. 20, 2024), set in the 2nd century, tells the tale of Marcus, half Roman and half Jewish, growing up in Judea at a time of increasing tension between Romans and Jews, and how he soaks up both cultures until the cataclysmic breakup of his family forces him to choose his own path forward.

As told in Annie R. McEwen’s The Corset Girls, Unlaced (Bloodhound, Jan. 8), Book One of a four-book series and set in 1892 Whitechapel, former gang fighter Kell has sworn off his violent ways, but when old enemies attack the woman he loves, he goes to war again to save her.

Set in the Tower of London during the 13th century, Samantha WardSmith’s Tower of Vengeance (Mabel & Stanley, Jan. 9) reimagines the story of Maude de Mandeville, who was imprisoned in the round turret of the White Tower for rejecting King John’s advances until she was finally poisoned on the king’s orders, and what happens when a murdered woman seeks revenge.

Jessica Brockmole’s first work of historical nonfiction, Pink Cars and Pocketbooks: How American Women Bought Their Way into the Driver’s Seat (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Jan. 14), is the story of how, across the twentieth century, the automotive industry and its female consumers battled to define what women wanted in a car.

A rule-following New York City schoolteacher arrives in Tombstone in 1881 and to her shock and delight, helps her father exonerate Wyatt Earp of murder and sets out to become a lawyer despite convention, setbacks, and tragedy in A New York Lady In Helldorado by VC Williams (Outlaws Publishing, Jan. 21).

In Rebellion by Griff Hosker (Sword Books Ltd., Jan. 24), when Edgar Ætheling, great-nephew of Edward the Confessor and former contender for the English throne, raises the banner of rebellion in the north of England, he unleashes a bloodbath that will echo for generations, and Richard Fitz-Malet, half-English and half-Norman, finds himself in the middle of the conflict.

In Tracy Wise’s Madame Sorel’s Lodger (Type Eighteen Books, Feb. 4), a novel inspired by the life and works of Vincent Van Gogh, an ailing artist’s arrival in a small village in southern France in the late 1800s forever changes both the lives of the people around him and his own.

Oil & Water completes Destiny Kinal’s Textile Trilogy (sitiotiempo press, Feb.), a tale of gains and losses during the 19th century in the eastern United States, with the greatest gain being European women’s regaining of freedoms under the influence of the matrilineal tribes like the Haudenosaunee and Lenape.

Based on Japanese history and folklore, Kate Shanahan’s The Iron Palace (ROAV Press, Feb. 10), an exciting sequel to Tangled Spirits, takes Mina and her mysterious friend Kenji to the year 1002 to save Masako from a curse, a demon, and several irritable warriors.

Can a newspaperwoman in 1899 save herself from old beaus and solve murders in a world ruled by railroad barons? Fedora Amis offers an answer in her fifth Jemmy McBustle mystery Vanderbilt in Peoria (Mardon Moore Books, Feb. 13).

When poverty strikes, an ageing farmer is forced to make a heartbreaking choice: relinquish his oldest son in the hope of appeasing the gods or see his family face certain starvation; and so

it follows that young Lucius Ulpia Porcianus is sacrificed to Rome where he is accepted into the army of Pompey and finds himself engulfed in the civil war between Sulla and the Marians in Legionary by Griff Hosker (Sword Books Ltd., Feb. 21).

One Step Forward by Marcie Flinchum Atkins (Versify/HarperCollins, Mar. 4) is a young adult historical novel-in-verse about Matilda Young, the youngest suffragist to be imprisoned at Occoquan Workhouse for fighting for the right to vote.

In The Red Car to Hollywood by Jennie Liu (Carolrhoda Lab, Mar. 4), 16-year-old Ruby Chan of 1920s Los Angeles struggles to balance her first-generation parents’ expectations with her own dreams; her plans shift when she strikes up a friendship with young silent movie star Anna May Wong.

Jonathan Posner’s The River of Fire (Winter & Drew Publishing, Mar. 7) is a fast-paced adventure set mainly in 1530s Italy, featuring swashbuckling English heroine, Mary Fox.

Lori Joan Swick’s The Sculptor and the Saint (L.J. Hendricks Press, Mar. 24) is a gripping tale of passion and agony; two lives separated by centuries are united in their search for purity and purpose.

In Griff Hosker’s An Officer and A Gentleman (Sword Books Ltd., Mar. 28), the Desert Group garrisoned at Fort Farafra find themselves the only British soldiers guarding a huge piece of Egyptian desert, and these camel-riding soldiers fight ambush, nature and violent sandstorms as they are tested to their very limit when foreign powers begin encroaching on the land.

A Russian-American writer’s dream of revisiting her birthplace in Germany plunges her into a haunting journey through time, where, while transported to a WWI-era military hospital, she falls in love, faces moral dilemmas, and uncovers a chilling secret that threatens her life and her recently acquired happiness in Marina Osipova’s Beelitz-Heilstätten: Where Ghosts Never Die (Self-published, Mar. 28).

Abijah and the American Revolution by Kenneth Virgil (Wheatmark, Apr. 3) is based on the true story of Abijah Virgil, a sixteen-year-old from colonial New York who joins the Continental Army, following his journey through the brutal realities of the American Revolution— battles, imprisonment, and loss—while capturing the enduring hope and everyday heroism often lost in grander historical accounts.

Saving Vincent, A Novel of Jo van Gogh by Joan Fernandez (She Writes Press, Apr 15) tells the unacknowledged true story of Jo van Gogh’s fervent quest to save Vincent’s art from obscurity.

In Elaine Stock’s The Last Secret Kept (Black Rose Writing, Apr. 24), set against the backdrop of building the Berlin, three women unite on behalf of an intellectually disabled man, and old secrets force each to confront buried troubles.

A rousing adventure, a critique of Victorian literary tropes, and a mashup of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, Pat Murphy’s The Adventures of Mary Darling (Tachyon Publications, May 6) shines a new light on familiar stories as it follows Wendy’s mother, the populist hero the Victorian era never knew it needed, on a journey halfway around the world to rescue her children—with Holmes and Watson in hot pursuit.

The East India Company have to do the impossible and rescue an ally whose enemies place a ring of armies in their way in The Tiger and the Thief by Griff Hosker (Sword Books Ltd., May 2).

In Conscript’s Call by Griff Hosker (Sword Books Ltd., June 6), when a young man loses his family and is conscripted into the army during World War II, he finds not only solace with his new comrades but a place in the world.

In Imhotep and the Quest to Kush (Fitzroy Books, June 24), the second volume in A.L. Sirois’s Imhotep Chronicles, author Sirois revisits ancient Egypt and his youthful healer-hero, Imhotep, who is tasked with seeking out new remedies to cure King Sanakhe, now in the throes of dementia, in the fabled land of Kush.

When the Norse warriors venture beyond the Pillars of Hercules they find themselves in a land where nothing is at seems, yet the Norns still guide their future, as told in Dragon Rock by Griff Hosker (Sword Books Ltd., July 11).

In Philadelphia in 1841, a young artist must confront her past when the man she’s been hiding from finds her and wants revenge, as told in Needle and Bone, a historical gothic by Tonya Mitchell (Bloodhound Books, Aug. 19).

The Man in the Stone Cottage by Stephanie Cowell (Regal House, Sept. 16), a novel of the Brontë sisters set in Yorkshire in 1846, follows Charlotte’s early writing journey and Emily’s secret romance with a shepherd living in a stone cottage on the moor.

Catherine Mathis’s debut novel, Inês: The Queens of Portugal Trilogy (Histria Books, Nov. 4), explores the 14th-century tale of King Pedro’s two pledges to Inês, his queen, to secure their sons as heirs and enact revenge to restore her honor.

NEW PUBLISHING DEALS

Sources include authors and publishers, Publishers Weekly, Publishers Marketplace, The Bookseller, and more. Email me at sljohnson2@eiu. edu to have your publishing deal included. You may also submit news via the Contact Us form on the HNS website.

Ellah Wakatama, Editor-at-large at Canongate, acquired Damian Barr’s The Two Roberts, a fictional reimagining of the lifelong romance between artists Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun, who fell in love after meeting while students at the Glasgow School of Art in 1933, from Clare Conville of the C&W Agency for a September 2025 release.

Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory, the story of Jane Parker (later Jane Boleyn), whose evidence sent her husband George and sisterin-law Queen Anne to their deaths, exploring why she was driven to destroy her husband, sold to Rachel Kahan at William Morrow and to Kate Elton at Harper UK, with Lynne Drew editing, for publication beginning in October 2025, in a three-book deal, by Zahra Glibbery at Vivat Publishing.

Esperanza Hope Snyder’s Orange Wine, set in early 20th-century Colombia, exploring the nuances of ardor and art, in which a woman must create a new life from bitter pith, pressing sweetness from agony as she struggles toward artistic freedom and feminine awakening, sold to Marines Alvarez at Bindery Books, for publication in fall 2025, by Madison Smartt Bell at Ayesha Pande Literary.

Catherine Mathis has signed with Histria Books for a three-book series set in 14th-century Portugal exploring the lives and impacts of three pivotal queens: Inês, Leonor, and Philippa. Inês’s story is one of jealousy, murder, and revenge wherein King Pedro’s grief drives his pledges to his queen; a Juliet and Romeo story. Leonor, known as Portugal’s Lucrezia Borgia, is a powerful woman protecting a

kingdom for her child. Philippa uses her ties to the English crown to affect the commercial and economic expansion of Portugal while using letters to meddle in affairs in England. Each woman altered the course of Portuguese history.

The Inklings Detective Agency by John R. Kelly, historical crime fiction set in Oxford of 1936, in which J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and their fellow Inklings follow the trail of an elusive killer targeting members of a secret society, sold to Jamie Lapeyrolerie at WaterBrook Multnomah, in a pre-empt, for publication in spring 2026, by Adam Chromy at Movable Type Management.

Kate, biographical fiction by Priya Parmar focusing on Katherine Hepburn, intertwined with several of the real-life characters she was closest to, including Cary Grant, Howard Hughes, David and Irene Selznick, her ex-husband Luddy and her lover Laura, as she makes the personal choices and sacrifices necessary to reach the pinnacle of the film industry, sold to Susanna Porter at Ballantine by Stephanie Cabot at Susanna Lea Associates.

The Next Ship Home author Heather Webb’s The Hope Keeper, about the curse of the legendary Hope Diamond, the last woman who owned it, and the beginnings of women working at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., sold (again) to Shana Drehs at Sourcebooks Landmark, by Michelle Brower at Trellis Literary Management.

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (author of The Help), focusing on a disparate group of women in 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, whose fates converge during the tough times of the Depression, sold to Julie Grau at Spiegel & Grau, for publication in April 2026, by Kim Schefler at Levine Plotkin & Menin. UK rights sold to Fig Tree (UK); and to Doubleday Canada (Canada) via Susanna Lea at Susanna Lea Associates.

Taxi Dancer by San Diego-based writer and Filipino interpreter Marivi Soliven (The Mango Bride), following a Filipino farmworker implicated in a dance hall owner’s murder in 1930s San Diego, and his taxi dancer lover seeking to prove his innocence, sold to Kate Gale at Red Hen Press via Maria Whelan at Inkwell Management.

OTHER NEW & FORTHCOMING TITLES

For forthcoming novels through early 2026, please see our guides, compiled by Fiona Sheppard: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/guides/forthcoming-historicalnovels/

COMPILED BY SARAH JOHNSON

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

NEW VOICES

Debut novelists Tod Lending, Kirsten MengerAnderson, Morgan Ryan and Elizabeth A. Tucker explore intimate lives from the archives of history.

Tod Lending’s debut novel The Umbrella Maker’s Son (Harper Paperbacks. 2025) started to take shape in May 2020, during the early days of the pandemic, when he decided to put down his film camera and shift his focus from “outward to inward,” he relates. “For 38 years, I had made documentaries that told the stories of others’ lives. Now it was time to tell my own stories, leaving the objective world of non-fiction to explore the more subjective, creative realm of fiction.”

He continues: “I began writing a contemporary story about a tumultuous father-daughter relationship but quickly found myself delving into the backstories of the father’s parents, who were Holocaust survivors. It soon became clear that the survival story of the father, Reuven Berkovitz from Kraków, was the story I was meant to tell.”

Before he began writing, Lending “had just released Saul & Ruby’s Holocaust Survivor Band, a documentary about two Holocaust survivors who formed a klezmer band in their 90s. Their mission— which they accomplished—was to perform their music worldwide and share their survival stories. I filmed them for three years, and was haunted by their stories. But I needed to know more. Through writing a novel, I wanted to examine the emotional and psychological depths of their traumas and connect more deeply with my own Jewish ancestors.”

On both sides of Lending’s family “generations had suffered from persecution,” he states. “Some distant relatives had perished in the Warsaw ghetto and the concentration camps, while others migrated through the centuries to escape pogroms and persecution. Writing The Umbrella Maker’s Son gave me a profoundly personal opportunity to explore the emotional and psychological layers of loss, shame, guilt, courage, and resilience through the eyes of my protagonist,

seventeen-year-old Reuven Berkovitz. His survival story begins at the start of World War II and unfolds as an intimate examination of what it means to endure and rebuild.”

The novel’s title was inspired by Lending’s great-grandfather. “Rafael Lending [was] an umbrella maker in Warsaw at the turn of the 20th century. According to family lore, he fled the city with his family of ten children after stabbing a Polish policeman who was beating a Jewish man. They arrived safely in America on December 25, 1909.”

Morgan Ryan describes herself as, “first and foremost, a fantasy writer. And while I have always preferred my magical stories grounded in real-world historical settings, the notion of actually writing a historical novel has always been intensely intimidating to me. But when the idea for A Resistance of Witches (Viking, 2025) came to me in early 2020, I couldn’t let it go. What might have happened, I wondered, if the witches of Britain—long maligned, forgotten, driven into the shadows by centuries of persecution—had risen up to defend the world from the threat of Nazism during World War II? How might it have changed the course of the war?”

For Ryan, the appeal of fantasy as a genre “has always been about stakes—a monster with seemingly infinite power threatens to devour the world, and only through great bravery and sacrifice can that world be saved. Those kinds of stakes are rare in our own reality, but not unheard of, and World War II is a prime example: a conflict where the fate of the world really was at stake, where the monsters were real and looked like men, a time when some brave individuals risked everything, and by so doing became heroes.”

While writing her novel, Ryan thought a lot about her grandfather. “Dan Burford, or ‘Buddy’ as he was called by our family, dropped out of ROTC to enlist in the army air force when the war broke out, eventually becoming a gunner on a B25 bomber. It was an experience he rarely spoke about. When she was in her twenties, my mother interviewed Buddy about his time in the war, hoping to get some of his experiences on tape. When my mother asked Buddy why he decided to join the war right away as an enlisted man rather than completing his officer training, Buddy didn’t hesitate. ‘We had to stop Hitler,’ he said. He said it with a passion my mother had seldom heard from him before or after.”

It was that one sentence which infused every moment of writing Ryan’s book, “and informed the singular attribute that drew its three protagonists together—the stubborn determination that when evil exists in the world, either magical or mundane, there really is no other option but to stop it, no matter the cost.”

The Pale Flesh of Wood (She Writes Press, 2025) by Elizabeth A. Tucker is set amongst the “fault-prone landscape” of Northern California, and she “explores the rippling effects of trauma after WWII veteran Charles Hawkins hangs himself from the old oak tree of his childhood home using the rope from his daughter’s rope swing, and how three generations of the Hawkins family must learn to forgive and carry on.”

Tucker’s inspiration came “not from personal family history,” she says, “but what happens when a vague childhood memory meets the dreaded blank page on day one of NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month challenge.”

She had, she continues, “no preconceived notions what to write

Tod Lending

Elizabeth A. Tucker

Kirsten Menger-Anderson

Morgan Ryan

© David Thau

about and decided to draw upon a prompt given by one of my creative writing professors. The prompt, ‘I don’t remember why I remember this but…’ summoned a long-ago memory of when my grandmother looked at my knees and asked me to go sit outside because she thought I was a tad too dirty to be inside.”

Tucker’s grandmother, she explains, “was a delightful woman, but she was quite formal and her house extremely tidy. I recall being slightly hurt, but more than that—intrigued. Dirty? What did she mean? As I sat on the porch with my lunch, I looked at the dry white film on my knees. I licked my finger, swiped, and voila, the film vanished. Thrilled, I got up to tell her the good news, ‘I wasn’t dirty, I just had dry skin.’

“I honestly can’t remember anything after that but decided to riff off that memory as I wrote the book’s original first chapter, Fault Lines. I had ten-year old Lyla being told to go sit on the back porch because she was too dirty. As I drew the fictional landscape of the Hawkins family backyard: the fence-line, the lawn, the patio furniture, the hills near and far, what caught my eye was an enormous oak tree standing just beyond the gray, sun-beaten fence. Lyla sat there and stared at the tree. And as I developed the scene, I wondered, why that tree? What was she looking at exactly? What happened out there? The rest is history.”

Kirsten Menger-Anderson’s novel, The Expert of Subtle Revisions (Crown, 2025), is set “in two places and time periods: Vienna between the world wars, and San Francisco in the more recent past, 2016. The storylines are linked by an unfolding mystery, and the events of the twentieth century haunt the characters in the twentyfirst.”

Menger-Anderson’s story “was directly inspired by the history my grandfather shared in his memoir, Reminiscences of the Vienna Circle and the Mathematical Colloquium,” she states. “Like my character Anton Moritz, my grandfather was a mathematician, as well as a professor at the University of Vienna, where he attended meetings of the Vienna Circle. The philosophical circle in my novel was inspired by the one my grandfather describes, and the murder, trial, and the departure of intellectuals from Vienna during the years of rising fascism are all based on real events, which I read about in my grandfather’s story.”

In his memoir, Menger-Anderson’s grandfather describes “how German Nationalist students physically assaulted Jewish and socialist students, and how the university closed in response to violent incidents. He writes that extreme nationalists ruled the faculty, and

that ‘life in Vienna became harder with every passing month.’ But he also writes about the rich social and cultural life of the city—the state opera, the cafes, and the numerous kreise (circles, or discussion groups). His juxtaposition of the intellectual excitement of the time and the political violence struck me, and became the backdrop of my novel.”

However, aside from their shared profession, Menger-Anderson stresses: “My grandfather and my character Anton Moritz are in no way similar, though several of the novel’s details were inspired by my grandfather’s recollections as well—racing out to buy the latest extra from the newsstand to keep abreast of the street violence, or the mathematical puzzle the characters attempt to solve.”

There were many times Menger-Anderson wished that she “could have asked my grandfather questions as I researched Vienna in the 1930s, and though there are many great histories, from Exact Thinking in Demented Times by Karl Sigmund, to The Murder of Moritz Schlick by David Edmunds, no other source was as influential to my work as my grandfather’s writings.”

A common desire to share the recurring messages and themes of history and to highlight evil, justice, loyalty, friendship and family bonds wherever and whenever they happen, have been highlighted by each of the debut novelists through their engagement with subjects that have personal resonance for them.

WRITTEN BY MYFANWY COOK

Myfanwy Cook is an Associate University Fellow. She creates and facilitates historical fiction writing workshops and is a keen reader of historical fiction that makes her view the past in a different light. Contact (myfanwyc@btinternet. com) if you uncover debut novelists you would like to see showcased.

HISTORY & FILM

"They Don't Make Them Like This Anymore":

The Promised Land

If there are multiple films set in 1750s Jutland, I’m woefully uninformed about them, so when I came across The Promised Land (titled Bastarden, “the bastard,” in Danish), its unique historical location was a draw. Based on the novel Kaptajnen og Ann Barbara (The Captain and Ann Barbara) by Danish author Ida Jessen, which was itself based (loosely) on the life of Captain Ludvig von Kahlen, The Promised Land has been described as a Nordic Western epic.

The film opens with titles across a forbidding landscape detailing that the king (Frederick V) wants settlers lured to the vast heath of Jutland so the colony can increase his wealth, but this is a land plagued by outlaws, brutal elements, and barren soil. All who have attempted cultivation have failed miserably: “The heath cannot be tamed.” The scene switches to the dimly-lit interior of the “Poorhouse for Veterans,” where Silesian war veteran Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) fastidiously polishes a medal before pinning it to his uniform and striding to the Ministry of the Treasury. He has a plan for colonization and an innovative crop to cultivate, which the foppish ministers scoff at from this “presumptuous soldier in a flearidden uniform.” But when he notes he’ll finance the venture himself using his pension, they agree; it’s a win-win. They’re out nothing when Kahlen fails, and meanwhile they can pretend to the king that they’re pursuing the royal pet project of settling the heath. In return for success, Kahlen wants a noble title, estate, and servants.

The film warrants the Western designation for a few reasons: it is technically “West”– Jutland makes up the western, continental peninsular portion of Denmark, as well as parts of what were traditionally German territory. There are settlers sent out into a vast, difficult frontier to homestead, and interactions with Taters (Danish Travellers, or Romanisael) and their nomadic existence on the heath evokes the dynamic between the Native Americans of the American West and its early settlers. There are outlaws, sudden violence, men on horses with guns, campfires on open range. The film’s score is orchestral, usually swelling or ominous strings underscoring sweeping cinematography that showcases both the harshness and beauty of the heath, and its emptiness, much as the American West is often shot in films. Against this background, Kahlen, alone, augers the soil again and again, through all kinds of weather, day and night, testing, seeking. He finally finds what he’s looking for and begins building his house (Kongenshus, “King’s House,” an ostentatious

name for a building barely distinguishable from his barn) with a motley crew of men from the local village and two runaway “tenants,” Johannes and his wife, Ann Barbara. They’re on the lam from a cruel local landowner. Though feudalism is supposedly past, the plight of Johannes (Morten Hee Andersen) and Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin) illustrates that it’s actually de facto alive and well. A Tater child (Melina Hagberg) and kind-hearted local priest (Gustav Lindh) complete Kahlen’s immediate circle.

Of the heath, novelist Jessen states that Kahlen is “going to war against everything that’s fundamental to that place.” She was “captivated” by this outsider who not only seeks to prove something, but also to become something other than what he is, something he simultaneously hates and covets: noble and wealthy. “The heath is a fascinating space because it is completely empty,” Jessen says. “There is a wonderful liberation in being allowed to retreat to such a space, where there is only the necessary.”1 The novel is intentionally unsentimental, “showing” not “telling”; the characters have no interior monologues, thoughts, flashbacks. It’s an approach that translates well to film, and a choice Jessen made for a reason: unlike we moderns with our boundless comforts and free time to constantly complain, this is a period and a place that doesn’t lend itself to navelgazing or talking about how everyone feels – there’s simply too much work to be done and adversity to overcome in order to survive. There isn’t time or effort to be spent on anything that isn’t, as Jessen puts it, necessary

Mikkelsen shares an understanding of how this historical mindset informed his character in particular and character interactions in general: “If you live in the 1750s, you don’t come in from a hard day’s work and talk about your day. That kind of behavior belongs to now. It doesn’t belong to then.” Thus, there are long stretches with little dialogue, especially out on the heath, where Mikkelsen excels at conveying the essence of stoic determination through expression alone. Kahlen is single-minded, unfailingly stubborn, confident in his abilities and his sense of righteousness. He is also hard. One isn’t meant to like him, at first. He will need to be fully revealed; he will need to grow. It’s a near-lost skill called character development.

Yet even in the beginning, he appears to much better advantage when compared to his adversary, Frederik (de) Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg). Schinkel is the local landed baron; his father scraped from humble origins to win wealth by hard work and perseverance (from “two cows and a plow”), just as Kahlen intends to do, but Schinkel has always been spoiled by privilege. Schinkel insists on being called de Schinkel as he thinks it sounds more aristocratic, and his megalomania is all-consuming. Bennebjerg affably delivers insult after insult from an eminently punchable face. From the beginning, though Kahlen’s attempt to settle the heath costs Schinkel nothing but ego, Schinkel cannot abide it. Schinkel insists the land is his, not the king’s, and uses his position as a county judge to make his whims, however twisted, the law. He sabotages, he rapes, he tortures, he murders with impunity. And most of all, he cannot cease to wage his self-imposed battle against a man who refuses to bow to his will. As Mikkelsen says of Kahlen, “If he could bend his morals just a little, life would be so much easier for him, but he won’t do it.”2 This leads to a seemingly endless round of setback after setback after setback, to the point where Kahlen’s striving begins to feel Sisyphean — every step forward is met with three back — and yet he persists. Every man has his breaking point, and the viewer is left wondering how much this man, no matter how indomitable, can take, or what he's willing to sacrifice in the obsessive pursuit of his goal. Nordic films aren't known for happy resolutions — where will all this end?

The contrast between Kahlen’s hardscrabble rusticity on the heath and the ease, beauty, and sophistication of Schinkel’s estate are aptly conveyed by the cinematography, which focuses on suffused candlelight for evening scenes (some have compared the film’s look to Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon) and bright, elegant interiors during the day. Among Schinkel’s lovely possessions is his noble cousin, Edel Helene (Kristine Kujath Thorp), who loathes him but is powerless to stop the engagement her father has forced her into … unless she can find another wealthy match to offer as substitute. Enter even more motivation to succeed for the tireless Kahlen.

The scope of the film feels epic for a few reasons: its run-time (over two hours) showcasing months of plot, its setting, and its large cast of characters. The Promised Land’s writer and director, Nikolaj Arcel, has “a deep-seated love for epic movies,” which he feels are “a little bit like reading a novel.”3 And for this particular story, it was the combination of the intimate and the epic that appealed — to create a film epic in scope, but with the intimate character development and storytelling that provides emotional resonance. It’s the type of offering that used to be a staple of American film, but would be difficult, if not impossible, to make in modern Hollywood. Arcel has done Hollywood, with some success and some notable failures (e.g., 2017's The Dark Tower, an official “bomb” that some called — incorrectly, it turns out — careerending). He notes the “profound difference” between American and Danish filmmaking. “In America, especially if you’re working on a studio film, it’s barely your own film. It’s not really your vision, your artistic expression. It’s about creating something that’s meant to make a lot of money, that’s meant to reach a large audience, or please the studio executives.” Arcel says Hollywood made him feel like “a workman for hire,” when what he really loves is telling stories.4 As counterintuitive as it seems, modern Hollywood makes it very difficult for creative filmmakers to provide what many (potential) moviegoers crave: a good story, well told. I have wondered, of late, how bad at the box office (they're fairly abysmal currently) things will need to get before the Hollywood machine pauses and reflects?

And this is why, perhaps, critics were fairly positive about The Promised Land (it was shortlisted for an Oscar for Best International Feature Film), while leavening with condescension, calling the film “old-school,” “old-fashioned,” and “nostalgic” — terms that appear in these pieces almost as universally as “granite-faced” to describe Mikkelsen. He seems to be the factor that elevated the film for critics, given that it doesn’t tick a lot of their usual boxes. One even called him a “Euro Gary Cooper,” in keeping with the Western idiom.5 Admiration of Mikkelsen, especially his ability to convey so much through his distinctive facial features, is well-deserved; this film is a vehicle for him, and I’m not sure anyone else could’ve done the role justice in the way he does. His performance, and that of the rest of the cast, allow for a kind of character development that doesn’t often happen in movies with shorter run times meant to cater to nonexistent attention spans. As one critic noted: “what makes it finally work as well as it does is that it largely avoids the ennobling clichés that turn characters into ideals and movies into exercises in spurious nostalgia — well, that and Mads Mikkelsen.”6 Critics these days tend to sneer at anything ennobling (nihilism seems the norm) and at nostalgia. Yet nostalgia appeals for a reason: it’s a longing for a past (real or otherwise) perceived as superior to what is currently being experienced. It’s difficult to argue that the majority of films being produced by today’s American film industry, especially that based in Hollywood, aren’t more than enough cause for viewers to long for a cinematic past — for Hollywood’s Golden Age when epics with a moral center, novelty, character development, and engaging storytelling were standard. The supercilious viewpoint, thankfully, isn’t universal — some recognize the value of films like The Promised Land. “The Promised Land is the kind of sweeping big-screen epic that will make you say, 'They don’t make them like this anymore.' Thank goodness Nikolaj Arcel still does.”7

REFERENCES

1. Mathilde Moestrup

"Book news Ida Jessen: The Jutland heath fascinates me because it is completely empty." Information, October 2020. Accessed 9 April 2025. https://www.information.dk/kultur/2020/10/bogaktuelleida-jessen-jyske-hede-fascinerer-fordi-fuldstaendig-tomt.

2. Alex Welch

"Mads Mikkelsen Shares the Joy of Stepping Into 'Other People's Dreams" Oscars Newsletter, 1 February 2024. https://newsletter. oscars.org/news/post/mads-mikkelsen-the-promised-landinterview

3. Alex Welch

"How 'The Promised Land' Director Nikolaj Arcel Pulled Off His Historical Epic" Oscars Newsletter, 31 January 2024. https:// newsletter.oscars.org/news/post/nikolaj-arcel-the-promised-landinterview

4. Scott Simon

"' The Promised Land' is a western that follows a retired Danish officer in 1755)" NPR.org. 3 February 2024. https://www.npr. org/2024/02/03/1228839409/the-promised-land-is-a-westernthat-follows-a-retired-danish-officer-in-1755

5. Peter Bradshaw

"Mads Mikkelsen is a Euro Gary Cooper in Nordic western." The Guardian, 14 February 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/ film/2024/feb/14/the-promised-land-review-mads-mikkelsen-is-aeuro-gary-cooper-in-nordic-western

6. Manola Dahrgis

"Coaxing Crops from a Wild Land." The New York Times, 1 February 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/movies/thepromised-land-review-mads-mikkelsen.html

7. Katie Walsh

"In Denmark’s ‘The Promised Land,’ the virtues of an old-school western still blaze." The Los Angeles Times, 2 February 2024. https:// www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-02-02/ the-promised-land-review-mads-mikkelsen-nikolaj-arcel-denmark

Bethany Latham is a professor, librarian, author, regular book reviewer for various venues, and Managing Editor of Historical Novels Review

THE CARDINAL

I met Alison Weir approaching twenty years ago, soon after she had published her first historical novel, Innocent Traitor (Arrow, 2006). [1] For her, this was a brand-new venture after many years of writing extremely successful non-fiction books. So I had been curious to know what had prompted her to change tack and explore a novelist’s take on events. However, far from setting facts aside for a fictional approach, Weir insisted then – as she still does – on meticulous respect for the historical record, while acknowledging that “it’s liberating to make that leap of the imagination and to be your character”.

Weir told me that for her first novel there had been “no other choice: it was Lady Jane Grey”. Now, after several other novels focusing in turn on the Tudor queens, Weir’s latest book is simply titled The Cardinal (Headline/Ballantine, 2025), as if there could be no confusion about the subject. Nor can there be – England only had two cardinals in the period leading up to the Reformation: Christopher Bainbridge and Thomas Wolsey. Of the two, there is no doubt who has the greater name recognition! So, my first question, somewhat inevitably, was about her choice of Wolsey as the protagonist. I wondered whether

Wolsey had always intrigued her, or was this perhaps a more recent interest? “I’ve long felt a certain sympathy for Cardinal Wolsey,” she tells me. “Yes, he was arrogant, extravagant and hungry for power, yet he was committed to brokering an international peace and he served his king devotedly, putting to use his considerable talents. He was hard-working, loyal and efficient. Few princes ever had a more committed servant. And yet, when he failed – through no fault of his own – to obtain for his beloved master the one thing he wanted above all others, he was thrown to the wolves.”

This is a full-life novel, with the first two parts (of six) devoted to Tom’s upbringing and early career – he was in his mid-thirties before his breakthrough came as chaplain to King Henry VII. Much of this detail is essential to a deeper understanding of the man: in particular, his Suffolk family background, and relationship with his mother. Weir notes how “In other books I’ve written, Wolsey has always been one of the supporting cast, so I had to do research to fill in the gaps, especially in regard to his early years and his relationship with Joan Larke.” Known to historians for some time, Joan is still a shadowy figure. Weir admits to being “intrigued by the private life Wolsey was obliged, by virtue of his clerical eminence, to keep hidden. I wanted to know more about Joan Larke, the woman he lived with for over a decade, and the two children they had. I wanted to explore what their lives were like, living under a pretence.” Joan emerges as an exceptional young woman, outspoken and courageous, willing (at least initially) to sacrifice motherhood for the deep love she and Tom have for one another.

It is in the exploration of the multifaceted relationship between Wolsey and Henry, the personal and the political, that Weir excels. She tells me: “I believe he loved Henry like a son”. We see the prince grow from a child to a king, as she explores “the dynamics of their close relationship”. Weir also gives prominence to the European background and Wolsey’s leading role in the search for peace, despite his monarch’s desire for military engagement across the Channel and an unrealistic yearning for English dominion there. In this context Wolsey’s superb organisation of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, the celebratory event held near Calais, in 1520, and attended by both the English and French monarchs, is brilliantly described in a way that leaves no doubt that the peace treaty it marked was just as ephemeral as the castles made from painted board, despite their costly furnishings and endless rounds of spectacular entertainment.

I also asked Weir about the other well-known Thomas, familiar to all readers of Hilary Mantel’s trilogy Wolf Hall. In response to my suggestion that some would not recognise her pen portrait of Cromwell (a “bullish looking lawyer”), a figure who is countered by George Cavendish as the cardinal’s most stalwart and trusted servant, she responds:

I think I’ve been quite fair to Cromwell, who was loyal to Wolsey. But Cavendish was with the Cardinal in his last months, and close to him at that time, which perhaps explains why he comes across as closer to him. I should say that, while I think that Mantel wrote magnificent novels, I tend to see Cromwell as being more like Robert Bolt’s portrayal in A Man For All Seasons [2]. My Cromwell in this novel is based on the historical sources.

Undoubtedly, the major crisis of Wolsey’s career was the King’s Great

Alison Weir talks to Lucinda Byatt about her latest Tudor novel

IT ALLOWS for a different perspective from that given in history books ... the reader only gets their side of the story, which allows for a degree of dramatic irony and a uniquely personal view.

Matter, or the divorce that Henry sought from his wife Katherine of Aragon after it became clear that she could not give him another child. The complexities of these later years show the toll they take on Wolsey, both in public and above all in private. Ironically, while his master is seeking a divorce from a loveless union, Wolsey is forced to abandon the woman he loves and arrange for her to marry another man, George Legh. The consequences are difficult for them both.

Of course, by then Anne Boleyn had also appeared on the scene. According to Cavendish, Wolsey himself used to call Anne the “night crow”. As Weir explains: “He was frightened of her and her power over the King. It was thanks to Anne that Wolsey and Henry were never reconciled – and Wolsey knew it. Hers was a deadly enmity. The King might not have gone so far as to have Wolsey executed, but Anne would almost certainly have demanded it, as she demanded repeatedly that he send Katherine of Aragon and her daughter Mary to the block.”

The Boleyn faction attacked anyone who was close to Wolsey, or who might have swayed the king. This included the Venetian physician Dr Agostini, who was seized and tortured. Weir adds: “Agostini was a shadowy, sinister figure, and few trusted him. He certainly acted as a spy, and he was probably a creature of the Boleyns.” There was a strange incident involving Agostini when a large silver cross crashed to the floor, wounding the cardinal’s spiritual advisor. Wolsey took this as a bad omen, a portent of his own death. Here, Weir points out that “Cavendish describes the incident with the cross, and I’ve tried to portray the suspicions and attitudes that my characters would have felt at the time”. The suspicion of poison was commonplace at the time, especially in the heady atmosphere of the court. Fingers were pointed at the Boleyn faction with regard to Wolsey’s own demise, and Weir adds that “there is strong evidence that, some years later, they were behind a plot to poison John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, who had opposed Henry VIII’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon. So some of my tale is conjecture – but conjecture on good evidence. It’s a pity that no one has written about Agostini or delved further into his history.”

Everyday life is richly detailed, drawing on Weir’s extensive knowledge. Wolsey’s keen eye for architecture and the finest artistic decoration, coupled with his exceptional wealth, allowed him to be more regal in his patronage than the king. It was Wolsey who had the vision to build Hampton Court and furnish it so sumptuously, but he gave it to Henry to forestall his growing jealousy and scotch the rumours. Weir notes that “sadly, Wolsey’s other great houses no longer exist, although there are many surviving records of what they were like.”

Moving to the writing itself, Weir uses a close third-person point of view and the past tense. It is interesting to note that this differs from her first novel, twenty years ago, which was written in the first person and used a vivid present tense. However, a writer’s technique constantly evolves, also depending on the best structure for the story being told. Back in 2006 Weir spoke about her work in progress on Katherine Howard, where she was using “preliminary passages to each chapter with Katherine’s interrogation in the present tense. Then she [Katherine] goes back in the first person, into the past tense to remember what really happened behind that interrogation.” After reading The Cardinal, I was interested to explore this further, but

I hadn’t expected that the challenge of using the third person had been set by her publishers. “My publishers have asked me to write all my novels in the third person, from my subject’s point of view only,” she says. “It allows for a different perspective from that given in history books or some other novels. A writer can still get inside their character’s head when writing in the third person, but I am always asking myself, would they have known that, or how would they have known that? So the reader only gets their side of the story, which allows for a degree of dramatic irony and a uniquely personal view.”

Weir certainly pulls this off, offering readers a fascinating insight into Wolsey’s private life, as well as suggesting a deeper understanding of the woman who shared it for over a decade, exposing herself to risks and huge sacrifices. A craving for power carried this astute politician to the apex of influence and magnificence, but it also made his downfall all the more shocking and extreme.

REFERENCES

1. Lucinda Byatt

The interview was in Solander, vol. 10, no. 2, Nov. 2006.

2. Robert Bolt

Robert Bolt’s play, A Man for All Seasons: A Play of Sir Thomas More, was published in 1960. Bolt rose to fame as a playwright and screenwriter with a succession of exceptional, Oscar-winning works (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and later Ryan’s Daughter).

WRITTEN

BY LUCINDA BYATT

Lucinda Byatt is features editor of HNR and can be found occasionally blogging at A World of Words https://textline. wordpress.com/

THE LOST WRITING PARTNER

The Case of Charles and Caroline Todd

What is it like for a writer to lose their writing partner after many years and books together? How does the survivor navigate the financial and legal aspects of a long-standing partnership? What happens to the work when the writing partnership ends?

“Charles Todd” was the pseudonym of Charles Todd and his mother Caroline Todd (those names are also pseudonyms). From 1994 to 2021 they wrote twenty-four novels and a short story in the Ian Rutledge series, and thirteen novels, a novella, and a short story collection in the Bess Crawford series.

Their career writing novels set in WWI England and France famously started on a Revolutionary War battlefield in 1992. Charles was a corporate fixer and took a day off to visit with his parents. On the way home Caroline said, “Why don’t we write a battlefield book? Or something about a war?” Charles was too busy driving to pay too much attention. But later, when his job morphed, he had to travel and spend a lot of long nights in hotel rooms. So he called his mother and asked her if she was serious.

They decided to write about the First World War in England. “Given the period, it means those villages are between social stages, shifting from an artisanal village to a more modern world,” said Charles. Mother and son both love England and recharged their creative batteries by visiting England once a year for research.

Charles tells of the moment he and Caroline were standing in a church tower in an English village and reading the list of the names of the war dead. This is how Caroline described that moment when I interviewed her in 2018: “So many of them had the same last name, so many of them had the same death date. At the Battle of the Somme, 29,000 died. These regiments were made up of recruits from entire villages. So, in one day all the men from an entire village were dead.”

The two worked closely together, though they lived in different states, and though Caroline was a pantser and Charles wasn’t. It took two years to arrive at a writing process: one wrote a paragraph and shared it with the other, who wrote the next paragraph. Some paragraphs were filed away to be used later. Some formed the basis of a scene. Charles adapted to Caroline’s pantser process, which led to them spending the most time on the opening scene, the scene that sets the rest in motion. They never knew how each book would end, or who was guilty, until they wrote the climax.

The pantsing approach also led to an emphasis on character. Their first effort, A Test of Wills (St. Martin’s Press, 1996), features Inspector Ian Rutledge, a Scotland Yard detective with PTSD who organizes everything about his life to keep his mental anguish secret. Charles speaks of Rutledge as a real and evolving person, saying things like “it was Rutledge who told us about Hamish.” In fact, Rutledge’s most recurrent symptom is a voice in his head, the voice of a young corporal named Hamish whom he had to execute for refusing to follow orders.

In 1996 they sent the book to a friend, Ruth Cavanaugh, an editor at St. Martin’s, not expecting anything, just looking for an opinion. Cavanaugh immediately made an offer and soon came back with an offer for the next two as well. The unexpected success was gratifying.

Mother and son agreed to publish under the name ‘Charles Todd,’ to keep the book spines less cluttered. They were clear with their publishers that the books were co-authored. But at the time they signed the first contract, Caroline was suffering from a heart ailment, and her doctors forbade her from traveling. Charles had to do a book tour of sixteen states in fourteen days on his own. Readers were not aware that the books were co-authored until the fourth book came out, when Caroline had recovered and was able to fully participate in the marketing effort. “It expanded our readership,” says Charles, “because there were some people who were delighted to know it was a mother–son writing team; apparently that is unusual.”

They agreed on how they would distribute any earnings. “We didn’t want money to get between us or become a problem later. So, as soon as Ruth Cavanaugh made us an offer for A Test of Wills, we set up a DBA corporation, mom was president, dad treasurer, I was secretary. Basically, all income from the books and charges from the books went into that bank account, expenses were deducted, and then each of us received an equal amount. My father watched over it all, and we went back to writing. We needed to concentrate on what we were doing and not how much money we were making or

SO MANY times I wanted to pick up the phone and call Caroline. But in many ways, it was therapeutic; I tried to add in her points and suggestions into the novel, so it was like she was there next to me.

anything else.”

After the tenth Ian Rutledge novel, they started a second series, featuring Bess Crawford, a WWI nurse. The Ian Rutledge books start when the war is over and are written from a third-person point of view. The Bess books start with the war in full swing and are in first person. They wrote a book for each series a year until Caroline’s death in 2021 at the age of eighty-six.

After her death, Charles moved ahead with editing and publishing the two manuscripts they’d nearly completed for William Morrow. “So many times I wanted to pick up the phone and call Caroline. But in many ways, it was therapeutic; I tried to add in her points and suggestions into the novel, so it was like she was there next to me.”

Still, once he’d finished the last two books they’d written together, he had to adjust to a new routine of writing solo. He found support in the writing community, who invited him to speak at various conferences (he’ll be a Special Guest of Honor at Bouchercon in New Orleans in September) and he wrote half a dozen stories for various anthologies.

Readers continue to clamor for the Rutledge and Crawford books, so he planned to continue both series on his own. But there were difficulties. The biggest shock was that Caroline’s most recent will was written before their writing collaboration even began, and did not specify who would have the rights to her share of royalties after her death. Other family members had different ideas about Caroline’s share of the royalties and the book rights. That left Charles fighting a protracted legal battle with members of his own family, leaving the books in legal limbo until it was resolved.

“[When two people write together], generally it would be a 50/50 split,” says Charles. “If you die, your share of the royalties still goes to your estate and then your estate’s heirs. Not to your co-writer.” He recommends that authors make wills designating who their royalties will go to. That way the estate can cut checks to the heirs without the kind of hassle he had to go through.

Charles and Caroline always said that their writing was so interwoven that by the time they finished a book they could not say who wrote what. But now that Caroline is gone, Charles is finding it a challenge to continue certain thematic threads, such as Bess’s background in colonized India. Bess grew up in India’s North West Frontier, as did her friend and confidant, Simon Brandon, who as a young soldier served in the regiment in India led by Bess’s father.

The Todd novels and stories set in colonized India don’t tell about Britain’s weakening domination of their colony, but show it through a wealth of background details and subplots that often feature the fracturing of friendships and relationships that the young Bess takes for granted.

Charles knows he will have to get to this point eventually, because in Racing the Devil (William Morrow, 2017), Ian Rutledge, who has never met Bess, ends up getting some assistance from her on a case while Bess happens to be in India. The Rutledge books are about three years ahead of the Bess books chronologically, so this exchange of information and Bess’s trip has happened in the Rutledge narrative only. Eventually Bess’s narrative will catch up, and that trip to India

will occur in her timeline.

The India thread of narrative was one that was almost exclusively Caroline’s. When she studied foreign relations, she had planned to go to India to teach English, but political events prevented that. Still, she remained fascinated with the country and its cultures and was overjoyed when she finally got to visit many years later. Now Charles is not sure how, or if, he will continue the thread.

The last Bess Crawford book that Caroline and Charles wrote together, The Cliff’s Edge (William Morrow, 2023), was the fortieth title published under Charles Todd, and William Morrow did not want to continue, even though the Ian Rutledge series is under option for a TV series. So he and his agent, Lisa Gallagher, continued to search for a new publisher.

For three years after the death of his mother and writing partner, it was a struggle. Charles had to cope with his sense of loss, had to resolve thorny legal and financial issues, had to adjust to writing alone and to find a new publisher. Finally, there is good news on that front: Mysterious Press has agreed to publish A Christmas Witness, the next installment in the lan Rutledge series, a novella already available for pre-order, as well as the next two Ian Rutledge novels and the next Bess Crawford novel. Charles Todd fans rejoice!

REFERENCES

1. Alison McMahan

“Closeup: Charles Todd,” The Big Thrill, https://www.thebigthrill. org/2019/01/up-close-charles-todd/

2. Charles Todd

A Christmas Witness, Mysterious Press (October 21, 2025)

WRITTEN BY ALISON MCMAHAN

McMahan’s stories are anthologized by Level Best Books, Wildside Press, Downand-Out Books & HarperCollins. Two-time Derringer finalist and an Other Distinguished Mystery author, Best American Mystery Stories of 2018. https:// alisonmcmahan.com

SECRETS & SOLIDARITY

BY SARAH JOHNSON

Susan Meissner’s A Map to Paradise

In her new novel A Map to Paradise (Berkley, 2025), Susan Meissner’s three protagonists each have reasons for avoiding unwanted attention. It’s late 1956 in Malibu, California. Melanie Cole, a 25-year-old film starlet, has isolated herself in a house rented by her lover and former co-star, an actor who landed on the Hollywood blacklist. Her presence in his life has deemed her guilty by association, and she despairs about her future career. One of the few people she sees is Eva Kruse, her housekeeper, who’s keeping her own secrets: she isn’t the displaced war refugee from Poland she claimed on her immigration papers.

Melanie had used to enjoy chatting with her agoraphobic next-door neighbor, Elwood Blankenship, a talented screenwriter who was in a terrible car accident years earlier. When Melanie and Eva glimpse his sister-in-law, June, digging up his rose garden, with Elwood nowhere to be found, they know something’s wrong.

Meissner is known for her skilled depictions of women’s connections across age and class barriers, and June, Eva, and Melanie discover surprising commonalities. With strong undercurrents of suspense, the novel shows how the three unite to protect themselves and each other as truths emerge. “I do love a good mystery,” Meissner says, “and while I don’t always come up with a storyline to support one, when I was plotting this one, some mystery threads suggested themselves to me from the get-go. From the beginning I didn’t necessarily want readers to be completely surprised by June’s secret regarding Elwood as much as I wanted them to wonder: why on earth did she do what she did? It’s not so much a whodunit as it is a whydunit, and that’s a more unique angle and completely intentional.”

Incorporating a firm sense of place in her historical novels, Meissner, who grew up in Southern California and calls it “part of the fabric of my life,” is clearly at home there writing-wise. Her latest subject reflects her fascination with the setting at a volatile time.

“The fact that the Red Scare was particularly intense in Hollywood, of all places, was extremely interesting to me. One of the most impactful situations that came about after the end of World War II was the era of McCarthyism and the accompanying nationwide dread of a nuclear war. Even though the US was technically at peace after almost four years of horrific fighting, the fear of Soviet aggression was very real and very powerful. There was peace, but the atmosphere was not peaceful; it was fearful. This seemed a perfect backdrop for a story about ordinary people living in extraordinary times, my favorite kind of book to write.

“There were a number of women like my fictional Melanie who ended up on the real studio blacklist during the long years of the Hollywood Red Scare; one of them being actress Lee Grant. Some people might know her from the 1975 film Shampoo, also starring Warren Beatty, as she won an Academy Award for her role. But fewer may know that prior to making that movie she’d been blacklisted for more than a decade,” Meissner continues, describing how Lee refused to name names and lost career opportunities as a result.

While slowly uncovering her protagonists’ motivations, Meissner focuses

closely on them and their backstories, successfully illustrating the impact of larger events on a very personal, intimate level. “That aspect of the book was the hardest to pull off,” she reveals. “There were a number of chapters about these three women’s individual stories—well before they knew each other—that ended up on the cutting room floor because I actually only needed a certain amount of their earlier histories to show up on the pages. That’s because the true heart and soul of the story is just those weeks leading up to Christmas night 1956.”

Structuring a novel with multiple viewpoints and flashbacks that readers can smoothly follow wasn’t easy, she admits. “I ended up writing it three times. Not from scratch, but it was like significantly remodeling the same house three times, and in huge, sweeping ways,” says Meissner. “There are probably better ways of keeping track of timelines, historical data, and character backstories but for me it’s notes and notes and more notes, both typed and handwritten. I’m an outliner and plotter, which helps to keep me focused on a destination, but I also write by discovery, so I am always making more notes as I progress.”

With her guarded demeanor and hard-to-place accent, Eva Kruse is a multilayered character with good reasons for disguising her past. “Eva’s backstory was the hardest to write because hers was the hardest life experience to have survived,” Meissner explains. “You can read multiple eyewitness accounts of what it was like to live through the hell of war, but to write as if you were there, too, when you actually weren’t is always a challenge.”

Creating a realistic background for Eva provoked some of Meissner’s most interesting research discoveries.

“I was amazed at the sheer number of Displaced Persons (DPs) at the end of World War II… I hadn’t read any novels or nonfiction books about DPs and what it was like for them when the war ended,” she says. “There were an astonishing 700 camps (most in Germany in the Western occupied zones) that temporarily housed the millions displaced by war, which included concentration camp survivors, forced laborers, political refugees, released prisoners of war, and those whose homes or entire villages were bombed to bits… it was an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The US Congress would end up passing the Displaced Persons Act to bring in 415,000 DPs to America as immigrants, starting in 1948.”

Above all, A Map to Paradise tells a riveting, timely tale of solidarity and survival while illuminating the past. “What I love about historical fiction is that I can take readers back in time, safely and easily, and let them experience the past almost as if they are actually there,” Meissner says. “The vehicle of story does that. Historical fiction also brings back to the forefront events that had a significant impact on humanity and therefore should not be forgotten. In a sentence, my goal in writing historical fiction is to keep the past alive so that we can keep the lessons of the past alive.”

Sarah Johnson is the HNR’s Book Review Editor.

SHADOW OF SHAKESPEARE

BY KATE BRAITHWAITE

We all know historical fiction requires a great deal of research to be authentic, vivid and compelling to read, and in The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter (Harper, 2025) author Grace Tiffany brings decades of experience and knowledge to her work.

Like her main character Judith, daughter of Will Shakespeare and twin sister of Hamnet, Tiffany has ‘lived’ in the Elizabethan era. In the fifteen years since her first novel about Judith, My Father Had a Daughter, was published, Tiffany has been busy. “That gap,” she explains, “was filled with the writing of a lot of other books, some of them novels, one or two of them touching on Shakespeare’s life, or at least Shakespeare’s time, from oblique angles. So many Renaissance figures connected to the literary scene, and to the theater specifically, had lives which I found it fascinating to explore in fiction. Shakespeare’s rival Ben Jonson, Shakespeare’s possible lover Emilia Lanyer, and members of his theatrical company figure in a couple of my novels, and another of my books focuses on the Catholic zealots who comprised the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.” There were also contemporary novels and scholarly works and research – “Oh and a child to raise!” – keeping her occupied, but what it means for the reader of The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter, is that when Tiffany picked up Judith’s story back up, she could marry up new research with old.

The Judith we meet in 1646 is in her early sixties: “In the beginning of this story she’s driven by grief. She’s lost all her children to illness and is trying to adapt to the loss of many young men of her town in local battles. What compounds her grief and adds to it an element of frustration and claustrophobia, is the fact that her husband is also grieving, and even more sunk in despair than she at the loss of his sons and the fractured state of his country. Stuck in the house with him, weighed down by their mutual pain, she feels like she’s being buried alive. So, it’s strangely lucky for her that a mishap occurs which results in her having to flee the town. While hardships await, her spirit starts to revive, and she’s driven largely by a desire to keep escaping, and a spirit of adventure.”

On the road, Judith encounters old friends and familiar London places, but she’s very cognizant of the changes brought about by the Civil War. Tiffany explains how the city is “on a war footing in 1641, most public entertainments banned or strictly policed, soldiers drilling, a more sober and puritanical lifestyle in vogue.” At first, Judith is “both shocked and bored, but it isn’t long before she finds out that the wild, old life of the city is still going on in a kind of subterranean way. Plays are still being performed in clandestine fashion in inns; prostitution is still a thing, and illicit pregnancies still require midwives. So she makes a living.”

It’s a rare thing to be able to communicate an understanding of the past at two different points, within a single linear narrative. But in The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter, Tiffany shows readers the past as a duality through Judith’s observation: describing her ‘now’ in 1646, and contrasting it to her ‘then’, thirty years prior. Taking this approach, Tiffany has been able to fully exploit the times she has chosen to write about, a period she describes as “fraught” and “tumultuous,” offering “exciting possibilities for fiction.”

These possibilities include a plot to impersonate King Charles I and effect an escape from the besieged town of Oxford, as well as betrayals, battle scenes, disguises and a marriage hanging in the balance. New research was required for Tiffany to marry up her dynamic plot with the turbulent times of her Civil War setting. “To find out more about this period,” she explains, “the scholarship of Gabriel Egan, among others, was helpful for censorship and laws governing public entertainments during the Long Parliament of the 1640s and for a lot of the war and political context I’m indebted to Christopher Hill’s God’s Englishman, a study of Oliver Cromwell. And I have to say that to bring to life Judith’s zealous Puritan servant and companion Jane, who is a major character in The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter – in fact, she’s the baker’s daughter – I had a lot of help from my own fundamentalist religious upbringing. The main thing you need to know is the Bible! Jane spouts the King James at every opportunity. That’s the Puritan style.”

But Jane – a fascinating secondary character – doesn’t only spout the Bible. That’s because she is affected by the “ghostly presence” of William Shakespeare. The title is a quote from Ophelia, in Hamlet Similarly, one of Tiffany’s strengths in writing of these times, is her ability to demonstrate Shakespeare’s influence on language. In The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter, we feel “the continuing influence of his plays, which survive culturally even amid the mid-seventeenthcentury clamp-down on popular entertainments.”

Tiffany’s intimate familiarity with the language of Shakespeare infuses her novel with great wordplay and humor. As she explains: “Because this novel is written in the first person by a woman of the seventeenth century, it’s possible to make her whole idiom a kind of somewhat modernized (for current readers) Shakespeare-ish mishmash. And that is always fun. It’s amusing (to me, anyway) to have characters insult each other with terms like ‘pleasant fiend’ and ‘weed-puffing geezer’ and ‘vile puny’ and ‘pied ninny’ and ‘salacious trull,’ and say things like ‘topsy-turvy’ and ‘anygates.’ The challenge is to make even unfamiliar words easily recognizable by context – and to avoid anachronisms! It’s sometimes necessary to employ the Oxford English Dictionary, but in general you know by instinct or

Kate Braithwaite talks to Grace Tiffany

memory when the diction’s right.”

While the cover of The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter bills the story as “the continuing adventures of Judith Shakespeare”, readers shouldn’t feel they need to read My Father Had a Daughter first. Each novel stands alone, and Judith is thirty years older when the second book opens. Readers who start with this second outing, however, may well find themselves wanting to go back and read of Judith’s earlier adventures – that’s certainly been my experience!

Kate Braithwaite is an HNR editor and the author of four historical novels. Her fifth is a psychological thriller, The People Next Door (Joffe Books, April 2025).

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

BY MYFANWY COOK

Emma Cowing on the balancing act of using family history

The Show Woman (Hodder & Stoughton, 2025) is set in Edwardian Scotland against a backdrop of circus, fairgrounds, and the precarious itinerant working life. The novel opens in 1910 when Lena’s father dies and she is considering selling her father’s carousel, but then Violet, a well-known trapeze artist, changes Lena’s mind. The very idea of women running their own circus troupe in that period sounds more like complete fiction and without any historical basis, but it isn’t. Cowing used her own documented family history as a starting point for her novel.

In 2021 Cowing and her mother, she says, “were going through old family photographs and found one of my great aunt Violet wearing a headdress, a frilly shirt and a pair of enormous hoop earrings. She had been a trapeze artist and bareback horse rider in her youth, and I asked my Mum to tell me more. I learnt that my great grandparents owned a travelling theatre which toured the fairgrounds of Scotland between the 1880s and 1910s, and that evolved into me researching our family history and discovering more about these incredible ‘show women’ from whom I am descended.”

Shortly after that an image popped into Cowing’s head “of a woman in a caravan on a Glasgow showground holding the hand of her dying father, on the cusp of a huge change in her life,” she relates. “I knew I had to write about her and promptly dashed out what would become the first paragraphs of chapter one of The Show Woman After that I couldn’t stop.”

Her own childhood experiences also enriched her novel. “I grew up in a Scottish seaside town called Helensburgh, and the fair would visit every summer. I have strong memories of the carnival atmosphere, the whirling rides, the feeling that this was a treat, something magical and special, that normal time was suspended.”

Cowing has “tried to inject that atmosphere into The Show Woman,” she shares, “particularly in the character of Rosie, who runs away from home to join the ladies’ circus and is seeing the fairs through fresh eyes. The book is set in 1910, a time when there was no cinema, TV or radio. The fairs were huge entertainment, full of wonder, and

it was a big deal when they arrived in your town or village. I hope I’ve managed to capture some of that in the novel.”

Another source of inspiration for Cowing was her belief that, “we’ve all harboured the romantic notion to run away and join the circus at some point, even if only in the most tangential, escapist way. I read Noel Streatfeild’s The Circus is Coming as a child and adored it, particularly the theme of the circus as a found family, and as a teen was captivated by Angela Carter’s luminous Nights at the Circus. I’d have made a poor circus performer, though. As the world’s least flexible person, the trapeze was never on the agenda!”

She continues by pointing out that, “All that said, from an early age I sang and played piano and violin. In fact aside from journalism, the only other profession I ever considered was opera singer! Given that my great-grandparents ran a travelling theatre and my greatgrandmother was an actress, I do wonder if some of those show woman genes have passed down to me. Perhaps I would have made a good ringmistress?”

Using one’s family history when writing is always a balancing act. It is challenging to avoid the tangents and pitfalls that too much research or personal identification with a character or topic can result in, but Cowing explains, “Someone much wiser than me once said that you do the research, learn everything you can, then put it to one side when you start to write. It’s a fine balance with historical fiction. You don’t want your writing to feel weighed down by the research, but you also want as much authenticity as possible.

“As for personal identification, I’ve enjoyed the freedom that comes from blending fact with fiction. My characters are, in part, inspired by real women, but my great-aunt died when I was one. I never knew her, and my fictional character possesses traits I suspect she never had. My grandmother also appears in the book as the character Belle, and while I know she was once told she had the second sight by a medium at a fair, a story I included in the book, I’m pretty sure she never owned a pet crow!”

The Edwardian period watermarked the end of one period for women in Scotland and in other parts of the world. Cowing thinks, “it was a transformative time for women, because the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 was a pivotal moment, particularly for Britain, and for women. There was a new monarch, a new century, new attitudes. The Edwardian era saw the rise of the suffragettes, more women than ever before going out to work, even clothing became less restrictive. It’s such a short period and although it would take the First World War for women to get the vote, so much changed.”

Would Cowing’s debut novel have still been set in a ‘Ladies Circus’ if her Great Aunt Violet hadn’t been part of her family history? As chance would have it, Cowing says she “was actually working on another book set in the Edwardian era when the idea for The Show Woman struck, and that has evolved into my second novel. It’s set in 1908 and takes place in the world of London’s famous Gaiety Theatre alongside the glamour of a Scottish country house weekend. Even before The Show Woman came to me, I was drawn to the worlds of show and performance, and this short yet pivotal period of the 20th century.” She “can’t get enough of it”, and so her readers, instead of soaring high with her characters at Glasgow’s Vinegarhill showground, will be in for a terpsichorean treat set in London’s theatreland.

Myfanwy Cook edits the “New Voices” column in HNR. She is an Associate University Fellow and creates and facilitates historical fiction writing workshops.

IN MODERN TERMS,

Monmouth was the poorly-educated product of a dysfunctional upbringing, who was easily influenced by men of stronger will.

THE MONMOUTH REBELLION

BY ADELE WILLS

Minette Walters discusses the recurring stereotypes with Adele Wills

It is 340 years since James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, landed in Lyme Regis to lay claim to the English throne, and the memory of that event still resonates. Memories centre not just on the rebellion itself and its disastrous final battle – but on the terrible aftermath where punishments were meted out at the so-called Bloody Assizes by the infamous Judge Jeffreys.

Writers immediately began responding to the rebellion and shared common concerns and attitudes. The earliest writings appeared a few years after the events they depict. In January 1689, a series of pamphlets was published, the first entitled The Protestant Martyrs or the Bloody Assizes – the title alone conveying the message The work recounts the life and death of Monmouth, but we can also read the dying words of five of those convicted. The saintliness of the rebels is contrasted with the sadistic behaviour of those passing sentence, particularly Jeffreys, who is depicted as a ruthless monster. This was to set the pattern for many years to come, serving a clear political purpose and paving the way for the Glorious Revolution. Broadside ballads of the time echo the same sentiments with Monmouth presented as a Protestant hero whose ‘very presence’ was ‘like the Sun’.1

Over the years, interest in the rebellion persisted but changed in form. In the nineteenth century, magazines for boys – such as Boys of England and The Boys’ Own 2 – became hugely popular, and stories of rebels fighting an oppressive government were consumed with avid enjoyment: Robin Hood under the Norman yoke or King Arthur defying his Roman overlords. Boys of England dedicated its Volume 8 to Monmouth, again characterising James II’s government as tyrannical and autocratic while Monmouth’s death was ‘universally mourned by the people’. Arthur Conan Doyle developed this further in his 1889 novel, Micah Clarke

This has provided rich material for contemporary historical novelists such as Minette Walters in The Players (Allen & Unwin/Blackstone, 2025) I wanted to know what Walters thought of these recurring stereotypes. She writes: “I wasn’t convinced that either Monmouth or Jeffreys conformed to those stereotypes. They struck me as men more in need of sympathy than romanticising or villainising. In modern terms, Monmouth was the poorly-educated product of a dysfunctional upbringing, who was easily influenced by men of stronger will. Jeffreys, by contrast, was a man of towering intellect from a relatively humble background who was ambitious to achieve power and status. His unwavering loyalty to James II gave him both, but also resulted in him being incarcerated in the Tower of London as the scapegoat for James’s failures.”

Characterisation is a strong point of this novel, particularly in relation to Jeffreys. Walters further elucidates: “Even at the time, Jeffreys was known to suffer terrible pain from kidney/bladder stones, and his early death at 43 suggests that kidney failure was

probably the cause. In addition, Jeffreys was known to be a drinker and was labelled an ‘inebriate’ by his critics. Looking at him through the prism of poor health, self-medication, immense ability and a clear dedication to duty gave me an interesting perspective on his character. I thought him brave!”

Unusually, there is less sympathy for Monmouth himself. “I would have been kinder to him,” she says, “if he had spent his last days trying to win pardons for his followers, as the Earl of Argyll did in Scotland, rather than promising to convert to Catholicism if James spared his life. I consider that a betrayal of the humble men who rallied to his standard and fought for him.” I wondered if it were possible to have any sympathy for James II: “Certainly, if one considers how hard it must have been to step into Charles II’s shoes. The Merry Monarch was loved; his brother was distrusted because of his conversion to Catholicism. For myself, that’s as far as my compassion goes!”

Overall, Walters has taken an interesting angle on the story, choosing to focus not on the battle itself, but on the aftermath with its personal and national consequences. I asked Walters about this. “I was intrigued to discover how few of the rebels met their prescribed fate relative to the number who were convicted and the far greater number who joined the rebellion. At its height, Monmouth’s army stood at 7,000 men, though many deserted when they saw the size of the King’s army. 4,000 were defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor, of which 1,300 were killed or wounded and 2,700 were captured. Most of the latter faced trial for High Treason, yet fewer than 300 ever reached the gallows. Why? What happened to the others? I conceived The Players to provide answers to those questions.”

Over the last 20 years, there has been a clutch of novels about the rebellion. Tim Vicary’s The Monmouth Summer (White Owl, 2011) is a stirring account of the Colyton rebels. Jude Morgan’s The King’s Touch (Headline, 2002) follows the life-story of the Duke himself while Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver (William Morrow, 2003) shines an invigorating light on the period’s scientific and philosophical debates. Philippa Gregory also used the rebellion in her novel Dawnlands (Simon & Schuster, 2022), showing in vivid detail the effects of transportation and indentured slavery.

It is the harshness of the punishments that has perhaps made the rebellion a symbol of resistance. The penalty for High Treason was hanging, drawing and quartering, and novelists face difficult choices when describing such sights. There is a memorable scene in The Players where the victim is a young man and Walters comments: “Then, as now, youth wanted adventure. This meant that many of Monmouth’s followers were young … Consider this scene my indictment of Jack Ketch! He was a sadistic executioner who enjoyed inflicting pain.”

Has writing about the rebellion become more apposite than ever, I wondered. Walters concludes that “Policing and justice should be seen to be fair. Foolish governments forget that at their peril”. Wise words for any age.

References

1. Monmouth and Bucleugh’s Welcome from the North: Or the Loyal Protestants Joy for his Happy Return (probable date 1679).

2. Boys of England: A Journal of Sport, Sensation, Fun and Instruction, Volumes 1-66 (1866-1899).

Adele Wills is one of the UK team of review editors for HNR.

REVIEWS

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

ANCIENT EGYPT

THE MIDWIVES’ ESCAPE

Maggie Anton, Banot Press, 2025, $17.95, pb, 296pp, 9780976305088

In the middle of the night, Asenet, an Egyptian midwife, is awakened by her brotherin-law with dreadful news: the god of the Hebrews, angry that Pharaoh has refused to allow the Hebrew slaves to make sacrifices in the wilderness, has visited yet another plague upon the Egyptians. But this plague is nothing like the previous nuisance plagues of locusts and frogs, or even like the terrifying plagues of hail and darkness. This time, the firstborns of Egypt are falling dead, and Asenet’s husband and son are among them. With Pharaoh at last agreeing to let the Hebrews go, Asenet and the remnants of her family, including her apprentice daughter, Shifra, decide to join them in their exodus.

Narrated by Asenet and Shifra, this is a richly detailed retelling of the biblical story of the journey of the Hebrews (and of others) to the Promised Land, with a sprawling cast of characters and plenty of action and romance (within the bounds of the marriage customs of the time). The two midwives are resourceful and intelligent, and it’s a pleasure to see their families growing and intertwining with others over the years. There appears to be a sequel featuring the next generation: I’m looking forward to it.

Susan Higginbotham

THE ROAD TO KADESH

A. W. Whinnett, Field of Reeds, 2024, £9.99/$12.99, pb, 399pp, 9781068551406

Egypt, 1276 BCE. Hetep is proud to be a charioteer. However, in a battle against the Amurrites, his chariot is wrecked, the horses killed, his driver severely injured, and another charioteer named Baya claims Hetep’s kill of the Amurrite prince. Now Baya’s been given the reward while Hetep is forced to become a scribe in the conquered city of Amurru. But when the deceased prince’s driver recognizes Hetep, the driver becomes set on vengeance. Now a hunted man and unable to carry a weapon as a scribe, Hetep is sent to an

unfamiliar land without an ally and no way to defend himself. To complicate matters, Hetep spies Baya working with the driver intent on his death. Hetep’s only hope lies in the most unlikely people: the dead prince’s wife and a mysterious Hittite merchant.

The author uses Greek names for Egypt and its cities. However, Hetep would’ve called his land Kemet and its cities Men-nefer and Waset (instead of Memphis and Thebes). Also, the author only mentions Rameses’s concubines despite the fact his great wife often co-ruled with him. She’s not acknowledged, and there’s only one female character of influence in the story.

Hetep starts out very naive, and I appreciated how his earlier choices came full circle by the end, some helpfully and some harmfully. At first, Hetep seeks help from his superiors, but almost every Egyptian’s attitude is that the Amurrites wouldn’t dare challenge the might of Egypt because…heck, they’re Egyptian! This excuse got old quickly.

Hetep’s growth through the many plot threads that challenge his perspectives is engaging. Hetep and his chariot driver, Sebeku, are an entertaining duo who I would have enjoyed more of. Additionally, moments of charioteering and setting details are entrancing with the prose bringing these chapters to life with cinematic flair. An entertaining read.

J. Lynn Else

CLASSICAL

THE SHADOW KING

Harry Sidebottom, Zaffre, 2024 (c2023), £10.99, pb, 432pp, 9781838777999

The Shadow King delves into the life of Alexander of Lyncestis, one of Alexander the Great’s generals and a trusted friend. Set during Alexander’s reign, the novel portrays the complex dynamics within the Macedonian dynasties, where former independent rulers now serve under Alexander. The story is told from Lyncestis’ perspective, offering a unique view of Alexander’s rise to power and subsequent corruption. We follow Lyncestis as he becomes a prominent figure at Alexander’s court and in the army. Finding himself increasingly under threat due to being seen by enemies as a rival for the throne, his attempts to curb Alexander’s insatiable desire for conquest lead to his ultimate tragedy.

The novel’s exploration of the corrupting influence of power is one of its greatest strengths, resonating strongly in today’s political climate. Through Lyncestis’ eyes, readers witness Alexander’s transformation from a revered leader to a tyrant driven by selfimportance and greed. This outside perspective pulls Alexander off his pedestal, showing him

as human and flawed, and as too weak to handle power according to Macedonian ideas regarding kingship. Hence the greatness of the “Great” Alexander is questioned, adding depth to the narrative.

However, the novel’s focus on a masculine world of warfare and conquest may not appeal to all readers. The extensive character gallery, with many characters sharing similar names, can be confusing. Additionally, the narrative is heavily laden with battle descriptions, which blur together and may overwhelm readers unfamiliar with the historical context. The author’s choice to focus predominantly on the male-oriented aspects of the story might also limit the novel’s appeal to a broader audience.

Despite these criticisms, The Shadow King offers a compelling exploration of loyalty, ambition, and the human cost of power. Its vivid depiction of historical events and characters’ personal struggles make it a thought-provoking read.

Ingibjörg Ágústsdóttir

1ST CENTURY

THE SAVAGE ISLE

Michael Arnold, Canelo, 2025, £16.99, hb, 352pp, 9781835982365

Just before the Claudian invasion of Britannia, the Catuvellauni dominance of lesser Celt tribes is seen by Cullen of the Atrebates. Orphaned and forcibly adopted into the tribe, being commanded by Caratacos – brother of the High King Togodubnos – he is unwillingly drawn into a leadership he despises. A goatherd, he apparently stumbles from one significant incident to another, building his character into a finely honed blade: a warrior out for vengeance. But who will be the ultimate target?

On his personal journey, he earns the enmity of druids and warriors, the friendship of seasoned veterans and chiefs. He earns his sword, his name, and his place in a tribe that is both his home and his fury. Then, while he navigates his new world and status, word comes. The Romans have decided to re-establish their dominion over the Isle of the Mighty. Does the Catuvellauni power respond with supplication, hoping to be ‘granted’ the Roman enforcement and kindness that was shown in the past? Or does Togodubnos – and his ferocious brother, with his own agenda – try to unify the Celts into a confederation to face off the invaders?

This book is very well researched. Arnold has approached the attitude, the spirit of the Celtic tribes, with insight. Given extant historical records, he manages to combine the experience of a single man – Cullen – and the vision of what might happen to his world. We care about him, his tortured mind. Obviously the first in a series, this details well the events of a nation-changing moment as seen through the eyes of a human caught up in them.

Alan Cassady-Bishop

JUVENALIA

Jennifer Burke, Level Best/Historia, 2024, $18.95/£15.99, pb, 258pp, 9781685128265

This is book 2 in the Valerius Mystery series featuring Quintus Aemilius Valerius, a twentysomething Roman patrician and head of the household. Lacking a better vocation, he has stumbled into crime-solving to gain name and fame on the cursus honorum (which could lead to his eventually becoming a senator). In this book, he’s dealing with a series of killings among the leading poets and playwrights of the age who are planning Emperor Nero’s Juvenalia (coming-of-age party).

Two emperors, Nero and Otho (who ruled briefly after Nero); one empress, Poppae Sabina (currently Otho’s wife); and the poets Seneca, Lucan and Petronius play prominent roles in the story, as do a variety of fictional characters from all walks of life. Personal jealousy and pettiness mingle with the need to make the occasion a grand success because Nero has just wrested control from his regents (see Sub Rosa, the first book in the series, for more details).

The plot draws the reader in with clues strewn throughout the narrative. Based on the first few pages, I bought the first volume and read it before proceeding. That book was good as well, not surprising since the author has already published a number of books under a different name.

The characters are believable and leave a strong impression, even if they appear for just a few pages. This makes it even more puzzling why the hero’s much older wife doesn’t get more stage space—especially since the hero is gay (or possibly bisexual). Does she know or suspect? Does she care? Perhaps the author will explore this in a future book. I definitely would buy future volumes in this series. Perfect for fans of Lindsey Davis, David Wishart and Marilyn Todd.

Kishore Krishna

SALOME

Joanna Courtney, Piatkus, 2024, £9.99, pb, 401pp, 9780349433004

view of Salome, as the novel’s tagline – “the woman behind the dance – makes clear.

John the Baptist’s death could hardly be overlooked, but it happens near the half-way point in the novel, and Courtney goes on to explore the political, religious and personal ramifications of the tragedy. Salome is not simply a temptress. She is caught up in events almost against her will, and appalled at the violent outcome of her dance. The rest of the novel explores her desire to find peace and redemption. The characterisation is excellent and allows us to explore a number of different viewpoints and perspectives.

I really enjoyed the way the novel presented the political and historical tensions which followed the division of Herod the Great’s kingdom at his death. In this turbulent political climate, the Jewish priesthood and aristocracy are forced into an uneasy partnership with the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, while the larger shadow of a decadent and all-powerful Roman Empire looms. It is a volatile world where insurrection is a very real possibility, and the rise of Christianity adds yet another dimension to the febrile mix.

At first, I was uncertain about the reworking of Salome’s life in relation to Christian history. However, the clarity and power of the writing, combined with the author’s informative historical notes, won me over completely to this imaginative and compelling portrayal. Very highly recommended.

Adele Wills

THE DAUGHTER OF ROME

Angela Hunt, Bethany House, 2025, $18.99/£10.99, pb, 384pp, 9780764241581

friend becomes dangerous when Nero blames the Christians for causing the fire. They’re to be rounded up and executed in the Circus Maximus.

Calandra’s narration is in first person with all others being in third. This is helpful for clueing in readers when a perspective changes mid-chapter. Hunt intertwines characters from her previous Emissaries books together in The Daughter of Rome, though in small roles. The setting details are well-researched and stunningly recreated. Hunt’s prose is elegant and evocative (e.g., “the laughing crackle of flames”). As the city of Rome turns against the Christian population, Hunt movingly portrays the fear rippling through the community. The novel grapples with the most difficult questions of faith, particularly why good people suffer and die. The plot’s emotional undercurrent is deeply resonant as Hunt earnestly depicts how pockets of strength and love can be found even within the deepest of sorrows. I find this to be one of Hunt’s most impactful and touching novels.

J. Lynn Else

TYRANT

Conn Iggulden, Michael Joseph, 2025, £22.00, hb, 432pp, 9780241587348 / Pegasus, 2025, $27.95, hb, 432pp, 9781639368891

The story of Salome, granddaughter of Herod the Great, has inspired many writers, artists and composers.

As she’s almost always depicted as a lascivious temptress whose erotic dance leads to the execution of John the Baptist, it is perhaps no coincidence that men have dominated its her interpretation. Joanna Courtney has redressed the balance with her new novel taking a much broader

Calandra helps her father create art for wealthy Romans. After delivering a statue to one of Rome’s four aediles, her father is tasked with a challenging request: a giant bronze statue to impress the fickle Emperor Nero. But when the great fire of 64 AD spreads across the city, Calandra’s father is injured while evacuating and loses his vision. Eventually, they are given shelter by a kind couple until the fires abate. When the aedile’s son Hadrian finds Calandra after the devastation, the two cannot hide their feelings for each other despite their social differences.

Afterwards, Calandra pledges to complete her father’s commission, but she has a new worry overshadowing her life. If discovered, it will shame her family, and the only person she can turn to is the kind Christian woman who provided her shelter. However, visiting her new

Nero, the first novel in Iggulden’s trilogy set in first-century Rome, ends with a marriage proposal. Tyrant, the second book, opens where the first one left off: with a wedding, that of Agrippina to her uncle, Emperor Claudius. A brilliantly executed prologue embodies the lethal imperial Roman society of the day as it relates to Agrippina’s ruthless scheming to make her son Lucius, now Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, emperor of Rome. This dramatically sets the scene for the rest of the book. Agrippina has survived Tiberius and Caligula—there’s nothing she can’t do. She takes praetorian guard Burrus into her confidence, binding his loyalty to her; Seneca is brought back to Rome to rein in her out-of-control teenage son and his close friends, Otho and Serenus, who will continue to influence Nero as emperor; Claudius grants the toga virilis to Nero at 13-years-of-age, then moves, under Agrippina’s duplicitous plotting, to make him temporary heir ahead of Claudius’s own son Britannicus, thereby supposedly protecting the latter, a younger and more vulnerable boy.

Conn Iggulden is a prolific writer of historical fiction styled to pull in a wide readership. I’ve followed his various historical series over the

years. If he sometimes manoeuvres historical fact, it is usually in aid of a better story and plots, which move lightning-fast, and his historical notes are full of enticing research detail. He is a masterful storyteller, totally in command of his scenes and characters, allowing modern-day readers to be swept into the ancient worlds he creates. The novel takes Nero through boyhood to early manhood, marriage, mistresses, entertainment such as the magnificent arena naumachia, violent plots and intrigue, and, eventually, the conundrum over Agrippina and her matriarchal vise-grip. This kept me up well into the night.

Fiona Alison

BEFORE THE KING

Heather Kaufman, Bethany House, 2025, $17.99/£10.99, pb, 352pp, 9781540903570

Shortly before her father starts a new, prestigious position, Joanna and her family find Joanna’s sister Dalia having a seizure. Fear of the shame and gossip Dalia’s condition would garner, Joanna’s parents send Dalia away to live with an aunt. But Dalia is never far from Joanna’s mind as she grows into a beautiful young woman. After being betrothed to a handsome but selfish man, Joanna secretly sends a letter to Dalia inviting her to attend the wedding ceremony. Happily, Dalia arrives! While showing her Sepphoris’s theater, tragedy strikes, leaving Joanna with a broken leg and a broken heart. Years later, Joanna encounters the rabbi named Jesus. His message reminds Joanna of Dalia’s own faith-filled words, but can she find a place in her heart to forgive herself after what happened at the theater?

Heather Kaufman’s characters are intricately crafted; they vibrantly reflect the fears, struggles, and hope of the period. Joanna’s emotions are tumultuous, and Kaufman explores them with grace and compassion. Readers accompany Joanna, struggling to keep her faith and cope with her grief, on a moving emotional journey. After witnessing her sister’s suffering, Joanna can’t fathom accepting forgiveness and healing for herself. Yet it’s Dalia’s example that eventually leads Joanna to a faith that blossoms beautifully. The prose is lovely, and the way the author uses moments in Joanna’s life to provide light in difficult moments is heartwarming. Kaufman has a talent in bringing Biblical times to life in a way that’s accessible to modern readers. Before the King is a stand-alone read that I joyously recommend.

J. Lynn Else

NUNC!

Quentin Letts, Constable, 2025, £18.99/$30.00, hb, 272pp, 9781408722848

This is a fictionalised retelling of ‘Nunc Dimittis’, ten verses in Luke’s Gospel about the elderly prophet Simeon who waited for the baby Jesus in the Temple. After declaring ‘mine eyes have seen thy salvation’, he can finally die in peace. 2000 years ago, in Jerusalem, old Simeon’s wheelchair collides with a

rubbish heap, providing entertainment for the occupants of Deuteronomy Square.

It’s not plot-driven. Instead, we have a series of short stories, incidents in the lives of the inhabitants of the square, as Benjamin’s mulecart takes us from place to place. The tone is not so much humorous as affectionate. The bits about Jesus are refreshingly devoid of the usual obligatory reverence (the magi following the star are ‘three blundering eejits’; the hiding of Joseph and Mary from Herod’s persecution is almost slapstick).

I get the impression journalist-turnednovelist Quentin Letts, let off the leash from journalistic style constraints, is now free to use puns, emotive dialogue, juicy adjectives, colourful description, characterisation. The result is a flowering of creative expression. The characters are quirky and delicious. The settings are colourful, illuminated by almond blossoms, pistachio trees and bougainvillea. Artisans sell their aromatic wares, and merchants ply their trade.

The blend of modern anachronisms and ancient Palestine is cute (‘Thanks, Mum, said Caleb in the voice teenagers have used since Noah’s flood’). We’re tantalised by 1st-century intimacies (the ‘different types of Pharisee’; the problem of cleaning the Holy of Holies— ‘when the high priest enters, you don’t want him smothered by cobwebs. The dust might set off his allergy’) and glimpses of people we will meet in the Gospels (that little boy next to Aretas’ verandah will grow up to crucify Jesus).

It would also suit a YA readership. NonChristians will love it, too. An adorable book, 6 stars; a real pleasure to read.

Susie Helme

DAWN OF GRACE

Jill Eileen Smith, Revell, 2025, $17.99/£10.99, pb, 368pp, 9780800744793

In 21 AD, Mary is eight and living in the town of Magdala in Israel. Her father is a comfortably well-off businessman. Her mother is gone, and Mary has a diligent caregiver named Darrah. Still, for Mary, Darrah is no substitute for a loving mother. Though they are devout Jews, Mary and her friends find the old gods exotic in a dangerous way. As she grows into young adulthood, Mary loses her father to a robber attack and is engaged to a young man from another business family.

Her life turns darker when she finds not only is her best friend possessed by spirits but Mary, herself, also begins to hear evil voices, who come to her unbidden. She descends into an increasingly dark world as her husband is later murdered by a “demoniac” madman. When she finds herself outcast and alone, Mary encounters a rabbi who gazes upon her with love and sympathy and immediately casts out the spirits who haunt her. She is freed and knows she now lives to serve and help her liberator and her people. Mary stays with Jesus as he preaches and heals through wonderfully pleasant times with the apostles and several other women until his ultimate crucifixion

and resurrection, where she finally learns the wisdom of her decision.

This wonderful novel is a spiritually and scripturally genuine “feel good” story, to use current jargon. For me, it brought the New and Old Testaments’ scripture to even more vibrant life. The accounts of life in ancient Israel will appeal to history buffs as well. An outstanding book and my highest recommendation.

Thomas J. Howley

VENATOR

A. M. Swink, Historium, 2024, $18.99/£14.99, pb, 338pp, 9781962465502

In first-century Britannia, after their people are incriminated for murdering a Roman patrol, Luciana and her family must prepare to defend the tribe. Centurion Decimus dreams of returning to Rome. He’s close to retirement, and a successful battle against the Cornovii tribe may be his last hurdle. The orders are clear: leave no defender alive; imprison the women and children.

Once captured, Luciana hatches a plan and offers herself to Decimus. Yet dangers arise, some from feelings of jealousy and others from greed, which lurk in Luciana’s and Decimus’s shadows. The biggest danger, though, is their growing attraction towards each other. Can Luciana control her heart to free her people from captivity?

The historical details are captivating. I savored each element skillfully woven into the narrative. One note: At this time, eye-rolling wasn’t an expression as we use it today, and there’s lots of it; this made the characters feel less mature than their ages (Luciana being in her thirties). Otherwise, Swink brings to life battle tactics, soldiering attire, the grit of hand-to-hand combat, and, as with all war, battlefields and their gore. While driven by their growing desires, Swink also takes time to develop Decimus and Luciana in shared interests. Though readers should note there are graphic BDSM details.

The ending comes unexpectedly with many loose threads (the imprisoned tribe, Cassia’s plotting, the Silures’ attack, salacious Titianus, the Druid threat) left dangling. For me, doing something with Luciana’s tribe would have at the least resolved the longest-standing plot thread and Luciana’s entire motivation. As is, I was left underwhelmed. However, I relished the period details and the characters. While the second half is a spicy enemies-to-lovers cauldron boiling over, the first half is an enrapturing collision of cultures and character development that will leave readers breathless.

J. Lynn Else

AGRICOLA: Warrior

Simon Turney, Head of Zeus, 2025, £9.99/$18.99, pb, 400pp, 9781035913411

Agricola: Warrior is the second book in Turney’s new Roman Empire series. This follows the well-known Roman, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, during his less publicised years. In this novel he is in Asia Minor and Rome.

Having made an enemy of a potential future Roman emperor, he does not have an easy ride. Personal tragedy strikes, and he returns to Rome with his wife, daughter and the ever-present Luci, a Briton who has fought alongside Agricola in Brittania and his now his personal bodyguard.

The Rome he finds is in the midst of Nero’s madness; the story culminates in the violent and battle-ridden ‘Year of the Four Emperors.’ This provides plenty of opportunities for violence and fight scenes. This novel is extremely well-researched, and for anyone interested in this fascinating period of 1stcentury Rome it is an interesting read.

Turney is a prolific and popular writer of matters Roman, and as such it is sometimes hard to offer critique. However, this is not the best written novel I have read this year–and it’s only March! The style appears lazy. There is an overuse of unnecessary adverbs and adjectives and an excess of lengthy ‘mansplaining’ passages. The language is very modern, and at times the conversation between Luci and Agricola would be better set over a pint down at the ‘Centurion’s Arms’ on the High Street. Lines like ‘the battle had been as brutal as it gets,’ ‘bodies had been piled up in droves,’ ‘nearly had him’ (repeated twice in a few lines) and ‘Vitellius’ generals were obviously planning something sneaky’ are unworthy of a writer of Turney’s stature.

Luci is a poor example of a sidekick when compared to, for example, Sharpe’s Patrick Harper, although clearly meant to fulfil the same role. A good, not great read.

Aidan K. Morrissey

2ND CENTURY

THE MISTAKE

Mara Schiffren, Woodhall Press, 2024, $21.95, pb, 390pp, 9781960456113

The life of a Roman soldier, Julius, dramatically changes when, under the drunken influence of Dionysius, he seduces a maiden near the god of wine’s altar. The next morning, he is promoted to the rank of centurion after the discovery of his murdered commander. Five months later, a Jewish father and his pregnant daughter, Miriam, confront him about his impropriety. Julius acknowledges his misconduct, though it was just one time, and deeply regrets his mistake. To atone, he agrees to finance and house the child and Miriam under his roof if she agrees to have no relations with another man. Three years after the birth of their son, Miriam follows Julius to Caesarea to his new assignment and marries him. The story then focuses on their son, Marcus, growing up in a family split by a strict Roman military tradition and a philosophical Jewish heritage.

The Mistake by Mara Schiffren is ancient historical fiction set in 2nd-century Asia Minor and Judea after the destruction of the Great Temple in Jerusalem. The coming-of-age tale is masterfully written with rich and vivid descriptions of locations and settings. You

are immediately drawn into the underlying conflict and heartfelt emotions of a family fraying apart by its cultural differences. The tension heightens when Marcus faces the difficult decision of whether to join the Roman Legion or explore the mysteries of his Jewish heritage. This is an emotionally gripping and relatable tale about a young man’s inner struggle to understand himself and find his true purpose in life.

I highly recommend The Mistake for its engaging storytelling and compelling insight into how cultural differences can profoundly impact individuals, families, and societies—a theme relevant throughout history.

Linnea Tanner

5TH CENTURY

WODEN’S SPEAR

Donovan Cook, Boldwood, 2025, £12.99/$18.99, pb, 344pp, 9781836563273

In 449 AD in Old Saxony, eighteen-year-old Octa is made shield bearer to his cousin Uhtric in the imminent battle against the Thuringians who are infringing on Saxon lands. But Octa is no warrior, and the so-called honour is forced upon him. As the battle rages, he flees when Uhtric falls to a Thuringian axe. In fear of his father’s wrath, he goes north to Jutland, and sails to Britannia with brothers Hengist and Horsa, whose expedition is at the request of King Vortigern. Octa’s private quest is to find the goddess Brigantia’s sacred shrine and rescue Woden’s spear, but he cannot get to Hadrian’s Wall without help. Forced to explain his real purpose, Hengist sends him north with his best warriors to retrieve the sword for his own purposes. Badulf, a warrior Briton of Vortigern’s court, knows of Octa’s quest and respects his sister Brigid’s prediction that Octa is somehow important and feared by the old gods, although the reason is not clear to her.

The novel is a coming-of-age odyssey steeped in belief in the old gods who were worshipped before adherence to the Christian God took hold in Roman times. But the Romans have left Britannia to its own devices, and the land is split by rivalries of tribal kings. The first half of the novel, slowed initially by Octa protesting a bit too much, does pick up its pace and plot direction. Details of the environment and settings, however, could have been more vividly descriptive. This first book in The First Kingdom Series sheds light on the Dark Age period, when the Britons, abandoned by Rome, needed help to fight the Picts and the Scots (Irish). Thorough historical notes are included.

Fiona Alison

ENEMY OF MY DREAMS

Jenny Williamson, Canary Street Press, 2025, $29.00/C$36.00, hb, 448pp, 9781335080516

AD 409. After her father’s death, Julia Augusta is no longer a daughter of Rome— she’s a pawn. Her younger brother, now emperor, is determined to control her, ordering

a marriage she refuses to accept. Julia isn’t the kind of woman to go quietly. In a bold and reckless move, she turns to Alaric, the Visigoth warlord who has spent years fighting against Rome.

What starts as a desperate bid for freedom turns into something far more dangerous—a charged, unpredictable partnership between two people who should be enemies but can’t seem to resist the pull between them.

Jenny Williamson’s debut novel is packed with political intrigue, high-stakes romance, and a richly layered historical setting. Julia is defiant, quick-witted, and fiercely determined to forge her own fate, making her a heroine who’s easy to root for, even when her choices place her in danger. From the moment she and Alaric meet, their connection is electric— brimming with sharp banter, slow-burning tension, and a raw, undeniable heat that simmers beneath every exchange. Their chemistry is as much a battle as the war raging around them, making for a romance that’s as steamy as it is compelling.

The world building is superb, bringing to life both the grandeur of Rome and the instability lurking beneath its surface. From the opulence of imperial courts to the raw, uncertain future of the Visigoths, the novel captures a world on the brink of transformation. The side characters add depth—some allies, some wildcards—and the found-family elements make Julia’s journey much more compelling. Highly recommended.

Williamaye Jones

9TH CENTURY

THE FELL DEEDS OF FATE

C. J. Adrien, Runestone Books, 2024, $24.99, hb, 377pp, 9798301864551

For Viking warriors of the 9th century, reputation is all, and Hasting worries that his is on the wane. After leading the siege of Paris a couple of years before, he has settled down and put on weight, only to find that storytellers have begun to credit his exploits to a rival. No wonder his wife complains that he drinks too much! The solution, he decides, is to gather a fleet of longships, traverse the great riverways of Eastern Europe to the fabled city of Miklagard (Constantinople), and conquer it.

His companion on the quest is Bjorn Ironsides. Both are based on real historical figures of the period, but the plot is mostly fictional and narrated by Hasting himself. While this deprives us of objectivity about other characters, it does provide an insight into the self-doubts that trouble him, giving him a more complex personality than a stereotypical Viking. Some of his reflective comments, however, feel a tad too modern for me. The story works best in its absorbing action sequences where the writing has a fast-paced fluidity. Period detail is well researched, especially for nautical, martial and architectural aspects. Personally, I would have liked the natural landscape to come

alive a little more, but otherwise the book is recommended for anyone who enjoys a good Viking Age adventure.

This volume opens a new series, The Saga of Hasting the Accursed, and the ending suggests it will be essential to read them in order. Adrien wrote a previous trilogy about Hasting which I have not read, but reference to events of the earlier books is sufficiently detailed for it not to be a necessity in my opinion.

Nigel Willits

RAPTURE

Emily Maguire, Sceptre, 2025, £16.99, hb, 320pp, 9781399731065

Emily Maguire’s new novel, Rapture, takes as its inspiration the legend of Pope Joan, reworking key elements of the myth to create a brilliant work of great power and beauty.

The story starts in 9th-century Mainz, Germany, where Agnes lives with her father, an English priest. Although his vows include celibacy, Agnes’s father has slept with a local Saxon woman, but her death in childbirth has left him with the responsibility of raising his daughter. Unusually for that time, Agnes is given an education, listening to the intellectual debates at her father’s dinner table. At one of these dinners, she meets Brother Randulf, a monk from Fulda Abbey, and thus begins their relationship. After her father’s untimely death, Randulf agrees to help Agnes disguise herself as a man to become a Benedictine monk. As Brother John, Agnes starts down the path that will lead her to becoming the head of the Roman Catholic church.

There is so much that is compelling about this novel. The writing is absolutely beautiful and often poetic in its intensity. Characterisation is intimate and believable, and Agnes’s perspective gives us a close insight into her views and feelings. The power of the novel lies in this range: Agnes is a person of huge intellect, but it is also her journey to womanhood, something that she initially represses, that becomes a key focus – with tragic consequences. The novel always bears its research lightly; we see the often-conflicted world of the monasteries, alongside the disintegration of the Carolingian dynasty after the death of Charlemagne and the terrible consequences of the ensuing civil war. Maguire depicts some horrific moments with artistic sensitivity and, as much as violence is a part of this world, its inclusion is never gratuitous.

This is a fabulous book for any serious reader of literary historical fiction. Very highly recommended.

Adele Wills

10TH CENTURY MERE

Danielle Giles, Mantle, 2025, £16.99, hb, 374pp, 9781035051229

In the 10th-century Norfolk Fens, a remote community of nuns and peasants struggles to survive a harsh winter and a harsh abbess. This story may not sound like a page-turner, but it certainly is. The convent is far from the nearest town. It is isolated by a deep and treacherous mere. The author has created a vivid cast of characters who instantly engage readers’ sympathies and worries. Well-wrought suspense and our concern for these characters drive the story on. Hilda is the convent infirmarian, drawing on medieval medical knowledge as well as the older knowledge of her wise woman mother, Sweet. This is a thoroughly imagined world where the characters are pulled between two belief systems – Christianity and the older Norse beliefs that are a holdover from the time of the Danelaw.

Everything starts to go wrong, and the crisis escalates. A boy is lost in the mere, the food stores are far too meagre, a flood wipes out the crops and carries away the livestock. The increasingly desperate community begins to see sin round every corner. Abbess Sigeburg orders the harsh whipping of some of the nuns for minor infractions. Hilda falls in love with the newest arrival at the convent, Wulfrun – a former thegn’s wife who is carrying her own scars. The mere is a constant watery threat to the community, which is compounded by hunger, blizzards and freezing weather. Just as the mere is encroaching on the convent’s arable land, superstition seeps into the minds of the characters and begins to outweigh reason. The old beliefs suggest there is only one way out of their suffering. This is an excellent read. Highly recommended.

Tracey Warr

11TH CENTURY

THE BOOK AND THE KNIFE

Paul Cobb, Troubador, 2024, £10.99, pb, 456pp, 9781836280699

The Thegn of Berewic, part one of a proposed trilogy, is the story of a period in England prior to the Norman invasion of 1066. Blending magic and mystery of a book of knowledge and an engraved knife which, when together, can control destinies, this is a complex rendition of the politically charged period in which Godwin, Earl of Wessex, plays a pivotal role. The story, which is historically very accurate

and extremely well-researched, is split between events in Spain, Normandy, and Anglo-Saxon England. The addition of the fantasy element of the two artifacts is interesting and an unusual addition.

However, the novel suffers from the fact that it is almost wholly ‘told’ and not ‘shown.’ As a result, it reads more like a history book than an immersive historical novel. Sadly, the characters are very wooden, and the book lacks emotional involvement.

Conversation tends to be used to fill in historical gaps or over-explain relationships between the very long list of characters rather than moving the story forward, which makes the story sluggish. At times, the narrative gets bogged down in too much detail which halts the flow and reduces the reader experience, causing a tendency to skip over some of the detail.

For anyone interested in this period of English history, this is a good book to improve knowledge, and I found it an interesting and readable treatise of the time. The author should be complimented on his research and knowledge of the period.

Aidan K. Morrissey

UPON THE CORNER OF THE MOON

Valerie Nieman, Regal House, 2025, $21.95, pb, 310pp, 9781646035359

In 11th-century Alba (Scotland), young Gruach, the future Lady Macbeth, is sent away from her family to apprentice with a Pict healer. Five-year-old Macbeth is sent from the house of his father, the Mormaer of Moray, to the royal court of his grandfather, King Malcolm II. He comes of age alongside his foster brother, Duncan. While Macbeth is educated to be a leader, Gruach is taught healing arts and Pict traditions, and then summoned back to Malcolm’s court, where she is soon given away in marriage. The journey of the Macbeths is not the famed and false one of Shakespeare, but a mixture of both their true and imagined place in Scotland’s history. This is the first book in the Alba series.

This intriguing novel creates a glimpse of the little-known childhoods of Gruach and Macbeth. Gruach is shown in a much more sympathetic and factual light than in Shakespeare’s play. There are three points of view—Macbeth, Gruach, and a fictional poet, Lapwing. The three witches of Macbeth are replaced in this novel by three spiritual belief systems—Pict, Celtic, and Christian. Gruach’s Pict spiritual experiences are fascinating,

and Lapwing still speaks of the Celtic gods, although Christianity is taking over.

The backstabbing politics of a royal court make a compelling read. Macbeth’s journey to becoming Mormaer of Moray will lead him to Gruach. She is married to the cruel, violent, and abusive Gillecomgan. As her brother Nechtan says to Macbeth, “My sister Daimhin---Gruach—know that she is no wife to Gillecomgan, but a hostage, and pregnant.” The novel ends, but not the story, as there will be a second book coming. The writing is beautiful, lyrical, and descriptive, and it captures the period perfectly. To say this book is well-researched is an understatement. Highly recommended.

Bonnie DeMoss

12TH CENTURY

REBECCA OF IVANHOE

Alison Bass, Bedazzled Ink, 2024, $18.95/£14.99, pb, 190pp, 9781960373526

The prose and pageantry of Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe serve as an inspiring backstory for this newly imagined sequel to the continuing adventures of Rebecca. This current novel picks up the threads of Rebecca’s life after she is rescued by Ivanhoe. As a Jewish healer, she and her father, Isaac, a trader in spices and other wares, flee England and head towards Spain in search of a safer place to live and practice their occupations and their faith. They land in Cordoba, where Isaac’s brother and his family live. Spain in the late 12th century, however, proves just as perilous as England, if not more so, to Jewish communities, which are often scapegoated by both Christians and Muslims who are fighting each other for control of the warring Spanish kingdoms. Rebecca must traverse multiple hurdles that require moving from city to city to escape violence and recrimination. Meanwhile, she becomes romantically involved with a Spanish Jewish man and forms attachments to other Jewish people who are operating at the highest spheres of influence in the communities in which she finds herself.

A compelling tale of one woman’s quest for survival and the opportunity to live life to its fullest, this novel will draw readers in with its fast-paced plot. Written in a simple and direct style, it will most likely be much easier for modern day readers to grasp than the original classic novel that it flows from. It still retains the heart of the original, however, with its emphasis on peril, adventure, and romance. It also brings to life the setting of Spain in the 1190s with all its terrors but also its humanity. Recommended for all fans of the world of Ivanhoe.

Karen Bordonaro

13TH CENTURY

THE TRAITOR OF SHERWOOD FOREST

Amy S. Kaufman, Penguin, 2025, $18.00, pb, 416pp, 9780143138129

In this refreshing and entertaining retelling of the Robin Hood legend, Kaufman upends the image of the noble protector of the poor in favor of a more medieval Hood: a violent, opportunistic trickster whose image was polished centuries later by Henry VIII into the romantic hero we admire today. Hood’s adventures in this retelling take place during the reign of Edward I (rather than that of Richard the Lionhearted), and are narrated from the point of view of Jane Crowe, a resourceful peasant just trying to make a living in rural 13th-century Nottinghamshire. Recruited by her good-natured lover, a local groom, and bored with her own hardscrabble life, Jane agrees to participate in Robin and his Merry Men’s harassment of the Shire-Reeve (the original term for Sheriff) of Nottingham, Sir Walter. She quickly becomes fascinated with the charismatic but dangerous outlaw and is promoted to a kitchen assistant in a noble house, where she spies for Hood and becomes embroiled in his increasingly violent plots.

Kaufman does an admirable job of evoking everyday early-medieval manor life and makes Jane a compelling and likeable character who struggles to resist the outlaw she knows to be narcissistic and manipulative, but who also offers her a chance to right the wrongs perpetrated on commoners by the aristocrats of the time. Intelligent and empathetic, Jane finds unlikely allies among the aristocrats she has been told to hate; as she learns more about them, she begins to resist Hood’s malign influence and discovers that the romantic world of legend, with its clear heroes and villains, is neither as simple nor as interesting as the real world she inhabits.

Kristen McDermott

BEHOLD THE BIRD IN FLIGHT

Terri Lewis, She Writes, 2025, $17.99, pb, 336pp, 9781647429102

Isabelle of Angoulême, like many women in medieval royal marriages, dwells in the shadows of history, valued only for producing heirs, and for bringing power and land to their royal husbands. Isabelle’s life is brought into the light in Lewis’s new exploration – a 12-year-old beauty married to King John (yes, the ‘bad’ one) who gave him five children, all of whom survived childhood. Isabelle first caught my attention almost forty years ago in Penman’s Here Be Dragons trilogy. John and Isabelle’s meeting is similarly worked, although historical details are vague, and in aid of a smoother plot, Lewis betroths Isabelle to Hugh X of Lusignan. History indicates it was his father, Hugh IX to whom the betrothal was made. However, after John’s death, Isabelle, now 28, returned to France, married Hugh the

younger, and bore him nine children between 1220 and 1229, although the novel does not cover this marriage.

Life during the reign of King John (11891216) would have been tumultuous even for a queen, and the tense times are well drawn. John and his barons bickered constantly, and England’s disputes with Philip of France must have been very unsettling for the very young and French Isabelle. Lewis crafts an intriguing story, giving her words a young-adult feel at the start, when Isabelle is a carefree eleven-yearold, and moving to more serious tone as her story progresses. At times it veers marginally too far into romance for me, but Lewis fulfills her mission to bring Isabelle’s royal life to the forefront. It does not solve the question of whether she was complicit in her abduction by John, but some historical mysteries are best left unaccounted for, and modern-day morals and values don’t apply to 13th-century life. Lewis gives an overdue voice to a passionate and remarkably resilient woman.

Fiona Alison

KING’S ENEMY

Ian Ross, Hodder & Stoughton, 2024, £25.00, hb, 432pp, 9781399708920

This is the third in the de Norton trilogy set during the complicated years of the Second Barons’ War. After the battle of Evesham in 1265, the leader of the barons, Sir Simon de Montfort, is killed, and the barons themselves regroup. Ross follows the fortunes and misfortunes of Adam de Norton while first one faction and then another gains ascendancy.

The story opens with Adam a prisoner in the Castle of Beeston, the Castle of the Rock, which a useful map shows us is near the northernmost part of the Welsh marches. He is conflicted, not only because he is allied against King Henry III with his demands for absolute power, but also because he is betrothed to Isabel de St John, the woman he loves. As a prisoner, no-one will ever know what happened to him after the rebels’ defeat at Evesham. He has to escape. This he does, described in nail-biting detail, in a plot that twists and turns to make a riveting read. Adam is desperate, and not only because he longs to reach Isabel but because another woman, the charismatic Lady Joane facing danger by his side, also becomes a danger to his heart.

A list of main players at the start along with the maps would be helpful unless you’re thoroughly up to date with the war-mongers of medieval England. Ross’s research is meticulous but never boring. He manages to weave in immense detail without slowing the action. To my joy he even mentions a vielle, my favourite musical instrument of the time. An altogether excellent account of a little-known period concerning the battle for enfranchisement that continued for many centuries until modern times.

Cassandra Clark

14TH CENTURY

TO REMAIN VIGILANT

Liz Sevchuk Armstrong, BWL, 2024, $19.99/ C$24.99, pb, 322pp, 9780228631828

The year is 1399, and England is in turmoil. King Richard II is barely hanging on to his crown, Henry Bolingbroke has returned from exile to recover a fortune unlawfully seized by the king, and Sir Harry Percy finds himself caught in the middle. Nicknamed “Hotspur” for his ceaseless vigilance along the rugged Anglo-Scottish border—where it’s said his spurs never cool—Sir Harry has been Richard’s loyal Warden in the North. But the king’s excessive taxation and self-serving royal edicts turn Harry toward Bolingbroke’s cause. That is, until Henry forces parliament to crown him King Henry IV. Although Harry wrestles with his conscience over the turn of events, duty bids him swear allegiance to Henry for the sake of England and all he holds dear.

Author Armstrong brings medieval England to life in a compelling tale filled with historical characters that almost jump off the page in authentic dress, armaments and language. The opening pages introduce Sir Harry as “Hotspur”—one of Shakespeare’s most memorable characters drawn from history—during a jousting tournament where he acts with courage and honor. From there, the author details experiences that shape not only his actions, but those around him. Wellresearched historical events briskly move the story along, and strategically placed flashbacks and backstory add layers of depth to the storytelling. The final chapters switch gears quite abruptly to conclude with slow steamy romance scenes, so readers will have to wait for the next in this three-book series to learn of Hotspur’s future, a knight in service to king and country. Genealogical charts would have been handy, but that minor issue aside, this is a wonderfully engaging start to the series.

Deborah Cay Wilding

THE STORYTELLER’S WAR

J. C. Corry, Black Rose Writing, 2025, $23.95, pb, 336pp, 9781685135973

Geoffrey Chaucer, page at the court of King Edward III and member of his family’s wine merchant business, embarks on a journey to Castile in 1366, as war is about to resume. Chaucer uses his wine importing tasks to cover his duties to king and country as a spy seeking to alter the course of war. In the mid-14th century during the Hundred Years’ War, the territories of Iberia were proxies in the battles between England and France. Chaucer seeks to bring an English mercenary, working only for gold, back into England’s fold. His task is to shift the winner of a civil war between two half-brothers from Trastámara back to Pedro the Cruel.

Chaucer did indeed travel to Castile early in his writing career. Chaucer is motivated by love for Pippa Roet, who will not marry him until he is promoted at court with a higher salary to support a family. Thwarting his efforts in Castile are assassins, a seductress, shifting

loyalties, and battles wherein he must wield unsophisticated sword skills to survive. This is a debut work and the first in a series. Corry paints vivid pictures using multiple voices to round out the story’s contours. A reader not versed in the civil war of Trastámara and Pedro may find the profusion of characters hard to keep straight. Corry’s Acknowledgements tell us he takes responsibility “for sacrificing veracity for verisimilitude at the altar of storytelling.” Indeed. Chaucer comes across as human, not super-human; a man with deep loyalties and pressing concerns, doing his best. Corry keeps the story moving and ties the threads in a satisfying conclusion. The reader can look forward to Chaucer’s next adventure as the series continues.

Catherine Mathis

15TH CENTURY

THE PRETENDER

Jo Harkin, Knopf, 2025, $30.00/C$36.00, hb, 496pp, 9780593803301 / Bloomsbury Circus, 2025, £18.99, hb, 464pp, 9781526678348

In 1483, with the death of King Edward IV, rumors of royal conflict and Richard III killing his nephews make their way to tenyear-old John Collan’s idyllic, common life on his father’s farm. A mysterious man appears at the farm, and John is taken to Oxford to be educated, compliments of a rich nobleman. He is told that he is royalty, the son of the Duke of Clarence, hidden with the Collan family and is now to be prepared for the throne of England. Under the care of different guardians and bearing different names –Lambert, Simnel, Edward VI – John is hidden in various places and educated in Oxford, Flanders, Ireland, and London. Throughout his adventures, the question of his true identity troubles him as others use him as a pawn for their own agenda. While in Ireland with the Earl of Kildare, he falls in love with the Earl’s daughter Joan. Joan is snarky and mocking of him. A strange kind of love develops between them. She becomes his life’s love.

Harkin has fictionalized the unknown life of a pretender, Lambert Simnel, and evolved his identity from John Collan to Edward VI to John Crossey through a period of much intrigue and conspiracies to unseat the reigning Tudor King Henry VII, then down a road of revenge. Engaging turns of phrase and humor, sometimes bawdy, are peppered throughout: the Earl’s daughters seem to him “all mad as weasels in a bucket,” and he feels like “a beetle, wriggling on his back” at his first entrance into a royal palace. Harkin’s language places the

reader firmly in 15th-century England with the flavor of archaic English – many words authentic Middle English, and some possibly contrived words that feel faithful to the period, but easily understood by context. This perfectly paced novel is propelled by adventure and escapades and immensely delightful characters.

Janice Ottersberg

THE QUEEN AND THE COUNTESS

Anne O’Brien, Orion, 2025, £20.00, hb, 464pp, 9781398711242

Contemporary accounts presented Margaret of Anjou and Anne, Countess of Warwick, in connection with their respective husbands: King Henry VI and Richard, Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker. Anne O’Brien’s novel places the two women at centre stage, the first-person narrative alternating between them. They were, of course, on opposite sides of the Lancaster-York conflict, at least until 1470 when Warwick abruptly switched allegiance, but O’Brien portrays them as discovering a certain affinity with each other, expressed in guarded conversations and letters.

In fictional reconstructions of women’s experience in the remote past, the temptation is to credit them with a much more active role than they could possibly have played. O’Brien does not succumb to it. Instead she cleverly makes the ‘sidelines’ the centre. Warwick’s 1460 invasion is seen from Anne’s viewpoint with her seeing him off from Calais and then waiting there over long weeks in the hope of news. Her husband keeps most of his plans from her, so when they cross back to Calais in 1469, she has no idea that her daughter Isabel is to be married to the Duke of Clarence. In frustration, she carefully gathers information, eavesdropping Warwick’s conversation with the king of France while pretending to admire a tapestry. Once in possession of the facts, she is strongly critical of Warwick’s stratagems and strives to rein him in. In the end, both she and Margaret lose everything.

This is not a tale of women on the margins of male violence: Margaret is only too happy to mete it out herself. Rather, it is a gripping story of human beings, caught up in the consequences of the struggle for power.

Jonathan Harris

COLUMBUS, SLAVE TRADER

Marcus Wilson, Austin Macauley, 2024, $29.95, hb, 212pp, 9798886934366

In 1493, Guarocuya finally returns to his homeland of Haiti. Nearly a year earlier, he and five others were taken by Columbus across the ocean to prove their ships had reached India. But they return to find the Spanish settlement that was left in Haiti destroyed, and its men killed. Columbus returned with 17 ships, and his men want revenge. Meanwhile, Guarocuya shares what he’s learned during his travels with a council of chiefs, both the promises made and the horrors he witnessed. Each day,

tensions rise along with the threat of mutiny against Columbus. If there isn’t gold, there are whispers of selling Guarocuya’s people, the Taino, on the slave market instead. The native people’s only hope of survival is if Guarocuya risks his life as a spy within the Spanish encampment.

Set between 1493 and 1533, Columbus, Slave Trader illustrates the precarious equilibrium between two vastly different cultures struggling to co-exist. The social distinctions between Spain and Haiti are on clear display. While the “civilized” Spaniards maim and murder their own over gold, the Taino, unbaptized and “without souls,” have no need for gold and share what they have with others. Guarocuya’s helplessness and despair about what’s happening to his people brings to life the heart-wrenching, horrifying events.

The prose could use some polish as there are oft-repeated descriptions and stories retold again and again (Guarocuya loves horses, Columbus’s claims of speaking to God, etc.). Such repetition can dilute the impact of what’s being said.

Overall, a well-researched and impactful story of how a culture across an ocean justified enslaving a nation, told by its victims. Once full of praise over the Tainos’ kindness, Columbus’s desperate need for acclaim and fortune becomes a destructive tidal wave, and humanity quickly flees in its wake.

J. Lynn Else

16TH CENTURY

A DAUGHTER’S PLACE

Martha Bátiz, House of Anansi, 2025, $21.99/ C$26.99, pb, 400pp, 9781487011864

Moving from an upscale Madrid household to Valladolid’s chaotic streets and back to the capital, this debut illustrates Golden Age Spain from the viewpoints of the women in Miguel de Cervantes’s family – whose lives were as eventful as any work of fiction. With a scholarly background in her subject, MexicanCanadian writer Bátiz has the knowledge and storytelling prowess to make her novel vibrant. The title character is Isabel, who speaks of her shock upon learning, at 15, that her birth father is the celebrated writer and war hero. After her aunt Magdalena collects her from her late mother’s tavern to reside with the Cervantes family, Isabel finds it hard to adjust. She must share a bed with her resentful cousin Constanza and pretend to outsiders that she’s their maid while despairing of her new status as a “bastarda… a daughter of sin.” Living separately in Esquivias, Miguel’s devoted wife Catalina, who begins her sections with fervent prayers, wants nothing more than to bear his child, not realizing he already has one.

The era’s Catholic morality permeates the setting, which doesn’t prevent the strongminded Cervantes women from exercising their will. Financial security is a critical motivator, too. They work as seamstresses to support themselves after having gathered

a fortune to ransom Miguel from captivity in Algiers and unstintingly obey his wishes despite his frequent absences. The reason why eventually comes to dramatic light. As Miguel conceptualizes and publishes Don Quixote, the story winds through their house relocations, the women’s love affairs past and present, and Isabel’s ongoing quest to shed the stain of illegitimacy. The shifts in perspective are mostly smooth, with a couple of instances where scene climaxes vexingly happen offpage. Bátiz movingly develops the family’s relationships across two decades, making this more than the exceptional “women behind a famous man” novel that it is.

Sarah Johnson

PERSPECTIVE(S) (US) / PERSPECTIVES (UK)

Laurent Binet, trans. Sam Taylor, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2025, $28.00/C$37.00, hb, 272pp, 9780374614607 / Harvill Secker, 2025, £18.99, hb, 272pp, 9781787304482

An unusual epistolary novel, Perspective(s) is a murder mystery and historical romp set in late 16th-century Florence. In the preface, a 19thcentury visitor to Arezzo acquires a stack of yellowed letters from an antique dealer. Although he has never been drawn to Florentine art after the medieval period, he changes his mind after reading the letters and feels compelled to translate them from the Tuscan. In their careful order they tell a story, beginning with Giorgio Vasari sending Michelangelo the description of the brutal murder of Jacopo da Pontormo beneath the frescoes he has nearly completed in the church of San Lorenzo. Who killed the aged painter with his own tools?

From here letters fly, not only about the murder but also the political and religious situation in Florence, run by ambitious, ruthless Cosimo de’ Medici and Pope Paul IV, sworn enemy of artists and books. Two assertive nuns and seventeen-year-old Maria de’ Medici add further complications. Laurent Binet weaves a suspenseful story through multiple perspectives, with correspondents revealing their characters and gossiping about one another. Many are painters, so we get their thoughts about art and those who pursue it. Not until halfway through the book does anyone mention the discovery of perspective in painting—during a melee involving more murders. Towards the end, Vasari quotes Uccello to Michelangelo: “Oh what a sweet thing is this perspective!” He can no longer scorn its laws.

With a puritanical pope and the changing

fashions in art, particularly against depiction of nudes, Michelangelo and Pontormo have felt their time is past. Yet humor and madcap plots abound, largely thanks to the irrepressible Benvenuto Cellini. This clever, surprising novel will likely earn Laurent Binet further honors, as will Sam Taylor’s translation. Highly recommended.

Jinny Webber

MALINALLI

Veronica Chapa, Atria, 2025, $28.99/C$34.99, hb, 384pp, 9781668009017

Mythology, magic, sisterhood, and conquest are the main ingredients in Veronica Chapa’s debut, Malinalli. An interpreter, warrior-priestess, twin sister, and a daughter born on an inauspicious day, Malinalli’s reimagined life is nestled within a vibrantly detailed Aztec culture. While learning about her magical powers, she is captured by slave traders and sold as a concubine. Later, at 18, she is given as a prize to Hernán Cortés, who takes advantage of her linguistic skills as his troops march through the lands searching for gold, leaving devastation in their wake. Approaching the capital city of Tenochtitlan, Malinalli nurtures dreams of revenge. Ever since Moctezuma had her father and brother murdered, her heart has burned with vengeance. But she soon learns her anger pales in comparison to the greed of both Cortés and Moctezuma.

The real-life Malinalli has long been portrayed as a betrayer of her culture, but being enslaved to Cortés, it is difficult to imagine she had a choice. Chapa empathically narrates a complex series of events that drive Malinalli toward her destiny. The mythological elements and the wondrous cities brought to life are enchanting. The connection between Malinalli and her

brother is a lovely element. I also enjoyed the moments of revelation as Malinalli developed her powers. However, while captivated by the mythology manifesting through the characters, unfortunately, these powers have no bearing on the Aztecs’ brutal, cataclysmic ending at the hands of Spanish invaders. Creating a means to overcome mere mortal strength through godlike powers that have no impact on the overarching story felt like a surrender, resulting in an anticlimactic closure and an epilogue that was sadly brief. While I’m grateful to have learned about Malinalli, the story is not as rich and impactful as similar books, like Aliette de Bodard’s breathtaking Servant of the Underworld or Silvia MorenoGarcia’s exceptional Gods of Jade and Shadow J. Lynn Else

A MATTER OF BLOOD

C. P. Giuliani, Sapere, 2024, £10.99/$11.99, pb, 298pp, 9780854955992

Paris, 1588. This is the sixth in the writer’s Tom Walsingham Mysteries series. Tom is cousin to Sir Francis Walsingham, principal secretary and spymaster to Queen Elizabeth, and acts as his confidential investigator. This

involves him in conducting all kinds of secret, shady and sinister business, and demands the practitioner to be an astute and cunning operator. Tom is sent to Paris when it appears that there has been a security leak in the spy network at the English embassy, as well as the possibility that the murder of Charles Arundel, a member of the aristocracy, has been hidden as death by natural causes.

Intelligence and spying are an arcane pursuit, and indeed the game that Tom plays with his various political and state interlocutors can be complicated and convoluted, which demands that the reader has to keep their wits about them to follow the subtleties of the plot. It reads a little like a 16th-century John le Carré novel. Giuliani shows a comprehensive knowledge of 16th- century history and life, and the novel is fully absorbed in the milieu of late 16th-century England and France. She provides an absorbing afternote about the historical background and the research she got lost in to underpin the story. As Giuliani says: ‘while historical accuracy is all important, research should never overwhelm or hijack the story.’ Yes indeed. Not having read any of the previous books in the series is not a great handicap, as many of the main characters and the general political environment are already well known to most readers of historical fiction, and the novel certainly stands alone as a coherent story.

Douglas Kemp

THE QUEEN’S MUSICIAN

Martha Jean Johnson, SparkPress, 2025, $17.99/C$24.99, pb, 344pp, 9781684633104

Spanning the years 1529 to 1536, The Queen’s Musician follows the story of Mark Smeaton, the musician who played for Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his rise to fame, and his tragic fall from favor. In tandem with Smeaton’s story is that of Madge Shelton, in service to her queenly cousin. Through the perspectives of these two historical figures, readers are taken on a deep and thoughtful exploration of the perils of the Tudor court.

Anyone familiar with Tudor history knows the fate of Anne Boleyn and the men accused of being her lovers. Smeaton, the lowest born of the group, remains a bit of a mystery. We don’t know much about him, and Johnson does an admirable job imagining his life before court, weaving music into every page as it filled his days. The gentleness written into his character—his love for music, people, and, most touchingly, his horses—makes his fate

even more devastating. I felt absolute rage on his behalf.

Similarly, little is known about Madge Shelton’s early life or her rumored role as Henry VIII’s mistress. Her wistful romance with Smeaton is a rare moment of purity, a breath of fresh air, amid the court’s poisonous gossiping and currying favor. Everyone knows their social classes make any future together impossible, but it was nice to have that hope for just a moment.

The characters are vibrant. Some secondary characters, such as Smeaton’s friend Paul, are a delight on the page. Others, such as Cromwell, you love to hate. Johnson excels at making us care about them before slowly shattering our hearts. We know how it ends, but the journey is hopeful, bittersweet, and utterly heartbreaking.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves Tudor history or anyone who, like me, enjoys being completely destroyed by a story.

Kristen

McQuinn

THE DARKENING GLOBE

Naomi Kelsey, Harper North, 2025, £16.99, hb, 384pp, 9780008534806

In 1597 Lady Beatrice Radclyffe awaits eagerly the return of her sea captain husband, Sir Hugh, who has been off on another adventure discovering the New World for the ageing Queen Elizabeth. Beatrice’s husband is not one of the Queen’s favourites –unlike Raleigh and Drake –but she lives a comfortable life

with her children and servants in a large house on the Thames.

However, when Sir Hugh descends the gangplank, her world is upended. Catalina, a woman with a suspicious swelling to her stomach, is with Sir Hugh, who also brings a large, mysterious globe into their home. Beatrice wonders if she is going mad when the globe starts spinning by itself, sending her messages. Then there is a death.

Beatrice fears the globe is supernaturally evil, but surely someone must be behind it. Could it be envious members of her family, disgruntled servants or even those surrounding the Queen? After all, what really happened on her husband’s voyages?

Kelsey gives the reader a page-turning historical mystery, and ghost story with a gothic feel of dread and haunting. Water is a strong theme – Sir Hugh’s voyages – and the River Thames, which is Beatrice’s main route out of her home. Beatrice’s fear of being sent to Bedlam, introspection about her role as a wife and mother, and her need to establish some

form of autonomy are evocatively written, and there’s a stunning last page. This is a brilliant follow-up to Kelsey’s debut novel, The Burnings, and is highly recommended.

Kate Pettigrew

TRAITOR’S LEGACY

S. J. Parris, Hemlock, 2025, £20.00, hb, 400pp, 9780008595791

Traitor’s Legacy, the first in a new historical crime series by the writer S. J. Parris, is set in England in 1598, when a young heiress is found dead by a street boy in what remains of The Theatre, Shoreditch, with a coded message in her clothing. The code relates to a cypher known to a former spy, Sophia de Wolfe, who is therefore called on by the Queen’s spymaster, Robert Cecil, to investigate. She is at first reluctant to do so but is soon enmeshed in the quest to discover the truth.

This intricately plotted novel is set in turbulent times, as the country waits for Queen Elizabeth, who has no children, to name the heir to the throne, amid pressure from powerful voices vying for her favour. As widow Sophia de Wolfe sets out on her investigation, her own past threatens to engulf her and destroy the fragile peace she has constructed around her. As de Wolfe races against time to clear an innocent loved one of the crime, she is pitted against dangerous enemies, including the Queen’s favourite courtier, the Earl of Essex.

Elizabethan London comes alive in the hands of S. J. Parris and the opening, where The Theatre is physically moved from Shoreditch to The Globe, is instantly appealing, as are appearances from actor Richard Burbage and the Bard himself. The plot is complex, meaning that at some points this reader had to flip back to check facts, but it is convincing, with the historical research blending seamlessly into the criminal investigation. The main protagonist (who appeared previously as a character in some of S. J. Parris’s previous, much-acclaimed Giordano Bruno historical series) is likeable and convincing. Traitor’s Legacy, with its many twists and turns, offers an absorbing read. Highly recommended.

Katharine Quarmby

WHERE RABBITS GATHERED

Alisa Valdés-Rodríguez, Tomé Hill, 2025, $22.00, pb, 404pp, 9780982743478

This is book one of an intended series, The Daughters of Puye. Told through the perspective of the firstborn daughter in each of five generations, Book One becomes the story of the intertwining of cultures: the Native Americans, the Spanish, and, in later generations, the Hispanicized Indigenous people. In subsequent volumes, the story will continue up to 2023.

Where Rabbits Gathered begins in 1580. We first meet Blue Water, a young Tewa woman already versed in reading the stars for her village, who gives birth to a baby girl she names North Star. At a young age, Blue Water

becomes widowed, and due to drought, she and her tribe move away from their cliff dwelling homes and venture to a new area to rebuild their lives. But starting with her daughter’s generation, the Tewa will become brutally victimized by the Spanish. Each first-born surviving girl of the subsequent generations is given a necklace containing a small piece of turquoise carved into the shape of a rabbit and attached by a thin leather thong. The rabbit symbolizes their homeland, Where Rabbits Gathered.

Plotted in a similar vein as Alex Haley’s Roots, this book is the beginning of a saga that helps the reader discover the culture and the history of the Indigenous people of New Mexico and the theme of the unimaginable genocide of the Native American Pueblo people at the hands of the governing Spanish. Although five generations occupy this first book, the characters are well defined, and the plot moves without bogging down. Violence occurs throughout. My only concern is that much modern dialog was used with the Indigenous characters, jolting me out of the narrative of the late 1500s.

Linda Harris Sittig

NOTHING PROVED

Janet Wertman, Independently published, 2025, $6.99/C$9.99, ebook, 376pp, B0DT2K1DDM

After King Henry VIII’s death, fourteenyear-old Elizabeth Tudor is left in a world where every decision could mean her downfall. Once the cherished daughter of a king, she is now a political liability—declared illegitimate, scrutinized for any misstep, and caught in the ambitions of men who see her as either a prize or a threat.

When Thomas Seymour’s reckless flirtation drags her name into scandal, Elizabeth barely escapes ruin. But danger only deepens when her half-sister Mary takes the throne, and religious tensions turn deadly. Now locked in the Tower, with execution ever looming, Elizabeth must outmaneuver those who see her as a rival and prove she’s no one’s pawn.

This novel plunges readers into the dangerous world of Elizabeth’s early years, where every conversation is a test and every alliance a potential trap. Wertman’s prose is sharp and deliberate, capturing the unease of a girl who must measure every word, every glance, knowing one misstep could cost her life. The court’s power struggles are relentless, and Elizabeth is at their center—watched, doubted, and too valuable to be ignored. Wertman gives us an Elizabeth who is not yet a legend, but a teenager forced to grow up fast. She learns when to fight and when to wait, when to speak and when silence is its own kind of power. The novel doesn’t soften the toll of her imprisonment or the lasting scars of betrayal, making this an intimate and deeply human portrait of a girl learning the rules of survival.

For those drawn to Tudor history, Nothing Proved offers a gripping, unvarnished look at the making of a queen, one who must

first endure captivity before she can claim a throne. Highly recommended.

Williamaye

Jones

IN THE COMPANY OF KNAVES

Anthony R. Wildman, Plutus, 2025, $17.99, pb, 295pp, 9780648945482

Most of us think Shakespeare’s sophisticated and eternal plays spring as whole cloth. Anthony Wildman’s In the Company of Knaves brings us a writer struggling with the shortest of deadlines, writer’s block, collaborators, the necessary edits to improve his work, and too little income. Writing is not easy, even for Shakespeare. The acting troupe he serves, Lord Strange’s Men, is forced to halt productions by the Queen’s Master of the Revels because Shakespeare failed to get the appropriate seal affixed to a work. Ah, petty bureaucracy—or perhaps something more sinister? Life becomes more complicated when the box holding all the company’s plays is stolen from Shakespeare’s rooms, including his new work, Titus Andronicus. Shakespeare needs help and turns to the less savory class of London’s residents for the skills of theft and swindling. He finds a sharp mind to help solve his mysteries and dilemmas in the form of Cutting Ball’s sister Emma. It turns out that matters go beyond mere theft and lead to Elizabeth’s court. All the players are there from the world of theater and politics, including Bacon and Essex, both proposed alter-egos of Shakespeare.

A few quibbles. There are minor issues where time is miscalculated, and the term ‘red herring’ existed, though not in the usage we know today as used in the novel. Punch (as in Punch and Judy) did not appear in England until the 1660s, making it unlikely Emma would use the phrase. Although let us cheer Wildman, for he knows Shakespeare’s world well. His research is seamlessly incorporated to enrich the story. The setting is practically a character of its own. It is a delightful read, a story well told.

Catherine Mathis

17TH CENTURY

THE VENETIAN HERETIC

Christian Cameron, Orion, 2025, £22.00, hb, 400pp, 9781398716100

Richard Hughes, an English fencing master in Venice, a former soldier and galley slave, takes in students and accommodates a studious roommate named Filippo. He teaches a woman, an opera singer of some fame.

A professor of philosophy has been murdered in Padua—a libertine. An innkeeper’s wife has gone missing, but why would the Holy Inquisition be looking for her? There are plots and intrigues, and people chasing bad guys in gondolas led by a villain in a red mask. The ticking time bomb at the end is marvellous.

The libretto for an opera becomes an

instrument of dissent, and one night’s bravado in the rescue of a courtesan finds Richard fleeing by sea, pressed into fighting the Turks. He returns a war hero to play detective. Piece by piece the case unravels, as Richard gets drawn in to the plot around the heretical opera, and the matter spills beyond Italy. Do his paymasters have conflicting agendas?

The cast of characters is lush—innkeepers, merchants, courtesans, nuns, spies, Inquisatori and members of the Dieci and, of course, gondoliers. Some of them are historical—I love that. The society of cosmopolitan 17th-century Venice is complex, and Cameron doesn’t give much away. Plus, people wear masks, and not just at Carnivale. We are kept guessing at every point, plunged deeply into every scene and every conversation.

Richard is a great character for a detective— fully assimilated yet enough of an outsider that we see Venice’s exoticness through his eyes. Lovely phrases remind us. ‘Within the time it would take to say a papist Credo’; an abbess’s ‘piety [i]s stifling’; a person ‘had been in Venice long enough to learn to shrug’. When people speak with emphasis, they utter in Veneziano.

I loved this deep dive into the culture. It made me want to visit Venice, too.

Susie Helme

THE FUGITIVE’S SWORD

Eleanor Swift-Hook, Independently published, 2024, £9.99, pb, 337pp, 9798346149279

The first volume of a prequel series to this author’s successful set of books set in the English Civil War, this story carries us along with its vigorous account of action and court intrigue. We start at the Siege of Breda in 1625, the Catholic Spanish surrounding the city held by the Protestant Dutch. Into the Spanish lines comes a tall and blondehaired, turquoise-eyed 15-year-old named Philip Lord, who already has immense competence as a swordsman and vast selfbelief. He is entrusted with a spying mission to insert himself into the city, accompanied by an engaging young man called Jorrit. This mission turns into perilous adventures for the two, mostly at sea.

Another plotline concerns Lady Catherine de Bouquelemont (Kate), who is in the household of King James’ daughter, Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia – the court having been forced by the Thirty Years’ War into exile in The Hague. Early on Kate arrives in London with important messages, but after a brief meeting with the elderly King, she has to work

hard to save her friends from the machinations of the evil Duke of Buckingham.

A reader unfamiliar with the later series may not be aware of the connection between Philip and Kate and thus find the story a little disjointed. But they should bear with it, because the pair will meet by the end of the book. Whether together or apart, this is an immensely charismatic and skilled pair of protagonists. She can drive a coach and horses, he can take command of a sailing ship; both are able to converse in English, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. His ruthless streak is already well to the fore. The writing shows great empathy with Kate, who has more scenes here than in the later series. An immensely enjoyable rollicking good read.

Ben Bergonzi

18TH CENTURY

THE VIOLIN MAKER’S WIFE

Dodie Bishop, Next Chapter, 2024, $12.99/ C$15.99, pb, 354pp, 9798342614009

In the early 18th century, Austria gained possession of much of northern Italy. This novel begins with Katarina Rota, Austrian daughter of the deputy commandant in Cremona, standing in the Guarneri violin workshop, near that of Antonio Stradivari. The widowed father of this bilingual thirteen-year-old wants her to take violin lessons, and sixteen-yearold Giuseppe Guarneri will be her teacher. Katarina’s father loves her dearly, and grants her exceptional freedom, which enables her to spend time in Giuseppe’s workshop. Early chapters follow Katarina at ages sixteen and twenty-one, as her friendship with Giuseppe develops, along with two women who teach her the facts of life, her earthy Austrian maid Anja and the wise apothecary Merla Bianchi. Katarina considers Giuseppe a close friend, unaware of their mutual romantic feelings. Her skill with the violin advances until she is composing works herself, and as her skills in the workshop progress, she helps with constructing violins.

According to Bishop’s useful author’s note about the historical background, Katarina Guarneri’s labels have survived in violins, belying the idea that women could not be luthiers. One day Johannes Horak, an Austrian officer and heir to a noble title, arrives in Cremona. Katarina enjoys his company and he’s quite taken by such a smart, forthright girl—and her violin playing, but little does she suspect their families intend them to wed. The title indicates she does not marry Johannes. This isn’t a romance novel, however: the second half focuses on her marriage, its secrets and challenges and abiding love, evocatively depicted. Dodie Bishop’s descriptions add immeasurably to the story, so the reader gains a vivid experience of Cremona during its luthier heyday. Recommended.

Jinny Webber

SPOILER’S PREY

Robin Blake, Severn House, 2025, $29.99/£21.99, hb, 288pp, 9781448311453

Set in the northwest of England in 1748, this latest mystery in the Cragg and Fidelis series finds the coroner and his physician friend confronted by not only two baffling cases, but also significant changes which disrupt rural areas during the 18th century.

These include the pervasiveness of superstition among a credulous population; the popularity, and convenient distraction, of bare-knuckle boxing bouts; wife-selling among impoverished families; and the social effect of Enclosures, which have the most far-reaching impact upon society. Enclosure was a crucial factor in the Agricultural Revolution, which in turn was necessary for the Industrial Revolution. It drove much of the rural population from the land to the cities where they provided cheap, disposable labor for ruthless mill owners. In the process, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. And not always by legitimate means, as Cragg’s investigations reveal.

The mystery is satisfying, the characterization is insightful, and the reminder of the dangers to the social fabric when those struggling to survive are driven to desperation is timely and sobering. Parallels to modern conditions are inescapable. And disturbing. Highly recommended.

Ray Thompson

EDEN’S SHORE

Oisín Fagan, John Murray, 2025, £16.99, hb, 352pp, 9781399815901

Eden’s Shore is set at some time in the late 18th century (or maybe the early 19th century) mainly in an unnamed Spanish colony in South America. From this you can see that Fagan is untroubled by the specifics of history or geography. His Eden is a fantasy land which simultaneously exhibits all the horrors which beset Latin America over two centuries – the slave trade, genocide of the Indians, ruthless exploitation by American capitalists and bloody revolution, all soaked in poverty, squalor and mindless violence.

The story is written in extravagant prose, sometimes violent, always vivid. Some passages are brutally realistic, others fantastical and some satirical. The initial protagonist is an Irish student, Angel Kelly, who sails for South America to set up a Utopian community. Angel soon drops out of the narrative, returning only near the end, as we hop across an array of different protagonists of contrasting loyalties and ethnicities.

If you prefer your historical fiction to be

nailed to a particular time and place, this is not for you. This is an imaginative riot, rich in descriptions of natural grandeur and human depravity that few other authors could match.

Edward James

THE MOURNING NECKLACE

Kate Foster, Mantle, 2025, £16.99, hb, 295pp, 9781035052059

Author Kate Foster taps into a rich seam when she takes on the true story of Maggie Dickson, a woman hanged in 18th-century Edinburgh but who came back from the dead. The story is well-known in Scotland’s capital. There is even a pub named after “Half Hangit Maggie”, a Musselburgh fishwife who survived the hangman’s noose after being found guilty of murdering her baby on the banks of the River Tweed. Whether the child was stillborn, left to die or killed is a matter for conjecture. But what is known is that after the failed execution in the Grassmarket area of the city, Maggie went on to live for another forty years.

It’s a fascinating tale and one which Foster handles with aplomb, putting herself directly into Maggie’s shoes with a first-person account, with the first chapter strikingly in the present tense as the protagonist finds herself alive but dressed in a burial shroud and in a coffin. Understandably, she is confused and incredulous at her present situation – as was this reader, who was hooked instantly.

Foster, the author of two previous novels, The Maiden and The King’s Witches, takes us on a taut, layered and atmospheric journey, imagining the build-up to this tumultuous event and what might have happened to save Maggie from her fate and prevent her from being hanged again. Smuggling, intrigue, poverty, the place of women in society and the heartbreak of losing a child all contribute to a very satisfying read.

Margery Hookings

THE INDIGO HEIRESS

Laura Frantz, Revell, 2025, $18.99, pb, 416pp, 9780800740696

1774. Set within the rich historical context of Virginia and Scotland, this novel brings to life the once-prosperous plantation, Royal Vale, owned by the Catesby family. The plantation is on the brink of financial ruin, and Juliet Catesby, the eldest daughter and indigo heiress, tries desperately to help her father maintain their cash crop profitability. However, she soon discovers that her father has made secret arrangements to save the property by negotiating a bond with Leith Buchanan, a wealthy Scottish merchant and one of their chief export partners. This business transaction also includes Juliet’s father’s offer of marriage to one of his two daughters. When the influential clan leader arrives in Virginia to finalize the deal, and then return to Scotland, Juliet and Loveday, her younger sister, are forced to make life-changing decisions as they are drawn into intrigue, scandal, and

romance, facing an unknown future as they journey from colonial America to Scotland’s rugged shores.

Frantz’s meticulous attention to historical detail vividly portrays the colonial and Scottish heritage of 18th-century Virginia, immersing the reader in the tumultuous backdrop of the American Revolution. Her characters are engaging and authentic, and the sisterly scenes with Juliet and Loveday are tender, humorous, and human, making the audience feel a strong connection to the characters. The interaction of slowly evolving love among members of the Buchanan clan and the Catesby family further adds to this sense of connection. The evenly paced plot provides interludes of repose and reflection balanced by drama and tension, coinciding with the main characters’ internal joys and struggles as they learn the meaning of commitment and compromise. These setbacks and triumphs will evoke a deep sense of empathy in the reader, making this a memorable story of faith and courage overcoming formidable challenges to encompass long-lasting love.

Marcy McNally

MISS CAROLINE BINGLEY, PRIVATE DETECTIVE (UK) / MISS CAROLINE BINGLEY, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR (US/CAN)

Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar, HQ, 2025, £9.99, pb, 368pp, 9780008683689 / HarperVia, 2025, $17.99/C$21.99, pb, 368pp, 9780063422599

In Jane Austen’s England, where pride and prejudice have subsided into the marital companionship of the Bingley and Darcy households, Miss Caroline Bingley, wanting for nothing as a woman of good fortune, sets out to solve the mystery of Georgiana Darcy’s missing maid. When Caroline’s young friend Georgiana suddenly catches the London coach without chaperone or explanation, Caroline sets off in pursuit with only her trusty servants. Discovering a deepening mystery, Georgiana, Caroline and her servants go in search of the runaway through the elite townhouses of London and the districts bleak with poverty, where Indian immigrants have created their communities. When the missing Jayani – an Indian girl renamed by Georgiana as Jade – is discovered over the body of her brother, Sameer, Caroline must clear her of the charge of murder and set out to find who is really responsible, despite the protests of the police magistrate, Mr. Pickersgill.

The story takes us along bad English roads into London docklands, where we feel the villainous reaches of the East India Company and its trading fleet, notorious then and now for its unregulated sovereignty over colonial holdings. The best families are implicated in the Company’s activities, even Colonel Fitzwilliam, Darcy’s old friend, who makes

a guest appearance here as Georgiana’s conscientious guardian.

Eighteenth century social norms form the fabric of this story: the identity-erasing conditions of domestic servitude, family honour, family secrets, and the everyday realities of colonial exploitation. Caroline’s imperious character – despite the Bingleys having risen to their high status from their father’s trade – makes her the kind of detective who gets answers when she asks for them. This is an entertaining read for those who enjoy cosy murder mysteries, and the book sets Miss Bingley up nicely for future detective work, should any come her way.

Louise Tree

THE CASE OF PRINCESS SCHWARZENBERG 1757

M. M. Grenze, Miart OU, 2024, $6.99, ebook, 205pp, B0DLSPT9CL

There is some immediate confusion when opening this book, as protagonist Archduchess Maria Anna suddenly switches to become Marianne. Another immediate reaction is a sensation of drowning in a deluge of names, countesses and princesses. The third reaction is one of curiosity: yes, this reader is sufficiently familiar with Habsburg history to understand just who Marianne is—and who her impressive Maman is—but to get this detailed insight into the lives of the imperial family is something of a treat.

To be honest, there is not much of a mystery plot in this book. Rather, the case surrounding the tragic Princess Schwarzenberg is somewhat contrived—a perfect excuse for the author to share her impressive knowledge about 18th-century thoughts around vampirism, burial practices among the Habsburgs, court etiquette, the fraught political situation of the times, contemporary best-sellers and medicine (because our Marianne is a frail young woman). There is also a personal angle: a daughter living under the heavy thumb of a dominant mother who expects perfection at all times.

The Case of Princess Schwarzenberg 1757 is an intellectual tour de force, submerging the reader in the cultural aspects of the 18thcentury Austrian empire. This is what makes the book stand out, not the mystery our archduchess is investigating, which ends in a denouement that is far too brief and hurried. I would personally have preferred to hear more about this brilliant young woman’s distanced relationship with her equally brilliant but not so affectionate mother, Empress Maria Theresa.

In conclusion, this is a book that constantly nudges my curiosity, causing me to google repeatedly. As a mystery, it doesn’t quite captivate, but that doesn’t matter to this reader, who has fallen totally in love with dear Marianne!

Anna Belfrage

CHESAPEAKE BOUND

Thomas Guay, McBooks, 2025, $25.95, hb, 269pp, 9781493088485

Thomas Guay—formerly a Capitol Hill reporter and historic house tour guide— offers up the first volume in his new series, Sailing to Revolution. It’s 1763, and the Seven Years’ War has ended. Our story begins in London, England, relations between Brits and colonials worsening on the brink of an Imperial crisis. Our protagonist, Michael Shea, a poor, Irish-born, violin-playing musician, aspires to be a doctor. He and his sidekick, Danny O’Mara of Limerick, are hired performers at the White Lyon Tavern. Soon enter the proprietor’s daughters, beautiful barmaid Emma and her younger sister Moria and, not long after, murder and intrigue. Jonathan Claybourne—a young Virginian who’s in London to settle scores with dishonest factors who’ve swindled his family’s tobacco funds—is found dead. Along with the cast of fictional characters are historical ones, like the young Charles Carroll, a Catholic colonial Marylander who’s in England studying law at the Inner Temple. Dreaming of a better life in America, Michael and Danny find themselves sailing for Maryland as indentured servants. Through their eyes, Guay offers glimpses of a harrowing Atlantic crossing, onboard the misnamed brig Delight. For those seasick “below decks,” daily life was a “choir of suffering.” The action includes deadly storms, sharks, and raiding Barbary pirates.

Some may find the period dialogue and prose laboured on occasion, with descriptions that risk interrupting narrative flow, rather than adorning it. But the story is entertaining enough, setting the stage for Guay’s next volume. This one concludes with Michael reaching Annapolis, the Athens of America. There’s Middleton Tavern (still serving), Factor’s Row (where tobacco, “the source of all wealth in the Chesapeake” is traded), and Charles Carroll’s “red-brick house with two roofs” (still standing). New characters introduced include the measured William Paca and the turbulent Samuel Chase. Revolution looms.

Mark Spencer

MOONLIGHT AT CUCKMERE HAVEN

Graham Ley, Sapere, 2025, $11.99/ C$13.99/£10.99, pb, 306pp, 9780854956173

Graham Ley rounds out his four-book Wentworth family saga, tying up multiple story lines in an exemplary manner. Details will inevitably include spoilers, so a general overview seems more appropriate. Moonlight at Cuckmere Haven is set in England, primarily Brighton, in 1796, where a number of characters come together, those with both good and nefarious intentions, either socialising, relaxing or plotting their next villainous move. Amelia’s sea-bathing scene is a delightful diversion. The story weaves back and forth between England and Brittany, where we spend time at Kergohan estate, in

Pontivy and in Auray, and the denouement is set at Cuckmere Haven under the White Cliffs, in Sussex. Cross-channel relations continue to be fragile as France gradually comes to terms with its new Republic after the overthrow of the monarchy, and rumours of war on the horizon persist. More pertinent details of backstories of some lesser characters are welcome interludes: Héloïse Argoubet, for example. Like Babette, Héloïse, Arabella, and Caroline and Amelia, the female characters have strong forward voices.

His writing heavily reminiscent of Winston Graham’s Poldark series in its adherence to the sensibilities of the times, Ley does some splendid scene setting, writes complex characters, and rounds it all out with a darn good story. Research is thorough, and historical notes include many details about this rich environment. The novels do not stand particularly well alone, so for the best reading experience I highly recommend them back-toback.

Fiona Alison

THE BELLS OF WESTMINSTER

Leonora Nattrass, Viper, 2024, £16.99, hb, 372pp, 9781800817012

In this crime story, set in May 1774, the 18thcentury enlightenment meets the Gothic. The story is told in a self-deprecating tone by Susan Bell, the 23-year-old unmarried daughter of the Dean of Westminster. She lives in the Deanery with her widowed father (also in the marriage market) and a talking parrot. The large staff of vergers and canons working in the Abbey include at least one potential husband for Susan, but her cousin Lindley, a gentleman natural philosopher, is also in the offing.

A team of experts from the Society of Antiquaries arrive to exhume the body of King Edward I (‘Longshanks’), who died in 1307. The body is found mummified but then goes missing, and chaos begins. A man is found dead, apparently stabbed. The ill-assorted group of clergy and antiquarians, joined by King George himself, attempt to solve the mystery whilst maintaining confidentiality. A young artist called Blake is employed to illustrate the antiquaries’ discoveries; when he starts reciting the poems he has composed, we are in no doubt that he is a real character.

Many of the characters, and particularly Susan’s father, are comically vague, and she is permitted to observe nearly all of their blundering enquiries. In the end, while feigning the kind of feminine silliness the men are expecting, she uncovers a conspiracy involving emissaries from the exiled ‘King Charles’ (Charles Edward Stuart, the Jacobite claimant), confused by ill-timed attempts at scientific pranks.

The large cast of contrasting personalities is extremely well-observed. The story is entirely set in Westminster Abbey, which is very well described, aided by a fine plan. Nattrass, an author very committed to the 18th century, provides an almost perfect exploration of

that era’s connexion between science and superstition, with a story both witty and ingenious. Recommended.

Ben Bergonzi

19TH CENTURY

MY NAME IS EMILIA DEL VALLE

Isabel Allende, trans. Frances Riddle, Ballantine, 2025, $30.00/C$39.99, hb, 304pp, 9780593975091 / Bloomsbury, 2025, £18.99, hb, 324pp, 9781526683359

Emilia del Valle is born in San Francisco in 1866 to an Irish nun who was seduced and discarded by Gonzalo Andrés del Valle, of the wealthy del Valle family first introduced in Allende’s The House of the Spirits. Pauline del Valle, from Portrait in Sepia, is Emilia’s greataunt and makes an appearance, but this is a stand-alone novel. We follow Emilia through much of her life in her “desire to see the world and experience everything intensely.”

Emilia was a quiet, introverted bookworm as a child, but grew into a fiercely independent young woman thanks to her loving stepfather Don Pancho Claro, “Papo.” He supported her desire to write her successful dime novels under the name of Brandon J. Price. When she convinces the editor of San Francisco’s Daily Examiner to hire her as a reporter writing as Price, her popularity increases. She works with a fellow reporter, Eric Whelan, who becomes her mentor and friend; he grows to respect and admire her. Emilia fights for every step forward in her career. In 1891, she and Eric are assigned to report on the brewing civil war in Chile –each covering opposite sides. In conjunction with her assignment, her mother, still bitter over Gonzalo’s abandonment, entrusts her to deliver a rancorous letter to him. Emilia meets her father and some of her del Valle family for the first time.

Allende delivers another winning character with her trademark easy writing style. But in the second half, the narrative of the war gets bogged down in repetitive details of savagery and miniscule details which don’t move the story along, i.e., characters concerned about where to put their coats during the heat of battle before rushing to nurse the wounded. Read for the strong characterization of Emilia, who stays true to herself throughout her many adventures.

Janice Ottersberg

FORTUNE’S PRICE

Jennifer Antill, The Book Guild, 2024, £10.99, pb, 480pp, 9781835740774

A quintessential epic 19th-century Russian novel contains love, war, multiple characters, family drama, and themes exploring humanity. Within a narrower scope, Fortune’s Price delivers on all this. From 1830-32, we follow two primary protagonists. Andrey Andreyevich, Baron von Klein Sternberg, is known as a reprobate, bringing his military career into jeopardy. Vasily Nikolayevich, Count Belkin,

is an officer of the Ministry of the Interior in Moscow, but, disliking bureaucracy, he would rather be living a quiet life managing his country estate in Dubovnoye.

Dmitry Vladimirovich, Prince Bogolyubov, is Vasily’s mentor with extensive land holdings and wealth. He would like to name Vasily as his heir. But there are strict inheritance laws, and without a blood heir, the Tsar could refuse to recognize a chosen heir, with lands reverting back to him. Andrey is a distant blood relation, but his parents were not married in an Orthodox ceremony so he is not a legitimate heir. Unexpectedly, papers are discovered that give that marriage legitimacy, and Andrey makes a claim on the estate. The prince wants nothing to do with this good-for-nothing and requests Vasily do a closer investigation of the claim.

Vasily, in his government role, must travel around Russia to mitigate the spread of cholera, while Andrey’s unit is sent to quell the Polish uprising. Vasily’s travels enable him to investigate Andrey’s claim, and Andrey has the opportunity to distinguish himself in war. Both are complex characters, and events change and shape them.

The author has an extensive background in Russian history and culture, and this shows in the fascinating historical details, and the essence and tone of the novel. Multiple engaging characters and storylines complement the main conflict between Vasily and Andrey, and a character list proves invaluable. The war scenes of topography and military strategy can stretch long, but love interests, adversaries, and mystery round out this satisfying, highly recommended novel.

Janice Ottersberg

THE WRECKER’S DAUGHTER

G. M. Baker, Stories All the Way Down, 2025, $9.99, pb, 335pp, 9781778066382

In remote, wind-swept Cornwall, Hannah Pendarves and the inhabitants of St. Rose survive by wrecking ships. This insular village relies upon the cargo from the ships to make a living. Everyone in the village is complicit, even the parson. When Hannah uncovers a dangerous secret about her father, Happenstance “Hap” Pendarves, she is blindsided. She learns that her father belongs to a syndicate of wreckers and smugglers. Eventually she finds herself in a conflicted situation, spying for the syndicate on Francis Keverne, a Falmouth shipping agent. He proves himself to be a good, kind person. This causes her to question everything about wrecking and the lives that are harmed in the process.

In the spirit of Winston Graham’s Poldark and Daphne Du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn, The Wrecker’s Daughter is an eye-opening and suspenseful read. From the first page, I was swept away by the well-rounded, authentic characters who spoke in their unique Cornwall dialect and lived their rugged lives. The characters were the true treasure of this story. Hannah was one of the most compelling characters.

I admired her because of all the things she had to do to survive. The morally ambiguous village of St. Rose and its inhabitants were also so interesting. This is the type of book in which the world comes alive in a vibrant and immersive way. The author’s writing is engaging, and I would definitely read more books by G.M. Baker in the future.

Elizabeth K. Corbett

THE PHANTOM OF FOREST LAWN

Robert Brighton, Ashwood Press, 2024, $19.99, pb, 338pp, 9798989168064

In the booming city of 1867 Buffalo, the Anatomical Board are the ones who direct unwanted corpses either to a potter’s field or to the Buffalo Medical School for study. The board also has no compunction about turning a blind eye to the occasional two-foot burials and enterprising resurrectionists. Meanwhile, when the analytically minded Mary Carkriff meets smuggler George Eberly, he offers her a lucrative but dangerous job. He needs a new way to ship contraband, and she’s got just the mind to tackle the puzzle he presents. What neither planned is their growing affection towards each other. When those connected to the resurrectionists murder a young woman, George will work tirelessly to bring everyone involved to justice.

The prose is very welcoming, gently ushering readers into its lush and detailed setting. Brighton starts his early chapters with exposition about time, place, and person. While this works well for immersing readers in the setting, when introducing characters (particularly more than one) the technique is less effective. That said, Brighton’s impeccable research shines from every page.

Characters are mainly pro-resurrectionist board members, greedy opportunists, or murderers, all of whom are difficult to empathize with, and I would’ve preferred less of Fermin and Dolan, who were a bit too unscrupulous and derogatory for me. However, the female characters have an enjoyable pluck to them that feels periodappropriate. Having characters named Georgia and George, though, does cause some confusion within the dialogue.

I appreciate that Brighton doesn’t shy away from the macabre aspects of exhuming and storing bodies, which starkly illustrates the desperate situations people were in who’d willingly undertake such heinous deeds. The pace is steady, as the various character schemes weave deeper layers into the plot, with an ending that provides a satisfying and bittersweet closure.

J. Lynn Else

LA BELLE ÉPOQUE & THE TERRIBLE YEAR

Ann Chamberlin, Epigraph, 2024, $19.95, pb, 324pp, 9781960090867

In 1895, Madame Nathalie Toussaint lives and works as a concierge at an upscale

apartment house in the stylish and exciting Paris of La Belle Époque. One morning the brutal and vicious murder of le Comte d’Ermenville, her upstairs neighbor and employer, shatters her quiet routine. Madame Toussaint is briefly suspected of the killing, and the savagery plunges her into an investigation stretching twenty-five years into the past, to that “terrible year” of 1870-1871—the year of the Prussian siege and the ill-fated revolt of the Paris Commune. The novel seamlessly moves back and forth in time as long-buried alliances and enmities rise to the surface while Madame Toussaint attempts to solve the killing.

This book transported me to an era I knew very little of. A sympathetic and intelligent heroine, Madame Toussaint makes the best of the difficult cards life has dealt her. Chamberlin masterfully paints the story of two antithetical cities and brings them both to vivid life. The starving Paris of the Franco-Prussian War and the struggle of the idealistic Commune contrasts sharply with the glittering city of 1895, whose older inhabitants shut the past tightly behind closed doors while living the high life in a renewed and rebuilt metropolis. The appearance of historical personalities such as Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec reinforce the accurate sense of Chamberlin’s portrayal of Paris. The plot surprises at every turn as the story unfolds. Heartfelt nuances of the human condition, accurate history, and a twisty delicious mystery combine to make a wonderful read. Recommended.

Susan McDuffie

THE LIGHTFINGERED LASS

Joanne Clague, Canelo, 2025, £9.99/$17.00, pb, 320pp, 9781804368008

From the moment Nan Turpin hares down the hill, fleeing a pursuing bobby and his whistle, almost knocking over the unsuspecting Ned Staniforth, the reader knows immediately that they are in for a great read. The story of Nan and Ned, through accusations, trials and tribulations set in Victorian Sheffield is a wonderful piece of escapism. The interest captured on the first page never wanes throughout.

The second book in a series about the House of Help for Friendless Girls, this is the story of Nan, a West Country girl newly arrived in Sheffield accused of pickpocketing outside of the railway station. Though she’s eventually collared, but with no sign of the missing coin purse, Constable Goodland decides to bring Nan to the refuge rather than the magistrate’s court. Here is where the fun begins. The continuing relationship between the Home’s warden Hetty and her sister Amelia is well developed.

All the characters are realistic, believable, and fully rounded. The author makes a brave attempt to keep the local characters speaking with Yorkshire/Sheffield accents, although understandably this has had to be toned down in parts so that all readers would understand

it. But it’s fair to say she’s done ‘a reyt good job wi’ t’characters an’ their way o’ speakin’.’

This is an extremely well-written, easy-toread, page-turning romantic tale that will appeal to so many readers. Hopefully it will bring new fans to enjoy Joanne Clague’s hard work.

Aidan K. Morrissey

IN AT THE DEATH

Judith Cutler, Severn House, 2025, $29.99/£21.99, hb, 240pp, 9781448313471

Housekeeper Harriet and steward Matthew Rowsley, trustees of the legacy of Thorncroft House, are away in Oxford, overseeing the donation of precious artifacts to the Bodleian, when they receive a telegram advising that a decapitated body has been found on the estate. Hurrying home to the Shropshire countryside, they find the man’s body in custody of the police and the head in Thorncroft’s ice house, from which the incompetent sergeant in charge won’t remove it or even look at it. Eventually, after numerous refusals by Matthew to view the evidence, he invites a young man he knows to make sketches. Those same sketches are forwarded to various law enforcement officials but do nothing to prompt the removal of the decomposing item, which infuriates long-standing housekeeper, Harriet, to the point of frustrated anger and some poignant reflections on her past.

This successful series, set in the 1860s, has a winding story which draws together many strands which weave through all six books— Thorncroft’s very ill and unstable young lord, who is cared for in the Family Wing hospital; the trustees’ long search for an heir; a lost will perhaps hidden by a vindictive guest of the house; and now a gypsy curse which has all the staff on edge. Readers cannot help but be reminded of Downton’s stoic and forthright Mrs Hughes in the character of Harriet, so considerate to the estate staff. However, this isn’t the place for new readers to start because of questions which might arise. Why are the ‘staff’ considered ‘colleagues’? Why do Harriet and Matthew have so much freedom over the sixty-room mansion? Why are the household cook and a local innkeeper among the trustees of the estate? Sadly, this series might be concluding but would be marvellous read in order.

Fiona Alison

MURDER AT THE PALACE

N. R. Daws, Orion, 2025, £20.00, hb, 336pp, 9781409199793

The palace in question here is Hampton Court Palace in London, and this fascinating historical setting takes a central role in the narrative. The year is 1891 (this becomes clear as the story progresses with references to the Battle of Rorke’s Drift having taken place 12 years before and the Jack the Ripper murders starting three years before). At that time, Hampton Court Palace had a number of ‘grace and favour apartments’, accommodation provided for the widows of retired soldiers and

diplomats. These privileged ladies lead a life of leisure and comfort, occasionally unsettled by minor squabbles and disagreements, until one of them is discovered murdered with a knife in her back.

We are deep in the cosy detective fiction genre here. While a Scotland Yard detective is called in to investigate the murder, it is Mrs Bramble, the palace’s housekeeper, who will solve the mystery, aided by the bumbling and accident-prone chaplain, Reverend Weaver.

This is certainly an enjoyable read. I loved the setting, and the author takes pains to create an authentic sense of the palace, both the Tudor sections (Anne Boleyn’s Gateway, Henry VIII’s Great Hall) and the later Baroque additions (The George II Gateway, Wren’s Colonnade). I also liked the humour in the characterisation, and the witty portrayal of the petty jealousies that arise when so many cossetted women are living in close proximity. Sunny the Cockatoo is a particular source of amusement shouting insults at the women, unconstrained by the strictures of polite society: ‘wastrel’, ‘rubbish’ and ‘strumpet’.

The denouement is steadily developed with the obligatory red herrings along the way. However, on the whole, I enjoyed the journey more than the destination. The final unveiling is less satisfying and slightly repetitive. We end, though, with a hint that a sequel will follow.

Adele Wills

CHARLOTTE

Martina Devlin, Lilliput, 2024, £15.99/$21.99, pb, 340pp, 9781843519041

In 1854, Charlotte Brontë, honeymooning in Ireland with Arthur Bell Nicholls, reported to her former teacher Margaret Wooler that she had met her new husband’s Irish relatives, including his cousin Mary Anna Bell, “a pretty lady-like girl with gentle English manners.” The marriage would be cut short by Charlotte’s tragic death, probably through complications of pregnancy, leading the bereaved Arthur to take Mary as his second wife—and, eventually, leaving the widowed Mary in possession of valuable Brontë memorabilia.

Through Mary’s first-person narrative, interspersed with transcripts of interviews with the elderly Mary, author Martina Devlin tells the story of this Irish honeymoon and its aftermath, including Mary’s painful position of being married to a man passionately devoted to the memory of her predecessor. Mary proves herself worthy of her position as narrator: she’s a sharp-eyed and often sharp-tongued observer. As is much in vogue, the narrative moves back and forth in time; fortunately, Devlin handles it deftly. The Irish setting is vividly evoked (as are the lingering effects of the Great Famine).

I did find one subplot, involving Mary’s lecherous (and purely fictitious) brother, to be somewhat gratuitous, as if the author felt that some gothic goings-on were necessary to liven up the plot, when it seemed to me that the reallife characters were quite interesting enough without his help. That’s only a minor quibble, however, with a well-researched novel that

provides a welcome look at one of the lesserknown figures in the Brontë circle.

Susan Higginbotham

AE FOND KISS

Joan Donaldson, Black Rose Writing, 2024, $16.95, pb, 245pp, 9781685135423

This life-affirming romance, set in the Cumberland Mountains in the late 19th century, features two protagonists grieving loved ones and desiring to overcome past mistakes. The village of Rugby, Tennessee, is home to a utopian community for British expats seeking to escape their country’s inequities. Relations between these settlers and the “mountain people” were sometimes strained.

Lizzie Walker, who was “born on the ridge,” is a dark-haired lass whose lively spirit was quenched by her English fiancé’s death nearly a year earlier. When William MacLeod and his mother arrive from Cincinnati for business—a local hotel they own is being rebuilt after a fire—he and Lizzie discover an unexpected spark, which blossoms as they work together to educate the region’s children. It’s unclear why Rugby’s board would insist on a “gentleman” schoolmaster in a community designed to promote gender and social equality, especially a candidate like William (who has no classroom experience), so this scenario feels contrived. Otherwise, the couple’s gentle love story nicely reflects their personalities and experiences. Before she met her fiancé, Lizzie was a notorious flirt, and she now feels ashamed of her past. Her internal struggles are convincing, and several mountain men seek revenge after her rejections. In mourning for his beloved sister, William knows he must give Lizzie time if he wants to court her—plus he must face up to a dishonorable act he’s been keeping secret.

The novel embraces the values of living in a small rural community and the importance of female friendships and family support. The pace is leisurely, and Donaldson illustrates how some traditions (sewing and lacemaking) can uplift the Appalachian women while others (patriarchal dominance) hold them back. The title comes from a Robert Burns song, and quotes from other works by Scotland’s celebrated poet headline each chapter of this heart-tugging story.

Sarah Johnson

THE PARIS EXPRESS

Emma Donoghue, Summit, 2025, $26.99, hb, 288pp, 9781668082799 / HarperAvenue, 2025, C$34.99, hb, 256pp, 9781443474238 / Picador, 2025, £18.99, hb, 288pp, 9781035057269

Anyone who has ever had the joy of riding a steam locomotive passenger train will love Emma Donoghue’s latest novel about the express train from Granville to Paris-Montparnasse on October 22, 1895. Donoghue is a credited master storyteller and excels at delving into the inner minds of her characters, as she exhibited so well in Haven and Room. Backstories meld with current

narratives, and individual interactions and agendas intertwine during the hours the passengers are necessarily forced together. Told in present tense, the story of locomotive Engine 721 is a powerful experience—the hiss of the grey-white steam, the pungent reek of burning coal, pistons clackety-clacking their hypnotic cadence, countryside there and gone in a head-turning flash—all described to evoke maximum emotional impact.

Driver Guillaume Pellerin, stoker Victor Garnier, and two guards put 721’s sleek precision through its paces, creating an autonomous collaboration of man and machine. Various passengers board and disembark at the few stops, but most are in for the long haul to Montparnasse—the socially conscious Russian émigré, Blonska; Mado Pelletier, a radical 20-year-old cross-dressing feminist; the Arab coffee-seller; and sevenyear-old Maurice, riding alone for the first time. We find ourselves amongst notable figures of the time that Donoghue has invited to board her train: American painter Henry Tanner; Irish folklore collector John Synge; and industrialist Emile Levassor. But the most notable character of all, Engine 721, oversees her passengers and makes up precious minutes where she can.

The Paris Express is a taut read. Time and speed are used with maximum effect to extend plot tension, but readers who like to check the historical notes first are advised not to. Allow the story to unfold on the pages as the author has written it, and it will be even more compelling.

Fiona Alison

THE FAMINE ORPHANS

Patricia Falvey, Kensington, 2025, $18.95/ C$24.95, pb, 368pp, 9781496748133

In 1848, sixteen-year-old Kate Gilvarry is one of a group of young Irish women considered for the Earl Grey Emigration Scheme created by the British Government to help female famine victims in Irish workhouses find work as domestic servants or husbands in Australia. This is a huge leap of faith for many of the girls, most of them full of fear and trepidation at what lies ahead. On board the ship Sabine, Kate makes good friends but clashes with others. She also becomes romantically attached to the ship’s doctor, Nathaniel Harte, but both feel their relationship has no future.

On their arrival in Sydney, the orphans find that life is not as rosy as the Scheme suggested. The local population has turned against them, a result of anti-Irish bigotry. Kate manages to gain employment in a wealthy family but her temper causes problems when she attempts to stand up for the others. Although she still pines for Nathaniel, she marries Luke, a former convict, and embarks on a tough farming life near Bathurst on the western plains. Later, she will be swept up in the gold rush at Ophir and come to finally accept her new life in a new land.

While most of the Australian detail is rich and thorough, some historical errors have slipped through, e.g., there were no

sheep stations as early as the 1850s in the unexplored Northern Territory (only named as such in the 20th century). Otherwise, this is a highly entertaining novel with colorful and likeable characters, and presents a sympathetic retelling of Australia’s Irish emigrant experience.

Marina Maxwell

DANGEROUS

Essie Fox, Orenda Books, 2025, £16.99/$26.99, hb, 300pp, 9781916788442

A new Essie Fox novel is always a delight because she creates immersive and unique settings laced with gothic.

Previous novels have featured a London brothel and a Windsor fairground. Dangerous is no exception.

The title plays wonderfully with the saying that its scandalous hero, Lord Byron, was ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’.

In 1800s Venice, following his forced flight from London after a lovers’ scandal, Byron must turn detective to establish who is framing him for murdering prostitutes and young women in the city’s shadowy back streets. All the victims have mysterious marks on their necks: a clever nod to Byron’s own real-life inspiration for a vampire novel by the author John Polidori, who also features in Dangerous, causing Byron to question whom he can trust.

Another lovely homage to Byron is the use of his poems as chapter headings. Fox is an author who understands her main character and lifts the history book version onto the page without it ever feeling didactic. Fox’s prose evokes the ‘Floating City’ with a skilful blend of fact and fiction, so the reader wanders amidst its damp crumbling palazzo walls and murky canals.

Fox applies a deft hand when writing gothic – this novel, whilst not overly ‘bloody’, deals with some darker themes, yet the darkness oozes off the page without the need for some of the genre’s more simplistic tropes. She has the reader rooting for our infamous hero whilst never sugar-coating the darker side of his character and actions.

This masterfully written novel is a literary page-turner that doesn’t reveal its secrets until the last moment, and one can only hope that similar novels featuring Byron will follow – as hinted in the subtitle (‘A Lord Byron Mystery’). Don’t let this evocative, captivating historical mystery pass you by.

K. Riordan

THE NEEDFIRE

MK Hardy, Solaris, 2025, £18.99, hb, 380pp, 9781837862955

Caithness, 1890: Norah makes a demanding journey from Glasgow to beyond Inverness to precipitately marry a man she has never met but only corresponded with. Remote Corrain House ‘clung to the very edge of the point, a squat brown limpet on an iron grey cliff, looking half-minded to jump.’

Norah’s new husband, Alexander Barland, is handsome but taciturn, lacking the warmth of his letters, while Norah thinks of herself as plain. Her alternative to this marriage would have been work as a governess. But this is not to be another Mr Rochester and Jane Eyre tale. An efficient but inscrutable housekeeper, Agnes Gunn, who initially appears to shape up as a Highland Mrs Danvers, turns out to play quite a different role in Norah’s new life. She also owes something to My Cousin Rachel; are the drinks she prepares for Norah truly restorative, or are they the cause of her increasingly alarming hallucinations?

The authors (for MK Hardy is a collaboration) in their social media acknowledge their debt to Daphne du Maurier. Corrain House itself could also give Susan Hill and Eel Marsh House a run for their money: even its carvings seem to be watching the new mistress. Norah can almost hear an ancient rowan tree in the courtyard crying out in pain.

Attempts to shore up the foundations of the house result in a series of accidents. An ancestor who showed scant mercy in clearing crofters from his land glowers from his portrait at Norah. Yes, this story is avowedly Gothic, unashamedly Sapphic and an observation of the futility of trying to control the elements. Only in the last third did it seem as though the authors didn’t quite have control of their material, with subtlety sometimes suffocated by melodrama, though Corrain House’s end is superbly done. I look forward to more from MK Hardy.

Katherine Mezzacappa

WHO WILL REMEMBER

C. S. Harris, Berkley, 2025, $29.00, hb, 384pp, 9780593639214

Readers familiar with C. S. Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series will no doubt recognize the ominous world of Sebastian Alistair St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin on the first page of Who Will Remember. Moreover, the historic global event of the “year without a summer”—its disastrous, rare weather of 1816—casts a relentless shadow over the setting and depressed economy of postWaterloo England. The clouded stratosphere of volcanic ash in the aftermath of the Mount Tambora volcanic eruption and its ensuing tsunami released a worldwide apocalyptic effect on climate, including crop failures, starvation, disease, and a high death count. The sunless sky that crossed the world further dims St. Cyr’s early 19th-century London like the dark filter of a camera lens. The author’s

note reminds the reader that this was the summer at Lake Geneva during which literary classics were conceived: Mary (Wollstonecraft Godwin) Shelley’s Frankenstein and Lord Byron’s poem “Darkness.”

In this new mystery (number 20), Napoleon has been at last exiled to St. Helena and the investigating aristocratic Viscount Devlin, former cavalry captain in the war against France, interviews all sorts of characters connected to tarot cards while tracking the murderer of Lord Preston Farnsworth, a vice-prosecuting member of society and a profoundly hated man. A host of suspects and criminals loiter on the streets of London, and one ultimately threatens the safety of Sebastian and his family. Meanwhile an assassination plot is churning against the life of Sebastian’s Scottish father, his real father, the one with yellow eyes like a wolf passed on to his son, giving the dashing character a decidedly animalistic side with uncanny night vision. It’s a particular physical description that recurs like a refrain throughout the entire series, along with dancing flames, rivulets of rain, drifting fog, swirling mist, dank ruins, and deep gloom.

Christina Nellas-Acosta

A TROPICAL REBEL GETS THE DUKE

Adriana Herrera, Canary Street, 2025, $18.99, pb, 432pp, 9781335476968

Paris, 1889. Completing the love stories for the three Caribbean-born Leonas in Herrera’s series is the fiery enemies-to-lovers tale of Aurora Montalban, a physician who wins the heart and hand of the Duke of Annan, Apollo Robles.

Apollo has revenged himself on his father but finds the British aristocracy resisting a Black man in the House of Lords. He much prefers Paris, where fiery, sharp-tongued Aurora, overwhelmed with a clinic she runs to support women’s health, seeks out Apollo for sexual relief. A smitten Apollo looks for ways to implicate himself into Aurora’s life by supporting her work, but while their sexual compatibility is high, Aurora is convinced that her past puts her out of the running for his duchess.

The story is fast-paced and thick with smolder, steam, and bantering insults. Amid the lengthy exchanges of longing looks and vigorous intimacy is a sweet story as both protagonists confront the wounds of their past. Aurora’s struggles to help women despite custom and the law rings harrowingly true with the present day, and these episodes deliver a serious tone that counterbalances the scenes of seduction. Fans of the Leonas will love seeing all three get their muchdeserved happy endings.

Misty Urban

HARDLY A GENTLEMAN

Eloisa James, Avon, 2025, $9.99/C$12.99, pb, 384pp, 9780063347465

1803. After a deeply humiliating experience, the Honorable Miss Clara Vetry jumps into a carriage waiting to take a housekeeper to the Scottish Highlands. Of course nobody mistakes her for anything other than a lady, least of all Caelan MacRae, Laird of CaerLaven, whom she encounters fishing naked in an icy stream by his (small) castle. They proceed to fall in love.

This is an ironic romance, and it gleefully and affectionately mocks the gothic romances which Clara reads so avidly. The plot is rife with convenient coincidences; Clara is as naïve as her favorite fictional heroines; beneath his blunt manners (and impressive physique), Caelan is a true Highland gentleman just waiting for the right lady with whom to fall in love; the Prince Regent and status-conscious English aristocracy comprise a suitably distasteful cast of villains; the Highlanders, by contrast, are welcoming, supportive, and pleasingly quaint. What more could a romantic bookworm require?

Well, a cleaner and tidier castle would be nice, but that is a task she can tackle in gratitude for all the kindness she receives. Better yet, delegate it to the staff she hires while she romps with her vigorous laird.

A comic delight. Strongly recommended. Ray Thompson

MEASURE OF DEVOTION

Nell Joslin, Regal House, 2025, $20.95, pb, 290pp, 9781646036127

At the onset of the American Civil War, Susannah Shelburne’s agrarian family life in South Carolina is torn apart when son Francis enlists in the Confederate army against Susannah’s wishes and those of her much-older husband Jacob. When word of Francis’s serious battle wounds arrives in late 1863, Susannah must leave ailing Jacob to tend to Francis in the Lookout Mountain/Missionary Ridge conflict zone near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Susannah’s journey to the front and her care of Francis is interspersed with flashbacks that explore her coming of age as Jacob’s child bride and challenging family dynamics at the start of the Civil War.

Scenes are set with well-researched period detail, often quite vividly. For instance, at the rail station where “[i]n the middle distance, the peaked water tower and shadowy silhouettes of wagons rose with the flat appearance of a pretend world.” Susannah’s first-person account is propelled forward by well-paced dialogue that highlights her inner strength in dealing with obstructionist military men as well as unsanitary conditions that compel her to focus on cleanliness and home remedies as she tends to her son. Her abolitionist tendencies and her son’s staunch support of the Confederacy create interesting dramatic tension. She desperately clings to her family identity and dignity as she digs deep within herself to overcome deprivations, a sometimes-

ungrateful son, and to confront just how far she will go to save him.

Army atrocities and battle events are rendered unsparingly, and the story conveys the grit and desperation of wartime very effectively. A very-polished and impressive page-turning debut novel, this book will appeal to fans of Civil War fiction, especially those who enjoy learning about a lesser-known area of conflict through the story of an admirably strong female protagonist.

Brodie Curtis

SMOKE AND SILK

Fiona Keating, Mountain Leopard, 2025, £20.00, hb, 384pp, 9781035418305

The East End of London, June 1888, and widowed Pearl Fitzgerald returns to her dying father’s pub, the Sailor’s Inn in Limehouse. This is a raucous establishment with a mostly uncouth and incipiently violent crowd. Pearl’s deceased mother was Chinese. Pearl is shocked to discover that while she was living in Portsmouth her father had married the feisty barmaid Betty Sullivan, hence presumably disinheriting her. She then encounters a dying, murdered Chinese man on the shore of the Thames and is thrown into the investigation when her help is sought and the police are not terribly engaged in the crime. It is a dangerous and murky world of crime and drugs. The year 1888 in east London, is of course, notorious for the start of the horrific crimes committed by Jack the Ripper, which also feature in this crimeridden part of London. There is the question of Pearl’s loyalties and the struggle to survive in the maelstrom of working-class London. Pearl explores elements of her sexuality, which in her times were generally frowned upon by society.

This is Fiona Keating’s first novel, and while the quality of prose as fiction is competent, it is not outstanding by any means. The story rumbles along well enough, though some elements of the plot and the playing out of events are simply implausible. The historical context is sound, with lots of lively contemporary (for then) slang thrown in. Some real characters such as the trailblazing female legal worker Eliza Orme, as well as Bertie, the philandering Prince of Wales, are included in the mix. This is mostly an enjoyable, undemanding read, with the book’s ending suggesting that a sequel is in the offing.

Douglas Kemp

THE MISMATCH OF THE SEASON

Michelle Kenney, One More Chapter, 2025, £9.99, pb, 312pp, 9780008684907

1820. Faced with the prospect of marrying an earl old enough to be her father, Phoebe Fairfax embarks on a last bid for freedom. But her path seems doomed to cross – repeatedly –with that of devastatingly handsome Viscount Damerel, who thwarts her attempts to do something heroic. But it’s her loyalty to her sisters that may prove the bond Phoebe cannot break. This is typical Regency fare – a handsome hero, an outspoken heroine, a devious love

rival, a rambunctious family, ballroom scenes, a threatened duel, an abortive elopement… The characterisation is lively, though Phoebe’s repeated assertions that Damerel is the most arrogant man she has ever met become tedious, and the dialogue sounds modern (‘Are you okay?), despite a scattering of Heyer-esque slang. The plot is uneven and inclined to farce (more Bridget Jones than Austen), though there are some heartfelt moments too.

Unfortunately, the novel suffers from a lack of research. Almost every page contains anachronisms or a failure to understand early 19th-century etiquette. The premiss is that Phoebe’s adventures are inspired by the novels she reads – but as someone who has studied forgotten Georgian and Regency novels, I can’t think of a single heroine who behaves the way Phoebe aspires to and can only conclude she has been reading Heyer’s novels a hundred years before they were written. I also wish Kenney hadn’t called Phoebe’s intended husband the Earl of Cumberland, since the Duke of Cumberland is, in fact, a royal title belonging successively to George IV’s greatuncle, uncle and younger brother. The PreRaphaelites are mentioned years before they were born; Mrs Sarah Siddons is repeatedly referred to as Miss… I could go on. Bridgerton fans will no doubt love this, but it seems a shame more fact-checking wasn’t done, because this had the potential to be a fun read.

Jasmina Svenne

A RARE FIND

Joanna Lowell, Berkley, 2025, $19.00, pb, 368pp, 9780593549742

Lowell combines treasure hunting, romance, and a peek into an alternative British history in this delightful Regency romp.

Elfreda Marsden is following in her grandmother’s footsteps to unearth traces of a Saxon army camp on the family’s Derbyshire land, a find she hopes will admit her to a male-run antiquarian society. Georgie, sent home to the Redmayne estate in disgrace, wants only to hasten back to London. Georgie finds Elf a delightful diversion; Elf thinks Georgie is a menace but is increasingly attracted to their brash energy and tender heart. Georgie pitches in to help Elf solve a Saxon riddle that reveals the hiding place of the Heathen Army’s hoard, but the duo’s biggest discovery is a tender passion and freedom that transforms both of their worlds.

The humor never pauses, and the prose fizzes like champagne, combining effervescence with traces of bitter and sweet as Elf and Georgie tumble from one adventure to another. Lowell

plays her secondary characters for laughs, stuffing the page with precocious children, besotted adolescents, a willfully vile patriarch, and Georgie’s sunny sapphic friends. The story bursts with exuberance for its queer lovers and notes of medieval history—catnip for historical romance lovers. Highly recommended.

Misty Urban

MYSTERY AT THE STATION HOTEL

Edward Marston, Allison & Busby, 2025, £9.99/$14.95, pb, 352pp, 9780749031343

Shropshire, 1866: a body is discovered in the station hotel; the dead man was an ambitious member of the Great Western Railway board. At first it looks like suicide, but the mystery is also what the man was doing in Shrewsbury when he was supposed to be elsewhere, and why he’d chosen a location that wasn’t quite the standard he normally went for.

It quickly emerges, however, that this is murder. The victim is in some respects the classic Victorian patriarch of later fiction, a Jekyll and Hyde character who appears to be a pillar of the community, a talented businessman, family man and philanthropist, but also a man who is rude to underlings and leers at servant girls. It’s that duality that provides at last the motive for his killing. Inspector Robert Colbeck investigates, with the help of redoubtable Sergeant Leeming in this the twenty-third railway mystery from Marston (who is prolific to the tune of one hundred or so books).

The story does what it says on the cosy-crime tin, with a cast of comfortingly stereotypical characters: the observant barman, bumbling local policemen, a bustling hotel manageress, a burly and straight-talking Scotsman and a well-intentioned but somewhat unreliable young servant.

There is the occasional anachronism, such as the reference to a Chubb safe, and the story is somewhat over-signposted. A side-plot about one of Madeleine Colbeck’s paintings being forged does not provide any functional support to the main plot and could easily have been left out, but for regular readers of the series it may please, should they have an expectation of hearing from her character too. It’s odd, too, that Scotland Yard didn’t do their due diligence in questioning all the remaining members of the board, which might have rounded out the dead man’s character.

Katherine Mezzacappa

THE MOUNTAINS BETWEEN US

Imogen Martin, Storm, 2025, £8.99/$11.99, pb, 388pp, 9781805087410

Oregon, 1847. Grace Randolph and her husband, James, trek through winter cold, seeking shelter with Grace’s brother, Zachary. Zachary and his family make the couple welcome, even if they do have to sleep on travelling bed-rolls in the cramped log cabin. But James, a former soldier, can’t settle to

the farming way of life. He sees a newspaper article about gold in California and leads Grace south to go prospecting. In California, their adventures begin. James has a secret, and it hangs between the couple, threatening to drive them apart. Why did he leave the army?

This book is a sequel to To the Wild Horizon, the story of how Grace and James met and married. Although it can be read alone, I felt that the first part was slow, following on from the first book, with characters who did not continue into Grace and James’ new adventures. However, once they arrived in California, pace and excitement picked up. The story is primarily a romance, wrapped around a Wild West adventure.

It would be a spoiler to detail all their adventures. But the imagery took me right back to TV westerns of my childhood. There were ‘49-ers panning for gold, well-dressed ‘gentleman’ criminals, Mexicans in colourful blankets, furniture-breaking bar room brawls, Chinese people making a living from laundry, whores with hearts of gold, hard-working mothers, and lawless violence that might result in ‘natural’ justice, or might result in racist massacre.

And, more modernly, a gun-totin’ heroine and a hero with progressive morals. Suitable for romance readers who like a feisty heroine matched with a dark brooding man.

Helen Johnson

THE AMERICANS OF ABERCROMBY SQUARE

JP Maxwell, Hawksmoor Publishing, 2024, £10.99, pb, 246pp, 9781914066597

Since the beginning, from Lysistrata to Bridget Jones and including Elizabeth Bennet, it is more often than not, the stories of difficult, troublesome women that writers most enjoy writing and readers, consequently, enjoy reading.

In JP Maxwell’s new series of crime thrillers, of which The Americans of Abercromby Square is the second, we renew our acquaintance with Harriet Farrell and follow her, quirky and difficult as she is, through a sequence of events triggered by the recent assassination of Abraham Lincoln, which threaten not only Harriet’s wellbeing but that of her young son.

The novel opens with a short and cinematic scene which calls to mind Pip’s shocking first encounter with Magwitch on the Essex marshes in Great Expectations. The plot then moves easily between Liverpool and London, vividly capturing the prevailing moods and atmospheres of these cities in the mid-1860s, and those of the characters who populate them and who vividly flesh out the author’s storyline. The prose, as we have come to expect from this writer, is a pleasure to read and manages to be colourful, unpretentious and fluent.

There are, of course, the numerous obligatory twists and surprises as Harriet’s character shines through, while she draws on all her skills and resources to take us towards

and into a satisfactory resolution. Readers will, without doubt, eagerly anticipate more Harriet Farrell thrillers.

Julia Stoneham

THE UNLIKELY PURSUIT OF MARY BENNET

Lindz McLeod, Atom, 2025, £9.99, pb, 304pp, 9780349125732

The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet takes place four years after the events of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It is told from the point of view of Charlotte Collins, and opens with the death of Mr Collins. Charlotte then writes to Lizzie Darcy to ask her to visit her in Kent. However, Lizzie’s son is ill and suggests that her unmarried sister, Mary, visit Charlotte instead. During Mary’s stay, Charlotte begins to realise that she feels more for Mary than friendship, and the rest of the novel wholly focuses on the development of their relationship.

This book is set in a modern Bridgerton-style Regency period, with the characters behaving with 21st-century sensibilities. McLeod attempts to evoke a feel of the period through the characters drinking a lot of tea, eating lavish meals and going to the occasional ball. Although this novel is marketed as a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, and is populated by references to familiar characters from Jane Austen’s world, McLeod has significantly altered her protagonists, so much so that they are unrecognisable to fans of the original novel. Mary has become a witty, clever, broadminded and attractive young woman with ‘fine eyes’; and Charlotte is timid, uncertain and constantly questions herself.

The plot and characters in this novel would work as a queer Regency romance in its own right. However, because of the fundamental changes to the characters of Charlotte and Mary, it feels like The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet is being shoe-horned into the world of Pride and Prejudice to be able to promote the novel in relation to 2025 being the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.

Serena Heath

CRIME AND PREJUDICE

Julia L. Miller, Wild Card, 2024, £11.99, pb, 176pp, 9781763705128

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman of leisure in possession of a fine mind as well as fine eyes must be in want of an occupation. Thus is the premise of Julia L. Miller’s delightful new novel, Crime and Prejudice Set in some undefined future after the end of Pride and Prejudice

and Lizzie’s marriage to Darcy, our heroine is bored and keenly interested in the cause of women’s education. When her involvement in a protest to allow women students at Cambridge goes awry, she is falsely accused of inciting a riot. The penalty? Transportation to Australia or death. After a narrow escape on a technicality, she decides to invest her time in safer pursuits by writing a book about her experience. To that end, she invites friends and family to submit their own little confessions of imperfection, which become the chapters of her book.

What follows are a series of hilarious, charming, irreverent vignettes featuring firstperson accounts of some of the most wellknown characters from Pride and Prejudice, each told in the character’s unique voice. The denizens of Longbourn have certainly been naughty, and most of the ladies are reading Fanny Hill. In a novel rife with double entendres as well as a moment of homage to the 1995 miniseries, Miller has written a fun, cheeky romp through Regency England that will leave modern fans giggling with delight.

Rose Prendeville

THE NABOB’S DAUGHTER

Rosemary Morris, BWL, 2024, $19.99, pb, 376pp, 9780228632511

In 1808, nine-year-old Joyce is sent from Madras, where she was born, to Cornwall, England. Her father, the Honorable Benedict Tremayne, youngest son of an earl, had amassed a fortune while employed by the East India Company (EIC) to earn the moniker of nabob. While he adores Joyce, her mother detests her. Joyce had spent her comfortable childhood in India, playing with her stepbrother, Sylvester, and his good friend, Vivian, who gifts her a pendant. Although in Cornwall she lives in her grandparents’ opulent castle with servants, tutors, and numerous cousins, she misses her life in India. She desires to return to that alluring realm she cherishes. Sylvester and Vivian are also educated in England, and while Sylvester abhors life in India and chooses to remain in England, Vivian returns to Madras. At seventeen, Joyce is an unenthusiastic debutante. She has to come to terms with the betrayal of those she loves and wonders if she will ever achieve her heart’s desires.

Rosemary Morris has penned authentic period details of life in India and England, as if written by someone intimately familiar with those regions. The cozy life of the English in Madras in the 1800s is well presented, as is that of the landed gentry in Cornwall. It might seem unusual that a nabob’s daughter would become enamored with the native Indian ways, the local flora and fauna, the vegetarian cuisine, and long to return to it. In contrast, her stepbrother wishes to remain in England. Vivian’s balanced views add appeal to the story. The novel doesn’t dwell too much on the EIC’s wars and expansion in India during that era. It’s a pleasurable historical romance. Recommended.

Waheed Rabbani

THE LIFE WE REMEMBER

Annette Oppenlander, Independently published, 2024, $16.99/C$21.99, pb, 264pp, 9783948100568

Set against the harrowing backdrop of famine and poverty in 1848, this novel tells the story of a German woman and an Irish man who leave their home villages and travel to America. Mina follows her gambling, abusive, and alcoholic husband as he flees their hometown in Württemberg. Simultaneously, Davin, a carpenter from County Clare, must leave to find work to help save his parents because no one can hire him anymore as the Irish potato famine rages. Each sets off in dire straits, crossing paths with many other desperate people also trying to flee. Mina’s husband and Davin both contract themselves out as redemptioners, people who promise to work for a specified number of years for American companies hiring foreign laborers in exchange for passage fares and then room and board.

The journey is the crux of this story which alternates chapters between Mina and Davin. After trudging many miles in bitter winter weather and witnessing much tragedy along the way, both arrive eventually in Liverpool, England to make the trip across the Atlantic. Wedged in steerage, both survive horrendous living conditions for many weeks before arrival in New York, followed by further travel to reach their final destination of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Along the way, they fall in love despite their wretched circumstances.

While the tone of the book feels somber due to the hardships experienced by the immigrants, there are also small moments of happiness and joy for them. Both Mina and Davin, who are kind people themselves, meet other kind people along their journeys who make their lives better if only briefly. Recommended for anyone interested in imagining how life might have been experienced by vast numbers of people travelling to America in the mid-19th century.

Karen Bordonaro

FIFTEEN WILD DECEMBERS

Karen Powell, Europa, 2025, $18.00/C$24.00, pb, 288pp, 9798889661092 / Europa, 2024, £9.99, pb, 288pp, 9781787705456

The six Brontë children – Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, Anne – all died young, leaving their father alone in his final years; their mother had died of tuberculosis in 1821. It is Emily’s voice we hear in Fifteen Wild Decembers, a voice released through creative expression. Known for her silence, her rich inner life is only exposed in her imaginary worlds and her writings.

The novel begins in February of 1824 at Cowan Bridge – a place, Emily recalls, of hunger, cold, and disease. The Cowan Bridge School educates clergymen’s daughters for the only careers outside of marriage available to them – schoolteacher or governess. Maria

and Elizabeth (ages 11 and 10) die of tuberculosis contracted at school, and Charlotte and Emily (ages 9 and 7) return home. Through the years, the girls go on to attend other schools.

Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne make

the moors around Haworth their playground, their play fueled by their remarkable imaginations. When Branwell receives a gift of 12 wooden soldiers, the children name them and build worlds around them. Charlotte makes booklets from discarded wallpaper where adventures of their “Young Men” were documented daily. Emily and Anne create more stories, adding characters, drawings, maps, and poetry. These elaborate, imaginary worlds are the most delightful and charming narratives of the novel.

Evocative writing of the brooding, dark weather on the moors contrasting with the days of sunshine, and blooming flowers and heather frame this novel in atmosphere. Emily is one with the moors, and she fails to thrive when away. We follow the sisters through their trials with Branwell, difficulties making a living, publishing their works, and lives in general. Powell’s ability to bring Emily to life and give us Emily’s voice, so authentic and visceral, makes this novel extraordinary. Emily’s voice still echoes in this reader’s mind.

Janice Ottersberg

THAT WHICH BINDS US

Cathy Rigg, Keylight, 2025, $17.99, pb, 320pp, 9781684429943

The debut novel from Cathy Rigg comes with fine polish and skill, spun across five characters in the approach to, endurance through, and resolution after the Civil War. Set in the mountains of the southern Appalachians, threaded through with passions around conflict and an urge for new horizons, the story becomes a multidirectional tale of complicated human connection.

Teenager Elizabeth Young witnesses the unfair hanging death in 1854 of her muchloved uncle Rufus, and wants two things: to uncover the truth of the enmity between her bitter father and her warmly affectionate uncle, and to leave the region: “I would kiss these mountains goodbye,” she vows, “I’d leave this place forever, and I’d do it for Uncle Ruck.” She never does get to leave, instead embraced first by a gifted teacher wanting to bring her a better life, and then by romance and marriage with Ben Grubb, who brings her the fresh awareness of joy and hope. When the terror and complexity of the Civil War invade her life, Elizabeth’s also watched over by an

Irish Catholic immigrant (Patrick Hagan) and an old friend of her father’s (Red Hopkins).

Rigg uses short first-person segments from her varied characters to contribute insight and depth to the often-painful changes they face. Although the telling is rooted securely in Rigg’s family heritage of this region, small anachronisms and some unlikely occurrences, like a Catholic and a Baptist happily comparing their theologies, could distract the historically cautious from this otherwise compelling tale. Nonetheless, Rigg’s grasp of the Civil War’s emotional impacts and costs is well woven into a memorable balancing of love, loss, grief, rediscovery of buried secrets, and the persistence that leads to recovery.

Beth Kanell

SAFE IN DEATH

S. K. Rizzolo, Independently published, 2024, $12.99/£9.99, pb, 280pp, 9798991478502

Safe in Death is book one of the Esther Hardy series, set in Victorian London in 1861, the unsettling year of Prince Albert’s death, when a bored spinster finds a new vocation after being caught up in a case of mistaken identity. Twenty-six-year-old Esther Hardy answers the door one evening to a cabman who has a sick woman in his carriage. The woman, who Esther knows remotely as Alice Denton, dies shortly thereafter in her arms. Her father recognises the woman as a patient of his but surmises with his wife and Esther that she might also be Muriel Dane, a housemaid suspected of murdering an aristocrat some years before, but who was witnessed jumping into the Thames with a babe in arms, not long after the murder. Of course, Esther’s enquiring mind is on the case—an opportunity to use her intelligence towards something other than her normal household responsibilities. She comes into contact with Samuel Godwin, a cousin of the murdered aristocrat, but can he be trusted?

This is a well-written mystery with a diverting storyline even as it displays some common tropes such as ‘pregnant servant girl murders aristocrat who murdered her innocence’! Well, despite all appearances, did Alice kill him or not? This is the winding trail Esther follows, chasing after one recently dead woman who may or may not be a woman dead a decade ago. I didn’t get any strong hints about where the author intends to go with this series, but it definitely has merit with its intelligent and plucky, forthright heroine who doesn’t fear a bit of scandal. Adding in her mother, and father to a lesser extent, as sounding boards to Esther’s deliberations is refreshing, although it’s not clear who Esther’s sidekick will be going forward. What will Esther get mixed up in next?

Fiona Alison

is the true story of Captain Pratt’s boarding school for Native Americans. Pratt believed he could ‘save’ his students by ‘killing the Indian’ in them, which – however genuine Pratt’s intentions – amounted to cultural genocide. The novel opens at the beginning of a new academic year and follows the students and staff through the months leading up to the Wounded Knee Massacre in December.

There are so many characters it’s difficult to get closely acquainted with any of them, and the pacing suffers as a result. A boy called Antoine seems to be the main character; he is new to Carlisle, but it’s not his first time at an English-speaking school. For most of the others, everything is new: from the language, to the sporting activities, to the way the school marks time – back home their days aren’t split up into hours. This is reflected in the unusual structure of the novel, which is not split up into chapters. In the first part of the book, it feels like the repetition at the start of each new section is meant to represent the monotonous and regimented structure of the school days.

The author is a director and screenwriter, and this novel may have started out as a screenplay. The large cast and the constant cutting between scenes would be very effective on screen, but a novel works best as a more intimate experience. I think this one would have been easier to follow, and more moving, if the narrative had focused on just two students – Clarence and Trouble. Because despite the pathos of the story, I didn’t connect with it as much as I wanted to. An important bit of history nonetheless, and the novel does bring it to life, so I would still recommend it.

Sarah Dronfield

THE LAWYER AND THE LAUNDRESS

Christine Hill Suntz, Tyndale, 2025, $18.99, pb, 368pp, 9798400507762

Sara O’Connor is living in poverty doing laundry at a Toronto inn, although circumstances have forced her to keep her wealthy background a secret. Her life becomes intertwined with widower lawyer James Kinney, when his daughter Evie attends classes with the inn owner’s children and is unfairly punished by their governess. James learns that Sara is no ordinary laundress and hires her to be governess to Evie. A growing attraction leads to a proposal, but then James is jailed when he is tricked into involvement in the Upper Canada Rebellion.

“clean” romance fans will enjoy the story, as will readers who are interested in Canadian settings.

B.J. Sedlock

MAKING A WAY OUT OF NO WAY

Merideth M. Taylor, New Village, 2024, $39.95, hb, 208pp, 9781613322406

This book changed my view of the lives of enslaved people in the U.S. in the 18th and 19th centuries. Taylor uses very short stories, flash fiction one or two paragraphs long, to depict lives of enslaved men, women, and children working on tobacco plantations in Maryland, particularly Historic Sotterley. The characters find ways to survive and defy their owners: a fence builder lightens his job by making up stories about animals as he works, Alonzo has a forbidden drum his grandfather made, hiding it from his master; Della seeks a potion from the Obi woman because her daughter is too young to be having a baby by the master, and a father teaches his son, on a rare Sunday off while fishing at night, about the stars and how to follow the north star to freedom if the opportunity comes.

Photographs by Taylor accompany each story, taken of everyday objects such as an old chair, antique glass bottles, or a violin. Some of the characters appear in multiple stories. Taylor was able to interview a descendant of some of those enslaved at Sotterley, an encounter that led to the creation of this book. Also, Taylor was part of a team that developed an exhibit on enslaved and free workers on the plantation, giving her additional background for these stories. She met with descendants of the enslaved who had worked on the Jesuit-owned plantations in the area, who wished they knew more about the lives of their ancestors. While fiction, this book would be wonderful supplemental reading for an upper-grades unit on the history of slavery in the U.S., sparking students’ discussions on how they themselves might have coped with bondage and survived. Highly recommended.

B.J. Sedlock

SEASON OF DEATH

Will Thomas, Minotaur, 2025, $28.00, hb, 352pp, 9781250343604

TO SAVE THE MAN

John Sayles, Melville House, 2025, £25.00/$29.99, hb, 336pp, 9781685891411 1890, Carlisle School, Pennsylvania. This

I especially enjoyed two aspects of this book, learning about a chapter of Canadian history I was ignorant of, and the author’s depiction of working-class life in 1837. I also enjoyed the characterizations of the main couple, as well as Henry, a streetwise stable boy who befriends Sara and Evie when they are at the inn. Suntz includes sexual tension between Sara and James in a believable manner, but nothing explicit, as is expected from a religious publishing house. The villain is disposed of a little too facilely, but that’s a minor quibble. Inspirational and

Move over, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins! Will Thomas’s novel dramatizes the late Victorian underworld with the adventures of Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn, private inquiry agents.

These detectives make an unusual duo. Barker made a fortune from shipping in his past and now uses some of his wealth to help less fortunate individuals. He is also a master of Asian martial arts, which he teaches his younger partner. Llewelyn, who narrates the novel, says he is a product of Oxford University and Oxford prison. He is a sharp observer with a pungent sense of humor.

The plot starts with a well-used trope—a missing American heiress who is expected to

be married off to a British nobleman who needs money to maintain his status. The agents are expected to quietly find her and return her to her family—and her fate. What follows is one lively episode after another developed with interesting and lively minor characters like Mrs. Maud Kemple, a witty adventuress who scandalizes proper society but who has an acquaintance with the Prince of Wales. The action is placed in 1895 London, which is rendered with captivating historical notes and charming local color descriptions, such as the street gangs, mission houses for women, and the episode of the Fall of Calcutta, a sinkhole that occurs when an abandoned railway tunnel collapses and reveals a criminal underworld.

The novel gets a tad melodramatic in places, but then again, that never stopped Dickens or Collins! This is an excellent read.

Joanne Vickers

NOTES FROM A DESERTER

C. W. Towarnicki, HTF Publishing, 2025, $16.95, pb, 170pp, 9781963452136

In 1862, Pennsylvania farmer William Henry Howe enlists in the Union Army. He’s sure that the war will end in months and he’ll return home before planting season with sixteen dollars and the honor of having served.

His wife Hannah, exhausted with pregnancy, hopes he’ll also be home before the birth of their second child.

A few months later, after the devastation of the Battle of Fredericksburg, William deserts the army that he feels has deserted him. With a satchel full of unsent letters to Hannah, he begins walking the two-hundred and fifty-six miles home, a journey that takes him through the war-ravaged landscape past those haunting the edges of the battlefields. But a deserter can only remain hidden for so long, and William races the threat of imprisonment.

Notes from a Deserter is a short story cycle of disparate vignettes, each told by a different narrator—a doctor, a battlefield photographer, a runaway slave, a bounty hunter, a tavern keeper, a civilian bystander, and soldiers on the outskirts of battles. Only the first is from William’s perspective. He moves through the rest of the stories as an oft-nameless flaneur in the landscape of war. This narrative structure is effective and evocative in telling a story about the detachment of war, the fragile line between freedom and duty, and the weight of bravery and cowardice in taking the measure of a man. The writing is elegantly sparse, but

the narrative is thick with emotion. Highly recommended.

Jessica Brockmole

BLOOD ON HER TONGUE

Johanna Van Veen, Poisoned Pen, 2025, $17.99, pb, 368pp, 9781728281575

It is 1887, and Miss Lucy Goedhart rushes to the bedside of her desperately ill twin sister, Sarah. Sarah lives at her husband’s country estate in the Netherlands, where the discovery of a bog-woman, murdered centuries earlier, has upset Sarah’s already delicate mental state. The sisters are close friends and confidantes, but there are also secrets between them, as well as a history of mental illness running in the family. As Sarah’s health rapidly declines, Lucy fears interest in the bog-woman has overset her sister’s reason—but there may be supernatural forces at work.

So many components of gothic literature are successfully brought together in this feast of a novel. Sarah’s home is delightfully swampy and damp, ominously called Zwartwater, or Black Water. Then there’s Sarah’s austere husband, her abused maid, and the weakchinned family doctor, with his tepid courtship of Lucy. Vampire vibes ripple through a story as fantastical, and it is gripping. If this book was a movie, I’d have been behind the sofa with my eyes shut at some graphic scenes, but since it’s a book I read every word and didn’t miss a ghastly moment. Happily, there is also much humor here with witty dialogue, a persuasive cast of characters, and superb pacing. For me, the ups and downs of sisterhood and the women’s relationship shone through all the madness, and, well, gore.

An entertaining author’s note at the beginning of this book sets the tone for this wonderful read. This is gothic horror at its most horrid, but presented with wonderful writing and style. I was rooting for the Goedhart twins throughout this crazy tale. Highly recommended.

Kate Braithwaite

THE RULES OF MATRIMONY

Anneka R. Walker, Shadow Mountain, 2025, $17.99/C$25.99, pb, 304pp, 9781639933983 1823. Determined to defy his father’s order to marry a bride who will build a political alliance, Lord Ian Reynolds chooses instead a virtual stranger. It is, he tells her, a marriage of convenience only, and he has no wish to bed her and raise a family. Since her situation is

precarious, Miss Amie Tyler accepts, but might a more fulfilling relationship be possible?

The marriage of convenience is a familiar Regency trope, unsurprising given aristocratic conventions in the era. Since both parties share a concern for others, they seem promisingly suited. To maintain suspense, however, progress is hindered by misunderstandings, and this pattern does grow repetitive. Furthermore, characters tend to be stereotypes, either good (considerate) or bad (selfish), though the warning against misinterpreting the behaviour of others without a deeper understanding is a salutary reminder. As is the danger of clinging obstinately to one’s familiar beliefs in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary.

This is a sentimental romance that drifts towards didacticism near the end, but the importance of kindness towards others is a message that we certainly need to heed more than ever in an increasingly polarized and angry world.

Ray Thompson

20TH CENTURY

A POISONOUS SILENCE

Jenny Adams, Crooked Lane, 2025, $30.99/ C$39.99, hb, 288pp, 9798892420389 Philadelphia, 1921. Socialites do not have jobs, but Edie Shippen is not just a city councilman’s daughter. After saving herself and her friends from death four months earlier (A Deadly Endeavor), she launches her private investigation service, intending to help women in dire circumstances. Her first case presents itself as a neighbor having suspicions about the death of her Irish neighbor’s husband. But that is quickly put on hold when a friend from California, actress Ava Sylvester, who is in town filming Romeo and Juliet at Fox Studios, is accused of murder when her co-star, Duncan Carroll, takes real poison while filming the death scene.

Assistant coroner Gilbert Lawless has mostly tamed the demons he brought home from the world war. He is grateful that Edie helped to save his daughter, but he wants nothing more to do with her until Duncan Carroll ends up on his slab. Gilbert realizes two other recent deaths by poison, one Irish and one Italian, and now Carroll, may be connected to the gang violence in Philadelphia. Edie works to clear Ava’s name and uncovers facts about the Irish neighbor, while Gilbert is drafted to stand in for the dead actor once the filmmaker sees his resemblance to Duncan.

Adams has crafted deep characters with flaws they overcome through persistence. The interactions ring true, and the mystery unfolds at a good pace. Fans (like me) of the first book in the series will follow the allusions to prior actions and people, but there are enough hints that this can be read as a stand-alone. The Jazz Age setting makes this a grand historical mystery.

Tom Vallar

OUR DESPERATE HOUR

John F. Andrews, 46 North Publications, 2024, $15.99, pb, 378pp, 9798989383573

In this powerful novel of World War I, Major Ab Johnson, an officer responsible for sending medical supplies to the front lines, searches for news of his son Jack with whom he had quarreled because Jack has joined the Marines. Ab, who comes from an Army family, has always looked down on the Marines. His desire to reconcile with his son leads Ab to the Battle of Belleau Wood, which halted the German advance toward Paris in 1918. He experiences the heroism of the soldiers and Marines who fight in the battle, and he changes his opinion of the Marines, but he also sees the horrors of war. Ab’s story is intertwined with those of several other characters, including Carl, a Marine private who serves as a messenger while longing to see action; Lyle, a Navy corpsman assisting with medical treatment for wounded soldiers; and, most compellingly, Arthur, a self-centered Navy surgeon who wants to join a research unit but instead is sent to the front lines and discovers his own strength of character. Andrews takes the reader into the action and makes you feel as if you were there, experiencing the horrific scenes of war along with his characters. His descriptions of wounds and the effects of poison gas are not for the faint-hearted, but that is to be expected in a war novel. Andrews is a physician, so his descriptions of medical procedures are accurate. He also writes movingly about the needless tragedy of the men lost in this battle, because of the incompetence of the French general and high-ranking officers, and the inexperience of the Americans. We also learn about the rivalry between the Army and Marine Corps, and we wonder how many deaths could have been prevented if they had worked more closely together. Highly recommended.

Vicki Kondelik

BLOOD ROUGE

Jeza Belle, Resource Publications, 2024, $35.00, hb, 198pp, 9798385219490

Abused, assaulted, and thrown out by his mother, Josef finds himself alone on the streets of 1930s Berlin. By chance, he meets Lucas and his sister

Anke. Being used to cruelty from others, he’s hesitant about their kindness but eventually decides to accept their offer of a job and shelter. One night, Lucas, who plays piano at a cabaret bar, aka a “doll bar,” invites Josef along. There, Josef’s world is transformed when its star performer takes him under her

wing. Josef discovers the person he’s always longed to be: Die blaue blume (the blue flower). But a Nazi raid shatters everything and sends both Josef and Lucas to Dachau. When Josef’s past comes back to haunt him in the death camp, the choices made for survival will risk destroying his soul. During these darkest hours in human history, can Josef protect Lucas and not lose himself while doing so?

Josef is a gender-fluid young man whose journey is sensitively explored. Josef is best described using the author’s own words: “A gentle soul that is too special to be defined by the rigidity of man.” There’s a poignant allegory about life and the application of makeup that really hits home on the difficulties of growing up, particularly as a gender nonconforming youth in a world of intolerance and violence. The book’s vivid portrayals of love contrasted with graphic acts of unchecked cruelty potently convey a soulstirring message. This is a bittersweet melody of belonging and self-love that also serves as a poignant aria about the LGBTQ+ lives cruelly lost to the Nazis’ reign of terror. The ending is a tour de force that will simultaneously tear apart and lift your heart. Josef’s story is one that will stay with me. While I advise readers to take note of its trigger warnings, I highly recommend it.

J. Lynn Else

THE HOME CHILD

Liz Berry, Vintage/IPG, 2025 (c2023), $18.99/£9.99, pb, 128pp, 9781529937817

Here’s something unusual—a historical novel rendered almost entirely through a collection of poetry. Liz Berry is a much-lauded British poet, known for writing centered on her heritage in the Black Country/West Midlands area of England, and here she turns her writerly eye upon the story of one of her forebears.

The Home Child opens with a prose introduction, outlining the history of Berry’s great-aunt, Eliza Showell, who, as a twelveyear-old orphan, was sent to live with strangers in Canada. This program of child migration, through which over 100,000 of Britain’s poorest children were dispatched to work overseas as indentured servants and farm workers, is the subject of the collection of poems that follows, in which Berry imagines her great-aunt’s experiences.

Individual poems vividly convey key events. Eliza loses her mother. She’s taken from her brothers’ care and enters the Home Children program. She crosses the Atlantic and arrives at the McPhail farm. Adjusting is a struggle, but the months pass, and then she’s joined on the farm by another Home Child, a boy. Suddenly Eliza’s emotional life awakens.

As well as Eliza’s narrative arc, language choices lead the reader on a journey of recurring rich imagery of nature and animals, and the economy of form is surprisingly effective. Berry’s poems are often short, and vary in format, yet character, setting and emotion are all conveyed. If I had a quibble,

it’s that Berry’s use of Black Country dialect frequently pulled me out of the poems. The book includes a glossary at the end, which might have been better placed at the start of the book, or as footnotes on each page as they arise.

Kate Braithwaite

THE BOOK CLUB FOR TROUBLESOME WOMEN

Marie Bostwick, Harper Muse, 2025, $18.99/C$23.99, pb, 384pp, 9781400344741

In Virginia in 1963, four women begin a book club. They are reading a controversial book, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. Margaret, a middle-class housewife with three children, is the founder of the club, and is going over and above to prepare for it, as usual. Charlotte, trapped in an unhappy marriage, is seeing a psychiatrist, who is prescribing her drugs to cope. Bitsy is the young wife of a veterinarian and a part-time stable hand for an heiress, because working with horses brings her joy. Vivian is a former nurse who gave up her career to raise her family. She was recently told by her doctor that she needed her husband’s signed permission to take birth control pills. Together, as these four women read about how they can aspire to more than marriage and family, they become “The Bettys,” inspired by Betty Friedan.

This novel takes us straight to the 1960s, and I immediately became immersed in that era. The inner lives and thoughts of each character are well written and explored. All their circumstances are very different, but they all have aspirations outside of the home, and the cards are stacked against them simply because they are female. This story shows how four women begin to reach for their dreams, how four voices are much stronger than one, and how women helping each other really can tear down walls. Although they discuss their lives more than the book, the book is the inspiration for everything that follows. The characters are so easy to connect with, and the plight of women in the 1960s is so vividly described that it is easy to see why they were impacted by The Feminine Mystique, and why it was such a life-changing and controversial work at the time. Highly recommended.

Bonnie DeMoss

CLAY

Franck Bouysse, trans. Lara Vergnaud, Other Press, 2025, $18.99/C$24.99, pb, 384pp, 9781635420555

At the beginning of World War I, a French farmer enlists, leaving behind his wife, mother, and teenaged son to manage their small farm with the help of their neighbors. When a woman and her young daughter arrive to stay the duration of the war, long-held grudges, buried secrets, and hidden perversions come to the surface, disrupting and unsettling the close-knit mountain village.

Clay begins almost idyllically, lingering on

descriptions of the landscape and the simple life of a rural French family. Teenaged Joseph takes care of the livestock and farm, hunts and fishes, and tries to stay out of the way of Valette, a disagreeable neighbor who has harbored resentment after a land dispute. The arrival of Valette’s sister and teenaged niece Anna brings a thread of young love to the quiet, bucolic scenes as Joseph and Anna find moments of happiness amid the long days working the farms. But the languid writing turns dark as the war intrudes on their pastoral peace and Valette’s true character is revealed. The scenes, the characterizations, and the writing itself become unsettling and difficult to read as Bouysse explores the darker side of the human condition and the horrors that can exist far from the battlefields. Readers of literary fiction may appreciate the translation of this French novel, but animal lovers especially may want to take a pass, as the book does contain explicit scenes of bestiality and graphic violence against animals.

Jessica Brockmole

THE GOLDEN HOUR

Kate Lord Brown, Simon & Schuster, 2025, £18.99, hb, 435pp, 9781398534780

This is a dual-timeline novel. One storyline focuses on Beirut at Easter 1975. Although civil war looms in Lebanon, Egyptologist Dr Lucie Fitzgerald is returning home to the Arabian stud farm her mother Polly runs with Raif. Polly has cancer and needs to tell Lucie about the past before she dies. At the airport Lucie meets Dr David ‘Red’ Roberts, a vet who helps one of the mares on the farm with a difficult delivery; as a result, their initial attraction deepens.

The other storyline is centred on Cairo, beginning in the summer of 1939, and charts the relationship between school friends Polly and Juno, and their spouses Fitzy and Alec. Juno is a vibrant character, an artist and archaeologist, who is determined to get a place on a dig in the Valley of the Kings, searching for Nefertiti’s tomb—something she’d dreamed about since she was a girl.

At the heart of this novel is the mystery about what happened to Juno. However, it is also about the varied and contrasting relationships that exist between the characters: friends, spouses, lovers, and that of mother/ daughter. The lavish lifestyle of Europeans in pre-war Cairo is evocatively portrayed, as is the situation in Beirut just before civil war erupts. The plot moves along well, alternating effectively between the two storylines, which converge by the end of the book. An enjoyable read.

Serena Heath

THE ANATOMY OF EXILE

Zeeva Bukai, Delphinium, 2025, $28.00, hb, 312pp, 9781953002464

Zeeva Bukai’s debut novel opens during the Six-Day War of 1967 as Israeli occupation of a Palestinian village begins a generational drama of forbidden love, secrecy, betrayal,

and an agonizing search for home in peoples made homeless by history.

The story follows Salim and Tamar Abadi, a Jewish couple whose marriage is complicated by friction between Tamar’s Eastern European traditions and those of Arabic-speaking Salim, whose Judaism is rooted in the Middle East. Convinced that America will bring his family wealth and happiness, Salim forces a move to New York, where he finds neither.

The emotional core of the novel, however, is not Salim and Tamar’s troubled union, but the struggles of two mixed-faith couples. Salim’s married sister is torn between her Jewish faith and a passionate, illicit affair with a Palestinian poet. Salim and Tamar’s daughter Ruby falls deeply in love with the son of Muslim neighbors, igniting both families’ outrage, forcing them both from home into the cauldron of the Yom Kippur War of 1973.

It is a problem that Salim and Tamar present as self-absorbed and often unsympathetic. Tamar’s depression becomes tiresome until love for Ruby gives her strength to confront the Israeli legal system in defense of her daughter’s lover falsely accused of terrorism.

Bukai has shown us young people who act out the forgiveness, self-sacrifice and call to unconditional love at the core of every faith. While hope for peace in the Middle East recedes with every horrific civilian massacre, The Anatomy of Exile stubbornly insists, “Love has no boundaries. We can overcome history with humanity.”

Pamela Schoenewaldt

A PROMISE TO ARLETTE

Serena Burdick, Atria, 2025, $28.99/C$38.99, hb, 320pp, 9781668070307

Sidney and Ida Whipple are the perfect postwar American couple. But behind the white picket fence of their Massachusetts house and their picture-perfect family hide wartime scars and secrets that both have kept buried. That is, until a Man Ray photograph appears in a neighborhood living room, pulling those memories to the surface. Memories of languid prewar days in England and France with artists and writers, of the encroaching war and occupation, of heart-wrenching decisions, and—at the heart of it all—a fascinating, maddening woman named Arlette. As the past intrudes on the Whipples’ neat suburban life, Ida and the Man Ray photograph disappear. Sidney packs their two daughters in the car and sets off after his wife, wondering if maybe some disruption is exactly what their life needs.

A Promise to Arlette is heartfelt and surprising. It is a novel about friendship, love, but most of all, family. The family we are born into, the family we choose, and the family we build. Ida balances all three in the decisions she makes, the guilt she carries, and the forgiveness she seeks. Serena Burdick writes sensitively and convincingly of wartime betrayal and pain, but also of the hope that comes from rebuilding life and trust afterwards. As both Ida and Sidney forgive themselves, the reader believes they

have a chance to be happier, more authentic versions of themselves.

Jessica Brockmole

A FASHIONABLY FRENCH MURDER

Colleen Cambridge, Kensington, 2025, $27.00/ C$37.00, hb, 272pp, 9781496751195

1950. Tabitha Knight is back in the third book in the An American in Paris series. This time she is visiting an up-and-coming Parisian fashion house with her good friend Julia Child when she discovers the body of the designer, Madame Lannet. Unable to resist an urge to investigate, she soon stumbles on yet another body, and it is not long before she’s once again crossing the path of Inspecteur Etienne Merveille, who is well aware of her sleuthing tendencies. Romance is also in the air, and Tabitha finds herself attracted to Inspecteur Merveille against her better judgment. While rescuing a feral cat with a broken tail, she also meets Monsieur Héroux, the veterinarian, and they make plans for a date as well. Tabitha’s grand-père and his long-time partner also bring fun to the story, as they are fighting over how to design their new restaurant, and they take her to Dior to select a custom gown.

This is another great book in the series. Julia Child, as always, steals the show with her overthe-top personality. She injects joy, food, and humor whenever she is a part of the story. The author has obviously done her research well and captured Child’s character in a charming way. The mouthwatering descriptions of delicious French food add to the delight, and I learned a lot about making crepes through Julia’s instructions to Tabitha. The mystery is compelling with an unexpected ending, and adding the glamorous fashion industry into the mix makes this a winner. Fans of cozy mysteries will love this book and the whole series.

Bonnie DeMoss

THE MAGICIAN’S DAUGHTER

Alison Chambers, Holand Press, 2025, £8.99, pb, 316pp, 9798309623709

England 1942, and the country is in the midst of the global war that was at the time still an existential threat to the nation. Despite the belated entrance of the United States to the conflict on the side of the Allies, the peril is immense. Deployed overseas to the UK, Corporal Anne Beasley is deployed with the newly established Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the US armed forces intelligence branch. Beasley is tasked to investigate a number of sabotage incidents targeting US military bases in advance of the moraleboosting visit from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and her efforts uncover a nest of treachery and deception that also threatens Anne Beasley herself. But she still has some time for romance and spicy passion in this mainly male-dominated, testosterone-heavy environment.

Alison Chambers features the crucial role

of women deployed as active agents in the OSS, as well as highlighting the sometimes problematic presence of US forces in Britain that were crucial in the battle against Germany, whilst also being resented by elements of the local population for the disruption and difficulties they posed, as well as the more baleful activities against them from Nazi sympathisers and spies in Britain. The historical background to the story is excellent – well researched and with the aroma of authenticity. The narrative is a little staccato and lacking finesse, and the text requires editorial intervention to eliminate repetition and some minor solecisms. But this is an engaging subject and an interesting, well-plotted story.

Douglas Kemp

DEATH IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE

Fliss Chester, Bookouture, 2025, $9.99, pb, 262pp, 9781836183853

Legends of cursed 7th-century Saxon gold swirl through Mydenhurst village in Chester’s newest Cressida Fawcett mystery, where designer Cressy is on a home mission conferring with mum over new décor for the library. On the trail of Cressy’s pug, Ruby, who’s gone temporarily awol with one of her six new pups, mum and daughter unexpectedly come across the estate gardener face down in the stream at Hell’s Ditch. The very dead Bob Pringle is clutching a shining gold thrymsa (coin) in one fist and a soggy cheese and pickle sandwich in the other. Cressy’s father, Lord Fawcett, president of the local historical society, familiarises Cressy with the club members, and no time is lost in establishing motives for murder, especially if Bob had found the famed Saxon hoard. The arrival of sleuthing entrepreneurs Dotty and Alfred Chatterton paves the way for the three friends to get to work ahead of Scotland Yard. After all, this is deeply personal for Cressy. Mydenhurst Place is her ancestral home! And their esteemed cook is the dead man’s wife and a possible murderer.

Cosy fans will love this captivating series with its well-thought-out mysteries, characters that are charmingly eccentric without appearing snobbish, red herrings, and suspects who aren’t what’s expected. Chester throws in colloquialisms portraying the aristocracy to a tee: ‘snazzy’; ‘smashing’; ‘by Jove’; ‘old thing’; ‘old girl’. Scotland Yard’s DI Andrews and Sergeant Kirby indulge Cressy with her keen eye for things amiss. Attentive details make it easy to conjure images of our heroine, with her love of the shorter fashions, bobbed hairstyles and headbands of the 1920s, notwithstanding her jazzy red Bugatti. The tight friendship and loyalty of these bright young things works well with, of course, one or two murders on the side. Definitely recommended, these standalones can be read in any order.

Fiona Alison

THE GOOD WAR

Elizabeth Costello, Regal House, 2025, $21.95, pb, 344pp, 9781646035465

Costello’s debut novel, which she refers to as “feminist noir,” has autobiographical roots in the author’s grandparents’ experiences in WWII and her own life as a gay person with a desire to create art. Cold, cynical war widow Louise Galle, an alpine beauty with slate blue eyes, was inspired by Costello’s grandmother, employed as a riveter and later industrial designer of airplane parts at Lockheed. Costello’s grandfather was a POW in the Philippines, like our heroine’s husband Roland.

This dual timeline is set partly in 1948, with Louise pursued by Kit Blunt, a war veteran imprisoned with her saintlike, Yeats-quoting husband, demanding to know why she didn’t write to him. “You broke his heart Louise, even more than the enemy broke his spirit.”

In 1964, on the cusp of the Vietnam War, sensitive daughter Charlotte is searching for herself, experimenting, entering a lesbian relationship, and creating sculpture to jazz music. It’s a novel of emotional and psychological struggle—women at war with each other and a desire to find true fulfillment. Can a person overcome childhood/adolescent trauma? Can a woman have a family and a career?

This novel proves heavy reading, with its dense prose and dark themes about a dysfunctional family with strained and controlling mother-daughter relationships and at times stream of consciousness, as we are prey to the main characters’ thoughts and dreams—actually nightmares. It took this reader two-thirds of the way through to feel interest or sympathy for any of the characters. One does rejoice when Charlotte finally stands up to her mother!

Gail M. Murray

MATCHED IN MERRIWEATHER

Michelle Cox, Woolton Press, 2024, $17.95, pb, 336pp, 9798988009726

Melody Merriweather is happily attending college in Chicago when her dad gets sick and she’s forced to return home to Merriweather, Wisconsin, to run the family’s general store. In this 1930s-set retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, Melody quickly learns that no one can avoid hard times. It turns out that her dad is losing the family business. Melody races to make enough money to pay off his debts so she can go back to school in Chicago, while also finding ways to set up her friends and get everyone happily married off. Melody is sure she knows what all of her friends and family members need, and yet she can’t commit to the young man who wants to marry her and also can’t seem to stop thinking about her coworker, Cal Frasier. If she’s not careful, she will come close to losing everything and offend many people she cares about before

she figures out what she really wants and needs.

If you’ve read Emma, you’ll appreciate the clear parallels as well as the Easter eggs that pop up throughout the book. Cox has given Emma some very interesting twists, like changing the genders of some characters you might recognize and of course updating everything to 1930s America. But you don’t have to read Emma to thoroughly enjoy this book. It stands on its own with a likeable heroine, delightful cast of characters, and enough twists and turns in the plot to never feel stale or retold. This is the first book in a planned series, with each book highlighting a new character and mirroring a different Austen novel.

Amy Watkin

MRS HUDSON AND THE CAPRICORN INCIDENT

Martin Davies, Allison & Busby, 2025, £22.00/$28.00/C$39.95, hb, 352pp, 9780749032012

This is the seventh Mrs Hudson book by Martin Davies but the first one I’ve seen. I found the beginning slightly confusing, as I was immediately introduced to people I had never heard of before, but I very quickly worked out what was going on, and the book reads well even if you were unaware of the previous ones.

It’s a Sherlock Holmes spin-off, told from the point of view of Flotsam, Mrs Hudson’s assistant and maid-of-all-work in Baker Street. Mrs Hudson has worked in many great houses and seems to know everyone who is anyone. Her connections are invaluable in assisting Sherlock Holmes with his investigations, and she has her own brilliant insights into the mysteries he is trying to solve. To my relief, this was not one of those stories where Sherlock Holmes is presented as an idiot and it is Dr Watson or even, in some modern versions, Inspector Lestrade who is the real brains of the operation. Instead, Holmes, Watson, Hudson, and Flotsam herself all contribute to the downfall of the evil villain.

In this case, Holmes must be particularly grateful for their help, as he seems to be dealing with several separate cases, although there turn out to be strong links between them. I started by thinking that the answer was a little obvious, but there were twists and turns that kept me involved to the very end.

There’s a lovely sense of period and an endnote that reveals that many of the incidental characters are real historical figures. The writing is fluid, some of it is very funny and the whole thing was extremely enjoyable. It should appeal particularly to fans of Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey novels.

Tom Williams

ISLAND SONG

Pepsi Demacque-Crockett, HarperCollins, 2025, £16.99, hb, 416pp, 9780008598754

This beautifully written family saga is set in the 1950s and follows the lives of sisters Ella and Agnes Deterville. They live on the island of Saint Lucia in the isolated settlement of Canaries. Older sister Ella is sensible but cautious, held back by her fear of the unknown, while Agnes is adventurous and dreams of travelling to England to make a life with more opportunities for her young family. Agnes works hard to buy her passage to London, while Ella remains behind on Saint Lucia. Agnes discovers that the reality of life in London isn’t what she was expecting, but along the way she finds a community to belong to, and the possibility of love. Ella has to learn to be brave, so that she can nurture her own community in Canaries.

I found this novel gripping from the start, and I was soon fully engaged in the characters’ lives. It highlights the bleak reality of what life was like for immigrants coming to the UK from the Caribbean during this period, and the fortitude and resilience they needed to start afresh. I was left with a renewed sense of awe for their courage and determination. I particularly like that Ella and Agnes are both strong women, while having very different temperaments. While there is a very believable and sympathetic love story element to this novel, it is a secondary storyline to the strained, but loving relationship between the sisters parted by an ocean.

This novel is full of vibrant descriptions of Saint Lucia, perfectly contrasted with those of a muted London. I think that this story would lend itself to a film adaptation. I would definitely go and see it! This is a must-read book for 2025.

Lizzie Bentham

THE SECOND SUN

P. T. Deutermann, St. Martin’s Press, 2025, $29.00, hb, 304pp, 9781250360977

Timed for the 80th anniversary of World War II’s ending, The Second Sun poses a provocative question about Japan’s atomic capability in the run-up to America’s planned invasion of the islands. Did Japan have an atomic weapon of their own to use against the U.S. fleet converging on their island?

In March 1945, Captain Wolfe Bowen works for the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, DC, when a German U-boat is captured and towed to the Portsmouth Naval Yard. Bowen is called out to investigate two curious features of the submarine: its enormous size and two Japanese civilians aboard. Even more curious, the vessel gives off traces of radioactivity. Soon, Captain Villem Amherst Van Rensselaer with the National Security Office steps in and clues Bowen into the workings of a top-secret program called the Manhattan Project.

The concern over the U-boat’s destination and its capacity to carry nuclear materiel

begins a race against the clock for Bowen and a small team to determine if Japan is preparing a weapon capable of obliterating the entire U.S. fleet converging on Japan. The innovative plot takes Bowen halfway around the world (and back again) as he and naval intelligence officer Lt. Cmdr. Janet Waring ascertain the truth, information President Harry Truman desperately needs to make a first strike decision. The plausible scenario is propulsive (the reader wonders, could this be true?) and keeps the pages flying, especially when he and Waring witness the first a-bomb test in the New Mexican desert. Not a battle heavy set piece like Deutermann’s other WWII novels, this story finds its sea legs in its battle against time.

The Second Sun is a riveting “what if?” story with authentic characters, pitch-perfect pacing, and a chilling reflection on how the war might have ended.

Peggy Kurkowski

THE SECRET DETECTIVE AGENCY

Helena Dixon, Bookouture, 2025, $9.99, pb, 316pp, 9781836181057

Moving on from her Miss Underhay Mystery series set in the 1930s, the prolific author sets her new series during World War 2.

January, 1941. After another agent goes missing, Jane Treen is sent from Whitehall to a Devon village to investigate, with the assistance of code-breaker Arthur Cilento. But will they find the culprits before they too become victims?

Though the denouement provides a rather convenient resolution, the mystery is suitably challenging. The real strength of the novel, however, lies in its deft characterization and recreation of conditions in Britain during the darkest days of the war. Jane and Arthur do not get on well at first: his health is poor and he suffers from asthma; she is impatient and a heavy smoker. As they work together, however, they learn not only to appreciate each other’s abilities, but to care for each other, improving their effectiveness as a team. Food scarcity and rationing, the disruption of bombing, and the death of loved ones: all provide powerful reminders of the damage on ordinary people caused by warfare. Reminders too easily forgotten by devoted followers of unscrupulous leaders in any age, unfortunately. Recommended.

Ray Thompson

THE GLASS HOUSE

Rachel Donohue, Corvus, 2025, £9.99, pb, 384pp, 9781838956936

Rachel Donohue’s The Glass House is a dark and lyrical mystery that focuses on the lives of two sisters and their philosopher father, whose mysterious death on New Year’s Eve in 1963 will cast a long and ominous shadow over their lives. Sisters Aisling and Stella share an isolated existence in a modernist house in the east of Galway. Their lives are dominated by

their controversial father, Richard Acklehurst, who is considered a genius by his devoted fans, but is despised by others as a dangerous neofascist.

Acklehurst shows little interest in the happiness of his daughters but seeks to dominate – “perhaps his most clearly defined trait”. He expounds a Randian worldview where the State is despised and “the strength and greatness of the individual – a man –was all that mattered.” Many years later, Acklehurt’s remains are defiled in the country graveyard, where they have lain undisturbed for more than 30 years. The discovery draws the sisters back to their childhood home, where they are forced to confront the dark secrets at the heart of their family.

The Glass House is an unsettling and atmospheric novel, which takes its time to reveal its dark secrets. I kept thinking about our current times, and the return of ideas we thought were long buried in the past, as well as the people who revel in spreading them. As the front cover tagline suggests… the window to the past can never be closed.

Pete Sherlock

THE DARK LIBRARY

Mary Anna Evans, Poisoned Pen, 2025, $17.99/ C$26.99, pb, 384pp, 9781728293677

Long estranged from her family, Estella Ecker, who goes by ‘E,’ has made a life for herself in Boston after earning her doctorate at Yale. When her overbearing father has a stroke, she returns to Rockfall House. Her mother has disappeared, presumed dead, but no body is found. At her father’s funeral— well attended, as he was a Dickens scholar who ruled Hawke Hall as Dean—no one in Bentham-on-Hudson grieves him. All eyes are upon E. She takes an ill-paid job herself at Hawke Hall and discovers that not only is their Victorian mansion in disrepair, but it’s heavily mortgaged and there’s no money. Her parents threw extravagant dinner parties for the intelligentsia of New York at the banquet table in his impressive library and the house is full of expensive art: none of it makes sense. E and Annie, her housekeeper and confidant, make do with wild forage and what Annie manages to secure with little cash during rationing. Convinced her mother’s still alive, E keeps searching, but none of the bodies the police find are hers. Looming over these struggles is her father’s library, where E was never allowed to touch a book and still hesitates, though is now free to do so.

This novel is suspenseful, from the initial mystery surrounding a suicide on campus to the professors resembling spies who replace military enlistees after Pearl Harbor, to Rockfall House and its surroundings. Hanging over all is the question of who E’s parents really were. She can’t trust anyone except Annie and her friends Marjorie and Leontine—and perhaps Professor Devan Chase, young, appealing, and attentive? The story’s many lurking secrets keep our attention. What dreadful truths hide in the Dark Library, and how will E find her

way? A compelling read from a masterful novelist.

Jinny Webber

THE CRASH

Kate Furnivall, Hodder & Stoughton, 2024, £22.00, hb, 336pp, 9781399713627

On 23 December 1933, between Pomponne and Lagny-sur-Marne, the worst peacetime railway disaster in French history occurred when the Paris to Strasbourg Express crashed into a stationary local train bound for Nancy. Both trains had been extended with extra carriages to accommodate the number of people travelling home for the Christmas holidays. There were 204 fatalities, mostly on the smaller local train which took the brunt of the collision. Kate Furnivall has taken this accident as the starting point for her new novel, The Crash, creating an exciting and totally engaging mystery thriller.

Gilles Malroux is a passenger on the train to Strasbourg who appears to be following Dr Antoine Laval, a fellow passenger. In the terrible collision (which is recreated in all its horrifying atmosphere and terror), Dr Laval is killed while Gilles swaps identity with a dying man, Christophe Lagarde, and is taken to the man’s house where he is cared for by his wife, Rosa Lagarde. At this stage, we are given more questions than answers, but the scene is set for events that follow. Gilles’ sister, Camille, picks up the narrative as she searches for her missing brother and starts to unravel the various threads of the mystery.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable novel. The plotting is superb, and the complicated events move with a breathless and exhilarating pace. Characterisation is entirely believable, and I particularly liked the character of Camille. Perhaps the most memorable and enjoyable aspect of the novel for me was the use of Paris as a setting. The places are so well described that I felt I was also visiting the Louvre, following ruffians into the Parc de Belleville, visiting seedy bars in the Quatier Pigalle or navigating the Left Bank and Montparnasse. All provide a convincing backdrop to the unfolding events.

Overall, a very highly recommended read.

Adele Wills

THE SILENT HOUSE OF SLEEP

Allan Gaw, Polygon, 2025, £9.99, pb, 277pp, 9781846977206

Allan Gaw is a pathologist who had a string of medical non-fiction books to his credit before this, his first venture into crime fiction. Not surprisingly, his central character is a forensic pathologist, Dr Jack Cuthbert, who easily outshines his Detective Inspector as a sleuth.

The story is told in two time streams; the main narrative about the police investigation into a double murder in London in 1929 and a series of flashbacks to Cuthbert’s career as a medical student and a soldier in WW1. At

first this annoyed me; just as I was getting into the murder/mystery, I was catapulted back a dozen years into an apparently unrelated personal history. I was tempted to skip the flashbacks, but they ultimately proved to be the most interesting and insightful parts of the book.

The book is well-written and wellresearched, but I felt rather cheated when the murderer confessed so readily, even before we knew his motives. Sleuths should have a harder time with more red herrings to tease the readers. Even so, I am looking forward to the next four Jack Cuthbert books which are due to appear over the coming year.

Edward James

A LESSER LIGHT

Peter Geye, Univ. of Minnesota Press, 2025, $27.95, hb, 512pp, 9781517916374

A Lesser Light takes place in a lighthouse on the remote shores of northern Lake Superior in 1910. At the beginning of the story, newlyappointed head lighthouse keeper Theodulf Sauer greets his new wife, Willa Brandt, who has been forced into marriage after her father’s untimely death.

As Halley’s Comet streaks across the northern skies, Theodulf and Willa struggle to begin their lives together. They are mismatched, not only because of their age difference but because both are essentially loners. Theodulf, the only child of a prominent Duluth family, and a failed lawyer with an agonizing secret, struggles to redeem himself by flawlessly executing his keeper duties. Willa tries to adjust herself to the remote surroundings and seemingly endless household chores and to reconcile herself to the loss of her greatest love, her study of astronomy. As the story progresses, we see that Theodulf and Willa are orphans, no less than 13-year-old Silje, whose parents were lost at sea, and Silje’s Uncle Mats, who is grieving their loss. Still, the desire of these characters to be part of something—a piece of some larger whole—is palpable.

Much of the action of the story takes place between the spring and fall of 1910, but Geye shows us that the real story—the thing that led these characters to that lonely lighthouse— was set in motion long before. Through his stunningly beautiful writing, we see the wildness of this place and these people, and the desperate and determined way the characters keep reaching toward each other. Through it all, love shines like a brilliant Fresnel lens, warning people away from the rocks and guiding their way home.

Suzanne Uttaro Samuels

THE SABLE CLOAK

Gail Milissa Grant, Grand Central, 2025, $28.00/C$36.00, hb, 320pp, 9781538742006

This is a multi-generational story of the Jordan Sable family set in St. Louis, Missouri. By the 1930s, a pillar of the Black community, Jordan Sable, had established a first-rate funeral business and become an influential political boss. His nickname is the Black Mayor of St. Louis. His wife Sara, originally from South Carolina, runs the funeral home with tight organization and class. Together they have worked to raise the family’s social stature.

On all fronts, the Sables are a tight-knit, loving family. Subplots in the story revolve around extended members of the Sable family, and their existence is critical to the overall plot. After decades of successful living, Jordan and Sara’s life is complete. However, their 14-year-old daughter, Vivian, has been protected and sheltered from evil. Innocent Vivian falls for the first boy to show an interest in her. And she asks an older family member, Big Will, to tell her about boys. Big Will cautions her and tries to help keep her safe, but unforeseen consequences will alter the Sable family forever.

I found this story to be a fascinating look into the life of a complex and successful Southern Black family in a time when Jim Crow laws still held sway. The novel is well paced, each character stands on their own, and the subplots are superbly woven throughout the story to help bring the action to a satisfying ending. Recommended reading.

Linda Harris Sittig

THE STORY OF THE FOREST

Linda Grant, Zando, 2024, $28.00, hb, 288pp, 9781638931683

In Latvia, 14-year-old Mina Mendel wanders into the forest gathering mushrooms when she meets a group of Bolsheviks who introduce her to new political thoughts about the bourgeois and common workers. “Like mushrooms in the dark,” big ideas begin to grow in her. She tells her older brother, Jossel, this fairytale-like story; he sees wolves lurking around his sister. He is concerned for her safety and virtue. Unable to convince his Jewish family to emigrate to America, Jossel is given permission to take Mina and leave behind their parents and three siblings. They make it as far as Liverpool. With funds lacking to continue, the start of World War I, and travel impossible across the Atlantic, they remain, raising their families.

We follow the Mendels in Liverpool along four generations. Blocked communications from the Soviet Union through two world wars and Stalin’s reign mean little to nothing is learned about the fate of their family left behind. Only two other siblings survive. Through the years, Mina’s story of the forest is told – by Mina, by family, by descendants. It is embellished and diluted; it is believed and dismissed.

This is a novel about the stories a family

tells and passes on – memories, events, even objects. These stories, true or fable, give later generations a link to their past. Like any family saga, their foibles and successes, dreams and disappointments, births and marriages, even deaths make a great story. This is also a novel about fate – how one decision or one event determines the course of a person’s life. Not front and center, but present in the background is Jewish persecution, WWI, WWII, the Holocaust, Stalin’s oppression –all world events that play a role in separating families. A wonderful family saga.

Janice

Ottersberg

GREATER SINS

Gabrielle Griffiths, Doubleday, 2025, £16.99, hb, 352pp, 9781529929072 / Transworld Digital, 2025, C$10.99, ebook, 324pp, B0D89KJJ62

In the Cabrach in northeast Scotland in 1915, men are joining up. Not Johnny Nicol, however, a wanderer, entertainer and itinerant rogue who amuses inn clients with his poems and stories. But he sets down temporary roots to hire on at Brawlands, where his friend Rab needs help with the harvest. When a box is discovered at the edge of the peat bog, Johnny is tasked with hauling it down to Rab’s farmhouse, accompanied by Mistress Lizzie Calder, the wife from local manor, Blackwater House, who discovered it while gathering moss for bandages for the war effort. The box reveals a well-preserved young woman with flaming red hair, all somehow untouched by years in the bog. Despite fierce protestation, Lizzie refuses to have the body reburied until she establishes who she is and what happened to her. Johnny is the only one who agrees, and a slow-burn relationship develops around their common cause.

With vignettes from 1905, Johnny and Lizzie’s separate lives criss-cross their way towards 1915 and this new acquaintance. The discovery of the bog woman coincides with torrential rainfall, spoiling unharvested crops. Rumours swirl at the local inn; villagers and farmers report strange sightings and frightening dreams, as an unsettled feeling grows exponentially with each unexplained occurrence. As is always the case, the villagers fill the void with superstitious tales, each more outlandish than the last. Has the bog woman indeed brought evil to this small town? I was compelled by the medieval feel which speaks to earlier times when superstition ruled people’s thinking. These 20th-century villagers are no different. Griffiths’ multi-faceted characters draw us to the smoky pub where time seems to stand still and the insidious creep of rumour warps into fear and malice. This is a cleverly constructed character-driven novel and one of the most intriguing gothic-type novels I’ve read.

Fiona Alison

BROKEN COUNTRY

Clare Leslie Hall, John Murray, 2025, £16.99, hb, 319pp, 9781399820417 / Simon & Schuster, 2025, $28.00/C$38.99, hb, 320pp, 9781668078181

This poignant love story is mainly set in the Dorset countryside, in the 1950s and 1960s. As a teenager, Beth falls in love with Gabriel, the son of the owners of Meadowlands, the big house in the village. Academically and emotionally they have lots in common, but their backgrounds are worlds apart. Their love affair comes to a troubled end during Gabriel’s first year at the University of Oxford. Heartbroken, Beth marries Frank, a local farmer, and falls in love with him and their land. Their marriage is strong through life’s trials, until Gabriel returns to Meadowlands with his young son. Gabriel and Beth get reacquainted, and she is pulled in two directions because she loves two men at once.

This is a very well written story with wellrounded characters. The narrative flits between the drama unfolding in the present (1968), and the past (1955 through to 1968), and this structure succeeds in telling an interesting story. There are lots of unexpected plot twists and turns along the way that I did not foresee coming. I greatly enjoyed this book while I was reading it. However, as I was pondering on the story afterwards, I realised that the whole novel pivoted on one miscommunication, which irked me a bit, but showed that I cared about the characters.

Romance fans who like a tangled love triangle, with a good dash of passion and a modicum of sex, will enjoy this story. I am sure it would make a great film or TV adaptation.

Lizzie

Bentham

THE MARE

Angharad Hampshire, Northodox, 2024, £9.99/$9.99, pb, 335pp, 9781915179821

Hermine Braunsteiner was a guard at the Ravensbrück and Majdanek concentration camps, where she earned the soubriquet “die stampfende Stüte” – “the stomping mare” – from her habit of killing prisoners by kicking and stamping them to death. After the war she escaped to Vienna. In 1958 she met Russell Ryan, an American. They fell in love, married and moved to New York, where they lived a normal life until, in 1968, New York Times journalist Joseph Lelyveld came to their door.

From these facts and their aftermath Angharad Hampshire has constructed a gripping novel. The action takes place in Austria, briefly in London but mainly in the

USA, Germany and Poland. The story is told alternately by Russell and Hermine and moves rapidly between places and times. Hampshire is in complete control of her material, making it easy to follow throughout.

It is an exploration of how a young woman who works hard to support her mother and sisters, and loves birds and the countryside, can so easily turn into a monster. Then, when the war is over, she settles into an apparently normal life in the United States, seemingly with no thoughts of her past: themes which have, of course, been addressed many times in both fact and fiction. The other main theme is the effect of her life on her husband and the wider community in which they live in New York.

There are some graphic descriptions of gratuitous violence and the awful conditions in the camps, which are not for the fainthearted, but the book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the Second World War, the concentration camps, or how anti-Semitism can so easily infect a whole nation.

Angharad Hampshire is a broadcaster, writer and university lecturer. This is her first novel. Let us hope it is not her last. Thoroughly recommended.

David Northover

THE WOVEN LIE

Liz Harris, Heywood, 2025, $10.99/£8.99, pb, 342pp,9781913687496

This final installment of Harris’ Three Sisters trilogy is set during the early days of the National Health Service. It is 1948, and England is slowly returning to normal in the aftermath of World War II. Twenty-five-year-old Violet Hammond, the middle of three Hammond sisters, is newly qualified as a teacher, but when she sees an ad for a museum manager in a local museum outside Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, she answers it on impulse. Violet is hired by Dr. Edward Russell, who has been forced to give up his position as manager because of the demands placed on his medical practice by the new National Health Service. Russell placed the ad only as a formality, intending to promote his longtime assistant, Gladys Wilson, but he is so impressed by Violet’s fresh vision that he changes his plans. The resulting tension between Gladys and Violet is echoed by a romantic triangle, for Violet and Edward must navigate their growing attraction to one another in the face of Edward’s longstanding engagement to the district nurse.

This somewhat straightforward plot is enlivened by snippets of local history such as the difference between hares and rabbits or the etymology of the village’s name, Harton. The novel is particularly strong in its documentation of the challenges the NHS created in a doctor’s quiet country practice. The story’s suspense is considerably diminished for mystery readers when the villains reveal their plans early in the book. Still, readers of women’s fiction should enjoy this meticulous depiction of a small Suffolk village in the wake of the world war.

Erica F. Obey

THE STARS AND THEIR LIGHT

Olivia Hawker, Lake Union, 2025, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 381pp, 9781662511059

Near Roswell, New Mexico, in summer 1947, a strange occurrence on a ranch outside of town is about to embroil the community in mysteries both scientific and religious. Army officers Roger Campbell and Harvey Day see odd flashes on radar like ones they had seen during the war and rush to the scene of an apparent crash of an aircraft. All the town of Roswell senses something that night, but only a few see the actual site, and those are now pledged to silence.

Caught up in the aftermath are Harvey, who has gotten the most complete view of the cavernous inside of the small craft; Roger and his daughter Betty, an ambitious high school student who has mysteriously begun to bleed from her hands and feet; and Sister Mary Agnes of the Poor Clares, a nun with a troubled vocation who has just moved into the area.

Before long, Harvey resigns from the military rather than face what he has seen, Betty becomes the focus first of devotion and then of ridicule, and Mary Agnes initiates an official inquiry into Betty’s apparent stigmata. Families, friendships, and communities are tested. Questions are raised but not resolved, and any answer would probably be unsatisfying.

The goal of this novel is not to imagine answers to the mystery of what took place in Roswell but to explore the response of individuals to inexplicable or unprecedented experiences. But while the events are open to conjecture, their effects are nonetheless real and wide-ranging, shaping relationships and careers, building and shaking faith.

Martha Hoffman

THE SONG OF THE BLUE BOTTLE TREE

India Hayford, John Scognamiglio, 2025, $18.95/C$24.95, pb, 352pp, 9781496753120

Ghosts talk to Genevieve Charbonneau, and they’ve given her good advice so far; so have rattlesnakes.

Mercer Ives, exNavy medical corpsman, sees ghosts too, mainly the shade of Bigger Than You, his buddy from Vietnam, along with a handful of other dead Marines he couldn’t save. The two cross paths in 1967 after Mercer’s return to his ill-fitting family and Genevieve’s aimless

wandering back to the place where she too grew up.

Mercer’s preacher father is an abusive monster, and it was another one of those who set Genevieve on her road through a mental asylum, a circus, and a series of Texas hoochy kootch bars where she danced for a precarious living. Genevieve recognizes John Luther Ives for what he is and slowly becomes enmeshed in the saving not only of Mercer from his bottle and his nightmares, but his mother and sisters from John Luther.

The author is a naturalist who spent her childhood in southwestern Arkansas, and her connection with the natural world and with the generations who have lived on the land gives the novel a setting that is strikingly sensory and immediate.

The humans who inhabit the novel are just as intimately drawn. Genevieve and Mercer are so flawlessly written that, like the rattlesnakes that permit Genevieve to carry them from their unwelcome den in the well house to the safety of the woods, we find ourselves trusting her even as she contemplates murder. Secondary characters are rounded into complete people. From Bigger Than You to the hapless parishioner who finally becomes fed up with John Luther’s “counseling” and hits him with her purse, I wanted to stay longer with these people. Highly recommended.

Amanda Cockrell

ISLANDS OF MICE

Lucy Jacobs, Alma & Albany, 2024, $15.99, pb, 403pp, 9781068764714

The Islands of Mice lie off the coast of Norway. Beautiful. Tranquil. Or, at least, they were until the Nazis invaded. In the winter of 1942, Solveig Eik is a young woman who lives with her family in a lighthouse. While tending the light, her family also farms. Solveig tends to her sheep, has no problem getting down and dirty and doing the hard work required of her even in time of war. Her family, like most of her neighbors, is virulently anti-Nazi. So is Solveig. Until Liv Sunde arrives.

Liv is Oslo-cosmopolitan, refined, elegant, while Solveig is the quintessential country girl. Aloof, yet calculatingly flirtatious, Liv knows how to attract attention. She has come to the Islands of Mice as a teacher. Harmless, except that she is a collaborator, one of those Norwegians courting Nazi friendship.

Islands of Mice is a romance set in a time of great paranoia and violence. Can one even trust one’s neighbors not to turn them in to the Nazi regime? As Solveig is drawn into the resistance movement, she is more powerfully drawn to the newcomer.

This is a wonderfully descriptive novel filled with dirt and blood, tension and the constant threat of being discovered. Is it possible, under such circumstances, for two such seemingly different people to fall in love? The novel is told from Solveig’s perspective, which may be the one problem I had. I didn’t quite believe that Solveig would fall in love so quickly with the unrepentant collaborator

Liv. Both do terrible things during the novel, with little heartfelt remorse. Perhaps if I knew more of Liv’s backstory, understood her motivations better, I would have accepted the intense emotions the two women have for one another. Solveig’s story dominates, creating an imbalanced romance.

Peter Clenott

LILACS OUT OF THE DEAD LAND

J. Sydney Jones, Werthen, 2025, $11.99, pb, 295pp, 9798989658268

From the beginning of this page-turning novel, Jones captivates the reader. In this, the seventh of Jones’s widely acclaimed Viennese Mystery Series, the writing is almost flawless. Jones harnesses sights, sounds and character sketches with matchless skill to immerse the reader in an unfamiliar and dangerous world.

Taken from T.S. Eliot’s famous poem ‘The Wasteland’, the title sets the tone: ‘April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land’, hinting at determination in the face of hopelessness. The story is set in Austria shortly after the first of Hitler’s land grabs, the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938. Jones’s knowledge of the politics and geography at that time is remarkable. The two lead protagonists, Frieda von Werthen and Franz Hruda, have evidence that Hitler is clinically insane and will continue to seize territories while the rest of Europe pursues futile attempts to seek appeasement through diplomacy. As the novel progresses, a romance develops, which is truly ‘a lilac out of the dead land’. The Gestapo and SS are charged with destroying evidence that would alert the world to Hitler’s goal of world dominance, a mission they pursue with vicious relentlessness.

Frieda and Franz have one goal: to share their evidence with the Allies and to prevent a world war, and the Nazi pursuers have one goal: to prevent this from happening. At each dramatic plot twist, the reader is left with uncertainty as to who will prevail. Even though we all know that war is inevitable, Jones has left the reader guessing, right up until the last pages, whether they have succeeded or failed. I highly recommend this novel to all readers who love a fast-paced thriller as well as readers of World War Two dramas.

Alan Collenette

THE ENGLISH PROBLEM

Beena Kamlani, Crown, 2025, $29.00/£24.00, hb, 480pp, 9780593798461

When still a child, Shiv Advani catches the

eye of Mahatma Gandhi, India’s revolutionary leader, who sees him as someone who will one day prove invaluable in their country’s campaign for independence from Britain. Gandhi and his colleagues believe it is essential they understand the thinking of their British overlords. “We must learn their ways in order to get rid of them.”

Shiv first arrives in England in 1931 to qualify as a barrister. Prior to his departure, however, the eighteen-year-old is forced into an arranged marriage. As a singular dark-skinned student, he is subject to both blatant and covert racism as he is indoctrinated into every facet of upper-middle-class British life. Shiv’s growing relationship with the free-spirited gay man, Lucy, creates enormous risk. He escapes the entanglement into political journalism and a more conventional romance with Julia, a Quaker and associate of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Set. After a family tragedy and an attack by an unknown assailant, Shiv’s family arrange for his repatriation to India.

This breathtakingly impressive intellectual novel with its elegant and sympathetic prose explores a broad sweep of subjects including manners, culture, tradition, history, literature. But, above all, it is about the ambiguities surrounding race, politics, family, sexual identity, and the complex enigma of belonging.

When Shiv’s mother says he has returned a “pukka babu, an Englishman!”, he wants to tell her: “We go to foreign shores, charged with the directive to become like the natives… It’s an uphill struggle but then we manage it, we become like them so we don’t stand out, so we are accepted, and then our countries don’t want us, our families feel betrayed. ‘What happened to you?’ they ask and we have no answers.”

Marina Maxwell

THE NAZI HOUSEWIFE OF QUEENS, NEW YORK

Stacy Kean, Level Best/Historia, 2024, $17.95, pb, 306pp, 9781685128128

Written by first-time novelist Stacy Kean, this chilling tale is not for the timorous. This thoroughly researched book is based on the story of the real-life Nazi prison guard, Hermine Braunsteiner, known as “The Stomping Mare,” with names changed in the novel.

Helma Braun was a female concentration camp guard during the Second World War and is now living under a new identity in Queens, New York, in the 1950s. Hannah Goldberg, who survived the prison camp, watched Braun murder her sister in front of her. Hannah spends years tracking Braun down, but the obsession

takes an appalling toll on her marriage and on those close to her.

This novel contains graphic descriptions of the worst type of violence that one human can inflict on another. Braun is obsessed with exacting revenge for abuses she suffered in her youth. She does so through unthinkable violence against defenseless prisoners. Her justification is that she was merely “following orders.” The dialogue is sometimes wooden, and scenes are often explained, rather than shown through the characters’ actions. The minor characters occupy much of the narrative but slow down the pace of the action and perhaps do not contribute to the main thrust of the novel.

Hannah Goldberg engenders empathy and rage within the reader’s mind, but getting a reader to identify with Helma Braun, a monster and remorseless to the very end, is a challenge, no matter how grim her upbringing. However, the concept of a female “monster” is so rare that it makes the reader want to understand her.

Stacy Kean crafts the ending deftly, with a plot twist that leaves us wondering what we would have done if we were Hannah.

Alan Collenette

THE CAMBRIDGE SIREN

Jim Kelly, Allison & Busby, 2025, £9.99/$14.95, pb, 352pp, 9780749031497

The Cambridge Siren is the fourth in the Nighthawks series. Set in the third year of World War 2, the dedication, ‘to those who failed the Armed Forces’ medical but went on to serve their country,’ gives you a hint of what is to come. There is a handy map of Cambridge, but the story is not confined to that beautiful city where Detective Inspector Eden Brooke lives. He begins to investigate the deaths of three young men found in bomb shelters. They were of an age to be conscripted but were not on active duty.

A veteran of World War 1, Brooke calls on his old comrades, the nighthawks, to help him find out what really happened to the three men. The authorities would like speedy verdicts of suicide, but Inspector Brooke suspects murder. His son-in-law, who serves in a submarine protecting the convoys taking supplies to Murmansk, discovers a fault in the periscope which prevents them from firing their weapons accurately. Sabotage is suspected. The periscope was made in a Cambridge factory. Protecting the convoys is deemed a priority and Brooke is charged with finding the saboteur.

The chase is on. It is wide ranging, wellwritten and thoroughly researched – down to the price of a wartime pint. Five pence, if you are interested. The author deals with the deaths and the horrors of war briskly without too much analysis. Most of the characters are good people who keep calm and carry on. The book reminds me of those splendid old blackand-white films of amazing feats in World War 2.

Jane Stubbs

TOMORROW WILL BRING SUNDAY’S NEWS

Beth Kephart, Tursulowe Press, 2025, $17.95, pb, 204pp, 9781957057194

Peggy, a first-generation Irish American woman in Philadelphia, is dying in her home in 1969. As she slowly fades from cancer, her thoughts swerve between her present life coming to an end and her need to put into words the very worst year of her life in 1917. This need to finally confront and save these memories rests on her hope that her granddaughter will come to visit her one last time so this part of her life can be passed on. Past and present then mingle throughout the book, weaving in and out of time, as the vivid story of her terrible year seems to crystallize in its retelling in her mind. She recalls her beau (called only “the boy” throughout), the call to war, antiGerman violence on the home front involving her best friend, arduous factory work, a race riot, the Spanish flu. Interspersed throughout are also memories of a special day in the park, her first elevator ride, weekly concerts, her mother dancing, and her ongoing and shared love of reading. She becomes her own story as it all comes to life again. Her husband, who is caring for her in the final days of her life, is a reminder that her life has gone on for decades after this terrible year that she has tried to forget until now.

The lyrical prose, the mood shifts, and the unfurling of the storyline all add to the sense of wispy clouds merging together and then dispersing over and over in its narration. Unlike many works of historical fiction, this unique work evokes emotion through short, almost staccato-like narration rather than through dense, florid description. It draws a reader into a different sense of time and place, while revealing the ever-so-human moments of dealing with deep grief as well as moments of sweet joy. Can the most tragic year of a person’s life become their most poignant? Readers wishing to ponder this will find much to think about from this book.

Karen Bordonaro

A BEAUTIFUL WAY TO DIE

Eleni Kyriacou, Head of Zeus, 2025, £16.99, hb, 402pp, 9781837930395

When naïve British actress Ginny Watkins arrives in Hollywood in 1953, she has a lot to learn about the unwritten rules of the film industry, where men have all the power and women must do everything they can to avoid being labelled ‘difficult’. With a new look and a new name, she catches the eye of ageing –and married – heartthrob Max Whitman, who promises to open doors for her – but can she really trust him?

Nine months later, after a near-disastrous car crash on Oscar night, Max’s soon-to-beex-wife and former co-star Stella Hope arrives in London, to try to salvage her career at the Ealing studios. She befriends her makeup artist Maggie, unaware that Maggie has her own secret agenda – and then a blackmail letter arrives, threatening to expose a shameful

secret from her youth. But Stella isn’t the sort of woman to take the threat lying down…

This noir novel about the sinister underbelly of the film industry is inspired by several reallife scandals and unsolved mysteries from the Golden Age of Hollywood, as the author explains in her informative endnote. The level of misogyny and abuse of power that all the main characters encounter is shocking – particularly as it’s possible such behaviour is not entirely a thing of the past. Written primarily in the third person, the novel is also threaded through with the first-person narrative of an actress incarcerated in an insane asylum, whose identity is only revealed in the dramatic climax of the book.

The characters are satisfyingly complex, the plot is twisty but not implausibly so, and the short chapters ensure that the pace never flags as it grinds inexorably towards its heartbreaking yet also hopeful conclusion. Highly recommended.

Jasmina Svenne

THE SECRETARY

Deborah Lawrenson, The Book Guild, 2025, £9.99/$13.99, pb, 320pp, 9781835741436

Lois Vale travels to Moscow to join British Embassy staff as a secretary to Minister Roger Waller, second in command to the ambassador, in 1958. Her undercover mission as an MI6 special operative: to learn whether there is an active traitor still at large. In the last few years two British diplomats have defected to Russia after being outed as Soviet agents and a current MI6 agent may have tipped them off. Lois’s assignment? Find out who is leaking embassy communications to the Soviets, be “a worm to catch a worm.” She has no safety net. If her role is uncovered, she herself will be branded a traitor.

The Secretary is based on the experiences of Lawrenson’s mother, Joy, who never spoke specifically about her work for MI6 but left a diary of her time at the Moscow Embassy in 1958. Each chapter leads with slightly edited entries from that diary, and the novel is a highly personal narrative. It reflects Lois’s feelings of quiet dread as she “lives on her nerves” worrying about every move she makes, observing without appearing to observe, and feeling uncertain in her romantic relationships and the man she comes to love.

It is also provocative, raising questions about “official truth,” enemies who operate not for the East or the West but in the middle, the “balance of terror” maintained by both sides, and the tactics of an international club of money, power, and control. Taut, edgy, thought-provoking, and at the same time private and emotionally revealing.

K. M. Sandrick

OXANA AND THE RED DRESS

LaWayne Leno, River Grove, 2024, $19.95, pb, 336pp, 9781632998613

This is the saga of a young woman growing

up in Ukraine beginning in the 1920s. Oxana dreams of a life as a concert pianist, and she has the talent to succeed. Although Oxana is brilliant, she is also poor, but she eventually starts a journey towards her goals, leaving behind her true love, Jakob, who later marries her sister. Oxana’s dreams of a life in music are all thwarted by Stalin, whose brutal regime takes over. As he begins to repress and starve his people, not even allowing them to grow their own food, Oxana is just trying to survive. Married to a cruel man who permanently injures her son, Kolya, Oxana struggles to persevere and to protect Kolya, who has a musical gift of his own.

LaWayne Leno has very successfully conveyed in this novel the horrors of the Holodomor, a famine induced by Stalin to destroy private landowners in Ukraine. Watching Oxana struggle to find food and hide it, only to have it taken from her anyway, is heartbreaking, but a true representation of the events that occurred. There is also a great knowledge and appreciation of music running throughout this novel, and Beethoven’s Fantasy is used as an escape for the characters playing and listening to it. The repression of the Soviet Union under Stalin is made evident in this quote: “Shhh, Oxana,” Gregor said. “These days, even the stones under our feet have ears.” Through Oxana’s son Kolya, we experience the German attacks on the Soviet Union during World War II and Kolya’s coming of age in a dangerous time and place. I felt transported to this era of great repression, death, and sorrow. It was a sad, but well-written, read. Highly recommended.

Bonnie DeMoss

THE MADEMOISELLE ALLIANCE (US) / THE PARIS CODE (UK)

Natasha Lester, Ballantine, 2025, $18.00/ C$24.95, pb, 448pp, 9780593726532 / Sphere, 2025, £9.99, pb, 432pp, 9781408731802 1921-1945. Morocco, France, and England. Marie-Madeleine Méric has more than one battle to fight. Though she has risen to leader status with the Alliance network, she must face her enemies within and without and prove on countless occasions that a woman can do the job. Her history of hip dysplasia, compounded by the pain from many near escapes and subsequent injuries, has led to a life of constant pain. Her lover, Leon, returns to France from England, and their intimate encounters teeter on the brink of delight and despair as each must encounter continual threat—and pain of death—at the hands of the Gestapo. When Marie-Madeleine faces arrest and imminent torture, she must rely on sheer will and belief in her mission to free occupied France. Those principles guide her into the terrifying reality that unless she risks the lives of her agents and her true love, the German occupation of France will stamp out any chance of freedom.

The well-researched novel thrusts the reader

into Morocco when the French occupation was at its height; descriptions of people, places, and things shine. The author lures us into Marie-Madeleine’s wounded self, her dealings with grief and loss, and the mountain she faces when having to leave her children to lead the MI-6-supported network named Alliance. Amidst the risk, Leon appears and serves as a rock for Marie-Madeleine, both heroes of France whose battles for freedom remain primarily unknown.

The novel’s strength lies with the depiction of life under Nazi occupation and the physical pain that inhabits Marie-Madeleine’s body. The love story is well-drawn, and the characters seem realistic. The author successfully creates a faithful, heart-pounding narrative of life— and death—in occupied France.

Gini Grossenbacher

THE FOUR QUEENS OF CRIME

Rosanne Limoncelli, Crooked Lane, 2025, $29.99/C$25.99, hb, 320pp, 9798892420600 1938 London. Agatha Christie isn’t fond of public appearances, but she has agreed to attend a ball at Hursley House, the estate of Sir Henry Heathcoate, to raise funds for the Women’s Voluntary Service as they help Britain prepare for a possible war. The four top-selling female mystery writers—Agatha, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham—will serve as hosts. Agatha is expecting nothing out of the ordinary, but then Sir Henry is found dead, poisoned by his own cigar, and Detective Chief Inspectors Lilian Wyles and Richard Davidson arrive on the scene. They begin to interrogate each witness, which include mostly members of the family and staff, in addition to the four writers, who decide to gather evidence on their own.

The prologue and beginning chapters introduce us to Wyles and the four “queens,” and we get to learn a bit about each of their personalities. In a hat-tip to Christie, this is a locked-room mystery, as nobody is permitted to leave the house and grounds. The writers begin to gather evidence that the inspectors would have missed: Agatha and Ngaio by stealth, and Dorothy and Margery through their abilities to connect with others. It is Wyles who realizes she needs to use the writers as assistants to the official investigation. Wyles, who was a real-life Detective Chief Inspector, is a strong woman who serves as a bridge between the different classes present in the house. The mystery is complex and layered, with many possible suspects. As the weekend progresses, one of the writers begins a budding romance, and another one is attacked as she is about to discover an important clue. All of the main characters are easy to connect with and understand. Mystery fans will love this novel featuring the queens of the genre.

Bonnie DeMoss

GLITTER IN THE DARK

Olesya Lyuzna, Mysterious Press, 2025, $17.95, pb, 336pp,9781613165973

This queer noir debut centers on ambitious advice columnist Ginny Dugan, who is impatient at receiving only fluff assignments at Photoplay magazine. Ginny alternates days at her job with drunken nights at parties fueled by bootleg liquor and drugs. All that changes when Ginny wangles her way into Harlem’s hottest speakeasy only to witness the kidnapping of a famous, but mysterious singer. When Ginny sees her being carried away, apparently unconscious, she assumes the singer had simply overdosed – until she is nearly killed herself. Suddenly the target of bootleggers and drug dealers, Ginny decides to pursue the story, believing that a scoop will win her a promotion. When Ginny’s own boss warns her off the case, Ginny reluctantly teams up with Jack Crawford, a PI with secrets of his own. But their investigation is compromised by Ginny’s inability to avoid her late-night partying – aided and abetted by Gloria Gardner, the star dancer of the Ziegfeld Follies where Ginny’s sister Dottie also works. Lyuzna’s prose is first-rate, vividly capturing the rhythms of a lost world. However, Ginny’s self-destructiveness begins to feel more like her sole characteristic, rather than her defining one, and some readers may wish for a more nuanced protagonist. Other readers may find themselves wishing the novel took more pleasure in the louche charms of Prohibitionera New York. But this well-researched, wellwritten book is well worth a read.

Erica F. Obey

ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL GOODBYES

Julianne MacLean, Lake Union, 2025, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 366pp, 9781662519116 In 1946 on Sable Island, about 300 kilometers off Nova Scotia’s coast, twentyone-year-old motherless Emma aspires to attend university in Halifax. There is a shipwreck on the island’s sand bar, and Emma, her father, and others help to rescue the sailors and their good-looking Captain Oliver. Emma falls in love with Oliver, but he soon sails away from the island. Shortly thereafter, a veterinarian, Logan, arrives to study the wild horses that roam on the small crescent-shaped island. He is also handsome, and Emma’s love is rekindled for Logan. But Logan has a dark past, and Emma is again left heartbroken.

In 1995, in England, young Joanna is grieving the death of her grandmother when

her grandfather, Oliver, informs her about Emma, the woman he’d once loved and left behind in Canada. Joanna is stunned by this revelation and travels to Nova Scotia to learn of Emma’s whereabouts.

This engaging novel contains such details of Sable Island that it virtually transports us onto that sandbar surrounded by a fierce ocean. It feels as if it was written by someone intimately familiar with that region. Hence, it is no surprise to learn in the author’s note that Julianne MacLean, a Nova Scotian native, did a project on it while in elementary school and has visited there. Life on the remote island with sparse vegetation, and where the nearly 500 wild horses outnumber humans, is maintained with provisions by a monthly supply ship from the mainland. MacLean has thoughtfully included an extensive list of references and information sources. Readers wanting to learn or perhaps even visit the island should find it helpful. Utilizing this gem of a location dramatically enhances the appeal of this heart-wrenching historical romance, filled with multiple goodbyes. It stands well among other novels with similar themes. Highly recommended.

Waheed Rabbani

TWO NECKLACES

Paulette Mahurin, Black Rose Writing, 2024, $17.95, pb, 279pp, 9781685135133

In Germany in 1933, Christa is part of the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM), a Nazi organization set up for young girls to aspire to Aryan motherhood and further the Third Reich. However, she secretly doesn’t agree with everything they say and does not agree to report on her loved ones, especially her brother Jürgen, who is eventually in trouble, merely because he has a Jewish friend. There are struggles in the home as her mother is grieving a loss and her father seems to be trapped into working for the Third Reich. Then Christa falls in love with Paul, who is Jewish and is soon in hiding for his life. As Christa, with the help of her grandmother Helga (Oma), tries to arrange for Paul to leave Germany, the reader is shown the escalating evil in 1930s Germany and the rising persecution of Jews and those who would help them.

The major events of the 1930s prior to the war are shown to the reader, although through the point of view of Christa, who is sometimes naïve to what is unfolding around her for a good portion of the book. Oma provides the eyes of wisdom in this story and helps Christa to see past her youth and the pinings of first love at a time when any false step or errant word can get someone killed. The way Germans are manipulated by fear and brainwashing as Hitler’s power grows is well portrayed. The construction of Buchenwald concentration camp is also brought to light by Christa’s friend Gertrude Hess, whose father is a cousin of Rudolph Hess. The ending is tied up a bit quickly, but this story does a good job of showing how intimidation, discrimination,

and fear can quickly spread hate in a country and throughout the world.

Bonnie DeMoss

THE OTHER

Jeff Markowitz, Level Best/Historia, 2024, $16.95, pb, 260pp, 9781685128043

Abe Dubinski is a canal lock tender in rural New Jersey, where he lives a simple, happy life with his family in a small house on the canal. In 1933, their peaceful life is turned upside- down when a sadistic Nazi sympathizer opens a Nazi youth camp next to their home and begins to harass and terrorize the Dubinskis – the only Jewish family in the area – while Abe is about to lose his job and house with the imminent closure of the canal.

Ninety years later, a recent widower named Charlie Levenson moves into the old, abandoned lock tender’s house after the death of his wife Zoya, an Iranian immigrant, with the intent to live out the rest of his years there.

The Other is written on a dual-timeline track with a common theme – two men trying to protect their families from bigotry and hatred, reaching from the early days of Nazi Germany under the helm of its “new Chancellor” to the present day, in the wake of the January 6 insurrection and Gaza war.

Reflecting back on the targeted prejudice she suffered as a recent Iranian immigrant after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Zoya offers insight into the title of the book:

All that trouble in high school? It wasn’t because I was Muslim, not really. It was because I was the Other. In 1979, it was Muslims. Other times, it’s been Jews, Gypsies. Persons of color. Hippies. Homosexuals. The Other.

While The Other opens a bit sluggishly, be patient – it quickly turns into an exciting page-turner that you won’t want to put down, alternating between the two stories artfully with compelling perspective on bigotry and its consequences.

I recommend this book, especially in light of current national and international events.

Nate Mancuso

THE EVENING SHADES

Lee Martin, Melville House, 2025, $20.99/ C$27.99, pb, 320pp, 9781685891732

This story is billed as that of a chronically single man with secrets in his past who finds love later in life. On the surface, that’s exactly what it is. Its subtext is a bit more perplexing, however.

It’s the 1970s, and Henry Dees has left his home in Indiana and started a new life in Illinois. He is hiding a shameful secret about his unintentional involvement in a murder in his hometown. The victim was a young girl whom he loved like a “father.”

The way Henry expresses this supposedly fatherly love is through actions that he knows are wrong and feels ashamed about—and that others find wrong. He kisses her cheek, steals her picture and a lock of her hair from her bedroom, watches her through the windows

of her house, and writes their names inside a heart in her book.

The novel presents this unsavory and inappropriate love, and with this premise, could have gone in any number of interesting directions in which Henry’s behavior is not excused or minimized—for it is the behavior of a stalker and a pedophile, not a father figure. But what it does instead is give Henry an appropriate romantic pairing and displaces the responsibility for his actions onto the community members who supposedly misunderstand his actions. In the end, his love for the girl is vindicated, and he is seen as an essentially honorable character.

It might be possible for other readers to understand this story the way it is advertised: a lonely man with a fatherly affection for young girls is misunderstood but finds love with someone forgiving and lives happily ever after. But this reader could not get over the novel’s moral indulgence for behavior that should have landed the protagonist in a courtroom.

Elizabeth Crachiolo

THE LAND IN WINTER

Andrew Miller, Sceptre, 2024, £20.00, hb, 384pp, 9781529354270

Andrew Miller’s new novel is set in the rural West Country during the longest and coldest British winter of 196263. The story depicts the lives of its four main characters (two sets of couples), lives of surface ordinariness, yet Miller captures an intensely imagined sense of emotional depths beneath.

The novel is very much about character, but Miller’s recreation of the 1960s is subtly done and very effective. Key events of the 1960s are referenced (Hugh Gaitskell is ill, Dr Beeching is about to take his axe to the railways, Acker Bilk is the music of choice), and we face a world without mobile phones or the internet. The men have jobs (doctor, farmer) while the women have domestic responsibilities, and both are pregnant. After an incredibly powerful opening scene, nothing much happens – yet the whole of life is at stake.

Childbirth is a major theme, not just for humans but for animals. It is potentially joyous but also terrible and fearful. Parenting is complicated; as Philip Larkin memorably declared, no-one is untouched by their background. Physical and mental afflictions affect everyone.

Over the mundane everyday events and the frigid setting, though, looms a much darker shadow. The events of WWII are

relatively recent, and every character has been affected in some way by the revelations of the Holocaust. Again, it is done with subtlety. Some characters were in camps (casual references to tattooed numbers on arms), one damaged character was present at the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, while another watches it on a Pathé News reel. Later in the novel, a character says (about something else), ‘I will never not see this’ – chilling words that resonate and form the core of the novel.

The writing is masterful, and the prose has all the richness and evocativeness of poetry. Like all great novels, it stays with you long after the final page has turned. Read slowly, if you can, to savour this work of desolate beauty.

Adele Wills

THE EIGHTS

Joanna Miller, Putnam, 2025, $29.00, hb, 384pp, 9780593851418 / Fig Tree, 2025, £16.99, hb, 384pp, 9780241662434

In 1920, Oxford University permits women to earn degrees for the first time: two years after the Great War, when its shadow touches not only the men who return older, and damaged physically and mentally, but the women who stayed behind, working jobs they are not allowed to keep and declared “surplus” since there is no one for them to marry. The war has swallowed the men who would have been their husbands.

Among those “surplus” women are the four heroines of The Eights, who bond with each other as residents of Corridor 8 at St. Hugh’s. Dora has been permitted to go to Oxford only because her brother, who should have gone, has died in the war along with her fiancé. Beatrice, daughter of a famous suffragette, hopes for a life where she will make a difference. Marianne, a village rector’s daughter, carries a secret she is afraid to tell anyone. And Otto, who failed at a nursing job during the war, looks for comfort in the certainty of mathematics. Some things at Oxford remain unchanged: women may earn degrees but are treated with capricious cruelty by male students and by dons who resent their presence. But there is freedom, despite the draconian rules for women, in this life of the mind, and they all blossom here.

The Eights is rich in detail of time and setting shown through four skillfully handled points of view. The ravages of the war and the infuriating struggle of women to make a place for themselves and hold it, never becomes didactic but grows organically from the circumstances of their lives. The author’s

ear for dialog, for the telling detail, for the moment when humor may overcome sorrow, is masterful. Highly recommended.

Amanda Cockrell

COLD GRACE

Meredith Miller, Honno, 2025, £9.99, pb, 294pp, 9781916821064

On a lakeside somewhere in North America, a nameless girl is locked in a smokehouse. The door opens, and two terrified young boys signal her to be silent. None of them knows what to do. Stumbling in the dark, she finds her way to Jerusha, a woman living alone in a cabin in the woods. We never do discover the name of that girl. Like everything else in this book, what is not said resonates louder than what is said.

Thereafter, the narrative is told through many voices. Principal among them is Jeanne Delaney, an elderly woman relating her life to a project worker collecting rural memories. Jeanne takes him back to 1913, when she turned sixteen years old. She lived in a small group of connected families, eking out a living on the margins of both the lake, and society.

Other voices, speaking distinctively rural, matter-of-fact language, reveal aspects of their lives and memories. Gradually, horror is revealed in the memories they shy away from.

Unfortunately, it would be a spoiler to give away the premise of this story, but the climax is deeply shocking. An end note reveals the research behind the story—a dark episode in America’s cultural history.

In my opinion, a strength of this book lies in that characters were firmly rooted in their time and place, and did not express modern sensibilities. This is an extremely clever book, full of tension and very evocative of place and time. But it comes with a health warning: the violence and horror are disturbing. However, it deserves to be read, as, although fictional, it highlights episodes that did happen to real people.

Helen Johnson

THE FILLING STATION

Vanessa Miller, Thomas Nelson, 2025, $18.99, pb, 384pp, 9781400344123

In the early 20th century, the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was home to numerous Black-owned businesses and a thriving African American community. Then came the devastation beginning on the night of May 31, 1921, when white supremacist mobs – including local law enforcement – rampaged and burned the entire neighborhood and killed dozens of residents. In a novel evoking both the worst and most generous impulses of human nature, Vanessa Miller shines a light on the aftermath of the Tulsa Race Massacre, laying bare the survivors’ long, hard-fought road to regain strength and faith.

Margaret and Evelyn Justice, daughters of a prosperous grocery store owner, are young women with dreams; Margaret plans to start teaching high school history, while Evie, a

talented eighteen-year-old seamstress, wants to become a clothing designer. Left homeless after the fires, their beloved father missing, the sisters start walking out of town and land at the Threatt Filling Station (a real place on Route 66), which their Daddy had recognized as a safe haven for Black travelers. The proprietors, Mr. Allen and Mrs. Alberta Threatt, take in Margaret and Evie. The sisters have always been close, but their lives soon begin diverging. Margaret determines to see Greenwood rise again, wanting to rebuild as soon as possible, while Evie feels too scared to ever return.

The roadblocks they encounter (insurance denials are just the beginning) are infuriating, though Margaret is bolstered by the support of the Threatts and a caring farmer, Elijah, who has great faith in God. Through Miller’s skillful writing, we see the filling station not only as a notable landmark, one deserving of all Americans’ attention, but as a superb metaphor for the people and places that replenish the spirit, if we have the courage to let them in. Definitely recommended.

Sarah Johnson

WHERE THE RIVERS MERGE

Mary Alice Monroe, William Morrow, 2025, $30.00/C$37.00, hb, 352pp, 9780063249424

Set in the low country of South Carolina, this story is told on two timelines. The main timeline takes place in the early 20th century. But it is framed by a 1988 timeline, where Eliza DeLancey (Lizzie) is telling her life story to her granddaughter Savannah and grand-niece Norah.

In 1988, Lizzie’s son Arthur is trying to wrest away her control over the family business. Lizzie wants to turn the family plantation, Mayfield, into a conservation area. Arthur is more interested in profiting from it. Lizzie loved Mayfield from childhood: the swimming hole, the plants and wildlife, and the massive oak tree that contained a hollow space big enough for children to hide. Despite her mother’s efforts to turn her into a lady, Lizzie was happiest running wild with her brother Heyward, family friends Tripp and Hugh, and her best friend Covey. Covey is the daughter of the Black man who helps Lizzie’s father run the plantation, and Lizzie and Heyward fight fiercely for Covey to be educated alongside them.

As the young people grow up, forbidden loves and diverging adult paths threaten their bonds. But the greatest threat emerges in 1917, when the United States enters WWI.

Two warnings about this book. The first is that the 1988 sections aren’t as well-written as the early 20th-century ones. The dialogue and general relationship between Eliza, Savannah, and Norah feel scripted and contrived. But the setting of the main story will draw you in, and the characters and the challenges they face will invest you in reading to the end. Thus, my second warning: the ending is a cliffhanger that will leave you wanting more. A second book is in process.

Kathryn Bashaar

LET US MARCH ON

Shara Moon, William Morrow, 2025, $18.99/ C$23.99/£10.99, pb, 336pp, 9780063213425

As the results of the Presidential election of 1932 come over the radio, Lizzie McDuffie prepares for an upheaval in her own life: Her husband, Irvin “Mac” McDuffie, is Franklin D. Roosevelt’s valet, and the Democratic victory means that Lizzie must leave her home and job in Atlanta to follow Mac and his employer to Washington. Lizzie quickly secures a maid’s job in the White House and gains the confidence of both the President and First Lady. Soon she learns that her proximity to power gives her a unique opportunity—that of advocating for her fellow Blacks, who face not only discrimination and segregation but terrorism in the form of lynchings.

Told by Lizzie in the form of a memoir, Let Us March On is a moving portrayal of a courageous woman, one who pushed the boundaries of her position while always being dogged by the sense that she could be doing more. The ups and downs of Lizzie and Mac’s married life are skillfully portrayed, as is the couple’s occasionally strained, but genuinely and mutually affectionate relationship with the Roosevelts. (Fala-watchers will not be disappointed either.) This is Moon’s first historical novel; it is a worthy debut.

Susan Higginbotham

THE DEVIL’S DRAPER

Donna Moore, Fly on the Wall, 2025, £11.99, pb, 276pp, 9781915789402

Glasgow, 1920: Mabel is a statement taker with the police (her gender debars her from being an officer). Beatrice is a war widow and bereaved mother, supporting herself by running an employment agency. Johnnie, who prefers to wear male clothing when she can, is a member of an all-woman gang of thieves, the St Thenue’s Avengers. Gradually, their three narratives interlace, as Beatrice investigates the high turnover of shop assistants in a city centre department store, discovering that the owner, Hector Arrol (a sort of Glaswegian Mohamed al-Fayed) has been sexually assaulting them. Then a young Avenger disappears.

Moore had not intended to write a sequel to her 2023 novel The Unpicking, but this reader is very glad she has (The Devil’s Draper works as a standalone, but I’d recommend reading both). She has also left open the possibility of a trilogy, not least with the establishment of a detective agency in the closing pages.

Moore evokes the vanished world of postWWI department stores in Glasgow. Arrol’s is invented, but a number of actual emporiums feature, and very grand they were. The details of their wares are beautifully conjured, especially the garments: ‘copper lace over copper ninon, jade silk tricotine, cherry silk net.’ But do not read this in search of costume drama/cosy crime. Moore takes the reader into a world where sexual assaults go unpunished because of the almost impossibly high bar of proof, where a woman wanting a divorce must prove more grounds than would her husband,

even if he had shut her up in an asylum for decades while he squandered her money, and where a working-class girl fished from the Clyde is too easily dismissed as a suicide.

Glasgow, the ‘dear, green place’ is here a dark one, and I unreservedly recommend you go there.

Katherine Mezzacappa

THE KEEPER OF LOST ART

Laura Morelli, William Morrow, 2025, $18.99/ C$23.99, pb, 352pp, 9780063206014

Many great works of art survived World War II only because concerned people cooperated to hide them. This includes Botticelli’s exquisite Primavera, a celebration of love, youth, spring, and hope that spent the war imperfectly concealed under risky conditions in a Tuscan villa.

Inspired by the Primavera’s true story, Laura Morelli has produced an uplifting novel that’s both deeply felt and deeply informative, creating a vivid picture of the villa, its inhabitants, and the war-torn Italian countryside. We see all this through the clear eyes of Stella Costa, a young girl sent to the villa from Torino to stay with her harsh aunt and kindly uncles. She’s been evacuated just like the Primavera, which is locked away upstairs along with other masterpieces from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Formerly villa employees, the uncles have been hired to keep these priceless treasures and Italian cultural artifacts safely out of Hitler’s greedy hands, especially while German soldiers occupy and trash the villa. Ultimately the art owes its survival to many keepers, not just the uncles, including Stella, her friend Sandro, Uffizi curators, Allied officers, a librarian, and finally one of the now-famous Monuments Men.

War rages around the villa, which also hosts a cellar full of fugitives and refugees. Life is brutal and fearful. Yet Stella and Sandro manage to grow up, forge a special bond, and learn a great deal about art, as does the delighted reader (the multi-talented Morelli is also a noted art historian).

One minor correction: in the British title system, which figures slightly in this rich and complicated novel, there is no Sir [Surname]; it’s always Sir [First name] [Surname], as in Sir Paul McCartney (Sir Paul for short, never Sir McCartney).

Susan Lowell

ROOMS FOR VANISHING

Stuart Nadler, Dutton, 2025, $28.00/C$37.99, hb, 464pp, 9780593475461 / Picador, 2025, £18.99, hb, 464pp, 9781035060887

Rooms for Vanishing is the story of a family of Viennese Jews torn apart by the Anschluss. Nadler tells their stories through the differing points of view of the characters: Sonja, the five-year-old daughter sent to London on the Kindertransport; Fania, the mother; Moses, the nine-month-old baby torn from his mother’s arms; and Arnold, the father. Nadler moves between time and place, traveling between

London, Vienna, Montreal, Miami Beach, New York and Prague wherever the characters go on their search.

It is a story of a rendering beyond imagination. A pain that tears at the fabric of the characters’ souls to the point that they are coming apart. It is a story of ghosts and death, trauma and survival, imagination and magic.

Nadler’s prose is exquisitely beautiful at the same time it is exquisitely painful. Separate rooms and walls illustrate the characters’ isolation while provoking the same sensation in the reader. His use of music, the works of Beethoven, Wagner, Bruckner, and Strauss, co-opted by the Nazis, shows contradictions between beauty and monstrous. As gifted as the writing is, there are times when the reader may be uncertain as to what is actually happening in the story. As Fania says, “… all of this is sadly quite meshugene.” She is correct. My advice is to let it go. Believe with the characters that you, like they, are seeing ghosts, talking to the dead, or waiting for their long-lost daughter to get off the train wearing a blue coat. I also advise reading in short bursts allowing yourself time to savor and absorb. At its heart, this is the story of grief: “…and grief, as you know, is both invisible and also the heaviest substance on earth.”

Meg Wiviott

THE LIBRARIANS OF LISBON

Suzanne Nelson, Zando, 2025, $18.00/ C$26.00/£12.99, pb, 352pp, 9781638931652

During World War II, Portugal remained officially neutral, making it fertile territory for spies from both sides. The Americans were no exception, training people from all walks of life in spycraft at “The Farm” before sending them overseas. In this book, friends Bea (librarian) and Selene (secretary) are inserted into jobs in Lisbon.

Selene, with her high society background and beauty, is given the task of infiltrating the upper-class mistresses with the goal of finding who’s betraying important refugees to the Nazis.

Bea thinks her day job of microfilming and cataloguing important books and papers is her war contribution. But soon her photographic memory and codebreaking skills are put to use for something greater—and more dangerous. With handsome men as love interests for both women, the friends’ storylines follow enemies-to-lovers tropes. I would have preferred more spycraft and less romance, but other readers may feel differently. With a wealth of historical research and attention

to detail, it’s an enjoyable read. I especially appreciated the comprehensive back matter explaining the various missions and spies that formed the inspiration for this book. This author writes books for a range of ages. This one is for adults and does include graphic sex scenes as well as violence.

Lisa Lowe Stauffer

HOMICIDE IN THE INDIAN HILLS

Erica Ruth Neubauer, Kensington, 2025, $27.00/C$37.00, hb, 432pp, 9781496741219

This sixth Jane Wunderly Mystery takes Jane and her new husband, Redvers, to India. In 1927, the British government has sent Redvers to learn all he can about India’s yearning for independence. Redvers’ work base is a government outpost in a hill town called Ooty. On the train there, Jane and Redvers meet Gretchen, a British widow. Gretchen has held various positions in India’s government and still has influence. A few days after their arrival in Ooty, Gretchen’s body lies mauled at the edge of a forest. The local police, all Brits, rule it a tiger attack despite gunshot wounds on Gretchen’s face.

Jane and Redvers can’t leave this death alone. They learn the police take bribes to create the desired investigation conclusion, that many locals value influence and power far more then truth or justice, and that the region’s British governor, though married to a British woman, has a string of local mistresses. Before long the Governor’s male secretary becomes a “suicide” victim from a gunshot at an unlikely angle. Jane’s mental list of potential suspects, most with something to kill for, increases daily. Typed notes and several locals warn Jane and Redvers to mind their own business and go home.

This cozy mystery unfolds in Jane’s firstperson voice, allowing readers access to her every thought, worry, and plan. We follow her exploration of the lush terrain, her attempts to deal with local customs and people, her discovery of sublime Indian food, and her growing worry for herself and Redvers. The twenty-seven short chapters move briskly with many unexpected twists and enigmatic characters. Monkeys, a large snake, and a great tiger make cameo appearances. Recommended for anyone wanting a credible mystery in a fascinating place and time.

G. J. Berger

AND INTRODUCING DEXTER GAINES

Mark B. Perry, Amble, 2025, $22.95, pb, 379pp, 9781612943138

It’s 1952 in Los Angeles, and a young wannabe actor, later rechristened Dexter Gaines, arrives to make his mark. Through a series of mishaps, he falls in with a famous couple—she an actress, he a producer—and the time he spends with them helps him understand who he really is. He narrates the events of 1952 from the 1990s, after Milly

has died. Dexter must come to terms with his past, which is revealed little by little, allowing the reader to experience revelations about his character alongside him.

The couple, Milly and Lilly, who are fictional, live in the opulent (and opulently rendered) Hancock Park—this novel is as full of champagne, cigarettes, and swimming pools as one could wish. Fans of Old Hollywood will enjoy cameos from the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, and Barbara Stanwyck, and those familiar with LA will recognize the vividly rendered settings.

The book’s darker main subject, though, is the homophobia of the industry at the time. Several characters are closeted gay men who take extreme measures to hide that part of themselves from their friends and the press, fearing serious consequences if it were to become known. These secrets affect everyone around them.

Not without its sobering moments, this is ultimately a heartwarming novel about love, friendship, and family that sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of film history—and also delivers a good story.

Elizabeth Crachiolo

THOSE OPULENT DAYS

Jacquie Pham, Grove Atlantic, 2024, $27.00, hb, 304pp, 9780802163806

Four friends from childhood navigate French colonial Vietnam in 1928, all heirs to their family’s businesses and fortunes, but one of them will not live through one particularly “opulent” night.

As young boys, Duy, Phong, Minh and Edmond meet at a boarding school and become fast friends, bonding over their elevated roles in Vietnamese society: Duy, Phong, and Minh are part of the elite Annamite society, wealthy Vietnamese and heirs of their fathers’ lucrative businesses in rubber, opium, and academia. They all gravitate around Edmond, however, whose whiteness and status as the son of a French diplomat forever places him atop the pyramid of friends. They grow into young manhood, carousing carelessly almost every night, drinking themselves into a stupor or smoking opium to pass the time. Meanwhile, ordinary people starve in the streets as they literally burn money in obnoxious competitions of wealth.

A prologue kicks off the story with a local fortune teller telling the boys their fates, in which “one of them will die” before moving on to the fateful night in 1928. From here, Pham moves backward to six days before the friends meet for a quiet night of indulgence at a palatial mansion in the Saigon hills. The narrative switches smoothly between each character and their viewpoint, written to veil the identity of the dead friend, and includes secondary characters—lovers, parents, and servants— who add an objective depth and nuance. As the night of the murder approaches, Pham holds the reader’s attention with depictions of the degrading aspects of colonialism upon Vietnamese and French alike. The mystery is

a satisfying one, with a bittersweet twist not entirely unforeseen.

Those Opulent Days is a rewarding story, written with elegance and a sharp eye toward the racial and social dynamics of 1920s colonial Vietnam.

Peggy Kurkowski

THE RADIO HOUR

Victoria Purman, Harper Muse, 2025, $18.99/ C$23.99, pb, 368pp, 9781400348039

When Martha Berry was younger, she dreamed of marriage, of children, and of an exciting career at the newly opened Australian Broadcasting Corporation. But twentyfour years later in 1956, as she celebrates her fiftieth birthday, Martha realizes that not much has changed in her life. She is still living with her widowed mother and is still an underappreciated secretary at the ABC. Her coworkers in the radio drama department would label her as polite, sensible, and steady. Her new boss, the fresh-from-university Quentin Quinn, labels her a relic. Relic she may be, but after twenty-four years Martha is skilled in, as she puts it, “rescuing men who had been appointed far above their level of competence.” And that’s exactly what she does when Quentin’s incompetence threatens both their jobs and the new radio show he’s been tasked with writing and producing. The time for being polite and sensible is past; Martha Berry has a radio show to rescue.

The Radio Hour is fun and heartfelt. Martha is an irresistible heroine, with a dry wit lurking behind her well-mannered exterior. It’s immensely satisfying to watch Martha grow into herself, gaining confidence in her abilities and intuitiveness. The book is peopled with a supporting cast just as rich, characters far more complex than appearances suggest. As I read, I cheered and I booed, as though I were indeed listening to a radio show and eagerly awaiting the next installment. Victoria Purman’s writing is effortless and her observations about gender, filtered through the wry Martha, are razor-sharp. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Jessica Brockmole

A FUTURE OF HER OWN

Samantha Quamma, Black Rose Writing, 2025, $18.95, pb, 330pp, 9781685135478

It’s 1965 in Washington state, and the first anti-war protests are popping up on college campuses. But protests are the last thing on Ramona Bronson’s mind when she enrolls for her freshman term. She wants to make friends, study hard, retain her precious scholarship, maximize the tips she gets from waitressing, and make the most of every opportunity her mother never had. She’s the first in her family to attend college, and life is full of possibility. Reality hits hard when Ramona discovers that female students have a midnight curfew. How can she keep her job when her shifts end after midnight? Should she break the rules or leave the job that funds her tuition? The situation isn’t helped when Ramona’s roommate turns

out to be a bigwig in the Association of Women Students – the group that promotes the many restrictive rules facing female students. Ramona’s choice is clear: she can toe the line or start to protest.

This novel follows Ramona’s first college term as she challenges the unfair restrictions imposed on female students and finds her tribe with the college’s freedom-of-speech protesters. Ramona is likeable and feisty, with a realistic combination of naivety and determination. I worried when she took risks and kept waiting for bad things to happen. She’s surrounded by well-drawn, sympathetic characters who add depth and detail to the story. My only complaint was that the young men in Ramona’s friendship group were far more enlightened about women’s rights than would have been realistic for the 1960s!

A Future of Her Own is Samantha Quamma’s first novel. It’s an enjoyable, well-paced story that will inspire your rebellious spirit and leave you feeling relieved that some things have changed. It reminded me of the college curfew I endured in the 1980s – which today seems so hard to believe.

Judy Gregory

A SHIPWRECK IN FIJI

Nilima Rao, Soho Crime, 2025, $29.95/C$39.95, hb, 272pp, 9781641295475

Twenty-six-year-old Akal Singh is an Indian police sergeant in the British colony of Fiji. In May 1915, he is ordered to travel from Fiji’s main island to the nearby island of Ovalau. There, he must investigate vague reports of Germans on the run. He will also escort two Australian female tourists who have undisclosed reasons for sightseeing in Ovalau. A native Fijian policeman, Taviti, goes along. Taviti’s close relative rules the main indigenous tribe on Ovalau. The routine tasks quickly turn deadly. Bodies of two locals brutally murdered turn up days apart. Taviti’s tribe captures European sailors with Norwegian papers. They might really be stranded Germans at war with the Brits and are also implicated in one of the murders. Taviti’s tribe won’t release the captured sailors to the Brits because they violated tribal law by killing and eating a sea turtle. Inter-island messages must travel by ship or carrier pigeon and thereby hamper communications with Singh’s superiors in Fiji’s capital. A mutual attraction develops between Singh and the younger Australian, Katherine. Beautiful Katherine yearns for a journalism career, and her curiosity helps find key clues in the murder investigations.

Singh, a humble and friendly Sikh, chafes against Europeans who mistreat all brownskinned people. Imperious British superiors don’t appreciate his keen ability to make sense out of complicated and conflicting clues. Rao’s detailed portrayal of Singh’s and the Fijian people’s struggles against race and class prejudices laced with multiple murder mysteries makes for an engaging read. Her prose and dialogue are uncluttered by cumbersome or literary language and easy to follow. Author

Notes explain the actual historical background from local tribal customs to European sailors stranded in Fiji. Highly recommended.

G. J. Berger

AN UNQUIET PEACE

Shaina Steinberg, Kensington, 2025, $27.00/ C$37.00, hb, 336pp, 9781496747822

This fast-paced, engrossing novel is set in Los Angeles and Berlin amidst the turmoil and expectancy of post-World War II. An Unquiet Peace is an ambitious book that blends historical, noir, and detective genres and invites readers to consider how individuals remain hopeful in the face of corruption, violence, and despair.

The two protagonists in this story, private investigator Nick Gallagher and socialiteturned-aeronautics president Evelyn Bishop, meet while working for the OSS and fighting with the French resistance. Their shared experiences and losses draw them together, something explored in Steinberg’s first book in this two-book series, Under the Paper Moon An Unquiet Peace deftly picks up where this earlier book left off, forcing Nick and Evelyn to grapple with both the sudden appearance of the long-assumed-dead wife and daughter of a German scientist extricated from Nazi Germany during the war, and the kidnapping of a bartender from an LA gentleman’s club. Steinberg is a masterful storyteller. In the first pages of this book, she sets many balls in motion, juggling several storylines and settings. Skipping from the frantic Berlin Airlift, to the heady first days of the Jet Propulsion Laboratories and the aeronautics industry, to the seedy LA underworld of police corruption and mafia influence, to the beginnings of McCarthyism in Hollywood, Steinberg offers us lots to think about. There is an element of noir fiction here as we are forced to see the darkness and corruption in this story. But the protagonists are so capable and so good that this story is more detective novel than noir, and offers readers a lightness and sense of hopefulness even during this most unquiet of times.

Suzanne Uttaro Samuels

A FOOL’S KABBALAH

Steve Stern, Melville House, 2025, $19.99/£16.99, pb, 304pp, 9781685891657

A Fool’s Kabbalah takes place in two times and places: in a Polish shtetl (Jewish village) occupied by Nazis, and in Europe about a year after the Nazi surrender. The Nazis subject the people of the shtetl to forced labor and torture, including sexual violence. Menke, a gawky young man, tries to keep the Nazis at bay by playing the fool. Despite his status as a sort of village idiot, Menke has more innate wisdom and folkish erudition than most of the people around him put together.

The chaos of postwar Europe is wandered by real-life Gershom Scholem (1897-1982), a scholar of the Jewish mystical school of thought, the Kabbalah. Scholem’s mission is to gather, preserve, and archive what he can

of Jewish texts dispersed by the Holocaust. He, too, can be seen as a fool, on a fool’s errand, when so much of Jewish culture has been irretrievably scattered, if not destroyed.

A renowned scholar seeking texts and an impoverished buffoon: two seemingly opposite characters (who never meet each other), whose quests yet intertwine. Both seek to preserve their people—their words and their lives—against seemingly inescapable destruction and loss.

A Fool’s Kabbalah is by no means an easy book to read. Stern does not spare on scenes of heartbreaking cruelty and degradation. The prose is dense, congested with the internal lives of the characters and the complexity of their lives. Yet if you’re willing to brave it, you may find in A Fool’s Kabbalah the light that leads us fools, against all odds and even fate itself, to try to redeem and rebuild our world again and again, throughout history.

Jean Huets

THE UNRECOVERED

Richard Strachan, Raven, 2025, £16.99, hb, 304pp, 9781526670533

The Unrecovered is set in a nursing home for wounded soldiers on the Scottish coast in 1918. Esther Worrell, a widow and aspiring poet, is working as a VAD treating badly injured men. And Jacob Beresford, recently returned from India and severely afflicted with TB, has inherited the derelict mansion of Gallondean, which is subject to an ancient curse.

A long-dead body is discovered in the grounds of Gallondean, while more recent casualties are piling up in France. At the same time animals are being horribly dismembered, and a young woman is stabbed while out walking. Esther has to confront the realities in front of her, while struggling with her own thwarted ambitions and entering into a tentative, if somewhat uneasy, relationship with Jacob.

This is an ambitious book, alternating Jacob’s diaries with accounts of Esther and her colleagues and patients at the hospital. It hops backwards and forwards, dipping not only into Esther’s past life but also into the lives of the wounded soldiers. Then there is Gallondean itself, whose history goes back to the Crusades. The story brings out all sorts of parallels between the current and past conflicts, including the “Jerusalem Operations” of the First World War.

Esther tries to write a long poem about the war, the Crusades, the “ideas of chivalry, and purpose…” But the words won’t come; it is hard to say exactly what the story is. Of course the war is a time of confusion, the old certainties gone. The book echoes the chaos of the times, but with so many strands there is a danger of confusing the reader.

Perhaps the answer is simpler: as the severely maimed Corporal Prevost says, too many questions lead to one inevitable question: was it worth it? A thought-provoking read.

Karen Warren

AGONY IN AMETHYST

A. M. Stuart, Oportet, 2024, $17.99, pb, 396pp, 9780645237931

This fifth and last volume in the Harriet Gordon series, set in colonial Singapore in 1911, is the most excitingly constructed mystery I’ve read for some time. The title refers to the shocking death of a fifteen-year-old girl who sang at a ball at Government House held to celebrate the arrival of the new Secretary of State for the Colonies, Henry Cunningham. Her body, oddly clad in an ill-fitting amethyst dress rather than her school uniform, had clearly fallen from the gallery windows above, and signs point to murder.

Harriet Gordon, quickly on the scene in her gray evening gown, is a doctor’s widow and teacher with a controversial past as a London suffragette. Her beau, Robert Curran of the Straits Settlements Police Force, has recently returned from extended business in Kuala Lumpur only to lose a promotion to his former Scotland Yard rival. Even worse, Cunningham’s presence in the country irritates Curran, since they were both associated with a case back in Britain which Curran was forced to abandon. Solving the present crime takes a two-pronged approach, both amateur (Harriet) and professional (Curran), which heightens tension when they’re not working in sync. As they investigate, their planned future gets complicated by secrets and betrayal.

Stuart continues adding new angles to the mystery while keeping tight control of the impeccably paced plot and its many players—I never felt lost. Harriet and Curran are wellrounded individuals with realistic flaws and a strong sense of integrity. The blend of cultures in Singapore is primarily background detail, with the focus being life and political administration in the British colony. There are a few apparent spoilers for previous events, as some characters are working through fallout from earlier books, but the author succeeds in weaving in sufficient backstory to make this novel stand alone.

Sarah Johnson

THE ENGLISH WIFE

Anna Stuart, Bookouture, 2025, $12.99/£10.99, pb, 396pp, 9781836186755

Stuart’s solid biographical fiction of Clementine Churchill spotlights two women in a world of conflict and rising fascism. Clemmie’s life from 1938 through the end of WWII is juxtaposed against the fictional Jenny Miller, wife of Ned Miller, a CBS broadcaster stationed in Britain for the duration. Their lives are based on Americans Janet and Ed Murrow. During the novel Clemmie has reason to spend some time with Jenny, working for the war effort, while they use each other as occasional sounding boards. This reveals much about Clemmie’s background through dialogue rather than straight prose. Clemmie, known to be a private person, is dedicated to her duty to support Winston in everything, and to keep him healthy for her family, for the nation and for the world.

In the couple’s personal exchanges, readers can hear their voices as they spring to life on the page. Clemmie, with her high status, is able to cut through red tape and her social accomplishments during the war years are legion – improving underground shelters, the Fulmer Chase and Fircroft maternity homes for soldiers’ wives, YWCA Hostels and Aid to Russia. Meanwhile Jenny engages in BBC broadcasts and organises Bundles for Britain. Stuart writes with simple clarity about this rather elusive bastion of freedom and social reform, notwithstanding the many thousands of pages written about her famous husband. All the characters play balanced roles, including the war itself. It is pure joy to read of a woman with such poise and etiquette, a principled woman who never made herself the star of her own show. This kind of strong, genteel humility seems so often absent today. Highly educative, timely and soundly crafted.

Fiona Alison

MIDNIGHT ON THE SCOTTISH SHORE

Sarah Sundin, Revell, 2025, $18.99, pb, 384pp, 9780800741860

In February 1941, the Nazis control Holland. A young Dutch woman, Cilla van der Zee, pretends she has joined the Nazi movement. Fluent in English and adept at Morse code, the Nazis train her in spy craft and then deposit her on the Scottish shore via a night submarine run. A local naval officer, Lachlan Mackenzie, spots her along with her radio transmitter, weapon, and money. Though Cilla wants only to evade Germans and save her relatives back in Holland, the English treat her as a bona fide German spy, throw her into jail, and interrogate her endlessly. Eventually the English Secret Service recruits her as a counterspy working in a Scottish lighthouse and transmitting useless ship movements and other war-related information to Germany.

The story unfolds in two main themes: a forbidden attraction between Lachlan and Cilla, and spy games. For most of the novel’s eighteen-month timeline, the Cilla/Lachlan personal connection slowly builds alongside Lachlan’s family crisis. Lachlan’s younger brother hates him, rails against imperious English rule, and wants a free Scotland. Complicated spy games and counterspy games heat up in the last third of the novel.

Sundin’s settings, from Holland to the Orkney Islands north of Scotland with their natural beauty carved by nasty weather, feel very real. Detailed spy and counterspy moves become page-turners. The truth behind Lachlan’s family saga unfolds in a sensible way. Unfortunately, some overly dramatic prose distracts. For example, eyes “slam” shut multiple times, and “Hurt pulsed in the blue green of her eyes”. People do not simply turn. They “spin” and “whirl” even while carrying a load of dishes. Nonetheless, this spy romance built on little-known Scottish WWII history will keep most readers engaged.

G. J. Berger

STARDUST

Hope C. Tarr, Lume, 2025, $17.99, pb, 368pp, 9781839016011

When seventeen-year-old Daisy Blakely embarks on an internship at the Paris fashion house of Coco Chanel, she’s starry eyed and a little naïve—although savvy enough not to boast of her wealthy family background to her new friends and co-workers. As she finds her feet at work and in Paris, Daisy’s good sense, innate sense of fairness, and her Irish stubbornness, are great strengths. But our heroine is about to face unimaginable challenges. It’s 1938, and as the Nazi war machine cranks into action, Daisy will need to grow up very quickly.

Stardust is an immersive read with a compelling blend of historical drama, character development, and romance. Daisy is drawn to two very different men—one a Jewish doctor, the other a young German officer. And then there’s her famous employer. Coco Chanel is a controversial figure, her reputation forever in question over her close links with the Nazi troops who occupy France and take over the Paris Ritz where Chanel lived, and Tarr does an excellent job of dramatizing Chanel’s allure for Daisy, as well as her clear failings. As Daisy becomes more and more involved in the French resistance movement, Tarr weaves in historical detail without ever losing pace or narrative drive. Readers will turn the pages rapidly in concern for Daisy as she develops into a brave, independent young woman, dealing with love, and loss, in the most difficult of times.

If you loved Kristen Hannah’s The Nightingale or Melanie Benjamin’s Mistress of the Ritz, don’t miss out on this one. Paris, peril, and passion – it’s all here.

Kate Braithwaite

FORGED

Danielle Teller, Pegasus, 2025, $27.95/C$36.95, hb, 367pp, 9781639369430

Treasury Department special agent T. R. Madden accosts the only passenger still sitting in the Grand Saloon of the SS Great Northern Catherine “Kitty” Warren—fully expecting to finally nab the woman he’s suspected of being a jewelry smuggler since 1902. But she smoothly talks her way out of the situation, leading the customs’ collector to admonish Madden, telling him: “That lady was no crook.”

Forged is Teller’s second book after the popular 2018 fantasy retelling of the Cinderella story, All the Ever Afters Forged introduces readers to 16-year-old Fanny who uses her new-found forgery skills to finagle a few dollars from a general store clerk so she can travel from Toronto to Cleveland and hopefully find her sister Betsy. After worming her way into the Garth household, she becomes young Mae Garth’s personal maid, friend, and pretend cousin Kitty. Fanny/Kitty over the next years resorts to deceptions, cons, forgeries, and smuggling to make her way.

Fans may be attracted to a story about a clever, resourceful, inventive, and sometimes daring grifter in the Golden Age, a woman who pushes against stereotypes and the roles

imposed on women. Yet the schemes take their time to appear, and descriptions often leave out details behind the deceptions—the thinking and planning, the understanding of the mark, and the big play.

Some situations are serendipitous. Some scenes appear to be afterthoughts, interrupting the chronology or story sequence. Occasional first-person observations interfere, preventing readers from understanding the motivations of the main characters. Forged does reveal a dilemma for both the wealthy and poor: how to break free from society’s tethers and become independent. It doesn’t, however, make a convincing case for Kitty as a con-woman or her scams.

K. M. Sandrick

THE MOONLIT PIAZZA

Annabelle Thorpe, Head of Zeus, 2025, £9.99, pb, 400pp, 9781803289236

Italy, WWII. This sequel to The Village Trattoria is described as a standalone, but I would disagree. It picks up where the previous novel left off, with the characters still reeling from events that are never recapped or explained. As a result, I struggled to work out what was going on and was unable to empathise with any of the protagonists. If you plan to read this book, I’d recommend reading The Village Trattoria first if you haven’t already and to stop reading this review now, because there will be spoilers for the earlier book.

Giorgio has had to flee to Rome (I never found out why) and is working at his uncle’s restaurant. Meanwhile, back in Amatino, his funeral is being held. The man in the coffin is Isaac, an old friend of Giorgio’s grandmother, Elena. Isaac died so Giorgio could escape, but poor Isaac gave his life for nothing because Giorgio is back in Amatino before long to check on his new bride, Sophia.

Sophia and Elena are trying to hold things together at Casa Maria, the family restaurant, while helping the resistance and trying to discover who has been betraying them to the Nazis. American codebreaker Kat and former family friend Davide are prime suspects –Kat because she is clearly hiding something and Davide because he was a supporter of Mussolini.

There is plenty of action, interspersed with some nice moments involving pasta-making and the developing friendship between Elena and a German. These scenes are well-written, and all the settings are beautifully described, but the plot is weak, and I found most of the characters unsympathetic.

Maybe I would have enjoyed this book a little more had I read the first, but perhaps not enough to be able to recommend it.

Sarah Dronfield

without warning, from her twin children and husband? Jeremy Tiang says a lot as he weaves an always gripping and mostly grim story of people caught up in the long conflict between the forces of the right and left.

That the right won and steered Singapore through a rapid and rare transformation from third world to first is well-known. The story of the communist insurgence in Singapore and Malaysia has faded from public memory, despite works such as Anthony Burgess’s Malayan Trilogy and Yeng Pway Ngon’s Unrest State of Emergency is a rich addition to this meagre literature.

Told from multiple viewpoints, linked stories connect small, human acts and place them against a larger narrative of ordinary people trapped in times when torture, murder, and massacre are condoned. From the opening scene, the historical MacDonald House bombing, to a fictional end in which Siew Li’s son gets as close to her as he ever will, this is a remarkable blend of the sweep of history and the minutiae of people’s lives.

There is a version of history which peddles the idea that the American invasion of Vietnam could have learned much from the more successful British-led intervention in Malaya. The survivors of Batang Kali (one of whom becomes a narrator for a while) would, of course, disagree. This novel gives them –and the dead – a voice.

I was left wanting to know much more about Siew Li than the author has revealed, even though she tells the story for some stints. There are surprising bloopers about the time zone in Thailand and a jungle being silent at night. On the balance, these are immaterial defects in this great work of historical fiction.

A. K. Kulshreshth

IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

Patrick Tracy, Independently published, 2024, $12.00, pb, 489pp, 9798990678217

STATE OF EMERGENCY

Jeremy Tiang, World Editions, 2025, $19.99, pb, 302pp, 9781642861549

Singapore, 1963. What can you say about a young woman, Siew Li, who walked away,

This is a saga of a young gay man’s experience in America’s LGBTQ history starting in 1964. Lamar Carpenter is the teenaged son of a U.S. Senator from Alabama, unhappily concealing his sexual orientation. His father is a segregationist, though he provides support for the family’s African American cook Daisy and her son Sam, giving Sam a job in the family’s warehouse business. Lamar’s father wants to toughen Lamar up, and assigns him to do manual labor alongside Sam for the summer, and then go to military school. Lamar discovers that Sam is also gay, and they have a furtive summer romance. Daisy learns of their affair and chides them for jeopardizing both families, since sodomy is illegal in Alabama,

and declares that Sam must marry and Lamar go off to school.

Initially bullied at the military school, Lamar eventually becomes a student leader and gets accepted to Harvard. There he is assigned a roommate, Lowell, who has some objectionable personal habits, but as time passes the two grow closer, and Lowell finally admits he is gay as well. They hide their relationship by pretending to date women who are willing to be cover for them. Lowell’s violently anti-gay father insists Lowell go into the family finance business, when Lowell would prefer to be an artist, and the conflict leads to tragedy.

I assume the author wanted to show how Lamar navigated LGBTQ issues over the decades, but as a reader I felt the novel was too long. Perhaps break it up into two parts? Editing would have helped correct a few info-dumps and historical anomalies, like a popular song referred to a decade before it was released. Still, Lamar, Lowell, and Sam are sympathetic and complex characters, and the reader will root for them to find happiness.

B.J. Sedlock

A REMEMBRANCE OF DEATH

Andrew Tweeddale, Independently published, 2024, £12.99, pb, 412pp, 9781739612221

A Remembrance of Death follows the life of Basil Drewe from his arrival at Oxford University as a law student in 1917 until 1956 when, following an accident, he finally discovers what happened to his missing brother. Throughout his life, he meets leaders from the Theosophist movement, participates in the Nuremberg trials, and is appointed to examine Britain’s activities in Kenya. He’s rich and privileged – and his wealth just happens to be the result of a family company that trades in crops grown in colonized nations. Basil lives in the shadow of death. He tries to live up to the memory of his idolized brother Adrian, who died in the First World War and is profoundly affected when his creative brother Christian, who was injured in that war, disappears in the Second World War. He’s aware that his wife Celia stays with him for stability rather than love, though it’s a long time until he understands why.

The book is more like a fictional biography than a novel. It lacks an overall plot, and events are linked by coincidence. The book has many characters with multiple perspectives and locations, and at times, I found this confusing. For much of the book, I couldn’t understand what the author was trying to achieve. However, there is a sense of things coming together at the end, and the book raises some useful themes. It will leave you thinking about the importance of family, the impact of war, the ethics of good rich people living on wealth stolen from other nations, and the ways that nations justify horrific activities during war or colonization. By the end of the book, I had

a deep affection for Basil and his wife Celia, and I wanted them as friends.

Judy Gregory

MULTI-PERIOD

THE OYSTERCATCHER OF SOUTHWARK

Erica Colahan, Chrism Press, 2024, $18.99, pb, 305pp, 9798887090429

This novel extends from 1897 to contemporary Philadelphia, and it is based on Colahan’s great-great-grandmother’s Italian Catholic immigrant family.

In 1897, the first heroine, Mary Paragano, a talented artist, dreams of a happy future. Her dreams get derailed when she falls in love with and marries an observant Jew, Jakob, and they move to Newark, New Jersey, to avoid her father’s marriage plans for her. Jakob, however, is a feckless gambler who systematically erases his wife’s identity and abandons her and their young family. With her three children in tow and little money, Mary attempts a perilous journey back to Philadelphia, which involves several adventures and several sets of kind benefactors. Her luck runs out soon enough.

In 2018, Bella, Mary’s descendant, devastated by her own divorce, decides to investigate the complicated stories she has heard about Mary and her family. She is helped by a new friend, Sophie, who claims to be related to Jakob. Sophie proves very resourceful in uncovering facets of poignant stories about Mary and her children.

Colahan’s style is reportorial; she builds one fact upon another, and most of these facts are dismal. One hardship follows another with little breathing room in between, which makes the novel approach melodrama. Letters and reminiscences from other characters, while they provide interesting information, are not well integrated into the main narrative and further contribute to a disjointed reading experience.

Joanne Vickers

THE LIBRARY OF LOST DOLLHOUSES

Elise Hooper, William Morrow, 2025, $18.99, pb, 320pp, 9780063382145

Elise Hooper’s engaging new novel centers around a glamorous San Francisco celebrity, gorgeous to look at and full of beauty and intellect.

Officially known as the Belva Curtis LeFarge Library, this fictional institution is affectionately nicknamed “the Bel,” an appropriate name for a Beaux Arts building as decorative as a wedding cake, which boasts a magnificent stained-glass ceiling as well as art and book collections… and secrets. These include secret rooms, secret relationships, secret identities, secret financial problems, and secret dollhouses that conceal their own secrets.

For, besides the Bel, Hooper’s other major theme is dollhouses, both delightfully

frivolous and deeply poignant, which pop up throughout the text.

Evoking the Huntingdon and Morgan Libraries and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Bel links a set of characters, principally its larger-than-life founder, Belva; her longtime love, Cora (one of several romances that unfold in the novel); and a young curator named Tilda. Their heartwarming story, seen through the eyes of Cora and Tilda, ranges adventurously across the 20th century and up to 2024.

Tilda plays detective here, as various mysteries are unraveled and problems solved, including her own stalled, dissatisfying, and monochromatic life, which evolves from neutral clothes and a workaholic obsession with the Bel to a shimmery pink designer gown and the promise of real happiness.

Those who love dollhouses and miniatures (who, Hooper points out, included Walt Disney and Britain’s Queen Mary) will find much to enjoy in her novel. Even more description of the dollhouses might have been welcome, as well as more lively scenes and fewer long expository speeches. But these are miniature quibbles, for overall The Library of Lost Dollhouses is an enchanting place to visit.

Susan Lowell

THE FISHERMAN’S GIFT

Julia R. Kelly, Simon & Schuster, 2025, $28.99/C$38.99, hb, 320pp, 9781668068687 / Harvill Secker, 2025, £16.99, hb, 368pp, 9781787304901

Scotland, 1900, and a severe winter storm is brewing and rolling into the small seaside village of Skerry. The next morning Joseph, a solitary fisherman, discovers an eight-year-old boy washed onto the beach, barely alive. He carries the limp boy, one shoe missing, up the hill to the minister’s house. With a collective gasp, Dorothy and other villagers watch and remember from the window of Mrs. Brown’s shop. The sea took Dorothy’s son many years before, leaving one shoe behind. A miracle, a gift – Moses has been returned to her. Dorothy feels herself unravel as her common-sense battles with her desperate desire.

Dorothy’s memories go back to her younger life and arrival in Skerry as the schoolteacher. She is an emotionally damaged woman by a harsh, critical mother; and Dorothy finds it impossible to form friendships and fit into village life, so of course, the villagers view her as cold and aloof. More memories of the past are revealed through Joseph and many of the villagers. Joseph’s heart is captured by her;

but when she finds herself warming to him, she pulls away and enters a loveless marriage with William. Her precious Moses is born. The current events of the winter of 1900 also unfold through the character’s various perspectives. Dorothy is asked to care for the mysterious little boy while the minister searches for his home and family.

This lovely, atmospheric novel is full of rich descriptions of the weather which plays a strong role in the lives of the villagers and the story’s events. There is a theme of letting go – of grief, of the past, of a loved one – and opening to life’s possibilities. Characters so real and events so heartbreaking are woven in to tell a story that leaves the reader wanting to stay in Skerry when the last page is turned.

Janice Ottersberg

THE CHAMPAGNE LETTERS

Kate MacIntosh, Gallery, 2024, $28.99/ C$36.99, hb, 341pp, 9781668061886

This dual-timeline novel features two strong, independent heroines. The first is the reallife Barbe-Nicole Clicquot who, after the death of her husband in 1805, decides to run the winery they had built together and to make the best champagne in the world. The Napoleonic Wars and trade barriers present a challenge because they prevent her from selling the wine abroad, so she conceives a daring plan to hire a pirate ship to carry the wine to Russia. Invading troops and the schemes of Napoleon’s court cannot keep her from realizing her dream of being the leading winemaker in France. In the present day, Natalie, an American woman in her fifties who has just gone through a difficult divorce, travels to Paris to start a new life for herself. There, she finds a book of Barbe-Nicole’s letters to her great-granddaughter. Natalie thinks she has found new love with a wine merchant, but when her romance takes a dark turn, she is inspired by Barbe-Nicole’s example to find the courage to become truly independent and follow her dream.

MacIntosh makes us care about both heroines, and the reader roots for Barbe-Nicole to succeed in her business and Natalie to break free of her dependence on her ex-husband and become the person she really desires to be. The book is told in alternating chapters, which leave you wishing to continue with the timeline you are reading but also wanting to know what happens in the other one. I was fascinated by the details MacIntosh offers the reader about winemaking and, in the present-day timeline, wine fraud. She also makes you want to learn

more about Barbe-Nicole Clicquot. The wine Barbe-Nicole created, Veuve Clicquot, is still a very famous brand of champagne. The book also makes the reader want to travel to France. Highly recommended.

Vicki Kondelik

THE LOST DIAMOND

Kathleen McGurl, HQ, 2025, £9.99, pb, 288pp, 9780008591700

With its dual timeline, this fast-moving love story is an easy read, and it is clear that the author has done careful research into postWW2 India and the dawn of independence. The two main protagonists are Lisa, living in London in the here and now, having recently broken up with a controlling boyfriend, and Celia, a headstrong teenager living in India with her widowed father during the last days of the Raj. What connects them across the years is Lisa’s discovery of a fabulous diamond brooch and her efforts to return it to its rightful owner. In doing so, she teams up with Ben, whose ancestors originally stole the diamond from the family of a maharaja, and they work together to research its history. In doing so they uncover a shocking story of intrigue, a touching unopened letter from father to daughter, and a legend that the diamond is cursed. The pace never slows and races towards the final denouement, making this book one to read at a gulp.

I did find that I had to suspend disbelief in some parts of the story. Although the author explains that there was a real-life event in which a melting glacier revealed possessions of a crashed plane, it still seemed unlikely that Lisa and her friend would find the diamond on their Alpine hike. I also found it hard to believe that Ben was too honourable to take his relationship with Lisa further because of a legendary curse!

There is quite a bit of over-explanation in the piece, and some of the dialogue is rather stilted and unnatural, but by and large, a very enjoyable read.

R. Hayes

A SHOWGIRL’S RULES FOR FALLING IN LOVE

Alice Murphy, Union Square, 2025, $18.99/ C$24.99, pb, 400pp, 9781454959465

Gilded Age New York City is a difficult time for an outspoken and unabashedly plus-size vaudeville star like Evelyn Cross. Between moral reformers intent on cleaning up the city’s theaters and tabloid newspapers sensationalizing them, Evelyn and her diverse band of fellow vaudevillians are vilified for their differences. But they have a chance for a comeback when the impresario of a soonto-be-opened entertainment palace, Thomas Gallier, falls under Evelyn’s spell and gives her carte blanche to arrange the acts for The Empire’s bill. The show is as shocking and irresistible as Evelyn herself and Thomas finds that he is no longer just worrying about his

new theater’s success; he’s worried about his carefully-guarded heart.

In the present-day, historian Phoebe Blair sees herself reflected in the plus-size Evelyn, though she’s always wished for even half of Evelyn’s confidence. When the descendant of Thomas Gallier hires her to dig into the Gallier family archives in search of Evelyn and Thomas’s story, Phoebe can’t resist either the research offer or the chance to spend more time with the outrageously handsome Armitage Gallier.

Alice Murphy lists, among her credits, screenwriting for the Hallmark Channel, and that writing experience shows in this lighthearted-yet-heartfelt romance. Evelyn is a force on the page, and her modern counterpart Phoebe is just as smart and witty. Their reserved and restrained love interests pale next to these vibrant women, but they do not detract from the story, which belongs to Evelyn and to Phoebe. Murphy was inspired by real plus-size dancers and vaudeville performers and, through Phoebe’s research, informs the reader about these historical women and about how women of size were treated by the media and theater-going public in the Gilded Age. A delightful debut.

Jessica Brockmole

HAPPY LAND

Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Berkley, 2025, $29.00/ C$39.00, hb, 356pp, 9780593337721

Nikki Berry’s life is not going well. She’s almost forty, fighting with her college-aged daughter, and running out of money. She’s also never visited her grandmother’s home in North Carolina, until that grandmother calls Nikki with an urgent summons.

What Nikki learns during that visit to North Carolina will change her entire life. Her very own great-great-grandmother, Luella, survived enslavement and after the Civil War helped establish a community for Black people called the Kingdom of the Happy Land. And Luella didn’t just help establish the community. She was their queen.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez tells the story through alternating viewpoints: Nikki’s and Luella’s. Readers get to learn what it was like to be a newly freed enslaved person trying to thrive, and not just survive, in a country that had given Black people long-awaited freedoms and yet surrounded them with hate and twisted policies that set them up to fail.

Readers also learn what happens as Nikki learns the truth about her ancestors, the benefits of a quieter life on a farm in North Carolina, and finally, the whole story of why her grandmother needed her to visit so urgently. Compellingly readable, with characters you’ll want to learn more about and historical background that is not well-known in the United States, this book is one you’ll want to read and discuss with others.

Amy Watkin

THAT BEAUTIFUL ATLANTIC WALTZ

Malachy Tallack, Canongate, 2024, £18.99, hb, 240pp, 9781838854980

That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz is a gentle, contemplative novel about human relationships and the routines of ordinary life. It explores what constitutes a life of fulfilment and pleasure but also acknowledges the frustrations and repressed emotions that must be faced along the way.

The novel is set on the remote Shetland Islands (on the Northern Atlantic) and is a dual timeline narrative. One narrative takes place in the present and focuses on 62-yearold Jack Paton, who has lived his whole life in the same cottage on the Shetlands, initially with his parents and now alone. He lives by menial jobs, buys his food in the local shop and spends his spare time listening to and creating music (he plays guitar, and his hand-written lyrics are interspersed throughout the novel). He has a particular fondness for country music, and a hint is given of Jack’s emotional state that one of his favourite songs is Hank Williams’ 1949 ballad, ‘I’m So Lonesome, I Could Die.’ Jack’s life is stable and routine –until someone leaves an abandoned kitten on his doorstep and his life is about to change.

The second narrative timeline could not initially be more different. It follows the life of Jack’s father, the prologue starting in 1957 in the middle of a dramatic storm on a whaling ship in the southern Atlantic. We see the last years of the Shetland whaling industry with all its excitement and barbarity. His whaling contract fulfilled, Sonny returns to Shetland to marry and settle down. Prosperity comes to the island in 1975 in the form of North Sea Oil. Jack is born in 1960, and, in his early days, we see the unfulfilled ambitions and regrets that will colour his later narrative.

This is a beautiful, lyrical and philosophical exploration of loneliness and the meaning of connection.

Adele Wills

THE HOUSE OF ECHOES

Alexandra Walsh, Boldwood, 2025, $18.99/£12.99, pb, 400pp, 9781804159651

Anne Brandon, eldest daughter of Henry VIII’s best friend and brother-in-law, was one of many aristocrats whose lives were torn apart by the king’s quest to divorce Katherine of Aragon. Turning the focus on Anne, as Alexandra Walsh does in her new dualtimeline novel, illuminates a little-known story of marital strife, revenge, women’s resilience, and lasting love. Anne grows up in the affectionate household of her Papa, Charles Brandon, and her stepmother, Mary Tudor. Her social position means she must marry a nobleman, and the partner chosen for her is Edward Grey, Baron Powis, even though Anne has always loved another. Edward’s taunts escalate to cruelty after Anne fails to give him a child.

The parallel narrative, set in 2024,

features Caroline Harvey, whose reclusive late grandfather had authored a massively bestselling science fiction series. In researching the history of the remote Pembrokeshire woodlands that served as his writing nest, Caroline finds the ruins of a place called Hanworth House and investigates its provenance. In the process, Caroline reconnects with two old friends and deals with (or has her agent deal with; she’s a very wealthy woman) a difficult ex and his new girlfriend, who are squatters in Caroline’s London flat.

While Caroline’s narrative is interesting enough to hold attention, its ties to Anne’s story are loose—Caroline doesn’t make discoveries we don’t already know—and it’s frustrating to know that the author is withholding secrets about Caroline from the reader. For anyone who prefers historical over contemporary narratives, Anne’s tale can easily be enjoyed on its own. It offers a strong plot and a rewarding character arc for Anne, from her changing observations about the scandal-ridden royal court to her complex relationship with her charming, flawed father.

Sarah Johnson

HISTORICAL

FANTASY

THE COUNTRY UNDER HEAVEN

Frederic S. Durbin, Melville House, 2025, $19.99/£14.99, pb, 336pp, 9781685891695

Ovid Vesper has made it through the Civil War alive, but not unscathed.

Living a peripatetic existence, he moves from one town to another on his trusty horse, Jack, sometimes on a cattle drive, sometimes serving as a deputy sheriff – always doing good wherever he roams. But this isn’t the typical Old West; it’s the “Weird” West, manifesting in Lovecraftian ways that Ovid and a few like him can perceive. Ever since a near-death experience at Antietam, Ovid has been aware of The Craither (creature) which stalks him with dark and unknowable intent. There are various other (lower-case) craithers Ovid encounters where the edges of his world bleed into others. The result is a West whose perils are two-fold: the usual gun-toting, outlawing kind, and the supernatural.

The novel is uniformly absorbing, reading as a string of loosely connected adventures (think: episodes of a 1950s Western), with “interludes” that progressively illuminate

the nature of The Craither. Its themes are universal and deep: the fight against darkness and the unnatural, the need for healing both personal and societal, especially in a country recently riven by war. The story is imaginative, but the real draw is the characterization. Ovid is a narrator the reader never tires of: he’s sympathetic, unfailingly moral, full of the desire to help, even for those from “the other side” of a war or with whom he has absolutely no connection. He takes people as he finds them, seeking peace for himself and quietly assisting others. The characters he meets in this landscape are vibrant. Add in skilled pacing and a hefty dose of thrills, and this Western epic ticks every box for a superb read. As Ovid himself muses, “I was glad that we human beings had the gift of words, through which we could give each other a lot.”

Bethany Latham

THOSE FATAL FLOWERS

Shannon Ives, Dell, 2025, $18.00, pb, 384pp, 9780593725306

In the ancient world, a handmaiden to Proserpina (Persephone) betrays her mistress, the Goddess of Spring, who is kidnapped. As punishment, Thelia and her sisters are banished to Scopuli, transformed into halfbird, half-woman creatures with a siren song that lures ships to their death on the rocks of their jagged island home. Feasting on sailors sustains them for centuries until Thelia discovers an escape—a way to lure more sailors to her and her sisters’ ravenous salvation. But when Thelia leaves the protective surroundings of Scopuli, she no longer possesses her supernatural powers. She lands as a mortal in Roanoke, a remote European settlement in the “New World”. Here, Thelia informs the starving colonists that she is a princess in search of a consort to help rule her island.

While the strictness of the early American settlement is familiar to modern audiences, the reader is outraged anew through Thelia’s perspective: women must marry men they do not love, work in abusive conditions, and stay cloistered in smoky cabins even within the walled settlement that should be safe. It is because of Thelia’s experience of the ancient world that the reader finds the resonance that Ives seems to preach: that power and beauty is eternally lusted after, and women are the vehicles for men’s gain. The prose is easy to read, and Thelia’s almost child-like shock of gendered crimes against women is gratifying. Because the modern world asks women to “get over it” when these crimes are committed by men who were supposed to be trustworthy, Ives’s Thelia is a supernatural protector: a fierce eater of villainous men who prey on innocent women.

This sapphic revenge tale is highly recommended for fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe

Katie Stine

WRITTEN ON THE DARK

Guy Gavriel Kay, Berkley, 2025, $29.00, hb, 320pp, 9780593953983 / Viking Canada, 2025, $40.00, hb, 320pp, 9781037800504 / Hodderscape, 2025, £25.00, hb, 320pp, 9781399747035

Written on the Dark, set in an alternate medieval France, fits into Kay’s broad, centuryspanning world of historical fantasy, stretching from Sarantium (Byzantium) to Ferrieres (France), with a sun god Jad religion and two moons.

A quick-witted poet (and lawyer), Thierry Villar, who is more at home in taverns than among aristocracy, is backed into solving a royal murder—and then into assisting his country against foes foreign and internal. In the process, he interacts with a remarkable mix of people, among them the queen who protects her mad husband, a young girl whose religious zeal might save that king, a renowned woman poet, and an ambiguously gendered person who sees into the “halfworld.” These are troubled times of political conspiracies and a long-drawn-out war, none of which Thierry wishes to be involved with—or at least that’s what he assumes.

This intelligent, beautiful novel moves between finely detailed scenes and philosophically sweeping passages. Kay’s graceful language is illustrated in the first chapter where he sets out a key theme: “Not everyone alive in that winter night, and the following day when chaos erupted, would live to see the flowers return, or the warmth of summer, or enjoy the fruits of the harvest that followed. But that is always so. Men and women live with a heart-deep uncertainty every morning when they wake. It is why they go to war, why they write poems, fall in and out of love, plan thefts on dark nights, or try to forestall them. Why they pray. Or refuse to pray. It is the uncertainty that shapes and defines our lives.”

A highly recommended, masterful contribution to Kay’s celebrated fictional world.

Judith Starkston

THE ADVENTURES OF MARY DARLING

Pat Murphy, Tachyon, 2025, $18.95, pb, 320pp, 9781616964382

Mary Darling—a mother with an independent spirit—lives in Victorian London with her husband, George, and three children, Wendy, Michael, and John. When her children suddenly vanish, she is desperate to find them. John Watson, her uncle, presents her strange case to his friend, the infamous Sherlock

Holmes. It does not take long before Holmes is blaming her for her children’s disappearance. When the tide of the investigation turns against her and she is about to be locked away, Mary has no choice but to embark upon a journey to find her children, heading to the most unexpected of places: Neverland.

This is a clever and unique story that marries together characters from two wonderful authors, Arthur Conan Doyle and J.M. Barrie, including Mary Darling, John Watson, Sherlock Holmes, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and Nana, among others. This is a cool and intriguing idea.

Some of Murphy’s best writing is in her rich portrayal of the Neverland characters, some of whom are larger than life. One who truly stood out to me was the titular character, Mary, who must deal with so much adversity while remaining strong for her children. Another fascinating example is Peter Pan. He turns out to be more of a villain than a hero.

While this story was such a fun idea, it falls short in the execution. The framing is slightly misleading because Sherlock Holmes did not play as prominent a role as I had expected. The pacing is slow at times, and the ending feels a bit rushed. Ultimately, though, I found Mary’s story to be an engrossing read, and I loved the twist, which I didn’t see coming.

Elizabeth K. Corbett

BOY WITH WINGS

Mark Mustian, Köehler, 2025, $23.75, pb, 338pp, 9798888244296

In Depression-era Florida, Johnny Cruel is the illegitimate child of a fragile woman and a ruthless politician. He’s born with ridges on his back that grow into feathered wings large and strange enough to blight his life, but not strong enough to carry him to a better land. Orphaned early, he makes his way to the turpentine camp where a poor Black community gives him welcome and purpose. But Johnny’s born to trouble. He’s kidnapped by sexual predators, then bought for a traveling freak show run by a wily, ambitious dwarf. Crowds pay to stare, poke and touch, but Johnny endures, finding friendship, even love, and educates himself until a new tragedy strikes and he must make his uneasy way alone.

Boy with Wings is a lyrical, mesmerizing blend of the magical—feathered wings—with social realism—racism, exploitation of workers, ostracism of the “other” and brutal political ambition. Johnny’s guileless innocence moves some to pity and caring; others go for a fast buck or crude laughs. Since much of the novel is from Johnny’s limited point of view, Mustian adds narrations from surrounding adults which supply context and explanation but may blunt emotional intensity. Some plot turns lack credibility, but after all, here’s a book about a boy with wings. Through mystery and finely detailed travels in the poor South, Mustian’s artistry bears us along to the heart-rending end.

Pamela Schoenewaldt

THE AMALFI CURSE

Sarah Penner, Legend Press, 2025, £18.99, hb, 320pp, 9781917163460 / Park Row, 2025, $30.00, hb, 336pp, 9780778308003

1821, Positano, Italy. Mari is a stregha, a sea witch. Unbeknownst to even their close family, she and her fellow streghe use their powers to control the ocean to keep La Galli, the waters surrounding their village, safe for the fishermen but treacherous for pirates, who are unable to navigate through the maelstrom created by the enchantresses. Mari, however, hates the sea that took away her mother and her younger sister, and is secretly planning to run away with Holmes, her American-born seafaring lover.

Present day, Positano. Haven is the leader of Project Relic, consisting of an all-female team of nautical archaeologists tasked with exploring La Galli, a stretch of water which has a puzzlingly large number of shipwrecks littering the sea floor. On her first day she witnesses the inexplicable sinking of a yacht in perfectly calm waters in La Galli, with the loss of most of its passengers. Is she seeing the Amalfi Curse at first hand? Haven also has her own secret mission: to search for gemstones her father believes he’d seen on his last dive the day before he suffered a stroke from which he never recovered.

Mari, Holmes and Haven tell their stories in alternating chapters, and we share their passions, fears, disappointments and the lifeand-death decisions they have to make. It is about the use and misuse of power and the responsibilities that come with it; it is about the making and breaking of legends.

I found it a very enjoyable and satisfying read, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading of love and adventure, all liberally dusted with enchantment.

Marilyn Pemberton

BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL

V. E. Schwab, Tor, 2025, $29.99/ C$39.99/£17.99, hb, 544pp, 9781250320520

Schwab’s historical fantasy intertwines three women whose collective story and individual lives span centuries. Maria’s story opens in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Spain, in 1532, Lottie’s in London 1827, and Alice’s in Boston 2019.

Schwab’s masterful characterization of each, differentiated by their distinctive voices, creates the emotionally compelling core from which unfurls the novel’s driving force: each woman’s response to her transformation into a near-immortal and violent creature. Schwab’s vampires provide rich, unexpected loam in which to explore human yearnings for love, sustenance, and freedom. Vampires in Schwab’s skilled hands have expectationdefying depth, whether a reader usually loves or hates vampires. Relationships between women and the dynamics of control and need are central to this brilliant dive into the human heart.

Schwab seamlessly integrates character

with style, different and evolving for each woman. The language is period-appropriate but goes well beyond that. Alice’s 2019 narration sounds contemporary with hints of stream-of-consciousness (adroitly startling after Maria’s voice in 1532 Spain). But also, the reader feels Alice’s struggle to find and become herself—her doubts and powerlessness—in the piling up of “when” and “and” clauses in this example: “It’s because there’s a moment, pressed beneath the weighted blanket of the storm, when her body stops fighting, when all the voices inside her finally go quiet, and her shoulders loosen and her lungs unclench and her skin goes numb and the line between girl and world gets smudged, and she is washed away.”

Will these women find and hold onto their deepest desires? Who and what will they destroy in the process? Those plot strands drive the reader forward, but the literary virtuosity glues the reader exquisitely to each page.

Judith Starkston

THE LISTENERS

Maggie Stiefvater, Viking, 2025, $30.00, hb, 416pp, 9780593655504 / Headline Review, 2025, £20.00, hb, 432pp, 9781035406197 In this satisfying historical fantasy, June Hudson is the General Manager of the Avallon: a luxury spa and hotel nestled in the gorgeous Appalachian coal country of West Virginia.

The hotel has been the charmed playground of America’s rich and powerful for decades, owing partly to the magic of the Sweetwater, an uncanny, powerful underground mountain spring. June has grown up at the Avallon, and like its original owner, Francis Gilfoyle, she can “listen” to the Sweetwater, calming and coaxing it to continue imbuing the Avallon with the joyful magic that makes it the perfect hotel. She guides and nurtures the Avallon like a living thing, earning the respect of the wealthy guests as well as her staff. She is not motivated by money or fame, however, but by her affection for her mentor’s large family, none of whom inherited their father’s ability to hear the Sweetwater.

The happy symbiosis of hotel, staff, guests, and Sweetwater is threatened when, in the spring of 1942, the Avallon is pressed into service to shelter German, Italian, and Japanese diplomats who will soon be exchanged for American prisoners of war. June and her kind, principled, loyal staff must extend the Avallon’s legendary pampering to

their enemies, and do so with a smile, for the sake of their country’s diplomatic goals.

There are two other Listeners in the story: Tucker Minnick, a taciturn but sexy G-man assigned to guard the unwilling guests, and Hannelore Wolfe, the autistic daughter of a high-level Nazi. The plot that intertwines these three characters is suspenseful, dense and fascinating, written with Stiefvater’s characteristic witty dialog and lush description. She makes sure the reader loves the Avallon as much as June does, and fills the hotel with appealing characters, many of whom are based on her extensive historical research.

Kristen McDermott

UPON A STARLIT TIDE

Kell Woods, Tor, 2025, $28.99, hb, 432pp, 9781250852519

In the maritime city of Saint Malo in 1758 Brittany, France, Lucinde Léon is the youngest daughter in a rich and aristocratic shipbuilding family. But there is something different between Luce and her sisters. She is beautiful and a bit darker, has a deep and abiding love for the sea and, oddly, has pain in her feet when walking. She also has secrets. Luce occasionally slips off to learn to sail with a local lad who makes a living smuggling between England and France while both are at war with the other. Early one morning, Luce manages to save from drowning a handsome shipwrecked young man who seems to ignite strange new developments for them all. Her family and her sisters want to marry well and assume proper places in society. Luce more than ever wants to go to sea. As the war heats up, Saint Malo becomes threatened by a ravenous English fleet and Luce’s idiosyncrasies become evident as she learns to work within the realm of fairies and mythical sea folk. Luce now has momentous choices to make and even darker secrets to discover.

Billed as a fantasy, this novel was for me a mixture of romance, paranormal, military, espionage, adventure, and maritime subgenres. Surprisingly, the author pulls it all off quite well. The characters are likeable and believable, though it does feature the obligatory “evil nobility and noble common people” theme as the story develops further. I especially liked the descriptions of the historical settings and Saint Malo in particular, though I would have preferred to read more about the military conflict and less about women’s 18thcentury high fashion apparel. In any case, there is something for all historical fiction fans to admire here. Recommended.

Thomas J. Howley

DEATH AT A HIGHLAND WEDDING

Kelley Armstrong, Minotaur, 2025, $28.00, hb, 336pp, 9781250321312

In Victorian Scotland, former housemaid Catriona Mitchel serves as “assistant” to Dr. Duncan Gray and his friend, Edinburgh Detective Hugh McCreadie, which puts her in the way to solve murders. She’s singularly well-suited for this line of work, given that she’s actually a Canadian detective from the present named Mallory Atkinson, transported back in time and into Catriona’s body. In this outing, the trio heads into the Scottish countryside, bound for a Highland estate to attend the nuptials of McCreadie’s sister to Archibald Cranston. Cranston is far from popular as new lord of the manor, and when his best friend is found murdered on a dark night, it’s a suspected case of accidentally clobbering the wrong man.

This is fourth in the Rip Through Time series, and its time-slip framework offers the author a clever pass on, essentially, historical atmosphere. Attitudes and views problematic for a Victorian protagonist to hold are incorporated organically, since Mallory/Catriona is a modern character. As narrator, she offers running commentary which over-explains almost everything and frequently condescends to the reader (does one really need “Social rules are so much more rigid here … and rebelling against them risks ostracism” or to be reminded that Gray can’t collect DNA?) The modernist sensibility extends to ruminations on how everyone is “feeling” and the tone of the will-they-won’tthey relationship between Gray and Mallory, as well as the jokey rapport between the primary character group. This mystery will appeal to those who like a chatty tale focused on character relationships, with everything historical exposited.

Bethany Latham

THE MINIATURIST’S ASSISTANT

Katherine Scott Crawford, Regal House, 2025, $21.95, pb, 312pp, 9781646035922

In Charleston, South Carolina, in 2004, Gamble Vance is an expert at restoring miniature portraits. But there is one that she can’t forget—a woman with hazel eyes. Why does she look familiar? Then Gamble sees a young woman in Stoll’s Alley in old-fashioned dress. She appears to be a ghost, or a memory, and looks very much like the woman in the portrait. The woman even speaks to her. Gamble is impatient to share this with her best friend Tolliver. Tol is of the Geechee people, who believe in ghosts, and he will not think she is crazy.

TIMESLIP

In 1805, Daniel Petigru paints miniature portraits for Charleston’s wealthy. He is missing Gamble, who has left him and gone back to her time. She appeared in October 1804, brought home by his sister Honor, who announced she’s been seeing this woman in

Stoll’s Alley since she was 12 years old. But the connections are deeper than all of them know, and Gamble is destined to come back.

This is a story with deep meaning and a message that some souls are meant to meet, regardless of where and when they happen to be. They must meet sometimes as part of their own fates—their own lives or deaths, and sometimes it is for reasons they cannot begin to understand. There do not seem to be fast rules of time travel in this novel. The rules are fluid and subject to change. The method of time travel appears to be a place, but also possibly a person. As the lives of those affected flow into each other, so do the rules and methods of time travel. The relationships—friends, lovers, siblings, parents, and children—are all well written and profoundly felt. This is an emotional and impactful novel. Highly recommended.

Bonnie DeMoss

THE ARTIST OF BLACKBERRY GRANGE

Paulette Kennedy, Lake Union, 2025, $16.99/£8.99, pb, 351pp, 9781662524158

In Kansas City in 1925, twenty-eight-yearold Sadie Halloran finds herself jilted by her lover and penniless. Upon learning that her wealthy, childless great aunt Marguerite is in failing health, Sadie travels to the dying woman’s Missouri estate, named Blackberry Grange. Claiming she wants to care for Marguerite, Sadie hides her ulterior motive—to inherit the property. She befriends Marguerite’s maid, nurse, and the attractive gardener, Beckett.

While snooping through the house, Sadie finds pictures that Marguerite painted over the decades, portraying her many lovers and her two deceased sisters. Examining the paintings, Sadie is pulled into a time-slip existence, moving between the present 1925, and the early 1880s when Marguerite and her sisters, then of marriageable age, fight with each other over suitors. Sadie encounters ghosts that haunt the house, including one who is particularly lascivious, as well as curses that cross generations. Mystery piles on mystery until Sadie, with help from dying Marguerite, uncovers the truth about her heritage and herself. Along the way, as Sadie faces the ups and downs of her romance with Beckett, she must decide how much to tell him about her alternate existence.

With Sadie, Kennedy has created an appealing character whose change from selfishness to empathy, at the heart of the book, will keep readers’ interest. Despite this strength, the book’s pace tapers off in the middle, with too many ghosts pulling too many strings. Readers who love time-slip novels, dual time-line novels, ghost stories, and haunted house tales will admire the novel. Others may wish for fewer curses or less malevolent ghosts.

Marlie Wasserman

SPLINTER EFFECT

Andrew Ludington, Minotaur, 2024, $28.00/ C$37.00, hb, 320pp, 9781250349309

Timetravelling chronoarcheologist Dr. Rabbit Ward jumps back to 535 CE Constantinople in this thrilling debut from Andrew Ludington. Rabbit’s employers, the Smithsonian, are still searching for the sevenbranched menorah

candelabrum, which Rabbit thought he had found twenty years ago in Rome, but managed to lose in the mayhem, along with his partner Aaron, presumed dead, much to Rabbit’s humiliation. He lands in Greece, with a long walk ahead of him to Constantinople, but strikes up a friendship with an eager young soldier whose talents are wasted on guarding a road crew and who is delighted to guide him to the city.

As one might expect, things do not go as planned, and Rabbit fears he may create a splinter, a quantum blunder that would bury the artifact in a time-branch Rabbit will not be able to reach when he returns to his 2018 present. Enter Helen, a time-travelling stringer who works for nefarious and covert masters, and whose job it is to steal from a government approved jumper like Rabbit. But will the deal they reach mean they both win, or will it cost Rabbit Helen’s friendship and affection, something he is increasingly unwilling to lose?

This is a marvelously unique historical timeslip, where “bury it in the past, dig it up in the future,” is the name of the game. It is well-researched and packed with meticulous detail, a smooth ride for the reader into sixthcentury Constantinople’s culture and politics. There is some wry wit, but the emphasis is on the historical and the life and times of the characters. Understandably, the novel has Outlander comparisons, but this reviewer feels it is more of a clever reimagining of the Stephenson/Galland collaboration, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. Bravo, Mr. Ludington! Can we convince you to venture out with Rabbit and Helen again?

Fiona Alison

THE EXPERT OF SUBTLE REVISIONS

Kirsten Menger-Anderson, Crown, 2025, $28.00/C$37.99/£20.00, hb, 256pp, 9780593798300

Menger-Anderson takes on the complexities of time travel in her new novel, set in contemporary California and 1930s Vienna’s halls of academia. The novel mirrors the vigorous, yet rapidly eroding intellectual life of pre-war Vienna as fascism surges to the forefront. In 2016, Hase makes a scheduled trip to Half Moon Bay to meet her stepfather, who should be arriving in his sailboat, but doesn’t. A few days later, a news article appears about an abandoned ‘ghost-ship’ found floating off the

coast. Although not of her own volition, Hase has been on the run all her life, living off the grid with her dad, one message drilled into her throughout her childhood—if he disappears, she must “get the book”. When she locates the book, what she finds leads her to Wikipedia, where she often spends time using her editorial privileges to update details, or abusing them to delete foolish miscellany. Her dad’s message presents a puzzle she must race to unravel. In 1933, geometry lecturer, Anton Moritz, arrives in Vienna and is invited into Dr. Englehardt’s private philosophy circle comprised of only the sharpest minds. He is swiftly promoted to a professorship, setting off a rivalry which echoes through time.

This is an utterly engrossing time-slip novel which doesn’t fall down romantic rabbit holes of people slipping backwards and forwards through the eras, although love runs silently in its shadows. It explores the essence of what time travel might look and feel like were someone to figure out how to accomplish it mathematically. In this case two people do, by creating a music box full of intricate cogs and gears. Menger-Anderson ties classical music with mathematics, using academic brilliance in an intricately plotted tale featuring eclectic individuals and persuasive settings. I never once questioned the credibility of this awesome novel.

Fiona Alison

THE EDGE OF YESTERDAY

Rita Woods, Forge, 2025, $28.99, hb, 288pp, 9781250805645

Set in Detroit in the present and a century earlier, Rita Woods’ gripping timeslip novel explores two people’s yearnings for a different future, the inexplicable link they share, and the ripple effects of seemingly small changes. In short: the more you mess with time, the more it’ll mess with you.

Formerly a member of a New York-based Black ballet company, Greer McKinney has returned with her husband, Bass, to Detroit after distressing neurological symptoms made her quit working. Temporarily staying in one of her wealthy in-laws’ properties, Greer despairs over her life amid escalating arguments with Bass. Then one day, while on her way to visit a friend, she gets briefly zapped into the past –the special effects feel disorientingly real – and glimpses a bustling street scene and a tall man in old-fashioned clothing.

In 1925, Dr. Montgomery “Monty” Gray is a member of the “Talented Tenth,” a group of well-educated, socially aware Black leaders. With this role comes responsibilities, including marrying his best friend Aggie, a woman within his class. Racial strife is heating up, and when a gangster crashes their engagement party, challenging people to rise up against whites who terrorize African Americans who cross the color line, Monty foresees a terrible reckoning.

Greer’s startling trips back to 1925, which she comes to seek out, are mutually valued. Monty is amazed to learn a Black man will be President, while Greer’s health improves every time she returns home to 2025. Problem is, other aspects of her life change, too.

Both storylines are individually interesting, and the plot and atmosphere turn electric when they intersect. One small criticism: the book wraps up too quickly. While illustrating the vitality of the early 20th-century Black Bottom-Paradise Valley neighborhood, which was demolished decades later for redevelopment, Woods delivers an exciting work of speculative fiction with many hardto-predict twists.

Sarah Johnson

but learn to respect the women in the family as equals.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann

UNDER THE SAME STARS

Libba Bray, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2025, $19.99, hb, 480pp, 9780374388942 / Atom, 2025, £20.00, hb, 480pp, 9780349125688

CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULT ONE STEP FORWARD

Marcie Flinchum Atkins, Versify, 2025, $19.99/ C$24.99, hb, 320pp, 9780063339316

Bray has written a novel I hope many teens will read, because it reminds us that the young are our best hope for resisting fascism at any time and place in history. This multi-period narrative presents three pairs of friends— Sophie and Hanna in 1942 Germany, Jenny and Lena in 1980 Berlin, and Miles and Chloe in 2020 Brooklyn—as they face the realities of wars both hot and cold, and pandemics both of germs and of hatred. Everything begins at the legendary Bridegroom’s Oak in northern Germany, a real location where generations of young people have hidden letters addressed to their sweethearts.

wants to know about the voice of the river, which came into her mind as she pulled the jewel from the clay. The author describes the feelings of Bo and her friends well, whilst also giving a hint of magic and the supernatural. There are objects to find before the eclipse of the sun, but ultimately it is Bo who will have to choose how to resolve the story. This is a fastpaced and well-written adventure suitable for middle grade readers (8-12). Jessie Burtonis well known for her four adult novels: The Miniaturist, The Muse, The Confession and The House of Fortune, and has also written two other books for young readers: Restless Girls and Medusa.

Julie Parker

TRUTH, LIES, AND THE QUESTIONS IN BETWEEN

L. M. Elliott, Little, Brown, 2025, $18.99, hb, 384pp, 9781643752822

Spanning the years 1912-1920 in Washington, DC, this powerful YA novel in verse portrays suffragist Matilda Young, the youngest person to be incarcerated in the notorious Occoquan Workhouse after her arrest in 1917 at the age of 19. Matilda is initiated into activism through her mother and especially her older sister, Joy. At first, readers see a terrified 14-year-old attending her first demonstration, where drunken men heckle and rough up women marchers. Unwilling to risk her physical safety, the young teen volunteers to stuff envelopes at Cameron House, the headquarters of the Congressional Union, where she meets Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. After graduating from high school, Matilda decides the back room isn’t enough, and she joins the Silent Sentinels, a group of women who station themselves outside the White House until President Woodrow Wilson endorses a Constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. There she’s arrested and send to Occoquan, where she experiences the Night of Terror— the torture and beating of the movement’s leaders.

Drawing on real people and events, Atkins’s verse imagines an inner life for Matilda in which she develops the courage to take direct action despite the costs. That is what true bravery means, and the tug between safety and impact is at the heart of the poems. Readers see the effects of imprisonment and ill-treatment on a young woman who endures beatings and hunger strikes while seeing older, frailer comrades survive much worse. Atkins also explores the impact of Matilda’s growing activism on her family, from the sister who got her involved in the first place, to a mother dedicated to more moderate tactics and a father and brother who resist change

A poignant fairy tale links the three narratives, and its teller’s relationship to the three plots remains mysterious until the end. In fact, how the three stories are connected is the most fascinating thing about the novel—but the relationships among the friends are also complex, realistic, and deeply moving. The targeted readers (age 14-18) will have vivid memories of the quarantine online culture that Miles and Chloe inhabit, their parents and grandparents will respond to the late 20th-century teen punk scene that liberates Jenny’s understanding of the world and her role in it, and the Nazi Germany setting that sets off the 80-year chain of events has become depressingly re-familiarized for today’s readers. Symbols of nature—forests, acorns, birds, music, light, and shadow—also unite the narratives.

All three stories are of privileged teens learning that the world is not as secure as they thought it was. This is by no means a new insight, but the way in which each pair finds hope and purpose in friendship and in the stories told by their elders offers encouragement not just to today’s anxious youth, but to all readers.

Kristen McDermott

HIDDEN TREASURE

Jessie Burton, Bloomsbury, 2025, £14.99, hb, 320pp, 9781526604569

London, 1918. This is, mostly, the story of Bo Delafort, aged 12 and a mudlark on the south side of the Thames foreshore. She comes from a long line of mudlarks, and she feels that she has the river in her blood. It is also the story of Billy River, an unusual-looking boy, of about the same age, who meets Bo by the river on the same day that she discovers a special jewel in the mud. Bo is upset at this time, because her older brother, Harry, is off to fight in the First World War at the Somme. Less involved in the story is Bo’s school friend, Eddie, who lives across the road and is still there at the end, despite some disagreements. Other important characters are Lord Muncaster, who lives at Muncaster Hall along the River Thames, and his fiancée, Avery.

The title of the book refers to the treasure that Bo finds whilst mudlarking, and she starts on a quest to discover the history of the jewel, known as the Eclipsing Moon. She also

In 1973, Illinois teenager Patty Appleton moves to Washington, DC, to become one of the first girls to work as a Senate page, running errands for senators and getting a front-row seat for the Watergate hearings. President Nixon has just been sworn in for a second term after winning in a landslide, but his support erodes as his involvement in the breach of Democratic Party headquarters and his compilation of an enemies list become increasingly clear. Within this milieu, Patty navigates her pioneering role with the fact that she got her position as a result of her father’s influence within the Republican Party as a strong (and possibly complicit) supporter of the President. In the meantime, there’s trouble at home as her parents’ marriage implodes and she begins to suspect that her longtime boyfriend—starting his freshman year at Georgetown—is cheating on her.

Over the course of the year, Patty is exposed to other perspectives that cause her to question her upbringing and values, as well as the role to which her parents expect her to conform as a woman. Elliott deftly shows how Patty gains confidence in her own abilities to speak for herself and negotiate on behalf of others. She becomes someone her friends can count on not only for emotional support but also for help in making their own lives better. Her evolution to becoming a star in her own right rather than a helpmate to a powerful husband is threatened in the end by a shocking act of violence that leaves the ending unresolved but raises questions for discussion that will resonate with readers today. Photos and concise news accounts of important events add context to each chapter. Young adult.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann

THE SECRET OF HELMERSBRUK MANOR

Eva Frantz, trans. A. A. Prime, illus. Elin Sandström, Pushkin Children’s, 2024 (c2023), £9.99, pb, 270pp, 9781782694205

In this three-timeline narrative set in 1975, 1925 and 2019, we follow the intriguing history of Helmersbruk Manor, after twelveyear-old Flora and her mother go there in 1975 for Christmas, a year after the death of Flora’s father.

Flora feels strangely at home in the manor

and its grounds, which strikes the reader as odd since she has never been there before. Flora hears ghostly voices which whisper “she’s back”. While in the manor and the gatekeeper’s cottage which she and her mother are renting, Flora finds she possesses knowledge, such as how to sing in German and how to make potato pancakes, that she had never known before.

What powers does the manor have, and how is Flora linked to it?

This narrative is richly detailed and deeply intertextual with overtones of The Secret Garden and The Little White Horse. It also has themes of finding your own identity and place to belong and the profound effects that grief and loss can have on a family, especially over a long period of time. Flora’s character is believable and wellrounded, and readers will be rooting for her.

Sandström’s close-up, black and white illustrations add much to the haunting quality of the narrative, and A. A. Prime’s translation is so smooth, the reader would be forgiven for not realizing they were reading a translation.

Rebecca Butler

TRAILBLAZERS: Into the Locker

Lorna Gutierrez, illus. Adriana Gutierrez, Big Sister, 2024, $15.99/£12.99, pb, 70pp, 9798991208802

After changing schools six times in nine years, third-grader Noah isn’t thrilled about starting a new one. But his grandpa went to this school and raves about it, as do the student reviews. At first it seems weird. From the excited kids on the bus lugging big bags of clothing, to the teacher’s dual class supply lists for different days, to locker combinations that are chosen by the students and changed every day, Noah is confused. But when he picks his combination (1862), falls through the locker, and meets a teenage Alexander Graham Bell in the year 1862, everything starts to make sense.

Trailblazers is a fun new twist on time-travel series for children. Instead of encountering individuals at the moment they make history, the modern children encounter them at younger ages, when they’re making decisions that will impact their paths. In this case, Alexander Graham Bell is 15 and deciding whether to pursue his passion for inventing or to follow in the footsteps of his author father.

For ages 8-12, this series would be a welcome addition to any child’s reading list. There’s mild suspense, humor, age-appropriate history with backmatter, and a sense of the reader getting to know the historical figure alongside the protagonist.

Lisa Lowe Stauffer

THE BOY I LOVE

William Hussey, Andersen, 2025, £8.99, pb, 304pp, 9781839134821

Hussey’s depiction of life and death in the trenches of World War One transports the reader to the mud, suffering and horror of the “meatgrinder” with so much clarity that I felt I was there. It’s seen through the eyes of Stephen Wraxhall, a 19-year-old Second Lieutenant who has won a Military Cross for bravery in action. He has been injured but returns to the Somme ready for the “big push” that the

Allies hope will end the war in 1916. However, Stephen, the son of a vicar, has a secret he must hide. He is a gay man, and that is illegal. Stephen meets Danny McCormick, a cheeky recruit from a London fairground, and takes him on as an officer’s aide. Their relationship grows but must be concealed amid the looming battle ahead.

The book deals with the men’s bond with delicacy and emotional warmth. It was heightened by the question would either of them survive and, if they did, what the future would hold. I also enjoyed seeing gay poet Siegfried Sassoon pop up.

Hussey’s writing seems to emphasise the phrase describing men of lower ranks as “lions led by donkeys”. Descriptions of many senior officers present them as idiots and cowards, and I felt these were stereotypes. It was also difficult to believe that Stephen and Danny would have got away with their insubordination to officers. However, it’s a book to be recommended for the YA readers it is aimed at due to the sensitivity of the love story and very well researched descriptions of the Battle of the Somme.

Kate Pettigrew

THE LINE THEY DREW THROUGH US

Hiba Noor Khan, Andersen, 2025, £7.99, pb, 304pp, 9781839134722

Following the success of Safiyyah’s War, a remarkable story about the co-operation of Muslims and Jews in World War 2 Paris (see HNR 106), Hiba Noor Khan’s second novel explores the partition of India and its effects. An Author’s Note makes clear her feelings about the way ‘the subcontinent was torn into three new countries: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh’ with arbitrary invisible lines drawn by the British who, as the story later demonstrates, ‘sowed the seeds of division between communities, then watered them for decades.’

This history forms the backdrop to the lives of three children, born on the same day in 1935, who are destined to become best friends, although they are from varying religious backgrounds. Jahan is Muslim, Ravi is Hindu, and Muslim Aisha is ‘given the affectionate nickname of Lakshmi … after the Hindu goddess of good fortune.’ We are told that ‘By their twelfth birthday, one of them had disappeared, one of them had fled, and the last was left only with their memories and a belief in miracles.’

We pick up their collective story in 1946, when they are eleven. We see the warm relationships within and between their families and the respect for each other’s religions and culture, much of which is held in common. We experience the sights, sounds and smells (especially in the mouth-watering descriptions of food!) of the city of Lahore and of the village

near there where the families spend time and the children first meet.

This is a significant addition to the slowly growing number of novels that examine the colonial past from the viewpoint of the subjected people. Some do this through an imaginative alternate historical fantasy lens focusing on the 19th century, while others, like this one, realistically bring alive the confusion and violence perpetrated by partition.

Ann Lazim

ON THE WINGS OF EAGLES

Tami Lehman-Wilzig, illus. Alisha Monnin, Apples & Honey, 2025, $19.95, hb, 32pp, 9781681156354

This picture book tells the story of the evacuation of Jews from Yemen in 1949. After the creation of the Israeli state, Jews in Yemen were no longer safe. Young Haila and her mother, father, and grandmother decide they must leave their home, which they’ve always viewed as temporary, to walk through the desert. They believe an “eagle” will come and fly them to Jerusalem. In Alaska, an Alaskan Airlines pilot named Walter gets a telegram asking for help in rescuing the Jews of Yemen. When Haila’s family gets to the right place, Walter must convince them that it is safe to board the airplane. To convince them, he paints an eagle on the plane.

The full-page, realistic, colorful illustrations do an excellent job of telling the story, showing what Yemen looked like, and how the people looked and dressed at the time of the story. Most pages include only a few sentences of text, making this good as a read-aloud or for beginning readers. End notes explain the true events, pilot, and little girl the story is based on, as well as definitions of the few Arabic words used in the story. Ages 5-8.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt

EVERYTHING IS POISON

Joy McCullough, Dutton, 2025, $19.99/C$26.99, hb, 304pp, 9780593855874

Loosely based on the activities of a group of 17th-century women who allegedly poisoned men in Sicily and Rome, this young adult novel is told from the point of view of sixteenyear-old Carmela. Carmela’s mother runs an apothecary shop in Rome with two women helpers and, eventually, Carmela. In addition to cures for fevers, teething remedies, and other medicines, they secretly formulate and sell poison to abused women. The women use this “Aqua Tofana” to kill their violent husbands. When a slip by Carmela threatens to expose their activities, all four women risk a horrendous punishment.

Interspersed between some of the narrative chapters are short poems focusing on different people in the city. These poems are effective in providing context and backstory, and different points of view than Carmela’s.

The detail about Renaissance-era herbal treatments is extensive and interesting, and the desperate situation of the abused women is poignant. Readers might have a hard time connecting with Carmela, however. We are told she yearns to work in the shop, but we don’t know why. We learn in an off-hand way several chapters in that she “wants to help people… to have knowledge and share it and be looked to as someone with wisdom.” At another time she

admires the neatly labeled gleaming bottles. Both emotions are understandable but hardly portray a girl with a passion to work in this challenging and hazardous environment. Readers could tire of her often-mentioned grudge against her childhood enemies and might echo the words of her mother’s helper: “So some children called you names. Boo-hoo.” Minor characters, especially the apothecary and her two assistants, are more vividly and sympathetically drawn. Some factual errors mar the text, but nothing that interferes with the story.

Tracy Barrett

COBWEB

Michael Morpurgo, illus. Michael Foreman, HarperCollins, 2024, £14.99/$22.00, hb, 240pp, 9780008352134

Cobweb is a compact, briskly narrated story of one dog’s life and the life of his beloved owner, Bethan. The events of the Napoleonic War gradually impact on the world of a distant Welsh coastal farm, and in the end the Battle of Waterloo itself becomes part of the plot and ultimately changes the lives of the farm and everyone on it.

Cobweb is a Welsh corgi, bred to drive sheep and cows and be of general help on the farm. Intelligent and sparky, he becomes the best friend of farmer’s daughter Bethan, lonely after the tragic death of her mother and brother. The farm struggles, and Bethan cannot prevent a brisk new stepmother selling Cobweb to a drover off on the long road to London. But droving, the drover’s dog, Goodpal, and even ‘rat-face Drover Morgan’ himself are not all they seem, and Cobweb thrives. It is 1815, and on the way to London the drovers find villagers overcome with joy –the Battle of Waterloo is won, and the great French war is over: ‘Peace at last!’ Distant as it is, the events of the battle have an unexpected effect on the lives of both dogs and humans, and the story diverts through the terrors of warfare and a kindness to a captive French drummer-boy to Bethan and her bleak hillfarm, and a happy ending.

Beautifully illustrated with simple black and white wash-drawings, this is an enchanting and involving tale. Never stooping to magic or talking animals, the story mainly told in conversation and monologue, this book takes a heartwarming look at the relations between animals and their humans, and a realistic if positive view of the historical lives of both.

Recommended for 8 – 12-year-olds, and animal lovers!

Jane Burke

SHRAPNEL BOYS

Jenny Pearson, Usborne, 2025, £7.99, pb, 384pp, 9781805312963

London, 1939, and twelve-year old Ronnie Smith is a boy with problems. A gang of school bullies, a headmaster who delights in caning him. A violent father – although things have been better since Mum chucked him out. And now, a war.

At least the war brings one benefit: the school bully is evacuated, while Ronnie and his brother stay with their Mum, a hospital nurse. But then, Johnny Simmons comes to install an Anderson shelter in their back garden. Johnny charms Mum. He charms Ronnie’s

younger brother, Micky. Can they not see what Ronnie sees?

That Mum’s new boyfriend is a bad ‘un?

As Johnny worms his way into the family, Ronnie has only his best friend, Lugs, to turn to.

So begins a page-turning adventure, in which, Famous Five-style, Ronnie and his friends are sucked into dark doings.

But, unlike the Famous Five, these boys –and their enemies – are nuanced. The boys feel real: they joke, they banter, they love their mums and get into trouble. While adults worry about the war, the boys tend towards curiosity and excitement. They collect shrapnel, they spot planes. Adults do good things, and bad things.

This boys’ adventure slips in many themes. The historical setting is vivid, relevant, and delivered without holding up the story. Relationships are well portrayed, using naturalistic language, including mild swearing. The language is justified, as Ronnie deals with so much more than the war. As Ronnie navigates friendships, loyalty, bullies, gangs, anger management, and what his schoolteacher calls ‘Moral Integrity’, I laughed, I cried – and I learned.

Written with humour, delivering gutwrenching life lessons, Ronnie’s story is as relevant today as it was eighty years ago. Highly recommended, and not just for kids.

Helen Johnson

THE PECAN SHELLER

Lupe Ruiz-Flores, Carolrhoda, 2025, $18.99/ C$26.99, hb, 250pp, 9798765610527

Despite being an enthusiastic student and passionate writer, 13-yearold Petra Mendoza is forced to quit school and work in a pecanshelling factory alongside her stepmother, after her father’s death from a heart attack. It’s 1937 in San Antonio, Texas, and the region is still mired in the Great Depression, with many more workers than jobs available. Thus, employers can get away with paying very little and maintaining dangerous working conditions. The crowded factory and pecan dust cause many of the workers to fall ill with the “infection”— tuberculosis—including one of Petra’s favorite coworkers, 17-year-old Ofelia. Could Petra be next? When the factory owner fires Petra’s stepmother because she’s too slow and cuts the pay below subsistence level, the workers,

including Petra, go on strike. They endure police violence and deprivation, but Petra also meets the young labor leader, Emma Tenayuca, and sees the community come together to support the strikers.

This gripping story, set in a neglected time and place in children’s literature, portrays a protagonist who isn’t afraid of speaking up for herself. Petra is loyal to her friends and coworkers in spite of their differences and has the makings of a leader as she grows into her new adult responsibilities. Particularly compelling is Petra’s relationship with her stepmother, who is guarding a secret about her own adolescent activism during the Mexican Revolution. Petra comes to recognize the reasons for her stepmother’s strict rules, but she also has to find her own way in a different era. Despite the mixed ending for the strikers, Ruiz-Flores leaves the reader with hope for Petra, her family, and the workingclass community as a whole. This novel for upper elementary and middle-school readers features a historical note and discussion questions.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann

THE ROAD TO KADESH

A. W. Whinnett, Field of Reeds, 2024, £9.99/$12.99, pb, 399pp, 9781068551406 Egypt, 1276 BCE. Hetep is proud to be a charioteer. However, in a battle against the Amurrites, his chariot is wrecked, the horses killed, his driver severely injured, and another charioteer named Baya claims Hetep’s kill of the Amurrite prince. Now Baya’s been given the reward while Hetep is forced to become a scribe in the conquered city of Amurru. But when the deceased prince’s driver recognizes Hetep, the driver becomes set on vengeance. Now a hunted man and unable to carry a weapon as a scribe, Hetep is sent to an unfamiliar land without an ally and no way to defend himself. To complicate matters, Hetep spies Baya working with the driver intent on his death. Hetep’s only hope lies in the most unlikely people: the dead prince’s wife and a mysterious Hittite merchant.

The author uses Greek names for Egypt and its cities. However, Hetep would’ve called his land Kemet and its cities Men-nefer and Waset (instead of Memphis and Thebes). Also, the author only mentions Rameses’s concubines despite the fact his great wife often co-ruled with him. She’s not acknowledged, and there’s only one female character of influence in the story.

Hetep starts out very naive, and I appreciated how his earlier choices came full circle by the end, some helpfully and some harmfully. At first, Hetep seeks help from his superiors, but almost every Egyptian’s attitude is that the Amurrites wouldn’t dare challenge the might of Egypt because…heck, they’re Egyptian! This excuse got old quickly.

Hetep’s growth through the many plot threads that challenge his perspectives is engaging. Hetep and his chariot driver, Sebeku, are an entertaining duo who I would have enjoyed more of. Additionally, moments of charioteering and setting details are entrancing with the prose bringing these chapters to life with cinematic flair. An entertaining read.

J. Lynn Else

CONFERENCES

The Society organizes biennial conferences in the UK, North America, and Australasia. Contact Richard Lee <richard@historicalnovelsociety.org> (UK), Jenny Quinlan <jennyq@historicaleditorial.com> (North America), or Elisabeth Storrs <contact@hnsa.org.au> (Australasia).